The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 197: Chapter 198: The Awakener Under Suspicion

Horizon Guild Headquarters

The Horizon Guild headquarters was unusually quiet that evening.

Most of the lower floors remained busy with Awakeners returning from dungeons, support staff processing monster materials, and employees organizing the reports from the day’s various operations.

The upper floors were considerably quieter.

They were reserved for the guild’s senior members and administrative departments.

At the end of one of the corridors was the Guild Master’s office.

Inside, Yoon Ha-eun sat behind her desk.

Several reports were arranged neatly before her, including the official report concerning the Dungeon Collapse that had occurred earlier that day.

She had already read through the basic details.

A C-Rank Gate had collapsed.

A large number of spiders had emerged.

Several independent Awakeners had attempted to contain them.

A high-level Valkyrie Spirit had appeared beside Han Ji Won.

Ha-eun had read the report twice.

Neither time had it made more sense.

A knock came from the door.

"Come in."

The door opened.

A man entered.

He was in his early thirties, with short black hair and a serious expression. His clothing was a formal dark-blue guild uniform, with the insignia of the Horizon Guild displayed prominently across his chest.

This was Choi Min-woo, the Vice Guildmaster of Horizon.

He closed the door behind himself before approaching the desk.

"Guild Master."

Ha-eun looked up.

"Min-woo."

She gestured toward the chair.

"Sit."

"Yes."

Min-woo sat across from her.

Ha-eun picked up the report.

"I’ve already read the preliminary report."

She looked directly at him.

"But I want your account."

Min-woo nodded.

"Understood."

"Start from the beginning."

Min-woo opened the tablet he had brought with him.

"The incident occurred in the eastern hunting zone shortly after the Gate was reported to be experiencing abnormal activity."

He brought up the initial report.

"Several independent Awakeners were already inside the affected area when the spiders began appearing."

Ha-eun listened silently.

"The number of monsters increased rapidly. The Awakeners attempted to contain them, but the swarm eventually broke through their formation."

"And Han Ji Won?"

"He was one of the Awakeners caught in the swarm."

Min-woo paused.

"He became separated from the others and was surrounded."

Ha-eun’s eyes narrowed.

"How serious was the situation?"

Min-woo changed the display.

"We estimate that more than dozens spiders had surrounded him."

"The swarm was too dense. Every time someone tried to move toward him, another group of spiders blocked the path."

Ha-eun nodded.

"And then the Valkyrie appeared."

"Yes."

Min-woo’s expression became more serious.

"According to the witnesses, a crimson light suddenly manifested beside Han Ji Won."

He paused.

"Then the spirit appeared."

Ha-eun leaned back slightly.

"Describe it."

"Approximately two and a half meters tall."

Min-woo brought up the visual reconstruction based on the witnesses’ descriptions.

"It appeared as a female humanoid spirit wearing crimson spiritual armor."

Ha-eun studied the image.

"The armor appeared to be composed entirely of spiritual energy rather than physical material."

Min-woo continued.

"It immediately positioned itself between Han Ji Won and the swarm."

"Protective behavior."

"Yes."

Ha-eun’s expression became thoughtful.

"How long did it remain?"

"Less than a minute."

"Less than a minute?"

"Yes."

Min-woo nodded.

"It eliminated the entire swarm extremely quickly."

"How quickly?"

"Several seconds."

Ha-eun’s eyes narrowed.

"Several seconds."

"Yes."

Min-woo looked at the report.

"Our witnesses couldn’t follow most of its movements."

Ha-eun remained silent.

She had seen high-level spirits before.

She had summoned powerful creatures herself.

Her Astral Summoning was one of the reasons she had reached S-Rank.

She knew exactly how difficult it was to maintain a powerful spirit.

And that was why this incident bothered her.

That detail was particularly strange.

A normal summoned spirit generally returned through the summoning connection established by its caster.

But this spirit hadn’t behaved like that.

It had simply appeared.

Completed its objective.

Then disappeared.

Ha-eun tapped her fingers lightly against the desk.

"Who do the witnesses believe summoned it?"

"Initially, most of them assumed it was you."

Ha-eun gave a small sigh.

"I wasn’t there."

"We confirmed that."

"Then what did they conclude?"

"They don’t know."

Min-woo looked toward the report.

"Some believe another S-Rank Summoner may have been involved."

Ha-eun shook her head.

Ha-eun’s gaze sharpened.

"Which leaves Han Ji Won."

Min-woo nodded.

"He denied summoning the spirit."

"Did he have a summoning formation?"

"Did he possess a Summoner class?"

"No."

"What is his current class?"

"Warrior."

Ha-eun’s expression became more serious.

"And his rank?"

"A-Rank."

"Recently?"

"Yes."

Min-woo opened another report.

"He was originally registered as E-Rank."

Ha-eun looked at him.

"How long ago?"

"Approximately one month."

"And he became A-Rank through a Second Awakening."

"That’s what the records say."

Ha-eun leaned back.

"One month."

She looked toward the report again.

"An E-Rank Awakener undergoes a Second Awakening, rises all the way to A-Rank, and shortly afterward receives protection from a high-level Valkyrie Spirit that apparently no ordinary Summoner should be capable of producing."

Min-woo nodded.

"That’s the situation."

Ha-eun remained silent.

Then she looked toward him.

"What about the other person?"

"Yoon Tae-ho."

"Yes."

Min-woo opened another file.

"He was registered as an E-Rank Healer shortly before the incident."

"Anything unusual?"

"Not much."

"His official record is extremely recent."

Min-woo paused.

"He has almost no history as an Awakener."

"Almost?"

"His registration begins shortly before he became associated with Han Ji Won."

Ha-eun’s expression became thoughtful.

"How did they meet?"

"We don’t know."

"Then find out."

Min-woo nodded.

"Understood."

Ha-eun continued.

"Where does Han Ji Won live?"

"Currently, we have an address registered with the Association."

"And Yoon Tae-ho?"

"The same."

"Together?"

"Yes."

Ha-eun raised an eyebrow.

"They live together?"

"Apparently."

She leaned back.

"Interesting."

Min-woo waited.

Ha-eun picked up another report.

"Tell me about the A-Rank Orc General."

Min-woo immediately understood.

"That was the unidentified woman’s doing."

"Yes."

-----

"Her physical ability appeared to be considerably beyond normal A-Rank standards."

Ha-eun’s eyes narrowed.

"How considerably?"

"Our people couldn’t properly follow her movements."

He paused.

"She was fighting entirely through martial techniques."

Ha-eun stared at him.

"Did she identify herself?"

"No."

"Guild affiliation?"

"None."

"Did you offer recruitment?"

"Yes."

"But... she refused."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The meeting had finally come to an end.

Several hours had passed since Chairman Kang Dong-wook and Director Han Seung-ho had arrived at the regional Administration office, and by the time they left the building, the evening sky had already begun darkening over Seoul.

A black government vehicle was waiting outside.

Seung-ho opened the rear door for the Chairman before walking around to the driver’s side.

A few moments later, the vehicle pulled away from the Administration building.

The streets were busy, but Seung-ho drove without saying anything for the first few minutes.

Dong-wook sat comfortably in the back seat, looking through several documents he had brought with him from the meeting.

Eventually, he closed the folder.

"So, have you found anything about that Awakener, Han Ji Won?"

Seung-ho kept his eyes on the road.

"Yes."

"He’s an A-Rank Awakener now."

"I know that much."

Dong-wook leaned back slightly.

"I mean what you’ve found about his recent development."

Seung-ho nodded.

"His case is unusual."

"How unusual?"

"He was originally registered as an E-Rank Awakener."

Dong-wook’s expression became thoughtful.

"That was only a few weeks ago, wasn’t it?"

"Yes."

Seung-ho glanced briefly at the rearview mirror.

"His reassessment was conducted after a Second Awakening."

"From E-Rank to A-Rank."

Dong-wook was silent for a moment.

"That’s a significant increase."

"It is."

Seung-ho continued driving.

"Second Awakenings are rare enough on their own, but an increase of three ranks is considerably more unusual."

"Did the Association confirm that it was actually a Second Awakening?"

"They confirmed the change in his abilities and physical characteristics."

Seung-ho paused.

"But there’s no way to determine exactly what caused it."

Dong-wook nodded slowly.

"So we have an E-Rank Awakener who suddenly becomes A-Rank."

"And then, not long afterward, a high-level Valkyrie Spirit appears beside him during a Gate incident."

"That’s correct."

Dong-wook looked through the window.

"That timing is certainly convenient."

Seung-ho gave a small nod.

"That’s why I considered him a possible connection."

"Possible?"

Seung-ho remained quiet for a moment.

"Based on the witnesses, we can’t say that he summoned the spirit."

Dong-wook raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"The witnesses were very clear about his reaction."

He turned the steering wheel slightly.

"According to several independent accounts, Ji Won appeared confused when the Valkyrie manifested. He didn’t give it an order, didn’t perform any visible summoning ritual, and didn’t appear to know that it was coming."

Dong-wook considered that.

"Could he have been pretending?"

"He could have."

Seung-ho answered honestly.

"But there’s no evidence that he was."

Dong-wook nodded.

Seung-ho continued.

"There was another detail."

"The Valkyrie didn’t behave like a normal summoned creature."

Dong-wook’s expression became more attentive.

"Explain."

"It appeared specifically when Ji Won was surrounded."

Seung-ho glanced at the rearview mirror again.

"It protected him, eliminated the surrounding monsters, and then disappeared."

"Did Ji Won command it?"

"No."

"Did it respond to anything he said?"

"Not according to the witnesses."

Dong-wook frowned slightly.

"Then why did it appear?"

"We don’t know."

The vehicle continued through the evening traffic.

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

Dong-wook eventually broke the silence.

"Could it have been another Summoner?"

"That’s one possibility."

Seung-ho nodded.

"But we checked the known high-ranking Summoners who were in the area."

"And?"

"None of them were present."

Dong-wook’s eyes narrowed.

"Then the mystery remains."

"Yes."

Seung-ho paused.

"There’s also the fact that the Valkyrie disappeared before our response teams arrived."

Dong-wook looked toward him.

"Meaning whoever summoned it had already left."

"Or the spirit disappeared on its own."

Dong-wook leaned back.

"Do you believe Ji Won actually summoned it?"

Seung-ho was silent for several seconds.

"I wouldn’t say that."

"Why?"

"Because there isn’t enough evidence."

He kept his attention on the road.

"His reaction doesn’t look consistent with someone who deliberately summoned a creature of that level."

Seung-ho continued.

"There’s another reason."

"What is it?"

"His recent growth."

Dong-wook’s expression became serious again.

"You mean the Second Awakening."

"Yes."

Seung-ho nodded.

"His physical ability increased far beyond his previous assessment. According to the Association’s records, his combat performance before the Second Awakening was completely ordinary for an E-Rank Awakener."

Dong-wook remained silent.

Seung-ho continued.

"His progression is unusual enough that we should keep an eye on him, especially considering the incident with the Valkyrie."

"Without interfering."

"Of course."

Dong-wook looked toward the city outside.

"He’s still an ordinary citizen as far as the law is concerned."

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