The moment the Fear King died, I flew next to Hwaya. But when I noticed what state she was in, I stopped. She was taking deep, slow breaths. Every time she breathed in, a vast amount of mana rushed into her. It was her mana that scorched the Fear King. No⌠To be precise, it was mana that once belonged to the Fear King, having its impurities removed by Hwayaâs flames.
âLooks like Hwaya found her path.â
Just like how I accepted the Beast Kingâs mana without the dungeonâs help, Hwaya was accepting the Fear Kingâs mana as her own. I didnât want to bother her as she was going through this process, so I decided to just watch her from afar.
In just five minutes, Hwaya sucked in all the mana and opened her eyes. When she realized I staring at her, she made an expression that seemed to say, âoops.â
âS-Sorry, Shin. I got too excited and took everything⌠C-Come here. Iâll give you half.â
She smiled and gestured me to come over. I knew what she planned to do, but I asked her out of politeness anyways.
âAnd how do you plan on sharing it?â
âYou already know. Uhuhu, uhuhuhu. Now, now, come here.â
Hwaya pucked her lips like a duck and stretched her arms out towards me. I didnât even need to listen.
âYou can take it all.â
Hwaya shouted disappointedly at my cold reply.
âWhy!? Come here and take you hard-earned share! Hurry!â
âI experienced the same thing when I killed the Beast King. I havenât even finished processing his mana yet.â
âTsk.â
Hearing what I said, Hwaya clicked her tongue noticeably. I grinned and spoke.
âLetâs go out now. Thereâs still one king left.â
âAh, right. We should.â
Even as she said that, she stole glances at me as if it was a shame we had to leave so soon. Really, what am I going to do with her? I sighed and approached her.
âDonât give me any mana though, alright?â
âYeah!â
Hwaya replied with a full smile. Since she looked cute, I decided to forgive her.
Soon afterwards, when Hwaya and I came outside, we couldnât feel anyoneâs presence⌠except one. Kain was the only one remaining. He was sitting on empty air, and stood up when he saw us.
âNot bad.â
âYou saw us?â
âSleipnir was holding on.â
Hwaya whispered in my ear.
âWhoâs that?â
âHeâs the one who helped me enter the dungeon. Heâll be Revivalâs newest member.â
âAh, so you really couldnât enter using normal methods.â
Hwaya muttered with a bitter smile and asked me worriedly.
âI donât know how you roped him in, Shin, but if the price you had to pay was helping his worldâŚâ
âThatâs not it. Besides, I had to meet him eventually, so donât worry about it.â
âMm⌠It feels like youâre getting farther away.â
Hwaya seemed to have felt uneasy as she carefully took my hand and held it tightly. I didnât stop her as it was a pleasant feeling anyways. On the other hand, Kainâs eyebrows twitched.
âYouâre quite a man.â
âI am. So? Where is everyone?â
âA dungeon shattered and the one you call King appeared.â
âNow!?â
I somewhat expected it when no one was here, but I was still shocked. Not only did they use the dungeonâs power for themselves, they even broke the dungeon and appeared on Earth!? What shocked me the most was the timing when the dungeon shattered. It was almost like they knew what was happening elsewhere!
I wiped the thought off my head for now. It was more important to go help my friends.
âAre you going now?â
Kain asked me in a relaxed voice. I could tell by his attitude that he wanted to maintain the distance between us for a little longer. I couldnât blame him.
âOf course. I trust them, but you never whatâs going to happen.â
âI already did my job today, which was using Gungnir and Sleipnir. I wonât help you any more than this.â
âI know⌠But you canât do the same tomorrow.â
The promise between us was a mutual contract. I needed his help, and he also seemed to need mine. At my words, which carried this sentiment, Kain slowly nodded.
âOf course, I promise. Once today passes, I will join your guild and become a member of Revival.â
âGood. Hwaya, letâs go.â
Hwaya glared at Kain unhappily, but she seemed to have decided to leave things to me as she shut her eyes and answered.
âUn.â
The King of the Dead must have appeared in Vatican City. When I imagined countless undead breaking historical monument at the headquarter of the Catholic Church, I couldnât help but find it ironic. As I flew around the world previously, I set Returnâs transfer points here and there, and thankfully, Rome happened to be one of them.
âReturn.â
I closed my eyes and opened them back up. For a moment, I was worried I traveled to the wrong place, but we were indeed in Rome. Rome was close to Vatican City, and because Yua once told me she wanted to visit Vatican City, I had remembered to set Rome as a transfer point.
But the Rome I was looking at looked nothing like the Rome I knew. This place had already become hell.
âWhatâs going onâŚ?â
âShin, over there!â
Hwaya seemed to have sensed something, as she pointed to the distance. I soon understood how she found out so quickly. A giant flame dragon was flying in the sky.
[KUAAAAAAAA!]
The hell breaking out under us caught our feet, but my friendsâ lives had greater priority. We shot towards the direction of Lakiâs roar. As we flew, we could clearly see the Vatican Walls, which no longer stood as they once did.
There wasnât even a single building left intact, and it was even harder to find any survivors. Even Rome was broken apart to such extent. It wouldnât make sense if Vatican City was fine.
All we saw was grey smoke, dust, and undeads. The Death King had turned the entire city into death.
âSon!â
âFather!â
Father, who was riding on Lakiâs back, shouted in rejoice when he saw us. He didnât look hurt, but his rough breathing made me worry.
âDid you save my daughter!?â
âIâm here, Aju⌠Father!â
âGood! Hurry, go help the other kids!â
Other kids? I looked around in hurry. I couldnât see Daisy or anyone else. Considering how the Death King was also missing, it seemed they were fighting in a different place. But then why did Daisy leave Laki here? Was she fine without Laki? A sense of uneasiness swept across my head, which I immediately shook off. Thankfully, Father appeased my worry.
âDaisy left Laki for us. She must be having a hard time so go help her!â
There were countless monsters other than Laki in the air. Each of them were grotesque and unsightly. They looked similar to the Fear Kingâs clones, but unlike the clones who received the Fear Kingâs power, these monsters looked lifeless. They were all undead.
âWhy did you split up?â
âWhen he appeared, he brought an enormous army. Just the power he had alone was terrifying! ⌠Heâs dangerous, probably the most dangerous out of the Five Kings. Daisy must have known that.â
Father gritted his teeth and thrust his spear in front of him. Vibration energy converged onto a single point before shooting out in a straight line. Monsters flying near it, aiming for Lakiâs flesh, disappeared without leaving a single drop of blood.
âHis power of death is contagious. Itâs a vicious curse that only the Elixir can cure! Donât underestimate him and get yourself hurt. Got it!?â
âIâve heard more than enough!â
Father wasnât the only one on Lakiâs back. Ye-Eun was also here, scrunching down and carrying two black daggers. No, this wasnât Ye-Eun, but Duca.
âHurry up and go help Hecateâs disciple! The Lava King is enough to hold out here!â
In the midst of Laki clashing with countless monsters, I felt an ominous death energy from the distance. The moment Daisy realized how dangerous the Death King was, she must have left Laki behind to deal with his army while she left to fight him directly. When I was about to charge towards her direction, Hwaya spoke up.
âShin, it looks like Iâll have to stay and help Ina.â
âIna? Shoot!â
I only just realized. My daughter was standing alone on the ground dominated by death. The freezing energy shooting out from her hands were destroying the monsters approaching her.
In terms of raw power, the monsters on ground were far more damaging than the monsters in the sky. This was because they had devoured all living beings and turned them into one of their own. To further strengthen themselves, they had even broken out of Vatican Walls and were trying to reach out towards other parts of Italy. Currently, Ina was stopping them all by herself. Though she possessed a boundless mana, she was still a child who was less than ten years old. But she was still facing so many undead by herself!
To stop the destruction from spreading, to protect even one more life, Ina was standing her ground while dripping with sweat. Seeing her tragic fate, I bit my lips. It seemed Ina was the only thing Hwaya could think about, as she let go of my hand, shouting out as she flew off.
âTake care of Daisy, Shin!â
âYeah. You take care of our daughter, Hwaya!â
With that, we split up. I flew up, while Hwaya flew down.
âMommy!â
âYeah, Mommyâs here, so donât worry!â
Hearing their heartfelt shouts with my keen hearing, I smiled as I soared up. After breaking through the clouds, I felt chills from Daisyâs power. Just how far did she bring the Death King!? Thankfully, I could feel the presence of death and the power of a god facing it!
âDaisy, Sumire!â
âKang Shin, here⌠Now, we won. Huhu.â
âYou came, Shin-nim!â
Seeing their unrelenting faith in my strength, I smiled bitterly. She had to be using a godâs power, but she was still dripping with sweat. Controlling Laki and facing a king couldnât be that easy!
On the other hand, Sumire who was protecting her looked unfamiliar. She wore a shining silver armor with a spear in one hand and the Aegis in the other. A full-body armament?
âI got stronger too, Shin-nim!â
I was about to say something, but decided against it. Now wasnât the time to ask questions. All I needed to know was that Sumire had become more reliable. Not to mentionâŚ
[The Hero is here. He came to defeat me. The Hero really defeated the others and came here. Haha, hahahaha!]
An existence far more fearful than someone like the Fear King was looking straight into me.