“Ugh…”
Kerhen let out a low hum as he looked ahead.
Kring was floating in the air, radiating light.
I didn’t expect him to stay like this until Brother returned…
Kerhen had thought Kring would wake up soon.
But surprisingly, even after quite some time had passed, Kring still had not awakened.
I hope nothing’s gone wrong……
A sudden worry crossed his mind.
What if something had happened to Kring?
Brother is coming, so it’ll be fine.
Gaon had contacted him a short while ago.
He said he would visit the workshop soon.
If something was wrong with Kring, Gaon would fix it.
And if it was a problem even Gaon could not solve?
Then there was nothing to be done.
No one would be able to solve it.
It was exactly then.
“Hm?”
At the sound near his ear, Kerhen flinched and turned his head.
He saw Gaon standing a short distance away, slightly furrowing his brows.
Gaon’s gaze was fixed on Kring.
“Oh, Brother.”
Kerhen approached Gaon.
Then he asked carefully.
“There’s no major problem… right?!”
There was definitely a problem.
The important thing was whether it was a big problem or a small one.
“Depending on how you look at it, it’s a big problem. Depending on how you look at it, it’s a small one.”
Gaon answered Kerhen’s question.
“……?”
Kerhen looked puzzled.
If it was big, it was big. If it was small, it was small. What kind of answer was that?
Gaon continued.
“Where’s the elixir?”
“I left it in the workshop. Should I bring it?”
“Yes.”
“Understood. I’ll bring it right away.”
At Gaon’s reply, Kerhen hurriedly headed to the workshop.
Once Kerhen left, Gaon looked at Kring.
I didn’t expect him to be in this state.
He had thought Kring would wake up quickly.
But it seemed he had gained a much greater enlightenment than expected.
Before long, Kerhen returned.
He was carrying a large box.
“Here it is.”
Kerhen held out the box.
Gaon immediately took it and opened it.
Countless glass vials came into view.
Naturally, the vials were filled with elixir.
Seeing the brilliant purple liquid, a smile reflexively formed on his face.
Gaon took out one vial.
He opened the lid right away.
The elixir inside floated up and flew toward Kring.
“……?”
Kerhen looked puzzled.
Why was he suddenly sending the elixir toward Kring?
But his puzzlement quickly turned to shock at what happened next.
Shaaaa!
A powerful suction force appeared.
The source was Kring.
The elixir was instantly absorbed into Kring’s entire body and disappeared.
Flash!
Kring’s already glowing body began to shine even brighter.
Gaon took out the next elixir and opened it.
The second elixir flew toward Kring.
And just like before, it was completely absorbed.
Not a single drop was left behind.
Kerhen’s puzzlement grew even stronger.
Just what was happening?
Seeing Kerhen’s confusion, Gaon spoke.
“His energy was insufficient compared to the enlightenment he gained. The balance was off.”
“Ah…….”
Kerhen let out a soft exclamation.
He now understood why Kring had not awakened.
And why Gaon was continuously feeding him elixir.
Everything made sense.
“If it hadn’t been for the elixir, it would have taken years. Or he would have had to give up on the enlightenment.”
Gaon spoke to Kerhen while falling into thought.
At this rate, he might even attain rank.
It was not certain.
But Kring was absorbing far more elixir than expected.
Looking at the situation, it seemed possible for him to obtain perfection—that is, the rank of the soul.
Gaon opened the lid of the third elixir.
Kring absorbed the third one completely as well.
And at that moment, Gaon knew.
His energy had finally become sufficient.
Kring would awaken soon.
Gaon looked at Kring and took out the fourth elixir.
He opened the lid.
It was not to feed it to Kring.
No more elixir was necessary for Kring.
In fact, absorbing any more now would overload his energy and cause problems.
The reason Gaon took out the fourth elixir was so he could consume it himself.
While coming here for Kring had been one reason, Gaon had also come to take the elixir and increase his own power.
Gaon immediately drank the elixir.
The elixir vaporized instantly, turning into a massive lump of energy that circulated through his body and began converting into Pacheonki.
The moment the consumed elixir was 100% converted into Pacheonki.
Shaaaa……
The light radiating from Kring began to diminish.
Soon the light disappeared completely, and Kring descended to the ground.
Once on the ground, Kring let out a soft breath.
Gaon smiled as he watched Kring breathe.
He attained rank.
Just as expected, Kring had obtained perfection—the rank of the soul.
After steadying his breathing, Kring opened his eyes.
“Dad…!”
The moment he opened his eyes, Kring ran straight toward Gaon.
Or at least tried to.
“Huh?”
Midway, Kring stopped with a bewildered voice.
He looked at Gaon.
“……”
Kring said nothing as he stared at Gaon.
He simply looked at him with a shocked expression.
Gaon’s smile deepened at Kring’s reaction.
He knew why Kring had stopped.
The moment one attains rank, many things change.
Especially one’s view of the world changes dramatically.
I must look very different to him now.
Gaon spoke to Kring.
“You worked hard. And congratulations.”
“……No! I couldn’t have obtained it without you, Dad! Thank you!”
Kring snapped out of it at Gaon’s words and replied.
Gaon then asked.
“Do you have any questions?”
“Hmm…….”
Kring let out a hum and thought for a moment.
He soon finished thinking and answered.
“For now, I don’t have any questions about rank!”
“If you have any later, ask me anytime.”
“Yes!!”
After briefly discussing rank, Gaon explained the current situation and his plans.
“I’ll take on one of them…!”
Upon hearing about the Demon Kings, Kring spoke with a confident face and voice.
“No.”
Gaon shook his head.
Kring looked slightly flustered and replied.
“I can take one! With my current power…….”
“I know. You can.”
Gaon’s reason for refusing was not because Kring lacked power.
Kring had attained rank.
He could face a Demon King sufficiently even in a demonic-energy-dominant area.
However, it would take quite some time.
Gaon handling them alone would be faster.
No, it would definitely be faster.
Receiving help could actually be less efficient.
Gaon spoke gently so as not to hurt Kring’s feelings.
“I understand…!”
Kring accepted it.
He was disappointed, but he understood.
Had their positions been reversed, Kring would have made the same choice.
“Will you start right away?”
“No.”
Gaon answered Kring while taking another vial of elixir from the box.
“Take some of these first. Do you want to test your power?”
“……Yes!”
Kring answered while carefully reading Gaon’s expression.
Now that he possessed the rank of the soul, Kring wanted to test his power as soon as possible.
He wanted to see with his own eyes just how much stronger he had become.
“Hmm, then…….”
Gaon trailed off and took out a map from his pocket, unfolding it.
A place where Kring can run wild…….
Now that Kring had attained rank, the only dangerous place for him was Tarun.
And even in Tarun, as long as he did not clash head-on with the two Demon Kings at full power, it would not be dangerous.
In other words, no place in the demon world’s camp would pose a problem for Kring.
Yes. This is a good chance to clean that place up.
Having made his decision, Gaon spoke to Kring, who was staring at him intently.
“There’s a kingdom called Dion up here, you see?”
“Ah, the kingdom founded by the dwarves who betrayed humanity, right!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The Dion Kingdom located in the northern part of the continent was, as Kring said, a kingdom founded by dwarves.
Of course, it was not inhabited only by dwarves.
Dwarves had founded it, but various other races including humans had once belonged to the kingdom.
To be precise, they had belonged.
That is, they no longer did.
The Dion Kingdom, which had betrayed humanity, had carried out a racial purge.
They had not only killed other races.
They had mercilessly killed even members of their own kind who refused to convert.
As a result, only dwarves remained in the Dion Kingdom now.
And every one of them had accepted demonic energy.
“I just need to clean up the Dion Kingdom?”
“Yes. Thoroughly, without leaving a single one. They’re probably all gathered in the capital.”
The royal palace of the Dion Kingdom.
“Huu…….”
Opin, the owner of the royal palace and king of the Dion Kingdom, let out a soft sigh.
At Opin’s sigh, the expressions of the dwarves with him also darkened.
The reason everyone’s faces were dark.
It was because of the current situation.
The situation was turning very strangely.
Just a short while ago, the demon world’s camp had been overwhelmingly pushing back the human forces.
They had thought that at this rate, they would soon completely finish off the human side.
And if that happened, they believed Kerhen’s workshop—their sworn enemy—would also be completely destroyed.
But at some point, the situation had reversed.
The human forces had begun a counterattack, and the demon world’s camp was being pushed back without being able to do anything.
At this rate, it would be the demon world’s camp, not the human forces, that would be finished, and Kerhen’s workshop would not fall.
“Has there still been no contact from Tarun?”
Opin asked.
Then Rabit, Opin’s right-hand man and the second-in-command of the Dion Kingdom, answered.
“Yes, still none…….”
“Hmm.”
At Rabit’s reply, Opin let out a low hum and thought.
Just what are the Demon Kings thinking?
Demon Kings had descended in Tarun.
Not one, but two.
Moreover, quite some time had passed since their descent.
Yet the Demon Kings still had not moved from Tarun.
They showed no intention of doing anything.
Just what were they thinking?
They couldn’t be fighting each other, could they……?
If the fact that there were two instead of one meant they still had not reached a conclusion?
If they were forcing their own opinions on each other?
“Ugh…….”
Opin let out an internal groan and stood up from his seat.
He walked out to the terrace and looked down at the central courtyard.
In the central courtyard, various types of golems stood in formation.
They were Opin’s personal golem legion.
Swipe.
Then Opin looked beyond the central courtyard.
There, too, were countless golems lined up.
They were not as many as his personal legion, but they were still very high-quality golems.
Looking at the golems, Opin gritted his teeth.
*If only they would remove the restrictions at least……..
He wanted to immediately lead the golems and crush the human forces.
To be precise, he wanted to personally annihilate Kerhen’s workshop.
But he could not move freely.
The demons had placed restrictions on them.
They were not to leave the kingdom’s borders until permission was granted.
*They acted like they would remove the restrictions right away……..
Opin recalled the letters that had come from Tarun not long ago.
They had contained messages saying they would remove the restrictions, so they should prepare.
It was exactly then.
“……!”
Opin’s eyes flashed.
It was because of the aura his perception had detected.
Opin turned his head and looked up into the sky.
He raised his demonic energy to enhance his vision.
Thanks to that, Opin was able to identify the owner of the aura that had appeared in the sky.
…A child?
It was a human.
A very young-looking one with deep black hair.