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126
Whoosh—!
Hanbit’s body was pulled downward.
It was not anything like a tunnel leading underground.
A circle radiating blue light.
A portal connecting spaces.
Shhk—
Vision shimmering, a floating sensation enveloping the body.
When it returned to normal, Hanbit was standing at the bottom of a massive vertical cavern.
-Wow.
-Incredibly vast.
-What is this place;
-Looks similar to a nest.
-Isn’t that a test tube?
-??
The structure of the space the camera was showing was extraordinarily unusual.
It looked like the nest in the snowy mountains where the spiders had been, expanded several times over.
Flat ledges jutting out from the cavern walls divided the vertical space into dozens of layers.
Gurgle—
Cylindrical test tubes protruded from above each of those layers.
Confirming the dark crimson liquid bubbling within them, Hanbit shifted his gaze sideways.
And discovered a single man hiding in the corner.
“So you were here after all.”
“Whuah!”
As he approached quietly, the man started violently and raised his blade.
It was Ifrit’s Guild Master, Jinuk.
-Oh?
-He was here.
-He came to save you!
-No, I got dragged here too.
“Y, you……!”
Having recognized the adventurer Black Dragon, his expression was as though he had seen a ghost.
“Why are you so startled?”
“Keep your voice down!”
Jinuk urgently grabbed Hanbit’s arm and pulled him.
Just then, voices reached them from a passage leading toward the center.
“Must we draw this out so long? We could simply proceed right away.”
“For it not to go berserk, an extremely delicate stabilization period is needed. Doesn’t your heart race at the thought of these children waking?”
The ones who revealed themselves were a man in white religious vestments and a woman in a lab coat.
Three cross symbols on each of their shoulders indicated they were upper-rank devotees of the Holy Nation.
-Aren’t those Holy Nation robes?
-You people again?
-Their range of activity is insane;
-The woman……
-Being experimented on… might not be so bad?
Hanbit knew both of them well.
Not only from events here, but there had been direct interactions even within the Holy Nation.
The woman with glasses in particular was a scientist from the Holy Nation.
An exceptionally dangerous figure in both temperament and ability.
“I heard a certain adventurer called Black Dragon is staying in Ifrit. Was it because of that person that the second wave, which used the enhancement drug, ended so quickly?”
“His identity is not important. The unusual power that adventurer used! Would you believe me if I said I saw the shadow of a spirit? Even if it was only a small amount of enhancement drug, he nearly held off those numbers single-handedly!”
“You speak as though the man is some kind of spirit user. Refrain from useless fantasies. My mind will become contaminated.”
“I understand since you didn’t witness the sight, but I was deeply moved! That power will make the experiments more beautiful and profound!”
The scientist, who had been watching the state of the wave, had been astonished by Black Dragon’s power.
Because a mysterious force that was neither magic nor a magical device had dyed the battlefield in ice.
Watching the scientist’s excited face, the devotee let out a sigh.
“Do not entertain even a hint of goodwill toward the man. He is the adventurer who captured Bares. He must surely harbor deep enmity toward the Holy Nation.”
The two did not know the details of what had happened in Edelen.
This was because the bishop faction above them differed.
Those who kept each other in check would never share all information.
Of course, to that scientist, politics and power struggles were more meaningless than a pebble on the roadside.
“If he holds enmity, he’ll engage sincerely, won’t he? Will he perhaps use that power again?”
“There was information as well that he took down the hidden agents of the Fourth Bishop’s faction. There is a possibility he might prevent Ifrit from falling, is there not?”
“That too is one of the charms of the experiment — but our children are no pushover either. Just look! What a beautiful spectacle!”
The scientist looked upward with an expression of joy.
An enormous number of iron cages spread across dozens of layers including the floor.
Covered in black cloth, but the gaps at the bottom showed countless legs.
Thud thud—
Grrk—!
The creatures locked within were none other than monsters.
Wild boars, hop goblins, golems, hellhounds and more — the variety exceeded dozens of different kinds.
-Oh no.
-So many;
-Strike first for the win?
-Touching them wrong seems like it would be disastrous.
Clench—
Jinuk tightened his grip on the sword.
Whatever the purpose, this was no ordinary situation.
The presence of Holy Nation devotees in the Republic was proof of that.
“…They’ve grown considerably. Is this all of them?”
“Of course not. The special children will have finished their preparations somewhere too. Now that they’ve all left my hands, my heart races even more.”
The scientist’s expression was one of genuine affection.
Jinuk, on the other hand, was on the verge of exploding.
Hanbit asked him in a small voice:
“Should we kill both of them?”
“What?”
-Incredible.
-That’s refreshing.
-If they die, won’t things go badly though?
Jinuk’s expression went baffled at the bluntly thrown question.
Then he shook his head and said:
“Those two can’t be killed right now.”
“Is that so? I thought you’d say do it immediately.”
“All Holy Nation people are out of their minds. If you touch them carelessly, the damage will only grow. We need to assess the situation first.”
Jinuk explained calmly with a furrowed brow.
His mental strength and judgment had taken a dramatic leap since the first wave.
A remarkable change — but his inner state was clearly unsettled.
His eyes and voice had been wavering subtly for a while now.
“Either way, much rests on your shoulders. His Holiness the Bishop desires a new weapon for the Holy Nation. If we consider only the potential, seizing the entire continent is not an impossible notion.”
“To be honest I have no interest in that — but the potential of our children is limitless! Even I cannot gauge how strong they’ll become! Shall we take a look?”
The scientist moved excitedly with animated gestures toward the rattling iron cages.
But the devotee furrowed his brow and stepped back.
“Enough. What purpose does it serve to look at filthy monsters.”
“Filthy……. Is that not too harsh? What will these children do if they hear that!”
“Would you make a monster that understands human speech as well? You’d make quite the jester.”
“Oh, a monster that understands human speech? That sounds interesting too.”
“…….”
-Madness;
-Look at those clear eyes.
-The sarcasm just slides right off. Lol.
The male devotee, unable to get under the scientist’s skin, lost his words.
Shaking his head, he turned his body toward the passage.
“I’ll be heading back now.”
“Already? I still have so much I want to explain!”
“Rambling about things only you understand is pointless. I’ll stop by the black market side, so make sure to return without fail after the plan is finalized. If you go darting off somewhere strange again, you’ll certainly face house arrest.”
Having left his warning, the devotee quickly disappeared along the path.
“How interesting…….”
Left alone, the scientist murmured with a look of regret.
But she soon wore a happy expression and approached the iron cages.
“Black Dragon.”
Once the conversation had concluded, Jinuk quietly called the name.
His expression as he turned was more grave than usual.
“You know something, don’t you?”
“Me?”
“There’s no sign of you being flustered or surprised. You were also the one who caught the Holy Nation spy in Edelen.”
Jinuk’s words were not an accusation.
The look in his eyes was more like someone asking for help.
It was also the anxiety born from the helplessness he had felt in the first wave.
“What I know is that those people are preparing for war. And that they’re carrying out various experiments using monsters — that’s about the extent of it.”
“What are they doing with monsters? Is it related to that dark crimson liquid?”
Jinuk’s gaze moved to the cylindrical test tubes.
The liquid bubbling within them was slowly decreasing in amount.
It was being injected into the iron cages.
“That’s the enhancement drug. Things manufactured in the Holy Nation are being distributed through Raven Kingdom’s black market.”
“…They’re trying to invade us by making monsters run amok?”
“Raven will be the starting point, and the ultimate goal will be the entire world. For the Holy Nation, that’s not an impossible story, is it?”
“…….”
-They’re outsourcing the proxy war;
-Asymmetric warfare.
-If you take over with monsters, sweet setup.
-If you can’t beat them, join them.
-I am a Holy Nation devotee starting today.
-You look like Bares.
-What the——
Even the viewers showed all manner of reactions at the story they were hearing for the first time.
The countless experiments being conducted within the Holy Nation.
The monster enhancement drug was nothing more than one among them.
Its progress had been explosively accelerated thanks to that scientist’s abilities.
“What do you think your sister would say if she heard?”
“What?”
“You’re going to report this to Mayor Pirnen, aren’t you? Hearing this — do you think she’d give up the glass wall?”
“That…….”
Jinuk fell quiet, sinking into thought.
But before long he shook his head and said:
“My sister can’t abandon the elements of art and tourism. The economic power generated from there is what creates her standing within the family.”
“Is the Artua family’s position not strong?”
“Our father was an eccentric. He’s probably living somewhere as an adventurer even now. As for what kind of impact that has within the family — I think you can imagine.”
A peculiar man born into the prestigious Artua family.
He had fathered Pirnen through an arranged marriage, then fallen in love with a common woman in the countryside and had Jinuk.
Then he had simply gone off saying he wanted to be an adventurer.
“So reporting it won’t change anything? What about bringing reinforcements from other cities?”
“That would also be difficult. If the rumor spreads that Ifrit is dangerous, people will stop coming. In the end, we have no choice but to hold it with our own strength.”
-?
-So what are we supposed to do?
-Foregone conclusion;
-He sneaked Black Dragon into ‘our own,’ right?
-‘Do it for us.’
-Where did that troublemaker from the beginning go?
-Got a taste of being schooled by a troll, apparently.
Thinking back to the first meeting with Jinuk, it was strange to be helping him.
But Hanbit was simply glad at the change in him.
He was growing at an unusually fast pace this time.
“Then we need to create a variable.”
“A variable?”
Jinuk looked puzzled at the proposal thrown out of nowhere.
Hanbit rose to his feet and pointed a finger at the back of the scientist in the lab coat.
Then, taking out a rope from his inventory, he said:
“Let’s capture her.”
