Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Chapter 2 : Alliance #8

He didn’t know it at first . Just like Carack, he had thought of them as pictures .

However, when he tried to read the characters, he could .

'What the, what is this? I can learn characters and languages like this?’

Of course, it was only level one, so it was likely he couldn’t interpret complex documents . However, just having the ability to decipher text by looking at it was really enormous .

'Doesn’t that mean I don’t need to worry about foreign languages now? Isn’t that right?’

He had the ability to learn what he saw! Then he wouldn’t have to go through a lot of difficulty!

While In-gong was busy screaming inwardly, Carack, Caitlin and Seira were staring at him blankly .

Carack spoke first,

“Uh . . . Prince . Can you read this?”

Why would he say that he couldn’t read it when they already heard him?

Anyhow, In-gong returned to reality thanks to Carack and nodded .

“Uh, yes . Just a little bit . ”

“Amazing . ”

Caitlin – her golden eyes shone like a morning star .

Moreover, it wasn’t just Caitlin .

"I am impressed by Prince Shutra’s broad knowledge . "

Seira was also clearly impressed .

'What the? Is it that rare for someone to know dwarf characters?’

The dwarves still lived, so it wasn’t an ancient language .

‘I just need to say that I took a book and taught myself . ’

Carack switched the topic while In-gong was thinking .

"Then Prince, what does this say?”

Caitlin and Seira’s eyes turned back to the writing . Thanks to Carack, their somewhat uncomfortable gazes shifted from In-gong to the characters .

“Wait a minute . ”

It was only level one, so his reading comprehension wasn’t that fast . There were some words that had cryptic meanings .

'Is this explaining how to use it?’

In-gong read it three times before pointing to a character that had a metal plate protruding from below it .

"Noona, can you insert a little bit of magic power here? My magic power is clumsy . ”

He didn’t know how to use it at all . However, he couldn’t ask her to hit him with magic power at this time .

“Understood . ”

Caitlin nodded and inserted magic power into the metal plate . A blue light then shone between the engraved characters and a 3D hologram consisting of blue lines appeared in front of In-gong .

“Jishuka Mountain Range . ”

Like Carack said, it was a 3D hologram with a bird’s eye view of the Jishuka Mountains . In-gong read the letters that appeared with the bird’s eye view and pointed to different areas .

“We are here . The Portal Three is over here . ”

Portal Three was in another mountain but there was something strange about the response . Seira’s face turned excited .

"Does that mean there is a dwarf cave there?”

“Uh, why?”

In-gong was surprised by Seira’s words and Carack who was familiar with In-gong quickly said,

"Prince, in front of that mountain is the Red Lightning tribe’s main force . This mountain is right behind them!”

In-gong was able to understand now . Seira asked again,

"Prince, is this still working despite being degraded?”

“Perhaps?”

In-gong looked at the letters that came up near the bird’s eye view . The letters showed that the portal was lacking magic power but no other problems .

Only magic power was required to operate the portal . It meant the passage to the rear of the Red Lightning tribe could be used .

"Princess . "

Seira called out to Caitlin . Her voice and eyes were mixed with various emotions .

Caitlin sent Seira a stern look and shook her head slowly . She then placed her hand on In-gong’s shoulders and declared,

"Shutra, this is your merit . I’m not officially here . ”

Seira sighed but Caitlin never looked back .

In-gong was able to guess the reason why she was sad .

The strategic value of the dwarf portal was very significant . It was evident that a huge reward would be given to the first discoverer .

However, Caitlin had declared she wasn’t here and kept her promise .

"Noona, just . . . ”

"It is your merit . You would have reached here even if I wasn’t present . You also figured out its usage . I don’t want to be a liar . Don’t you remember what I said in the first place?”

It wasn’t just a courtesy . Caitlin had truly come along to protect him .

In-gong nodded eventually .

“I understand, Noona . Thank you . ”

Caitlin laughed and covered herself with the hood again . Seira had a severe frown on her face but followed her master’s actions .

“Shutra, let’s return to Chris oppa once we have confirmed that the portal is working . A more serious investigation into this cave is needed . ”

They had to inform that main army of the existence of the portal and secure it as soon as possible . In-gong already had a lot of merits, so there was no big difference if Chris and Caitlin’s troops were committed to protecting it .

"Okay, then please do it again here . ”

In-gong pointed to the crystal ball in the centre of the magic circle .

Caitlin nodded and touched the crystal ball, immediately inserting magic power .

&

It was already late at night when In-gong returned to the base . In spite of that fact, In-gong and Caitlin immediately headed to Chris’ tent .

"Oppa will be really surprised . ”

Those were the only words Caitlin said and they made Chris shift his gaze to In-gong .

"Hey, what is it?”

"I’ll explain it . ”

In-gong coughed and spread his map of the cave on the desk . Although it was unfinished and only drawn to the middle, Chris immediately found the value of the map .

"We can hit Kairam from behind . ”

Kairam was Kaichin’s brother and the leader of the Red Lightning army currently confronting Chris .

Chris looked at Caitlin with surprise . Caitlin slowly smiled and shook her head .

“What? Is there something else?”

"There is . ”

Caitlin remained silent again . This time, Chris looked at In-gong and In-gong explained everything that happened in the cave .

Chris was surprised by the talk about the portal .

He was confused about the part where In-gong could read dwarf characters and became expressionless after hearing that the portal was connected to the back of the Red Lightning tribe .

“Uh, Oppa?”

Caitlin asked cautiously as Chris’ reaction was different from what she had expected . Chris just stared at In-gong .

“You, what is your identity?”

“Eh?”

This time, In-gong was the one who panicked . Did he realize something strange about Shutra?

While In-gong was licking his lips and wondering about what to say, Chris suddenly burst into laughter . He spread his arms wide and embraced In-gong .

"Wow, this is a blessing! A blessing!”

It was like finding a vein of gold .

Caitlin sighed with relief after seeing Chris’ excitement and In-gong was the same .

"Okay, okay . The dwarves did something this cute in the Jishuka Mountains? We will use it a lot . ”

It wasn’t just this battle . The use of these passages and portals could completely change the value of the Jishuka Mountains .

‘He is different from Caitlin . ’

It wasn’t simply because he was two years older .

Chris was real royalty . He was an ambitious person and thought about more than what was in front of him . He had faced Chris and Caitlin when playing Zephyr but their natures were different . Caitlin was a powerful warrior and Chris was the king of the lycanthropes .

In-gong realized that Chris wasn’t as pure as Caitlin . His eyes saw In-gong’s value .

"Shutra, what do you want?”

"What do I want?”

"Yes, your wish . You will be rewarded by the Demon King’s Palace for your merits but I also want to give you a prize as your brother and captain . ”

Chris, Caitlin and In-gong were children of the Demon King but Chris was the one in charge of the troops . It wasn’t strange for Chris to say that he would give a reward .

‘But . . . ’

In-gong took a deep breath . In-gong might be mistaken but Chris was probably trying to grab hold of In-gong right now . It was different from when Chris said that he would teach Aura .

‘Come into my faction . Join me . ’

Depending on what In-gong asked, his relationship with Chris might change .

“Is it okay even if it is a little unreasonable?”

In-gong’s words were somewhat provocative but Chris just smiled .

“Ho? A little unreasonable? What are you asking for?”

He could ask for a competent subordinate or he could ask for an item that couldn’t be handled by the current Shutra .

However, In-gong chose something completely different .

"Teach me Divine Beast Right . ”

“Shutra?”

Caitlin was shocked .

It was receiving . It was a powerful technique passed down through the royal family of the lycanthropes .

Even among the lycanthropes, only the royal family and the people closest to them could learn it . Therefore, it was a very symbolic technique .

How could they teach such a technique to In-gong?

‘Anyway, I have to go forward with Chris and Caitlin . ’

There were three major factions in the Demon King’s Palace .

First Prince Baikal Ragnaros’ faction, Second Prince Zephyr Ragnaros’ faction and Fourth Princess Anastasia Nekrion’s faction .

Of course, he couldn’t enter Zephyr’s faction . Baikal’s faction was impossible because the gandharva were enemies with his mother’s family . The only possible one was Anastasia’s faction but it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that she was a woman as bad as Zephyr .

'I'd rather create my own faction . ’

In that sense, Chris and Caitlin were quite decent selections .

Caitlin’s birth secret could be called their biggest weakness . It would be good if he could somehow control that part .

Furthermore, today, Caitlin’s attitude in the dwarf cave had moved In-gong’s heart . Caitlin was a reliable person .

It wasn’t only because of the symbolism that In-gong chose Divine Beast Right .

‘I can get subordinates later . Weapons are too good for my current level and ability . ’

However, techniques were different . Moreover, Divine Beast Right was a S ranked martial arts technique .

Inside Knight Saga, SS ranked martial arts and sword techniques were undisputedly recognized . S ranked techniques were virtually top class and Zephyr’s Heavenly King Sword was in this category .

That alone gave it value .

Chris stared at In-gong seriously before laughing . He shrugged slightly and said,

"Divine Beast Right . Yes, it isn’t too bad . Up to a certain level, it is easy to disguise it as Beast Right . "

Beast Right – it was a martial arts technique that lycanthropes learnt if they entered the army .

In-gong knew what it meant to be taught the Divine Beast Right . From the outset, it was something that he had never learnt .

“As of now . . . I can’t teach past the vision section . Is that still okay?”

“It is okay . ”

He could find clues to learn it later . Even if he didn’t know, he could learn it by increasing the skill level . The important thing was to learn Divine Beast Right Lv1 .

“Okay, this is interesting . Interesting . Just like Aura, Caitlin and I will teach you . ”

Chris glanced towards Caitlin while speaking and she nodded with a somewhat ambiguous expression . It seemed like she was somewhat confused .

“Shutra . ”

Chris reached out like he wanted to shake hands with In-gong . There was a mischievous smile on his face but his eyes contained a different light .

"In addition to Caitlin, can I also think about you as my younger sibling?”

The words were quite meaningful .

In-gong breathed out once and grabbed Chris’ hand . He shook it lightly .

“Of course . ”

Then a clear voice rang in his head .

[An alliance with Chris Moonlight/Caitlin Moonlight has been formed . ]

[Alliance Status: An ordinary alliance . ]

In-gong grinned as he grabbed the hands in front of him .