Chapter 87
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 087
Chapter Title: Something Splendid
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Got a rough grasp of the situation.
Now, the dilemma ahead was how to resolve the problem staring him in the face.
The Dragon of Heavenly Punishment.
A fallen ancient entity and the mutant abominations trailing after it. He needed to estimate how to deal with this troublesome pack of monsters.
‘The dragon’s probably weakened compared to its prime.’
The Dragon of Heavenly Punishment was a monster from beyond the rift. Its power had been so overwhelming that the Dark Cultists hailed it as an outer god and worshipped it devoutly.
But these days.
With its life extinguished and inner core stolen, the dragon had lost its lightning bolt power. It must have degraded into something far lesser than it was in life.
‘...Even so, it’s no easy foe.’
Woojin severing the dragon’s neck had only been possible thanks to the Nine Roses’ cooperation.
The dragon abomination’s strength was formidable.
Enough to casually wipe out an entire Dark Cultist temple. The dragon-turned-abomination appeared to have gained new powers and tricks.
‘I need more intel.’
How capable was the enemy physically? What abilities did it possess? Scouting that ahead of time would let him hunt it down with minimal losses.
Woojin mulled this over... then suddenly yawned. He was fatigued from lack of proper sleep.
‘...Guess I’ll wrap up planning tomorrow.’
The top priority was managing his condition. He’d learned that lesson fighting the dragon before.
First things first—finish that overdue sleep.
With his mind made up, Woojin closed his eyes. Before long, the man plunged into deep slumber.
The next day, at noon.
After waking and handling a simple meal, Woojin went to find Frost Queen Knartash.
"Ever seen an abomination that looks like a dragon?"
At the question, Knartash tilted her head, a bone clamped between her teeth.
"Never laid eyes on a monster like that."
Knartash didn’t seem to know much.
Actually, it made perfect sense. If the Frost Tribe had spotted the dragon abomination, they would’ve tipped Woojin off beforehand.
‘No choice but to dive in and gather intel myself?’
As Woojin pondered with arms crossed, Knartash crunched and swallowed her bone before asking,
"A dragon abomination out of nowhere... Why bring it up? It’s got me uneasy."
How to explain this one.
Telling her it came from a dream would kill his credibility. Woojin bullshitted instead.
"When we recently raided the abominations’ territory. Pretty sure I glimpsed one like that from a distance."
"...What a pain."
Knartash let out a deep sigh.
She reached for a fresh bone on the table but, appetite gone, shoved the dish aside carelessly.
"Guardian. What do you think about expanding our alliances?"
An unexpected topic from Knartash. Now it was Woojin’s turn to question.
"Allies? With who?"
"The scaled folk."
Woojin’s brows furrowed slightly.
"...You want to ally with the naga?"
Naga.
Beings like half-human, half-snake hybrids. A tribe wielding massive influence in the Demonic Realm. Purely by numbers, they outstripped even the Frost Tribe.
Allying with them would help considerably, but... honestly, it didn’t sit right.
"They’re the type to backstab you without warning."
The Frost Tribe prized promises and deals, but the naga were polar opposites.
Naga made no promises.
Gain versus loss—they weighed them ceaselessly, picking only options beneficial to their tribe. Betrayal and being betrayed was par for the course with them.
Woojin voiced his distaste, and Knartash nodded in agreement.
"The scaled ones are tough to trust. I hate them even more than you do."
The Frost Tribe and naga had notoriously bad blood. Opposing natures, plus neighboring territories sparking repeated clashes.
But the situation left no room for leisure.
Mutant abomination numbers kept swelling, and the dragon abomination Woojin mentioned needed handling.
"To fend off the big threat, maybe team up even with those we despise. The naga are at least reasonable."
"...Fair point."
Plenty of tribes had tempers worse than naga. Beings barely distinguishable from beasts. No alliances there, so naga cooperation was the best bet.
Conveniently, there’d been progress.
"Gar returned yesterday."
Great Warrior Gar, second-in-command of the Frost Tribe. Knartash’s right-hand man finished his mission and came back.
While Braknak and Ulzog held the line against southbound abominations from the north, Gar had headed to naga lands to negotiate alliance.
This was before Duke Edwin’s second expeditionary force invaded Frost Tribe territory.
The Frost Tribe hadn’t even known of humanity back then. To secure allies, they’d swallowed their pride and sent envoys to the naga.
"Honestly, didn’t expect the naga to help, so I wasn’t hopeful... but we got a surprisingly positive reply."
Cede 30% of recaptured territory plus over a hundred beast inner cores, and the naga would dispatch troops to aid abomination hunts.
Great Warrior Gar had returned with that response. Woojin tilted his head faintly.
"...For a ‘positive’ reply... isn’t the demand excessive?"
Beast inner cores were huntable with diligent Frost warriors, but handing over 30% of territory? Hard to swallow easily.
Knartash replied matter-of-factly.
"Generous by scaled-folk standards. We’re the desperate ones."
The naga making any such offer was rare. Woojin agreed, but...
"Things are different now than then. Your tribe allied with humanity—you’ve got breathing room."
The Church Alliance would aid the Frost Tribe.
No need to force ties with naga. Shamelessly demanding too much, habitual betrayers to boot.
Knartash looked skeptical.
"Not dismissing humans, but... does their faction really pack that much power? Jaka’s hype was so over-the-top, hard to buy it."
The envoy Frost warriors had reported separately, but Frost Queen Knartash inwardly doubted their words.
The reason was simple. Humanity’s second expeditionary force got utterly crushed by the Frost Tribe.
‘Humans have insane numbers, but few real powerhouses. Most are worthless posers.’
The second expedition boasted 8,000 troops.
The sheer numbers daunted Frost warriors inwardly, but in actual combat, the expedition proved mere weaklings.
No skilled knight could withstand a Frost warrior’s brute strength. Most soldiers were frail, fleeing like panicked sheep from charging warriors.
Human forces’ might wasn’t impressive. That view dominated Frost Tribe opinion.
Woojin didn’t bother with a long explanation.
"Just see for yourself."
The Church Alliance support force would arrive soon enough.
A few days later.
Just as Woojin predicted... the Church Alliance army crossed the pass. Knights and soldiers in silver armor, plus Tarasque lizard beasts.
Witnessing it, Knartash was quietly impressed.
"Definitely... troop numbers alone are staggering. Beyond what I expected."
Thousands clad in metal marched with crisp discipline, radiating unfamiliar intimidation. Knartash, beholding a human army for the first time, couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
Woojin, standing beside her, smirked.
"That’s just the vanguard. The Church Alliance’s main expeditionary force hasn’t even set out."
They weren’t the true expedition—just the advance party to establish an outpost.
Numbers weren’t huge. A mere 2,000. Engineer units here to fortify the camp and secure supply routes.
Knartash asked again.
"Fortify—what’s that mean?"
"You’ll see."
Better seen once than explained endlessly. Woojin replied casually and headed toward the support troops.
Leading the support force were two familiar faces.
"Tough journey—you’ve worked hard. Lady Cecilia, and Sir Brandon."
The woman on the left was Saintess Cecilia, face veiled behind her habitual cloth as always. On the right stood a middle-aged man, Bishop Brandon.
Church ranks typically ran: believer, priest, high priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal.
A bishop of the Church of Struggle. Brandon was one cleric Woojin had conversed with often during his advisor stint.
After courteously greeting Frost Queen Knartash, Brandon approached Woojin.
"Been too long. The Cardinal was quite disappointed Jin didn’t return."
"Yeah, well... advisor duties wrapped up, so time to live freely."
He brushed it off with a handshake. A cardinal’s direct advisor brought wealth and fame, but plenty of hassle too.
Working under overly ambitious, hyper-competent superiors was no picnic.
"Jin still holds the advisor title. The Cardinal insisted on keeping your name there."
"... ."
What to say to that.
No quick quip came to mind, so he pivoted topics hastily.
"Anyway... did you bring those special items I requested?"
"Naturally. Five for now—they’re pricey, so more would’ve raised eyebrows."
More than he’d hoped.
Satisfied, Woojin bobbed his head eagerly. With the topic fresh, best to install them pronto.
"This way to the barrier."
He guided the engineers to the northern defense line. Soon enough, five massive weapons stood atop the barrier.
Like crossbows scaled up dozens of times. These were the Church Alliance’s ballistae.
Knartash eyed them dubiously.
"These things that great?"
"I’ll show you."
Too pricey to waste on bare dirt. Woojin called to Rolang, who’d come along.
"Sir Rolang. Favor us with a performance."
"About time for some fun."
Rolang accepted gladly. He rummaged his backpack and drew a pristine white violin.
Atop the barrier, Rolang tucked the violin under his chin. Then the strings wailed forth.
Zuiiing—!
He sawed the bow roughly. Frenzied melody exploded from his motions. Lost in the thrill, the holy knight headbanged rockstar-style through his solo.
Not exactly a picturesque scene. Rolang wore nothing but a beast pelt around his waist, Frost Tribe-style.
As if witnessing something indecent, Cecilia slipped her hands beneath her veil to cover her eyes.
‘Effect’s solid.’
Response came instantly. Hearing Rolang’s violin, abominations howled from the distant woods—several of them.
"Grook, grroook—!"
A horde charged the barrier. Woojin eyed them and commanded.
"Power up."
Soldiers tinkered with the ballistae.
Kiiing!
A screech like an eagle’s cry. With it, the hefty amethysts embedded in the ballistae began to glow.
Meanwhile, the distance shrank. The abominations closed in on the barrier.
"Loose."
Woojin ordered. Soldiers yanked the triggers hard.
Thud, thud, thud, tong!
The ballistae unleashed volley after volley. Javelin-thick arrows. One fired, and the next auto-loaded as the string drew taut.
Magic-infused repeating ballistae.
Defensive armaments from Yurgis’s barrier. One of the weapons that let ancient humanity halt the Demonic Realm’s advance.
Now it rained arrows relentlessly on the current foe. Divinity-blessed silver arrows—abominations struck melted away, shrieking.
Watching, Knartash muttered to herself.
"...Splendid."
The Alliance’s weapon had won over the Frost Queen’s heart.