The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 183: Dreamland
Following Sergey’s guidance, we entered the Demonic Realm Countermeasures Headquarters.
“This is the headquarters?”
I couldn’t hide the dismay on my face.
It was called a headquarters in name only.
Looking at this mess, it was more like…
“A refugee camp?”
“Exactly.”
“Kahaha, can’t say you’re wrong.”
Sergey let out a self-mocking laugh.
The disaster that had struck Tunguska.
The locals had lost their homes and been forced to join the evacuation.
Displaced people with nowhere to go were now living in crudely erected tents.
It was a sight I had grown sick of seeing in my previous life.
“The chances of returning to their hometowns are slim. Why are they staying here?”
“Because the government hasn’t taken any proper measures.”
Russia had been mired in political chaos long before the Tower appeared.
The government, which should have served as the central pillar, had lost all credibility.
With the Tower’s emergence, extremists gained power and began dominating various regions.
It was reminiscent of the distant past—the chaotic struggle of countless factions during the Three Kingdoms period.
“Is the Russian Guardian Knights one of those factions?”
“Those damn bastards. Knights? Don’t make me laugh!”
Boom— The ground shook from the force of Sergey’s kick.
“Once this is over, I’m going to separate those Neo-Nazi bastards’ heads from their bodies.”
“Even if you say that, you won’t be able to ignore the diplomatic fallout.”
“I never forget. I always repay my debts in full.”
Sergey snorted loudly.
Sigh. I should have been a little rougher with him.
It was a shame to see that the tension in Sergey’s neck hadn’t fully eased yet.
“Um, excuse me… where are the government officials?”
Han Suchang jumped in at the first break in the conversation.
“Government? There is no such thing.”
“Pardon?”
“They washed their hands of this. Damn it.”
“Even though a Demonic Realm appeared in the middle of the Siberian plains?”
Sergey frowned but said nothing more.
“Hah… haha.”
“Then I suppose you’re the one in overall command.”
“Overall command? I’m just leading a bunch of idiots who volunteered to throw their lives away because they like me.”
I knew Russia’s political situation was chaotic, but I hadn’t realized it had deteriorated this badly.
In my previous life, I only started paying attention to foreign affairs after 2030, once I had established myself as a player.
By that time, Russia hadn’t been in quite this much disarray.
It must have been thanks to the man before me—Sergey—working so hard.
In fact, he was the one who had become humanity’s first Monarch, supported by countless people.
Since we had a connection from the past, I decided to help him now.
Sergey Volkof.
I’d pick up some essence while I was at it.
“I’ll take over the Demonic Realm exploration briefing,” Thomas said, stepping forward.
“Who is this guy?”
“Analyst Thomas Miller. He’s quite well-known in America.”
“Hmm. Nikolai, share the current situation with this American.”
The man summoned by Sergey tilted his head in confusion.
“Is it really okay to show this to an outsider?”
“Hey, he’s my brother. Don’t you trust your hyung?”
“Understood. If the boss says so… Hey, big-nose, follow me.”
“I’ll be in your care.”
Thomas headed toward the situation room.
“I’ll show you where to set up camp,” Sergey said gruffly, guiding the rest of the group.
The Russian government had only sent an investigation team to Tunguska as a mere formality.
“The personnel from the central government are just killing time,” Thomas reported.
“So Sergey’s team is essentially the main force.”
“Correct. They call themselves a vigilante group.”
“Better than the Russian Guardian Knights, at least.”
I let out a small chuckle.
Thomas continued with a tense expression.
“Besides the Russian Guardian Knights, there are two other factions, so the exploration of this Demonic Realm has become a three-way race.”
“Well, we’ll leave that matter to Sergey.”
Three-way struggle or not, I had no intention of solving Russia’s internal troubles for them.
The Neo-Nazi forces that Sergey had completely wiped out in my previous life, along with a dysfunctional government—fixing all of that would require an enormous amount of time and effort.
I was growing far faster than in my previous life, but I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about that right now.
“Junior, this is quite a complicated situation,” Shin Junseok said.
“We should stay alert. We’ll need to set up night watches too,” Hong Yunsu added.
“Kahaha, with both of you seniors here, what is there to worry about?”
“That’s what I should be saying, Junior.”
“I was surprised when you faced Ellen Taylor, but I never expected you to stand toe-to-toe with Sergey without yielding an inch.”
A fierce light of ambition burned in the eyes of the two Rankers.
“Once we finish exploring the Demonic Realm, how about sparring with me?”
“I look forward to it.”
“Please take good care of me, Guild Leader.”
Nyx shook her head from side to side.
“What’s wrong with that?”
Nyx left behind those cryptic words.
I pretended not to hear and focused on Thomas’s briefing again.
“The vigilantes are focusing on two main points for the Demonic Realm exploration.”
“Two?”
“Territorial expansion and safety assessment.”
“Expansion makes sense, but the second point probably refers to whether the monsters are escaping beyond the Demonic Realm’s boundaries.”
“Yes. Your insight is truly impressive, Guild Leader.”
It was something I had experienced in my previous life.
After the Ten Great Demonic Realms had taken root across the world, the entire planet suffered through a period of painful adjustment.
The Stairway of Mail that appeared in the middle of the Pacific affected even the atmosphere, forcing ships and airplanes to change their routes.
The Demonic Realm in the Gobi Desert scattered magic-infused yellow sand across East Asia year-round, which accelerated the development of air purification technology.
Those were all consequences of the adaptation process.
Since there was no information about the Demonic Realms beyond what the System had revealed, gathering intelligence was the top priority.
“Was there really no information on the Demonic Realms?”
“Correct. They said their top priority was helping the displaced residents and stabilizing the situation.”
“What a mess.”
They had gathered people under the name of a Demonic Realm exploration team, yet because of internal politics, they couldn’t even take a single step inside.
Sergey was going to have a rough time.
Still, I didn’t particularly care.
I had already entered the Demonic Realm that had appeared in Tunguska during my previous life.
As long as I didn’t go too deep, there was no real danger.
I had survived the underground of the Tower, after all.
A mere Demonic Realm was nothing.
“The vigilantes asked us to take charge of exploring upstream along the river.”
“Understood. Team Leader Han, you should stay behind and rest.”
“You’re leaving me behind?”
Han Suchang’s face turned deathly pale as he shook his head violently.
“We don’t know what kind of environment the Demonic Realm will be.”
“It’ll probably be more comfortable than here. There will be plenty of people to protect you.”
“Ah… that’s true, I suppose.”
Besides the vigilantes, there were two organizations claiming to be Neo-Nazis.
The moment we landed at the international airport, we had been attacked by the so-called Guardian Knights or whatever they called themselves.
“Alright. Make sure you stay close to the seniors and follow them carefully.”
“Yes!”
I had no idea why this man kept insisting on tagging along and suffering with us.
As soon as the group finished preparing, we drove down the road stretching alongside the downstream section of the Tunguska River.
After traveling for some time, pitch-black fog began to shimmer before our eyes.
“This isn’t ordinary mist,” Shin Junseok said, frowning.
“Indeed. The air is refracting around that fog,” Hong Yunsu added.
I felt something similar.
Countless colors tangled and intertwined.
When I observed the area beyond the fog with my Thousand Eyes, it was pure chaos.
“It was horrible back then, but seeing it again makes it look even worse.”
“Ah, it just reminded me of somewhere else.”
I quickly covered up my slip of the tongue.
I couldn’t exactly say I had come here in my previous life.
Back then, I had entered the Demonic Realm in Tunguska to devour an essence related to the Void.
“Guild Leader, should we drive straight in?”
“No. Park the vehicle on the side. We don’t know what might happen.”
“A wise decision.”
Thomas smiled faintly and parked the jeep beside the road.
The moment we stepped into the fog, my thoughts grew hazy, as if I had just woken up.
Moonlight Trance Lv 10
Slumber Lv 7
Detection ability reduced to 1/5.
Sheer cliffs with not a single blade of grass.
When I looked back, the outside scenery was clearly visible.
The rest of the party checked the System messages.
“Goddess, what do you think?”
“Can you sense the energy of Chaos?”
Nyx left my shoulder and flew around, observing the surroundings.
“Similar? Then it’s the same, isn’t it?”
“Well, it’s not that important.”
Even if the constellations of the outer universe were connected to Greek and Roman mythology, that information was useless at the moment.
I lost interest and looked up at the sky.
Void Mirror
The trace of Urkan is reflected in the mirror.
Wings burst forth from my back.
“Guild Leader?”
Before Hong Yunsu could even finish voicing his confusion, I flapped my two wings and shot into the air.
At that moment—
“Kiiiiiiii!!”
With a scream that threatened to tear eardrums, a swarm of monsters appeared out of thin air.
Nightgaunts.
Monsters with curved horns on their heads and membranous wings flapping behind their backs.
“I couldn’t see them at all.”
“There’s a debuff that lowers detection ability, remember?”
I replied casually as I flew straight toward the swarm of Nightgaunts.
The debuff that confused first-time visitors to Dreamland—detection ability reduction.
At first glance, it seemed to only interfere with sensing mana or killing intent, but in reality, it affected all senses.
Rather than simply blocking vision like fog, it shrank the range of perception, which was why everyone panicked at first.
Since I was a veteran regressor, I had prepared in advance.
“Kiiiiii!”
Nightgaunts were the most common monsters in Dreamland.
Their combat power was around Gold rank.
However, because of their racial trait that made them skilled fliers, the actual difficulty of hunting them was one rank higher.
Which meant—
“They’re not my opponents.”
Against Nightgaunts, the Wind Path was more than enough.
The reason I had brought out my wings was to get used to aerial combat.
When such excellent live training dummies appeared, there was no way I could waste the opportunity.
“Kiiiiii!”
A Nightgaunt swung its long claws.
Hook-like talons.
Before they could touch me, I folded my wings and dove straight down.
The Nightgaunt’s attack brushed past me by a hair’s breadth.
I immediately spread my wings again, soaring upward and targeting the monster’s exposed lower body.
My Blazing Sunset pierced straight through its heart.
Without hesitation, I devoured the corpse.
“Looks like I’ll be filling my stomach from the very first fight.”
Nyx’s sigh lingered in my ear.