<Chapter 50. The Battle Against Seagald - 1>

"So is there anyone here who can tell me what happened in detail?"

The battle was over. While the Pauls were collecting the loot, Lee Shin Woo gathered the commanders in one spot and held a discussion. He may be able to gain some info from the Anti-Skulls' bones, but it wouldn't be the same as hearing it from those who actually fought against Seagald himself.

[Excuse me...]

"Huh? A-Ah, sure."

Lee Shin Woo looked at Shino Rendu, who had carefully raised his hand, and smiled bitterly. His gaze wasn't directed at him, but at Seira, who was a bit behind Lee Shin Woo. Shino's hands shook and his gaze wavered. He resembled a drug abuser, so it was kind of frightening.

[Could I please... talk with her a little bit?]

"...Shino Rendu. It's been a while. I see you were following Lee Shin Woo all this time."

[Y-Yeah. That means...]

Now that he thought about it, Shino Rendu one-sidedly loved Seira in the past! He'd forgotten all about it because it hadn't mattered; he never imagined that they'd both become undead and meet each other again.

The others seemingly noticed the peculiar mood and tilted their heads. Whereas Seira just shrugged her shoulders.

[Seira... No, Retadane. Why are you...?]

"Everyone who's died has their own story to tell. In any case, I died; I came to an understanding with Lee Shin Woo and formed a contract with him. Right now, I'm working alongside him. That's all."

Lee Shin Woo had disclosed his identity as a hero to the Pauls some time ago. Shino Rendu knew this as well.

The fact that he was qualified to be a hero would only serve as a positive for the Pauls; they would never see it as a detriment. Shino Rendu was the same. It didn't matter that Lee Shin Woo was once his junior.

[T-Then, we'll be able to fight together from now on.]

"...Yes, so long as you don't betray Lee Shin Woo."

[Of course! I'm so happy that I could meet you again...]

"Shino Rendu, I'd rather you not give me any unwanted attention."

[Ah...]

Lee Shin Woo heard and instinctively turned around. Some really sad stuff would be happening now. He decided not to listen to this. Yeah, after all, he had so much more to do!

"So, those who fought against Seagald... Ah, that's right. Ellata."

[Titan.]

No matter how many times he said it, they refused to believe that he wasn't a Titan; Ellata took one knee before Lee Shin Woo.

Lee Shin Woo had healed her right after the battle, so her body and armor were fully repaired. However, she, as well as all those who'd fought and lost against Seagald, all sported sour expressions.

[I discovered him because I was at the vanguard. His appearance was sudden and intense.]

"How did he appear? He probably wasn't hiding here before. Did you sense space element mana? You should remember that mana that covered the Giants' Domain."

[No, it wasn't. It was completely different. It was a shadow... A fire's shadow.]

"...What?"

[Please excuse my rudeness, but may I touch you, Titan?]

"Of course."

Once he consented, Ellata carefully extended her pinky finger. Lee Shin Woo gripped her pinky and closed his eyes. The two were linked together through the darkness element, and Ellata's memories were directly transmitted to Lee Shin Woo. Now, Lee Shin Woo understand what she meant by a 'fire's shadow'.

'One of them suddenly burned themselves, creating this flame, and a shadow formed from within it. 'Fire's shadow' is indeed an apt description of it. Seagald showed up with this. He immediately killed a level 7 Giant who attempted to stop him; that was only the beginning. He then cajoled Ellata, Arogan, and the Pauls with those flames... And then, he faded into the darkness and disappeared.'

He had a rough idea as to what had happened through Ellata's memories. However, he didn't have enough information to be absolutely sure yet. If it were as she said, then... his face stiffened and he said.

"Ellata, have you collected the bones of the burned Anti-Skull soldier? No, there were probably some other troops with the same 'mission' as him. Bring me the officers' bones first."

[Understood!]

Fortunately, they were able to gather the burned Anti-Skull soldier's bone. Lee Shin Woo immediately absorbed it, and clearly heard Seagald's instructions.

[Call me if something unexpected happens. You sacrifice yourself to the flame and create a fire's shadow. And it is through this shadow that I can come over to you. That is our link.]

Lee Shin Woo was briefly silent. He realized what Seagald meant, as well as how he was temporarily summoned.

"...Man, I can't put up with this any longer."

"Shin Woo!?"

"No, not yet. Let's look through a few more. Bone Reinforcement!"

He was already sure of it, but he absorbed the other officers' bones regardless just in case he was misunderstanding something. However, Seagald had given the other officers the same instructions; he couldn't find a single artifact on their bodies, so he sighed and accepted the truth.

The bastard didn't use spatial magic or a unique artifact. It was more of an intuitive and logical power; it was none other than an innate element. A power that differed from Annihilation Flame at that!

"This asshole had two innate elements. Man, he really fooled me. So he was taking it easy during our fight, huh... He's really starting to resemble me more and more."

"Really!?"

"What part of that surprised you? Say it."

He wasn't one to talk; after all, he possessed three innate elements. However, Lee Shin Woo was really frustrated. All of Lee Shin Woo's innate elements focused on cause-and-effect, whether it be erasing it, stealing it, or reversing it. Yet, Seagald's innate elements were completely different!

But because his innate elements were so heavily specialized, he could make better use of his Wild Card skill, which manipulated cause-and-effect. Even so, he was still jealous of Seagald.

"He has two innate elements? To think there was someone else like you... Was Seagald a businessman from Earth too?"

"If he was, then I'd be able to talk to him."

Lee Shin Woo smiled weakly at Jin's joke and went through the Anti-Skulls' memories once more. What name would fit for that innate element? Well, he called it a fire's shadow before, so Fire Shadow should work. What a confusing name.

Now that he thought about it, everyone he fought lately possessed a fusion element of darkness and something else! The Undead Emperor definitely had something like that, and if that's the case, then it was definitely a sign of power inflation in the second act!

Jin still looked curious, so Lee Shin Woo gave her a brief explanation.

"Jin, you know that darkness has the power to form connections, right?"

"Oh, can Seagald use the darkness element too?"

"Seira, who he's blood-related to, was able to use the darkness element once she became undead. So, it's not unusual that he can use the darkness element. On the contrary, he's a genius for being able to fuse the fire and light elements together, so it would be strange if he couldn't handle the darkness element."

Of course, his darkness was much weaker than Lee Shin Woo's. However, it was different if the darkness element was fused with another element.

Fire Shadow! His subordinate would sacrifice themselves, creating a shadow from the resulting flame, which would link him and his subordinate together. The Fire Shadow element was at the very peak of transportation abilities and was also a trick. With the addition of his stealth ability, Annihilation Flame, as well as his combat abilities... Lee Shin Woo couldn't help but laugh.

"When I fought him, I did my best, but he was holding back the entire time."

Of course, Lee Shin Woo could use the fire element at the high rank level and had mastered the darkness element. If Seagald had actually used his Fire Shadow ability in front of Lee Shin Woo, then the victor would have been decided in an instant: Lee Shin Woo would have won right then and there.

But Seagald shouldn't have known that. In other words, he had been holding back. That really pissed him off.

"However..."

Things would be different now. Lee Shin Woo thought that he'd miscalculated, but after learning about all the circumstances, he realized that Seagald had actually miscalculated.

If he really wanted to hide his Fire Shadow ability, then he should've hidden it until the very end, regardless of how many of his subordinates he had to sacrifice.

However, he had given his subordinates an option of summoning him with Fire Shadow, and as a result, Lee Shin Woo had learned about the ability.

"He travels through the Fire Shadow. The moment he uses that ability against me..."

He could make it so that Seagald couldn't escape the shadow, or he could make it so that Seagald would burn eternally.

Indeed, he'd finally satisfied all the conditions of Wild Card! Lee Shin Woo tightened his fist and then Jin asked.

"But why did he appear and then disappear all of a sudden, Shin Woo? It would've been the perfect crime if he killed all of your troops and then left before you arrived."

"It's obvious if you think about it a little, Jin."

"I don't like that about you. Take it down a level."

Lee Shin Woo felt that he might've gone a bit strange, as he felt that Jin's sulking voice was cute. He grinned and said.

"There are four Anti-Skull bases."

"Ah, I see! Seagald showed up at the other bases too!"

"Bingo."

Lee Shin Woo had originally split up his troops without much thought. At the time, he thought that destroying all the bases would be tougher on Seagald, but he hadn't expected that it would result in this!

"Seagald must've thought when he was called at different locations simultaneously. 'Should I stay, or should I move on to the next one?' But think about it. There were a ton of Pauls here and even if he did his best, he wouldn't be able to save a lot of his troops. He judged that it was better to save another base than to stay here, which was a lost cause."

And it did indeed turn out that way. Aside from the level 8 and two level 7s, the other three bases were attacked by three groups of 100 level 6 Vampires. If not for Seagald, then they would've been able to take over the other Anti-Skull bases. But now that Seagald was coming...

"The Magic Emperor will be pissed. He lost track of Seagald on the surface and would lose the generals he sent underground... Now that he knows how dangerous Seagald is, he won't be able to give up. He has no choice but to come out even stronger."

"...Yeah. This wasn't even your intention, but it turned out to be beneficial for you, Shin Woo. Heot, did you plan all this out Shin Woo!?"

"Of course I did! I'm always a step ahead!"

He was lying, of course. If he knew that Seagald was going to come out like this, then he would've accompanied the Pauls here! But he would lie as much as necessary to shock Jin!

'...But now that it's come to this...'

Lee Shin Woo's was busy thinking, even while joking around with Jin. If the surface got more involved than he'd first planned, then there would be a higher risk. Above all, he would have to push forward the date of the final battle...

'Sseup, I guess it can't be helped. I just have to do everything I can.'

Lee Shin Woo couldn't do anything about it. The only thing he could do was create the ideal stage with the conditions he was given! He flashed Jin a smile, who was looking at him astonished and was formulating a plan in his head.