Chapter 44: A Failed Escape

“No! This can’t be happening!”

Count Senjo desperately denied reality.

But he didn’t wake from a dream, nor did the course of the battle change suddenly.

The only thing that remained was the monster with the insane technique called Death Blade still in pursuit.

“Hurry up and kill that thing!”

The Demons of Chaos were trapped between Count Senjo and Rutali, unable to do anything.

“Useless fools!”

Count Senjo shoved his subordinates aside and climbed into the escape pod.

The escape pod launched from the side of his flagship.

Fighter Giants gave chase.

Count Senjo cast an auxiliary spell.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out and the escape pod slowed down.

“Damn it! Even the Chaos Magic is malfunctioning now!”

Count Senjo cast Teleport.

It was a nearly obsolete spell—more dangerous than a Gate and incapable of transporting him far.

Especially when using Chaos Magic, the chance of a long-distance Teleport was under 10%.

There was also a smaller chance of physical annihilation.

But right now, he had no other choice.

“As long as I get away from here. If I can get near Olextercy, that would be perfect.”

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Kaitin Spikes drove into the escape pod.

One grazed Count Senjo’s thigh, drawing blood.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Count Senjo focused on his spell.

The escape pod was enveloped in light and vanished.

Kaitin Spikes sliced through the empty dimensional sea.

“Where am I?”

Count Senjo peered out the window.

Olextercy was right next to him.

“I did it! I survived! I’m alive!”

Count Senjo cheered.

The investors might open their eyes wide and try to kill him, but that was a problem for later.

What mattered now was that he was alive.

The Demons of Greed approached.

All of them wore revealing clothes that flaunted their beautiful figures.

“Take me to the Duke.”

“Kekeke.”

“How dare you laugh at me!”

“You’re a failure. If you return to the demon realm, you’ll be tortured forever. You’re as good as dead already.”

“No! There’s still a way!”

“Nope. There really isn’t.”

“You brainless fools who know nothing but greed, and you dare insult me?”

Count Senjo tried to cast Chaos Magic.

The Demons of Greed quickly leapt on him, subduing him and even sealing his magic.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

“The Duke told us to. Hahahaha!”

Once Count Senjo was incapacitated, Duke Akirif emerged from Olextercy and approached.

“Duke Akirif! Is this truly your will? The Legion Commander of Chaos won’t stand for this!”

“He would have done even worse to you than I will. So be grateful to me. At least you won’t be tortured forever.”

Duke Akirif entered the escape pod.

The Demons of Greed pushed the pod away.

As Apocalid drew closer, Count Senjo screamed.

“Duke Akirif!!!!”

Duke Akirif shoved a gag into Count Senjo’s mouth, silencing him completely.

“Krrk.”

Rutali looked dejected after failing to capture Count Senjo.

“It’s okay. No one succeeds all the time.”

“Krrk!”

Rutali perked up at Choi Kangjoong’s consolation.

“If we send in all the Titan Class, we’ll be able to capture him next time.”

“Krrng.”

Rutali said that as long as he could get over there, he’d get rid of Duke Akirif too.

Choi Kangjoong sent a Skyeye Giant to scout out Olextercy.

He saw Count Senjo and the Demons of Greed talking.

He’d thought they were going to take him away for protection, but the Demons of Greed ended up tying up Count Senjo and sending him toward Apocalid.

“What are they doing? Did they plant a bomb on him or something?”

Soon the escape pod arrived.

Choi Kangjoong had a Fighter Giant bring it onto Kuongi’s back.

Crunch!

Rutali split the escape pod in half.

Count Senjo and a demon bedecked in expensive jewels emerged.

It was Duke Akirif.

He gazed at the nearby Apocalid in wonder.

“Truly perfect! How can such a creature exist?”

Rutali raised his sickle claws.

“Wait. Wait. Wait. You just captured Count Senjo—can’t we at least have a conversation?”

Rutali lowered his sickle claws.

“So you’re the Outer Mind. Pleased to meet you. I am Duke Akirif, Demon of Greed and ruler of the Akirif Dukedom.”

“What brings you here?”

“I’d like to acquire one of your summons. Just a tiny one will do.”

“A small one?”

“How about that fellow? He’s injured and useless to you, isn’t he? Sell him to me. I’ll give you gold ten times his weight.”

Duke Akirif pointed at a Walker limping along with two missing legs.

Choi Kangjoong didn’t know his real motive, but he could tell it was nothing good.

“No.”

“Just sell me one! I even brought you Count Senjo!”

“I could have caught him without your help.”

“Is ten times not enough? Then fifty times. No, I’ll give you a hundred times!”

“Hm……”

“Tempted by a hundred? Then a hundred and ten! And I’ll let you indulge in every pleasure in my palace!”

“I’m wondering how best to kill you.”

“Just sell me one! It’s this old man’s greatest wish!”

Duke Akirif clung to Choi Kangjoong’s ankle, kneeling.

“Get lost.”

Rutali swung his sickle claws.

Duke Akirif was sliced to pieces.

“One hundred and twenty!”

Duke Akirif’s mouth still moved as he spoke.

It was only because this was a doppelganger that he hadn’t died from being cut by Death Blade.

Crunch.

Rutali stomped on the doppelganger fragments, crushing them.

“Should we chase after him?”

Olextercy, the ship Duke Akirif was riding, was receding into the distance.

“No. Leaving him alive is probably more beneficial.”

Just like the self-proclaimed genius orc boss Kuragal, Duke Akirif seemed likely to help Apocalid’s proliferation.

The Death Knight Count Pabelus, who led the Kingscavalry, had also ended up in the Hydra Sea’s Soil Pit thanks to Duke Akirif’s scheming.

“For now, let’s leave him alone.”

“Krrk.”

Rutali was disappointed.

Choi Kangjoong looked down below.

The battle was almost over, and the 6th Dimension Fortress was safe.

“Everyone’s fine.”

Members of the Dawn Guild sat on the fortress walls, staring in awe at Apocalid.

Han Junghwa, too, had seen only the giant Apocalid fighting before—this was her first time seeing the smaller ones truly go to war.

Dielka dealt death indiscriminately to demons and magic beasts alike with a sword imbued with Death Mana.

The Walkers simply trailed along and carried corpses away.

Iselin was like a Sanctuary of Regeneration herself.

Even Apocalids on the verge of death would be restored to peak form with Life Essence.

“So that’s why Life Essence and Death Mana are called the superior manas.”

Death Mana’s buff was impressive, but the majesty of Life Essence was on another level.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Count Senjo writhed.

Choi Kangjoong removed his gag.

“How did you thwart my plan? No one but me knew the destination or attack date!”

Not knowing Choi Kangjoong’s abilities, Count Senjo had no choice but to assume he’d found out in advance and countered.

“If you tell me everything you know about the Gate incident on Earth five years ago, I’ll tell you.”

“The Gate incident five years ago… Duke Royal! I heard he studied Gates and opened them at random places many times!”

“Duke Royal?”

“Yes! He’s a master of Teleportation and Gate-type Chaos movement magic. He must know something.”

“And you weren’t involved?”

“I was just a Baron back then! I was no better than a servant to Count Yale!”

It didn’t matter if he was lying for now.

If they handed him to Iselin, she’d extract the truth like squeezing a vice.

But the part about Duke Royal didn’t seem like a lie.

“It’s all true! So please, tell me—how did you know my plan?”

“I didn’t.”

“What?”

“I just came because I saw your broadcast.”

“Lies! That can’t be!”

“It’s true.”

“You damned wretch, trying to fool me?”

Rutali brought his sickle claws close.

Count Senjo fell silent.

Choi Kangjoong gagged him again.

“Send him to Iselin.”

Fighter Warriors swooped down, grabbed Count Senjo, and flew him to the 6th Dimension Fortress.

[Evolution Point acquired.]

[Evolution Point acquired.]

[Evolution Point acquired.]

[Current Evolution Points: 12,799,783]

The quality of Count Senjo’s troops wasn’t bad, so the Evolution Points racked up considerably.

“Time to upgrade the Psionic Bioweapon.”

He evolved the Psionic Bioweapon to stage 6.

“Finally, I can fire a breath attack.”

There were usually two main uses for breath attacks.

To break powerful Dimensional Shields or to fight giant Dimension Ships.

They were also useful against clustered dimensional monsters or ships, but the opportunity didn’t come up often.

[Maelstrom is generating a breath weapon organ.]

[Maelstrom’s breath attack has gained an electric attribute.]

[Maelstrom’s breath has evolved into Lightning Breath.]

“Even the regular breath attack was strong, but now it has an added attribute.”

The breath of a Supertitan Class was powerful enough to destroy a Dimension Ship of similar size in a single strike.

With the new attribute, Choi Kangjoong could only imagine how much stronger it would be.

“I’ll see for myself next time I use it. Maybe Dark City will be the first target.”

With today’s harvest, he decided to produce five Light Titans and two Titans.

Since battles against Dark Elf pirates would mainly be fought in the dimensional sea, he planned to focus on giant Apocalids.

[Titan Class Apocalid will be completed in 5:00:00.]

“Soon I’ll have six Titans and twelve Light Titans.”

Choi Kangjoong soared high from Kuongi’s back.

He gazed down at Kuongi and the Titan Class Apocalids.

How amazing would it be to evolve Kuongi to Hive Class, and the Titan Class to Supertitan Class, collecting nutrients and Evolution Points?

Just imagining seeing in real life what he’d only watched on monitor screens before made Choi Kangjoong tremble with excitement.

“Let’s hurry.”

Count Senjo arrived at Iselin’s location.

He asked a nearby Central Command Warrior to interrogate him.

“An interrogation? That’s my specialty. I’ll make him regret ever falling into my hands.”

Iselin replied.

She had a vague idea of what Choi Kangjoong wanted.

‘He must be trying to find out about the Gate incident five years ago.’

Iselin signaled with her eyes.

Elf knights cut off Count Senjo’s hands and feet and took him away.

The surroundings grew quiet.

All the demons and magic beasts that seemed ready to destroy the 6th Dimension Fortress had ended up in the Soil Pit, not even leaving corpses behind.

The Apocalids, which had made nothing but footstep sounds, vanished one after another—Walkers, Scouts, Warriors, Giants.

There were so many that they had to be unsummoned in sequence.

At last, only the Central Command Giant remained.

The 80-meter-tall Apocalid inspired an inexplicable fear in the elves and humans below.

It seemed as if, at any moment, it might turn on them and rip out their brains.

But their worries were unfounded.

The Central Command Giant and Titan Class Apocalids also vanished.

Only Choi Kangjoong remained, gazing at the 6th Dimension Fortress before opening a Gate to teleport near his home.

Wuuuuuuung.

As soon as Choi Kangjoong entered his room with a Stealth Blink, his phone rang.

It was a call from his father, Choi Jooyoung.

“Hello.”

-Kangjoong, is everything okay?

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

-Are you home?

“I just got in.”

-Good. You worked hard. I just wanted to hear your voice.

His voice was tinged with tears and gratitude.

Choi Kangjoong realized why his father had called.

“Because I’m your son.”

-That’s right. Thank you. I feel so reassured having you, Kangjoong.

“Everything will be fine from now on.”

-If you say so, it must be true. Good work. Get some rest.

“Yes.”

The call ended.

Choi Kangjoong tossed his phone onto the bed.

“How did he know? Was it because I contacted Iselin and had her take care of things?”

He decided not to overthink it, since he’d tell him anyway.

Bzz.

This time it was the Dawnphone.

[Han Junghwa: Thank you. I owe you at least ten drinks.]

[Choi Kangjoong: Sure.]

[Han Junghwa: Let’s set a date soon. How about next week?]

[Choi Kangjoong: I’ll think about it.]

[Han Junghwa: It’ll be fun! I’ll reserve a place, so make sure you come!]

[Han Junghwa: I’m busy right now, I’ll contact you again later.]

An hour later, Han Junghwa reached out about something else entirely.

[Han Junghwa: The Hunter Association wants to know if you’ll register as an S-rank Hunter. What do you think?]

[Han Junghwa: I recommend you do it.]

[Han Junghwa: There are a ton of benefits if you get promoted to S-rank.]

Choi Kangjoong was well aware of the benefits of being an S-rank Hunter.

Tax exemption on magic stone transactions was just the beginning, and there were many other legal privileges.

The Hunter Certificate also became much more elaborate.

“S-rank Hunter Certificate… I can’t pass that up.”

Choi Kangjoong told Han Junghwa he’d do it.