Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Tensions at the Divine Palace
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Philoyan looked around.
Blasphemously, the empire's imperial family dared to call this place the Divine Palace.
It was a space of unparalleled splendor, just as the rumors had said.
'Tsk.'
He had prided himself that Iyer's High Priesthood was the most beautiful of all, but the Divine Palace far exceeded his imagination.
It was only natural that it would twist his gut.
He was displeased by the fact that the empire was far wealthier and more powerful than Iyer, which had been chosen by the gods.
But he didn't show it on the surface.
Philoyan was not the type to lack that much sense.
Hiding his true feelings, he greeted the empire's nobles with a smiling face.
"Indeed, the empire's imperial palace lives up to its reputation. It's as impressive as they say."
Instead, he deliberately demoted the Divine Palace by calling it the imperial palace.
In his view, the only place worthy of bearing the name of the divine was Iyer.
The empire's nobles noticed this, and their eyebrows twitched.
But they didn't say much.
They knew full well how immense the pride of Iyer's nobles was.
Reacting to every single word could lead to endless theological debates.
The best response was to ignore it.
But not everyone felt the same way.
"I hear Iyer's royal palace is no less impressive."
It was Drunak, the Marquis and Prime Minister of the empire.
Just as Philoyan had downgraded the Divine Palace to imperial palace, he reduced the High Priesthood to a mere royal palace.
For a moment, the atmosphere grew so tense it felt like the temperature had plummeted.
"Heh heh-"
Philoyan let out a hollow laugh.
No matter how powerful he was in the empire, Philoyan himself was a bishop of the Holy Kingdom.
In terms of rank, he was an ultra-high noble above even a duke.
It meant his status was one even Drunak couldn't treat lightly.
'And yet you're coming at me like this?'
He could sense how the empire viewed Iyer.
'Fucking hell.'
The smile vanished from Philoyan's face.
"I've heard you're the Prime Minister of the empire. Mind your words..."
"Bishop."
Just as Philoyan was about to say something to Drunak,
A woman's voice from behind stopped him.
"You should stop there."
"...Lady Lupera."
She was Lupera, one of the thirty cardinals.
Lupera, with her pure and holy aura, bowed her head apologetically.
"Right now, carrying out His Holiness the Holy King's orders is more important."
She invoked the Holy King's name.
Philoyan flinched.
"You are right. Instead of wasting time on unproductive debates, we should fulfill His will."
Philoyan agreed with Lupera.
"It would be best to speak with you another time."
He shot Drunak a meaningful glance as he spoke.
"Come anytime. My doors are always open."
Drunak replied provocatively.
But Philoyan turned away with a smile, showing no intention of taking the bait further.
"By the way, is His Imperial Majesty's audience ready? It seems about time."
An audience with the emperor required much preparation.
Especially for envoys from another nation.
"They've just finished preparing. Please move to the hall now."
"Heh heh, is that so?"
Philoyan rose from the sofa as if it were perfect timing and began following the waiting chamberlain toward the back.
Behind him followed Cardinal Lupera and fifteen holy knights, the pride of Iyer.
Drunak watched their retreating figures as they headed to the audience chamber, then suddenly spoke.
"What do you think their purpose is?"
One of the nobles approached and bowed his head.
"Crusiel is looking into it. But it's clear they're not here just as simple envoys—they have another objective."
"That makes sense. Coming so suddenly like this. I wonder what it could be."
Drunak's eyes narrowed.
"Isn't it to make contact with the heroes?"
The noble who had just reported ventured his opinion.
But Drunak shook his head.
"A bishop wouldn't step forward for something that trivial."
Even if a cardinal had come to recruit heroes, it would be surprising—but the bishop himself had come.
It couldn't be for such a simple reason.
"Tell Agna to hurry. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Understood."
The noble's figure vanished.
"Hmm."
Drunak's gaze lingered on the direction the envoys had gone.
"I hope it's nothing serious."
The Descent War was not far off.
The empire's atmosphere was turbulent, with major and minor incidents occurring nonstop.
If the bishop caused any trouble in this situation?
'It could get quite troublesome.'
Hoping it wouldn't come to that, Drunak turned away.
The report on his conversation with the emperor would come soon.
Until then, he had to gather as much information as possible and prepare for what was coming.
"Follow me."
Countless nobles began to follow behind Drunak.
* * *
"What exact level are you now?"
Seo Woo-jin, who had come to the indoor training hall, began checking Kim Da-hye's abilities again.
In the past, he would have measured actual combat prowess over levels, but the situation was different now.
To achieve what Kim Da-hye wanted, mana was the most crucial thing above all.
That made levels important.
"54."
"...Already?"
He had thought she was at most in the high 40s.
She was only C-rank, so her leveling speed was noticeably slower than the other comrades.
But she'd surpassed 50?
It was a level comparable to other A-rank heroes.
"How'd you raise it so fast?"
When Seo Woo-jin asked in surprise, Kim Da-hye answered blankly.
"Worked hard."
"Uh, yeah. Of course."
It didn't seem like prying would yield a proper answer, so Seo Woo-jin nodded with an awkward smile.
"The 'summon stones'?"
"All used."
It seemed she'd already used up the summon stones he'd given her before.
As if he'd expected it, Seo Woo-jin pulled out ones he'd prepared in advance.
"There's still plenty left, so don't worry and use them freely."
Even after distributing one to each, quite a few remained from those he'd received from Martes.
Seo Woo-jin took one out.
"Got a monster compendium by any chance?"
Jayronin's compendium.
It was the book that had helped Seo Woo-jin greatly when using summon stones.
"Yeah."
Kim Da-hye nodded and pulled a booklet from her bosom.
He had no idea where she'd hidden it in that small body, but Seo Woo-jin just accepted it naturally and took the compendium.
"Who gives the most EXP again..."
Seo Woo-jin flipped through the thick book and stopped at one page.
"This guy's good."
Murtar.
A monster with tremendous attack power but abysmal defense in comparison.
It was a bit fast, but that posed no problem at all for Kim Da-hye.
"Shall we start?"
"Sure."
Kim Da-hye summoned something from her sketchbook.
It was a K-2 rifle bristling with all sorts of attachments.
'She's upgraded that too.'
Kim Da-hye never stagnated for a moment.
Every time he saw her, she wielded new weapons and new attack methods.
It meant she was constantly pondering and researching.
The other comrades were the same, but Kim Da-hye was especially diligent.
Seo Woo-jin was pleased with that about her.
That's why he was making time to help her personally like this.
After briefly checking the enhanced K-2, Seo Woo-jin used the summon stone.
Fwaaah-!
With a bright light, the Murtar appeared.
A grotesque monster wielding four massive axes.
Its two pairs of arms and three pairs of legs were menacing.
"Don't worry about defense—just attack."
As soon as Seo Woo-jin finished speaking, mana bullets poured from the K-2.
Tudududududu-!
Even with rapid fire, not a single bullet missed—every one burrowed into vital spots.
Grraaaaaah-!
The poorly defended Murtar screamed and shielded itself with its axes.
Clangclang-!
The mana bullets ricocheted off the axes.
Then Kim Da-hye immediately unsummoned the K-2.
Grooooaaar-!
With the tormenting attacks halted, the Murtar charged as if seizing the moment.
As its six legs moved, the distance closed in an instant.
"Where do you think you're going."
But it couldn't approach any further.
Seo Woo-jin had reached out and grabbed its head.
Grrah-?
Without even drawing mana, he sealed its movements with pure physical strength.
"You're just a sandbag—that's all you need to be."
The Murtar thrashed to escape Seo Woo-jin's grip but couldn't budge a single millimeter.
In the meantime, Kim Da-hye summoned a new weapon.
It was the RPG-7 he'd seen before.
"Kwaang."
Mimicking the explosion sound with her mouth, Kim Da-hye fired the warhead.
Kwaaaaang-!
Unlike her dry voice, a massive explosion erupted.
'She's definitely gotten stronger.'
Was it because of her level up?
The power felt far greater than what he'd seen in Heldein's labyrinth before.
Grraaaack-!
That was the end for the Murtar.
It wasn't dead yet, but it was only a matter of time.
With 70% of its upper body gone, it couldn't survive without troll-level regeneration.
"Good work."
When Seo Woo-jin released the Murtar's head, it collapsed with a thud.
And...
Fwaaaaah-!
Kim Da-hye leveled up.
"Huh? Already?"
Seo Woo-jin was startled.
From the 50s onward, leveling up was notoriously difficult.
Hadn't he experienced it himself?
For her level to rise immediately like this—it was astonishing.
'Bus training really is the way.'
In truth, Murtar was beyond what Kim Da-hye could hunt alone.
Even Seo Woo-jin hadn't hunted them until he'd passed 60 and reached the 70s.
If he hadn't restrained it, she would have been the one in trouble.
Catching such a monster meant gaining a ton of EXP—no surprise there.
'Good.'
Seo Woo-jin smiled in satisfaction.
At this rate, they'd reach the goal faster than expected.
"Thanks."
Kim Da-hye bowed her head politely in thanks.
She seemed well aware of how much his help had contributed.
"What thanks?"
From now on, Kim Da-hye would grow at an insane pace.
It was too early for thanks.
"Shall we keep going?"
Leveling up would have restored her stamina and mana fully.
"Sure."
Kim Da-hye gave a faint smile.
So subtle that one might miss it if not looking closely.
Seo Woo-jin smiled back upon seeing it.
"Get ready then. Let's use up this whole summon stone before we leave today."
Nine summons left.
That should net at least three more levels.
"Yeah."
Kim Da-hye nodded slowly and prepared for battle again.
Fwaaah-!
Another monster was summoned.