After Marie returned, Dohyuk picked up the child and walked out of the underground tunnel. It seemed like no one was around, but he still had to be careful.

‘The president…’ Dohyuk thought as he walked. ‘…I don’t think she was just being friendly.’

He wasn’t too sure, but he felt something alarming when he heard the conditions about using the scope. If he pulled the lever, he needed to continue holding the scope in hand until he found the relic it was pointing to. Even if he didn’t pull the lever, if the scope was left too far away, it would also be destroyed.

‘Why does it have that kind of condition?’

No messages popped up from the scope, and that meant the president herself had created the item, outside of Casita’s reach. Dohyuk had no idea how it worked or why it was created, but he was able to guess.

‘Were those conditions that are required to make it work? There was no choice but to apply those conditions?’

No. There was a better, more logical answer to that.

‘The condition doesn’t apply to the scope itself.’

If the scope was created first and then given the conditions afterwards, it was much more simple. The reason? There was only one.

‘Security.’

Emmanoel said it herself; she thought long and hard about how to defeat Casita even after she lost. The scope was probably result of it. Then, for Emmanoel, what would be the worst possible situation regarding the scope? One situation would be she couldn’t use the scope anymore, or if Casita found out about the item and ‘expelled’ the item.

If that was so, then it made sense. Why were there such restrictions? If Dohyuk couldn’t meet those conditions, it meant that Dohyuk couldn’t take care of it.

‘She mentioned that it was like her treasure when she gave it to me.’

She only had one. Even if that was true, it didn’t mean that she couldn’t make another. Dohyuk thought Emmanoel probably had a way to create more scopes like this. Although, he wasn’t sure if she could mass produce them or if it took a long time to craft them herself one by one.

‘This is a bait.’

Dohyuk finished organizing his thoughts. At least one thing was certain: Emmanoel opposed Casita.

‘Yet, that doesn’t mean she is friendly toward me.’

Maybe Dohyuk was overthinking it, but think about it: a human who was strong as a god, giving her ‘treasure’ after talking to a stranger for an hour? It didn’t make sense. Dohyuk’s experience told him not to believe it.

Dohyuk grabbed the scope in his pocket. If he pulled the lever, he will know. Nothing might happen, or Dohyuk might get trapped in Emmanoel’s plans.

‘At least… I will get what I can for now.’

Dohyuk then set out on his way after making everything clear for himself.

Giwon was awake. It hadn’t been easy for him. Although regained his energy after draining some of Dohyuk’s, his body was too exhausted from all the torture he went through. He also realized that if he slept now, he would be out for at least two straight days.

‘Not yet… at least for the next 20 hours…’

20 hours.

That was the countdown timer based on Giwon’s calculations. When the time comes, Jung Ilgyu will sacrifice tens of thousands of people as offerings and set sail across the sea. Dohyuk, however, would fight Ilgyu before that.

Therefore, Giwon was standing on the city wall, withstanding against the cold wind. He had to help Dohyuk when he returned to get ready for the battle. If his help could increase Dohyuk’s chances of defeating Jung Ilgyu by even 0.1%, he needed to stay alert. The problem was when Dohyuk was going to come back.

“THERE!”

Giwon heard a man’s shout from the distance. One of the city dwellers who was on guard was pointing out to the horizon, and everyone turned to the direction. Although he was tired, Giwon could see him clearly.

It was Dohyuk.

He was heading toward the city with a small person on his shoulder. A few minutes later, Giwon was at the bottom of the wall, talking to Dohyuk.

“What you have on your shoulder…”

“I don’t know,” Dohyuk sighed as he gave the child to the others who also came.

“Maybe it’s the best thing that I stole from there?”

“…!”

Giwon brightened up as he checked the child’s face.

“The Heartdigger…”

“Huh?”

“The one you brought. It’s their Nature.”

He was able to guess who Dohyuk had brought.

Unfortunate One.

One who died without proving their powers in the previous life, but showed great prowess in the second life – the child that Dohyuk brought was one of the best among the Unfortunate Ones that Jung Ilgyu had found.

The child’s Nature was the following:

“It allows the wielder to take the Nature of the person whose heart is pulled out and bestow upon any type of equipment.”