Chapter 159: 32nd Floor. Dwarf Kingdom (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 159: 32nd Floor. Dwarf Kingdom (4)
Kang Jun-hyeok walked toward the fortress walls with measured steps.
The dwarves stationed atop the battlements spotted him and began to shout.
“Human! Fall back! This is a battlefield!”
They weren’t on guard against him; it was a natural reaction. With the Demon Race and the dwarves locked in a brutal siege, they couldn't imagine a lone human would dare attack them.
But Kang Jun-hyeok did not stop.
With his weapon drawn, he closed the distance. His pace quickened. The dwarves’ expressions hardened as they realized his intent.
“……Fire!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cannons and ballistae roared to life. Shotgun-like defensive weapons discharged, filling the air with a lethal hail of projectiles.
[Anti-Field]
Kang Jun-hyeok didn’t bother dodging. Shrouding himself in a shimmering barrier, he sprinted through the barrage and reached one of the massive support pillars.
[Wall Climbing]
He scaled the pillar with fluid ease, reaching the top in seconds. Once there, he simply pointed a finger.
[Glory of the Lost God]
The pillars surrounding the wall possessed a powerful resistance to demonic energy. Conversely, that meant they were exceptionally vulnerable to divinity.
Vroooooom!
An intense, blinding light swallowed the world. The pillar ignited instantly, its surface corroding under the divine heat. Kang Jun-hyeok gave the structure a light tap.
Rumble! Crash!
Charred by the divine glory, the pillar couldn’t withstand the slight impact and collapsed into rubble.
The dwarves, who had been watching in stunned silence, began to cry out in horror.
“……The pillar fell!”
“This is insane!”
“Good luck, everyone,” Jun-hyeok muttered.
Having achieved his goal, Kang Jun-hyeok retreated and headed back toward Asokan. The demon commander, who had been in the middle of a fierce skirmish, looked bewildered.
“Kang Jun-hyeok? Why have you returned?”
“Because I succeeded in bringing down one of the pillars.”
“……What? Already?”
Asokan’s eyes widened. It hadn’t even been an hour since the battle began.
Kang Jun-hyeok nodded. “Have the demons retreat.”
“Yes—yes, sir!”
Asokan hurriedly barked out orders. The demons withdrew, their expressions masks of confusion. After reorganizing the lines, Asokan went to inspect the fallen pillar and gasped.
“My god.”
The pillar they hadn’t been able to so much as scratch was now shattered into pieces. The dwarves were scrambling to repair it, but it was a hopeless effort; even the roots of the structure were scorched black.
“H-how on earth did you do this?”
“That’s not for you to worry about. We’ll move again after a short rest. Have everything ready by then.”
“Understood! Would a week be enough?”
“A week? What are you talking about?”
“Ah. Is that too short? I suppose destroying a pillar must have cost you a great deal of strength. Then, perhaps a month……”
“Three days.”
“……Pardon?”
Asokan blinked. Kang Jun-hyeok repeated himself firmly.
“We move again in three days. Be ready.”
“Uh…… Y-yes, sir.”
* * *
Three days later.
The demons launched another assault. Kang Jun-hyeok moved toward the pillar on the opposite side. Unlike before, the dwarves were prepared. They roared in fury the moment they saw him.
“It’s him! He’s the one who destroyed the pillar!”
“Why is a human siding with the Demon Race?!”
“Kill the traitor!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A rain of projectiles and spells descended upon him. Since they were expecting him, the concentrated firepower was considerable. Even for him, a direct approach would have been troublesome.
So, he took a different path.
Kang Jun-hyeok lightly tapped his foot against the earth.
[Rift Movement]
His body instantly vanished, reappearing at the top of the pillar. The dwarves were aghast.
“Teleportation? Impossible!”
[Glory of the Lost God]
Light descended upon the world once more. By the time the radiance illuminating the battlefield faded, the second pillar had collapsed. A dwarf who had slumped to the ground muttered vacantly.
“……Divinity?”
“See you in three days,” Jun-hyeok said.
* * *
Another three days passed.
The dwarves had gathered almost their entire military force in a desperate final stand. Naturally, it was meaningless.
[Rift Movement]
[Glory of the Lost God]
The glory scorched the world, and the third pillar was destroyed.
“……This is a dream. It has to be a dream!”
Leaving behind the cries of despair and denial, Kang Jun-hyeok returned to the camp.
“Now there’s only one left. Prepare for an all-out war.”
“……Yes.”
Asokan nodded, his expression stiff. As Jun-hyeok entered the outpost, the demons slunk away, avoiding his gaze.
Kang Jun-hyeok sat down in a chair inside his tent. Eldiria let out a dry chuckle.
[Glory of the Lost God. It is a truly formidable power. Even for a believer deeply favored by a god, it is a level of power that would require years of recuperation after a single use.]
It was a power far too great for a mortal to wield—a power that even the current Kang Jun-hyeok found difficult to handle.
[And yet, you can use it every three days without any penalty.]
“It’s one of the perks of being a Player.”
Skills possessed by Players had no inherent cost. As long as the cooldown was managed, they could be used without paying a price. It was a trait that would make the masters of old faint in shock.
[It is a very alien power, one that does not fit the providence or laws of this world. And your Rift Movement is as absurd as ever.]
Eldiria spoke in a disgruntled tone.
Rift Movement.
No warning, no delay, no cost. He could move freely to any rift within his sight. Normal spatial movement could be countered by disrupting mana or stabilizing space, but since Rift Movement did not follow the laws of the universe, there was no way to block it.
In a one-on-one fight, a master might respond by reading the opponent’s patterns as Kang Jun-hyeok had done in the past, but in a large-scale battle, even that was impossible.
During the Great War, the Hunger Growing in the Rift would leap out from rifts everywhere, destroy strategic points, and vanish, driving everyone to the brink of madness. Eldiria shuddered as the trauma resurfaced.
[It is truly horrific.]
“But now, it is my power.”
Even such an alien authority was now part of his arsenal.
* * *
Three days passed.
Only the final pillar remained. Kang Jun-hyeok patted the shoulder of Asokan, who stood at the head of the demon army.
“Wait here. I’ll go destroy the pillar.”
“U-understood.”
Asokan nodded, stuttering. His eyes were filled with dread as he looked at the human. It wasn’t just Asokan; none of the demons gathered there dared to meet Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes.
Demons revere strength. But in the end, they too were beings of this universe. They couldn’t help but fear something that fell outside their logic—something they couldn’t understand.
Kang Jun-hyeok didn’t care. He hadn’t sought their understanding in the first place. He stepped forward toward the final pillar.
“……Fire!”
A desperate, wailing cry rang out. Attacks poured down, though they felt weak, as if the defenders had already surrendered to fate. Kang Jun-hyeok looked calmly at the pillar.
[Rift Movement]
[Glory of the Lost God]
The light erupted.
Rumble!
Finally, the last pillar fell. Only sighs of despair echoed from the walls. Returning to the demons, Kang Jun-hyeok gestured with his chin.
“Go.”
“……Yes. Everyone, attack!”
“W-waaaaaaaa!”
The demons charged. The dwarves tried to rally their defense, but with the pillars destroyed, their walls were vulnerable. When demonic energy slammed into the fortifications, they crumbled almost instantly. The demons roared as they poured into the city.
Clang!
Screech!
The sound of clashing steel filled the air. Kang Jun-hyeok walked leisurely through the breached wall. Compared to the towering fortress walls, the buildings inside were short, built to the dwarves’ own scale. He saw numerous smithies, along with half-finished weapons and war machines.
It’s been a long time.
In his past life, he had joined forces with them to protect this very place. Now, he was entering as an invader. It was a strange feeling.
The demons and dwarves fought fervently in the streets. Since no one stood in his way, he reached the entrance of the royal castle without trouble. The corpses of numerous demons were scattered across the stairs.
One dwarf stood guarding the entrance. He was clad in brilliant golden armor and wielded a silver hammer. His beard, thick and proud, reached down past his chest.
“Dwarf King. Hierum.”
He was the sovereign of this realm. Hierum glared at Kang Jun-hyeok with sunken, bloodshot eyes.
“You.”
His voice was thick with rage and hatred. The sound of him grinding his teeth echoed against the stone.
“You are a human.”
“I am.”
“And a servant of a god.”
“It’s a bit vague to say I serve one, but I am at least related to a god.”
At that casual reply, Hierum’s face contorted. He stomped his foot violently.
“You! You! You! You are a human! A follower of a god! And yet you dare attack us? You side with the Demon Race? Have you gone mad?!”
His thunderous roar shook the entire castle. The earth cracked as an intense wave of power swept through the courtyard.
“You traitor! How could you do such a thing? They are demons! The enemies of the surface! Eternal, immortal evil! Heaven’s punishment will fall upon you!”
His anger was justified. To the people of this era, demons were the ultimate enemy. It was a relationship that could never be reconciled.
At least, at this point in time.
“Well,” Kang Jun-hyeok said, his expression unreadable. “I don’t think you’re in much of a position to say that. Because this land originally belonged to the Demon Race, didn’t it?”
“Nonsense! This land has been protected by our ancestors for generations!”
“Liar.”
Kang Jun-hyeok chuckled softly. He knew better than anyone that it was a lie. In his past life, Hierum—who had eventually become his friend—had told him the truth himself.
“A very long time ago, this land—this planet—originally belonged to the demons. But the surface dwellers invaded and snatched it from them. It’s a distant history that no one remembers now, but you, at least, know it’s the truth. Hierum.”
“……The surface belongs to us! The demons were the ones who dared to occupy it! What is wrong with us reclaiming what is ours?!”
“Nothing is wrong with it,” Kang Jun-hyeok replied simply.
Hierum, who hadn’t expected such an easy admission, faltered.
“Whether it was originally demon land or not, it’s your land now. There’s nothing wrong with your claim. Conversely, the demons attacking to reclaim their land is also a rational argument from their perspective.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying I have no interest in a long-winded history lesson.”
Once, half of this surface had belonged to demons. At another time, the surface dwellers had occupied everything. That long cycle of invasion was the history of the universe itself. Who was good and who was evil was merely a matter of perspective.
“It doesn’t matter to me either way.”
At that indifferent answer, Hierum’s face twisted. “But you are a human! How dare you side with the demons? They are an unforgivable evil to humanity!”
“That’s the thing. The problem is that in the future, that isn’t necessarily true.”
“What?”
“Because there’s a separate, absolute evil.”
Beings from the outside had invaded the universe. A massive conflict known as the Great War had occurred. In that war, there was no traditional good or evil. Demons, dwarves, humans, and gods—all had joined forces to fight against the Victors.
In the end, they were defeated and became Losers, but that alliance did not vanish. The demons and gods worked together to grant power to the Players. The Lemegeton created by the Demon King and the Holy Sword forged by the combined power of the gods were the prime evidence of that.
“So, from my perspective, this is just a simple power struggle.”
In that case, he would simply move in the direction that provided the most benefit. Kang Jun-hyeok gave his casual answer and gripped his weapon.