Sovereign of the Infinite Clones [Novel] Chapter 434

Sovereign (Ch.434)
Tl: Yami

—

Harley’s Modern Diary (1)

Contrary to what they had expected, their first day at the broadcasting station ended without any major trouble.

In fact, it wasn’t particularly surprising.

Unless they were hiding behind the anonymity and security of the Internet, it was difficult for people to openly express hostility when they were face-to-face with someone.

‘Especially when that someone possesses the power to hurt you at any moment.

This was a world so accustomed to violence that even after a massive terrorist attack had reduced the capital to ruins, most shops had resumed normal business the very next day.

Vampires might have recently adopted a more moderate approach, but they were still predators, plain and simple.

It was only natural for people to be cautious around them. After all, provoking one and getting hit could easily turn into a major disaster.

“Of course, every now and then, you get some idiot who’s completely lost his sense of self-preservation.”

“Ugh…!”

Basement parking lot of the broadcasting station.

Harley looked down at the man whose face was trapped in his grip as he struggled helplessly, scratching at Harley’s arm with his hands and kicking wildly.

Harley didn’t even flinch.

He merely applied the slightest bit of additional pressure with his fingers, forcing the man to calm down.

“Hmm. I did expect someone might try something like this.”

It had been several days since Lycoris had officially begun their activities.

Nothing particularly noteworthy had happened during that time.

They had simply been going back and forth between various broadcasting stations, appearing on different programs as part of their idol project.

*They need to become familiar with people first if they want to build a sense of familiarity.*

Since the group was such a hot topic, there had been no shortage of invitations.

If anything, the more troublesome task had been filtering out the malice hidden among those offers.

It would be troublesome if they worked with someone harboring ulterior motives only to have the group subjected to malicious editing later.

Fortunately, investigating the people in charge of each program and those around them had allowed them to weed out most of the suspicious offers.

But it was impossible to predict everything in advance, especially when a low-ranking staff member decided to cause trouble on his own.

“Still, I never expected someone to actually try planting a bomb in the vehicle.”

And not just an ordinary bomb, either.

It was a specialized magical bomb equipped with concealment functions and a spell that enhanced its destructive power.

Harley stared at the unconscious man sprawled limply on the ground with a strange look.

There was no sign that he was an Awakened.

He was merely a staff member at the broadcasting station who handled all sorts of odd jobs.

He certainly didn’t look like someone capable of obtaining a magical artifact from another world, let alone one like this.

‘Looks like a serious conversation is in order.

After all, conversation was the best way to clear up misunderstandings and resolve matters amicably.

Of course, even then, there would be limits to what he could find out.

The man looked as though he had merely been used, so it was unlikely that he possessed much information.

‘Well, can’t be helped. I’ll just have to calmly dig into it one piece at a time.’

Now that he knew there was a threat, he couldn’t simply ignore it.

Someone with the means to acquire an artifact like this was hiding somewhere and targeting them.

‘Maybe the Buncheon Society is starting to test the waters.’

Harley casually tossed the subdued man into the vehicle before turning back toward the location where the idols under his supervision were filming.

‘We really need to expand our intelligence network. It would be better to build it around people with abilities specifically suited for that sort of work, like Andrew Weaver. I wonder if people like that just fall out of the sky.’

Although the Blood Alliance was said to rule the night of Korea, strictly speaking, that was merely a metaphor for its position as the largest underground faction.

Korea was still a democratic nation, and its government retained considerable control.

It was, after all, one of the world’s major powers.

‘I should work Andrew harder. He’d probably be happier if he could work with people in the same line of business. Somehow, I’ll have to increase our manpower first, and then…’

As Harley walked while thinking about his future plans, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

At the same time, his keen senses began focusing on a particular location.

The brow hidden beneath his sunglasses furrowed.

“Well, well?”

A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

What on earth had happened while he was away for a moment?

He cracked his wrist and strode forward.

Apparently, someone was going to need a little beating today.

—

A chilly atmosphere hung over the variety show set.

The broadcasting station’s staff, including the PD who was effectively the captain of the ship, could do nothing but fidget nervously and stare at the center of the commotion, too afraid to say a word.

“Tch. As if anyone needed more proof they’re monsters. How dare they glare at us like that?”

“It’s ridiculous. Who knows how many people those demon vampires have devoured today, yet they’re shamelessly walking around the broadcasting station.”

“Hahaha! Doesn’t that just prove how powerful their backing is? At this rate, we might be the ones getting blacklisted from the entertainment industry!”

“Hmph. Then I’ll just move to another country. I’m not interested in living in a country run according to the whims of vampires.”

“Oh, then maybe I should seriously consider emigrating too.”

There was no helping it.

The five men and women who had suddenly barged into the set and frozen the entire atmosphere possessed enough power and influence to make everyone cautious.

‘Famous people you normally wouldn’t even get to see, all gathered in one place!’

If they hadn’t come here over such an unpleasant matter, the PD might even have tried asking them to appear on one of his programs.

But for now, the PD and the staff could only keep their heads down and watch the situation as quietly as possible.

And it wasn’t merely because of their fame.

There was a much more practical reason.

“Oh? And what are you going to do if I glare at you? What? Wanna throw down?”

The woman at the front of the group frowned and repeatedly poked Lycoris’s leader, Yoon Seol, in the forehead.

Even though she already knew that Yoon Seol was a vampire, there wasn’t the slightest hint of hesitation in her attitude.

“……”

Yoon Seol and the other members of Lycoris simply kept their mouths shut.

It wasn’t that they were choosing to endure the humiliation despite having the power to fight back.

They knew better.

Even if they fought with everything they had, there was no way they could defeat even that woman standing at the front.

‘Sword Princess Cheon Seolhyang…’

Cheon Seolhyang was an actress who had once worked as a Guardian hunting demon humans during the early days of the Great Cataclysm.

After retiring following an unfortunate accident, she entered the entertainment industry and eventually rose to the very top.

She was a Returnee who had reached the Sword Master realm—the pinnacle of human martial ability—and was far stronger than Yoon Seol, who had reached Level 6 thanks to their Lord’s blessing.

The appearance of Returnees had influenced every corner of society, and the entertainment industry was no exception.

Lycoris was attracting attention because they were vampires branded as demon humans who had boldly announced their entry into the entertainment industry.

But there were already plenty of Awakened individuals who had entered and established themselves in the industry worldwide.

Among them, Cheon Seolhyang was one of the most prominent figures, having worked in entertainment for well over a decade.

Her beautiful appearance and outstanding acting ability were only part of it.

Her overwhelming ability to perform action scenes without CGI or wires, combined with the prestige of being a former Guardian, had made her one of Korea’s top actresses.

And now, this powerful woman was openly radiating hostility.

‘And she’s not the only one. Everyone standing behind her is at least as strong as Yoon Seol… We don’t stand a chance against them.’

Lee Na-hee, standing at the back of the group, bit down on her lip.

She was furious that she couldn’t do anything, even as their eldest sister stepped forward to protect the members and endured every humiliation thrown at them.

‘I knew this would happen. I already knew we’d be treated like this…’

No matter how successful their debut song had been, it wasn’t enough to completely change people’s perception of vampires.

That was precisely why this difficult project had been created in the first place.

They had been prepared to face hostility like this.

“I’m disappointed in you too, PD. I understand you’re desperate for ratings, but inviting demon humans onto the show? That’s going too far.”

“Th-that… I…”

“Hmm. I might have to speak with the station director separately… No, perhaps the vice president would be more appropriate.”

“Gasp! M-Miss Cheon!”

She hadn’t volunteered for this project on a whim.

Back when she worked as an office assistant at Heterosis, she had been the very first person to volunteer.

Images flashed through her mind of Jin Soran happily working on the project, and of all the members struggling and laughing together along the way.

‘We’ve come this far. Do you really think I’ll give up over something like this?’

Memories of the past overlapped with the present.

And then, something inside her suddenly snapped.

“Phew.”

That was why, after letting out a deep sigh, Lee Na-hee stepped forward and spoke without hesitation.

“…Auntie. We have work to do now, okay? So why don’t you just say what you came here to say and leave?”

The entire atmosphere froze.

The people who had been making noise and picking fights, the staff who had been watching from the sidelines, and even the other Lycoris members all turned toward her with wide eyes.

“A-Auntie…? You…!”

The corners of Cheon Seolhyang’s eyes twitched.

She had maintained her youthful appearance thanks to her mastery, but she had already entered her forties.

Naturally, hearing herself called that by a girl who looked barely old enough to be in middle school was a particularly devastating blow.

“Na-nahee? She’s still your senior…”

“Oh, right. I forgot. My mistake, my mistake. But isn’t it true? Can’t you see what’s going on around you? Everything has come to a complete stop because of you *senior figures*. If you have a problem with us, come find us after we’re done. Seriously, how many people are you inconveniencing? Does being someone’s senior give you the right to do whatever you want?”

Her tone might have been somewhat rude, but there was no denying that what she said was perfectly reasonable.

There was no way people who had survived every kind of hardship in this industry didn’t understand how badly barging into a filming set in a group and causing trouble could damage their reputations.

They had done it anyway because they had judged that achieving their goal was worth taking the damage.

They had enough influence to smooth things over afterward.

But that was beside the point…

“You’re quite insolent, aren’t you?”

At Cheon Seolhyang’s cold voice, Lee na-hee’s throat suddenly closed up.

Only then did she belatedly regain her senses, but the words had already left her mouth.

She stood stiffly beneath the woman’s icy gaze.

A frigid aura swept through the area, plunging the entire set into silence.

“Well, well. That little brat really got on Big Sis’s nerves.”

“Big Sis~ Go easy on her. You can’t kill her, okay? It’ll be a pain to clean up afterward.”

“Hah. This is becoming troublesome.”

The world was different now from what it had been before the Great Cataclysm.

The Ability Management Bureau and the Guardians worked tirelessly to maintain social order, but many things had inevitably changed with the times.

One of them was the way conflicts between Awakened individuals were handled.

There were no monsters to defeat on Earth, nor any Demon King threatening the world.

In such circumstances, it was impossible to completely suppress the use of supernatural abilities by those who possessed them.

“Looks like she’s gotten cocky because she has that ‘Phantom’ backing her. Someone ought to teach her just how dangerous it is to hide behind someone else’s power.”

That was why individual strength had become so important.

Using one’s abilities recklessly and causing harm to civilians would get someone branded a villain.

But using that power to settle conflicts between individuals wasn’t necessarily considered a punishable offense.

So long as no one was killed or seriously injured.

‘She’s a vampire, so she should at least have some basic regenerative ability.’

Cheon Seolhyang raised the edge of her hand.

Then she casually swung it.

Of course, casually by *her* standards.

“Wait…!”

“Na-hee!”

A sharp gust of wind swept through the room.

As the Lycoris members froze and pulled Na-hee backward to shield her, the three strongest members, including Yoon Seol, released their blood magic and stepped forward to block the attack.

‘She’s not even using her full strength! We should be able to withstand at least one strike…!’

The attack was from an opponent whose power was equivalent to at least Level 7 by vampire standards.

Even if they succeeded in blocking it, they wouldn’t come out unscathed.

For a fleeting moment, a thought crossed their minds, How are we supposed to film if we’re all beaten to a pulp…?

Then—

“Good grief. What’s a grown woman doing, picking a fight with a kid just because the kid said something reasonable?”

A man’s indifferent voice drifted into their ears.

A voice they had already grown accustomed to.

CRRUNCH—

Before anyone realized when he had appeared, a broad back was already standing between them and Cheon Seolhyang.

The man stretched one hand forward and clenched it around empty air.

Something seemed to crack and crumble inside his grasp.

“Manager Ha!”

The giant man with slicked-back hair and sunglasses glanced over his shoulder at the voices calling him.

After looking over the girls from head to toe, he calmly nodded.

“You’re all still in one piece? Looks like the filming won’t be affected too badly as long as you fix your hair.”

“…Manager, are you a psychopath?”

One of the members blurted out incredulously.

As if asking whether he seriously thought they could continue filming in a situation like this.

“Kahahaha! Well, that’s not entirely wrong. But what can we do? We’ve got another schedule coming up, so wasting any more time would be troublesome.”

“No, the filming is obviously canceled—”

Ignoring her protest, Harley turned his gaze forward.

Toward the five men and women glaring at him.

‘Could these people be connected to the ones who tried to plant the bomb?’

His eyes scanned them in an instant.

The Returnee celebrities who had come here were all relatively mature in age.

In other words, they belonged to the generation that had personally experienced the brutality of demon vampires in one form or another.

They had more than enough reason to harbor a strong sense of justice and take action like this.

‘Especially that woman…’

His gaze settled on the actress standing at the front.

The relevant information was quickly organized and relayed to him through Hesperon.

‘Cheon Seolhyang. She was strong and respected enough to have been nominated as the next Guardian branch chief, but…’

Years ago, she had fallen into one of the Blood Alliance’s traps when it was at its height, losing every member of her unit and barely surviving alone.

She had abruptly retired afterward and entered the entertainment industry.

Considering both her abilities and connections, she was not someone to treat lightly.

Of course, Harley didn’t care about such trivial concerns.

“…Who are you? You’re obviously not a vampire.”

“Forget that. I’m busy, so let’s get this over with! We can have individual talks while we’re filming.”

He took off his suit jacket and casually tossed it aside before rolling up his shirt sleeves and cracking his neck.

His broad grin revealed a set of dazzlingly white teeth that gleamed beneath the lights of the filming set.