Chapter 213
First, Jeong-hoon headed towards the red portal located near the royal palace.
As he approached, monsters poured out of the portal all at once.
'No wonder it's impossible to get close.'
The number of monsters would only increase to an overwhelming amount the closer you got to the portal.
"Fenrir," Jeong-hoon called out.
Michael was summoned as well.
"Yes."
"Master... this is really too much."
Unlike Fenrir, who responded politely, Michael's eyes were filled with resentment.
"What's your problem?" Jeong-hoon asked, tilting his head in curiosity at Michael's sulking expression.
"How long has it been since you last summoned me? I thought I was going to die from the frustration!"
"Well, I've called you now, haven't I?"
"Can't you summon me more often...?"
"We don't have time to chat. From now on, we'll hunt every monster on the surface."
"All of them?" Michael's jaw dropped as he stared at the horde of monsters.
There were far too many of them.
Jeong-hoon nodded in response to Michael's overwhelmed expression.
"Is there a problem?"
"There's just... so many of them..."
"We have to. Start now."
With that, Jeong-hoon gave the command and disappeared into the red portal.
"Wow..." Michael gazed at the portal where Jeong-hoon had vanished, his eyes still full of resentment.
Watching this closely, Fenrir muttered, "I should tell him the truth."
"About what?" Michael's head snapped toward Fenrir.
"That you were staring at the portal long after the Master went in."
"Don't talk nonsense."
"It's not nonsense. It seems like the truth to me."
Fenrir chuckled under his breath, causing Michael's face to scrunch up in frustration.
"I never did such a thing. And you, you're being incredibly insolent, you know that?"
"Me? Are you really saying a divine beast like me is insolent?"
"Divine beast, my foot. If you're the Master's loyal servant, then act like one."
"Aren't you also one of his loyal servants?"
"Hey, have you forgotten I'm your senior?"
"..."
"If you're a junior, act like one. Got it, junior?"
Fenrir scowled at the remark.
Why do I have to follow someone like this?
Though he wanted to argue, the flood of monsters left him no time.
Fenrir's eyes shifted, growing fierce.
[The giant wolf Fenrir activates Predator's Gaze.]
Predator's Gaze.
[Movement speed is reduced by 20%.]
[Fear status inflicted.]
[All stats decrease by 10%.]
The terrifying thing about this ability is that it has no limit on the number of targets.
In other words, every one of those countless monsters was hit with a debuff.
"Nice work, junior. You've done well enough for me to actually call you my junior."
Michael, while continuing to provoke Fenrir, summoned spirits and began the hunt.
* * *
At that moment, Jeong-hoon, who had entered the red portal, was busy hunting monsters.
Slash.
He cut down a Giant Lizardman with Leviathan.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sheer number of enemies forced him to use Magic Missiles.
Crackle.
Even then, the monsters didn't seem to lessen, so he unleashed Lightning Bolt to deal area damage.
[Impressive... considering you hardly ever use magic.]
'There are just too many.'
Anima was right. The sheer number of monsters made it necessary to use every technique in his arsenal.
The longer the extermination took, the more those outside would be put at risk.
"I have no choice if I want to deal with this quickly."
He thought that he would soon need to find another hidden theme to learn more magic. Magic Missile was limited to 20 shots at maximum, and although Lightning Bolt was effective, it still left something to be desired for large-scale damage.
He needed to steal the magic Alessandro had used so effectively.
With that, the next episode would go much smoother.
[Form 1: Initiation activated.]
With Initiation activated, he ruthlessly cut down the monsters.
"Kegegegek!"
A Giant Lizardman, its limbs severed, screamed as it collapsed to the ground.
After cutting down Giant Lizardmen for a while, the Giant Lizardman Shaman finally appeared.
This was the dungeon's boss.
It was entirely focused on producing more Giant Lizardmen.
More specifically, it was the several portals next to it.
By maintaining those portals, the Giant Lizardmen kept appearing through them.
Jeong-hoon raised Anima and drew the bowstring.
'Arrow of the Storm.'
As he released the string, the storm arrow flew straight toward the Giant Lizardman Shaman.
The arrow pierced the shaman's head with precision.
"Keck!"
With a dying scream, the shaman collapsed, lifeless.
Its head exploded, splattering brain matter onto the ground.
[You have cleared the boss monster.]
[All Giant Lizardmen are vanishing.]
With the boss defeated, the red portal ceased to exist.
"Keck!"
"Kreeee!"
The Giant Lizardman that was emerging from the portal let out a scream as it vanished, and the portal from which it came also disappeared in an instant.
Jeong-hoon exited through another portal that had formed nearby.
Outside, Fenrir and Michael were still hunting monsters fiercely.
'They're doing well.'
Jeong-hoon smirked and entered the nearby red portal.
* * *
At the same time, Ragan returned to the royal palace, leading his knights.
Sitting on the throne was Kaiserk V, his face heavy with worry.
"Your Majesty, I've just completed my mission and returned."
"Yes. How are things outside?"
It was a meaningless question.
The Märchen Kingdom had collapsed overnight.
'Will the history of this kingdom end in my reign?'
It had once been a prosperous nation, but now, it would be recorded as a kingdom that fell in the blink of an eye.
Kaiserk V was drowning in guilt, feeling he had failed to protect the Märchen Kingdom, and thus, no words from Ragan could penetrate his mind.
"We succeeded in exterminating the monsters with Hoon's help."
But Ragan's next words jolted him out of his stupor.
"What did you just say...?!"
"Yes. Thanks to Hoon's assistance, we were able to defeat the monsters."
"Hoon came?!"
Kaiserk V sprang to his feet.
"Yes. If it hadn't been for Hoon's arrival... the situation would have been utterly hopeless."
They had managed to hold on somehow, but they were on the verge of hitting their limit. If Jeong-hoon hadn't arrived in time to help, they might not have made it back to the palace at all.
"Ha... how could this be."
The savior who had once rescued the Märchen Kingdom.
Kaiserk V had bestowed one of the kingdom's treasures upon him in gratitude. After Hoon had left, the king never expected to see him again, let alone in such a critical situation.
'He truly is our savior.'
Of course, just because Jeong-hoon had appeared didn't mean the Märchen Kingdom would be restored. But the mere fact that he had shown up to save the kingdom in its time of peril was enough to be immensely thankful for.
"At present, Hoon is working to eliminate the red portals within the Märchen Kingdom."
"By himself?!"
"Yes."
Kaiserk V was in utter shock.
The kingdom was littered with red portals.
Those cursed portals were the very reason the Märchen Kingdom was collapsing. Approaching them to close the portals only caused monsters to pour out, making it impossible to get close. But to think that Jeong-hoon had taken it upon himself to handle them directly.
"Then, shouldn't we send support?!"
"Given the situation... we had no choice but to return first."
"That's absurd!"
No matter how severe the losses to their forces, they couldn't just send their savior into such danger.
"Your Majesty, I don't think you need to worry too much. After all, wasn't it Hoon who single-handedly saved our kingdom in the past?"
"...That's true, but still."
"Hoon will succeed this time as well."
At the time, Ragan had also intended to follow him and assist in closing the red portals. However, the look in Jeong-hoon's eyes told him everything—this was not the time to intervene.
Any help from him would likely only get in the way.
It would be a lie to say his pride wasn't hurt. But since he hadn't been able to close even a single red portal himself, he had no choice but to step back quietly.
Just then—
"Your Majesty!"
Two sentries, who had been monitoring the situation from the city walls, rushed back.
"What is it?"
"The red portals are disappearing rapidly!"
"What?!"
* * *
[You have defeated the boss monster.]
[All Spectral Golems are vanishing.]
When the Level 235 Spectral Golems vanished, another red portal was closed.
'That makes 32.'
There had been 32 red portals in the capital city alone. Of course, there were far more outside the capital, but at least for now, the quest was nearing completion.
"You did well."
Thanks to the efforts of Fenrir and Michael, the surrounding area had suffered minimal damage.
After sending them back, Jeong-hoon hurried to return to the royal palace.
Inside the palace, there were many familiar faces.
"Hoon!"
"You've succeeded!"
"Hurraaaay!"
Jeong-hoon was greeted with cheers as he approached Kaiserk V.
"Hoon! Come quickly!"
Kaiserk V descended from the throne and ran towards him, anxiously checking for any injuries.
"There's nothing to worry about, Your Majesty."
"Is that true? You've closed so many portals—how could you not be hurt?"
"I'm fine. I can heal myself."
Jeong-hoon had now risen to the Celestial grade. This allowed him to restore his mana using the natural forces, making prolonged battles much easier. Unlike before his regression, when he had to take breaks after getting injured, now he had divine power, so that concern was gone.
"I see... Thank you once again for helping our kingdom."
A teary-eyed Kaiserk V gazed at Jeong-hoon, as a blinking exclamation mark appeared above the king's head.
[You have completed the quest.]
[You have gained 10,000,000 experience points.]
[You can now proceed to the next quest.]
A question mark then appeared above Kaiserk V's head.
[Episode Quest: Saving the Märchen Kingdom (1)]
- Requirement: Complete the Märchen Kingdom Search (2) quest.
- Reward: ??
- Description: Save the Märchen Kingdom, which is facing an existential crisis.
The quest to save the Märchen Kingdom had begun.
This was the final episode quest.
As Jeong-hoon accepted the quest, he spoke.
"Do you remember the treasure you gave me before?"
"How could I forget?"
"The Guardian of Märchen. Since I received that treasure, it's only right that I help when the kingdom is in danger, isn't it?"
"You..."
At Jeong-hoon's words, not only Kaiserk V but everyone present became teary-eyed.
"I've removed all the red portals in the capital. But this isn't the end."
"Indeed... if there were so many in the capital, then other places might be even worse."
"That seems likely."
"Still, thanks to you, Hoon, the kingdom should be safe for a while. Truly, thank you."
"No. We have to eliminate them completely."
The quest was frustratingly vague. It didn't provide clear instructions. In other words, it was up to Jeong-hoon to stabilize the Märchen Kingdom.
It was typical for the last quest of an episode to be this unkind.
"Hmm? Is that even possible?"
"I'll have to find out."
Jeong-hoon smiled slyly.
In truth, he already knew the answer. While he hadn't personally cleared the Märchen Kingdom episode, he had researched the solution while completing other episodes.
However, he had missed the opportunity to finish the episode within the time limit, much to the disappointment of his former leader, James Marcus.
'Damn it... If only I had known about this sooner...'
A fortuitous encounter? Not quite.
'Synergy.'
There was a synergy effect that activated once certain collections were completed.
The Märchen Kingdom episode was also part of the collection list, but it had been prematurely locked, leaving parts incomplete. As a result, no one had ever obtained the final stage synergy effect.
'If I clear it here, I'll be able to unlock the synergy effect from the final stage.'