Tae-hyun's Evasion Was Far More Incredible Than Expected

However, Tae-hyun's evasion was far more incredible than expected.

"..."

"—Intruder, elimination failed. Intruder, elimination failed. I am incompetent. I am incompetent."

"?!?!"

The Hybrid Golem stopped, turned around, and began to walk away. The party stared at each other in sheer bewilderment.

"Hey. Is it just leaving?"

"Should we stop it?"

"Why would we stop it? It's an enemy."

"Th-then, should we kill it?"

Tae-hyun, equally dumbfounded, asked Carbanog.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Rational or not, what happens if we just let it go?"

"..."

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

Tae-hyun instantly shed his hesitation and moved like lightning. It was a shame; he had wanted to farm a few more stats!

"But if a golem made it in here, doesn't that mean we've basically been caught?"

"It seems Alcott is doing an excellent job drawing their attention. Seeing as no more are coming in..."

Despite the racket the golem must have made, the fact that no guards had rushed over meant their attention was entirely focused elsewhere. Alcott was truly magnificent!

"More than that, I find it fascinating that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a golem like this is still functioning. Why is it still active?"

"What do you mean?"

"Usually, these things are meant to act as jailers. If the prisoners are roaming around freely, why is this thing still patrolling?"

"...!"

Only then did the party realize the implications of Tae-hyun's words. If the prisoners were wandering around at will, the prison was effectively defunct. Yet, a golem that should be acting as a jailer was still operational?

"Maybe the prisoners took control of it?"

"If they had, I don't think it would have wandered in here so aimlessly... It is rather strange."

"You little rat! We finally caught you. Kyahaha!"

"...!"

Alcott's eyes darted around the tight perimeter. Should I attack and make a break for it? If he could take down just one of them to breach the encirclement...

—Assassin's Eye!

It was a skill that revealed how strong an opponent was compared to him, along with their weaknesses. If they were stronger, they glowed red; if weaker, they glowed white... And the prisoners were all blazing, fiery red!

...I'm doomed!

"I-I surrender."

Normally, he would have tried to escape by any means necessary, but Alcott had a trump card. Kim Tae-hyun was here, so he would surely come to the rescue! He just had to endure being captured for a little while.

"Surrender? What are your intentions in coming here?"

When the prisoner asked, Alcott panicked. He couldn't exactly state his actual purpose. What would be a good excuse?

"W-well, some bastards stole my belongings, and I chased them here."

"Huh? Could it be those guys?"

The prisoners looked taken aback. They had just been celebrating, thinking they had found new comrades!

"We're sorry to hear that. But those guys are going to be our new comrades. We can't hand over our own."

"Hmm... Oh! How about this? We accept this fellow as a comrade too."

One of the Chimera monsters proposed a crazy idea! Horrified, Alcott shrieked,

"I don't need that!"

"Haha. He must be acting shy."

"Indeed, it's always good to make peace. The more comrades we start with, the better, right? It'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lessen the awkwardness..."

"No, I said I don't need it!"

"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Hey! I couldn't reply earlier because things were chaotic, but help me!"

"Huh? Oh. I was planning to farm a few more stats. Is it that urgent?"

"It's incredibly urgent, you bastard! Hurry up! At this rate, I'm going to end up like Cain!"

Spurred by Alcott's frantic pleas, Tae-hyun's party moved swiftly. Finding him was easy. They only had to run through the fortress toward the source of the commotion.

Passing by the scattered prison barracks, they finally arrived at the alley where Alcott was cornered! The moment Alcott spotted Tae-hyun's party running toward him from a distance, his face lit up as if he had just met Archisus himself in the Demon Realm.

"Over here! I'm over here!"

"?"

The Chimera prisoners turned their heads. Seeing the unfamiliar group, they were shocked... or not.

"Oh. What's this? That fellow over there is a Chimera."

"Did one of us father a child like that? But we can't reproduce...?"

"..."

Cain, who had been holding his shield at the very front, stared at the notification window with a deeply conflicted expression. Standing behind him, Jeong Su-hyeok quietly nudged him.

"Cain, by any chance... are you related to them?"

"What kind of bullshit is that, you punk?!"

But the prisoners of the Ancient Empire, already fully convinced Cain was one of their own, swarmed forward. They began touching, stroking, and showing overwhelming affection toward him.

"Look at this guy. Six arms? A truly magnificent specimen."

"Judging by his flesh, he seems relatively young. Haha. Wonderful, simply wonderful. We desperately needed some young blood."

"...Hey, who are you grouping me with?! Let go of me!"

Flustered and annoyed, Cain tried to shove the Chimera prisoners away.

"!"

But the Chimera prisoners possessed a higher Strength stat than Cain! He gasped in shock at their monstrous physical power.

"It seems we didn't even need to work so hard to find new comrades. Tell me, do you have any other friends? Of our race?"

If it was Chimeras they wanted, there were plenty more back in his territory—the mutants of Archisus! Tae-hyun subtly signaled Cain.

"Ask them more questions. We need to figure out who these guys are."

Meanwhile, Alcott carefully gauged the situation and backed away. While Cain drew all the aggro, he slipped back into the safety of the party!

"Ugh... I thought I was a goner...!"

"Oh, please. You didn't even get attacked."

"They were literally talking about turning me into a Chimera! Do you think that's not terrifying?!"

"Well, looking at Cain, he seems to be adapting quite well."

While the party bickered, Cain desperately attempted to use his Speech skill. Though his skill level was low, now was the time to act!

"Ahem. Why are you all staying in this fortress?"

"Us? We are here for the resurrection of the Empire."

"????"

Tae-hyun, listening from the side, was deeply puzzled. Resurrection?

"We are the ones who carry the true soul of the Empire. If not us, who else could resurrect it? Those undead? Preposterous!"

If the undead nobles of the Asbian Empire had heard this, they would have been furious! Yet, the prisoners' words held a kernel of truth. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Where else could one find living citizens of the Ancient Empire? ...Granted, they were surviving through a highly bizarre method...!

"But our numbers are too few. To resurrect the Empire, we need more comrades."

"That is why we seek to make more. Indeed."

The prisoners confined within the Ancient Empire's prison fortress ranged from nobles to common criminals. Following the fall of the Ancient Empire, they came to believe that they were its sole remaining descendants, dedicating themselves to its resurrection. However, reviving a long-collapsed empire was no simple task. They sought to bolster their strength by gathering immortal companions, with the ultimate goal of freeing the prince imprisoned deep beneath the fortress.

"!!!"

He hadn't even finished the Dragon Quest yet, and now a new Legendary-grade quest had appeared! But it made sense why it was Legendary. A quest to resurrect a long-lost ancient empire...

There are so many things to ask. Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. The quest raised far too many questions. Let's take it one step at a time.

"There's a prince underground? Beneath this very fortress?"

"Of course. The youngest prince, who was falsely accused and imprisoned underground long ago, resides there."

Since even nobles had been locked up, it wasn't surprising that royalty had been imprisoned as well. The highest-ranking figure who could lead these prisoners—that was none other than the youngest prince trapped below.

"What was he falsely accused of?"

"He was framed for slaughtering the common folk at his own whim."

"My goodness. Why would he be framed for such a thing?"

"Hmm. Probably because he was slaughtering citizens indiscriminately in the middle of the main street?"

"...Then that's not a false accusation, is it?"

"What nonsense are you speaking? A prince has every right to kill them. It was a crime to send him here for such a trivial matter."

"Ah..."

Tae-hyun realized it instantly. These guys are completely out of their minds!

Having survived since the era of the Ancient Empire, it was only natural they had gone mad. They were people who had willingly modified themselves into Chimeras just to avoid death... Though they might have seemed somewhat coherent on the surface (even if their appearances were grotesque), their underlying insanity was off the charts.

"I see. If that prince is freed and establishes an empire, it will surely be a magnificent nation."

"Haha. You certainly understand. It's a shame you aren't a Chimera yourself."

"I am actually preparing to become a Chimera soon."

"I knew it! I could tell you had the face of a future Chimera!"

The prisoners were thoroughly pleased with Tae-hyun's response. Alcott felt incredibly slighted. These bastards didn't listen to a single word I said...!

"By the way, if the Empire is resurrected, what will happen to the existing kingdoms?"

Tae-hyun asked, suddenly curious. The territory of the Ancient Empire roughly spanned the Erangs Kingdom, Auston Kingdom, Salz Kingdom, Atali Kingdom, Espa Kingdom, and Dungland Kingdom—essentially a massive territory encompassing almost every nation on the Central Continent.

"Naturally, they must be offered to His Imperial Majesty."

"Mmhmm!"

They are beyond insane! Tae-hyun realized once more. As if the other kingdoms would just say, 'Oh, of course, since you're descendants of the Ancient Empire, please take our lands!' and hand them over!

"But we have a plan."

"Oh... What kind of plan?"

"A generous proposal: if they surrender their thrones, we will grant them imperial noble titles and lordships. What do you think?"

"...I'm sure they'll all be absolutely thrilled to accept!"

Cain shot Tae-hyun a horrified look.

"Hey! These guys are completely out of their minds! How much longer do we have to talk to them?!" His eyes practically screamed.

"Just wait. You have to be careful when dealing with crazy people. We need to extricate ourselves cautiously."

Ever since the fall of the Empire, these prisoners had transformed themselves into Chimeras and repeatedly thrown themselves at the underground prison to free the prince. But because they kept failing, they were searching for allies! If they were to change their race to Chimera and join their faction here...

"We'll be completely ruined! You know that, right?!"

"I know, so shut up. I'm going to persuade them and get us out of here."

Tae-hyun had absolutely no intention of running around waving the flag of a resurrected empire. He had worked so hard to build the Atali Kingdom, after all...

"I've been wondering for a bit... are you perhaps associated with the Archisus Church?"

"!"

Tae-hyun was startled by the Chimera prisoner's question. Fortunately, the look in the man's eyes didn't carry the familiar, hostile sentiment of 'Death to Archisus!' that he so often encountered.

"I am the Pope of the Archisus Church."

"Oh! Is that true?! Your Holiness! I was once a Holy Knight of the Archisus Church!"

"...Actually, the Pope of the Sadiq Church..."

At that moment, another prisoner chimed in from the side.

"Ah! Your Holiness! I was a Holy Knight of the Sadiq Church—"

"Oh, for God's sake, you persistent bastards."

"?!?!"

Why did the Sadiq Church keep popping up everywhere?! Tae-hyun clicked his tongue and spoke.

"Yes, I am indeed the Pope of the Archisus Church."

Archisus was still far better than Sadiq, after all!

"To meet Your Holiness like this! It is an absolute honor."

"Is it truly such an honor?"

"Yes! To be honest, I thought the Church had perished long ago."

"..."