SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 349: Full Moon Voyage (6)

When I asked the cats if they had a moment to talk about our lord and savior and the path carved for them, the God of Trade bowed despite the trembling. They truly knew the path.

“We surrendeeeeeeer!”

“But if we fall, many will lose their homes! We do not fight only for our own lives, but for the gods and divine beings in all worlds. Please show mercy!”

“Take pity on us!”

The twenty-four cats all bowed in surrender. Seeing them like this was somewhat moving, but my heart had recently been tainted a bit too much to be affected by emotions alone.

“Are they telling the truth, Snakey?” I asked.

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has activated their power of exposure, summarizing their thoughts in one line.]

When the snake let out a sharp cry, words rose before my eyes.

—Who cares about our followers and people, we’re about to die!

I knew it. “You never fail to play dirty...”

“Meoooow! Why is that snake obeying a mere human? Because of them, we can’t cheat or bargain! This is outrageous! This shouldn’t be allowed!”

The cats were outraged. Since they were a Constellation that mainly dealt with fraud, Hishimit Kritz seemed to be their main foe. Meanwhile, Hishimit Kritz seemed to have gotten mad for being called a snake by the cats. They raised their head and gave out a shrill, making the felines jump in surprise.

“Meow!”

“S-scary!”

“Terrifying!”

“See that scary green color of their scales? That color shouldn’t be allowed in this universe! The snake’s existence is an insult to the universe. It’s an evil blasphemy.”

Hishimit Kritz let out another cry.

“Meoooow! Help me! Help me!”

“The green alien creature is trying to eat us! Help! Help!”

It was a shitstorm. Well, technically, it was a cat storm, but that didn’t roll off the tongue that nicely. Meowstorm? Wait, why did that sound so cute?

The Countess was still watching everything live through the hologram.

—My friend seems to have gotten lost in weird thoughts again, so let’s continue with the negotiation. I want your unconditional surrender, but I don’t plan to take more than what you have. This place is a kind of heaven, and you’re the managers. It’s only right for you to preserve that role.

“Meow? T-then... are you asking for a moderate amount of cash compensation or regular tributes?”

Without holding back anything, the Countess showed the side of her that had made her the richest person in the Tower.

—No, I only want one thing. Your utter shame.

“M-ma’am...?”

—I have no plan to break the Golden Heaven Realm’s economy, nor do I plan to ruin the other worlds either. As the managers of heaven, you can’t favor only our Tower. I’ll say it again. I just want to screw you over.

“Yiiiiiikes!”

The cats shook at the Countess’s words. Since they were the ones who had made her like that, I felt no pity for them. Justice always prevailed, and it was their karma to pay. Therefore, they were supposed to endure the Countess’ nyan-nyan punch.[1] Ah, justice, karma, and nyan-nyan punch—I was a big fan of all of these things.

—Come when I call you. If I ask you to put on a show, do it right in front of me. When I tell you to open a chip bag, obey me. You must always tell the truth and never lie to me. That’s not all. If I tell you to meow, you’ll meow. When the time comes and I get tired of your meowing, I’ll tell you to bark, and you’ll have no choice but to bark.

The cats trembled in anger.

“What an outrageous demand!”

“As cats, barking is the worst insult!”

“True! Dogs are inferior beasts who can’t even stretch as much as cats! There are laws and principles in this universe, so we can’t bark like dogs.”

These cats were a Constellation of fraud. What filled their bellies was the satisfaction that they gained from deceiving others. On top of that, they discriminated against dogs. I was now concerned that calling them cats could be considered an offence to the cats of our world.

The Countess listened quietly to the cats’ protests, but a single remark was all it took to end the protest.

—Do you not want that? If so, I’ll just let the Death King reveal all your secrets.

The cats bowed deeply to the hologram.

“From now on, we’ll be your puppies forever.”

“If I may be honest, we’ve been admiring the habits of dogs, so we wished we could woof instead of meow.”

“Woof, woof! It sounds warmer and is more catchy!”

“Ma’am, you gracefully granted us the principles and doctrines of woof! We finally feel like we’ve left the barbaric way and are pursuing righteousness. Wooooof!”

I see...

Well, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing, but I couldn’t think of anything else better to describe what I was witnessing.

[The Goldcoin-Biting Cat has surrendered.] 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Many small squabbles followed between the Countess and the God of Trade. I didn’t pay much attention to them. They were just polishing the terms in the surrender treaty to remove any room for misunderstanding. The Countess would take care of it. What mattered to me was what came next. After over three hours of talk, the perfect surrender treaty was signed, and the Countess looked at me with a beaming smile.

—Great work, Death King.

I shook my head, returning the smile. “It’s nothing.”

In contrast to the Countess’ wide smirk, the cats were lying on the floor in fatigue.

“She’s a devil. We’ve been dealing with a devil...”

“We may need to rethink our service protocols for our customers...”

How much did she rip them off for them to end up like that? I was glad that the Countess was on my side. If she were my foe, then the Paladin would be too. Both the Tower’s economy and social security would be at risk. If this were a game, it was as good as over. The two of them had detailed assassination plans and the money to carry them out, too. How terrifying.

—Thanks to you, I’ve accomplished a lifelong dream. Some say friends are useless, but I gained a lot from this.

“I had fun too.”

The Countess shut her fan and smiled.

—I believe it’s time to say goodbye to this fun. Come back, Death King.

[The examiner has given you a pass!]

[You have earned the examiner’s recognition.]

[You may leave the stage at any time.]

I had no reason to stay here any longer.

I’ll leave the stage.

Yellow light enveloped me.

[The Goldcoin-Eating Cat has surrendered to you.]

[The hidden stage has been cleared!]

[Sending you back to the seventieth floor.]

“Welcome,” the Countess greeted me slowly, waving her fan. She was still sprawled on her comfy couch. “I wanted to tell you this in person. Gong-Ja, congrats on clearing the stage.”

The seventy-second floor was now clear.

***

Though the floor had been cleared, the Countess didn’t return immediately. Perhaps it was because she knew that leaving would erase her memories under the Tower’s law since all memories related to the Pillars had to be erased. The Countess surely took her time.

“I’ve been working around the clock for the MA and had no time for a break,” the Countess said. “To be honest, staying here is a free break. Time flows differently here than in Babylon, so it’s the best place for a vacation.”

“Even if you rest here, your memories will be erased, so it’ll mean nothing.”

“I’ll have to have more fun before they’re erased.”

The Countess sounded genuine. Well, I wasn’t in a rush. This was a good chance to chat with the Countess and learn more about her. As we chatted, I discovered something surprising.

“What? You knew Patricia made assassination plans?”

“Of course,” the Countess said as if it were only natural. “Patricia and I hide nothing from each other. We don’t talk about needless things, but we never blur the line between what is and isn’t necessary. We even pledged to make sure that will never happen. The most important aspect is the will to keep that pledge. I trust Patricia’s will.”

There was no doubt in the Countess’s look. Honestly, I was a little taken aback.

“Uh... I’m not sure if I should say this, but Patricia likely has a plan to kill you, Nisha. I’m sure it’s just a plan, but she surely made at least one.”

“Of course. To take over the Tower from the Five Guilds, she would have to strike the MA first, so she has to eliminate me first.”

I was at a loss for words. “W... wow...”

The Countess chuckled as if she found my reaction funny. “It’s already been years since I found out. I told Patricia that if she’s ready to be a dictator, she should take my life before killing anyone else. How is she going to carry out a purge without that kind of resolve? She’ll have to pay the price. If I’m being honest, Patricia would have exploded long ago without the limits I set. Because she’s an overthinker, she may seem indecisive, but once she makes up her mind, she stops at nothing.”

There was a reason for my silence. Neither the Paladin nor the Countess knew about it because they had not seen it happen.

The Countess was the first to die.

The secret was buried in the loop of time, and I was the only one who remembered the tragedy from the twelfth floor.

When we reached the twelfth floor, the Paladin agreed to the Demon King of Autumn Rain’s deal and worked with her. Then the Five Guild leaders were hunted by the Demon King one by one...

When the Demon King had swung her sword, a red laser beam burned everyone in her path. The first thing the sword cut was the Aegim Empire’s royal hall, where the Countess was.

As promised, the Paladin had killed the Countess first.

“Hm? Your expression is odd. Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” I answered.

It was fine. It didn’t happen in this timeline. The Demon King of Autumn Rain was now Estelle, the Paladin was Patricia and the Countess was Nisha. Both Hunters called me Gong-Ja. Everything had changed.

Still, things I once took as mere coincidences now made sense in ways I would have never guessed before. I understood them now.

It was... a very strange feeling. I realized again that a coincidence was just a temporary name for an inevitability I didn’t yet understand. The things I did and wished to do perhaps had to do with turning countless coincidences into inevitabilities little by little. That had to be it. I felt it was no different from turning the people close to me into a part of me.

“Yes, sorry to interrupt your chat,” the Primordial Staff chimed in, watching us with her long staff in hand. “Death King, it’s time to climb to the seventy-third floor.”

Yes, another heaven was waiting for me.

1. It's a common expression in Korean of Kitty punches. It comes from this game. ☜