Episode 185
The next day.
The group gathered in front of the space travel gate for the first time in a long time.
It was to attend the executive meeting of the Ultimoon Festival held at noon.
“Don’t come within 1 meter of me. It’s unpleasant.”
Park Hyun-ah’s voice is full of energy.
He looks quite upset as he furrows his brows and glares at me.
“I wish it would just disappear like this, but that would be impossible… I will close my eyes.”
Abelson spoke without even looking at Choi Hyun-seok.
“I said it’s not like that…”
Choi Hyun-seok complained with a look of injustice on his face, but it seemed like no one was willing to listen.
Then Rachel landed on his shoulders.
“Hero, hero!”
“Why you again.”
“I will follow you to the end, warrior!”
Rachel said, clenching her fists.
“huh…?”
Choi Hyun-seok looked at Rachel with distrustful eyes.
Why are you cheering at a time when you would normally be met with all kinds of ridicule?
“Why are you suddenly like this? I can’t get used to it.” “Your body is already dirty! What difference would it make if you were to separate from the warrior now?”
Choi Hyun-seok sighed with a look of “Well, that’s true.”
“Let me hear what kind of nonsense you’re talking about.” “That’s right! Rachel was always in your arms, you felt it every time, right? Right!?”
Rachel nodded repeatedly as if she knew everything.
“I understand. Rachel is pretty and lovely! But please bear with me! The dedicated fairy is only there to guide the warrior to the right path… Argh!”
Choi Hyun-seok grabbed Rachel and roughly threw her away.
“Tsk. I’m already upset.”
He shook his hands as if he had touched something dirty.
“Huh! Huh!”
“Bobo. There is no one else but you…”
When I saw Bobo approaching me and wagging his tail, my heart suddenly felt warm.
Bobo, the only one he holds in his arms.
A scolding was issued to him as he stroked Bobo with loving eyes.
“Why aren’t you coming quickly? What are you doing?”
“Yes! I’m going!”
Soon after, Park Hyun-ah and Abelson pass through the gate.
Choi Hyun-seok also hurriedly entered the gate.
***
Carebe Cowell.
In the past, he was a man who was known as a legend of the Dracaen Empire during the early days of the war with the Demon Tribe.
He was already well over 500 years old, making him a rare old man even among legends.
Although it seemed like it would be a bit difficult for him to remain active, Carebe still did not leave the battlefield.
Although his physical abilities may be inferior to those of other legends, his experience and skills accumulated over hundreds of years more than make up for his lack of physical strength.
“Hmm…?”
Having been through so much, Carebe is not easily fazed by anything.
He was looking at someone with his eyes narrowed.
“Mr. Park Hyun-ah. Who is the man behind you…?” “An old man with dementia. Didn’t I tell you not to call him ‘Mr.’?” “Okay, okay. Okay, then introduce your friend behind you.”
Park Hyun-ah shook her head.
“Choi Hyun-seok, you reported it to Sullivan last time, right?” “Um… did you?”
“I reported it to you a week ago. By the way, that was the fifth report related to Choi Hyun-seok.”
Sullivan said with a small sigh.
Carebe then clapped her hands as if she finally understood.
“Oh, that’s right! I remember. I remember!” “You don’t remember, old man. Did you even read the report in the first place?” “Hey! I founded this organization for a reason! Do you think I’ll do it so half-heartedly!?”
Carebe, with a stern expression on his face, pointed behind Park Hyun-ah.
“So. Park Hyun-ah. Who did you say the man you came with was?”
“Sigh, shit…”
Park Hyun-ah wiped her face with a deep sigh.
Choi Hyun-seok, who watched this whole farce, fell into deep skepticism.
‘It seems so shameless to humanity to put up the slogan that this is humanity’s last hope.’
It is an organization that claims to be the ‘Guardians of Humanity’.
Although small in size, I expected a small, elite group of people who were united by a strong sense of mission.
Even an elementary school class meeting would probably go better than this.
“Let’s talk about Choi Hyun-seok later. First, tell me why we gathered here today.”
Park Hyun-ah sat down on a nearby chair and crossed her legs.
Choi Hyun-seok naturally stood behind her.
“Ahem, okay. Since everyone is here, let’s get started.”
Chief Carebe Cowell.
And four executives including Park Hyun-ah and Sullivan.
It was a meeting held by five people in total.
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“First of all, I would like to thank all of you who have worked hard to fight the undead and stop necromancy.”
Sullivan magically lifted the continent.
It was a map showing the topography of the continent, the territories of each country, and the borders of the world.
“So far, there have been a total of 500 places where necromancy has occurred. Of those, more than 300 were initially suppressed, but the rest all grew into huge undead legions with the emergence of dominant entities.”
There are about two hundred red dots on the map.
They were all undead legions that had formed a huge horde due to the appearance of a dominant entity.
“Double our Ultimoon Fest has slain thirty-five dominant entities, annihilating the undead legions.”
At the same time, thirty-five red dots were marked with an X on the map.
“And each country handled about ninety cases on its own.”
Again, the red dots are disappearing in large numbers.
Now there were about a hundred red dots left on the map.
“As of the week before the migration, there are ninety-seven remaining undead legions. At first glance, it may not seem like much, but the situation has worsened.”
Sullivan continued with a serious expression.
“Each legion grew so large that it was difficult to handle, and the number of such powerful legions continued to increase.” “Do you insist on speaking in the past tense to mean that it is not like that now?”
‘It was a trend’ rather than ‘It is a trend’ probably means that it is not like that now.
Park Hyun-ah’s point was accurate.
“Yes. Before the migration, the Holy Empire declared a holy war.”
“sanctuary…”
“And what you see on the map now is the number of remaining undead legions.”
Most of the red dots on the continent have disappeared.
There are less than thirty places left.
Sighs came from all over.
“Huh… You destroyed that legion of undead in just two weeks?” “That’s not all. Look at the location of the Demon’s border here.”
The devil’s border.
It refers to the boundary between the realms of demons and humans.
“Since the beginning of necromancy, the border of the devil has continued to move northward, shrinking the human realm…”
“It’s been restored?”
“Yes. It’s only been two weeks, but the front lines that were pushed up for over two months have almost been restored to their original state.”
Everyone’s expression became serious.
If I were to summarize what Sullivan just said in one sentence, it would be this:
Since the Holy Empire Gatren began to move in earnest, they had dealt with most of the Undead legions and pushed back the front lines in just two weeks.
It was too overwhelming to be the power of a single country.
At that time, Park Hyun-ah opened her mouth.
“What is the purpose of the temple?”
There is always a goal in the temple.
Or recapture the city.
Or killing heretics.
Any temple always begins with a clear purpose.
Depending on the purpose of the current temple, what we must do in the future will differ.
“Defeating the Demon King.”
Everyone’s expression darkened at Sullivan’s words.
“Does that mean… that you’re ready to devour the continent?” “I guess so. After all, defeating the Demon King means that there’s no longer any need for the Demon Tribe.”
Divine power is strong against magic, but weak against magical power.
This means that when fighting against fellow humans, the Holy Empire Gatren must fight with a penalty.
For this reason, no matter how powerful the Gatren Empire is, it is not enough to deal with all human forces.
So, Gatren used the Demon King’s army.
By fighting the Demon King’s army, he restrained other human forces and grew in strength.
“Currently, the power of the minor kingdoms has been cut in half by the magic of command. Some countries are on the verge of collapse.” “They are in a perfect state to be devoured.” “That’s right. But that’s not the only problem.”
“What else is left?”
“As I just said, the Pope has started a crusade. In fact, this itself is the biggest problem.”
Everyone’s expression turned somber at Sullivan’s words.
“Gatren’s army will grow enormously.”
The troops participating in the holy war are temporarily incorporated into the Deusis cult.
The Pope, the head of the Deusis cult, is the Emperor of Gatren.
In other words, it is no different from becoming Gatren’s army.
“Except for a few countries that were strong enough to fight off the undead on their own, such as the Dracaen Empire, Domis, and the Kingdom of Agros, almost all of them participated in the crusade.” “They made a deal to deal with the undead and participate in the crusade.” “Yes. If things continue this way, it’s only a matter of time before most of the countries fall to Gatren.” “Hmm… This doesn’t look good…”
The future is beginning to take shape.
The humanity gathered under the temple will push back the Demon King’s army in an instant.
It won’t take long to cut off the Demon King’s head.
The problem comes after that.
What will the assembled army do?
“Gatren will reveal his ambition to rule the continent. He will probably label any nation that does not participate in the holy war as a heretic and deal with them.” “Once a few powerful nations fall, the rest will crawl away on their own.” “Then it will be Gatren’s world.”
Groans erupted from all over.
It’s too big of a trend for a few people to step forward and stop.
“Ha, why did that Demon King bastard use necromancy to make things difficult for no reason? It’s so annoying.”
Park Hyun-ah scratched her head nervously.
“If Gatren is moving in earnest like this, I guess the warrior training project is almost finished?”
Sullivan nodded at Park Hyun-ah’s question.
“There are already reports that warriors who seem to be the project targets have appeared in several battlefields.” “Have they entered full-scale test operations?” “I think so. They are called ‘Iron Demons’ on the battlefield…” “Iron Demons? What do you mean?” “It seems that they used magical engineering to completely change the human body into metallic properties. Even if they are cut off, they can be repaired at any time by simply replacing the parts.”
“…”
“With a body like that, you can slaughter enemies without any emotion, so you deserve the nickname ‘Iron Demon.’”
“My head hurts.”
Even just Gatren’s army is a big problem, and the warrior training project has been completed.
Things just got twice as hard.
Sullivan further explained.
“Their average power is between the commander of the knights and the heroic level. The number revealed is around a thousand, but there is no telling how many more are hidden.” “That number was modified with nothing but magic engineering? Regardless of whether it is possible or not, it must have cost a lot of money.” “Because it is Gatren, the richest country on the continent.”
At that time, Choi Hyun-seok, who was listening to the story, whispered in Park Hyun-ah’s ear.
“If you’re talking about the warrior training project, aren’t you talking about doll-like guys?”
“that’s right.”
“Aren’t they all just a bunch of experience points anyway?”
Choi Hyun-seok has clashed with them several times.
‘In some ways, they were similar to the undead.’
Those who have great power but do not know how to use it properly.
Right now, these guys are nothing more than a bundle of experience to Choi Hyun-seok.
“What you’re dealing with is an unfinished, experimental subject for data acquisition. The ones coming out now are probably much more complete than that.” “Still, they seem to be at the level of a regiment commander in the Demon King’s army. Even if we gathered them together, it wouldn’t be useless, right?” “No. It’s dangerous. They might be too strong for us to handle.”
Park Hyun-ah continued speaking with a serious expression.
“You still don’t know how strong the power of the group is.”
The power of trained elites gathered together is beyond imagination.
For example, let’s say that a combat force of 51,000 and a combat force of 500,001 fight.
Then, it is certain that the 500,000 combat power will win with an overwhelming victory.
However, if a combat force of 50,000 is trained as a group and properly prepared, the situation is the opposite.
Even if two or three men with a fighting force of 500,000 come, they cannot defeat a hundred people.
The large-scale magic circle used by many people produces overwhelming power, and the various linked techniques used by trained ones display outstanding power that can make even a ten-fold combat power pale in comparison.
“The most representative example is the Knights of the Grace of God of Gatren.”
Knights of the Grace of God.
The average fighting power of these thousand high-ranking knights is approximately 50,000 to 60,000.
“I had a run-in with them once and I almost died.”
Park Hyun-ah, who fought against the Knights of God’s Grace in the past, had to run away to survive throughout the battle.
“Those bastards say that the Knights’ power is comparable to that of a single legend, so don’t be ridiculous. In my opinion, even if two legendaries come, they would have a hard time winning. In fact, they were the ones who took care of the mouth.” “Instead, they reduced the power and informed us?”
It was a strange thing.
Usually, a country is anxious to show off its power, but it is announcing it by downplaying it.
“If we reveal it as it is, other countries will become more vigilant.” “They are really vicious.” “We have to see that they are thorough.”
Park Hyun-ah laughed bitterly.
“The fact that those guys have started their activities in earnest means that they are confident.”
At that time, the two were having a quiet conversation.
Sullivan raised his hand and spoke.
“So the agenda for today is how to deal with Gatren in the future.” “I will speak first.”
It was Carebe Cowell, the leader of Ultimoon Fest.
“In a way, it’s a good thing. I had something to say to you anyway.”
Everyone’s eyes are focused on the old man in the center of the conference room.
Carebe opened her mouth.
“A few days ago, I received a call from my home country.” “If it’s your home country…”
“okay.”
He nodded with a serious look in his eyes.
“It is the Dracaen Empire.”
As soon as he spoke, the conference room door opened.
“Nice to meet you, Ultimoon Fes, the protectors of humanity.”
A middle-aged man suddenly appears.
Everyone looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Park Hyun-ah glared at Carebe with cold eyes.
“Is your mother-in-law really that senile? She’s telling outsiders where this place is?”
The location of the Ultimoon Festival is a closely guarded secret.
If discovered, destroy all gates at that moment and relocate the organization.
It can’t be helped, since secrecy is the lifeblood of this group.
At that time, the man stopped Park Hyun-ah.
“Please don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t called here by Lord Cowell. I came here of my own accord.”
The man bowed gracefully.
“Let me give you a formal greeting. I am Olaben Grimire, Duke of the Dracaen Empire.”
