Chapter 189   – Lord of Ice (1)

“That is unfortunate.”

Unlike his words, Woojin’s face displayed his indifference.  The pupils of Nakamura shook.

“I…I’m sorry.  For a moment, my greed…”

The light in Woojin’s eyes stayed steady even as he heard Nakamura’s entreaty.

“You should just die.”

Why waste a Dimensional Proof to take over his Colony?

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Woojin had only worried about external enemies.  He had been too complacent about the enemies within.

In the long history of earth, who had killed the most humans?

Monsters?

After the Dungeon Shock, they had killed a lot of humans in a short amount of time.  The fear and the threat of the monsters had somewhat united the humans, but unfortunately, humans were still responsible for killing the most humans on earth.

Humans were divided into various groups, and these groups went through numerous struggles.  These continuous struggles resulted in harm and death.

For a brief moment, these groups had allied with each other thanks to a big external threat.  However, the signs of change was once again on the horizon.

It wouldn’t be strictly a fight between Dimensional lords and the people of earth anymore.  The line between allies and enemies would blur.  In the end, each faction would fight against each other.

Nakamura, who was in front of him, was a prime example.

“Oooh ooh oohk.  S…stop.”

Nakamura screamed, but Woojin’s grip continued to tighten.  Nakamura felt a headache as if his head would soon explode.

He was dying.  He hadn’t experienced it before, and the fear of the unknown made Nakamura weak.

He couldn’t win against Woojin.

‘Fuck.  We aren’t the same…’

He had found out not all Dimensional lords were equal.

Winning wasn’t even part of the equation for him.

Crunch!

〈You’ve cleared the Colony.〉

〈Please choose between Destruction or Capture.〉

When Woojin chose Capture, another one of his Dimensional Fragment was used up, and a wait time had appeared.

One day.

If he wanted to use the functions of a Colony, he had to wait one more day.

“This is annoying”

He would have to waste time, because of this bastard’s antics.  Woojin looked at his surrounding.

“What the hell is this….  Uh-whew.”

Woojin’s brows furrowed when he saw the large palace built in front of the World Tree.  He would need to fully seize his Colony to get the exact figure, but Nakamura seemed to have spend a lot of Points.

Did he say he was from the Daken guild?  When Woojin returned to earth, he would have to regain what he had lost with interest from the Daken guild.

“What are you guys doing?”

“What?”

“You should go do your jobs.”

Tauric and the others had been imprisoned until a moment ago, so they were confused by his words.  Woojin pointed towards the outer castle walls with his chin.

The goblins were fighting the forces of the Coalition.   Some of the goblins were cooperating with each other, and they were pushing into the inner walls.

It was a clusterfuck.

Woojin had merely forced his way past the defense to climb to the top of the Saurus Mountain.

“Are you planning on letting them all die?”

“Ah!”

The heroes of the Coalition went forth to calm the situation.  The only ones left behind with Woojin was the Holy Maiden and the Phantom Unit.

“Hey, Haesol.”

Woojin shook the still unconscious Che-haesol.  However, she didn’t move.  He placed his hand beneath her nose, and she was still breathing. She just refused to wake up.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“One of the people from earth injected her with something.”

“Hmmm.”

It was unknown whether it was a sleeping or an anesthetic drug.

“Wake her up, Melody.”

“I can’t.”

“Huh?”

The Holy Maiden can do task that were considered to be impossible by the modern medical science.

“It isn’t as if I’m asking you to revive a dead person.  Why can’t  you do it?”

“I was abandoned by the goddess.”

“Huh?”

When Woojin tilted his head in confusion, she had to give an additional explanation.   Melody crumbled to the ground, and she cried.

“…things turned out so bad, because I didn’t follow the oracle.  Hoo-oohk.”

“Mmmm.”

After hearing Melody’s rambling explanation, Woojin stroked his chin.

“So it didn’t matter if you burned the World Tree or not, since these bastards crossed over to Alphen.  Both scenario would have resulted in me losing the Colony.”

“Yes?”

“Anyways, I need a day for Synchronization…”

“Ah..”

Woojin had wasted almost no time in getting rid of Nakamura, who had occupied his Colony.  At most, it took him an hour.

“Still, you did good.”

“What?”

“If you burned it, I would have been really angry.”

“…….”

Yes.  He would have been.

She couldn’t bear the consequences brought on by the Immortal, so she hadn’t carried out the oracle.  As a result, she had lost everything.

The Immortal’s wrath was avoided, but they had lost time.

“What about Haesol, president?  Is she going to die?”

Woojin shrugged his shoulders at Blanka’s words.

“She’ll probably wake up when the drug wears off.”

He had no idea what kind of drug was used.  Since she wasn’t dead yet, he doubted she would die.

“Bring me any bastard from the Daken guild when you guys come across one.  I need to know what drug they used if I want to treat it.”

When the Colony was completely taken over, he would be able to return to earth.  Whether it was an antidote or a stimulant, earth will have it.

“I’m sorry.  This is all my…”

Woojin shrugged his shoulder at Melody’s words.

“It’s all right.”

“…….”

Melody’s dropped her head.  The Immortal was showing such magnanimity….

“So you lost your abilities in its entirety??”

“…….”

“…yes.”

Woojin took out Aria’s Circlet, and he pushed it towards her.  Melody took the Item in a moment of bewilderment, and she looked up at him.

“You don’t feel anything even though you are touching it?”

“I feel an energy, but….  It is completely different from before.”

“Hmmm.  It means you are able to feel magical energy.”

Woojin looked at her, and Melody’s level had remained the same.

She was akin to a S Rank Roused, who had lost a Skill.

“That noonim is pretty petty.”

He didn’t know if he should call Aria as noonim or a hunk of machine.

“You are unemployed now.  Come work under me.”

“What?”

A Holy Maiden had lost her Holy Power, so it wasn’t a problem that could be easily glossed over…

“When my Colony is finished, you can protect it here.”

He made a mistake in not appointing an admin for his Colony.   If he had to deal with internal and external problems occurring here, Woojin would have to be tethered to the Colony.  He would rather appoint a new administrator.

“I’m going to earth.”

“…….”

“Why aren’t you answering me?”

“…….”

Melody’s shaking eyes gazed at Woojin.

He’ll put her in charge of the Colony?  Her?  What was the basis of his belief in her?

“You trust me?”

“Huh.”

Woojin laughed as he was dumbfounded by what he had just heard.

“What are you talking about?”

“What if I betray the Immortal again?  Isn’t that a possibility?”

“Why would you?”

“What?”

Woojin approached Melody, and he put his face in front of her face.  Their faces were a handspan apart from each other .

“Didn’t you ask me to help Alphen?”

“…correct.”

For no reason at all, she felt embarrassed.  Melody was barely able to answer him.

“If you betray me, I’ll just throw Alphen away.  At that point, I wouldn’t care if the gate was closed or not.”

“Ah….”

So that was what he meant.

Melody understood his words, yet a corner of her heart was somehow a bit disappointed.

“You do what you need to do.”

“…yes.”

Woojin went to the side wall of the palace.

He approached a flame that was burning with fortitude.

“This damn guy isn’t awake yet.”

Hwah-roo-rook.

It was as if the flame could understand his words.  There was no winds, yet the flame danced.

“You are too greedy.  When you think it is enough, I want you to wake up and come to earth.  I’ll be heading there first.”

Hwah-roo-roohk.

Woojin smirked, and he turned away.

It had been awhile, since Sunggoo had digested the Dragon’s Heart.  He hadn’t woken up yet, because he was very greedy.

Sunggoo was being patient, because it allowed him to be born much stronger and more perfect.

Woojin’s Colony was restricted, so he couldn’t use the Dimensional Store.  This was why he opened his Achievement Store.  He had stored up a lot of Points.

Even now his Undead army was on a warpath, and they were constantly giving him more Points.

“Shall i get my equipment back now?”

Thrash’s Set Items.

The core Ingredients that weren’t sold in the Dimensional Store or the Achievement Store were gathered.  All the other ingredients were going to be bought through the Store.

He didn’t spare his Points.  He started buying all the Ingredients.  A mountainous amount of Items were bought, and one by one it was put into the Combiner.  His Items were being completed.

***

One day had passed.

The false rumor, which said the Immortal had betrayed everyone, was put to rest.  The Coalition was being put back together again.

Unfortunately, the captured members of the Daken guild said the substance injected into Haesol didn’t have an antidote.

However, they were lucky in the fact that the drug lost its efficacy as time passed.  She would wake up later, but they could just carry Haesol around everywhere.

“You really won’t regret this?”

“Yes, sir.  We’ll return when our team leader wakes up.”

The entire Phantom Unit decided to stay behind with Haesol, so Woojin allowed it without much protestation.  It wasn’t as if earth was in imminent danger, so they weren’t needed.

Woojin knew Thrash’s Executioner was on earth, and he had to find clues there.  He’ll be able to accomplish this by himself.

“Guard the Gate closely.”

“You will never lose your way again.”

Woojin smirked at Melody’s stout words.  He patted her shoulder.

“When Haesol wakes up, tell her to cross over.  If Sunggoo wakes up, he should also come to earth immediately.”

“Yes.”

“Shall we head back?”

While Woojin went through many happenings and events, the Undead Army had swept through a large swaths of land.

The nearby Dimensional lords and monsters were eradicated..

Woojin called back his Undead Army.

When he unsummoned them, they resolved into black smoke around Woojin.  The black smoke swirled around before it disappeared en masse.

He could feel the energy of his Familiars occupying his Summon Room.  They had an unbreakable bond with Woojin.

“I’ll return soon.  Wait for me.”

“Yes.”

Woojin was sent off by the heroes of Alphen, and he went across the gate.

***

Alandal’s Flying Fortress, Bibi’s Castle.

Minchan sat within the Prime Minister’s office, and he let out a long sigh.

“This is driving me nuts.”

How much gravity did Kahng-woojin exert from Alandal?

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Kahng-woojin was the bulk of what Alandal is.  His absence created a lot of problem.

The Dimensional lords and the monsters were threatening the people of earth.  There was an expectation on what role Alandal should play in this situation, yet Alandal hadn’t come up with a solution.

They used Points through the moving fortress to eradicate the monsters, but the scale of the attack was limited to what a normal guild could do.

Even defeating one of the Dimensional lords forming a Colony was almost beyond their capacity.

Since Alandal couldn’t solve the problem, the negative press was getting louder.

This in turn increased the stress felt by Jung-minchan.

Beep.

「Prime Minister.  Bibi-nim is here for a visit.」

When he heard the intercom, Minchan brushed his messy hair with his hand.

“Tell her to come in.”

Ddal-kahk.

The door opened, and Bibi took short and quick steps to enter the Prime Minister’s office.  She wasn’t alone.

Kahng-woojin’s dongsaeng Sooah followed Bibi everywhere as if they were close friends.  Then there was Do-jaemin, who acted as their bodyguard.

Woo-soonghoon followed in behind them.

“Mmm.  What can i do for you?”

Bibi let out a small smile as she asked him a question.

“We are going to Beijing?”

“Yes.  We will work together with the Chinese government, and we’ll take care of the Colony.”

“We aren’t going there.”

“What?”

“That Colony was formed by one of the great lords of Trahnet.  The risk is too high.”

“However, we already promised them our help.  If Alandal doesn’t step forward, we won’t be able to avoid an international disaster.”

Everyone was making a big fuss, because Alandal had been conservative in their actions in recent days.  If they didn’t step forward this time around, Alandal’s renown as the country, who protects earth, would crumble away in a single day.

However, Bibi felt differently in regards to Minchan’s worries.

She was resolute.

“Rejected.”

Do-jaemin spoke up to give an additional explanation.

“Prime Minister Jung.  I also think we shouldn’t go there.  It is too dangerous.”

“Ha-ah.”

Do-jaemin had returned early from Alphen.

He didn’t know what Do-jaemin experienced in Alphen, but he back as a very cautious youth.  He turned down doing anything dangerous, and he only stayed next to Kahng-sooah at all times.

“This is a problem where the existence of Alandal is on the line.  We can’t always avoid the problems.”

At Jung-minchan’s serious words, Bibi playfully shook her head from side to side.

“Ah ah.  I don’t care.  I’m more interested in listening to my master rather than guarding earth.”

“But….”

Woo-soonghoon tried to console Minchan, who had a complicated expression on his face.

“Prime Minister.  We shouldn’t lose sight of our original intention..”

“Huh?”

“What was the reason for establishing the country of Alandal?”

“Well, it was for world peace and the defense of earth….”

“Eh-ee.  That’s just what other people guessed our mission was.”

Minchan furrowed his brows.  Too many events had occurred, so it felt like he was dredging up an old memory.  He remembered what was said by Kahng-woojin.

“I want to be exempt from joining the military, and I want to clear the Dungeons in peace.”

It was as if he could hear Woojin’s voice.  In the first place, Alandal hadn’t been founded with some big goal in mind.  They existed solely for caring for Kahng-woojin.  They were founded to take care of all the miscellaneous work.

“Huh huh.”

Minchan let out a hearty laugh.  The thoughts that had complicated and stressed him out lessened a little bit.