“Run!”
“Dammit! How did they find this place?!”
“What the hell’s up with him?!”
A robed man, wheezing as if he were being strangled, charged at people in a teahouse called Red Lips, across from the University of the Arts Bremen, located in the third zone.
“Come here, my precious Karma,” he said.
“Stop him!”
“Haaaah!” a man with a shield shouted.
The robed man smashed his fist into the shield.
[Activating Artifact Skill: Mighty Strike.]
The overpowering strength blew the man away, squashed like a bug by his own shield on the wall.
“What the fuck?!”
“He killed Zato in one blow!”
“Run to the secret tunnel!”
Those who judged they were outmatched retreated to the hole that had been dug under the counter, but a brawny tiger beastfolk was waiting under them.
“Grrr! I knew you would drop down here!”
[Activating Race Skill: Tiger Slap.]
A palm-shaped wave of yellow Beast Force popped the heads of the runaways.
“Kurgh!”
“Gaaaaah!”
“Urgh... They’re down here, too!”
“Where did the information leak?”
“Behind us!”
The robed man had caught up to them before they had realized it and pulled out a bright red dagger from inside his robe.
[Activating Item Skill: Blaze Dragon’s Claws.]
A flaming claw swept the area in front of the robed man when he swung the dagger, turning the runaways into ash before they could even scream.
“Growl! Hey! I told you not to use that item in front of me! You’re gonna singe my fur!” the tiger beastfolk shouted, but the robed man ran past him without answering, toward the nearby sound of battle. The tiger beastfolk chased after the man, shouting, “Son of a bitch!”
***
A large space was at the end of the tunnel, and a battle was already underway. An Asian woman with disheveled hair was rampaging throughout the battlefield.
“DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!” she screamed.
[Activating Unique Skill: Cat’s Cradle - Candles.]
Multicolored yarn flew from her hands like spikes and pierced the humans.
“Crazy bitch!”
“Don’t think you can escape alive after attacking Blood Cross!”
“We’ll hand you over to the vampires as prey!”
Dozens of Blood Cross clansmen charged at the middle-aged woman.
“Oi, move,” said a slender white man with pale blond hair as he pushed aside the woman. He observed the battlefield with blank eyes and mumbled, “Fucking traitors. Because of you lowlifes, my daughter was—”
He clenched his two fists, pulled his chin back, and slightly raised the heel of his back leg—a standard boxing stance. An orange mana enveloped his fists like flames. He stomped his foot as he flew a right straight in front of him.
[Activating Skill: Straight Punch.]
An orange light flashed, turning a dozen Blood Cross clansmen into pieces of meat. The remaining clansmen ran to the opposite tunnel in fear.
“Ahhhhh!”
“We can’t win!”
“They’re monsters!”
However, they were blown back into the large space along with a large explosion—of course, as corpses. Footsteps sounded from the tunnel, and a man with a large chin and long black hair messily tied behind his head walked out.
“Any luck?” the white man asked.
“Choi Tae-Hyun! Is he here?!” the middle-aged woman asked pressingly.
Park Tae-Jin, the man with the large chin, shook his head and replied, “No dice. They were already transported elsewhere.”
The white man clicked his tongue, and the middle-aged woman screeched madly. Just then, Tigrinus the tiger beastfolk and the robed Wang Chen arrived at the large space.
“Huh? Is it over already?” Wang Chen asked.
“Growl! Tae-Jin! I don’t wanna partner with this guy! He reeks of blood!” Tigrinus shouted.
“I’m sick of your animal stink, too.”
“What’d you say?!”
As Tigrinus began to growl, Tae-Jin clicked his tongue and said, “Cool it, Tig. You can team up with me next time.”
“Grrr! It’s not like I wanna team up with you either!” Tigrinus said, but his stiff tail began to wag.
The white man, Hector Jameson, mumbled, “Keh, what a cute kitty.”
“Hector, you know that word’s a taboo to Tig.”
“I-I know,” said Hector as he swept back his pale blond hair and turned to the screaming middle-aged woman. “Is she alright?”
“CHOI TAE-HYUN! CHOI TAE-HYUN! CHOI TAE-HYUN—!” the middle-aged woman, Choi Hee-Gyeong, screamed.
Tae-Jin shrugged and replied, “Miss Choi will calm down with time. She’s just having a little manic episode.”
“If you say so,” Hector replied as he slowly examined his teammates.
Although he had been the newest addition to the team, none of them seemed particularly close to one another besides Tae-Jin and Tigrinus.
Well, it doesn’t matter as long as we have the same goal, he thought.
Park Tae-Jin, Tigrinus, Wang Chen, Choi Hee-Gyeong, and Hector Jameson had one goal—to track down Clan Blood Cross.
“So, where to next?” Hector asked.
“Just a second,” Tae-Jin replied as he grabbed a note from his pocket. It was the note that Seong-Hwi had handed him before they separated from Manaus. “We’re headed to Jorge Newberry Airfield in Buenos Aires.”
“It’d be nice if we caught up to them this time.”
***
“RELEASE THEM!” Melsine shouted as she glared ragefully at Seong-Hwi with her silver eyes.
Seong-Hwi scoffed and summoned the Tarot Deck of Destiny, and a card flew out of the deck. It showed the Devil with bat wings, and a naked man and woman with black chains on their necks.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Chains of Sin, one of the symbols of No.15 The Devil]
Black Chains of Sin were summoned from the tarot card and wrapped the three dragons, who were already restrained by the chain whip. The black aura seeping from the chains inflicted pain on them.
The eldest daughter, Shasamond, endured the pain as she bit her lip.
“Kurgh! Damn you, human!” shouted the seventh son, Shuten, as he glared at Seong-Hwi.
The youngest Sessegnon bawled her eyes out.
“YOU BASTARD!” Melsine shouted.
“They are captives of humanity. You are a consul of the Sēmen; you have no right to take our spoils,” Seong-Hwi remarked.
Melsine’s eyes sank deeply. As both a dragon and a consul of the Sēmen, she had never been treated so disrespectfully by an inferior race.
“Or what? Are you trying to imply that the lives of dragons are incomparably more valuable than the lives of humans?”
[Activating Trait: Thousand-Man Killer.]
Seong-Hwi widened his eyes and released thick bloodlust.
He screamed, “Ten million! That’s how many human lives were taken by those damn bastards of Nivalis, so we should naturally take ten million of those damn lizards’ lives! It’s simple math!”
“Y-you—”
“But you, a consul of the Sēmen, dare get angry at me over the lives of three measly lizards?! I would demand the head of Regnator if I could!” Seong-Hwi cut Melsine off, his voice echoing throughout the grand conference hall.
The humans in the hall bit their lips, brought to the brink of tears, and clenched their fists. Seong-Hwi was saying the words they wanted to blurt out, but couldn’t.
RB is right!
I would fillet those goddamn lizards if I could!
How dare they take us lightly?
Our comrades are dead, but I can see you bastards don’t hear our despair!
The mana and bloodlust from the humans reached Melsine.
“How dare you say his honorable name with disrespect?!” Melsine shouted, crumpling her beautiful face. Her teeth turned sharp, and her circular pupils became vertical like those of a reptile.
The Draconic Mana from her Dragon Heart moved to suppress the humans’ mana.
Yes! Seong-Hwi thought with a nasty smile. Now, if Melsine hurts the humans here in any way—
Just then, Dodo meowed as she placed her sharp claw on Melsine’s neck and said, “Dodo’s warning you, Melsine. Do not sully the dignity of the consuls any further.”
“Ahem, Consul Dodo is right. We have come here to investigate Nivalis’s attack on the Capital. We have not been entrusted with the right to exchange captives,” Quetzalcoatl remarked.
“Your actions can be used against you in a trial, Consul Melsine. Do you wish to step down from the position of consul?” Cassis asked.
“Y-you sons of... Argh!” Melsine grunted as she glared at Dodo, Quetzalcoatl, and Cassis in order, then withdrew her Draconic Mana as she gritted her teeth.
Seong-Hwi clicked his tongue.
Quetzalcoatl turned to Seong-Hwi and asked, “Who are you?”
“Cheon Seong-Hwi,” Seong-Hwi replied.
“Meow?” Dodo’s ears perked up. “Cheon Seong-Hwi? Dodo’s heard of you. Rotten Bear Ursi complained about how you spread false information in Forestis.”
“There was no false information. It was all true. Everyone was simply true to their desires,” Seong-Hwi replied, his expression unflinched.
Quetzalcoatl stared at him with great interest and laughed, “Ahahaha! How interesting! What an interesting human!”
The people stared at Seong-Hwi, conversing naturally with the consuls.
What in... the world?
What is this? Why is RB taking the lead so naturally?
How is he so confident before the consuls of the Sēmen?
His attitude is... similar to his.
Every human in the room naturally thought of one person—the man who was no longer with them.
“Dare...devil,” Bong-Seong mumbled as he stared at Seong-Hwi’s back, clenching his cane.
The members of the conservative faction voiced their opinions to Bong-Seong.
“Are you going to keep letting him do this, Sir Bong-Seong?”
“He’s right. You should be the one taking the lead, not RB.”
“RB will only become more famous at this rate.”
Bong-Seong shook his head and replied, “Stay put, all of you. He will... take care of it.”
Lee Kang-San always overcame such situations with deals that benefited humanity. If you are his successor, then show me that you can get what you want from the Sēmen! Bong-Seong shouted inwardly, his eyes sinking deeply.
Cassis, the copper great helm, stared at Bafor, Irura, and Elementum in order and said, “All those involved just happen to be gathered in one place. Lee Kang-San may no longer be with us, but the human representative is present.”
All eyes shifted to Cassis, who continued, “Before I deem this trial officially open, I will deliver the words of Judge Dejicio, one of the three judges of the Sēmen.”
“How awfully quick of them,” Bafor mumbled sarcastically as he crossed his arms.
“I still can’t believe... Master Lee Kang-San is gone. This was his plan,” Irura remarked, saddened by Kang-San’s absence.
Seong-Hwi simply stared at Cassis apathetically.
“I, Dejicio Executioners, acknowledge that Underground, a confederation that prevented the rampaging of the World Tree and subjugated Insectum the Insect King, is lawful under the laws of the Mirror World, and do not doubt that it will contribute greatly to our war against the Chaos...”
Seong-Hwi closed his eyes as Cassis continued to relay the words of Dejicio.
You did it, Lee Kang-San, he thought.
Underground, a confederation that had not existed in his past life, was about to become legitimate, and it was all thanks to Kang-San. However, he was no longer here. He had earned undying fame as the hero who saved the Capital, but he had fallen. Seong-Hwi recalled Kang-San’s last words to him.
“Sounds good. Let’s talk some more once this war is over. I have some questions about the caliber I can feel from you.”
I still had... so much to ask you, Seong-Hwi thought.
Their relationship was rather unique. In Seong-Hwi’s past life, Kang-San had been the culprit who had made Jurie’s life a living hell by exposing the truth about Remy Martin. Hence, Seong-Hwi did not see Kang-San fondly, and even more so when he had gone off and died irresponsibly one day.
However, in this life, Kang-San was a dependable comrade and a trustworthy friend. The void left by his absence was too large. Seong-Hwi wondered if this void could also be filled if he continued to desire—if he could be sated once he devoured the entire world.
“Are you okay, Seong-Hwi?” someone asked.
Seong-Hwi opened his eyes to see Elementum staring at him with her multicolored eyes.
Elementum continued, “We’d already expected the Sēmen to acknowledge Underground. All that remains is for you to head the negotiation for Together. You must stay focused.”
“I know. I was just... reflecting on the past,” Seong-Hwi replied, his eyes returned to focus.
It’s meaningless to set up Together in the first zone. We must settle deeper... at least in the fourth zone. For the various races to live together, it must be even larger than the Capital, and we have to transport the cities of the different races as a whole. For that, we need Pangaea!
Pangaea was a powerful artifact that could move an entire continent. It was from the dimension Gigas, and was currently in possession of the Sēmen—to be more exact, in possession of the First Lord, the Guardian Titan, Grandis.
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