Chapter 282
Chapter 282
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: No Contract in the End
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In the end, no contract was ever drawn up.
It went without saying.
Freyja wasn't someone who could represent Ier.
Even if Mardetain had died at Woojin's hands, leaving the Holy King's seat vacant, that position wasn't hers.
At the moment, Ier's central cathedral was plunged into yet another chaos separate from the people's turmoil.
'Who will ascend to the Holy King's throne?'
For hundreds of years since Ier's founding, nothing like this had ever happened.
Mardetain hadn't named a successor, and even if he had, the Apostles of the Demon King had no reason to honor it.
Of course, there were procedures in place for such sudden events, but even those had issues.
Normally, the three archbishops would convene and elect a new Holy King, but Urea of Faith was dead, and Philoyan of Temperance was missing.
That left only Miteon of Radiance.
A single remaining archbishop couldn't designate the Holy King.
As a result, Ier had fallen into a state bordering on anarchy.
For the time being, Miteon had decided to join forces with the cardinals still present to manage state affairs, but quelling the chaos was impossible.
'That's their problem.'
Woojin grumbled inwardly.
This meant he had to help them externally.
And based solely on a promise that might or might not be kept.
"Tch, I hate this kind of thing."
He wasn't pleased.
But he couldn't just ignore it either.
He couldn't stand by and watch Ier's sacrifices grow.
In the end, Woojin decided to honor Freyja's request, trusting only her word that she would absolutely keep the promise.
'If you stab me in the back, I won't let it slide.'
After all the time and effort he'd invested in resolving their issue, if they just wiped their mouths and denied it?
He planned to activate 'Demon King Transformation' and personally rip them apart.
'So behave yourselves.'
With that silent warning no one else could hear, Woojin set off.
Freyja chose to stay behind to stabilize the central cathedral.
Thanks to that, Woojin, traveling alone, felt a bit bored.
"Hwirateon."
Piiik-!
At Woojin's call, Hwirateon appeared amid a gust of wind.
"When the hell are you going to grow?"
The amount of Chaos Essence the creature had consumed so far was beyond imagination.
If gathered into one mass, it could easily obliterate several cities.
Yet Hwirateon showed no changes beyond its ears suddenly sprouting up earlier.
"Grow a bigger body or sprout some wings already. How long are you going to stay a fuzzy ball?"
After acquiring Hwirateon, Woojin had grown curious about divine beasts.
He'd even looked into it himself.
"Ancient texts say they're supposed to be huge and badass..."
Sizes varied by divine beast, but the largest reached hundreds of meters.
Even the smallest were dozens of meters—nothing like Draycas or Kratos.
But Hwirateon wasn't even fifty centimeters, let alone dozens of meters.
And no one knew when or how it would grow, which was frustrating.
He had no idea how much more Chaos Essence he'd need to feed it.
Piiiik-!
"What, you punk? You complaining?"
Woojin chuckled at Hwirateon, who squeaked as if to say it wasn't its fault.
Honestly, he hadn't desperately needed the creature's power yet.
So for now, this cute form wasn't so bad.
Woojin stroked the trembling Hwirateon once before continuing on.
How far had he gone?
When the cathedral was no longer visible, he suddenly stopped.
"You can come out now."
He spoke to the empty plain.
Surprisingly, the ground heaved, and a head popped out.
"Did Johan send you?"
"Yes, Master Woojin."
The man fully emerged from the earth and bowed politely.
Woojin had sensed his presence since leaving the cathedral.
At first, he thought it might be an agent from the Empire's Crusiel, but the aura felt different.
Rougher.
Similar to the informants from the guild he'd worked with.
So he'd moved slowly on purpose, but he hadn't expected the man to burrow underground all the way here.
'Impressive.'
Amazed in several ways, Woojin addressed him.
"Did you come all this way to deliver new information?"
"This is it."
Instead of lengthy explanations, the man pulled a tightly rolled paper from his bosom.
It was securely sealed to prevent peeking.
"The guild master ordered me to deliver this personally."
"...I see."
Woojin had already obtained all the information he needed earlier.
For them to go this far, it had to be something major.
"Thank you."
Woojin thanked the man, broke the seal, and unrolled the paper.
"Hmm..."
No greetings or pleasantries.
It jumped straight into high-grade intelligence.
After the Holy King's death, Probaeson and Trian had halted their advance, with only Reninstang continuing the war.
Movements of the cardinals around the cathedral.
Even the top candidates for next Holy King.
Some Woojin already knew, some he didn't care about.
But the last part was exactly what he wanted and needed.
- Apostle Yudain's location confirmed.
An Apostle whose name he'd never heard.
But it didn't matter.
Listed among the Apostles, he had to be in the transcendent realm, which meant...
'A ton of experience points.'
Even killing the insignificant Mardetain had leveled him up.
If he tracked down and killed Yudain too, he could grow even more.
'And the location's perfect.'
Yudain was holed up in a city between Woojin and the Reninstang army.
Whether luck or design, it didn't matter.
'With luck, I can handle two birds with one stone.'
Woojin ignited Jigo Incarnation to burn the paper to ash and looked at the man.
"Tell Johan I appreciate the valuable intel."
"I will."
The man bowed and vanished back into the earth.
Woojin felt his presence rapidly receding.
Faster than most knights on the run.
'Looks like he's specialized in underground movement or something.'
The stealth was top-notch too—Woojin might not have noticed otherwise.
With that speed and concealment, he was perfectly suited for guild informant work.
Woojin memorized the man's aura as he vanished into the distance and turned.
"Time to pick up the pace?"
He'd handled his business, no need to dawdle.
He had to wrap this up fast and return to Massive Guardian.
'And bring back plenty of gifts.'
As payment for resolving this, he planned to take all the equipment his comrades could use from Ier's treasury.
Unlike the perpetually broke kingdom of Sion, this superpower had him excited.
Woojin grinned and dashed across the plain with Hwirateon.
* * *
"That place this time?"
Diarok pointed at the small castle ahead with a bored expression.
He'd already razed five cities.
Some were fortresses packed with troops.
Even then, Diarok's power had taken them with minimal losses.
A puny town like that would fall easier than sipping cold soup.
"Fine, I'll step in and claim victory myself."
Diarok smiled, imagining the town soon ablaze.
"Please leave this one to us, Your Excellency the Duke."
Then Bastian intervened to dissuade him.
"What? Why?"
Diarok tilted his head, not understanding.
"I can shorten the time and minimize soldier casualties. So why stop me?"
'That's the problem.'
Bastian sighed inwardly and replied calmly.
"Our goal isn't Ier's extermination. With the Descent War looming, we're here to keep them in check, not play games. No needless casualties..."
"Baron Bastion."
"...It's Bastian."
Diarok cut him off, and Bastian responded with a stiff face.
"Right, right, Bastian. Sounds like you're saying I'm committing needless slaughter. That it?"
He'd heard it correctly.
Diarok had indeed killed far too many.
He spared those who dropped weapons and surrendered, but the rest burned mercilessly.
The death toll at his hands had surpassed ten thousand.
"That's not what I meant. I'm just saying we can subdue the enemy without Your Excellency stepping in."
Bastian phrased it carefully to avoid offending him.
But it wasn't very effective.
"You're getting cocky."
A chilling smile accompanied Diarok's sharp mana piercing Bastian's soul.
'Ugh!'
No pain, but his body stiffened.
Oppressed by the formless energy.
"Don't misunderstand, Baron Bastian. This is war, and Ier's the enemy. Nothing's more worthless than mercy to foes."
Diarok wasn't some murder-crazed lunatic.
He understood the war coldly and never let his guard down.
"Don't underestimate Ier. They've been a powerhouse before and still are. Stronger than our homeland by far."
Circumstances had them on the back foot now, but the Holy Kingdom's centuries-old might wasn't exhausted yet.
"...I know. But that small town has fewer than a thousand troops."
Bastian bit his lip and protested.
Diarok wasn't wrong, but having him handle such a minor city was overkill.
"So you think you can take that little town on your own?"
Diarok sneered at Bastian's words.
"You're still deluded. You think I offered lightly?"
Diarok's mana swelled massively.
"Kuh!"
Bastian groaned and staggered back.
He couldn't withstand the crushing pressure.
"Look closely. See what monster lurks in that city."
Roooar-!
A colossal blaze erupted toward the city.
The awe-inspiring flames seemed poised to engulf it entirely in seconds.
But,
Slash-!
Diarok's flames cleaved in half.
"See? Still think you can take it?"
Diarok glanced at Bastian with a murderous smile and turned.
There stood the being who had bisected and nullified his spell.
Black, ominous energy writhed along the sword in his hand.
Diarok greeted him with a pleased expression.
"Been a while, hasn't it, you Demon King's rattle bastard?"