[You have used Gate Formation.]
The targeted area was the earth, but there was a notification message that followed up.
[The power of the Old One, who is eager to conquer your homeland, still remains in the area. But please be happy. The Old One has been spotted, and it’s beginning to flee from the region.]
By the time I returned to the military headquarters, Hephaestus was dead. His corpse was a mess as if he had been beaten up by a herd of angry wild dogs. Since others had taken away his items, he would have been wandering around hell naked by now. His head would be intact there. Everyone would have realized that nothing could escape from the battlefield.
[You have completed the command ‘Secure Human Corps.’]
[The order to attack your homeland, which was under the jurisdiction of Doom Caso, has been suspended. The battles here will be handled by the Lunea Clan.]
Yeon-Hee approached me through the bustling chaos. The defeated soldiers had either scattered or surrendered, and the spoils were being collected from the bodies and ground.
“My quest is gone,” she reported.
I commanded, “Tell me in detail.”
She shook her head. “I can’t open my quest window anymore.”
After asking the other Awakened, I discovered that Yeon-Hee wasn’t the only one who had this issue. As they were driven away from the areas that still had intense fighting, more and more people began staring into the air.
Around that time, there was a new movement starting outside the boundary. The Barba Corps had been clustered along the boundary earlier, but they were withdrawing.
[You have used Gate Formation.]
[The power of the Old One, who is eager to conquer the homeland, still remains in the area.]
What bothered me the most was the fact that there were still monster corps left on the earth. Although the order to invade the earth had been rescinded, I couldn’t relax until I confirmed with my own eyes that all the monsters had gone.
We first gathered the defeated soldiers and searched for those who had been in charge. Then, a spirit entered the territory as soon as my Absolute Warzone duration was over. It looked no different from the others, so Yeon-Hee first mistook it for Lumah-le. Her eyes then became sharp as if she had realized something.
“There is no hostility coming from it. It’s actually the opposite. What do you want to do?” she finally asked.
***
The spirit also couldn’t speak like the previous Guides did. However, we couldn’t use the System that had disappeared, so we needed a place to communicate.
Yeon-Hee suggested going to the place that was built in my mental world.
Hwak!
It was my grade seven classroom where I had first met Yeon-Hee. When I entered, the first thing I saw was the view from the window. Yeon-Hee was standing in front of the lecture desk, and a black-haired girl was sitting right across from Yeon-Hee.
Then, their heads turned to me at the same time. I was looking into the classroom through the window from the hallway.
Both of their faces had hardened after spotting me. I could see the reflection of two huge eyes staring at them in their own eyes, which had obviously scared the two. They were my eyes, and my intense gaze had frightened them.
At that moment, I realized what I could do here. The ‘clenched fist in the air,’ which was the symbol of Revolucion, was now replacing the Taegeukgi[1] in the picture frame, and I was depicted as a hulking presence.
This was the scene that Yeon-Hee hoped to see. Yeon-Hee had made this place, but that was the extent of her abilities. This area was under my control.
I opened the front door and entered the room. When I got in, I wasn’t a hideous or gigantic figure anymore. My two arms and legs were intact like any ordinary guy’s.
Yeon-Hee moved her lips silently.
‘Congratulations, Seon-Hu. You are ahead of me again.’
However, in contrast to what she just said, her expression was bitter. I had explained to her that it was no one’s fault, but she still clearly felt bad about what I had sacrificed and that I had humbled myself in front of Doom Kaos.
Anyway, I sat at the desk where the black-haired girl was sitting.
She said, “Call us Lune-ah even though our name is spelled ‘L-U-N-E-A.’ I know you are very upset with my clan, but the Guides from earlier are the ones who had fled us a long time ago. I’m not frivolous like them.”
Her eyes trembled as she smiled. She was forcing herself to be kind to me. Her eyes then curved up into a crescent-moon shape that was quite well made. She was trying to win my favor.
She continued, “There is only one reason why I came to see you. You call us monsters, right? It doesn’t matter. Please stop attacking the monster corps so that we can safely return to our home. Your corps can return without more damage.”
“That must be your responsibility,” I stated.
“Excuse me?” she asked, confused.
I clarified, “ I haven’t received any other commands. Yet. Until then, your fate depends on me.”
She protested, “Killing more monsters won’t make you stronger. The Old One is leaving.”
“Well, but you guys are still here with powerful items,” I pointed out.
Lunea grabbed her necklace as if she felt where I was looking at. Then, she hid it inside her school uniform shirt.
I sneered. “You are not fully ready yet. Did you think that I would say ‘Sure because we are on the same side now’ as soon as you came over and asked me to stop attacking you guys? If you are truly on my side, then you should tremble more in fear. Civil war is brutal. You must have gone through it before.”
“...”
I continued mercilessly, “There are monsters left on earth. None of those who come after us will survive either here or there. You would also know that Doom Kaos wouldn’t care about them as they are mere soldiers. Isn’t that why you came to beg me to be merciful? Lunea.”
She nodded bitterly. “Yes.”
“What will happen to your clan now?” I asked.
She frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I killed Doom Dejire, the god you worship, with my own two hands. Are you going to serve me?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but there is nothing we admire about you.”
Then, Lunea looked at Yeon-Hee, as if they would have worshiped her if she had become Doom Man instead. Yeon-Hee smiled and shrugged at the absurd thought.
Lunea continued, “We are hoping to have peace with you until a new Doom, whom we can revere, is born.”
I shrugged. “Then, there is nothing more to say.”
Hwik!
It was a piece of cake for me to brush away Lunea’s hand and take away her necklace.
“We will collect the spoils from now on,” I stated.
The necklace swayed like a pendulum at the tip of my index finger.
“Is there anything you want?” she asked, capitulating.
I smirked. “Bring me one Book of Death and the main equipment of the commander-in-chief. Why? Are you surprised that I’m asking too little? Because I’m so generous?”
She stuttered, “N… No.”
I pressed on, “If they really want to stay alive, then they will have no choice but to give those things away. It’s not a difficult calculation. But if you waste your time and ruin everything…”
“...”
“I will go directly to the mainland of the Lunea, your land,” I threatened.
Hwaaaaak!
[Lunea’s Light (Item)
Item Class: S
Item Level: 482
Effect: A blessing, ‘Lunea’s Light,’ will be given to the user’s attack squad when used.
Physical Defense: 5000 / 5000
Magic Defense: 10000 / 10000
Cooldown time: 1 day]
[* Inventory
Lunea’s Light has been added.]
***
For me, it was urgent to stop fighting against the monster corps to secure my people’s safety while cleaning up the aftermath of battle. This was because Jonathan was still confronting the monsters at this time, and I still didn’t know where Lee Tae-Han, who had gone missing, was now.
We divided ourselves into three groups. I told Seong-Il to find Lee Tae-Han, left Joshua to clean up the mess here, and Yeon-Hee and I headed toward where Jonathan was. Perhaps because the Lunea had a mission to prevent conflicts between monsters, there was no difficulty in playing the role of a messenger in the meantime.
The Barba Corps was swarming around the Light Pillar that Jonathan was in charge of. However, by the time I got there, I could tell that the Barba had no intention to continue fighting as they moved their troops to the back.
“It’s Lee Soo-Ah,” Yeon-Hee said.
As she said, I saw Lee Soo-Ah was staring at us from afar. Around her were Baclans that were twice her size moving around her like henchmen. There was no news from the Lunea, but for me, it was a great achievement just to stop the monsters’ attacks on Jonathan’s side.
We found Jonathan immediately. As expected, he was staggering in a pool of blood even though he had a high-level healer next to him. It hadn’t been long since the battle ended, and everyone was groaning from pain and exhaustion.
Jonathan collapsed when he saw me and Yeon-Hee approaching him. His face was contorted with pain, but he was clearly relieved. I nodded to Yeon-Hee, and she squatted in front of him to make eye contact with him. Following that, she sent the memories of what we had done to Jonathan.
When she was done, Jonathan telepathically messaged me.
- So when can we go back?
I responded.
- When the Old One completely gets out of the way. Precisely, it will be the moment when the power of the Old One, who is crazy about our homeland, disappears.
He nodded.
- Perfect. As a matter of fact…
Jonathan looked at his subordinates who were around him. The battle had been interrupted, but they were busy preparing for the next battle, thinking it would only be a temporary lull.
They checked their armor and weapons with eyes filled with rage, chewed blood-stained jerky although they had no appetite, and murderous intent bubbled out of them. They didn’t care that their quest windows hadn’t popped up for a while and didn’t wonder why either.
Jonathan continued.
- I had trouble dealing with certain guys in my corps. You would agree that these will only cause problems in our society. Right, Sun?
I nodded.
- Of course.
- Let’s put all of them in different dimensions. That’s good… That would be better… But we should remove those we shouldn’t take. I have a few guys on my mind. I wish I could take lots of time…
I shook my head because it was something that even Doom Man couldn’t do.
Find the original at .com.
Meanwhile, notification messages began to show up.
[The Old One has run away.]
[The power of the Old One, who was crazy about your homeland, is rapidly disappearing.]
[Remaining Time (Extinction): 59 minutes 59 seconds]
I said to Jonathan.
- The timer has just started. Exactly an hour from now, we will return to our home.
1. Flag of South Korea. ☜