Translator: miraclerifle
Ju-Heon started to grind his teeth.
He realized something the moment he put his hand on it.
‘This artifact is already activated.’
Basically, it had a master... Or, more accurately, it had a host.
This artifact was a parasitic artifact.
This thing that was here could be considered a shell. The artifact had left its body to be a parasite inside a person.
He could feel the person the artifact was attached to, as he was touching the artifact.
‘But that direction is...?!’
Ju-Heon frowned.
He quickly started running.
Boom!
The priests became anxious as Ju-Heon escaped.
"Catch that bastard!”
“The thief is running away!”
The bishops looked especially anxious.
It was because of the direction Ju-Heon was running in.
“Did that bastard figure it out?”
“There’s no way...! He only touched it for a moment!”
It didn’t matter.
“We cannot let that bastard escape! There is a chance he figured out the secret!”
“Move with the intent to kill!”
“Yes sir!”
While that was going...
“Aaaaaaaaaak!”
Ju-Heon used a fan artifact to get rid of the priests.
[The nose-growing red fan, blue fan (B-Grade:Rare-Grade)]
Ju-Heon used this artifact from a traditional fairytale to increase not just their noses, but the sizes of buildings and objects, as he rushed into Galina’s mansion.
‘I'm here.’
However, Ju-Heon jumped in shock before he could make it into the house.
"Galina!”
Galina was on the ground outside the door. She was clutching her stomach in a lot of pain.
“...Mr. Ju-Heon, that artifact?”
“Are you talking about this?”
Galina was relieved after seeing Ju-Heon pull out the statue of Saint Mary from his bag.
“As expected of you, Mr. Ju-Heon...! Good job, hurry up and contract with it!”
Ju-Heon frowned as if she sounded crazy.
“You'll die if I contract with this. Am I wrong?”
“......!”
“This is the parasitic type. It is living as a parasite inside your body.”
Although each situation was different, the hosts generally died when parasitic artifacts changed masters. They killed their hosts as they left the body.
That was what Ju-Heon had learned.
But to contract with this...!
"Are you planning on dying?”
Galina grabbed Ju-Heon with desperation.
“That is Saint Mary’s artifact. You know what that means, right?”
“!”
Ju-Heon frowned.
It was an expected reaction. Saint Mary was said to have given birth to Jesus as a virgin.
Although she was an extremely holy person in Christianity, it was a completely different story when dealing with artifacts.
‘No way, right?’
Galina clutched her stomach while looking as if she was going to cry.
"The Vatican...used that artifact on me while claiming that they will get rid of the devil. By the time I noticed it, inside of me...!”
“......!”
Basically, Galina was pregnant with the Messiah artifact right now.
‘Did it take Galina as its host?’
That seemed to be the condition to activate the Messiah artifact. The artifact would appear when Mary’s artifact was used on a woman who met special requirements.
Ju-Heon was sure it would not be a normal birth.
‘It is an artifact after all.’
He was sure it would slash through all of Galina’s organs and burst out of her stomach.
Galina would probably die. No, there was no way her body was fine right now with an artifact growing inside of her.
She was crying in pain.
“The thing inside of me is no Messiah. It is a monster.”
There were no artifacts that would save humans. All artifacts desired to kill humans.
She was sure this would be a devil wearing the Messiah's mask.
“My stomach is starting to get bigger so it is getting harder to hide. So please, before Ilya notices...!”
“......!”
Galina seemed to want to hide this fact from Ilya at all costs.
The reason was simple.
‘Let's go to the Vatican. My uncle knows people there. I'm sure they’ll be able to save you.’
Ilya was the person who brought her to the Vatican and introduced her to the Bishop.
“He’ll blame himself for this.”
Galina had realized that there was no way to get rid of this artifact and even considered committing suicide because of the pain.
However...
[You think I would let you kill yourself, human?!]
The artifact inside Galina prevented her from doing so, probably to preserve itself.
“So please, contract with it and kill me...! I left my suicide note already so Ilya won't know if you help me, Mr. Ju-Heon.”
Galina was extremely apologetic that she had to make such a request.
However, it wouldn't be a big deal for Ju-Heon.
In fact, it would be beneficial to him.
Ju-Heon was planning on contracting with this SS-Grade artifact to become a Monarch anyway.
This was a win-win situation for both of them.
"There are not many people who can forcibly contract with that artifact. But you are capable of doing that, Mr. Ju-Heon...!”
Ju-Heon was strong enough to do that.
That was why she had helped Ju-Heon. She was planning on jumping off the building while matching the moment Ju-Heon contracted with the artifact.
She had already prepared her suicide note to make it look like a suicide.
However, she had not expected Ju-Heon to come here without contracting the artifact.
Galina’s hands were shaking.
“Mr. Ju-Heon, there is nowhere else for you to get a Divine-Grade artifact other than this one.”
She was right.
The precious artifacts were all being monopolized by the Monarchs whose names were already in Pandora.
Using this would allow him to put his name within those Monarchs to openly get their support as he excavated tombs.
Ju-Heon seemed to have a thought as he picked up the artifact.
“Okay, fine.”
Galina’s face lit up.
But at that moment...
"What are you doing, you son of a bitch?!”
Pow!
A sudden shadow pretty much flew over and slammed into Ju-Heon. Ju-Heon fell to the ground.
Ilya was huffing while glaring at Ju-Heon.
"Are you fucking crazy?! You were going to kill Galina?”
Galina was shocked to hear that while Ilya bit down on his lips. His face was shaking as he looked at Galina.
"Galina, say that again. Is what you just said all true?”
“......!”
Ilya must have heard Galina’s story.
“I ASKED IF IT IS TRUE!”
Galina didn't know where to look after hearing his hysterical scream.
“...I'm sorry, Ilya. I'm sorry.”
Ilya looked crushed as soon as she said that.
He remembered what the bishop from the Vatican said to him.
‘This is an artifact that will save Galina. You must protect it well.’
That was what he knew.
So what was going on?!
It was at that moment. Ju-Heon aimed for Mary’s artifact that Ilya had taken.
‘!’
Was he still trying to contract with this SS-Grade artifact?
“Hand it over, you bastard!”
Pow!
Ju-Heon kicked Ilya and took the artifact back. Ilya's eyes opened wide and he launched a kick to Ju-Heon’s head.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
Ju-Heon glared at Ilya in pain after being kicked in the back of the head.
‘I'm going to kill this bastard!’
“Do you want to die?!”
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“You’re the one who is going to die. You're still trying to contract with the artifact to kill Galina?! Are you even human?!”
"What are you talking about? I'm trying to destroy the artifact! I'm trying to save Galina!”
“!”
Ju-Heon viciously channeled his Dominance into the artifact.
‘Self-destruct, you damn artifact!’
The artifact inside Galina might be destroyed as well if he made this artifact detonate.
They might be connected.
However, at that moment...
Flash!
“Aaah!”
Ju-Heon's hand and body received major burns and he was sent flying. Galina and Ilya anxiously looked toward him.
“Hey!”
“Mr. Ju-Heon! Are you okay?!”
“I guess this method really doesn’t work...!”
He would probably die if he tried again.
Humans were not capable of destroying artifacts. They could only use attack-type artifacts of similar grade, incompatible artifacts, or special artifacts to do so.
The future Ju-Heon would use this method to make artifacts explode left and right, threaten them, and do all sorts of things people didn't know was possible, but the Ju-Heon of this time had no such means.
He would only reach that level in his thirties.
‘But I should try again...!’
As he had that thought...
“The artifact she conceived will not disappear even if you destroy that artifact.”
“!”
He heard some triumphant voices.
The Vatican priests had all rushed over to Galina's house, as if they had all scheduled to meet there.
Ilya was the first to shout in anger at their appearances.
“Conceived... you bastards really knew!”
“You finally figured it out, you stupid idiot.”
“!”
The bishop and Ilya’s fellow priests looked at him with pity.
“Yes, we impregnated Galina with Saint Mary’s artifact. She was a rare woman who met the conditions to conceive the Messiah artifact.”
“We hoped you wouldn't find out until the end.”
‘These motherfuckers!’
“You guys scammed me! You said that you would get rid of the devil possessing Galina!”
“Scam? That is such a harsh word. We didn't lie to you.”
"What?”
“The devil possessing Galina is an artifact. It is a devil-type artifact. It is living as a parasite inside her.”
“Galina’s body is innately good at receiving artifacts. That is why we thought she would be perfect to conceive the Messiah artifact as well.”
“......!”
They all smiled wickedly.
“But in order to give birth to the Messiah, Galina will turn into Saint Mary’s artifact. The devil-type artifact would naturally be destroyed once she becomes a holy artifact.”
“......?!”
“So, how can you say that we lied? Well, I guess she would lose all of her personality once she turns into an artifact.
But anyway, we are still exorcising the devil as promised.”
“.........You motherfuckers!”
Ilya’s eyes were bloodshot.
He completely regretted his decision to bring Galina to the Vatican. He was the one who pushed her to come even though she didn't want to do so.
‘You retard, don't be scared. This is all to heal you.’
‘Damn it!’
Ilya’s lips were ripping from biting down too hard. He had pushed Galina to her death.
However, his so-called peers were laughing.
“Alright, hurry up and bring Galina here if you understand. Are you planning on letting an outsider like that take the SS-Grade artifact?”
“Ilya, as a member of the Vatican...”
“Get lost, you motherfuckers!”
Ilya’s artifacts went berserk as he shouted.
The building exploded soon after that.
“Find them! There’s no way they got far with those injuries!”
“They must be around here somewhere!”
The Vatican was in uproar. Ilya was on the run with an important artifact.
Ilya, who was currently inside an empty storage room, felt as if he was going to die.
“Ugh...! Don't be so rough!”
“Shut up before I pull out your tongue! Shut the hell up if you don't want to get caught!”
Ju-Heon was shoving organs into Ilya’s body.
Galina was anxiously holding onto the bloody Ilya without knowing what to do.
“Ilya, it’s okay. It’s okay. Just hold on a little...!”
“Aaah!”
“Tsk, this son of a bitch...put something in his mouth so that he doesn’t bite down on his tongue!”
“Ugh!”
The pain of having organs shoved inside without any anesthesia was beyond anything imaginable.
It was fine that he activated his artifact to grab Galina and run, but it was difficult to overcome the numbers game.
He was struck by the attacks from the Vatican priests.
Even he could not run away while his organs were dangling outside his body. He couldn’t go to the hospital either.
Ju-Heon stood up.
Ilya would die before they left the Vatican at this rate.
“I will go find a healing artifact or kidnap a doctor or something, so the two of you stay hiding here.”
Galina nodded her head.
However...
“Wait.”
“!”
“I don’t need a doctor. Take Galina and go if you have time to look for things like that...!”
“What?”
"The Monarch of Healing might be able to get rid of the artifact inside Galina...! I know the owner of a bar called Old Town Heaven. He will help you smuggle Galina out.”
“......I'll be back within 15 minutes.”
Ju-Heon quickly disappeared. Ilya patted Galina, who was crying as if she was in pain, on the back.
“I'm sorry, I did something unnecessary and it ended up being terrible for you.”
“Ilya!”
“I'll get rid of that parasitic artifact. I'll get rid of that devil artifact inside of you as well. So please don't have any weird thoughts.”
Galina started to cry.
While that was going on...
“Fuck, you still haven't found them?”
“No sir. They must be hiding somewhere deep inside.”
The priests were grinding their teeth while looking for Galina.
Galina was the woman who was going to give birth to the Messiah artifact, the artifact that would increase their authority.
They actually knew about Galina long before Ilya brought her to them.
How?
‘This woman was one of our experimental subjects.’
Pandora’s Knights of the Round Table had told them about her. They had been experimenting with Un-known before artifacts officially appeared.
One of those experiments was the birth of artifacts through humans.
‘It was a coincidence, but there was one time we let an evil god loose. We were looking for a body with strong antibodies.’
‘The other experimental subjects in the area all died but Galina survived.’
‘She has a strong enough body that would make even an evil god stay inside her. I'm sure she’ll be able to conceive the Messiah as well.’
‘And that kid named Ilya around her... His Fit with holy artifact seems pretty high. I think he might be useful for the Vatican as well.’
‘That’s true! And since he is close to Galina, he would be the perfect fit to use Galina once she becomes an artifact!’
‘This is too perfect to be a coincidence. I'm sure that God planned for this to happen.’
That was how Galina and Ilya ended up headed toward the Vatican.
‘Ilya, why don’t you try asking the Vatican for help?’
They had used his uncle to guide him there.
Well, none of them expected it to work out so well as it had.
Either way, the current situation was dangerous.
“That weird Seo Ju-Heon bastard had to show up and ruin everything...!”
“If the two of them smuggle Galina out of the country, the artifact inside of her...!”
“We were working so hard to control the environment around her...!”
Vatican City was being protected by a holy artifact. That artifact inside her probably could not grow properly outside of this environment.
It was at that moment.
“Then why don't we take it out before they can escape?”
“!”
A familiar priest appeared in front of them. It was John.
He, a Vatican priest, would end up being Ju-Heon’s team member and a Knight of the Round Table in the future.
“It shouldn't be a problem even if we take the fetus out now. We can create an artificial womb for it to finish growing in the Vatican.”
“John!”
“We do not have much time. The Messiah artifact is extremely important to both the Vatican and Pandora. In some ways, it is an SSS-Grade artifact that would change who controls the world.”
The control was currently with the Monarch of Fate who could see the future. But this was a strong artifact that could change that at once.
‘That artifact would allow our faction to have more of a voice.’
Furthermore, it would help them reach the greatest goal for any religion!
They shouted as if they had made up their minds.
“Call the superiors! We are proceeding with this plan!”
It was probably at that time.
That was when Ilya’s eyes became dyed with blood.