LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 410
Chapter 411
In the south of the Arbelloa Kingdom, a place devastated by war, if you continue heading south, you’ll eventually encounter a dense forest.
A forest better described as black rather than green, one that sinks into darkness rather than bursting with life; it’s a tremendous jungle… or rather, a vast jungle.
However, unlike the grand forest of Yggdrasil, this dense jungle isn’t primarily known for its timber production. The reason is simple.
What lurks there is a terror that no human can withstand.
A damp and ominous place. Where every evil of the continent creeps in. A nest where monsters breed. A location unreachable by humans…
‘Pandemonium.’
The people of Alkeion fearfully referred to the jungle as such. A place where every devil resides, to be feared.
“I honestly never thought I’d come here.”
[Really? Why’s that?]
“Before my regression, I couldn’t even dream of this place. It was the same with martial arts, but Pandemonium was worse.”
True to its name of the Demon King’s domain, it’s swarming with monsters not easily seen even at the Gate. Not just one or two, but a whole horde.
“That’s why I never thought about coming in. Plus, back then, Alkeion was completely in shambles.”
It must have been bad enough that only places like the Sword Academy or Magic Tower were considered livable, and when the Grand Kingdom took in human refugees, that said it all.
[So there was a time like that…]
“Honestly, compared to then, it’s livable now. Look, there are signs of logging. Even amidst the fear, that means some brave souls went in and chopped down some trees.”
Who could have had the courage to become a lumberjack, cutting down trees while horrifyingly aware that demons inhabit the forest?
They could be dead by now, but their bravery should at least be acknowledged.
[And now we have to search through that forest, don’t we?]
“Exactly. Thank goodness I was able to distinguish between magic and mana. That could’ve been a problem otherwise.”
Yeon-woo walked into the forest, filled with laughter from the kids, into the place where sunlight barely penetrated due to the dense foliage.
Around Yeon-woo, there were countless corpses and pools of monster blood.
*
It’s something you could realize upon reflection, but for Yeon-woo, the fear of Pandemonium was a thing of the distant past. The reason was simple.
Yeon-woo was at least a hundred times stronger than before the regression. Perhaps the stubbornness had weakened a bit, but in terms of pure physical specs, a tremendous evolution had taken place.
Of course, even with this improved physique, you couldn’t compare it to monsters. After all, even an Aura Master cannot boast physical abilities superior to those of low-level monsters.
Monsters are monsters for a reason. To bridge that gap, the methods for using mana had to develop.
Swoosh!!
With a sharp sound, the noise of life being destroyed echoed. As Yeon-woo lightly flicked his wrist, filthy blood sprayed everywhere.
The upper half had been torn away, so perhaps it should be called half a body. A chilling joke flashed in Yeon-woo’s mind, chilling the surrounding air as if it were absorbing it.
‘I guess an Aura Master can adjust the temperature with sheer willpower….’
[Dad….]
As Yeon-woo pondered this joke, unable to accept that it was lame, Shar spoke up in a voice filled with pity.
Don’t… don’t call me like that with such a voice…!!
[Lame jokes aside, what are these? I’ve never seen them before.]
“I don’t know either. Baek In-hwa probably doesn’t either.”
[Really? How can that be?]
“We don’t have a complete grasp of all monsters, but even if we did, who knows what could be found here.”
This is a place where demons copulate and spawn, a well where all types of magic muddle together.
In that sense, hybrids the likes of which one has never seen in their entire life could be common here. If needed, one could catch any monster right here and report it to the academy as a new species.
Of course, taking back evidence was another matter, and that’s also why the monster research academy was hesitant to step in.
In fact, if there were enough individuals to classify it as a species, it would be tricky to register beforehand.
The one recently killed had a distinct tongue. It was extremely long and flexible, capable of whipping it like a lash even from a distance to strike.
Aside from its rather unfortunate-looking face, it was a rather strong monster.
Well, with someone like Yeon-woo around, he could easily rip it apart even if its saliva was acidic.
While Yeon-woo was easily advancing by dispatching monsters, what about Yuri and Noel?
The position seen on the map Albert had shown was getting closer, but the two were nowhere to be seen.
“Where could they be?”
[Maybe they’ll come out if things get chaotic?]
[Alert: Unable to locate them even in the surrounding shadows.]
“It’s a pretty brainless method, but it’s not bad.”
Even Tae-oh, whose tracking abilities are unmatched, seemed to believe they were hiding exceptionally well or had moved far away.
Upon reflection, was there really a need to join up? If he could draw the monster king’s attention in the front yard of the Demon King’s castle for a bit, wouldn’t that make it easier for Noel and Yuri?
“I’m not avoiding the search out of laziness or anything.”
As Yeon-woo rationalized it to himself, he focused his mana.
Passing through the thick leaves that blocked out even the sunlight, the faint silhouette of the Demon King’s tower became visible in the distance. Alright, that direction works.
As Yeon-woo pondered how to create chaos after confirming the direction of the Demon King’s castle, a brilliant idea came to him and he clapped his hands.
Then he drew the White sword, aiming it at the trees.
“From now on, I’ll start… no, let’s call it the game of Choi!”
It wasn’t a huge deal. Just chop down some trees and pluck some stones from below the ground to craft a decent stage, no problem at all.
Of course, if the elderly sword master saw him using the White sword like this, he’d probably explode with rage, but, oh well.
It’s much more convenient to sweep them away with the Aura Blade than to cut each tree down with an axe.
*
That day would surely be remembered as a most bizarre day by the monsters of Pandemonium.
With sounds that echoed as if an earthquake had struck, thudding and shaking could be felt. And that was from the morning onward.
“…Ugh, make the upstairs noise stop….”
“You still make dumb noises when you’re sleepy, huh?”
Seeing Noel calling out to the nonexistent upstairs, possibly due to flooding her head with the Earth’s water, Yuri let out a soft sigh.
Upon reflection, Noel hadn’t had anyone living above her when she was at Count Vish’s house, nor had she lived in a duplex on Earth.
But why exactly did she remember the term ‘upstairs noise’?
Yuri was equally annoyed by the noise. The old man had a light sleep, but such noises weren’t something that could easily be heard in Pandemonium.
Sure, a few trees might fall during monster territory disputes, but even that sound could be swallowed up by the thick foliage.
The leaves were thicker than an average house’s ceiling, absorbing even the sound of trees falling, meaning that even if Noel and Yuri fought with all their might, they could still go unnoticed.
In such a place as Pandemonium, a sound of trees falling? That was plainly an anomaly.
As Yuri neatly organized her sleeping bag and began preparing breakfast, Noel started coming to her senses.
“Ugh, ughhh…. A hero shouldn’t say this, but I’m really mad…”
“…Tsk, should I have introduced you to that guy or not?”
Yuri was somewhat shocked by Noel’s recent language use, wondering whether she had made a mistake in introducing them.
The innocent child who didn’t even know how to curse had become so proficient in swearing and various vulgarities.
Of course, Yuri didn’t mind seeing her release stress in this way.
But remembering that this girl was a hero made it somewhat uncomfortable.
‘In that sense, Choi Yeon-woo is also a hero, so it doesn’t really matter.’
Is a hero someone who just speaks kindly? If you take care of the child and defeat the Demon King, that’s what makes you a hero.
Just as Yuri found a somewhat fitting anecdote, Noel wriggled out of her sleeping bag.
“Are you not going to get it together soon?”
“Ughh… ughhh!!”
“We need to discover what’s causing that noise. Hurry up and prepare.”
Disciplining the stretched-out Noel, Yuri peeked outside the natural cave.
The thudding sound of trees falling, still occurring at regular intervals, could be heard.
“What on earth could be making that noise? It’s not like the Demon King is running low on firewood…”
“Ha, that was kind of funny.”
Noel, slurping her soup, chuckled.
Honestly, her silly demeanor made Yuri sigh, but at least it felt better than her former gloomy state, so she also sipped her soup while sitting across from her.
With no one to show off to, Yuri and Noel tidied themselves up and exited the natural cave.
It was around that time that the thudding sounds finally ceased. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t pinpoint the direction or location, so the two leisurely made their way.
Before long, they arrived at the source of the sound and were confronted by a rather ridiculous sight.
“Phew, it’s exhausting. Really.”
There stood Choi Yeon-woo, a towel draped over his shoulder, seemingly perspiring not a drop yet proclaiming it was tough.
As the two, adorned in all sorts of magical gear to move as stealthily as possible, rolled their eyes.
What lay there was a broad, unfinished arena that seemed unbelievable for being in Pandemonium, bathed in glorious sunlight, and surrounded by countless monster corpses.
“…What are you doing here?”
“Oh!? Master, Noel! What brings you here… oh, that’s not my place to ask.”
“Whoa, Noel! It’s been a while!!”
“Hey, Noel, how have you been?!”
At Yuri’s unintentional murmur, Yeon-woo was taken aback and exclaimed as Shar and Tae-oh rushed over to Noel in succession.
Noel seemed flustered, responding to the kids’ greetings in a hesitant manner, her expression dazed.
“Uh… why are you here?”
“Hmm? We came to help! We promised, didn’t we, kids!!”
Yeon-woo’s clumsy Gyeongsang dialect seemed to surprise the two. Well, that felt a little rewarding, didn’t it?
“But we can’t help much. We’ve got a lot to handle on our side too. So let’s try to wrap this up as quickly as possible.”
Ultimately, the problem was that Yeon-woo had left. Though the Demon King preparing to nab the Earth Serpent was also cooking something up, if they were to receive information that Yeon-woo was absent, they might move right away.
Therefore, it was stipulated that the time allotted for Alkeion was about two weeks.
In that duration, Yeon-woo’s task would be to yield meaningful results.
(To be continued in the next chapter)