Tap. Tap.
In the deep underground of the city bathed in golden light.
The man walking through the underground waves a golden cloak, a symbol of the city, attached to his chest as he delves deeper.
To an ordinary person, it might just seem like a vast space, but anyone with a bit of power would be shocked by the overwhelming force saturating this place.
Strictly speaking, it’s not even the city’s underground.
Clang!
Because this space is like a separate dimension altogether.
“Ah.”
As the massive iron door opens, a woman in a white magical research robe bows her head while cradling a long plate.
“You’ve arrived, Master.”
Reina Pol Er, the head of magical research of the Imperium Empire.
The former assistant researcher to Karia Matchelpid, the Magic Lord of the Empire’s Eight Swords, and now responsible for all magical research in the empire.
Despite the appearance of Huangyeol, a man symbolic of the empire, Reina offered a casual greeting before redirecting her gaze back to her research.
It was quite a rude behavior for a subject of the empire, but it was somewhat excused for the sake of rapid research results.
“How is the research progressing?”
“We’re still in the process of recognizing the entity, ‘vácŭum’. Although in a dormant state, the space is twisting in real-time, and stabilizing it has become our top priority.”
“Definitely a tricky ability. What about spatial division?”
“We managed to block the division with the Lord’s divine power, but we still can’t suppress the distortion.”
Reina glanced away from something filling the laboratory.
The inside of the lab resembled that of the former Magic Lord, but what was inside was different.
Thud thud!
Previously filled with fragments of the Spirit of Darkness, Sephid, and spirits…
Krooooh…
Kieeek!!!
Ughhh…
This time, it’s half-demons made from even darker fragments of demons.
The half-demons pounded against their glass tubes, spewing dense magic, but flowing over the surface of the glass was Huangyeol’s golden holy power.
They couldn’t withstand the melting of their bodies upon contact and ultimately ceased their pounding.
Huangyeol Robelian gazed at a glass tube and reached out to touch it.
A demon beast with the horns of a cow and the face of a wolf.
It was glaring at Huangyeol, and the amount of magic within it was worrisome.
‘If I bring just one to the capital without the knights, half of the subjects would be dead.’
Each one was a monster that could match the knights of the empire.
There were thousands of such glass tubes existing.
Leading an army of this magnitude wouldn’t be impossible for conquering the continent, but that wasn’t what Huangyeol desired.
What Huangyeol wanted was not a devastated world, but the throne of a complete world.
He didn’t want a world trampled by demon beasts.
Above all, these monsters weren’t created for power.
“What’s the purification response for the test subject?”
“There’s no significant difference compared to the test subject, the Spirit of Darkness, from the former head, Karia Matchelpid. However, we’ve found a method for spatial suppression of demon beast entities below level 7, so we plan to inject it into the main body soon.”
“What about the main body’s influence?”
“Biological response is below 5%. There’s not much change based on the injection amount, but we’re administering it in small doses just in case we want to prevent awakening.”
Duke Huangyeol stepped past Reina and approached the end of the laboratory.
A place imbued with power that even he, with the strength of an Intermediate Angel, found burdensome.
“Demon Race.”
Taking just one more step would mean entering the realm of the demon race that can alter space at will.
He had discovered this place long ago, establishing a lab nearby, and despite years of research, he still couldn’t enter the awareness zone of the demon race.
To be precise, there was no reason to go in.
“If they aren’t moving for now, there’s no reason to attack hastily.”
There was no need to suffer losses from this side.
As long as he could grasp the space composed of the demon race and hold it in check to avoid damage when that day approaches, that would suffice.
For the eternal advancement and glory of the Empire.
“…If possible, I hope it’s also useful as a sword.”
“I’ll make sure to prepare it as much as possible by that day.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Yes.”
Duke Huangyeol left Reina, who bowed her head, in the laboratory and returned to the royal castle.
Left alone in the laboratory, Reina quietly moved a long plate and inserted magic into the experiment chamber.
Kieeek! Kieeek!!!
“…Looks like it’s eating well.”
■
[You have personally subdued the Sea Disaster!]
[óctĭpes – 98, the Sea Disaster (level 2) is sealed and will not appear in the world again.]
[You have cleared the Sea Dungeon (level 2)!]
[Rewards are being acquired according to the progression…]
Three weeks had passed since clearing the level 4 sea dungeon.
During that time, he had roamed here and there looking for the sea dungeon, but most of them had either been cleared or failed, making entry impossible.
In the end, he had only cleared 7 level 1 dungeons, 5 level 2 dungeons, and just 1 level 3 dungeon.
The first level 4 dungeon he visited was the highest difficulty, and excluding level 3, which completely sealed his power, the clearing time didn’t even exceed an hour.
[There really are a lot.]
[Are there 200 sea dungeons? LOL?]
[WTF]
[Level isn’t going up]
[Level really isn’t going up]
[Only a week left ;;]
[One year has already passed ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Where’s my time?]
[Wow]
[There’s nothing this time either?]
Hoo! I retrieve my hammer and casually check my rewards and chat window.
[You gained a large amount of experience.]
[LV.109]
Still, my level hasn’t gone up, and the rewards are rather pathetic.
“Wow, it really isn’t going up.”
At level 109, realizing I only have a month left, I decided to save my tteokbokki and focus on leveling up.
The reason I’m still roaming the sea dungeon aside from the Kraken… maybe it’s because the levels are so low that experience gain is slow.
The amount of experience needed to go from 109 to 110 is enormous, but I didn’t expect it to be this slow…
“…If it doesn’t go up by three days from now, I’ll just have to use it.”
It’s a shame, but if I waste everything after it’s all gone, it doesn’t mean anything.
Already, I’ve identified nearly 200 clones, with about 70 appearing for sure.
Moreover, most are presumed to be at levels 3 or 4.
As they are strong clones, clearing them must’ve been even harder, so I need to get a bit stronger.
“Well then~ shall we call it a day?”
[?]
[Ah]
[No! No! No! No!]
[I only cleared two today…]
[Let’s clear one more, Lily]
[Ah]
[This is insane, this is insane, this is insane, this is insane]
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Let’s go see Yena]
[Already turning it off…?]
[I’m going to lie down]
[???]
The chat window is in chaos.
I smiled gently while shaking my head, looking at the camera.
“In exchange, I’ll take the early kill tomorrow. Tomorrow, let’s focus more on the ranked broadcasts than the dungeons?”
I’ve already roamed enough in the dungeons, and it’s getting hard to find higher-level ones.
Now that I’ve obtained the barrier, I should be able to do rank battles about 2-3 times a day.
If I run the rankings two or three more times, I should be able to enter the top 10.
[Hmph]
[Okay…]
[Lilva]
[Bye-bye-bye-bye]
[Ok]
Thud.
[Broadcast has ended.]
“…….”
Creaking…! The entrance of the dungeon opens, and I return to Deoen.
As I head back to Elbrite, I slowly conceal my presence and drape the barrier around my neck.
Sre… The necklace emits a faint aura, blocking my information as a user.
Now, nobody will know that I’ve logged into Deoen.
─Behind you.
And then a green breeze blew from behind.
Riding the wind, a small sparrow with green feathers landed on my shoulder, chirping.
The owner of the wind, the mother of the wind spirit. And the Spirit King of the wind.
Mother of the Wind Spirit. And the Wind Spirit King.
“Naphras.”
She approached me.
“Long time no see.”
─I heard the news?
“I heard it from Leo.”
A week ago.
While Leo was continuing his training at the Academy, he suddenly came to visit me after I cleared the Sea Dungeon.
It’s not unusual for him to visit, but this time Leo came with something a bit more important.
‘The Spirit Lord is looking for me.’
I was busy with matters regarding the Sea Dungeon, and since the Spirit Lord is a grand duke of the Empire, I had dealings with Duke Huangyeol, so it wasn’t an immediate priority.
But now I had some free time, and since he insisted on meeting me until a week ago, now is just the right time.
“How have you been?”
─Well… I’ve been fine. Nord has been a bit of a problem, though.
The Earth Spirit King, Nord, had been transformed into the Spirit King of Darkness, Sephid, due to an experiment by the Magic Lord.
I intervened when he was losing his mind and rampaging, and in the end, Duke Huangyeol showed up and ripped him apart, but I believe he has fully recovered by now.
Due to long-term possession of his soul by magic, it couldn’t be entirely removed, but it was still not enough to hinder his survival.
─He’s almost fully recovered, but he’s still experiencing trauma and rejection reactions, so… given that there are demons among the enemies, I don’t think he’ll be much help in terms of full combat power.
“Well, I won’t be asking him to fight impossible battles. It’s not my jurisdiction anyway.”
As the Earth Spirit King and the Spirit King of Darkness, Nord was on the side of the Spirit Lord, following Naphras.
Not that it’s strictly a side, but since they’re together, it can be seen as such.
“First of all, we shouldn’t talk here, so let’s move.”
─Understood.
As the green sparrow perched on my shoulder chirped, my body teleported with the wind.
The place we arrived at was the castle of the Spirit Lord, Arne Partia, which I had seen before.
In the emerald green garden, there was a woman and a cute young child, both of whom were surrounded by numerous spirits.
As I approached, the young child, Leo, waved his hands enthusiastically.
His integration had progressed to the point where he could be seen as just a Nymph.
‘And…’
“Welcome. Leo’s friend.”
The grand duke, who divided the Empire and stood uniquely on par with Duke Huangyeol.
The Spirit Lord, Arne Partia, set down her teacup and smiled brightly.
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