Chapter 114: Moving (3)
Chapter 114: Moving (3)
Laysia was already somewhat known to the demons, having fought them in Bürg as a follower of Tiamat.
The demons summoned to the meeting couldn't help but react sensitively to the news. After thirty years of relative boredom, a follower of their lifelong enemies—the Benevolent Gods—had finally appeared.
Nippur, the place where the demons were imprisoned.
The world Grace had once tried so hard to protect was now entirely the domain of demons and Evil Gods.
The demons had gathered in a neutral zone established in the center of their respective territories. To prevent infighting, they strictly divided their lands and met only in this neutral ground. This area was located deep within the shattered planet, serving as the hub from which pieces of Nippur were carved out to create Dungeons and sent to Earth.
The meeting took place on a massive circular platform. The demons sat around the perimeter, and even with their gargantuan frames, there was more than enough room.
Gaph, a demon with crimson skin and goat horns, looked over the logs transmitted from the Dungeons he had recently sent out. He informed the assembly of the appearance of an entity that seemed to be Laysia.
The demons began to murmur. Just as they were expecting their thirty years of labor to finally bear fruit, the emergence of the Benevolent God forces sparked a sense of wariness.
"Have they finally realized what we're doing?"
"It’s actually strange that they took this long to show up."
The worst-case scenario would have been the Benevolent God forces moving from the very beginning, which could have truly delayed their plans. Some voices expressed relief that this wasn't the case.
"Shouldn't we speed things up?"
They exchanged thoughts through crystal balls placed on the table, which allowed for seamless communication.
"None of the three points where we sent the Reinforcement Portals have been properly breached."
"They're proving less effective than expected."
Each demon checked the status of the Reinforcement Portals they had sent to create dimensional rifts. The lack of significant progress was taken as a bad omen.
They had considered this a masterstroke—inducing a sense of familiarity in the intelligent lifeforms of Earth and then suddenly introducing a variable. They had expected the resulting damage to be catastrophic.
Naturally, the demons were displeased when the results fell short of their expectations.
Since they obtained information indirectly, the demons didn't clearly recognize Earth's geographical names, nor did they feel the need to.
They had sent a large number of Reinforcement Portals to Korea, Japan, and the UK because those locations were weak points where it was easier to pierce the Dimensional Barrier.
The Dimensional Barrier had specific focal points around which it was formed. They had spent thirty years trying to break through other areas, but it was difficult even for the Evil God they served, let alone the demons themselves, to cross over.
This was why places like Kathmandu, Nepal—where Han Shin had visited—had not been breached long ago, despite lacking the infrastructure to clear Dungeons properly.
There were several such focal points, and the ones they targeted this time were Korea, Japan, and the UK.
Japan, in particular, was an extremely vulnerable spot, so they had focused their efforts there, sending a high volume of Dungeons.
They had expected Japan to suffer massive damage and be crippled to some extent. They were disappointed to find that every Dungeon had been cleared, and they immediately launched an investigation.
The result of that investigation was the discovery of Laysia.
The demons hadn't bothered to look through the logs of every single Dungeon.
Just as Earth's Awakeners had grown accustomed to this thirty-year-long tedious process and sought to clear Dungeons efficiently for profit, the demons had also fallen into a routine.
Consequently, they hadn't checked every cleared Dungeon recently. When Han Shin and Grace first entered Dungeons and began to grow, they hadn't done anything notable enough to catch the demons' attention.
However, the fact that Korea, Japan, and the UK had suffered almost no damage—and that not a single Dimension Bomb had detonated—shocked them. While scouring the logs to find the cause, they discovered Laysia.
Because Laysia had fought the demons while defending Bürg as Tiamat's follower, they were familiar with her.
A Battle Priest of Tiamat and an exceptional Martial Artist.
Her combination of spells utilizing Tiamat's Holy Power and her martial arts had caused significant casualties among the demons. They had already accumulated a fair amount of data while analyzing her in the past.
Laysia's combat style.
The way she freely manipulated Qi to cause internal explosions and reshape the terrain.
Gaph, who had seen countless demons suffer at her hands, recognized her immediately upon seeing the logs and conducted a more thorough analysis.
"According to my investigation, Laysia isn't alone. There are two others with her."
The demons' reaction was predictably grim.
Laysia was quite a celebrity among them, as she had crushed innumerable demons with her hands and feet.
The demons viewed these sudden events as a blight on their harvest season. Taking the presence of these annoying interlopers seriously, they realized they had to make a move before the trio could interfere further.
★ ★ ★
Currently, Han Shin, Grace, and Laysia were all Level 31.
Their levels had stagnated recently, but clearing so many Dungeons in Japan had undoubtedly made them stronger.
Han Shin could feel his own growth personally.
He was becoming powerful so quickly that he sometimes wondered, Is this even possible?
He had adapted to combat and improved his skills at a rate that surpassed even what Tiamat had prepared for.
While the growth of Tiamat's Holy Power was vital, it was equally important to utilize that increased power effectively. Han Shin excelled in this regard as well.
Even Laysia and Grace, who were teaching him, were occasionally astonished by his ingenuity and execution.
And then, Han Shin told Kang Yujin something she had been longing to hear.
"Noona, I think I'll be able to make you a follower once I hit Level 40."
Yujin had felt a lingering regret about always being separated from Han Shin in Japan, unable to fight by his side in the same Dungeons.
For Kang Yujin, Han Shin was always the top priority.
Her desire to get stronger and her wish to become Tiamat's follower were driven by one thing: she wanted to fight alongside Han Shin, to be of more help to him, and to protect him.
After they moved, she had felt a pang of envy listening to Grace and Laysia talk about hunting with Han Shin in the Japanese Dungeons.
Now that Han Shin said she could become a follower in just nine more levels, the goal was finally within sight. It was wonderful news for Yujin, who couldn't wait for that day to arrive.
However, the downside was the experience points required now that they were Level 30.
The issue was that the Mana capacity of the Dungeon Cores had to be higher.
To level up quickly, they needed to clear high-rank Dungeons and harvest their Mana. But since Korea and Japan no longer needed their help—as the Large Clans were now capable of handling the situation—they had to return to Nepal to hunt.
Even if Reinforcement Portals appeared in Nepal, they rarely contained A-Rank monsters like the ones in Korea and Japan. It was only natural that Han Shin's leveling speed would slow down.
"Is there any way to level up faster?"
Kang Yujin knew she was being greedy, but she couldn't help asking. The thought of being so close made her restless.
Just as a marathon runner feels the most thirst when the finish line is in sight, Yujin was feeling the burn of anticipation.
But this feeling wasn't limited to her.
Han Shin, Grace, and Laysia—none of them took offense at Yujin's words or blamed her. In fact, they all shared the same desire to find a way to level up quickly.
They had considered the possibility that these Reinforcement Portals were a sign that the demons—the Evil God's subordinates—were plotting something in earnest, which could escalate into a full-scale invasion of Earth.
They remained vigilant, knowing this was no time for complacency.
In Han Shin's case, he also had a personal drive to grow stronger. He was starting to enjoy the feeling of his power increasing and the thrill of combat.
Furthermore, as a man, he felt a sense of duty to move beyond being protected by his women and become the one who protected them.
"I think our only option is to keep hitting Dungeons diligently, Noona."
"I suppose so..."
Yujin let out a disappointed sigh at Han Shin's words.
In truth, she already had a vague inkling that this was the only way.
She had been checking the global situation through the Association, hoping to find a country that couldn't handle its portals so she could offer their help, but she was told no such place existed yet.
Since the emergence of the Reinforcement Portals, a system had been established where reconnaissance teams were quickly dispatched to identify the monsters, and Awakeners were deployed accordingly. As a result, Dungeons were being cleared stably without significant casualties.