Chapter 339: Star, Den of the Evil Dragon (3)

“How would you like to be my subject?”

Woo Yeong-Geun started having nightmares after encountering the mysterious ancient king. Even now, as he moved in a wheelchair, it still haunted him.

‘Shit… Why won’t this dream end?’ he wondered.

Yeong-Geun thought Richardus was despair itself. Seemingly capable of crushing everything in this world, Richardus overwhelmed him so much that he couldn’t even think about fighting back.

As a matter of fact, Yeong-Geun couldn’t even remember how he survived. Although he did almost accept Richardus’ offer, he managed to pull himself together and turn it down. When he did, Richardus muttered that he didn’t have any choice and reached out to him.

As if his memory was cut out, Yeong-Geun couldn’t remember what happened after that. Through his fragmented memories, he could only tell that many of his Clan members sacrificed themselves in an attempt to save him…

[The Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ asks you not to let the guilt weigh you down.]

[The Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ warns you not to let their deaths be in vain.]

‘I… know.’ Yeong-Geun nodded with a heavy heart. He bit his lower lip. ‘That’s why I dragged myself here.’

“Phew―!” He took a couple of deep breaths. Once he had calmed down, he turned back to look at Yang Hyo-Jin, his secretary. She had been helping him with the wheelchair. “Let’s go in.”

“… Yes, sir.” Hyo-Jin flinched, having noticed that Yeong-Geun’s eyes had grown cold.

Hyo-Jin had never seen this side of him since he had always had a gentle smile on his face. She lost her dear team members in the previous battle as well, though, so she understood how he felt.

Pulling herself together, she opened the door wide and helped Yeong-Geun in.

Creak―!

When they entered the room, numerous eyes turned to them. Each one was more akin to that of a beast’s than a human’s.

“…”

“…”

[The Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ smiles bitterly, saying that they look like hungry hyenas.]

The people in the conference room could mainly be divided into three categories. The Chinese and Japanese representatives, who had taken the left and right sides of the room respectively, sat as if they were just in their living room. Some even had their feet on the table. Recognizing Yeong-Geun, they began to talk among themselves.

Although Yeong-Geun could not understand their languages, they were obviously sneering at him. The idiotic Korean representative who was now in trouble for failing to contain the monster wave three times… That was probably who Yeong-Geun was to them.

Since the Council was investigating the White Tiger Clan, the Sword of Ohsung Clan represented Korea instead. As its Clan leader, Yeong-Geun naturally became the Korean Players’ leader as well. He just had a series of failures, though, so he already knew how the people in the room would evaluate him.

Perhaps that was why the morale of the Korean representatives sitting in the back was noticeably low. What could be more miserable than receiving help from other nations because they failed to protect their country? They were just rejoicing about a citizen of their country becoming the best ranker in the world fifteen days ago, too.

However, Yeong-Geun didn’t care about any of that at all. ‘The Yamamoto brothers are the Japanese representative leaders, huh.’

The Yamamoto Brothers was a duo group of biological brothers, which was rare in the world of Players. The eldest of the two was a ninja, taking his enemies’ lives from the shadows while the youngest was a samurai, fighting his enemies in the light. Excelling both in ambushes and head-on battles, they were rumored to be strong enough to defeat an Overlord if they worked together.

Yeong-Geun was familiar with many of the Japanese volunteer troops as well since they were all elite Players. The fact that they crossed the Korean Strait… evidenced Japan’s desire to eliminate the draconic army before it could reach them as well.

‘They’re also using this as an opportunity to strengthen their influence in Korea.’

A seat of power opened up in the world when the United States grew weak, and Japan likely wanted to take it for themselves. Their people were even beginning to think that they would soon return to the heyday that they had from the 1970s to 1980s.

With those thoughts lingering in his mind, Yeong-Geun met Masa Yamamoto, the handsome younger brother. Unlike Koshi Yamamoto, the older brother who was known to be quiet and stern, Masa bowed a little with a faint smile on his lips. Yeong-Geun wasn’t sure if that was a genuine act of respect, but Masa seemed to have a favorable impression of him because of his hard work.

Yeong-Geun bowed back to express his gratitude, then turned to observe the Chinese representatives. ‘As I expected, the Divine Bell Overlord is here.’

Jun Tao, who was more popular in Korea as the Divine Bell Overlord, didn’t even look at Yeong-Geun, seemingly saying that Yeong-Geun was too far below him to stand on equal grounds with him. Truth be told, Jun Tao’s international rank was a good justification for his arrogance.

Among the Ten Overlords, Jun Tao was considered to be one of the three strongest along with the Immortal and Blood Overlords. Now that those two had been killed, the title of the strongest Overlord naturally should have fallen on his lap, but Chang-Sun’s presence tragically prevented him from fulfilling his ambition.

Jun Tao likely refused to respect Korea for that reason. Due to his huge pride, which was known to the world, some people even speculated that the reason he visited Korea was to fight Chang-Sun for supremacy because he couldn’t acknowledge him as the strongest. One thing led to another, however, and now they were in a situation where they could actually have that fight.

‘It won’t be bad news for China either.’

In their own way, China hoped to show the pillar of their Belt and Road Initiative[1] to the world using the Triad as their front.

In essence, both China and Japan’s ulterior motive was to maximize their influence in Korea.

Yeong-Geun thought that the situation wasn’t that bad, though. ‘We can’t just refuse to let them help us with this catastrophe just because we’re worried about what kind of scheme they’ll start after this. We should focus on eliminating the Dragon Monarch for now and think about the rest afterward.’

[The Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ fervently agrees with her apostle candidate’s opinion.]

Yeong-Geun wasn’t really sure if Jun Tao and the Yamamoto Brothers even stood a chance against the Dragon Monarch, but if they didn’t, then they would find themselves in the worst possible scenario. Hence, he just tried to stop worrying about it altogether.

Creak!

Yeong-Geun pushed his wheelchair up to the platform.

* * *

“Since we don’t have much time, I’ll get straight to the point,” Yeong-Geun said after briefly introducing himself.

Beep!

Yeong-Geun pressed a button on his mini remote control. The projector then displayed an image of all sorts of low-ranking Dragon-type monsters roaming around a ruined farmland. A tall mountain loomed behind them.

“The Dragon Monarch and code name ‘Emperor’ stopped proceeding north and are currently assumed to be staying in this mountain.”

Jun Tao raised one of his eyebrows, not liking the name that the Council gave Richardus. They chose to use that name because they still didn’t know of his Divine Name and he was wearing clothes that resembled an emperor from ancient times.

One of the Japanese representatives raised his hand.

“Yes, go on.” Yeong-Geun nodded at the representative.

“I’m Jun Nakamura of Japan. You said they stopped proceeding north a moment ago. Were you able to figure out why?”

Yeong-Geun shook his head. “We don’t have a definite answer yet, but I did receive a report from our scouts that they seem to be waiting for something.”

‘Waiting for something?’

Jun Tao’s eyes narrowed, and Masa stroked his chin as if he found it intriguing.

“Hmm! That is strange. According to our intel, they seem to be trying to summon something… Oh my, our conclusions are too different. I’m not sure we can trust Korea’s intelligence capabilities.” Jun Nakamura said.

At that moment, the Korean representatives’ faces reddened. Some people scowled at Jun Nakamura in fury, but he just shrugged.

Nevertheless, Yeong-Geun remained nonchalant. “We can work on our differences of opinions later. Right now, we’re at least certain that they have stopped advancing. We should not miss this opportunity.”

The projector showed another image, this time that of the sky above the mountain where the Dragon Monarch and the others were staying. Wyverns ranging from three to ten meters tall filled the sky.

“As you can see, the main problem is that approaching the Dragon Monarch isn’t that easy. We can’t attack them from the ground or the air.”

Koshi raised his hand and then asked, “Do we have a solution?”

Yeong-Geun nodded. “All Korean Players have been ordered to mobilize. Once the operation starts, they will be deployed immediately.”

Jun Tao and the Yamamoto Brothers’ eyes gleamed. All Korean Players being sent in for the operation was a matter that they could never take lightly.

‘They prepared excruciatingly hard.’

‘Korea has already suffered considerable damage. if they sustain even more casualties…!”

‘I hope they co-destruct or something.’

Even if Korea managed to hold the frontline against the draconic troops, they would still likely sustain so much damage that they would no longer be able to call themselves the nation of the strongest Players. Moreover, since that didn’t mean that the Dungeons in the Korean Peninsula would just suddenly disappear, they would be forced to rely on their neighboring nations for security.

The Japanese and Chinese representatives both concluded that Korea was digging their own grave, but they didn’t really have any other choice.

“While the forces at the frontline distract the monsters, the three countries’ volunteer troops will be sent to different locations,” Yeong-Geun continued.

The projector now displayed an aerial map of the region with three arrows drawn on it, all pointing to the same area.

“These are our routes. Our goals are to break through the enemy’s defenses and reach and eliminate the Dragon Monarch as fast as we can. Please refer to the written plan we’ll hand out now for more details.”

Quickly scanning down the documents that had been handed out by the Korean personnel, the Players began to murmur among themselves. After some time, one of them raised their hand.

“Yes?” Yeong-Geun gestured at the Player.

“I’m Jiangbaize of China. Do we really have to divide our forces into three? The odds are already slim for us even if we try to break through our enemies as one unit.”

“The Players in this hall right now are the best in the world, so keeping our forces together would likely just limit our combat capabilities,” Yeong-Geun replied.

The Players looked at each other for a moment before finally agreeing. This army of volunteers was made in a rush. They hadn’t even had any joint training or established a proper command system yet, so they would all just get confused if they worked together.

‘If the troops are divided based on our nationalities…’

‘It’ll definitely be easier to tell which country made a higher accomplishment.’

‘Our country…’

‘No, our country…’

‘We’ll be able to show the world that our nation is the true leader of Asia.’

The Japanese and Chinese representatives smiled coldly, but Yeong-Geun still just watched them nonchalantly.

* * *

On a mountain just known as the mountain behind villages…

『… The flow has finally begun to change,』the Dragon Monarch muttered as they looked at the sky. The grimoire in their left hand vigorously shook, its pages flipping, as they activated [Flow Reading], their trademark Authority. It allowed them to read the flow of the law of causality around them.

『It seems the person you’ve been waiting for will arrive soon. Are you sure you should still be doing that?』The Dragon Monarch turned toward Richardus. Richardus stopped watching the flowers and slowly stood up with his hands behind his back.

“I can feel it too, so no need to rush me,” Richardus observed the sky with sharp eyes. He could feel something immense coming for him from the west. “The sun is bound to set west, which is where twilight will spread and fill the sky to distinguish day and night.”

『What are you talking about?』

“I mean it literally. This land will soon be covered in twilight. Friends will become enemies because of what’s coming from the west, putting an end to everything…”

The Dragon Monarch had no idea what Richardus was saying, but they at least knew that the almighty—the one who gave them a second chance—would soon run into his mortal nemesis.

Depending on the results of that encounter, the Dragon Monarch would either become a proper Celestial or fall just as how their plane went long ago.

As a resident of an plane, the Dragon Monarch had no soul and had an unstable Divine Class. To stabilize it, they chose to use the Faith of a civilization. Becoming the sole Celestial of this civilization named Earth would earn him the Faith of billions of people, which was enough to turn him into a proper Celestial.

‘… I won’t have to rely on this grimoire anymore!’ The Dragon Monarch’s reptilian eyes blazed with fervor and murderous intent.

After some time, the [Wards] that the Dragon Monarch had installed around the area activated, signaling that the Players had begun closing in on them again. The draconic troops that they ordered to remain on standby murmured among themselves.

Kieeeh! Kieeeeh!

When the Wyvern Lord asked for the Dragon Monarch’s next command, the Dragon Monarch turned to Richardus.

“Go. I’ll be here.”

Now granted permission, the Dragon Monarch talked to all their subordinates. Their robe fluttered in the wind.

『The time has come to reclaim our lost glory. Go, my children. Show them your bravery. Devour this planet and turn it into our new home.』

Rumble…!

[The Boss Monster ‘Dragon Monarch’ has begun to make a move!]

[The monster wave has intensified.]

After watching the draconic troops for a moment, Richardus looked at the western sky again. His hands were still behind his back.

“Come, Twilight. There are so many things I want to talk to you about.”

As if to respond to his muttering, a message popped up before Richardus.

[The Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ watches you!]

1. This is the Chinese government’s global infrastructure development strategy that started in 2013 to invest in countries and international organizations. This project is mainly about developing an overland Silk Road connecting Central Asia and Europe and a marine Silk Road that connects Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa. However, there is an interpretation that China started the project to minimize the Western countries’ influence. ☜