39. Hiking
Usually, Haneul rambled on incoherently, but right now she explained everything with crystal-clear logic and calm precision. Thanks to her, in just five minutes, Baek Hye-seo grasped the full situation—from Gallaile's predicament to Rahman preparing for revolution.
What came next was what Baek Hye-seo had to do in the city, and it was simpler than expected. Summon a suitable demon to bind Gallaile, then head outside to deal with the monsters swarming the city... what they'd call monsters back on Earth. That was it. But she advised handling it in a way that protected the city's residents, and if Rahman woke up midway, make sure everyone heard her declare that she was acting on his orders.
Not difficult at all. The demons slaughtering monsters would just bow or greet Rahman when he appeared, and everyone would catch on.
From that plan alone, Hye-seo could guess what Haneul wanted. Save people in dire straits to build Rahman a heroic image, while dragging the self-serving nobles through the mud. Rahman had always cared for slaves, rescuing those about to die or be sold off, so his supporters spreading far and wide was only a matter of time. When the moment was ripe, Rahman steps up, and it's done.
But if Rahman didn't step up, Hye-seo would have to stir the crowds and pull the trigger on the revolution herself... She hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Anyway, Haneul was convinced that once revolution broke out, the world would change somehow. And if not, she'd step in and start killing nobles herself. To avoid that scenario, Hye-seo planned to lay a solid foundation for Rahman's revolution.
Her only worry was Gallaile waking up and massacring the ducal household, but Haneul said she'd handled it, so Hye-seo trusted her on that.
Hiking... Haneul's so random sometimes.
Haneul hadn't explained why she was going hiking. If Hye-seo heard the reason and got worried, she might lose focus and mess up, which would be a headache all around. So she'd just said she was going hiking, and Hye-seo believed her without question.
Before long, Hye-seo left the ducal mansion and perched on the city walls encircling the city, her gaze turning toward the mountains.
But how's she gonna call monsters while hiking? Is there a monster horde spot or something?
No way she'd climb to the peak. She'd probably gather them from the foothills or mid-slope... Maybe three or four herds of about a hundred each. That'd be a disaster for the weak, but for Hye-seo, it was just another routine cull—several times a day. No big deal even if they came en masse...
Hye-seo's face went blank.
What... what the hell is that...?
The mountain foothills were stained black. Not a shadow or her eyes playing tricks—it was writhing masses clumping and scattering, but never thinning. If anything, they were multiplying.
Hye-seo quickly enhanced her vision and perception with Remegton's magic, her mouth falling open.
One, ten, hundred, thousand... ten thousand... two groups of ten thousand...?
At least twenty thousand monsters. Had she ever seen that many? Yeah, back in the early gate outbreaks when five breaks hit one spot—exactly that scene. Like a black wave crashing in...
Dizziness hit her; she clutched her head. Then she tried forcing a positive spin.
...Mana stones. She said mana stones too, right?
Yeah. If she shone here, she'd snag mana stones—and even half of that haul would have her guild screaming "Guildmaster's awesome!" Plus, Haneul said she'd teach her monster language. Befriend them, complete the Constellation's trial, get way stronger... Guild would love that.
Alright... Let's do this.
With renewed resolve, Hye-seo stood. Her maid outfit's skirt fluttered in the wind, her lush golden hair waving as it caught the sunset glow.
Oh, right.
She sat back down. She wasn't supposed to jump in first—the city side had to notice the monster surge, then she moves. That way, she looked the savior, and could fight alongside allies.
Dragging it out to play savior felt a bit cruel, but no choice. Like a flu shot—hurts now or hurts worse later. She wouldn't sit idle till people died, though. Balancing that line would be tough, but she trusted herself.
She had seventy demons summoned already, hidden in her shadow. No innocents would die where she could see.
Haneul's gotta be right in front of those monsters, yeah?
Hye-seo grinned, imagining showing off for Haneul.
*****
"Mountain bunny, bunny! Where ya hopping off to~!"
Haneul's song echoed as she bounced along. Her voice was pleasant, but the tune and rhythm were so mangled it was pure chaos. Still, she sang on stubbornly—'cause she looked just like that bunny, hopping nonstop.
Cliffs you couldn't climb without jumping kept popping up on this mountain. Sure, mountains have cliffs, but from afar it looked normal; up close, it was rock, snow, volcano, iron... Stuff no normal person would or could climb.
Haneul, though? Heart pounding with excitement, she leaped cliffs, dashed snowslides, swam lava, tore iron—drawing ever nearer the range's peak.
Definitely different from before.
She didn't know how or where she'd respawned after dying, but it wasn't like facing the Azure Dragon first time. The pressure closing in felt less worm-like, more serpentine.
How'd it pull that off? Outer God trick?
Didn't wanna learn it anyway—no need to chase unknown paths when eating worked fine. Devour flesh, drink divinity, swallow authorities—boom, stronger. Before Earth, no gods left to eat; now? Buffet galore. So yeah, even stronger.
And unlike before, she was sure: Once killed and eaten, no respawns.
She'd figured out true-kill methods late, maybe that caused repeats. No more, though...
As that thought crossed her mind, she halted at the range's tallest summit.
"Whew... Killer view."
Hand shading her eyes, she scanned around—spotted the city folks battling hard, Baek Hye-seo shining amid it all, and grinned wide. As expected, nobles had fled; slaves and commoners fought upfront. Hye-seo rescuing, slaying, defending—half-hero, half-savior already. Clean up the horde, Rahman wakes, city transforms. Minimal deaths too—she'd funneled the monsters' path during her climb. Block the entrance right, only rotten knights die.
"Vasco's top schemer, city's night architect, strategist five dragons confessed to, slapped Sima Yi four times, lonely observer, chess grandmaster (soon), Go master unbeatable by AI, Imoogi ascension trainer. Anyway, super cool smart me..."
As Haneul muttered self-praise, the dark shadow tilted.
She stopped mumbling, turned. There was the dragon.
Muzzle jagged like a croc, body serpentine, eyes gleaming feline. Teeth visible in its slightly open maw sharper than any beast's. Size? No exaggeration—bigger than all of Vasco City. Azure Dragon outsized it all.
Grown a ton since last time?
Could match Leviathan now. Not just size—its signature blue scales crawled with new black eyes.
Was gonna snag some scales for Hye-seo as souvenirs.
Used to look cool enough to peel a few. Now? Creepy as hell—Hye-seo'd freak.
Even better.
Shed 'em all. Plus Association Chair, Baek Seungcheol bossman, Kim Seung-hyeok uncle... Heap for everyone.
Wait, could sell these for cash?
Duh. They processed mana stones; dragon scales? Easy. Teach a bit, make swords, shields, clothes—profits to her account...
Damn, gonna strip it bare.
Heart was a given; now scales too. Pity nothing else—gods weren't beasts. On death, they left only identity fragments. Azure Dragon's: scales, heart. Confirmed last mutual kill.
How much is all that worth...?
It wasn't a dragon anymore—just a money vault. Her greedy gaze puzzled the vault—no, the dragon. Surviving mutual destruction was weird enough, but this newfound leisure oozed off it. And those eyes. No sane intellect there. Madness dripping—not ordinary, but vicious.
Mortal blending leisure and lunacy... The dragon spoke.
"Yeah, tell me about it. Thought I was toast back then? Respawned in another world. But how're you alive?"
The dragon dismissed it as bullshit. Reincarnation meant wiped memories, changed form. But Haneul remembered everything, looked the same.
Plenty had said that and vanished. Haneul didn't bother retorting or threatening—no need, too many questions.
"How'd you remake this world? No time-rewind power. Lost tons of divinity fighting me, right? What gives? Help from someone? Outer dimension god? Where?"
Black thunderclouds swirled around the sneering dragon.
"Good eyes. All those new ones help?"
With that, Haneul reached into empty air. One-shot like Leviathan? Shatters scales, heart, world—ruins everything. So, beat it to death properly. Play weak, draw out lurking outer gods watching—eat bird, egg, chicken, dragon, outer god... Maximize gains this fight.
Didn't need such before, but with home to return to? Essential.
"Wanna get eaten nice 'n quiet now?"
The clouds around the dragon spewed inky blackness.
"Sweet."
Ascalon gripped in Haneul's hand.