Inside the luxurious drawing room, a woman possessing breathtaking beauty stared blankly at the door of the room, alone.
Her gaze was accompanied by a hand that unconsciously reached out, slicing through the empty air in vain.
Her slightly parted lips exhaled a breath laden with lingering hesitation, as if there were words left unspoken.
She looked like a woman abandoned by a man.
No, in reality, it wasn’t all that different.
“…Telos.”
Lilis murmured the name of the man who had been standing there just moments ago, withdrawing her outstretched hand.
The tea in the cooled teacup reflected her bowed face.
Her sunken eyes were vividly clear.
She thought about the man who had heartlessly left her behind and walked away.
‘…He’s changed.’
Telos had changed.
If someone who knew the original Telos were to hear her thoughts, they would likely question her claim.
After all, at least on the surface, nothing about him seemed different.
The same unchangingly cold expression, the taciturn attitude that barely engaged in unnecessary conversation, and the air of indifference he exuded—even in front of Lilis, whose beauty was captivating enough to command the attention of any human regardless of gender—remained unchanged.
But Lilis, who could perceive the emotions of others, knew the truth.
He had changed.
That realization struck her from the moment he appeared in the drawing room and faced her.
When she entered the room and he looked at her…
For an instant, she felt a flicker of ‘unrest’ from him.
And the source of that unrest… was the emotion of ‘excitement.’
The same familiar emotion she had always felt from humans who encountered her.
At first, she thought it was a simple misunderstanding.
And it made sense to think so, for this was Telos.
The man who had never truly looked at her, even when she was standing right in front of him.
In reality, that emotion passed fleetingly, vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
However, it wasn’t a misconception.
Though they hadn’t exchanged many words or spent a long time together, she was certain of it during the time they shared.
She felt that, however faintly, he was conscious of her every action.
As they drank the fine tea, she sensed he experienced a different kind of sentiment.
He even let slip words that suggested he acknowledged his own change.
More than anything else…
“Because you’re an esteemed guest.”
When he spoke those words, she felt his gaze upon her.
For the first time since those days, he was truly looking at her—something he had never done before.
That alone convinced her.
It wasn’t that he had become someone other than Telos.
His words, personality, and even the smallest of his habits—nothing had fundamentally changed.
The only thing that had changed was that emotions had seeped into him.
And so, she was curious.
What could have caused him to change?
What had achieved something she herself could not?
She wanted to know.
However…
“So, is that all for your business?”
“Then, I’ll see you at the next gathering.”
His gaze lingered on her only briefly.
He had changed, yet he hadn’t.
While a flicker of emotion had seeped into his once-cold heart, the flames were too faint to melt the icy winter that gripped him.
He was still…
Telos Nehemoth.
That fact brought her both relief and an overwhelming bitterness.
She finished the plum blossom tea, but the bitter aftertaste lingered.
Leaving behind only a sweet scent that contradicted her emotions, she disappeared from the spot.
Inside one of the rooms of the Nehemoth estate.
“…She’s gone.”
Sensing the presence of Lilis Gamaliel vanish from the mansion, Telos muttered as he stared ahead.
[Hyper-Sense] – MAX. LV
One of the skills listed in his status window, Hyper-Sense, was displayed in a blue interface.
When he suppressed his emotions, the skill [Cold Blood] activated, as indicated by the system notification.
Similarly, when he heightened his senses, the Hyper-Sense skill activated automatically, signaled by the pop-up message.
Flick.
Annoyed by the persistent notification, Telos consciously dismissed it, making the status window disappear.
It seemed he had the ability to erase it at will.
But that wasn’t the issue right now.
A gathering…
In three days, there would be a meeting of the Qliphoth, organized by Thaumiel.
The ten Qliphoth.
To Lee Hyun-jun, they were the bosses of Elysion Academy.
To Telos, they were his colleagues, occupying the same rank within the organization.
Of course, calling them colleagues in any real sense would be inaccurate.
Most were demons, and this was an organization that worshiped dark gods—expecting camaraderie was foolish at best.
Furthermore, as a human, Telos occupied a subtly discriminated position within the Qliphoth.
Among the members, Lilis was the only one who treated him as a genuine colleague.
The only relief was that not all Qliphoth members would attend the next gathering.
Of course, even if they all attended, Telos wouldn’t care much.
He only found a few of them bothersome, those who would inevitably try to pick a fight.
“Annoying…”
Before Lee Hyun-jun’s possession, he wouldn’t even have had such sentiments.
It only reinforced how much he had changed, something he had already realized while interacting with Lilis.
“Still… I should’ve at least asked who and how many would attend.”
He wondered if he had ended the meeting with Lilis too quickly, missing an opportunity to gain such information.
Though he didn’t exactly regret it, the thought lingered.
“Either way, the next gathering will be troublesome.”
Sitting on the edge of his bed, he continued his musings.
“I’ve made my decision. I will no longer follow the Tree of Qliphoth or lead efforts to resurrect the dark gods.”
This conviction had solidified after Lee Hyun-jun’s possession.
Telos had no intention of furthering the resurrection of the dark gods.
To begin with, he had never truly been passionate about their resurrection.
He had simply gone along with it because he had nothing else left, having abandoned everything else.
This was also part of the reason he couldn’t fully trust Lilis, who inevitably remained committed to the dark gods’ revival.
Rustle.
Telos retrieved something hidden inside his shirt.
It was a pendant.
He always wore it around his neck, though he usually kept it concealed beneath his shirt.
He opened the pendant’s lid.
Click.
Inside the lid was a faded, timeworn family photo.
A man, likely his father, with his face charred black as if burned.
A beautiful lady, likely his mother, smiling brightly.
A young girl holding a doll, beaming with a radiant smile.
And next to her, a boy wearing an awkward smile.
Telos rested his forehead against the pendant, closing his eyes for a moment.
Then, he muttered softly.
“Mother… Lucia…”
Memories of the past began to surface in his mind.
“I will give you a chance.”
The voice of the dark god that had once tempted him.
Even as he had sensed it was a false hope, he had clung to it, having no other choice.
Day by day, his emotions had eroded, until he finally performed his tasks mechanically, like a lifeless machine.
“…It’s over.”
Sensing that it was false hope and fully realizing it were entirely different.
There was no longer any reason to cling to it.
Especially now, after reclaiming his emotions. And now that he had found something new to hold onto.
If so…
“There’s only revenge.”
His eyes snapped open.
Those blood-red pupils blazed brighter than ever before, burning with an intense resolve.
He now knew the path he had to walk.
He was certain of it.
Time passed swiftly.
Three days—a fleeting, ephemeral span—vanished in the blink of an eye.
The gathering time drew near, and the world shifted as the twilight descended, the dusky moon rose, and the light and darkness of the world prepared to invert.
At that time, Telos was fully dressed, preparing to attend the gathering.
Clad in a black uniform and a coat adorned with black feathers, his appearance evoked the image of a raven.
Naturally, the outfit wasn’t just formal wear—it was gear in the form of clothing.
[Mourning of Midnight]
[Silence of Darkness]
[Black Touch]
[Steps of the Final Agony]
[Wings of Requiem]
Each piece was the pinnacle of equipment, akin to endgame gear for an assassin path in a game.
In fact, all of these items were gear that Telos himself would drop in the game as rare rewards.
When Lee Hyun-jun first created the character, only the initial item, the Blade of Mortality, was available as starting equipment.
But this was no game—this was reality.
Here, all the items owned by Telos as the original boss character existed in his possession.
As a side note, the equipment was highly popular among players due to its exceptional design, commonly referred to as having excellent “looks.”
Now, with Telos wearing all of it, the contrast was striking compared to when he had only worn a simple white shirt and black pants.
His current appearance exuded an entirely different kind of charisma.
Beyond the difficulty of the boss fight itself, Telos’s stylish appearance was one of the reasons he was highly popular among both male and female players.
Lee Hyun-jun’s consciousness couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe, seeing this image of Telos in reality.
Sensing this admiration, Telos let out a faint chuckle.
Flinch.
The sound caught him off guard.
He lightly touched the corner of his mouth and thought to himself.
“A laugh… Is it?”
How long had it been since he last laughed like this?
Holding onto that thought for a brief moment, Telos soon shook his head.
After finishing a final check of his attire, he retrieved a teleportation scroll from his subspace.
“Once I infuse this with magic and tear it, I’ll arrive directly at the meeting hall.”
Whoooosh…
He channeled his blue mana into the teleportation scroll, watching as it absorbed the energy.
Rip!
With a decisive motion, he tore the scroll apart.
Flash!
In an instant, his figure vanished from the Nehemoth estate.
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