Chapter 192 – Chapter 40: To the North
It was a dark and narrow room.
The War Knight in red armour was sitting before a platform.
There was no opponent on the other side of the game board. However, on the game board, black and white pieces were fighting each other.
The War Knight had been alive for many years. The number of people in the Demon World who had lived longer than him could be counted on one hand. However, the War Knight wasn’t as old as the Death Knight. Therefore, the relationship between the War Knight and War was somewhat different from the relationship between the Death Knight and Death.
War looked at the game board through the eyes of the War Knight. The War Knight was silent, and War didn’t hate such a knight.
There were many fights and many defeats. War lost some of his apostles. However, that was merely a tactical defeat. From a strategic point of view, the story had changed. War, the red flame-like woman, liked this about war.
The dark elves of Sky Forest had destroyed the magic fog with their own hands. The magic power the first fairy king left behind had disappeared, and there was no longer a magic fog in Sky Forest.
‘It was a little surprising.’
She hadn’t expected the Death Knight to be defeated. The future the red woman had anticipated was one in which the demonic god self-destructed after exhausting all the magic power in the fog.
The War Knight’s hands carried out a move on the board. The singularity, 2nd Prince Zephyr Ragnaros, was already in the north. Another singularity, the warrior, was heading toward the north, and he would soon reach.
‘The Conquest Knight will also head north.’
There was no such thing as unconditional victory in a war. There were always many variables which could overthrow the direction of the war. The Conquest Knight had achieved several tactical victories, so his presence was impossible to ignore. Maybe the convergence of two singularities and the Conquest Knight in the north would cause a strategic defeat.
The War Knight moved his hand again. The red woman looked at his fingertips and thought of the places which contained strategic value:
The Demon World’s absolute defense called Aegis Gate;
The Demon King’s Palace located at the heart of the Demon World;
And the Sanctuary.
The red woman let out a long breath, savouring the flames of war which were deep in her chest.
&
Sky Forest was a mess. As the fog disappeared and the surroundings became clearer, the terrible sight became more vivid.
Beatrice laid down a family of dark elves, who had been slaughtered by the ghouls, next to each other and chanted a short prayer.
She showed no discrimination as her golden magic healed other dark elves.
“Huu.”
Beatrice smiled warmly as she touched the cheek of a dark elf child.
“Locke, what will you do now?”
Beatrice asked, flicking back her golden hair. In order to look like an elf, she wore a white blouse and leather trousers, instead of a white robe. Additionally, she had given herself long ears by using magic.
Locke shrugged as he pulled an injured person out from a collapsed house.
“I will help here as long as I can. We aren’t too conspicuous yet.”
Locke was dressed in the normal red clothes of a sura. Just like Beatrice was disguised as an elf, he was disguised as a sura. The group had been rescuing the dark elves for hours already. As he said, they were in the remote areas to avoid being noticed.
“Then, we will become the allies of the Conquest Knight we saw yesterday?”
Carlov asked as he moved between Locke and Beatrice. The mercenary king had taken advantage of his magnificent body to disguise as a lycanthrope. The lycanthropes wore armour, so there was almost no difference from what he usually wore.
Carlov flopped down on the ground, while Beatrice sat down on some rocks nearby. Locke shrugged.
“Let’s see? I haven’t confirmed anything except for his strength. Moreover, the Guardian warned against the Conquest Knight.”
Locke had heard the story from Guardian Queian.
Queian didn’t fully believe in Conquest’s betrayal. Even if she had really betrayed the other riders, Queian believed that fighting together was dangerous.
Locke understood Queian’s thoughts. Although he had never encountered them personally, the Four Riders of the Apocalypse were those born for the end of the world. It wasn’t easy to change that innate nature.
Locke remembered Queian’s words and nodded. Then he turned back to Carlov, who was still staring in his direction.
“What is it?”
“No, I just had an absurd thought. The three of us are in alone in the Demon World. I am grateful that the Guardian believes in us, but… I think it is a little too much.”
Additionally, he was embarrassed about the thought of cooperating with the Conquest Knight since they were in an area where they had no one else to ally with. However, Locke just said with a charming smile,
“Carl, aren’t you one of the three people?” (Carl=nickname)
The Mercenary King and Saintess… The three strongest people were together, which gave them a power equivalent to that of an army.
“Um, I agree.”
Carlov was convinced, and this caused Beatrice to laugh. She poked Carlov’s sturdy arm with her finger and asked,
“Carl, are you praising yourself right now?”
“Locke is the one who said it.”
“I am a mighty warrior.”
It was Locke who replied, not Beatrice. Carlov was impressed with Locke’s response, while Beatrice simply giggled and nodded like he was correct.
“Hey, isn’t it amazing?”
“What?”
At Carlov’s blunt question, Beatrice pulled his arm and pointed.
“The Demon World. Isn’t it different from what we thought?”
“That is true. Honestly… I feel like I just travelled to a foreign country. The land is more fertile than I thought. Well, the barren places are seriously barren.”
They had expected sulfur fires and monsters roaming the streets, but the Demon World was surprisingly ordinary. Of course, it was a land where brutal power ruled, but it was much better than they expected. There were good people and bad people. In this sense, it was just like the Human World.
“I was honestly wondering what the Guardian was thinking when he sent you to the Demon World, but… doesn’t it seem like we can cooperate with the people here? And not just the Conquest Knight? I think it will work out pretty well.”
They had encountered many people while travelling through the Demon World. Even though the demon king had taken over, the people seemed just like humans.
“But there might not be a need to fight. Our biggest goal isn’t to fight but to make sure it doesn’t spill over to the Human World.”
Locke calmed down Beatrice’s excitement with his steady voice. Beatrice pouted slightly, while Carlov laughed.
The reason why these three people had come to the Demon World was simple:
Guardian Queian had predicted that a great fight would happen in the north. They had to prevent the flames of war from spreading by keeping the war inside the Demon World.
Queian said it was enough for the Demon World to burn, but Locke disagreed. He also thought about protecting the Demon World, if it was possible.
“For now, let’s keep an eye on the situation from behind. Once we reach the end of the north, I will have to draw my sword even if I don’t want to.”
Locke tapped the Warrior’s Sword at his waist, and Beatrice and Carlov nodded in agreement.
&
In-gong woke up. Instead of opening his eyes, In-gong turned toward the warmth he felt in his arms. It was a little warmer than usual, but it was probably Green Wind. In-gong stretched out a hand like it was a habit and stroked Green Wind’s head.
“Greenie…”
‘Did you call Master?’
Green Wind immediately responded to his voice. However, the voice was ringing in his ears, not from outside.
In-gong opened his eyes and realized that he was touching dark blue hair, not green. The owner of the hair wriggled slightly in his arms and asked,
“Shutra, are you awake?”
“Caitlin noona?”
The golden eyes obviously belonged to Caitlin. She was still half-asleep as she nodded and buried her nose in In-gong’s chest.
“You smell good.”
He felt a strange sensation when she sniffed his chest. Then a sharp voice saved In-gong from his embarrassment.
“If you are awake, stop now. Haven’t you almost recovered all of your aura as well?”
It was Chris who spoke to both In-gong and Caitlin. The gigantic prince grabbed Caitlin’s neck like she was a cat and lifted her up. Caitlin truly looked like a lycanthrope as she dangled from Chris’ hand.
“Chris hyung.”
In-gong understood instinctively as he called Chris’ name. The Moonlight Core and Starlight Core… Both of them had been placed on the same bed so that their aura could recover, just like before in the lycanthrope territory.
“Besides you, Caitlin also received a shock to her aura… Hum, hum. This scent is great.”
Chris started sniffing, and Caitlin spoke with a large smile,
“Isn’t it?”
The lycanthrope siblings looked at In-gong and smiled. In-gong shrugged and tried to move back.
“Hey, you aren’t going to eat me, are you? Why can I hear the sound of swallowing?”
“Your body seems fine.”
Chris ignored In-gong’s words and sat down on the bed. In-gong backed away a bit more and asked,
“How long was I asleep?”
“Just a day.”
Indeed, In-gong checked the mini-map and saw that it was an hour before noon. He only overslept a little bit from his normal wake-up time.
“The others?”
Caitlin and Chris were the only ones in the room. Chris then replied in a somewhat darker voice,
“The damage was huge. Silvan is still out there, and the 3rd Queen is lying in bed. She is just tired from yesterday, but… I still can’t help but worry.”
Sylvia had used the enormous magic power of the palace to fight the demonic god yesterday. An ordinary magician would have already lost their life.
“Felicia unni is nursing the queen.”
Caitlin continued in a gloomy voice. Normally, Felicia would be the first one In-gong saw when he woke up after collapsing, but it made sense that she would be with Sylvia right now.
“Carack?”
“Resting outside. Amita is also safe, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Sky Forest?”
“As I said earlier, the condition is serious. There are over 1,000 dead or injured. The magic fog has disappeared, and most of the magical facilities, including the palace, are not operating. The rescue operations are still continuing, and it is still unknown what the cause was.”
Chris’ tone was hard. This meant that the situation was still serious.
“Still, I’m glad. You were able to defeat the demonic god. If it wasn’t for you, the damage would be much more serious. The casualties would be a few times what it is now.”
Chris smiled a bit as he stood up before sitting down again. Then he looked straight at In-gong and touched In-gong’s shoulder lightly with his big fist.
“You are really strong. I honestly don’t believe it. What the hell are you doing to have become so strong in a year? I would have believed that a great captain was in Sky Forest.”
The five captains could be called the mightiest weapons of the demon king. They were just below the demon king and were the peak of strength in the Demon World. However, last night, In-gong had shown a strength comparable to that of the captains.
Chris remembered the day he had seen In-gong during the Red Lightning tribe mission. He had also been there at the moment when In-gong awakened his aura in an absurd manner.
“I finally know why the sword duke is interested in you. Maybe this world wants you to become stronger. Yes, that is probably the case. There is no other way to explain the many incidents.”
He really thought it was true. The elder dragons’ equipment, the dragon heart, the Moonlight Core, and the sword duke’s teachings were all once-in-a-lifetime things.
‘Maybe that is the right answer.’
In-gong laughed as he thought about Protagonist Correction, while Chris shook his head. Suppressing his jealous heart, Chris got up from his seat.
“Anyway, I will be going. There are still a lot of things to do because of this situation. Caitlin, you should watch over Shutra. I think it is better if both of you lie down a little longer.”
Chris stroked Caitlin’s head roughly before leaving the room. He was just as reliable as his large size.
In-gong settled his thoughts and stretched his body. At that moment, he felt a breath touch his fingertips.
“Noona?”
It was Caitlin. She placed her face near In-gong’s fingertip and took a deep breath.
“Excuse me, Shutra.”
“Huh?”
“Can I suck it just once?”
Caitlin pointed at his finger, and In-gong couldn’t help nodding.
&
“So, why is there a bite?”
“Slightly, just slightly.”
