Kay the villain had used his comrades as if they were disposable tools.
The villains who had been fighting the knights exploded.
Karin hurriedly cast a defensive barrier around herself.
*KABOOM!*
The barrier collapsed, and Karin tumbled across the floor. She was already physically exhausted from opening the dimensional gate and summoning the knights.
“??…â—†”
Broken language spilled from the knights’ mouths. Karin didn’t even have the strength to answer. Her eyes began to drift shut. She hadn’t wanted to use the dimensional gate if possible.
Actually, when she first crossed over to the world where the Coach lived, she had possessed the full power to traverse dimensions. Though it wasn’t as strong as it once was.
It had been eleven years since the Hero arrived in the other world. The moment had come for Karin, who had awakened the true power of a Priestess, to keep her promise to the Hero.
The Hero wanted to return to where he lived.
When she heard those words, Karin felt a sense of disappointment. Of course, home is important to everyone. Karin also cherished the Rania Territory where she was born and raised. This was the place where she had memories of living with her beloved parents. The town merchants, the knights, and the soldiers—everyone, including the common citizens, lived so closely that she remembered seeing all their faces at least once. All these people were connected to her. A hometown is a good place to define a person’s life.
But the Hero’s hometown… she wondered if there were even any good things there.
The Hero said he was an orphan. He said he had no acquaintances at all. In other words, no one was waiting for him in that world. Even though he knew it would be a solitary life, he still insisted on going back.
Karin couldn’t understand it. He could have just stayed here. Here, there were achievements the Hero had accomplished. Here, the people he protected loved him. Yet, she couldn’t understand why he wanted to throw all that away and leave.
Karin blankly watched the Hero making his final rounds to say goodbye to the people of the territory. Only a few hours remained until she had to lose another family member—the one who had been by her side since childhood and protected her after she lost her parents early.
The fated hour arrived quickly.
She asked him one last time. As expected, his resolve was firm. Karin realized the reason why the Hero wanted to leave this world. There were too many things he had protected here, but by the same token, there were too many things he had lost. He wanted to leave because he didn’t want to be reminded of the people he couldn’t save.
Once she knew that, Karin could no longer hold him back. All she could do for him now was promise him a comfortable life.
She also made up her mind.
She said her final goodbye to the Hero and then opened the dimensional travel barrier. She wanted to close it again immediately, but she didn’t want to disappoint him. As she forced her eyes open, it felt as if tears would pour out at any moment. She didn’t want to let him go. She didn’t understand why they had to part when they were family.
When she closed and then opened her eyes.
“What, did it fail?” he muttered.
It was strange. There was no way it could fail. Then Karin looked outside. Dimensional travel was a success. The problem was that she had traveled across dimensions along with the Hero. Of course, there was a bigger problem.
The entire territory she ruled had also crossed over.
Karin was just as flustered as the bewildered Hero. On the other hand, for some reason, a sense of relief washed over her.
‘I’m hungry.’
Those were the first words Karin uttered as she stepped onto the soil of the unfamiliar world.
“…2…”
She heard the voices of the knights summoned from the Floating Island calling her. She tried to open her eyes, but sleep overcame her. Since she had moved the poor children to the Floating Island, they wouldn’t be used as bombs by the villains anymore. Since the dimension was completely different, their sorcery wouldn’t work either.
“…? …”
“…”
Distortions in the dimension occurred due to the aftermath of the explosions.
Gates.
The sorcery created by the villains manifested here, and monsters began to pour out. The knights began to smash the monsters that lunged at them. Since these were knights who had been with the Hero early on, they weren’t weak enough to be defeated by mere monsters.
The problem was that the enemies were attacking endlessly.
“Don’t worry…” Karin whispered softly. “He’ll be here soon…”
No one could understand who she meant. The knights swung their fierce swords, prepared to die to protect their young lord.
“IDE?”
The translation level of the knights, who hadn’t been loaded with a normal protocol, was disastrous. However, they showed their resolve through their actions. They cut down the monsters pouring out of the Gate, protecting their lord again and again.
However, they soon reached their limit. Though their strength as knights remained, their connection to the system was extremely unstable because they had just crossed over. In other words, they couldn’t properly use their Awakening abilities. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated.
Karin chuckled and whispered weakly, “See, I told you he’d be here soon…”
At Karin’s words, the knights looked ahead.
*Crash, bang!*
Monsters were struck by something and spun across the floor like tops. Monsters began to scream as they were tossed aside and smashed. The countless Kobolds pouring out were being almost slaughtered by a man holding a two-handed sword.
“…”
The knights’ lips trembled slightly as they looked at the Hero’s face.
“Huh…?”
The Hero discovered the knights while sweeping away the monsters. This was his Order of Knights that had been with him for a long time. Even when the Demon King’s Army was on a path of conquest across the Continent, it was the Hero’s knights who blocked that flow. When the Seven Kingdoms went on a rampage and repeated meaningless slaughter, it was also the Hero’s knights who stood at the front with the support of the people.
The Hero, who had achieved glorious feats, and his knights met in a new dimension.
“/?02”
‘Lord. The Hero has arrived.’
The knights reported to their master.
“â—†”
‘I think we can go back now.’
The knights urgently reported to the noble.
*Thump, thwack!*
Cutting through the necks of the Kobolds, the Hero walked forward confidently. The knight holding a halberd became even more urgent and began to shake the sleeping noble awake.
“…”
‘Lord, you are safe now.’
“???”
‘It seems you can send us back to the territory now.’
Despite the knights’ desperate words, Karin slowly lost consciousness. She felt a sense of relief just by seeing the Hero’s figure in her vision.
—
I eliminated all the clinging monsters. The knights felt a bit hesitant when they saw me. Was it because it had been a long time?
First, I checked Karin’s condition. I brushed back her bangs and placed my hand on her forehead, feeling a slight fever. Exhausted from overexertion. She’s a fool. This is why I still can’t take my eyes off her. You never know what might happen. What’s the point of being the best Priestess? Her stamina is so pitifully weak.
I turned my head to look at the knights. The three knights awkwardly raised their hands in greeting.
“Knights? How did you end up here?”
I don’t understand. Did they come out of that Gate over there holding hands with the monsters?
“…?”
“What, is the translation protocol not running properly?”
“…?”
I couldn’t understand what they were saying at all. No, I couldn’t even guess.
“Take off your helmets. Let me see who is who.”
The armor they were wearing belonged to the Lania Knights. They probably weren’t in league with the villains. However, even Sieg came here as a villain. I had to check who was who.
Fortunately, it seemed they understood my words. The knights took off their helmets. The group consisted of three people: one with long black hair, one with long blonde hair, and a bald Black person.
Rawin, Leon, and Vincent.
It had been a long time for all three.
“I know all your faces.”
“…”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re saying you’re glad to see me, right? I don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad to see you too.”
I didn’t understand it, but I was glad these guys showed up here. No, that can’t be right. The timing is too perfect. Could it really be this perfect?
‘Wait.’
Karin has the power of a Priestess. Above all, she is also the master of that Floating Island up there. Perhaps her dimensional ability had re-awakened. Thoughts followed thoughts, but for now, it would be best to get out of here. Monsters were still being hunted down in this area. There might be a villain hiding somewhere.
“For now, everyone move—”
“Shit.”
I doubted my ears. I turned around and locked eyes with the Black knight, whose eyes and teeth were all I could see. Vincent. I could see him smiling brightly at me. His teeth were exceptionally white. Was it because they were healthy?
“Escape is a failure.”
“Horrible. It was very good not seeing you for a while.”
“Smile. He has no experience with translation errors with us.”
The three knights began to grin, baring their teeth. Look at these guys. I ended up smiling kindly because I was so flabbergasted.
“What does that mean?”
“He makes that kind of face when he has bad thoughts.”
“He’s a friend like a little Hitler.”
It seemed their translation systems had recovered slightly. The problem was that these guys hadn’t realized I could understand them. I felt the need to give them some mental education once we got out of here.
The monster wave was nearing its end. Looking out the window, the Gate containment measures seemed to be finished as well. Elite Hunters from other guilds, who had finished the mopping-up operation, returned one by one.
Many S-ranks had arrived, but the mastermind-level villains had already fled. I saw the Fighting God Guild entering the Gate barricade. There was the Holy Knight Seol Jihoon, who looked like he would fit perfectly standing in a white snowfield. And beside him stood Ryu Jiyeon, dressed entirely in black.
She had said she respected me the most. I heard she’s been very popular lately with a skill called Shadow Puppet. She found my location and was wearing an unpleasant smile.
‘Office worker.’
That guy is an office worker. My intuition was telling me so. Judging by the uncomfortable feeling I got from him, it was identical.
*Step, step.*
The sound of several footsteps came from behind me. Seven Awakened individuals wearing hoodies approached. Sensing a suspicious aura, Karin’s knights took a defensive stance. I raised my hand to tell them to stand down. For now, these people were allies.
“This side is cleared,” said the leader of the men in hoodies. “It’s a shame we couldn’t catch the mastermind, though.”
“Same here.”
Saying so, the men began to leave the Agency. They were the Moderate Faction. The group where Seohyeonji belonged. I thought the Moderate Faction wouldn’t budge.
‘That must mean this incident felt like a crisis to the Moderate Faction.’
The villains, who had only been active in the shadows, had openly occupied the Hunters’ Agency. Not stopping there, they had shown blatant provocation through streaming. In other words, the war against the villains had now begun in earnest. A very aggressive one.
But something felt off.
‘They wanted only this?’
The leader of the villains, a guy named Kay, had secretly gathered a huge number of people to occupy the Agency. He had even set up a meticulous plan and used bait. Even the streaming felt weak if it was merely intended to provoke the Hunters.
‘Above all.’
Seol Jihoon and Ryu Jiyeon of the Fighting God Guild… those two, who were definitely villains, did not participate in such a big issue. No, rather, they even wiped out the villains’ organizations. There was something more.
—
“Kay.”
“What is it?”
Kim Yeo-jin looked back. The empty seats of her comrades, which had once filled the tour bus, caught her eye. For the first time, the villains had come to the forefront and devastated the Agency. But the sacrifice was too great. Out of fifty comrades, only ten survived to leave. It was a crushing defeat.
“Never mind,” Kim Yeo-jin muttered.
As her body, which had been heated up by battle, cooled down, her emotions became dry. Perhaps knowing her feelings, Kay spoke up.
“Don’t worry. It was a necessary sacrifice.”
“Of course, I believe you,” Kim Yeo-jin replied.
Kim Yeo-jin during battle and Kim Yeo-jin normally were completely different people. Right now, she was very calm, with quiet eyes.
“Because of this sacrifice, we will be victorious in the future.”
Kay whispered that and smiled faintly.
“Don’t you think so, Wizard System?”
In front of Kay was a tightly sealed flask.
*Gurgle.*
Floating in the thick green liquid, sending up air bubbles, was a brain connected to electrodes.
“No, Mr. Regressor.”
As if responding to Kay’s words, bubbles rose to the top of the flask.