Chapter 208
“We have to advance now! What are we just sitting around and having a meeting for?!”
“Quiet, Yoo Hwa-Yeon!”
“You be quiet, Ho-Geun ahjussi! There’s only one answer, isn’t there?!”
Arguments went back and forth at Garapan’s grand conference hall, a former government building that Clan One Tree used for official purposes. Over thirty people, including the category captains and executive members, sat at the long oval wooden table.
Including the people standing around the table, there were over a hundred people present, gathered to discuss the group occupying the plains south of Garapan.
“What’s the situation, Bill?” asked a young man in light armor with a buzzcut, deeply sunken eyes, sitting at the center of the table. He was Shin Jun, the leader of Clan One Tree.
Bill, an observer with a DSLR camera hanging from his neck, sitting at the left side of the table, answered, “It’s not good, Clan Leader. More and more orcs are gathering. Their numbers went up to a thousand just an hour ago.”
“Hmm...”
“A thousand orcs?”
“They’re not just ordinary orcs. I’m sure they’re all orc warriors.”
As the people around them mumbled, Bill continued, “They’ve begun to pitch tents that look like gers, but there’s an excessive number. It’s far more than enough for a thousand.”
“They must be the advance party, then.”
“A thousand orcs is an advance party?”
“Holy shit... are they preparing to wage war or something?”
Hwa-Yeon slammed her fist on the table and shouted, “The war has already begun! They captured Na Seong-Tae!” She turned to Bill and asked, “Bill! You’re sure that Na Seong-Tae isn’t dead, right?”
“I don’t know... There were dozens of orc bodies, but I didn’t identify Seong-Tae’s body. I can’t guarantee he’s alive, but he’s MIA—”
“See?! We have to hurry, Jun oppa!” Hwa-Yeon shouted as she stared at Jun.
Then, Ho-Geun, sitting beside Jun, shouted, “Yoo Hwa-Yeon! This is an official meeting! You must think we’re still the small party we used to be, but... we’re a clan, and Shin Jun is the leader! Follow the rules!”
Jun raised his hand, signaling them to calm down. He turned to the woman in a ponytail sitting at the right of the table and asked, “Has there been contact from the Union, Ye-Ji?”
“Not yet,” Ye-Ji replied as she tapped on her smartphone. She was one of the original members, now twenty years old. “I contacted the Union support department directly. I even added the name Bodonchar, but still nothing.”
“I’m sure they have their hands full dealing with current events. Sefirot announced their support for Underground, and the Tortoise Emperor was summoned to the Sēmen,” Min-Jae remarked as he fiddled with his yellow bow.
Ye-Ji nodded. “That’s right. That’s all the Network is filled with lately.”
Jun remained silent as he organized his thoughts. He turned to the woman in a purple robe and a man wearing something resembling a modern hanbok, and said, “Virginia, please request support from New Age by explaining the situation. Guan Li Jie, please do the same for Dongming.”
“Oh, why should I?” answered Virginia, a middle-aged Western woman.
“There is no cause,” remarked Li Jie, an Asian man in his thirties.
“No cause? More and more orcs are gathering by the minute. No one knows who their next target will be.” Jun stared intently at Virginia and Li Jie and continued, “Brussels and Stockholm could be next after us.”
Virginia was a member of Clan New Age occupying Brussels, a metropolis in the second zone. Guan Li Jie was a member of Clan Dongming occupying Stockholm, a metropolis in the third zone. They had come to Garapan, between the two zones, to establish a network between the three cities.
Jun added, “On top of that... Are you willing to forgo your share of the profits if this succeeds? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop a connection with Bodonchar, the patriarch of Fortitudo.”
The light in Virginia’s and Li Jie’s eyes changed.
Virginia placed one leg over the other and said, “Hmm, that’s quite enticing, but that doesn’t mean—”
“Very well,” Li Jie interjected as he stood up.
Virginia frowned and clicked her tongue. “Don’t you know the basics of negotiation? You’re so insensible. We gotta make them desperate to get as much as we can!”
“I’m surprised you can be so proudly vulgar. We at Dongming value chivalry. One tends not to forget a debt they incurred when they needed it the most,” Li Jie remarked as he looked at Jun.
Jun nodded and said, “We will be in your debt. I hope this opportunity will evolve the relationship between One Tree and Dongming from transaction partners to blood brothers.”
“Blood brothers, huh? Sounds good,” Li Jie said as he left the conference hall.
Virginia had no choice but to stand as well and say, “Our clan leader is doubtful and rational. There will be promises she’ll demand to be kept.”
“Of course,” Jun answered.
Virginia shrugged and left the conference hall as well.
“We can put out any immediate fires once we receive support from New Age and Dongming. The one I sent on an errand should have arrived at the Union by now,” Jun said as he slowly looked around the conference hall. Some were anxious, others were excited for war, and a few were afraid. “One Tree will enter wartime. Since our enemies are cavalry, we will prepare to ambush from the southern forest until reinforcements arrive from the Union.”
“Alright! I’m not afraid of orcs!”
“They’re an inferior race, just like us!”
“Just in time, it’s been hard exploring dungeons. Karma has come knocking on our doorstep by itself!”
As the One Tree clansmen each expressed their opinions, Hwa-Yeon sprang up and said shakingly, “Why isn’t anyone... saying anything about... rescuing Na Seong-Tae?”
Jun remained silent.
Hwa-Yeon, as white as a sheet, said, “Jun oppa... Please, give me a clear answer... Are we... not going to rescue Na Seong-Tae?”
“Bill will continue to monitor the enemy lines.”
“That’s not a clear answer!”
“Yoo Hwa-Yeon!” Ho-Geun shouted.
He was about to stand up, but was interrupted by Jun. “We will wait for a chance to rescue him if we confirm he is alive, but we can’t engage in a head-on battle with orcs in the plains. It’s suicide.”
“How... How could you do this? It’s Na Seong-Tae... Na Seong-Tae! We’ve been together since the Dark Forest!” Hwa-Yeon shouted.
“Hwa-Yeon. The lives of all our clansmen are important to me, not just Seong-Tae hyung’s.”
“Hah!” Hwa-Yeon’s shaking stopped. “You’ve changed, Jun oppa. You’ve become a coward.”
“Hwa-Yeon unnie!” Ye-Ji called, but Hwa-Yeon did not take her eyes off Jun.
“One Tree? Creating one big tree by gathering branches? It’s absurd.” Hwa-Yeon’s rage-filled eyes scanned the people in the conference hall. “Is anyone willing to go rescue Na Seong-Tae with me?”
There was silence.
She continued, “Is there no one here whom Na Seong-Tae hasn’t saved?”
The silence continued.
“I see,” Hwa-Yeon mumbled, her eyes blazing with rage, disappointment, and determination. “I’m leaving this clan. I’ll rescue Na Seong-Tae, even if I have to do it myself.”
Min-Jae said, “Hwa-Yeon, I understand how you feel. We all do, but—”
Hwa-Yeon turned to Min-Jae and interjected, “Forget it. Don’t say anything. You prioritize the group over the individual, right? That’s why Hee-Gyeong ajumma left the clan, because everyone here forgot about Nam Do-Hyun’s death!”
“That’s not true, unnie! Hee-Gyeong ajumma left because—”
“I don’t wanna hear it! Na Seong-Tae could be dying at this very moment!” Hwa-Yeon stormed out of the conference hall as everyone stared at her back. She said before she disappeared, “I wish you all luck. I’m sure One Tree will develop even further from this, but this is where I retire.”
A deathly silence echoed momentarily before Jun broke it. “Nathaniel, how is the orc suspected to be Bodonchar’s eldest son?”
“He hasn’t regained consciousness, but his external injuries are mostly closed.”
“Good. As for Natalie...”
Jun continued to command his clansmen, but his eyes were not focused in the slightest.
***
Crows flew around as they stared at the buffet under them. Some bodies were cooked from heat, finely sliced, or turned into mash. The northern grand plains of the fifth zone were filled with corpses. It was the battleground where the war between Gula of Cadaver and Biphatogenes of Nivalis had been going on for over a year.
“Krrrk! Kerererek!” a goblin wearing a crown laughed at the center of the battlefield, surrounded by corpses. He was 160 centimeters tall, which was quite tall for a goblin, and had a brown beard that resembled a chestnut. “Kererek, this is the best! It was wise to side with Cadaver! Krrrrk!”
He was Abyete, the king of Humilitas.
He slammed a scepter embedded with a diamond the size of a fist on the ground and mumbled, “We who began from one seed return to one. Its roots are like sparse nets...”
His bizarre rhythmic chant resonated with the bodies on the battlefield.
“Devour, devour, devour. Fill your stomach.”
[Activating Race Skill: Sacrificial Sorcery - Dedication.]
A giant mouth appeared from the ground and swallowed the bodies whole.
“Ahhh! Kerererek!” Abyete’s entire body trembled, a green light flashing from his eyes. Sorcery Force filled his body, indicating a successful activation of the sacrificial sorcery. He showed his teeth and shouted, “Krrk! Kahahaha! With this, I should be able to rise several ranks! Just you wait, Lee Kang-San!”
He was highly dissatisfied with Kang-San. Not only had they clashed because of the matter regarding Clan Trophy, but he did not like that Gula of Cadaver seemed more interested in Kang-San than him.
To make matters worse, Kang-San had defeated Hadafu, the Ten Thousand Arms, and rose to become the eighty-eighth World Ranker. Because of that, his plan to be supplied with weapons from the Blue Anvil tribe was shattered. Kang-San also had the attention of hot topics such as the establishment of Underground, the declaration of the new elf city, Viridis, and many more.
Such accomplishments enabled him to be summoned to the Sēmen; in other words, he had made himself known to the inner zones.
“Kererek! The feeling of him being above me is disgusting!”
Abyete planned to support Kang-San’s downfall if given the opportunity, and there was another individual who felt the same way.
***
A giant ice palace stood on a severely cold land. A handsome middle-aged man sat on a throne made of ice that shone like a diamond. He had long, sapphire hair and eyes, and blue horns roughly fifty centimeters long. Executive members of Nivalis kneeled before the man.
“The progress has stalled,” the man said.
“O-our apologies!”
“We will gather more forces and—”
“Forget it,” the man interjected.
The executives of Nivalis stared at one another. They were all polymorphed dragons, each as powerful as an inferior race Ranker.
“A war that I, Ice Dragon Biphatogenes, have waged has become a neighborhood scuffle that no one cares about.”
Biphatogenes was expressionless, but the dragons who felt his freezing rage trembled.
He continued, “All the attention in the Mirror World shifted to Forestis, and Nivalis has lost its direction.”
The clash between Nivalis and Cadaver began because Humilitas showed signs of banding with Cadaver. At the time, Echion did not approve. The expansion of Cadaver ultimately meant that Necrophilia would also grow in power. Hence, Biphatogenes had taken action by sacrificing his son to create justification.
All the attention in the Mirror World shifted to the war once it commenced, and it showed signs of growing even more. Biphatogenes believed that a war between dragons and demons would allow him to become the spearhead of Echion and receive the trust of Regnator, the almighty Dragon King.
Even the Readers were interested in my story! Biphatogenes mumbled inwardly.
However, a single variable changed everything.
He mumbled, “Lee Kang-San.”
He had been hearing the name often. He was a rebellious World Ranker who had collaborated with Gula, raised his name value further in Forestis alongside Elementum, a new superstar, and even developed a confederation known as Underground.
“There will be no more war of attrition with Cadaver. Withdraw our forces,” Biphatogenes remarked.
“Yes, sir!”
“Yes, sir!”
Biphatogenes listened to his subordinates’ responses and thought, I believe I heard the Sēmen recently began a debate regarding Underground.
Sefirot, Necrophilia, and Redeo voted for its formation, while Echion and Orbis voted against it. The remaining forces remained neutral.
“I should contact Orbis.”
Biphatogenes’s ice-cold eyes flashed. He refused to fall back without anything to show for it.