Swordsman's Regression: Reawakened as a Necromancer-Chapter 76: A New Gate World

Luvengart wasn’t a simple city as one would presume.

Ostuary might have been the capital of Brackenbridge, but it held that title solely due to administrative tradition and historic economic standing.

The city of Luvengart, on the other hand, possessed true wealth.

This prosperity stemmed from the abnormally high concentration of Gate Worlds within its territory.

The vast coin generated from these dungeons was funneled directly back into the city, manifesting as superior infrastructure and Awakener equipment.

The city also had reach.

Baron Eutheo cultivated a delicate and highly strategic relationship with a peer across the border in the Kingdom of Eldermoor: Ithalan Finil, the Duke of Hollowcreek.

Eutheo maintained partnerships with various other Barons and Dukes, but his alliance with Duke Ithalan was strikingly important.

Hollowcreek was one of the most Gate World dense regions in the entire world. But the people of the province, and the Duke lived a life of seclusion, detached from the central politics of the Eldermoor Kingdom.

They had chosen to return to the forest, rejecting the march of modern civilization. But the consequences of this isolation were severe.

They lacked the resources to defend themselves against the relentless Gate World openings, or the coin to pay the Awakeners who did.

Baron Eutheo had recognized this vulnerability and planted a secret party of Awakeners around the border region of Hollowcreek.

Eutheo knew that such a province, possessing a poor defensive structure and Awakener resources, was a prime target for a potential Demon Migration.

After months of waiting, that inevitable day arrived, and Eutheo’s hidden forces intervened decisively to rescue the province.

With their lives saved, the grateful people of Hollowcreek gave their thanks and returned to live in the way of their tradition.

But Ithalan knew this was merely a reprieve; his province would be annihilated if he did not secure a permanent solution.

He met with Baron Eutheo, and they brokered a clandestine pact.

The resources Luvengart owned wasn’t merely from its own Gate Worlds, but from Hollowcreek’s as well.

Eutheo agreed to deploy high-level Awakeners and resources to the province in the case of a Gate World threat, provided Ithalan agreed to surrender the lion’s share of the dungeon spoils.

The problem was that such a deal required immediate deployment, and that was almost impossible given that Hollowcreek was in another Kingdom and cross-kingdom portals were outlawed.

So, to fix this, Baron Eutheo ordered the Portal Mage under him to construct a hidden, illegal Portal Gate that led from the city of Luvengart directly to the province of Hollowcreek.

It was a treasonous action, one that could get him stripped off his position and outlawed from the Human Kingdom if discovered.

Yet, it was a risk Eutheo took. A risk that elevated Luvengart to become the second most powerful city in Brackenbridge.

It placed him in direct competition with Ostuary for the title of the capital.

But a problem had risen its head, a problem in Hollowcreek.

"They’re dead?" Eutheo asked the Messenger before him. "All of them? Dead?"

The Messenger nodded, his eyes shifting to hide his panic. "Maxwell, Reven, Newzar, Willow, Danielle and most of the support team. All dead."

"They’re all high Level Awakeners," Eutheo muttered with bloodshot eyes. "They’re the strongest under my banner. The weakest was Willow and she was a Lvl 107. Ithalan said the Gate World was an Alpha. How could they all be dead?"

"I don’t know, my lord," the Messenger bowed his head to answer. "But the weaker party members who ran away... they are saying... strange things."

Eutheo narrowed his eyes. "What strange things?"

"They claimed that the monsters inside these Gate Worlds weren’t... monsters," the Messenger replied. He lifted his face to the baron. "They say they were more like... demonspawns."

Eutheo was quiet for a moment, looking at his Messenger as though he was deciding whether to cut off his head or his balls. "Lewik. You do not take me for a fool, do you?"

"No! No, my lord!" the Messenger panicked.

"Demonspawns inside Gate Worlds? What kind of absurdity is that?"

"You misunderstand, Lord Eutheo," Lewik bowed, mouth quivering. "It’s not that demonspawns were in the GateWorlds, but that the creatures there resembled demonspawns more than they did beasts. It was like they were no beasts at all. They were no spawns either. Just..."

It clicked in Eutheo’s head. A haunting thought.

"Demons?" Eutheo asked. "A Gate World of Demons? You say that is what had opened in Hollowcreek?"

"That is what they said, my lord!" Lewik pleaded. "They said their weapons couldn’t do anything."

"Like Demonspawns, physical damage was useless. But while steel causes slight damage to Spawns, these creatures took no damage at all."

"Only mana could harm them, and before they realized it, it was too late. The creatures were full of mana, composed of it, in fact.I was told they slaughtered the Vanguard before the second Encounter Zone."

"A bloodsucking demon, a demon like a human wolf, a shrieking demon, a floating wraith." The Messenger knelt before Eutheo. "I am only telling you what I was told, my lord. I have no reason to lie. But my lord, what else could have killed your Vanguard of the powerful Awakeners?"

Eutheo’s gaze slowly became distant, fixed on a spot on the wall behind Lewik.

’Demons.’ He could not bring himself to believe it, even though it was extremely plausible given the situation.

The impossible manner of his Vanguard’s death—a party of extremely high-level Awakeners that had faced down A-Rank and S-Rank Beasts—demanded an equally impossible explanation.

Demonspawns were Evernia’s greatest threats. But Demons themselves? They were not even the stuff of common legend anymore. They were relegated to the dusty tomes of before-legends, ancient beliefs from a time before the Gate Worlds were even a constant threat.

Before the fall of Azazel himself.

So why now? Why in Hollowcreek?

A chill, colder than any dungeon air, traced its way down his spine. Hollowcreek.

Was it compromised? A Demon Gate World was big news, no?

If it got out, every ambitious Awakener and Baron from every province would descend upon Hollowcreek, lured by the promise of unfathomable power, or driven by fear.

And when they got there, they would find the remnants of his Vanguard, the strongest Awakeners under his banner, dead.

The existence of the secret Portal Gate, the clandestine deal with Ithalan, the immense resources funneled into Luvengart—everything—would be ruined.

He would be stripped of his title, outlawed, and potentially executed for high treason against both kingdoms.

He forced his expression into a mask of cold resolve. "How much time is left?" he asked the Messenger.

Lewik swallowed hard, still kneeling. "Since it was an Alpha Gate, my lord, it is going to be a week at least before the threat inside spills out into Hollowcreek. But the Vanguard spent almost two days inside. It is around five days and a few hours left, my lord."

Eutheo nodded, the numbers doing their terrible dance in his head. Five days. Barely enough time.

"Lewik," he commanded, his eyes boring into the Messenger’s soul. "You will send word to Baron Ithalan. Tell him to seal the Gate World with every ounce of power he possesses."

"Use every arcane artifact, every spell, every living Portal Mage at his disposal. I will send help as soon as I can, but first, the Gate must be sealed. Now go."