#209
Adding Misfortune to Misfortune (1)
The Roselia Grand Temple, situated at the very heart of the holy city, served as the center of the Church of the Prime God, Auterica's largest religion, and boasted a scale so vast that it could not be compared to the grand temples found in other regions.
It was only natural, for not only did the majority of the leadership, including the Pope and the Saint, reside here, but the political, administrative, and intelligence matters handled were also continental in scale.
Moreover, since the headquarters of the Holy Knight Order and the Inquisitors dispatched abroad were mostly located here, there was nothing more to be said.
And on one side of that vast grounds, numerous lodgings had been prepared for distinguished guests visiting from outside…
“Phew— This is tiring indeed.”
In one of them, the lodgings of the Azerion Empire’s delegation.
Princess Riley, having just returned from the conference, let out a groan and collapsed into the sofa of her office, burying herself in it.
The meeting, which had begun around noon, had only just ended late at night, leaving her entire body exhausted; but since the agenda raised today had been such an urgent matter, it was unavoidable.
“…Your Highness, Princess Riley? You should maintain propriety. This is not the imperial palace.”
“Hmm? Oh, it doesn’t matter. There’s no one here but us anyway. I’m already tired, so let’s just relax, Se-ah unni.”
Seeing that, I Se-ah frowned and said a word, but Riley paid her no heed and simply lay down on the sofa.
The Church had provided each participant of the conference with an independent lodging building, allowing each delegation to rest more comfortably without worrying about other factions’ eyes.
Furthermore, the two of them had dismissed all their attendants immediately upon arriving at the lodgings.
Thus, only those whom Riley could be comfortable around remained here now, so there was nothing to be concerned about.
“…Still, Heron is here too, so showing such a disheveled appearance is a bit…”
“Hm? You mean me? Oh, Master. Why bring that up now! Before I escaped from the Immortal Castle, we were together the whole time—we’ve already seen everything there is to see, haven’t we? This is nothing!”
As soon as a word about himself left Se-ah’s lips, Hesperon, who had followed them all the way to the office, quickly cut in.
For some reason, he had seemed dazed since earlier, but it seemed he hadn’t completely lost his mind.
“Hoo—? Now what sort of relationship is that?”
Of course, at his thoughtlessly spat words, Se-ah’s gaze narrowed and gleamed sharply.
“Wait… Hold on, Heron! What do you mean, everything there is to see? It’s not like that, is it? It was just an unavoidable problem caused by the poor environment! …A-and the situation we were in, it was the situation!”
Riley shot up from her seat, her face flushed as she vented her frustration, but…
…even so, the brief commotion caused by her rising did not last long and soon subsided.
They had chatted like this to catch their breath for a moment, but the reality looming before them was not so lenient that they could afford to pay more attention to such trivial matters.
“A large-scale assault by the Army of the Undead… What do you think, unni?”
“…Honestly, we’re walking a tightrope even now. Monsters running rampant everywhere, White Giants popping out of nowhere, and on top of that, the periodic raids by the Army of the Undead. But if those raids intensify…”
In truth, they had been holding out reasonably well, considering the King of the Undead had descended.
The casualties since his appearance were by no means few, but aside from the Principality of Lohan, the other nations had not suffered damage severe enough to threaten their existence.
But if a large-scale offensive began, as Saint Heinrich had said, most countries would likely face considerable difficulty in maintaining their current society.
Perhaps, staggering aside, there might even be nations that collapsed like the Principality of Lohan.
‘Of course, excluding the Kingdom of Talia, where the regime has completely changed.’
Hesperon, who had been listening to their conversation blankly, quietly nodded.
He had always had a foolish side, but now he seemed to be showing it to an unusually severe degree.
The cause of it all was an unprecedented fierce debate taking place in one corner of his mind.
-Hannibal Strauss: All preparations will soon be complete. When do you think would be the effective time to attack? I will not entertain opposing opinions.
The one who opened that barrage was the cause behind everything happening now.
The King of the Undead, Hannibal Strauss.
-Heinz II: I am of a negative stance, but if we must attack, I think after the summit conference ends would be good. If things blow up too quickly, the plans we have been preparing will be disrupted.
-Heinrich: No, it is right to stop even now. Hans is moving too hastily. We still have plenty of time; do we really need to go this far!
-Halli: I’m hungry, let’s eat first! I’ll add ten servings of meat to tonight’s late-night snack!
-Hubert: Tch, you’re planning to force it through regardless, aren’t you? In that case, there’s a Merchant Union that’s been getting in the way lately; I think it would be efficient to use this opportunity to clean them up.
-Harris: Ah… what a pain… Why don’t we just stop all this…?
-Howard: Argh, you frustrating bastard! Are you really going to do it? Then at least don’t cause trouble near Tarak! This is a crucial moment right now. Something I’ve been working on for a long time is finally about to be completed!
-Hugo: Damn, what a mess. Hans, please!
…As expected, each of them showed diverse reactions according to their distinct personalities.
To the point that some Avatars seemed to have given up on stopping the rampage altogether and were even offering compromise proposals.
Truly, they were the very picture of selfishness and egocentrism—nothing could be more ‘Han Seong-hyeon’ than this.
‘If my body were awake, there would be no need for this process; I would move naturally as one… This really is difficult.’
With his head asleep while trying to force his arms and legs to move, simply walking made him feel like he was staggering.
Though they all wished to move forward, their strides and centers of gravity each wandered off in their own directions, making it no small headache.
-Hesperon: Do we really have to do this…? Sigh, I don’t even know anymore. Let’s just take it moderately, moderately.
Leaving behind such a timid opinion, he turned his gaze back to the women before him.
The meeting in his brain had been going on for quite some time, but its influence on the real world was very slight, so they were still continuing their earlier conversation.
“Still, the Saint said that he can foresee the King of the Undead’s raids in advance. The rest is up to each nation working harder. We need to quickly check the forces capable of responding to it...”
“…Riley, will you really be fine without me? If something dangerous happens while I’m away.”
“I’ll be fine. Honestly, I’m more worried about you, Se-ah unni. I’ll just return and hole up inside the imperial palace under protection; what danger could I be in?”
The succession to the throne had already entered the consolidation phase.
The enemies who had opposed her were retreating one by one, and the neutral faction led by Count Lawrence, Tower Master of the Imperial Palace’s Magic Tower, had already decided to support her.
At least within the imperial palace, her safety was all but guaranteed.
“Besides, Heron is here, so wouldn’t things work out somehow if push comes to shove? They say teleportation is still impossible because of the strain back then, but… he’s the one who escaped from the King of the Undead’s very hands, isn’t he?”
“Hm? Ahaha… this is quite burdensome.”
As Riley glanced at him and continued, Hesperon let out an awkward laugh.
Se-ah followed her gaze to look at him as well, then let out a deep sigh and shook her head.
“Haah— there’s still so much left to teach Heron. It hasn’t been long since I thought working as part of the suicide squad seemed less dangerous than expected, and now these things keep happening one after another…”
First the appearance of the White Giants, and now Season 2 of the Army of the Undead.
On top of that, it was obvious that this situation would continue until the fight with the King of the Undead was properly concluded.
“…Surely things won’t escalate even further here, right?”
It was a remark that popped out of Se-ah almost like a self-deprecating laugh.
Though it had slipped out unknowingly from her worry of ‘just in case,’ remarkably, her words pierced a great truth of the world.
The truth that ‘surely not’ kills people.
Three more days passed.
Finally, the last day of the 2nd Continental Summit Conference was right around the corner.
***
The World Tree soared high, as if to pierce the heavens.
This colossal tree, a symbol of the elves’ faith, boasted a size so enormous that it could be seen at a glance no matter where one was on the Enamel Continent.
Existing upon this land with such a transcendent form, it naturally could not help but become an object of awe to other races as well.
From the beginning, the non-human races of the Enamel Continent did not reject each other’s faiths and had even maintained regular exchanges, so there was relatively little distance between them.
Unlike the Ion Continent, where humans formed the majority, it was a paradise for non-humans, where various races gathered to form their own nations and societies.
But not all races were welcomed here—
—and among the most representative of the shunned races were the vampires.
Due to their alien ecology of surviving by plundering the blood of others, they were a race shunned by not only humans but most sentient beings.
For that reason, most vampires had chosen to remain on the Ion Continent during the Great Racial Migration.
Since they had no choice but to hide and parasitize other races to survive, humans were far more attractive prey to them than non-humans.
And the race shunned just as much as those vampires, if not more, was none other than…
…the Lycanthropes, the so-called werewolves.
“Krhihihit~! It begins now. My little ones! Kick!”
A night when the full moon had risen.
From a certain hill where the World Tree appeared quite large, likely because the distance was fairly close, a frivolous man’s voice rang out, and simultaneously—
Grrr—
Kwoark! Kkung—!
Along with the chilling cries of beasts soaked in savagery, crimson gleams began to light up one by one around him.
“Now then~ shall we start the jester’s play? Krrrr—!”
And his voice, which had been high-pitched, gradually grew thicker with each word, until finally at the end, it transformed into the growl of a beast.
At a glance, they resembled Beastmen, but they were beings fundamentally different from them.
Lycanthropes were a race whose potential grew by ripping out and devouring the hearts of their prey, born inherently with dark magical power… In truth, they were beings half no different from demons.
Due to that influence, they possessed such ferocity that they targeted not only monsters but the hearts of fellow sentient beings, making them a race unwelcome wherever they went.
If Hans had not discovered the ‘Complete Evolutionary Organism Project’ of the Byuncheonhoe on Earth, would Halli have ended up looking like these creatures too?
“Khahahaha—! Come, let us go slit the bellies of pigs sated with peace!”
Following the bizarre monster at the front who burst into such laughter.
Countless black shadows traversed the mountain ranges of the Enamel Continent under cover of darkness.
***
The Jepia Republic, eastern Ion Continent.
“Are… all preparations… complete…?”
“Yes, my Lord. We can begin at any time if you but give the command.”
In a vast cavern filled with darkness, a cracked old man’s voice and a bewitching woman’s voice slowly exchanged questions and answers.
“How… did you manage to meet the deadline…”
“All this was possible only because you are with us, my Lord. Under normal circumstances, this would have been inconceivable…”
In the darkness, the silhouette of the woman prostrated herself before the shadow of the diminutive old man in a display of respect.
“You… know the situation…?”
“Yes, Yupereuswi and Beurokoseullak have joined hands and swallowed up the lower clans. I never thought they would go so far, but they shall regret that choice.”
She answered the old man’s slow question with confidence.
It couldn’t be helped, for they had invested a truly long… an exceedingly long time for this matter.
To the extent that the Lord had not even hesitated to join hands with pests known as the Reverse Heaven Oath during the process.
“I cannot fathom what possessed them to make such a rash move, but it is absurd to think they could forcibly merge so many bloodlines and control them all. A Vampire Clan Union Hybrid? Are they fools who mistake me for a true Vampire King?”
The woman hurled scornful mockery in a voice brimming with derision.
The diminutive old man quietly looked down at her as she so harshly belittled their opponents, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Then… begin at once…”
“I shall obey your command.”
And with those words.
The legend that had lain dormant in the eastern region of the continent for ages, the Obaipo Clan, began to move.
Nor did the movements of suspicious forces end here.
“Move, move, you fools!”
“Kuk! Y-yes, Great Chieftain!”
“Tch, if it weren’t for that revolutionary bastard, we could have finished things much sooner!”
Of course, in the tribal union of the southern continent.
“The preparations?”
“We have finished as you commanded. But, Your Grace the Duke, are you truly certain we should proceed like this…”
“Hehe, this is all for our Empire. We must buy time until His Highness the Crown Prince returns. Surely you do not believe the throne suits that lowly bloodline?”
“P-perish the thought!”
All the way to Jeron, capital of the Azerion Empire.
In all directions of Auterica, where turmoil was already fated, the seeds of chaos that had been delayed until now began to sprout all at once.