Chapter 301
The Heavenly Giant Lord was soon buried by the Reapers and completely hidden from view. But even without confirming with his own eyes that the mighty Heavenly Giant Lord had stopped breathing, Kim Jin-Woo could tell.
If things were going to end like this, the dignity of the Highlords would be overshadowed.
“Mm.”
Kim Jin-Woo was satisfied with the fact that the Reapers had subdued the Heavenly Giant Lord and turned his attention back to the remaining two Highlords. However, the Beastfolk King, who had been deeply engaged in combat just moments before, was nowhere to be seen.
“Huh. He’s a quick judge of the situation,” he muttered.
It appeared that, as the situation became unfavorable, the Beastfolk King had quickly withdrawn. By the time Kim Jin-Woo realized that, the countless beasts had already disappeared. Only a few unlucky beasts that had been left behind were desperately trying to stay alive on the battlefield.
It was unfortunate in Kim Jin-Woo’s eyes, but he soon cleared his thoughts with regard to the Beastfolk King. Now was the time to clear the battlefield.
<Angela, observe the situation and hold down Catherine when there’s an opening.>
Kim Jin-Woo had been outnumbered previously and had to be wary of possible sneak attempts to steal the Wish Stone, but now that the Heavenly Giant Lord had been subdued and the Beastfolk King had fled, there was nothing else for him to be wary of. Thus, he secretly passed on his instructions to Angela, who, as soon as he finished speaking, appeared behind Catherine and harshly grabbed her by the hair.
“Kurgh!” Catherine screamed.
It was hopeless, however, as Angela put her fangs against Catherine’s exposed white neck and said, “Don’t move. You’d better mind how you even breathe. Just a small wound and I’ll probably lose control, you see.”
Catherine trembled upon hearing the warning from the Vampire, who was excited at the prospect of sucking away the life force of a Highlord. But after a brief moment, she seemed to realize that the situation had completely turned against her, and showed no further signs of resistance.
“If there’s anything else you had planned ahead, you’d better act on it now. There won’t be any more chances for you,” Kim Jin-Woo said.
Catherine sighed. What good would her plans be at that point? If both the Heavenly Giant Lord and the Beastfolk King had been around in top form, she could somehow have conceived a plan to turn the situation around. But at that moment, it would be too much for her to do so all by herself.
Kim Jin-Woo was aware of that fact as well as he stared down at Catherine. Catherine was too insidious of a being for him to drop his vigilance, even if she had been more or less captured. Until the moment Catherine was killed for good, he couldn’t drop his guard.
Seeing Kim Jin-Woo remain vigilant until the end, Catherine finally surrendered, saying, “I’ve lost completely.”
Despite those words, her expression wasn’t that of a loser. She didn’t have the gaze of a leader who had lost their chance at victory, nor did she have the impatience of a loser waiting for the victor’s decision.
The Abominations that had resisted fiercely thus far eventually gave up regenerating their bodies, and were completely torn apart by the Reapers. The Reapers had been expecting the Abominations to continue resurrecting, tilting their heads in confusion when it didn’t happen.
However, there was no way the summoned Abominations would rise again when the summoner herself had surrendered. Unaware of that fact, the Reapers continued to hang around the remains of the Abominations for a long time before finally approaching for their feast.
Finally, Kim Jin-Woo had been able to overcome yet another crisis and achieve one more victory. After the battle, his forces cleared out the battlefield by sorting out the enemies’ corpses and collecting useful materials as usual.
“Whoa! With these materials, I won’t be able to create just an army of the Dead; I can even create an army of Death Gods!” Valicius exclaimed.
The most excited ones were the Naga Sorcerers, including Valicius. They roared with delight at the endless supply of corpses from fallen giants and beasts.
It seemed he couldn’t hold in his delight upon seeing such a spread of corpses from powerful ancient summons. But his joy didn’t last long.
“Uh…” Valicius made eye contact with a Hydra that was staring intently at the corpse he was about to take away, and froze on the spot.
Krrrrrrrrr.
It was terrifying to see the Hydra drooling thick globs of saliva and shaking its head as if it might bite him at any moment.
Valicius’ reaction was completely understandable, considering that the Hydras were powerful enough to annihilate any labyrinth in the Underworld in less than a day. It wasn’t unreasonable for him to be surprised as his eyes met the hostile gaze of such a ferocious being.
“Stop. He’s my subordinate, not your food,” Kim Jin-Woo suddenly said.
Could it be that he had lost his consciousness from being completely blown away by such great terror? When Valicius regained consciousness, the terrifying Hydra’s maw was right in front of his nose.
Valicius was certain that if Master hadn’t restrained the Hydra, the monster would already have bitten him without any mercy. Belatedly realizing that fact, he floundered as if his legs had lost all their strength and he collapsed onto the ground.
“T-Thank you, my King,” he said.
“If you’re indeed grateful, how about you let go of that thing in your hand?” Kim Jin-Woo replied.
In response, Valicious smiled clumsily with his pale face. In his hand, he gripped part of a corpse tightly. It seemed that not even the fear of a Reaper could stop the fanaticism of a Naga Sorcerer who was obsessed with research.
“Give up the corpses. That’s the price I promised them,” Kim Jin-Woo said.
Valicious, who had refused to give up on his research material despite trembling to the bone, finally let go of the part in his hand. The gazes of the Naga Sorcerers that had been scavenging across the battlefield were all the same, as their blue eyes lit up with maddening greed despite their fear of the Reapers.
Seeing them, Kim Jin-Woo clicked his tongue. However, the way he looked at the Naga Sorcerers was no different from their own gazes.
<Do you not intend to keep your promise?>
The red giant, who could be called the leader of the Reapers, shouted fiercely.
“No, I’ll keep my promise,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.
<Then what’s the meaning of your actions now?!>
Upon hearing the red giant’s fierce protest, Kim Jin-Woo glanced down at his feet.
“S-save… me…”
The Heavenly Giant Lord, who had been finally released from the Reapers’ onslaught, was at Kim Jin-Woo’s feet, looking like a complete mess as he continued to beg for his life.
“Think carefully about the promise that was made,” Kim Jin-Woo said to the red giant, as he burst out laughing while staring at the wretched figure of the Heavenly Giant Lord who had now lost twice to him.
<You definitely said that in return for helping you, you would hand over the corpses of the dead Highlords…>
The red giant suddenly froze at that point, realizing Kim Jin-Woo’s intentions, and frowned deeply.
“That’s right. What I promised you were corpses of ‘dead Highlords’, not bodies of ‘living Highlords’,” Kim Jin-Woo said.
<Such wordplay!>
The raging red giant was furious, but Kim Jin-Woo wasn’t affected the slightest. He remarked, “You should have made sure he was dead for good by the end of the battle. I’m sure I gave you enough time to do so.”
<I can’t accept this!>
“Whether you accept it or not, I’ve definitely kept my end of the bargain. Out of all the loot, I’m only going to take this idiot,” Kim Jin-Woo said.
He had handed over the assorted loot once owned by the Nobles, as well as the bodies of countless warriors to the Reapers. Of course, the one survivor was more valuable than the rest of the loot combined, so it was still nothing but good news for Kim Jin-Woo.
And, after all, he had never broken his promise.
<Do you think you’ll be fine even if you deceive us like this!?>
The thought that rang in his mind was filled with anger. However, Kim Jin-Woo remained calm. On the contrary, he threatened the red giant back.
“And what if I won’t be fine?” he asked with an annoyed expression. The dark energy that lay dormant within him began to rise, and light began to trickle from the corners of his eyes. He continued, “Don’t be mistaken. The ones I have a hard time dealing with are Highlords. And you aren’t Highlords.”
If Kim Jin-Woo hadn’t sworn to not awaken Night, there wouldn’t have been a need to complicate matters and resolve the issue with such difficulty. All he would have had to do was to take on the form of the Evil Dragon and run rampant for a while.
And in the face of Night, such insignificant Reapers that Night didn’t even show any interest in were merely cumbersome to deal with, nothing more. As long as he had the time, Kim Jin-Woo was confident that he could easily deal with them as much as he needed.
<You were after the energy of the cunning trickster, but it turns out that you’ve been corrupted as well!>
The red giant lamented, trying to subdue his anger. Having already observed Kim Jin-Woo’s strength, he seemed to think that there was nothing to gain out of fighting at that moment.
“Seems like it. I didn’t know about this either, but as it turns out, I’m a Highlord as well, just like them,” Kim Jin-Woo responded sarcastically, without a hint of apology. The red giant frowned.
<We’ll return after our feast. From here on, our clan will never help you…>
“Don’t be too hasty. I have no intention to make you into fools.”
Confusion was written all over the red giant’s face, as his anger subsided and he wondered what Kim Jin-Woo was talking about now.
“For now, I have a need for this so I’m taking it with me, but when everything’s over, I’ll give you what you so desperately wanted,” Kim Jin-Woo continued.
It was the Heavenly Giant Lord who was shocked this time. After all, for a Highlord like him to be treated like a piece of meat for sale in a butchery, there was no way he could feel anything but anger. Predicting that he would be eaten down to the bones by the Reapers if he didn’t act fast, there was a genuine look of fear and urgency on his face.
“T-this time, I’ll really cooperate with you…” the giant begged.
Kim Jin-Woo responded immediately, as if he had been waiting for that moment. “Then tell me, why were you aiming for the Wish Stone?”
The Heavenly Giant Lord hesitated for a moment before closing his eyes tightly. He began, “The Wish Stone is…”
“Shut up! Don’t say it!” Catherine, who had been in shock at how Kim Jin-Woo had dealt with the Reapers so far, immediately stopped the Heavenly Giant Lord from speaking any further.
But the Heavenly Giant Lord had already decided that his life was worth more than the information he was about to reveal. He continued, “It is not simply a medium that connects the Underworld and the surface.”
“Explain in detail,” Kim Jin-Woo urged the Heavenly Giant Lord, as he watched Angela push Catherine’s head down to the ground.
“It is the Mysteries of the Underworld that form the basis of the Underworld, and the Mysteries of the Underworld that govern the events and happenings of the Underworld. It is also the Mysteries of the Underworld that govern the creation and mortality of the various races. It is not unreasonable to say that the Mysteries of the Underworld are involved in everything,” the giant explained. Even a fool would understand what he was trying to say by that point.
Of course, Kim Jin-Woo was no fool. He began, “Don’t tell me, the Wish Stone…”
“Right. If you have the Wish Stone, being in control of the Mysteries of the Underworld will no longer be just a dream.”
The Wish Stone, which Kim Jin-Woo had thought was simply the key to unifying the Underworld and the surface, had turned out to be something much more important than he had thought. He was astonished by that unexpected fact, and at the same time, he was convinced. Without that level of value, there was no way such an item could become the key to something as insane as the unification of the two realms.
“He who rules the Mysteries of the Underworld will become the King of the Underworld,” the giant finished.
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