Chapter 258


    The change happened suddenly.


    Gooooo!


    [This, this… … !]


    The shadow soldiers hunting the spirit birds outside were greatly surprised to see the giant dome-shaped barrier covering Elvenwood suddenly turn ashen.


    [It seems like something happened to the Master!]


    [Everyone, return to the master!]


    Phew!


    At Sita and Quay’s shouts, all soldiers immediately stopped fighting and turned around.


    And then I realized something shocking.


    Swoosh!


    [… … !]


    Suddenly, the transparent barrier entering the city created waves and bounced them away.


    Clearly, the barrier that had just let the Guardians pass through had changed in an instant! 1


    The shadow soldiers’ expressions became urgent.


    [Oh no! The barrier!]


    [This barrier refuses our entry!]


    [Break it with force!]


    [The master inside is in danger!]


    Kwakwakwakwang!


    The shadow soldiers tried with all their might to destroy the barrier.


    But it wasn’t easy.


    ripple-


    [T-T! The attack isn’t working!]


    This huge barrier surrounding the green city seemed to separate the entire city from the Earth.


    The inside and outside of the city, which are clearly visible before our eyes, are divided intopletely different dimensions by a thin film.


    [Don’t stop attacking!]


    [We have to break through somehow!]


    Kookwakwang! Kwawang!


    [Harmakan!]


    [Where is Harmakan!]


    Someone found Harmakan.


    Yes, this is exactly when the Shadow Demons shoulde forward.


    But Quay answered the cries of the soldiers who were urgently looking for Harmakan.


    [Harmakan is not here! He went inside with his master!]


    [What?! So we just have to wait outside for the door to open!]


    The soldiers continued to attack the barrier, even though they were furious.


    I couldn’t just sit back and give up like this.


    The significance of the Shadow Legion’s existence.


    Because their top priority was Seongsuho’s safety.


    Behind their backs.


    Wedge-


    There was an attack by spirit birds flying in at a rapid pace, taking advantage of the soldiers’ openings.


    Cackle! Cackle!


    Quay gritted his teeth.


    [… … Could this have been a strategy all along? To separate us from the Master from the beginning?]


    [If that’s the case, then you’ve really yed around. I never thought this barrier was meant for that purpose!]


    Sita also exploded with anger.


    But if you think about it logically, something seems strange.


    [But that’s strange. Did they know we’de here and set a trap in advance? What on earth were they doing with it?]


    I didn’t understand.


    It was entirely by ident that they, or rather Seongsuho, discovered this ce.


    But how could they have anticipated their arrival and set a trap in advance?


    [… … There must be another purpose. The people living in this city must have created this barrier for a purpose other than ours.]


    Chomp chomp chomp!


    Sita’s body soared high into the sky as she tore apart a flock of fearless spirit birds with one hand.


    And from the highest point, he crossed his arms and took in the entire scenery surrounding the huge barrier that spread out


    below at a nce.


    Sita’s eyes narrowed.


    [There is something after all.]


    [What are you talking about?]


    Quay pped his wings and flew towards Sita.


    Then, following his gaze, he looked down and his eyes sparkled.


    After climbing this high, the true scenery that had been hidden by the dense tropical rainforest finally came into view.


    [Ah, I see. So this entire area is a city.]


    I wasn’t talking about a green city.


    Even outside this huge barrier, traces of arge city were visible along this area.


    [Let’s see… … .]


    Lee Min-seong, who had lived as a Korean before bing a soldier, pictured a map of the Korean Penins in his head.


    And I was able to roughly estimate what area this area was.


    Quay’s eyes sparkled.


    [Yes, Gaeseong! That’s where therge-scale industrialplex was.]


    North Korea.


    And where everything is destroyed and deste due to numerous dungeon breaks.


    This rainforest was the result of the deaths of countless people who died with it.


    But there was one strange thing.


    [There are no bodies of people anywhere to be seen.]


    [Yeah. I find that strange too.]


    Sita was Siddharth Bachchan, who had been active mainly inrge-scale field dungeons in India during his lifetime.


    So there was somemon sense that was obvious.


    [The corpses scattered around in field dungeons are usually eaten by demons. However, they don’t eat every single bone fragment like this. The demons aren’t that meticulous to begin with.]


    [But it’s not like it would havepletely rotted away in just two years.]


    It is estimated that the number of North Koreans who died because they were unable to escape the cataclysm would have exceeded ten million.


    But it was extremely unnatural that so many corpses had disappeared without leaving a single bone in just two years.


    [Did they all escape without dying?]


    [There must be survivors who have awakened. However, it ismon sense that traces of the dead are scattered here and there. Even if it is mist-burned, at least a pile of ashes will remain.]


    [So that’s what it means in the end.]


    [Someone must have taken the bodies away. Maybe even the ones that weren’t ‘yet’ dead.]


    [… … I have something to do for the Master.]


    At that moment, Sita and Quay looked at each other and their eyes sparkled.


    [We, the Yong-in tribe, will continue to knock on the barrier.]


    [Then we’ll take charge of searching the ruined industrialplexes. If we search through them, we’ll probably find something that will be of help to you, Master.]


    [Can I trust you and leave it to you?]


    [Of course. Even so, back in my day, I was a person who went around looking fornd to try and make some stardust.]


    [If that’s the case, then I am the one… ]


    [Are you bragging? Then change it.]


    [… … Let’s just shut up and get started.]


    The two former viins looked at each other with unpleasant eyes, then simultaneously scattered in opposite directions.


    It was so-called co-ethnic hatred.


    * * *


    At that moment, the entire world inside the barrier had instantly turned into a path of thorns.


    Swish! Swish!


    Sharp tree thorns protruded through the parched grass and attacked the Guardians.


    “Go ahead and wriggle around like a bug!”


    Chuchuchuchuchuak!


    Thick, sharp tree roots rapidly grew and branched out, crawling along the ground like willful snakes and springing up like springs.


    “There’s nowhere to run to anyway!”


    At the same time, the high elves alsounched attacks simultaneously.


    Their white, smooth arms grew long like tree trunks and whipped the air like whips.


    Their beautiful and graceful fingers had be sharp and pointed like dry tree branches, and they scratched the ground.


    WHHHHHH – BAM!


    Bam! Bam!


    A series of bizarre attacks from all directions urred simultaneously in less than a second.


    At the center of the attack, the group of guardians, who had been reduced to fish caught in a tight in an instant, responded without a word.


    “Suho.”


    Patchit!


    A blue light shed in Cha Hae-in’s eyes as he raised the Demon King’s longsword.


    “Avoid it as you please.”


    Kkwarreung!


    The storm of white mes.


    The thorns that filled my vision were intercepted by the thunder and lightning that struck down one after another in the clear sky.


    … … ?!


    At that moment, the expressions on the high elves’ faces as they charged forward fiercely became unsettled.


    “What is this energy?!”


    “White me?!”


    Even without eyes, or rather because of them, there were things I could see well.


    The high elves, who had gouged out their own eyes and ced a stone in their ce, noticed at a nce the identity of the sword in Cha Hae-in’s hand.


    [Item: Demon King’s Sword]


    Difficulty of acquisition: S


    Type: Sword


    Attack Power +350 2


    This is a longsword imbued with the power of the Demon King, Baran. Every time you swing the sword, the ‘Storm of White


    me’ effect is activated.


    Effect ‘Storm of White me’: Creates a storm with lightning striking continuously within a certain area.


    It was truly astonishing.


    “how?!”


    “Baran must have died a long time ago?!”


    “Why are the relics of a monarch in the hands of men?”


    Although Baran was dead, the ‘Storm of White me’, which was Baran’s symbol, was still in Cha Hae-in’s hands.


    and.


    The moment when Cha Hae-in starts moving as if she is dancing in earnest.


    Skill, ‘Sword Dance’


    -Storm of White me


    Hwaaaaaaaah-


    A sh of light split into hundreds of branches and covered the entire area.


    “The magic power has been adjusted.”


    At the same time, Cha Hae-in’s voice reached Su-ho.


    “I’ve been learning some tricks for using a sword.”


    Cha Hae-in had many nicknames, but among them, there was one that was particrly famous.


    ‘Training addiction’


    Cha Hae-in, once a world-ss athlete, and at another time a representative S-ss hunter of Korea.


    While Cha Hae-in was just wasting time at the Tomb of the Dragons, he had alreadypleted extensive training on how to use the ‘Demon King’s Sword’.


    “The attack was spread shallow and wide. Since it inflicted a range-type status effect, I’ll leave the rest to you.”


    Pah, pah, pah, pah!


    When dealing with a huge number of enemies, it is essential to conserve your magic power.


    At the same time, it is a battle that stands out for its consideration in not stealing Suho’s experience points.


    The gaze of Suho, who was rushing forward through the storm of lightning from his mother, was filled with the mes of hell.


    “Burn up.”


    Hurrah!


    In that moment, the shadow of the guardian that had already swallowed up the entire Elvenwood began to glow hotly.


    In the middle of it all, Suho sincerelyughed at the high elves.


    “Dry firewood.”


    Phew!


    “How dare you!”


    “Creatures who defy the will of the spirits!”


    “Be our nourishment obediently!”


    “Elvenwood, arise!”


    The name Elvenwood seemed to refer to a giant tree towering over the center of the city.


    The huge tree, like a mountain, raised its huge roots all at once, causing an earthquake.


    In front of him, Fores went crazy.


    “How ridiculous, child of shadows!”


    “We have taken over the bodies of the high elves!”


    “We will never… … unless we are at least of the monarchical level!”


    “therefore.”


    At those words, Suho smiled, showing his teeth.


    “What I’m saying is.”


    WHEEWHAAAAH


    In an instant, a crimson energy swirled from all directions and gathered around Suho.


    Fores’plexion changed abruptly as he witnessed the truth through the foreign news outlet.


    “Hey, wait a minute! Could that be the energy?!”


    “huh.”


    “No, why is the shadow child… …!”


    “Well, it just so happened.”


    [Use ‘Skill: Breath of Destruction’.]


    Quaoooooo!


    … … !


    The surprise at Baran’s white me was only the beginning.


    The sight of the inferno and the aura of destruction stretching straight toward the giant tree, Elvenwood, was shocking and terrifying in itself.


    “no-!”


    The astonished high elves charged towards the guardian with all their might.


    Towards them, the ‘Wrath of Kamish’ began to move from Suho’s two hands.


    The movement was a small gift that Eugene Ho gave to Ber before departure. 5


    He barely managed to find a ‘rune stone’ after thoroughly squeezing the wealth ofrge guilds for protection.


    The newly learned skill was finally put to use in Suho’s hands.


    [Use ‘Skill: Difficulty’.]