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Chapter 407. The Four Became Three in The End (2)
After following the messenger’s guide, Chi-Woo arrived at a place where many people were already gathered. He saw a girl with pigtails standing at the center of the group and immediately walked up to her. The Last Dragon didn’t even move when he got closer. She simply looked at the ground with her arms crossed and head bowed. Chi-Woo followed her gaze and saw a circular hole on the ground. He couldn’t see the end of it, and it looked like a hole drilled into the ground for underground investigation purposes. The Last Dragon stared intently at the hole with a solemn look on her face.
“What is it?” Chi-Woo asked, and the Last Dragon raised her head. “Ah…you’ve come.” There was no strength in her voice. She even sounded a bit remorseful.
“How should I explain this…?” The Last Dragon clutched her forehead like she was getting a headache. Then she explained how Bael’s energy, which was becoming fainter as time pa.s.sed, had completely disappeared a couple of days ago. The Last Dragon supposed that Bael must have been extinguished and their enemy coalition would undergo some change as a result. Yet contrary to her expectations, their enemies were staying quiet. They weren’t attacking the last gate nor backing away. They weren’t fighting each other either. They were just maintaining their silence and inaction.
While contemplating what was happening, the Last Dragon thought of the possibility that their enemy might be targeting something besides the last gate: Shalyh City. What if their enemy was planning to create a bypa.s.s around the last gate and aim directly for the holy city? Thus, the Last Dragon immediately gave the order to monitor the sky and heighten surveillance around the mountain ranges on both sides of the gate. They set up a barrier that reached from the sky to the ground and stayed on high alert.
Yet they couldn’t spot a single enemy no matter how hard they searched. Perhaps there were some who escaped their eyes, but they couldn’t find any trace of that either. The Last Dragon couldn’t understand what her enemies were thinking no matter how hard she tried, and she ended up staring intently at the Sky Castle for a long time. It was then she realized that she had overlooked one vital aspect when she saw what was flowing bountifully from the bottom part of the Sky Castle.
“Roots,” the Last Dragon said in a low voice. “Before the war even began, the Sernitas’ Sky Castle landed on the ground and lay down its roots.”
After hearing what the Last Dragon said, Chi-Woo looked at the hole again and realized why they had dug into the ground.
“Are you talking about a tunnel?”
“…Yes, I should’ve thought about it earlier…” The Last Dragon sighed. She had kept her senses on the sky and even parts of the underground. If an enemy tried to secretly pa.s.s through the last gate through an underground tunnel, she would’ve normally detected it instantly…unless her enemy really went all out and made a tunnel extremely deep into the ground.
‘A tunnel….’ Chi-Woo fell into deep contemplation. He was already aware of his enemy’s capabilities with using underground tunnels. During the height of the siege, he had witnessed soldiers piercing through the ground and jumping out to the inside of the gate. Yet that was still within the last gate’s vicinity. He didn’t think they would try to reach all the way to Shalyh in that manner; well, it was more like he hadn’t had the luxury to think that deeply not long ago because humanity and the Ca.s.siubia League had been too busy holding off their enemies to do anything else.
‘Wait. Had the Sky Castle been aiming for Shalyh since they first came down and set up a tunnel…?’ Chi-Woo thought and shook his head. There was no way. If the Sky Castle got to work as soon as it laid down its roots, it would’ve completed a long tunnel that could reach Shalyh by now. Yet the coalition army had been full of confidence before the war officially began. It didn’t make sense that they would dig a tunnel aiming for Shalyh from the very beginning if it wasn’t connected to taking over the last gate.
Thus, it seemed most likely that they began their tunnel construction after Bael was defeated. Chi-Woo frowned at the thought. There were too many factors to consider when trying to figure out what happened.
“If it really is a tunnel…their target must be Shalyh City, right?” Chi-Woo asked.
“Probably. I’m pretty sure it is.” The Last Dragon nodded.
“What is their intention then? Even if they invade Shalyh right now…”
“They will be changing their order of plans. Instead of penetrating through the last gate to invade Shalyh, they will destroy Shalyh to siege the last gate.”
Chi-Woo tilted his head. He didn’t understand what the Last Dragon was saying. The coalition army should have sensed that they were in a much worse situation than at the start of the war. Why were they trying to destroy Shalyh to turn things around?
“Shalyh has a temple for its holy territory.” The moment the Last Dragon said these words, Chi-Woo’s eyes widened. He got an inkling of what his enemy’s goal was now. The effects of White Horse General’s holy territory were still in effect even though it had been neutralized by the Sky Castle’s territorialization.
Thus, if their enemy destroyed the White Horse General’s holy relic, which was the core of the holy territory in this land…the Sky Castle would immediately be able to territorialize their surroundings and use its effects on the battlefield. The territory would wield tremendous influence, incomparable to territories that most great demons ruled over. And if that really happened, the coalition army would gain an enormous advantage and upper hand, and they would be able to fill the gap created after Bael’s fall and possibly more.
“Shouldn’t we quickly head to Shalyh then?” Chi-Woo asked.
“I agree that we should act as fast as possible, but it’s not like there are no troops in Shalyh.” The Last Dragon spoke calmly. “I already ordered the troops that departed late to hold their ground at Shalyh instead of coming to the last gate just in case… I’m sure they will be able to withstand the coalition’s incoming special forces for some time.”
This was one of the few fortunate news, yet the Last Dragon chewed on her lips. She looked anxious, unlike her usual self.
“And…there’s one question that remains unsolved.” At this point, the coalition army was making a big gamble by sending a special force. Even though the League’s forces in Shalyh were made up of latecomers, they were still a formidable force, and the coalition army could end up losing valuable troops without achieving anything. Thus, it seemed likely they would’ve dispatched a special force made up of only elite members, and this was the part that the Last Dragon was most confused about.
In order to crush Shalyh for certain, a great demon or one of the Abyss’ chasms needed to take the lead. Yet according to her senses, none of their presences had disappeared, be it the great demons, the Abyss King, or the chasms underneath him. They were all patiently waiting on the other side of the gate. The only energy she sensed had disappeared was Bael.
As they were deeply contemplating these matters, they heard sudden murmurings. Chi-Woo and the Last Dragon looked at the hole in the ground again. Not long afterward, a cat popped out.
“Cough, cough! Huh…former boss?” A cat smeared with dirt all over his body looked up in surprise. Chi-Woo was glad to see Nangnang after a long time, but there was a more important task at hand than paying greetings to an old friend. Nangnang also realized this and immediately got to the point.
“I apologize for being late. It’s complicated as a maze down there, so it took me a long time to investigate.” Nangnang was one of the partic.i.p.ants in the underground investigation. Since the League was working so hard to find out what was going on, humanity couldn’t sit still and watch either, so some volunteered in the tunnel search. Though there was no doubt that Nangnang was a very skilled guide, even he was baffled by the situation underground. He saw numerous tunnels at first glance, and he was astonished by how deep and far the Sky Castle had reached.
However, none of the tunnels his team and he had found strayed far from the last gate’s vicinity. Most of them seemed to have been made when the Sky Castle first landed on the ground and before the siege of the gate started. They searched night and day, and they found no exception. At this point, some were ready to give up looking for anything else, yet Nangnang continued on and separated from the League members he had been moving with. He dug through the ground without resting.
All his keen senses as a guide and scout rang alarm bells that there was surely something underneath, and in the end, he was rewarded with the fruits of his labor. He discovered a tunnel created way below the other tunnels, and it was incomparably longer.
“I turned back in the middle because the tunnel was so long, but I’m sure our enemy has pa.s.sed the last gate and the mountain ranges. I found traces of someone going through the tunnel recently.” Nangnang confirmed that the coalition had sent a force in secret to Shalyh.
“How many of them are there?”
“Well…” Nangnang hesitated at the Last Dragon’s question. He licked his lips and replied in a low voice, “One.”
“What?”
“I also found it hard to believe that only one pa.s.sed through the tunnel. Still, I couldn’t find any other trace indicating otherwise”
Nangnang had always said that an archer needed to be accurate at all times; thus, it seemed very unlikely that he would be joking now. But it was shocking that the secret card that their enemy had prepared to overturn the situation was just one being. Most people would’ve told Nangnang to stop kidding around, but the Last Dragon didn’t do that but simply scowled. It was because Nangnang had confirmed the scenario that she had feared the most.
“…I think I can talk with full certainty now,” The Last Dragon let out a sigh as she turned back to Chi-Woo.
“This is no time for us to stroll around here. We have to move immediately.”
***
The Last Dragon immediately gave an order on the spot. All the notable figures from the Ca.s.siubia League and humanity gathered. The Last Dragon quickly relayed the information that Nangnang had found out and threw a bombsh.e.l.l at the end.
“I presume that the one infiltrator is Bael.”
A slight commotion arose inside the tent. It was inevitable since everyone had clearly witnessed Bael fall to ruins at Chi-Woo’s hands.
“I know it doesn’t make sense. But considering the situation, there seems to be no other possibility than Bael.”
All the other great demons and the Abyss’ main forces remained in this place. The coalition army wasn’t stupid enough to send a single member to invade Shalyh and hope for success; yet the story changed if that single member was Bael. If she had recovered her full strength through some unknown methods, she possessed enough military might to crush a city and more. Of course, they couldn’t be completely certain of this fact. It might not be the case, and they would only know if they actually went to the city in question and confirmed it themselves—and they needed to do this as soon as possible.
However, humanity and the Ca.s.siubia League faced a dilemma. Right now, they were able to reach a lull. A great portion of the Demon Empire’s strength was crushed, but there were still a significant number of great demons left. Furthermore, the Abyss’ main force was still very much intact. While humanity and the League didn’t have a great enough force to take the offensive and defeat their enemies, they could put up a decent fight by playing defense and maintaining homeground advantage. However, if they divert some troops to block Bael, a gap would form in their defensive line. Thus, the best method was to send the minimum number of forces to stop Bael. In the end, people agreed that either Chi-Woo or the Last Dragon had to go.
“If it’s alright with you…I would like to request you to take on that task,” the Last Dragon said in an apologetic voice. “If my calculations are correct, I’m not confident that I would be able to deal with Bael as well as you.”
Chi-Woo easily agreed to the Last Dragon’s request. Bael was an opponent he had already beat. It didn’t seem unreasonable to think that he would win the second time—if the person in question was really Bael, of course.
“Since this is such an urgent matter, it would be preferable for you to depart this instance. Will that be fine for you?”
“Yes, I will prepare to leave immediately. But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to arrive on time.”
“There’s no need for you to go by walking. I will send a member of the Will-o’-the-Wisp’s Wind with you. You won’t be late if you travel by flying.” The Last Dragon then got up and left like the wind, but Chi-Woo remained where he was. He sat looking a bit dazed and stroked his lips bemusedly. One person approached Chi-Woo then.
“Are you alright?” It was Yunael.
Chi-Woo was a bit taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“I’m asking if you really are all right. Your expression doesn’t look good.”
“…Really?” Chi-Woo touched his face in surprise. Truthfully, he was a bit anxious about the situation. It was because he got a foreboding feeling as soon as it was decided that he was the one who would leave for Shalyh.
“Don’t overexert yourself. Just in case, should I go with—” Yunael stopped in the middle of speaking and smacked her lips. Chi-Woo had raised his head and was staring intently at her.
“W-What are you looking at me like that for?” Yunael said, startled. Then she flinched when Chi-Woo suddenly got up.
“Let me talk to you for a bit.” Chi-Woo grabbed Yunael’s arm and dragged her outside.
“What, no, my arm.” Yunael was only released after they got out of the tent. Yunael grumbled while ma.s.saging her forearm.
“Ms. Yunael.” Chi-Woo looked over his shoulders to both sides before turning back to Yunael. “Listen to me carefully from now on,” he said in a low voice, and Yunael instinctively fixed her posture and craned her ears.
“What?!” Yunael shouted after hearing what he said.
“Will you be able to do it?”
“Not that I can’t, but it’s a bit too much pressure…”
“I’m not trying to force you—” Seeing Yunael shake her head, Chi-Woo was about to add, ‘Don’t push yourself too much. It depends on how things play out,’ but he changed his tone in the end. “No. You should feel pressured. You have to accept the pressure and accomplish the task.”
Yunael gulped. It was the first time she saw Chi-Woo being so firm and determined. Yunael didn’t hesitate for long. Though she was stubborn and hasty at times, she knew when to be serious. Furthermore, she never backed down from important tasks.
“I understand,” Yunael said, looking determined. “Just leave it to me. I will give it a try since it’s coming to this. No, I will do it.” She went along with the situation but chewed on her lower lip after speaking the words. She glanced at Chi-Woo as he let out a long sigh and asked carefully, “But…what’s the reason?”
“Ah, I need to have some insurance before leaving just in case,” Chi-Woo replied nonchalantly, and Yunael frowned.
“No, I’m not asking about that. Why me?”
“What?”
“It sounds like a very important matter. Why aren’t you asking Ru Amuh, who you dote on so much?”
“Well…” Chi-Woo opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. Now that he thought about it, why was he asking Yunael instead of Ru Amuh? He didn’t know the reason, but had simply been following his gut feeling.
‘Hm—’ Chi-Woo scratched his head and shrugged. “I was able to save the World once because you helped me. It’s one of the reasons why we were able to reach this point.” Then, he smiled and continued, “And I had a hunch that the same thing might happen this time too.” Chi-Woo turned around after saying those words because he heard the Last Dragon calling out to him from far away.
Yunael watched as Chi-Woo’s back quickly grew more and more distant. Eventually, a great pressure along with a sense of responsibility lodged itself firmly in her heart. For some reason, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to see that back for another time if she didn’t accomplish the task entrusted to her.