Level 0 Master

Chapter 103: Vol. 4 Ep. 16

"Revenge? Then why did you scatter everyone and paralyze me?" Sungjin's question was a natural response.

Zakiya abandoned her dignity and smiled seductively again. "That's because I have to protect the self-destruction sequence to destroy the Eye of Ra."

"You're protecting it? That's…"

"Yes. Even if I send somebody away, I have to remain and protect it." The determined woman did not appear forlorn any longer, but that made her more pitiful, because she wasn't smiling in happiness. She really wanted to be with her brother. She really wanted to live happily together again. But she had the smile of a woman who had given up on trying to reclaim a long-lost past. "But I knew that would make you hesitant, considering your personality."

"… You're correct."

"Right? Huhu, so I did this, leaving no room for hesitation."

"Will you not think again? You have to stop Ra's Eye from activating, but if you tell me everything now, you might find a way to survive. Are you going to give up without trying at the very least?"

"Thank you for your concern, but I prefer this situation." Zakiya shook her head. "The reason Kapitle didn't focus on defending this place was because he thought I would lure you away here to kill you. I don't know how he will react if he knows I'm already determined enough to work against him."

"Must you?"

"Huhu. If I get rid of Ra's Eye, will you be able to beat Kapitle? Your tactics are obviously great head-to-head, but Kapitle is cold and intimidating to the point he will do things you would never dream of doing. Also, his secret treasures are his strongest source of power. Perhaps a tie?"

"I'll win," Sungjin said firmly. Even in that moment, his spirit was not broken at all.

Zakiya kissed his chest, saying that he was an amazing person. The soft texture of her chest pressed against his abdomen. "I hope so. I'm risking my life for it."

"Since you're betraying him anyways, won't you go all the way with me?"

"I'm sorry, but there is very little time left. I'll need to finish it before Kapitle defends himself."

"You're going to ignore me and do whatever you want?"

"Huhu. You should know something. If you really want to have the world, sometimes you have to throw something else away to get it. " After saying her piece, she kissed Sungjin deeply. "Huhu, this is unfortunate. I wanted to be held by a man like you, but I won't be able to. Next time." She had a thick smile, as if she would have done so had she had the time.

"Now you will bounce out. The same is true of the others. After that, this pyramid will collapse and disappear. "

"Your brother will try to find you."

"Huhu. It's already impossible to live and meet him again anyway. There's no way Kapitle would keep him alive when I haven't killed you." Although he would kill him, saying that the act of killing itself had its own worth. Nevertheless, the two siblings had no chance to reunite.

"Please take care of my brother's grave. Or perhaps his body won't be recoverable." She shook her head. The tiny tears in her eyes were noticeable even to Sungjin.

"Now it's farewell. Please conquer this continent as you please. If you ever remember in your later years, please scatter my remains with my brother's in this desert."

"I won't accept that request. You'll live to meet your brother."

"You aren't in a position to command me." Zakiya poked his chest, saying that he had no choice but to follow her lead.

"Are you sure? Everyone, get out."

"…?"

At Sungjin's instructions, the sound of a window shattering resounded behind her. Zakiya looked back in confusion. The veil of illusion lifted, and there was the people that had scattered altogether.

It wasn't only Sungjin's party. In addition to the black priest Pangnilin, there were other priests from the former Rupellion. Also, the surroundings were not of the deepest sector of the Pyramid in the Sky; it was just its entrance.

Moreover… there was her brother Limad. Although he was asleep in a wheelchair, he was definitely breathing.

"Li… Limad!" Zakiya's mouth fell open. She took a step forward, then another. In that moment, she forgot everything else. Forgetting what was around her and how everything had changed, she touched his cheeks.

Ahh… Her brother had not changed a day since their separation. It was as if time had stopped, as he was as young as the day of the accident. Soft cheeks, light brows, tiny lips, short limbs. The old days of pure, cute, and sweet times were back. Those days when she was happy. She had thought she had forgotten, but she hadn't.

"Ahh…" She was speechless. She hugged her brother with tears overflowing from her eyes.

"Uu…?" The little boy woke up. "Who…?"

The boy was confused at the woman hugging him in tears.

"It's me… It's me…" Zakiya could only repeat herself, unable to complete her sentence.

The boy blinked several times. "Sister? Are you my sister?"

Had she still retained a bit of her old self even when she had grown up so much? Even when she had changed so much? Was the pull of blood still there? "Yes… It's me."

"Sister, you've grown so big!" Strange. The boy smiled while tilting his head.

"Ah… Ahhh."

"Sister? What happened?"

"As long as you're safe… As long as you're safe." Zakiya just embraced Limad and wept.

The day everything burned, Kapitle had forcibly hibernated Limad in an ice tube. The young boy's time had stopped since then, so, in his point of view, his sister had grown too big to the point it was strange. "Sister, you're choking me."

"Yes, sorry. I'm just so glad to see you…" She apologised to her brother, who was choking, but she didn't let go. Something she had thought she had lost forever was in her arms once again. "Let's never be separated again."

"What do you mean, sister?"

"Later… I'll explain everything later." Zakiya had barely wiped her tears before she noticed Sungjin smiling. "What happened?"

Sungjin grinned. "You know you aren't the only one who knows the art of illusions, right?"

Eldorado's greatest illusionist may be Zakiya, but Sungjin had the entirety of Rupellion, Eldorado's enemy. Priest Lintild, who was ranked just below the fourth priest, had a power called the "Vision of Dreams" which could bring a single target into hypnosis. It wasn't as extensive as Zakiya's "Kaleidoscope," but it was more powerful against a single target.

"I've been tricked… Me?"

"You were careless, or perhaps distracted by something else."

If they had fought one-on-one, Zakiya would have noticed. However, her mind had been exhausted in so many ways, and she had been prepared to self-destruct with the Eye of Ra. On top of that, she had been devoting herself to deceiving Sungjin and other people and hadn't paid attention to her own well-being, so she was easily tricked.

"Even so… How did you know about my brother?" That was what Zakiya truly wished to know. She was tricked. That could happen, because the enemy was strong and she was weak, but why was her brother there?

"I ordered a search."

"A search… Are you saying…" Zakiya looked at the black priest Pangnilin and Pangnilin stepped forward and bowed deeply to Sungjin.

"I have rescued this detained boy, as commanded by Master Sungjin, guardian of the saint."

"Well done. I'll reward you once we've returned. "

Pangniln politely bowed to Sungjin. "I'm undeserving. If I've helped the will of the goddess spread to the world, that would be the best reward. I don't need anything else."

Sungjin's orders to the four priests wasn't to become a mock opponent or attack the other regions. It wasn't just the Golden Wise King who used spies revolving around Zakiya.

Sungjin had the reverse operation commence with the black priest Pangnilin at its center. Pangnilin's power, the "Angel of Death," was a level 7 skill, which was unrecognizable until the person was attacked, and the organization "Eye of God," which he managed, was an information organization operated by the High Priest against the Golden Wise King. Rupellion, an enemy country of Eldorado, had its own organization.

When Zakiya and Kapitle had their late-night conversation, Pangnilin was there, too. Additionally, while Sungjin was pretending to focus on the obelisk, Kapitle had focused his attention on the obelisk, pretending to be deceived by Sungjin focusing on the obelisk instead of the Eye of Ra, but the true focus of Sungjin's efforts was to rescue Zakiya's brother.

"It was a difficult mission, but it turned out great."

"Kapitle's main focus was concentrated elsewhere, which made this whole process much easier."

"But you guys did a great job." Sungjin looked at the other girls. "You've all done well."

"We've only accompanied you." Eustasia coolly admitted that this time the priests of Old Rupellion had garnered more achievements than themselves.

Zakiya smiled with relief. "You created this situation to see where I stood."

"Right."

"I was completely deceived."

"Don't be indignant. Wasn't this something we had to discuss sometime?"

"Yes. But I was so thoroughly deceived that I'm seeing you in a new light." She smiled with her eyes, looking at Sungjin. She was bantering, but her heart was in an uproar. After finishing the conversation, she had so much to talk about with her brother.

"Now let's discuss how to crush the Eye of Ra again. Is there a way to destroy it without your destruction?"

"The self-exploding sequence will not work without me." There was no other way.

"Then what if you run away using the portal right after the self-explosion starts and be protected by Ereka for that little while? It would be possible if Rachel and the White Priest help Ereka's defense. No, let's put a few more people there just in case."

"Will you go that far?"

"Would you like to live happily ever after with your brother?" Sungjin stared directly into Zakiya's eyes.

Before Sungjin's eyes, which held the intensity of a strong man, Zakiya nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Wouldn't you have to live to do that?"

"Why are you going this far for me?"

"I think your abilities will be useful in defeating Kapitle." He valued his team members.

Zakiya smiled at Sungjin's words, which had revealed his ambition. "I see. I'll repay you by fulfilling my value from now on." But she instinctively felt that this man would have tried to save her even if he didn't find her abilities useful.

That's what he had showed her so far.

The Eye of Ra was a red sphere taller than Sungjin's height.

The sphere was in a special space floating in the air, emitting a mysterious light, but at the same time, it had no corporeal form. The murky rippling space seemed to act as a passageway that drew energy to this world from a different place far away.

It's like a wormhole. Sungjin looked at it and fell into deep thought. What was certain was that a tremendous amount of energy was being contained in that space. If that power surged, it would be enough to destroy one of the regions.

Zakiya put her talisman on Ra's Eye and offered a prayer that had been passed down in her family. "Father of great gods, the one who has granted the power of the sun, I hereby return the power you have left on earth back to heaven." It was the power to return powers to where they came from that made her clan special, but at the same time it attracted all kinds of greed, which had led her clan to its ruin.

"Reap your overflowing grace and return peace to this land. May the light of this hot sun…" Zakiya's prayer continued, and in the next moment, energy began to surge.

Flames stretched and burned, melting various things.

"Ugh." The priests began their defense.

Meanwhile, her prayers continued. "Let what should be in heaven remain in heaven!"

Baang. The energy exploded.

Like a fusion reactor exploding, huge amounts of energy sprang up everywhere. Everything burned at absolute high temperatures and pressures, bringing hydrogen together to form helium. It was not the type of destruction that humans could endure with simple shields.

"The Shield of All People! AEGIS! " Only the power of a god could stand before another power of God.

Ereka's power of Athena shone, and in the midst of a huge explosion, a barely sufficient safety zone was created.

But Ereka, who was in direct contact with the heat, was in a dangerous position, but she was protected by everyone else.

"Protection of the Sea." Beginning with Rachel's prayer, all the other priests poured their defense and healing powers onto Ereka.

They quickly created a portal in the fragile balance and escaped the scene.