The Saint Wants to Rest - Chapter 46.2
Instead of taking Alexander’s hand, Ian offered a polite bow. With Choi Jae-heon and Vermouth watching him with eyes wide open, it was not easy to take a stranger’s hand, even if it was just to show common courtesy.
The corners of Alexander’s eyes trembled minutely at the snub, but only for a moment. He skillfully withdrew his hand and maintained his smile.
“Very well. Since time is gold for people like us, I will speak bluntly. Won’t you come to our Empire? I will give you everything you desire. A blank check where you can write any amount you want, a top-tier luxury penthouse in Manhattan, New York, and a private jet. Naturally, I will guarantee your American citizenship as well.”
Yoon Tae-gyeom gasped at Alexander’s unconventional offer. It was a proposal that surpassed the budget of an entire nation. However, Alexander’s words did not end there.
“However, I did not fly all the way here simply to talk about money. You, Ian, have a mission to save humanity.”
With a solemn expression, Alexander took out a state-of-the-art tablet and pushed it to the center of the table. Several photos of horrific monsters with bizarre, pitch-black bodies appeared on the screen. Seeing them, Choi Jae-heon and Vermouth immediately recognized their identity.
The Shadow Stalker.
“Look at this. These are mutant monsters that have recently poured out of a newly opened S-rank Gate in the Western United States.”
Alexander’s voice settled heavily in the reception room.
“These things are on a different level from the monsters we previously knew. If you are wounded by them, no matter how much healing magic our Empire’s A-rank healers pour into it, it doesn’t work at all, and the wound rots away into blackness. Far from healing, the healer’s own life force is actually shaved away. It is as if they are afflicted by a terrible curse.”
Alexander continued his dramatic announcement with an emphasized voice.
“We discovered that the power they use is an unknown substance whose very origin is different from the mana handled by existing awakened individuals. An extremely malicious and strange power that persistently eats away at life. Doesn’t it seem like the ‘demonic power’ that appears in fairy tales?”
Alexander leaned his upper body over the table, staring intensely into Ian’s eyes as he whispered.
“That is why our United States’ most authoritative research teams have given this terrible power a new name. We call it ‘demonic energy.'”
Alexander was certain that he had revealed a massive secret that would change the history of humanity.
Since the awakened individuals of Korea, whose information gathering was slow, likely hadn’t even grasped the identity of this terrible power yet, he expected Ian to be terrified and confused by this unknown force. If that happened, the rest would be easy. He just had to praise the young man, make him feel important, and take him to America.
Great America! It would surely be happier for Ian to be there than in a small country like Korea. After all, he was a healer who could use “Divine Power.”
‘Now, be surprised. Fear the unknown power. And lean on me, the only one who recognized your value!’
However,
“……”
Ian’s expression was perfectly calm. In fact, he was so lacking in tension that transparent tears had even formed in the corners of his eyes from holding back a yawn. It was a picture of boredom.
‘What? And here I thought it was going to be some grand secret.’
Ian chuckled inwardly.
This great “demonic energy” that many genius research teams in America supposedly discovered after studying day and night? A demon-like power?
To Ian, it was nothing more than a sickeningly familiar and unpleasant scent. Until very recently, he had encountered it as naturally as breathing on the bloody battlefields of Lancia, and he had even met demons recently.
Demons appearing on Earth. That fact failed to surprise Ian. It was just a dry observation that they were now starting to appear in other countries besides Korea.
“So?”
Ian asked back, resting his chin on his hand with an indifferent look.
At the unexpectedly dry reaction, a bewildered twitch appeared on the corners of Alexander’s triumphant mouth.
“Pardon?”
“I mean, it’s a problem because the monsters are emitting something called demonic energy. So, what? What does that have to do with me?”
Alexander was flustered. This wasn’t the reaction he wanted. Ian was acting as composed as if he were watching a fire across the river, even in the face of a massive crisis for humanity.
“T… This is a threat to all of humanity! It is impossible for existing healers to treat this infection! Only that special power you possess, your Divine Power, can purify this demonic energy!”
Wait, he even knows about Divine Power? Well, there must be clergymen on Earth too. Among them, there might be people like Ian who serve a god and receive power. In the past, he would have asked where such a thing existed, but Ian was someone who had already directly encountered the existence of a god through Regnasia.
He didn’t think it was an impossible thing.
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