Chapter 599 – Black Stone (2)
A meal for two people began with a small table in the center.
A salad with fresh vegetables mixed with a dressing full of the scent of all kinds of fruits.
Button mushroom soup that is light but has a deep flavor.
Even large steaks grilled to perfection to your desired level of grilling.
The menu is simple, but the taste and quality were excellent.
After taking my time and appreciating it, I slowly look around.
A simple space, quite different from when I first came here.
There is no expensive furniture or paintings by famous artists here.
It feels extremely shabby for someone who is considered a saint to welcome her guests.
It was natural.
This is not a space created to welcome guests.
“How do you feel, how do you feel about my personal space?”
This is the saint’s home.
She sleeps, eats, reads…, Almost the only space where you can concentrate on yourself without worrying about others.
It’s the feeling I got when I saw that place.
“It’s comfortable and cozy.”
“Hehe, right?”
That was it.
It feels like visiting a common Western-style home.
There is absolutely nothing worthy of the status of a saint.
This in itself may be her wish.
Here, she wants to let go of her heavy status as a saint and spend her time as just an ordinary woman named Sophia.
“How was the meal?”
“I liked it because it wasn’t too much, but the taste and quality were great, so I think it was even better because I was able to concentrate fully.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
A saint who is relieved.
“To express my joy at welcoming Mr. Dojin, I should have filled a much larger table with all kinds of delicacies, but…, I hate being wasted and thrown away like that.”
“Just the heart is enough. “I am not as strong as the saint, but she also hates wasting food.”
Is it because I grew up so poor?
I understand her feelings.
It’s good to prepare food and eat it, but it’s a waste to waste it because of pretentiousness.
So in the past, we never held banquets or parties unless it was a really special event.
To welcome guests, you have to prepare much more food than they will eat.
Rather, it’s better to rent somewhere, order as much food as you want, and pay for it.
“I think Dojin and I have quite a lot in common.”
“I guess so.”
She is as she is, and I am as I am.
There are many times when I have to be busy due to my job or location, but I guess it’s because I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to do that.
“Thanks to you, I feel like I’ve made a like-minded friend.”
“Me too.”
Is it because the meaning is impure?
In the past, my time with her was always a series of subtle tensions.
It was because I was worried that her small words or unintentional actions would catch her.
But these days are different.
When she talks to her, her mind becomes calm.
Non-stimulating conversation topics, commonalities naturally found one by one, relaxed atmosphere, etc.
Although these elements are very brief, they cool down the mind that has become anxious due to various events.
If the plan to bring the Black Stone hadn’t been her, she would have gone ahead with it without considering the risks and would have ended up in big trouble.
“The sun is slowly setting.”
Her eyes look out the window.
Beyond the transparent glass window, the sky stained red by the setting sun spreads out vastly.
“I said I was going to make a fake black stone.”
“Yes.”
“Is that possible?”
“Well.”
It’s hard for me to be sure.
Because I haven’t even seen what the Black Stone looks like yet.
Just trying.
“I have to do as much as I can.”
When she answered that, her head dropped slightly.
“Things have become complicated because of me.”
“That’s not true.”
Things weren’t complicated by her stubborn refusal.
“We just changed to an operation with less risk in case of failure.”
If you bring them the real Black Stone and do not retrieve it in time, you will be giving them a tremendous weapon.
But if it’s fake, at least you don’t have to worry about that.
Even if I get caught, well…, At best, the bad relationship will only get worse.
“On the contrary, thanks to the saint, I have become more aware of reality, so don’t blame yourself.”
Only after saying that does she smile.
“Really…, I don’t know why it’s good to hear Dojin’s words together.”
Her words convey a slightly different feeling than before.
A strangely tingling feeling in the chest.
I hope in my heart.
I hope we can continue this atmosphere a little longer.
But pleasant dreams always end in a moment.
“When the sun goes down…, I will guide Mr. Dojin to the secret room.”
“Oh, yes.”
“I told you this before, but I’ll say it again because you’re angry…, Its existence is an absolute secret.”
“I won’t tell anyone, so don’t worry.”
When I spoke as if she was ranting, she answered by nodding her head.
“Yes, I believe it.”
The deep trust conveyed in her words warms her heart.
* * *
Even the moon is covered by clouds, making the night darker than usual.
Only then did the two leave the room.
Light occasionally flickers in the extremely quiet city.
“These are police officers on night patrol. “You have to be careful, so you don’t get caught.”
In fact, even if you get caught, nothing much will happen.
There is a saint, so how can anyone blame her?
But she didn’t want anyone to know where she was heading.
Because the secret room has been so tightly guarded until now.
“This way.”
She led Kim Do-jin very skillfully.
It was natural.
The saint, like the Pope, is one of the leaders of the Vatican Orthodox Church.
Because the police here know everything about when and where they patrol.
Moreover, it wasn’t the first time.
She visited the secret room once a month, every darkest night, for inspection.
“Here she bows her head…, You have to climb over the wall here. Ah, there… !”
“…”
That’s probably why she looks like a ninja, not a saint.
They moved for quite a long time.
This is because the secret room was located in the most remote place in Vatican City.
A huge wall dividing Italy and the Vatican.
Standing in front of him, she looked back at Kim Do-jin and said.
“It’s right here.”
Kim Do-jin immediately looked around.
All you can see are well-groomed grass, flowers, and trees.
“Just a little bit. “I will soon open the door to the secret room.”
She stood in the middle of the grass, put her hands together, and drew up the divine power that filled her body.
The light that normally comes out did not leak out.
Because all the divine power that came out of her body was directed to her feet, not to the outside.
PAsssssUT!
The earth shakes under her overflowing divine power.
The vital energy reaches a specific area and causes the grass and flowers growing there to grow.
Grass and flowers grown with overwhelming vitality.
A picture was drawn in Kim Do-jin’s eyes as he watched it from afar.
A nun praying with her hands together
‘Is this the appearance of a former saint…? .’
That picture seems to be the password to the secret room.
As the picture consisting of grass and flowers is completely drawn, the thickly grown grass in the middle splits apart.
Sssssut
A long passage is eventually revealed.
“Let’s go down.”
A saint going down ahead.
Follow her down, and she uses her divine power to create a small light source.
She heads downward again, relying on that light.
10m, 20m, 30m…, Roughly 100m or more.
At the end of the long passageway, a thick iron door engraved with the image of a praying nun, seen earlier, blocks the way forward.
It wasn’t just that.
Looking around, I saw that it was not just an ordinary wall made of dirt or stone, but was entirely made of shiny white metal.
It’s a mixture of various metals, so I don’t know exactly what it is, but its strength is roughly enough to block even advanced magic without difficulty.
At that level, infiltration through places other than doors was sufficient.
All that’s left is that door…
“I will open the door.”
A saint putting her hand on the door.
The divine power that began to rise from her hands fills the door.
The moment Kim Do-jin saw this, he thought.
‘I don’t think infiltration is worth dying for.’
Instead of convenient magic, she believed only in her own power.
Full of divine power.
The door opens only when it is filled with the image of a praying nun engraved on the door.
This was impossible even for Kim Do-jin.
He could fill it with any amount of magical power, but divine power is beyond his authority.
Of course, it didn’t matter whether it worked or not.
There would be no reason for Kim Do-jin to rob this place.
However, it was not necessary to carefully consider the possibility of infiltration…, It was just like an occupational disease.
No matter where you go, it’s a unique process to check how well it is built and how reliable it is.
“It’s okay.”
As soon as she finishes speaking, the iron door bathed in soft light begins to slowly open.
Kugung…
The noise was not that loud.
It appears that attention was paid to materials and structure from the design to minimize noise.
A wide space is revealed between the cracks in the door.
Inside, a variety of objects are placed in transparent glass tubes, as if in a museum.
All things that look expensive or dangerous.
“These are… ?”
“These are all items that cause harm to humans.”
Sword, spear, bow, axe.
Helmet, armor, gauntlets, boots.
Necklaces, rings, earrings, etc.
A powerful magical power can be felt from all the equipment placed in the glass tube.
And one more thing.
“… It’s so fun to live together.”
Equipment is meant to protect the wearer from threats.
But these are different.
Things designed solely to lead the wearer to destruction.
These things are referred to.
“Critical Artifact.”
A name given because it brings a fatal curse or death to the wearer.
“Saint Jeondae collected these items with her own money and stored them here to protect people. “Never again can a mere precious thing harm a human being.”
“…”
I see some familiar objects.
Equipment that caused trouble when Kim Do-jin was active as Son Si-woo.
She felt the direction his gaze was directed and added with a small smile.
“I bought those.”
I didn’t want to brag.
I just wanted to show him.
I don’t know why that thought suddenly occurred to me.
She held out her hand, slightly blocking his view of the equipment.
“It doesn’t matter if I keep watching, but… “Is there something in there that you really want to see?”
There is another door where she points with her finger.
She suddenly came to her senses, looked away, and answered.
“Let’s go right away.”
All kinds of negative emotions mix with magic, passing the rising equipment and arriving in front of another door.
“Only one is stored here.”
“Black Stone.”
“Yes. Why did they bother to leave that out?”
To a question that wasn’t that difficult, Kim Do-jin recited the answer that immediately came to mind.
“That much… “It means it is a dangerous item.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
There was a legend like this going around in the world.
If you create a bomb using the magic contained in the Black Stone, it is possible to erase a country, or even a continent, from the map.
This was half right and half wrong.
She pulled on her doorknob and opened her mouth.
“What’s contained in the Black Stone is not magical power.”
“If it’s not magical power… ?”
“Well…”
A saintess opens the door with a vague answer.
When the door opens, a much smaller space is revealed than the space you are currently standing in.
And in the center, there is only one object placed in a glass tube.
A pitch-black stone that seems to be absorbing all the light that touches it.
She recognized it as soon as she saw it.
What she said.
A magic feeling I’ve never felt before…, No, no.
Kim Do-jin has felt this magical power.
Just once, not here, but in the world of unconsciousness.
“This is how the saintess of Jeondae expressed the energy contained in the black stone.”
Gula, the goddess of greed.
The energy gently leaking from her body was similar to that.
To be precise, her energy feels extremely refined, and it seems correct to view that as pure energy that has not been refined.
After a brief pause, she continues her words.
“The power of the devil, Devil Force.”
It is called in oriental style, magic energy.
Kim Do-jin’s face crumpled as he faced the most cloudy malice.
