Chapter 335 – Descendants of the Monkey King (10)

[Athena is silent.]

Yeon-woo smiled coldly at the messages pouring in.

Dungeon release.

He had prepared it with Boo but had never opened it.

The results were better than he expected.

The Void that Nemesis brought made everyone panic, and Monster Portents jumped in to fan the fire.

With the dungeon added on top, it was like dropping a bomb on top of their heads.

The soldiers died and died.

Mercenaries backed on a cliff were melted from minus energy and turned into Boo’s energy.

Ivan, whom he had been worrying about the most, was struggling against the Bone Dragon with Shanon riding atop it.

‘I was worried because it was incomplete, but this is way better than I expected.’

[You have gained souls.]

[You have gained souls.]

New souls were filling up the Collection as fast as they were being drained.

In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the entire battlefield was in Boo’s palm.

He had set up a trap knowing the alliance was chasing after him. It helped that he hadn’t shown them his full strength.

‘And my list of Authorities is longer. Were they mostly sent by gods and demons of death? I should take a closer look at it later.’

He already had four Authorities, but since he had raised their proficiency, it was time to look for additional ones.

Actually, Yeon-woo didn’t want to accept any more Authorities, so he didn’t care about the list getting longer.

The reason was simple.

He wasn’t confident he could master all of them. And once he did accept it, the interference of the Authority’s owner would increase. He didn’t want to be limited in his actions.

However, with his skills more developed and his body more fit, he thought it would be alright to take additional Authorities.

Authorities had the identity of gods and demons. Just by accepting and using them, he could grow. Although, the owner would interfere.

‘It wouldn’t be bad to accept more Authorities to make gods and demons wary of each other.’

The gods and demons of death were already interested because of the Black King.

Whether he had the Authorities or not, his actions would be limited.

If so, it wouldn’t be bad to accept all of them and make the gods and demons wary of each other.

In the case of one trying to step up, other gods and demons would stop it.

The tables would be turned.

While Yeon-woo was busy checking the list of Authorities that amounted to over 500.

『……I was wise to choose this side.』

The Ice King sighed. This was it. The reason he had surrendered as soon as he saw Yeon-woo.

Technically, the Ice King and Yeon-woo might not have been that different ability-wise. However, he knew what would happen if they were enemies. Yeon-woo’s master, the Martial King, had been exactly like that.

‘No. He’s worse than the Martial King when he was in his prime.’

It was an extreme relief that they weren’t enemies. The Monster Portents he had were horrifying enough, but to think he could control ghosts and skeletons, too. The Bone Dragon was especially jaw-dropping.

If his guess was right, that Bone Dragon was…..!

The Ice King stopped his thoughts there and shook his head. It was best not to dive any deeper. That was the lesson he had learned during his lifetime as a mercenary.

Victoria looked at the cave with silent eyes. Above the space where the Adamantine Nova was rotating, they could see the mercenaries dying off.

The problem was that the slaughter wouldn’t end there.

Considering all the players on the stage, the 300 players sent into the cage were just the tip of the iceberg.

Thinking about the people that would be sent in the second and third waves, it would be no exaggeration to say that the mercenaries, magicians, and bounty hunters on the stage would be swept away.

And afterwards, what kind of chaos would follow in the Hoarder’s wake?

『We stalled for time with this, but it’s not over yet.』

When Yeon-woo opened his mouth, Victoria and the Ice King shook themselves and turned to him.

『Victoria.』

『Yeah. You’re going to look for…… the Monkey King’s shedding now, right?』

Victoria thought of the conversation she had with Kahn’s shadow and Yeon-woo.

-I left this shadow behind to ask you for a favor.

-What is it?

-It’s….. Doyle.

Kahn’s shadow paused and put emphasis on his next words.

-Save Doyle.

The conversation that began with those words explained everything that Kahn had been through and what was going on inside of the cave.

And exactly how many soldiers of the Devil Army were inside the Monkey King’s Palace.

-There are five bishops in the central palace. They’re waiting for the “signal.”

-Their goal is the completion of the sacrificial vessel.

-It’s a vessel to contain the Monkey King’s shedding beyond this palace. And they’re planning on bringing the Heavenly Demon’s subordinate, the Dragon God.

-The materials needed are the Ruyi Bang pieces. That’s why I was ordered to gather them all this time.

-However, there needs to be a ceremony to hold the shedding in the vessel….. So they sacrificed humans across all of the Five Mountains. They used the dead players as offerings. While also gathering pieces at the same time.

It was all hard to believe.

Vessel. Shedding. Ceremony. Human sacrifice.

But in a way, it was expected of the Devil Army. They were a religious group, no, cult, serving the Heavenly Demon, so it wasn’t strange for them to go through with such a religious service.

-Doyle is in there. Unconscious. When the service starts, I’ll block off Kindred and the others, so in the meantime, save Doyle.

The words in the letter said to help Doyle.

However, Yeon-woo didn’t respond right away. Instead, he asked another question.

-Why did the Devil Army take Doyle?

Kahn’s shadow paused and replied in a dark voice.

-Doyle is….. a candidate for the new head bishop’s body.

With those words, the shadow disappeared. It was probably because Kahn’s actual body had gone deeper in the cave and was blocked by the Void.

Yeon-woo was deep in thought for a long time, like he was contemplating something. And after some time passed, he began to move again, leaving the preparation to block the chase of the alliance.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Victoria thought Yeon-woo might have some kind of plan. However, she didn’t know what it was.

『Please watch over this place.』

Yeon-woo sat on the floor and closed his eyes.

Like Yeon-woo asked, Victoria set up a barrier and got ready for any sudden attack.

The Ice King stood guard with sharp eyes.

Above them, wind gathered, and Rebecca appeared and disappeared again.

Hwiii—

Yeon-woo’s consciousness settled down. He recalled the Consciousness he expanded outside and trod through each of his senses.

He could feel all kinds of vestiges complexly tied up together, including his.

He had attempted to get rid of all traces of the 72 Bian last time, but it seemed like there were still some left behind. They could be called Evil Nian.

Yeon-woo held onto the ones that felt clearest. Then, it felt like his body was floating up.

[You have succeeded in leaving your body.]

[You are leaving the limits of your physical body. There are limits to your stats because of your new condition.]

[Your current condition is unstable. You are a living being. If you do not return to your body within the set time or go too far away, you may die.]

[00:30:00]

[00:29:59.99]

[00:29:59.98]

……

[Your understanding of souls has increased.]

When he looked down, he could see himself sitting criss-crossed with Victoria and the Ice King protecting him.

‘It’s interesting to see myself like this.’

It was only possible because they were near the Monkey King’s shedding. Yeon-woo turned his head in another direction.

He was only given 30 minutes. He had to take care of business before then and return.

Far beyond, into the abyss, something was calling him.

Like the story of how the little girl climbed up the rope to avoid the tiger, Yeon-woo ascended while holding onto the signal.

Then, many things spread under him.

The place he was in became smaller. He could see the alliance fighting Boo, many intertwined paths like ant tunnels, and the second squad that now began to enter the entrance.

Then, Yeon-woo felt himself being absorbed somewhere else. The world around him changed.

Hwaak!

『…….』

Yeon-woo found himself in a familiar place.

A mountain with fruit trees and waxberry trees. An exotic utopia with warm sunlight and fresh breezes.

It was Mount Huaguo.

『Monkey King! Monkey King! Are you here?』

Kahn had said that he would try to stop the ceremony and that Yeon-woo should save Doyle during that time. It was a feint operation.

But from what Yeon-woo saw, that was dangerous.

The Devil Army wouldn’t be fooled that easily. More than anything, the strategy Kahn suggested required his sacrifice.

Saving Doyle and sacrificing Kahn? Kahn could think that it was an obvious choice, but to Yeon-woo, it was like throwing Kahn away.

So Yeon-woo was going to flip Kahn’s strategy around.

‘The best thing would be to abort the ceremony.’

If he hid the Monkey King’s shedding before the ceremony began, then everything the Devil Army did would go up in flames.

Then, there would be some chaos, and he would have time to think of a method to save both Kahn and Doyle.

But.

‘He’s not here.’

Yeon-woo’s face hardened.

‘Where is he?’

Yeon-woo searched the mountain with his wings of fire, but he couldn’t find the Monkey King’s shedding anywhere. There weren’t any traces of him.

It was quiet, like an abandoned world.

However, this was definitely the Imaginary World that the shedding had created. If the owner of the world disappeared, the world would have crumbled as well.

Then where was he?

‘Was he already moved into the vessel? No. The ceremony hasn’t begun yet.’

Then, Nike would’ve let him know.

‘I don’t see the Blue Dragon either.’

The Dragon God, Sheng, who was the Heavenly Demon’s subordinate, couldn’t be seen either.

[00:12:29.41]

Meanwhile, the clock was still ticking.

Just when he was thinking that he should return soon,

Pat!

Suddenly, light shined in front of Yeon-woo, and something small floated up. The power within it was dynamic. It was a familiar power.

『Sheng?』

The power of the Dragon God.

The form shook in response like it was nodding, and it suddenly began to move quickly.

Yeon-woo quickly chased after it with his wings of fire. It was so fast that he could only follow after it using Wind Path-Gale and Blink consecutively.

Where he arrived was a small cave off from Mount Huaguo.

『Are you telling me to go in here?』

Urrrng, urng—

The form shook again and disappeared. Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes and entered the cave. It was damp in a different way from the Monkey King’s Palace.

However, the path wasn’t that long, so he quickly arrived at the end.

“Argh, I’m not doing it! It’s annoying, so why do you keep…..?!”

『Monkey King?』

“Huh? It was you?”

The Monkey King was sitting on the ground, his body wrapped in chains.

Was it really him? Unlike when they first met, he looked so feeble.

The Monkey King looked at Yeon-woo through his messy hair and cringed.

“S***. This is embarrassing.”