Chapter 202
Chapter 202
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: Blockade at Derhan
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Seo Woo-jin immediately grasped what the Empire intended.
“They plan to seal off the invasion route.”
According to the agreement, heroes could not participate in wars between nations.
But what if they were attacked first?
Counterattacking in self-defense would not violate the agreement.
“Exactly.”
If heroes were stationed in Derhan, which lay along the invasion path, Aier would never advance easily.
Any trouble with the heroes, even minor, would mean facing both the Empire and the heroes at once.
Excluding the vanished Baek Si-woo and the deceased Seong Yu-ra, there were 98 heroes.
Aier could never handle that force.
“Just having you there would deter the war.”
Briana’s words were not wrong.
“Is this a Crusiel operation?”
“Correct.”
When Seo Woo-jin asked, Briana nodded.
“Truth be told, there were quite a few voices saying we should just sweep them all away.”
The Empire had its hardliners.
No, it was more accurate to say the hardliners held far greater sway than the moderates.
They demanded no mercy for Aier, who had dared to挑戰 them, and that they be utterly crushed.
But of course, that was not accepted.
At another time, perhaps, but not now.
The emperor himself had silenced them, concerned about the loss of forces.
“Fortunately, Agna came up with a good plan.”
It was indeed a solid strategy.
Unless Aier was suicidal, they would never touch the heroes.
“Is there a place to train in Derhan?”
It was like hiding one’s eyes and pretending, but they still needed the basics in place.
They couldn’t claim to be training in a monster-free zone.
What the heroes needed most urgently now was growth.
They couldn’t waste time at this critical juncture.
“Fortunately, there is a suitable training ground.”
Briana smiled and continued.
“It’s not the Demon Realm, but there’s a plain teeming with quite a few monsters.”
“…A plain?”
Most monsters he’d seen so far were in forests.
Except for the northern regions without forests.
A plain, though?
It was odd that such a place had been left untouched until now.
“Well, the monsters there are a bit special.”
“What do you mean by special?”
When Seo Woo-jin asked, Briana scratched her head before answering.
“They possess intelligence.”
Intelligent monsters?
“They’ve formed a sort of tribal society. That’s allowed them to establish their own territory without crossing lines.”
“Like goblins?”
He had encountered group-dwelling monsters several times.
The Snowuls in the north, and the goblins he’d faced when first meeting Gerald.
But Briana shook her head.
“Not on that level. They’re intelligent enough to communicate with humans. There are even rumors they trade in the shadows.”
“At that point, isn’t classifying them as monsters strange?”
“You have a point, but their nature is still that of monsters. We’ve left them alone partly because they haven’t crossed lines, but also to use them for training heroes.”
It seemed they planned to deter war and conduct training in one go.
“So, what are they?”
As Seo Woo-jin nodded in understanding and asked, a very familiar word slipped from Briana’s lips.
“Orcs. To be precise, they’re called Ancient Orcs.”
They were monsters so famous they’d feel cheated if absent from RPGs or novels.
No wonder he hadn’t seen any—they were all gathered there.
“About 20,000 of them. More than enough for the heroes to train through subjugation for a while.”
Too many for 98 people, but considering the heroes’ levels, just right.
“Then when do we depart?”
“Permission’s granted, so Yorn will announce it shortly, and we leave tomorrow.”
He’d be away from the academy for a while again.
‘Well, incidents happen outside the academy now anyway.’
No reason to stick around.
Seo Woo-jin rose from his seat.
Better to prepare for departure in advance.
But he couldn’t.
Swoosh—
Suddenly, Briana’s shadow surged upward.
“…Strain?”
Noticing it, Briana frowned at the shadow.
She already knew Seo Woo-jin had clashed with Strain once.
“Seo Woo-jin.”
His name flowed from the shadow.
But there was no hostility or intent to fight.
Just a sense that there was something to say.
“What?”
He’d long since tossed politeness to the dogs with shadows, so he spoke bluntly.
Strain continued without minding.
“His Majesty summons you.”
At those words, Seo Woo-jin and Briana flinched.
“Why?”
Seo Woo-jin was wary of the emperor.
Ever since receiving “Luden Gardot.”
And now, at a time like this?
He had even more reason to be cautious.
“If you want an answer to what you said, it would be best to come.”
A warning not to meddle further.
Strain had relayed it to the emperor, and this was his intent to respond personally.
Seo Woo-jin pondered briefly, then nodded.
“I’ll go now.”
He stepped toward Strain.
Briana looked like she had much to say, but in the end, said nothing.
As imperial royalty, she couldn’t oppose the emperor’s will.
“Then I’ll be off. Oh, I’ll tell you about this guy when I get back.”
Pointing at Hwira Teon and saying not to worry, Seo Woo-jin stood beside Strain.
The shadow enveloped his body.
And soon, the two appeared at the entrance to the divine palace.
* * *
Martes’s doll-like face hardened rigidly.
It was due to the news Strain had just brought.
“War…….”
Martes squeezed her eyes shut.
“In the end, chaos has come.”
To prevent this, he had tried to warn the Holy King through Lupera.
But before the message even arrived, the Holy King had set things in motion.
“I can no longer stand by and watch.”
He had wanted to bide his time quietly until the Descent War, building strength.
But with the Holy King bringing chaos to the world, he and the Sky Tower had to act.
Only then could they dispel even a little of the chaos.
“Barshik.”
Martes called the name of his loyal subordinate, the mana engineer.
At the same time, the Sky Tower’s magic stirred, summoning Barshik before him.
“Hm?”
Was he in the middle of some research?
Barshik looked around in bewilderment for a moment.
But only briefly.
Confirming Martes, he quickly grasped the situation and bowed.
“I see the Tower Lord.”
“The greetings are done.”
Martes waved off Barshik’s deep courtesy.
“You’ve heard the story.”
He didn’t specify what, but Barshik understood immediately.
“If it’s about Aier, yes.”
Barshik held immense status within the Sky Tower.
Such a figure wouldn’t miss the uproar outside.
“We need preparations for it.”
“I hear Crusiel is scrambling to devise countermeasures.”
The words implied whether they needed to step in too.
But Martes shook his head.
“Insufficient. Aier’s Holy King will not back down easily.”
She would surely push to invade the Empire by any means, heedless of method.
That was her premonition.
“…What shall we do?”
Martes’s words were truth.
At least to Barshik and the Sky Tower’s mages.
If Martes said so, it would surely come to pass.
Barshik asked with a graver expression.
Martes closed his eyes in thought, then opened them.
And declared.
“I shall open the Sky Tower.”
Barshik’s eyes widened.
“But the day of Descent is still…….”
The Sky Tower had its own time to open.
Now was the time to crouch and build strength.
Opening it so abruptly?
Barshik wanted to oppose.
But Martes had no intention of retracting.
“If not now, it will be too late.”
They had no inkling of what was to come.
How many wretched, lamentable deaths would unfold on this land.
What calamities would befall the world because of it.
Having foreseen it all alone, Martes could not hesitate.
“…I shall open the Oath Charter.”
The Oath Charter on the Sky Tower’s 89th floor.
It was a conference room created to decide major matters concerning the tower.
But participants, excluding Tower Lord Martes, numbered only thirty-two.
All grand sorcerers and mana engineers—the world’s greatest mages and sages.
Barshik opening it meant consulting the other mages rather than deciding alone.
“Do as you will.”
Martes nodded.
He hadn’t thought to decide such a grand matter solo from the start.
If it were something he could handle alone, he would have……
‘With tens of thousands of lives at stake.’
They had to proceed with utmost caution and certainty.
“Then I shall issue the notice now.”
“Hurry. Time is short.”
“Understood.”
Barshik vanished before Martes using spatial transfer.
Left alone, she sighed.
“I thought this time it would pass easily…….”
When a full hundred heroes were summoned.
The world rejoiced.
Having summoned more heroes than ever, it was natural.
It felt like they could repel the Demon King and return to peaceful days immediately.
But Martes had a premonition this would be the greatest ordeal.
‘The Ruler of Pandemonium and the King of Chaos have appeared together.’
This world might perish.
“To avoid that future, I must move diligently.”
The first step was opening the Sky Tower and sending mages into the world.
Lost in thought, Martes suddenly snapped to and rose.
The time for the mages’ council was near.
As he resolved to move, the Sky Tower’s magic stirred.
She and the tower were already one being.
Flash—!
Bright light poured out, and Martes had arrived at the 89th floor.