Chapter 296

The moon tried to illuminate a room in a dark building, but a young man with black hair stood in front of the window with his eyes closed, keeping the moonlight from entering. As if taking its revenge, the moon dyed the young man’s abnormally pale skin, making it seem even paler.

“Well, this is quite unexpected. I am surprised. You continue to subvert my expectations,” the man said, his voice trembling from his rising excitement and wonder. “Cheon Seong-Hwi... what in the world are you? I am curious about your identity!”

He opened his heterochromatic eyes of black and green, blazing intensely.

“Who could bring someone like you this much excitement?” someone asked from the darkness.

Curiositas turned his head to an abnormal degree, but smoothly, toward the source of the voice. “You’re awake.”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

Curiositas took one step to the side, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the dark room. There was a bed on the opposite side of the room, and a naked man was sitting up on it. He was a middle-aged man with slightly curly black hair and black eyes. The moonlight scattered once it hit the man’s muscly body.

“How is the body?” Curiositas asked.

“It is... the best of anything I could have asked for. It appears you were not lying when you said you would provide me with everything I need,” the middle-aged man responded.

Curiositas smiled widely. “Of course, it is. That body is considerably rare, as it is made up of a human, a dragon, and an angel, Mulleus.”

Lord Mulleus Rubens Sanguineus examined his new body in satisfaction and asked, “What is the name of this body?”

A voice responded from the opposite side of Curiositas, where the door was. “Lee Kang-San.”

Mulleus turned toward the door and saw a male demon similar to Curiositas in appearance. The only things that were different between them were that the man’s left eye was green and his right was black, the opposite of Curiositas, and that his horns were straight instead of curved.

“Who is he?” Mulleus asked Curiositas.

“Oh, that boy is Opukia. He has been nursing that body until now.” Curiositas turned to Opukia and said, “I apologize for taking away your toy.”

“In exchange, please tell me about that method, as promised.”

“Of course.” Curiositas nodded as if it were natural.

“And I will follow Lee Kang-San,” Opukia said.

“You are free to do so.” Curiositas smiled benevolently and turned back to Mulleus. “Where are you headed next, Mulleus?”

“First... I plan to head to Lunatic and replenish what I need,” Mulleus answered.

“Then take Opukia with you. He can take you to Lunatic by today.”

Mulleus looked at Opukia, who looked back at him with expressionless eyes.

He asked, “Were you acquainted with this body?”

“He was my friend.”

“Hmm. A friend, is it?”

“Because he was useful to me. I still have something I wish to ask him.”

“Well, then, I am sorry to tell you that you will never get to hear the answer to your question. I have decided that I will record the history of Unification with this body.”

Mulleus, having completely taken over the body of Lee Kang-San, got up from the bed. His black pupils began to turn red.

“Haha! I wish you luck,” Curiositas said, excited as if the opening night of a movie he had been waiting for was approaching.

Opukia remained silent, his expression so stoic that one couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

***

Half a month had passed since Pangaea was activated, and Together appeared in the Mirror World at last. It replaced Permafrost, which had no use for a while, marking the birth of a new superpower between the fourth and fifth zones.

The tectonic plates matched perfectly without any collisions—just the sound of rumbling. Together was a giant city with Ferrum at twelve o’clock, Fortitudo at two o’clock, Arimaspi at four o’clock, the Spirit Land at six o’clock, the Ancient Forest at eight o’clock, and the Capital at ten o’clock.

“It’s done! Together is complete!”

“We’re safe now!”

“Hey, wanna go to Ferrum? I heard that place is practically overflowing with items.”

“Are there any restrictions on passing the borders?”

“Hold your horses. Underground hasn’t made its announcement yet.”

The residents of London, a city in the southeastern region of the Capital, looked toward the center of Together. A large hill had formed in the center from the collision impact between the six tectonic plates. The hill flashed from the sunlight because of the tall steel rampart surrounding it, created by Steel King Bafor.

“There will be an announcement from the center soon.”

“Ahaha! It looks like London will be a central city, like New York!”

“Man, I wanna look around the cities of other races!”

A new sense of hope and anticipation for the future spread throughout Together.

***

The six territories had harmoniously matched at the hill in the center of Together, surrounded by a rampart. There were the Capital’s square pavement blocks, Ferrum’s steel road, the woodland trail of the Ancient Forest, the ground of the Spirit Land filled with a variety of elements, and the plains of Fortitudo and Arimaspi. It was beautiful and overflowing with diversity, making one wonder whether this was what a utopia might look like.

The core members of Underground were gathered on the hill. Bafor, Taidzu, and Chiron were saying cheers, seeming quite drunk already.

“Gulp! Gulp! Kaaahh! What a huge success!”

“Congratulations, Brother Bafor!”

“Neigh! Please have another glass.”

“Oh, sounds good.”

Irura was introducing Echo to Ozenta.

“Keke, it is an honor to meet you, Fairy Queen.”

“I’m Echo!”

“Master Echo, this gentleman is Master Ozenta. He is the grand elder of Viridis.”

“Kekeke, you flatter me with that title. I am just a remnant of the past.”

Elementum simply looked at them in silence as she sat on a rock with electricity crackling around it.

“Is it true that you’re leaving soon?” Gilder asked Seong-Hwi.

“Yeah,” Seong-Hwi replied, staring at a white scroll and a silver badge in his hands.

“We were going to hold Echo’s coronation once the scattered fairies come together.”

“Sorry about that. The mission the Sēmen has given me seems to be progressing rapidly.”

Gilder smacked his lips. “If you’re busy, then it can’t be helped. I’m planning on visiting Consul Quetzalcoatl after the coronation.”

“Are you confident you can convince the Fifth Fiend?” Seong-Hwi asked, taking his eyes off the scroll and badge to look into Gilder’s eyes.

“I’m not.”

“What?” Seong-Hwi asked dumbfoundedly.

“Ahaha! I like that expression.”

“Are you joking?”

“No, I’m seriously not confident. Alone, that is.” Gilder made a serious expression and continued, “That’s why... I’m going to use Underground’s name. Is that fine?”

Seong-Hwi smirked. “That’s fine, but I’ll take your life as collateral if you use it for cheap profits.”

“Ahaha! That’s scary! Scarier when my PMC pushed a contract for the Iraqi war on me.”

Just then, Taidzu wrapped his arms around Seong-Hwi and joined the conversation. “You two! What are you two humans whispering to each other about? Let the orc join in on the conversation!”

He was so tall that he had to slouch quite a lot, looking back and forth at Seong-Hwi and Gilder.

“Here, a glass for you. We should drink on a day like this!”

“Master Taidzu, I don’t—”

“Ahaha! That’s wild!”

“It sure is wild! This is airag mixed with honey!”

Taidzu handed glasses to Seong-Hwi and Gilder and filled them to the brim with a milky liquor from a leather pouch.

“Now, then! Attention, please! I would like to propose a toast!” he shouted happily as he raised his glass high. “I, Taidzu Solho Abkai, swear on this glass that from today onwards, the blood of you all, my brothers and sisters, is my own! Your tears are my tears! Your sweat is my sweat!”

Taidzu resolutely emptied his glass. Bafor and Chiron answered to Taidzu’s toast and emptied their glasses as well.

“Yes! Of course! Gulp, gulp!”

“Neighhh! I like your style! Gulp!”

Seong-Hwi stared at them and mumbled, “The Drink of Fellowship.”

Taidzu’s chant was the Drink of Fellowship, one of Subutai’s five covenants that orcs considered more important than their lives. Taidzu had sworn that he would consider the members of Underground his true friends and share in their joys and sorrows.

“Looks like I have to drink this,” Seong-Hwi mumbled.

He did not intend to drink the liquor, but had no choice considering its meaning. The sweet and savory airag trickled down his throat, filling him with the warmth of the morning sun in the plains. He was certain that what had gone down his throat wasn’t liquor, but Taidzu’s emotions.

“Ahaha! How was the orcs’ special airag, Seong-Hwi?!” Taidzu asked.

“It was delicious,” Seong-Hwi said as he smiled faintly.

“Come on, is this supposed to be a tease? Please pour me another glass!” shouted Gilder, who did not know the meaning behind the drink, as he brought his cup forward.

“You got it!” Taidzu shouted.

“Wow! First Knight! Echo wants milk, too!” Echo said.

“You can’t have any, Echo.”

Seong-Hwi walked away from the boisterous bunch and approached Elementum, who was sitting on a rock.

“What are you doing by yourself?” he asked.

“I was... thinking,” Elementum replied as she swept her wavy hair.

“What about?”

“The idiots.”

Seeing everyone laughing and chatting amicably, Elementum was reminded of her family.

“Aha! Sylphid, my other half! Shall I hold you tonight?”

“Do you want to die, Sallion?”

“Haha, try to restrain yourself. This is the norm for Sallion, is it not?”

“You be quiet too, Gnoass!”

Elementum pressed on her solar plexus as if she were stuffed. They were inside here—they were always with her, but she couldn’t be lonelier.

Seong-Hwi stared intently at her and asked, “Are you sure you are... okay with making the Spirit Land a prohibited zone?”

“Yes, except for the fairies.”

“Well... Nothing good will come of revealing the Vindicta Resistance yet, so that is probably the right call,” Seong-Hwi replied as he nodded.

They had created Together, where everyone lived as one, but they couldn’t allow passage to every territory without the owner’s consent. The human Capital and the dwarven Ferrum never had restrictions for entry in the first place, so they planned to keep it that way.

Fortitudo and Arimaspi had never restricted passage—they simply did not get visitors since they had been in the plains of the Mirror World’s outskirts. On the other hand, the Viridis elves’ Ancient Forest permitted conditional entry, and they respected Elementum’s decision to restrict entry into the Spirit Land.

In the first place, the Spirit Land was the only place where the spirit monarchs’ traces remained, so it was more important to her than anything. It was exceptional enough that she had permitted the fairies to reside there.

Things might change if her heart opens up to us a little more, Seong-Hwi thought.

“Well, then. I leave Together in your care while I am gone,” he said.

“Bafor will have to remain, too. We have a lot more ground to cover now, after all,” Elementum replied, nodding as if it were no big deal.

Just then, Bafor approached them as he gulped down a glass filled with alcohol.

“Gulp! Gulp! Kaaahh! Did you call me?” he asked.

“I was saying my goodbyes. I’m about to head to Gurzes soon,” Seong-Hwi replied, raising the scroll the Sēmen had sent him.

“Hm? Are you going already? Seong-Hwi, I thought I told you that you need some rest... You need an overhaul,” Bafor said with a frown.

Seong-Hwi smiled, sensing the worry in his voice, and replied, “I’ve rested more than enough in the past half a month.”

Bong-Seong would have scoffed if he had heard him. However, to Seong-Hwi, hunting the League of Trailblazers was a break compared to their war against Consanguineus.

“I asked Masters Taidzu, Chiron, and Irura to deal with the Chaos monsters around the area,” he said.

“Then what do I do?” Bafor asked.

“Your presence alone will be a threat to our enemies, so staying here is more than enough.”

“Hahaha! A siege defense, it is!”

Seong-Hwi nodded. Now that Together was complete, the average faction wouldn’t be able to attack them. Haema Sanguis was dead, and excluding Insectum’s vacant seat, Steel King Bafor was thirty-third in the world ranking. There was also Elementum, whose ranking had not been made clear by the Sēmen, but she was undoubtedly an upper World Ranker.

The fact that they resided in one city meant that their enemies also needed to mobilize individuals just as powerful. There were definitely factions with enough power to do so, but doing so would leave them vulnerable to their competitors.

Underground’s position needs to be something like a casting vote, Seong-Hwi thought.

Such thoughts had become more consolidated after experiencing the war against Consanguineus. When the superpowers Barbaria and Consanguineus clashed, Underground held the vote that decided the winner.

We alone can’t defeat the existing superpowers, but we can use the conflict between them!

For example, if Underground were to join the conflict between Echion and Redeo, whichever side they joined would have the edge over the other.

“Gurzes, the underwater city. It’s perfect,” Seong-Hwi remarked.

He then continued inwardly, Because Patala had invaded it in my past life.

Patala was Echion’s allied faction. Vipera Anguis, the Eighth Lord, had murdered Natantes by framing him with an absurd claim. If Patala were violating the World Law against Gurzes, then Seong-Hwi could use his authority as an inspector to expel Patala from the Sēmen.

If that were to happen, then Echion would be left all alone. If Gilder managed to persuade Una of Redeo, then their position as the casting vote would be established.