Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: A Loyal Vassal and the Frontline Crisis
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‘I was really hoping for an ending where it turned out to be a trap set by those wicked goblins…’
But no, they followed Yoo Seongwon’s orders to the letter.
There wasn’t even a hint of retaliation or revenge attacks, just in case.
They not only willingly opened the dungeon entrance for him but also loaded him up with mana stones and precious metals, even seeing him off. Up to that point, it felt like they were just going through the motions of becoming a formal vassal state. But then, he even gained new allies.
“I have learned! I call the tall Golden King Your Majesty! I will contact our empire! We follow Your Majesty’s command! From now on, we obey! Your Majesty! I am Mulblin!”
“…Mulblin? Uh, yeah. So, for now… what should I say? Um… don’t send your guys outside the dungeon, and just stay put quietly for the time being. Pass that along.”
“Understood, Your Majesty! I will relay it right… aw… away… yes!”
His grasp of human speech was still clumsy and awkward, but learning an alien race’s language just by observing it without any teacher was no small feat, so it was only natural.
Anyway, Yoo Seongwon climbed into the trailer and finally returned to civilization after a full month, allowing him to wash up in the shower.
“Fuuuuaaaah! Now I feel alive again. Whoa, sweat soup… no, this is more like blood soup. Anyway, it’s coming out in buckets. Are all B-rank dungeons like this? Why are they so weird? Will I have to keep dealing with stuff like this from now on? So many worries. And what do I even say about this Mulblin guy? Haa~”
He’d safely secured mana stones and treasures, and his level had risen to 61, so it was a successful dungeon clear by all accounts. But with all these new concerns piled on, it didn’t feel all that refreshing.
For now, Yoo Seongwon pushed those worries aside, grabbed a beer from the fridge in nothing but a towel, and flopped down on the chair in the corner of the trailer.
“Puhahaaat! This is happiness! Haaa! Now I can breathe. Even those guys wouldn’t dare interrupt me at a time like this, right?”
Sure, he had to drive, so he’d told them it was safer to rest after some sleep, but that was just an excuse.
With Riding (S+), he could probably drive safely even half-asleep.
What he really craved was to wash away a month’s worth of fatigue and get some proper shut-eye.
“Dungeons are so damn noisy inside, I couldn’t even catch a wink…”
The endless goblin assaults and the protective barrier around the spire had kept him safe, but the bastards wouldn’t let him sleep, screeching “Kekeke!” nonstop to disrupt him. All Yoo Seongwon wanted was to sleep like the dead in peace.
“…Ah, sleep’s hitting me already. Yawwwn… Yeah, now I can finally relax and sleeeeep.”
With that, Yoo Seongwon’s eyes closed, and he passed out instantly, consciousness snapping off like a switch.
For someone with little combat experience, the accumulated fatigue from prolonged fighting had left him in a state where he wouldn’t notice if someone carried him away.
Viiiibraaaate!
His phone, which he’d set aside to check while sipping his beer and snacking, had been vibrating nonstop for a while now. But it couldn’t rouse him from his deep slumber.
His knights nearby had no intention of disturbing him after completing the dungeon mission and scattered to handle their own tasks, leaving the phone to vibrate futilely into the void.
***
Seoul outskirts frontline, Blue Dragon Guild camp.
The atmosphere was grim where Go Cheonsu and the Blue Dragon Guild members had gathered with officers from the Capital Defense Command.
Slaughter King forces invading wasn’t new, but this time felt especially grueling.
The reason? The enemy’s assault was completely different from the usual.
Go Cheonsu, the guild master, spoke first amid the lower guild executives and officers.
“You’ve all probably noticed, but this assault from Pastor Lee’s forces is… different. Meticulous is the word. As you know, the defense systems and unmanned turrets on the city’s outer barriers play a huge role in protecting the city. But in this attack, for some reason, they’re focusing fire on the generators powering those systems.”
“How is that even possible? The generator locations are top-secret, known only to the three great guild masters… and even if they knew, hitting them wouldn’t be easy…”
“I thought it was coincidence at first, but they’re deliberately pouring heavy firepower there, so it seems intentional. That alone could be countered by reinforcing power, but the real issue is what’s happening internally.”
Nothing was more terrifying than an internal enemy, visible to anyone.
The real problem was the small-scale guild hunters who lived dual lives as scavengers and hunters, always latching onto whoever offered the better deal.
Sure, some were decent, but years of the top hunters monopolizing power, bullying with authority, and hoarding talent had turned most into opportunists. They worked under hunters when hunters thrived, then betrayed them the moment scavengers gained the upper hand.
“Those bastards are driving me insane. Looting regular marts and stores is bad enough, but they’re even targeting military supplies. They go after the expensive mana stone rounds and shells that work best on monsters. Price aside, those are all meant for frontline resupply. Yesterday alone, a truck carrying nearly 20,000 rounds exploded—we’re losing our minds.”
“We’ve urgently mobilized Academia students for internal crackdowns, but it’s tough.”
“That’s one thing, but Go Cheonsu, are you guys even doing your jobs? S-rank monsters are tough, fine, but why can’t you take down A-ranks? You elites handle the elite monsters, and it eases the load on the rest of us! Don’t you get that they just keep spawning endlessly no matter how many low-tiers we kill?”
“It’s not exactly infinite replenishment.”
“That’s not the point! Either way, this war of attrition just screws us. Where’s an S-rank who can’t clear A-ranks fast?”
The unprecedented onslaught bred chaos, souring relations even among allies.
From the lower guilds’ perspective, it was infuriating and baffling that Blue Dragon—one of the big three hogging all the power and talent—seemed useless right now.
Of course, Blue Dragon wasn’t slacking out of spite; they had their reasons.
“Unlike dungeons, in field battles, they target weak points with fierce assaults then flee, repeating the tactic. We’ve formed strike teams to counter, but it’s unprecedented for so many S-ranks to be active simultaneously.”
“…You strutted around like you were prepared for any crisis in Korea, pulling every dirty trick!”
“If we’re assigning blame, shouldn’t it go to the other big three guilds failing spectacularly? Shin Gangnam got wrecked building that ‘well’ of theirs, and Olympus is still sitting pretty, testing the waters.”
“Olympus…!”
The masters of the sky island floating high above.
Despite this massive crisis unlike any before, their main force hadn’t budged. Only the lower hunters from their Korean branch were moving.
Here, at least, S- and A-rank elites were actively engaging to contain the situation—a relatively better spot.
“So, General, what’s Olympus’s status? They seemed to be negotiating with the government, but my contacts just gave vague answers.”
“Before coming here, I heard Olympus is positively considering deployment to hold the Pacific line, China, Russia, and Japan fronts. They’re even discussing sending an SS-rank hunter blessed by Heracles.”
Olympus operated by constellations granting skills and abilities automatically to members based on their blessings.
Heracles’s blessing bestowed the mythic hero’s strength and powers—not at full capacity initially, but scaling with levels, along with god-given skills. It was the core of Olympus’s might.
Composed of hunters blessed by the Twelve Constellations, their primary goals were scouting suitable recipients for remaining blessings worldwide and eliminating malevolent constellations threatening the world.
“Good news, but get them here ASAP if possible. We’re barely holding because Pastor Lee hasn’t deployed Archdemon Beasts yet. If they play their joker, it’s over. The provinces already…”
“The provinces are a mess! Seoul has seven S-ranks! But Busan has one, Gwangju one—that’s it. Total chaos!”
“But the enemies there are weaker too, right? Here, over ten S-rank monsters are waiting. Anyway, time to relieve the guys on the frontline.”
Even now, fellow S-rank Go Cheonyong and Chae Jiyeong were fighting nonstop at the front.
To preserve their stamina, rotations were essential.
Go Cheonsu rose, ignoring the bickering behind him, and stepped out of the tent.
The brutal clamor of battle assaulted his ears at once.
“Don’t let the barrier break! Call in more air support!”
“Scavengers hit the airbase. They’re terrorizing the fuel tanks—total pandemonium!”
“Damn it! What the hell are those hunters doing?”
“Big trouble! The mana stone ammo supply unit got ambushed by underlings of Constellation ‘Mountain Ghost’!”
“A-rank monster ‘Dragon Slayer’ incoming! Not enough firepower! Ah! We held it—thanks to the S-rank!”
Beyond the barrier protecting Seoul rang the horrific sounds of war.
Koreans had always scraped by somehow, but today’s nonstop bad news painted a dire picture.
To Go Cheonsu, this alliance of malevolent constellations and scavengers was a colossal crisis with no clear solution.
‘Hmm… Might have to abandon Korea at this rate.’
As guild master, contemplating worst-case scenarios was prudent.
But entertaining such thoughts signaled Korea’s massive peril.
The SS-rank demon Human Breeder Pastor Lee—obsessed with human ranches and cuisine, fanatically serving Slaughter King—had been overlooked, assuming no other scavengers or evil constellations would ally with him.
‘But as a loose coalition, there’s no real coordination—just simultaneous outbreaks in numbers. No synergy from links is the issue.’
This evil constellation-scavenger grand alliance lacked communication or joint ops; they just attacked on the same day, each plundering as they pleased.
The scavengers and monsters hitting military targets were after mana rounds, food, weapons—no grand strategy or tactics.
‘If we had a breather, we could pick them off one by one… Hmm…’
Go Cheonsu lamented seeing the enemy’s weaknesses so clearly yet lacking the spare forces to exploit them.
Just two extra S-ranks would let him tour the provinces.
Seoul’s six S-ranks were either reserved for Archdemon Beasts or locked in real-time frontline duty—no detachments possible.
‘Composing teams of A- and B-ranks would backfire worse than nothing. Olympus must’ve noticed if they’ve got brains.’
Olympus Guild.
They proclaimed benevolence but slithered out of every Korean crisis, citing global fronts.
Yet this crisis was grave.
If they intended to save Korea, S-ranks would’ve deployed already. Dragging feet suggested possible abandonment.
‘That’d complicate China checks, Japan aid, Pacific lines, Southeast Asia trade routes. Hmm… Unclear.’
“Hyuuung! You’re here?”
Lost in thought, Go Cheonsu reached the barrier.
His brother Go Cheonyong—covered head to toe in blood and monster fluids from nonstop fighting—greeted him.
Monsters swarmed below as soldiers and hunters clashed fiercely, barriers and air support raining fire in a chaotic battlefield symphony.
“Yeah, I’m here. Situation?”
“Not… good. Hoo… hoo… A-rank bastards are so damn cautious! For monsters! Took out plenty of B-ranks, but their numbers don’t thin. And there—see that barrier? Inside, Pastor Lee’s grabbing our casualties in real-time to serve up to the Archdemon Beasts!”
As he said, far off under a faint red hemispherical barrier, blurry but visible: Pastor Lee cooking for seated Archdemon Beasts.
Below, demons hauled battlefield soldiers and hunters—dead or alive. The horror was all too predictable.
“How far will Pastor Lee’s madness go before he’s satisfied?”
“Anyway… breaking that needs S-rank firepower, which I can’t muster…”
“…Calm down and rest inside. You recover, then Chae Jiyeong rotates in.”
They’d do anything for money and power, but not descend to dehumanizing norms.
Go Cheonsu and kin were just greedy, ugly humans. Pastor Lee, the Human Breeder? A monster.
One who’d forsaken humanity for his god. And monsters fell only to heroes.