Chapter 368
Jessica pondered silently. Subsequently, every word she spoke was genuine. Eventually, she decided to remain by my side. Only then were the two of them privy to the complete truth, discovering that humanity was caught in a conflict between the Old One and Doom Kaos and that I was the sixth Demon King, known as Doom Man.
In particular, they seemed to notice that it was meaningless to distinguish good and evil in the fight between the two cosmic beings after learning the truth of the Stage of Advent. Humans had been conscripted by the Old One without regard for their wishes, while Doom Kaos a.s.similated clans from other dimensions to create its own army and conducted merciless raids with the spoils of war. The two would do anything to defeat and swallow each other.
Silence filled the air on the way back as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. I was thinking about Saint Dragorin. I lacked knowledge of what kind of battle the War of New Devil was, but there was one thing that the Old One had been telling us day and night in the Stage of Advent.
Do you need power? Then prove it.
The Ancient Dragons undoubtedly demonstrated their worthiness for power. However, what about the Dragorin, whose bloodline alone seemed to have activated the remarkable strength equivalent to the activation of the Man Who Overcomes Adversity?
Given that the Old One possessed the ability to construct this area and install various defense mechanisms, why did it abandon humans in the midst of this battlefield? It would have been more prudent to concentrate on the interspecies conflicts in this location.
f.u.c.king a.s.sholes.
They were selfish. They were probably munching on popcorn as they looked down upon us, mere pieces on a chessboard.
However, I had to be careful not to judge their intentions and methods hastily with the little information I had so far! I needed to read the flow. If not, then I was no different from the individual investors who were busy losing money in the market by reacting to immediate events.
I had lowered interest rates in a manner that would bolster the global stock market, fully cognizant that the adverse aspects of the economic conflict with China would not impede this progress. I then released the stake I held in one hand, paving the way for the tide to flow in the long run.
However, despite such favorable circ.u.mstances, individual investors were unable to profit. They sold at a loss when China announced plans to reform its gold standard currency, bought back in when the market rebounded, only to sell at a loss again when the Awakened created issues. This cycle of buying and selling eventually led to the squandering of their own a.s.sets.
On the other hand, those who possessed information, such as club members and the financiers affiliated with them, who had access to the club’s long-term strategies, were in a distinct, different position. They entered the market even before the a.s.sociation’s inception and invested heavily during the bullish trend.
That was how the world worked. Nevertheless, my understanding of Doom Kaos and the Old One was limited to their selfish behavior. Rather than making a.s.sumptions about their motives, such as why they sought to eliminate each other, why they engaged in a protracted battle with their underlings instead of confronting each other directly, and how far they were willing to go, I required precise information to form a plan.
How much did the other Dooms know? What about the Ancient Dragons?
Upon our return to the garrison, I noticed unfamiliar faces who had arrived via the river on motorized rubber boats. They were dressed in combat attire featuring the emblems of private corporations and had apparently crossed the boundary after discovering the a.s.sociation’s flag on the garrison.
Their conversations weren’t important. Private company mercenaries sought to ascertain the extent of the a.s.sociation’s territory, prompting a.s.sociation mercenaries to provide a standardized response indicating that such matters were beyond their purview. Although I didn’t pay much attention to them, I could tell that they were failing to get to the point.
“Why can’t you get confirmation from your boss?”
One of the a.s.sociation’s mercenaries found me staring at them. When I nodded to him from a distance, he grasped my approval.
“This is the operational area of the highest leaders.h.i.+p of the a.s.sociation.”
“How high is their position?”
“The top of the a.s.sociation. Do I really need to mention their names?”
“Ah… Okay, I get it. I’ll let our leader know. Is there anything we can do for you?”
“If any of your Awakened has the ability to heal, please send them here. We are not forcing you though.”
I could sense Joshua from the hills in the distance.
After sending Gillian and Jessica back to the gate, I headed toward Joshua. He gazed fixedly at the tents where the squad members were receiving treatment, emanating a dark aura that dissuaded anyone from approaching him. It appeared that he had deliberately vacated the tent to allow the healers to concentrate on their tasks without being distracted by his presence.
His relations.h.i.+p with his squad members was solid because they were the minority who had survived situations where every single one of them was on the verge of death. I took a seat beside him and sensed a feeling of bereavement emanating from the necromancer’s robe he was adorned in.
“I saw a city five kilometers south of here. Is that the home of the Caldoran family?”
We continued with our previously unfinished conversation.
“Yes.”
“Will you come with me? If you ignore the spoils, only the dead will be mad.”
“...I thought you decided not to intervene in getting profits here.”
“I’m telling you to retrieve spoils under your group’s name. All the a.s.sociation did was pick up the wounded. Anyway, I hope there’s a trophy that made the journey worthwhile because the Holy Knight you fought against was one of the strongest in this world.”
“Then… I can deal with this by myself. You don’t have to step in, Master.”
I patted Joshua on the shoulder and got up from the seat.
“No, let’s go together.”
He acted like he was fine, but he was still severely injured.
“Joshua.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you know that there are items that contain the power of the Old One here?”
***
This was one of the lands that were ravaged by fire. The roads that had extended in all directions and private houses outside the city were destroyed. A vast part of the land was still infected by the plague.
As per Joshua’s account, Holy Knight Caldoran had stood to watch over the region throughout the night before relocating the battlefield elsewhere. It appeared that their key members followed suit, including those who had displayed resilience against the plague.
Therefore, only the regular soldiers were left manning the walls. Strangely, the flag bearing the Caldoran family emblem was missing, replaced instead by a white flag symbolizing surrender. To compound matters, the gate was also ajar.
As we stepped in, there were individuals waiting for us to show up with an elderly person holding a large jewelry box in the middle. Those in luxurious clothes, the ruling cla.s.s of the city, were there as well. They were definitely aristocrats.
“You guys are smart.”
It appeared as though they had been aware of the impending war. The city had long been governed by a family that had proclaimed themselves as the guardians of the Land of Whirlpool for generations. However, following the ruler’s downfall, the aristocrats of the city banded together and wrested control from the existing ruling cla.s.s.
My conviction in this belief was strengthened by the sight of bodies hanging from the walls; they were likely members of the Caldoran family.
Joshua made eye contact with me, then took the lead. From then on, a verdant aura began to emanate along his shoulder line. As the cooldown time for Osiris’s Domain had not yet elapsed, he instead employed the Cloud of Plague, which could be activated at will.
Meanwhile, considering that the city’s n.o.bles flinched at every step that Joshua took, he seemed to have been engraved as the symbol of fear here. It seemed unnecessary for me to step up and create more fear. I couldn’t sense any movement of the military, and their surrender was beyond doubt anyway.
I walked down the road where Joshua pa.s.sed by. The elderly person waited for Joshua to approach him, then started talking about something, likely the jewelry box. Despite this, Joshua didn’t retrieve the box and instead proceeded directly through the path they had opened. The elderly person and aristocrats trailed behind him from a considerable distance.
Joshua was heading to the castle in the heart of the city. He kept pace with my footsteps, then the n.o.bles realized that I had more authority than Joshua. When they buzzed with pale faces, we entered the shopping district after pa.s.sing through the crowded residences.
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The road was empty, and most of the windows were closed. Eyeb.a.l.l.s full of curiosity and fear of the invaders peeked around from the slightly open windows.
Then, I detected the signs of an ambush for the first time. It was at the heart of the city, where five-story commercial edifices began to show up.
Joshua smirked, but he didn’t stop walking. Instead, the green aura that was rising along his shoulder line began to spread into the fog like evil spirits that had received life from their masters.
The green hue permeating the fog was dark, and it spread like wildfire toward the windows of the highest floor of the building. Every time Joshua’s evil spirit penetrated through the wooden window frames there, all kinds of groans came out. It was then those who were armed in protective barriers began to throw themselves out of the window.
Even then, I didn’t deem it necessary to intervene as I knew that no one there could stop Joshua’s progress. The stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.ds screeched and poured down towards Joshua, enveloped in a green cloud. The results they expected never happened as their bodies were sliced in half before falling to the ground.
One of Joshua’s eight skills was similar to Hanuman’s Tail.
Sheek- Sheek-!
His skill possessed a whip-shaped instrument that exuded an aura of death instead of a fiery appendage, and it was wielded with a swiftness that evaded even the keenest eye. Those who were screaming in agony were those without the courage to fight back. The road was in disarray with blood and corpses pouring down from the sky.
I had no desire to wash up again. As I pa.s.sed Joshua, the scenery adjacent to him was even more gruesome. Corpses littered the ground, and blood stains acc.u.mulated along the path he had traversed. The rapid decay of the cadavers caused toxic fumes to permeate the air, shrouding the streets in a thick fog.
Furthermore, his Cloud of Plague had diffused beyond the confines of the building after fulfilling its objective. They were shaped like clouds in a manner that threatened the entire street.
When there were no further attacks, Joshua looked back. His eyes were on the crowd of n.o.bles who had stopped at the beginning of the street. It was clear now what the city’s n.o.bles had to do, which was to protest that they had nothing to do with the previous attack. They were the ones who had killed the ruling family and hung them on the wall.
Although they were likely uninvolved in the incident, they were so terrified by the sight that they were rendered speechless, trembling in fear. Then…
Srrrr-
The green clouds floating on the street sank toward the n.o.bles. Due to the toxic fumes and the presence of green clouds, I was unable to witness their struggle. Moreover, employing Night Eye to observe their demise would have been futile.
Anyway, the green clouds that engulfed the aristocrats were only small in size, but the green clouds continued to rise and concentrated over the city. As they overlapped and expanded, it steadily took control of the entire sky.
The clouds had eclipsed the moon. Thus, the moonlight illuminated the city through the green haze. Although the plague had consumed the entire city, it appeared as if it hadn’t. The Cloud of Plague, which had eradicated all the inhabitants of the city, pervaded the atmosphere, awaiting instructions from its master. The windows, which had been opened with care, were now promptly shuttered.
“Please… please spare our lives… please…”
When the entire city was crying in a green hue, Joshua s.h.i.+fted his gaze toward me.
“May I stop?”
He had no intention of exterminating everyone in the city.
The battle was over, and there was no value in the land where no one could engage in production activities. Who would dedicate gold for him and his attackers?
“This is your group’s territory now. Do whatever you want with them.”
Then, Joshua gestured towards a city guard and motioned towards the jewelry box, indicating that he wished to retrieve it and for the guard to follow him. The box was buried within a pool of melting bodies.
We returned to the residence where the ruling family of the city had resided for generations. Whatever had emerged from that place and whatever this city had been, it now belonged to the green night and his men.