Episode 973
Taaak!
As Xanthos snapped his fingers, a blue light rose above the round table, drawing a picture of the continent.
Curiously, the map did not only feature the names of major powers like Sieghard and the Kingdom of Balkar, but also the names of numerous smaller groups.
“Let’s start with the collapse of the Black Tower.”
As Xanthos nodded, the black tower that had been towering over Montiro collapsed like a sand castle.
“The Black Tower hid in Montiro and sent out demons from the Demon World to gradually eat away at the territories of Valkar, Owen, and the Beast Alliance.”
He frowned at the darkness surrounding Valkar, Owen, and the Beast Alliance.
“In fact, the forces that followed us suffered more than we did. Many groups moved to other areas. However, the situation changed when the Black Tower collapsed.”
As Xanthos lowered his finger, a white light permeated Balkar, the Beast Alliance, and Owen, who had been blackened as if they were burnt. It seemed to show that the Black Tower’s influence had completely disappeared.
“With the disappearance of the mines and monsters that had been endlessly attacking, people were finally able to sleep peacefully for the first time in a long time. Even if it was only temporary, peace had come.”
He looked at Raon and said that the short-lived peace and happiness was possible because the Black Tower had collapsed.
From what I heard, it seemed that Xanthos was not the king of Balkar, but rather the chairman of the council of the five emperors.
“That’s exactly what I said!”
King Ogram agreed with Xanthos’ words and struck the round table with his palm. The entire conference room shook with the impact, as if his physical strength was still intact.
“I couldn’t sleep properly because the black tower’s minions and monsters kept attacking me, but now they’ve completely disappeared.”
He nodded his head vigorously, saying that the people of the Beast Alliance were also living happily.
“And so is our Owen.”
King Recross licked his lips at the sight of the castle bearing the name Owen.
“Sima must have known that I was injured, but there has been no attack from anywhere. Rather, it seems like they are busy hiding their tails.”
He gave Raon a warm look, saying that the impact of the disappearance of the Black Tower was greater than he could have imagined.
“We have destroyed many forces that followed Sima, but this is the first time we have seen results like this. In the end…”
Glenn narrowed his eyes at the five stars engraved on the blue-lit map.
“I guess that means that in order to end this war, we need to defeat Sima Yi’s main body, not just his minions.”
He rapped his fingers on the round table, saying that was the only way to end this tiresome war.
“that’s right.”
Chambers nodded, pulling a lollipop out of her witch’s hat.
“If we don’t cut off their heads, they will grow like cockroaches and wreak havoc on the continent. Countless people will suffer.”
She chewed the lollipop roughly, saying she didn’t have much time.
“The problem is, there’s no way to find them.”
Recross frowned, his hand on his chest. He seemed to be in pain from the wound he had inflicted on Delus.
“In fact, if it weren’t for the Gwangpungjeonju, the location of the Black Tower would never have been discovered. Even if you kill the Four Swordsmen, it wouldn’t be easy to extract information from him, and it would be nearly impossible to find the Black Tower in another dimension from Montiro.”
He bit his lip slightly, saying that since it was Raon, he could easily find the location of the black tower.
“There’s no need to look for them. We just need to build up our strength! If that old man and I recover our original strength, we won’t lose to anyone who comes!”
Ogram clenched his fists, saying that he should not look for Sima, but rather for the Emperor to recover and grow his strength.
“Unfortunately, that’s difficult.”
Chambers bit his lip thinly.
“Unlike us who have a set path, Sima is someone who can walk a path that deviates from humanity. It is impossible to become stronger than Sima quickly. Have you already forgotten that the White Blood Cult Leader drank your blood and achieved unbelievable rapid growth?”
She tapped her temple three times, telling him to think about it.
“and….”
Chambers frowned and glared at Ogram.
“If you call me an old man one more time, I’ll tear your mouth off.”
She cracked her chin with a sinister smile.
“Hmm….”
Ogram’s fingertips trembled, either because of Chamber’s threats or because he remembered what had happened to him at the hands of the White Blood Cult Leader.
“We don’t have much time.”
Glenn placed his clasped hands on the round table and lowered his eyes, then opened them.
“Just as I said, Sima is getting stronger and his power is growing much faster than we are. They have no boundaries to protect.”
He shook his head, saying that even though the Black Tower had collapsed, the battle situation itself was not positive.
“So in the end, we have to find Sima by any means necessary.”
Ogram raised his forehead as if he was frustrated.
“That’s why we’re trying to gather people through this meeting of the Five Emperors.”
As Xanthos smiled faintly and raised his hand, the names of neutral forces across the continent began to flash.
“Just as Gwangpungjeonju found the Black Tower, the more people we have on our side, the more clues we can gather. We need to gather information that can help us find Sima by attracting neutral forces to our side.”
He placed his clasped hands on the round table, saying that the reason for gathering neutral forces was not only because of force.
“But it won’t be easy to bring in the forces that have not stood before the Emperor until now.”
Recross lowered his eyebrows as if he was worried.
“That’s true. Even though it’s been a while since the full-scale war started, maintaining neutrality means choosing which restaurant is more delicious between us and Sima.”
Chamber wrinkled his nose as if he didn’t like it.
“Actually, it’s hard to completely believe it. If Sima’s side makes a better offer, they’ll leave right away.”
King Recross frowned, saying that they were worse than merchants.
“Then I can’t just leave it alone! I have to make sure to fix his bad habits so he doesn’t look at me!”
Ogram shook his rock-like fist, saying that discipline must be restored immediately.
“I’m not good at this kind of thing. If you wait… ”
It was when he said he would come forward himself.
Wooooow!
There was a vibration and noise as if an earthquake had occurred from the direction of the royal capital. The shaking itself was not that great, but since everyone here was a transcendent being, no one could fail to feel the movement.
“What’s going on?”
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“Did there get into a fight?”
“Could it be Samaga?”
When tension rose in people’s eyes, Raon stepped forward.
“no.”
Raon raised both hands to calm everyone down.
“Correcting the habit you mentioned earlier… .”
He smiled and looked out the window.
“It has already started.”
* * *
Cheeeeeeek!
A black-haired man lay dead on the ground, deeply dug out as if a meteor had struck.
The red eagle engraved on his uniform was the symbol of the Sairan clan, a powerful family in the central region, but it seemed meaningless now.
“Ugh… .”
As the black-haired man tried to get up, coughing up blood, a shadow appeared over his head.
Phew!
Martha. She twisted her mouth while trampling the black-haired man’s back with her foot.
“Yeah. Why did you open your mouth so carelessly?”
Martha muttered that it was her own fault and pressed down on the black-haired man.
“Khuuuk… .”
The black-haired man eventually couldn’t bear the shock and passed out with his eyes rolled back.
“This, this is too much!”
A middle-aged man with red hair and wearing the Sairan family’s military uniform, along with the black-haired man, shook his chin.
“We were just talking about the rumors we heard around us while drunk!”
The middle-aged man who was caught shook his head, saying it wasn’t a serious story.
“What’s your name?”
Martha nodded at the middle-aged man.
“Umm, it’s Rotan Sairan… .”
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before saying his name.
“Yes, Lotan.”
Martha called Lotan by his name as if she were addressing him as a subordinate.
“Do you think I’ve only seen guys like you once or twice?”
She stepped over the unconscious black-haired man and approached Lotan.
“It’s not that I hear rumors from people around me, it’s that you guys are the ones making them up. Before you started twiddling your tongue, the tavern was quiet. It was all about praising Raon and the Gwangpungjeon.”
Martha hit Lotan on the forehead, telling him not to tell such an obvious lie.
“Ugh… .”
Lotan bit his lips as if he had nothing to say.
“Well, of course we said bad things, but isn’t it too much for you, the Grand Master, to rush in! Nana, that guy is just a Master!”
He admitted to having made a slip of the tongue, but shook his head, saying it was an excessive action.
“This is just simple violence….”
“You used verbal abuse too.”
Martha slapped Lotan on the back of the head, telling him to stop.
“Ugh… .”
Lotan was drooling as if this was the first time he had experienced such humiliation since he was born into the Sairan family.
“How fragile our Jeonju is! If Raon had heard what you just said, he would have buried you alive in the sand and boiled you.”
Contrary to what Martha said, she was turning Raon into a demon who never existed again.
“Ah, no… .”
“But you’re right.”
She smiled thinly as she looked at the frightened Lotan.
“To catch a pig, there is no need for a lion to move. You… .”
Martha pushed the toddler who was standing behind her forward.
“Our rabbit will take care of it.”
“Hey, sis?”
The toddler glared at Martha as if it wasn’t something she had planned in advance.
“Really, I… .”
She swallowed hard as she looked at Lotan.
“It’s okay! Just do as you were taught.”
Martha smiled, saying that if we fight like we did when we were training, there won’t be any problems.
“Hmm….”
The toddler slowly stepped forward, seeming to trust Martha more than his own abilities.
“Are you ignoring me?”
Lotan gritted his teeth.
“I changed the person because it was too much, but it’s still bullshit. Is this the latest trend?”
Martha frowned, wondering why it was always so damn annoying.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll come out? Do you want to try?”
“that….”
Lotan bit his lip as he looked at Martha, who was smiling like a devil, and the rabbit-like toddler. Eventually, his gaze left Martha and settled on the toddler.
“Good! Don’t regret it later! My sword has no eyes!”
Lotan raised his sword and said, “Let’s start right away.”
“Phew… .”
The toddler slowly took a deep breath and drew his sword.
“Think about the time you got hit by Raon. If you just remember that, you’ll be able to do anything.”
Martha didn’t seem to care much, just patted the toddler on the back without offering any special advice.
“Whoaaaa!”
Lotan kicked the cracked ground and rushed towards the infant. As befitting a master, he rode the wind and brought down his sword wrapped in steel.
‘This sword is too….’
The infant narrowed his eyes as he watched Lotan’s sword strike falling like a ray of light.
‘It’s slow?’
The flow of the swordsmanship was clearly visible because it was much slower than the Raon or Gwangpungjeon swordsmen I had faced while training.
‘Let’s use that rhythm.’
The infant stepped on the sword with a rhythm different from that of Lotan’s sword.
Fight!
He threw his shoulder back to block Lotan’s sword strike, then quickly thrust his sword in half a beat later.
Hwaaaaah!
The rhythm of the sword blooming from the tip of the child’s finger caused red waves to form in front of Lotan’s chest.
Paaaaaaaang!
The small flow became a huge wave in an instant and swept over Lotan.
Kyaaaaah!
Lotan was so shocked by the sudden counterattack from the child that he dropped the sword he was holding in his hand.
“Hey, wait a minute! You’re letting your guard down too much… .”
“There is no letting down your guard in a fight!”
The infant did not wait for Lotan, but followed him and struck his head with his sword.
Pfft …
Even though he lost his strength, the sword was made of dragon bone, so red blood spurted out from Lotan’s crown.
“That’s it!”
Martha gave the toddler a thumbs up.
“It was perfect, even down to the head-banging!”
She grinned, asking how she got the idea to smash his head.
“Seeing what Master Raon does every day… .”
The baby scratched her wrist, remembering Raon beating up the Gwangpungjeon inspectors.
“Well, if you keep seeing it, you can’t help but follow it.”
Martha patted the toddler’s head, saying that he had learned well.
“Ugh… .”
Lotan groaned breathlessly from the pain of his head being smashed and the shock of being hit by a young infant.
“This is too much….”
As he struggled to get up, a fierce auric storm rose from the west, north, and south of the royal capital.
“Um, what is that….”
“Oh, that one?”
Martha shrugged her shoulders as she looked into Lotan’s trembling eyes.
“We’re cleaning up loose-mouthed guys like you. You’re lucky you got caught by us.”
“ah….”
Lotan now realized that this was not an accident and fell to his knees.
“Okay, next.”
After Marta confirmed that Lotan’s spirit was completely dead, she turned to the audience.
“Not coming out? It’s already difficult when you’re so discouraged.”
She lowered the sword on her shoulder, saying she hadn’t even started yet.
“If you don’t come, I’ll go! Starting with the kid who called me a s!ut!”
Martha ran wild like an unbridled calf, charging through the neutral forces.
“It’s all over!”
* * *
After finishing the first meeting, Raon headed to the accommodation assigned to him in the Gwangpungjeon.
The inspectors were enjoying refreshments leisurely with cool faces, as if they had relieved all their stress.
“How was it?”
Raon approached the short story members and asked about the situation.
“You’re right. Every tavern has at least one guy who’s been beating down our achievements or using his power.”
Martha nodded, saying that she had taken care of all the guys who opened their mouths.
“It was similar to the movements of professional protesters. They said the same thing at the first bar and went to the second bar.”
Burren clicked his tongue, saying that it was clearly a deliberate move.
“But it didn’t smell bad… .”
Runaan shook his head, saying that it didn’t seem like Sima’s work.
“There may be some work to be done, but I don’t think they’ll do anything that stands out.”
Raon shook his head while looking out the window.
“Those who tried to tarnish our reputation today were probably trying to increase their own value rather than act as spies.”
Even before coming here, I had expected that there would be people among the neutral forces who would try to undermine the achievements of Sieghart and the Emperor.
Neutral forces that have not yet decided on a path may want to maximize their value. That is quite understandable.
However, rather than increasing their value through their own military power or abilities, they tried to elevate themselves by defaming the Five Emperors.
There was no need to treat those who used such lowly methods like humans, so the leash of madness was released.
The coming war is no different from walking on thin ice every step of the way. In the meantime, those who only seek money and profit without any conviction need solid education.
“The conference will be held in three days. I will continue to ask you for help until then.”
Raon nodded to Buren, Martha, Runaan, and Trevin, saying, “Please take care of me.”
“Of course.”
“Just leave it to me!”
“It’s kind of fun… .”
“Who said that? Of course I should listen to it.”
Burren, Martha, Runaan, and Trevin nodded their heads loudly as if to say that they believed him.
“hmm….”
Raon shook his head as he looked at the four people and the Gwangpungjeon inspectors spread out behind them.
“Looking at the look in your eyes, it seems like you’ve relieved a lot of stress.”
“That’s true!”
“It was a relief to finally meet guys I could beat up after a long time.”
Martha and Trevin smiled happily.
“Then that won’t work.”
Raon sighed and shook his head.
“huh?”
“What is that…?”
“Follow me.”
He called everyone to the smokehouse in front of the dormitory with a cold look in his eyes.
“Hey, wait a minute, you’re not training… .”
Buren swallowed dry saliva as he spoke informally to Raon, forgetting that he should call him Jeonju.
“More neutral forces will gather in three days. If we want to control them, we can’t do it in this atmosphere.”
Raon drew out the Jecheon Sword from its scabbard with an eerie smile.
“I’ll make the stress that flew away today come flooding back into your mind.”
He snapped his finger, telling me to come in.
“Hey, you devil bastard!”
“Was this something that was going to happen to us too?”
“I’m not stressed, I’m dying!”
“If you don’t come, I’ll go.”
Raon lightly turned his ankle and then charged towards the flustered Gwangpungjeon inspectors.
Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!
That night. No, until the night before the convention, dozens of screams echoed through the training grounds.
* * *
Three days later at noon.
The conference room door opened.
Golden sunlight streamed down over the white round table, creating a mystical atmosphere inside the conference room.
Unlike before, there were luxurious chairs placed next to the large round table, and the throne that originally occupied that spot was raised up onto the platform.
The leaders of the forces that followed the Five Emperors and the neutral forces that had not yet decided on a path entered the conference room one by one and sat down at the round table.
Strangely enough, the complexions of the two forces were diametrically opposed.
Those who had already decided to follow the Emperor were having small talk with bright smiles on their faces, while those who had not yet decided on a path were staring at the floor with frightened eyes like puppies that had been drenched in rain.
Damn it.
When all the seats in front of the round table were filled, a strangely irritating sound of footsteps could be heard from the end of the hallway.
When people were holding their breath and rolling their eyes, Raon entered the conference room.
Hooooooooo!
Those who saw Raon’s black dragon robe fluttering in the wind without realizing it swallowed dry saliva.
“Everyone is here.”
Raon stood at the end of the platform with heavy steps. He looked down at those sitting in front of the round table with eyes that seemed to be pulsating with red lightning.
Gooooooo!
There were countless unmanned and magicians, but only one person dominated the air in the conference room.
“This is Sieghard’s Windwalker. Thank you very much for coming all the way here to participate in the meeting.”
Unlike his violent subordinates, Raon was the first to express his gratitude in a calm tone.
“Long time no see!”
“Your complexion has improved!”
“I never thought the nickname ‘Geomje’ would suit someone so well!”
Those who followed the Emperor waved their hands and cheered for him.
On the other hand, the leaders of the neutral forces were different.
“Eww!”
“The storm of war… .”
Those who were hit by the Gwangpungjeon inspectors hid their bruised faces and bodies and trembled with frightened, dry lips.
“The Heavenly Kings will soon arrive, but before they do, I have something to tell you.”
Raon smiled faintly and approached the round table.
“We know each other well enough to know each other. Let’s not make each other blush.”
As he said that, Raon pressed down on the round table with his bare fingers.
Cheeeeeeek!
A pitch-black hole was made in the round table along the long, slender fingers.
“You know, right?”
As I turned my finger again, the hole on the round table slowly filled. It was a miracle that transcended force.
The armed groups standing next to Oh Hwang applauded as if they were amazed, but the neutral forces that had not yet decided on a path lowered their eyes as if they remembered the beatings they had received in the past.
“I trust you will do well, and I will call the masters of the Five Emperors.”
Raon smiled thinly and took a step back.
-under….
Lars gasped as he watched the people shaking their shoulders in terror.
-What kind of gathering of the continent’s strongest people is this! It’s just a gangster alliance!
