NOVPUB
Chapter 255
A dark shadow split the air. Racing through the thick mist at an extreme speed was Kaisel, the shadow wyvern, carrying three figures on his back—Suho, Haein, and Sirka.
Below them, the bubbling river of death twisted and churned. But before the river’s searing heat could even reach them, it was already far behind.
I crossed the river so easily thanks to my mother... I should think about adding a wyvern to my army. They’re way more efficient than the clumsy dragonkin I have right now. Or maybe I should get Ragna to grow somehow...
[Antares listens closely while pretending to be disinterested.]
Though the Monarch tried to act indifferent, it was clear he was paying attention to Suho’s musings.
“Suho,” Haein said, turning around to look at her son, “since we’re already in North Korea, why don’t I just take you directly to Woo Jinchul?”
Her casual tone made Suho laugh. It sounded as though she was dropping him off at after-school tutoring on her way to do some grocery shopping. Then again, her vehicle—if the wyvern could be called that—was so impressive that it had made any sense of normalcy impossible.
Haein’s arrival on Kaisel’s back had already captured the entire country’s attention. Thinking about the reporters’ shocked expressions made Suho recall his mother’s glory days.
I knew she was a national athlete in the past, but I guess she was more famous than I thought.
He had heard stories about her impressive career many times before, but as her son, they never really sunk in. They were all things that had happened before he was even born. From Suho’s perspective, those stories of twenty years ago—just like the ones about his parents before they were married, when they had first met and started dating—were just vague and distant ancient histories.
“So where is Jinchul?” Haein asked.
Suho told her that the Hunters Association had given him the most recent coordinates they had received.
Sirka, who had been silent ever since they’d crossed into North Korea, finally spoke up.
“Cha Cha...”
Haein glanced over her shoulder at the elf.
“What is it?”
“There is something wrong with this place,” Sirka muttered, looking visibly uncomfortable.
Gazing down at the land below, she rubbed her arms as if shaking off a chill. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
“The spirits who live here don’t seem to be in their right minds.”
Haein’s face hardened. “It’s the same here?”
They had seen spirits lose control once before. The ice spirits of the Echo Forest, who had once lived peacefully within the sanctuary of the ice elves on Facade Island, had lost their minds and gone on a violent rampage.
Beru’s jaw was clenched as his narrowed eyes darted around their surroundings.
“Young Monarch... I sense the energy of the Itarim everywhere in this place.”
Just as the shadow ant said, a dense and otherworldly blue mist filled the North Korean landscape ever since they crossed the scorching river. It was thicker and more concentrated than any they had seen before, even compared to the mist in the Loktak Field.
At least in India, the government was still standing, Suho thought. But North Korea doesn’t even have that.
“If left unchecked,” Beru continued, “this entire territory might turn into a colossal void gate. That is the worst-case scenario, but... perhaps it has already begun.”
Suho realized the gravity of the situation.
“Mother, I think we are going to have to deal with the problems at hand first.”
Haein frowned as she nodded in agreement.
“All right. Let’s deal with this field before we go to Jinchul.”
They had the coordinates, so finding Jinchul wouldn’t take long.
The real issue was the dense blue mist swirling ahead, so thick it seemed to form solid clouds. But since Jinchul had come to North Korea to correct this phenomenon anyway, the order in which they took care of things hardly mattered.
“Kaisel, let’s head down,” Haein ordered.
The second the wyvern began to lower his altitude, the spirits wandering in the air instantly attacked, screeching.
[Flaming Golden Eagle]
[Flaming Golden Eagle]
[...]
[Biting Wind Jackdaw]
[...]
“These wild animals have been devoured by the spirits!” Sirka shouted urgently. “They’re like the Ice Golems from our sanctuary! I knew it, this place is—”
Before she could finish, their vision was filled with countless birds.
Sirka appeared to be right. The eagles that were taken by fire spirits charged forward recklessly, engulfed in hot flames, their fiery wings making them look like phoenixes. The jackdaws, which had been seized by wind spirits, sent razor-sharp gusts tearing through the air with each flap of their wings.
“They must be out of their minds. They are fearless!” Beru shouted, openly mocking them.
To him, these possessed creatures were only foolish. There was no way they could fight a wyvern. There wasn’t even a need to use mana on them.
Kaisel opened his jaws and roared. A massive burst of compressed air shot from his mouth, ripping through the flock like a cannon, and possessed birds popped like balloons.
Haein, however, reprimanded him.
“Kaisel, you shouldn’t do that. If you kill them, Suho won’t get any experience points.”
“Grrraw...”
Kaisel was about to open his jaws to unleash another vicious attack, but his face immediately drooped, looking dejected.
Even so, Haein remained firm. She was serious about her son’s training.
“Suho?”
“Y-yes, Mother?” Suho responded, his eyes widening as he recognized her gentle tone.
I know this tone... It’s the same voice she used the night before an exam...
“Go and do your best.”
With that, Haein shoved Suho off the wyvern’s back without a second thought. He plummeted through the sky, straight into the flock of possessed birds.
“Wait, Mom—!” How could you just...?!
Suho fell helplessly, his mother’s smile and gentle wave fading from his view. He suddenly recalled someone claiming that lions dropped their cubs off cliffs to make them stronger.
But this is way too high!
Whether that story was true or not, even a lion would shake its head at this height.
But in order to survive, he couldn’t just complain. He needed to move.
Ruler’s Authority!
Though he had been taken aback for a moment, he soon skillfully stepped into the air and slowed his fall. At the same time, Kamish’s Wraths formed in his hands.
[Skill: “Dark Flame Storm” has activated.]
There was a burst of flame, and the birds around him screeched sharply.
[Flaming Golden Eagle has been defeated.]
[Flaming Golden Eagle has been defeated.]
[...]
[Biting Wind Jackdaw has been defeated.]
[Biting Wind Jackdaw has been defeated.]
[...]
The possessed birds disintegrated into ashes under Suho’s scorching blades. Even the eagles, despite having turned into fire-elemental creatures, were not immune to the flames of destruction.
They probably won’t give me many experience points, to be honest, but at least there are a lot of them.
At a glance, there seemed to be thousands. It was difficult to even make a rough count. The sky was packed with “birds,” now swarming toward him as if they had sensed a strange animal intruding on their territory.
“Young Monarch!”
Beru, having flown over to the side of the falling Suho, delivered a message from Haein.
“Your mother has instructed you to kill them all before you hit the ground!”
Suho looked at him unenthusiastically.
“And if you succeed, she will reward you with dragon bones instead of an allowance!” Beru added.
“Oh, c’mon!” Suho burst into laughter. “She came here to give me those bones anyway.”
Despite his words, the look in his eyes had changed.
The foolish eagles lunged at Suho fearlessly, and his daggers cut through them without mercy. Then without pausing, he uttered a familiar command.
“Arise!”
[The Shadow Extraction was a success.]
[Shadow Eagle - Level 1 - Knight Grade]
Suho gripped the legs of a shadowy bird of prey. It immediately unfurled its wings, releasing black steam as it took flight.
Suho soared toward an even larger flock of the spirit-possessed birds and shouted to his army, “Any of you with wings, get out here now!”
The shadow soldiers appeared in an instant as if they had been waiting for this exact moment to be summoned.
“I’m the one to trust at important moments like these,” declared Lee Minsung—or rather Que, the shadow lancer.
He smiled proudly and raised his spear triumphantly into the air.
“Everyone, with me!” he called out.
With Que in the lead, countless shadow knights shot toward the possessed birds like arrows.
The shadow dragonkin had emerged as well, and led by Sita, they began to massacre the birds with brutal efficiency.
In the center of the battle, Suho leisurely glided along. To the eagle carrying him, he commanded, “Take me to the gate where the spirits are emerging.”
The shadow eagle screeched and immediately shifted direction following Suho’s order.
Haein’s eyes sparkled as she observed the scene unfolding below her.
“Oh my. He’s gotten quite skilled in battle.”
“‘Quite skilled?’ He’s become much stronger than before!” Sirka exclaimed, looking at Haein in confusion.
However, in a different life, Haein had served as the vice guild master of the Hunters Guild, the number one guild in South Korea. She had also been the greatest S-rank hunter among those who were “merely” human, so to speak.
In addition, she had watched Jinwoo, the true Monarch of Shadows, fight from up close more than once. It was no wonder her standards were so high.
“Kaisel, let’s follow him,” she instructed, and the wyvern fell in behind Suho.
Meanwhile, Sirka’s expression hardened. “The spirits’ energy is growing stronger,” she noted.
Haein agreed. “Yes. It certainly feels like we’re heading to the right place.”
The shadow eagle cut through the rippling blue fog. There was a strange sight at the end of their path.
“What... is that?” Suho muttered.
They were heading toward a vast city surrounded by the blue mist. Oddly enough, the architecture and overall image didn’t seem to match anything that should have been in North Korea.
“Are we even in North Korea anymore?” he mumbled.
The shadow eagle screeched as it glided above the city.
Suho had a clear vantage point from which to view his surroundings. His eyes gleamed sharply.
A barrier, huh?
A translucent, dome-shaped barrier encased the entire city.
