Transcendent Warrior With A Dimensional Shifting Inventory 38
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There was no need to mobilize all the troops to explore the temple.
Minhyuk led only the special forces and entered the arched cave behind the statue.
He instructed the rest of the soldiers to go outside the cave and wait.
Thud, thud-
Minhyuk walked in the forefront.
It was a series of winding paths, turning left and right.
Fortunately, there was no fork in the road.
‘How far do we have to go?’
Minhyuk quickened his pace.
The special forces soldiers following him had to drink a yellow potion to increase their movement speed in order to keep up with Minhyuk’s pace.
After walking for almost an hour, they came to a wide space.
It was a dead end with no further way to go.
In the center of the space was a single, ghastly looking tree.
This place had no water and no sunlight.
Naturally, the tree was dead.
The dead tree had turned into a fossil over time.
However, there was something like a fruit hanging from its branch.
Upon closer inspection, it was not a fruit, but a human head.
It was a severed head hanging from a tree branch.
The strange thing was that it didn’t seem to have decayed at all, as if it had been cut off not long ago.
Suddenly-
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The head opened its eyes.
The soldiers watching nearby were startled and stepped back.
After a moment,
The head began to speak, its mouth moving.
[I am Marcus, the king of Asdel.]
Marcus was the first emperor who founded Asdel.
If what the head said was true, then Minhyuk and his soldiers were now looking at the face of a man from hundreds of years ago.
In any case, the head referred to itself as a king, not an emperor.
Minhyuk knew the reason for that.
Before the Great Flood, Asdel was a kingdom, not an empire.
It was the richest country on the continent of Lania, but that did not mean it controlled the surrounding countries.
Asdel became an empire after the Great Flood.
The current emperor’s grandfather declared Asdel an empire and became the emperor himself in order to restore the declining royal authority.
And he raised the deceased former kings to the rank of emperor.
I knew that because I had read Asdel’s history books.
As the commander of the expeditionary force, basic historical study was essential.
However, there was nothing in the books about the head of the first king hanging from a tree like this.
Minhyeok approached the head and asked.
“Why are you hanging in a place like this?”
The head did not answer the question and continued to repeat the same words.
[I am Marcus, the king of Asdel.]
He didn’t seem to be in his right mind.
Minhyeok changed the question.
“Is this a dead end?”
[If you want to enter the deepest part of the temple, water the roots of the tree with the blood of my lineage.]
The soldiers murmured at the head’s words.
“If it’s the bloodline of the first emperor, isn’t that the royal family?”
“Do we need the blood of the royal family to go further inside?”
“The blood of the royal family...”
All the soldiers thought of the princess in the Tamirn Fortress.
To go further into the temple, the princess’s blood was needed.
But Minhyeok thought differently from them.
Minhyeok asked the soldiers.
“Does anyone have the surname Marcus?”
Marcus was the surname of the Asdel royal family.
The founder, Marcus, used his name as his surname.
That’s why the princess’s official name was ‘Christina von Marcus’.
However, not everyone with the surname Marcus was a member of the royal family.
In the past, the Chinese and Korean royal families considered the monarch’s fifth-generation descendants as part of the royal family based on the paternal lineage, and the children of princesses as part of the royal family based on the maternal lineage.
Not everyone with the Jeonju Lee surname is a member of the royal family.
The Princess seethed with anger at the ugliness of the King of Melbeck.
However, it was more urgent to devise a plan for the sudden situation than to seek justice now.
“It has become more difficult to protect Teidon’s heart than to obtain it. We must transport the magic orb to Asdel Fortress without fail!”
The General replied with a grim expression to the Princess’s words.
“Even if we transport the magic orb to Asdel Fortress and restore the power of the altar, the problem will not end there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Melbeck’s army of 200,000 will shift their target from the magic orb to Asdel Fortress.”
If they fail to seize the magic orb, Melbeck’s fortress will soon become uninhabitable.
Therefore, the King of Melbeck will try to seize the fortress of Asdel in its entirety.
“That could indeed happen.”
“It will definitely happen!”
The General emphasized once more with a desperate look in his eyes.
“War with Melbeck is inevitable!”
It was a situation where war could not be avoided.
However, Asdel was too outnumbered.
The enemy had an army of 200,000, while Asdel’s entire force was only about 30,000.
“But we have an elite force armed with Star Metal and Commander Michael! We will never be defeated in vain!”
The General nodded at the Princess’s words.
“Of course, we will! Commander Michael is a transcendent being! The elite force he leads will never be defeated under any circumstances!”
After embarking on the expedition, the entire expedition, including the Princess and General Drake, came to trust and rely on Minhyuk even more.
However, to be honest, they were anxious.
The attack power of the elite force armed with daggers, spears, and crossbow bolts made of Star Metal was truly one hundred men against one.
However, their defense was not so.
The soldiers’ armor was the same as what they had been wearing before.
Ordinary armor made of cowhide and reinforced with steel.
Even though he had a flame-retardant poncho, it was only useful against fire-breathing monsters.
If all you have is strong offense and no defense, you will eventually get eaten by a horde of enemies.
Hmm-
The princess and General Drake sighed at the same time.
They knew a bit about Min-hyuk’s mysterious ability.
They had seen him mass produce supplies for the soldiers.
So they also knew that not everything was possible.
For some reason, some things could be made and some couldn’t.
And one thing that definitely couldn’t be made was something large.
He had never mass-produced large items like greatswords, shields, or armor.
You could tell just by looking at the spears.
He made only the spearheads and connected them to the shafts separately.
If only he could supply the soldiers with armor made of Star Metal,
they would have a truly invincible force.
Then the expeditionary force alone could defeat an army of 200,000.
***
Min-hyuk and the special forces finally reached the deepest part of the underground temple.
There was a complex magic diagram carved into the floor.
And there was a large object in the center of the diagram.
When viewed from the front, it was a rectangular object about 2 meters wide and high.
Min-hyuk approached the object and examined it closely.
Wow-
It was a large refrigerator.
He had found a large commercial refrigerator in an ancient temple.
But it wasn’t a real refrigerator.
It was a stone statue shaped like a refrigerator.
There was even a logo carved on the top of the statue.
It was a famous South Korean conglomerate brand.
‘Is it a clue to expanding inventory?’
Min-hyuk reached out and touched the statue.
Then a message appeared.
Min-hyuk looked at the back of the statue.
Just in case, there was also a nameplate with the specifications engraved on it.
The model number of the refrigerator was written on the nameplate.
‘Okay.’
I’ll go buy the exact same refrigerator right now.