West Sea Dragon King
West Sea Dragon King
A black sedan, looking completely out of place, speeds along a bumpy unpaved road in the mountains of Gangwon-do.
The car, heading deeper into a remote area where people rarely pass, soon came to a stop in front of a building.
The building was so clean it was hard to believe it was located in such a secluded place.
It was the South Korea branch of Truth's Eye, disguised as a research institute under the Association.
Seon Hye-seong-ssi, who got out of the driver's seat of the stopped vehicle, opened the back door, and Yoo Da-eun-ssi stepped out.
"We have arrived, Agassi."
"Thank you."
Yoo Da-eun-ssi, still wearing a white blindfold, walked into the building with ease as if she could see perfectly, even though she shouldn't be able to see anything.
The white building was the perfect place to go insane, matching the white suits they wore.
Entering the interior, Yoo Da-eun-ssi boarded the elevator inside and pressed the button for the basement.
Uuuuuung—
The elevator began its slow descent.
Before long, the elevator doors opened at the destination, revealing a long hallway.
Stepping out of the elevator, Yoo Da-eun-ssi walked down the corridor.
After walking for a while, she encountered a man with a shaggy appearance.
The man, with an unkempt beard, disheveled hair, and wearing rags that would make a wild man jealous, was none other than Bjorn-nim, who had met Odin-nim.
As soon as he saw Yoo Da-eun-ssi, he frowned as if something displeased him.
"Where are you coming back from?"
"Are we close enough to report every single thing to each other?"
"Don't tell me... did you really go to meet that Evil Dragon?"
"And if I did, what are you going to do about it?"
Yoo Da-eun-ssi stood her ground against Bjorn-nim, who questioned her accusingly.
"I should have told you. We cannot entrust the future to such an uncertain, ticking time bomb of an existence. The Evil Dragon Nidhogg is nothing but chaos."
"No. Rather, that is why we must trust him even more. Think about the mistakes we've made so far. It all happened because we acted believing only what was reflected in our eyes, didn't it? It's been a year since the future turned pitch black. Now, it's gotten even worse, and you're just obsessed with the future you saw in the past."
"Even so, there are many other options. Even Odin-nim herself is someone who survived the future of destruction, is she not?"
"Ha, she survived, alright. By abandoning the world to sever the fate of death."
"......."
Bjorn-nim could not offer any rebuttal to Yoo Da-eun-ssi, who spoke mockingly, or perhaps with contempt.
It was because, just as she said, Odin-nim had once abandoned the world to survive.
"Who could fully devote their life to a god who has already abandoned their followers once?"
"Then are you saying that is possible with Nidhogg?"
"I'm saying he's better than a god with a track record, at least. And..."
"And?"
"The person I saw wasn't so heartless as to just throw away his followers."
Finishing her piece with a bright smile, Yoo Da-eun-ssi walked past him.
As she brushed past, Bjorn-nim spoke in a low voice.
"Even so, I cannot trust the Evil Dragon."
"...Then let's just watch and see what results our respective choices bring."
"For the survival of humanity."
"For the survival of humanity."
The two, answering each other with the slogan symbolizing Truth's Eye, went their separate ways, and Bjorn-nim's eyes were filled with many thoughts as he left the building.
Despite my slight apprehension about meeting a prophet who sees fate, I heard quite a few interesting stories.
The founding process of Truth's Eye, the appearance of the Gates, the disappearing Mythology, the predicted destruction, and even the internal conflicts within Truth's Eye resulting from it.
But the most interesting among them was the story of the disappearing Mythology.
The founding process and the appearance of the Gates were boring, and the predicted destruction was depressing to hear.
Internal conflicts within Truth's Eye?
I had no interest in human political games from the start.
In comparison, the disappearing Mythology, especially the one where even I appeared as a character, was enough to pique my interest.
So, I made a contract with Yoo Da-eun-ssi.
I was planning to protect South Korea anyway through the contract with Shin Su-ah-ssi, and I was already active for that purpose, so all I requested from Yoo Da-eun-ssi was to provide the information Shin Su-ah-ssi wanted and to meet periodically to tell me stories about Mythology.
You might ask if that's enough since I'm even providing salvation?
In the first place, that's about all Yoo Da-eun-ssi can give me.
It's not like she has treasures that would even tempt me, and I've already heard about all the Gates where treasures might appear from Shin Su-ah-ssi.
After sending Yoo Da-eun-ssi away, I had a deep conversation with Shin Su-ah-ssi.
"What do you think?"
"I wonder why I didn't know such an organization existed."
"Well. Maybe there was an accident you didn't know about."
"Sigh, at this point, I feel like I should just return my Regressor title. Nothing matches up."
I let out a pishik laugh as I watched Shin Su-ah-ssi grumble.
Until now, every time the future she experienced was wrong, I worried whether it was my fault or if she remembered incorrectly because she was too weak before her regression, but this meeting resolved that worry to some extent.
'Nidhogg-nim is Nidhogg-nim, but Shin Su-ah-ssi's fate is also strangely twisted.'
That's what Yoo Da-eun-ssi said after looking at Shin Su-ah-ssi before she left.
According to her, because Shin Su-ah-ssi's fate is as twisted as mine, she can't see even an inch ahead when the two of us act together.
Hearing that, the unexpected events that had happened so far made sense.
There was originally a set fate, but when a Regressor and a Reincarnator duo with twisted fates visited, the future that was supposed to proceed according to the set fate got twisted.
Then, would it be better if Shin Su-ah-ssi and I didn't act together?
But she said that wasn't it either.
The future of destruction, which could come at any time and in any way, wasn't something you could prepare for simply by preparing, and so she told us to travel together and twist even the fate of destruction itself.
"Nidhogg-nim. Nidhogg-nim?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm listening."
While I was briefly recalling what I heard from Yoo Da-eun-ssi, Shin Su-ah-ssi waved her hand in front of my eyes.
Well, if I just go around causing a ruckus, things will work out somehow.
I shook off my idle thoughts and focused on her words.
"So, about the next Gate we should go to."
"Right."
"I need a bit of Nidhogg-nim's help there."
"Not just the two of you? What kind of Gate is it?"
Fiends were running wild all over the world, and lately, she and Baek Yeon-ssi had been handling everything themselves without even requesting help since her strength had increased quite a bit, so for her to directly ask for help... it must be a serious Gate.
I wondered what would appear to make her speak so cautiously, but I asked while pretending to be composed.
And her answer was for a completely unexpected reason.
"It's... a Gate where a Dragon appears."
"What? A Dragon?"
"Yes. The two of us aren't enough to face a Dragon yet. Is, is that okay? Since it's a Dragon, with Nidhogg-nim..."
"Ah, it's fine. It's fine."
Just like with Bia-nim, it was a useless worry from Shin Su-ah-ssi, who knew nothing about the ecology of dragons.
I shook my head to signal it was fine and asked her about the schedule for the Gate and what kind of dragon would appear.
"I'm thinking of leaving in two days. And as far as I know, the dragon that appears is the Azure Dragon."
"Really? I'm really looking forward to it."
I smiled as if I were looking forward to the meeting with the dragon.
It was true.
I wondered what the dragons of this world would taste like.
My mouth was already watering.
Meanwhile, at the point when Nidhogg, Shin Su-ah, and Baek Yeon started moving.
Among the various groups monitoring their movements, there were those specifically waiting for the three of them to move.
It was the organization to which the Fiends belonged.
Inside a dark hideout in an unknown location.
Beside the man sitting in the seat of honor, a man dressed in the black attire worn by Fiends was reporting something while prostrating himself.
"They have begun to move."
"God's servant isn't moving with them, right?"
Lu Feng, the man sitting in the seat of honor who had built a new nest in Korea instead of Sahwi, asked while stroking his beard, and the Fiend in charge of assisting him nodded and replied.
"Yes. It is just the small dragon and the two humans."
"Hahat. To move separately without God's servant after committing such acts. I wonder if they are stupid, or if they are looking down on us just because they won once."
Lu Feng recalled what happened within the organization not long ago.
With the unexpected situation of Sahwi's death, all the executives belonging to the organization were summoned.
The place where the executives gathered.
The entity shrouded in darkness who appeared last.
The Prophet.
The One who commands all Fiends spoke.
He said that God's servant had appeared, and Sahwi was killed by that person.
The appearance of God's servant, who acts for the balance of the world, which they had only heard about.
While everyone was murmuring, several people stepped forward and said they would take over the task Sahwi had failed.
However, The Prophet granted the opportunity to Lu Feng.
Go and deal with God's servant.
That was how Lu Feng came to Korea.
After coming to Korea, Lu Feng used his subordinates to investigate God's servant for two weeks.
Indeed, seeing him constantly moving around and conquering Gates like a servant of a god chasing after things like balance and stability, he was certain.
This will work.
Lu Feng decided to take the two humans living with God's servant as hostages.
And for that, he needed to aim for a time when they were acting separately from God's servant, and finally, that time had come.
"Our movements within this small country have noticeably decreased recently, so perhaps they let their guard down."
"Yes. That must be it. Then, shall we give those relaxed fellows some tension?"
"I will prepare the troops immediately."
"Good, then let's go catch the bait before we start fishing."
Lu Feng smiled, thinking of the success of the upcoming operation and the favor he would receive from The Prophet because of it.
Still unaware of Nidhogg's true power.