Chapter 197

Final Battle (8)

At the Union Headquarters, the supreme commissioners from six species, except for Adgon, gathered.

Waiting nervously for the news, Bachurka thought.

What was the Union in the first place? For what purpose was the organization established?

It was known that Adgons and the four fallen species gathered together to found it, but no detailed records remained.

Although it was strange that it wasn't even on the Adgons' history books, as they were one of the pillars, she thought it was reasonable since it happened so long ago.

But at that moment, it made her doubt.

'Is it true that the history books were lost because of accidents or indifference? No, it's more likely that the Adgons... meddled with it by intentionally deleting it so that the information wouldn't spread to other dimensions.'

The lost history should've included how the other four races, except the Adgons, were destroyed.

Bachurka thought once again about the essence of the Union.

They were an alliance of dimensions that thought it was right to follow the System, but what if the System had been leading the mortals in the wrong direction?

'The Adgons guard the fragments of the gods' seals. They regard the System as a god. So why didn't the System stop them?'

In the first place, the deities didn't want the number of mortals to decrease or perish. That was because they had become entities that could no longer exist alone. The gods that relied on the mortals hoped that they would prosper more.

And the weaker the influence of the gods, the freer Mercadius could move since their power to inhibit the activity and scheme weakened.

Why did the System want that?

Was it correct that the System, like the gods, hoped for the prosperity of the mortals?

Or...

'The System encouraged to fight against the monsters of the Red Gate, a threat that can be controlled enough at this point. That's why we all believed that the System was an absolute good. But it wasn't wary of Mercadius, which was far more dangerous.'

The intention was obvious.

After drawing all mortals' attention to the Red Gate, which imposed more threat in the future than it currently did, and gaining trust... It had concealed a greater threat.

'If we hadn't realized the true identity and danger of Mercadius and had left them unattended, they would have led more dimensions to utter destruction.'

Throughout all dimensions, the number of species would have decreased constantly.

By the time it realized something was off, too many species would have already disappeared... and then what?

'By then, the occurrence frequency and the number of Red Gates would've already grown exponentially.'

With the crisis just around the corner, the desperate mortals would've fought against the Void residents with weakened military power.

As a result of that consideration, the Union command felt the need to review the propositions they had set up.

'The System is not an absolute good.'

There was only one way to verify that assumption.

The only being able to contact the Administrator of the System. They had to capture and interrogate the spiritual leader of the Adgon species.

It was expected that having him in hand would shake the entire Adgon chain of command and unveil the System's secrets. And to carry out that important mission, the man blessed by the gods had infiltrated the enemy's mother dimension.

The supreme commissioners gathered in the headquarters were anxiously waiting for him to establish communications.

Breaking the heavy silence, someone muttered.

"I'm a bundle of nerves."

Bachurka nodded.

"It isn't an overreaction. In his hands, the fate of the Union...No, beyond that, the fate of the universe is at stake."

It was clear until Seo Jin-Wook broke through the thick shield and infiltrated the Adgon planet. There were no signs of being caught yet.

They could only wait in that situation where they couldn't get any more details- in a fit of nervousness.

It was then.

"I-I have an emergency report!"

An intermediate officer of the Union jumped in after opening the conference room door. Everyone was surprised since they ordered to report most of the things through the hologram.

Bachurka was the first to respond.

"What's going on? Could it be you've received a contact from Mr. Seo Jin-Wook? He said he would let us know directly without going through other lines if there is any change or achievements."

The mid-level officer spoke quickly, expressing negation.

"It's not like that. This is a war report from the dimension where the last black hole exists."

The only dimension in which the Union was defeated in the assault.

It was a report of which god's fragment was sealed and the planet's battle, which the Adgons protected with all their might.

The content was...

"We have confirmed that the Adgon barrier that was surrounding the planet has disappeared!"

"What?"

All the supreme commissioners were shocked.

"Suddenly? Why?!"

The reason was unknown even for the vanguard that kept watch. At first, it was judged to be a temporary error, but it was said that one minute had already passed since then.

There was also another significant change.

"It is believed that the dimensional distortion field that prevented us from invading them by leaping directly to their world has also disappeared!"

There was a burst of admiration and cheers.

Someone shouted in a voice that clearly showcased their joy.

"Yeah! No matter how powerful the Adgons might be, they can't keep their planetary-scale barrier for so long! We can't miss this great opportunity!"

They were practically waiting for the enemy to invade, opening up all the roads they had blocked.

However, someone pointed out in an anxious voice.

"Couldn't this be a trap?"

"What's the judgment of the commander of the frontlines?"

The mid-class official delivered the information he received. The impact of what was happening there was too great to be considered a trap. Even the Mana transmission, supplied to major points in each base, showed signs of being suspended.

The commissioners' expressions became brighter at the news that the entire operation of the city-sized combat base had been paralyzed.

"With this opportunity available, the commander wouldn't be waiting for our approval, right?"

"Of course not. They have already launched a major air raid under the commander's judgment!"

*

At the planet where the last black hole was hidden, Union spaceships covered the sky completely and endlessly bombarded the ground. Their forces immediately rushed in upon the confirmation that the barrier had disappeared.

The Tachyon bombs that poured out as the gun ports opened tore through the enemy base. The defensive party also resisted with surface-to-air weapons, but the victory was already tilted.

In the first place, the Adgons' outrageous Mana supply was largely responsible for their victory over the fight so far. Since it had been cut off, the Union forces had naturally prevailed due to their pure battle capability alone. The Adgons' enemies were almost all the Union members except them, so there was bound to be a difference in the number of supplies available.

The bombing was relentless. The Adgons' anti-aircraft defense line was penetrated without hesitation. Furthermore, the anti-air barrier wasn't the only one that became useless when the Mana supply cut off. Artifacts, which prevented the Dimensional Leap, lost their power, and Union elite warriors were sent all over their bases to start guerrilla warfare.

Huge firepower coming down from the sky and warriors wreaking havoc inside of the base.

The battlefront collapsed rapidly.

"Argh!"

"S-stop them! The black hole must be guarded no matter what!"

"The enemy is advancing too fast! The difference in firepower in the first place is too... K-aaaargh!"

Boo-boo-boom!

A roar resonated. The entire base roof that hid the black hole had been blown away. The Union's Awakened beings that needed no such things as ropes jumped from the spaceship.

"Why the hell... Why did we suddenly lose our Mana supply!"

The Adgon commander, who was resisting until the end with a burst of fury, eventually died due to the skills fired by the elite warriors.

There was no way for him to have guessed that the Mana being supplied to that planet was naturally transmitted from their parent dimension, but its source in the Red Gate had been severed.

Since the water source was blocked, it was natural for the downstream to dry up.

"We've taken the base!"

"We have confirmed where the black hole is located!"

The war, which had been going on for a long time without progress, had flipped in a day. Conquering it had been made dramatically easy.

Upon receiving the victory report, the Union headquarters soon received another good news that made them suspicious of their ears.

"What? Even the Adgons' home territory?!"

It was a report of what happened on the Adgons' mother planet.

"Yes, not everything is paralyzed like the place we've seized, but... It has been confirmed that their mother dimension's planetary-scale barrier has disappeared as well!"

Not everything shut down in the mother planet serving as their main base when the Red Gate's Mana supply was terminated. It was only natural since they had stocked Mana Cores in the first place.

However, the planetary-scale barrier, which their remaining Cores couldn't manage, was the first to be extinguished.

The chief executives felt a certain premonition when they heard that report.

With the war in full swing, why did such unfortunate events continued for the Adgons?

"These events can't be all coincidental."

All of them recalled the individual that infiltrated their enemy's dimension.

"No way, Mr. Seo Jin-Wook?"

Bachurka shouted in a hurry.

"We can find out what's going on later. We can't miss this opportunity! Let's gather all available troops and strike their mother planet!"

The consequences of the ensuing war were obvious without a shadow of a doubt.

It took less than a week of Earth time for the Adgon command, which lost much of its power and backbone facilities, to shout surrender unconditionally.

It turned into a landslide victory for the Union.

And so, the war that had started with the revelation of the Adgons' secrets had ended.

*

The Union command first searched for Seo Jin-Wook's whereabouts after capturing the planet.

The communication interference and wiretapping concerns had disappeared, so they sent him a message through communication magic, but...

"There is no response!"

The command was thrown into turmoil.

"What do you mean he suddenly went missing when he apparently succeeded in infiltration?"

The surviving Adgon commander was interrogated to see if there were any accidents.

The information obtained in the process was beyond expectation.

"He went... inside the Red Gate?"

After finding Seo Jin-Wook inside the Red Gate, the Adgons' leader came out of it, following the Administrator's guidance, who was still brainwashed.

And he had let his men know that Seo Jin-Wook hadn't only infiltrated but even stepped inside the Red Gate, yet there was no need for worries. The System Administrator was going to handle it herself.

"I-is that true?!"

Upon hearing the news, Bachurka felt the shock of her soul being pulled out.

She didn't hear anything surprising. There wasn't any news that was not shocking. The fact that in the "Void" beyond the Red Gate existed a System Administrator and the Adgon species were being supplied of Mana from there, and most of all, the assumption that Seo Jin-Wook might not have gotten out of that place after entering left her in despair.

Furthermore, Seo Jin-Wook's identity had also been revealed.

"A successor, was that an existing concept? We've treated it as a superstition passed down among some species."

The information that the Adgons' Revelator mentioned before his death was also delivered to the Union.

They learned a lot of things that they didn't know, but Seo Jin-Wook, who could confirm it as a fact, was away.

But they couldn't enter inside the Red Gate also because of the information they gained. Hence, the Union could only wait anxiously for the ma serving as that age's successor and the unprecedented mortal to receive numerous gods' blessings.

*

Time passed unceasingly since then.

The Union waited in front of the Red Gate of the captured area, without abandoning the hope that Seo Jin-wook would return. Fortunately, there was evidence that he was alive.

"The god of magic has answered the question!"

"There also was an answer from the god of war congregation!"

"The same goes for the god of luck and the god of life!"

Seo Jin-Wook was also very important for each congregation serving a god. He was the only incarnation of that age that exercised the miracle of their deities. In fact, they didn't know that he had already reached the state of a half-god, but he was already a being enough to be praised in such a way even only by what was known so far.

They asked the gods whether Seo Jin-Wook was alive or not, and each congregation's deity answered surprisingly quickly. The congregation leaders even agreed to guarantee that they had never received such a clear and prompt answer.

The content was as followed:

- He's alive. He will return from the Void beyond the Red Gate after completing glorious achievements that no one else can accomplish.

Hence, many individuals waiting for his return gathered in front of the crimson portal.