“You don’t want to end this battle, do you?”
“Of course not. We wouldn’t be able to stop it anyway.”
“Let’s hear what they have to say.”
Choi Kangjoong took Iselin’s hand and went to Slaine’s chair-like dimensional ship.
Slaine was sitting in the same posture as before.
His ever-present demonic smile beat against Iselin’s soul.
However, it could not penetrate the dual defense of the Life Spirit and the Apocalid consciousness.
Slaine felt a surge of greed.
He wanted to have them.
He wanted to teach pleasure to the noble High Elf and the strange soul that knew only hunger, to corrupt them.
If he couldn’t have them, he wanted to turn them into Demons.
What kind of beings would they become if they turned into Demons?
Slaine reined in his endless curiosity and the heart that was about to fall into greed and spoke.
“What did you decide about my proposal?”
“Do you think anyone would agree to a sudden truce? Especially with a Demon who has not an ounce of divine righteousness?”
Iselin shot back.
“Is a truce agreement based on trust? It’s based on benefit.”
“So, what benefit do we get from a truce?”
Not opening a two-front war is basic strategy. Do you plan to fight both the Demons and Silvius at the same time?”
This was a point Iselin also agreed with.
If Silvius’s military strength was beyond imagination, a two-front war would be a huge burden for both Choi Kangjoong and the Enterprise Union.
“What’s the truce period?”
“One year. We’ll also provide plenty of Mana Stones. This is us lowering our pride quite a bit.”
“Nonsense. It’s because you also need to finish another war and find it hard to gather the forces to face us and Lord Outer in a short time.”
“Ahem. Anyway, you agree to the truce, right?”
“No. We killed two Archdukes. There’s no need for a truce.”
“Just two. We still have ten Archdukes left, and Demons of that level are a dime a dozen. The vacancies of two Archdukes will be filled soon.”
“Don’t act tough when you’re the one proposing a truce from a disadvantage.”
Slaine’s eyebrow twitched.
With his beautiful appearance and powerful Demonic Energy, he was always in an advantageous position during conversations.
The other party would be eager to see his smile, and a single glance could lead them in the desired direction.
That was also the reason he had come here in person.
‘My temptation has no effect at all……..’
It had been a very long time since he had faced such an opponent.
That made it even more interesting.
He was supposed to be the one tempting, but instead, he found himself tempted by the resolute souls of Iselin and Choi Kangjoong.
Slaine was the type who had to have whatever he wanted.
Hearts shot out from his two eyes towards Iselin and Choi Kangjoong.
Iselin saw through Slaine’s psychology.
And coaxing a Demon of Greed whose desire was exposed was easier than eating cold rice porridge.
She was able to steer the truce conditions in a much more favorable direction.
She wasn’t entirely against the idea of a truce either.
As Slaine said, Silvius was likely coming.
Choi Kangjoong’s opinion was also important.
-What do you think?
Iselin, in a state similar to the Central Unit, could even transmit thoughts themselves.
-It’s probably for the best, right?
I think so too. If our rear is unstable, we can’t focus all our strength on the front.
-They seem to be planning to stockpile forces during the truce period, but by then, my forces will have doubled too. Swallowing the Demons should become easier.
-They underestimated Lord Outer’s potential. Typical Demon arrogance.
-Set the truce terms well on your own. Take all the money too. I just need Demons and Magic Beasts.
-Thank you.
It wasn’t a short conversation, but the exchange took less than a second.
Iselin coaxed Slaine and steered the truce conditions in a direction favorable to the Union.
The compensation Slaine initially proposed was 100 million tons of Mana Stones, but as the conversation dragged on, it increased until it reached 200 million tons.
At the current Mana Stone market price of around 120 million won per ton, 200 million tons amounted to 24 trillion won.
On top of that, he also agreed to relinquish three Dukedoms under the Enterprise Union.
Iselin obtained all of this by accepting Slaine’s party invitation.
Of course, she had no real intention of going to the party.
Slaine would probably be angry, but he had no way to forcibly drag Iselin out either.
“That was good negotiation. See you on my dimensional ship in a month. You’ll be satisfied too. My ship is the most enjoyable place in the dimensional sea.”
Slaine said in a suggestive tone.
Iselin gave a slight nod.
Slaine winked, turned his dimensional ship around, and left.
“My stomach feels queasy.”
“Mine too. I need to eat something spicy.”
“I’ll tell Arthil.”
Choi Kangjoong returned to the Life Spirit with Iselin.
While they were talking with Slaine, the battle had ended.
Most of the Demons and Magic Beasts had entered the Soil Pit, and the remaining ones were hiding tightly somewhere, waiting for death.
Ku-eong had burrowed deep using Chaos Magic, making it hard to find even with the Apocalid’s senses.
Since Ku-eong would perform Dimensional Erosion anyway, waiting would naturally turn them into Nutrients and Evolution Points.
Not long after, all the Demon dimensional ships disappeared into the stomach of the Super Titan Class Apocalid, and the Biotubes Kuongi had extended touched the dimension.
“It’s over.”
Iselin grabbed the microphone.
“You all fought well. Today’s battle, which ended in our victory, will remain long in the history of Marsala, Earth, and M2721.”
Cheers erupted at Iselin’s victory declaration.
The shouts from the Life Spirit’s crew stretched out for several kilometers.
From other dimensional ships as well, everyone came out onto the deck and shouted with joy.
Spirit Masters and Mages scattered Spirits and Magic instead of fireworks.
Metra fired the Mana Cannon.
“Blessings to all here. May the protection of the Spirits be with you.”
Iselin didn’t just give blessings with words.
She also gave generous rewards according to military merit.
With the enormous amount of money to be received from the truce agreement, she could spend lavishly.
In Seoul, the expeditionary force’s victory parade was also held splendidly.
The Elf Knights, who lived and died for honor, were filled with emotion by the humans’ enthusiastic cheers.
The Metra, who were in charge of operating and repairing dimensional ships rather than fighting directly, were also moved.
Choi Kangjoong did not attend the victory parade.
If it were anyone else, people might wonder what was wrong, but since Choi Yunseo had stated, ‘My brother isn’t the type for that,’ he could comfortably stay in his room.
“The Nutrients and Evolution Points I got are enough.”
[Evolution Points Held: 3,372,627,311 points]
Just looking at the Evolution Points, which rounded up to 3.4 billion, brought a wave of joy.
The Nutrients were a bit less.
It was enough to make twenty Hive Classes.
If he only produced Walkers, he could make 20 million of them.
“Let’s use Evolution Points to draw one Booster and double the Flying Ratali. I should also make one Hive Class Special Entity. It would probably be good to counter Silvius.”
Choi Kangjoong thought about how Silvius would fight.
Although she was an existence that had escaped the Dimension System, her foundation was that of a Dark Elf.
She would use mobility, night vision, archery skills, etc., to whittle down the enemy’s forces, and when she thought she could win, she would charge in all at once.
Choi Kangjoong had two favorite Dark Elf counters.
Either create a fleet with a fleet trait that grants speed buffs to block the Dark Elves’ mobility, or obtain an Evolution Code that spreads Corrosion Spores and scatter them everywhere.
“Corrosion Spores would be cheaper. They also have good versatility.”
Corrosion Spores was a technique that widely scattered spores to create a fog.
It was hard to see inside from the outside, and even from the inside, without a unique triple vision like the Apocalid’s, it was hard to see an inch ahead.
It was like forcibly gifting night to the Dark Elves.
“I should get Corrosion Spores. For the Hive Class, Claw Devourer would be good.”
The Claw Devourer was an Apocalid that liked pincer attacks.
It had fast turning speed and high-speed movement ability, allowing it to split a dimensional ship of similar size in half with a single strike.
“Let’s try forming a Dark Eater Fleet centered around Claw Devourers.”
Since they would be fighting Dark Elves, it was the Dark Eater.
[Time until Special Entity Production: 100:00:00]
He decided to leave 1.3 billion Evolution Points.
It was to respond flexibly with Species Evolution or Special Entities when fighting Silvius.
“With Nutrients, let’s produce 4 million Walkers, 100,000 Scouts, 20,000 Warriors, 5,000 Giants, 200 Titans, and 50 Super Titans.”
[Time until Apocalid Mass Production Complete: 1,000:00:00]
“Now it takes 1,000 hours.”
Even though production time was halved due to Kuongi being a Hive Class, it was still 1,000 hours.
Including Special Entity production, a total of 1,100 hours.
Still, once everything was out, there would be 5 million Walkers, 200,000 Scouts, 50,000 Warriors, 10,000 Giants, 1,000 Titans, and 100 Super Titans.
“Now this is an Apocalid! Overwhelming numerical superiority!”
When the Walkers reached 5 million, Choi Kangjoong felt even more like an Outer Mind.
In Dimension War, he had controlled tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of Apocalids, so he had secretly felt it was a small number.
“The monster that gives the Corrosion Spore Evolution Code is probably on the IANT side.”
Doomsburg, the monster that spreads Corrosion Spores, was often seen in IANT colonies.
The reason was their symbiotic relationship.
Doomsburg spread Corrosion Spores to protect the IANTs, and the IANTs provided a safe habitat and food.
“Maybe it’s in the Giant IANT Colony near the Union.”
Choi Kangjoong sent Kai to the IANT colony located northwest of the Enterprise Union.
It was a giant colony led by a powerful Queen.
Since he sent it on a Booster, he would know the result soon.
He also scattered 100 Light Titans carrying Skyeye Giants along the likely routes Silvius would take.
The dimensional sea was vast, making it impossible to form a dense perimeter network with just 100.
Still, Silvius’s fleet would be considerable in size, and there were Elf reconnaissance ships sent by Iselin, so it would be hard for her to approach secretly.
“Given her personality, she doesn’t seem like the type to sneak up anyway.”
It was a brief meeting, but her confidence and pride left quite an impression.
Having prepared, Choi Kangjoong leisurely enjoyed his daily life.
If he was hungry, he ate; if he was bored, he went out to play.
Kuongi roamed the Demon Realm on its own, consuming Demons, Magic Beasts, and dimensions.
When he woke up, Evolution Points had accumulated, ranging from at least 10 million to as much as 100 million.
The truce agreement hadn’t been formally concluded yet, and the three Dukedoms that Slaine, who had fallen for Iselin and Choi Kangjoong, had handed over could be attacked or not after the truce; it didn’t matter.
He also frequently accessed Dimensionnet.
There were many vivid combat experiences posted by Hunters who had been in the expeditionary force, making it fun to watch.
Then, he received a message from Iselin asking him to come to her office.
Choi Kangjoong opened a Gate and moved.
Iselin, sitting on the sofa, nodded her head, and Dielka and Serad waved.
Arthil, who had set down teacups and glasses of drink, had eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Choi Kangjoong summoned a small Lutal, and Arthil gave a bowl filled with snacks and fruit to the Lutal.
“What’s up?”
“I wanted to inform you about the truce conditions. First, we agreed to prohibit invading each other’s territories.”
“But isn’t that originally not allowed?”
“It’s nominal, to stop large-scale combat actions.”
“Then it’s okay to kill Demons outside the Demon Realm, right?”
“Of course. That’s why I have one request.”
“What is it?”
Iselin spread a Black Market Map on the table and pointed to one spot with her index finger.
It was a sea area far to the northeast of the Enterprise Union, closer to the Demon Realm.
“There’s a world fighting the Demon Realm here. About 2 billion beast-people live there. They call themselves the Bartang.”
“That’s quite a large population.”
“They sent an envoy to our Union saying they want to join. So I sent informants to check the situation there, but all contact has been lost.”
“You want me to go check out the situation there?”
“Yes. You are the fastest in the Union and the only one who can hold back a Demon army alone.
And if that place is already in an irreversible situation due to Demons…”
“I understand what you mean.”
A world that might be where Silvius is pulling all her tricks.
In such a place, the only person who could save the countless lives about to be lost to Demons, or take countless lives himself, was Choi Kangjoong.