LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 35
“I made a slip of the tongue. I apologize.” Polar Night’s purple eyes disappeared under his eyelids as if they had never flashed.
I was puzzled when I saw him more obedient than expected. I mean, it was true that I’d acted arrogantly to get a head start, but his acting like this made me look like the worst person in the world. Wouldn’t I look like the strongest scum who only cared about strength in those cliche fantasy novels?
“We are planning to move to monitor any abnormality that will occur at this gate.”
“Abnormalities?”
“Yes. Do you know about the outer dimension’s power structure announced by the Dimension Society?” My ears caught a soft voice. It was a voice that knew how to grab the audience’s attention.
Wow, you’ll make a fortune if you lecture in that voice. You’ll make a lot more if you do YouTube.
I briefly admired the unrealistic voice and nodded.
Wasn’t the outer dimension’s power structure something the Dimension Society persistently told you?
“The outer dimension is divided into seven countries, each ruled by one of the seven kings that invade our dimension.”
“Yes. Do you know why they do that?”
Could it be… “To extend their own land?” I answered the seemingly insignificant question without hesitation.
Ordinary people or low-ranking Hunters didn’t know about this, but every high-ranking Hunter must know it. You’d wasted your life if you didn’t know about it. It meant you were so sloppy that you were not worth the approach of the Dimension Society.
Our dimension and the other dimension were closely connected. As I’d heard from IRL the other day, the two dimensions were twins.
Speaking of another dimension is funny, but in any case, do you know what terraforming means?
That was what the other side wanted.
While the seven powers were in full swing, mouth-watering prey was found. The small fries who lived there were weak and easy. They were so soft that you could eat them with a little effort—such a sweet, sweet pie.
All seven guys had the same thoughts.
Preying on the weak and gaining in size is the natural course of nature, so the swarm of ants crazily flocked to our dimension.
“You’re well aware.” Polar Night gestured toward IRL and made a beauty attack with a smile.
What followed was a map of the outer dimension.
“This is…?” I had never been to the outer dimension, but I instinctively knew this was a map of the outer dimension.
“It is the power structure of the other world. If you look at it, you can see that the power of the King of Lust has rapidly diminished.”
I saw the location of the power of the King of Lust right below the vast continent. It was the land closest to the black-painted compartment called the sealed area. According to what was written, it was also the land that had been deprived of the most territory in the last 300 years.
What’s strange was that as much land had been taken away in recent years as it had been for 300 years. The change was too drastic.
“It’s a bit strange. Was it robbed because the house’s been empty recently?” I fiddled with my chin and tapped the map. Or is this faction kind of unhealthy?
The king of that area was a different being than a human.
“Yes, it was the case of an empty house being robbed. Your Highness robbed from them mercilessly to make your mask. In addition, your followers from Daybreak copied you.” The new face building a tower of sugar cubes in the teacup before me opened his mouth with a smile. He made a strong impression with dark circles under his eyes. Had I seen him somewhere?
“This faction doesn’t come over often at the risk of existence, but if this information was true, there would be only children and the elderly in that area,” the man spoke and nodded. His frizzy hair swayed every time he moved his head. His overly bright green eyes were creepy.
“Stop.”
The edge of his lips slightly stiffened as Polar Night stopped him. I realized now why he felt familiar.
“Are you Favor?”
The man who heard the question showed his teeth and grinned. He didn’t answer, but sure enough. He was Favor.
Favor’s here in the headquarters. There’s also Loveless and IRL. Aren’t they all Polar Night’s favorites? What abnormality requires all four of them to enter the gate?
I gnawed at the tip of the map with my fingernails and pondered.
“From what you say, it seems that the King of Lust has something to do with this abnormality.” The territory of the King of Lust was closest to the sealed area. He had the most defensive army there, a force of misfortune that other kings and I had beaten. “There’s no way you brought up the story of the King of Lust for nothing, so the axis of the incident must be the King of Lust. Will the king come over this time?”
Earth is such a sweet pie. No matter how much you are on the defensive, you can change the game if you gulp the forces of the earth. So does the King of Lust want to invade Earth?
I made a reasonable guess by my standards from the information I had gathered. But guesses are always just guesses.
“No.”
My guess was vehemently beaten.
“Then what is it?”
You cult leader. How can you end things after denying someone’s opinion with just a no? Don’t you know the latest trend? You should at least give a three-lines summary, you know.
I can’t believe you’re wasting my time without summarizing everything in three lines in an era where novels are viewed as web novels. Shouldn’t you give me a quick answer instead of wasting my time?
I groaned inwardly and twisted my posture. It was an openly arrogant attitude.
“The seven kings of the outer planes have fought tirelessly to see which one would be at the top,” he lowered his eyes and began to speak in a calm voice as if he were reading a poem. “The realm of the outer dimension is completely solidified as the kingdom of seven kings now, but in the distant past, it was divided into seventy-two fiefdoms.”
In line with Polar Night’s words, IRL brought out another map. A map where the sealed area was not painted black. The outer dimension still divided into seventy-two pieces.
“They are now called the ancient gods or old lords. The first returnee sealed them in brass jars, but their souls still linger in the sealed area.” Polar Night’s finger pointed to the sealed area on the previous map. I concentrated on listening to his explanation. “The sealed old lords are mighty beings. You can tell from the fact that the former old lord, now the King of Lust, is one of the seven kings.”
“Wait, I have a question. Aren’t all the old lords sealed?”
“Yes, but only the King of Lust was released from the seal due to someone’s mistake. Therefore, there are seventy-one brass jars now present in the sealed area.”
Such an incredible thing.
I was overindulged like a child listening to myths and legends before bed. Polar Night continued, “The outer dimension now dominated by the seven kings is a period of stability, but in ancient times it was a period of chaos in which power changes every day. To them, subordinates are always expendable, and the outer dimension is just a strong zone. At the end of the day, only one of them will be left. May I ask you a question here?”
“Sure.”
“The old lords are of a similar or higher level to the current kings. Then, what should the King of Lust, who has been pushed to the limit in the present composition, do to change the game?” Polar Night asked with a strange smile. The kings and the King of Lust. The King of Lust and the old lords.
I worked my brain, speculating again.
Since there were only seven kings, one-on-one fights didn’t usually happen. Then the size of the army determined the outcome of the battle.
But the King of Lust had been one of the ancient old lords.
The kings only came to power after the old lords were sealed, so the King of Lust dominated based on pure individual skills alone. What would it take for an already powerful being to change the current game?
First of all, he had to destroy the existing solidified power somehow. The battle between armies and divisions wouldn’t go wrong, but it was still a battle of pawns. He needed another powerful being. Just as I’d destroyed his army alone, he needed a person capable of destroying the opponent’s armies alone.
Ah, I see.
There was a hypothesis that passed through my mind momentarily. I quickly opened my mouth and brought my hypothesis out, “Break the seal.”
Each strong force within the seal was comparable to an army, so that was the only thing left to do. Instead of losing in the fight of seven people, make it seventy-eight and start all over again.
If things went as they were, he would definitely lose. So it’d be better to invite chaos for a new chance. If he lost, he’d just lose like he was supposed to.
Yes, breaking the seal is his only chance. But the seal won’t be something that can be broken that easily. Doesn’t this mean we’re back to square one?
I furrowed my brows and pondered.
Then Polar Night laughed out loud and opened his mouth, “The seal is not easily broken. There are two ways to break it. Either break its main body, or apply a shock large enough to shake it.”
A shock large enough to break it. I didn’t know how big the seal was, but I didn’t think it was small since it sealed seventy-one men stronger than one king.
“And in order to affect the seal, you usually have to apply a dimensional impact.” As if he had read my thoughts, Polar Night immediately came up with an answer to my worries. Dimensional impact and the current situation where our and other dimensions merge. Combining them gave a simple answer.
“The King of Lust wants the two dimensions to merge as soon as possible, right?” I asked Polar Night.
He replied with a constant smile, “Yes. We are predicting that movement will start from this gate.”
“But didn’t you say the King of Lust won’t come over? Then what exactly is that abnormality?”
“The owner of this gate is the King of Pride. The King of Lust’s interference itself will be a surprise. There will probably be a catastrophe.”
An advanced gate was a rare high-level gate since it only appeared when a king interfered. It could be called a catastrophe beyond a special gate.
“The owner of the gate, the King of Pride, will directly or indirectly interfere. The King of Lust will intervene to cause a change, and there is no way the King of Pride is unaware of it. If the two kings collide, a great disaster will inevitably happen,” the cult leader spoke of a disaster. I fumbled for my wallet in my pocket to anchor myself to reality.
“Is today’s sermon about the apocalypse?” I was a cold city Hunter. I’d heard incredible stories but couldn’t blindly trust that cult leader, so I asked, sitting in a cheeky pose and staring at Polar Night.
Polar Night smiled, not caring. “Even if I get down on my knees and beg you to believe me, you won’t believe me. It’s always been like that at this point.” He left a meaningful word with a mysterious smile.
What the hell is up with him?
“But if you’re sure of the gate, then please follow us.” Favor, with a mobile phone in his hand, smirked beside him. I was more concerned about him than Polar Night, who appealed with his pretty face. “I am going to see the green-eyed king.”
[T/N: He did say this, but I have no idea if it’s literally a green-eyed king or an idiom for something. I can’t find anything on the Internet.]
Because Favor’s eyes were a really unpleasantly vivid green.
It's getting serious and complicated, eh?