Guardian of the Black Egg
The Korean Alliance.
In his office at the heart of Seoul, Park Taewoo swallowed hard.
A blond foreigner had appeared before him without warning. From the moment he heard the man's name, Park Taewoo felt as though his mind might simply leave him.
Hudson. Master of the Hudson Trading Company, right-hand man of the Fifth Lord, the man who effectively runs Labyrinth City… and he's a Player!
Labyrinth City was a city of monsters under the White King's direct protection. The Fifth Lord was its owner, but its practical administrator was a human—Hudson. That single fact had made Hudson an overnight star across Pangenia.
The monsters of the north, who despised humanity, were working alongside a human!
It shouldn't be possible. The monsters of Kramdel hate humans more than anyone.
The impossible had become reality. Of course it caused an uproar. Yet no one had ever imagined Hudson was a Player. There was a name like his in the Hall of Fame, but it ranked so low that people assumed it was a coincidence—someone else entirely.
A recluse with ties to the northern monsters. A heavyweight.
Hudson had clearly been living in hiding, concealing his true identity. And he was almost certainly connected not only to the Fifth Lord, but to the north itself. He had been selling goods from Labyrinth City and raking in tens of billions in gold. He was a kind of power player the world had never seen before.
Why would someone like him come looking for me?
Hudson was a greater figure than Park Taewoo himself. That meant he needed to be more careful than ever. Simply appearing here was as good as confessing he was a Player. Why reveal an identity he had kept hidden all this time?
That face… there's no doubt. He's the Hudson of Pangenia. He matches the records Intelligence pulled almost perfectly.
It was no deception. He had used a Broken Fragment of the Golden Rule to appear in Hudson's form. His real-world appearance was unknown, but he was a perfect match for the image Intelligence had extracted.
"Ah. No need to keep standing. Shall we sit and talk? Tea? Coffee?"
Park Taewoo steadied himself as best he could and spoke. He was rattled, but he was still Korea's representative Player. This was his territory, and he needed to show composure.
Hudson settled into a plush chair, smiled, and opened his mouth.
"Just a glass of warm water, please."
Park Taewoo had his secretary bring warm water and a cup of green tea, then asked carefully,
"…May I ask why you've come to see me, Mr. Hudson?"
He took a slow sip of green tea, projecting as much calm as he could manage. This was Hudson—a merchant by trade, but a heavyweight with ties to the northern monsters. There had to be an extraordinary reason for this visit.
Hudson nodded.
"Mr. Park Taewoo. I intend to give Korea a city it can use in Pangenia."
"…Pfft—?!"
Park Taewoo sprayed green tea before he could stop himself. His mind went blank. Was he hearing things? Had he misheard?
What? He's giving us a city?
What kind of nonsense was this? A city in Pangenia wasn't some child's toy. No matter how hard Korea had tried, a city of its own in Pangenia had always been out of reach.
Hudson smiled, as if to confirm he had not misspoken.
"Of course, it isn't Labyrinth City."
"Wait. Then which… city are you talking about?"
"The Ruins City of Rundela."
"…!!!"
Park Taewoo's eyes flew wide.
Insane!
Rundela was Master's signature city—the very one that had been the subject of endless speculation ever since Master's death.
"Rundela doesn't have a designated successor, does it…?"
Master had never even appointed a common heir. Rundela was vacant. In theory, the first to seize it through war would own it.
"My master holds the authority to rule that place."
"Don't tell me… the one who killed Master was the Fifth Lord?"
"Yes."
Simple and direct.
So the Fifth Lord had been the one to kill Master. Kill a city's owner, and you inherit the right to take the city. No war required. The party—or their proxy—simply needed to reach the city's core. An heir would naturally try to stop them, but Rundela had no heir.
Rundela is still packed with unexcavated ruins. If we can claim it, Korea's combat power will easily triple.
Having a base at all was an enormous advantage. There were quests only a city's owner could trigger. Ruins could be sold for profit, or taxes collected in gold to purchase better equipment. Alliance members could use the city's countless amenities at far lower cost. Specific religious orders could be invited in to build relationships. City- and nation-level trade became possible. Soldiers and knights could be hired to clear higher-tier dungeons. The list of what a city's owner could do was endless.
Growing stronger in Pangenia meant growing stronger in reality as well.
At the very least, Korea won't be ignored the way it used to be.
During the demon invasion, Korea had received no help at all. Drakestar and the Hero Council had chosen to save Japan first. Japan's Players held three base cities in Pangenia—of course they had.
Can I even believe this?
…And yet the offer was almost impossible to accept. Giving away a city. Claiming the Fifth Lord had killed Master.
"You look unconvinced."
"Honestly, yes. Is there a way to prove it?"
"Official notices should have reached the cities by now. Check for yourself."
Official notices had arrived?
Park Taewoo's pulse quickened. But he could hardly log in with Hudson sitting right in front of him. More importantly, a city's official notices could only be received by that city's owner.
Then—
Thud!
"E-emergency! An official notice has come down from the Ruins City of Rundela—ah!"
A man burst through the door, shouting—then spotted Hudson and clamped his mouth shut.
Park Taewoo's expression hardened.
"…What kind of notice?"
"W-well, according to what we heard from New York's Hera Guild, Rundela has just been declared a city of the Fifth Lord. Related notices have gone out to every city…!"
"…I see. Leave us."
"Yes, sir!"
Thud!
Watching the man hastily close the door behind him, Park Taewoo's face grew even grimmer. Hudson's words appeared to be true. And Hudson had come here on the Fifth Lord's orders.
…The monster known as the Fifth Lord.
The only northern monster to keep a human at his side. No one had ever seen his true form, yet he had cleared the Abyss Labyrinth alone—something everyone else had failed at. Among the Lords, he was the only one the White King had personally sworn to protect.
And that being had sought him out.
Why?
"It's tempting, but right now we have to stop the demons about to pour into this place."
Tempting was an understatement. He would risk his life for it. He would even grant a monster's request. But this was the moment to protect Korea. This place was about to become a battlefield—where life and death hung by a thread no one could see.
When Park Taewoo refused, Hudson merely shrugged.
"Don't worry. Things won't go the way the demons want."
"…What do you mean by that?"
"You'll know soon enough. And the task the Fifth Lord has for you, Mr. Park, is to protect the Dragon Vein—to protect Korea—anyway."
"…? That makes even less sense. Are you saying the task he has for me is connected to this invasion?"
"Ah. More precisely, it's connected to a Dragon God."
"…???"
"Lord Drakestar. Park Taewoo has left Korea with his close aides."
Before the demon invasion began, Drakestar—who had arrived in Korea first—tilted his head.
"Did he run away out of fear? After all that big talk?"
It was absurd. The man had screamed and begged for Korea to be protected first, and the moment they actually came to Korea, he was the first to flee.
Does he have no patriotism at all?
To think the warrior who claimed to represent Korea was that kind of man. Drakestar clicked his tongue. But it didn't matter. No—it was actually convenient.
So that's the Dragon Vein. Looks like some ancient temple.
A massive temple had suddenly risen from the earth. That, they said, was the Dragon Vein. Entry was impossible, but the Dragon Vein was weakening the invaders.
I should try claiming ownership of the Dragon Vein. If that fails, I'll take the surrounding land at least.
What was a Dragon Vein? Records were nearly nonexistent, but according to myth, an unusually large number of "heroes" were born near one. If the Dragon Vein remained intact in Korea, they might even be able to claim the surrounding territory.
Park Taewoo had fled, after all. Who else was going to protect this place—protect Korea—if not them?
Drakestar was licking his lips at the thought when—
"Warps are opening!"
"Demons! It's the demons!"
Ziiing.
Ziiiiing!
Countless warps tore open across the sky, and demons beyond counting began to pour through.
Isera nodded.
Countless demons were streaming toward the coordinates where the Dragon Vein had been inscribed. With warps opening simultaneously on every front, no amount of human thrashing would stop them all.
Even opening the portals for Mass Teleport is a chore.
One of the natural authorities a Legion Commander was expected to hold: Mass Teleport. Activating the installed portals required enormous magical power, so they couldn't be used freely. But once executed, hundreds of thousands of demons would destroy the Dragon Vein. Mere humans could never stop them.
I should almost thank them for gathering in one place.
The Dragon Vein had herded the humans together, making the work even easier. Wipe them out in a single stroke, and no one would remain to stand in his way.
Then—
"C-Commander. Something's wrong."
"Wrong how?"
A high-ranking demon sought Isera out in a panic. When Isera asked, the demon's pupils trembled as he answered.
"Th-the portals are closing again."
…Warps that had already opened were closing?
Puzzled, Isera headed for the space where Mass Teleport had been used—and his brow furrowed.
The colossal portal they had painstakingly installed in the Demon Realm and finally managed to activate was slowly sealing shut. The throngs of demons mid-transit were stumbling in confusion.
…Forcing the portals closed?
Isera grasped the cause at once. Someone was forcibly shutting the portals. But how?
He knew the Orthodox of the Death God Religion held authority over opening and closing warps—but these were no ordinary warps. These were portals built for mass transit, generating hundreds of thousands of warps at once. How could anyone close them?
"…"
When the portals finally sealed completely, the crease between Isera's brows deepened further. Unbelievable as it was, someone had forced them shut. Spatial travel was no longer possible.
Which meant—
…We'll have to fly there ourselves.
They would have to fly all the way to the Dragon Vein under their own power.
How long had it been since the warps opened and the demon invasion began?
At some point the warps closed, and the rate of incoming demons dropped sharply. At the same time, countless people witnessed it.
—Kakakakaka!
It was unmistakably a Death God. It wore the form of a Death God down to the last detail.
People who saw the Death God began to murmur.
"Is that…?"
"Wait. I feel like I've seen that somewhere."
"Ah. C-could it be the Death God from Jeju Island…!"
"It's the Guardian of the Black Egg!!"
People shouted. Those who had lived through the Jeju Island Disappearance Incident especially cried out in excitement—because the Guardian of the Black Egg was the being who had protected them from Baal in the Abyss and helped them escape.
"Then who's that guy?"
But the Guardian of the Black Egg was not the only new arrival.
A man in a mage's robes was scowling fiercely, swinging his staff and attacking the demons.
"Is that one the 'God of the Black Egg,' then?"
"No! That's Union! The Mage of the Golden Rule who attacked us before!"
"What? Wasn't Union on the demons' side?"
"Exactly. Why is Union helping us?"