There was no word from the dispatched Under-Elf Rangers. Instead, someone else visited the Grand Labyrinth first.
âMilord.â Mimir, who had left the Grand Labyrinth not long ago, returned relatively soon, his expression looking as weary as ever.
âDid you leave something behind?â Kim Jin-Woo could clearly guess why Mimir had returned, but he pretended to be unaware.
Seeing his reaction, Mimir looked back at Kim Jin-Woo with a conflicted expression. After Twilight, he had barely managed to fill up the once-empty Eternal Treasury, but now that his master was feigning ignorance, the imp couldnât help but find himself speechless.
Moreover, in return, the imp had been deprived of his comfortable home and driven out into the perilous Underworld. It was completely understandable that Mimir would feel upset at the turn of events.
Kim Jin-Woo couldnât read the impâs mind, but if he could, he could be certain that the imp was cursing him at that very moment.
âUrgh. It looks like the situation has gotten complicated. Thatâs why Iâm here to entrust myself to Milord,â Mimir said. It seemed the situation was rather urgent. It was very rare for Mimir, who liked to beat about the bush, to be so straightforward.
âSituation? What situation?â Kim Jin-Woo asked casually, still acting naturally and pretending to not know anything.
âMy base has been left exposed to the Underworld. As I have many nuanced relationships in the Underworld, I would like to seek refuge under Milordâs grace,â Mimir said. He was like a thirsty man digging a well for himself. In the end, he had no choice but to bow down and lean on Kim Jin-Wooâs generosity.
In retrospect, it seemed as if Kim Jin-Woo was the one who had exposed the Black Merchants to the Underworld, but the truth was, Mimir was the one who had caused it all in the first place.
Even if it were Kim Jin-Wooâs fault, what right did Mimir have to tell the true owner of the Treasury where to relocate it? In the Underworld where strength and power was all that mattered, Kim Jin-Woo was the stronger of the two, and thus Mimir knew he lacked the grounds to argue against Kim Jin-Wooâs wishes.
âHmm.â Despite having heard Mimirâs request, Kim Jin-Woo didnât readily answer.
However, it was Angela who responded in his stead. âI donât know how you have the guts to come here like this when youâre so rotten to the core.â She criticized Mimirâs past, when he had been sneaky behind the scenes without her masterâs knowledge.
âIâve made a lot of mistakes in the past, but ultimately, I feel the end justified the means, considering how great the payoff was. If it werenât for me, Milord could never have ascended so quicklyâŠâ Mimir began.
âShut the fuck up.â Angelaâs shrill voice rang out in that instant, silencing the entire room. âIf Master werenât here right now, I would have torn your wretched body to pieces and scattered it all across the Underworld.â
Mimir looked bewildered by her outrageous remark. After having her identity taken away by Iron-Blooded Anatolius, Angela seemed to have focused on taking great care of herself.
âNever call Master âMilordâ ever again. Since when did a servant ever call his own master âMilordâ? You play the part as his servant, and yet youâre so shameless about it,â Angela continued. As she extended her long black nails, her presence rose so fiercely that Mimir bit his lips in fear.
âBecause of that filthy snout of yours, the other Highlords also refer to him as a Lord. If you truly want to entrust your body to Master, youâll have to change the way you address him first.â Angela glared fiercely at the imp. However, she saw her masterâs expression and backed away.
âWeâll become one family in the future, so thereâs no need for you to be too worked up about this,â Kim Jin-Woo said.
âMi⊠Master!â The color returned to Mimirâs face in an instant. However, that moment of joy was brief as the imp listened to Kim Jin-Wooâs subsequent statement.
âBut that doesnât mean what she said was wrong. You gain some, you lose some. You want to live from here on out by relying on my generosity, but it seems that while youâve continued to speak of the past, youâve forgotten your place in the present.â Kim Jin-Wooâs voice grew colder the more he continued to talk, and at the end of it, every word felt as cold as ice water.
âIs the situation so urgent your brain has ceased to function? You donât seem to understand what Iâm saying,â he eventually said.
âSorry? What do youâŠâ Mimir responded as if he werenât aware of what Kim Jin-Woo meant.
Kim Jin-Woo responded coldly, âWhat you need to do now isnât to run that mouth of yours, but to get on your knees and beg for mercy.â
He knew Mimir would continue to try to get one over him if he were left alone and not put in his place. Besides, it wasnât the first time the imp had fooled around with his tricks behind the scenes. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo decided to correct the impâs bad habits once and for all, right then and there.
âKneel. And beg.â Kim Jin-Woo determinedly forced Mimir to obey him. He continued arrogantly âOnly then will I consider extending those pathetic lives of yours and the Black Merchants just a little longer.â
Mimir showed no signs of hesitation. He must have expected such a situation to eventually unfold when making this visit, so there should have been no more reason for him to hesitate in the first place.
âMaster.â Mimir knelt down and bowed his round head deeply until it almost touched the ground, and called Kim Jin-Woo âmasterâ for the first time. âPlease, accept this useless servant. Allow this humble life to once again protect Masterâs treasury, and allow this clan of servants to be of servitude to Master.â
Crack. Crack.
He seemed to have understood that his recent conduct hadnât been good, as he cracked his head on the ground repeatedly until blood started flowing down his forehead.
When Kim Jin-Woo finally accepted his request, Mimir hurriedly left to relocate the Black Merchants and his assets.
âHow far do you think we can trust him?â Morrigan asked.
All of the summons, including Morrigan, stated they couldnât trust Mimir and begged their master to reconsider.
âI donât trust Mimir either. Iâd rather work with the Deep Floor Nobles than fully trust that cunning imp,â Kim Jin-Woo replied.
âThen why did you accept him? If you keep someone like him close to you, bad things will likely happen.â Morrigan asked him with a look of incomprehension on her face.
Meanwhile, Angela looked carefully at her master to understand his intentions and asked, âDonât tell me youâre keeping him close to you because you donât trust him?â
Kim Jin-Woo laughed. He replied, âIt may seem like that, but the truth is, with Mimir nowhere else to go, I had to avoid letting him go to the Immoral Lord instead.â
âIf thatâs your concern, wouldnât killing him here on the spot have been a better choice?â Morrigan asked.
All of the summons must have been incredibly upset at Mimir, as none of them stood up for the imp.
âDonât worry. Mimirâs punishment has already been decided. Itâs just that he remains useful, so the punishment is simply being delayed,â Kim Jin-Woo remarked.
Just because the water in a boiling pot was cold didnât mean the pot itself wasnât hot.[1]
Poor Mimir was unaware that his time was ticking, and that he had effectively surrendered himself to a burning anger that had been kept disguised from him.
âHis day of judgment isnât far off,â Kim Jin-Woo said.
The ever-accelerating transformation of the Underworld was approaching its climax. The day of the Restoration would come no matter how much Kim Jin-Woo attempted to block it, and when that day came, he would overturn the plans of all those who had deceived him and punish them all.
The cunning imp, who had stabbed him in the back over and over again, would also share their fate.
âKurgh.â
Seeing their masterâs grin, the summons gasped as they were once again reminded of how tenacious he could be.
While Mimir was gone, the Under-Elf Rangers returned. They all reported that the Underworld had expanded infinitely more than before.
âThe Underworldâs vastness is incomparable to how it was previously, so it appears to be impossible to scout all the new areas in the short term. If you give us more time, weâll definitely complete the scouting expedition,â Rikshasha reported.
Kim Jin-Woo thought deeply. He wondered if the Underworld, which had just been one single realm, had completely returned to how it was in the past, when it wasnât divided into layers. But at that moment, he couldnât tell just how much the Underworld had expanded.
Additionally, Rikshasha expressed concern that strange creatures they had never seen before were now all over the Underworld. She said, âThere were seven-headed hydras, giants with gleaming golden skin, creatures with the faces of goats, lions, and even old men. All of them looked so ferocious, we dared not approach them.â
She added that she had witnessed several labyrinths being attacked and destroyed by the monsters in just a single day. âHorrifically, they consumed the labyrinths themselves. They chewed on the summons as if they were grains of rice, and in the end, swallowed up the entirety of the labyrinths whole. With each labyrinth consumed, they became even bigger and more ferocious than before. It seems that if theyâre left alone, theyâll grow to unspeakable levels of power.â
Perhaps some of the labyrinths that had fallen victim to these creatures were at the Duke-level, as the look on Rikshashaâs face was nothing short of terror.
âThe fact that a Duke-level labyrinth couldnât even survive for a day is pretty terrifying,â Kim Jin-Woo remarked.
He had once used the power of the Evil Dragon to attack the Ursus King and the Taurus King, but even then, it hadnât been an easy feat. Theyâd had the dignity of rulers of the Deep Floors, and they had definitely proven that they were more than qualified to be Dukes. It was just that the matchup hadnât been favorable toward them.
âIt seems the ancient creatures the Ancient Lords once fought against have all awakened,â Dominique said. She looked serious, but she didnât seem to be too concerned. âBut no matter how ferocious those monsters may be, theyâll never take over this place. ValhÇ«ll and the Grand Labyrinth are different from other labyrinths.â
The power of Mjöllnir crouching in the spire of ValhÇ«ll was strong enough to completely change the surrounding terrain, and the Grand Labyrinthâs power of Gluttony would be able to devour countless enemies. Even if the ancient monsters had now awakened, Dominique was confident that their defenses wouldnât be easily breached.
âIâm sure the circumstances facing the other labyrinths will be different from ours,â she added.
The only problem was that, if Rikshashaâs report was correct, the monsters were eating the labyrinths themselves; that meant that as time passed, the number of fragments of the ancient powers Kim Jin-Woo could absorb would decrease.
âSeems like thereâs no easy answer.â Kim Jin-Woo frowned heavily.
There were limited resources he had to fight for, and now, mysterious monsters had appeared to contest them as well, so it was natural for him to feel uncomfortable about the new development. But there was an even bigger problem.
âIf the Underworld has changed this much, it wonât be easy for Denarion to bring in the Wish Stone, even if itâs through Bryntess,â he continued.
The Queen of Corruption had promised to bring the Wish Stone to Kim Jin-Woo, but she was only a Count, and it was clear that she wouldnât be able to withstand the monsters that had destroyed even Duke-class labyrinths within a single day. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo decided to use Mimir to find Bryntess.
âHe may be easy to hate, but it was a good decision to keep him alive. As soon as Mimir returns, order him to find the Queen of Corruption,â he instructed.
âYes, Master,â Angela replied.
Neither Kim Jin-Woo nor Angela even considered Bryntessâ consent. After all, they were Highlords â the apex of the Underworld. There was absolutely no reason for them to worry about a mere count.
But as always, their desired guests didnât arrive, and only uninvited guests arrived instead.
Crash!
Kim Jin-Woo ran out of the labyrinth upon hearing a roar, and Mjöllnir howled as it had during his battle with the Heavenly Giant Lord.
âSo, thatâs the one,â he remarked.
Before him stood a monster as huge as the high walls of Valhǫll itself, wreaking havoc.
1. This is a Korean proverb. It basically means whatâs coming is coming, even if it doesnât seem that way. â