Chapter 296
Chapter 296
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 296
Chapter Title: 68. Den of Evil (1)
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“Superpower……!”
“We’re a superpower!”
Amid the crowds surging toward Sajik Altar, a few citizens shouted this, and Jeong Gu’s face twisted in fear.
“Y-Yeong-woo. You’re ruining everyone in our country. Look at what they’re saying!”
Ma-in Jeong Yeong-woo glanced at the citizens before shifting his gaze back to his father.
“Why? It’s not wrong to call a superpower a superpower.”
He then pointed to the top of the brilliantly shining Victory Monument.
“Does this look like it’ll end with a planetary civil war? Even if we fight and win among ourselves, it won’t be over.”
“…Then?”
When Jeong Gu shot back, Yeong-woo looked down at the Besedel royal armor encasing his body.
“Dogo, Mara, Remu. At least three cosmic powers have footholds on our planet. And there are others like Toma trying to intervene unofficially.”
Yeong-woo figured the loan shark firm ‘Five Colors Credit’ he’d encountered before was a similar case.
“But Dogo’s your sponsor, isn’t it? If we win the civil war, effectively…….”
Winning the civil war would mean his sponsor Dogo won too.
But Yeong-woo was considering far more than Jeong Gu.
“Right. If we win the civil war, Dogo could effectively become Earth’s sole alien force.”
“That’s true.”
“But why do you think that’s okay?”
“…What?”
“Dogo’s an alien power too, and they’re in the business game.”
Violent business at that.
Yeong-woo was walking a similar path himself, which was exactly why he thought they needed to stay vigilant.
“Our chairman? Plenty respectable, a great man. But think about how he earned that great reputation… that’s why we need to be cautious.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We need at least some bargaining power. We’re not fighting this civil war to end up as slaves or refugees, are we?”
Yeong-woo lifted his gaze to the sky again.
But this time, his eyes reached beyond the sky.
Toward that fathomless expanse of space.
“The most certain thing I’ve learned about the universe so far is that without power, you’re screwed. Our brothers in Australia couldn’t stand up to Mara, so they got chased all the way here.”
Brothers.
Australia’s Redfoot Orcs had their entire planet stolen by Mara.
So there was no guarantee that fate wouldn’t befall Earth too.
“You, you little…….”
Realizing his son’s ambitions were grander than he’d thought, Jeong Gu’s eyes widened. Yeong-woo promptly clenched his fist.
“That’s why I’m going to become someone no one can just mess with.”
“…What?”
“Then we’ll finally have true peace—no one will be able to interfere.”
“Please, just aim for pacifying the world. Don’t go poking at things above the heavens.”
Born an earthbound creature, Jeong Gu wore an expression of worry for his son.
Why else would ancient myths tell of Icarus, who flew too high until the wax in his wings melted and he plummeted?
Humans had limits, and there were things they must never challenge.
“Don’t confuse courage with recklessness. Coming this far is already impressive. But I’m not sure fighting more aliens is the right call.”
As Jeong Gu spoke to his son like he was coaxing a child, Yeong-woo tilted his head.
“We’re aliens now too.”
“Huh?”
“From other planets’ perspective, we’re the same kind of aliens they are.”
He then added.
“To be precise, under cosmic law, we’re 12th-class aliens.”
“…….”
“So the question now is what grade of aliens we’re going to live as.”
And the first solution to that problem had just arrived right in front of them.
The Victory Monument, and the planet upgrade audit.
Cheok!
As Yeong-woo stepped toward somewhere, Jeong Gu asked in alarm.
“Where to this time?”
“To do some business.”
“Business?”
“We’ve got to hold the first Legendary Invitation.”
Jeong Yeong-woo’s Legendary Invitation, probably stained with kidnappings, threats, and assaults.
Stealing someone else’s achievements? What kind of nonsense was that?
“Wh-who’s the first one?”
Even Jeong Gu couldn’t contain his curiosity as a fellow human, and his son soon provided the answer.
“Australia’s Bang the Great Hero.”
“Bang the Great Hero?”
“Yeah. He’s a legend in his own right—the first orc to occupy Australia.”
And the orc lord who survived the invasion of Mara, master of the void.
Yeong-woo expected him to have some legendary kill records to match.
* * *
11:46 a.m.
Leaving Seoul and climbing back onto the elevated highway, Yeong-woo began speeding south along the light path.
Paaaaht!
His destination: Darwin City in northern Australia, the Orc Autonomous Territory.
‘This’ll be my chance to see that portal too.’
According to Orc Lord Bang Tubangtung, there was a massive portal in his brothers’ city, Darwin.
They could bring over more brothers by feeding it karma.
For Yeong-woo, who’d lived his whole life on Earth, it was hard to picture, but Bang the Great Hero hadn’t seemed particularly fazed at the time.
‘Well, he’s the guy who lost his planet to the Void Lord Mara.’
He must have witnessed all sorts of bizarre things in the process.
When it came to experience with alien invasions, Bang the Great Hero was leagues ahead.
“O……!”
After racing along the light path for a while, the edge of the Australian continent came into Yeong-woo’s view at last. Soon, the infamous city of Darwin revealed itself.
The city at the northern tip of Australia, named after the British biologist Charles Darwin, famous for evolution.
Perhaps due to the yellowish-brown soil, it felt desolate despite the decent greenery around the city.
‘Really looks like a place orcs would live.’
Darwin, the orc city, had one of their constructed ‘towers,’ so Yeong-woo headed straight there.
Paaaaht!
Atop the distant tower stood two heavily armed Redfoot Orc brothers holding the line.
They’d stationed guards, staking their claim to the territory.
“Brothers……!”
As Yeong-woo approached riding the light and waved, the orcs parted, fully opening access to the tower’s summit.
-Human!
-Small-foot has come.
The two brothers sheathed their swords at their waists, welcoming the only human permitted to use this road.
Yeong-woo glanced down at the base of the tower and asked.
“Where’s Bang the Great Hero? I’m here, but…….”
One of the brothers pointed north of the tower.
-The lord is welcoming the brothers.
Welcoming. Probably meant he was at the portal.
“Ah, so he’s right here then. That works.”
Yeong-woo nodded from atop Negig when the other brother pointed at his feet.
-Your foot isn’t red. Observe the formalities before leaving the tower.
“Ah.”
Only then did Yeong-woo look down at his own feet.
The ones he’d dyed red during their last meeting were hidden under the Besedel armor.
‘Though the dye’s probably worn off by now anyway.’
As Yeong-woo scratched his chin, the brother who’d indicated Bang’s location moved toward the transit path.
“……?”
Wondering what was up, he watched.
Shuk.
The brother pulled a reddish cloth pouch from his waist.
Something bundled round, a bit larger than a fist.
“…What’s that?”
The brothers’ actions were so analog they piqued his curiosity.
But neither of the two brothers answered Yeong-woo’s question.
Instead.
Hwot!
The brother near the transit path hurled the pouch into the sky 800 meters up, and the watching brother snatched up a bow from the ground.
Swik.
Then.
Hwot, kdrrk!
With movements swift for their massive frames, he drew the bowstring.
“Ah……!”
The moment Yeong-woo realized what was happening.
Chwaeaeaeaeat!
The slender arrow left the string and pierced the distant cloth pouch dead center.
Kwaak!
An unknown powder from inside spread wide across the sky, forming a red cloud.
A signal to Bang the Great Hero that a guest had arrived.
-Prepared a red foot for you.
The brother who’d fired pointed at the cloud in the sky.
“…Whoa! It really looks like a foot, huh?”
It didn’t in the slightest, but Yeong-woo told a white lie.
That was human rhetoric.
Humans generally spoke from the head, not the heart.
The Redfoot Orcs, on the other hand.
-Red foot!
-Go! The lord awaits you now!
True to form, they spoke from the heart and slammed a fist down on the transmitter atop the tower.
Kwang!
As Yeong-woo felt his body enveloped in light, he hurriedly asked.
“Brothers! If the welcome signal’s red, what color’s the warning?”
Through his vision, now turned pure white, came the brothers’ gruff voices.
-Black hand!
-Color of death!
And simultaneously.
Swah!
Yeong-woo’s body shifted to the tower’s base.
“Huck.”
In the blink of an eye, down to ground level, he found yet another brother standing before him.
Beside a steel inkstone brimming with red paint.
-Small-foot.
The brother pointed a massive finger at Yeong-woo, then dipped it into the inkstone.
Dip your foot yourself.
Yeong-woo dismounted Negig and plunged his foot—still clad in Besedel armor—into the inkstone.
Cheolpok.
Only then did the gatekeeper’s brutish maw gape in what passed for a smile.
-Go, red foot! The great city of Darwin awaits you.
Most of the city’s buildings were still human-made, so calling it ‘great’ didn’t really fit.
‘Their self-esteem’s through the roof.’
But the moment Yeong-woo stepped out from the tower’s inner walls into the ‘great city of Darwin.’
“……!”
He had no choice but to agree with the claim that Darwin was the Redfoot Orcs’ great city.
Right to the north, a colossal portal at least 100 meters in diameter dominated his field of view.
“What the hell is that? Why didn’t I see it earlier?”
Darwin’s super-sized portal.
A privilege that a species dropped onto an alien planet as monsters could earn only by securing a title on their own merits.
“…….”
Yeong-woo swallowed hard without thinking.
Because he now had to head right there, request Bang the Great Hero’s legendary kill records, and deliver the bad news that Mara wasn’t in China after all.
‘They’d been prepping so hard for war.’
Yeong-woo spotted brothers trudging past the tower, laden with metallic ore.
That ore looked like material hauled out from the portal too.
It wasn’t just evac brothers they could rescue via the portal—they could bring back items left behind as well.
Trdrdrk!
Suddenly the ground shuddered violently, and the portal in the distance began to swirl.
‘Uh, opening again?’
Sensing ill portents, Yeong-woo swiftly mounted Negig. Then his waist began vibrating too.
“What.”
He reached into his pouch and felt the saga compass ‘Scaredy Cat’ trembling furiously.
-Graaang!
Warning him of a threatening foe at the portal.
“What’s coming out to make it do that?”
As Yeong-woo prepared to race toward the portal amid the ominous signs.
Shiaaaak!
The swirling portal fell abruptly still, its surface turning transparent to reveal something beyond.
“This……!”
Yeong-woo knew instantly.
The portal had just activated—Earth was now linked to the brothers’ homeworld.
And if brothers could cross from their home planet to Earth via the portal.
‘Theoretically, other things could come too.’
The moment Yeong-woo’s thoughts reached that point, a long wail utterly unlike an orc erupted from within the 100-meter dimensional gate.
―Kkiiiii!
“Euk?”
Something else was mixed in with the brothers emerging from beyond the portal.
Whatever it was, it seemed to be pursuing the brothers fleeing to Earth for refuge.
“No, you crazy bastards!”
Yeong-woo yanked out Sasinsa and spurred Negig toward the dimensional gate.
“Bang the Great Hero! No unauthorized hazardous imports! Close the gate!”