“Then, I have delivered everything I need to, so I’ll take my leave. The next part of the story-”
“Is the Mysterious Merchant, right?”
“Yes. Please listen to the Mysterious Merchant.”
The Red Merchant said this, waved her hand once, smiled, and spoke.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“You’re quite busy.”
“There’s not much to do here anyway. And- it seems someone is quite uncomfortable.”
As the Red Merchant gave a strange smile and glanced upward, Kim Hyunwoo looked up with her in curiosity, but no one was there.
“...?”
Kim Hyunwoo had a puzzled expression, but the Red Merchant lowered her head to look at him.
“Anyway, let’s meet again if there’s a chance.”
With that, she turned around, snapped her fingers lightly, and disappeared into red dust.
“...She disappeared just like the Blue Merchant.”
Kim Hyunwoo, who made that remark while watching the Red Merchant, soon looked at the box she had given him.
It wasn’t very large, the item Kim Hyunwoo had bought for 7,500 Gold Coins, which could be a clue to removing the limit on his mind.
Kim Hyunwoo, who had been staring at it, hesitated no longer and tore off the wrapping to reveal the contents.
“...What’s this?”
He soon found a very strange-looking red orb inside the box.
Kim Hyunwoo picked up the red orb and examined it closely.
The red orb was not very large.
It was red but highly transparent, allowing clear visibility of the other side, and at first glance, its small size made it look like a candy.
“...It doesn’t taste good.”
Thinking it might be candy, he licked the red orb, but finding no taste, Kim Hyunwoo, with a puzzled expression, realized that the item’s description window did not appear and spoke.
“Loria, is this the type of orb that doesn’t show an item window?”
Loria, who was rarely silent at Kim Hyunwoo’s question, answered.
[I was trying to display the window...but since it's an item not in the database, some text is corrupted, so I haven't displayed it yet, My Lord]
“...Can you show me the corrupted part for now?”
[Yes, understood]
At Loria’s words, a notification window appeared before Kim Hyunwoo’s eyes.
Red Item
(The text has been corrupted and is unable to be properly displayed)
Grade: ????
Attack Power: ????
Specialty: Remove (解除)
Description: An item created by the Red Merchant. By collecting the items below, the orb's properties can be used. (The text has been corrupted and is unable to be properly displayed)
The items required to use the red item are as follows:
Fenrir's Fang
But strangely, communication with the demon realm had been cut off since three days ago.
Completely, with no communication at all.
‘...Of course, we can still operate under these circumstances.’
Of course, not being able to communicate with the demon realm doesn’t prevent the summoning ritual.
Even if it causes some damage, opening the demon realm’s door can bring forth the commanders without any problem.
But the reason Landaron hadn’t done that yet was a subtle, underlying sense of unease.
As far as Kelva could tell, there was no reason why communication with the demon realm should be impossible.
The only time communication might fail is if the magic between dimensions is temporarily twisted, but otherwise, it should always work.
In other words, the only reason communication wouldn’t work when the dimensional magic isn’t twisted is if something had happened in the demon realm.
But there were too many strange points to be certain.
At least as Kelva thought, there was no reason for a problem severe enough to disrupt communication in the demon realm.
The order in the demon realm was clearly established, and with everyone sharing the same dream, there was no sudden outbreak of conflict.
‘...The First Legion Commander is there, but.’
Even if the First Legion Commander caused trouble upon discovering the truth in the Middle Realm, it wouldn’t disrupt communication.
No matter how strong she was, she couldn’t handle all the commanders alone.
Therefore, Kelva, who was still contemplating various issues.
“Tsk.”
Eventually, he had to make a decision.
“Stay back, Landaron. Let’s proceed with the ritual.”
“...Did communication get through?”
“No, but there’s no point in delaying any longer.”
In the end, Kelva decided to open the demon realm’s door despite the lack of communication.
Waiting indefinitely for communication was not viable given the current state of the Norba Kingdom, and the sacrifices he had forcibly gathered would become harder to control over time.
So, Kelva quickly decided and activated the magic circle drawn beneath his feet.
Wooooooong-!
Soon, with a huge resonating sound, the magic circle covering the entire eastern area of the Norba Kingdom began to glow and greedily pull in the pulsating veins.
Crunch- Crunch, Crackle!
Sounds of breaking and grinding could be heard as the flesh being sucked into the magic circle began to spew dark red blood.
The dark red blood flowed into the gaps of the glowing magic circle, starting to stain it red.
And finally.
Creak-creak-creak-!!!
As if forcing open a door that wouldn’t budge, a red line began to open with a chilling sound, and Kelva could see the commanders’ conference room for the first time in a while.
“...!”
Kelva, at the same time, couldn’t help but open his mouth in surprise.
Inside, where his gaze landed.
“...It finally opened?”
The Hero King, covered in purple bloodstains, was staring at Kelva with a chilling smile.