808

 [Chapter 204]

[Maegu]

The follow-up recapture war began.

Red Dungeon Northern Gyeonggi Government Building.

Clans that volunteered for the recapture team to subjugate Maegu were gathered near the red dungeon boundary.

Yet they were quite far from the red dungeon.

"That bastard stole the Demon-faced Stingray's skill stone and gained the ability to expand the red dungeon's territory. Considering that, we need to keep a greater safe distance. So you should set up tents over there too."

"Okay, I'll do that. Twin sisters and Ga-yeon, Tae-hee. Take some people and set up tents."

Zenith Clan Lord Ji Yong-hyeon said.

He had the authority to overall command the gathered clans.

Eun-ha, who had the next highest authority, nodded.

Meanwhile, Eun-ha looked around to check the players' conditions.

Though he had confirmed in documents beforehand, all the participating players were named.

S-rank clans participating included Pandora Clan, Zenith, Blaze, and Tempest Clan.

All of Zenith's Five Swords, Blaze's Eight Jades, and Tempest's Five Fierce Birds were there too.

Besides that, people with generally A-rank or higher skills from other clans were participating.

And excluding us, there are 4 Twelve Seats?

Including Jin Pa-rang and Han Chang-jin.

There were 6 participating Twelve Seats.

<First Sword> Ji Yong-hyeon, <Yamma > Kang Hyeon-cheol, <Time Witch> Priscis Memory, <Silent > Yu Su-jin.

Half of the 3rd generation Twelve Seats were participating in the recapture team.

It was that dangerous of a mission.

""""...."""

Though they hadn't even entered the red dungeon yet, people were silent.

They were preparing for the upcoming battle while maintaining their weapons.

Even <Yamma > Kang Hyeon-cheol was quietly swinging his sword.

"Pandora Clan Lord."

"Yes, Zenith Clan Lord."

"It seems Pandora Clan brought all their elite forces too, is that okay?"

"So I tried to remove some people, but they all insisted on coming."

Ji Yong-hyeon's gaze turned to the Pandora Clan members behind Eun-ha.

He spoke in a worried tone.

Eun-ha shrugged his shoulders.

Eun-ha also tried to leave people who could be called elite forces at the clan for the clan's future.

But <Snow Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa and others strongly expressed their intention to volunteer.

When they came out like that, Eun-ha couldn't refuse either.

They were all worried about others. Wanting to contribute to the forces even if just one more person...

There were probably people wanting to repay the debt from being beaten by Maegu before too.

So Pandora Clan's elite force ratio matched other clans.

Noh Eun-ah, Mok Min-ho, Cha Eun-woo, Jung Ha-yang and all sub-lords volunteered.

Many other people volunteered too.

Of course, Eun-ha had no intention of sending 80% of the clan's forces to subjugate Maegu.

He planned to leave most clan members vulnerable in combat like Kim Min-ji and On Tae-hee here to guard the dungeon boundary.

"The Zenith Clan Lord brought all the Five Swords too? Blaze Clan and Tempest Clan as well."

"We brought them all but we'll leave one here too. Blaze Clan will probably do the same."

Meanwhile, there was good reason other clans brought all their elite forces.

In Zenith Clan's case, they were considered the Fairy Government's sword.

Ji Yong-hyeon mobilized all the Five Swords to restore the Fairy Government's prestige that collapsed in the previous recapture war.

Yet he decided to leave one Five Sword member here, keeping Zenith Clan's future in mind too.

Blaze Clan is unexpected too.

But they'll leave 1 person here, so it seems they're quite conscious of YH Group and the Administrator.

Most Blaze Clan members had aggressive tendencies.

That's why they all volunteered for the Maegu subjugation.

Yet they were an S-rank clan.

It means someone was holding the reins well and coordinating the clan.

There must be people in charge of clan administration like Han Seo-hyun.

Perhaps because of that, Blaze Clan seemed to leave one of the Eight Jades behind too.

And the most unexpected was─.

"─Tempest Clan's Five Fierce Birds will all participate in the Maegu subjugation. No, they said they'll deploy most of Tempest Clan's elite forces."

"...Is that so."

Eun-ha looked for Tempest Clan.

Their atmosphere was the most brutal.

Clan members were repeatedly disassembling and assembling their devices, and obsessively checking magazines.

Especially Tempest Clan Lord Kang Ye-hee was already emitting killing intent.

"I don't misunderstand either. Tempest's first Clan Lord <Railgun > Shin Myung-hwan player lost his life to Maegu after all."

As Ji Yong-hyeon explained.

Maegu's existence couldn't be ignored for Tempest Clan.

Because their Clan Lord <Railgun > Shin Myung-hwan was killed by Maegu in the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture War.

Moreover, Tempest Clan suffered considerable troop losses.

Now they've recovered from troop losses and are somehow finding their position again, but for those people it must be a past to overcome.

Current Tempest Clan Lord Kang Ye-hee.

Still, she had changed quite a bit from her previous life to now.

In her previous life, she not only showed strong hostility towards Maegu, but was also quite hysterical.

But in this life, she was showing a cold-tempered nature.

That was just on the surface though. Now that she's participating in the Maegu subjugation, the emotions she's been suppressing are probably bursting out....

As Eun-ha remembered, Kang Ye-hee and <Silent > Yu Su-jin's relationship wasn't good in the previous life.

There was a lot of discord in Tempest Clan because of Kang Ye-hee.

Compared to then, now was much better.

Eun-ha approached Yu Su-jin who was eating a sausage and maintaining her rifle in one corner.

"How's your hand? Is it okay now?"

"Ah, Choco Pie Lord."

"..."

"I'm joking. I remember your name."

"What's my name then?"

"...Is that important?"

"It's my fault for asking."

Yu Su-jin raised her head.

The tension on her face relaxed when she confirmed who it was.

Soon she turned her head away from him and focused on maintaining her rifle.

"Thanks to you, my hand healed well. My body is even better than before. Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me for goodwill with a price."

"Ah, right. The Clan Lord repaid that price this time, didn't he."

"Thanks to that, our clan could have 2 Twelve Seats."

"Hmm.... I'll take good care of Choco Pie Clan's Twelve Seats."

"Then I'm grateful."

"Ah, right. And...."

It was then.

Yu Su-jin raised her head again.

She looked like she remembered something.

Soon she passed a bag of sausages she had put on the table to eat to Eun-ha.

Eun-ha tilted his head.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"I heard the news. You're pregnant, right?"

"That news spread that far.... Yes, my wife is pregnant this time."

"Wasn't it the Choco Pie Clan Lord who got pregnant? Everyone was talking about the Pandora Clan Lord being pregnant, so I thought that. If your wife was pregnant, would people have made such a fuss?"

"Hey, can't you tell just by hearing? And you know our clan name. What's with Choco Pie..."

"Huh? What did I say? Didn't I say Choco Pie Clan?"

"This person...."

"So how many weeks pregnant?"

"16 weeks now. The hospital said the baby will be born around December this year."

"Hmm, your stomach isn't swollen though..."

"Stop joking around."

"What a boring Choco Pie. Anyway, take that."

"So why this?"

"Sausages have a lot of nutrients. Give that to the Choco Pie Clan Lord's wife.... By the way, which number wife?"

"...First wife."

"Give it to the first wife. Tell her to eat that and work hard at giving birth."

"...Okay. I'll pass it on to Seo-hyun when I get back."

"Yeah, I hope the baby is born as a delicious choco pie."

"..."

There was so much he wanted to say but.

Eun-ha just sighed.

He didn't want to disrupt people's mood with strange wordplay when they were about to subjugate Maegu soon.

Eun-ha turned around.

"What will you do if it's born as a delicious choco pie? Are you going to eat my child?"

If that happens, I won't let it slide.

Eun-ha vowed.

He who had been unknowingly brainwashed by Han Seo-hyun was already feeling possessive of his child.

☆

The Maegu subjugation battle will begin soon.

Currently, it's estimated that the beast is inhabiting the 5th floor of the Northern Gyeonggi Government Building.

How many people will die?

With all the windows broken.

The building's interior was glimpsed.

Darkness was lurking.

The beast will be waiting for the recapture team there.

Maegu is 2nd rank.

Sacrifices will be inevitable.

No matter how hard we try.

Many people will die, and Pandora Clan members will be among them.

Everyone knew.

Yet no one voiced that fact.

They just quietly watched.

"Are you worried?"

"Aren't you worried?"

"I am worried. I hope no one gets hurt."

At that moment, Jung Ha-yang held his hand.

She smiled gently.

Eun-ha tried to relax his tension listening to her voice.

His body was too tense.

He was afraid.

It might be natural.

Last year, Eun-ha fought Maegu and barely made the beast retreat.

Even that resulted in many sacrifices.

But this time they had to subjugate it.

"Still, it's fortunate <Time Witch> is participating in the operation too. We can rely on the Witch's healing magic, right? Plus our clan has Eun-ah unni, Iriya unni, Eun-woo, U-bi unni too. We even brought 2 elixirs, right?"

As if trying to ease Eun-ha's burden, Jung Ha-yang chattered away.

He was grateful for her consideration.

At the same time, it felt heavy.

Jung Ha-yang is participating in the subjugation too.

His sister Noh Eun-ah was there too.

Though I strongly objected...

It was no use.

Eun-ha smiled bitterly.

When the two insisted on participating, he ultimately couldn't stop them.

"─How can the Clan Lord be so scared? We're going to win, right?"

"..."

"Right?"

Jung Ha-yang spoke out loud again.

Though she must be anxious and scared too.

She smiled with all her might.

She was right.

"Right, we have to win. No, we will win."

Words have power.

Words govern will.

So Eun-ha couldn't utter words that might bring bad luck.

And by saying so himself, he could strengthen his resolve too.

Right, we're going to win anyway.

Why am I worrying after coming this far?

After hearing the baby will be born.

I became too weak.

How can my will be this weak?

Moreover, I'm the Clan Lord.

If the commander shows fear, how can the clan members keep their spirits up?

Eun-ha smiled as hard as he could, like Jung Ha-yang did.

He looked back.

Clan members were looking at him.

Among them, Jin Pa-rang spoke in a cheerful tone.

"Hey, Clan Lord!! Shouldn't you say something to us at a time like this? How about a toast?"

"Sigh, what toast.... Bingu oppa, are we drinking alcohol now? What toast?"

""""Ahahahaha!!""""

Kim Min-ji objects.

The clan members burst out laughing.

Eun-ha laughed along with them too.

The louder the laughter.

The more fear is diluted.

Stiffly tensed bodies relax.

Eun-ha felt grateful to the clan members trying to laugh even in this situation.

"Alright, at times like this we should have a drink each. Min-ji, go around with Tae-hee and Mary and give everyone a drink."

"Wow, this kid is making me run errands for drinks when I said I'm staying here? Noh Eun-ha has really grown up?"

"Drinking before a big battle.... What if the kids get drunk... Oof!"

"Oh my Min-ho, you should stay still. Since when did you become such a tactless kid? Are you Cheon-seo? Si-hyeong? We can just use mana right after drinking to remove the toxins. Or do you think I can't even do that?"

"Uh, Eun-woo.... Why are you bothering me when I'm staying still? I feel hurt. I may not know about Cheon-seo, but I..."

"Feeling hurt is Ariel's trademark! Si-hyeong Si-hyeong, don't steal my spot! Ah, I agree with drinking dew! Actually, I secretly brought dew in packs, ah, let me say in advance that I was going to drink it after the battle? Anyway, if we all clink glasses with this..."

"I thoroughly checked your luggage, where on earth did you hide that? Give it here. I'll confiscate it until the operation is over."

"Ah! I'm against violence! Kaede is hitting me! And there's nothing I can't hide if I set my mind to it!"

"Everyone, drinking is good but how about praying to the Lord at a time like this? Come, let's all pray together. Lord, when this battle is over, as a reward please give me a sa..."

[Kids, let's be quiet now. We didn't come on a picnic, do we have to disrupt the mood at the very end like this?]

As if there had never been silence.

Pandora Clan members' words burst out.

It was chaotic.

"...I can't believe I worried about these kids' lives."

Really, they're crazy.

Eun-ha clicked his tongue.

Yet his eyes were full of trust in them.

Meanwhile, Kim Min-ji went around giving clan members a drink each.

"Ceramic cups? Why are these here?"

"Seo-hyun unni said to take one each just in case. That unni really has great sense."

Cups made of ceramic.

Eun-ha who received a cup expressed doubt.

Soon he heard Kim Min-ji's explanation and purely admired.

Han Seo-hyun's foresight was amazing.

Anyway, all the clan members filled their ceramic cups with alcohol.

The clan members were all looking at Eun-ha waiting for a toast.

"Thank you all for coming this far with me. Other than that, I don't really have anything to say..."

"Boo! Noh Eun-ha get down! Is that all a Clan Lord can say? Say something more exciting..."

"Yeah, Pa-rang oppa just shut your mouth. But are we breaking these ceramic cups? It's too wasteful to use once and throw away, let's just take them home..."

"Honey. The first verse was good, but why are you having a brain fart in the second verse?"

 "This is the toast! Cheers to the hair roots of Jo A-ra who seeks freebies!"

"You bastard! Jin Pa-rang! You bastard! Come here! I can't take it anymore! I'm going to kill you all! I'm going to kill you!"

"Ara has become Subin's anger..."

"What's wrong with me? Choi Eun-hyuk, don't pick fights for no reason. Or should I throw a spell at you before Maegu?"

"Ha..."

Eun-ha sighed.

All the good feelings were gone.

They were people who just wouldn't listen.

Eun-ha finally gave up on a long-winded toast.

"Let's definitely win. Cheers."

""""Cheers!!""""

With a crash.

Those who drank threw their ceramic cups on the ground with all their might.

The ceramic cups shattered.

The clan members who finished this moment of deviation felt a strange sense of community.

Faces that showed no more anxiety.

Eun-ha was satisfied seeing the clan members' faces.

Surely his face looked the same.

It was then.

"Eun-ha."

"Oh, what?"

Jung Ha-yang tugged on his sleeve.

She seemed to have something she wanted to say.

Eun-ha lowered his head.

Then she stood on her tiptoes and whispered to Eun-ha.

"Let's win quickly and go back."

"Huh? Of course we should."

"And I want to have a baby too."

"...Huh?"

"Since I've only been with Yu-jung until now, when we win and go back, you have to be with me then? Got it?"

"..."

We may be able to win this battle.

But can we win the next battle?

I don't know.

I can't be certain.

Nevertheless, Eun-ha thought.

It's good to change the future.

But let's be faithful to this moment, now.

Enjoy the present.

Where is the heart?

At this moment, Eun-ha looked at the present right nearby, not the future.

☆

The recapture team began their attack.

But there was one thing the recapture team didn't expect.

""""...."""

The Northern Gyeonggi Government Building was just a shell.

People who entered inside realized.

No, they were shocked.

"This is, what on earth..."

The world opened up.

What they faced as soon as they entered the building was an open world.

A dome-shaped space.

The ground was dyed red.

Stalactites were growing on the ceiling.

Stalagmites were growing below.

Occasionally, columns connecting stalactites and stalagmites came into view.

And─.

─Welcome.

It was tiring waiting for you, so I just cleaned everything up.

On the other side of the space.

A pure white fox was crouching.

It stretched.

At that moment─.

─Crack!

In an instant, the beast appeared in front of the players and bit off the waist of the player standing in front.

Thud

The man was torn in half vertically and died.

Maegu, who finished its first greeting with that, grinned.

So?

This isn't all, right?

☆

Before the regression, Maegu subjugation battle.

On Tae-yang, facing the 5th floor of the Red Dungeon Northern Gyeonggi Government Building, looked back at his party members.

"─It's okay, we're going to win."

Fear crept in.

But he had comrades.

There were other people too.

Above all, if he subjugates Maegu, he will become a true hero.

That feeling overcame the fear.

"Let's definitely win. We can win. If I'm here, and you're here."

The party members were afraid.

But On Tae-yang believed in their skills, no, their gifts.

Where is his heart?

The past?

No, he didn't want to turn back the past.

The future?

No, enduring for the future didn't suit his temperament.

He liked this moment, now.

Wealth, honor, women.

He was satisfied with the present where he could enjoy everything.

So let's be faithful to the present.

Then a happy future will automatically fall into his hands.