CH 307

<Master, you need to come and see this.>

Kim Jin-Woo jolted awake upon hearing Angela’s voice that was completely void of her usual playfulness.

<What’s going on?>

<The Red Giant has come looking for you, Master.>

As they communicated in their minds, Kim Jin-Woo propped Dominique up. Dominique, who had been happily hugging her master just moments before, saw his serious expression and quickly turned serious herself.

“Something’s happened. I should head back,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Since the deed was done, there was no reason to hesitate any longer. While Dominique quickly tidied up her messy hair, Angela’s voice called out once more.

<Can I head over there?>

Despite the urgency of the situation, seeing how Angela was being wary, it seemed she was concerned about how Dominique might feel. But considering the situation, Kim Jin-Woo immediately dropped all pretense of shyness and answered without hesitation.

<Right away.>

Even before he could finish speaking, a dark corner rippled and Angela materialized. She glanced at Dominique before immediately giving her report. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to interfere if possible, but I can’t solve the problem of the Reapers on my own.”

“No need to worry,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“Then I’ll be off right away,” Angela replied.

Kim Jin-Woo felt the cold skin characteristic of a Vampire on his fingertips, and he felt himself traveling through the Back Floor before reappearing somewhere in the Underworld.

<Oh! I have been waiting!>

The Red Giant was shouting with delight, and behind him, an endless stream of Reapers had lined up.

“Didn’t I tell you not to come looking for me until I called for you again?” Kim Jin-Woo remarked, not hiding his displeasure.

What really made him uncomfortable wasn’t the fact that his time with Dominique had been interrupted, but the fact that he hadn’t noticed the red giant and the Reapers’ approach until they were this close.

But that didn’t mean that he had let his guard down or been careless. In the first place, the presence the Nagas radiated wasn’t much different from theirs, and thus it would have been strange to have noticed their approach in the first place. Even now, the gloomy energy of the Nagas and the ferocious energy of the Reapers were intertwined, and the distinction between the two was near-negligible.

<I am not your servant.>

The Red Giant shouted furiously, but Kim Jin-Woo pretended to pick his ears, muttering, “No wonder.”

The Red Giant was about to respond with a sarcastic remark, but Kim Jin-Woo acted first.

Clang.

Kim Jin-Woo beckoned, and Quantus and several Nagas dragged the Heavenly Giant Lord forward. His majestic appearance was nowhere to be found, and his pathetic state made him seem as miserable as a neglected dog in chains. But in any case, now that even Catherine had lost her powers, the Heavenly Giant Lord was one of the few Highlords left in the Underworld.

As long as Kim Jin-Woo held the body of a Highlord as collateral, the Red Giant and the Reapers couldn’t oppose him.

<Urgh.>

Seeing the Red Giant trembling with dissatisfaction, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but let out a smirk. He was certain that the Red Giant wanted to kill him if he could.

However, the giant had no way of threatening him with force, nor did he have anything to offer for a deal, so the only thing the vicious giant could do was hold himself back.

“Well, fine. Actually, I was thinking of meeting you on my way down.” Now that the ball was in his court, Kim Jin-Woo gently coaxed the giant. “Help me one more time. Then I’ll hand over what you desire so desperately.”

The Heavenly Giant Lord, who had been tied up and was bent over helplessly as if he had resigned to his fate, raised his head. His eyes filled with despair and fear turned toward Kim Jin-Woo as he begged, “N-no! Please…”

His chained body swayed to and fro before woefully falling to the floor. But even as he rolled around the dirt on the ground, the Heavenly Giant Lord didn’t stop pleading for his life. “I’ll do anything you ask me to, so please, anything but handing me over to the other side…”

But it was all for naught. Both the Nagas and the Reapers knew how meaningless his desperate cries were. Despite Kim Jin-Woo’s emotionless gaze, it was only the Heavenly Giant Lord who was unaware of that sad truth.

<I hope you will keep that promise this time around.>

“Good. It’s a deal,” Kim Jin-Woo replied to the giant.

The will of the subject involved wasn’t taken into consideration. What was important to the two parties was that they had what each other needed, and how much they could get out of each other with that leverage.

The Red Giant and the Reapers left. They were highly worked up, as if they had already gotten the body of the Highlord they had been longing for in the palms of their hands.

“How simple-minded.” Angela laughed mockingly at the Reapers.

However, Kim Jin-Woo told her off, saying, “They may be simple-minded, but they’re not stupid.”

Take some, give some. It was the simplest and most reliable way to get what one wanted. Of course, if Kim Jin-Woo didn’t keep his promise, it would become a meaningless deal. But for the Reapers, they had no other option.

There were only four Highlords left in the Underworld: The Immoral Lord, the Beastfolk King, the True Blood Lord’s successor Angela, and Kim Jin-Woo himself.

The Immoral Lord was too difficult an opponent for the Reapers to lay their hands on. As she had been the sole King of the Underworld for many years, her power was truly formidable. The Beastfolk King was quick to observe and judge any situation, enough to even be nicknamed the ‘Escape King’. Although he was the weakest in terms of raw power, it was clear that he would be a fairly difficult opponent to pursue.

The only Highlords left would be Kim Jin-Woo himself or Angela. But the two of them were far too dangerous and powerful, enough to make the other two Highlords look like better targets. Any wrong move by the Reapers could result in their instant deaths.

None of them were easy opponents. Given the situation, from the point of view of the Red Giant, it was a no-brainer for him to strike a deal with Kim Jin-Woo and take the Heavenly Giant Lord in return.

“Never underestimate them. If you’re careless, you’ll find yourself becoming their meal instead,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

Angela pouted. After all, it wasn’t odd for her to feel no sense of danger when she could escape to her Red Castle at the first sign of trouble. In fact, even the Ancient Lords had realized that it would be impossible to bring the True Blood Lord to his knees and decided wisely to bring him over to their side.

Eventually, Angela couldn’t bear to hold it in and finally said, “Still, I don’t like how cheeky they were.”

Kim Jin-Woo consoled her with a smile, saying, “I have no intention of working with them until the end anyway.”

Kim Jin-Woo was the manifestation of Night. He tried to use those powers as little as possible, but in any case, he was the true master of the Reapers. It was obvious that the Red Giant and his clan, who were well aware of that fact, had a different plan in mind for not becoming his subjects.

“Their role is to simply be our meat shields, nothing more,” he remarked.

He didn’t trust those beings who were definitely hiding a sinister plan, and had no intention of keeping them by his side. If his guess was correct, what he would do in the future was something the Immoral Lord would never want. Worst of all, he would be forced to face off against her, someone who had built up her estate over countless years. And when that time came, the Reapers would perform their roles admirably.

Kim Jin-Woo smiled coldly and looked in the direction of the Underworld Tree, where the Reapers had disappeared off to.

“By the way…” Angela began. She asked playfully, “Well, shall we head back first?”

Kim Jin-Woo frowned at her playful tone, and found himself making a more sinister expression than necessary as he replied, “You, no way…”

Suspecting that she was up to no good, he looked at her suspiciously before frowning deeply. He belatedly remembered that Angela’s twisted hobby was to monitor his every move from her Red Castle.

“Urgh.” He finally could no longer hold it in and let out a heavy sigh. Dominique blushed bright red.

‘What a voyeuristic Vampire,’ Kim Jin-Woo grumbled to himself, but he must have gotten used to it without even realizing it, as there was no sign of embarrassment on his face.

The expedition force continued to consume every labyrinth that crossed their path. Suddenly, however, Kim Jin-Woo felt a familiar energy from a labyrinth in the distance, and stopped the Nagas who were breathing wildly as if they would rush toward it at any moment.

“It’s the Dragon Emperor’s labyrinth,” he remarked.

He pondered for a moment. The Dragon Emperor Agryptus was a loyal being—a trait that was rare in the Underworld. Besides, as he, no, Night, had consumed the energy of the Earth Dragon, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of favoritism toward the Dragon Emperor. He was reluctant to treat the Dragon Emperor’s labyrinth like any other labyrinth and annihilate it as well.

“They don’t seem to be doing so well, though,” Dominique remarked.

‘Were they attacked by the Reapers?’ Kim Jin-Woo thought.

As Dominique had said, the Dragon Emperor’s labyrinth was a complete wreck. Its ruined entrance was filled with the corpses of Drakans.

“It seems the Reapers have already gone,” Dominique remarked.

Although their numbers were small, the only ones in the Underworld who could defeat the Drakan clan that was powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the Dukes were the Reapers.

“What should we do? I don’t think they’ll last long, even if we leave them alone,” Dominique continued.

She seemed to imply that it would perhaps be better for the Nagas to be the ones to consume the Drakans, rather than leaving them out for the Reapers to finish them off.

Kim Jin-Woo shook his head upon hearing such an aggressive comment that he could never have imagined hearing from Dominique in the past. He said, “Let’s have a conversation with them first.”

“Shall I send a messenger?” Dominique asked, quickly composing herself after a brief expression of regret.

“No, there’s no need,” Kim Jin-Woo replied. As soon as he finished speaking, Drakans poured out from beyond the collapsed entrance of the ruined labyrinth.

“To come back even after tasting such a fiery defeat, I’m rather impressed by your stupidity…” the Dragon Emperor called out.

His golden scales were shattered all over, and their brilliance was long gone. He looked completely exhausted, but the descendant of the Golden Dragon, whose gaze still shone as brightly as ever, belatedly noticed Kim Jin-Woo and his eyes widened.

“How did you…?” he exclaimed. The Dragon Emperor must have suffered quite the defeat at the hands of the Reapers, as his gaze turned sharp again at the sight of the Nagas.

“Well, would you believe me if I said we were simply passing through?” Kim Jin-Woo replied. His tone sounded troubled, but his expression was as calm as ever.

“Mm…” The Dragon Emperor didn’t answer easily. It hadn’t been so long since they last met, but his presence was now completely different, to the point of being embarrassing.

“You look like you’re in terrible shape. Looks like you’ve been through a lot of trouble,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked in the midst of the confusion.

The Dragon Emperor clicked his tongue and responded with a heavy voice, “Are you here to make fun of us?”

“Of course not,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“Then are you also aiming for me and the heart of my fortress?” the Dragon Emperor asked. He was highly on edge, like a wounded beast who had been cornered.

“That’s not it either. I was just wondering how I might be able to help you,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

There were no unreciprocated favors in the Underworld. The Dragon Emperor knew that all too well, and thus didn’t readily believe Kim Jin-Woo.

“Of course, it won’t be for free. Let’s just say I’m trying to earn more favors instead of trying to help you,” Kim Jin-Woo continued.

The Dragon Emperor had already suffered a great loss for the sake of Ortehaga. But his devotion to his own kin seemed to remain present, as his eyes widened when he heard Kim Jin-Woo’s suggestion.

“I’ll make sure that the Reapers who put you and your labyrinth in this state will never dare cross paths with you again. I can even help you get revenge if you want,” Kim Jin-Woo offered.

“And what’s the price I have to pay?” the Dragon Emperor asked.

It was as expected. Given such a situation, the Dragon Emperor wasn’t too closed-minded to refuse to abandon his pride. He didn’t seem very reluctant, and there were signs that he might accept Kim Jin-Woo’s offer depending on the terms.

“Loyalty, that’s all,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

As the Drakans were bound by their spoken oaths, he would have absolutely no reason to worry about a possible betrayal. No, even without that, Kim Jin-Woo still had a soft spot for the Dragon Emperor.

Unfortunately, the Dragon Emperor quickly rejected his offer. “I refuse. The proud descendent of the Golden Dragon will bow his head to nobody.”

“Oh, is that so?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“Although my flesh and blood has sworn allegiance to you, Ortehaga is but a young one who has not yet reached his fullest potential. Besides, a fully grown Drakan will never put anyone above himself,” the Dragon Emperor replied.

It was a resolute answer that left no room for negotiation, but Kim Jin-Woo wasn’t disappointed. In fact, he started smiling deeply as he continued, “Even if it were the Earth Dragon you’ve been wanting to return for so long?”

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