Chapter 199

Chapter 199
## Chapter 199

### Approaching Footsteps

An online community message board in Korea.

-It honestly feels like Hahoe Mask has thrown in the towel regarding keeping a low profile from cameras and recordings. Out of nowhere, a massive wave of proof has dropped after just a few days, haha. Although, every single piece of footage is from Japan.

└It really would be pretty ridiculous to attempt to go into hiding now after executing such a flamboyant introduction. Still, I wonder why he hasn’t brought out that Bone Dragon again? I am dying to witness it one more time!

└Man, brother… when exactly are you planning to return to Korea…? Walking around at night gives me the creeps without you around, bro T_T

└Is it just me, or have the wrongdoers who were starting to crop up again after Hahoe Mask departed for Japan been vanishing at lightning speed lately? It appears the Guardians are finally stepping up and doing what they are paid for, haha.

Barely a week had flown by since Hahoe Mask had unveiled the Bone Dragon within the region of Kyushu.

As a consequence, the digital landscape was understandably still hyper-focused on the event.

Naturally, fresh crises and occurrences were breaking out with each passing day, but an impact of that magnitude was not the sort of sensation that would simply evaporate over the course of a few afternoons.

Not only had his formidable image been permanently scorched into the collective memory of the populace, but he had even transformed into a sensational point of discussion across the globe!

It was only to be expected that Korean citizens, who historically paid close attention to international perceptions, would develop a profound fascination with Hahoe Mask, given that he was operating on foreign soil while sporting a piece of traditional Korean culture on his face.

Granted, the public sentiment was far from entirely supportive…

-But is it really acceptable for a Korean national to operate with such total disregard for the law in a foreign territory? Isn’t that bound to trigger severe diplomatic friction?

└Real talk) Hahoe Mask was already a wanted outlaw who operated with total disregard for the law back home in Korea.

└When you pause to reflect on it, though, isn’t this situation kind of humiliating for our homeland? A fugitive that our own law enforcement couldn’t manage to apprehend is now running rampant abroad and achieving global notoriety; what kind of reflection is that on Korea?;;

└Who honestly gives a damn? It’s not like Japan is having any luck capturing him either.

This divide persisted primarily because a significant portion of the population felt intensely uncomfortable with his extreme, vigilante methods.

When all was said and done, he remained a lawbreaker who was independently dispensing capital punishment, and to make matters worse, it had been explicitly demonstrated that he was a necromancer wielding the universally feared powers of dark sorcery.

The sentiments echoing from overseas territories ran along a very similar track.

It was an intricate blend of underlying dread mixed with intense fascination.

In that regard, the collective voice within Japan, where the extensive ‘purification operation’ was currently tearing through the underworld, resembled an absolute cauldron of bedlam, with every imaginable perspective clashing violently against one another.

-That concealed dark champion literally passed through my neighborhood just yesterday. And by this morning, the entire sector was absolutely crawling with law enforcement.

-I have been spending every day paralyzed by terror because those syndicates didn’t give a single damn about the police force or the Guardians… Can I finally breathe a sigh of relief now?

A number of individuals voiced quiet optimism regarding the sweeping transformations that tended to follow in the wake of Hahoe Mask’s visitations.

-I reside out in Fukuoka, and the shift was completely undeniable to me. Granted, minor street thugs rushed in to claim the vacated territories almost immediately afterward.

-Even so, the sheer difference in the magnitude of their operations makes the current situation leagues better than what we faced previously. Though, who knows how long this peace is actually going to hold.

└The exact same scenario played out in my area. The rookies trying to move in are at the very least walking on eggshells for the time being. I genuinely wish the Supernatural Bureau would move in and liquidate them completely while they are severely compromised, but honestly, it’s a safer bet to pray for that masked champion’s return than to rely on those useless bureaucrats to handle their responsibilities competently.

Others conveyed a sense of quiet gratification regarding the aftermath left behind once he had departed a district.

-Are every single one of you completely brainless? A Korean criminal has infiltrated our borders and is systematically slaughtering Japanese citizens, so what on earth possess you to celebrate this?

└I am completely with you on that. What is the Supernatural Bureau even accomplishing right now? Bring him into custody immediately! I can’t even sleep peacefully at night!

└Except for the fact that Hahoe Mask exclusively targets syndicates like the Yakuza.

└Are the members of the Yakuza not Japanese citizens as well? If their apprehension is necessary, we ought to execute it through our own systems; why is a Korean individual executing them instead?! We should absolutely demand formal financial restitution from Korea.

└The fundamental issue is that our authorities are completely intertwined with them, which is precisely why they refuse to lock them up.

The debates ranged from those who aired bitter grievances rooted in deep-seated nationalist friction to those who stepped forward to fiercely counter those points.

Understandably, the domestic populace was vastly more reactive than onlookers in alternative nations, given that they were the ones physically coexisting with the fallout.

Furthermore, that burning focus was bound to intensify exponentially when filtered through the lens of specific, high-stakes syndicates.

The underground networks within Japan, who found themselves trapped in a genuinely apocalyptic scenario, alongside Heaven’s Turn Society, which had suffered a severe setback after attempting to ensnare Hahoe Mask, served as the ultimate testaments to this reality.

—

An opulent, high-end residence situated within China.

*Hummmm— Click—*

A male individual hovering in his early thirties, confined to a mechanical wheelchair, shifted his gaze with rigid, systematic precision. His features remained completely devoid of animation, mirroring an automated construct, as a muffled electronic frequency resonated inside his skull.

As this process unfolded, an absolute torrent of intelligence extracted from every corner of the globe was systematically logged and cataloged within his memory banks.

This did not merely encompass the specialized data their own networks had meticulously verified; it likewise swept up the data that independent analysts and civilian internet users had picked apart and published online purely for amusement, thoroughly inspecting and archiving every single scrap.

It represented, in the most literal sense, the culmination of the regional headquarters throwing every available asset into an all-out surveillance and intelligence campaign.

“Tsk.”

Nonetheless, Yulryeongja, the individual who had just concluded scanning the extensive documentation flashing across the digital display in his private quarters, shifted his weight back against his seat and let out a sharp click of his tongue, completely dissatisfied.

His brow furrowed deeply, and he began to aggressively knead his temples as though confronted by something immensely irritating.

“My dear Yulryeongja~? It certainly looks like things are going rather poorly for you!”

Right at that precise second,

His entire frame gave an involuntary jerk at the sudden arrival of that absurdly playful voice.

He possessed absolute certainty that he had been entirely unaccompanied inside the chamber until now.

Yet, after a microsecond of internal recovery, he slowly dropped the hand that had been massaging his temple and smoothly pivoted his gaze toward the source.

“…Doctor.”

Precisely as anticipated, a easily recognizable middle-aged figure sporting wildly disheveled brown locks and an unkempt beard was staring back at him with an expansive, mocking smirk.

“It has truly been an absolute age! Tell me, how is that replacement eye of yours functioning?”

“By your grace, it is currently—”

“Pfft! Exactly, it is entirely by my grace! Which happens to be precisely why… I find myself feeling thoroughly let down.”

The tone underlying Doctor’s voice dropped rapidly, his playful demeanor violently shifting into cold gravity in the blink of an eye.

Yulryeongja merely dipped his chin in silent submission to this psychological volatility, which remained as wildly erratic as it had always been.

“Word reached my ears regarding the debacle over in Japan. You managed to botch the operation spectacularly from what I gather, correct?”

“…You have my profound regrets.”

“Oh well~ Such mishaps are bound to occur! A Bone Dragon, of all imaginable things! Even a genius like myself failed to foresee that particular wild card! He possesses a far more fascinating nature than I originally credited him for. Ahahaha!”

Doctor burst into a fit of raucous laughter once more, sounding borderline unhinged, before dabbing away the moisture gathering at the corners of his eyelids and finally steering the conversation toward the true purpose of his unannounced visit.

“I have been formally notified that the Master has made his return.”

“…Is that a fact.”

The precise itinerary and undertakings of the Master were classified under the most rigid security protocols.

To be fair, Yulryeongja operated as the supreme commander of the entire East Asian sector, encompassing China—the historic bedrock of Heaven’s Turn Society—and he wielded direct administrative oversight over the movements and restrictions of their primary operatives, meaning his rank was far from insignificant.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been briefed on such developments in short order anyway.

Yet, it was an inescapable reality that he would always sit a step behind in the information pipeline compared to Doctor, who effectively functioned as the Master’s personal confidant and chief agent.

And as for the underlying motive behind him traveling all this way simply to hand over this piece of news…

“The Master himself developed an immense fascination with that specific Bone Dragon! The man has historically harbored a deep fondness for the bizarre and anomalous, after all, hasn’t he?”

“Are you implying that…”

“Precisely! He explicitly stated his desire to personally evaluate that grinning buffoon in the flesh! Naturally, I am fully intending to accompany him on the excursion! Hehehe!”

“The Master committed himself to this directly? What of Oracle’s…”

Yulryeongja, thrown completely off balance by the sudden revelation, blurted out the title of an entirely different ranking member, causing Doctor’s face to instantly twist in disgust, as though he had just been forced to swallow something repulsive.

“…Hmph, that particular woman appears to be lacking her usual absolute certainty on this occasion. Consequently, what choice does she have? She has no option but to remain completely silent!”

However, he masterfully reined in his irritation almost instantly, continuing with an air of absolute arrogance.

“It provides me with such immense satisfaction to see that insufferable woman, who historically monitored my every action with endless lecturing, finally rendered utterly speechless! The destiny of tomorrow is by no means an unchangeable script; it is a reality that we carve out through our own volition! I truly wish the Master would cease granting her counsel so much weight!”

The two individuals occupied completely inverted poles regarding both their innate capabilities and core temperaments, resulting in an exceptionally hostile working relationship between them.

If Doctor represented the Master’s dominant right arm, she filled the role of his indispensable left.

The pair would not even tolerate existing within the boundaries of the identical syndicate were it not for the unifying authority of their leader.

“In that case, the Master is currently situated—”

“Pfft! You are intimately acquainted with his behavioral patterns, so why even utter the inquiry?”

Precisely as expected.

Yulryeongja gave a slow, deliberate nod of understanding, pieceing together the immediate reality.

“He ought to be crossing the threshold right—”

*Clatter—*

At that exact heartbeat, the entryway swung inward violently without the slightest introductory signal, utterly cutting off the remainder of Doctor’s sentence.

“It has been quite some time, gentlemen. Yulryeongja, how does your physical recovery progress?”

A male figure stepped over the threshold, completely shrouded in an incredibly bizarre, shifting pressure.

At an initial glance, his appearance projected nothing short of absolute normalcy, yet he simultaneously radiated an oppressive, suffocating weight. Furthermore, the moment an observer attempted to lock their vision onto his features to truly perceive him, his form seemed to warp and turn entirely indistinct—.

He existed as a fundamentally intangible entity.

“Yes, my recovery has progressed substantially owing to your benevolent consideration.”

“Ha~ Talk about impeccable timing! He has materialized precisely on cue, Master!”

The undisputed sovereign of Heaven’s Turn Society, an international syndicate of terror that commanded boundless dominion over global events from the deep shadows of civilization.

He had remained physically detached from their primary operations for an extended duration for undisclosed motives, and now, he had finally stepped back onto the soil of China.

All for the singular purpose of personally hunting down Hahoe Mask, who was currently wreaking havoc across the Japanese archipelago.

—

“What could possibly be causing my ears to tingle like this?”

*Thud—*

I meticulously guided the massive, weighted iron bar down onto its rack and reached up to rub at my ears after concluding my customary training regimen inside my residential exercise space.

‘Huh, I wonder if some group is busy running their mouths about me?’

The passing speculation flickered through my consciousness for a brief instant before evaporating into nothingness.

There were far too many entities across the globe to count who might be doing exactly that.

I gave a casual shrug of my shoulders and crouched back down to grip the weighted bar once more.

“Hgoooo—!”

Hans was fundamentally structured to exist as a lightning rod for global scrutiny and debate.

This reality required no explanation back within the borders of Auterica, and he had recently transformed into an absolute lightning rod for media chaos across Japan due to his decision to begin operating completely out in the open there.

Naturally, he maintained a constant, clear pulse on how the tides of public perception were shifting.

‘Be that as it may, I have absolutely no intention of altering my strategic trajectory merely to accommodate public sentiment.’

Up to this exact juncture, every single phase of his plan had been rolling out without a hitch.

He had successfully shattered the elaborate ambush laid out by Heaven’s Turn Society while simultaneously turning the entire nation of Japan completely upside down, dealing them an incredibly severe blow in the process.

Judging by his historical data regarding their behavior, they were absolutely not the sort of syndicate to quietly swallow such a humiliating loss, meaning some form of violent counter-strike was almost certainly brewing in the wings.

His only job was to persist with the exact methodology he had been employing, ensuring he was thoroughly armed for the exact moment they chose to strike back.

‘Which translates to systematically incinerating their operational hubs down to the bedrock.’

An involuntary, wicked grin crept onto his features.

What activity could possibly offer more pure gratification than systematically dismantling a grand monument that an adversary had spent decades meticulously constructing?!

‘A mere handful of days have slipped by since our initial engagement. They will inevitably require an interval to consolidate their shattered lines. However, they are highly unlikely to abandon their investments in Japan down to the last man, meaning the interlude won’t stretch on indefinitely.’

Granted, they would undoubtedly return to the field with vastly superior armaments and preparation during their next attempt, but the specific maneuvers of Heaven’s Turn Society were ultimately inconsequential to him.

He now possessed the unhindered capability to summon and manifest the Bone Dragon Heratos at a moment’s notice, supplemented by the newly bound Abyss Revenant Salma, and…

‘And should the operational parameters turn genuinely catastrophic, I can simply vanish instantly.’

He retained the permanent option to trigger ‘Dismiss’, which stood as the ultimate, foolproof emergency extraction mechanism.

‘Therefore, the defensive layout on Earth is securely managed. The operational theater back in Auterica presents a somewhat more tangled web, but… all things considered, it is advancing at a relatively steady pace.’

*Thud—*

The iron barbell was delivered back to the flooring with another resounding, heavy impact.

I concluded the active set, rolled my shoulders out to release the built-up tension, and cast a subtle, evaluating look off to my flank.

“Huuu! Haa—! Haa!”

Perspiration was streaming down his physical frame like an absolute downpour, and his lungs were working frantically to pull in oxygen.

An exceptionally statuesque, aesthetically striking young male clad in casual attire was currently grinding through a series of deep squats with a massive barbell braced securely across his upper back.

‘Hmm, look at that, there is absolutely no denying that he is a remarkably good-looking fellow.’

I nodded to myself with a deep sense of internal approval while observing his movements.

Naturally, this individual was none other than my latest synthesized vessel, ‘Hugo’.

The avatar had been plunged straight into a regime of brutal, uncompromising physical conditioning the absolute microsecond he was brought into existence, adhering strictly to my standard operating procedure.

Though, he possessed one highly specific, distinguishing characteristic… on this particular occasion, I had completely abstained from altering his facial architecture or structural aesthetics, meaning his physical appearance mirrored my natural form with total fidelity, precisely like the initial set of duplicates I had generated during the genesis of my journey.

‘In any event, I retain the capability to completely overhaul his visual configuration via “Customization” at any given moment I deem necessary.’

Hugo’s immediate operational mandate centered around managing an assortment of domestic responsibilities and functioning as my physical proxy whenever my presence was required elsewhere.

This arrangement would completely resolve the persistent logistical headache of my physical form frequently turning entirely vacant due to my heavy reliance on “Individual Projection” as of late.

To be fair, the likelihood of a catastrophic security breach occurring during those brief windows of vacancy was remarkably low, but maintaining a redundant layer of protection was always the superior choice.

‘Hmm, that reminds me…’

As I began making my way toward the washing quarters with a dry cloth slung casually across my shoulder,

I took a leisurely moment to mentally review the unfolding theater of war across the alternate reality and gave a firm nod of determination.

‘It would be wise for me to direct my primary focus toward that particular domain for the immediate future.’

A highly consequential, monumental occasion was right on the verge of kicking off within the realm of Auterica.

—

The exact moment he stepped through the threshold of the spinning, luminous azure portal,

The primary figure that filled Heinrich’s field of vision happened to be an incredibly familiar countenance.

“A warm welcome to you, Saint. You have executed your duties with immense dedication.”

A young maiden possessing radiant, platinum-silver tresses that appeared to physically fragment and diffuse the ambient illumination around her, paired with intensely vivid, shimmering gold irises.

The Saintess Liesta Saint Hatianuss, completely enveloped in a brilliant, celestial luminescence that effortlessly brightened the entire chamber merely by her physical presence, extended a serene, welcoming expression to the arriving band of champions.

“Allow me to formally welcome you back to the grand Roselia Cathedral.”

This marked the definitive juncture where Heinrich had at long last concluded his arduous, far-reaching expedition, successfully arriving within the sacred walls of the cathedral nestled deep inside the holy territory to take his place in the proceedings of the second Continental Summit.