Chapter 411

“Long time no see, everyone.”

Deer responded to his kin’s greetings before scanning the area. He was searching for Lord Akima, the master of the Lair and the one who had issued the summons.

‘Where could he be?’

Checking inside the Lair, Dear tilted his head in confusion. Akima was nowhere to be seen.

“Looking for someone?”

Sensing Dear’s gaze, Logion, the leader of the Black Dragons who appeared as an orc, approached and spoke.

“Lord, where did the Lord go?”

Deer nodded at Logion’s words and asked.

“Ah, the Lord? He went out to meet the children.”

At Dear’s question, Logion let out a sigh of understanding before smiling and saying. As Logion said, Akima was currently outside.

“Unlike us, the children can’t open a portal to this place.”

He had gone out because of the summons order for the dragons coming here. Akima’s lair here had a coordinate-disrupting magic array installed. That meant only the chief dragons of each clan and a few other dragons could come here through the portal.

“I see.”

Dea nodded at Logion’s words.

“But why Lord?”

“To ask why the summons was issued. Do you happen to know?”

After answering Logion’s question, Dear asked. The reason for the summons—if Logion had arrived here before her, he might have heard it.

“Of course, since I was the first to arrive.”

He wasn’t the first to receive the summons. However, Logion, who arrived here first through the portal, had been able to meet Lord and hear the reason for the summons.

“I don’t know the specifics, just heard bits and pieces. They said they’d tell me the details later.”

Of course, Logion didn’t know the details either. He had heard something, but not the specifics. He had only been able to catch a few things.

Swish swish swish

“…”

“…”

Hearing Logion’s words, Allen, the leader of the nearby Silver Dragons, and Lehman, the leader of the Blue Dragons, who had been listening to the conversation, turned their heads to look at Logion. They too were curious why the summons had been issued.

“What is it?”

Deir asked again.

“I’ve heard two things.”

Logion answered Dear’s question, glancing around at the surrounding dragons. He continued with a troubled expression.

“…Haputanis is dead, and that what happened when the last summons was issued might happen again.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

After Logion finished speaking, the dragons who had been listening to his conversation with Dear all wore shocked expressions. Then, disbelief, panic, confusion, and other varied emotions flashed across their faces.

‘Haputhanis is dead?’

Deir couldn’t easily believe what Logion had said. And why should he? Who was Haputanis? Like several gathered here, he was the leader ruling over a clan. Yet such a Haputanis was dead? And that wasn’t all.

‘Similar to what happened then…’

Recalling the time the summons had been issued, Dear frowned. Logion’s words—that something comparable to that time, or even that very event itself, could happen again—made him frown involuntarily.

It was precisely then.

“Everyone’s here.”

Lord Akima, the owner of the Lair and the dragon who had issued the summons, walked in from the entrance and spoke.

Swish, swish, swish

Deer and the dragons, who had been silent after hearing Logion’s words, turned their heads at Akima’s voice and looked at him. And Akima saw the gaze of his kin fixed upon him.

“Judging by your eyes, it seems you’ve heard roughly what Logion said.”

Akima briefly explained the reason for summoning Logion. Judging by the looks in his kin’s eyes, it seemed they had heard the reason from Logion.

“Haputanis is dead? And what do you mean it might happen again?”

Breaking the silence, the first to speak was Allen, leader of the Silver Dragons. Allen looked at Akima with eyes demanding a detailed explanation.

“It’s exactly as I said.”

Akima answered Allen’s words and gaze.

“Haputhanis is dead.”

Literally, Haputanis was dead. Though he hadn’t witnessed the death himself, it was an undeniable fact.

“How could Haputanis be dead? He didn’t live long enough to return to nature’s embrace! Even if he overused his mana!”

Allen responded to Akima’s words with an expression of disbelief. Returned to nature’s embrace. That meant he had entered eternal sleep. While his lifespan wasn’t predetermined, Haputanis hadn’t lived long enough to reach eternal sleep.

“He said he died, not that he entered eternal rest.”

Akima frowned at Allen’s words. Allen was talking about eternal sleep, but Akima had never mentioned it. It was simply Allen’s understanding—or rather, his desire to understand it that way.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Silence settled once more at Akima’s words. But this silence didn’t last long.

“If he didn’t enter eternal sleep, then who killed Haputani?”

It was Dear who broke the silence.

“Yes, I didn’t see it myself, but Haputanis was definitely murdered. And the reason the summons was issued is because of the entity that killed Haputanis.”

Responding to Dear’s question, Akima recalled the golem boy, Rapide, whom he had seen in Yurena’s realm—the one who had killed Haputhanis.

‘With that kind of strength…’

Rapid was strong. Really strong.

‘What happened back then might happen again.’

Akima recalled the previous time the mobilization order had been issued. That day when the world turned upside down. Given the strength of Raphid that remained etched in his mind, that day might be reenacted.

“Are you saying the entity that killed Haputani could cause what Ekalim did back then again? Against Ekalim?”

Deir said.

“Yes.”

Akima nodded with a serious expression.

“Even if not right now…”

It was impossible right now. The strength Akima had seen in Rapid was comparable to that of Ekalim when he was human. To surpass Ekalim’s current power, more time was still needed.

“It won’t take long.”

But if what Yurena had told him was true, surpassing Ekalim’s power wouldn’t take that long. Akima was certain.

“Who is that being?”

Leman, leader of the Blue Dragons, asked. Leman was intensely curious about who that being was.

“Is the reason for the summons to kill that being?”

Allen, standing beside Lehman, spoke up. What happened that day must never happen again. Akima, the Lord, knew this better than anyone.

It was highly likely Akima had issued the summons to kill the being capable of causing such an event.

“The name of that being is Rapid.”

After answering Lehman’s question, Akima looked at Allen and continued.

“If you intend to cause that, then so be it.”

* * * *

After destroying the eastern pillar of the curse, Myeong-hu, who was walking toward the final pillar at the center, couldn’t help but tilt his head.

‘This is strange…’

The reason Myeong-hu tilted his head was precisely because of the current situation.

‘Why isn’t a single one in sight?’

Whether it was the traitor appearing, the succubus appearing, or something else appearing, something should have appeared. Yet, as Myeong-hu walked toward the pillar, he hadn’t encountered a single obstacle.

‘Can’t ask anyone either.’

Myeong-hu looked at Haran. Asking Haran about the current situation was pointless. Haran knew nothing about this place either.

‘There’s no way I should have reached the pillar this easily.’

Of course, it wouldn’t necessarily become difficult if a traitor or succubus appeared. But there was definitely a difference between something appearing and not appearing.

Swish

Myeonghu turned his head to gaze at the last pillar of curses towering far in the distance.

‘Are we really going to reach it like this?’

The distance to the pillar wasn’t that far. If he walked just a little more, he could reach it.

It was right then.

Zzzzt!

[Blocked by a barrier. Cannot proceed further.]

[The barrier cannot be destroyed by attack.]

[To destroy the barrier, you must destroy the auxiliary barrier pillars.]

[Follow Haran and destroy the auxiliary barrier pillars.]

A message appeared alongside a spark. Myeong-hu, who had thought he would reach the pillar without incident, realized his assumption was wrong.

-A barrier, huh.

As Myeong-hu stopped walking, Haran spoke. It seemed the barrier was visible to Haran’s eyes.

Thump, thump

Haran approached Myeong-hu’s side. Then, she reached out and touched the barrier. Haran’s hand, touching the barrier, glowed brightly.

-This barrier isn’t ordinary. To destroy it, we’ll need to destroy the pillar sustaining it.

Haran withdrew her hand from the barrier as she spoke. Myeonghu, who already knew this fact from the message, immediately told Haran to go, and Haran led the way. Myeonghu followed behind Haran, thinking.

‘So instead of monsters, there are pillars.’

There was a reason for the absence of traitors and monsters. The central area, where the last pillar stood, had pillars instead of traitors and monsters.

‘Is one the end of it?’

The problem was the number of pillars. One would be fortunate, but it couldn’t possibly be the only one.

“It’s over there.”

Haran stopped walking and said. Lost in thought, Myeonghu snapped out of it at Haran’s voice and looked where she was pointing.

200 meters ahead, a pillar stood there. It was half the size of the cursed pillar, clearly the auxiliary barrier pillar mentioned in the message.

‘Is there no one guarding it?’

He had expected someone to be guarding it, but no one was visible near the pillar. It seemed there were no monsters here at all.

‘So I just destroy the pillar like this? This is too easy?’

Something felt off. The central area, which should have been the most difficult, felt like the easiest.

Right then.

[You have entered the influence zone of the auxiliary barrier pillar.]

[The entity guarding the pillar is being summoned.]

The message appeared when I was about 100 meters away.

‘Of course. There’s no way it wouldn’t be.’

There was no way the pillar guardian wouldn’t be there. Myeong-hu looked ahead at the pillar with an expression that said, ‘Of course.’ Before the pillar, which had been empty, the guardian was being summoned.

‘A kid?’

Myeong-hu tilted his head, watching the being being summoned before the pillar. The summoning wasn’t quite complete yet, so he couldn’t be certain, but to Myeong-hu, it looked like a kid, a little kid, was being summoned.

Swish

Soon, the being guarding the pillar was fully summoned, and a message appeared.

[Boy Ekalim has been summoned.]

[Defeat the boy Ekalim.]

[Destroying the auxiliary barrier pillar will occur upon defeating Boy Ekalim.]

============================ Postscript ============================

Have a pleasant weekend.