“Did you commit a crime?” Kim Hyun-jun asked.
Joo Eun-jong, who was tied up tightly, shook his head desperately. “I didn’t do anything! You saw what I was doing!”
“True. You did quite well. But why are you tied up then?”
“I told you, I don’t know either!”
“You must have done something wrong. You’d better beg for forgiveness.”
“I’m telling you, I didn’t!” Joo Eun-jong felt extremely wronged.
*Crash! Bang! Boom!*
The demon Dimension Ship, hit by Choi Yunseo’s Fireball, was engulfed in flames. The Magic Beasts inside burned along with the ship. Having quickly finished off the demons, Choi Yunseo landed next to Joo Eun-jong.
“Yunseo, did this guy do something wrong?”
“He fought so well that I doubted if it was really him.”
“Ho… I didn’t think of that. Hurry up and investigate.” Kim Hyun-jun gave Joo Eun-jong a playful kick. Half of it was suspicion, and half was wanting the boy to suffer a little.
Choi Yunseo took Joo Eun-jong to the Divine Arrow. There, they conducted a detailed examination with the Elves, and the results showed that it was indeed him.
“I’m so sorry! I’m truly sorry!” Choi Yunseo bowed her head hurriedly. Her face was bright red from guilt.
“Ugh, seriously. If you weren’t my Captain’s sister, I wouldn’t have let this slide.”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
“Is saying sorry enough? You should compensate me!”
“How should I do that? Is there something you want?”
“You saw me fighting, right?”
“I did.”
“Just tell my Captain that I fought well.”
“I will. I’ll make sure to tell him in a way that moves my brother’s heart.”
Only then did Joo Eun-jong’s mood soften, and Choi Yunseo brought up what she wanted to ask. “But why are you speaking informally? How old are you?”
“You do it too.”
“I can?”
“I told you, go ahead.”
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Your personality is a bit strange.”
“That must be about the ten thousandth time I’ve heard that. I’m going.” Joo Eun-jong flew off toward the Dimension Ship where he belonged.
“What a weird guy.” Choi Yunseo shook her head and focused on the battle. All she had to do was watch, but she didn’t take her eyes off it just in case.
Since the majority of the demons remained at the Bluestone Fortress, even though there were about 500 Dimension Ships coming toward the Allied Forces, they were practically empty shells and were soon annihilated.
‘They actually won.’
To be honest, even Choi Yunseo had been uncertain. There was the powerful weapon called the Bluestone Fortress, and three Demon Dukes. There were 300,000 demons and a countless number of Magic Beasts. Even if they won, she thought it would be after a fierce battle involving the entire Allied Forces.
However, the result was an easy victory. If Choi Kangjoong’s younger sister was like this, what about the others? Choi Yunseo felt the people around her relaxing, unlike before.
‘Next time, I’ll be there too.’
On top of the remaining parts of the Bluestone Fortress, a fierce battle was still raging. Watching it, Choi Yunseo vowed to quickly reach S-Class and even take the title of the youngest S-Class Mage.
***
“Arise!”
The dead Magic Beasts, affected by the Immortal Demonic Energy spread by Duke Proferia, rose to their feet. They were all zombies with low combat power, but he was in a situation where he wanted even the help of Gratis.
The Magic Beast zombies shuffled toward Dielka. Dielka let out a sneer and spread Death Mana. The Magic Beast zombies, stripped of their Immortal Demonic Energy, collapsed one after another.
“Why don’t you just die quietly?”
“Damn it!”
Duke Proferia scanned his surroundings. The situation was the worst. The Death Knights were being sliced apart by Han Junghwa and Guild Master Kang Sungpyo. The Liches were being hunted by Choi Kangjoong’s Mana Cannons. He couldn’t even escape upward. Apocalids swarmed the sky, and more importantly, the two Elves wouldn’t let him go. To make matters worse, the Great Magic had even been deactivated. Since the Liches were annihilated, they couldn’t maintain the Great Magic.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
Arrows filled with Life Essence and Death Mana pierced Duke Proferia’s body. These two types of Mana were more dangerous than poison to an Immortal Demon, and Duke Proferia writhed in pain.
“Where is that guy’s Life Vessel?” At Dielka’s question, the Death Spirit pointed to Duke Proferia’s Staff. A bizarre eyeball was attached to the end of the Staff.
“So he’s carrying it himself.”
There were quite a few Immortal Demons who carried their Life Vessels personally because they were too anxious to leave them elsewhere. Iselin and Dielka competitively fired arrows, aiming for the Life Vessel. Duke Proferia deployed several layers of Death Shields, but the arrows punched holes right through them.
*Thud! Thud!*
Finally, the arrows struck the Life Vessel. Immortal Demonic Energy leaked out of the punctured Vessel.
“No, no! This can’t be!” Duke Proferia clutched the Life Vessel with his hands. But with mere bones, he couldn’t stop the Immortal Demonic Energy from escaping. An Air Walker, realizing he had been neutralized, picked him up and threw him into the Soil Pit.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
Duke Proferia, along with his Life Vessel, turned into nutrients and Evolution Points.
*Crunch!*
The last remaining fragment of the Bluestone Fortress went into Kuongi’s stomach. It was the moment a fortress of the Demon Realm, which had never been destroyed before, vanished without a trace.
Next were the demon Dimension Ships. Thanks to Iselin and Dielka’s buffs and the swordplay of Han Junghwa and Guild Master Kang Sungpyo, they were quickly dealt with. Not a single demon, who had been so arrogant because of the Bluestone Fortress, remained. The flying Apocalids brought all the demon Dimension Ships that had gone toward the Allied Forces and melted them in the Soil Pit.
Choi Kangjoong returned to the Divine Arrow with the two Elves and the two humans. The Hunters and Knights clapped and cheered.
“Great work!”
“Long live the Outer!”
“Demons are nothing to the Outer!”
As everyone praised him with bright expressions, Choi Kangjoong felt better as well. Iselin, Dielka, Han Junghwa, and Guild Master Kang Sungpyo felt the same.
“Thanks to the Outer, we were able to win with almost no casualties. Truly, thank you.”
“The Outer’s buffs are the best. Did you see my arrows gaining power?”
“Seriously, if I hadn’t received the buff, I think I would have lost an arm.”
“Thank you, Outer. Thanks to you, I fought well.”
“Brother! Take me with you next time!”
The corners of Choi Kangjoong’s mouth curled up significantly. They gathered on the deck and took a few commemorative photos of the victory.
“Let’s head back,” Iselin said in a cheerful voice.
With almost no damage and the enemy completely wiped out, it was the best possible result for her as the Commander. They used Gate Stones to open Gates and returned one by one. With Choi Kangjoong’s help, all the Dimension Ships were able to return to the 6th Dimension Fortress within three days. From there, the Elves returned to Marsala, and the Metra returned to M2721.
A triumphal ceremony was held on Gangnam-daero. After passing through a massive crowd, an event was held to award medals and prizes. Choi Kangjoong didn’t want to be there, so he sat in the corner of his room and watched through his computer. He still wasn’t confident about standing in front of many people.
Choi Yunseo received his medal on his behalf. When the host asked why Choi Kangjoong couldn’t make it, Choi Yunseo answered honestly that he wasn’t the type to appear at such events.
Marsala and M2721 were also in a festive mood. They had been secretly afraid because of the existence of the Demon Realm, but that feeling had largely disappeared with this victory. They saw hope that they could win the war with the demons that would break out someday.
Choi Kangjoong entered Dimensionnet to check the reactions. It was full of praise for him.
[Is he a god? Is he a god? Is he a god?]
[He totally crushed those Legion Commanders.]
[Is there anyone who still hasn’t framed a picture of the Outer Mind yet?]
[Sudden worship.]
[Constant worship.]
[Demon Slayer Outer Mind.]
[This guy might even conquer the Demon Realm later.]
[Selling preserved food.]
[All you bastards who doubted the GOAT, get ready to be punished.]
[This time too, “it’s nothing special” = it really was nothing special.]
Choi Kangjoong felt as good as when his Walkers had increased to 100,000.
‘I shouldn’t lose if I want to maintain this atmosphere.’
His determination to create a safe world remained the same.
‘Stronger guys will come next time…’
Since the Bluestone Fortress was destroyed and three Demon Dukes died, a Demon Archduke might step forward. The power of a Demon Archduke was comparable to a Dragon Lord, and since they wouldn’t come alone, they would surely be a harder enemy to kill than Ladespina.
‘I was lucky when I fought Ladespina. If Ladespina had gathered all the Dragons and come, I wouldn’t have been able to win.’
Choi Kangjoong reviewed the previous battle and thought about what the Apocalid was lacking.
‘I need strong entities. I should also increase the means to support strong entities.’
Kuongi was strong, but he was weak against small and powerful entities. If it was someone like a Demon Archduke, he shouldn’t allow even one of them to infiltrate Kuongi’s body. If Choi Kangjoong himself and Lutal weren’t there, it could lead to a fatal result.
‘Should I increase the ratio of Central Units?’
In the Dimension War, the only ways to increase strong entities were to wait for a Special Entity to appear or to create Central Units. Even when created that way, it was often not enough, so they frequently resorted to pushing through with sheer numbers.
‘I need to produce a Special Entity quickly. If I have even three Lutals, I should be able to block a Demon Archduke.’
Choi Kangjoong checked what he had gained and lost from this battle. About 600 million Evolution Points had come in, making his total Evolution Points around 650 million. Since demons gave much more Evolution Points, there weren’t that many nutrients. Still, after recovering all the losses sustained in the previous battle, there were enough nutrients left to produce a bit more than one Hive Class.
‘A lot of Titans died.’
Twenty Titans had fallen while protecting the Super Titan that was devouring the Bluestone Fortress from the demon Dimension Ships. He had melted them all in the Soil Pit to turn them into nutrients, but since there were nutrients consumed in digestion and production, 100% recovery was impossible.
‘One of them was a Titan that was about to become a Super Titan.’
Choi Kangjoong really felt it was a waste. There was a huge difference in combat experience between a Super Titan that was just produced and a Super Titan that grew from a Titan. If they fought one-on-one, the grown Super Titan would dominate.
‘I should send Kuongi to take revenge. First, I’ll increase the number of Titans and Super Titans.’
He wasn’t going to attack multiple places at once, so one Hive Class was enough.
“Produce 100 Titans and one Super Titan.”
**[Mass Production of Apocalid Completed in 110:00:00]**
“Kuongi, let’s go take revenge for the dead Titans.”
“Ku-eong.”
Kuongi, who had fully recovered from his wounds, and the Apocalid moved to the Akirif Duchy. He intended to grant Duke Akirif’s wish, as the Duke had wanted a war rather than a single battle. Since many demons had died this time, the Demon Realm would find it difficult to respond immediately, so he thought he could swallow the Akirif Duchy.
‘How will Duke Akirif react?’
The movement of the Apocalid was immediately reported to Duke Akirif. Choi Kangjoong could know every detail of the situation in the Akirif Duchy through the vision of the Central Stealth Scout.
“What? Outer Mind is coming?”
Duke Akirif was in a panic. He ordered his subordinates to prepare for defense and requested support from the Greed Legion. The result was a refusal. The reason given was that too much money had been invested in the Bluestone Fortress. Archduke Ventresca and Archduke Luderlock didn’t even answer Duke Akirif’s calls. They were also busy blocking the political fallout coming from all sides in the aftermath of the lost battle.
‘He’s been abandoned by the Demon Realm.’
Choi Kangjoong chuckled. Duke Akirif had often set up a buffet for him, but it was also annoying to see him sitting in his duchy and plotting things. If he had fought directly like the Orc Boss Kuralgal, it would have been less so. Since he was now isolated after losing miserably in the war he had advocated for, Choi Kangjoong felt refreshed.