102 – Blue Matopju (1)
“…What on earth are you talking about?”
Kelba, who had never shown anger in front of Randalon, expressed his anger openly and began to tell the story. Randalon, who had an uncomfortable expression, was surprised and started talking about what had happened.
As Kelba listened to the story quietly, he spoke with a clearly displeased expression.
“Half of the monsters were blown away by the strange weapon created in the Larthania territory, is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes. And when they tried to refine their formation and launch their attack afterwards-“
“-Did large-scale magic kill all the soldiers?”
“…The only one who returned alive to the territory is a single hero.”
Looking at Kelba emitting anger overtly, Randalon spoke, and unintentionally, malevolent magic began to seep out from him.
“…Huh.”
He desperately calmed down his anger.
After all, there was nothing to gain by raising anger in the current situation.
Instead, Kelba tried to maintain rationality as much as possible-
Kwaaang!
– but momentarily failed, shattering the floor of the Lord’s castle. However, he quickly composed himself and sighed calmly.
“…”
The more Kelba thought about it, the more he sighed at the chaotic situation.
‘The plan went awry. I need to eliminate Weyol and Larania and bring her in for things to proceed properly… If I don’t get rid of Weyol, I can’t bring her in. If she finds out about Weyol…’
“Tsk.”
Kelba blamed himself, clicking his tongue.
‘Originally, it was my misjudgment. I should have gathered more information. When I heard the story in the demon realm, I should have collected more information, but I was too careless.’
He soon composed his thoughts calmly once again and continued his contemplation.
‘…In this situation, they will definitely take the initiative. To minimize this, I have to somehow kill Weyol. But at this point, Weyol is…’
Kelba, who had been contemplating numerous thoughts in front of Randalon for a while, finally seemed to make a decision and opened his eyes.
“…Randalon.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say. We are going to start gathering sacrifices from now on.”
“…Sacrifices? Are you saying we need more humans?”
“Not just humans. Everything, including the negative elements stemming from war-related emotions, is necessary.”
In response to Kelba’s words, Randalon spoke.
“…Even though we may continue to fight wars now and in the future, isn’t it inopportune at the moment?”
“…Are you suggesting breaking our contract?”
“It’s not about breaking the contract. We already lack the forces.”
Randalon’s words were true.
Immediately, Randalon had sent two legions to Lartania, but most of the soldiers, excluding those needed to defend the kingdom and heroes, were dispatched elsewhere. He was well aware that quickly quelling the rebellion was crucial to maintaining the position acquired through a coup.
“Considering that the Holy Kingdom might also make a move, it’s going to be a headache no matter what.”
Randalon continued, but Kelba said,
“Leave the forces to us. So, you go and subdue the territories as you see fit, creating sacrifices.”
Having said that, Kelba turned away and left.
‘We must act before they all make a move against us.’
With such thoughts, he began to descend into the underground once again.
####
It had been five days since the retreat of the demonic forces due to the missile combining River’s creation and Kim Hyun-woo’s red stone.
There were many changes in Lartania.
No, it was more like returning to the original state than a change.
The mercenaries who had left without hesitation at the news of the demons’ arrival returned upon hearing the news that Larthania had defeated the demons in one fell swoop, giving vitality to the labyrinthine city once again.
The confidence in Kim Hyun-woo, who had swept away the demon army thought to be impossible to defeat, soared among the residents.
Furthermore, as rumors spread among the mercenaries that even the lord had swept away the demons without using soldiers, the security of Larthania improved.
As the rumor continued to spread among the mercenaries, Kim Hyun-woo gained the peculiar nickname of “Destroyer.”
And for no apparent reason, he acquired the strange nickname that brought to mind the saying, “I became death, the destroyer of worlds.”
[Red Stones: 30] [Blue Stones: 232] [Gold Coins: 195,422] [Magic Stones: 31]
“…Barely safe.”
Kim Hyun-woo sighed as if relieved as he looked at the extended labyrinth city package in his office.
“That was really close.”
Kim Hyun-woo thought as he looked at the mere 30 remaining red stones and magic stones.
“Missiles really do consume a lot of resources.”
The reason he sighed with relief as he extended the labyrinth city package at the last moment was because there were only about 6,000 red stones left due to making missiles.
Of course, Kim Hyun-woo didn’t regret investing nearly 10,000 red stones in missiles.
Because if he hadn’t invested in missiles right away, the probability of Larthania’s territory disappearing into history would have been too high.
However, regardless of whether he regretted it or not, Kim Hyun-woo realized that making missiles itself was now very difficult.
“In fact, the cost of using it once is equivalent to 10,000 red stones and thousands of gold coins… Plus, it requires nearly 5,000 magic stones.”
Missiles were literally money-eating monsters.
No, it wasn’t just enough to say they were money-eating monsters.
Kim Hyun-woo had already bent over to the point where he couldn’t even operate the labyrinth city anymore just by filling the materials in the already made missiles, let alone blow away all the profits he had accumulated over the years.
However, that didn’t mean Kim Hyun-woo was ready to give up on missiles.
At this point in time, missiles had become quite important to Kim Hyun-woo.
The reason wasn’t just because of the power of the missiles, but also because of the unknown terror surrounding the missiles he currently possessed in Arteil.
In other words, the mere existence of the missiles was already safeguarding Lartania from threats.
“Well, technically, a top-tier 5-star hero might be better than missiles.”
Since this was a world within a game, Kim Hyun-woo had considered that top-tier 5-star heroes might be stronger and more versatile than missiles, but he soon shook his head.
From Noble mtl dot com
He realized he hadn’t thought about giving gifts to maintain the favorability of those 5-star heroes.
“Come to think of it… missiles might actually be better.”
With a wry smile, Kim Hyun-woo soon left the Castle of Heroes and headed towards the Blacksmith Guild.
The reason being, he wanted to report to River, who had decided to improve the missiles in excitement after repelling the Demon Army a few days ago.
“Ah, comrade! Welcome! I was just about to go looking for you!”
And so, when Kim Hyun-woo arrived at the Blacksmith Guild, he could meet River and soon hear her report.
“So… you’re saying the minimum cost to make missiles is around 3000 gold coins?”
“That’s right. The missiles you made before had multiple magic spells and enchantments, so the price went up. But if we use them just like we did last time… 3000 gold coins should be enough. Anyway, as long as we have the teleportation scroll for coordinates.”
“Last time… we used them…”
Kim Hyun-woo recalled the missile he had used to deal with the Demon Army.
In fact, the missile Kim Hyun-woo had thrown at the Demon Army last time was more like a cannon than a missile.
Originally, the method of launching the missile was to attach a preservation scroll, which prevented easily breakable items like potions from breaking, to the front of the missile where the warp stone containing the teleportation coordinates was stored, and then launch it using a warp stone like a cannon.
Thanks to the preservation scroll, the warp stone didn’t suffer any damage, and regardless of the impact, it exploded along with the time-limited mana stone, just like a timed explosive.
In other words, compared to modern missiles, the missile made this time had some flaws.
Therefore, upon hearing River’s words, Kim Hyunwoo, who had been pondering, asked,
“So, you improved the missiles?”
“Well… that’s going to cost a lot of money. The estimated amount is… about 20,000 gold coins?”
“20,000 gold coins?”
“Yeah, first of all, it’s larger in size. The gems used are gems, and there will probably be more red stones going in.”
“Just increased the size?”
“No? Half of that is correct, but strictly speaking, it’s incorrect.”
“How so?”
“Last time, we attached the red stones in front of the missile, but this time, they’ll be attached next to the trajectory like this-“
River quickly explained the principle to Kim Hyunwoo.
“If it’s done like this, the firepower will probably be even greater than last time.”
“…To what extent?”
“Well… assuming it hits properly. It might be enough to wipe out all the demon legions that came last time, except for one-third. Of course, there will be a lot more red stones involved.”
“How many times more?”
“Just thinking about it, about three times more.”
‘If it’s about three times, that means I need 30,000 red stones.’
Thinking that it might not be cost-effective, Kim Hyunwoo was contemplating when River spoke again.
“In addition, the red stones needed for launching missiles will also be about three times more… Of course, if you can find another fuel that can continuously disperse the output, you won’t need those red stones.”
“Hmm. A fuel that can continuously disperse the output.”
In fact, from Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective, he wanted to find more of that.
Initially, he thought he wouldn’t be able to solve this problem right away.
However, if by any chance he could solve it, he realized he wouldn’t just have to fire the missile in front of the territory, but he could actually fire it between territories.
In other words, it could be fired like a real missile.
Of course, if that were the case, there would definitely be improvements to be made, but the idea of being able to launch a missile from one territory to another was incredibly appealing to Kim Hyunwoo.
First of all, just by possessing such a missile, he could deal with the enemies before they even arrived.
That’s why Kim Hyunwoo was pondering about the river and the missile.
At the Wizard’s Tower.
“It’ll be completed soon.”
“Really? Then-“
A blue tower user who could hear O’Neal’s story.
“-Shall we go and see Daddy soon~♥”
She smiled and mumbled to herself.
Daddy ☠️