Chapter 617

Del Roa slowly swept his gaze over his surroundings with deeply sunken eyes.

Countless tents covered the area so densely that they were impossible to number.

They were the shelters of those who had escaped from El Harun.

More than hundreds of thousands had lost their homes and were wandering the desert.

It was impossible to simply build houses in the middle of the desert.

In the end, they made tents and used them as temporary shelters.

Food, places to sleep, drinking water—many things were lacking.

For the time being, they hunted demonic beasts to fill their empty stomachs, but it could not completely solve their hunger.

Those who had initially followed Del Roa blindly were now growing exhausted, and deserters were beginning to appear.

Many had broken away from Del Roa’s group and chosen to fend for themselves.

At first, deserters were severely punished.

But it was impossible to stop all of them.

Eventually, many left, and now they had reached the point of simply letting them go.

With food and water already scarce, they could not forcibly hold deserters forever.

In the end, more than half the people left Del Roa’s group in search of their own survival.

Del Roa knew it.

As time passed, even more deserters would emerge, and the group would shrink further.

Time was not on their side.

“We must find the World Tree as quickly as possible. Of course, before that, we must first seize this place called the Steel Fortress.”

As long as they could secure food, water, and a safe place to sleep, no more deserters would appear.

Thud! Thud!

At that moment, a giant approached him.

It was Krudu, the leader of the giants.

As the seven-meter-tall giant moved, heavy footsteps shook the ground, sending dust clouds billowing upward.

Beside Krudu walked someone with horns on his head.

It was Garanta, the former priest of El Harun. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Garanta bowed his head and spoke.

“Lord Del Roa! We have found the shortest route to the Steel Fortress.”

“How long will it take?”

“About one month.”

“Too long.”

“For now, that is the best option.”

Del Roa frowned automatically, displeased by Garanta’s calm response.

“Can it not be shortened further?”

“My apologies.”

“Tch!”

Del Roa clicked his tongue.

Garanta, Krudu, and their races were all far removed from efficiency.

Garanta lacked flexibility, and Krudu was weak when it came to using his head.

Because of that, finding efficient methods was difficult.

‘If only there were humans at times like this…’

Del Roa bit his lip firmly.

Among the many deserters, the most painful loss had been the humans.

Humans were natural workers.

They did not possess the strength or superior craftsmanship of dwarves, but they had cleverness that other races lacked.

Even when doing the same task, they used their heads to make it easier and endlessly sought new methods.

Because they had moved like lubricating oil, El Harun had functioned smoothly.

The void left by humans was too great.

Where they had disappeared, it felt as though sand had replaced the oil.

Because of that, their march toward the Steel Fortress was frustratingly slow.

Del Roa turned his gaze to Krudu.

“What about combat preparations?”

“We are prepared to crush any enemy we encounter at any time. However, the longer we remain in the desert, the more our tension will fade.”

“Surely there will not be deserters among the giants?”

“Even in death, that will never happen.”

“I trust you.”

“I will never disappoint you. However…”

“What is it?”

“We lack information.”

“What information?”

“We know almost nothing about the Steel Fortress. At best, we know it is a safe place from demonic beasts and that humans who defected from El Harun reside there.”

“Hmm!”

“Now that El Harun’s humans have also joined them, their power has surely strengthened. Yet we know nothing about them or the Steel Fortress. If we attack as we are, there will certainly be many casualties.”

Del Roa frowned involuntarily.

He thought the same.

The problem was that there was no suitable method.

There was no way to learn the circumstances of a place one month away.

Without the World Tree’s power, Del Roa’s abilities were insufficient.

“What method could…”

Ziiing!

At that moment, a terrible headache surged through Del Roa.

It felt as though his head were splitting apart.

“Ghk!”

“What is wrong?”

Krudu and Garanta were startled by Del Roa suddenly dropping to his knees and tried to support him.

But Del Roa raised his hand, stopping their approach.

“This is…”

Along with the headache came knowledge flooding in like a tidal wave.

At first, he thought it was an illusion.

But what was pouring into his mind was clearly someone else’s knowledge.

Someone unknown was transcending time and space to send him knowledge.

Del Roa closed his eyes and quietly observed the unfamiliar knowledge entering his mind.

Krudu and Garanta watched him breathlessly.

After a long time passed, Del Roa opened his eyes.

“This is a curse.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Shouldn’t we quickly dispel it?”

Krudu and Garanta were horrified, but Del Roa himself remained calm.

“A curse of knowledge sent by the enemy of my enemy. This is truly interesting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly as I said. Someone has sent us information about Neo Seoul and the Steel Fortress in the form of a curse. Though much of it is incomplete due to loss, the information about the Steel Fortress is certain.”

The curse sorcerer had died before the curse was completed.

Normally, the knowledge-transfer curse should have vanished as well.

But the curse sorcerer’s intense resentment prevented the curse from dispersing, and it ultimately reached Del Roa.

The reason Del Roa could receive even this incomplete knowledge-transfer curse was because his own abilities were that exceptional.

“A portal capable of spatial movement. If we occupy the Steel Fortress and use the portal, we can move to Neo Seoul.”

“Then?”

“Yes! Not only the Steel Fortress, but Neo Seoul itself can become ours.”

“Ohhh!”

At Del Roa’s words, Krudu and Garanta both let out exclamations.

It felt like a ray of light shining into pitch-black darkness where not even an inch ahead could be seen.

Del Roa spoke.

“Summon the council immediately. I will now share the information about the Steel Fortress, so let us all devise a conquest plan together.”

“Yes! We will gather everyone at once.”

Krudu and Garanta immediately ran off to summon the leaders of each race.

Left alone, Del Roa formed a cold smile.

“As expected, the gods have not abandoned us.”

＊＊＊

“Huup!”

“Haa!”

Habin and Kaden opened their eyes at the same time, letting out deep breaths.

The first thing they saw upon regaining consciousness was Levin and Brielle staring down at them with worried expressions.

“Cap…tain?”

“Brielle’s here too? Am I dreaming?”

The two muttered while blinking blankly like cattle.

Having been intoxicated by drugs for so long, their minds were still hazy, unable to distinguish reality.

Levin smacked both of them on the forehead.

“Ow!”

“That hurts.”

Habin and Kaden exaggerated their pain.

Only then did relief appear on Levin’s face.

“Damn! You bastards are perfectly fine. Had me worried sick.”

“We’re still alive?”

“Yeah! You bastards. You’re all alive. We rescued you.”

“But we were addicted to drugs?”

“Lemura detoxified everything.”

“Ah!”

The two let out joyful cries.

After being captured by Illusion, they had been brutally tortured and addicted to drugs.

Illusion administered drugs to extract information from them.

Even while addicted, they kept their secrets.

So Illusion increased the dosage, and from that point on, they could no longer think at all.

The drugs had completely paralyzed their reason.

Whenever they showed even the slightest sign of thought, Illusion injected more drugs and robbed them of their will.

They had been living corpses.

But now they could think.

They could recognize their current situation.

Their whole bodies still felt sluggish.

But if they wanted to, they could move at any time.

There was not even a trace of addiction left.

“As expected of Lemura! I don’t feel any withdrawal symptoms at all.”

“Of course not. If it weren’t for Lemura, you’d already be dead.”

Levin answered with a snort.

Normally, they might have found his tone irritating, but now even that felt comforting.

“What happened to Beron?”

“He’s alive too.”

“Beron was addicted too, wasn’t he?”

“No need to worry. Brielle detoxified him before you two. His family was also safely rescued.”

“Haa…”

Only then did the two sigh in relief.

“You bastards! You worked hard.”

Levin praised them while roughly ruffling their hair.

“Sorry, Captain! We tried somehow to contact you, but…”

“It’s enough that you survived. Rest until you’re fully recovered.”

“Yeah! Captain.”

“Thank you!”

Habin and Kaden closed their eyes again.

Soon, they fell into a deep sleep.

Only then did Levin let out a breath of relief.

“You bastards! Causing people to worry like hell.”

Though his words were rough, a smile had already appeared on his face.

Leaving the sleeping pair behind, he stepped outside.

The view of the underground city spread before his eyes.

Lemura, who had been tending to other patients, noticed Levin and approached him.

“How are they?”

“They seem fine. Thank you, Lemura.”

“It’s nothing.”

“If it weren’t for you, those bastards would’ve definitely suffered withdrawal and killed themselves.”

“I’m glad. That my abilities worked.”

Lemura let out a sigh of relief.

“I’ll definitely repay this debt.”

“It’s fine. What debt between us? If anyone owes gratitude, it’s me.”

“I’m just thankful.”

“That’s enough. Since both of them seem okay, I’ll go check on the others now.”

“Yeah!”

Levin nodded.

The busiest person in the underground city was Lemura.

Everyone needed her help.

No matter how much City Hall improved conditions with support, they were still poor.

Many were sick and wasting away.

They needed Lemura’s warm touch.

Because of that, Lemura had to move nonstop.

“Hoo…”

After Lemura left, Levin let out another sigh of relief.

Habin carefully asked while watching Levin,

“What happened to the drug organization?”

“What do you think happened?”

“Well…”

“We wiped them all out. Every last bastard connected.”

“Ah!”

“You guys just rest and recover your strength. That’s for everyone’s sake.”

“Yes! Captain.”

“And…”

“Yes?”

“You all worked hard. Thanks to you, we were able to wipe out the drug organization parasitizing Neo Seoul in one sweep. It was all thanks to you.”

Levin’s words brightened both of their faces.

They answered at the same time.

“Yes! Captain.”

Flowers of smiles bloomed across both of their faces.