Along with the mercenary group, Atran entered the canyons as soon as they emerged from the portal. Normally, he wouldn’t have participated himself as he didn’t like being in danger, but he was too furious. He wanted to see Red Dragon suffer with his own eyes.

However, as soon as he entered Monster World Formation, he realized something was wrong. ‘What is this?’

He saw traces of vicious fights, and there were even famous rankers and monstrous-looking chimeras among the dead bodies. Atran and the others had to struggle a bit as they faced an onslaught.

“Stop the attack!”

“It’s an attack from above! Shoot them, now!”

The mercenaries moved frantically to push the chimeras back, and the assassin guilds jumped out from the darkness to assist. However, their actions weren’t well-synchronized, and so they continued losing players. Witches also occasionally appeared to bother them.

“It’s a witch! She’s using magic again! Dispel! Use dispel!”

“You son of a bitch! It’s open there…ack!”

By the time they entered Disaster World Formation, their force of 500 had shrunk to 100. Black Skull, Twice, and the Ice King were as powerful as expected, but two others drew particular attention.

“The witch has been hit! That bitch is dead!”

“H-how was she hit? Didn’t she have a barrier?”

Each time Jang Wei, who had disguised himself, pulled his bow, the heads of the witches exploded like watermelons.

“H-he swept them away in one strike?”

“M-monster…!”

There was also a mysterious person in a black robe who swept away the monsters around him. Thanks to these two, they didn’t have any more casualties when they arrived at Calamity World Formation. Although the S-Class mercenaries were envious of the two outstanding players, the lower-level mercenaries were only grateful that they were alive. They didn’t even feel envious since the gap between them and the two players was too wide. Still, no one could guess who they were.

‘Who are they?’

They were clearly high rankers, but none of the mercenaries could think which one. Even Atran wasn’t sure. ‘Jang and Turn? Those are probably aliases.’ When he first employed them, they didn’t show their skills. As a result, they’d been ranked D, and it was a pleasant surprise when they’d revealed their true power.

Atran tried to engage in conversation with them to get to know them better, but the two only replied to him curtly. However, since they were fulfilling their duties, Atran didn’t press them.

“I think Red Dragon and the Elohim are fighting just ahead of here.” Moon Shadow had scouted ahead and their news made the atmosphere grow serious.

“Red Dragon and the Elohim?”

The leader of Moon Shadow, Crescent, nodded heavily. “Yes. I think it’s Tom the Beginning versus Aether.”

“Mm.” Atran was lost in thought for a moment. His goal was to hurt Red Dragon, but there was no point in endangering themselves. “Is there another way to get to the castle?”

“I think we can avoid those two if we go through the bypass…” Crescent’s words trailed off. He clearly meant that it was too dangerous, but Atran glanced at Jang and Turn, who were sitting a little bit away from the others. Eventually, Atran made a decision and looked at Crescent. “If we go through the bypass, can we get to the castle? I’m asking if it’s possible.”

“Yes. It’s possible.”

“Then let’s do that. We have to get the real tablet.” Atran’s eyes flashed fiercely.

* * *

“Dune, we have to establish countermeasures.”

“Dune!”

“Dune! Please!”

Brocken Castle was in chaos, and the witches all had desperate expressions. Just a few hours ago, they’d been confident that they could fend off attacks from all the Large Clans. They believed that the Philosopher’s Stones put them on the same level as the Eight Large Clans, and perhaps even surpass them. Things had been going smoothly until the mysterious explosions suddenly occurred.

“Dune!”

The witches in the castle held onto Vieira Dune with despairing faces. They needed to set up countermeasures, but Vieira Dune just closed her eyes. She didn’t say anything. Her face looked even paler than normal.

The witches grew more panicked. All of their forces outside fighting their enemies were dying from the explosions. Only scholars were left in the castle, and if their enemies managed to break in, it would be the end.

“The Sea of Time is at the north entrance!”

“The West Wind mercenaries are quickly approaching through the bypass. In about fifteen minutes, they’ll be at the west entrance.”

“The Trafalgar Clan is at the south entrance!”

“Ranker Shaun…!”

“The Elohim is about to smash down the gates! The barrier is almost down! Dune! Please make a decision!”

The more the witches heard the reports, the more frantic they grew. However, Vieira Dune continued to stand quietly. Only her green hair trembled under her pointy hat. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a rock the size of a house crashing into the moat.

“The O-One-horned tribe h-has arrived at G-G-Ghost World Formation!”

“What? Why are they here?”

“Monster World Formation! Disaster World Formation…and Underworld Formation have been destroyed! Th-they’ve entered Calamity World Formation!”

“What are you talking about? It’s impossible for it to be destroyed so quickly!”

“It’s the Martial King! The Martial King has arrived!”

The news of the Martial King’s appearance made them go into shock. ‘We’re done for.’ That was all that they could think of. They didn’t know why the Martial King or the One-horned tribe, who didn’t care about the Tower, had appeared.

However, they were sure that the clan wouldn’t survive. They were facing disaster, and defeat was plain on all their faces. A heavy atmosphere descended. However, at that moment, Vieira Dune opened her eyes, which had gone white without any pupils. The leader of all witches and the manifestation of the Great Mother slowly opened her mouth. “Mother has spoken.”

Color started to flow back into the witches’ faces. The Great Mother who had birthed them but had turned away from them recently was back to save her daughters from danger.

“Wh-what did M-Mother say, Dune?” someone asked.

Vieira Dune said, “We have to go to the lab before they come. The answer will be there. Everyone, please hold on a little longer.” Her voice was clear. “Mother will soon arrive to take care of her inadequate daughters.”

* * *

Boom! With a gigantic explosion, the nine-layered barrier broke like glass, and the gates of the castle blew apart. The Elohim had succeeded in breaking through first.

Amid all the dust, Ione spoke in a low voice, “Let’s enter now. Kill any witch you see. They’re only dirty prostitutes who’ve sold their souls to demons. They must disappear forever. However, leave their lab and archives intact. After the forbidden knowledge is removed, everything else will be taken.”

The players of the Elohim all looked sharply around and jumped forward. Those mere prostitutes had held them back too long, and so they were planning on treating them mercilessly. Everyone moved at the speed of light.

Someone watched them from far away. ‘I don’t have to do any work.’ Yeon-woo smirked as he waited on a nearby tree. The Elohim had killed the witches on their way to the castle and even opened the door for him. He was thankful. It would have been nice if they’d been that generous from the start. Yeon-woo pulled out Vigrid. Playtime was over. He was glad that they’d gone ahead, but he wasn’t going to let them have Vieira Dune’s head. ‘I’ll set them back a bit.’

Yeon-woo activated his powers one after the other.

[Dragon Body Awakening (3rd Step)]

[Stigmata of the Goddess]

[Wicked Devil]

Dragon’s Blood circulated through his body as scales popped up on his skin. Yeon-woo poured magic power into Vigrid with all the buffs he received. At the same time, he didn’t suppress his demonic aura.

[Wave of Fire]

[72 Bian – Yeol, Pa, Cham]

Vigrid’s black fire landed on top of the Elohim’s heads with a spectacular effect. Before the Elohim could do anything, the black fire swept all of the ones in the front away, and even shook Ione. When Boo added supporting magic, the explosions swept even more of the Elohim away, and there was pandemonium.

“Aack!”

“Just when…!”

“Save me!”

The waves of heat didn’t give them time to even catch their breath. They had no idea how much they’d been injured, where their comrades were, or if another attack was about to strike. They couldn’t even move from Boo and Yeon-woo’s combined destructive power. Meanwhile, Yeon-woo grew his Fire Wings and flew into the castle.

「I will…show you…the map.」 Boo threw the map he got from the witches to Yeon-woo. It was a three-dimensional representation of the building, with Yeon-woo’s spot marked in blue.

‘It’s like a navigation system.’ Yeon-woo moved towards the location marked green. It was where Ananta was. None of the witches managed to capture him, and he killed everyone in his vicinity with Aura as soon as he found them with Extrasensory Perception without making a single noise.

When he arrived at the dungeon, Yeon-woo gathered his magic power and said, “Boo, when I go inside, take care of everything underground.”

「Yes…master.」

The dungeons were part of an underground complex that was bigger and more complicated than the castle itself. There were labs, archives, and even storage rooms full of treasures that the witches of Walpurgisnacht had collected over the years. The real Emerald Tablet was also hidden somewhere on the seventh level of the underground complex. Yeon-woo didn’t need it, but there was no need to let others have it. He was planning on taking everything before the Elohim or Red Dragon got there.

Since Boo already knew all the secrets of Brocken Castle, he was sure he could pull it off. Although it seemed like there were a few guards here and there, he wasn’t concerned. Boo had already eaten multiple Philosopher’s Stones by now, and he was strong enough to handle them alone.

Inferno Sight had grown in his eyes, so if he surpassed the limits of his current status, he would be able become an Elder Lich.

‘He must be remembering some things about his past life as well. I should ask him when this is done.’ Yeon-woo kicked a door down with all his strength. The ground exploded, and a hole that stretched down six levels appeared. Feeling Boo leaving his shadow, Yeon-woo dropped to the sixth level.

As he looked around, Yeon-woo felt a sense of déjà vu at the glass coffins that contained sleeping people. They were immersed in a purple liquid that was the same color as the Philosopher’s Stone. It was just like Arangdan’s lab.

Each glass coffin was connected with pipes to a central coffin. Ananta was inside, as though she were a sleeping princess in a forest waiting for her prince.