Chapter 70 - Episode 11. King of Chaos (1)
Chapter 70: Episode 11. King of Chaos (1)
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“Yes, it was the moment the last king of Chaos was born.”
Euphrates, Poet
* * *
Ten days had already passed since the start of the war that would later be called the Rebirth War.
An uneasy mood hung over the conference room in Gorgon Inner Keep. The Horn Lords and officials attending the meeting only glanced at one another in silence.
With a sigh, Chief Internal Administrator Yulhen spoke first.
“Begin the reports. First Company of 《Carpe Diem》.”
The First Company Commander of 《Carpe Diem》, the Liberation Army of Gorgon’s Awakened Ones, had once been called Stubborn Karlton. He had become one of the greatest beneficiaries of this “Awakening Uprising.”
“Karlton Xavier, reporting for First Company.”
Until ten days ago, Karlton had been an ordinary Fifth Adapter. Now, he was a third-stage Awakened One radiating immense Spiritual Pressure from his entire body. Apparently, Cayman had personally trained him for two hundred years in the Tower’s time.
Perhaps it was due to his natural talent, but Karlton’s Combat Power as an Awakened One did not fall behind that of the other Awakened Hall Masters in the slightest. More precisely, only Cayman, the South Sea Hall Master, ranked above Karlton among Gorgon Fortress’s strongest fighters.
It might have been only natural for him to become the First Company Commander of 《Carpe Diem》, the Liberation Army of Gorgon’s Awakened Ones.
“With First Company’s remaining strength...”
Karlton calmly flipped through his documents and projected a holographic image in the center of the conference room.
Yulhen muttered, “Twelve second-stage Awakened Ones dead... The company has been cut in half.”
“That is correct.”
They had lost twelve Awakened Ones. That did not even include the lightly wounded, so the actual damage was greater.
As the other companies continued their reports, Yulhen’s expression hardened rapidly.
The final report came from Shin Mugeuk, the Hall Master of Limitless Hall. As an Eighth Adapter, he had grown too accustomed to the world of adaptation to become an Awakened One. Still, through relentless effort, he had recently succeeded in becoming a Ninth Adapter. As an Adapter, he had gained lord-tier Combat Power, equivalent to Lieutenant General-class.
Even so, Seventh Company under his command was in no better condition.
“...That concludes Seventh Company’s current losses.”
Yulhen fell silent. Losses had been expected, but the scale was far worse than anticipated.
“To lose more than half in only ten days...”
Ten days ago, when they had marched to war after receiving Cheongheo’s message, Gorgon had possessed nearly three hundred Awakened Ones. Twelve of them had completed their third Awakening, and more than eighty second-stage Awakened Ones stood on the verge of their third.
They had acted as if victory were already theirs.
Perhaps it was because they had just witnessed Cayman drive back the Jade-Faced Lord. A third-stage Awakened One had defeated a Ninth Adapter of Lieutenant General-class, and they had twelve third-stage Awakened Ones.
Some showed their confidence openly, while others kept it to themselves. Either way, they all thought the same thing.
They could win.
Everyone believed it.
Even when their first clash with the 《Palace of Rebirth》 began, their expectations had not faltered.
The Awakened Ones who led the vanguard seemed slightly outmatched by the enemy Lieutenant Generals, but they still won the first battle without incident.
Over the following two days, Gorgon’s Liberation Army drove back one 《Palace of Rebirth》 unit after another with terrifying momentum and pushed the front lines all the way to Manticore.
It had taken only three days.
Gorgon was almost in a festive mood.
Some were already calling for liberation too soon. Others behaved as though the 《Palace of Rebirth》 had already fallen. Even the critics of 《Chaos This Month》 praised the war for freedom and urged them onward.
That was as far as they got.
When the Warlords who had remained silent within the 《Palace of Rebirth》 took the field, three of them including the Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam, the tide of war changed completely.
“Aaaagh!”
“R-run!”
On the fourth day of battle, Gorgon lost five third-stage Awakened Ones.
The power of those legendary Warlord-class Lords was horrifying.
Third-stage Awakened Ones who seemed capable of splitting mountains and cleaving seas were left crippled after only a few swings of those Lords’ blades, their arms and legs severed.
Defeat followed defeat. The front lines were pushed back again and again.
And now, on the tenth day, the forces of the 《Palace of Rebirth》 had reached Gorgon Fortress’s doorstep. Gorgon’s Liberation Army had lost many Companions, but there was not even time to hold Soul Farewell Rites.
“Chief Internal Administrator. We cannot keep fighting any longer.”
The speaker was Yoon Yong, Hall Master of Thunder God Hall.
After becoming a third-stage Awakened One, he had fought brilliantly at the forefront. Yet he had lost his left arm in the last battle.
Yulhen looked at his empty sleeve in silence. That sleeve was likely not all the Thunder God Hall Master had lost in that battle.
Aisa Lindcroft, Fortress Lord of Dryad, spoke next.
“...I cannot see any waterway at all.”
Not being able to see a waterway was an idiom often used in the Great Sea Zone. It meant there was no way forward.
A deep silence followed. None of them said it aloud, but they all knew.
《Chaos》 could not win this fight.
Aisa spoke again.
“What if we accepted the 《Palace of Rebirth》’s offer instead...?”
The offer had been delivered unilaterally two nights earlier, when the Lords of the 《Palace of Rebirth》 reached the very edge of Gorgon.
“Hand over Gorgon’s Fortress Lord and the ‘Tower’ you use. Then we will overlook everything that has happened.”
It was a terrifying proclamation that swept through Gorgon’s night.
Everyone in Gorgon had held their breath as they listened. Perhaps the Liberation Army had already accepted defeat then.
Yet there were still those who refused to give up.
“We cannot do that.”
A deep male voice spoke.
It was Cayman, the South Sea Hall Master.
“We cannot hand over the Fortress Lord.”
He spoke as though making a declaration, his voice firm.
“Did the Fortress Lord not teach us? We make a waterway if there is none. The fact that you can see anything with clairvoyance does not mean you can see the future. Do not place too much faith in your skill, Aisa.”
“...But we have no chance of winning like this. You know that too, Cayman.”
After considering something for a moment, Aisa looked toward Yulhen and continued.
“What about asking another Lord for help?”
“Another Lord? Who do you mean?”
“For example, Steel.”
“...You mean Huh Yu, the Lord of Steel?”
“Yes.”
Aisa nodded.
“The Lords who marched out from the 《Palace of Rebirth》 all belong to Darkness of the Ninth Zone. The Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam and the other two Warlords are all Lords under the Ninth Zone. Anyone who knows anything knows that Steel and Darkness have been bitter enemies for a long time.”
Yulhen immediately understood what Aisa meant.
“You are suggesting we fight poison with poison.”
Using one Lord to deal with another did sound reasonable at first.
“Exactly. And we have the envoy sent by the Lord of Steel with us.”
The envoy...
Yulhen’s expression turned bitter.
“As the Fortress Lord of Dryad knows, Steel’s envoy is currently imprisoned in Gorgon Inner Keep’s prison.”
“What if we released him and spoke with him?”
“The situation is not so simple.”
“Huh Yu is a Lord who values honor.”
“Fortress Lord of Dryad, it seems you have overlooked an important fact.”
Yulhen glanced at Cayman before continuing.
“Have you forgotten? We killed the Jade-Faced Lord Bang Cheonil, whom Huh Yu sent as an envoy.”
Bang Cheonil, the Jade-Faced Lord of the Fifth Zone.
During the Three Fortresses Meeting not long ago, he had lost his life to Cayman, the South Sea Hall Master.
They had killed one of Steel’s men, and now they wanted Steel’s help? No matter how Yulhen considered it, the decision made no sense.
Aisa quickly shook her head.
“Strictly speaking, he did not die. Those who enter 《Chaos》 through the Narrow Gate return to their first bodies even if they die here.”
“That does not change anything. Steel will already be deeply offended by the Jade-Faced Lord’s defeat.”
“Even so...”
“And even if the Lord of Steel wished to help us, we cannot borrow the hands of other Lords.”
“...Why not?”
“Chaos must be liberated by Chaos alone.”
The room turned solemn.
They remembered the man who had brought them to that shared resolve. Nobody spoke, but everyone knew they were thinking of the same person.
Cayman was the first to speak.
“Is the Fortress Lord still unconscious?”
* * *
The treatment room in Gorgon Inner Keep contained only a clean curtain and a bed, yet three people occupied it.
“Hey, you damn woman! If you turned someone into this, shouldn’t you wake him up properly?”
“...”
“What kind of illusion did you cast that he hasn’t woken up for ten days?”
“...You’re really noisy. You’re a doctor too, aren’t you? If you’re so unhappy, why don’t you try something yourself?”
Sirwen snapped as she looked at Jaehwan, still unconscious on the bed.
Cheongheo immediately shouted back.
“If I could’ve done something, I’d have done it ages ago, bitch!”
“Hah... You old brat. I saved your life too, didn’t I? Aren’t you being far too rude?”
Sirwen was telling the truth, so Cheongheo shut his mouth for a moment.
Ten days ago, Cheongheo had escaped the Dark Fragrance Lord’s attack with the help of Sirwen, who had woken at just the right moment. When the Warlord’s immense spiritual power destroyed the building, Sirwen had used Warp, an innate Dream Demon skill, to move Jaehwan and Cheongheo with her.
“Ahem. You were certainly helpful, but...”
The Dark Fragrance Lord’s attack had been that terrifying. In a sense, he owed the Dream Demon before him his life.
Still, narrow-minded Cheongheo was not about to admit that so readily.
“You need to get your facts straight! I’m the one who saved you!”
“Why?”
“Have you forgotten who protected you while you were unconscious?”
This time, Sirwen was the one put on the spot.
She had lost consciousness when the Seventh Gate broke while she was casting Eight Gates of Hell. Had Cheongheo not protected her then, her soul would have suffered severe damage.
“Fine. Let’s say we’re even.”
Sirwen’s unexpectedly casual answer made Cheongheo, who had been fuming, feel awkward instead. He truly felt like an old child.
After staring at Jaehwan on the bed for a moment, he spoke.
“Why did you save us, anyway? You had ties to Darkness’s side.”
Sirwen was a Dream Demon under contract with Geumcheon Hall, which was backed by the Lord of Darkness. Saving Jaehwan and Cheongheo would certainly bring punishment down upon her.
“Hmph, it wasn’t much of an affiliation. We just used each other. A human who broke Eight Gates of Hell has appeared. Do you think I’d care about some contract?”
“Eight Gates of Hell? Is the illusion you cast on the Fortress Lord Eight Gates of Hell?”
“That’s right.”
Cheongheo tilted his head, puzzled.
“There’s no way this brat would lose to a skill like that...”
“A skill like that? Eight Gates of Hell is a magnificent skill.”
“...Even the brats of Scholar Forest Hall use a paltry skill like Eight Gates of Hell.”
“Scholar Forest Hall? Ah.”
Sirwen seemed to recall something at Cheongheo’s words.
“That’s right. I taught Eight Gates of Hell to them about seven hundred years ago.”
Cheongheo was somewhat surprised that she had taught them the skill. Come to think of it, Scholar Forest Hall had begun using Eight Gates of Hell exactly seven hundred years ago.
“Eight Gates of Hell wasn’t made for humans to use. Only Dream Demons can unlock this skill’s true power.”
It was a strange thing to say. Then why had she passed the skill on to humans?
As if she had read his question, Sirwen answered.
“I wanted someone to break it.”
“Break it?”
Sirwen nodded.
“Because nobody I knew could break Eight Gates of Hell.”
“That can’t be true. I’ve seen Eight Gates of Hell break many times.”
“Of course you have. If it was Eight Gates of Hell cast by a human.”
Cheongheo fell silent.
“Like most illusion skills, Eight Gates of Hell breaks when it encounters someone with greater mental energy than its caster. Yet what breaks then is the caster’s mind, never the skill of Eight Gates of Hell itself.”
Cheongheo immediately understood.
Simply put, Eight Gates of Hell was like an unbreakable sword. Even if the person holding it suffered an impact they could not withstand and died, the sword itself would never break.
“If a Master-grade Dream Demon uses Eight Gates of Hell, even a Great Lord of the twelve zones cannot escape it easily.”
Cheongheo’s eyes widened at her confident voice. If Sirwen was telling the truth, Jaehwan’s condition could be far more serious than he had thought.
Sirwen was not one of the thirteen Masters, but she was one of the five hundred Master Craftsmen. If a Dream Demon of her caliber had used Eight Gates of Hell...
“I know what you’re thinking. Relax. This human is safe.”
“What do you mean?”
Sirwen spoke in a voice already wounded by humiliation.
“This human broke my Eight Gates of Hell. It wasn’t enough for him to shatter my mind. He completely destroyed the skill itself.”
“...!”
“This guy broke through the Seventh Gate, which no one had ever broken, and reached the final Eighth Gate. By the way, the Eighth Gate is a reward chamber. Those who cross the Seventh Gate receive an enormous reward there.”
Only then did Cheongheo understand why Sirwen had saved them even at the cost of breaking her contract, and why she remained in Gorgon Fortress, checking on Jaehwan’s condition every day.
The Hall Master of Scholar Forest Hall, Jegal Myeong, had once spoken of Eight Gates of Hell in passing.
“If someone passes through every gate of Eight Gates of Hell and reaches the Eighth Gate, that person may be capable of becoming the king of this 《Chaos》.”
Cheongheo swallowed and asked, “What is there?”
“The legacy left by my godfather.”
Cheongheo was about to ask what that meant, but he noticed Sirwen’s troubling expression and closed his mouth.
Sirwen’s eyes had widened.
“Wait, just now...”
Cheongheo followed Sirwen’s gaze and realized what had happened without needing to finish his question.
After ten long days of sleep, Jaehwan had finally opened his eyes.
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