Chapter 190 - Lord of Ice (2)

Alandal’s plan of actions had changed.

They were being overly cautious and safety oriented. They only showed interest in gathering Bloodstones. This caused several media companies to keep pouring out criticisms.

Still, Alandal was unresponsive.

At first, only the brave ones threw stones at them. However, the media was piling on Alandal now. There was a consistent theme in all the news generated regarding Alandal.

‘The king’s absence means nothing will get done.

The media refused to let go of the subject. They even started criticizing Kahng-woojin.

Why did he go to Alphen?

He left earth to pursue the safety of another planet. Was he in the right to do this?

The world was in an uncertain situation, and everyone wanted a breakthrough that would solve the problems they faced. They didn’t care if a hero stepped forward to stop the war, or a sacrificial lamb that would bear all the responsibility....

Alandal, who had been excessively unresponsive to all other works, was focused on a single task.

Kim-haemin slammed open the door to the Prime Minister’s room, and he yelled out.

“We’ve picked up the trace of Kim-kahngchul.”

“Huh? Where?”

Jung-minchan had been getting ready to berate the man. However, he got up from his seat with a bright expression on his face.

“He’s in London.”

“London? England?”

“Yes and yes.”

“Damn bastard.”

This had to do with one of the specific orders given by Kahng-woojin.

They had focused all their attention on finding Dr. Toppler, and the escapee Kim-kahngchul. This was the first time they had found a clue.

“As expected, he has a connection with Professor Toppler.”

Minchan thought Kahng-woojin had been spot on with his instructions. London was where Dr. Toppler was last seen. Since Kim-kahngchul appeared there, his appearance in London was meaningful.

“However, there is a problem.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure if the British government will allow us entry....”

They were on a flying fortress roaming around the sky.

Once the international opinion on Alandal turned sour, it had stayed bad. Very few countries welcomed Alandal, since they weren’t of any help. This was especially true for countries like England where there was a strong population of Roused.

Countries had learned about the new Item called the Dimensional Fragments. This was why they wanted to destroy the Colony of Dimensional lords through their own power. They refused to cooperate with others.

“We’ll have to negotiate.”

Jung-minchan had already planned on negotiating with other countries.

Alandal put their safety above all else, but it wasn’t as if they were powerless.

Even if one considered only the active Wyvern Units, Alandal had more firepower than most small countries.

“Let’s turn our nose around.”

The flying fortress was currently flying over India.

Minchan immediately went looking for Bibi.

She was a god-like figure inside the flying fortress called Bibi’s Castle.

She had influence over the regions underneath the Colony, and she was able to create anything within the area of her influence. Moreover, the movement of the Colony had to be approved by her.

Minchan knew Bibi was on top of the deck.

If one looked down from the control tower, the deck looked like a small town.

If one walked between the buildings, one couldn’t even tell that everything was floating in the air.

He arrived at the the edge of the deck. A cafe with a large terrace was located there.

“You are here, Prime Minister?”

“Ah. Yes, mother.”

Jung-minchan politely bowed towards Kahng-woojin’s mother, Lee-soogyong.

“Ah-whew. I told you to stop doing that.”

“No. How could I....”

Minchan was uncomfortable calling her by her name. Lee-soogyong, who was abashed by being called by her title, barely got Minchan to call her ‘mother’.

Even now she stood up from her seat by the door to greet him. He was uncomfortable by such attention.

“You don’t have to greet me like that.”

“Ho ho. A person of high stature like the Prime Minister has come here, so how can I not greet you?”

Ah, mother.... Your son is way above me.

He had tried to get that point across to her multiple times, yet she didn’t change. Therefore, he swallowed what he was about to say.

“Shall I prepare your usual order?”

“Yes.... Also, I also have business with Ms. Bibi....”

“Uh-whew. I was thoughtless. Hurry up and go see her. It seems I took away time from a busy man.”

“Ah. It is nothing. I’ll be going.”

Lee-soogyong let go of Minchan’s hand, and she went back to giving orders to her employees. In her mind, Jung-minchan was the highest ranked person in Alandal.

From her perspective, Kahng-woojin was just her son....

Jung-minchan gave his farewell, and he approached the terrace. Bibi and Sooah were sitting in chairs as they leisurely chatted with each other. He also saw Do-jaemin standing close to the two.

Jaemin was no longer affected by the sun, so his face was impassive even in the light of the sun.

“Ms. Bibi. We’ll have to move the fortress to London.”

“Why London?”

“We’ve picked up on Kim-gahngchul’s trace there.”

“Hmm. He is the guy that ran away last time? All right.”

Her master had ordered the recapture of this particular human. Bibi readily nodded her head, and she immediately moved the fortress. There was a slight tremor before Bibi’s Castle started to move slowly.

“Huh, Sooah? Are you feeling unwell?”

“N...no.”

Unlike her words, Sooah’s face was pale. She had been well until a moment ago. When the color of her face changed, Do-jaemin was taken aback.

“W...what’s going on?”

Do-jaemin was asked by Kahng-woojin to protect Sooah. This was the first time he had seen such a change, so of course, he was taken aback by it.

On the other hand, Jung-minchan and Bibi’s face was filled with worry, but they weren’t surprised by what was happening.

“She is receiving an oracle.”

“Ah....”

“Let us move to a different location.”

Sooah was letting out cold sweat as her pupils moved around in an unfocused manner. Bibi quickly carried her into a room located at the corner of the cafe.

While they left, a man drinking a beverage was manipulating his handphone.

The man had just taken pictures of Sooah.

The man attached the photos to a message before sending it out.

[Possible target. Need confirmation.]

After the message was sent,the man finished his drink before a woman approached him.

“Mr. Soongho. Your lunch time has ended. Hurry up and go.”

“Ah. Yes, manager.”

He put the handphone back into his pocket, then Soongho got up from his seat.

Cafe’s Backroom.

A powerful energy was being emitted from Sooah’s body.

She was barely able to keep her eyes open, but her ghastly visage no longer belonged to Sooah.

[The time of our destiny has arrived.]

Her small mouth stood still, yet a sound rang inside everyone’s head.

“What time is she talking about?”

[.......]

There was no answer to Minchan’s question.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was always like this. She only spoke what she wanted to say,

[It might be the start of a change, or the bridle may be put on us again.....]

“.......”

Since there was no point in speaking to her, everyone stayed silent as they listened. They just recorded her words, so Kahng-woojin could be informed of her words.

[.......]

Sooah’s body had been floating up in the air, but now she was slowly descending to the floor. Bibi lifted her, and she carefully stroked Sooah’s cheek.

“Poor thing.”

She was her master’s dongsaeng.

Why did the god of earth pick Sooah? She was still very young.

Bibi looked to be the same age as Sooah, but she was a demon. She had lived over 200 years as a succubus.

She couldn’t help, but pity Sooah. She felt for her.

At that moment, Bibi’s slightly wet eyes opened wide from surprise.

“Miss Bibi? What’s wrong?”

Minchan questioned her in surprise, but Bibi extended his hand towards him. She stopped him from approaching.

“Uh uh....”

She let out an exclamation as her body started to twist.

Pah-pah-paht!

Her arms and legs exploded.

Instead of fragments of blood... Various parts of her body exploded into black smoke.

Hwah-roo-rook.

When she was completely returned to being a cloud of black smoke, it started to coalesce again. She was completely different from before. She was taller and her body was bigger.

“Ah ah.”

It was as if Bibi was unsummoned before being summoned again.

“Huhk.”

“Ooh uhk.”

Instead of the unconscious Sooah, Minchan and Jaemin let out shocked exclamation at Bibi’s changed appearance.

She had slim legs that extended for days. Alongside her increased height, her breasts and butt grew bigger.... She still had her cute face, but her appearance almost made her look inhuman.

Bibi had a different type of beauty compared to the Holy Maiden Melody. She was oozing with sex appeal.

Moreover, a slim black tail extended out from her backside....

“Hah.”

One couldn’t tell if you was letting out a exclamation or a moan. She let out a restless noise as she puffed out her cheeks.

“This will be troublesome.”

Even her voice sounded seductive. It was as if her voice was melting the ears of the men around her. Minchan and Jaemin didn’t even think about turning their heads away. Their faces were beet red.

Bibi turned to look at the two.

‘Jeez. Stop looking at the two of us like that. We are in a troublesome situation too. Holy crap.’

“We are in trouble.”

At Bibi’s words, the two men mumbled to themselves as if their souls had been bewitched.

“Everything is bigger....”

“Oh, say can you see. By the dawn’s early light....”1

The two men continued to mumble to themselves as if they weren’t of sound mind yet. Bibi furrowed her brows as she looked at them.

“Please come to your senses!”

“Uh-yoohk.”

“Huhk.”

She spoke with a serious expression on her face.

“It seems earth has finished going through its synchronization.”

“What?”

Minchan replied with a question. Bibi still had on a serious expression as she turned to look at the unconscious Sooah.

So was this the time of destiny mentioned by earth’s god?

“The Dimensional Gates will now be wide open.”

“.......”

Minchan and Jaemin also put on a serious expression. Even now the Dimensional lords were appearing quite frequently. If the Dimensional gates was thrown wide open....

If the earlier attacks were exploratory attacks, the attacks from now on will be....

The real war was about to start now.

***

“Block them!”

“Ggooh-ahhhhk.”

Too-doo-doo-doo-doo.

The hail of bullets were shot as the brave Roused charged forward. They died in an ill-advised manner. Their enemies were powerful, and they had all show up on the world at the same time.

It was the 2nd Dungeon Shock.

It was the name coined by the media of the world, and it described the incidents that were occurring daily. However, it wasn’t a topic of conversation any more.

There were places where tens of thousands of people were being killed, and the odd phenomena of an entire city being vaporized into nothing had occurred.

The entirety of earth was in chaos.

The owners of businesses and the upper crust of society had already evacuated to several regions that were considered to be safe zones. It was ironic that these people evacuated to third world countries, who possessed no subway stations.

Was clearing Dungeons the safer option?

The Dungeons were reset several dozen times a day, and the Roused couldn’t continuously attempt to clear them. It only took a single day for Dimensional lords to appear at these unkept Dungeons.

Moreover, it wasn’t just the Dimensional lords. There were the Dungeon owners and the Dimensional refugees appearing on earth. A problem that arose from these events was the fact that not all of these beings were monsters.

There were races that looked exactly like humans. Even the Dimensional refugee classified as humanoid were mixing into the population of earth.

The previous Dungeon Shock couldn’t be compared to this current great catastrophe.

In a situation where it was hard to tell, who should be helped or not, Bibi’s Castle arrived in the skies of London.

“Are the British government still unresponsive towards our request?”

“They want us to wait. They’ll allow us entry soon.”

He zoomed in on the surface with cameras, and he could see the situation beneath was very bad.

It was hellish.

It was unknown as to how many Dungeon Breaks had occurred, but there seemed to be more monsters than humans below. London was a lawless land now.

“Hoo-ooh. Hurry up...”

They had come here to find Kim-kahngchul, but that problem was inconsequential now. The solving of the Moon World’s secret was a moot point if the entire earth fell into ruins.

No, earth wouldn’t fall to ruins. The population would be eradicated....

The core members of Alandal were gathered in the control room, and they were still waiting for permission from the British government.

“Uh?”

“Uh?”

Bibi and Do-jaemin simultaneously let out an exclamation.

“What’s wrong?”

“Master is back.”

“H...hyung-nim.”

As soon as he returned to his Dimensional Domain, Woojin sent messages to his vassals.

[How’s earth doing? If it isn’t busy over there, I want to gather some Points in Alandal.]

“It is busy. Earth is in trouble.”

“Master. The Synchronization was completed.”

He heard the two voices simultaneously, and Woojin became silent.

[Is it bad?]

“Yes! The Dungeons are continuously Breaking all over the world. People are being evacuated to regions without any subway stations.”

[Where are you guys?]

“We are at London.”

[I’ll be heading over there.]

“Yes. Please hurry.”

Jung-minchan wasn’t able to hear Woojin’s voice, so he reacted when he heard Do-jaemin’s words. Jung-minchan answered with a pale face.

“If the king comes this way, what’ll happen to the employees dispatched at the Seoul Station?”

“Ah!”

Do-jaemin immediately updated the situation, and Woojin asked a question in response.

[Who’s there?]

“Chief secretary Woo went there. He wanted to improve upon the relationship with Korea....”

[Ah. That guy is always quite troublesome.]

After mulling over it for a short time, Woojin gave an answer.

[I’ll go to Seoul. I want you guys to kill all the monsters over there.]

“The British government hasn’t given us permission to enter....”

At Jaemin’s words, Woojin didn’t even have to think about his answer.

[You have my permission. Go.]

“Yes, hyung，”

Jaemin no longer heard Woojin’s voice. He turned around, and everyone was focused on him.

“He wants us to kill them all.”

Jung-minchan immediately turned on the control room’s microphone.

“Wyvern Units. Get ready to deploy! Ready the cannons!”

The heads of the cannons started to extend out from the floor of the flying fortress, and they started pointing towards the surface.

Notes:

Jaemin sings the S. Korean National Anthem. I changed it into the US National Anthem.