134 - 139

Chapter 134: Infection (3)

At the moment Epitros and Karen turned around and were about to head towards the hunting grounds.

A voice called them out.

"Hey. Over there. Come here for a bit."

"Mmm?"

Epitros's guard skyrocketed at the sudden voice that called him out.

And even more so after checking the number of those who had walked out from the bushes.

'…There are hundreds of them, why were these guys hiding?'

The man standing in the front saw Epitros being on guard on them as he spoke out.

"Don't be so guarded. We're just here for a proposition."

"…Proposition?"

"Yeah, I want to give you guys a chance as well."

Then the man standing in the front stared at the headquarters of .

With an expression that wasn't quite friendly.

'Hmm…'

Epitros took a glance at the hundreds of people behind the man.

Everyone was on guard against each other.

Which meant that it hadn't been long since they had met.

Which also meant that these people also had received the proposition and gathered.

'What kind of proposition does he have…'

Epitros focused and approached the man.

..........

"…So this is what you were counting on."

Gwanje muttered as he looked at the countless amount of people swarming in.

With this many people they would not need to worry about manpower anymore.

And even more so if these guys could be controlled this easily.

The woman standing at the very front spoke out as she laughed.

"It's been a while Hansoo. You're…Hansoo right?"

Mihee, a college acquaintance whom Hansoo had spent the 1st tutorial stage with, looked at Hansoo with a strange expression.

Though she had said this, there was no way that she could've forgotten about his face.

It was just that his current physique was extremely different from that of her memories.

Hansoo's physique which had been like the one of a normal college student had turned into that of an American football player.

'Well, this looks much better.'

She didn't say it out loud but Mihee's preferences were men who were like beasts.

Hansoo nodded as he looked at the slightly blushing Mihee.

"I had some things to do. Are you leading the first team?"

Mihee nodded.

"It seems I was quite talented in management. And the other people are the ones who use their strength. I've even brought the 1."

Hansoo nodded at those words.

Since the manpower had come up, the process of stabilization will be quickened greatly.

Though they were much weaker than the people of the Orange Zone, this wasn't that much of a problem.

Since the Akadus are the ones using the strength and these people only needed to be on the lookout properly.

And once the Temple is fully recovered then the people who had come up from below would receive the Body Enhancement Surgery first so it wouldn't be too problematic.

The gap between them and the people of the Orange Zone would get shortened in just a bit.

Mihee tapped the silver Akadus as if it was very fascinating.

"These guys will be the ones helping us? Quite a strange thing you've got here."

The World Tree was fascinating as well but this was just as fascinating as the World Tree.

A battle lifeform that moved on its own.

'I don't know who made it but it's really intriguing.'

At that moment the three silver Akadus which had been standing still made kiiing noises as they looked at Mihee.

Mihee flinched at the sudden movements and backed off.

And then asked Hansoo.

"This is safe right?"

Gwanje answered instead.

"It probably is miss. Since the Akarons left after leaving a bit of authority to Hansoo."

Taruhol, who had the Crown of Thorns, had something else to do so they had left behind an order which said to follow Hansoo and then departed.

As long as Hansoo doesn't go crazy, nothing would happen.

The moment Mihee sighed in relief.

Pududududk

A carrier pigeon flew to Gwanje.

And Gwanje's expression turned ugly for a moment but then returned back to normal.

"I'll be right back after I take care of something."

Then Gwanje quickly disappeared.

..........

"Come out."

Gwanje, who had arrived at the newly dug ant tunnels within the Lazar, searched for the one who had called him out.

Suppressing the rage which made him want to charge at them this instant.

At that moment somebody slowly walked out from the darkness.

A man who was walking towards him with a mask on.

'Which bastard is he?'

It was hard to even see the insides through the eye gaps as if he had done something to the mask.

And he wasn't alone.

One of the people who had the mask laughed as they looked at Gwanje.

"Woah. Don't come too close. Your wife is held hostage. You didn't get found out right? As we told you?"

Gwanje grinded his teeth as he looked at his wife who was being held by the man while being unconscious.

"I seemed quite easy to you huh?"

"No not really. Who would find Margoth levels to be easy?"

"…"

"It was just that you were the only one nearby that we could hold someone hostage against. You know as well that there aren't many people who still have something they hold dear more than their life right?"

"…How did you get through the defenses?"

The man laughed out loudly at those words.

"Uwahahaha! Do you think that there is only a few people who hate the crazy plan that Hansoo guy you're following has?"

There would be people who would lose out and those who gain things once rules are created.

The weaker people who had been suffering would receive great benefits.

And the predators would lose out a huge amount since they wouldn't be able to use their strength the way they wanted.

And people who Gwanje would trust to guard his wife were of course on the level of the predators.

"…What do you want. Do you think that you can flip the whole situation with me alone?"

The masked man laughed.

"No way, I know as well. How could we beat the Akadus."

The Akadus were the reason why they couldn't go out and fight.

Since the memory of the Akadus which had almost massacred the entire Orange Zone's adventurers was still fresh in their head.

"Then what do you want?"

"Information."

"…What?"

"Don't play around.

The man moved his blade against the neck of his wife, Mihyang, a bit closer.

And then mumbled.

"You think we're stupid? Those Akadus things. What is controlling those things."

The man had been quite keen of the situation up until this point.

The crazy Akadus had been calmed down the moment Hansoo and the Akarons arrived somewhere and did something.

They didn't just stop and instead followed the orders of the Akarons well and were acting voluntarily.

'I don't know what it is but once I can acquire that then I would be able to get enough power.'

Power to smash apart Hansoo who was trying to repress them with a huge amount of power that seemed very unfair.

No, it would be much more than that.

The person with that strength would become a new king.

Gwanje quietly looked at the man and then replied.

"Why are you doing this? Suddenly?"

The man laughed coldly as he spoke.

"You don't know? Look at what that crazy bastard is doing. We were living very well. New rules are needed in the new world. We had been living in the Otherworld for over 5 years. This is what is normal and this is the way we should be living. But a bastard who hasn't even been here for a year is trying to train us."

Gwanje grinded his teeth as he spoke.

"We never told you to join us forcibly."

"He has the good stuff and is saying that he will only give it to those who follow him, isn't that trying to train us? Don't people usually do that when they're training dogs? To follow their words since they have something tasty?"

"…"

"He's trying to tame a wolf which had been living very well on its own into a dog, don't we have the right to bite back once at least? Are we in the wrong?"

"…Crazy bastard."

"Woah, your words are too harsh."

The man brought the blade right up to the neck of Gwanje's wife.

Gwanje made a cold expression as he looked at the man.

Since that guy was going past the point of no return.

"…I don't know the details either. Only Hansoo knows the answer."

"Kang Hansoo?"

"He doesn't tell me everything either. How would I know, I didn't follow him during the battle."

The man nodded.

"But it's clear that he has the method. Why would the Akarons ally with Hansoo? They would have no reason to fear Hansoo if they had the Akadus."

"…Hmmm. It seems like we need to catch him then."

Gwanje looked at the man who spoke of this with ease and smirked.

"Do you think you will be able to accomplish that? He has a new army. The ones who came up from below. He also has the Akadus."

The man laughed coldly.

Why would he fear the newcomers who had just come up?

Though they would be able to work as lookouts, they were just chicks who had just come up from the Red Zone.

"We will deal with the Akadus so… You just do what we ask of you."

The Akadus were scary.

But once they catch the King called Hansoo then it wouldn't be scary anymore.

Hansoo would've made his army in the Red Zone since he wasn't invincible himself.

"Don't worry that much mister Gwanje. There are… quite a lot who agree with us. You just need to help us."

The people who opposed the change.

From the people who had refused to come into the clan to those who were hiding in the clan and were looking for a chance.

All of them will participate this time.

'It'll be an amazing firework show.'

The man laughed beneath the mask.

Gwanje clenched his teeth but then shook his head.

"Get lost you crazy bastard. You think I'm retarded?"

He didn't even know how many would die if everything went according to the man's plan.

And there was no guarantee that his wife would get released.

Since they know that they will get killed by Gwanje once she was released.

And betraying Hansoo after this long was a very despicable action.

The man just shrugged his shoulders.

"Too bad… I guess we should just do this our way."

...........

Hansoo nodded as he looked at the clan that was being organized step by step.

'I should be able to shorten the time for me to go up quite a lot at this rate.'

He would be able to filter those who were against him if everything continued at this pace.

'But it's still slow.'

It would still take quite a lot of time at this pace.

At that moment Gwanje's carrier pigeon flew into Hansoo.

Pudududuk

"Hmm."

Hansoo nodded at Gwanje's message as he flew towards the direction the carrier pigeon came from.

Hansoo flew his body to the outskirts of the outskirts of the Lazar and then went into the area where quite a lot of people had been stationed.

Quite a few people who used to be in the Rerorerore clan and had moved to the Unity clan could be seen.

Hansoo went past them as he went into a very deep location where Gwanje had sent the carrier pigeon from.

The moment he stepped into the promised location.

Kiiiiiing

Hansoo's surrounding space started to crazily distort and twist.

Formation.

A special orange skill that was hard to acquire.

Tens of formations surrounded Hansoo.

Multiple layers of walls were created as air started to get isolated.

Chwararaak

The surrounding environment changed instantly.

From the back of the Lazar to somewhere very familiar.

'This place is…'

Hansoo frowned.

"How is it? A new sensation? We have someone very good at formations on our side. We changed the scene to the most impressive thing you've seen until now."

A man looked around as he spoke.

'Anyways… Was there a place like this in the Red Zone or the Tutorial?'

The man frowned slightly.

Hansoo chuckled as he looked at the man.

"It does feel a bit sensational."

The Gold Dragon Tribe's treasure that had allowed him to return to the past.

Hansoo looked around at the Dragon Temple where the treasure was located.

And at the people who had walked in from all around.

Quite a lot for a single person to kill by himself.

The man laughed as he looked at Hansoo who was looking around his surroundings.

"You didn't know we were hiding right? Hiding one's presence completely is possible if you use formations properly. Try calling the Akadus, it'll only be fun when we have an equal number of people."

Hansoo took a glance at the formation and then read the mana waves.

A formation that clearly showed that they had no intentions of letting him go.

'They set it up quite well.'

This wasn't something possible with just a large amount of formations.

There was somebody who was very good at controlling the core.

He then looked around.

Bloodthirst.

Hate and rage.

Greed.

He could understand what their rage and greed was about.

'I don't think the thing I'm doing is this hateful.'

Hansoo laughed inwardly.

The time these guys had been in here was at most 7 years.

But they had lived in the real world for at least 20 years.

It seems like they had changed quite a lot within those 7 years.

"Well. It's not that bad. There isn't as many as I thought there would be."

"…What?"

"I thought there would be many more people who hated me than this."

"I don't think you understand what kind of a situation you're in. The outside should be in a chaotic situation."

One of the women who had been standing next to the man walked out and smirked.

"But mister is it true that you don't kill anyone? Is that for real? After researching for a bit it seems that you hadn't killed anyone. Why did you come alone then?"

Hansoo spoke towards the woman.

"I trust in myself. And that policy changed a bit."

"What?"

"I changed my policy a few days ago you see. I feel like I should be a bit more direct."

.........….

Boooom!

"Uwaaah!"

"It's a sneak attack!"

The moment Hansoo was caught in the formation, countless explosions occurred from all around.

Boooooom!

Booom!

The adventurers who had trusted the Akadus were swept off at the sudden attack of the high-level adventurers.

The Akadus would've acted if the adventurers tried to attack the Akaron but they didn't when they attacked other humans.

Since Hansoo had locked them in case of excessive repression on the people.

The man who had the mask on him made an extremely content expression as he saw this scene from above.

'I see my orders aren't transmitted that well inside the formation.'

"Heheh. Play with them for a bit in there."

The man who had abducted Gwanje's wife laughed as he looked at the black marble who was made of tens of formation layers in the distance.

'Quite greedy fellows.'

People rushed and fought each other and got into the formation after finding out that Hansoo had the king's power.

It wasn't that weird since the one who finished Hansoo off would likely receive it.

'Well. It doesn't matter who wins.'

The masked man looked next to him and spoke.

"Everything going according to plan right?"

The tens of formation users all nodded.

No matter what happened inside, he couldn't come out.

The man spoke with relief.

"Good, good. Then we will now kill all those pretty ones who came up from below. Resistance means death."

Cut off the arms and legs after trapping the head.

Since they trapped the one who could order the Akadus, the Akadus would be useless for quite a while.

The man sent a message to the formation users.

The formation users all nodded.

The power of the formation wasn't doubled just because two formations were layered.

Only when the formations are mixed well and synergize would the power increase by numerous times.

They had tens of these people.

They could trap anybody they wanted.

'Good.'

As everything went to his plan, the man made a very content expression.

At that moment.

Dudududuk

The core of the formation the man was looking at, the black marble, suddenly vibrated while making trembling noises.

The man frowned as he saw this.

"I said not to activate it yet. Use it when he weakens a bit more."

If it's activated too early then the people inside might all resist together.

At that moment the formation users made confused expressions.

"We didn't do it."

"What?"

Kudududk. Uududuk.

During the moment the man was shocked, the vibration of the black marble intensified.

"Motherfucker! Just blow it apart!"

The moment the man shouted.

Crack

A crack appeared on the surface of the madly trembling marble.

And a golden light came out from the cracks.

And then a huge explosion.

Booooom!

"Goddamnit!"

The man covered his head with his arms as he cursed out.

And Hansoo walked out from the exploded marble.

No, he wasn't the only one who had come out from the marble.

"Uwaaaaak!"

One of the formation users screamed as he looked at the thousands of pieces of body parts.

The man grinded his teeth as he looked at that.

"You crazy bastard… Did you really kill that many people…"

The man mumbled as he looked at Hansoo walking out.

"I didn't come unprepared you see."

Hansoo calmed down as he looked around.

A sea of flames.

The casualties were increasing due to the sudden attacks.

Hansoo stared at the man in front of him who was looking at him in confusion.

A fly.

Just a fly.

These guys were just flies as Gwanje said and worried about.

Things which would land upon a normal piece of meat, lay eggs and make it rot so others wouldn't be able to eat it.

'Infinite possibilities of humans. I don't know about that shit.'

The important thing was that he would be able to unify everyone much faster once he dealt with these guys.

And the fact that the people for which he would have needed to spend a huge amount of time to filter out had all come out like this.

'Everything will be done very quickly huh.'

The man looked at Hansoo with a fearful expression but then laughed confidently as if he had thought of something.

"There are quite a bit of your friends who we have caught while you were in there. You should think of your friends. Can I kill them all then?"

Hansoo had raised them carefully below.

And he was quite friendly with the woman in front of him.

He should at least have a bit of feelings about them.

'Can you really throw away that many people's lives?'

Hansoo laughed maniacally as he looked at the man.

"Don't decide things too quickly."

"What?"

"You can decide after you see what happened to the others."

Kwadududuk

"Uwaaaaak!"

"Look carefully and decide."

Hansoo grasped the neck of one of the formation users next to the man in an instant, looked at the man and mumbled.

Chapter 135: Infection (3)

Kwadudududk!

"Kuuhh…"

Gwanje, who had been laid out on the ground after having been turned into a mess, tiredly shook his head as he heard something breaking part.

The sound of the person guarding him getting smashed away.

Gwanje spoke with a dumbfounded expression after finding out the identity of the originator of the sound after raising his head.

"It ended huh."

The silver Akadus covered the skies as they were suppressing and capturing the people who participated in the event.

Gwanje, who had been looking at the scene in front of him which reminded him of the blade of judgement that reprimanded the sinners, stared at Hansoo who had appeared in front of him to rescue him.

'This quickly…'

It hadn't been long since those guys had started moving around in order to cause the damage.

"What happened to the hostages they had? Did they all die?"

Though it hadn't been that long, it was more than enough to capture hostages.

Hansoo replied in a simple manner.

"The really important ones aren't useful as hostages anyway."

One couldn't use somebody who they knew were important as hostages.

Since they knew what would be coming their way when something happened to those hostages.

The wrong move of this event's mastermind was the reality that they couldn't change that fact.

Gwanje quietly mumbled in reply.

"That's only possible because it's you."

What Hansoo had done was only possible when one could smash apart their enemies whole.

"Since I rescued you, I'll leave the clean up job to you. I'm not really good at these things."

Destroying the one who caused the chaos and cleaning up the chaos were two completely different things.

Gwanje hugged his wife, who had been kept here along with him, lifted her while clenching his teeth and then made a strange expression after seeing that nobody was behind Hansoo as he asked him.

"Did you come and rescue me first? What about that cute lady who came up from below?"

Hansoo replied in a simple manner as he turned around.

"Someone of your caliber is very precious."

"…You're one strange fellow."

Gwanje made a strange expression after feeling a very peculiar sensation rising up from deep within him from Hansoo's words.

He then spat out a few words while gazing at Hansoo.

"The Gragos has been cured, you've gained the Body Enhancement Surgery… Are you going up now?"

This single blow was very large.

They would be able to work without any collisions from this point on.

Hansoo nodded at Gwanje's words and spoke.

"After solving one more thing. I'll go up right after that. It won't take long."

Gwanje made a confused expression as he looked at Hansoo who was about to set off.

"What's left?"

Hansoo cracked his neck.

"There's another fellow who worries me a bit."

Someone who wasn't in the memory crystal but had caused the final thing that happened to Taruhol.

'Shall I start preparing then, the ones who we caught this time would be very helpful.'

.........….

'…As I expected it's a huge drain on my stamina. It's not easy to handle these guys.'

Taruhol held onto his aching head after having inserted the cure in the final Gragos.

The Crown of Thorns above his head to be precise.

'Well. It's all done at least.'

Taruhol mumbled quietly after kicking away the Tiradus which had been shredded apart at the hands of the golden Akadus.

And since all the Gragos had been cured, the urgent fire had been extinguished.

Since these things won't charge at Lazar to gobble him up anymore.

'My god. Does this make me the new Great Patriarch then.'

Though his head hurt, his mind was full of excitement.

Since he had accomplished the task of finding their holy land where they had been away from for hundreds of years and had saved the Akarons with his own hands.

'Shall I go get the Dragon Essence Blade then? Damn, for it to be this hard to get a simple present for a friend.'

According to the Crown of Thorns the Dragon Essence Blade was in the deepest part of this place, the dragon-shaped Gragos.

It wasn't weird for it to be here.

Since this was the Gragos with the second largest colony after the one on the Lazar.

If the Lazar was the capital city then this place had the qualifications to be called the second capital.

Taruhol touched his aching head and then lead the golden Akadus into the deep regions of the Gragos.

Taruhol walked in a manner as if he was spellbound for a while with the Crown of Thorns upon his head and then walked into the Temple located deep within the Gragos.

And then opened the hidden space inside that Temple.

Rumble

A very small piece of bone appeared from within that space.

A dagger which looked extremely puny and crappy even in comparison to what Hansoo had gained.

But Taruhol knew the moment he saw it.

The aura that had remained despite hundreds of years of time having passed, the energy that was in it.

This was the real one.

This was the holy artifact handed down over generations of Akarons, the .

Taruhol raised the Dragon Essence Blade very carefully as if he was dealing with Mekido, the Great Patriach.

'The strength to smash a Tiradus is in here…'

Taruhol mumbled.

Black Tiradus.

A powerful entity that could only be balanced when three of the golden Akadus charged at it.

The moment one puts this inside their body, they will gain the strength to even smash apart the black Tiradus.

Taruhol, who had been gazing at the Dragon Essence Blade in a daze, chuckled as he brought it towards his inner pockets.

Since this was a present for his friend.

'Where would I even use this?'

At that moment.

Puuuk

"…Uh?"

Taruhol made a confused expression as he stabbed the Dragon Essence Blade onto his body.

'Why did I stab this into my body?'

Taruhol realized something was wrong as he looked at his right arm that had stabbed the Dragon Essence Blade onto his body without his control and tried to pull the blade back out.

But it was too late.

Kwaarururururk

The Dragon Essence Blade made crackling noises, broke apart into thousands of fragments and then bore into Taruhol's body.

The bright marbles that were inside the Dragon Essence Blade, which had broken apart into thousands of fragments, started to get larger and larger as they covered Taruhol's body patch by patch.

Crack. Crackle.

The skeletal structure changed as a whole due to the Dragon Essence Blade and the essence that came out from it restructured every corner of his body.

A tremendous amount of strength which overflowed from his body.

Though he should be happy as a warrior, he was not.

"This fucking body! By itself! Roarrr!"

Taruhol's roar resonated throughout the entire Temple within the Gragos.

Taruhol realized where all this change originated from in an instant and quickly grasped ahold of the Crown of Thorns upon his head.

And then started to tear it up.

"Kuaaaaaa!!!"

Snap. Snap.

Even the Crown of Thorns, which had bored deep within his head, couldn't handle the strength of Taruhol which had been greatly enhanced due to the Dragon Essence Blade.

But at this moment a different train of thought came into Taruhol's mind.

'…If I take this off then who will control the Akadus? And what about the Humans and the Akarons who are with them?'

He could only ponder.

Since a massacre would happen.

And the sensation he could feel from the Crown of Thorns which was boring into his head was not that of hostility.

'…Desperation?'

Desperation about something.

Taruhol knew what this sensation was.

Feelings about one's race.

Desperation about the Akarons.

Taruhol flinched at the extremely familiar feeling which he had carried for hundreds of years.

Then got curious.

'Who is it that is this desperate?'

But then Taruhol knew the answer in an instant.

'Ah….'

A nostalgic name.

The moment he realized who it was.

Taruhol gave up resisting as he handed over his body to the one boring in from the Crown of Thorns.

Kwadududk

In that moment where he stopped, the newly grown Crown of Thorns bored into Taruhol's head again.

"…"

Squirm squirm.

Taruhol's entire body constantly changed from the Dragon Essence Blade and his head got covered by the Crown of Thorns.

When every movement stopped and quietness filled up the Temple.

"Mmm…"

Taruhol opened his eyes again.

And made an extremely confused expression.

"Why am I here? I should be in the Abyss."

Taruhol's soul which had fallen into slumber.

And her own soul which had pushed Taruhol's soul out.

Taruhol made an extremely confused expression at the body and he touched around his entire body.

Crown of Thorns.

And the Dragon Essence Blade.

These two things were definitely things she had arranged and left behind.

But this shouldn't have happened.

No matter what.

'I don't understand.'

Taruhol searched around his memories as he found someone inside his memories.

A person who caught the eye in an instant.

'Kang Hansoo. This person may know something.'

Kiiiiiing

Taruhol got atop of the golden Akadus and flew towards the Lazar.

.........….

Hansoo looked at the golden Akadus flying towards him from the distance.

Hansoo, who had been gazing at the golden Akadus, looked around his surroundings.

There weren't many people.

Since there were only people who could fight against the Golden Akadus and stood at the peak of the powerhouses upon the Gragos.

'Those below the Margoth levels would only increase the damage anyway.'

But there were others than the Margoth levels as well.

A very special group.

Hansoo spoke towards them.

"Prepare."

At those words the formation users, who had barely survived from the mass massacre, all nodded.

Not a single bit of resistance was shown.

Since they had seen what that man did with just his body.

The man who was covered from head to toe with scales as if they had the armor of a heavenly god.

When they had first seen him, the aura and pride radiating from him was so huge that they felt like the villains.

But they knew now.

'Evil god. He's an evil god.'

The man who had massacred until the golden scales got dyed in crimson.

The formation users clenched their teeth, tied and mixed up numerous formations and prepared the , the formation they had created earlier.

Soon the golden Akadus and Taruhol got close enough to the point where they could see them.

Along with the larger and redder Crown of Thorns upon the head of Taruhol.

'…As I expected.'

Hansoo activated the Soul Fragment just in case.

Just to check if the Soul Fragment within Taruhol's soul worked.

.

But Taruhol, who was flying in from the distance, didn't even budge.

No, it wasn't that the Soul Fragment wasn't working properly.

It was just that Taruhol's soul, in which he had implemented the Soul Fragment, was no longer the owner of that body.

The one controlling that body was somebody else.

Hansoo ruthlessly looked at Gwanje after confirming the situation and spoke.

"Tell the others to smash everything."

"…Everything?"

"Yeah. Every remaining Akadus."

"Damn, this is a huge waste."

"Don't worry about it. We can always make more."

This wasn't time to be frugal.

If that guy flying in from the distance had strange thoughts then the calamity of the past will happen all over again.

Gwanje nodded as he started to send carrier pigeons into all directions.

Soon small and large sounds of destruction rang throughout the Lazar.

Booom!

Clang!

Sounds of the silver Akadus, who had been standing calmly and upholding the peace, getting destroyed.

'Thankfully the others caused a ruckus.'

Hansoo mumbled inwardly.

Controlling the rules will be much harder without those things.

But since he had lured out the ones who would cause trouble once already, the next waves would be much weaker.

Hansoo gazed at Taruhol who had gotten quite close to him and then suddenly shouted at the formation users.

"Now! Trap us all in there!"

At those words the formation users activated the Black Jade.

Koooooooong

Space distorted as it took in Hansoo and the other Margoth levels near him.

Along with Taruhol and the golden Akadus.

'There might be some hidden Akadus so disconnect everything from the outside and deal with it from the inside.'

But surprisingly Taruhol didn't respond at all as he obediently came into the formation.

Hoooooong

A scene appeared within the vast white space which had no decorations whatsoever.

The scene of the 10 golden Akadus, Taruhol and Hansoo's group.

But Taruhol didn't do anything.

Taruhol moved the Akadus back a bit as he smiled, looked at Hansoo and moved his mouth.

"I have no thoughts of hostility. Kang Hansoo. Can we talk by ourselves? There's nothing much I can do in a situation like this… And I have so many things I'm curious about."

Hansoo nodded at those words.

They spoke only by moving the mouth so others couldn't hear.

The change which had occurred due to the Crown of Thorns and the Memory Crystal.

Who else would it be other than the one who made it?

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders and looked at the savior of the Akarons who had borrowed Taruhol's body, Elkadion.

Chapter 136: Elkadion (1)

Enbi Arin braced herself after seeing the people in the distance.

Since she knew what kind of strength the Akadus had.

And it wasn't the Taruhol of the past.

'…He came back as a monster. What the hell did he pick up out there?'

While Enbi Arin was confused, the four other pillars of Akaron made distressed expressions.

Since they knew the reason of that strength.

'Dragon Essence Blade… How does Taruhol have the Dragon Essence Blade?'

The people could only feel tense.

But contrary to the worries of the people around them, the two's conversation actually flowed quite peacefully.

.......

Hansoo and Elkadion grabbed each other's hand as they communicated.

With the special language of the Akaron race that sent messages using muscles.

Elkadion laughed as she spoke.

Soul Telautograph.

Elkadion, who had been making the Crown of Thorns and the Akadus with the information within it, found out about a special power of the Crown of Thorns.

The power to summon the soul of somebody of one's choosing.

Then Hansoo made a confused expression.

At least such information wasn't listed in the Memory Crystal Hansoo read.

At those words Elkadion laughed and spoke.

Elkadion had roamed around the Abyss for quite a long time.

The extremely vicious and dangerous land that was beyond human imagination.

And Elkadion had created the memory crystal and left behind all her memories as insurance just in case.

She wanted to put in the location of the Crown of Thorns as well as the mana code for controlling it.

So if Hansoo had obtained her memory crystal then the fact that she was here wasn't impossible.

But there was a reason why she was completely baffled.

Since Hansoo obtaining her memory crystal was impossible.

Elkadion looked at Hansoo with a meaningful smile.

She had only made the plans, she hadn't even started to make the memory crystal.

But she was here.

Elkadion thought of a lot of possibilities that would explain this current situation.

But no conclusions were made.

If she were to exclude one very impossible hypothesis.

This man had obtained the Memory Crystal that she hadn't even made.

And had summoned her.

Elkadion relayed her hypothesis to Hansoo.

With an expression of utter disbelief.

.........…

"What the hell happened? Did everything work out?"

The conversation ended and the formation was released.

Gwanje, who had been gazing at Elkadion who was leaving along with the Akarons, asked Hansoo who was walking towards him.

And Hansoo nodded at those words.

"For now."

He had told her that they couldn't speak about the Abyss.

It seemed like Elkadion, who was looking at him in such a way as if she was asking if he wasn't lonely, knew what he was doing here.

An extremely courteous tone of speech.

Hansoo realized something from this.

'…A leader huh.'

Hansoo knew.

When one roamed around the Abyss for a long time, a certain idea gets unconsciously nailed into one's mind.

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

"…Are you really Elkadion?"

The priestess, Oteon, asked Taruhol who had finished talking with Hansoo and had approached her.

It wasn't just Oteon.

All the Akarons who were rebuilding things in the holy land had gathered around Elkadion.

In order to meet their hero who had left in order to save them but had now returned.

Elkadion looked at the surrounding Akarons and smiled as she nodded.

"I am."

"Dear lord…"

The priestess, Oteon, and everyone else made expressions of utter disbelief.

For such a character, whom they had so revered, to appear in front of their eyes.

"My return here is also a gesture of the gods. To recover the Akarons."

Elkadion looked extremely confident.

The main reason for this was because Elkadion had been the best researcher as well as a pioneer even before she had left.

And that Elkadion gained countless unimaginable amounts of new information as well as saw marvelous sights that could only exist within dreams.

In the current head of Elkadion, countless plans and methods for the Akarons were stacked up.

And she was really looking forward to put them in motion.

"What are your plans? O mighty Elkadion."

Oteon carefully asked Elkadion.

And Elkadion made a slightly dejected expression as she answered.

"Well, my actual goal was the cure of the Gragos."

Oteon flinched at those words.

Since the endeavor to cure the Gragos had already been completed.

Elkadion made an amused expression at Oteon's reaction as she continued to speak:

"I know that it has already been completed. I had roamed all around the outside world for this and it does feel a bit in vain."

Oteon and all the other Akarons now looked at Elkadion with complex expressions.

Elkadion and the 13 pilgrims had given up everything they had and embarked on a harsh journey to solve the Akarons' problems.

But how would they feel if the problem had already been solved when they returned.

Elkadion took note of their reactions as she continued to speak.

"Don't make such expressions everyone. Isn't it good that we can go straight to the next stage since the Gragos are all cured?"

Everyone looked at Elkadion with confused expressions at those words.

Next stage.

For another stage to exist after healing the holy beast, Lazar, and removing its suffering.

Elkadion made a benevolent expression as she spoke:

"I've realized something much more important while roaming the outside world. No, should it be called a new goal instead?"

Marvels and wisdom wasn't the only thing she had seen in the outside world.

Danger.

A tremendous amount of danger that nothing else could compare to.

Them, the Akarons, were mere frogs trapped in a well.

Elkadion gazed upon everyone as she made a resolution.

That she would not be satisfied with just the Body Enhancement Surgery and the Akadus.

That she would need to raise up much more strength for the collision against the races she had seen that could happen at any time.

Elkadion pointed at the humans.

"Look at them. It hasn't even been 10 years since they started to improve in strength. But there are those among them who can even kill Margoths. If we, the Akarons, are satisfied with our current situation then we may get beaten at any time.

Oteon was shocked as she slowly and cautiously spoke out.

"O Elkadion…Those are not our enemies."

"Hahaha. I'm just saying it as an example. I also believe that we need to keep a good relationship with the humans. But we shouldn't lose out in strength right? We Akarons have much more potential than them, since I am here now.

The Akarons made strange expressions at the confident words of Elkadion.

Since it was a bit different from the Elkadion of the past which they knew.

The part where she emphasized getting stronger wasn't the weird part, since she had always claimed that weakness was the greatest enemy of peace.

But the way she was saying it was different this time.

'Hmm…'

While Oteon was gazing at Elkadion.

Ailen, the priestess in training, carefully asked Elkadion while staring at her.

"Then what is going to happen to the first pillar, Taruhol? Is he gone?"

Elkadion made another benevolent smile as she shook her head.

"No, he is merely asleep within me. But it seems like the one you need right now is me. Do not worry. Once I hand over all the wisdom and plans I have gained to you then I'll just fall back asleep. Since you are the ones who will lead us in the next generation."

Elkadion then spoke out loudly to every Akaron around her.

"Let's hurry and rebuild the Great Temple first. It would be better the faster we do it."

"Yes O Holy Elkadion."

The Akarons shouted out loudly in unison after having met their great leader and spread out in all the corners of the Holy Land.

............…..

Elkadion stood at the highest point of the Holy Land and stared at the Great Temple that was being rebuilt at a tremendous pace.

And at the humans who were constantly building their camps.

'It's nice here.'

The Lazar that she had returned to after a very long time was too peaceful.

And even more so compared to the hell-like environment of the Abyss that she had been in the day prior.

Elkadion woke herself up the moment she felt like she was going to get complacent and refocused.

'No, it'll be bad if I become like that as well.'

Peace was very good for the warriors.

And because of this they had to maintain it as best as they could and she needed to do everything she could in order to maintain the peace.

Tekilon looked at Elkadion with a strange expression.

'…She didn't really like high places in the past.'

But Tekilon shook his head.

Hundreds of years was more than enough time for anything to change completely.

But the tiny amount that Elkadion had changed was enough for anybody to say that she hadn't changed at all.

As if Elkadion had felt Tekilon's gaze, she straightened herself and asked about what she had heard earlier.

"You said that there was a thing called the World Tree in the world you had gone to right? That it could multiply the numbers of a race very quickly?"

Tekilon nodded.

"Yes, O Holy Elkadion."

"The world is large and there are a lot of magnificent things. Is there no way of bringing that World Tree over to this world?"

Tekilon made a bitter smile at those words.

"If it was possible then I would've brought it here already. The World Tree can only live in that world."

"Pity."

Elkadion made an extremely sad expression.

Having a lot in numbers was a very good thing.

The crustacean race of the Abyss who laid 2000 eggs at a time and only took 4 days to grow into an adult, the Detuels, would destroy the enemy's entire land even if one of their immeasurable amount of numbers had gotten killed by that enemy.

Elkadion finished her thoughts and looked at the human territory in the distance with a jealous expression.

Humans were endlessly coming out from beneath the lake.

And those humans were killing the beasts that were crawling out from the Gragos and were constantly getting stronger by gobbling up the runes.

The Akarons were stronger than humans for now.

Since they had the Akadus and the Body Enhancement Surgery.

But this gap would close up and that was not very far in the future.

'Since we supply them with the Body Enhancement Surgery for the alliance they would close the gap even faster. God is really unfair. Why doesn't god give us a chance to get strong like that?'

Elkadion mumbled inwardly.

Weakness was a sin and the chance to get stronger was a blessing in itself.

'Those who haven't been to the Abyss do not know the truth.'

Elkadion was actually a bit unsatisfied with the current speed of progress.

There was no urgency within the minds of the Akarons.

The Gragos was no longer an existence they feared and had turned into a motherly land which supported them like in the past.

And there wasn't much to say about the Margoths.

The Akarons sang songs blessing the peace and raised flags praising Elkadion.

This is all because they do not know about the world called the Abyss.

'Mmm…'

Elkadion felt a chill run down her back after thinking about the powerful races that lived in that place as she shook her head.

'This won't do.'

The time of the Great War where Mekido had led them was not like this.

Their race had done everything in their power to survive and get stronger so they had gotten strong very quickly.

The Body Enhancement Surgery and the Akadus wouldn't have been made if they weren't desperate from the battles.

'As I expected, the only person who can really understand me is Hansoo. He is the only one. He knows about everything.'

She could see with just a single glance.

That he was preparing all he could for the Abyss.

'He's working really hard. He should be very lonely.'

Would a person be lonely even if their entire race was next to them?

Elkadion could confidently say out loud that it was possible, one could still be lonely with their entire race next to them.

Since she was like that currently.

She had met countless people from her race and the loneliness she had felt down to her bones had disappeared in an instant.

But only for a moment.

The loneliness had returned to Elkadion.

They couldn't see the same things and walk on the same road as her despite being next to her.

She couldn't discuss things with them even if they wanted to.

And something else that hadn't existed when she had been roaming in the Abyss currently pushed down on her.

Responsibility.

'Not knowing is not a sin. I must lead my race. I must train them to be more powerful.'

Elkadion mumbled.

Hansoo was the only person thinking along the same path as her.

'I must go and talk a bit more with him.'

It seemed like there was a lot he hadn't told her yet.

Well, it was the same for her too.

Elkadion got up and headed towards Hansoo.

Chapter 137: Elkadion (2)

Hansoo stared at the human territory that was settling at a rapid pace from the headquarters of which was in front of the Holy Land.

Not having the Akadus wasn't much of a problem.

Since the story of those who had rebelled spread out from person to person.

'Good. Anyways, I wonder where the hell that portal is.'

Hansoo frowned slightly due to the portal which hadn't been found despite them searching all around the Lazar.

The fairy wouldn't have put the portal inside the mouth of the Lazar that was gulping down the lava even as a joke.

Since they had some common sense at least.

'It should be somewhere reachable but it won't come out.'

But Hansoo put away his worries for now.

It would be found sooner or later since the Akadus and the humans were searching for it together.

Even if the Lazar was extremely vast, it would be hard to hide from the eyes of the supernatural beings who could see things from a thousand miles away.

Hansoo looked towards Gwanje, who was constantly sending out carrier pigeons, and asked.

"It seems something good has happened."

Anybody would realize it.

Since his expression was too happy for him to be sending messages about work.

Gwanje nodded.

"My wife is pregnant."

"What good news. Congratulations."

Hansoo nodded his head.

Birth was possible in the Otherworld.

They, who had reached the levels of super humans, could find out even if a woman was only a week into the pregnancy.

'…He must be thinking about his daughter.'

Though it was news that deserved congratulations, Gwanje's expression was a bit bitter as he spoke.

Gwanje looked at Hansoo who was staring at him and spoke after changing his expression.

"I won't lose it no matter what this time. Anyways, there was something I wanted to ask… Is the current situation really fine?"

Gwanje asked with a worried expression.

All of Gwanje's recent inquiries was focused in one area.

The race of the Akarons.

'…It's extremely unstable. Could we really call this an alliance?'

He wasn't worrying about useless things because of his child and his wife.

Since the problem could be seen in his eyes while observing the entire Lazar as his job.

The current alliance was very ill-formed.

'An alliance cannot be held together with just trust.'

Of course trust was the basis for an alliance.

Gwanje wasn't worried about this.

But trust was like a bridge made from hay, extremely hard to create and maintain but falling out was easy and would only take a moment.

Trust wasn't enough to support an alliance.

'We don't have the two most important things for an alliance.'

A need for the other.

And a way to deter the other,

There was a lack of this in between the Akarons and the humans.

No, it was actually the humans that were at a disadvantage.

"…The Akarons don't really need us. And we don't have a way to deal with them right now or anything."

On the other hand the humans really needed the Akarons and they clearly had a way of dealing with them.

Since the Akadus and the Body Enhancement Surgery were both in the hands of the Akarons.

This current situation was the same as placing their lives in their hands.

The Akarons could engage in a war against them and not lose out on anything.

The chances of this happening were very low since the laws of the Akarons valued trust highly and clearly treated their saviors properly but how could he feel at ease when their lives were in the hands of the other?

At that moment.

A powerful voice was heard from behind.

Along with a very mannerful tone befitting of the voice.

"It's a bit depressing if you can't trust me that much. Then how about trusting your leader instead of me?"

"Who's whose leader? Did we have a vote?"

Gwanje grumbled at Elkadion's voice.

'Damn. I didn't even feel any presence. For there to be such a large difference in strength.'

The Taruhol of the past was at the same level as him.

But Elkadion, who had eaten up the thing called the Dragon Essence Blade, had risen to the point where he couldn't be compared to her anymore.

'Only someone like Hansoo could maybe contend in a one versus one situation.'

Even that couldn't be guaranteed.

Since Hansoo and Elkadion both were much stronger than him.

The weak could not judge the strong.

Elkadion approached him and smiled while speaking.

"I'm very sorry but could you leave us alone for a moment? There are a few things we need to talk about."

"…Pushing me away huh. Whatever, have fun playing together."

Gwanje grumbled as he walked outside.

He wouldn't be able to understand them anyway if they started to use their strange methods.

As Gwanje walked out, Elkadion spoke towards Hansoo.

"It's better to send him off in order to speak freely. Since the topic about the Abyss may come up."

Elkadion finished speaking and then touched the surroundings.

Wiiiiiing

Four translucent crystals floated up into the air and soon those crystals created a barrier that stopped sound from escaping past them.

'Her formation techniques are incomparably better than Oteon's.'

Hansoo praised her in his mind.

It was almost at the level of a skill at that point.

Elkadion spoke towards Hansoo.

"First of all, I apologize about the Dragon Essence Blade. I didn't make the Memory Crystal yet but… If everything went according to my plans then the Dragon Essence Blade should've been the reward."

As Hansoo nodded, Elkadion continued to speak.

"I cannot give you the Dragon Essence Blade for now. Since there are things I must do for my race as well and I need the Dragon Essence Blade to sustain my body. But a promise is a promise, I am willing to give you a reward that you would definitely be satisfied with."

Elkadion laughed quietly.

'Hansoo, you would definitely be satisfied with this. Instead of a treasured sword, I shall give you ten thousand spears.'

All creatures created by god wanted themselves to get strong.

Since an eternal ally didn't exist.

They would prefer to have one treasured sword for themselves instead of giving ten thousand spears out to their allies, this was also the only way to survive in the Abyss.

But Hansoo would be different.

Since he was like her.

"I hope you are interested in history. Do you know how this world was created?"

"Mmm…No I don't"

"Follow me. Let me guide you to the Forbidden Area of the Great Temple.

Forbidden Area of the Great TEmple.

A place where only Karbana, the previous Great Priest who had died in the hands of Hansoo, could enter.

The entire history of the Akarons was written and kept in this place.

Since one of the most important jobs of the Great Priest was to record the Akaron's history and relaying it to the next Great Priest.

So that the other patriarchs and the priests don't make the same mistake as them.

"There would probably a lot of curses written down. The previous Great Priest, Karbana, didn't really have a positive view of us you see."

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders at those words.

"Wasn't it a place where only the Great Priest could enter?"

"It seems I've even written down about that in the Memory Crystal huh. Anyways, since there are no Great Priests, wouldn't that mean that I'm the Great Priestess. I'm thinking of taking the spot of Great Patriarch as well."

Elkadion spoke out confidently and walked towards the Temple.

As Hansoo and Elkadion walked towards the Great Temple, the crystals and the soundproof barrier floated around them and followed them.

'She deserves to be confident.'

Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the expressions of the Akarons who were staring at Elkadion after having entered the holy land.

And soon a giant white lake appeared in front of their eyes.

A giant underground lake where the essence of the Lazar was gathered in.

Along with the giant orb-like structure floating above it with a radius of a kilometer or so.

The giant structure was constantly sucking up the essence of the Lazar and tried its best to restore its original functions.

It seemed to have gained back most of its functions as it scanned Elkadion and Hansoo who were approaching it with a white ligh.

Kurururururu

And as if it allowed them entrance, a white bridge crossed over the lake towards them.

Hansoo and Elkadion continued into the sphere after crossing the bridge.

Kururururu

White guards that seemed to be made from the bones of the Margoth ruthlessly raised their blades up against the intruders but instantly calmed down after feeling the waves radiating out from Elkadion.

And soon they reached a giant door in the deepest part of the Temple.

Elkadion opened the door.

Kurururu

A giant room was located behind the door.

Elkadion pointed towards the giant black boulder that was located in the center of the white room.

A giant cube of which the sides reached over a hundred meters in size.

"Let me introduce this to you. This is the obsidian we wrote our history on, the .

It's a bit big right? This is why all the Great Priests need to have good stamina. You would need to climb at least a hundred meters to read this as you see."

Elkadion touched the tremendous amount of white thumb-sized letters written down in the giant black stone and then looked towards Hansoo.

"There is information for our and your race written in here which will be your gift. Something that would give you a new form of strength."

Elkadion laughed as she spoke.

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

Gwanje went to find Enbi Arin who was busy managing the entire Lazar along with him.

"Are you busy? Let's have a talk for a moment."

Enbi Arin, who had been in a chaotic rush due to organizing and distributing the countless amounts of new people, looked at Gwanje with a blunt expression as she replied.

"What is it?"

Enbi Arin didn't really have a good opinion of Gwanje.

Since this guy was the person who hid the criminal Kale Dawson, who had caused a crime against her sister.

And who had been able to raise his own strength thanks to the protection of the Rerorerore clan.

Why would she be on good terms with him when he had gone against her openly from the start?

She was only holding it in since her and Gwanje's position were not that low for them to bicker over such things.

As the united clan was being controlled by Gwanje and Enbi Arin who had led the top two strongest clans, the Cross clan and Rerorerore.

If the two of them fight then it wouldn't just end as individual battles.

Gwanje went straight to the point.

Since she would understand.

"This cannot continue this way. We need to create a way to deal with them."

Something the Akarons would need that they could offer and a way to deal with them.

There was nothing the humans could give to the Akarons for them to feel as if they needed the humans.

Maybe if a common enemy existed.

And because of this they needed a deterrent for the alliance to be stable.

Enbi Arin realized what he was saying instantly.

"Creating a method of deterring them is provoking them in itself. Do you think that the USA kicked the asses of those who tried to create nuclear weapons for fun?"

"We can do it secretively. It's just in case of the worst scenario."

"You don't trust the Akarons?"

Gwanje shook his head.

"No, Personally I trust in the Akarons. There is a much higher chance of a problem occurring because of the humans than the Akarons causing trouble,"

"Then do you not trust Hansoo?"

One of the main reasons why they hadn't tried to create a deterrent was because they trusted Hansoo.

Since they knew that Hansoo wouldn't create a strange alliance such as this without any plans.

Gwanje shook his head again.

"No, I trust Hansoo as well."

"And you're trying to create a deterrent despite that?"

Gwanje clenched his teeth.

"I trust Hansoo and the Akarons. But I do not trust myself."

Gwanje trusted the Akarons as well as Hansoo.

Since the trust they had shown him until now was enough at least.

Now Gwanje wasn't sure about himself.

"Can I really say my personal opinions of trusting the Akarons and Hansoo is the correct choice? To the point of risking all these human lives?"

"Tsk."

Enbi Arin didn't rebuke Gwanje's words and instead just clicked her tongue.

Gwanje continued to speak.

"I always thought that the people saying their nuclear weapons were for a defensive purpose was all bullshit. But I can really empathize with them now."

Nuclear weapons were for cowards.

And Gwanje decided to agree that he himself was a coward.

Since the peace that they were tasting after a very long time within this damned Otherworld was too sweet.

He was afraid of this peace breaking apart.

"Please help me."

"…We're only preparing it. And if you use this for yourself then… It wouldn't end at you. I'm going to shred your whole family."

He wasn't the only one with beloved and precious friends and family.

If something goes wrong then it would be another huge battle.

Gwanje nodded while looking at Enbi Arin who was threatening him with a vicious expression.

"Don't worry."

Maybe because Gwanje was answering in a straightforward manner, Enbi Arin calmed down and then stuck out her cheek.

Gwanje stared at this and spoke.

"…What do you want me to do?"

"Smack me once before you go. I threatened your family so I deserve it."

"Keep it. If everything goes according to plan then I'll smack you at that time. And how dare you try to end it with just a single slap?"

"Fuck."

Enbi Arin frowned as she quickly moved away.

Opposite from Gwanje's direction.

Reincarnator – Chapter 138 : Elkadion (3)

Hansoo followed Elkadion's guidance as he read the history written down on the giant black box, .

A history that was composed of war, battles and a struggle for survival.

It was already this much when only the impactful events had been written down.

'It should be at least over a million years…'

Hansoo found out the true purpose of the Historan after a brief reading period.

"There are quite a lot of explanations about the army and tactics."

Elkadion nodded at those words.

Historan.

The Record of the History of War.

At the same time the information was recorded, the method of creating the tools of war that had been used was recorded as well.

The scent that activated the Berserk mode for the Akaron and the scent that made the Margoths go insane were among these as well.

Information that was so dangerous that it was only written on the Historan and only the Great priest and a few other chosen priests could read it.

Elkadion laughed as she saw this.

"It's funny right? We wrote our people's history of war and battle upon the Historan in order to not make the same mistakes. Of course this Historan is now filled with tactics and methods for war."

"Is this the gift for us?"

Elkadion shook her head.

"No way. Though it's very effective, it is too dangerous. And all the methods here are a tier below the Body Enhancement Surgery and the Akadus in terms of effect anyway."

Elkadion's words were full of pride.

She had the rights to though, since she had created something that had exceeded the legacy of all her ancestors with her own hands.

'It seems there's more. I should read a bit more.'

Hansoo suddenly frowned after reading for a while longer.

A whole section of the Historan had been erased.

Well, it was rather destroyed to the point beyond recognition.

As if it was done so something couldn't be seen.

Elkadion laughed as she saw this.

"You're curious right? As to what was written there right? Well, I only learned of it while I roamed the Abyss."

But Hansoo shook his head.

Since he could guess to a degree.

The Historan was full of the history of war and the methods used in it.

It was written on the Historan.

And it had then been destroyed.

Which meant that there was only one possibility.

"What kind of methods were written down on this?"

Something that the war race of the Akarons, who had even left the Berserk scent written down, had deemed too dangerous.

The ancient Akarons had created such a method.

Elkadion laughed.

"You already know it. You're probably quite familiar with it."

Hansoo stared at the laughing Elkadion and opened his mouth.

"…The Soul Telautograph was something that your ancestors created."

"Correct. Well, the original use for it was not sending souls. It wasn't even created for war. It was actually… Created to receive souls."

Elkadion started to talk about the Soul Telautograph in much more depth.

.........…..

Thousands of years before Elkadion, the land above the Gragos was much more primitive.

Well, the methods and technology for battle had been quite advanced due to the history of struggle but the Akaron's culture had been much more primitive.

They didn't have Temples or priests.

Shamanism with Shamans as the core had been spread far and wide between the Akarons.

"That is clearly recorded upon the Historan. It seems a tremendous genius had appeared during this time. This is my thoughts but… That person was likely much more superior to me in terms of talent. Since they had thought of creating such a thing with their technology. That person's name was probably written on the destroyed section over there."

Elkadion suddenly gazed at the Soul Telautoraph that had been moved into the Temple.

A clunky machine-like capsule.

It was a piece of work that couldn't be found anywhere else in the Akaron's history.

Since the Akarons were much more advanced in genetics than in machinery.

Elkadion suppressed the rising jealously and continued to speak.

"Anyway, that person of the past had thought that sending away a soul of a valiant warrior into the sky was too regrettable. I would've felt the same way as well."

The high level Akaron warriors who had been reinforced through war and battle.

Someone who had thought that their experiences and knowledge disappearing with their death was too wasteful created a machine by combining their talent along with their shamanism power.

.

A machine that had been created to pull back the souls of the warriors who had left behind their bodies and gained their rights to live alongside the gods.

"Well. It was a huge failure in terms of results. Though the idea was very good, the technology of that time wasn't as advanced as that of now, no matter how much of a genius that person was. The biggest problem was energy, it was extremely inefficient you see."

The Soul Telegraph used up a huge amount of energy to activate.

So much that nothing else but the giant creature that they were standing on, the Gragos, could handle.

No Margoths or Akarons could handle such a huge amount of energy necessary for its activation.

Hansoo shook his head as he heard this.

"They fucked up huh."

"Scientists are normally like this. They aren't good at waiting when the goal in front of them could be reached by crossing a simple line. And since Shamanism ruled over the lands during that time, they wouldn't have had the Gragos as their Divine Beast… There wasn't anything that they could lose. Anyways, this was the reason for the first failure but they succeeded in making up for that failure. They could just set it up on every single Gragos. The real problem was the second thing that happened."

The reason for the second failure.

Hansoo could also figure out what that was.

Since there wouldn't be a need for them to dig out the information from the Historan if the Akarons had succeeded in creating the Soul Telautograph.

"Something else other than the Akaron's soul had been dragged here huh. Something from the Abyss."

Elkadion made a content expression as she looked at Hansoo.

"I really like you Hansoo since there isn't a need to talk a lot with you. You don't know how glad I am that you are here when I returned."

.........….

Elkadion met a strange race while roaming the Abyss.

A race that was extremely aggressive and loved to tear apart and gobble up other lifeforms.

Devils, a great race that split the Abyss along with the Dragons. The race, who were lower tier Devils, had told her about how some of their members had been dragged somewhere in the past. [PR: The one dragged were the lower tier devils, not the ones equivalent to dragons] How some weak race pulled away their souls and had even created a body for them.

In a place where there was plenty of food.

And Elkadion could figure out who the weak race that they were calling was.

"…The ones who had been summoned on that day ate up the bodies of the Akarons within the Soul Telautograph."

A race of the Abyss had been placed inside a high level warrior's body.

A low tier Devil meant that the level of their souls were incomparably high compared to those of the Akarons.

Dekuroma's soul had remodeled the body it took over almost to the point of destruction.

Eight steel wings flung out from the back as the blueprint of a battle lifeform hidden deep inside their souls resurfaced into the world with the Akaron's bodies as the basis.

The bodies turned darker as their size increased several fold.

Even if the material was the same, the resulting power levels would have huge differences depending on the way it was used.

Dekuroma, which had attained a body that was so strong that it was shameful to be compared with those of the Akarons, started a huge massacre upon the Gragos.

And Hansoo realized the identities of these things.

"…This is how the Tiradus was created huh."

Elkadion nodded at those words.

"They say almost 90% of the Akarons had died by their hands. They would've all been killed if the Suppression stone that they made in a hurry hadn't worked properly back then."

Hansoo nodded at her words.

Since he could somewhat figure out what would've happened after that.

'…Why wasn't this written down on the Memory Crystal?'

The Tiradus, which they had painstakingly shoved the suppression stones into even by sacrificing themselves, had turned white and lost their aggressive manner but still retained their primal senses.

So they had started to guard the Soul Telautograph which was their way back.

One per one.

The Akarons destroyed all the other Soul Telautographs that weren't guarded but they couldn't beat the Tiradus after having barely survived from them and destroy the guarded ones so they choose the second best option.

Destroying all evidence and history so no one else who would want those machines would appear.

Elkadion, who had acquired all the secrets that even she didn't know were created by her Ancestors who had erased the records from the Historan, smiled as she spoke:

"This is the end of the story. You can figure out what my gift is about now right?"

Hansoo answered with an expressionless face.

"You told me what it was yourself. You said that these were written upon the Historan in order to not repeat the same mistake. Are you going to then repeat the actions of the past?."

Elkadion's smile remained despite Hansoo's harsh words.

Instead she made a prideful expression and replied:

"It became a problem only because our ancestors failed, there's no fault with the idea. We can just learn from them and fix the mistakes they made."

The first reason for failure, was the need for a large amount of energy.

This wasn't a problem for Elkadion anymore.

Since she was now able to use the knowledge she had gained in the Abyss as the basis and get the Soul Telautograph hundreds of times more efficient.

There was nothing to fear either since the cure for the Calamity of Death had been created already.

The second reason for failure, the failure to control the souls they had called in.

"There's a way to plan for this as well. If we combine the Crown of Thorns, the knowledge I gained from the Abyss as well as the information from researching the suppression stone… We can easily control them."

If this succeeded then they wouldn't just control the Akadus.

They would be able to control the Tiradus.

Elkadion spoke extremely excitedly.

"A tremendously strong army that we can't even dream of would be made. You should know as well. Though your race has a lot in numbers, they are still weak. They wouldn't even be able to beat the Akarons if we fought right now. This is why your subordinates are worrying as well."

Elkadion pulled out the reason for Gwanje's worries as she continued to speak.

"But I am very jealous of your numbers. We Akarons have too little numbers remaining. But what would happen if we can turn all the useless humans into the Tiradus? Heehee."

Though there was a huge difference between the Akarons and the humans, there wouldn't be much difference from the humans and Akarons who had been reformed by the Dekuroma souls.

Like how 5 and 1 having a huge difference but 105 and 101 not being that different.

This strength of an army would be much more favorable than just having a lot in numbers.

'You should understand just how much this is needed currently.'

She hadn't spoken of it to the other Akarons.

Since they would start worrying about everything they could possibly worry about.

Such a reaction was obvious since they felt there was no real need to increase their strength.

But Hansoo would be different.

But contrary to Elkadion's hopes, Hansoo shook his head with a stern expression.

"A gift like that… I cannot accept it."

'As I thought… This one cannot escape the pattern that much either.'

Hansoo's fear had come true.

Everyone starts to go mad for one single thing when they roam around the Abyss.

Strength.

But there was nothing free in the world and there was a risk involved in gaining power.

Like now.

The problem was that if they didn't have power in the Abyss, which was unlike the peaceful Orange Zone, then they would have a tremendously large chance of death over there.

No matter how big the risk of obtaining that strength was, it was better than dying.

And because of this all the people who roamed around the Abyss think of such risks too lightly.

Like Elkadion in front of him.

Hansoo denied the offer with a resolute expression.

"Where is the guarantee that a Dekuroma would get dragged here? There's no need for the Soul Telautograph anymore since the cure has been accomplished. It is too dangerous."

The control was one thing but there was another problem.

Since the Dekuroma were a weaker type that lived on the upper regions of the Abyss.

'Destroy all Soul Telautographs before going up.'

He needed to go up.

But he couldn't leave behind such time-bombs in a place where he wouldn't be in the future.

Since this place needs to be one of the seven steps for the humans.

Elkadion's expression dimmed down at Hansoo's reaction.

Reincarnator – Chapter 139 : Elkadion (4)

Elkadion's expression quickly turned into that of disappointment.

'I expected you, Hansoo, to understand at least…'

Wouldn't she also know of the dangers of this plan?

But they needed strength that badly.

"It seems you've lost your edge after gaining a lot of things you needed to protect."

Hansoo mumbled inwardly after seeing Elkadion's expression.

'She won't give up no matter what huh.'

Hansoo laid down his decision as he opened his mouth while looking at Elkadion.

"It seems you have a bit too many thoughts inside your head, how about giving that body back to its original owner."

"Are you telling me to leave this body?"

Hansoo nodded.

"Our race will win even without that power. Since I will make it happen. Be at ease and just leave."

Even if Elkadion's plan went ahead without any problem, there wouldn't be that many benefits for the humans anyway.

Since if Hansoo's plans were to progress the way he planned it then the humans would get strong enough to the point where they would be able to crush things like the Dekuromas with just their thumbs.

Like how Hansoo had gotten strong enough to kill the Dragon race.

Hansoo looked at Elkadion, who was looking back at him, and spoke out:

"We will do our best to help your race how your race had helped us. But if your plans exist then we wouldn't be able to hold such an alliance."

A tremendous pressure that pushed down on her soul rushed towards Elkadion.

'He did say he killed the Dragons, right.'

Elkadion grinded her teeth.

There wasn't that much of a difference in strength between them.

Since the Dragon's Essence Blade was that powerful.

But the pressure did not come from his strength.

It came from the depths of the soul of the person who had roamed around the Abyss endlessly to the point where they had gotten strong enough to even kill those of the Dragon Race.

Elkadion frowned slightly as she shouted out.

At this point the gap that was between them was not something that strength alone couldn't close up.

"How can I trust the humans? Can you trust them?"

Hansoo shook his head.

"Don't trust in the humans, trust in me."

"…"

"The Soul Fragment in that body. With that Soul Fragment the original owner of that body will become one of the seven kings who would have saved our race in the end. Of course the Akarons, which that king leads, would be treated well as an ally. Give up on that plan."

Hansoo started to gather his strength as he spoke.

'If you won't go out then I shall do it for you by force.'

The Dragon Essence Blade and the Crown of Thorns.

Those two things combined their strength to push Taruhol out and allowed Elkadion to take over.

If he were to pull out the Dragon Essence Blade from within the body then Elkadion would disappear and Taruhol would come in control again.

Elkadion sighed as she looked at Hansoo.

And then mumbled with a benevolent expression.

"I cannot leave yet. There's a lot of information I must hand down… And the Akarons need a leader more than anything else right now."

"…"

"I know that you're saying this because you're worried. But I shall show you. Your thoughts may change if you see me succeed."

Hansoo clicked his tongues as he saw the resolution within Elkadion's two eyes.

These types were even harder to deal with.

Since they weren't doing this from greed or profit.

It was the eyes of those who believed that their ideas were completely correct and acted in order to change what was around them to fit that idea.

"I guess our talk ends here."

Hansoo swung his spear as soon as his words left his mouth.

Elkadion aggressively smashed her right hand towards the spear that was flying towards her.

Goooooong!

Though a hand and a spear had collided, a large sound of two bells colliding was heard instead.

Charururuk

The Dragon Essence Blade's bone fragments had climbed up Elkadion's body and had already created a small shield in front of her hand.

Elkadion kept her smile as she spoke.

"Well. I understand if you cannot comprehend. Then we must do our best from now on. And in addition… It's already in progress."

"Tsk."

Hansoo clicked his tongue again as he started to slash his spear even faster.

Boooooooom!

Soon the room where the Great Temple's legacy was started to fill up with extremely loud sounds.

............….

Kurururururu

Oteon and Ailen who had been researching the Akadus within the Arklateori below the Holy Land slightly frowned at the sudden vibration that could be felt.

'What happened?'

Such a large collision shouldn't be happening.

The Akarons and Humans had formed an alliance and there weren't any Tiradus or Margoths upon the Lazar.

'Well. We should just continue our work.'

A request that their leader, Elkadion, had asked of them.

Oteon finished her thoughts as she looked at the Soul Telautograph in front of her eyes.

Kiiiiiiinggg

The Soul Telautograph that Elkadion had setup was letting out a blinding white light as it sucked up energy from the Lazar.

'The Soul Telautograph is ready.'

It was now time to prepare the next level.

Preparing the material for the Soul Telautograph's target.

Oteon looked at the unconscious man in the corner of the Arklateori.

A normal human.

A human who didn't have anything outstanding about him.

That was why he was very important for this experiment.

The procedure from the Soul Telautograph was something that needed to work with the majority as the target.

Since there wouldn't be much meaning to it if it worked on a special target.

'Well, they aren't really just ordinary.'

Oteon ground her teeth while she looked at the man on the ground.

"This is him right?"

"Yes, he is the one who got in while taking advantage of the situation where the Akadus had been destroyed and tried to mug us."

"Fucking trash."

Oteon mumbled quietly.

'The fact that this thing is of the same race as Hansoo is very shocking.'

Well, there wasn't anyone who would mourn this guy if he were to die.

And because of this he was even more suited for this job.

Oteon sat the man upon the Soul Telautograph.

And the final step.

"Ailen, give that thing to me."

"Yes."

A orangish stone that was emitting light in Ailen's hand.

A gem that Elkadion had applied a few more layers on compared to the suppression stone.

Oteon carefully shoved the gem inside the sitting man's head.

Kududuk

The gem got easily inserted into the pre-made hole in the man's head.

Oteon then started the Soul Telautograph up the way Elkadion had taught her after finishing all the steps.

Kururururu

Soon the Soul Telautograph started up as red liquid started to get pulled into the man's body.

Ailen, who had been helping Oteon, mumbled as she looked at this scene.

"…Is this okay?"

To use a method that sacrificed others for strength.

The Akarons had not created any methods or techniques that used sacrifices for strength before.

Since it was something that went against their pride.

Most of the Akarons' techniques were those that sacrificed themselves for more power.

Though this man deserved death, if this experiment was to succeed then there was no guarantee that the ones undergoing this experiment would only be criminals.

At that moment.

Dududududu

Arklateori's ceiling shook aggressively.

As Oteon and Ailen looked at the ceiling in shock, the ceiling exploded out as something fell down.

'…That is!'

Oteon shouted out in confusion as she saw the identity of the ones fighting.

Why were they fighting?

Elkadion crazily utilized the Dragon Essence Blade to stop Hansoo no matter what and shouted out loudly.

"Finish the test no matter what!"

The Dragon Essence Blade with Taruhol's powerful body as the basis was rather formidable so much that even Hansoo who had the Forked Lightning and the Thousand Soldiers Armor could not handle it.

Hansoo, who had been pushing Elkadion back by using the Pandemic Blade and Nurmaha's ring, shouted out aggressively.

"Stop the procedure!"

Hansoo didn't know whether it would succeed or fail.

But it would be problematic no matter what happened.

If it succeeded then Elkadion would be able to confirm her choice and try to perform the procedure at a much more intense rate.

Oteon fell into a chaotic situation as she saw the two who were pushing each other back and shouting at her.

'Who should I listen to?'

The fact that one was human and the other was an Akaron wasn't important.

Since the Akarons owed this two too much for such a thing to be important.

The one who had allowed the Akarons to stand up on their feet by themselves.

And the one who had pulled the Akarons out when they had been stuck in a hole of despair.

Elkadion looked at Oteon and smiled.

'Isn't it obvious.'

She was working this hard for the Akarons.

But Hansoo was in the end working for the humans.

There was no way an alliance would come before one's own race.

Oteon, who had been pondering, quickly made her decision.

A bit different from Elkadion's expectation.

"Kuuaaaaap!"

Boooom!

Oteon shouted out as she smashed the Soul Telautograph.

Elkadion made a sound that was almost a shout as she saw this.

"Why!"

Elkadion made an expression that was full of incomprehension and hurt while she stared at Oteon who was smashing the Soul Telautograph.

Oteon following Hansoo's words hurt much more than the pain she received from getting beaten down by Hansoo.

But Oteon hadn't smashed the machine because she thought that she needed to listen to Hansoo.

There was a slightly different reason.

'I understand what has been bugging me this whole time now.'

And as she saw the two benefactors fight, she clearly realized which side she needed to take.

Oteon clenched her teeth and shouted.

"O Elkadion! This is not the path for us Akarons!"

"What?"

Elkadion mumbled with a dazed expression.

"Even with strength, it wouldn't be our race! Wake up! When did our race preserve our own bodies by sacrificing others and borrowing strength from others!"

Oteon crazily smashed the Soul Telautograph apart.

If they lose their pride then they wouldn't be the Akarons anymore.

Power and intelligence wasn't the thing that discerned whether one was a human or a Margoth or an Akaron.

Their rules and the pride that sprouted from those rules made them into the Akarons.

Elkadion flinched just as she was about to attack Oteon.

And during that short moment.

Booooom!

The Soul Telautograph made a huge noise and blew apart from Oteon's final attack.

Elkadion, who had been fighting with Hansoo, made a dull expression. The fact that she had been denied by her comrade and betrayed by her race bored into Elkadion.

'…I did all this for your future.'

And the final words of Oteon had hurt Elkadion too much.

'Did I get twisted towards a wrong direction instead of improving in the Abyss?'

Elkadion shook her head while making a bitter expression.

'No, I can't be sure whether it was a failure or not.'

Though she couldn't make another Soul Telautograph, there were still many left.

If she were to show a good result during the next test than the thoughts of Hansoo or the Akarons may change.

'If using the the body of a human is an issue than I can find another method.'

The important factor was the strength of the souls those races had.

Hansoo smashed Elkadion again.

Since he knew that Elkadion hadn't given up.

Boooom!

'End it all here.'

He needed to pull the Dragon Essence Blade out from within the body.

Kududududk

Soon a battle of strength occurred between Hansoo and Elkadion.

During the time when the two held each other's hand as they were trying to push each other down.

Koooooong

A dark aura permeated out from somewhere.

Hansoo frowned during the fight from the strange aura that had suddenly spread out.

And Elkadion's expression brightened up.

'It succeeded!'

If she could show that she could control this then persuading the others would become very easy.

Koooooong

Something pushed through the debris of the Soul Telautograph and walked out.

And Elkadion looked at the man who had walked out from with an expression of hope.

Then aggressively pushed Hansoo away.

Boooom!

Elkadion quickly got up after pushing Hansoo away and approached the man.

A rather formidable aura permeated out from the man who was surrounded by a dark aura.

The man didn't budge a single muscle despite Elkadion having approached him and instead stared at her.

Swoosh

Elkadion stood next to the man and then spoke.

"Lower your head and kneel in front of me."

Swoosh

The man listened to Elkadion's words without hesitation.

'Did it succeed?'

Oteon, who had been making a very worried expression, felt at ease for now.

Since it would be hard to control that person who was radiating such a fierce aura.

'Anyways, she should be in a good mood. Since the experiment succeeded.'

While Oteon was looking at Elkadion, Elkadion looked at Hansoo after making the man kneel.

And then shouted out loudly.

"Hansoo! I beg of you, please!"

She then smashed the head of the man kneeling in front of her.

Boooom!

"Uh? What is this?"

Oteon was shocked as she saw this scene.

Why did she suddenly hit the head of the soldier who was listening to her obediently?

And what was she begging him for?

At that moment.

Whooosh

Oteon and AIlen freaked out at the sudden hands of somebody who had grasped their waists and was quickly carrying them away.

"Hansoo! What are you doing right now! What's going on!"

Hansoo frowned at those words.

"I'll tell you on the way. We need to prepare while she buys time for us."

"What?"

Hansoo made an annoyed expression at the tremendously formidable aura, which couldn't even be compared to that from before, which had exploded out from behind them.

"Something that shouldn't have crawled out actually crawled out."

.........….

"What is this. How did you find out?"

Kudududududk

The man looked at Elkadion with a strange expression after having attacked her.

While grasping tightly onto Elkadion's hand that had smashed into his head.

Kudududk

The hands of a normal adventurer was causing the Dragon Essence Blade around Elkadion's fist to crack.

Elkadion clenched her teeth.

A normal resident of the Otherworld might've not known but Hansoo and her were people who once roamed the Abyss.

How would they not notice that this guy was acting?

Elkadion thought of the dialog they had with the Akaron's special communication when they held hands earlier.

She would block him here and Hansoo would go and prepare.

'I will risk my life to stop him here. Please hurry up. After everything ends… And if we're alive then I will give you my sincerest apology. About my arrogance.'

"Uuaaaap!"

Booooom!

Elkadion clenched her teeth and attacked the man in front of her.