Second Life Ranker

『Thank you again for your contribution to the completion of Kynee.』 Brontes bowed to Yeon-woo. Although they’d had a moment of conflict, Brontes didn’t forget the fact that Yeon-woo was the one who’d tossed them a lifeline in a hopeless situation. 

If Yeon-woo hadn’t stepped up, the three Cyclops brothers would never have been able to meet again or complete Kynee. Yeon-woo was their savior—and Tartarus’. 

『Me too.』

“I agree.”

Steropes and Arges bowed as well. It was somewhat awkward because they were gigantic, one-eyed monsters. 

『You can ask me to do anything.』

“Like I already said, it was just quid pro quo. And my condition was…” Yeon-woo paused, pulling out the pocket watch. Brontes’ single eye narrowed. 

『You want to unlock the seal, right?』

“Right.”

『Can you let me take a look?』

Yeon-woo carefully gave the pocket watch to Brontes.

[You cannot see information about the item.]

[You cannot see information about the item.]

…..

[You have made another attempt to see information about the item with ‘Divine Draconic Eyes.’]

[You have succeeded in seeing a small part of the item.]

[The results are being revealed.]

[Heaven Wing’s Pocket Watch][Category: ???][Rank:???][Description: The pocket watch that Heaven Wing Cha Jeong-woo left behind. It was created from Luciel’s Soulstone, the ‘Stone of Superbia (pride)’, and it seems to hold a secret.]

He still couldn’t learn much, but the Divine Draconic Eyes had better results. The part of Superbia stood out to him because if he could see information about the Soulstone, it meant that if he raised his skill’s proficiency, he’d be able to learn more. The first step was hard, but it grew easier afterwards.

『How much do you know about this stone?』

“I only know that it’s made from Superbia of the Seven Deadly Sins.”

Brontes seemed a bit surprised. 『You already know that much? Then it’ll be easier to tell you.』 His explanation continued, 『As I mentioned before, Luciel left behind fourteen Soulstones. They’ve been divided into evil and good: the Seven Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins. We are able to use the fire of the beginning, Castitas, to melt the artifact because it’s pure, like its namesake.』

Yeon-woo wondered what the name of the Soulstone that allowed Vieira Dune to infect Mother Earth was. His guess was Luxuria (lust).

『Superbia overpowers everything because it’s too aloof and stiff. It doesn’t know how to bend to others. Because it doesn’t break easily, it’s the perfect place to hide something. I don’t know who created it, but…he must’ve been very skilled.』

“What do you think he tried to hide?”

Brontes shrugged. 『How would I know? I didn’t make it. But…』

“But? Do you have a guess?”

『The seal isn’t completely locked, and it was set up to have a release somewhere. So, if a certain condition is fulfilled, there will be a reaction.』

Yeon-woo nodded. He had assumed that as well. It was the diary.

『So to unlock it, I think you need to aim for that point.』

“How?”

『The person who made this watch could have sealed the item inside of the pocket watch forever. But the fact he made a release means he wanted the seal to be unlocked someday.』 Brontes’ eyes glowed. 『It’s a keyhole.』

* * *

‘A keyhole.’ Yeon-woo rubbed the pocket watch as he sat in front of the furnace. As the fire in the furnace blazed, he felt its warmth rush over him.

“To be honest, I don’t know if I can release the seal. Actually, I know I can’t. No one has ever been able to unlock the secret of the Soulstones. If it were possible…everyone in possession of one would’ve transcended mortal limits.” Henova believed that even the three Cyclops brothers wouldn’t be able to unlock the seal. It seemed he was right. “But handling it is another story. I’ll teach you about that.”

“If we know what type of key fits into the keyhole, the seal can be unlocked. It’s a shame we don’t know what it is,” Yeon-woo muttered to himself. ‘A keyhole.’ That was most definitely the diary. ‘What’s the key?’

He quickly found his answer. ‘Me.’ His brother had left the diary behind to give him something. He did say he hoped Yeon-woo would go to the clan house to take the Elixir one day, but he had left too much information in the diary—things about the hidden pieces, how to clear each floor, skills, and more. It was too much information just to help Yeon-woo get the Elixir.

Also, the diary ended too suddenly, as though there was more to come. ‘I have to find the actual diary.’ He cleared his mind and opened it. He had heard about the structure and basic traits of the Soulstones from Brontes already, so it was up to him now to solve the puzzle. ‘First, the keyhole.’

He pushed his magic power inside the pocket watch. It began to shake. The hands trembled as though the watch would crack at any moment. 

In the past, he hadn’t dared insert more magic power for fear that the pocket watch would break, but now that he knew the pocket watch was made from a Soulstone, he no longer had any reason to be concerned. 

The pocket watch floated up from his palm and spun like a top. An immense amount of magic power swirled around it and then began to increase until strong winds were blowing. A magic power storm appeared, shaking the smithy and causing an earthquake so great that it seemed like a battle was happening.

The fire in the furnace flickered, and the weapons hanging on the wall fell to the ground. An anvil swirled around as the air began to spin.  

“What’s…?!” Henova, who had been waiting for Yeon-woo to come out, rushed inside. He was shocked to see the magic power storm destroying everything—it was strong enough to not just blow away the smithy but the entire temple. It was like a bomb in the middle of the holy territory.

Brahm realized the seriousness of the situation and pulled Henova behind him to create a barrier around Yeon-woo. Victoria quickly helped. Magic circles flashed around to separate Yeon-woo from his surroundings. However, Yeon-woo’s eyes were glued to the pocket watch the entire time.

[Divine Draconic Eyes]

[Fiery Golden Eyes]

[Black Gubitara – Wise Man’s Eyes]

The ancient dragon Kalatus’ eyes opened and with a golden flash. Yeon-woo added the Asura King Vimalacitra’s eyes as his Consciousness burrowed through the different layers of the pocket watch, peeling them off like the layers of an onion to reach the core.

The Soulstone glowed with a purple light, looking holy and ominous at the same time. Light swirled around the Soulstone, emanating from a hole so small that it was impossible to see unless one focused. It was the keyhole. 

Yeon-woo sent his Consciousness into it. Click! He didn’t know if he was just hearing things, but he thought he heard the sound of a key fitting into a lock and twisting to open it. Yeon-woo’s Consciousness was completely sucked in.

[You have been connected to ‘Luciel’s Soulstone (Superbia)’.]

[Synchronization has begun.]

The inside of the Soulstone was a boundless expanse of sea. The purple light he’d seen was nothing compared to the light inside. It was magic power, holy power, demonic energy, Draconic power, monstrous power, spiritual power, curse power, skill power, and law power. Then, it took on another property when it spun in the air. 

It was an energy that encompassed all the energies within the Tower; it could become anything, be applied anywhere, and even be absorbed. There was so much energy that one risked being lost in it.

‘Is this…Luciel’s Soulstone?’ Yeon-woo finally understood how Vieira Dune managed to swallow Mother Earth. Anything was possible if one swallowed the infinite and omnipotent energy!

If one Soulstone alone had so much power, what would it be like if all fourteen of them were combined. It made sense that the gods and demons were afraid of it and why Luciel had become their target. ‘How do I approach this?’

He thought carefully after seeing all the energy, remembering Brontes’ words, “The only thing you can do is pull out its contents slowly. That’s how the fire of the beginning of time was pulled out. However, don’t touch it casually because it will explode. It’s as fierce as Luciel was in the legends. You have to be extremely careful or else we will all be hurt. Also, you have to figure out where you want to put the energy after you extract it. Castitas has the furnace as a medium, but…I don’t know about Superbia. And even if you manage to contain it, you won’t be able to use it all.”

Castitas had enough energy to maintain the fire of the beginning for 1,000 years, and even now, energy still flowed out of it like a stream. The three Cyclops brothers only used it as a furnace and didn’t know what else to do with it. The Stone of Superbia wouldn’t be that different, which worried Brontes.

Even if Yeon-woo managed to find the keyhole and open a door, if he couldn’t handle the energy behind it, he wouldn’t be able to unlock the seal beyond it. However, Yeon-woo had something that the three Cyclops brothers didn’t know about. ‘The Philosopher’s Stone.’

It was the heart that could accept anything in the world, so wouldn’t it be able to hold the Soulstone? Yeon-woo thought about the Demonism lurking inside of the Philosopher’s Stone, but he still wanted to attempt it. 

He might be giving the Demonism an extraordinary power, but if he could collect all of the energy of the Soulstone, he would grow, as well.  ‘It might be a good thing since I’ve been thinking that being a lower-level demon wasn’t enough for it.’

He could find a new energy source. With the method that Brontes taught him, he slowly pulled the purple energy out of Superbia. Then, he slowly began to lead it to the Philosopher’s Stone next to his heart. 

『Heehee, you’re doing something fun.』 He felt like he could hear the Demonism’s laugh coming from somewhere.