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Chapter 85 – Ouroboros (1)

Sangjin saw some clansmen moving about busily in the distance while going up.

'…What is that?'

Sangjin tapped Mihee standing next to him.

"What is it?"

"I'll go look around for a bit."

Sangjin then pointed towards the clansmen roaming around in the distance.

Imugi symbols that were on the backs.

A symbol which symbolized the Hecarim that had the strength which wasn't even comparable to theirs.

But those people were moving around as if they were searching for something.

'I need to grasp suspicious movements.'

The weak always had to know the actions and whereabouts of the strong.

Mihee looked at Sangjin with a worried expression at those words.

"You're going alone?"

Sangjin nodded.

'Humans are more dangerous than beasts.'

Even if he were to get caught, he had to prevent Mihee from getting involved.

Moving alone was easier too.

Sangjin left the worrying Mihee, made some distance, and then activated his skill, .

A skill which he had obtained in the beginning of the Red Zone.

A skill which caught the vibration in the air and the ground from the opponent's conversation and turned them back into voices.

It's strong point was that it could spy on conversations quite a distance away and that it wouldn't be caught by others since it didn't use mana to check over the people.

Sangjin configured all his skills like this in the first place.

'I won't be able to do anything if I try to do everything half-heartedly.'

Skills for going against humans and going against beasts were completely different.

One needed to focus on a few selective skills in order to raise their mastery.

'I shouldn't get caught… With this.'

Sangjin, who was located quite a distance away, hid as much presence as possible and started to listen in on the conversation.

<…Let's see.>

'…'

Sangjin's expression froze.

'Why are they looking for us?'

He didn't know what Hansoo was thinking of but he knew what he was trying to do.

Since the thing he had done was so surprising that the messages went back and forth and spread out extremely fast.

He had killed 2 of the 4 Great Calamities.

'He will try to kill the next one.'

Sangjin raised his head and then looked at the pillars in the distance.

A huge snake that struck fear into one just from its sheer size.

Sangjin's mentality became chaotic as soon as he saw the snake.

Hansoo was busily running around in order to kill such a thing.

But he was afraid of a few clansmen to the point where he was just cautiously eavesdropping on them.

The gap has been increased too much.

But Sangjin shook his head.

'He probably has a plan. Why would he have accepted me if he wasn't going to take me along?'

Sangjin set his mind straight and then analyzed the current situation.

Hansoo tried to kill the Ouroboros.

At the same time the Six Pillars were looking for people who were related to Hansoo.

'This doesn't feel good.'

If this was something Hansoo had asked the Six Pillars to do then they wouldn't search around like that.

Hansoo would have told them the name and their characteristics and told them to bring them.

Which meant that those guys were searching for them without Hansoo's knowledge.

'Damnit. They don't have good intentions.'

Sangjin cautiously turned his body and headed towards the direction that was away from them.

He then quickly ran towards Mihee.

But Sangjin frowned after returning.

"Oh really? So you guys are well acquainted with Kang Hansoo! Uahaha! Amazing, you're friends with that famous guy."

'Goddamnit.'

It seems they found out after a few words.

Sangjin frowned as he saw Hecarim's Clansmen surrounding Mihee and people.

They didn't have a lot of people as if they came out with patrolling as the objective so they could probably win if he joined in but that was a crazy act.

Since one of the Six Pillars wouldn't stand by idly and let them attack.

'…We aren't going to all get dragged along at this rate right?'

They might take them all if they were going to use them as Hansoo's weakness.

While Sangjin was looking at this scene with anxiousness the clansmen of Hecarim shrugged their shoulders as they spoke.

"Well then hurry and go up. The battle is fierce up there. To the point where we need to borrow your strength."

'…Mmm?'

Sangjin and the others squinted their eyes as they saw the Hecarim clansmen laughing and moving and waving their hands.

The clansman chuckled at the people dazing at them and then spoke.

"What are you doing. Go up quickly. Do you think we need to keep protecting you while you go up? Just don't go astray and follow this path. It's really urgent."

"…Understood."

The Hecarim clansmen disappeared with those words and Sangjin squinted his eyes.

'What is he thinking?'

............…

Jukma nodded and laughed as he saw the message which had flown towards him.

'We've found them right on time.'

The lake will open in 1 day.

He didn't know who was significant to Hansoo but he would gather everyone who had seen him and gather them all into one location.

But Jukma wasn't going to interrogate them or not.

'Since the most important thing hasn't been confirmed yet.'

As to whether the hostages were meaningful in any way.

He needed to know this.

Since he might just piss him off if the hostages were useless in a decisive moment so this was necessary.

And because of this he needed to poke him around before using him.

Check by seeing if Hansoo will help them in times of danger or need.

'It's a bit too risky for me to do it personally.'

It would be a problem if the hostages didn't have an effect but also a problem if it did.

Since he would be pissing off Hansoo before the lake opened.

'There's no way Miyamoto will help either.'

He would probably be wanting Jukma to do that for him.

But why did he need to do it himself?

Thankfully he knew the perfect candidates for such things.

The newcomers who had been forcibly recruited just a while ago.

Unlike the upper level clansman who were well known already, these guys wouldn't be a problem since they were caught in secret.

'There are a lot of talented people in that tutorial group. Though Hansoo is like that too…'

There were people who shone brighter than others in that group.

Like that Wongyung guy who was coming up with the Clan Unions.

Jukma applauded after seeing his talent.

Since that guy was amazing just by seeing his Lord trait.

'But then what does that matter. There's nothing about a Lord if their soldiers are weak.'

Exactly as he said.

The reason why that guy was unlucky was that he had shown himself too much within the Clan Union.

A white tiger will get stronger than anything else once it matures.

But it will be hunted for the fur.

It was suitable for them to hide their claws as a baby but they had too much confidence in the fact that 10 clan lords had allied.

Since they had tried too hard to clash with other newcomers on the End Root in order to recruit strong people.

And because of this they had been caught in the eyes of the Quadratus who had been searching around to recruit newcomers under their orders and eventually had been caught in their own eyes.

'If you aren't going to hide it then grow to the point where no one else can catch up to you.'

Jukma, who had a bitter taste in his mouth from thoughts of Hansoo, sent a message downwards.

If Hansoo reacts after they threaten then the answer is simple.

Throw the newly recruited guys away as used cards and take them into hostage once the chance arrives.

Since Miyamoto told them that he will keep Hansoo's eyes off.

How could a guy who wanted to kill the Ouroboros protect a hostage by their side for the whole day.

There are plenty of chances.

Of course Hansoo might not react at all after they threaten them.

A situation which would be extremely infuriating to Jukma.

'Then… Those guys will just have to act as stress relievers.'

This had to be done after him, who was one of the Six Pillars, went out and failed at selling a product.

'Since I've done up to this point at least he should attract sightseers.'

Jukma sent a message towards Miyamoto after finishing his thoughts.

............….

Hansoo looked at the five shining relics in front of him.

Spear.

Sword.

Marbles.

Chains.

Bracelet.

'With this much… It's possible to almost control half of the energy a single Divine Stone Fragment emits.'

If one took account of the fact that the Divine Stone kept the World Tree alive and supplied hundreds of billions of Elvenheims then even half of a fragment of a Divine Stone which had been split into fives was still a formidable amount.

And another thing.

A small cross symbol which had appeared on Hansoo's head as soon as he gathered all five Relics.

It was a sign of the which had the rights to the powers on the World Tree along with the King.

Hansoo loosened up after receiving countless amounts of information that poured in through the World Tree.

Since the huge amounts of information that felt like they were splitting his head was too burdensome.

Unlike an Elvenheim, there was a limit for him to use all the powers of an Administrator as a human.

And even more so if the World Tree's status wasn't normal.

'But this is still a great help.'

He had gained the power of an Administrator and five relics.

He had geared up quite a bit.

But Ouroboros, who still had a Divine Stone Fragment and could play around with its giant body was still dangerous.

Though he wanted to just smash its head or heart, and his original plan was approaching it from the inside and ripping out the DIvine Stone Fragment and destroying the heart but the the invasion from within was blocked off.

Getting through its thoracic bones or its skull which was hundreds of meters in thickness and killing it like that was impossible.

'Plan around its weakness.'

It's weakness was its spine that was on its back.

Unlike the intestines deep within, the Spine on its back protruded out here and there.

He needed to cut the nerves in between every spine, which was a size of a small hill, and seal its movements.

'The poison should be spreading throughout its body.'

The thing that was spreading throughout his body was a neurotoxin.

Which meant that he just needed to blow up the heart and kill it off.

'I need to aim for when it drops its guard.'

There's a reason why it was always focused on drinking the Toxic Waters from the start.

Why did it need to care about other things when it had no natural predator.

And because of this it wouldn't react to most things.

He needed to utilize the time when it wasn't on guard and cut off its nerves in a single sweep.

'The people who have the ability to get through the Scales and cut off the thick nerves in an instant are only the Seven Departed Souls.'

The rest were not at the level where they can even get through the scale of the Ouroboros.

Which meant that while the people below were distracting the parasites, him and the Seven Departed Souls had to attack together, cut off 8 nerves and then dodge the thrashing Ouroboros to cut off four more.

Because of this the Seven Departed Souls had to do their part very well.

'Continue as soon as the injury from the battle with the Akuma heals. Anyways, they should be planning something out by now.'

Miyamoto's 1st goal was getting out of this place.

Hansoo, who had been looking at the five relics floating around him, looked at Miyamoto who was suddenly approaching him with a strange expression.

"Are the preparations going well?'

"What's the problem?"

Miyamoto laughed as he spoke.

"Why do I need a problem to come see you when we are going to be fighting together from now on. I just came to take a stroll for a bit. We should go outside for a bit and have a look at the Ouroboros. I know a location with a good scene."

Hansoo nodded at those words.

"Then let's. I also have something to tell you."

The two of them then left the large area the where the Akuma was.

Chapter 86 – Ouroboros (2)

Hansoo made a surprised expression at Miyamoto who was standing next to a tree.

'A lot of skills… and high mastery levels.'

He was quite formidable for rolling around the ground for 20 years.

And it seemed like he was quite talented as well.

If he had chosen to go up instead of staying here then he would've gotten quite famous.

Miyamoto looked at that Hansoo and then spoke.

"Are you really going to fight with that thing? For What? The Reward?"

Miyamoto then looked at the Ouroboros that was wrapped around the giant World Tree's trunk.

A phenomenal size.

If one said that they weren't afraid after looking at that thing which seemed like it depicted a beast from a myth then they would probably be lying.

Hansoo gazed at that Miyamoto and then spoke out.

"You can say it honestly. That you don't want to fight."

"…"

Miyamoto's eyes danced about at Hansoo's direct words.

'…What is he thinking?'

Why did he suddenly say this to him.

Miyamoto was shocked at the sudden words of Hansoo but he just shrugged his shoulders and spoke.

"What are you talking about. I said I'll fight with you."

And when he was just about to add some extra words a chaotic noise was heard from before.

Miyamoto squinted his eyes as he looked at the origin of the sound.

Though they were quite a distance away from the World Tree, it wasn't hard for Hansoo to know at his level.

'It started.'

Miyamoto looked at the fight in the distance and then spoke towards Hansoo casually.

"It seems like a fight broke out. It could only be so when they tried to gather a large amount of people in such a short amount of time."

Miyamoto looked at Hansoo's reactions while he spoke.

If there was a meaning to the hostages then it would be simple.

He just needed to take the hostages and cross the lake.

Then Hansoo wouldn't be able to do anything then.

But if the hostages had no meaning then it would become a little bit troublesome.

Since he would then need to look for an opening while fighting with the Ouroboros.

Of course the former was much more comfortable.

Since the latter meant that he would need to fight with the Ouroboros.

'Let's see.'

Miyamoto looked at Hansoo who seemed to have gotten interested in the fight in the distance.

............

'Hmm.'

Hansoo compared the two sides.

Though it was quite a distance away, it wasn't something that Hansoo, whose ability was amplified by the relics and could utilize the powers of the World Tree to a degree, could not see.

After looking around for a bit, both sides had quite an amount of familiar faces.

One side had Mihee and Sangjin.

The other side was familiar because of a different reason.

'…Dark Mad Lord?'

Hansoo clicked his tongue.

Since he knew what had happened.

'They revived him with the Cross huh.'

But Hansoo shook his head.

Since that wasn't the important part.

'There are too many familiar faces.'

Everyone who he had known once upon a time had gathered.

It didn't make any sense for all those guys to meet by a chance.

And they were all in life endangering situations.

'Some bastard collected them huh. It seems like they'll all die if I don't do anything.'

The attacking side was also attacking while throwing their lives on the line.

It seems like they were going to take in hostages and make him take care of the parasites.

They were trying in order to find his weakness but there were too many people who could be suspects.

It could be Miyamoto behind him, one of the Six Pillars or even one of the 12 Roots.

People who had the ability to go through the mirror at this moment but could not because of himself.

People who wanted to at least save their own body.

Hansoo sighed inwardly

'It's quite a chaotic situation.'

He was the only person who wanted to kill the Ouroboros.

The others were trying their best in order to find a hole they can escape through.

'They're probably doing so because they think that they can escape.'

It seemed like him having closed off the exit with the parasites didn't quite seem closed off to them.

They were now coming out too directly.

They think that that'll be that if they didn't get caught but it wasn't like that in Hansoo's situation.

'I do understand.'

The only people who lived were those at the Purple Zone.

Since everyone weaker than that had been wiped off.

So even if these people went up from here, they could only live for about 5 more years.

But he understood their actions since they didn't know those facts.

And they might still try to escape even if they knew.

They might die right away in the fight against the Ouroboros and the parasites but if they escape then they might be able to live another 3 or 4 more years.

About a billion people here would die off but what did that matter in their perspective.

'But this is it.'

He hadn't entirely closed the Mirror just in case he also failed.

Since he wouldn't be able to open the dimensional door until he completely recovers the World Tree.

And he thought that would be enough but apparently not for the others.

They were constantly trying to grasp ahold of his ankles.

'There's nothing I can do since you and I think differently.'

If those guys and Miyamoto actually do succeed in escaping then even he wouldn't be able to kill the Ouroboros.

They could only clash since their goals were different.

Hansoo started to organize the five relics around his body.

Kiiiing.

The Mana code within the relics started to move onto Hansoo.

The cross which symbolized the Administrator on Hansoo's forehead started to shine.

Hansoo then put his hand on the World Tree and then spoke to Miyamoto.

"Miyamoto. Could you send a message? To the others?"

"What?"

"There won't be a solution if we don't kill other things other than the Ouroboros at this time."

"…What are you trying to do?"

Miyamoto spoke with uneasiness while looking at the cross symbol shining on Hansoo's forehead.

Hansoo smiled as he heard Miyamoto's answer and spoke.

"Just because. I feel as if there's a need for us to become closer."

Hansoo finished his thoughts and then sent an order down the World Tree.

The mana code which flared down the World Tree reached a very deep location beneath the lake.

The location where the mana which turned the Lake into the Dimensional Portal once a month gathered.

And soon the mana within that place shattered as it dispersed.

Now that Mirror wouldn't be able to turn into the MIrror.

Not until the World Tree was completely recovered.

'But this isn't enough.'

Why would they believe him if he just said that the door was closed.

There was a need for the people to realize it a bit more clearly.

The current situation that is.

Hansoo sent down an extra order.

And soon a change occurred.

.............

'They fight well.'

He had thought that these guys would get swept off in an instant but they were holding on quite well.

Jukma made an amused expression as he looked at the newcomers fighting valiantly in the distance.

Watching a fight was always interesting but the best thing out of those was watching newbies fighting each other.

These fights seemed rather cute after the battle he had seen between Hansoo and the strange Demonic thing.

'There's a few that stand out even there. Shall I try to rope them in if they survive.'

Jukma checked out a few people.

It didn't matter what they had.

They could just give things to them.

The important part was how much of the thing they had could they push out to the limit and use.

That was talent.

'There probably isn't anyone like Hansoo but… There's nothing bad about roping them in'

There wasn't a need for all of them to die.

Since the important thing was checking to see if Hansoo reacted in times of danger.

Kugugugugu

"What is it?"

Jukma, who had been looking at Miyamoto and Hansoo's reactions up above frowned at the sudden vibration.

'Is the Ouroboros moving?'

That was the only possibility for a vibration of this level.

Jukma quickly looked at the middle of the Lake where the tail of the Ouroboros was stuck onto.

He then doubted his senses that he had never done before until now.

Since a scene that definitely could not happen was happening.

Chuuuuruk

The volume of the lake was viciously decreasing.

The bottom of the Lake, which was filled with parasites, cracked apart as the waters that filled up the lake drained out.

The parasites were shocked at the ground suddenly getting cracked and were dodging here and there.

There was only 1 thing that came up in this head.

'What just happened?'

Many thoughts clashed with each other in Jukma's head.

'Why did this suddenly happen? Could we still get out even if the lake dried out? The tunnel might open in a different way…'

But the worst situation slowly started to get drawn up in Jukma's head.

And a red carrier pigeon flew towards that Jukma.

'Miyamoto's carrier pigeon.'

The red carrier pigeon, which was usually laid back as if it was depicting Miyamoto's psyche, rushed towards them.

No, it didn't only come to Jukma.

The red carrier pigeons were flying towards the other five pillars and 12 roots in the distance as well.

He would've applauded Miyamoto's ability to control the red carrier pigeon which was harder to handle than the blue ones but the message within the carrier pigeon filled his head with rage instantly.

"This crazy bastard…"

............…

'They're coming.'

Hansoo saw the enraged clansmen flying towards him from afar and moved his head.

And below Hansoo's feet, Miyamoto was holding onto his stomach and gasping for air.

"Kuha… What have you done…"

A monkey would've known as well.

As for why the lake below had dried out.

They realized another thing at the same time.

That all the safe escape routes had disappeared now.

Miyamoto's sanity froze up at that moment.

He didn't worry that much despite the exit being closed up with the parasites.

Others might not be able to get out but he thought that he would at least be able to get out.

But the story changed if this happened.

He really needed to fight with this life on the line.

Miyamoto, whose fort which he had guarded for 20 years had fallen down, couldn't maintain his mask anymore and then charged towards Hansoo.

And this was the result.

'Well. He probably thought that there wasn't a need to maintain it anymore too.'

Hansoo mumbled as he looked at Miyamoto.

If he didn't have the relics then he wouldn't be able to beat Miyamoto.

Nurmaha's ring, Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement and Thousand Army Soldiers were amazing artifacts but there was a limit to closing the 20 year gap with those things.

The problem was that he had the relics.

While Hansoo was looking at Miyamoto who had charged at him and had gotten beaten up, hundreds of clansmen had flown into his location.

Everyone were important people from the Six Pillars and the Twelve Roots.

The clansmen who had rushed up with rage, flinched as they saw Miyamoto laid out on the ground.

Since there wasn't anyone who didn't know the face of the Seven Departed Souls who had acted as the king in this place for 20 years.

Miyamoto, who stumbled up, looked at Hansoo and shouted.

"You crazy bastard… What are you thinking. You. Don't you know that you'll get stabbed in the back if you act like a tyrant?"

No matter how strong they were, it was better to make as least amount of enemies as they can.

People who were pushed down under from strength will always look for opportunities.

He didn't know what would happen from now on no matter how strong he was but for him to come out like this.

Hansoo made an amused expression as he spoke.

"You can calculate that after we finish. The important thing is that now you guys need me in order to live and go up from here. It's a win-win since I need you too right?"

"…"

"And I don't know who of the 18 friends it is but you should stop the thing going on below. It's a nuisance."

This was the Maginot Line*.

It was better to use a different method if they continue to grab onto his ankles.

Even if he were to organize the people in front of them.

'I should visit Sangjin.'

While Hansoo was thinking of these things, Miyamoto grinded his teeth inwardly.

'That relic. If only I can take those relics…'

Then that guy wouldn't even be his opponent.

No, he might even be able to revive the Dimensional Door.

Miyamoto stared at the five blindingly bright relics shining around Hansoo's body.

Chapter 87 – Ouroboros (3)

Jubuk

"It's been a while."

Sangjin, who was treating his wounds because of the battle he had during the day, flinched at the sudden voice which came from behind.

A voice which familiar and caused his mind to become chaotic recently.

"It's been a while. Hansoo."

Sangjin turned around and then spoke.

He had heard the voice after a very long time but a burdensome mind came up instead of a welcoming mind.

He wasn't curious as to how he had gotten to this place.

Since he probably came in with a method that he couldn't even fathom.

The gap between him and Hansoo had been increased that much.

"Have you been well?"

Sangjin shook his head at Hansoo's words and then spoke.

"There's something I want to ask."

"Hmm?"

"Do you really need me?"

He knew that Hansoo needed him.

But it wasn't him that he needed but rather somebody who fit his role.

He could be replaced with anybody at any time.

To stronger and more talented people.

He could even take one of the Seven Departed Souls.

Hansoo shook his head at those words.

Strength wasn't the important part.

Since he could just give that to him.

What he needed was somebody he could trust.

"I came here because of that."

"…?"

Sangjin squinted his eyes.

Hansoo looked at that Sangjin and spoke.

"It didn't matter if your mind changed up until this point and left. Since it's quite a burdensome job."

"…"

"There was a few things I've given you but it can't even be compared to the thing you have done for me. I thank you for that."

This person was somebody who would help Hansoo's work.

He had to be thankful.

Since it wasn't easy to clean up somebody's behind in a world where it was hard to even take care of themselves no matter how much strength they gave them.

Hansoo continued to speak.

"But the things I will give you from now on are different. If you take these things and change your mind then… I will need to chase you down no matter where you go and retrieve these things."

Retrieve.

He didn't know whether if the things Hansoo will give him were skills or artifacts.

But by the way he talked the method of retrieval was probably set already.

"This is the crossroad. I will respect your choice."

Sangjin gulped while looking at Hansoo's eyes that was turning heavier.

............

Guuuuuuuu

A few people were climbing up the World Tree that the Ouroboros coiled around.

Exactly 8.

Hansoo and the Seven Departed Souls quickly headed towards the set location.

Carefully since the parasites might disturb them from cutting up the nerves if they find out.

Thankfully those guys were distracted from the swarming food below so they weren't paying much attention to them.

Hansoo touched the small earring on his ear and shook his head.

'He should've given it to me much earlier if he had something like this.'

.

An earring which had the skill that allowed one to send blue and red carrier pigeons saved within.

It wasn't an object that was easy to acquire but of course the Six Pillars would have something like this.

They, who didn't give it to him before the Mirror was closed off, handed over the earring to Hansoo after their escape routes were blocked off.

'They're asking me to fight more fervently huh.'

Hansoo, who had concluded his thoughts of the Six Pillars below, spoke towards Miyamoto who was climbing the World Tree's wall next to him.

"Don't make such an expression."

Hansoo looked at Miyamoto next to him who had an extremely dissatisfied expression as he spoke.

Miyamoto's expression didn't change as he spoke.

"How could you say such things when you forcibly pushed me into a fight?"

As if he gave up on maintaining his mask, Miyamoto replied bluntly.

Since he understood that he had to fight no matter what after this had happened.

'Damnit. I charged in without thinking.'

His true self could not hold onto his rage and had shown itself.

'No, he might've known already.'

The words Hansoo had told him before.

Asking if he didn't want to fight.

He had exploded from Hansoo's attitude which told him that he knew something and having his escape route blocked off.

Since the fact that he was playing around on his hand enraged him so much.

But he didn't give up.

'Yeah. Since this had happened already…'

He just wanted to open the Dimensional Door at the beginning but this thoughts slowly changed.

If he were to go up with that strength then he will become a huge help in the upper zones.

And because of this he needed the relics.

And this battle with the Ouroboros might become that change.

'I should also take care of those things other than the Relics before I go up.'

A secret that nobody knew except him.

'Oh those guys are exempt.'

MIyamoto then thought of the conversation he had with the owners of the other Pillars.

No matter how strong he was he couldn't block this place by himself.

And Miyamoto hated this as well.

He couldn't be stuck here forever.

So he needed people who were useful enough to fit his role while he was gone.

Those who could maintain the Akuma's seal.

And he also needed things to make those guys useful.

Everyone including Eres nodded.

They had seen newcomers coming in every year while roaming around the World Tree Mountain Range.

And seen the numbers steadily rising.

They needed to faithfully maintain the Akuma's seal for those people and their possible family who might come mixed in with those people.

But they didn't just go over this.

The first patriarch of the Triple Lights Union, Pao Ren.

His trait was .

A promise would be made when both sides agree.

Then both sides had to keep that promise.

The penalties would differ depending on the level.

If the levels were harsh then the side which broke the promise might even lose their life.

A trait which could only be used if one had absolute faith in their strength.

If they were weaker than the enemy then this trait would instead become poison.

'Damnit. If I break it then I'll just die.'

He knew without even seeing it.

A formless chain which tied down his heart.

It might've been different in the past but his heart will get crushed if he broke the promise now.

The promise back then were two things.

A welcoming noise on Miyamoto's terms.

There was no reason to disagree.

Since his current goal was peace and not growth.

'Though a situation which I can't handle anymore had occurred. Damnit.'

And second.

<…>

Of course it didn't matter.

'Dumbass.'

That guy had probably set up such limitations in order to maintain the balance and to keep him from taking those things and becoming a king of the Red Zone and messing it up.

Since the things that guy had left behind were that mighty.

Why would they leave behind weak items when his job was protecting their family.

But they didn't know that he had another trait.

A trait which he had hidden from everyone.

He could transfer memories, information, skills, traits and battle experience as much as the user wanted to other people.

To a maximum of seven people.

This was why the other Six Departed Souls could use high level skills that were hard to obtain freely.

Since the other six could use them if he had them.

It was many times more efficient even at a glance.

'And another thing that I never told anyone.'

A secret which he hadn't told the Six Departed Souls.

If the difference in levels is quite large then he would be able to even control them.

Where could someone eat a free meal in this world?

The Six Departed Souls received high level battle abilities from Miyamoto's soul fragment but he could somewhat control their bodies with the trait he had if he wanted.

So they were called Seven Departed Souls as a bundle but there was a clear difference between Miyamoto and the other six.

Since the other six were slaves if Miyamoto was the owner.

Miyamoto brought in the people who seemed quite talented with the Fragments of Seven Souls and raised them with the skill runes or artifacts that Eres, Keldian, Pao Ren or Kangtae had left behind.

To the point where they can control the Akuma's seal but couldn't resist his own control.

If they get to the point where they can deny his control then that alone will be a threat to them.

Miyamoto, who followed the idea of safety first, could not stand having a single hint of threat.

And another thing.

The skills and artifacts that may become a threat to him that the owners of the Pillars had left behind were all given to one person and hidden.

To the person who had received the final fragment.

'I didn't break the promise.'

He didn't use them.

And he had given them to the people who were helping him maintain the seal.

Except he had just turned them to the point where they won't be a threat to him.

At first he had thought that he could control them so he tried to raise them with the Soul Fragment.

If they steadily grew up then they would've reached a level where they'll be able to deny his control.

If he couldn't use it then others couldn't use it as well.

Miyamoto, who had organized his thoughts, looked at Hansoo and bluntly spoke out.

"Let's start. Don't drag it out. I want to finish this damnable job as quick as possible."

They needed to quickly start in order to quickly finish.

'There's no need for me to take the risk.'

In a bad case he would look for a chance even by calling the other Departed Souls and using them as suicide soldiers with this second trait.

Since something like that was possible even if controlling them for a long time was hard.

Hansoo stared at that Miyamoto and then spoke out.

"Let's go out. Follow the plan."

They would cut out the nerves from 1st to 4th and from 9th to 12th.

Then they would regroup between the 5th and the 8th vertebras and prepare for battle.

Even if they cut it, the area around the cut nerve would not freeze up.

It would only become slow and weaker.

But if one accounted for its huge body then that was still threatening.

Soon everyone dispersed as they started to fall towards the body of the Ouroboros at an extreme speed.

.........…

Kugugugugugu

A bright beam of light rose up from the top of the Ouroboros in the distance.

From 8 locations at the same time.

Kuuuuuung!

At the same time the World Tree shook while making crushing noises.

To be exact it wasn't the World Tree but the Ouroboros which coiled around the World Tree tightened its bind.

It probably just felt like being poked with a needle with its size but getting poked by a needle would still hurt.

It even pulled out its head that was drinking the toxic waters from the pain it had not felt in a really long time as it started to twist around its body.

"Damnit! Evacuate in between the World Tree Roots! Evacuate!"

"Uaak! Parasites are falling down from the sky."

As the Ouroboros shook his body, the Parasites were falling from the sky like rain.

They had made the area of battle smaller and lead the battle but that was now impossible.

No, they would just get shredded apart if they were to even get touched by the tail of the Ouroboros while maintain the formation.

It was now individual fights.

They had to now hide in between the roots and fight the parasites.

Jukma grinded his teeth as he saw this.

'Damnit. This is the start.'

He had thought of a way to escape no matter what until now but that was now impossible.

And he was enraged even more at that.

At the current situation that was being shaken back and forth by a single person.

And he had to pretend to feel happy and supportive of Hansoo's actions.

'This is really frustrating.'

Jukma pondered for a moment.

Hansoo had told him to stop his works so he had stopped.

But he did that because he cared about these guys somewhat.

'I should go vent out my anger.'

All his surroundings had gotten chaotic from the parasites and the Ouroboros.

Basically a cataclysm.

Which means this was the perfect time to land a blow on him.

It wasn't weird for a few people to die off in a chaotic situation like this.

There's no reason for evidence to be left behind either.

'Let's see your expression after this all ends.'

Jukma laughed coldly as he started to send messages towards a location.

...............…..

Sangjin drooled as he arrived at the destination deep within the World Tree

'How did he find such a place like this…'

In this destination there were treasures that Hansoo had spoken of.

Rare artifacts and amazing skill runes that anybody could tell were rare from a single glance.

And Sangjin slightly frowned at the female who had those things equipped on her.

'Who did such a thing…'

An unconscious female who had three limbs cut off and was barely being kept alive with a tube with nutritional fluids through stuck in her mouth.

Sangjin gulped at the sight of the female who had extremely fancy artifacts on her body and had numerous skill runes on her single arm left which made her look even more pitiful.

Chapter 88 – Ouroboros (4)

Hansoo started to pull out the energy from within his body atop of the giant scales.

The scales beneath his feet were clashing around like waves as they smashed Hansoo's ankles like blades.

'…Damnit. Faster.'

Hansoo, who had withstood the Ouroboros' attacks with the formless armor of the relic and the Thousand Soldiers Armor clenched his teeth and then smashed down towards the scale beneath his feet with huge amounts of energy.

Boooooom!

The attack Hansoo let out smashed apart the scales and then ruthlessly ripped apart the inner flesh.

Chiiiik

The nerve which had appeared between its spines was the size of a large lake but it could not handle the powerful energy Hansoo was letting out.

As the giant nerve started to burn up, it started to smash its body towards the World Tree as if it was getting enraged.

In order to smash the bugs on its body.

Booom!

As its body smashed onto the World Tree, a force which felt like a meteor smashed onto its body.

'Kuuh.'

The parasites on its body started to madly fall down onto the ground.

The force which was smashing his whole body made him think of the already made decision.

'Should I have taken them instead.'

Hansoo then thought of the things that Sangjin had probably eaten by now.

The others didn't know but Hansoo knew that Miyamoto had the Fragments of Seven Souls as a trait.

Since the trait's victim, Sofía Vargera, told him after she came up.

Sofía Vargera.

One of the Seven Departed Souls.

And the person who had found the last hidden person in despair.

Sofía found Miyamoto's treasure vault and then figured out everything.

She then killed the lady who mustered up a small amount of remaining strength to beg her to kill her, took everything, smashed apart the control of Miyamoto and climbed up.

Gangtae, who had heard this story, grinded his teeth as he spoke:

He knew of the location of Miyamoto's treasure vault because of this.

Objects that the strong people who had the ability to raise the Six Pillars left behind while asking him to protect their family.

And objects that Miyamoto had considered the most dangerous and had hidden away separately.

Of course their worth was amazing.

Since it had risen Sofía, who was talented but late, all the way up into the Final Brigade.

Objects that were hard to get even up above since they were growing ones.

And one of them was very outstanding out of these items.

Kangtae surprisingly obtained a solo numbering skill while roaming around the Tutorial and the Red Zone.

Hansoo who was thinking of that skill looked in between the Roots which had turned into chaos.

.........…..

Hoooong

Keil Ross, one of the clansmen of Hecarim thought of the orders he had received.

The work itself was easy.

Since 15 Tracking Teams had been sent out in order to kill off a few newcomers.

But the environment was the problem.

'Damnit. What am I doing when keeping my own life is hard enough.'

Keil, who was searching for the targets on his own, frowned as he saw the parasites falling from the sky.

'This won't do. I should at least have some fun when I find them instead of just killing them off.'

Apparently the asian girl called Mihee was famous for being pretty.

If they were a newcomer then the special toxicity of the otherworld shouldn't have seeped in yet either.

It will be fun playing around with her.

He found his target in the distance after running for a bit.

He then showed a conspicuous color.

'Huh? Did no one really find them yet?'

This wasn't his area so he thought that others had already found them and were enjoying them.

But the girl called Mihee was still running around the battlefield with a small group of people in order to find a way to live.

'My luck is really good.'

Right as Keil laughed and was about to run over, he felt a chill run down his back.

4 years since he had entered the Otherworld.

Keil knew, even without having a skill, that if he ignored this feeling then he will lose his neck.

Keil then froze his expression as he looked at the location where the aura came from and not at Mihee.

He then laughed.

'Gosh. Did my perception rust quite a bit?'

He knew that fool over there quite well.

Since that guy was part of his targets this time.

'Was he called Sangjin?'

The guy who had a ragged cape around his body was glaring at him with a cold expression.

Keil, who had gotten so annoyed to the point where he didn't even want to open his mouth, pulled out a short sword, bit his pinkie to let out some blood and then started to write a character out.

He then threw it towards Sangjin.

The blood on the dagger drew out a strange symbol in the air.

The moment the strange dagger landed in front of Sangjin, a 2m wide black sphere appeared with Sangjin as the center.

It then compressed everything into a small dot.

Kushushushuk!

Keil made a satisfied expression at the area which head been destroyed.

'This is it.'

But Keil frowned.

Since something had flown over through the dust.

And Keil's alertness exploded as soon as he saw Sangjin.

He could only do so.

Everybody could only get cautious once they saw the artifacts strung around his body.

And even more so if they wouldn't even get scratched by his .

'Goddamnit!'

Keil urgently poured out skills as he backed off but he could not dodge it all as the tip of Sangjin's long sword cut him.

'Damnit. Where did this guy gain such artifacts… Anyways I need to prepare for more attacks…'

While Keil got flustered and prepared himself for his next set of attacks, he looked at Sangjin who wasn't chasing him anymore and then made a confused expression.

Why didn't he charge and attack him?

'So scrubs can only do so much huh.'

Keil laughed coldly.

He should've tried to get as much out of the surprise attack he had achieved but it seems that he didn't from fear.

Keil who was landing while laughing had his view tilting as he fell over.

To be precise, not the view but himself was falling sideways.

"Uh? Uhhuh?"

Keil, who had freaked out and then checked his body, made a expression of disbelief at this right leg which had rotted and was shriveling up.

'No way! It just barely scratched it!'

He then fell into despair at the purple mana reinforcement that was eating into his body.

He then realized it.

Why he had found the Mihee girl first.

It wasn't that he had found her first.

The people before him had met the same fate.

'Damnit…'

Kyle closed his eyes while looking at the sword flying towards his neck.

..............

'To leave behind such a thing…'

Hansoo mumbled as he thought of the skill Kangtae had left behind.

Actually Miyamoto's rewards were a bit awkward for him.

Since they didn't have much meaning to him who was using the relics.

And the skills were very high quality but not quite good enough for him who could only fill up seven.

But one thing, that thing was different.

.

A solo numbering skill which allowed one to raise the people whom they had killed as spectres during the night and use the skill during the day.

The solo numbering was something that was determined after it had grown to the purple stage.

So Kangtae wouldn't have known how good of a skill it would be at the Red Zone level,

No, he had actually gained other artifacts and skills so easily so he felt that better skills than this would come out so he had just left behind the worst of the useful ones he had.

A skill which was created entirely from luck which couldn't be laughed at.

This skill was something that even he could not ignore.

But Hansoo shook his head.

'This isn't… Something I will use.'

It wasn't suitable for him to use because of its burden to use against humans.

No, in order to use this properly then they had to raise the people whom they had killed in large numbers.

Since the true might of this strength was shown at night.

If they could raise the dead during the day then the skill's ranking would've went up even more.

Anyways, they will be walking around and advertising that they were human killers.

'It'll be chaotic.'

And because of this, in the case he retrieved this he would need to give it to Enbi Arin who he was going to recruit as a Punisher in the Orange Zone or to somebody else.

Since the main goal of this place was the Five Calamities and since there was a higher chance of clashing with people up above.

But he had gained a punisher that was not part of his plan and he was doing quite well so it was better to use it now and raise him.

'If I raise him well starting from now then he'll be better than Enbi Arin. Anyways, I should do what I need to do.'

Kiiiing

The powerful energy in Hansoo's hand dug down into the nerve.

Like a giant lake evaporating from powerful flames, the mana wave that came out of Hansoo's hand melted down the nerves.

Kududududk

'It's done.'

As the 1st nerve that he had taken responsibility of melted down, Hansoo quickly launched a red carrier pigeon that signaled him having completed his objective.

Pudududuk

One carrier pigeon after another started to flow up from kilometers ahead.

Which meant that everyone had completed their objectives.

'Good.'

It was now way more dangerous.

Since they had to cross over the body of the Ouroboros which was raving crazily and burn down the final four nerves.

Booooom!

Hansoo looked at the giant body which was thrashing around as he hid between the scales.

A force which felt like being hit by a giant race of the Abyss hit Hansoo's body.

It would've been dangerous if he hadn't hidden quickly.

'As I expected… the force is the greatest since it's the most dangerous place.'

If they hadn't burned down the eight nerves at the same time then it would've been faster and more dangerous than this.

A much slower but still extremely formidable strength and speed.

'Quickly… we must burn down the remaining four.'

He wanted to dig into the inside but it would take a long time for him to get through the harder inner scale and the hundreds of meters of thick muscle.

The World Tree might even get destroyed by the thrashing Ouroboros.

'Never.'

Hansoo clenched his teeth and then dodged the scales which stood up in order to chop him apart as he started to quickly run in between those things.

.........….

'Hook. Hooook.'

Sofía, who had barely managed to burn down the nerve, clenched her teeth.

She had been sent to the safest location because she was the youngest.

If Hansoo's location was the end of the whip, the fastest part, then the location she was at was the start of the whip, the slowest part.

But her whole body still felt like it was getting smashed apart from the Ouroboros which was thrashing about.

'I need to borrow strength.'

Sofía used the soul fragment that Miyamoto had given her that she rarely used because of her pride.

Kiiiing

Suddenly eight different protective skills surrounded her body.

Sofía, who had checked her body which had gotten rather safe, thought of Hansoo in the distance as she make a bittersweet expression.

'Damnit. I would've gotten stronger if I went up too… I shouldn't have gotten entangled with Miyamoto back then.'

The one thing Sofía counted as both her strong and weak point.

She was extremely competitive.

She directly accepted Miyamoto's offer at the single word that she was able to get stronger but then as if the world was proving nothing was free, it became harder for her to go against Miyamoto's saying.

She managed to live with the pride that there was nobody who became as strong as her in 3 years but the newly appeared Hansoo lit the fire in her mind again.

'I… I can get stronger.'

But Sofía shook her head and then threw away these thoughts.

This wasn't the time to focus on such things.

They needed to kill the Ouroboros quickly.

Since she also wanted the least amount of people to die.

She wasn't dumb to the point where she would lose sight of her goals after getting swept up by her competitiveness.

Sofía clenched her teeth and then pushed the skills of the soul fragment Miyamoto had given her as she started to run.

The fragment of the soul slowly started to take over Sofía's body.

Chapter 89 – Ouroboros (5)

Hansoo frowned while looking at the thrashing Ouroboros.

Uduk. Udududuk.

As it thrashed around, the outer shell layer of the World Tree's Pillar area was being broken off without stopping.

Kuuuu

Hansoo clenched his teeth as he saw the fragments dropping down like meteors.

'I need to plan things out quickly.'

Hansoo stabilized his breath as he saw the Seven Departed Souls flying in from the distance.

The plan of pairing up to take down four of the nerves wouldn't work anymore.

Since the body's thrashing had gotten quite aggressive as well as the outer and inner scales were gathering up above the nerves like waves.

The eight of them needed to gather, block the bladelike scale waves from all around and at the same time combine their strength to burn down the nerve in one go and then continue to the next one.

Boooom!

Hansoo, who had thrown out Ekidrang's Relic, the Seven Star Marbles, in all directions in order to create footholds for the Seven Departed Souls, started to crazily Assault the scales charging towards them.

And the Seven Departed Souls flew in at a extreme speed around Hansoo.

...............….

Booom!

Miyamoto, who had used a skill to deflect the bladelike scale waves, checked over Hansoo who was crazily smashing down at the scales in the distance.

Not only Hansoo but the other Departed Souls were faithfully burning off the scales on the back of the Ouroboros and at the same time gnawing down on the nerves.

Catch their body on the marbles if the thrashing of the Ouroboros got intense and then go back down to attack, repeat process.

Miyamoto mumbled inwardly.

'He's amazing.'

They were throwing down attacks hundreds of meters apart from each other.

They had no leisure to look after each other since they were already busy enough dodging the storm like attacks of the Ouroboros.

But that guy was constantly resupplying the marbles and relics and helping them fight.

He was accomplishing a feat which was impossible without having the movements of all Seven Departed Souls who were hundreds of meters apart and the whip-like Ouroboros within his head and dissecting it.

They had already destroyed two nerves and were in the process of destroying the third.

If they smash this down then only one will remain.

Somebody else watching this might think that it's going well but Miyamoto's expression wasn't that good.

'Damnit.'

Miyamoto's plan was simple.

While Hansoo was busy fighting against the Ouroboros, use Sofía, who was the weakest and easiest member to control, to attack.

It was easier to catch Hansoo off guard since she had known him longer in comparison to the other Departed Souls.

Make him unable to battle, take the relics and then run away after opening the Dimensional Portal.

But Miyamoto's plan wasn't really working out very well.

'Why are there no open spots being created?'

He knew that Hansoo had his guard up against him

And because of this Miyamoto was attacking the nerve from as far away as possible from Hansoo.

So Hansoo would feel at ease.

At a distance where Hansoo wouldn't feel threatened even if he were to launch a sneak attack.

It wasn't that hard since the nerve itself was so big.

But Hansoo was constantly checking on Sofía and the other Six Departed Souls and moving around.

An open spot wasn't being created despite him smashing apart the giant scales and utilizing a huge amount of energy.

Miyamoto clenched his teeth.

At this rate they'll be able to kill the Ouroboros and he'll lose the chance to obtain the relic.

Of course somebody could ask something like this.

But Miyamoto knew.

That the army of the fifth calamity , located at the top side of the Pillar, existed.

Which meant that this wasn't the end.

'That bastard would probably want to kill that thing too.'

And he felt a huge amount of greed towards those relics.

A production of a small sun-like amount of mana.

He would be able to act like a king in the next stage with those things.

'If there aren't chances… I just need to make them.'

He was strangely keeping an eye on Sofía more.

He didn't know whether it was love, interest or just curiosity.

They hadn't seen each other long enough for such things to bud.

'Well. She is a bit pretty.'

It didn't matter which one of those above things it was.

The important part was that he was keeping an eye on it.

That was enough.

And according to the intel Jukma gave him, he took care of people that he fought with.

Miyamoto started to focus on the soul fragment.

............…..

Sofía caught her breath on top of the floating marbles and looked at Hansoo fighting in the distance.

'He's strangely paying more attention to me.'

His actions proved it even without words.

She could tell just from the precise controls of the marbles he had given to her.

That he was paying more attention to her.

At first her pride plummeted because she had thought that he was doing this because she was weaker than the other six but after observing for a while it seems like that wasn't the case.

Since the movements of the marbles told her that he had complete trust of her.

'It feels weird.'

Sofía, who had making a confused expression, shook off her thoughts and then started to focus.

Since she could just ask things she was curious about after.

Sway

Sofía, who was focusing in order to use her skill which she had the most pride in, was greatly shocked when suddenly her body refused to listen to her orders.

"…Uh?"

A feeling of her whole body's controls getting taken over.

She quickly looked at the other people just in case it was an attack from the Ouroboros but they didn't have anything wrong with them.

'Goddamnit… What is this!'

She tried her best in order to control herself but even her consciousness was fading as if it was making fun of that effort.

At that time the giant body of the Ouroboros flew in like a giant's arm towards Sofía.

Kuuuuuuu!

'God..Damnit…'

The marbles tried to get away with her body but it was fruitless.

Since the marbles were at most a help to her movements.

If Sofía didn't move herself then she wouldn't be able to get out of the attack range with just her body.

'I'm dying in such a vain… I wonder if there won't be pain.'

Sofía closed her eyes after mumbling in her almost disappeared conscious.

And in the final sight of Sofía, somebody rushing towards her could be seen.

............…

'This guy. To go this far. It'll be trouble if she dies!'

Hansoo grinded his teeth while rushing towards the falling Sofía in the distance.

Then he started to ponder.

'Shall I clean it up?'

Killing the Ouroboros was now possible even without Miyamoto.

And Miyamoto's hostility towards him was beyond his expectations.

'This lame bastard. You got rotten after 20 years of peace.'

He never expected that this guy would act like such a coward.

A person who had been acting like a King of the Red Zone for 20 years.

And the skills to match that.

He had thought that Miyamoto would show a look befitting that, and in fact didn't gain much harm from fighting the Ouroboros, but for him to go this far.

Hansoo's expression turned cold.

'Clean it up.'

At this rate it was more of a disturbance than help.

But he had to save Sofía first.

Hansoo stepped off the marbles at an extreme speed and then caught Sofía.

He then hugged her and then raised his mana reinforcement to the limit.

'It's too late to dodge!'

And the giant body of the Ouroboros smashed into them like a whip.

Booom!

'Kuhuk!'

Hansoo clenched his teeth at the force which made his whole body feel like it was getting smashed.

Hansoo's body, which had been hit like a baseball being hit by a bat, started to rush towards the ground at an extreme speed.

Hoooong

Ekidrang's marble rushed towards Hansoo very quickly.

Kigigigik

Hansoo used those marbles to reduce his speed in air and tried to catch his balance in air.

Since he will receive even more damage if he were to crash onto the ground like this.

At that moment the unconscious Sofía opened her eyes in Hansoo's embrace.

And then laughed while looking at Hansoo hugging him.

With a completely different eye than before.

Kiiiing

Sofía started up the again under Miyamoto's orders.

'Gullible bastard.'

It might be different from afar but if she were to attack from this distance then it'll end just like that.

And even more so if he had been hit by the Ouroboros.

But the moment Miyamoto tried to laugh with Sofía's face, a hand grasped Sofía's wrist.

Kiiing

And because of this the jade-colored marble that was being made inside Sofía's hand disappeared before it could even activate.

Miyamoto, who was controlling Sofía from the distance, spat out a sound at unconsciously at the sudden unexpected event.

"Uk?"

Miyamoto quickly tried to look at Hansoo but the sight of Sofía he was controlling started to quickly fade away.

'What… What just happened…'

Miyamoto made a flustered face after being disconnected.

At the same time a chill ran down his back.

'…No way.'

The reason why he had acted so drastically was in large part because he wasn't worried about getting caught.

Since he just could just blame it on Sofía.

How would Hansoo know that it was his doing?

But the danger he felt run down his back told him.

There was no way that a threatening feeling from the Ouroboros would come at this time.

'I've been caught.'

He didn't know how he found out or what the evidence was.

But the important fact was that Hansoo was now targeting him.

'Damnit. What do I do. What do I do…'

It felt like Hansoo would come rushing up from below at any moment.

He thought of controlling the other five Departed Souls and having a go at it but then he would need to get in danger.

Miyamoto made his decision in a short moment.

'Run away. Then look for a chance from the distance.'

There's no way that this crazy guy will slash down the sinless six Departed Souls.

He just needed to hide deep within the World Tree and then wait until everything finishes.

If he were to hide in this vast World Tree Mountain Range then how would that guy find him?

If that guy was planning to kill the Wasp Legion then he would be able to look for another chance with the Departed Souls.

'Damnit. This is miserable.'

But Miyamoto's theory was the same as always.

The one surviving is the stronger one.

Miyamoto pulled out his final card, the feather.

Not a fragment but a whole leaf.

He would be able to go anywhere with this.

Crumple

Soon Miyamoto's body got covered with a bright light and started to disappear.

...............…..

'Huh.'

Hansoo swirled his tongue around at the guy who used the feather when he merely just broke the trait with Nurmaha's Ring.

Maybe it was because he valued safety over anything but his ability to sense danger was beyond everyone else.

He was going to ignore it and look for a chance to clean up so he didn't show anything but that guy had decided to run as soon as things didn't work out according to his plan.

'You didn't spend 20 years in vain huh.'

Hansoo applauded Miyamoto as he ran away.

The way he ran was amazing as well.

An unstable World Tree leaf, , had a short teleportation range and the location was random also.

But from the light surrounding his body, it seemed like he had quite an intact leaf.

With that then he could probably run away to anywhere in the World Tree Mountain Range.

It seems like he was going to wait until the Dimensional Door opened in a safe place.

But there was something that guy didn't know.

That when you become the Administrator of the World Tree, it wasn't hard to find someone who had Miyamoto's level of power.

Which meant if he wanted to hide then he had to get to a place that even Hansoo had trouble getting to.

'I shall help you a bit. So your feather wouldn't go to waste.'

Hansoo lightly laughed and then started to raise up the relic's mana code.

Soon the cross on his forehead started to shine.

At those words the World Tree, which was the reason of the teleportation power, started to change the coordinates of the teleportation.

And soon Miyamoto's body disappeared within the light.

..............

Hoooong

Miyamoto looked at his surroundings after coming out from the light.

The place he had chosen to run away was the sanctuary he had created in the end of the World Tree just in case of an unexpected event.

But Miyamoto realized that something was wrong.

A cold wind blew past his face.

Only white clouds could be seen around him instead of the underground sanctuary.

'This is… Branch?'

Miyamoto spat out a puzzled sound after checking beneath his feet.

An extremely thick branch of the World Tree that felt like the ground.

But the problem wasn't that.

Bzzzzzzzzzz

Rapid beatings of wings.

And they weren't just coming from one location.

A loud noise was coming out from all around the clouds around him.

'Goddamnit… The Wasp Legion!'

A place where not even a Red Zone adventurer who came to the Branches for artifacts set their foot into.

Miyamoto's expression got covered in fear.

"Kuaaaaaak!"

And soon the huge wing-beating sounds started to resonate from around Miyamoto.

..........

'I'll come to take the things you have later.'

Hansoo coldly looked into the location in the sky and then jumped back into the Ouroboros.

Since there weren't any more disturbances, he just needed to smash one more Nerve.

'Anyways… Why is the clone controlling it like this?'

There's no way that this guy would stay quiet like this.

Hansoo stopped rushing in and gazed at the Skull of the Ouroboros where the clone would be.

Chapter 90 – Wasp Legion (1)

"…Uh?"

One of the Departed Souls, Baek Jongsang, freaked out as the countless skills on his body stopped working.

'What? Did something happen?'

There was no way Miyamoto had died.

Jongsang quickly looked towards Miyamoto who would be at the nerve in the distance.

And then squinted his eyes.

'…Not there? Did he really die? Huk!'

Jongsang clenched his teeth and dodged the tail which rushed towards him while he was thinking about other things.

'It's harder without the skills!'

The skills they had were also amazing.

But it was a system where all the core skills were owned and shared by Miyamoto.

And once all those skills disappeared the intensity of the battle suddenly multiplied by several fold.

'Damnit… We might die when the situation is like this.'

Jongsang clenched his teeth.

Since the situation was so dangerous even Miyamoto could die.

Since the strongest person after Miyamoto, himself, had been struggling like this.

But for a person who had been surviving for 20 years to disappear like this.

'…Something's amiss.'

The others didn't know but Jongsang, who had been the longest with Miyamoto, knew about him a bit more.

Miyamoto was a person who usually cared for his image but then would throw all of them as sacrifice in order to survive.

Only such a dangerous situation didn't exist and they were only on the same boat because he gave them strength but he was definitely not a good ally to have.

But for the person who was so focused on living to die this easily and quietly?

This was important.

Since if Miyamoto was killed by someone with evil intentions then they won't be able to get exempt from it either.

Since it couldn't be part of them so there was only 1 suspect.

Jongsang, who had been making a wondering expression, realized that this wasn't the time for that.

Since it looked like he would die at this moment if they didn't finish off the Ouroboros.

'Let's focus.'

They just needed to burn one more nerve after this.

It wasn't impossible even without Miyamoto.

'I'll find out… After.'

Jonsang madly rushed towards the Ouroboros after finishing his thoughts.

.............

Kududududu

Hansoo pulled out the Divine Stone Fragment from the heart of the Ouroboros.

Ooooong

'Three fragments now. The clone ran away huh.'

He ran towards the head as soon as he paralyzed the movements of the Ouroboros.

Just in case the clone was there.

But it had been a while since it had left.

'Did it go to the Wasp Legion?'

Wasp Legion.

The last of the Four Great Calamities.

Unlike the other calamities who showed off a humongous body along with a inner defensive system, this thing had a Queen and hundreds of thousands of soldier wasps protecting it.

It was a meager number in comparison to the parasites but each one's strength couldn't even be compared.

Since even the Ouroboros couldn't climb up because it feared that swarm.

'They're quite befitting as the gateway.'

There weren't any tricks that would work against the Wasp Legion's Queen.

Since it would instantly get rid of things that would become a threat to the Queen because of its cautiousness.

'This time it's really a face to face.'

He couldn't be bothered to fight hundreds of thousands of the Wasp Soldiers.

He had to aim for the Queen while others were busy fighting off the Wasps and kill it off instantly.

The battle power of the Queen was the same as Akuma and maybe even beyond that.

'At least this guy didn't fall off.'

The thrashing Ouroboros just froze up while tightly coiling around the World Tree as all its nerves were disconnected.

Though he had sent in the neurotoxin in order to prevent this from the start but he was scared that it would fall because the movements of it had been so vicious but thankfully such a thing didn't happen.

If this thing was left alone then it will slowly get absorbed by the World Tree and become the nutrients for it.

'Good.'

At that moment somebody walked towards Hansoo.

Baek Jongsang asked Hansoo immediately as soon as he barely caught his breath,.

"Anyways what are you going to do now? Are you… Trying to kill the final one too?"

Jongsang then looked into the army above in the sky.

The high branches couldn't be seen because they were covered by the clouds but people around the level of Departed souls and high levels within the Six Pillars knew.

As to what was hidden within the cloud.

'Since it wasn't just one or two who had been eaten after setting foot in there…'

The Wasps nibbled up the Branches and then brought it to the Queen.

The Queen would then swallow those sturdy branches and give birth to a new Wasp larvae.

The larvae created like this would be transferred to a nearby World Tree leaf nearby by a grown Wasp.

From that spot the larvae will receive the protection of the grown Wasp as it nibbled upon the World Tree leaf and grew up to become a new Wasp.

Of course the condensed area around the Queen and the larvae was a prohibited zone but there were always some people who were blinded by greed and ventured deep within.

If they get caught by a Wasp on the way in then they would instantly become food for the larvae.

These things didn't eat the leaves because they liked it.

They just couldn't come down because the other Calamities were down there.

They were only so because they grew up from leaves but if they absorb a human's traits then they would become a stronger Wasp.

'…That's even more dangerous.'

Jongsang mumbled quietly.

Since the Ouroboros was scary but that thing was even more so.

Unlike the Ouroboros who waited for them while it sucked on the toxic waters, that thing was extremely direct in trying to multiply the swarm and was very offensive.

Since it was more befitting to call them a race if the calamities until now could be called single organisms.

But thankfully they didn't come down from the branches.

Since they were the favorite snacks of the Ouroboros even though they were dangerous.

If they fly up then the Ouroboros would just simply stretch its long body and chew them up.

'Wait…'

Jongsang thought up to that point and quickly looked into the sky.

Then what would the Wasp Legion who hadn't come down until now do?

Jongsang realized that his worry was a foreshadowing after watching the sky for a while.

'It's too quiet.'

Hansoo laughed as he looked at that Jongsang.

"There's no way those guys would act that rashly when they need to protect the Queen."

From the Queen's perspective it was good that her enemies had died off one by one but on the other hand it could've been dangerous for it too.

There was no way the Wasp Legion would act rashly when they needed to protect the Queen in such a situation.

'I should still hurry the preparations.'

He didn't know what tricks the clone had up his sleeves but he needed to do what he had to.

When Hansoo tried to quickly run down the World Tree in order to organize the situation below, Jongsang opened up and spoke the question that's been stuck in his mouth after some pondering.

"Did Miyamoto die? What happened?"

They were too busy because they were trying to keep themselves alive so they couldn't pay attention to Miyamoto in the distance but Hansoo had the whole battlefield within his sight.

He would know exactly what had happened.

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders at those words.

"He went somewhere with the Feather."

"…"

"It seems like he fell in danger while I was saving Sofía and wasn't paying attention but… Don't worry. Since it looked like he ran away safely using the Feather he will probably rejoin us soon. Anyways is the reason for all of you losing all your skills while fighting related to this?"

"…"

'It's quite logical…'

Jongsang himself didn't know all the functions of the Fragment of a Soul which he had received.

There was a possibility of the skill's sharing being disconnected when a teleportation occurred or they got too far from each other.

He might even send them a message with his life intact.

And according to Sofía's words Hansoo had actually saved her from dying.

Since there was no reason for him to save Sofía if he was going to clean them all up.

There weren't any faults with Hansoo's words but the back of the head of Jongsang, who had been living in Red Zone for over 15 years, itched.

Jonsang backed off after completing his thoughts.

"Okay. let's go down first."

'…I need to talk to the other guys. Including the Six Pillars.'

Jongsang looked at Hansoo with a slight uncertainty and then followed behind him downwards.

............….

Tekilon made a bitter expression as he saw the giant body of the Ouroboros which could be seen from between the branches.

He knew as soon as the poison-like foreign object came into the body of the Ouroboros.

That he would soon invade.

But there wasn't anything he could do.

Since he hadn't gained the power of the king yet.

It had already been a long time since Tekilon finished his pondering and came up.

Instead of sticking by the thing he couldn't control, it was better to gain control of the thing that lived in the branches.

It would be good if that guy died whilst fighting the Ouroboros and he could just finish him off if he didn't.

And that work wasn't working out very well.

Bzzzzzzz

Tekilon looked at the giant hornet-shaped Queen in front of him.

Larvae that would become Wasp Soldiers were constantly being created from the lower abdomen of the Queen.

Even more so than usual.

'Hooh. Nothing is easy.'

It was very frustrating to have his ankles caught up in such a place when he didn't even know the status of his Race.

Tekilon thought of an event of the past while focusing on his work and sighing.

The dried up trunk of the World Tree.

Skeletal Branches.

Destroyed Roots.

It wasn't like this when the Elvenheims existed and the World Tree was normal.

The branches and the leaves which covered the sky supplied all Elvenheims with teleportations.

The fruit of the World Tree which stimulated the growth hormone surprisingly shortened the 100 years of time it required an Elvenheim to reach adulthood to 5 years.

The tree had sucked up the Toxic Waters and created the land for the Elvenheim to live and supplied the endless Nutritional Fluid to eat.

The population which always stayed low due to the extremely long growth period and the low fertility rate even with the Magical Engineering Technology exploded within the 100 years after the World Tree was created.

'This is why… I have to obtain this World Tree.'

Then he needed to call his race to this side.

If his race, which was close to extinction, wanted to return to the days of the past then the World Tree was a necessity.

Since the basis of the strength of a race was their numbers in the end.

This is why he hadn't killed the World Tree after he created the Calamities.

Since he had to revive it again.

'I need the relics you have.'

At the same time he needed to kill the other races beneath.

'There's only one race that can receive the protection of the World Tree.'

Living together was impossible.

Once a race started receiving the protection of the World Tree then all other races will be treated as foreign objects and get thrown out into the void by the World Tree.

This is the reason why he had wiped off the Elvenheims.

Since their race could not receive the protection if the Elvenheims existed.

And it was the same for the ones below.

'Thinking about it. The thing I tried to completely suppress was greed.'

His goal was the relics.

Which meant that he didn't really need to completely control the Calamities.

Since he just needed to kill that guy and get the race below extinct.

And because of this Tekilon was not currently trying to suppress his greed of wanting to rule.

Rather he was stimulating his greed even more and was focusing on fanning it.

If the Ouroboros was an organism that focused on eating, this one was for breeding.

The huge amounts of larvae that constantly popped out proved this.

'Good.'

In normal circumstances he would've never created this many larvae no matter how greedy he was.

Since the World Tree's leaves were way too scarce to feed all these larvae.

But wasn't there an amazing source of food?

'Ouroboros. I need you to help me in a slightly different way now.'

The larvae followed the Queen's orders and burrowed into the Branches.

And then got onto the Exterior which supplied the Nutritional Fluid and started to swim somewhere.

Chururururk

The harsh flow of the Nutritional fluid rushed towards the larvae but it was still the larvae of a Wasp Soldier.

There was nothing to say about its sturdiness and strength.

But the larvae that were heading towards the Pillar immediately stuck onto the walls of the Exterior as a strange scent could be detected.

The scent of a predator.

But it was now a dead predator.

It would now just be meat that would become nutrition for them.

The larvae dug out of the Exterior and then landed on the corpse of the giant snake coiled around the World Tree.

And the tens of thousands of larvae that had arrived started to devour the giant body of the Ouroboros.

The Larvae were thrilled.

The genes of an extremely strong and vicious existence that couldn't even be compared to the soft leaves.

The larvae prepared to become a new existence as they ate up the meat that was filled with those genes and the nutrition.

Chapter 91 – Wasp Legion (2)

Kuuuuuu

Jukma sighed in relief as he saw the movements of the Ouroboros stopping from below.

'Thank god. He succeeded.'

He didn't like that Hansoo guy but then all of them would die they if they couldn't kill that thing.

'It's a mess. The tracker teams aren't in contact as well… Did they get killed by the parasites?'

Jukma clicked his tongue.

Since he couldn't prevent the chances of such things happening because it was such a mess.

At that moment he could see people crawling up the World Tree's trunk.

There were a few individual adventurers but the clansmen of the other Five Pillars or the Twelve Roots could be seen as well.

'Are those guys trying to crawl into the body of the Ouroboros?'

The people who had been fighting all around were cautiously crawling into the body of the Ouroboros through the trunk.

Since it wasn't that hard to crawl into the body of the dead Ouroboros.

Jukma grinded his teeth while looking at that scene.

'Oh yeah. Relics.'

Jukma looked at the five gears hanging around his body.

Such objects had come out when they had only killed two.

There wasn't any guarantee that there won't be anything inside the Ouroboros.

Hadn't they obtained the Forgotten Sword in the stomach of the Calamity Fish?

'…I made a blunder. I should've moved before those guys went up first.'

No one knew what was inside it.

Whoever took it first was the owner.

There was nothing to lose even if nothing was there.

Since it was a no-risk.

The parasites died out as the Ouroboros stopped moving and the Ouroboros was now just a huge decor.

'I have to move before the Wasp Legion moves out.'

The Queen of the Wasp Legion would become frantic in order to increase its power and search around for food.

Since there were more than a few people who had seen the people who had gone up to the Branches and flying around after becoming one of the Wasps.

Why would such things miss such a food source like the Ouroboros?

They haven't sent the larvae yet because they were checking out the situation but once they do then they'll send swarms of larvae.

Then the insides of the Ouroboros will get filled up with those vicious things.

'I need to move quickly.'

Jukma hurriedly started to send his clansmen inside the Ouroboros.

............

'Hmm… He managed the situation well.'

Hansoo nodded after reading the carrier pigeon which had come from Sangjin.

There were things that had happened to Sangjin so far until now inside it.

'He got much stronger. Though he's not at the level of a Departed Soul…'

With the role Sangjin has, his runes will increase extremely fast.

'The stronger the comrade the better.'

Hansoo stopped walking due to a strange sensation while descending down upon the Ouroboros.

A strange movement inside the Ouroboros.

'Wasp Soldier's larvae.'

Hansoo frowned slightly

'It's faster than I expected.'

He expected the Clone to go to the Wasp Legion.

But from the speed of how fast the larvae were spread, it seems like he had given up on the Ouroboros quite quickly.

'And… With that many larvae.'

That guy would need to suppress his greed if he wanted to control it.

If he tried to control the guy who was focused on breeding then there was no way that many larvae would come out.

Which meant that he had completely given up on controlling it.

But Hansoo still nodded.

'It's alright so far.'

Since the battle depended on whether he was able to cut off the Queen's neck or not.

Actually it was better to go up and kill off the Queen while those things, who couldn't come down due to the Ouroboros, were focused on the corpse of the Ouroboros and not humans.

'It's better to win with the least amount of casualties.'

But Hansoo squinted his eyes at the people crawling into the body of the Ouroboros

............…

Voices resonated throughout the giant corpse of the Ouroboros.

"Hey. Look closer. How would there not be any rewards when such a big thing like this died?"

"Ugh. Hansoo and the others would've taken them all. Those Departed Souls."

Einkel shook his head as he looked at Ren who was pushing him.

He understood that guy's intentions but logically speaking there won't be any useful things left behind.

The eight who had killed this thing would've shared it with each other.

Ren shouted out abruptly.

"You bastard. There's going to be the artifacts of the ones whom this guy had swallowed. As well as the Relics.'

"Ugh."

Einkel shook his head.'

'Well. There's a possibility of that being true.'

Which was the reason why they were searching throughout the stomach of the Ouroboros.

If those of Large clans find this first then there won't even be a drop left.

While Einkel was about to proceed forward, a noise resonated from deep within the flesh of the Ouroboros.

Kurururk

"Huh?"

Einkel put his ear up to the petrified flesh of the Ouroboros as soon as he heard a strange sound.

He then frowned.

Sagak Sagak

A sound of something being gnawed.

Einkel activated a skill.

Kiiing

The vibration which went through the flesh turned into a shape and then created a virtual image inside Einkel's head.

He then freaked out.

'Wasp?'

A larvae of a familiar form was gnawing upon the corpse of the Ouroboros.

'Damnit. Why are these guys here!'

Why were the things that were at the Branch over here.

Einkel focused everything onto the larvae over the flesh wall and then quickly shouted behind him.

"Ren! We have to get out!"

They needed to get out and spread this news.

There was one Ouroboros but there were hundreds of thousands of these things.

Even if Hansoo and the Seven Departed Souls fought in the front there was no way for them to charge through.

And eating a few humans made them much stronger than normal Wasp Soldiers.

They couldn't even imagine what they would become once they grew by eating up the Ouroboros.

"Ren! Ren! Why aren't you responding!"

Eiken's body froze as he turned around while shouting.

Since Ren, who was proceeding in the front, was being eaten by something.

Udududk. Kudududk.

"Goddamnit…"

Einkel spat out curses as he looked at Ren who was having his neck pulled off.

And around Einkel, something with a lower body of a snake and an upper body of a Wasp Soldier was approaching him.

'Goddamnit…'

Einkel's consciousness was cut off with that.

<….>

And the Wasps just quietly ate up that corpse.

They hadn't completed their growth yet.

As they ate the human corpse, their body which still had room for change started to slowly change while making noises.

Two human-like arms popped out from the upper part of the bee.

At the same time there was a change at its head which was a strange combination of a snake and bee.

Kiiik

The Wasp Soldier, which had absorbed the human body, started to ponder.

The body of the predator it had eaten was amazing.

But two were better than one and three were better than two.

Since a wide variety of collections gave them the possibility.

Mixing the genes of their predator to theirs was amazing by itself but when they added another it gave a much better result.

The Wasp Soldier sent a message and asked the Queen.

As to whether it should keep eating what it had.

Or leave the corpse and eat the living ones below for more possibilities.

The Queen then gave the order.

.............

'…We poked a wasp's hive.'

The people of the Six Pillars who were gathered all frowned.

Reports were being made to them constantly.

That the ones who had been eating the corpse of the Ouroboros were now preparing to go down.

Once they collect enough numbers then they'll probably rush down.

But there were things they wanted to say.

'Damnit. It doesn't make sense.'

It was too fast.

Even if it was the Wasp Legion it wouldn't try to increase its power this fast.

Hansoo shook his head while looking at these guys.

These guys would see even more casualties now.

It was a well-deserved punishment but they couldn't just watch and take it.

Hansoo spoke as he looked at them.

"I need to kill off the Queen before they increase their powers even more. Defend here with your lives on the line."

Hansoo then looked at the giant chain system set up between the Roots.

Six Pillars and the Six entrances in between them.

People were using the five relics to set up the chain system.

Raise the Seven Star Marbles and then connect it with the chains.

When millions of relics were used like that, a ginormous chain system which surrounded this area was created.

'Let's see.'

Hansoo pulled out the energy of the Divine Fragment.

Chijijijik

As a large amount of energy started to flow through, the relics and the chains made clanking noises and moved back and forth.

Set up the formation and then fight from the inside with the relics.

'They can't hold on for long.'

He needed to kill the Queen before they get run over.

Jongsang asked Hansoo while looking at the formation they had created.

"…How are you going to get up?"

That formation was quite useful but they couldn't get near the Queen at the top with this.

The Wasp Soldiers on the way up can be dealt with but the new Wasps being created from within the Ouroboros will constantly pour out.

At that time a cross shone on Hansoo's head.

At that time the Pillars of the World Tree that they were standing on made creaking noises as they started to twist.

Kududuk. Udududuk.

"This is…"

The people were shocked as they saw the tunnel filled with light.

Since they had never seen such a thing when they've been living in these Pillars for years.

Hansoo mumbled as he looked at that tunnel.

'Go up by creating the Vassal's Tunnel.'

At this rate he would need to deal with countless newly evolved Wasp Soldiers if he were to go up climbing the World Tree's Trunk in order to get to the Queen.

And they would pour down like water even while he is fighting.

That was too dangerous.

But there was a tunnel which lead straight up to the top of the World Tree.

A tunnel which only the Five Great Tiger Generals who had the ability to ask for an audience with the King could use, a tunnel which lead straight to the which was the King's residency.

If he uses this then he can get to the Queen, which was located close to the Flower, quite quickly.

"If we go up using this tunnel then we can get to the Queen with the shortest route possible."

"Hmm…"

The people's expressions brightened up as they heard this.

The reason why the Wasp Legion was dangerous was partly because the Queen was strong but mainly because of the viciousness of the Wasp Soldiers surrounding it.

If they could get to the Queen directly then a huge amount of pressure will be lifted off.

"Then we will create an elite force and go up."

Hansoo shook his head at those words.

"Five."

"What?"

Only five people can go through this tunnel.

This path was something only allowed to the Five Great Tiger Generals.

Which meant that only the five who had the keys that symbolized those five could go up.

There wasn't a need to distribute the keys but it was a tunnel for five people from the start.

"Goddamnit…"

Jongsang got flustered and then looked at the others.

Of course the strongest five had to go.

So if Hansoo took a spot it meant that only four of the remaining Six Departed Souls could go.

While Jongsang's expression was turning worse, Hansoo's expression wasn't very well off either.

'Hooh… I didn't want to open it.'

If the situation wasn't dire then he wouldn't have gone up through this tunnel.

The Vassal's tunnel was a tunnel which opened to get to the king.

Of course the King will know it once it opened.

Not the clone.

The Fallen King himself who had succeeded in killing or exiling all the Elvenheims as well as completely drying up the World Tree.

The Elvenheims he had met at the Abyss were all exiled so they didn't know the events of the Fallen King after they were exiled.

He might've died or went somewhere else.

Hansoo needed to take into account the worst situation possible so he didn't want to open the Vassal's Tunnel but he did.

The King's power was dimensions apart from that of the Clone.

And their memories were different so it was impossible to calculate his actions unlike for the clone which acted blindly.

'I won't even be able to do anything if he exists…'

He can't abandon the best solution because of unsure variables and take risks.

But not having any risk was of course the best.

Ooooong

At that time the World Tree trembled slightly.

Without Hansoo doing anything.

'Goddamit.'

Hansoo turned around his sight towards the top of the World Tree and then clenched his teeth.

.........….

The giant flower which had denied access to the clone.

A man who had been lying inside the flower got up.

"…"

The Elvenheim frowned as he got warned by the World Tree that somebody was coming to him.