General Jinlei had brought down countless enemies who had seemed impossible to defeat.

But.

That didn’t mean there hadn’t been whispers along the way.

‘How did he kill them?’

Once he accepted an operation, the target was dealt with.

But.

No one had ever seen the process.

To begin with, those enemies were dangerous enough that there were few survivors living anywhere near them.

And during the operation, access had been blocked off.

‘Even I... did wonder about it.’

Like Jinlei, General Kaio was an awakened from this capital.

They had been close, and there had even been a few times they carried out operations together.

The power Jinlei had shown then had not been so overwhelmingly beyond reach.

Among the awakened, prying into each other’s abilities was taboo.

So he had never pressed the matter.

“You all have the right to hear it.”

The leader of their guild.

The Chairman said he would reveal the truth, and took them somewhere.

The Forbidden City, which they had long used as their headquarters.

...Underground.

‘There was a facility like this beneath the palace.’

‘The fact that none of us sensed it means it was hidden thoroughly.’

When they went down below, a small, unidentified space appeared before them.

It did not seem to have been there before the world’s ruin.

A crudely made little chamber.

And the purpose of that chamber was nothing else.

[Melchiorn Main Castle]

“What in the world is this?”

The single black object sitting there... no.

Something meant to conceal a hole.

[One of the bloodlines descended from the Progenitor, and the only bloodline that remained until the very end.]

[This is the Melchiorn Bloodline’s main castle.]

The moment they looked at that hole, transparent windows floated up before their eyes.

[For some reason, they were driven from their homeland and left to wander the Otherworld, but the bloodline’s dread remains undiminished.]

[Those who invade the main castle without the Grand Duke’s permission will pay a blood price.]

“...This is a dangerous place.”

One of the generals spoke with tension in his eyes.

The system did not lie.

And the system was warning them that anyone who trespassed into that castle would pay the price.

“Don’t worry.”

But.

The Chairman stepped inside without a moment’s hesitation and said,

“We are not intruders.”

“......”

“To be precise, we are formal guests who received an invitation... are we not?”

And then.

Behind the Chairman, followed by the other members of the leadership.

“General Jinlei?”

General Jinlei followed.

“......”

At the sight of that, every general understood.

That black hole.

What lay inside it was precisely—

‘the method General Jinlei used to make the impossible possible.’

Maybe.

The hero they had known was not a hero after all.

Caw...

What spread beyond the hole was a world covered by a red sky.

Beneath it stood a gigantic fortress sunk into darkness.

“Follow me.”

From the entrance of the fortress all the way inside, they saw countless corpses.

Rotting flesh skewered through by things like giant spears.

Crows and bats flew over them in chaotic swarms.

Squirm.

“......”

And then.

As General Kaio walked among those corpses, he realized one thing.

‘They’re not dead.’

Those bodies clearly did not look like the living.

Even if they could not be called alive, they were not dead either.

“General Jinlei and we endured the early days of the ruin together.”

At the Chairman’s words, Kaio swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of his throat.

‘It was the General who protected you.’

He was not a fool.

He could tell that Jinlei had not gone through any normal path of growth.

And that there was a strong chance something ugly, some kind of vile custom, was entangled behind it.

“Then, by good fortune, we succeeded in a Conquest War... and that became the first conquest on this land.”

But he did not point that out.

Whatever the past had been, those people had led the survivors reasonably well.

And General Jinlei was called a hero.

“And as our reward... we obtained a single invitation. It was mercy left behind by a great being for the sake of the weak.”

The Chairman kept walking, and they went deeper into the castle.

“At first, we too trembled in fear when we saw this castle. But only later did we realize how foolish that fear had been. The owner of this invitation had no intention of treating us as enemies. Rather... that being gave us the strength and wisdom to overcome this world.”

“Strength and wisdom?”

“You’ve probably guessed as much already... but human forces that succeeded in a Conquest War in the capital of a nation must be extremely rare. There is a very high chance we are the only ones.”

The others knew it too.

Capitals, where the greatest number of humans had once gathered, produced monsters at densities far beyond other regions.

No matter how extraordinary an awakened might be, in the end that person was still only one human being.

Surviving against that many monsters was brutally difficult.

The evil that covered this world had subdued the military, humanity’s armed force.

And it had thoroughly crushed the capitals, the core of human society.

Some people felt a chilling kind of terror from that fact.

“The reason it was possible is simple.”

They as well.

If not for Jinlei’s bizarre record, they would never have survived.

That was why they had called him a hero and praised him.

“Because the master of this castle showed us mercy.”

Before long, the Chairman reached the deepest part of the fortress.

Carefully, he stretched out a hand and pushed open the closed door.

“Make sure none of you acts rashly and makes a mistake.”

Creeeak...

As the old door opened, a dark chamber revealed itself.

Only the tiny candles lit here and there gave any clue to the shape of the room.

And in the very center of it.

‘......’

The corpse of a giant, easily dozens of meters tall, leaned against a throne in a pitifully dried-up state.

“Bow your heads.”

Despite looking no different from a corpse that showed no sign of movement, every general who saw it failed to suppress their fear and dropped to their knees.

“That being is none other than the Grand Duke of the bloodline.”

A being of an entirely different order of existence.

“And before long, will become king.”

***

The enormous corpse lying in the room.

Its body was so dry, without a trace of moisture, that it almost looked pitiable.

But from it came an unmistakable scent of death.

‘A creature like that can exist?’

At that fact, while Kaio trembled in fear—

—The invited guests have returned once more.

A majestic voice came from that corpse.

[Mental Language]

There had been reports before of monsters that handled such an ability.

Some of the people here had even experienced that power already.

But.

“Cough...”

Those who heard that voice staggered and spat blood.

Even though the words had not been spoken with malice, the power contained within them was simply too immense.

Its very rank was enough to damage the brains of those not accustomed to it.

But at the same time, Kaio was able to notice one thing.

‘Its body... didn’t move even a little.’

Even as he staggered, he judged with cold clarity.

That being over there clearly still had a living mind. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

But its body truly was dead.

“As you instructed last time, we have brought only those who were selected.”

Their Chairman, too, seemed badly shaken by that voice.

But as though this was something already experienced before, he gave up trying to control his staggering body and prostrated himself on the floor as he spoke.

“Please grant us your grace, as promised in our agreement...”

At those words, the generals who had been staggering widened their eyes and shouted.

“Chairman!”

“What do you mean by that!?”

At their confused cries, the Chairman, sprawled on the floor, said,

“As I told you... through that being’s teachings, we came to understand the situation beyond the barrier. And that the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) moment that barrier opens... humanity can never survive by its own strength.”

“That means...”

Remembering what the Chairman had said before they came here, the generals were able to realize his intent as well.

“Even so, are you saying we should borrow the power of this monster!?”

“Are you insane? Or have you been brainwashed by that monster...?”

At the generals’ outcry, the Chairman twisted his expression and glared at them.

“How insolent! I warned you beforehand not to act rashly!”

He shouted in a voice full of fury.

But the one who stopped him was not the other generals.

—Do not rebuke them.

The voice rang out from the giant’s corpse.

It spoke gently, as if showing consideration for the weak gathered here.

—Their words were certainly rude. But rudeness born of ignorance is not a sin. It only needs to be corrected and taught. It is not something to be blamed in anger.

The voice that came from that being was startlingly rational and mild.

If anything, that only made it more terrifying.

—You who were brought here by my guest. It seems you are ashamed to borrow my power. But there is no need for that.

“What... do you mean...?”

—Because you have already been receiving my help.

At those words, Kaio had a suspicion, and turned his head to look beside him.

“......”

While the other generals all twisted in pain, and the members of the leadership had collapsed in full prostration, one man stood there with his head quietly lowered.

Jinlei.

—The giant who wandered alone, hunting the strong.

Across all of Beijing, there had been a giant warrior who hunted only the strong.

—The sorcerer seated upon that altar.

There had been a monster that appeared at the Temple of Heaven, practiced bizarre sorcery, and gradually encroached upon the surrounding area.

—The beast that hunted without a sound.

Without making the slightest noise, without giving off the faintest trace, there had been a beast that would come near before anyone realized it, swallow people down, and vanish.

—The knights who occupied your Great Wall.

There had also been knights who occupied their old Great Wall.

And from there, expanded their territory.

—The earth dragon that hunted you from beneath the ground.

There had also been a grotesque life-form that burrowed through the earth, swallowed an entire awakened force in one bite, and vanished underground again.

—All of them.

All of them had been so strong that none could possibly defeat them.

Everyone had given up.

—But I dealt with them.

Those mighty monsters had been put down by General Jinlei.

“General Jinlei...”

Every general’s gaze stabbed toward him.

But Jinlei offered no denial.

He merely stood there with his head bowed in respectful silence.

“...Then.”

That reaction alone was enough.

Who it was that had actually defeated those enemies that had seemed impossible to overcome—

Kaio was able to grasp it completely.

“The price.”

Then there was no need to ask further.

What mattered most lay elsewhere.

“You’re saying you helped us without asking any price at all?”

If that monster truly had been helping them, then the real question was what price had been paid.

—I would like to say yes... but I cannot lie.

“That means...”

—Before coming here, you must have seen my bloodline countless times.

The bloodline.

Meaning those beings dried out without a single drop of blood, those things in a state too ambiguous to call either corpse or not-corpse.

—Those were the ones I sent to aid you.

That giant had not personally stepped forward to help humanity.

It had dispatched those bloodline members as support forces.

—Their blood had dried up, and they were no longer in a state where they could sustain life.

And yet, just as Kaio had seen, the things outside had looked like corpses in the truest sense.

Monsters in that state could not possibly be of any help.

—So...

So.

The price of that support was simple.

—If you offer the blood of your own kind, my children will repay you with the blood of your enemies.

“......”

—That was the contract.

The blood of their own kind.

At those words,

“Jinlei. Tell me...”

As if realizing something, Kaio widened his eyes and glared at the man beside him.

“Tell me it’s not what I think.”

“......”

“Tell me that monster is lying. Please.”

At Kaio’s words—

“It seems the General is ashamed to say it, so I will say it in his place.”

—the one who spoke instead was the Chairman, still prostrated on the floor.

“To hunt a single enemy... it took around a thousand.”

What exactly that meant, took a little time to understand.