“Inside.......”
“So you’re saying there were tens of thousands of monsters that strong in there?”
I gave them a brief account of what happened inside the Gate.
People’s faces went pale.
“I mean, it’s fortunate that most of them couldn’t move, but still.”
“And those things they called the Twenty Grand Lords, and a king.......”
Expressions mixed with tension and fear.
Someone among them,
sweating cold,
spoke.
“Doesn’t that mean each and every one of them is at least on par with the one we saw earlier.......”
“No. That one they called the king was probably far stronger than that.”
“.......”
Those existences inside that Gate.
As wariness toward those existences spread and tension rippled through the group—
“Uh, I have a question.”
Heo Yunchang looked at me and said.
“We heard what that giant said. It was strange, how the sound felt like it was echoing straight into our souls...... but what mattered was the content. And after hearing about the monsters inside the Gate, I’m even more curious.”
With a look like he couldn’t believe it, he opened his mouth.
“They said you slaughtered their greatest brothers and hid the king...... don’t tell me that’s—”
“Ah, that’s literally what it means.”
I nodded lightly as I answered.
“Everyone, relax. You all look like you’re extremely tense because you heard ‘twenty-one,’ but it’s not that bad right now.”
“.......”
“There are probably only twelve left in there now.”
At the absurdly casual statement,
people just stared blankly at my face.
“T-then if only twelve are left, the other nine are......?”
“I got lucky.”
“.......”
“It would’ve been better if I’d been faster...... whew. If I’d been even a little later, it would’ve been a real disaster.”
“.......”
As people broke out in cold sweat—
“HAHA! Of course it’s you, Youngjun!”
Park Junggu managed to fix his expression, at least.
He laughed happily and said.
“Anyway, then does that mean the counterattack starts now?”
“What are you talking about, Junggu?”
“I mean, come on. Youngjun, you handled nine of those monsters all by yourself!”
He shouted confidently.
“And if we put our strength together! Then we can somehow deal with the remaining twelve too, can’t we?”
At Park Junggu’s words—
“Ah, no. That’s not it.”
“Huh?”
I answered firmly.
‘......Mm. Showing weakness isn’t good in this situation, but.’
Still.
They needed to know reality.
“Like I said, this was only possible because I got really lucky.”
“Wasn’t that just you being modest?”
“No. And...... I also pushed myself a lot in the process.”
As I said that,
I raised my hand.
Then.
The people who saw my hand stiffened.
TREMBLE.......
My hand had gone cold,
and it was shaking.
“If I fight again right now, I can’t win. Not a chance.”
And.
That wasn’t acting.
‘The side effects of [Rampage] are more severe than I expected.’
Even if this was the only way to draw power up in Gyeonggi Province right now,
the burden was too heavy.
After ignoring the aftereffects and using Rampage over and over,
the aftereffects were still lingering even now.
‘I probably won’t be able to fight at full strength for a while.’
No—more than that.
Those blue-rank monsters were already far stronger than me to begin with.
The only reason I could bring them down was the seal.
Even if I could fight at full strength,
adding my one body’s worth of power wouldn’t have been enough to stop those monsters.
“Then.......”
“What are we supposed to do? If we straighten our lines and fight again, can we win then?”
People looked at me with eyes clinging to hope.
But I shook my head.
“We can’t win. Not ever.”
“Then.......”
At those words,
Jo Beomseok spoke with eyes mixed with despair.
“For someone who used to say there’s no such thing as impossible to say that.......”
A subtle despair spread among the people.
But I couldn’t lie.
‘The remaining twelve...... the Expedition Force can never beat them as we are now.’
No matter how much I believed in making the impossible happen,
this was different.
This doesn’t even come out to a number.
‘......That’s why it can’t help but be bitter.’
If
the Chair’s Assault Team hadn’t been fooled by the enemy’s bluff and kept focusing on the assault,
they would’ve found the Twenty Grand Lords sealed up, unable to move,
and they would’ve succeeded in a light purge.
‘Gyeonggi Province wouldn’t have ended up like this.’
I do think I arrived here as fast as I possibly could after crossing into Gyeonggi Province,
but even so, I was a little late.
......Still.
What’s past is past.
What matters is what comes next.
“Isn’t it about time you told us? Why you insisted we come here.”
“Mm.”
“If we have to defend, it would’ve been far more advantageous for me to order a defense from my Southern Branch. Even so, you gathered us at this Northern Branch...... there has to be a reason.”
He was right.
We can’t stop the enemy at this Northern Branch, where even the defensive facilities are lacking compared to the Southern Branch.
No, from the start—
even if we added better defensive facilities, with the Association’s power as it stands, we still couldn’t beat the monsters that would come flooding in.
‘Even if my strength were added...... even if every single member of the old Assault Team who still can’t come to their senses opened their eyes, it’d be the same.’
The gap in power was simply too large.
We’d be crushed without being able to hold for even a moment.
If that was the case.......
There was only one thing we needed.
“We need additional troops.”
“......What?”
“Reinforcements.”
Twelve giants wreathed in blue magic power.
And an enormous army in numbers.
“I came here to find that.”
If we couldn’t stop them with the Association’s power,
we needed additional troops that could.
“Reinforcements.......”
“Most humans in Gyeonggi Province are registered with the Association. Even if you count the unregistered, it’s just a few groups of truly severe criminals, so they won’t become a major force.”
The Association was a single unified faction.
Even hearing the word reinforcements, nothing came to mind.
People could only look puzzled.
“I’ll say this in advance.”
I scratched my head,
looked at the gathered leaders, and said.
“This might sound a little strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe. You might not be able to believe me, saying it’s nothing but crazy talk.”
At those words,
people smiled like they were asking what I was even saying.
“Don’t worry. Everyone here acknowledges your ability.......”
“We know that the reason we’ve survived until now is because of you.”
“Even if it’s a slightly weird operation, we can trust you and carry it out, Youngjun!”
People spoke with trust overflowing toward me.
“Everyone.......”
I couldn’t help but be a little moved at that.
When I first crossed into Gyeonggi Province, I was a complete outsider.
And now they trusted me that much.
“If you’re going to say that much...... then I don’t need to hide it anymore.”
I smiled.
“Our destination isn’t actually this Northern Branch.”
“Huh?”
“If not here, then where?”
I returned their trust,
smiling brightly as I spoke.
‘The rally point is the Northern Branch, but.......’
The destination
is a little farther north than that.
“We’re going to the Demon Realm!”
“......That’s insane!!!”
It didn’t take long
for the looks filled with trust to shatter.
*****
At the far end of the northeast,
near where the Black Wall flickered, there was a forest blanketed in white snow.
A world ruled by a cold so brutal it was sickening.
Countless fiends that had anticipated that cold gathered near the Black Wall.
A forest where countless monsters gathered.
People called that place the Inhuman Demon Realm.
Monsters gathered near the Wall of Fire.
But near that Wall, it was far too cramped for countless monsters to gather.
Too many monsters gathered in a narrow place.
Normally, through competition among themselves, their numbers might have greatly thinned out......
but unexpectedly,
the Inhuman Demon Realm had its own rules.
-There are too many other fiends nearby.
Monsters born with magic power were often ferocious by nature,
but even so, what came first was their own survival.
-Most of them are weaker than me, but if I make one mistake...... I could get injured.
The world of monsters is closer to the wild.
No matter how powerful a monster is,
once it’s injured, the smell of blood spreads to the surroundings.
No matter how strong a monster is,
if it gets injured in battle, it can’t help but fall into weakness.
With too many enemies spread everywhere, and no hiding place to even treat a wound in the current situation,
beasts that pursued survival had no choice but to fear injury.
-Hunt as little as possible, and only hunt those you can kill for sure.
So.
In the Inhuman Demon Realm packed with an overwhelming number of monsters,
there wasn’t as much fighting inside as you might expect, and also.......
-Do not approach the territory of someone stronger than you—or if you do, act as cautiously as possible.
Depending on the power each fiend possessed,
the territories inside the Inhuman Demon Realm were divided.
And inside that Inhuman Demon Realm—
‘I have to run, run away......!’
a monster with a vicious-looking appearance
was fleeing in panic.
‘It ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) was better when Black Claw was king......!’
A Demon Realm where territory was divided by the power monsters possessed.
Even within that Demon Realm, there were monsters that held the greatest power.
One who led a whole family and roamed freely through the Inhuman Demon Realm and Monsterland.
[White Mane]
A mighty fiend that dominated the wide sky of the Inhuman Demon Realm alone.
[Torn Wing]
A wise yet cruel monster that claimed as its territory the great river crossing the Inhuman Demon Realm and all the streams connected to it.
[Light Scale]
And lastly.
There was a fiend equal to those monsters in strength, but rooted deep in the Inhuman Demon Realm.
The king of the dark forest.
[Black Claw]
The vast forest where the Inhuman Demon Realm had formed.
Even deeper within that forest.......
the one that made its territory near that ‘Black Wall’ was Black Claw.
Black Claw and its pack were the strongest and most vicious among the ground monsters.
The culprit that made even the monsters settled near its territory unable to sleep in peace.
The forest fiends trembled in fear,
but they hunted within their own territories, avoiding the periods when Black Claw was hungry......
and yet—
‘Those bastards! After they came, it turned into hell!’
recently,
the Demon Realm’s ecosystem was changing drastically.
The reason was simple.
Not long ago.
‘That mighty fiend, Black Claw...... to think it ended up like that.’
There were those who pushed Black Claw aside
and began to reign as the forest’s new rulers.
They were overwhelmingly powerful and aggressive.
At some point they appeared out of nowhere, and in an instant, they swelled their forces,
and soon, even the old strong ones who had ruled the Inhuman Demon Realm
avoided fighting them when they met.
......If that was all,
you might have brushed it off, thinking a new ruler had appeared in this forest.
But there was another reason the Inhuman Demon Realm’s monsters feared the new rulers.
When you were caught by Black Claw, you were simply hunted and eaten, and that was the end of it.
-If I’m going to die, I’d rather die than end up like that......!
The moment you were hunted by that newly established force,
the price you paid......
didn’t end with death.
That instant.
-Saying “like that” is too harsh.
-......!
The monster that had been running.
From behind it, the voice of its own kind was heard.
-Well...... it’s only natural that an inferior species has inferior eyes.
SHHHHKKK.......
-Once you become a brother too, your thoughts will change, at least a little.
Red magic power flickered,
and wrapped around its back in an embrace.
