Chapter 161

Chapter 161 – Chapter 31: Overwhelming #2

Level 38…

In-gong looked at the level displayed in his status window with a satisfied expression .

‘I will soon be level 40 . ’

In Knight saga, something special happened every time his level went up by 10 . The usual thing would be raising the level of a special skill which couldn’t be raised in normal ways, or acquiring a new special skill .

Even among the other levels, level 40 was a special axis .

‘Occupation upgrade, or an additional occupation . ’

Both of them were like their names suggested . An occupation upgrade was to shift an existing occupation into a higher position, or to gain an additional occupation which wouldn’t normally be possible .

At level 40, he was able to choose only one of them . However, both options made him stronger, not weaker .

Upgrading was the most conservative choice . There was no big change in the way he would use his abilities, since this was just a shift to a higher position within the existing occupation; upgrading would only improve its effects .

On the other hand, In-gong had to consider gaining an additional occupation as well . Synergy could be created in different ways, depending on which occupations could be combined with his existing occupation .

‘Now that my occupation is Protagonist… what would happen if I upgrade Protagonist? Would something like Fake Protagonist come out?’

In-gong laughed and closed his status window . He didn’t know what additional occupations would emerge, so there was no point in worrying about it right now . He hummed lightly before feeling a gaze on him again . Green Wind was obviously staring at In-gong .

“Master . ”

“Huh?”

In-gong said as he stroked Green Wind’s head . Instead of her usual expression, she blinked a few times before aiming her lips at In-gong’s cheeks . It was a kiss on the cheek, with a duration too short to be something special . However, In-gong’s eyes widened with surprise .

“Greenie?”

He looked at Green Wind with a face which seemed to be asking, ‘What are you doing?’

“I suddenly wanted to do that . I told you before, but Master looks cool today . Does Master dislike it?”

She once again kissed him on the cheek . It seemed to be an extension of the normal affection which Green Wind aimed at In-gong, but In-gong couldn’t help flinching . Unlike the hugging, he wasn’t used to this yet .

“Master, you are cute as well as cool . I think that Master is really good . ”

Green Wind laughed and hugged In-gong’s arm . A heavy weight was weighing down on his arms . At that moment…

“What are you doing? What, is the hero playing around now?”

It was a rude voice, but it wasn’t unwelcome . In-gong turned to see Carack on a big black horse . In-gong cried out reflexively,

“No? By the way, what about Anastasia noona?”

Carack was supposed to be Anastasia’s escort . So, it was somewhat strange that Carack was now alone . Carack laughed like it wasn’t a big deal .

“Princess will come soon . It seems like she wants to thank Prince . I told her I would go ahead and give you the news . ”

When In-gong looked at the mini-map, the barbarians were running away . Rather than chasing the barbarians aggressively, the forces of the central fortress celebrated the end of the battle or healed the wounded .

“I think you are even cooler today . General Vandal will be surprised . The nightmares were surprised . My shoulders were raised with pride . ”

Carack had been watching In-gong since time with the Red Lightning tribe until now . So, his face was full with strong emotions .

“I didn’t do that much .

In-gong replied as he shrugged, while Green Wind hugged his arm again .

“Yes, Orc . Master is cool . You should continue to praise him . ”

In these cases, Carack and Green Wind fit well together . Carack laughed and knocked on his chest .

“Prince was very cool today . I am proud to be Prince’s aide . ”

“Yes, you were awesome . ”

Carack didn’t show his pride through his actions like Green Wind but expressed it through words .

Some more time passed by, and as he talked with Carack, another person approached—Anastasia . A few nightmares, including her aide Chandra, were following her . It seemed they had headed straight to In-gong’s location after finishing the battle .

In-gong looked at Anastasia in silence after Green Wind lost her solid form . Anastasia was riding a unicorn which only a pure woman could ride, despite being a succubus . Speaking of which, Anastasia had been fairly quiet in Knight Saga as well . She wore a white dress with low exposure and gave off an elegant impression .

‘If I just look at the clothing, Felicia is more like a succubus . ’

Even now, Anastasia was wearing solid armour . Her hair was tied up, so it wouldn’t interfere with fighting, and she didn’t have any feminine embellishments . Nevertheless, she was very beautiful . Despite her blunt facial expression, she was the daughter of Titania Nekrion and a succubus .

Once she was within talking distance, Anastasia jumped down from the unicorn and stood before him . There was a gentle smile on her face as she spoke,

“Thank you for your help . I was able to escape from a difficult situation today thanks to you . ”

Unlike Felicia and Caitlin, In-gong felt a sense of distance from her . However, her words weren’t untrue . In-gong looked into Anastasia’s eyes . He didn’t have the talent to read things just by looking, like the sword duke or demon king, but In-gong could see some things . Just like Felicia and Caitlin, Anastasia had a slightly different look from the version of her in Knight Saga .

‘Well, the situation between the children of the demon king isn’t bad yet . ’

It was only after the winter of Year 515 that she had become really wicked in Knight Saga . All the negative emotions between the children of the demon king, such as rivalry, hatred, and a sense of crisis, had been stirred up by Richard and Zephyr .

However, right now, it was Year 512 . The children of the demon king didn’t hate each other yet . In-gong had confirmed this fact at Baikal’s tea party . Although Anastasia had argued with Felicia at the tea party, there wasn’t any sense of enmity or rivalry . Her attitude towards Felicia was more because she was skeptical about the reason why Felicia had chosen someone else .

‘I can make a difference now . ’

Fortunately, Anastasia didn’t see them as enemies yet . In-gong had also appeared out of nowhere to save her, and Anastasia wasn’t a shameless woman . Moreover, this was an emergency situation . Rather than compete, they had to combine strengths . Her tone was a bit hard, but her eyes and voice were soft, so In-gong felt satisfied . He smiled at her and said,

“I am glad to help . It looks like I barely made it in time . Felicia noona was very worried… I was as well . ”

Anastasia was somewhat confused by In-gong’s worry, but that only lasted for a moment . She soon smiled with joy, and her smile was more sincere than before .

“I think I understand a little bit about why Felicia chose you . ”

Anastasia murmured in a small voice . She asked In-gong,

“It might not be suitable right after the battle, but I need to talk to you because it is urgent . Shutra, what are your plans for the future?”

Although the barbarians surrounding the central fortress had been driven out, the other fortresses were still in the hands of the enemy . As time went by, new enemies would surround the central fortress .

After taking a deep breath, In-gong made eye contact with Anastasia . His height had grown, and he was almost at eye level with her .

“I’ve thought about it roughly . Before that, I want to ask you one thing . Where is Victor hyung now?”

Victor and Anastasia had always been together, just like how Chris and Caitlin were one set and Felicia and Silvan were another set . However, he couldn’t find Victor anywhere on the battlefield .

Anastasia responded to In-gong’s question in a quiet tone .

“Victor orabeoni went on a mission outside the fortress . He is probably heading south now to rally the lizardmen . ”

Her expression and voice showed no signs of resentment for Victor who had come to rescue her . No, maybe she was just hiding it inwardly . Anastasia changed the topic .

“Shutra, you might be expecting this, but it is likely to be the work of the Paran clan’s chief, Berkintox . Do you know anything about his current movements?”

“It isn’t clear, so he is probably going east . Unlike the south, the eastern troops are more likely to join Berkintox . ”

The fact that almost all the fortresses in the west had been taken over meant Berkintox had at least an agreement with the orcs . Most of the forces in the east were orcs, so there was a good chance they would cooperate with Berkintox, along with the western orcs .

In-gong recalled what he knew about Berkintox . The Paran clan chief was a careful and thoughtful person, so it was unexpected that he would rebel while knowing about the greatness of the Demon King’s Palace .

‘Perhaps the cause is the War Knight . ’

It was just like how the War Knight had reached out to the eastern barbarians . This led In-gong to think the reason for Berkintox’s rebellion was the War Knight . Perhaps Berkintox had become an apostle of war like the eastern barbarian king . In-gong put off thinking about the War Knight . The important thing right now was to escape from this isolation .

“As you can see from today, the western barbarian king, Actius, is cowardly . As long as I jump onto the battlefield, he will want to give up . Furthermore, he won’t the reduce the number of troops around him . It is a good situation for us . ”

It was one of the reasons why he didn’t bother pursuing Actius . His escape would buy In-gong more time and opportunities .

“But even so, it won’t buy us that much time . It is just that the barbarians won’t surround the central fortress . ”

In-gong’s fingers drew a picture in the air . Soon, they saw a map made of green magic power in the air .

Anastasia looked at the map and said,

“Shutra, are you planning to abandon this fortress?”

“It is a strategic decision . Is Noona willing to do so?”

Anastasia nodded silently . If the barbarians hadn’t created an encirclement, she would have escaped .

“Felicia noona is heading to the north with a unit of Gullams . We will move to the 12th base using the shortest distance . We can join Felicia noona there and work with Victor . ”

In-gong drew a few new lines in the air and asked Anastasia,

“Can the wounded people move?”

“It is possible if we don’t worry about saving recovery magic potions and magic . Some wyverns and monsters were captured this time, so we can move somehow . Rather, the problem is the movement speed . We may be stopped before we get there . ”

The distance to the 12th base wasn’t short . Additionally, it wouldn’t take long for the news about today to spread around . So, there was a chance they would get caught from the back or the side while running toward the 12th base .

It wasn’t just Anastasia . The nightmares expressed concern as well . However, Carack laughed as he judged the distance from the map .

“Once again, faster than the wind . ”

“Faster than the wind?”

Anastasia asked In-gong what it meant . She seemed to think it was the name of an operation .

In-gong shrugged and asked a question instead of answering,

“Anastasia noona, are you good at recovery magic?”

“Recovery magic?”

“Recovery magic . ”

In-gong grinned, and Anastasia nodded as she felt an ominous feeling .