Chapter 305 – Even if the World Abandoned Them (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The Omen moved.

There was neither sound nor rumor.

Even a message was not displayed.

The role of the Omen was to secretly swallow subjects of deletion on the Arcana Continent. Unless one kept a close eye on the Omen like the Witch of the Southern Sea, it was natural not to notice it.

“Huh?”

However, it was different from the past.

For there was a supervisor in the sky of Arcana.

Was it a human?

No, it was impossible to even float in the sky with human technology in the first place, so there was no need to speak of that possibility. The same went for mages who utilized mana.

What kind of idle mage in the world.

Would use a massive amount of mana just to supervise the Arcana Continent.

That was right.

“What is that?”

Tududu─

The one who could witness the appearance of the Omen.

The dwarves with technological power.

It was thanks to them keeping a close watch on the Arcana Continent from the sky.

A young dwarf shouted urgently into the communicator.

“G-Gunner! Are you watching?”

“Yes, I am watching.”

“T-The Demon King’s Castle is……!!”

Holy War (聖戰).

To be victorious, one must gain superiority in information.

So, monitoring the enemy’s movements was an indispensable daily routine for the dwarves. However, Gunner and the other dwarf pilots could not help but doubt their own eyes.

“I-It vanished in an instant!!”

As if being carved out.

For the Demon King’s Castle was being swallowed by a giant ‘something’. It could only be described as ‘something’.
For that bizarre form truly could not be explained.

Questions poured out toward Gunner.

“Is that a demon too?”

“Gunner, what should we do about this situation?”

“If it swallowed a Demon King’s Castle, couldn’t it be on our side?”

For now, he shook his head.

“Everyone, quiet. The judgment is not ours to make.”

He answered strictly, though.

‘Damn. What the hell is going on?!’

No matter how much he racked his brain.

Even if he looked at the continent cool-headedly.

He could not understand the unfolding situation.

If only a single Demon King’s Castle had disappeared…….

But couldn’t he tell by looking at the number of dwarves who sent the news at the same time?

It wasn’t that a Demon King’s Castle had disappeared.

It was that Demon King’s Castles (plural) had disappeared.

Gunner continued his words.

“Remember. Our role is information gathering.”

“……!!!”

“We must accurately convey the situation we witnessed. Understood? Good, how many Demon King’s Castles remain at this point? There were a total of thirty Demon King’s Castles we were monitoring.”

Soon, the messages from the pilots arrived.

“Two Demon King’s Castles located southwest of Antonium are not identifiable……!”

“The north side is also not visible.”

“The situation here is the same, Gunner.”

One, two……

‘Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two……?’

Gunner’s face, who was trying to count the numbers in his head, turned pale.

It was truly an instant, in the blink of an eye.

“The Demon King’s Castles were annihilated……?”

The thirty Demon King’s Castles they had discovered.

All of them had vanished from the Arcana Continent.

This was not the time to be stubborn with useless pride.

Gunner, realizing the seriousness of the situation, grabbed the controls.

“Everyone, return to the Iron Castle immediately! We must deliver this news to Chainwalker, and to Sir Ho-yeol!”

*

Chainwalker’s expression sank seriously.

“It was a crisis in a different sense.”

What was the temperament of a dwarf like?

Like molten iron, once ignited, they were a race that boiled intensely from within. Therefore, they were confident that they would not back down no matter what enemy they faced in the Holy War.

However, this……

“So now it’s an unknown enemy?”

There is a saying that the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

However, it was unreasonable to consider the something that swallowed the Demon King’s Castle in an instant as an ally.

For could anyone guarantee it?

His gaze toward the place where the Demon King’s Castle was.

Right next to it were humans who were fighting to the death against demons.

Chainwalker held a ghastly imagination unknowingly.

‘What if there were humans in the Demon King’s Castle……?’

It would mean they were also swallowed by something.

The one who woke up the agonizing Chainwalker was.

The greatest blacksmith of the dwarves, Wallsweil.

“What are you so worried about? Worrying won’t make things any better. When idle thoughts come, why not pick up a hammer. You’ve become too refined, Chainwalker.”

“I don’t have the spirit to talk back, Wallsweil.”

“I mean it.”

Something.

It couldn’t even be called an enemy.

It would be close to a disaster that no one can avoid.

Of course, he hadn’t given up and abandoned early.

For the dwarves had already made the best judgment.

Tap tap─

Wallsweil patted Chainwalker’s slumped shoulders.

“Let’s wait until an answer comes from Sir Ho-yeol.”

They had delivered the news to Ho-yeol through Diend.

Of course, even ho-yeol would not be able to predict this situation and provide the correct answer.

Nevertheless, Chainwalker could feel a little relieved.

‘At least he will make a better judgment than us.’

Swish swish─

How much time had passed?

Diend returned to the Iron Castle.

“Hmm?”

In fact, it was a return so fast that he wondered if it had been delivered properly.

Chainwalker asked Diend.

“What did he say, Diend?”

If he said more information was needed, they would have been ready to sortie immediately. If firepower was needed, the dwarves were ready to fire the mana cannons of the Iron Castle.

In short, it meant they were ready to do anything.

However, what returned was.

An unexpected answer.

Diend’s low voice was heard.

“Little comrades-in-arms, do not worry.”

“……?”

“My lord already had even this situation in his arrangements.”

“?!!”

It was literally something that happened in an instant.

As you knew by looking down, the thing that swallowed the Demon King’s Castle had already vanished without a trace. Gunner, who was listening to Diend’s words beside him, interrupted out of frustration.

“Diend! Did you properly convey the location of the Demon King’s Castle? We’re not talking about just one or two castles. Demon King’s Castles across the entire continent vanished at the same time. By that something! And that bizarre thing has completely hidden itself…….”

No matter how it was Ho-yeol, by what means.

Could he possibly track that something?

Gunner had no choice but to raise his voice as it was not understandable by common sense.

“…….”

If it were as usual.

Even Chainwalker, who would have dissuaded the short-tempered Gunner, could not dissuade him.

Because Gunner’s question matched his own.

But even this was predicted?

Diend immediately continued his words.

“Furthermore, my lord added.”

Swish swish.

Diend moved toward the window of the Iron Castle.

He finished his words while looking down at the Arcana Continent.

“The hunt will begin from the inside.”

……Hunt?

Inside?

Does it mean there is an enemy among allies?

The faces of the dwarves were dyed with tension.

But fortunately.

The dwarves’ misunderstanding did not last long.

At that moment.

Gugugugung!!

Something.

Within the belly of the Omen.

For the hunter encountered the prey.

*

The Empire.

The elite soldiers of Antonium.

“Ugh…….”

They woke up while groaning.

What on earth happened……?

Clearly, they had succeeded in approaching the Demon King’s Castle.

They had dug the ground in front of the castle walls and buried the prepared magic tools.

The abominable race, demons.

Currently, they were cooped up in the Demon King’s Castle and weren’t even showing their shadows, yet the soldiers of Antonium did not forget their nature. The moment they let down their guard, they would show their true colors and trample the Empire.

They asked while clutching their throbbing heads.

“The traps, the magic tools?”

The traps.

They were magic tools to tie the feet of the demons.

If they could bother them even a little.

They would be able to buy time for the Quernberg Mechanical Tower to operate.

However.

“The magic tools aren’t the important thing……. W-What is this vibration?”

“Hey, what do you mean not important. What do you think the mission is……?!”

“W-Watch below!!”

Kugugugung……!

The ground was shaking.

Did the buried magic tools malfunction?

No, that couldn”t be.

This was strong enough not to be mistaken for the power of a magic tool.

Kwakwakwakwakwang!

The foundation, the earth began to shake.

The soldiers hurriedly straightened their bodies.

Forgetting that they were in front of the Demon King’s Castle, they shouted.

“First, we retreat!”

They hurried their staggering bodies.

In the meantime.

Suddenly, a question occurred.

……Wait, why did we lose consciousness?

They had taken extreme caution.

They were confident they weren’t hit by a demon’s status effect. In the first place, they were elite soldiers who had gone through all sorts of hardships and survived to be frightened now.

‘Then…….’

Could it be related to the immense vibration felt under their feet now? If so, should we, who must protect the Empire, run away like this?

A decision was made in an instant.

“……Damn!”

Their bodies were refusing.

With a hazy spirit.

They shouted to ignore this place and run away.

But the man grit his teeth.

“Stop!”

If it didn’t stop at the Demon King’s Castle and headed toward the Empire?

The Empire would be exposed to threat without even knowing why.

However, the story changed if they witnessed the identity of the something.

‘This is not a dignified retreat.’

Furthermore, hadn’t they vowed not to turn away anymore.

A single ray of light in the infinitely deep darkness, the Dawn, the Dark Dragon.

Hadn’t they vowed after seeing him.

“Hasn’t the Empire already begun its counterattack, my fellow soldiers!”

Yes, there was no more retreat for the Empire, which only had to move forward.

Even if they fell here.

Using such a self as a stepping stone.

It meant the Empire was the one that must move forward.

“Everyone, keep your eyes open!”

“……!!!”

“Watch clearly with your two eyes what is moving under your feet. Witness what is happening here. And it doesn’t matter who it is. Tell His Majesty what you have seen and heard!”

For that was the role they bore.

Grit─

The irresistible instinct.

What suppressed it was experience.

No, more accurately, it was pride.

Thanks to that, they could witness it.

Kwaddaddaddak─!

“!!!”

The sight of ‘something’ that sprouted from the ground swallowing the Demon King’s Castle, where they were until just now, whole. Not even astonishment came out.
For they did not feel a sense of reality.

“Wh-What……?”

The site of the Demon King’s Castle.

Not even the remains.

Even the bloodstains of the swallowed demons were not visible.

“Th-That’s impossible……”

As if it hadn’t existed from the beginning.

The Demon King’s Castle disappeared.

The Demon King’s Castle was deleted.

Although the Demon King’s Castle, which was like a thorn in their eye, had disappeared.

They could not be happy.

For it was a situation they could not possibly understand.

Swish─

That ‘something’ looked at them.

In an instant, he could be certain.

Of the cause of the splitting headache.

“U-Ugh?!”

An intense pain to the extent of forgetting everything.

It was as if it were bullying them to forget the sight they just witnessed.

But he grit his teeth.

“Grrghgh……!!”

Grinding teeth!

The sound of grinding teeth hit his eardrum. Nevertheless, he did not yield. Hadn’t he vowed. He must deliver this inexplicable phenomenon to His Majesty.

“Damn it!!”

What on earth should he explain?

Words came out immediately, but it didn’t matter.

For the soldiers had a certainty.

Even if His Majesty could not find a way.

Wasn’t the Dark Dragon, that man, in Antonium?

So.

“Run, soldiers of the Empire! Toward Antonium!”

Dadada!

Soldiers scattering and running in all directions.

Even just one person is fine.

If one could overcome the extreme pressure and deliver the news to Antonium, they had fulfilled their mission. It was the moment the soldiers overcame their instinct and moved.

Swish─

Something.

The Omen moved along.

Unnecessary witnesses were not needed for the [Deletion] task.

Why the existence called the Omen was not known to the Arcana Continent.

It began to show the reason in person.

However.

Gureuk?

The Omen had also overlooked.

Gureureureuk……!!

What it had just swallowed.

“!”

As if to make the solemn resolution pointless.

The something that had quieted down.

The soldiers caught their rough breath and turned their heads slowly.

And they were startled.

“What’s wrong with that thing?”

Gureukgureureukgureuk─

The giant something was twisting its body as if it had a stomachache. But the question did not last long. That’s right, there were those who showed it through action rather than words.

Those who encountered the prey.

Thud!!!!

A form popping out while tearing apart the Omen’s body.

The soldiers narrowed their eyes and watched.

That is…….

“A forearm……?”

More accurately, a person’s forearm.

To describe it in more detail, it was the forearm of a man holding a silver sword (銀劍) that was neither flamboyant, sharp, durable, nor suitable for combat.

“The black thing looks like clothes, but what’s with all that dangling stuff……?”

Including the Empire in the Holy War.

The Arcana Continent.

They were abandoned by everyone, but they did not lose their [Tenacity].

“W-Wait!!”

Even if it was the soldiers of the Empire who abandoned them, they did not turn away.

Such crazy ones were unique even on the vast continent.

“Th-That outfit is a demon hunter……? C-Could it be……!!”

Akshan.