Chapter 78
Final Chapter (1)
On a hill near Badass Town, Kang Hyeon and several guild members were gathered, engaged in a sparring match.
“Whooosh!”
When Han Se-yeon swung her sword, dozens of trees were instantly sliced through. In the past, this would have caused an uproar about environmental destruction. However, there are no longer any environmentalists left in this world.
“An excellent sword.”
Someone wearing black armor over their entire body parried the sword. Se-yeon and the black armor clashed, sending sword energy scattering in all directions.
“Veil! You’re using too little strength! I told you to fight as if your life depends on it!” Kang Hyeon shouted.
“What foolish words. Only ignorant individuals like you would use more magical power here. I pursue the utmost efficiency.”
“This bastard…”
Kang Hyeon trembled with anger, clenching his fist. The identity of the black armor was none other than Veil. The Death Knight Veil, who had been sealed in Kang Hyeon’s sword and had now regained his physical form. He had actually been not too far away.
“What? Veil was in Japan?”
After returning from death, Kang Hyeon had heard that Veil was wandering the world. He hadn’t particularly paid attention to it, thinking they would meet someday, but as it turned out, Veil had settled in Japan with Razkrize. Upon meeting Veil again, Kang Hyeon asked.
“How did this happen?”
“I met him by chance while traveling the world. I thought there was much to learn from him, so I stayed with him for a while.”
Kang Hyeon couldn’t understand what Veil could possibly learn from Razkrize, but what mattered was that they had met again.
“That’s good. I was actually worried because everyone has been sparring lately, but there was no suitable opponent for Se-yeon. You can be her partner.”
Among Kang Hyeon’s companions and guild members, Se-yeon was exceptionally strong. To push her to her limits, Kang Hyeon would have had to step in himself, but currently, he was in a situation where he couldn’t use his powers. Kang Hyeon was not particularly skilled in swordsmanship either. As he was contemplating how to train Se-yeon, Veil appeared at just the right time, which he was secretly grateful for.
“Whoosh!”
Countless sword energies shot out from Veil’s swinging sword.
‘This guy has become much stronger.’
Over the past three years, Veil had become significantly more powerful. Veil had previously obtained a body containing a dragon’s magic stone. At that time, he couldn’t properly handle the sudden increase in magical power. But now, it seemed he had completely mastered that power. Moreover, his swordsmanship appeared to have improved considerably compared to before.
“You just circulated your magic incorrectly. In that situation, you should send more magic to your legs.”
Kang Hyeon’s role in the guild members’ sparring was mainly to advise on magic utilization. Although Kang Hyeon lacked talent in swordsmanship, he possessed exceptional ability in utilizing magical power. The magic utilization techniques he had learned through his experiences in the battlefield, Kang Hyeon instinctively knew how to move magical power.
“You shouldn’t send magic like that in this situation!”
As he watched his companions spar, Kang Hyeon offered plenty of advice. Though his advice was not systematic and based more on intuition, it was greatly helpful to his companions. When they first heard Kang Hyeon’s advice, they would tilt their heads in confusion, but when they actually tried it, they found it to be truly efficient and useful.
“Yoon Na-rae! Using magic like that makes it leak out! Are you stupid? Huh? Are you stupid?”
“I know that! Do you think magic is that easy?! And why do you have to call me stupid twice?”
Meanwhile, he also needlessly provoked Yoon Na-rae.
“Ahn Yu-seong. In this situation, you shouldn’t jump upward. I know you’re skilled, but at times like this”
“Brother, I have my reasons for doing this.”
“Hey, who dares to talk back when the Guild Master is giving advice?!”
He also unnecessarily scolded Ahn Yu-seong.
Kang Hyeon was truly enjoying himself after a long time.
‘Am I actually cut out to be a teacher?’
In reality, rather than teaching someone, he was feeling elated about acting like an old-fashioned authoritarian, but Kang Hyeon was unaware of this fact. No, only Kang Hyeon was unaware. Everyone else knew.
“You ill-mannered fellows! Follow the Guild Master’s orders immediately!”
Kang Hyeon’s authoritarian behavior was reaching its peak. Eventually, Yoon Na-rae, unable to bear it any longer, stepped forward.
“If the Guild Master’s ancestors saw him now, they would strike their pipes and say, ‘What an arrogant brat, acting like an old man at that age!’“
At Yoon Na-rae’s comment, the guild members brightened up.
“Nice one, sister!”
“That’s such a relief.”
“It was definitely necessary to stop him for once.”
Kang Hyeon, whose flow had been interrupted, frowned and shouted,
“Shut up!”
Although there was a brief minor commotion, the training of his companions was progressing very smoothly. Because they engaged in fierce sparring as if their lives were at stake, their skills improved dramatically day by day. They quickly absorbed Kang Hyeon’s advice like sponges, as he was at a somewhat higher level than them.
“Alright. Let’s end it here for today.”
It had already been more than half a day since they started sparring today. Seeing the sun setting, Kang Hyeon gathered his companions again.
“Want to go to Country Road for a beer?”
At Kang Hyeon’s words, the group made disgusted expressions.
“We went there yesterday too.”
“And the day before yesterday.”
“And the day before the day before yesterday.”
“No, it was the day before the day before the day before the day before the day before…”
“Alright, just stop it, you guys!”
Kang Hyeon yelled in response to their teasing.
“If you all dislike it, forget it. I’ll go alone.”
“I’ll go too.”
“As expected, Seong-ah, you’re the only one I can count on.”
Shin Seong-ah scratched her head with a broad smile.
“By the way, it’s been too quiet lately,”
Han Se-yeon said, looking up at the sky. The group nodded at her words.
“Indeed. Hasn’t it been over two weeks already?”
“It must have been three weeks.”
It had already been three weeks since the large-scale chaos invasion. During that time, there had been minor attacks, but there hadn’t been any instances of named beings of chaos entities appearing and causing large-scale dimensional cracks like before. Kang Hyeon thought about Quirin, the chaos entity he had met before.
‘What exactly are you doing?’
Quirin had clearly stated that he would eliminate the Lord of Chaos. He was a kind of spy, a traitor.
‘Has there been internal strife? Or are they intimidated after being severely defeated last time?’
Just as he was wondering why chaos entities weren’t appearing…
“Screeeech!”
With an ear-piercing noise, a crack appeared in front of Kang Hyeon. Speak of the devil. Seeing the figure walking out of the crack, Kang Hyeon smirked.
“The old saying is true indeed.”
“It’s been a while, Kang Hyeon.”
The chaos being who aspired to become a new lord, Quirin, greeted Kang Hyeon.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“What were you doing to show up only now?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time. Leave the other humans for a moment. I want to talk with just the two of us.”
At Quirin’s words, Kang Hyeon looked at his colleagues.
“All of you go ahead first. I’ll come after having a conversation.”
“Yes.”
Although everyone had uncomfortable expressions about them having a conversation alone, they returned to Badass Town without protest. When the group had moved some distance away, Kang Hyeon looked at Quirin.
“What’s going on? Where have you been all this time?”
“It was a bit noisy as I was organizing things internally. Even now, I’m not in a situation to have a long conversation, so let’s quickly get to the point.”
“Good. That’s my specialty.”
Kang Hyeon was someone who loved getting to the point more than anyone else. But the words that Quirin uttered went beyond the norm.
“We need to summon the Lord of Chaos here.”
At Quirin’s words, Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened.
“Damn. That’s talking about the point too quickly!”
“Wait. I’ll explain why we need to do that.”
Quirin briefly explained the current situation of the beings of chaos.
“If we don’t deal with the Lord, this dimension called Earth will continue to be attacked.”
“I suppose so.”
“And to deal with the Lord, the only way is to summon him here.”
“But even if we deal with the Lord, it doesn’t end there, right? Other Lords will come anyway.”
At Kang Hyeon’s words, Quirin showed a slightly surprised expression.
“You knew that much.”
“Despite how I look, I have quite a lot in my head.”
“This guy is being serious.”
Kang Hyeon smirked and continued.
“So, do you have a solution for that? If not, I have no reason to help.”
Even if they dealt with the Lord, if another Lord invaded Earth, it would be meaningless. Unless Quirin provided an exact solution for that, Kang Hyeon had no reason to help him.
“I told you last time. If we deal with the Lord, I will likely become the next Lord with high probability. If I become the Lord, I will protect this dimension called Earth.”
“Hmm? It’s an enticing proposal, but what should I believe?”
“Anyway, the Lord of Chaos attacks dozens or hundreds of dimensions. It means it doesn’t matter if one dimension is not targeted and left alone.”
“If you become the Lord, your mind could change.”
“I will swear on my magical power. Such a thing will never happen.”
At that moment, a small light emanated from Quirin’s body. Kang Hyeon knew well what that phenomenon meant. If Quirin broke his oath, he would lose all his magical power in an instant and fall. This was something like a law of the world that even beings with powerful strength could not escape.
“Good. If you go that far, I’ll believe you. Is that what you came to say?”
“There’s more. Several conditions are needed to summon the Lord of Chaos.”
“And?”
“One of them is enormous magical power.”
A powerful magic circle needed to be set up so that the world wouldn’t distort or collapse when the Lord of Chaos was summoned. An enormous amount of magical power was required in that process.
“You should handle that yourselves.”
“Not just magical power, but precisely, sacrifices are needed. A tremendous amount of them.”
At the mention of sacrifices, Kang Hyeon frowned.
“Are you saying we should send sacrifices from our side?”
“No, I’m asking for your cooperation. Since sacrifices are needed anyway, if possible, shouldn’t we offer those who are not part of your forces as sacrifices?”
“Ah…”
Only then did Kang Hyeon understand what Quirin was trying to say.
“Sacrifices. Sacrifices…”
In the past, he would have immediately mentioned the undead forces. There was nothing better than having those eyesore guys and Chaos fight and annihilate each other.
‘But now, even if it’s temporary, we’ve formed an alliance.’
To fight the Lord of Chaos, they needed as many helping hands as possible. Gusa Adraz would be sufficient to fulfill his role. There was no need to sour relations with the undead at this point.
‘Then who’s left?’
Most of the surviving forces on Earth had already been united. There wasn’t really any force that could be called an enemy.
“There’s no time. I need to return before other Chaos beings notice.”
“Wait. I’m thinking.”
After pondering, Kang Hyeon suddenly slapped his knee.
“Monsters!”
“Monsters…?”
“I heard there are monsters living in areas where radiation has spread from nuclear explosions. I hear there are many strong ones, so they should be sufficient as sacrifices.”
Quirin showed interest in Kang Hyeon’s words. He wasn’t exactly sure what Kang Hyeon was talking about, but it seemed to mean there were things that could be sacrifices.
“The area where we first met. Not far from there, there’s a desolate land. Deal with the monsters living there.”
Kang Hyeon told Quirin about the areas where nuclear weapons had been dropped, as he remembered. Quirin, who had been understanding Earth’s geography all this time, quickly understood Kang Hyeon’s words.
“I understand. I’ll proceed that way.”
“Good. Then is our business concluded?”
“No. One last thing remains.”
“You have a lot to talk about.”
“This is important. Listen carefully.”
Suddenly, Quirin put on a serious expression, adding weight to the conversation.
“What is it?”
“It’s…”
As Quirin’s story continued, Kang Hyeon’s expression also rapidly hardened.
“Hmm… So that’s how it is.”
After hearing the story, Kang Hyeon nodded.
“We’ll prepare for that on our side.”
“Understood. The operation is not far off, so I’m counting on you.”
“Sure.”
“I must go now.”
Quirin opened another rift and disappeared just as he had come. Left alone, Kang Hyeon looked at Badass Town shining in the distance.
“Sigh, are we finally entering the final chapter?”
The end of the long story was approaching.
