Chapter 198: Union (9)

Krrrrrrrng!!

Golden lightning roared through the sky.

The golden thunderbolt pierced through the black goat, straight through its chest.

‘This is absurd.’

The Lion King thought.

That man, although seen through a video before, felt different now. The aura and power felt back then were incomparable to what he felt now.

“Hmm, does the association treat that man well?”

“It’s not about that. A man like him moves according to his own beliefs.”

Merlin responded to the Lion King’s words.

“That’s probably true.”

The Lion King walked calmly.

He had just become a bit interested in the being known as the masked man.

[You have killed one of the demonic clan who becomes strongest in their own land. The Black Sun is watching you.]

[……!!]

[The will of the world blocks the gaze of the Black Sun.]

[You have completely obliterated an entity of a higher rank than yourself. Unbelievable feat! The reward increases.]

[Conceptual Stat Shadow increased by 15.]

[Special Stat increased by 10.]

[10,000,000p is awarded.]

[Black Goat's Horn x5, Black Goat's Hide x10, Dark Iron Ore x15…….]

[Your rank deepens. The will of the world takes note of your narrative.]

“Hoo……”

All sorts of things flashed through my retina.

All kinds of powers were infused into me. I slowly adjusted them and guided them to Black Flame Brilliant Star God.

[Special Stat Shadow has reached 100.]

[It is possible to evolve into a Conceptual Stat. When evolving into a Conceptual Stat, the essence may change.]

I stared at the system.

A Conceptual Stat was a power that existed alone. If I possessed the Conceptual Stat Energy of Defying Heaven and Shadow, it meant no one else could use this power. Sharing a part of it transformed it into a Special Stat, and the one who received it became subservient.

It could act as a malicious force.

Anyway.

The meaning that the essence might change meant that because someone else had the power of shadows, I might not be able to use it.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

It was right to evolve it for now.

Enhancing my power with the shadow knight wasn’t very useful. I pressed confirm.

[You have obtained Conceptual Stat Form.]

Form? This was new.

Before checking the ability, I first turned around. I had felt a pricking gaze for a while.

Looking back, I saw two beings: a robed figure with an androgynous appearance and an unmatching beard. A descendant of the same dream demon blood as Ershil, the great wizard Merlin, who was titled master in England.

And the culprit who brought us here, the Lion King.

“Nice to meet you.”

The Lion King greeted me in a calm tone.

“In Korea, they greet like this, right? As a member of England, I welcome the esteemed guest. Though I’d like to say that, this place isn’t suitable, so why don’t we move somewhere else?”

“State your business here.”

It was resolved too easily with the appearance of the Lion King and Merlin.

The lightning from my attack was strong, but it wouldn’t usually be enough to kill the Black Goat so easily. If it weren’t for Merlin’s imagined world, the garden of Yggdrasil.

‘So, I must persuade them.’

Convince the two to kill the French heroes.

Fortunately, if the Lion King was persuaded, Merlin would follow. From now on, I must act to gain the Lion King’s favor.

“You’re a greedy man.”

It was an abrupt remark.

Perhaps it was a comment pointing out that I was unleashing my power to monopolize the rank.

“……”

“Well, I don’t dislike that. The faithful guard against greed, but I believe that greed is human nature.”

The Lion King said, looking at me.

“Seeing you in person is more absurd. The world is vast, I suppose. To go from upper rank to the top rank in such a short time…….”

“What’s your point?”

“Are you a member of the Union?”

“I am.”

“Is that so?”

The Lion King nodded and spoke.

“Will you remain in the Union in the future?”

“Is that important?”

“It is. Rather than the Union, I’d like to form a personal alliance with you.”

“……As long as the Union does not betray me first, I will not betray it.”

“Good answer. If, though unlikely, the Union betrays you, England is willing to take you in. Probably under similar conditions to mine.”

“England?”

“Yes. Lately, many heroes have been leaving England.”

There was a strange hostility in his words.

“Ah, by the way, that last strike was splendid. Though it invaded reality through Merlin’s imagined world, to take down the Black Goat, which even Hitler boasted about, in one blow was surprising.”

“Is that so?”

“I could immediately feel that you were hiding your power.”

“……”

The Lion King stared at me.

“You seem well aware of the darkness in France.”

“It’s suspicious, to say the least.”

“That’s true. Not all, but quite a few such beings exist. Is that why you didn’t kill them?”

The Lion King glanced to the side. The French heroes, Louis and Roxanne, were standing there with blank expressions.

“What will you do with the traitors?”

“You mean the French? Hmm, they are already within Merlin’s illusion.”

I looked at the Lion King. I couldn’t see inside his iron helmet. It seemed to be magically treated. However, I felt that the Lion King was smiling.

“Really?”

“A while ago, when Merlin invaded reality with the imagined world, I asked him to help. Recently, they’ve been too troublesome to leave alone.”

The words “many heroes are leaving England” came to mind again.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“England will join the Union. Oh, are you going to Korea directly?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“They say the scenery of France is beautiful. But that’s wrong. There’s much to see in England. If you come, we’ll treat you as an esteemed guest, so please visit.”

“That means ‘I’d be grateful if you visited, so please do come~.’”

Merlin said with a cheerful smile.

His androgynous appearance shifted slightly more towards male.

“……Understood. I’ll visit later.”

“Later, huh~. Well, you must be busy. The traitors have just started talking.”

Merlin gave a sinister smile. His gaze turned towards the two French heroes.

“At first, we were villains rebelling against the country.”

Lucia spoke with a blank expression.

“The Nazi Empire couldn’t be contained by just us. Look at the surrounding countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary……many countries disappeared. And they didn’t stop there. They kidnapped each hero and citizen, turning them into soldiers who followed their will.”

And those soldiers were sent back to the battlefield.

They didn’t tire, and their strength was at least that of a hunter who had accepted minimal magical power. Most citizens were transformed that way. At that point, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

“Can you imagine? Billions of people as soldiers. No matter how much the upper-ranked heroes struggled, it was pointless. They could only delay the battlefield a little.”

At that time, the Nazi Empire declared to the world that they would make everyone sacrifices to the Black Sun. And with overwhelming force, they began to occupy everything around them.

Many European countries fell that way.

And then they appeared.

“The myths descended. Asgard in Sweden and Finland. Olympus in the old Greek territories.”

They intervened. Countless soldiers turned to ashes in an instant.

The Great Gods.

Unique beings. Incredibly strong beings who devoured numerous faiths. Even dragons couldn’t disregard them.

“But they had their limits.”

Because they were gods from another dimension. Although myths originated here, when they came back for some reason, they were classified as gods from another world.

“The world imposed restrictions on them.”

Restrictions preventing the Great Gods from rampaging.

Maintaining everything they had through faith was difficult. In direct confrontation, the Nazi Empire would struggle to find strength beyond the Black Sun and Hitler, but they began to nibble away using those restrictions.

Under those circumstances, it was almost impossible for France to hold out.

“The proud paladins are strong. They were noble and the pride of the country.”

So they didn’t compromise.

They tried not to compromise.

“The citizens started changing. At first, it began with kidnappings.”

“But talking about this and that, in the end, you’re saying you betrayed other countries, right?”

“…….”

At Merlin’s words, Louis fell silent.

“Stop with the emotional appeal. Are you involved with the recent disappearances of heroes in England, Sweden, and Spain or not?”

“……Yes. Lately, the Nazi Empire has been strangely obsessed with heroes. I don’t know, but there’s a department related to that.”

“So if we strike there, we’ll find out. But the Nazis wouldn’t act like this now, would they?”

As the Lion King muttered, I had a guess.

‘No, could it be because of me?’

The invasion of the U.S. on the Hundred Temple.

I intervened with three transcendent beings and disrupted their plans.

The assassination attempt on Seo Ga-yeon in Korea.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I intervened. In the process, I caused massive damage. The greatest loss was Himmler, the leader of the Schutzstaffel, dying irreversibly.

Moreover, the emperor displayed his power, gaining enormous support in the process. The assassination attempt on Seo Ga-yeon failed.

Also, under the guise of another identity, Veritas set a commandment.

Oppose the Nazis.

Anyone cooperating with them, for any reason, should be annihilated by any means.

This caused enormous damage to the Nazi Empire. A major corporation falling made the news during this process.

‘…….’

Suddenly.

It wasn’t strange that the Nazi Empire considered Veritas, the masked man, and me the top priority threats.

“Then, Lion King, you’ll have to work a bit more. It seems we need to raid France.”

“I’d like to join as well.”

“Are you worried we might harm innocent civilians? Sir Daniel’s concern is a bit unpleasant, but understandable. We are short on strength, so I’ll allow it.”

Before that—.

Merlin smiled cheerfully and lifted the tip of his staff. Srrng—a sharp blade appeared.

“Ugh.”

“All traitors threatening humanity must be killed.”

Louis and Roxanne.

Their heads were severed.