The Man Who Crossed the Line
“You’ve been looking like you’ve got a lot on your mind lately, Taeyang.”
After showing Athena and Great Mother Sophia the Morion mine, I stayed in the tribe except when meeting the Jasmine Merchant Guild’s contacts in the Cargo Forest. Thanks to that, Athena—who had been thrilled at first because we could have sex more than twenty times a day—sometimes caught me staring blankly while leaning against a tent pole and asked carefully.
“I think about you every single day. Specifically, how I can devour you deliciously.”
“Idiot! You don’t have that look in your eyes when you’re thinking that. You look way more sinister.”
I teased her as usual. Her reactions were always delicious. As expected, my lovely wife fulfilled my needs perfectly this time too.
“I told you before… I’m right here with you…”
Thud…!
Athena hugged me tightly afterward. “If you have a grand goal, and if it’s something you absolutely must do, then do it… I’ll stake everything to stay by your side. I’m your shield and your spear…”
She even pressed her chest against my back, as if telling me to feel her heartbeat. Honestly, with Athena’s 75G-cup breasts, it was hard to actually hear it, but it was enough to let me know her pure devotion was directed at me.
“Yeah, you’re right, Athena.”
Everything has its time. And when the feeling comes, that moment is the time. I could feel it. The time had come. So the very next day, I acted on it.
I summoned the entire Gaia Tribe leadership as deputy chief and dropped a nuclear bomb. The impact was so massive that Conan Barbara, seated on the chieftain’s throne, hardened his expression and asked in a voice thick with anger.
“What did you just say, Geum Taeyang?”
“I said that the chieftain should complete what he started twenty years ago. The Great Khan. You must unify the Mohican tribes and ascend to the position of Great Khan.”
I repeated it calmly. The chieftain of the Gaia Tribe, Conan Barbara, had to unify the Mohican tribes. That was the first step I envisioned to survive the coming First Wave.
“T-Taeyang…!”
Great Mother’s eyes widened more than ever at my blunt words, and she looked flustered. Athena remained silent, but the fact that she couldn’t even blink showed her thought process had frozen. When I called the meeting, she had resolved to side with me no matter what agenda came up. But this was nothing less than continental unification—far too large in scale.
“Hmm…”
Gandalf the priest closed his eyes with an ambiguous expression and stayed quiet. Our tribe’s leadership consisted of the chieftain, Great Mother, priest, deputy chief, Tessadar, and the commander of the Guardian Shields. The Guardian Shields commander was Darius Barbara, the chieftain’s close cousin’s nephew.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Thud…!
At my confirmation, the chieftain rose from his seat. A natural reaction. He probably thought I was spouting nonsense. No matter how much he trusted me, that trust only made the disappointment worse.
“The Memphis Kingdom is going to invade.”
So I administered the extreme remedy. Shhh… And the effect was truly remarkable. The moment the Memphis invasion was mentioned, the already heavy air in the central tent turned ice-cold.
“This is excessive. I, Conan, have personally praised your intelligence. I even called you a genius. But throwing such a reckless gamble just to push your will through is foolish.”
After about twenty seconds of silence, the chieftain looked down at me from the platform with a pitiful expression. No matter how powerful an external force was, fighting barbarians was always troublesome—whether winning or losing. Their civilization level might be low, but their base stats were monstrous, and once they gained momentum, they were hard to stop. And if they went berserk for revenge, it became a real headache. But did these troublesome invaders have anything to gain from the Mohican tribes right now? No. That was what Conan was telling me.
“Because of this, the Memphis Kingdom will bare their killing intent and start a war.”
Swish!
Reading his intent, I pulled out the contents of the smaller of the two prepared sacks and presented them. The strongest reaction came from Athena first.
“What is that?”
“It’s a mineral called Morion.”
Because it was Morion, whose identity only Athena and I knew.
“I’ve never seen it before.”
Meanwhile, the chieftain, seeing Morion for the first time, showed no sign of agitation. Great Mother’s eyes beside him seemed to ask if this was what I had been searching for over the past twenty days.
“This is a device called Cassiopeia. It can capture surrounding scenery and people’s appearances and display them anytime, anywhere. A wondrous artifact.”
I additionally took out another item from the second sack—roughly the size of a flower vase but intricately shaped. It was expensive. I had requested it from the Jasmine Merchant Guild.
“I’ve heard of Cassiopeia. To activate it, you need a power source, don’t you?”
“Correct. This Morion will serve as that power source.”
“That thing?”
The chieftain, who had relatively more exposure to civilization than other tribesmen, was aware of imaging devices and immediately mentioned the need for a power source. For reference, power sources started manifesting from high-grade magic stones.
“Oh…!!”
Soon, Grandfather Gandalf let out a low exclamation of admiration.
“This is the full view of the Gaia Tribe village taken from the top of the Gaia Cliff.”
“That’s right! That’s the sight I see once every two days!”
Because a large image of the Gaia Tribe village appeared in the center of the tent. It could be considered an image created by magic stone power and mana energy.
“…”
Seeing the image, the chieftain’s face took on a different expression from his previously hardened one, and he fell silent.
“To operate this normally, you need four top-grade magic stones of standard size. But with Morion, just one of the same size is enough. And that’s even in an unrefined state.”
Ten times the power of the highest-grade magic stones currently in existence—that was Morion’s destructive potential. Of course, it possessed numerous other abilities beyond just power. That was why it was rated EX, skipping two entire ranks from A. If one possessed the refining technology and the ability to handle Morion’s unique properties, it would truly become a game-changer for continental hegemony. I could roughly create Morion detection devices, but I lacked the refining technology. That was a realm belonging to a different dimension.
“You’re saying something this tremendous is buried here in Galatea?”
Thud…!
In the end, Morion’s power was immense, and I succeeded in getting Chieftain Conan Barbara to sit back down on his throne.
“It’s also near the place where the Gaia Tribe lives. I brought this from there.”
Shaaa…!
While watching that, I removed the Morion from the Cassiopeia.
“The deputy chief’s words are true. I also saw the place where Morion is buried together with the deputy chief, Chieftain.”
At the same time, Athena backed me up. In essence, it meant she and I were now in the same boat.
“Very well. I will accept the existence of Morion.”
With Athena joining in, Conan leaned forward and took a more proactive posture.
“So what you’re saying, Deputy Chief, is that for some reason I don’t know, the Memphis Kingdom will discover this Morion, and to seize it, they will invade the Mohican tribes. To resist them, a strong leadership system must be established. Is that what you mean?”
“Correct, Chieftain.”
He properly summarized everything I had said so far and confirmed it.
“Is a confederation not enough? We’ve handled external invasions well enough with that system until now. Moreover, if we fight to achieve unification, our side’s casualties will be greater, which could create vulnerabilities.”
Anyway, the chieftain, who acknowledged the possible problems, suggested a confederation.
“A certain level of civil conflict won’t cause massive casualties. I’ve already made plans for that as well.”
“You’re very confident.”
There was no need to fight all the Mohican tribes. It was enough to bring just a few key ones to their knees. The rest could be made to follow without force.
“Furthermore, a confederation has never properly dealt with an all-out war. And the last confederation the Mohican tribes formed was over ten years ago. Since then, peace has lasted far too long. Moreover…”
Above all, the limitations of a confederation were clear at present.
“It has been confirmed that the Memphis side has already identified the Mohican tribes’ system and planted obstacles in multiple tribes, Chieftain.”
During the ten-plus days I had been holed up in the tribe, I used the Jasmine communications people to confirm that the Mohican tribes influenced by Tuyranos weren’t limited to just Baccara. In other words, if the opponent was Memphis or Tuyranos, the Mohican confederation would collapse into internal strife. That was the history proven by all modes of Record of World Conquest.
“Are you doubting your brothers, Geum Taeyang?”
Flash!
My fact bombardment struck Conan Barbara’s reverse scale. The trust relationship between tribes as brothers—that was the achievement Conan Barbara had built over thirty years as the strongest of the Mohican tribes and the highest elder.
“If it’s to protect my family who live and breathe with me, if it’s to prevent them from dying, then if necessary, I will suspect anyone I can.”
Anyway, it was a reverse scale I had no choice but to touch. So I was already prepared, and following that preparation, I declared Geum Taeyang’s conviction without a single tremor.
“Ah…”
Great Mother let out a deep sigh as if the ground were sinking.
“…”
Athena closed her eyes.
“This Conan Barbara will never become Great Khan.”
After a moment of silence, the Gaia Tribe chieftain Conan Barbara spoke again.
“There will never be a day when my sword is pointed at my brothers. Yes, during this long period of peace, there may be those who have been swayed by outsiders. But as brothers, we should also be able to turn them back. I will do that.”
Then he bared his teeth. He had drawn the line. Do not cross this line. If you cross it, our relationship will no longer be chieftain and deputy chief, or father and adopted son, but barbarian males each holding their own convictions and clashing. That was the warning Conan Barbara sent me.
“You’re rejecting the path of the Great Khan.”
So I, Geum Taeyang, said, “Is it because of the declaration you made sixteen years ago?”
I was willing to engage in that blood-soaked male competition.
“In the end, you’ve crossed the line, Geum Taeyang.”
Crackle…!
At my mention, Conan Barbara’s eyes blazed with blue mana light. Conan Barbara had declared at the confederation meeting that he would never be the first to attack his brothers. That was his proclamation that he no longer had any intention of becoming Great Khan. He had said that if he broke that and revealed his ambition, he would stake his life. In other words, to resist the coming threat as I said, Conan Barbara had to go beyond breaking his declaration—he had to overturn it.
‘This isn’t something I can intervene in.’
Great Mother Sophia, who had been looking back and forth between Conan and Geum Taeyang with a worried expression, had at some point been staring only at the floor. She too sensed that this was the crossroads of whether a new chapter would open or be suppressed. The barbarian woman’s instincts told her not to interfere in the males’ territorial struggle.
“Chieftain, do you have no intention of overturning that declaration and becoming Khan? At this rate, the people of the Gaia Tribe are in danger.”
Geum Taeyang asked directly, as if delivering an ultimatum, to Conan Barbara whose blue mana eyes were flashing.
“None. If you want to make me Khan, then kill me first, cut off my head, and cover it with the Siakan’s hide. Even without becoming Great Khan, I can defeat the enemies.”
Conan Barbara’s answer was to tell him to step over his corpse.
Thud…!!
Then Geum Taeyang rose from his seat. “Very well. Then this Geum Taeyang requests a duel with the Gaia Tribe chieftain, Conan Barbara.”
He had stood up before the chieftain in the meeting. It meant he was no longer someone beneath Conan Barbara. Geum Taeyang was applying for a duel, saying he would drive his sword into his adoptive father Conan Barbara’s heart to turn the Gaia Tribe into the unified Mohican tribe.
“Good. I accept that request.”
BOOM!! CRASH!!
In the world of barbarian males, there was no mercy for one who crossed the line. Conan Barbara shattered the armrest corner of his throne and accepted Geum Taeyang’s duel.