Chapter 476
Chapter 476
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 476
Chapter Title: Discussions
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Abyss Safety Division, top floor. An urgently prepared conference chamber.
The air was thick with tension so taut it could melt steel.
On one side sat two sovereigns suppressing their immense divinity in human forms: Hecate and Shaiden.
And directly across from them, seated not on the Dragon God Temple's jade throne but on an ordinary chair, was Park Chan-woo—facing them without the slightest hint of intimidation.
These three, including Park Chan-woo, were the only sovereigns present at the summit.
The lords of the other races were no doubt still lounging on their thrones, observing the currents of this new era while calculating their moves.
Without dirtying their own hands, plotting how to reap the greatest gains from this chaos.
But these two were different.
They had moved first.
They had come here in person to extend a hand to the new god.
"So you're Park Chan-woo."
Hecate was the first to speak.
His voice rumbled low and thick, as if shaking the earth itself, yet it carried an unexpectedly gentle undertone.
"Your exploits in the Interracial War were truly impressive. Especially that scene where you chased that arrogant Dragon God beyond the great rift—it was downright exhilarating. Kahahaha!"
His booming laughter echoed through the chamber.
He seemed genuinely fond of the bold, unrestrained display Park Chan-woo had put on during the Interracial War.
"I am Shaiden."
The Dusk tribe's sovereign, seated beside him, introduced herself in a voice as quiet and alluring as a whisper in the night.
"We of the Dusk tribe were deeply moved by your mercy in birthing a new god of shadows and remembering the names of the forgotten."
Her gaze held a deeper, more sincere fondness than Hecate's.
A friendly summit.
Its purpose was clear without needing to be stated.
"You're proposing an alliance."
Park Chan-woo cut straight to the point, and Hecate nodded.
"Exactly. Humans and dragons, along with us giants and the Dusk tribe—we unite our strength to navigate the coming turmoil together."
The smile faded from Hecate's face.
"The demons won't just hand over control of the Abyss so easily."
He was right.
Though they'd suffered a crushing defeat in the Interracial War and lost two overlords, the demons' reserves of power couldn't be underestimated.
It was obvious as daylight that the remaining seven overlords would band together, sharpen their blades of vengeance, and rise again.
They would never forgive Park Chan-woo or humanity for the humiliation.
Shaiden continued.
"And they're not the only ones. The other sovereigns who haven't moved yet could turn against us at any moment. This peace is like the calm before the storm."
Her analysis was spot on.
Park Chan-woo's emergence had reset the power dynamics of the entire Abyss.
Now began the game of brinkmanship.
Who would forge the strongest alliance first and seize hegemony in this new era?
Hecate and Shaiden had placed their opening move on Park Chan-woo.
"If we combine our forces, no faction would dare challenge us."
Confidence brimmed in Hecate's voice.
Humanity's new god, Park Chan-woo.
The new dragonkin who followed him.
And the giants and Dusk who had upheld one pillar of the Abyss since ancient times.
United, these four races would form an alliance capable of rewriting Abyss history—the strongest imaginable.
Park Chan-woo listened to their proposal in silence.
Then, after a very long pause, he spoke.
"Very well."
At that single word, faint relief washed over the two sovereigns' faces.
But Park Chan-woo's words didn't end there.
"On one condition."
The chamber's air grew taut once more.
Hecate and Shaiden's gazes sharpened toward him, like merchants appraising a commodity.
They expected him to demand vast territories, resources, or even a share of their divine authorities.
A fair price for an alliance.
But the condition Park Chan-woo proposed shattered all their expectations.
"First: the scope of peace."
His voice echoed quietly through the room.
"This alliance isn't just for the security of our four races."
His gaze pierced the two sovereigns.
"Under this alliance's banner, we hold the duty to protect all the Abyss's weaker races. No more trampling the weak simply because we're stronger, seizing their lands and lives. Our power must be used for protection, not domination."
"...!"
Hecate's eyebrow twitched.
This was a direct denial of the Abyss's most fundamental law: survival of the fittest.
"Foolish nonsense."
Hecate couldn't hold back a scoff.
"Protect the weak? That's defying the natural order. The weak are culled, and only the strong survive. That's the one true law of this world."
But Park Chan-woo didn't waver at the rebuttal.
"That 'truth' has driven the Abyss to the brink of destruction."
Hecate fell silent.
Park Chan-woo pressed on.
"Second: the manner of exchange."
His gaze shifted to Shaiden this time.
"We tear down the walls between us and share the knowledge and techniques each possesses. Dragons teach humans magic, giants pass on mastery of the earth, Dusk shares the wisdom of surviving in shadows. Humans, in turn, will share our new possibilities with you."
Discomfort flickered across Shaiden's beautiful face for the first time.
"...Share our race's secret arts with outsiders?"
It was akin to handing a sacred foundation—the core of their race—to a rival.
"This isn't competition."
Park Chan-woo responded firmly, as if reading her thoughts.
"It's coexistence. Acknowledging our differences and growing together through them. That's the way of the new era I envision."
Finally, he declared to both sovereigns.
"My alliance isn't merely a military pact to crush enemies with combined might. It's a new order, a promise for a new era. If you can't accept it, then no alliance."
His proposal was so idealistic—and thus, so unrealistic.
But Hecate and Shaiden saw unyielding conviction in his eyes.
He meant every word.
And they realized it.
The world Park Chan-woo sought to build was far grander and more profound than they'd imagined.
He wasn't just aiming to become a new hegemon—he was trying to rewrite the very laws of this rotten, decaying world.
Learn from one another.
Fill each other's gaps.
Strange new concepts swirled in Hecate's mind.
The giants wielded overwhelming might and dominion over earth, but were ignorant in all else.
Magic belonged to dragons, wisdom to the celestial kin, stealth to the Dusk.
They relied solely on their strengths, never bothering to learn or understand other races' abilities.
They called it pride.
But Park Chan-woo called it arrogance—and a limitation.
Shaiden was no different.
The Dusk were assassins and informants thriving in shadows.
They prized cunning and stealth over brute force.
But that left them always outmatched in direct confrontations against warrior races.
What if they could learn the giants' strength, the dragons' magic?
Park Chan-woo was attempting to redefine the Abyss's order itself.
A kind of... yes, playing cosmic cop.
Protecting the weak races, exchanging with them, prospering through fair trade rather than one-sided plunder.
A world 180 degrees from the one the demons had built.
The demons ruled through fear.
They crushed the weak, stole their resources to fatten themselves, stoked distrust and hatred between races to keep them checking each other—and solidified their dominance in the resulting chaos.
But Park Chan-woo spoke of unity built on trust.
"...Do you truly think that's possible?"
Shaiden broke the silence.
Doubt laced her voice.
"Do you believe eons of hatred and distrust will vanish with one idealistic speech? Survival of the fittest is as instinctive as the Abyss itself. Can you defy that instinct?"
Park Chan-woo answered calmly.
"Instinct isn't defied—it's mastered."
His gaze dropped to his hands.
"I too harbor endless desires for destruction and domination. But I don't let them sweep me away. I control them, guide them toward greater purpose."
He met their eyes again.
"You're the same. You're not mere bundles of instinct. You're great beings with reason and will. How long will you slave to outdated laws? It's time we become masters of new ones."
His words transcended persuasion, like a wake-up call rousing their dormant potential.
Hecate and Shaiden exchanged glances.
In each other's eyes, they read the same torment—and a faint spark of hope.
Perhaps.
Perhaps this human really could do it.
Break this endless cycle of misery.
"I heard you returned all the spoils and slaves from the Interracial War to their original owners."
Shaiden quietly shifted the topic.
"Thanks to your unprecedented actions, you're seen as a savior among countless weaker races."
She was right.
Park Chan-woo's name had become a symbol of hope for the Abyss's downtrodden.
But Hecate pointed out the practical flaw in that idealistic vision.
"The problem remains: the other major powers."
His voice shattered the dreamy atmosphere, weighing down the chamber.
"Support from the weak makes a fine banner. But it won't deter the greed of those still lurking in the shadows, sharpening their blades."
His gaze turned to Park Chan-woo.
"No matter how noble your ideals, peace without power is an empty cry. For this alliance to truly forge a new order, we need overwhelming might to back it—clear military accords."
His point was utterly realistic and valid.
Park Chan-woo's dreamed world was beautiful, but safeguarding it demanded blood and steel.
Park Chan-woo nodded quietly.
"Of course. I don't believe peace is handed to us."
He continued.
"If any force opposes our alliance, we'll crush them without mercy. But the method must differ from before."
Peace without power is futile.
But peace backed by power—overwhelming power?
"We don't conquer. We establish order. Every race joining our alliance shares the duty to defend against external threats. An attack on one is an attack on all."
It went beyond a mere military pact—a collective security framework.
"And those who disrupt that order will face 'judgment' in our alliance's name."
Park Chan-woo's plan was vast and meticulous.
Hecate and Shaiden could only marvel once more at the strategic depth of this human, who envisioned a far grander picture than they'd anticipated.
They resolved to ride the wave of this new era.