Published at 29th of February 2024 8:33 am

Chapter 194: Chapter 194

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He pointed to the gate where Sung Il-Hwan came out.

The appearance of that gate was quite different from the ones Suho had seen so far. Common gates are basically round in shape. Of course, although the size may vary slightly or the shape may be distorted, it is basically in the form of a 'hole' in the air.

On the other hand, the gate through which Sung Il-Hwan escaped is a 'crack' itself. It was as if the walls of the dimension had been randomly torn to shreds and were shaking unsteadily.

'It looks the same as the sky I saw in the Glacier Dungeon.'

The sky of the Glacier Dungeon was torn apart with countless rifts intertwined. Although the scale is very small, Suho thought it was similar to the scenery there.

"Know in advance. Beyond this is not an ordinary dungeon."

Sung Il-Hwan muttered with a serious expression as he and Suho walked in front of the gate. At those words, Greed, the former high priest of the Itarim, and Iron, the general priest, followed suit and began to add information they knew one by one.

[Small Lord, here in Yangpyeong, several field dungeons have been intentionally neglected.]

[Those field-type dungeons gradually expanded their territory and soon merged into one.]

[This will further distort the rift, further tearing the dimensional wall. Just like this.]

A phenomenon called 'Unification of Cracks' or 'Acceleration of 'Cracks'. However, there was no need to use such difficult expressions, and Beru, who was the tutor of young Suho, explained it very easily.

[This is a simple principle. If one gate is called a 'dot', then when two gates are connected to each other, it becomes a 'line'. And if 3 or more gates are connected together...]

Crack! cr-crakle!

[It becomes a 'node' like this.]

Beru muttered as he glared at the gate that had come right in front of him with narrow eyes.

[And when a spoonful of Itarim's tricks are added to this, it seems that the gate to the 'void' is artificially created.]

"The void?"

[Yes. The dimensional gap.]

A 'dungeon' refers to a world in another dimension far from Earth.

'Gate' means the passage that connects the two dimensions.

And 'Void' is literally the gap that exists between those dimensions.

[Nothing exists, and yet it is an empty space where anything can exist.]

It meant that the place where Sung Jin-Woo had wandered aimlessly in search of the Monarchs with the shadow army existed beyond this gate.

[So, the Foreign Religion Church also called this phenomenon 'Void' as the name suggests.]

[The ultimate goal of the Foreign Protestant Church is to spread this 'Void Gate' all over the earth, ultimately creating a super-large rift that connects directly to the outer universe where they are located.]

After turning former High Priests and Priests into soldiers, insider information was coming out easily.

[The reason why the foreign believers built the chapel here in the first place is also because they have to create a statue of a god near this void gate in order to connect the ritual of the Itarim...]

"Now, wait a minute." Esil, who was listening to their conversation, suddenly grabbed Sung Il-Hwan's hem from behind with a serious expression. "Then doesn't that mean that the Itarim might be there once you go inside? How can you go in there without any preparation then?" At Esil's concern, Sung Il-Hwan smiled warmly and patted Esil's head.

"That is not an issue. I already went in once."

[It is impossible to reach outer space with only three or four dungeons combined.]

[If so, we would have already been invaded by Itarim.]

"COUGH–."

Suddenly, Sung Il-Hwan started coughing up blood again, and after hearing all the explanations, Suho finally realized what was going on in Sung Il-Hwan's body. If one Star Piece is a 'dot', two are 'lines'. And more than three... It can't be, a 'void' was occurring in the body of Sung Il-Hwan, who had dozens of Star Pieces embedded in one body.

"...A void is about to occur in your body, grandpa."

"Haha. Yes, it's easy to understand. I'm kind of like a walking gate right now. If I continue like this, my body will eventually be torn apart and create a dimensional rift."

"...Let's go in." Suho stepped into the gate with a firm look on his face. Right now it's just a temporary measure, but it's one thing he can do right away. If you don't want the dimensional rift to occur in your body, then you just have to go directly into the dimensional rift.

Shuwaaaak

And so they passed through the ominous blazing gate, into the void. Soon, a bizarrely distorted world unfolded before them. A wide open horizon was visible in the distance, and a land full of jumbled and chaotic shimmer appeared up front.

This place was the gap of the dimension, the void.

"Beru."

[Yes.]

Suho saw this bizarre world and called Beru. "Is this the place where my father has been wandering for decades?"

[That's right. In order to find the dimension of monarchs, like the Tombs of the Light Dragons... he had to wander around aimlessly and find his way.]

At Suho's grumbling words, Beru nodded heavily as he recalled that time.

[Looking back, the journey was indeed long and arduous. One day, the lord expressed it as such, saying that it feels like he was floating on an endless desert.]

"A desert..." Suho couldn't say anything at the sound of those words. Sung Il-Hwan also bit his lip at those words and muttered.

"Yes, this is where Jin-Woo..."

Sung Jin-Woo, this empty world where his one and only son wandered for decades with the mission to protect the world. He couldn't express the feelings in his heart as a father who came to look at this place a long time ago. However, regardless of their feelings, it was fortunate that from the moment they entered this place, the ominous cracks in Sung Il-Hwan's body completely stabilized.

Greed, who was in exactly the same situation as him, explained with great relief.

[For this reason, it is safe for the High Priests of the Foreign Religious Church to stay within this area as much as possible. It's okay to go out for a short time, but after using the power of the Star Pieces excessively like before, if you don't hurry up and come inside, your body could be shattered.]

At those words, Suho looked at Sung Il-Hwan's complexion again. "Grandpa, are you all right now?"

"Yes. Much better." Sung Il-Hwan, who seemed like he was about to collapse at any moment, was feeling better than before, almost as if he hadn't been ill in the first place. The effect of drinking the potion was finally revealed as well.

[However, if this happens, Mr Sung Il-Hwan will likely have to continue to be confined here.]

Beru looked at Sung Il-Hwan and shed tears with a very sad expression. Suho looked back at the Greed and Iron and asked. "Is there any way to rip the Star Piece out of his body?"

[It is already a risk to get one out. And the high priest class is full of Star Pieces...]

"Then... Can't he just stay in my shadow?"

[The Shadow Dungeon is still a dungeon. It is much better for him to be safe in the void...]

"Hm..."

No matter how much he thought about it, when the conclusion was the same, Suho's expression became serious. In order to evoke the gloomy atmosphere, Sung Il-Hwan smiled and patted Suho on the back.

"Haha. don't take it too seriously Jin-Woo has been wandering here for decades. You can think of it as a small traveling trip for a while. Your grandma would likely be worried but as long as I don't use magic, I can go out for a while, and that's no problem. Oh, right, I have to go and visit her right now."

"Ah, that's right, Grandma." Only then was Suho reminded of his grandmother and aunt, who were still waiting anxiously at the association.

***

"Honey!"

"Dad!"

When Suho and Sung Il-Hwan returned to the Yangpyeong branch, many people were waiting for them there. First, Suho's grandmother and aunt were hugged by Sung Il-Hwan crying. Suho turned his gaze and looked at the association hunters who were almost ready for war behind them.

"Hunter Sung Suho, welcome." Team leader Han Jae-Hyeok had gathered all the power of the association that could be summoned immediately to hit the black market. He approached Suho with a joyous spirit. "We have already interrogated the Yangpyeong branch manager and figured out the whole situation. Would you like to go with me?"

"You are always one step late."

"I'm glad– wait what?"

"It is over."

"Wha- what do you mean?"

"I killed the ones you were going to kill, and captured the rest."

"... " Suho was a bit embarrassed by team leader Han Jae-Hyeok's confused expression. On the way back, Suho killed all the demons in the black market and earned experience points. And the hunters who used the black market were arrested by the Association hunters. Team leader Han Jae-Hyeok said that since they were caught on charges of tax evasion rather than being villains, they would face huge fines. And the disposal of the most important thing in this case remained.

"The Association has decided to confiscate all Stardust necklaces sold on the market. The same goes for the Star Pieces in the black market."

"Then how will they be disposed of? The fault for this incident must be on the Association's side as well."

"First of all, the president of the association is still in North Korea, so the specific plan..."

"As the president of the association..."

Chills.

Team leader Han Jae-Hyeok, who was talking with Suho for a moment, suddenly got goosebumps.

"Tell me... How far can I trust the Association?"

"...!" When he met Suho's black eyes staring at him, he felt as if he was falling into a distant darkness. But was it because of the mood? The thick and heavy air suddenly became lighter with a hook, and Suho smiled at team leader Han Jae-Hyeok and said.

"How about we do this instead."

"...Yes?"

"Anyways, because of this incident, the Association has lost my trust, and since I solved the black market problem, I will keep all the Star Pieces. Even the Stardust necklaces I retrieved."

"No wait, that's a bit..."

"By the way, this is not a proposal."

"..." There was nothing more that team leader Han Jae-Hyeok could say at the aura felt from Suho.

***

In this way, Suho was handed all the Star Pieces and Stardust necklaces spread across the country.

"So what are you going to use this for?" Upon Beru's question, Suho immediately opened the shop window.

"I will sell everything for gold of course."

[Kieek! Such a brilliant idea!]

Beru was greatly impressed by Suho's wisdom. However, this was not the end of Suho's plan.

Ching. Ching.

Since the amount of Star Pieces and Stardust necklaces were considerable, the shop's gold, which had been on the bottom for a while, piled up quickly. And Suho used this gold to buy a bunch of potions. Just mana potions.

[Kieek? Isn't that a healing potion?]

When Suho, who knew he would find a way to improve Sung Il-Hwan's condition right away, suddenly bought a mana potion, Beru put on a puzzled expression. "Potions aren't enough." In the process of killing demons in the black market, Suho had already tested to see if there was a safe way to tear off a Star Piece from their forehead. The results were all failures. They all died with broken heads. In other words, Sung Il-Hwan could not be saved with just a potion.

"Instead I need to make a divine water of life."

[!!!]

Beru's eyes widened at Suho's words. Suho recalled the ingredients of the divine water of life.

Spring water in the Echo Forest.

Fragments of the World Tree.

Purified Demon King's blood.

Suho had asked dead Monarchs about the fragments of the World Tree before, and the answer that came back was the same.

[The King of Beasts, the Beast Monarch shrugs.]

[The Queen of Insects, the Monarch of Plague, tilts her head with a pensive expression.]

[The King of Snowfolk, the Frost Monarch, says that if there is one that knows the location of the World Tree, there is probably only one.]

That one is...

The King of demonic specters, the Monarch of Transfiguration. Only Yogmund, the Monarch of the fantasy world who had the ability to cross all dimensions by opening the gates at will, would know its location. He couldn't think of a way to ask the Monarch who had already died. Suddenly a thought ran through Suho's head.

The final battle.

The strongest monarch, The Dragon Emperor, whom the Shadow Monarch Sung Jin-Woo fought until the very end. What was the reason that the dragon was able to fight Sung Jin-Woo until the last moment in the first place? Wasn't it because the Transfiguration Monarch cooperated with him and opened countless gates for the Dragon Emperor's army? Therefore,

"If it's the Dragon Emperor, he might know something."

Chin.

[You have entered The Shadow Dungeon.]

Suho picked up the 'Kamish Egg' that was kept in the corner of the pyramid. Next to it, he piled up a huge amount of mana potions, put one of them in his mouth and muttered with a meaningful expression.

"This bastard, I will hatch it today."

Shuwaaaa-!

In this way, a great amount of magical power began to be injected into Kamish's egg, endlessly.

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