Chapter 95. Awakening.

Chapter 95. Awakening.

Squawk!!!

Squish!!!

"Huh? That sounds like the kids?"

Sejun, hearing the heart-wrenching cries of Heukrabbit and Gweengi, hurriedly ran in the direction of the sound.

"Kids, what's wrong?!"

Sejun asked, finding Heukrabbit and Gweengi crying and frantically looking around.

Huh?

Gweeng!

Heukrabbit and Gweengi turned their heads at the sound of Sejun's voice.

Huh!!!

Gweeng!!!

Heukrabbit and Gweengi, spotting Sejun, spread their arms and rushed towards him.

Thud.

"Wha?! Kids?"

How happy they were, rushing without any brakes. Especially Gweengi, who had lost half his mind with joy at finding Sejun, made Sejun shiver. This is going to kill me!

Sejun tried to dodge their charge, but it was impossible for him to avoid the two, who had incredibly high agility stats compared to him.

Thud!!!

"Ugh!"

Sejun's breath was cut off by their body tackle, and his life flashed before his eyes.

'Dying? I wanted to meet Aileen before I die...'

At that moment,

[Your body has suffered a critical injury.]

[<Power: Indestructible Body> has been activated.]

[Your body is protected from destruction by consuming mana.]

The power activated, protecting Sejun's body from breaking.

'Right. I have an indestructible body...'

This was Sejun's last thought before he fainted, feeling as if his body was breaking apart. The power prevented his body from breaking but did not eliminate the pain.

Whoosh.

Sejun, Heukrabbit, and Gweengi flew through the air as one.

Theo, instinctively realizing Sejun was safe, clung to Sejun's knee and frantically wagged his tail to detach Iona.

***

"Sir Tarik, why have you been so scarce lately?!"

Tamuro welcomed Tarik, who had visited the 67th floor of the tower again.

"Hahaha. I'm grateful for your warm welcome, Sir Tamuro. But I heard you've been having a hard time with the Purple Locusts..."

Tarik said, looking at the deserted defense fortifications.

"Ah! I was lucky. The Purple Locusts were about to break through the waypoint, but they suddenly retreated for some reason."

"Ah... I see. Sir Tamuro, this is a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."

Tarik once again offered a black card worth 10,000 tower coins, guaranteed by the Chau Trading Company.

However,

"Keluk. Sir Tarik, this time, please spend a little more. I have a large family, and even after receiving it five times, it was still insufficient."

Tarik's face stiffened for a moment at Tamuro's words.

Then,

"...Hahaha. I was shortsighted! Of course, I'll give more."

Tarik took out another black card from his coat and handed two black cards to Tamuro.

"Keluk. Thank you."

Tamuro smiled and accepted the black cards from Tarik. Around Tamuro's neck hung a necklace given by Iona.

"Then, go and do as you wish. I have some business to attend to."

Tamuro quickly moved aside to allow Tarik to act quickly.

***

Thud. Thud.

"Ugh..."

Sejun regained consciousness, feeling the dampness on his forehead.

Gweeng!

Gweengi, seeing Sejun awake, was delighted.

However,

Gweeng...

Gweengi hesitated to hug Sejun as he used to, worried that Sejun might lose consciousness again.

"It's okay. Dad is tough now."

Sejun said, spreading his arms to Gweengi. Although his body felt a bit heavy, he didn't feel any discomfort or pain thanks to the power.

Gweeng.

Encouraged by Sejun's words, Gweengi hugged him.

And,

Damp.

Sejun understood why his forehead was damp. Gweengi had been nursing him by placing his saliva-soaked front paws on Sejun's forehead.

At that moment,

Huh!

Kwik-kwik

Heukrabbit and Kwik-kwik brought breakfast for Sejun.

"Thank you."

Sejun stroked Heukrabbit and Kwik-kwik's heads, praising them.

Gweeng.

Gweengi, wanting praise too, pushed his head forward.

"Alright, I got it."

While stroking the animals' heads,

"President Park, you're awake now, right?"

Theo, who had been sleeping on Sejun's knee, woke up.

"But where is Iona?"

"Off to deal with Tarik."

"Tarik came?"

"Yes."

Iona, realizing the video storage magic on the necklace she gave to Tamuro had activated, went to the waypoint to ensure proper handling.

***

"Tarik, stop!"

As Tarik was being tailed and sufficient evidence was believed to be secured, Tamuro stepped forward.

Keluk. Keluk.

Grrr.

Lizardman soldiers and Silver Wolf pack wolves, who had been hiding, surrounded Tarik and his subordinates.

"Hmph! I thought you were just a money-grubbing lizard, but you're foolish as well."

Tarik said, looking at Tamuro. Despite being caught in the act of disposing of monster corpses, Tarik showed no signs of distress.

"...Since it's come to this, there's no choice. Kill them all."

"Yes, sir!"

At Tarik's command, the wandering merchants he brought with him took out their equipment from their backpacks. Tarik also pulled out a massive blood-red battle axe from his backpack.

The battle began, and surprisingly, the tide turned in Tarik's favor. The reason was the weapon Tarik had pulled out.

As Tarik swung the battle axe, a red aura extended from it and flew around.

"Get out of the way!"

The Lizardmen and silver wolves were busy dodging the red aura.

"How can it be... Guillotine?"

Elka was stunned, seeing the massive battle axe Tarik wielded. Guillotine was a relic-level weapon, ranking fifth among the ten strongest weapons of the Black Tower. As a Silver Wolf, she knew it well.

"Elka, why did you betray Lord Grid? Because of your choice, your clan will starve to death!"

"Shut up! I have nothing to talk about with someone who doesn't know pride!"

"Even after your grandfather and parents died like that, you still talk about pride. You haven't come to your senses."

At that moment,

"Quack! Tarik, stop barking and admit your crimes."

Iona appeared from the sky.

"You're Iona?! Why are you here? Could this be your doing?!"

"That's none of your concern. I'll handle Tarik, and you take care of the rest! Seal!"

Iona cast a sealing spell on Tarik's weapon.

"What?! Why is this happening all of a sudden?!"

Tarik was stunned by his weapon, which suddenly stopped working. As Tarik's weapon was sealed, the overwhelming power of the Lizardmen and silver wolves quickly ended the battle.

"Quack! How dare you persecute me, the head of the Chau Trading Company and a member of the Wandering Merchant Association's board! I will formally protest to the Mage Association and the Free Mercenary Association, and I won't let you off!"

Tarik, tied up with ropes, screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

"Really? Do you think you can get away with it this time?"

Iona laughed, looking at Tarik. In the past, Tarik had managed to escape several times despite being suspected of crimes, by destroying evidence and witnesses and using his power.

"What?! Hahaha. I am a boar elder under the protection of Lord Grid, the landowner of the 55th floor of the tower! No matter what I do, you can't punish me!"

"Yes, but do you still have such confidence after seeing this? Tamuro."

"Here it is."

At Iona's words, Tamuro handed over the necklace.

As Iona manipulated the necklace,

-What?! Hahaha. I am a boar elder under the protection of Lord Grid, the landowner of the 55th floor of the tower! No matter what I do, you can't punish me!

The scene of Tarik speaking just now was replayed in the air like a hologram.

"Th... That?!"

"Keluk. This is a video storage magic necklace I developed. Everything you did is stored! And you even implicated Lord Grid. Thank you."

"..."

"Take care of it."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Leaving the speechless Tarik behind, Iona gave instructions to Tamuro and Elka. Now that they had evidence, there was no need to keep him alive.

"S... Spare me!"

"Flames of Hell."

Iona's magic engulfed Tarik's entire body in hellfire that wouldn't extinguish until he died.

"Quack!"

Tarik screamed in agony as he died.

The Lizardmen and wolves collected the abandoned monster corpses and the bodies of the wandering merchants.

***

"You've been unconscious for five days?!"

Sejun was surprised while having breakfast. No wonder he felt hungry no matter how much he ate.

"Right!"

"Then what about the locusts?"

"The locusts started eating leeks, so we drove them away!"

As the locust population decreased, the poison in their bodies disappeared, and the locusts were no longer affected by the detoxifying leeks.

"Then what about the quest?"

Sejun quickly checked the quest.

[Intermediate Manager Quest: Eradicate the Yellow Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower.]

Yellow Locusts: 839,191,200 / 2,938,171,200

Reward: 75,000 experience points, 7,500 tower coins

Failure: You cannot return to your original location until the quest is completed.

"Huh?!"

As the number of locusts decreased, the locusts had regressed from red to yellow, two stages down. The quest difficulty and reward had also decreased with the regression.

'If this continues, the reward will keep decreasing. Is there any way to prevent this?'

While Sejun was pondering how to maximize the quest reward,

"Keluk. Sir Sejun, you're awake!"

Iona entered the cave.

"Yes. What about Tarik?"

"He's been caught. Here's the evidence video."

Iona showed Sejun the stored video.

"Huh?! What about those monster corpses?"

Sejun asked, seeing the monster corpses scattered on the ground in the video. A good idea came to mind as he saw the corpses.

"I just collected them. Why do you ask?"

"Bring those monster corpses here. I have a use for them."

"Yes, I'll be right back."

Iona left again.

Then,

"Everyone, gather here."

Sejun started giving instructions to the animals.

When Iona returned with the backpacks containing the monster corpses, the cave was completely empty.

"Kids, pour them all here."

Following Sejun's instructions, the animals started pouring the monster corpses from the backpacks Iona brought into the cave. The plan was to increase the number of locusts in the cave, raise the quest difficulty, and then eliminate them all at once.

The original inhabitants of the cave, the gem frogs, moved to a new home at the command of their god, Gaeron.

"Iona, use wind magic to lure the locusts."

"Yes! Wind!"

Iona used wind magic to spread the smell of the monster corpses to the scattered locusts.

A little while later,

Crunch. Crunch.

Yellow locusts, following the smell of the monster corpses, started entering the cave.

"Good."

Sejun whispered, hiding and watching the locusts.

"Phew. There are no more locusts outside now."

"Good job."

Sejun said after spending a few hours luring all the locusts.

As time passed,

[The Yellow Locusts have evolved into Blue Locusts.]

[The quest has been updated.]

...

..

.

As the number of locusts increased, evolution began again.

Then,

[The Red Locusts have evolved into Purple Locusts.]

[The quest has been updated.]

...

..

.

As the Red Locusts evolved into Purple Locusts,

"Now!"

"Yes! Mini Black Hole!"

Iona used her strongest gravity magic.

The entire Nabi Swamp disappeared.

Author's Note

The evolution stages of the locusts are as follows:

Green -> Yellow -> Blue -> Red -> Purple