Chapter 284: The Last Member (1)

After putting on my clothes, I headed to our guild house in Jongno with Hwaya. As I sat in the back of the car, I kept grumbling.

"How can you joke in a situation like this?"

"It's like not being a minute or two early is going to solve anything. It's better to relax and take things slow. If they were going to die, they would already be dead."

Hwaya spoke casually as she put her lips near my ear.

"The explorer that went missing this time was contracted to Daisy. According to Daisy's report, he's already dead. The media thinks they're just missing, but... You get what I mean, right?"

"Can you not whisper such a chilling story in my ear?"

Hwaya lightly smiled and suddenly gave a deep sigh.

"I'm not happy either. Just when I thought we wouldn't have to worry about explorers betraying us, one of them went ahead and died. If we end up being the only explorers alive..."

"Let's gather everyone up once this is over. I don't think the new explorers will ever get to stand on the front lines though..."

Hwaya looked at me astonished.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't think we even have a year left."

"If that's what our Hero says, I have no choice but to believe you... Mmm."

It seemed what I said wasn't something she could just glance over. She made a groaning sound, then suddenly said something absurd.

"Should we make a kid?"

"How did you come to that conclusion? A girl shouldn't say something like that easily."

"I'm not joking. I don't want to think about it, but you know, just in case something happens... I want to give birth to our child before that happens..."

I thought she joking, but she had a serious expression. She looked and acted like a Westerner, but she was quite Korean when it came to something like this. Or maybe it was the combination of her boldness and Korean personality that made her say astonishing things like this. In any case, I answered her by pinching her cheeks.

"Neither of us will die, so don't worry about such nonsense."

"Uuuu."

"Plus, it will be the end for Earth if I die, so it won't matter even if we make a kid."

"But what if I die? You're going to regret it in ten or so years, and you'll think, 'Gee, I wish I had a daughter who looked like Hwaya...'"

"You want a daughter?"

"Isn't that obvious? What's the point in raising a son? So, will you make a daughter with me?"

"I'll think about it after I defeat the Demon Lord."

Hwaya pouted like a duck.

"Hmph, do I really have to die to make you think properly?"

"You won't die. I won't let you, so don't say stupid things like that."

"As always, you're only talk... Ah."

I embraced Hwaya. She stopped what she was going to say and became quiet.

"Sorry for making you feel uneasy."

Hwaya spoke with a flustered voice.

"Uh, mm... N-No, I'm sorry too..."

She might have acted like she was fine, but she must have felt great pressure from this incident. She was the person in charge of almost all of Revival's operations, and naturally she had to worry about Earth's situation the most. This time, things had progressed too quickly and even a king had made its move.

There was no way she could be fine in a situation like this. The reason she was joking around must have been to hide her anxiousness too. I could only see this now when she was saying rather extreme things.

... Analyzing her words and actions until now, I could consider her barging into the bath as a result of her anxiousness and desire to make a child, but I decided not to think that way as it was scary.

"Did you calm down?"

"M-Maybe, b-but I'm getting nervous in another sense..."

"That's fine."

When I tried to let her go, Hwaya shook her head and dug deeper into my embrace.

"Just until we get to the guild house."

"Acting spoiled at your age?"

"You're forbidden from talking about age!"

Hwaya shouted sharply. She was 25 this year in Korean age. She was three years older than me. Because of it, she tried to change the topic whenever her age came up in our conversation. With a bitter smile, I closed my mouth.

When I gave up trying to keep her off, Hwaya put her arms around me and held me tightly. Then, she murmured quietly.

"Sorry for saying strange things."

"That was quick."

"Thanks for accepting everything. This too..."

"Yeah, yeah."

I stroked Hwaya's back. Hwaya made a satisfied laugh and embraced me more comfortably. If it was the usual her, I would have refused to be this intimate, but today was special. Like she said, I planned on staying this way until we arrived at the guild house.

At that moment, a dry cough rang out from the front seat.

"It's nice being young, isn't it, Son? Flirting in front of your father..."

"Since you weren't talking, you should've stayed that way until we arrived."

It seemed Hwaya had really forgotten about the driver, as she froze stiff when she heard Father's voice. However, as expected of Hwaya, she didn't leave my embrace.

As soon as we arrived at the guild house, we first checked the video we received. Revival members currently staying in Korea were all present, and they naturally joined us to watch the video. When the video came on, the first thing we saw was a countless number of people filling up the heart of a city and a gate floating in the sky.

"An Event Dungeon? But I didn't receive any notifications!"

"Yes, that's the problem. There was no notification."

A succubus reported. Then, another video popped up next to the video we were watching. It was also showing a floating gate.

"It's a different place, right?"

"Yes. The first gate is where the king appeared. As for the second gate, no one has gone in yet. The former is located in France's Bordeaux, the latter is in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City."

"There of all places!?"

I smacked my forehead. It was in the perfect place to cause a headache. Setting aside its religious importance, a monument of an enormous historical value was about to disappear. Of course, that was if couldn't clear the Event Dungeon.

Wait, a king appeared in a dungeon? Sure, cameras worked inside an Event Dungeon, but how was it possible to live stream it to the outside world?

"Was the video sent from inside the Event Dungeon?"

"Yes, through a dungeon explorer. It was possible only because he was a dungeon explorer. Sadly, the video was cut off the moment they were discovered by the king."

It was still amazing that we managed to procure a video. Being a dungeon explorer sure had its benefits. I nodded silently and examined the two gates.

When Event Dungeons appeared, Sherafina would normally tell us their ranks to minimize the risk we'd have to take. This time, however, neither of the two dungeons were ranked. Of course, since we didn't even get a notification, it would be strange to expect them to be ranked.

Without a doubt, they were one of those.

"More things that ignore the dungeon's power? Ehew."

"We'll face more of them in the future. That in itself isn't surprising, but what I'm afraid of is..."

What was only possible for the demons was now possible for the monsters. This made my head hurt.

"Hero-nim, can I say something?"

Ciara spoke up. The crosses in her eyes were shining brilliantly.

"Speak."

"Both places have kings."

In an instant, silence descended. Coincidentally, the first video was showing people entering the gate. A dense jungle appeared along with giant monsters. I stared at the video intently, then turned towards Ciara and asked.

"... You know what we mean by 'king', right?"

"The head of the monsters, five leaders working for an unknown being. Two of them already died to Hero-nim's hands."

"That's exactly right."

It seemed I needed to apologize for underestimating Ciara's power. Now that she could better control her Evil Eyes' power, she was no longer who she was in the past.

But if what she said was true, it meant we had a steep mountain to climb. I asked Ciara another question.

"You can tell even if you're far away now?"

"No, before that video came to the succubi, I had a dream. Hero-nim knows that my ability manifests in many ways, right?"

"Yeah."

"After my eyes opened, my dreams became even clearer. I often have clairvoyant daydreams, and I can somewhat control what I want to see."

"What you want to see?"

"Yes. The world is saved by Hero-nim, and Earth continuing peacefully under Hero-nim's reign..."

"Nevermind that, tell me what you saw."

"Yes!"

Ciara explained slowly. At the same time, the group that went into Bordeaux's gate was facing a truly massive creature. It looked like a lion and had two frightening yellow eyes.

"The Beast King, the four-legged ruler of all savage beasts. He is strong and fast, an overlord who can cut and destroy anything with pure strength. Other than Hero-nim, only Daisy Ectradion-nim has the potential to win against him. Kang Yungoong-nim, Minami Violet Sumire-nim, and Su Ye-Eun-nim are included if we're only talking about stalling for time."

Ciara said solemnly as if she was making a proclamation. As if to prove her words, the lion stomped with one leg and caused the earth to quake and fall. When he roared, the entire jungle blew away. Rather than a creature, that was more of a calamity in the form of a creature. It seemed he was even stronger than the Lava King.

Seeing the lion's imposing display, I blurted out.

"Ren, work harder. You're falling behind Ye-Eun and Sumire against a lion. That's an extra month of Ren's thrashing phase."

"Kuuuu...!"

Ren made a mortified expression. Thankfully, Father's spearmanship and mana control improved, and he joined the lineup of people who could fight. Otherwise, the guild's men would have been embarrassed to no end.

"The other one is the King of the Dead, one who rules over all corpses and despises all living beings. He has powerful magic power and antimagic. He does not die even if he's killed. Only Hero-nim and Hwaya Eleni Mastiford-nim can compare with him, and Daisy Ectradion-nim must be present when fighting him. His immortality cannot be broken without Hero-nim's final move or Daisy-nim's power. "

Daisy who was listening on suddenly sparkled her eyes.

"Corpses? Are there lots of good corpses? Lots of pretty corpses?"

"Yes."

"King of the Dead... Good, very good, very very good."

"Can the word 'dangerous' be in there somewhere?"

Meanwhile, the video ended with the lion breathing an acidic breath. Missing my ass, it would be a miracle if there was even a single survivor. Damn it.

I pressed my brows and asked Ciara.

"By the way, what do you mean by my final move?"

"The eye's power."

"My Evil Eyes? I wouldn't really consider that my—"

"No, I mean Hero-nim's third eye."

I immediately closed my mouth. I began to feel fear at Ciara's power. If I made someone with this power my enemy... No, she wouldn't be able to do this if I didn't open her eyes, but still, I felt relieved knowing that she was on our side.

"Actually, I had two dreams today. The first alerted me of the two kings. In the second dream, Hero-nim was already using that power against a black-eyed man with a giant shadow and two twisted horns."

The Demon Lord. I instinctively realized who she was talking about and bit my lips. Ludia's eyes also shook when she heard Ciara's description. Right, Ludia had directly faced him before. I hoped I could ease Ludia's worry as I continued to ask Ciara what happened.

"Did I win?"

"I'm sorry, Hero-nim. I couldn't see that far. All I know is that Hero-nim would lose if Hero-nim doesn't use the eye's power."

"..."

Since I was expecting the same thing, I didn't put Shiva's Eye into the calculation of my total strength. I didn't know when the Demon Lord would appear, and Shiva's Eye was a critical power that could only be used once per year.

As if to confirm my thoughts, Ciara looked at me straight on and spoke.

"In conclusion, Hero-nim cannot use the eye's power from now on. The Demon Lord will descend before a year passes."

I shut my eyes tightly. I understood why Ciara was saying all this. This is what she wanted to say.

Save your strength.

No matter what happens today.