<Chapter 49. Arranging the Stage - 4>

First, Lee Shin Woo split up the Vampires into three groups and sent them off to three different Anti-Skull bases. He stated that he'd go to the last remaining base, but he was actually planning to send to the Pauls to take care of it.

[Three days. In three days, we'll regroup here and then... go to the capital.]

"B-But Lord Arema, what about the thorn wall..."

[Hoo. You'll see when we get there. ...Prepare yourself for death. For the Emperor!]

"F-For the Emperor!"

And so, Lee Shin Woo expertly fooled them and sent them away. After that, he cemented his alibi. To be exact, he planned on sneaking into the capital alone as Arema and then barely coming out alive.

"Shin Woo, are you really going to go to the capital?"

"Think about it. This is a good opportunity for me to take a look around the capital without them suspecting that it was the Heaven Defying General or the heroes."

Because he'd taken out Arema last, the palace didn't know what had happened to the Metal God General and his forces.

He would cause chaos as Arema Steelworker and paint a target on the Vampires' backs; then, he'd take what he came for and leave.

"I need to find out exactly where the train leads (in the capital) and see how it performs; and if I can, I'd like to go into the inner depths of the capital."

"But do you really have to take such a big risk? Can't you just take out the Vampires after you kill Seagald and his forces?"

"I may still be able to use the Emperor. But if I was the one to take them out, then the Emperor would know that I'm not the real Arema Steelworker through his Lightning Bind. I want to avoid that. If at all possible, I want the Vampires to fight someone else and die. Well, if it doesn't work out, I can always call the Pauls and make it look like an accident."

Why wasn't he discarding the Emperor at this point in time? Jin couldn't understand why, so she just waited for Lee Shin Woo to continue. Lee Shin Woo grinned and went on to the crux of the matter.

"Moreover... It'd be nice if the Emperor kills Seagald, but if he doesn't, then what happens? When I think about that, I feel like I have to take matters into my own hands."

"Oh, come on. He's level 9; you really think he'd lose track of him?"

"Sure, he's level 9, but all this time, he hadn't even noticed that Seagald was on the surface. Even I missed him once. Can he not use his full power unless he takes matters into his own hands?"

Lee Shin Woo spoke boldly, but he'd actually encountered the Emperor once before and even escaped unscathed, so he wasn't talking out of his ass. To be brutally honest, he felt like the Lightning Bind element was kind of a wishy-washy ability!

"Lightning Bind. An ability that forcefully creates a link between you and another. It allows him to bind his enemies, coerce his subordinates, or even allow him to transfer his consciousness to another, allowing him to see from afar... In many ways, it's a good ability, but there's one problem with it: it doesn't have any inherent combat power."

"But it seems strong enough to me."

"If you compare it to Seagald's Annihilation Flame or my Dark Shadow, then it's undoubtedly weaker in a pure combat sense. Should I say that it's unsuited for battle, or that it's disadvantageous in a real battle?"

He had a sudden thought. Perhaps the Emperor had obtained Lightning Bind because he wanted to control the Empire safely from the shadows. Though there weren't many cases of this, innate elements were largely influenced by one's karma.

He had not only exiled both the powerful 2nd prince and the Elementalists underground, but he laid traps in the capital, which were activated by his mana. Plus, he never acted on his own and just commanded his troops to act in his place... He couldn't help but think that the Magic Emperor was nothing more than a coward!

"Still, didn't you say that he's the one who created the barrier? Now he knows, there's no way that he'll lose Seagald."

"I'm just preparing for the 'what if'. Let's think about what happens if the Emperor loses Seagald. Then what'll Seagald do?"

"If I were Seagald, then I'd hide. Isn't it the basics of the basics to regroup when you're at a disadvantage?"

Lee Shin Woo firmly shook his head at Jin's remark.

"When something goes wrong, you have two options: to 'regroup' or to 'push forward'. Seagald will probably pick the latter this time since the former requires time."

One can only afford to relax and take care of themselves in a battle if they're willing to sacrifice time. But...

"Think about it. The surface's Magic Emperor is gunning for him, and the Heaven Defying General is waiting for him underground. Let's assume that Seagald's goal is to turn the Undead Emperor, Jissehanu into Anti-Skull and invade the surface. When he realizes that his enemies have multiplied, would he think that buying time is the right decision?"

"Oh. Ohhhh..."

Jin didn't really understand, but she acted like she did and nodded her head. Lee Shin Woo sighed softly and continued.

"So, his only choice would be to move forward with his plan. He'd be forced to proceed with his plan, even though he's surrounded on both sides. He'd then go straight for the capital, to Jissehanu."

"...You."

"Yep. At that time, I'll force the Vampires, the Imperial Army, and Anti-Skull to fight against each other, and... in the midst of all that, I'll achieve my own goal. Which is to kill Seagald."

In other words, everything he'd done was to kill Seagald.

He predicted what Seagald's next move would be and prepared accordingly. Plus, he blocked off all of his retreat paths and forced him into the jaws of death. Eliminating the Anti-Skull bases was part of that strategy. Indeed, it was just a small part of his strategy.

"Shin Woo, you... what the hell did you do in the past?"

"I was a businessman."

"Is 'businessman' some kind of secret code for some sort of hit squad?"

"Hahahaha."

Jin couldn't understand his entire explanation, but she knew one thing: what happened when you made Lee Shin Woo your enemy. The moment Lee Shin Woo had manipulated the Magic Emperor into pursuing Seagald was the moment that signed Seagald's death warrant...!

"I'm going to scout the capital, simultaneously chip away at the Imperial Army and the Vampires' forces, and kill Seagald. These are my goals for this operation."

"So that's what'll act as the bridgehead for the final battle, huh..."

"Haha. ...This could actually be the final battle."

"What are you talking about? You're not going to the capital to fight the Emperor, are you!?"

Jin freaked out and yelled. However, Lee Shin Woo just shook his head, saying that 'she got it all wrong', but didn't give her a proper explanation. Since he knew that she wouldn't understand anything he said at the moment.

"Eeek..."

"Try to understand. We don't know if it'll go according to plan... I'll explain it to you once things have become a bit more clear."

"Tch."

Jin was pissed that Lee Shin Woo wasn't willing to reveal his plan to even her, his partner, but she didn't show it, as a skeleton horse wouldn't look cute no matter how much it pouted. Instead...

"If you want to get out of that mess, then you'll have to train some more. Let's get back to training."

"Ugh... Fine...!"

Lee Shin Woo thought back to the past few days and dry heaved.

During their training, he couldn't tell the difference between heaven and earth, or the difference between himself and Jin. But at the end of their training, he did manage to level up his Assimilation skill to level 8. However, when Jin realized this, she increased the difficulty of their training even further!

How harsh must that training have been if his Combat Sense skill, which grew at a snail's pace, leveled up to level 8? It was harder to stay atop Jin's back than fighting against the enemy!

He steeled himself, promising himself that he'd get through this training, but that resolve of his was torn to shreds just 20 minutes into their training.

"Uaaaaaaaaah!"

"Not yet! Your reaction to that turn was too slow! If you can't handle the speed, then you won't be able to fight properly! Tense up your muscles and react!"

"You've never even ridden a horse before, so how the hell do you even know that?"

"Next. Accelerate, turn vertically, and ascend!"

"Uaaaaaaaaaah!"

Lee Shin Woo was the one who'd given her wings, but she had managed to use those wings to fly in a manner he hadn't even imagined! Is this what he got for opening Pandora's Box...!

"Uaaaaaaaah."

"Uooooooooh!"

Lee Shin Woo choked down his tears and clung onto Jin's back. Unfortunately, he didn't know that him doing that caused Jin to only get worse!

A little bit later, Lee Shin Woo finished his training with Jin and found Kratia. She was mentally exhausted, so when she looked at him, she only slightly opening her eyes and said quietly.

"Shin Woo, who were you fighting?"

"Myself."

"Just forgive them already. You still have a lot to do, Shin Woo."

"I want to forgive her too, but Jin won't forgive me."

"..."

Kratia figured that Jin's goal was a lot different than what Lee Shin Woo thought, and wondered whether she should tell him or not. But it was true that Lee Shin Woo and Jin's skills were improving, so she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"I'd like to improve the Titan before you go to the capital."

"It's not as easy as it sounds."

"If you bring the perfected Titan Core with you, then there'll be less for me to worry about."

"So you were worried about me."

"We're partners after all."

In a way, improving the Titan Core would prove to be much more difficult than improving the Huginn's Eye.

While he knew what areas of the Huginn's Eye he wanted to improve and focus on, he was still at the drawing board for the Titan Core; he didn't know how to combine the Titan Core and the Demon Heart.

"It's simple. We just use it on the outside."

"Wait, you want to use this precious mana metal to make armor?"

"...We'll definitely be able to get it to level 9."

"I can already fight against level 9s. This thing can't just be any normal level 9. It has to be an ultimate weapon that will allow me to overcome any unforeseen situations."

Lee Shin Woo wanted to imbue the Titan Core with the Demon Heart's properties. The Demon Heart that was the result of the Evil Eye overlapping again and again. At this point, it was the very definition of being 'overlapped'.

If that ability was transferred to the Titan, then what would happen? He would not only be able to overlap his Dark Flame, but also his other flames; no, if things went well, then he may be able to surpass that and stack all of his abilities together, sublimating them into something new!

"Though I honestly feel like it's just a pipe dream."

"In any case, let's begin. We studied the Shining Flame yesterday, right? Let's study the Dark Flame today."

In order to figure out how to harmonize different elements together in the Titan Core, Lee Shin Woo started with helping Kratia understand how each of these elements worked.

It was time well spent, as they not only gained a greater understanding of the Demon Heart and the Titan Core, but also increased Kratia's control over her own element at an exponential rate. No... her skills improved even moreso.

"...Shin Woo."

"What?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

Lee Shin Woo shrugged his shoulders and manifested his Dark Flame. Kratia created an ice crystal, touched the Dark Flame with it, and smiled.

Not yet. The Emperor still hadn't contacted him yet.