255 - 259

Chapter 255: Chapter 255

Side Story 12

6. Decision

'That' suddenly appeared without any warning.

On a certain day in April, only a stone's throw away from May's doorstep, an American emergency call centre was blessed with a strange phone call.

– "Hello. I'm a tourist currently travelling through the desert."

It was not uncommon to hear about tourists getting lost. Since that was the case, the call centre operator figured that this call was from yet another poor stranded soul searching for a way out from the middle of the vast desert.

"Did you run into an accident, sir?"

– "No, it's not actually that."

"In that case, did something else happen to you, sir?"

– "No, no. I'm not calling you because I ran into a problem, but I'm calling to report something that I'm seeing right now."

The call centre agent got ready to connect the call to the emergency dispatch service while replying in a calm voice to make sure that the caller wouldn't start panicking over the phone.

"Is it something urgent? Should I dispatch the emergency personnel to your location?"

– "Urgent… is it? Honestly, I also don't know how to explain the current situation to you."

The caller's voice indicated that he was feeling really hesitant over something here, so just in case, the agent decided to confirm the caller's identity first.

As it turned out, the caller was actually a college professor, and judging from his family circumstances, or the past records of lodging emergency calls, he didn't seem to be the sort to make prank calls for fun.

"Sir, you need to describe the situation so we can dispatch the right kind of response personnel to the scene."

– "…"

"Can you explain to me in detail what you see?"

It was at that point that the agent heard the caller take deep breaths over the phone's speaker.

– "Something is about to shatter. There are lots of cracks."

There was a building in a desert about to topple over? The agent tilted his head this way and that before asking again.

"Where are these cracks exactly, sir?"

– "Well, that's the darnedest thing…."

The voice of the caller hesitated for a long time again as if he still couldn't believe what he saw, but eventually it did come out of the phone.

– "The sky… the sky is breaking up!"

***

April.

This was the time when pretty much all students would find themselves with barely any free time, but for Jin-Woo facing mid-term exams and the track competition literally around the corner, it proved to be a great deal more hectic than usual.

As he was studying deep into the night, his little sister, Jin-Ah, entered his room while carrying a tray of sliced Korean melon.

"Oppa, Mom says you should eat these while studying."

Jin-Woo was concentrating on the textbooks below the desk lamp's light, and raised his head to greet her.

"What about Dad?"

"Dad is on night shift duty from this week again."

Jin-Woo received the plate with melon slices neatly arranged on top and nodded his head. But then, he reached out to snatch his sister's ponytail just as she was about to sneak out of his room.

"Stop right there."

"Heok!"

Jin-Ah turned around to face him with wide-open eyes and he sternly asked her.

"Why are all these slices missing the soft middle sections?"

"I, uh, I don't know…."

"You should say that while getting rid of those pips stuck near your lips."

"Ahh-iinng…"

Jin-Ah formed an unhappy expression at the fact that she got busted, but he found her way too adorable when she acted like this and couldn't hold back his own laughter.

He used his thumb to remove the pips from the ends of his sister's lips and out of pure mischievousness, formed another stern expression.

"If you eat only the softer part of the melon again, I'm gonna make you eat nothing but the hard part for a whole day as punishment, okay?"

"Hiii-eeeng….. Okay."

Jin-Ah turned around to leave with a tearful expression and he lightly patted her on the head.

Currently, she was in her sixth year in elementary school. Jin-Woo had seen her grow up once before already, and pretty much anything she did came across as adorable to him.

Crunch.

He began chewing on the sliced melon piece and focused his concentration back on the questionnaire on the desk. When he did, though, Igrit began to offer his counsel once more, as he was still worried about his liege's academic success.

[My liege, the 24th question should not be tackled in this manner, but…]

'I'm going to check the answer sheet, then?'

[….Allow me to ponder this query for a little while longer, my liege.]

'....'

It was rather commendable that he was so concerned about his master, but this….

'Oh, well. At least, I'm not bored during studying, so there's that….'

Crunch.

As the number of questions remaining on the questionnaire decreased, so did the number of sliced melon pieces on the plate.

Tick, tock….

And so, just how long had it been?

Abruptly, Jin-Woo sensed this chill and raised his head.

'What was that? Where?'

He shot up from his chair and shifted his head in the direction of where he detected that strange phenomenon. He closed his eyes and focused his perception.

….He definitely hadn't made a mistake just then. Right away, he imagined the worst possible scenario and his expression hardened as a result.

'Where is that business card….?'

He quickly dug through the pockets of his school uniform and pulled out a certain business card. It was none other than the one left behind by the envoy of the Rulers.

Jin-Woo quickly dialled the number and tapped on the 'Call' icon on his smartphone. The call itself got through really quickly.

– "It has been a while, Shadow Sovereign-nim."

The envoy tried to greet him with a warm, welcoming voice, but Jin-Woo simply spoke up certain coordinates without any hints of emotion. And then, he added one more thing at the end.

"Is this your people's doing?"

The envoy was stunned by his serious attitude and replied quickly.

– "I don't understand what…. Hold on. Allow me to confirm."

"…"

The brief silence was soon shattered by the panicky voice from the other side of the line.

– "This, this is definitely not us. We are also finding out about this matter through your call, Sovereign-nim. I'm sure you already know, but this method of crossing dimensions is different from ours."

As expected – it wasn't the absolute worst possibility, much to his relief. Still, it didn't mean that the situation itself had become any better, though.

'To Earth…. Someone, or something, is coming.'

Whether they held good or bad intentions, there was no way to tell for the time being. So, he should start preparing for either case right away.

Jin-Woo fell into deep thought as he stood there, still holding the phone, before he spoke to the envoy.

"Can you come and see me?"

He added that there was also something else he'd like to talk about and that prompted the envoy to reply as if it had been waiting for that all this time.

– "I shall come and speak to you tomorrow."

***

The meeting place was the cafe where Jin-Woo met Yu Jin-Ho for the first time outside the dungeon. He got there just in time and found the envoy already waiting for him by the corner of the cafe, having arrived a while ago.

After entering, Jin-Woo wordlessly settled down on the opposite side of the Ruler's proxy. The latter only discovered the former's presence after he appeared right in front of its eyes. The envoy performed a polite bow of the head.

With the situation being what it was, Jin-Woo went straight to the meat of the discussion.

"The things trying to get here…. Do you have any clues on who they are?"

"They are the 'Outsiders' that tried to step into my world not too long ago. They were beaten back by the Army of the Heavens and it seems that they have now set their sights on this world, instead."

"Why are they trying to come here?"

"They are a race of giants that consumes the rocks found on a planet that can support lifeforms. They are referred to as a race of 'Titans' and are known for their evil nature even back in their own world. Their reason for coming to Earth should be rather obvious at this point."

Jin-Woo leaned against the chair's back and nodded his head.

"….So, they are not friends."

"Yes, they are most certainly not."

Now that he knew what their purpose was, the nature of his response had been decided, as well. However, there was something he still felt curious about.

"This didn't happen before the Chalice of Rebirth was used, so what gives?"

Jin-Woo could only remember the Gates and monsters, but nothing about the attack of an alien race capable of 'eating' a planet. The envoy hesitated slightly with his answer before willingly admitting to it.

"Yes, you're indeed correct. Actually, when I told you about them invading our world not too long ago, I was referring to the timeline that has been overwritten."

"Meaning, the creatures that should have been aiming for your world changed their heading towards Earth, instead?"

"Yes."

The envoy replied as thus, carefully observing any changes in Jin-Woo's mood. Of course, he immediately figured out the reason for this change.

"I'm the cause."

"Those creatures chased after the traces of Sovereign-nim, who possesses incredible power…. At least, that's what the exalted Rulers believe happened in this event."

Just like how one would rely on the light from the lighthouse illuminating the lone pathway to navigate the treacherous nighttime waters when you couldn't see an inch in front of your nose, the race of 'Titans' had been led towards this small planet by the enormous power being emitted by the Shadow Sovereign.

The potential influence Jin-Woo's powers would have on this world, the one that shouldn't exist and shouldn't remain – the part the Rulers were worried about had finally become reality.

Still, the Rulers felt that they owed Jin-Woo big time and thus, they weren't planning to sit back and watch another crisis unfold on Earth. The agent made sure to drive this point home.

"The exalted Rulers have already deployed the Army of the Heavens."

Jin-Woo slowly shook his head.

"No, it'll be too late."

Even if they started creating a tunnel connecting from that side to here right now, at a bare minimum they would still need a good few years to get here. By then, everything would be over.

In that case….

"I shall take care of it."

'….My soldiers and I will stop those b*stards.'

Jin-Woo was fully confident of defeating these new enemies if they were on the level of being driven back by the Army of the Heavens.

The voice of the Shadow Sovereign seemed to heavily press down on the envoy's shoulders and he nervously swallowed his dry saliva. Regardless which forces they were, none of them would prefer to have this man as their enemy. The Ruler's agent suddenly felt pity for this race of 'Titans' now.

By the way, if this meeting wasn't to ask for reinforcements, then why were they even here?

Jin-Woo replied as if he had seen through the agent's thoughts.

"What you asked me back then…. I thought it's about time that I tell you my answer."

"Ah, ah. I see. You were talking about that matter."

The Rulers made an offer to make available a location that the enormous power of the Shadow Sovereign wouldn't cause an issue. It seemed that he was able to come to a decision due to this crisis. The envoy nodded his head after seeing Jin-Woo's determination-filled expression.

"I understand what you're trying to say. As soon as this crisis is resolved, we…."

"I'm remaining on Earth."

"….Pardon?"

The envoy's brows rose up after hearing that unexpected reply. However, Jin-Woo's voice remained composed, with just a hint of a grin etched on his lips.

"You know, I still want to live here."

He wanted to spend his time in this world populated by his family, friends, as well as others that he'd like to meet and talk to. After he ran into Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, no, Detective Woo now, he had finally realised what he wanted to do.

'Well, it's a bit cumbersome that he keeps calling me up so he can buy me food, but still.'

In any case, Woo Jin-Cheol was a good man. And that was precisely why that young detective being dragged around by him could carry a happy expression like that.

'I'd like to be with those people.'

Jin-Woo thought that he'd like to be by their sides and be able to laugh along with them. The envoy spied on Jin-Woo's smile and replied with a sheepish smile of his own.

"Actually, I…. I was getting really bored with staying in this world, you see. What a relief this is. Now I can finally return to my world as well."

One year since that day. If one said it was short, then it was, but if one said it was too long, then it could be, as well.

The envoy's mission of remaining in this world to wait for the Shadow Sovereign's decision had finally come to an end. And seeing his expression, it was rather clear that the odds of him changing his mind were absolutely none.

"Well, then…."

While looking as if a load had been taken off his shoulders, the envoy stood up from his seat. He then bowed his waist towards Jin-Woo, no, the greatest hero who brought the war of two worlds to an end.

"I entrust this world to your capable hands."

***

Jin-Woo stopped digging through his closet and scratched his head.

'This isn't good….'

He couldn't see a single piece of garment that could hide his face. But then again, he bought a hoodie and a baseball cap to hide his face riddled with scars he earned while working as a low ranked Hunter, so it was only obvious that they wouldn't remain anymore in the new timeline.

Left with no choice, Jin-Woo decided to create the clothing he wanted.

The black smoke quickly enveloped him and became thick like actual liquid, before transforming into a hoodie that he used to wear so much in the past. He pulled the hood up and stood before the mirror in his room.

'How long has it been, me in this look…..?'

He experienced renewed reminiscence of the time erased, as the reflection was like looking at his past self. His lips exposed below the hoodie curled up into a grin.

"Nice."

With this, his preparation was over. And his figure slowly submerged into the shadow beneath his feet.

***

Somewhere in the desert, west of the United States of America.

The American government sealed tight the surrounding area and invited every expert they could get their hands on to this place, but in the end, every single one of them failed to come up with a meaningful hypothesis.

"I wonder. Well, this could be…."

"I've researched many strange weather phenomena across the globe for over 30 years, but this is my first time seeing something like that."

From the get-go, how could any expert, regardless of the numbers gathered, be able to explain the phenomenon of cracks developing in the atmosphere?

Crack, split…

Even as they dithered about, the empty sky was slowly but surely breaking apart bit by bit. Understandably, the American defence forces surrounding this area just in case something bad happened were very tense right now. If one were to exaggerate the scale a bit, more than enough combat forces had been gathered here to literally blow away a foreign nation.

The commander confidently spoke to the President of the U.S.A.

"Even if something pops out of there, Mister President, we shall take care of them. Yes, yes, sir. The scale of the crack has grown much larger since its initial discovery…."

While chatting on the comm device, the commander shifted his gaze over to the ranks of the soldiers without thinking too much and discovered a certain man walking closer to his position.

A man whose face was obscured by the pulled-up hoodie was walking straight towards the commander's location.

"Who the hell is that guy? How the f*ck did he even enter here?"

– "Is there a problem, commander?"

"No, sir. Let me call you back a bit later, sir."

The commander hurriedly ended the call and, along with his adjutants, quickly ran towards this unknown man.

"Excuse me! Who are you?"

This was a restricted zone secured by a water-tight cordon of soldiers, yet how could a normal-looking civilian waltz right in completely unhindered? Signs of irritation floated up on the commander's face as an annoying situation suddenly came to visit him.

However, the man didn't show any signs of fear, even though he was surrounded by heavily-armed soldiers. The uninvited guest coming to speak to the commander was, of course, Jin-Woo. And he certainly had something to say.

"Please, withdraw your troops from here. This place is dangerous."

His English didn't sound natural.

'Is he a foreigner?'

The commander formed a deep frown and in order to put the fear of God in this uninvited guest, he shouted out at the top of his lungs.

"Do you have a death wish?! Do you seriously not know who is in real danger here?"

'What do you mean by that, mister? It's you, obviously.'

Jin-Woo knew that convincing these people with words would be impossible, so he released just a tiny bit of his power. When he did, the commander, his adjutants, as well as all the soldiers watching Jin-Woo floated up in the air at once.

"Uh, uhhh?!"

The commander became flustered and he quickly took a look around him. There was only one person with both of his feet firmly planted on the ground. Not only that, the vehicles, various machinery and equipment, and even heavy tanks were floating over a metre in the air.

Having witnessed something that couldn't scientifically happen, the eyes of the commander began trembling hard.

"B-but, how?!"

Deciding that this much was enough, Jin-Woo brought them back down to the ground.

However, the first thing the commander did upon landing was to yank out his sidearm. His highly-agitated voice rang around loudly in the desert sky.

"What the hell are you?!"

Jin-Woo raised both of his hands up to his shoulders to clearly indicate that he didn't want to fight and calmly continued on with his explanation.

"Soon, enemies possessing similar powers as what you saw will emerge from that spot in the sky. And…."

He used Mana to take away the commander's sidearm and had it float over to near his head.

When the pistol suddenly began moving towards Jin-Woo seemingly on its own, the nervous soldiers quickly cocked their rifles and got ready to fire, but the commander was equally as quick to raise his hand to stop them from doing anything.

"Hold your fire!"

While he was busy calming his subordinates down, Jin-Woo used the 'invisible hand' to pull the trigger of the pistol now aimed at his face.

Blam! Blam! Blam!!

Bullets that failed to even touch Jin-Woo's body fell powerlessly to the ground. The gazes of the soldiers relying on their firearms until then were rapidly filling up with sheer astonishments and panic.

Jin-Woo could sense their hearts freezing up, too. He swept his gaze around and took in their eyes of shock and panic, before calmly continuing on with his explanation.

"Your weapons will not work against the incoming enemies."

Soon after that, his gaze landed on the commander, still rooted firmly in his spot.

"Are you willing to watch the meaningless deaths of your subordinates?"

"What should…. What am I supposed to do, then?"

"Withdraw your troops from here as far as possible. I shall be the only one to remain here."

"You alone…? Are you planning to fight against the enemies by yourself?"

Him alone, was it….

Jin-Woo didn't particularly feel the need to explain himself any further, so he just nodded his head.

"…"

The commander shut his mouth and began weighing his options, but then suddenly, he yanked out his spare sidearm tucked neatly in the back of his pants and fired several shots at Jin-Woo.

Blam! Blam!! Blam!!! Blam!!!!

Every single bullet fired from the commander all tumbled to the ground powerlessly as soon as they reached Jin-Woo's vicinity.

This man was a 'monster'. No, at this point, wasn't he more like a character from some mythical legend, rather than a simple monster?

The commander bore witness to the miracle that kept repeating itself and eventually lowered his weapon. He then spun towards his soldiers and shouted out loudly so that they could hear him.

"All personnel, pull-out!! We withdraw from here, as quickly and efficiently as possible!!"

The adjutants quickly relayed the commander's new order to the rest of the defence force.

"Pull out, now!!"

"Pulling out!"

This well-trained army quickly distanced themselves away from the potential combat zone. Jin-Woo observed their withdrawal process before shifting his gaze over to the large fissure rapidly developing in the sky.

He could sense it now.

He could sense the intense greed of the enemies wanting to devour this land.

He could even sense their heavy breathing as if they were close by.

For the first time in a while, his Black Heart began pounding hard again to notify him of the entrance of new enemies. A grin formed on Jin-Woo's face as he summoned his shortswords from subspace.

Soon, they would….

Craaak

Split, crack!!

The atmosphere rocked from an intense impact force and the dimension finally split open. With that, giants seemingly made out of rocks stepped onto this land.

They belatedly discovered a small lifeform below their feet while emitting a thick amount of hostility towards them and began snorting in derision.

[What's this? Just you alone wish to stop us?]

This feeling – Jin-Woo closed his eyes to enjoy this stillness before the battle and slowly opened them back again.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump!

His heart was beating loudly.

He finally unleashed all of his powers and spoke up.

"Does it look like I'm alone to you?"

With that, his shadow extended in the blink of an eye to encompass the vast land behind him, and the Shadow Army of ten million rose up at once.

Chapter 256: Chapter 256

Side Story 13

7. A day in Fangs' life

Gooood morning!!

….Was what I'd like to say, but there was no distinction between day and night in the world of shadows. So, I simply stretched my limbs without saying anything after waking up from my nap.

Yawn-!!

The sleep one could get inside this place, the 'territory of eternal rest', was absolutely the best, no two ways about it. Honestly speaking, the majority of the Shadow Army's soldiers would spend most of their downtime sleeping until our liege summons us.

I should be seen on the side of those who enjoyed napping, but today was a very important day and I just had to rouse myself up. Soldiers stretching their muscles to get ready for the day discovered me and began bowing their heads to greet me.

"Oh, hello, Fangs-nim."

"Sure, sure."

"Good day to you, Commander Fangs."

"Right, right."

I didn't want to show it, but heck, I couldn't help but feel good when this happened.

I came under my liege's wings relatively early compared to some other soldiers and after my various accomplishments were recognised, I now found myself in the position to command all the magic-wielding soldiers in the army.

The hierarchy within the Shadow Army was determined by how trusted one was by our liege, and that was why Ancient-grade Dragons were paying their respects to a mere High Orc Shaman like myself!

My Sovereign-nim, hooray!!

My exalted and great Shadow Sovereign-nim, hooray!!

'Tsk, tsk….'

I ended up shouting out three cheers towards my liege again today due to the overwhelming gratitude I felt. While feeling happy and content, I headed towards the portion of the army comprising of ant soldiers.

Quite unlike other Shadow Soldiers, these ants didn't seem to enjoy napping and were always doing something or rather to keep themselves busy. After finding me visiting their territory, they began bowing their heads in greetings.

"Huh-huhuh…."

I half-heartedly accepted their greetings and quickened my walking pace. If I were to be honest, I felt a wee bit scared by these ant soldiers, even though we were on the same side.

Because, well, not only were they the most vicious and cruel of all the Shadow Soldiers, but they were also scarily diligent with their given tasks, too.

Kkiieek!

Kkiiiahk!

Whenever these ants screeched out those sounds containing meanings that were lost on me, I couldn't help but flinch my shoulders just a little.

'If it isn't Beru Marshal-nim, just who would be capable of commanding this lot….?'

Thankfully, Beru Marshal-nim in question must've read my mind, because I didn't have to walk far to meet him, who had graciously come out to greet me as well.

When our gazes met, though, his shoulders began quivering ominously.

"Kiieehehehehehet."

"Ehehehehe."

"Kii-hahahahahat!"

"Ehehehehehet!!"

We stood face to face while laughing to our hearts' content.

Judging from the expression on Beru-nim's face, a very satisfactory item must've been created. So, it was only obvious that a big smile would form on my own face too, as it was me who entrusted the creation of that item to him in the first place.

Beru-nim quickly approached me and then, showed me the 'item' hidden behind his back.

"So, what do you think?"

I was so moved by my emotions that I ended up exclaiming out loudly.

"Hoh!!"

The item that I requested Beru-nim who possessed excellent crafting skills, with its creation even at the risk of inconveniencing him! A robe with a hood attached that resembled what our liege wore not too long ago had been completed and was waiting for me.

"Kii-hehehehet!"

"Ehehehehet!"

I threw off the robe on my body right away and put on the brand new one Beru-nim handed over.

The best!!

Was there a need for any other description than these two words?

I couldn't control my overflowing, heightened emotions and addressed Beru-nim with an abashed voice.

"I can't even imagine how should I go about repaying you for this, Marshal-nim…"

"Keh-hehehet. How can I turn a blind eye to your wish to become more like our liege? As long as you're happy, it's all good."

"Yes, I am truly happy. So much so that I'm almost tempted to make it a duty of every Magic Soldier to wear this robe, Marshal-nim."

"Kii-hahahahahat!"

"Uwehehehehet!"

Beru-nim couldn't control his laughter for a long time, but then, he fixed his gaze on me as if he had discovered something else.

"That thing…. Wouldn't it be better to turn that item into a staff rather than walking around with it in your hand?"

What Beru-nim was pointing at was the 'Bead of Avarice' I carried in my right hand most of the time.

"Heuh…. Does that mean I can entrust you for this one as well….?"

I was sheepish, but still, I presented the Bead, but Beru-nim raised his hand to stop me.

"I can't help you with magical artefacts. Unless you bring me a living kin of the bearded Dwarves, then the story might change."

"Ah…. I see."

"Since we're talking about it, how about entrusting the job with the bearded Dwarves? They might be pretty terrible at warfare, but they are still talented artisans, aren't they?"

"….."

I rubbed my chin and pondered this dilemma, and eventually, nodded my head.

"That is a good idea, Marshal-nim."

"Kii-hehehehet!"

I bowed my waist 90 degrees to express my gratitude towards Beru-nim and his excellent work, before quickly making my way out of the ant's area. This time, my steps took me to the area populated by my friends, the Dragons.

We grew quite close after comparing our firepower, you see. I explained to them my circumstances, and they willingly stepped forward to lend me aid. I chose the smallest of my friends and climbed up on his back.

There was only one reason why I chose this guy. Well, I was cursed with short legs so if I mounted a friend with a bigger body, I might have to suffer through the terrible pain of my groin being torn in half, that's why.

Soon, my Dragon friend flapped its wings and flew up in the air. I pointed in the direction where the bearded Dwarves were residing.

We were currently inside the world of eternal rest. It was wide enough to be called infinite, and on top of that, there were ten million soldiers residing here, so some places could only be accessed after borrowing the abilities of my friends like this.

Flap, flap….

As the Dragon friend flew rapidly to our destination, I sneaked a glance below us and oh boy, there sure were lots of soldiers below us.

'There is… Grand-Marshal-nim.'

Slap, slap!!

"Stand up straight, Titans!!"

Currently, Bellion Grand-Marshal-nim was using his long sword that could be manipulated by one's mind like a whip to properly re-educate the newest additions to the army.

The newbies must've been fairly renowned back in their own world and that resulted in them still being influenced by their old habits, which meant that Grand-Marshal-nim would have to strictly discipline them for a little while longer.

"….Ah!"

Bellion-nim discovered me and my Dragon friend in the air and waved his hand at us, necessitating me to hurriedly bow my head to him as well.

After we flew past the location of the newbie training area, I spotted Igrit-nim. He was so immersed in studying that he failed to notice a Dragon flying above his head. We couldn't disturb Igrit Marshal-nim when he was being like this, so we did our best to get out of there as quietly as possible.

Kii-ahhk!

Once we put the areas with Marshal-nims behind us, my Dragon friend unfurled its wings even wider and increased his speed.

A truly wonderful scenery greeted us!

Countless Shadow Soldiers, now no bigger than ants in our eyes, went past in a blur below us.

Soldiers that were asleep; soldiers that were in the middle of training; soldiers noisily chatting away; soldiers playing cards to while away time; and even those soldiers busy grabbing at each other's collars, their voices getting louder still….

What a colourful bunch they were.

Indeed, soldiers of all varieties could be seen below my feet. It wasn't originally like this, however.

We were psychically connected to our liege's mind, and as his powers grew stronger and stronger, we began to grow closer in personality to him, as well. Meaning, we who only knew and desired wanton destruction were gradually learning more about our liege's human side.

The process of many new and different emotions of a human filling up our once-empty chests was quite a refreshing experience, that's for sure.

When our liege's heart begins to pound, even our hearts would go on a riot alongside it.

I liked my liege very much.

I could only express my gratitude to my liege who had shown me a new world that I never ever imagined experiencing before.

My Sovereign-nim, hooray!!

My exalted and great Shadow Sovereign-nim….

'Eh?'

While I was unconsciously exalting my liege after being moved by my emotions once more, we had already arrived at the area populated by the kins of the bearded Dwarves.

Perhaps fitting for our comrades that enjoyed crafting things, they had managed to construct a proper village, what with houses and smithies, as well as other buildings dotting the landscape.

Flap, flap.

After my Dragon friend landed on the ground, I cautiously stepped down, my toes wiggling and searching for solid footing.

"F-Fangs Commander-nim!"

"Commander-nim?"

The bearded Dwarves discovered my sudden, unannounced visit and quickly gathered around before politely bowing their heads. I was pretty sure that they were flustered by my presence, since it would be very rare for a Commander to come visit this far-flung 'frontier' area.

I politely explained what my situation was to these very courteous folks. When I was finished, their Elder replied with a bright expression.

"Ah, I see…. Please, leave it to us. As a matter of fact, we were troubled by the fact that we couldn't find a good place to use the divine timber our liege had bestowed upon us."

"Hoh-oh!"

It seemed that the right material had been prepared already.

While I was being treated to a cup of warm tea at the residence of the Elder, other artisans gathered together to craft my new weapon.

"What do you think, Commander-nim?"

The Elder confidently presented a cool-looking staff and I cried out as another bout of emotions overwhelmed me.

"Hoh-ohhhhh!!"

I had no choice but to carry around the Bead of Avarice in my hand, but that beautiful thing glowing in bright crimson hue was now decorating the end of this great staff.

"Very good! It's wonderful!"

My mood lifted up so much that I almost flew away from there. And as I took hold of the staff and assumed several different poses, the corners of the Elder's lips curled up.

"The word wonderful would better suit the robe you're wearing right now instead of the staff, Commander-nim!"

"Uwehehehehehet! I see that you too have a great sense of fashion!"

I was able to leave the residential area of the kins of bearded Dwarves in utter satisfaction. I watched them wave their hands to bade me goodbye and raised my thumb up real high as my reply.

If, in the distant future, my liege asked me about the coolness of this staff, then I swore in my heart to mention their hard work in crafting this item.

I went back the way I came and returned to the area of the Magic Soldiers. The first thing I did was to summon all the Magic Soldiers under my command and showed off my new robe and weapon combo.

"It's really cool, Fangs-nim!"

"It's the best!"

"I can't stop my tears from gushing out, Fangs Commander-nim!"

Rather obviously, praises kept pouring in from everywhere. It was the romance of all Magic Soldiers to wear cool-looking robes and hold cool-looking staffs, after all!

"Uwuhuhuhuhut!!"

I magnanimously shared my joy with the rest of the Magic Soldiers, and then, gifted the highest-quality robe I used to wear until recently to this one particular soldier busy clapping his hands who said a moment or two ago that he couldn't stop crying.

"Thank you, thank you, Commander-nim!!"

"Uwuhuhuhuhut!!"

He was expressing his joy with his entire body and I lightly patted his shoulders. But it was at this point that my eyes caught the sight of a few big guys that I hadn't seen before.

"And who you guys might be?"

The giants made out of rocks scratched the backs of their heads, and one of them spoke to me in an awkward voice.

"Bellion-nim ordered us to come to this place."

'Ah, ah. I see.'

It seemed that there were a few Magic Soldiers among the ranks of the new additions to the army. But then again, wouldn't such a big guy shooting magic spells around be a waste of his hulking…. No, hang on a minute, that wasn't something I could say with a straight face, now was it?

In any case.

There was this one process that all newbie Magic Soldiers had to go through if they were to be put under my command.

"There, there. Other Magic Soldiers, you're dismissed for the time being. The newbies, settle down there for a second."

The rocky giants were so well disciplined that they politely knelt down on the spot and quietly waited for me.

"From now on, I shall describe in detail what I've accomplished during the first battle our liege fought against the horrifying enemy called the Dragon Emperor, and then, every achievement I earned during the ensuing battle within the gap between dimensions. Listen well, and then….."

After I finished telling them the lengthy tale of my unforgettable history, I had the newbies still stewing in admiration towards me return to their respective posts. It was then that I realised my day had come to an end.

I sensed the encroaching embrace of Lady Sleep, so I unfurled the bedding, lied down on it, and let out an almighty yawn.

"Yawn-!!"

I liked wonderful clothes, cool weapons, or telling stirring heroic tales, but what I liked the most at the end of the day was to fall asleep. Especially for sleep that closed out a day like today, which was hectic, to say the least.

I pulled the duvet right up until my neck and slowly drifted into my slumber while being embraced in this wonderful warmth. But then, just as the sleepiness sneaked its way closer and carried me off to the land of dreams, someone suddenly began shaking my shoulders!

How dare he?!

How dare anyone try to disrupt the sweet slumber of Commander Fangs?! My eyes shot wide open as I got ready to rip the idiot apart.

"…?"

Igrit Marshal-nim was quietly looking at me from near my head.

"I love you, Marshal-nim."

"….I am also grateful for your sincere loyalty."

"By the way…. What brings you here, Marshal-nim?"

I pushed my upper torso up and Igrit Marshal-nim pointed to the distant sky above.

"It's about to begin. Didn't we, the Commander-grade soldiers that serve our liege from close by, agree to cheer him on when the time came?"

"Heok!!"

I kicked the duvet off and hurriedly jumped up before raising my head towards the sky. Like a gigantic movie theatre, the sky morphed into a screen to share what our liege was viewing to the rest of us.

"Finally, is our liege about to meet Lady Hae-In?"

"That's correct."

"Uwohohohot!!"

So moved by the fact that I was allowed to share this historical moment together with my liege, I ended up crying out loudly. The rest of the Shadow Soldiers cheering on our liege then also raised their arms high up and roared out as well.

Waaaahhhh-!!!

When our liege's heart pounded away, ours would pound away as well. I too raised my arms up high and joined in the chorus of soldiers' roars.

Waaaah-!!

My heart was beating really loud now.

Chapter 257: Chapter 257

Side Story 14

8. Only I'm Max Level

Antares was my name.

I was the 'First Sovereign' born from the darkness, as well as the 'Strongest Sovereign'. I was the king that lorded over all Dragon-kind, an existence that signified terror and destruction.

That's right.

All those who knew me referred to me as the 'Dragon Emperor' as a sign of respect and awe.

However, something strange happened.

On a certain day, as I was getting ready to invade the planet called 'Earth' alongside the ten million-strong soldiers within our hideout inside the gap between dimensions….

….I opened my eyes to discover that I was now occupying the body of a human being.

'....'

And rather inexplicably, I seemed to have retained all the memories of this human, as well. I quickly found a mirror in the corner of the room and took a look at myself, only to emit a shocked gasp.

'What's this? Why does this human's face look so feeble?'

Hah-ah, how pitifully pathetic this man was.

The name of this human was Seong Jin-Woo, a young man acting as a rank E Hunter in a nation called the Republic of Korea. It seemed that this human never gave up on being a Hunter, even though his pathetic level of abilities drove him to the moments of near death quite often.

'His reason is…. his mother's illness?'

Just as I began thinking to myself that such a measly little illness would be healed in an instant with my magic, the human's mobile phone suddenly began vibrating loudly.

Vrrr…. Vrrr���.

I discovered the miniature electronic device angrily vibrating on top of a desk and picked it up. When I did, I was greeted by an urgent female voice coming from the other side of the phone line.

– "Seong Hunter-nim, where are you? It's almost the raid time, yet you still haven't arrived yet…."

I tried to match this voice to the memories of my human body and soon, came across a result of 'Hunter's Association Employee'.

'Hmph.'

I was thinking of ending this call which was answered purely out of this body's habitual reaction, but then, what this female said towards the end got on my nerves somewhat.

– "Are you going to be late again?"

'…..!!!'

Being 'late'.

The action of failing to meet the promised deadline because one lacked the ability to arrive on time. Meaning, this female just dared to ask me, the mighty 'Dragon Emperor' and the personification of omnipotent powers, that I'd do something which was the very symbol of incompetence.

Since this was completely unacceptable, rage quickly filled up my eyes.

"You…. Where are you right now?"

– "What do you mean, where? We are right in front of the Gate, you know. And why did you suddenly stop using the polite speech all of a sudden, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

I concentrated for a bit to find the exact location where this insolent female was speaking from. My sensory perception spread out to envelop the entire city and soon enough, I found her coordinates.

"Found you."

– "Pardon? What do you mean by you foun…."

Click.

The location was about 11 kilometres away in the human distance measuring system, and since it wasn't too far, I ran with all my might and arrived there in only a couple of seconds.

And then, I stopped right in front of that female Association employee as she began lowering the phone away from her ear, now that the call had been disconnected.

"Now, am I still late, woman?"

"H-Hunter-nim?!"

Perhaps she had sensed just a tiny fraction of my limitless power, because she began backpedalling with a deeply frightened expression etched on her face.

I reached out and grabbed her shoulders as to make sure she'd not get away and asked her again.

"Tell me. Am I being tardy now?"

"N-no, not at all."

"Very good."

I released her as a look of satisfaction floated up on my face. I then swept my gaze around the surroundings to find a group of Hunters raising a bit of fuss.

Rather than focusing on these unremarkable individuals and their forgettable faces, I focused on the distinct aroma rising up from the paper cups they were holding at the moment.

"Coffee…. I also want to drink coffee."

I turned around to look at the female employee with her rapidly-paling complexion, and she bowed her waist with all of her heart.

"I-I'm truly sorry, Hunter-nim. We ran out of coffee just now….."

"It's not an issue."

"Pardon?"

Even before she had the chance to raise her bowed heard, I walked over to the closest human and snatched his paper cup away.

"W-what are you doing?!"

Gulp, gulp.

I swallowed the sweet liquid in one go and formed a crumpled expression, causing the flustered man who lost his coffee to me to jump up in fright and quickly flee from there.

"Hahah!!"

The one possessing great powers would take away what the weak possessed, that was the way of the Sovereigns. It seemed that such logic also applied to humans and that certainly made me feel rather refreshed.

"Mister Seong…. Isn't he acting a little bit weird today?"

"Yes, his eyes today are a bit…."

"Well, I've been getting this really creepy, eerie feeling from him since he showed up here."

Other Hunters were murmuring amongst themselves behind my back, but there was no reason to pay heed to the opinions of these lowly humans anyway, so I outright ignored them.

"There, there. Since everyone is here, let's get started."

While the Hunters began stretching their muscles to get ready for the raid, I shifted my gaze towards the 'Gate' that these people were scheduled to enter.

'….'

That place, it… was quite suspicious.

The Gates that appeared on Earth were, without a doubt, the ploy of the Rulers, yet…. Why was I picking up the aura of a Sovereign from there?

There was a need to investigate this. I glared at the Gate with eyes as sharp as a hawk and stood behind the Hunters getting ready to enter.

"I'm coming along."

"O-of course, you do need to come with us, Hunter Seong."

Perhaps they too had detected the eerie, chilling atmosphere oozing out from the interior of the Gate, because the Hunters were forming flustered expressions as well. I accompanied them and stepped past the portal.

***

Pow, bang, boom, thud!!

As I began pummelling the fake monsters placed here to hide the real purpose of this dungeon into oblivion, other Hunters began showing me their respect.

"Isn't Mister Seong acting seriously weird today??"

"No, well…. Maybe the monsters of this dungeon are just too weak…?"

"But, I can't see his movements. My eyes can't follow Mister Seong at all…."

I took care of all the monsters in an instant and finally discovered a suspicious entrance.

"We go through here."

"Hold on, we need to take a vote to decide on such issues…"

This man didn't get to finish his sentence. Because he lost his consciousness from a single hit from me.

Plop.

I looked down at the collapsed old man before scanning the rest of the Hunters.

"Anyone else want to take a vote?"

"…."

The decision to enter the passage was unanimous. We walked the seemingly-infinite corridor and finally arrived at the giant door at the end.

"But, how can there be a door at the end of the cave?"

"Has there ever been a boss room with a doorway before?"

"No, this is a first…."

"This… wouldn't this be too dangerous?"

Noisy, noisy….

The Hunters didn't bother to hide their high level of anxiety. I too had detected the truly scary aura leaking out from the interior and agreed with their opinion that things could get dangerous.

That was why as soon as I opened the door, I grabbed the collar of a Hunter standing at the front of the pack and lightly tossed him inside.

"U-uwahk?!"

The thrown idiot flailed about unsightly on the floor, but contrary to initial worries, nothing happened. Only after confirming that it was safe to enter, I strode right in. The vast open interior waiting for me was decorated like an ancient temple.

"W-what is this place??"

Other Hunters belatedly entered behind me and began searching around, but they were wasting their time doing that.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment and focused my senses; soon, I discovered the b*stard that was basically the true puppeteer of this place.

"It's that one over there."

Hunters quickly gathered in front of an angel statue holding a stone tablet that I pointed at.

"Looks like something is written on the tablet?"

"Uh, uh? It's the Rune letters!"

It seemed that a Hunter capable of reading the Rune letters were not present among us, so I read it out loud for them, instead.

"The Laws of the Karutenon Temple."

When I did, though, someone suddenly pulled at my arm. I looked behind me only to find a young girl with a completely pale complexion standing there.

"T-the god statue over there, it…."

"Unhand me."

I shook off the girl's hands and continued to read down the stone tablet.

"One, worship the god. Two, exalt the god. Three, prove your piety. Those who do not keep to these laws shall not leave this place alive."

It was at that exact moment two beams of crimson light shot out from the eyes of the gigantic god statue sitting in a corner over there.

Zzzziiinnng-!!

I didn't even bother to dodge or block those beams and simply stood up proudly to clash face-to-face with the attack.

"You dare to belittle this Emperor with so little power?!"

I ridiculed the destructive power of the beams that didn't even come anywhere remotely close to that of the Breath fired by an Ancient-grade Dragon, before stepping forward to display what true destruction looked like.

Kwahaaaaaaahhh-!!

The 'Breath of Destruction' fired out in a straight line from my mouth completely blew away the head of the god statue.

"Now that is true power."

That served as the starting signal. The statues lining up the walls of the temple like some decorations began rushing towards me while ignoring other Hunters.

"Keuh-hahahahaha!!"

What a bunch of arrogant dolls!

With nothing but my bare hands, I began smashing apart the heads of the statues pouncing at me one by one.

Boom! Bang! Boom! Kwa-jeeck! Ka-boom!!

"Too slow!! So slow!"

Hunters quickly lowered themselves to the floor in order to dodge the debris flying all over the place. Some of them even began crying out, too.

"Why! Why does it feel like there was another way?!"

"What was up with those laws or whatever just now?!"

Even before their desperate cries could come to an end, most of the statues were turned into nothing more than shattered rubble by my hands. It was only obvious, but well, they didn't even serve their role as a proper warm-up for me.

"Is that all you have??"

The angel statue with the stone tablet suddenly rose up from its seat and loudly shouted out, perhaps incensed by the fact that all of its careful preparation had been rendered useless by my power.

[Y-you b*stard, just what is your iden…..]

"Silence!"

I yanked the spear loose from the grip of a broken statue and threw it straight at the angel. In less than a blink, the spear penetrated through the neck of the b*stard and it collapsed down to the floor.

I didn't come here to converse with a fake. What I wanted to bring out was the true figure hidden behind the scenes!

"Reveal yourself, you coward!"

I got rid of all the hindrances and roared out loudly, and that prompted the headless god statue to quietly raise itself up off its throne.

Indeed, that's better.

The corners of my lips curled up as the sensation of boiling blood coursed throughout this body. The god statue strode closer and stopped right before me to look down.

[The Sovereign of Destruction, our paths were fated to cross like this. Here, in this place, I shall put an end to our ill-fated relationship!]

"Ha-ha!! Now that is an excellent idea!"

The god statue was rapidly enveloped in a jet-black aura and transformed into a gigantic shadow, and I unleashed all of my strength in order to contend with that massive hunk of power.

An ecstatic jolt coursed from the tip of my toes right up to the ends of my hair.

"Come!"

Our battle would not end that easily!

***

"Heok?!"

Jin-Woo hurriedly raised his upper torso from the bed.

He spotted the familiar bed, familiar wallpapers, familiar ceiling, and his old computer. He quickly took a look around and finally realised that the place he woke up was in his own room.

'It was a dream?'

It was a truly rubbish dream where he had become the Dragon Emperor. No, should he say that the Dragon Emperor became him, instead?

'Hold up….'

He hurriedly confirmed the current time with his smartphone and sighed in relief afterwards. There was still some time left before the beginning of the exams.

'Now that I think about it… It's been four years already since I got rid of the Dragon Emperor.'

Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and here he was, scheduled to take the College Scholastic Ability Test later today. Him having a crap dream like this was good evidence of how tense he felt right now.

Smirk.

Jin-Woo chuckled helplessly for a moment there before getting up from the bed. Today, he'd get to confirm the fruit of his hard work and determination of the past four years.

He had already decided on which university he wanted to go to. Because this one person he just had to meet would attend that institution later on.

'What a relief that you aren't so good with studying, Jin-Ho.'

Yu Jin-Ho.

Jin-Woo reminded himself of the name of the guy he dearly missed and pulled open the curtains covering up the windows to the side. The dusky aura of the dawn was gradually fading away outside.

'I shall go there first and wait for you.'

Jin-Woo breathed in the winds of the early morning entering through the open gap of his window while thinking about the reunion that'd take place in the near future. It was at that moment when the door to his room was pushed open, accompanied by the loud, hurried footsteps.

"S-son, you know that today is the CSAT day, right?"

"Son, as your father, I can take you there, you know?"

His parents couldn't catch a wink during the night, worried that their son might end up missing out on this all-important exam because he woke up a bit late today. Jin-Woo looked at their haggard faces and gently smiled while nodding his head.

"I'm ready."

[Let's go, my liege.]

Jin-Woo soon stepped out of his home as Igrit, sounding tense for some reason, spoke words of encouragement.

What a refreshing morning this was.

Chapter 258: Chapter 258

Side Story 15

9. I'm going there to meet you right now (1)

The United States of America, inside the official residence of the nation's president – the White House.

Several bigshots gathered in this iconic white building created for the President of the U.S. of A to live and work.

"…."

Every single one of these important government officials occupying a spot inside the briefing room all carried tense expressions. Among them, one person carried the gloomiest expression.

The American President continued to rub his face, wondering over and over again if he had made the right call.

'Rifts formed on an empty sky, and unidentified objects began appearing from there.'

It was an unprecedented historical event. But, was it the right thing to handle this incredible event without saying a word to the public at large?

No, before that, did they even possess the capability to deal with 'the objects that came out' from there?

All he could do was anxiously wait for the arrival of the commander in charge of the operation. And, when the entrance to the conference room opened up and General Chester Harrison entered, the President quickly got up from his seat to welcome the military man.

"Harrison, just what the hell happened back there?"

The final report sent in from the location of the event was…

– The situation has been normalised. I repeat, the situation this side has been normalised.

��.That report, sadly enough, lacked the most important 'how' of that normalisation process.

That was why so many bigshots, including the POTUS himself, were nervously waiting for the arrival of the military man inside this conference room.

Chester mouthed a brief greeting to his boss and scanned the room for a short while, and stood in front of the room.

"Rather than me trying to describe the situation to you, it'll be far quicker to play the video contained in here."

What he was holding was a small USB stick. The President grew curious about its contents in an instant and hurriedly nodded his head.

Not just him, though, but everyone present within the room was staring at the tense-faced general's hand. He slotted the USB stick in the terminal and video footage began playing on the giant screen installed on the wall of the conference room.

"This is the footage captured by the surveillance drones and robots."

Chester Harrison spoke those short introductory words and stood beside the screen while swallowing down his own nervous saliva.

He couldn't even begin to imagine how these folks would react to the footage about to be played. Well, he'd seen it several times before coming here, and he was still unsure how to take it, even now.

However, what was really important here was that it did happen.

The evidence of that was contained within this USB drive, and as the commander in charge of this operation, it was his duty to reveal it to this gathering of higher-ups.

The beginning of the footage started off with the 'cracks' in the sky.

"Keu-heum…."

"Huh-uh!"

Several gasps of shocks came from here and there as giants seemingly made out of rocks emerged from the rift reminiscent of dimension itself shattering away.

If it weren't for the heads-up they received in regards to the existence of those bizarre creatures, the inside of the conference room would've descended into pure chaos by now.

But the truly shocking scene happened after that. In front of terrifying giants, ones so scary that you'd forget to even breathe while looking at them, stood the lone figure of a person.

'Judging from his body size…. a boy?'

'An East Asian, maybe?'

The Secretary of Defense couldn't hold it back anymore and pointed at the screen while asking his questions.

"That man!! Who is that man?? Where were our troops, Harrison? And why was there a civilian standing in the middle of those creatures?!"

It was as he said; this footage wasn't a record that everyone in this room was expecting to see in which the mightiest army on Earth – the American military – smashed apart and drove back the creatures of another world.

No, this video was all about a lone, nameless man whose face they couldn't even see.

With excellent timing, the screen now showed pitch-black 'soldiers' suddenly rising up from the ground behind that lone man. General Chester Harrison, his gaze fixed to the screen until then, spoke as if he was letting out a pained moan.

"….I'd like to know that myself as well."

***

"Does it look like I'm alone to you?"

When those words came to an end, nearly ten million Shadow Soldiers simultaneously lined up right behind Jin-Woo.

The number of Titans that emerged from the rift in the sky was around several hundred. So, it was ten million versus a few hundred. In any other normal circumstances, the 'ten million' should've easily overwhelmed the opposition with this number.

The problem today, however, was the fact that each Titan possessed powers equal to that of higher existences.

Ba-thump, ba-thump!!

Facing a battle for the first time in a long while, Jin-Woo's heart began pounding away quite loudly. He sent a mental communication to Fangs, currently in charge of commanding all the Magic Soldiers.

– How are your preparations going so far?

[There is no problem on this side, my liege.]

Not just Fangs, but all of the Magic Soldiers were entrusted with performing and maintaining magic spells to minimise the shock waves that no doubt would be generated by this battle.

He had no choice but to do this, since this world had no Mana, and it was simply far too fragile as it currently was.

Also, the uninvited guests came here with the purpose of literally devouring this planet, so they wouldn't go about flinging around unnecessarily powerful magic spells, either. Inevitably, the battle about to take place would be a confrontation involving physical powers between allies and enemy forces.

A contest of pure raw strength, in other words.

– Good.

Thankfully, he didn't dislike such a type of fighting, to begin with. A smirk formed on Jin-Woo's lips.

One of the Titans completely misinterpreted the meaning behind that smirk and in the blink of an eye, smashed its fist down in pure rage.

BOOM-!!

Too bad, the target – Jin-Woo – had already risen up in the air. He had lightly jumped up like a pole vaulter and settled down gently on top of the Titan's fist like a falling feather.

'...?'

This Titan's expression hardened and a sense of ominous foreboding crept up along its backside after seeing that smile etched on the human's face as he stood upright on top of its fist.

Sure enough, the human began dashing forward on top of the arm next.

Pah-bababaht!

His legs were moving so fast that even the Titans, possessing as much power as higher beings, couldn't react in time. And when they did, Jin-Woo was already well past this particular Titan's shoulder, heading straight to the back of its neck.

Soon, the shortsword held in his hand penetrated straight into the Titan's rocky neck.

[Kuwaaahk!!!]

It was almost like scratching the paint of a car with a coin. While gripping tight the shortsword still buried in the neck of the gigantic creature, Jin-Woo ran towards the other shoulder, leaving behind a long, long line on the poor thing's skin.

Kwa-gahgahgahgahgahk!!

The black aura loaded on the blade cleanly separated the head of the Titan from the rest of its body.

Riiip!

Jin-Woo stood tall on the shoulder as the huge head rolled off its body, and he provocatively glared at the other Titans. He could sense rage, fluster, and fear creeping up on their expressions.

One at a time….

Memories, as well as the feelings he had while hunting down the Army of the Chaos World in the gap between dimensions, floated back up in his head one by one.

He knew he had succeeded in breaking the fighting spirit of these creatures.

His original goal was the complete annihilation of the race of Titans. And so, he finally had his Shadow Army break out of its standby mode and enter the fray.

'All personnel, advance!!'

The will to fight from the enormous army beginning to make its move could be felt from below.

Waaaaaaahh-!!!

'It's no good that their leader stops moving here, right?'

At least, that was not his style, the style of the current Shadow Sovereign. Jin-Woo's sharp glare began searching for his next prey.

Flinch.

One of the Titans that met Jin-Woo's glare flinched its shoulders.

The enemy that lost itself to fear would be the first one to be devoured. He pounced in that direction while swinging his shortsword, packed full of black aura.

This blade might not have been the 'Kamish's Wrath', but Jin-Woo had been roaming the battlefield for 27 years already, and the control he could exert on the black aura was no longer dependent on the weapons he wielded.

The black aura spreading out from the end of the shortsword stretched out towards his front and completely sliced up the face of the frozen Titan.

Kwa-gah-gahk!!

The giant that got terrified by the overwhelming power of this small lifeform lost its life so easily like that. However, as it turned out, not all Titans were cowards like this guy.

Jin-Woo's brows shot up in surprise. Right behind the falling body of the dead Titan with its torn-off head, he could now see other Titans throwing everything they had in order to kill him.

He used his ability to fly to dodge beneath the huge fist approaching him from the front, while another one sharply digging in from his back was avoided by him flying up.

The skill, 'Ruler's Authority', had now been fully ingrained within his body and he could manipulate it without any restriction whatsoever. The thing was, though, the enemies and their abilities also surpassed his expectations, as well.

The fist of a Titan slammed down like a hammer, and Jin-Woo kicked it away, only to be greeted by the back of a hand flying in from the side. He quickly gathered his arms and got ready for the impact while crouching, to minimise the surface area of his body.

BOOM-!!

In order to ensure that he wasn't flung away, Jin-Woo yanked at the back of the Titan's hand that smacked him with Mana. In an instant, that huge hand was pulled towards him and his shortsword, swung without mercy, sliced off the creature's wrist in one go.

Slice-!!

The Titan grabbed its now-severed wrist and roared loudly to the sky.

[Kuwaaah-!!]

Jin-Woo rapidly approached its neck and stabbed his weapon deep into where the creature's Adam's apple should be.

Kwa-jeeck!

One razor-sharp killing move later, and another massive physique came crashing on its backside. Jin-Woo kicked the chest of the toppling Titan and jumped up high, before slicing and dicing the hands of the Titans relentlessly reaching out towards him.

To his side!

He dodged the edge of the Titan's hand, swung with all of the creature's might, by flying up, which in turn helped him to find enough leeway to take stock of the current situation.

In that briefest of moments, Titans keeping close to his position crashed into him with their shoulders from both sides.

BOOM-!!

"…!!"

Trapped between the two humongous shoulders, Jin-Woo extended his hands to stop himself from being squashed and then, shoved both of the Titans away with his raw physical strength. Like an unbelievable lie, those two huge figures were pushed away from him.

[Keu-heum!]

[How could he, with such a small body of his?!]

While there were Titans freaking out over the fact that they lost out in the contest of strength, there was also another Titan who was smashing down with its arm as if it was waiting for this precise moment.

While the palm swung downwards viciously as if to crush a bug to death….

"UWAHHH-!!"

….Jin-Woo spat out Mana with a terrifying roar to deflect it away.

The Titan got flustered by the invisible hand suddenly shoving its arm away, only to belatedly realise something.

'….??'

It realised that there was a massive black fist flying straight in its face.

KWA-BOOM!!

The black aura concentrated on Jin-Woo's right hand morphed into the arm of a giant before cleanly blowing away the head of the Titan. Soon, he transformed into a giant himself by enveloping his body with the black aura and proceeded to mercilessly destroy the Titans around him.

Like a group of starving wild beasts, the giant shadow and the Titans made out of rocks went on a crazed melee of pure chaos and confusion.

The end result came out pretty quickly.

Right in the midst of the Titans kneeling and collapsing to the ground, the black shadow giant standing tall was busy crushing an arm made out of rock with his pure physical strength after ripping it off from one of its victims.

Wu-duduk!!

Maybe they finally had enough of Jin-Woo's fighting spirit, the Titans surrounding him began backing away one step at a time.

'….?'

Jin-Woo scanned his enemies with puzzled eyes, but then, a Titan even bigger and sturdier-looking than all the rest confidently strode out from among them.

Strangely enough, though….

[Hoh-oh.]

The one to actually speak was a rather small lifeform standing on the shoulder of this particular Titan, instead.

[I now see that even a small planet on the outskirts of the universe can contain a pretty useful talent.]

It was a humanoid made out of rocks that looked like a miniaturised version of the Titans. It threw a rather insidious grin in Jin-Woo's direction.

[However, the mere fact that you need to increase the size of your body in order to enhance your power is a sure sign of how primitive your species is. On the contrary, we, the Titans, decrease in size when we need to fight with everything we have.]

The talkative creature had both its hands reach out before pointing back at itself as a wide grin formed on its face.

[Fu-hut. Of course, such a thing is only possible for the greatest warriors of the Titan race…..]

It was then.

Jin-Woo was forming an expression of ridicule as he listened to the fool talk, but then, his head quickly snapped to the side.

Flash!!

With excellent timing, a streak of crimson light flew in from behind Jin-Woo and utterly erased the so-called greatest warrior of the Titans from existence.

It was fired by an Ancient-grade Dragon, which was currently being ridden on by Bellion. The Grand-Marshal asked his boss in a bit of fluster.

[My liege, were you perchance conversing with that creature?]

Jin-Woo shook his hand to show that it was all good and shifted his gaze towards Bellion.

"You know, these guys seem to be way too arrogant for their own good, so it looks like you'll have to pay them extra special attention later on."

[Please leave it to me, my liege.]

The trusty Grand-Marshal bowed his waist politely before flying away to somewhere else, and Jin-Woo took a sweeping look at the remaining Titans.

Most of the invading rock giants' higher-levelled combatants had been destroyed by Jin-Woo, and as for the remaining ones, they were being overwhelmed by the black tidal waves created by his Shadow Soldiers.

[Kuwaaaahhk-!!]

[Kuwahk!!]

Loud screams spat out by the giants made out of rocks completely filled up this nameless stretch of the desert.

***

"…"

"….."

Utter silence.

Could there be any other words that could better describe the current atmosphere pervading within the conference room?

As if someone doused the entire room in icy cold water, it was eerily quiet in there.

The POTUS had become completely speechless after watching the footage. However, he did eventually regain his voice, albeit with great difficulty.

"That man…. Have you uncovered his identity yet?"

The general shook his head in silence.

The true monster capable of toying with those scary-looking monsters ended up saving the United States of America without anyone even realising it.

'No, maybe the entire world….'

Unfortunately… if you flip the notion of a power capable of saving the world on its head, it also implied that the same power could destroy this world, as well.

The President realised that uncovering the identity of that mystery man, at the very least, should be their top priority and asked the bigshots present within the conference room.

"Is there any way to uncover and confirm the identity of that man from the footage? Anyone?"

They began offering up their opinions here and there, but they all agreed that it was realistically impossible to do so. But then….

"Indeed, it may realistically be impossible. When we are talking about 'realistic' means, that is, sir."

The director of America's Central Intelligence Agency, David Brennan, raised his voice. The President quickly looked at him.

"…..Is there something you'd like to tell us, Director?"

Director Brennan cautiously spoke up.

"If a realistic approach is impossible, how about we employ 'unrealistic' means, instead?"

The bigshots around him tilted their heads, but Director Brennan simply formed a grin.

"We do have a way. A certain person who can inform us of the truths that no one would have known, through fantastical means."

Could he be talking about…?!

Pretty much everyone living in the United States of America would've heard of her name by now. It was an open secret within the world of politics that she had been maintaining a special relationship with the CIA.

The President recalled her name and his brows shot up.

"What you're saying is….?"

The Director replied confidently.

"That's right, sir. It's Madam Norma Selner. Just like before, she will help us with the right answer this time as well."

Chapter 259: Chapter 259

Side Story 16

9. I'm going there to meet you right now (2)

Once more in the United States of America, somewhere in the quiet suburbs on the outskirts of a city. A black saloon car gliding smoothly on a certain road finally arrived at its destination – a small, but cosy and inviting house, with a red roof.

Tap, tap, tap.

The ones climbing out of the vehicle was the Director of the CIA, David Brennan, and his two bodyguards. The director studied the red-roofed residence for a little while before issuing a new order to his underlings.

"You two, wait for me here."

"But, sir…"

Since these two agents were charged with protecting him, that order was a rather difficult one to accept, but the director's attitude remained unchanging.

"It's fine, it's fine."

He waved his hand dismissively towards his underlings trying to dissuade him.

"Madam doesn't enjoy noisy visits like this, anyway."

Leaving behind his entourage by the car, the director walked alone towards the front door and began fixing his attire. Once he felt satisfied by his grooming attempt, he cautiously knocked on the door.

"Madam? It's me, Dav…."

Even before he could finish introducing himself, the door opened up and a young African-American child peeked his head out. The director recognised Madam Selner's grandson and crouched lower to match the boy's eye level before patting the kid on the head.

"Is your grandma home?"

"She's been waiting for you, bearded uncle, for a while now."

David Brennan looked at the child pointing at him and couldn't help but chuckle gently.

But, of course. Just who was the woman he came here to speak to?

The psychic, the prophet, the real 'Esper'.

Didn't matter which title was used, none of them would sound ill-fitting to Madam Selner, the world's pre-eminent soothsayer. That's who he came here to see today.

Of course, it wasn't as if he trusted her words in the beginning.

But then, she began solving serious problems that even the CIA, an organisation at the peak of the cut-throat intelligence world, had given up on with preternatural abilities, and the director had no choice but to stop suspecting her gift there and then.

She was the real deal.

'A true superhuman…'

So, predicting his unannounced arrival for someone like her would be easier than, say, changing the channel on TV with a remote.

Guided by the grandchild, the director was led into the sitting room where the Madam was waiting for him with a cup of warm tea on top of a coffee table. He politely greeted her.

"It's been a while, Madam."

"Good to see you, Dave."

The director raised his head.

The last time he stepped in here was about a year ago; he took a look around at the interior decoration of the sitting room that hadn't changed since his last visit before carefully parking his butt on one of the couches.

"Madam, you probably can't imagine how difficult our work has become ever since you announced your retirement."

One could say that the information on the past was of no value compared to the information on the future.

The CIA reaped a great deal of harvest by cooperating with Madam Selner, so the sense of loss the agency felt after she retired was indeed well above one's imagination.

The director might have spoken with a smile as if he was cracking a joke, but his genuine belief, hidden beneath the surface, could be heard if one paid closer attention.

Too bad, the Madam spoke composedly as if she was tiding a young child throwing a tantrum for more cookies.

"Dave, I've already told you this, haven't I? I can no longer see the future after that person arrived."

"Ah…."

Was she talking about that story of the 'God of Death' again?

The director could only smack his lips wryly at the exact same answer she gave every time he asked her.

It was the story about how her powers became useless after an existence powerful enough to twist destiny as he saw fit had descended to this world.

The director forgot what he wanted to say next after remembering her reason for retiring, one that defied one's attempt to understand through logic.

"…."

And so, silence weighed down between these two people.

David Brennan wondered how he should go about breaking this awkward atmosphere before his nose picked up on the enticing aroma of food.

"Madam, were you in the middle of a meal?"

She slowly shook her head.

"Actually, I have been entertaining another guest."

"Ah…. I see."

She didn't enjoy meeting with people, yet she was with another visitor?

The director tilted his head slightly, but soon enough, made up his mind to stop beating around the bush. The smile on his face vanished next.

"In that case, I shall get right to the point and get out of your hair as soon as possible."

When he said that, though, the Madam replied as if she was waiting for him.

"The answer to the first question is a 'yes', and for the second one, a 'no'."

"H-hang on…."

The director could only form a flustered expression when his questions were answered even before he had a chance to say them out loud. She grinned refreshingly.

"You wish to ask me how I knew about your questions if I can't see the future anymore, am I wrong?"

"….Well, no."

"Dave. The answers you seek from me are actually the matters of the past. I simply took a glimpse at a portion of the past and provided you with a suitable answer."

"Oh. Ohh…"

The director nodded his head, a soft moan leaving his lips. She carefully continued on.

"Well, then. Shall I provide you with proper answers to your questions?"

David Brennan pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed the sweat on his forehead.

"Of course. Please go ahead, Madam."

She then began with her explanations.

"That's right, Dave. I know just who it is that you wish to find out about."

Her answer to the first question was 'yes'. However, her answer to the follow-up question was 'no'.

"Unfortunately, I will not divulge any information on that person to anyone."

"But, Madam!"

The director's voice suddenly grew louder. He wasn't trying to threaten her or anything like that. It was just that his agitation got the better of him and he ended up shouting out.

"If it's you, Madam, then you should already know what he has done! We can't just let someone like that run around without a respo….."

It was at that moment that the Madam herself shouted out as if she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I'm choosing not to say anything precisely because I know!"

This must've been the very first time seeing her like this.

The director didn't know what kind of expression he should form now after being confronted by the Madam's angry expression for the first time ever. Too bad for him, though, her angry voice didn't stop there.

"Director, are your eyes just for decorations??"

"Madam!"

"Didn't you see the footage contained in that USB drive, then??"

"…"

Indeed, he did see it.

He saw the sight of a single human being not even taking a step back while standing up to those frightening giant monsters. The power that man possessed was scary and incredible, but it did rescue humanity back then.

"Would you believe me if I told you…that event wasn't the first time?"

The Madam formed a serious, nay, a grave expression, and the director's own expression froze up instantly.

"…."

There was another incident like that in the past??

The moment the director thought of humanity facing extinction-level threats multiple times in the past without him knowing about them, his entire body began shuddering uncontrollably.

But when he pondered it some more, he realised that such a case wasn't so surprising anymore; even this event had been classified as a top-top secret by the U.S. government and, besides an extremely small number of people related to the matter, no one else knew just what happened or who did what on that particular day.

If that was the case, could he really come out and say with full confidence that no similar things happened in other countries as well?

'Perhaps, just like what Madam has said, that man really…..'

The director rested his chin on his hand and began pondering something else before raising his head.

"No, I trust you, Madam."

He only knew her for around three years, but for some reason, he'd sometimes get this feeling that he'd known her for a far longer time than that. That was perhaps the reason why he felt this sense of trust in her. One based on absolutely nothing but his gut feeling, really.

The Madam nodded her head in reply. The director cautiously asked her another question.

"That man from the footage…. Can you assure me that he's not a dangerous individual?"

She answered him without a moment of hesitation.

"Yes, I can."

He nodded his head again, alone this time, and as if he finally came to a conclusion, raised his head.

"In that case, I understand. I shall pretend that I never heard you talking about that man."

The director rose up from his spot while forming a rueful but relieved face.

"Well, then."

He bade her a short goodbye and turned around to leave, but her warm voice stopped his feet from taking another step.

"Dave, I've baked some cookies. Would you like some?"

"Oh…."

He spotted a bag of cookies in her hand, but could only decline the offer with a smile of his own.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for your offer.��

Now that his official visit was over, his expression reverted to that of a regular, normal uncle. The Madam bade him goodbye with a gentle smile and called for her grandson to guide him to the car.

The child really liked this 'bearded uncle' for some reason, so he quickly rushed to the bearded David Brennan and hung on to the older man's hand.

"I shall come again sometime later, Madam."

"Be careful on your way, Dave."

The director, his hand still being held tightly by her grandchild, finally left the residence, prompting the other guest hiding on the other side of the sitting room to emerge into the open.

"Huh. I don't like that old man. Hey, grandma, should I go teach him a lesson for you?"

He was a giant of a man with slicked-back blonde hair. He took a handful of cookies out from the bag in Madam's hand and shoved them inside his mouth.

"Thomas, I thought your competition licence will be revoked if you caused another incident outside the ring?"

Thomas grinned sheepishly and chewed on the cookies that filled up his mouth.

Crunch, crunch….

"Well, that is…"

This man was none other than Thomas Andre.

Not many people knew that the current Heavyweight champion of the UFC was one of her very few friends that she chose to keep. If the reporters learned of this fact, they would jump up and down in sheer madness while clicking the shutters of their cameras non-stop.

He emptied out the bag of cookies in the blink but that didn't seem to fill him up at all, so he took the bag itself and tossed the cookie crumbs down his gullet next. When he was finally done, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey, grandma. Can I ask you a question?"

She grinned refreshingly and nodded her head. Thomas rolled the empty bag into a ball as he spoke.

"I'm sure lots of people die through accidents, not just someone like me."

Especially with car crashes, where innumerable people would die almost every single day. However, almost none of them would receive a phone call from the Madam before that happened.

On that much-awaited off day, Thomas was climbing inside his treasured sports car so he could go for a crazy-fast drive through the back roads. And then, he became one of the very lucky few that did get that fateful phone call.

After answering her call, he hurriedly checked out the tyres of his beloved ride only to find a small nail stuck in one. Thankfully, he avoided getting into an accident, but if he started the car and drove away, then he'd have lost his life, just as how Madam had warned him.

Which meant that Madam Norma Selner was the saviour of his life.

Afterwards, Thomas grew close enough to her to share meals like this, yet what happened on that day still remained a mystery to him.

"Why did you save me on that day?"

Well, she couldn't possibly have been a fan of the UFC and that prompted her to quickly pick up the phone, so….

Thomas Andre always felt curious about why she went out of her way to help him.

"….."

Madam Selner looked at him without saying anything after hearing his rather sudden question, before providing a belated answer to her friend, one of the top sports stars in the country.

"Because… you did many good things in your past life."

"…..I did?"

Thomas Andre, known as the 'Bad Boy' of the UFC, no, Devil of the Octagon, did what now?

He briefly wondered if this grandma ate something she shouldn't have, but then, he decided not to say what popped up in his head after remembering that he owed her big time.

"Hohoh."

Madam chuckled softly and shifted her gaze outside the sitting room window to stare at the black saloon driving away with the CIA's director inside. Her grandson was waving his hand at the 'bearded uncle' until the car couldn't be seen anymore.

The 'relationships'.

Seeing that relationships of the past were being formed anew either consciously or subconsciously by the parties involved, perhaps this 'fate' was a real thing after all.

That's how she felt right now.

After confirming that the director was gone for sure, Thomas plopped down on the very spot on the couch where the leader of the CIA once sat.

"Alright, then. Just what did the man in the video do that an uncle like him came to see you?"

Madam replied in a tone of voice belonging to someone busy putting up still-wet clothes on the washing line.

"He saved the world."

"….."

Sometimes, it was hard to tell whether this old lady was joking or was being dead serious.

'Well, that's why it's so fun being around her, anyway.'

Thomas put on the pair of sunglasses he liked to wear all the time, and shifted his now-darkened gaze towards Madam Selner.

"In that case…. What would Mister Hero who saved the world be doing right about now?"

Madam kept her gaze on her grandchild walking back inside the house, a quiet smile forming on her lips.

"Hmm, I wonder…. Maybe he's enjoying his youth to the fullest somewhere?"

***

Waaahhh-!!

In the location of the qualifying rounds of the track and field competition filled with the heated cheerings of the spectators, featuring schools from all over South Korea.

When the captains of the two rival high school track teams came together on the field, perhaps unsurprisingly, proverbial flames began erupting from the eyes of both men.

"Oiii, Choi Tae-Woong! Looks like you've lost your way, doesn't it!! You even let a freshman enter every type of competition, didn't you!"

Jin-Woo's school track team was now facing off against the pointed ridicule belonging to the captain of their long-time rival from Hwaseong Tech High, Joh Gi-Seok.

"I heard that your former ace, Woo Sahng-In, got injured and took a break for a few months. Did that result in your prowess falling so much that you don't have a choice but to make a freshman your new ace??"

Joh Gi-Seok continued on with his provocation, but Choi Tae-Woong simply smirked brightly and grasped Jin-Woo's shoulder.

"Soon enough, you lot won't be able to close your mouths at the talents of this first year."

"Heee~yah, rather than you guys breaking more records, you got better at cracking jokes, instead!"

Figurative sparks flew in all directions after these two's war of nerves grew to an intense level. Meanwhile, Jin-Woo was scratching the side of his head with his index finger.

'With things like this, it's going to be difficult to stick to my plan of holding back so that I won't get noticed….'

While Jin-Woo stood there showing just a tiny hint of how troubled he was, Joh Gi-Seok scanned him from top to bottom and received a great boost of confidence from his expression. The corners of the Hwaseong Tech High Captain's lips curled upwards.

"Here's the thing, though. What a funny coincidence this is, you know?"

Joh Gi-Seok turned around and gestured towards his team members; when he did, a big dude standing behind them strode forward with an expression filled pure, unbridled confidence.

"You see, we also got ourselves a freaky freshman, too."

It was at that point that Jin-Woo ended up blurting out a surprised cry after seeing the face of this so-called freaky freshman.

"Uh?"

"Looks like your own freshman can sense it already, no?"

Joh Gi-Seok increased the volume of his voice while placing his hand on the shoulder of the newbie team member who possessed a physique that far surpassed the level of a regular high schooler.

"This kid here, he's Hwaseong Tech High's secret weapon, Kim Cheol from the first year."