Chapter 203: Chapter 203
After the battle, Suho traveled with Ryo Singh as he sent Gordon to pick up Jackson's truck that had been ruined in a horrific manner. The 'stupid but usable livestock,' –or so Greed called him– Gordon followed Suho, carrying a truck full of Korean-made weapons and moving his lower body in the shape of a sea serpent. Other Nagas continued to haunt their path, but they were no match for the Shadow Naga, as well as the daily mercenaries that had just swooped in.
As he continued to travel through Loktak Field, Suho was given an explanation of this place by Ryo Singh.
"...What?" Suho's expression hardened. He blindly used the shadow exchange skill to cross over to India, but when he finished listening to the explanation, he realized that the situation in this country was much more serious than he thought.
In short, the root of the problem was due to the geopolitical nature of Manipur where the Loktak field originated. The state of Manipur is located in the northeastern part of India. The land was located halfway between the borders of Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, and many other countries. Because of this geopolitical nature, there have been many serious conflicts in this land throughout history. The reasons for the conflict varied from political, religious, to tribal civil wars.
"...But the problem now is that there are a lot of dungeon breaks happening around this place at the same time, so the Field Dungeon has become too wide."
"Could it be that the scope of the field has crossed the border?"
"That's right. I can't believe you understood this right away! Well you are Suho after all."
"It's a similar situation in Korea. North Korea is always a problem for our country."
Despite Ryo Singh's admiring reaction, Suho only had a bitter expression on his face. If left unattended, the Field Dungeon has the characteristic of gradually spreading the Blue Mist and expanding the area. Of course, most of the time, if you manage it well, it won't spread beyond a certain range, but when multiple dungeons are stacked in one area like this, it's a completely different story.
North Korea is a representative place of this. North Korea was a land that had been turned into a giant monster field at the same time as the cataclysm. If left unchecked, the field will grow exponentially, eventually crossing the border of China, which is directly above it. North Korea's henchmen will invade China. If that happens, the situation will inevitably turn into a political issue with China.
"That's right. After all, if our country fails to get rid of the magic beast in time and causes damage to the neighboring country, the problem will become far more serious. Compensation for damages is there, but the bigger problem is ...."
"If a foreign Hunter Guild crosses the border to capture them, there's nothing they can do to stop them."
"Exactly."
"There may be a war." At Suho's words, Ryo Singh and Jackson nodded with serious expressions.
A hunters' guild, with its many awakened members, was no different from an army. On the contrary, in terms of combat power, they were far more powerful and dangerous than soldiers. '...It's already a war in itself. As soon as you break into the National Assembly and make a mess of it, the country is effectively conquered.'
In order to prevent such a situation, Woo Jin-Chul, the president of the association, was making all-out efforts to purify North Korea even at this moment.
"Wait." At that moment, Suho, who was having a conversation with Ryo Singh, suddenly thought of the biggest problem at hand and looked around.
Loktak Lake is a famous tourist attraction in India. The scenery here was really beautiful. However, considering the identity of the 'Blue Mist' that naturally blends into this beautiful landscape, he couldn't help but get goosebumps. If the Blue Mist was inhaled by ordinary people who were not awakened, their entire bodies would burn and they would turn into Mist Burns and go berserk.
"Ryo, how many people live in this place?"
"Three million."
"Oh no."
Suho's expression became even more serious at the answer that immediately popped out. "Could it be that all those three million people have awakened, and that all of them have turned into Mist Burns?"
"They haven't. In fact, that was the first thing I was worried about, but luckily that didn't seem to be the case."
In response, Ryo Singh picked up the 'Badge of the Asura Guild' he wore around his neck and showed it to Suho.
"It's a Stardust Necklace, isn't it?" Suho's eyes widened. No, the piece was much larger than the Stardust Necklace, and a little smaller than the Star Piece embedded in Greed and Sung Il-Hwan's body. If I had to name it, it would be a star-carved necklace. Suho immediately snatched Ryo Singh's Stardust Necklace and asked. "Where did you get this?"
"It's an employee ID that proves that you belong to our Asura Guild. I started using it recently, but when I looked it up, I found out that there is a reason why this necklace came to symbolize our guild. Look at this."
Snap.
Ryo Singh pulled out a new necklace from his bosom and showed it to Suho. This time, the small size of the jewel was similar to the "Stardust Necklace" that was distributed in Korea.
"The name of this necklace is 'Stardust'. It's something that our guild is distributing to Indians for free."
"A Stardust Necklace? Why?"
"If a member of the public owns this necklace, it will not turn into a Mist Burn when they inhale the Blue Mist."
"!!!"
* * *
The Asura Guild was one of the most famous guilds in India, and it was always committed to the protection of its citizens. Its leader, Siddharth Bachchan, was also an S rank hunter who had such a positive influence among the Indians.
The 'Stardust Necklace' was the same thing that Siddharth Bachchan was said to have developed for the common people of India. When a dungeon break went off in an area, not everyone could leave the land so suddenly. The poor common people, in particular, had nowhere to go, having lived there for a long time. But that didn't stop the problems. If you stay in the land of the Blue Mist for too long, you will eventually become a Mist Burn and burn to death. Just then, Stardust started to be developed at that time.
"...Real people live here." A while later, the Suho and their group found small villages scattered throughout Loktak Field. As Ryo Singh said, he saw a lot of ordinary people still living there. His face was stunned as he saw all of them wearing Stardust Necklaces.
[My lord, it seems that the influence of the Foreign Religion in this country is much faster]
[By the looks of it, the Foreign Religion might become India's state religion.]
Greed and Iron, former high priests and priest of the Foreign Religion, showed their small faces on either side of Suho and added:
[If you wear a Stardust Necklace for a long time, you will instinctively develop a devotion to the Itarim.]
[Of course, it is not a faith in the true religious sense, but more of a phenomenon in which the mind is contaminated by the power of a higher being.]
[The capabilities of the Indian priests are quite admiravle! To be able to distribute it like this to the whole nation unlike the Korean priests.]
"How is this admirable? Both of you, thrown your heads to the ground."
[Yes.]
[Ah but I didn't say anything– Yes lord.]
At Suho's words, Greed and Iron fell to the ground front-faced.
What was curious was that the villagers didn't react to the sight of these Shadow Soldiers. It's normal to react with surprise or a whisper here and there, but it was quite bizarre to see everyone doing their job with no expression. Even though there had been an invasion of the village at some point, and the corpses of the dead were strewn everywhere, no one cared about it.
"Suho, all the people in our office looked like that. Could this be a side effect of all the Stardust that was put in the open?"
"I think so." When Ryo Singh heard about the Stardust Necklace incident in Korea, he had a bad look on his face. It was horrifying to think that this could spread to the whole of India. Looking around the village, Suho decided to find the one who caused this incident without hesitation.
"Ryo, let's start by finding where your Guildmaster, Siddharth Bachchan, is. If he is an Apostle of the Itarim, then feeding him the Spring Water of the Echo Forest might make things easier than you think."
"Okay. But how will you find him? No one in the guild office was able to track his exact whereabouts."
"Hmm, then I'll have to ask for an expert." Without hesitation, Suho turned his head and called the experts. "Greed. Iron."
[Yep!]
[Did you call!]
"Can you find the location of the Void Gate?"
Greed and Iron scrambled to explain.
[Oh Lord Suho is quite wise in his judgment.]
[The Temple of the Foreign Religion is bound to be built near the gap between the dimensions, so...]
"Get to the point."
[Void gates are caused by fields from normal gates stacking on top of each other.]
[Draw a circle around the gates, and somewhere at the intersection there will be a void gate.]
"Can you find it?" Suho's question made Greed and Iron smile confidently and their eyes flashed.
[Leave it to me!]
[If we disperse with the soldiers, we'll be able to find them in no time.]
[Master! Give me a chance!]
?
[Huh?]
The corners of Greed's mouth twitched at the sight of the shadow spear knight's desire to win when he suddenly appeared. "It doesn't matter, so let's go."
Woosh!
At the command of the guardian, the Shadow Soldiers scattered as if they were competing. The only soldier left by Suho's side was Gordon, the shadow who followed him with a truck.
"Okay, so we're going to go to the next town on our own–"
Bang!
"!!!"
"!!!"
Suho and Ryo Singh's expressions changed suddenly as their eyes turned in the same direction.
Boom!
It's a battle!
A series of violent explosions erupted in the direction where Greed had gone, shaking the ground as if it had been an earthquake. Considering that this was a field full of magic beasts, it was quite possible, but the energy he felt was too unusual to dismiss it as such. Beru twitched his antennae as he gauged the energy of the enemy Greed was facing.
[It must be at least S rank!]
"Beep?" If even Ragnar reacted, then it was obvious.
"Were-dragons!"
Bang!
Immediately, Suho kicked the ground and sprang forward. 'If it's S rank, could it be Siddharth Bachchan? But then why would he be with the were-dragons?' As he ran, Suho's mind flashed through the number of cases. However, when we arrived at the scene of the battle, he found that the situation was a little different from what we had expected.
Flash!!
Boom!
By the time Suho arrived, there had already been a clash of forces that had turned the entire earth upside down. At the same time, there were screams from all sides. At the center of that immense clash of forces was Greed, who was battling a man. 'A Three-way battle?'
Pow Pow!! Pow Pow Pow!!
What was most surprising was the identity of the opponent who faced the power of the former S rank villain Greed head-on and never backed down. No, it was better to say that it was overwhelming Greed.
"...Interesting."
He was an old man with white hair and an enormous energy radiating from his entire body. There was a sinister smile on his lips as he clashed with Greed. It's as if he's having a lot of fun with this battle. But the language that came out of his mouth was not Indian.
"I can't believe a magic beast can have this much power."
Chinese.
Apart from the language, he was a completely different person from Siddhart Bachchan, who had also been a National Level Hunter in his previous life.
Remembering his face in a long memory, Beru shouted his name.
[Liu Zhigang!]
Liu Zhigang from China. A man who had once been hailed as the greatest power of mankind alongside Thomas Andre.
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