Chapter 99

The world was approaching its end.

A clash of two monsters.

Mountains crumbled, and dark clouds gathered across the region.

“U, untie us!”

“We’ll all die if we stay like this!”

Panic ensued.

Both humans and monsters were in a state of chaos.

The monster battalion that had occupied the mountain was also flustered as Raktusha was pushed back.

There was no way to escape.

Thus, the only option was to help Raktusha.

However, the problem was the cultivators climbing the mountain.

Raktusha had ordered them to be restrained, but they couldn’t fight the Four Fiends with a hump on their backs.

“Lord Enkasa. What will you do with them?”

“Kill them all.”

The monster battalion chose to annihilate the cultivators.

“Aaah!”

“S, save us!”

In the end, the cultivators met their deaths without putting up a proper resistance.

Enkasa, the strongest gladiator who followed Raktusha.

A lion-faced beastman who had sworn to support Raktusha for life, drawn by his prowess.

“From now on, everyone will assist Lord Raktusha.”

“B, but the opponent is the Four Fiends...!”

Swish!

One of the monster battalion members, terrified, opened his mouth, but before he could finish his sentence, his neck was cut off.

Enkasa then scattered golden sword energy and said expressionlessly,

“Is there anyone else who is afraid?”

“...”

There couldn’t be.

Enkasa turned his head.

Raktusha had ordered the cultivators to be restrained, but since there were no cultivators to restrain, he hadn’t disobeyed the order.

At that moment,

‘Hmm?’

He sensed another presence nearby.

As Enkasa turned his gaze, someone was descending the mountain.

Was it a cultivator or a practitioner from the upper part of the mountain?

“Isn’t the human carrying the daughter of the White King?”

“Y, yes! It’s definitely the daughter of the White King.”

A human carrying the daughter of the White King and another man.

Enkasa frowned.

‘He must have tried to escape amidst the chaos.’

But his luck was bad.

They happened to meet face-to-face.

When helping Raktusha, it was also necessary not to lose the original target, the daughter of the White King.

“Commander Enkasa. Kill and take them immediately.”

“...Wait.”

A monster battalion of ten thousand.

Killing just one human was no big deal.

Yet, why?

Something felt off.

It was extremely unsettling.

Eventually, he realized the reason.

‘...Came down from the mountain’s peak, breaking through that curse?’

The peak of the mountain, where the Four Fiends and Raktusha were battling.

He must have come down from there, yet there was no trace of the curse.

Even Raktusha couldn’t escape Baal’s curse.

Moreover,

“Move.”

“...”

What was this confidence?

He didn’t even blink in front of an army of ten thousand.

He spoke in a strong tone, as if saying that if they didn’t want to die, they should move.

Enkasa raised his golden sword energy, which resembled a mane.

Though the feeling was unsettling, he couldn’t afford to waste time.

He would quickly kill and take...

Whoosh!

At that moment,

A more brilliant golden aura rose from the human’s body.

The aura soon formed a shape, like a thread.

It was a sword.

‘T, that’s...!’

Gulp!

Enkasa was taken aback.

He couldn’t help it.

That wasn’t sword energy.

If it were just sword energy, he wouldn’t have been so surprised.

It was different from simply covering a sword with energy.

That was...

That was...

‘Sword Qi...!’

The technique of weaving sword energy into a complete form.

There was no mistaking it.

The legendary Sword Qi was right there!

However, even Raktusha couldn’t use Sword Qi.

Enkasa clenched his fist.

If it were fake, he would have noticed.

But it was real. The pressure was undeniable.

“Commander?”

His subordinates were puzzled.

They didn’t understand the fear of that Sword Qi.

Goooom!

Bang! Bang! Boom!

The sound of the Four Fiends grew louder.

Raktusha was being pushed back more and more as time passed.

He couldn’t escape the Four Fiends’ attacks.

“...Move aside.”

“C, Commander?”

“We will assist Lord Raktusha.”

If they tried to deal with that unpredictable human, Raktusha would die.

Moreover, Raktusha’s survival was more important than the daughter of the White King.

Even if they all died, saving Raktusha would be more meaningful.

*

The mercenaries Joaquin, Sean, and Malibu were in a state of shock.

“C, Captain. This is a courage training, right? They’re all real, right?”

“I think we really need to run now.”

In response to their subordinates’ questions, Joaquin looked at the warp.

The monster battalion, including Raktusha, had crossed over to the cultivators’ mountain, and soon the Four Fiends appeared.

The situation inside the burning warp was dire.

“This guy must be dead by now!”

“Four Fiends? Are you serious? Are you crazy?”

Indeed, with such chaos, the man must have died.

No matter how great the man was, he couldn’t survive between the Four Fiends and Raktusha.

Joaquin clicked his tongue.

It was time to return.

The mercenary city must be in chaos by now.

“Wait.”

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance.

The figure approaching the warp was the man who had hired them.

“Client?”

How did he survive in that situation?

Moreover, the man wasn’t alone.

He had entered with two people but came out with four.

“Carry one each.”

“Huh?”

“Carry one each and leave this place. As far as possible. The warp will explode soon.”

“Oh...!”

The warp will explode.

In other words, this land might sink into the abyss.

If it sinks, they won’t be able to leave this land.

‘Crazy!’

If they wanted to survive, they had to run as fast as possible.

*

The warp was damaged due to the appearance of the Four Fiends.

With no way to use the teleportation book, the only option was to run.

To the place where the warp connecting to the next city was located.

‘Why is Seo-a unconscious?’

Finding Seo-a, the Holy Maiden, was fortunate, but the problem was that she was unconscious near the warp.

For some reason, she had to be alive.

Guided by the mercenary Joaquin, they miraculously passed through the warp to the mercenary city Cartel.

“Huff! Huff! Cough!”

“Pant! Pant!”

It was a nerve-wracking situation.

At the same time,

Rumble.

The warp trembled.

Soon, the warp connecting to the cultivators’ mountain turned black as if it had been shut down.

“...The warp has sunk.”

“A little later, and...”

The entire area was sealed.

The mercenaries swallowed hard, tense.

If they had been a little late, they might never have returned.

‘It seems we were still outmatched.’

Raktusha and the monster battalion alone were not enough to stop the Four Fiends.

Whether he was dead or alive, it seemed the mission to eliminate the Four Fiends had failed.

“N, now what?”

Sean asked.

What would happen now?

What was certain was that the Four Fiends were not dead.

If the Four Fiends were not dead, they would soon invade another area.

Perhaps one of the five neutral cities, including Cartel.

If they could stop it, it would be fortunate, but if they couldn’t, it would be a disaster.

Several cities, several kingdoms, might be destroyed.

‘The daughter of the White King turned the page.’

Facing the monster battalion, he was sure the lion-faced beastman was who he thought it was.

Indeed, it was the daughter of the White King.

However, before she fainted again, she had handed him a book.

He took the book out of his pocket and opened it.

‘Sword Sage Diary.’

A book named ‘Sword Sage Diary.’

At the same time,

《You have awakened the arrangement of the Sword Sage.》

《To control ‘Four Fiends Baal,’ you need the ‘Sword Sage Diary,’ ‘Baal Helmet,’ ‘Baal Armor,’ and ‘Baal Talisman.’》

《One of the preparations to control ‘Four Fiends Baal’ is missing.》

《The location of the ‘Baal Armor’ is indicated on the map.》

A map appeared above the book.

A red dot in the middle.

‘Empire.’

It was definitely somewhere in the Arhon Empire.

The Baal Armor was there.

If he could obtain the armor, he could control the Four Fiends Baal, right?

However, that wasn’t the end.

《You have completed the ‘Main Quest 7: Achieve Level 15 Proficiency in the Cultivators’ Mountain.’》

《Settling the content.》

As they completely left the Cultivators’ Mountain, the Main Quest 7 ended, and the settlement began.

Endless settlement

A large conference room.

Thirty ‘Rulers’ gathered in one place.

They were all the owners representing each city, the strongest with immense power and authority.

The rulers of the five cities connected to the Cultivators’ Mountain and the twenty-five cities connected to those five cities were now gathered in this conference room.

The scene was truly spectacular.

All the rulers, shrouded in mystery, exchanged sharp words with serious expressions, discussing the current situation.

“What did you say? You’re going to cut off the warp and sever ties?”

The owner of the mercenary city Cartel, ‘Red Ferret Jeraf,’ raised his voice.

The owners of other cities frowned and shook their heads.

“The Four Fiends will target one of the five cities connected to the ‘Cultivators’ Mountain’ next.”

“We can’t risk our safety just because the warp is connected, can we?”

“Hmm. Jeraf, I will not spare material support.”

At a time when they needed to unite to prepare, the idea of cutting off the warp was being proposed.

Cutting off the warp meant severing ties.

It meant ending all exchanges between cities and breaking the alliance.

The reason was one.

To distance themselves from the Four Fiends’ invasion!

“Do you really think that makes sense!”

Bang!

Jeraf slammed the round table hard.

It was completely unreasonable.

He couldn’t understand it, and he didn’t want to understand it.

The importance of the warp connecting the cities was beyond question. It was taken for granted that cities connected by the warp were considered to have an implicit alliance.

After all, a city would sink into the abyss if it didn’t have at least three warps.

“If you cut off all the warps! You’re saying you’ll sink Cartel into the abyss?”

“You can connect the neutral cities among yourselves.”

“Hmm. If the five cities are connected, there’s no need to worry about the abyss.”

Jeraf trembled all over.

“So you’re saying we should handle it ourselves? The five neutral cities connected to the Cultivators’ Mountain should deal with it on their own?”

“It’s not exactly that... You could ask for help from the empire or the goddess church...”

“Cough. Are you being too extreme because you’re a mercenary?”

Their intention was simple.

They wanted the five cities connected to the Cultivators’ Mountain to unite and deal with the Four Fiends on their own.

Even if they failed, the Four Fiends’ power would be significantly reduced if the five cities fell.

They were forcing the neutral cities to sacrifice themselves.

Jeraf couldn’t miss their obvious intention.

“If the five cities fall, will it end there? Do you really think the Four Fiends won’t invade if the warps are disconnected?”

It was a ridiculous idea.

The Cultivators’ Mountain had already sunk.

And with a very high probability, the Four Fiends would become the ‘Master of the Abyss.’

More likely, they would become the ‘Abyss itself.’

“If the Four Fiends become the ‘Abyss itself,’ they can invade at will, even without the warps. Moreover, this monster exists solely for destruction. Once it becomes unstoppable, it will be too late to stop it later. Don’t you really understand that?”

Jeraf’s words were reasonable.

If the Four Fiends became the ‘Abyss itself,’ random cities would be invaded.

Once a city was invaded, the connected cities would also become targets.

There would be no way to prepare, and it would only get worse.