Chapter 494. The Last Expedition

The sky which had been clear until noon suddenly turned red as if it was burning in a fire spit out by the furious sky. The deep twilight cast the city in a bright, burning red. At this time, Eval Sevaru received an urgent report from the official residence. He hurriedly rushed out; he had tried to contact Chi-Woo after hearing the news, but Chi-Woo didn’t respond. Usually, he would have waited until Chi-Woo answered, but he couldn’t do that this time because of the urgency and importance of this matter. Fortunately, he was able to quickly find Chi-Woo.

“Boss!” Eval Sevaru ran out of the main building and paused for a moment. Ru Amuh, Emmanuel, Yunael, Apoline, Teresa, and Flora. Except for one, all the heroes who served as team leaders were gathered in one place. And excluding Flora, who was standing awkwardly and at a loss what to do, everyone was on one knee looking at one person while panting hard. At the center of them was the lone figure of Chi-Woo. Eval Sevaru became speechless after looking around. It looked as if a bomb had gone off. From a glance, it seemed that Chi-Woo had fought the other six, but judging by how he was standing there without any signs of damage…

“What’s going on?”

Eval Sevaru came to his senses at Chi-Woo’s question. “It’s urgent news, sir,” he immediately said. “It’s a message from the official residence. A call-out order has been placed on Shalyh. We must go as soon as possible no matter what justifications we have. No delay permitted. And—”

Eval Sevaru gulped and continued, “We’re called to the official residence.”

“The official residence?”

“Yes, it said the official residence.”

Chi-Woo furrowed his brow because it has been a long time since they gathered together at the official residence. After the Shalyh general assembly, Chi-Woo’s status became almost equal to Chi-Hyun’s. Moreover, in consideration of Chi-Woo, Chi-Hyun had changed the meeting place from the official residence to Apertum to show his respect for Seven Stars. Of course, Chi-Hyun made the concessions of his own volition, and the two brothers did not really fight over authority and power. However, the seemingly trivial location change had great implications; this was especially true considering that Chi-Hyun had shown his respect for Chi-Woo since the general meeting. Chi-Hyun, who was known for being extremely thorough, made a small mistake like this?

In the past, Chi-Woo would have been suspicious that Chi-Hyun had some kind of political purpose in mind, but…Chi-Woo knew better than anyone else that there was no need for a battle of nerves between them when they were one step away from their goal.

‘Then that means Chi-Hyun made a mistake.’ A trivial mistake was still a mistake, and it was made by someone who never ever had the slightest slip-up. In other words, something must have occurred that went completely beyond Chi-Hyun’s expectations and shook him. In that case, there was no room to dilly dally as Eval Sevaru said.

“Ru Amuh,” Chi-Woo immediately moved and said, “We’re going to the official residence.”

“Yes, sir.” Ru Amuh rose hastily from his seat and followed Chi-Woo.

* * *

Most of the people who had been called were already at the official residence. Chi-Woo saw Alice and several Cassiubia League members. He shared a short, nonverbal greeting with Alice and sat next to her. When he looked ahead, he saw Chi-Hyun leaning against the podium. He was looking down and tapping on the podium with his index finger; since he looked deep in thought, nobody carelessly started a conversation with him. When everyone Chi-Hyun had called arrived after some time, Chi-Hyun finally looked up. Then he put down an object in his hands so that everyone could see it. Wordlessly, he injected mana into it. Soon after…

—…Chi-Hyun.

The Last Dragon appeared on the surface of the object as if a recorded video was being played.

—Listen to me carefully from now on.

They heard a subdued voice amid the loud screams in the background. Everyone’s eyes were focused on the transparent crystal ball on the podium. Soon, the Last Dragon visible in the crystal ball opened her mouth.

—To tell you the outcome first, our army has suffered a near-annihilation. Although there are remaining troops, I can’t guarantee how many of them will come back alive.

Everyone's breath hitched. Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t wanted to believe it, but this was not an emergency call for help, but a notice of their impending doom.

—You’ve recently told me that the Sernitas were suspicious and asked me to scout them without overdoing myself.

The Last Dragon spoke concisely, focusing on explaining the situation at hand.

—So I went on a reconnaissance and found something.

She also spoke very fast.

—I…don’t know how to exactly describe it.

She slightly frowned.

—It was big enough to swallow up most regular cities, and…should I call it a nest or a basket? In a way, it also looked like a gigantic cocoon. But what’s important was that its surface swelled up and down like a living, breathing creature.

Chi-Woo pictured it in his head. He would only be certain after seeing it in person, but that didn’t seem to fit with anything he’d seen of the Sernitas. In that case, there was a high possibility that the Sernitas had evolved into a new being—like the king candidates of the Hala Forest. Of course, the gravity of the two evolutions was not equal. If the king candidates were babies who couldn’t even walk, the Sernitas was a higher-level creature that had gone through numerous evolutions.

If they had evolved into a greater existence once again with an already advanced starting point, this was not a matter to be taken lightly. He didn’t know what exactly this new being was, but it was likely to have used the Heaven’s Vessel as its cornerstone, which the Abyss King had acquired from Flora. Chi-Woo decided to concentrate on the Last Dragon’s following words for now.

—It was just rising from the ground when I first caught sight of it. At first, I thought something was going to come out of it, but that wasn’t the case. It began to move in its entirety toward us…!

The Last Dragon glanced back while speaking.

—Just to be clear, I never let my guard down. I was just going to inflict some damage on it to assess its strength. As you said, I wasn’t going to overdo it.

They had no idea what the Last Dragon was looking at, but her eyes began to shake slightly.

—…As soon as I hit it, I realized this was something I—no, we couldn’t handle on our own.

The Last Dragon continued.

—I immediately ordered the entire army to retreat and told them to scatter as much as possible while running away, but even then…

They had suffered near-annihilation. Led by the Last Dragon, the main force of the Cassiubia League was defeated without even a proper fight.

—The situation is already over. It ended in our defeat.

The faces of the League members looked blank; they all looked like they couldn’t believe it. However, they eventually dropped their heads due to the repeated confirmations from the Last Dragon.

—So don’t even think about coming to our rescue by sending a small elite team or coming on your own. Nothing much will change. Of course, I’m not doubting your strength. I’m well aware who you are and how strong you are. But even if you were here and fought alongside me…I’m certain you wouldn’t have changed the result.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The heroes responded the same way as the League members, and Chi-Woo also doubted his ears. Like the Last Dragon, Chi-Woo knew how strong Chi-Hyun was. Not long ago, he had reached Challenger tier and attacked Chi-Hyun with his true strength, but couldn’t hold out against him. However, the Last Dragon said that not even she and Chi-Hyun together would be able to fight whatever the Sernitas had become. Chi-Woo wondered how much he could take her words for it.

—The worst enemy that we have imagined seems to have manifested into reality…

The Last Dragon gnawed on her lip and suddenly stopped flying with a resolute expression.

—We need to gather all our remaining strength. We especially need your brother’s strength. Yeah, if it’s him…perhaps…

It was then the Last Dragon suddenly widened her eyes to the fullest, and at the same time, a tremendous explosion erupted in the moving picture protected on the crystal ball. In an instant, chaos covered the already opaque screen, accompanied by frantic noises. Then followed a desperate scream, an unidentified explosion, and the sound of fire shooting out. Various noises clashed for a while, and then—

The crystal ball dimmed. The replay was over, and the official residence became dead silent. The thunderstorm had come out of the blue. After the fall of the Abyss, they had expected the war to progress in their favor with them launching a joint attack, but the expectation was overturned in an instant. No one had foreseen that the League would collapse so easily. No matter how badly they did, they all thought the main force would be able to hold out until Shalyh’s expeditionary force arrived. Or they had thought that the League’s forces could withdraw with moderate losses and join them.

The silence was soon broken. One member stood up, dragging the chair roughly. “I can’t believe it.” It was Mangil from the buhguhbu tribe. “Does…that mean the entire main force in the Cassiubia League has been killed?” His gaze was desperate as he looked around as if he wanted someone, anyone to tell him that they were fine, that there was no way it could be true. Of course, no one opened their mouth and spoke as he wished. The information came directly from none other than the Last Dragon, and Chi-Hyun must have shown them the recorded video knowing how the remaining League members would react. Thus, they couldn’t deny it even if they wanted to.

“T-There’s no time for us to dawdle like this!” Mangil seemed unable to accept reality just yet. “Didn’t you just receive that call? That means they’re still fighting! We must send reinforcements as soon as possible! Before they are truly wiped out!” He shouted while reaching out to cling to the hem of Chi-Hyun’s shirt.

Of course, Chi-Hyun didn’t budge even an inch. The Last Dragon had spoken to him clearly that they had almost been annihilated, and she couldn’t even guarantee that those remaining would come back alive.

When Chi-Hyun didn’t move in the slightest, Mangil turned to Chi-Woo. “Y-Yeah! If it’s you, this time again…!” Only then did a few people try to stop Mangil, who was floundering his arms, but he didn’t listen to them. In the end, Chi-Woo had to step up and console him so that he would calm down for now, but Mangil still couldn’t suppress his agitation. The news that the Cassiubia main force, including the Last Dragon, had been annihilated at once was shocking beyond belief to him.

“It’s certainly strange,” Alice said once the tension in the room subsided somewhat. “The Last Dragon spoke of only one enemy, and she didn’t deliver any other news.” As she said, the Last Dragon only emphasized the existence of one mysterious being. Something that could be a nest, a basket, or a cocoon—as if that was the only enemy she discovered.

“Compared to that, the League’s expeditionary force consisted of many members. If they were really determined to retreat, the enemy couldn’t have possibly annihilated all of them.” It was already foreseen that the League would not be able to hold out against the Sernitas, but the process of their annihilation was hard to understand. They had all thought that the League’s forces would be able to hold out at least a few days, but it was destroyed in an instant by one single entity. Moreover, the League members had scattered in all directions and fled, yet their enemy had still managed to catch them all? It defied common sense.

Several people nodded in agreement, but Chi-Hyun shook his head. “Sernitas is one but many, and many but one.”

“I know that, but—”

“Although your words are extremely sensible from a common-sense point of view, our enemy goes beyond common sense. They cannot be judged based on pre-established concepts and ideas.”

“…”

“From the very moment that nest-like being rose from the ground, it could be said that the League’s expeditionary force was already in a position where they could not escape,” Chi-Hyun continued. “Before that, the Sernitas must have finished basic preparations for their plan considering that they resumed external activities.” As Chi-Hyun said, this was the most important part that the League and humanity should pay attention to at the present—the fact that the Sernitas, who had been quiet as a mouse for a while, suddenly got ready and came out to the field.

“Then…then our League…” Mangil said, shaking like an aspen tree.

Chi-Hyun sighed quietly. He recalled the last scene that appeared in the crystal ball before its light went off. Although it was only for a brief moment, the Last Dragon, who suddenly widened her eyes to the fullest, had the look of someone who was prepared for death. Even if they went running with all they had, it was doubtful that they would manage to save anyone. In any case, if what she said was true, Shalyh would be their only surviving force. It would have been nice to get more detailed information, but the Last Dragon was clearly in no place to do so considering what they had seen.

Since then, they tried to communicate several more times, but not even the slightest signal went through. In the end, the rest had no choice but to face the enemy directly. They had no idea what kind of powers the Sernitas had secured that they could make a comeback with so much confidence.

“…It can’t be helped.” Chi-Hyun made a decision. “It’s unfortunate, but…” He turned around to the crowd and continued, “Everyone, get ready to leave as soon as tomorrow's dawn comes.”

Gulp, the sound of someone nervously gulping could be heard. Chi-Hyun made the declaration of war. Although it was sudden, he declared that they would face the Sernitas head-on since the situation had already turned out like this. “Finish preparations to go to war by the end of the day. That’s all.” The meeting ended with this final remark.