Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Approaching the Hive
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Namdu Group headquarters, Strategic Planning Office.
"The Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan has entered Gangneung."
The report came from Nam Min-hyuk's aide, who served as the strategic planning director and Namdu Group's eldest son.
"So it's finally starting."
Nam Min-hyuk, who had received the report in his private office, furrowed his brow.
He had already heard from Chairman Nam Hyun-cheol that Shin Yu-hyun was heading to reclaim Gangneung.
And just recently, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan had publicly announced through the media that they would retake Gangneung.
They hadn't revealed the exact date, but everyone in the related industries knew.
Today was the day the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan moved to reclaim Gangneung.
"What's the situation?"
"According to reports, the reclamation force has already entered Gangneung proper. They've left their full forces behind in the rear to prepare for any contingencies."
"They've really gone into the demon cave."
Nam Min-hyuk clicked his tongue.
What kind of place was Gangneung?
It had been occupied by magic beasts for over decades.
There was no need to explain how dangerous it was.
Yet they had actually marched in to reclaim it.
"Will they be okay?"
Lee Young-cheol, Nam Min-hyuk's aide, spoke with a worried expression.
He was concerned that the magic beasts might come pouring out of Gangneung because of this.
"Didn't they say the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan would take responsibility if things went wrong? And that the clan leader himself would step in if there were any problems?"
"Yes, that's right."
Lee Young-cheol nodded.
If something went wrong during the Gangneung reclamation, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's leader and Sword King, Shin Sung-il, had promised to handle it personally.
As one of Korea's four great sword families, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan possessed considerable power.
With their leader, the Sword King Shin Sung-il, stepping in directly, they could suppress any outbreak of magic beasts from Gangneung to some extent.
Shin Sung-il's strength, having reached the master realm, was terrifyingly immense.
On top of that, the elite forces directly under the clan leader couldn't be ignored either.
'Well, it's not even certain the magic beasts will come pouring out.'
In truth, no one knew how the magic beasts would react if Gangneung was disturbed.
They might stay put in Gangneung without moving.
Or they might come charging out.
Either way, it was one or the other.
'If the magic beasts do come pouring out, it'll actually be a blessing.'
Nam Min-hyuk twisted his lips into an unpleasant smile. If magic beasts burst out of Gangneung, it could cause massive casualties.
The eastern part of Gyeonggi Province or Namyangju, managed by the Myeondok Clan, might suffer heavy damage, but Nam Min-hyuk didn't care.
It had nothing to do with him.
'As long as central Seoul stays safe.'
Nam Min-hyuk smirked inwardly.
No matter how many magic beasts came charging out, he was confident the heart of Seoul, where he was, would remain secure.
And he actually hoped the damage would be severe.
That way, the criticism against the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan would grow louder.
'If the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan faces heavy backlash, I can firmly seize control of Namdu Group.'
The greater the criticism toward the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan, the easier it would be to pull down Chairman Nam Hyun-cheol, who wanted to invest in Shin Yu-hyun, and his rival Nam Yeon-ah, who threatened his position.
And before long, he could become the top figure in Namdu Group.
That wasn't all.
'The Six Harmonies Forge Clan won't sit idly by either.'
Nam Min-hyuk chuckled inwardly.
Hadn't there been bad blood between the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan and the Six Harmonies Forge Clan recently?
Regarding the family of Kim Sang-cheol, known as the Twilight Blacksmith, the Six Harmonies Forge Clan had suffered major losses.
Their image and reputation had been tarnished, along with financial damage.
Above all, Shin Sung-il, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's leader, had torn into the Six Harmonies Forge Clan mercilessly over the incident.
As a result, Kim I-shin, the heir of the Six Harmonies Forge Clan, was grinding his teeth against the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan and Shin Yu-hyun.
'It'll be good for the organization too.'
Nam Min-hyuk curled his lips upward.
If the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's Gangneung reclamation failed, the organization would be pleased as well. Both the Six Harmonies Forge Clan and the organization were desperate to destroy the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan by any means.
A failed reclamation would give them the perfect pretext to bring it down.
'If that guy fails too, he won't come back alive.'
Nam Min-hyuk sneered.
If the reclamation failed, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan would suffer near-annihilation.
The number of magic beasts in Gangneung was staggering.
And Shin Yu-hyun, part of the reclamation force, wouldn't survive either.
He'd be torn to shreds by the hordes of magic beasts.
"For now, we'll just have to watch the situation and wait."
"Yes."
Nam Min-hyuk smiled inwardly as he looked at Lee Young-cheol nodding in agreement.
'Even if Shin Yu-hyun succeeds in reclaiming Gangneung, the outcome is set. She'll complete the mission perfectly.'
Gangneung would be Shin Yu-hyun's grave.
Nam Min-hyuk had already made arrangements to ensure it.
With the help of the organization and the Six Harmonies Forge Clan.
'I expected it to some extent, but not to this degree.'
Shin Yu-hyun was astounded.
After entering Gangneung and dealing with the 5-star boss, the Giant Elder Centipede, he headed toward the hive.
This marked the full incursion into Gangneung's interior.
He had anticipated a massive swarm of magic beasts, but their numbers exceeded his expectations by far.
"It's not even a full stampede yet, and there are this many..."
Shin Yu-hyun gazed ahead.
Hundreds of magic beasts lay scattered across the ruined city, with countless skeleton soldiers strewn about the ground as well.
His skeleton legion had taken heavy losses too.
If it had been just skeleton soldiers, they couldn't have held off the surging magic beasts.
But thanks to the Living Dead skill, he had managed to push them back somehow.
The boss-grade summons like Chiron and the Iron Golem had played a big role too.
After felling the onslaught of magic beasts, Shin Yu-hyun finally reached Gangneung's heart.
"So that's the hive."
Shin Yu-hyun stared ahead.
The area that should have been filled with high-rises had been completely leveled into an empty lot.
And at its center loomed a massive structure that resembled a hive.
It looked like an enormous factory.
Gurgle, gurgle.
But the building's exterior was grotesquely organic, like the flesh of a living creature.
Bzzz!
At the center of the structure, a dark crimson light was shooting skyward.
It was chaotic mana.
The chaotic energy extracted from the hive was being fired into the sky.
"That thing..."
Shin Yu-hyun's face showed surprise.
He had known about the hive's existence, but this was the first time seeing it with his own eyes.
In his previous life, he hadn't even gotten near it.
Innumerable magic beasts guarded the hive.
And now, thick storm clouds blanketed the sky above the hive, with something unbelievably massive just below them.
"A gate...?"
Dungeon gates and invasion gates were mere dimensional rifts.
But the gate before Shin Yu-hyun's eyes was a massive circle, fully ten meters in diameter.
"Is this your first time seeing a gate like that?"
"Yeah, I've never seen one that big. I had no idea there was something like this above the hive..."
Shin Yu-hyun nodded at Shuv's voice from his right and looked up at the gate.
Humanity monitored magic beast-occupied zones via satellite.
But certain areas were invisible to satellites.
The hive's location was one of them.
Thick clouds always shrouded it.
"And what is that energy...?"
Shin Yu-hyun eyed the dark crimson light shooting from the hive.
An ominous yet intensely powerful mana aura.
"It's planetary energy converted into chaotic energy."
"They're extracting energy from the planet itself?"
Shin Yu-hyun looked shocked at Ruber's words from his left.
"Yes. It's also the ultimate goal of the Chaos World's beings sending magic beasts: to absorb the life force and mana of the planet and all its inhabitants."
Shuv began explaining as he looked at Shin Yu-hyun.
The reason magic beasts had tentacles was to drain life force and mana from living beings.
That absorbed energy was converted into chaotic energy and sent back to the Chaos World.
Through the hive, no less.
Moreover, the hive could extract energy directly from the planet and convert it into chaotic energy.
"Magic beasts create hives to send chaotic energy to the Chaos World. Once a hive forms, it starts siphoning planetary energy on its own, turning the surroundings into dead lands."
Hives formed after magic beasts occupied an area for a certain time and grew over long periods.
Once large enough to drain planetary energy, the area around it became barren wasteland.
Observing hives was difficult too. Satellites couldn't see through the perpetual storm clouds above them.
"The problem is the perception-impairing magic surrounding the hive."
"Perception-impairing magic? So that's why."
As Ruber added to Shuv's explanation, Shin Yu-hyun nodded in understanding while staring at the hive.
Even now, dark crimson chaotic energy was shooting skyward from the hive.
A structure that size should have been visible from afar.
Yet he hadn't spotted it until entering Gangneung and approaching closely.
It seemed the reason was the perception-impairing magic Ruber had just mentioned.
"Then that gate..."
Shin Yu-hyun looked at the massive, circular gate sucking in the chaotic energy from the hive.
"That's a transfer gate for energy. It's sending it to the Chaos World."
"What? So that gate connects directly to the Chaos World?"
"Yes. But it's fine. It can only send energy one way from here."
"Really?"
Shin Yu-hyun sighed in relief at Shuv's words.
A transfer gate that large linking to the Chaos World might allow magic beasts to cross over from there.
Fortunately, it seemed limited to one-way energy transfer.
'Facts I never knew in my previous life.'
Truthfully, Shin Yu-hyun's knowledge of hives was fragmentary.
He knew hives existed in magic beast zones, that a queen lurked inside, and that a field stampede was imminent.
But the energy transfer gate and the hive emitting chaotic energy? This was new.
Shin Yu-hyun glanced at Shuv, Ruber, and Dia.
"You already knew all this?"
"Of course."
"Then why not tell me?"
"You didn't ask. And we thought you already knew."
Shuv smiled at Shin Yu-hyun's question.
Having fought magic beasts alongside the first Immortal King, Shuv naturally knew all about chaotic energy and transfer gates.
He just hadn't mentioned it since Shin Yu-hyun never asked.
"Anyway..."
Shin Yu-hyun turned back to the hive in Gangneung.
He had already cleared all the magic beasts around it.
Now, only the hive assault remained.
"We're going in."
Shin Yu-hyun led his summons toward the hive.