CH 377

I could see the light emanating from the building that was close to my current accommodation. Despite the late hour, the building remained brilliantly illuminated. It had once been a grand mansion that belonged to a prominent aristocrat, but it now served as the inaugural outpost of the Association within the occupied territory.

「Franklin Dukedom

Size: 200,000 square kilometers

Population: 10 million to 11 million」

The investigators had concluded that the reason why the population was so low compared to the size of the land was because only nobles received certain privileges, whereas normal commoners couldn't. Sanitation facilities and medical technology in this world had been developing in a different direction than ours due to their supernatural magic, but these innovations and improvements were only available to the aristocrats.

「Composition of groups in the Franklin Dukedom

* A community with a populace exceeding twenty individuals yet fewer than one thousand is referred to as a small village.

* A community with a populace exceeding one thousand individuals yet fewer than eight thousand is referred to as a village.

* A community with a populace exceeding eight thousand individuals yet fewer than twelve thousand, fortified with a basic defense system such as a fortress, and characterized by vibrant social and economic activities is referred to as a city.

* A community with a populace exceeding twelve thousand individuals yet fewer than one hundred thousand, fortified with an urban system but a center of social and economic activities is referred to as a big city.

* A community fortified with a city or a big city system with a cultural and political center is referred to as the capital city.

Small Villages: Around fifteen thousand

Villages: One hundred twenty-three

Cities: Twenty

Big cities: None

Capital city: One」

I was looking at a laptop that displayed 3D maps of the Franklin Dukedom and Xyliver Kingdom, along with data on the status of occupation for each region. I was deciding where to advance the Awakened next. Then, a meal came in.

“Do you need anything else?”

The Occupation Department of the association had dispatched the woman, who had a prior stint in the U.S. military and had a husband and two daughters living on the mainland. Her motivations for undertaking this mission were unknown to me.

Nonetheless, given her knowledge of the supernatural being that had caused a conflagration on a section of this continent, it was evident that her involvement was not driven solely by curiosity or a thirst for adventure.

She had brought me steamed rice, kimchi, and soybean paste stew. The sizable portion of kimchi on my plate was a testament to the culinary prowess of the cook, and it was apparent that it had been prepared specifically for me.

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Although I understood people prioritized the needs of a commander on the battlefield, such as providing water for them to wash their feet over water for soldiers to drink, this was ridiculous. I scolded her on this point and sent her back.

Then, I sensed a spirit, but it wasn’t as threatening as the hosts of the Spirit Kings. It was from the outside of the city walls and had a strong tendency to reveal its existence, especially to me. That was it.

When I focused my Sense in that direction, I heard the Declan’s unique breathing sound through their fangs. Its pounding heart somehow showed its nervousness. It was shaking while purposely letting me know of its existence.

I went outside to check it myself, and it was actually scared. The last time I saw the Declans was during the Final Stage. At that time, they jumped on me, risking their lives, even though they knew they would die. This was a known characteristic of the Declans: a fighting spirit not afraid of death.

However, this guy was on its knees and put its head on the ground. It wasn’t soaked in water, but its ears and mane were drooping. I had never seen a Declan like this.

It must be because it’s in front of a Doom, right?

Upon debating whether to slice his throat or not, I suddenly realized that I became one of the Seven Demon Kings by just thinking about that. Had this had happened before I had become Doom Man, I would have already blown its head away.

Anyway, it was not only unable to convey its anxieties like the Maruka Clan but also didn’t have a translation item that the Barba’s rats possessed. As a result, the only way it could articulate its emotions was through a growl of fear. This was a straightforward expression of emotion, rather than a complex language system. It sounded like it was begging me to spare its life.

At that moment, I discovered the reason why it was able to reach this far through the sensory network of Awakened spread throughout the dukedom. There was a burrow in the ground that the Declans had clearly dug out. The deep passage that was connected to the underground seemed solid without support. I had never seen such a thing from Declan Corps before. Grafs were good at swimming underground, but Declans were dogs with four long legs.

The Declan pointed at the tunnel. It raised itself very carefully, and even though it was bending its waist and neck, it was much taller than me. It refused to make eye contact with me, but I could read the blazing power from his eyes. It couldn’t have been Night Eye.

The scarlet hue in its eyes was distinct. There was also a vertical line of red hair under its eyes in the shape of tears. It was difficult to tell the difference between Declan species, but there were only a few species with red hair.

In the past, red hair was a symbol of fear. They appeared as the boss monster in the B-class dungeon, and even the named Awakened in the past couldn’t deal with them alone. They had eventually been killed by me in the Final Stage. Since it was a species that showed the best double-width ability, the Old One called them ‘Bloody Mane.’

Upon noticing the bone necklace adorning its neck, the creature reacted by recoiling and transitioning to a four-legged gait while remaining aware of my presence. When it paused and hesitated at the tunnel entrance, I inferred that it was signaling for me to follow it.

It’s trying to lead me?!

I was interested. The Man Who Overcomes Adversity had already been recharged. Even if something like Doom Caso was waiting for me, it didn’t matter.

Recalling the previous command, I reminded myself that any confrontations between Dooms were only permitted under the authorization of Doom Kaos. However, there existed a concept of a ‘challenge,’ and if Doom Caso had officially issued a challenge to me, then there was no reason for me to avoid it. I had missed the opportunity to teach Doom Caso a lesson in the past, but now was my chance to do so for whatever reason.

***

The inside of the tunnel was the same as what was identified when I briefly checked from the outside. The entrance was tall enough that I didn’t need to bend my waist. It tilted deep underground, then straightened out.

At that time, the Declan looked back at me miserably. I didn’t want to keep a slow pace behind him throughout this long passage, so it started running as I waved my hand. As a boss of a B-class dungeon, it was capable of maintaining a fast speed for a long time.

Just by looking at the many intersections leading to other passages in the middle, I could tell that the underground passage had definitely been made over the years. I was more certain of this idea when the vast residential areas unfolded in front of me. The Declans seemed to have established their territory from the northern part of the Franklin Duchy, which was right below our occupied regions.

I suddenly snapped, “You’d better fuck off from our areas.”

As the Declan stopped and looked at me submissively, I couldn’t help but wonder if it comprehended my words or if it simply yielded to my intimidating presence. Such was the depth of emotion that even Orca, with all its expressive abilities, couldn’t match the tear-filled glance of the Declan.

***

We must have passed by the Franklin border a long time ago. We sprinted nonstop and the tunnel led to a spacious area. It was still underground, but it hadn’t been touched by Declans. It was filled with the flow of Mana and maintained a large hole underground.

At that point, I realized why the Declan had brought me here. A section of the wall had been constructed of dirt, and beyond it lay the body of a creature, with only its enormous eyeball protruding through the wall.

How could I ever forget that?!

In the past, the very sight of the eyeball that was responsible for the downfall of mankind filled me with terror. I was certain that I could envision the appearance of Doom Caso even now. Although all that was visible to me at the moment was the protruding eyeball, I knew that there was much more beyond the wall.

Doom Caso was a giant monster, over thirty meters in length. Upon scrutinizing the rough surface of the wall surrounding the bulging eye, I noticed that the various irregularities formed the contours of the creature’s immense face.

Yes, this was the place where Doom Caso, the Demon King who had been sealed by a Holy Knight during the War of New Devil, resided. In the past, it had been kicked out by the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues. I heard it had been kicked out by Saint Jaden here.

You were resting here like you were hibernating all those years? Ridiculous.

The absurd eyeball blinked slowly and the pupil moved after me. Fragments began to fall from the wall.

I called with a voice full of hostility, “Doom Caso.”

I clenched my fists to suppress my urge to pull not only that eyeball but also its entire body and split its limbs. However, it wasn’t time to kill it yet as I had to listen to its story. I needed to know why it called me, what it wanted from me, what it could offer me, and how far it knew about the truth of Doom Kaos and this world. I had to use all means to force it to tell me everything.

Srrr-

I could feel Doom Caso sending me messages. Unlike Doom Kaos, which I couldn’t disobey, it belonged to the area where I could block it as much as possible.

Above all, I was annoyed that it had the ability to send me messages without saying anything. It was actually not a special ability as Yeon-Hee could do it. In fact, I already knew that Doom Caso had mental skills from the past.

After confirming that my message was conveyed to it, I said, “I can’t believe that such a low-rank Doom had called me. Your messenger was barehanded, so you’d better prepare something for me.”

The Declan avoided my eye contact and backed away.

“I will hand over the spoils.”

As Doom Caso’s mental message was translated into an audible sound, its voice reverberated heavily, causing the surrounding area to shake and debris to fall from the ceiling of the cave.

“Spoils?” I asked.

“The war has resumed. Doom Kaos must have given you commands as well, so we must cooperate. That’s what he would want, too. All the spoils we get from there will be all yours, Doom Man.”

However, he was on the wrong track as this would only benefit me.

“Hmph.”

We were far away from the Franklin Dukedom, but I hesitated to use an item as I wanted to prevent the devastation of the area where the Awakened would enter.

[*Storage box]

[Odin’s Golden Armor (God of War) has been removed.]

[You have used Odin’s Golden Armor.]

“What are you doing?!”

I laughed mirthlessly. “Cooperation? That’s funny. You must obey my orders. Isn’t that how the Demon Corps work? The spoils are of course mine if you work under me. That’s so obvious, you idiot.”

“I am not challenging you, but…”

I had been waiting to meet another Doom anyway, so Doom Caso was always welcome.

“W…wait!”

“I will teach you why I am a higher-ranked monarch than you. Let’s start the conversation again after that.”

[Odin’s Absolute Warzone has been opened.]