Chapter 198
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Lesson 39. I Must Have Him - 3
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Of course, the first one to notice the change was Lilith.
"The dimensional barrier has been breached, Master."
"Hm?"
"Ah, Koh."
As Ban Yu-won stopped in his tracks, Lucelle, who had been sticking close behind him, bumped her head into his back.
"What's wrong, Yu-won?"
"Huh?"
The others advancing through the dungeon finally noticed something off about Ban Yu-won and turned to look back.
Among them, Kee-ra, who had been at the front with Ban Yu-mi, wore a startled expression. It seemed she had sensed something too.
...Or perhaps her superior had relayed some message to her.
"This isn't the time to be tackling the dungeon."
"What's going on, Ban Yu-won?"
"Well—you see."
Ban Yu-won received real-time reports from Lilith flooding in, sorted through his complicated thoughts as best he could, and made an inevitable choice.
"Sorry, but I'll handle things here. We need to get out fast."
"What are you talking about? It's still a G-rank dungeon—you can't just clear it that easily..."
Yoo-ji-na, who hadn't fully witnessed Ban Yu-won's abilities, started to protest like she would with her older sisters when she suddenly shut her mouth the next instant.
She had spotted Ban Yu-won's retainers pouring out from the sub-space that had opened up.
Of course, since the dungeon wasn't that spacious, the 'real' robot series didn't make an appearance, but with Libby leading the charge carrying Ryu Cheol-myeong's greatsword, followed by Tike, Lilith, Eve, and twenty-five Storm Swords in tow, it was enough to blow everyone's minds.
"Why are you all so surprised? You've seen them plenty in videos, haven't you?"
"Seeing it in a video is totally different from this!"
"Is it? Then take a good look now. Eve, if you would."
"Shishit!"
In an instant, Eve bulked up, transforming into a form similar to Libby's, and led the retainers in a charge.
As it was a G-rank dungeon, there were plenty of traps that could only be found in Babel Tower, but who were they? True to form as Ban Yu-won's retainers, they wielded the authorities shared with him, sucking up the very concepts of most traps whole and advancing at overwhelming speed.
Ban Yu-won drew the Executioner's Longsword, thrust it forward, struck a pose like Joan of Arc leading the citizenry, and shouted.
"No more traps ahead—run!"
"No more traps? Then what were we busting our asses disarming all this time..."
"Run!"
The Phoenix Knights' scout (trap disarmer) made a miserable face, but no one had time to care about him.
As they madly chased after the retainers who had vanished from sight, the dungeon shook with a crunch, kaboom, pew-pew-bam! of explosive noise.
"What was that?!"
"Tike must be going a bit wild."
"What the hell do you even build and carry around?"
The higher the dungeon's rank, the more complex not just the traps but the structure itself became, making progress a nightmare. But Ban Yu-won's retainers zeroed in on the spot with the highest mana density—the boss room—and barreled straight ahead, smashing through monsters, traps, and walls alike without discrimination.
All the party had to do was follow the straight path in their wake.
"This... Korea's untouchable for the foreseeable future..."
A Phoenix Knights member muttered, only for the others to snort derisively.
"Talking about 'foreseeable future' means you still haven't gotten the picture. Even by civilization standards, we're three centuries behind."
"He probably meant 21st century."
"No choice now but for the Captain to seduce that guy and naturalize him in the UK..."
"From the way she's been fan-girling and trailing him, it looked more like the Captain's ready to naturalize in Korea... Ugh."
The members' heated debate on national power development ground to a halt under the vicious glares from the Oculus Ruber crew.
Ban Yu-won, leading the group alongside Lucelle, resolved not to look back no matter what.
Lucelle, who knew his feelings, giggled and said,
"It's your fate as master, sir. Outstanding males always suffer at the hands of females."
"I used to reflexively deny whatever you said back then, but lately... I'm starting to think humans are just beasts that happen to wear clothes."
No, but this really wasn't the time for jokes!
Ban Yu-won, with no time to play along, lightly flicked Lucelle's forehead and hurried his steps.
Kabooooom! As Tike rampaged even more violently in the distance, sensing his mood, Lilith's report continued.
"The dimensional barrier has just been breached, and crude ships are emerging. They're basically asteroids hollowed out into vessels... but astonishingly, they're relics."
'Relics?! The entire ships are relics?'
Any Rebellion member who had been through the previous special activity would know what came next, even without Ban Yu-won spelling it out.
"It's not impossible. Those kinds of ships are the most commonly used in space, and especially when they accumulate history, grudges, or layered mana, they easily become relics. And orcs obtaining one to trigger a wave isn't rare either."
Orc Wave.
A disaster that could engulf an entire star in orcs if left unchecked.
Ban Yu-won grasped the severity of the situation but still tilted his head.
'An Orc Wave, a natural disaster like that, right now? The timing feels too coincidental.'
"The Orc Wave you encountered before wasn't natural either."
'...You're right.'
"In fact, the orc fleet is heading straight for Earth. I've hacked satellites and adjusted the trajectory, so other countries should be noticing by now."
Damn, these higher-dimensional bastards were using Orc Waves like guided missiles.
Well, orcs mutated by a relic were easily swayed by the relic's will, so it might actually be a simple weapon to wield.
"It's absorbing space mana and growing in scale. No, why are the number of ships increasing? Ah, they're ships made from orc bones and muscles!"
'I didn't want to hear that...'
Just hearing that gave him a bad feeling.
This was a disaster on a whole new level of insanity compared to the Orc Wave that had hit the previous F-rank dimension!
"Kuuoooooooh!"
At that exact moment, the dungeon shook violently.
The weaker rear-line Phoenix Knights members staggered and collapsed.
"Th-this... the boss! Isn't this dangerous?"
"No."
Ban Yu-won replied coolly to Lee Hyun-ji's words.
"Sounds like the boss just got done in. Let's check the boss room first."
"I can't accept this kind of dungeon exploration..."
"This isn't the time for that."
The Phoenix Knights members, who had aimed to conquer the dungeon with Ban Yu-won, solidify ties with Korea, and make their order's name known worldwide, watched their dreams shatter in real time.
Ban Yu-won let out a quiet sigh when Kee-ra, who had approached him, spoke up with a tense expression.
"We're screwed."
"I know. Orc Wave—you knew about it too, huh."
"The Orc Wave isn't the problem. The young lord has you locked on."
"Huh?"
What did that even mean?
He was the one who had locked onto them first.
How had she, from so far away on Earth, known he was ready to smash Prominence with his sister's help and struck first?
"Tell me more."
"What I mean is, the young lord is targeting you right now..."
"Ah, look at those two flirting!"
"It's not like that, seriously."
The two kept running without pause even as they talked, soon reaching the boss room.
As Ban Yu-won had predicted, the earlier boom was the sound of the boss falling. They hadn't even seen its face, but surprisingly, there was a drop.
"Shishit, shit."
"Lucky. This is mine anyway since my retainers took it down, right?"
"Of course... A ring?"
Ban Yu-won examined it. Imbued with concepts of healing and solidity, it seemed to be an artifact boosting recovery and defense. Astonishingly, the concepts were so profound that even he couldn't replicate it.
It wasn't just about granting healing and solidity; it housed a highly intricate array of interwoven concepts he couldn't fully read.
'I could parse it with effort, but reproducing it exactly would be tough. Once I can, there'd be nothing in this world I couldn't make...'
He hadn't expected much from Earth drops, so the flustered Ban Yu-won placed it on his palm and stared blankly until the outfield grew noisy.
"It's a ring."
"A r-ring."
"Why are you freaking out over the item form?"
Ban Yu-won sighed in exasperation and held it out to Ban Yu-mi.
"Here, sis. You take it."
"Huh? Oh."
Ban Yu-mi seemed slightly surprised for a moment but soon composed herself and slipped the ring on.
The onlookers lost it even more.
"?!"
"Oh, damn."
"Did he just give her a ring? To his own sister?"
"Why are you all overreacting to me giving an artifact?!"
He was seriously considering a group therapy session for these people.
Ban Yu-won sighed and gave a brief explanation right there.
He could compensate for the artifact's abilities elsewhere, and the same went for Lucelle, who was always by his side.
So he gave it to Ban Yu-mi without hesitation.
"Alright, let's head out."
As the coolly turning Ban Yu-won walked away, whispers rose from behind.
"Acting all casual while doting on his sister."
"Maybe Yu-mi's into that kind of thing."
"Still, too many girls around him. Hooking McBride in one day was bad enough."
But the noisy bunch fell silent the moment the dungeon fully collapsed and they emerged outside.
They could already see the dots appearing beyond the sky.
"Wh-what is that...?"
"Orc Wave."
"Orc Wave?!"
No explanation needed.
Everyone present had pre-studied Orc Waves from the videos on Ban Yu-won's channel.
"Why is that coming to Earth...?"
"Can we even handle that?"
"This isn't the time for G-rank dungeons!"
"That's what I said."
"Come here a sec."
Like most people outside gaping up at the sky, Kee-ra grabbed Ban Yu-won's hand and pulled him aside amid the group.
The moment Ban Yu-won hastily erected a barrier to block noise and constellation interference, Kee-ra shouted as if she'd been waiting.
"What do you think the goal of that Orc Wave is?"
"You said they locked on to me. So, targeting me."
"No, it's Lucelle!"
Huh?
Why Lucelle out of nowhere?
"What I meant by 'targeting' is... they want you. Probably trying to isolate you by taking out Lucelle."
"Is slavery legal on your planet by any chance?"
Now fully grasping the situation, Ban Yu-won retorted incredulously, and Kee-ra sighed with a nod.
"At Prominence's level, who'd dare complain about them owning slaves outright? But the real issue now is that the young lord knows I'm with you."
"...Ah."
If the young lord had issued orders through the constellation, hiding her situation would be impossible.
Ban Yu-won looked up at the approaching Orc Wave and clicked his tongue.
This was insane.
Now he understood why Kee-ra looked so urgent.
"She ordered me to assassinate Lucelle when I get an opening and secure you... You get it? I have no grounds to refuse. Why did things twist up like this all of a sudden... You got some pheromone for seducing Prominence women or what?"
Kee-ra might've been trying to lighten the mood with a joke amid the crisis, but Ban Yu-won—who knew of yet another Prominence heir harboring feelings for him besides Kee-ra and the young lord—couldn't laugh.
"Anyway, that's the situation."
Kee-ra met Ban Yu-won's eyes seriously and said,
"Terminate my contract with the constellation right now."
"..."
"Right now. I don't want to fight you."
"A bit more research might find another way..."
"Sorry, can't wait any longer."
Haaa.
Ban Yu-won let out a deep sigh, pulled Kee-ra close by the neck, and kissed her.
Through his All-Speaking Lips—the lips that could contain all things—he directly infused his authority into her body, severing the contract with the constellation.
"...?!"
"What the—?!"
"What are you doing?!"
"Kyaaaa!"
...Ah, the barrier dropped.