heir (3)
“This is it.”
The king of Kashol swallowed his saliva and followed the guide through the entrance to the castle.
The scenery of the Eighth Monarchs Castle, which had only been flooded with rumors, was far more bizarre and bizarre than I had imagined.
Huge black towers piled up all over the castle. But what constitutes it is not stone or wood.
Kei.
Flesh, carapace, legs and antennas wriggling out of their messy clumps.
What constituted the tower was none other than countless swarms of insects. Each individual is a monster much larger than a human.
Eighth lord, Empress of the Black Sea, a legion of insects that she commands and rules. This 8th monarch’s castle is nothing less than its main base and nest.
Servants were busy moving around the castle, moving the corpses of monsters. It was food for insects to eat.
When the servants threw a corpse at the tower, it was sucked into the tower in an instant and disappeared without a trace.
King Kashol was completely at a loss for words at the shocking sight that could not be expressed in words that were simply ugly.
‘Especially…’
He turned his gaze to the side of the castle.
It was not a group of insects like other towers, but a single entity.
The monster, bigger than the castle’s buildings, devours the food brought by the servants with its forked mouth.
However, the food he was eating was not a monster corpse. living humans.
The guide who was walking ahead looked at the scene and said.
“Because he’s a picky eater, he doesn’t want to eat anything other than humans. We ask for your understanding if it’s uncomfortable to see.”
King Kashol couldn’t help but remain silent, despite his tone mixed with teasing.
Even Suhara of the 8th monarch had no attitude toward the king of a country at all, but this is Calderic, not Kashol or Seintea.
It was a pity that he was the one who came to this place. No matter what the guide’s attitude was, he was not in a position to judge.
The inside of the castle was rather plain compared to the outside.
A guide stopped in front of a gate that had arrived across the hallway and held out his hand.
“Please enter here.”
King Kashol nodded and carefully grabbed the doorknob.
Then the guide added a word.
“Please be careful in your words and actions so as not to offend the spirit of the Great One. Nothing can take responsibility for your life here.”
“············”.
The guide smiled and beckoned again.
When I opened the door and entered, it was a cold, dark, and very spacious space.
There was only a single glowing stone shining in a purple light, which had been embedded in the ceiling and gave off a faint light.
King Kashol, who was unable to adjust to the darkness for a moment, looked around, and immediately stiffened in shock.
It was because they found a giant thread entangled in the ceiling like a cocoon, looking down from the inside of the thread.
“King Kashol, did you say you wanted to meet me?”
A languid and sullen voice resounded as if it were a heartbreak.
King Kashol couldn’t make eye contact with her and rolled his eyes slightly.
Even in a small country that cannot be compared to Calderik, he is also the king of a country, and no matter how much his opponent is a monarch, his dignity is not so low that he cannot even look at him.
However, the atmosphere of this space and the eyes of the Empress of the Black Sea, who seemed to see an existence more trivial than an insect, forced him to do so.
…is this the real monarch’s intimidation?
King Kashol had no choice but to realize.
The Overlord I saw at the Neutral Nations Conference and the new Seven Overlords I saw at the last conference showed a very polite attitude.
“It’s like meeting the 8th lords…”
“Put aside the empty words and talk about your business. Well, it’s obvious even if you don’t listen.”
King Kashol calmed down the goosebumps that had risen over his body and said,
“Please support the forces that can overwhelm Earth Hill.”
The Empress of the Black Sea exclaimed and snorted.
“Saintea said he wouldn’t interfere in this. Since he didn’t help you, does Calderic have a cause for help?”
“············”.
“But aside from that, there’s one more bigger problem, right?”
The Empress of the Black Sea, who had wiped out her laughter in an instant, said with a bright smile.
“Our 7th Lord has already declared that we will stand on Earth Hill’s side, do you mean that I’m going to fight against the 7th Lord and help invade Earth Hill?”
In the darkness, the eyes of the Empress of the Black Sea gleamed eerily.
In the next moment, what King Kashol took out of his bosom was a small pearl shining in a turbid red color.
Seeing this, the Black Sea Empress’s eyes slowly opened wide. And there was a strange smile on his lips.
“Where did you get that?”
“This is the treasure of the Kashol family recorded as discovered by distant ancestors in the Magyeong.”
King Kashol held out the pearl.
“If the lord promises to do my favor, I will give it to you right here.”
“Ugh…”
The Black Sea Empress snorted and fixed her gaze on the pearl.
“I did something because I had what I wanted, but I didn’t know that I would bring it in exchange for a transaction.”
“············”.
“But, didn’t you think of this, King? What if I didn’t keep my promise and just swallowed things? Or…”
She smiled and pointed her slender finger at King Kashol.
“Even if I don’t have to promise you, I’ll remove you from this spot. You didn’t come to my nest believing that you wouldn’t be able to do that, did you?”
King Kashol knew that those bloody words were not rude but sincere.
The lord of Calderic was really capable of that. The position of the king of a country here does not protect him in the slightest.
However, it was the expected reaction. He replied calmly.
“Not just one.”
“···········?”
“I have two more in addition to the one I have now.”
The Black Sea Empress immediately understood the meaning of the word.
“I’ll give you the other two after I keep my promise.”
“That’s right.”
“Now that I know that, is there any reason why I should make a deal with you? Can I go to Kashol’s royal castle and get the items?”
At those words, even the king of Kashol had no choice but to harden his impression.
Seeing him muttering, the Empress of the Black Sea burst into laughter.
“Even if you go out like that, you will have a lot of things to bear, and even if you take one, you won’t be able to get the other two. What do you want to say?”
“············”.
“I know. It’s just a joke, so don’t be too sarcastic. It’s still disgusting to see an ugly face.”
The Black Sea Empress was silent for a moment, flapping her antennae from side to side.
King Kashol waited patiently for the suffocating silence.
Soon the Black Sea Empress’s mouth opened again.
“Okay. If you don’t have anything else to say, leave it alone and leave. I’ll send Suha over there again.”
King Kashol let out a sigh of relief that the turning point had been passed.
On the other hand, the anxiety of crossing a river of no return was also heightened.
If the Emperor of Seintea had been a little more proactive, he wouldn’t have done it this far, but now he had no choice but to do it.
If it isn’t this time, it’ll be too long before we get a chance to swallow Earth Hill again.
“Thank you. Then…”
The King of Kashol left the room, and the Empress of the Black Sea reached out towards the pearl lying on the floor.
A thin skein of thread from her fingers snatched the pearl and brought it into her hand.
“It’s fun, it’s fun.”
The Empress of the Black Sea, who had been smiling as she looked at the pearl, turned her gaze to the door.
Then the door opened again and the one who came in bowed his head to greet her. It was the guide who had brought King Kashol.
“Did you say that now the 7th lord has left his seat again?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“Where is your destination?”
“As always, he said he didn’t disclose it. But he seems to have been away for quite some time.”
The Black Sea Empress tapped her antennae.
I don’t know the details, but she knew that the 7th Lord had something to do with the Overlord recently.
It’s clear that it must have something to do with the promise I made with the Overlord last time with the Sixth Overlord, but well, it wasn’t that important.
“I wonder what the reaction will be.”
Well, the timing was just right.
7th lord, what if that arrogant human was absent from work and supported Kashol and stepped on Earth Hill?
I understand that the Overlord also declared that he would not interfere in this matter. So there was nothing to take.
The 7th monarch has already crossed the line once with the 6th lord. So I swore with the Overlord that I would never do the same again.
After what has already happened, no matter how much rage fills your head, you won’t be able to kill yourself.
If he kills the same monarch again, then he will really pay the price.
***
There are very few things that can be done in the mountains.
Whether you go for a walk while looking around the sky or the bushes, or go hunting for beasts or monsters.
The Raon Mountains are a great mountain range inhabited by numerous monsters.
To appease the boredom today, Ka-Ann went away from home in search of a new monster somewhere in the mountain range.
As she was walking down the mountain path, patting her shoulder with a wooden stick as she had done, she stopped and looked down at the floor.
“Hmmmm….”
Giant wolf footprints. And since it is bipedal, it is a trace of a werewolf.
It wasn’t a new monster, but the footprints were huge enough to be several spans in length. It was the first time he had ever seen such a huge one.
Werewolves are fierce and ferocious monsters that even wild adventurers avoid dealing with.
However, Car-Ann started to follow the traces of the footprints with her eyes shining.
After a long search, Car-Ann found a werewolf standing in the middle of the bush.
“···········?”
And I opened my eyes wide in surprise.
It wasn’t because the werewolves were much bigger than they had imagined.
Because they found someone lying on the floor around the Werewolf.
‘Person?’
An unknown middle-aged man wearing a robe.
This is the deepest part of the mountain range, untouched by human footsteps.
Caran looked at him curiously, then turned to the Werewolf.
The Werewolves also shifted their attention from the fallen to Caran, and became hostile to her.
Whoops!
Facing the werewolf who was charging with an angry roar, she calmly drew her sword from her waist instead of a stick.
A blue energy wafted through the blade, and the werewolf and her crossed each other.
At the same time, the Werewolf’s chest ripped open and blood gushed out.
“Is it a little shallow?”
Watching the werewolf turn and charge again, regardless of the wounds, Kaan mumbled and continued to move.
The werewolf’s claws were strong enough to tear through trees, but if they didn’t fit, it meant nothing.
With her flexible movements, Ka-Ann barely avoided the Werewolf’s attacks and continued the sword attack.
Whoa!
After several more sword attacks, the werewolf finally ran out of strength and lay on the ground.
Kaan took a breath and wiped the blood off her sword. Then he walked closer to the person who had fallen.
“············”.
When I checked the condition, it was hidden.
There was no particularly noticeable trauma, but her complexion was completely blue, and no matter how much she looked at it, it didn’t look like she had been knocked down by a werewolf.
After thinking about what to do for a while, Ka-Ann picked up a middle-aged woman and put it on her shoulder.
We can’t leave a person who has fallen down, so we have no choice but to take him home for now.
“My father will treat me or something.”
heir (4)
A hut in the middle of a forest where no human is likely to live.
Caran entered the hut past the crude wooden fence, picked up the kettle on the table and gulped down the water. And then, in stride, he moved upstairs.
Bump.
When I opened the door and entered, there was a middle-aged man.
The man who was sitting in a chair drinking tea looked like he was speechless for a moment when he saw Caan entering the room.
To be precise, seeing the stranger she was carrying on her shoulder.
“Who is that?”
To the voice of embarrassment, Ka-Ann responded calmly, as if nothing had happened.
“I don’t know either.”
“············”.
“I went to the east, and I was unconscious and collapsed. But I can’t just leave it alone.”
Caran put him down on the bed.
The man who looked at him rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache and got up. Just to take a look at the status.
He glanced at the outsider’s condition so much that he wondered if he had seen anything, and immediately made a diagnosis.
“It seems to be magic exhaustion.”
“Oh, then, did you bring it for nothing?”
If it was a simple magical exhaustion, it would recover itself over time.
The man shook his head.
“It’s not. It looks like you’ve raised your magic power too much. The condition was so serious that if you left it as it was, you would have lost your life.”
He rolled up his sleeves and flicked his fingers.
“Go to the warehouse and bring some of the made roots and pepperia leaves. Bring a cup of water to a boil.”
Car-Ann went outside without saying a word and brought what the man had ordered.