Chapter 35: Seats Reserved

Iselin’s Reception Room.

Dielka sipped the tea placed on the table.

Though the exquisite quality of the tea pleased her palate, she struggled not to show it.

‘This place is practically enemy territory. I can’t let my guard down for a single moment.’

The Elves’ cunning went beyond imagination.

It was evident even from the cases of Derrael and Nahrromel.

‘Even though Iselin helped me at the Elf Great Council, who knows when she might stab me in the back.’

Dielka had only expected the Dark Elves to be accepted in Marsala after a long political battle.

Despite the Death Spirit’s strength and her knowledge of the Elf Great Council’s dark secrets, the Dark Elves’ influence was still small.

Her prediction became reality at the hearing held by the Elf Great Council.

High-ranking Elf officials treated the Dark Elves like criminals, vermin, and future traitors, bombarding them with questions.

Dielka clenched her anger and refuted each accusation one by one.

When she was despairing over the thought of having to endure such torment several more times, Iselin appeared.

With just a few words, she silenced the Elves.

“The Death Spirit, huh. That could be useful in the fight against demons.”

“Is there anyone opposing Nahrromel’s return? If so, submit a list.”

“On the dimensional vessel headed to fight the demons, your seats will be reserved without fail.”

Thus, the hearing ended, and thanks to Iselin’s strong assertion, the proposal for the Dark Elves’ return was passed in the main assembly.

The speed of the approval stunned Dielka.

It was also a huge surprise that Iselin, who was expected to oppose most fiercely, turned out to be the biggest help.

‘When Nahrromel returns, Derrael’s monopoly will be shaken… What’s her angle?’

Dielka lay on a sofa softer than a baby’s skin, desperate to know Iselin’s true intentions.

Click, click, click, click.

Iselin entered the reception room with steady footsteps and took a seat.

Every movement exuded profound grace, making her seem like a true princess.

“You must be curious.”

“About what?”

“Because you’re a Dark Elf, you don’t mince words like ordinary Elves. I like that.”

“Being direct is important for survival.”

“That’s a good attitude. It’s why you’re still alive now.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you had hidden even one of your weapons, neither you nor your comrades would exist in this world.”

Dielka bristled at Iselin’s words.

“If you kill me, the Elf Great Council’s past atrocities will be fully exposed.”

“So, do you think Marsala will change? Some Elves might hang their heads low for a while.”

“Hmph. Do you really think that’s all?”

“My friend might just attack the Elves.”

Iselin smiled enigmatically.

The victorious smile of someone who knows things you don’t.

It grated terribly on Dielka.

“You got help from the Hydra Sea. Before that, I got help from the Kraken Sea.”

It was a childish way of saying, I found out first.

Dielka irritably grabbed a cookie and ate it.

An Elf would never be rude enough to do that, but she was a free-spirited Dark Elf.

“So, what exactly do you want to say?”

“You owe me your life.”

“I never asked for that.”

“That doesn’t change the fact you almost died.”

“Are you demanding a ransom for my life?”

“Do you even have the luxury to pay it?”

Iselin’s teasing words made Dielka scowl deeply.

Iselin enjoyed her reaction.

Though her talent had birthed the Death Spirit under harsh conditions, here she was just a Dark Elf easy to push around.

“Then why did you help me?”

“The dimensional sea is vast, and demons grow stronger day by day. As if someone intended it.”

“So you want to use the Dark Elves in the fight against demons.”

“I’ll provide political and economic aid for your goal. In return, you’ll serve as a subordinate clan under Derrael.”

It was a reasonable offer.

Support was essential for the Dark Elves to settle in Marsala, and the price was merely military power.

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

“You can stay here from now on. Or it’s fine if you want to be elsewhere.”

“I want to go somewhere else. It’s suffocating here.”

“Arthil, find a place for the Dark Elves to stay.”

“Yes, Princess.”

The sight of the two Elves was like a painting.

Dielka wondered if Nahrromel had been like this in the past.

“Please come this way.”

Arthil led Dielka away.

Iselin leaned back against the chair.

“I’m changing too.”

Helping Dielka was not just for the clan’s sake.

When she heard the story through the necklace, memories of the Kraken Sea surfaced.

The first meeting, the Outer Mind who first offered help, and the relief and warmth she felt from him—all had changed her.

“That’s good.”

A faint smile curved Iselin’s lips.

When Arthil returned, she regained her usual cold expression.

“We’ve decided to stay at the villa in Derraellen.”

“Good. Any news on the Outer Mind?”

“It seems he finished dealing with the orcs in the Hydra Sea and is moving to the Ma Woo Sea.”

“Planning to eliminate the Gratis there?”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Send more stealth ships to gather as much intel as possible. If things get bad, we’ll have to go too.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“And his parents?”

While investigating a cargo ship, they learned that a certain trade company president had a child.

A man who recently became a Hunter and, despite not engaging in public activities, had earned a lot of money.

It wasn’t difficult to connect him to the Outer Mind.

Among all Hunters, only Choi Kangjoong had such an obscure background.

“We learned his tastes and preferences by legal means that don’t cause problems.”

“What does he want most?”

“A 180-day Marsala cruise package.”

“None of the ports are on Earth, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Quietly, secretly move the first port to South Korea so that no one knows.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Arthil bowed deeply, hiding a proud smile.

“The perimeter outside the sea zone is tightly guarded.”

Gratis dimensional ships roamed tirelessly even in the sparsely populated open waters.

It was to prevent Dark Elf pirate invasions.

“Should we turn back?”

It was impossible to guard every direction of the spherical area wider than 360 degrees.

Dark Elf pirates mainly watched nearby areas, so other places had few dimensional ships.

Especially the direction toward the Enterprise Union, where enemy approaches were nearly impossible, was blatantly unguarded.

“So they won’t attack first.”

If they turned back, they could easily and comfortably invade the Ma Woo Sea.

But Choi Kangjoong sent Apocalid straight ahead instead of taking the easy route.

“With over ten thousand Apocalids, an Apocalid wave must form.”

The Apocalid Wave referred to the area engulfed by the massive collective consciousness’s psychic waves, where gates wouldn’t open and dimensional communication was impossible.

Moreover, mana-sensitive beings became tense and obsessed under the Outer Mind’s will.

It was like the widespread fear felt by Guild Master Kang Sungpyo and Han Junghwa right in front of Choi Kangjoong.

For now, it just caused unease, but later, mere proximity could drive one insane.

The Gratis in the Ma Woo Sea were not numerous enough to call for reinforcements via gate or dimensional communication.

Still, just breaking their morale was enough for the Dimension Shadow to have done its job.

Vrrrrrrmmmm.

A massive psychic wave originating from the collective consciousness spread forward from the Apocalids.

Gate openings were blocked, and dimensional communications were cut off.

The mana-sensitive Gratis, comparable to humans’ Hunters, were seized by inexplicable fear.

“W-what is this?”

“This is strange.”

“Something’s wrong.”

“Bring more food!”

“This won’t work. It can’t!”

“We have to run… we have to run… we have to run…”

A high-ranking Gratis caused chaos.

They boarded dimensional ships and fled somewhere or killed slaves without reason.

Although the Apocalids’ numbers were small, and not everyone fell into fear, it was enough to throw their society into chaos.

Even well-navigated dimensional ships experienced mutiny or dimensional crashes.

“Get inside quickly.”

Large Apocalids increased their speed.

It seemed they would pass through the Gratis’s defense network without incident, but then the Skyeye Giant detected a dimensional ship.

It belonged to the Gratis.

Upon spotting the Apocalids, it hurried to join their side.

“The main Gratis force is elsewhere, so it shouldn’t matter.”

They thought it was difficult to catch and planned to let it pass, but the dimensional ship suddenly exploded.

The mutineers must have self-destructed when defeat seemed inevitable.

“That’s absurd, but it works in our favor.”

They easily broke through the Gratis’s defense and moved into the dimensional sea when they found a dimension.

It was a farming dimension that supported a city dimension.

It produced food for the Gratis, and most farmers were humans or Elves.

They were slaves the Gratis bought from the Kraken Sea.

“Let’s start there. Few evolution points, but plenty of nourishment.”

“Krk.”

Lutal woke from hibernation.

From what Choi Kangjoong and Ku-eong saw and heard, they grasped the situation.

There was no need for strategy.

They just had to land and devour everything.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Gratis’s Pajijik Cannons rattled Ku-eong’s ship.

There were only a few, so they couldn’t pierce the Psionic Chitin Gauntlet.

Ku-eong turned and fired all the Mana Cannons.

The positions equipped with Pajijik Cannons were utterly destroyed.

“Let’s eat.”

“Krk.”

“Ku-eong.”

Lutal and the ground Apocalids landed.

Titan Class Apocalids targeted the ground from the dimensional sea.

There was no need to fire Mana Cannons.

The Gratis relied on collective combat power, and without Pajijik Cannons, they completely lost their will to fight.

Walkers spread out.

The abundant crops were harvested by their digestive organs.

Although they gained almost no evolution points, the nourishment was plentiful.

“If we fight the Gratis in earnest, we’ll get lots of evolution points.”

Though fewer in number than orcs, individual Gratis were stronger, and the ratio of boss-level Gratis was much higher than orcs.

The battle ended quickly.

The Gratis were too busy fleeing for it to be considered a fight.

They greedily gathered nourishment and sent slaves through gates to South Korea.

[Gratis Evolution Code Decoding Rate: 100%]

The Gratis Evolution Code was survival instinct.

It was useful to attach to assassination Apocalids or command units.

[Dimensional Devouring Commences.]

“Good start.”

They had devoured one dimension, and not a single Gratis knew of the Apocalid invasion.

“Let’s move to the next dimension.”

The Central Units detected a nearby dimension.

“Don’t scatter, just move together, just in case.”

“Krk.”

“Ku-eong.”

Just as the Gratis hadn’t detected the Apocalids’ invasion, the Apocalids could have been caught and picked off one by one if the fleet had scattered.

All Apocalids boarded the Titan Class Apocalids and moved.

The Apocalid dimension, now huge like a mid-sized dimension, followed slowly.

After devouring three dimensions, the Gratis finally became aware of the Apocalids’ presence.

Thanks to Kai’s prior infiltration, Choi Kangjoong knew the Gratis leadership’s thoughts inside out.

“They’re saying the Dark Elves are more urgent, so let’s wait and see?”

“Keek!”

“That monsters like us dimensional creatures are done in by Pajijik Cannons, right?”

“Keek!”

“Looks like some Gratis are resisting.”

Some clan leaders wanted to deal with the rebels before the Dark Elves arrived.

A Gratis named Selic was furious and claimed he’d handle them alone before storming out of the meeting hall.

“That’s good news. Let’s eat as much as possible before they focus on us. Kai, follow Selic.”

“Keek!”

Kai silently followed the Gratis who left the meeting.

He would observe his every move and report the perfect timing for an attack.

“Let’s go.”