Descarta Mountain—it belonged to the Saharan Empire, but for more than 200 years, the half-draconians had effectively been in control of it. Descarta Mountain was the land of the half-draconians, their motherland, and their home. Of course, the story would be different the moment the empire sent its main force but it was unlikely the empire would actively engage—the empire had at least 50 borders.

If power was concentrated on one side then the empire would reveal a gap. The empire didn’t feel the need to reclaim the Descarta Mountain until it had gathered enough power to ‘subdue’ the half-draconians. Since the current empress, Basara, was trying to reconcile the two races, Descarta Mountain was likely to continue being dominated by the half-draconians.

‘There is no agitation.’

Hao looked around as he came to Descarta Mountain after hearing the sad news about Helena. The person who had Hel’s name was one of the prides of the half-draconians. Helena was the one who was originally supposed to be the lord but no one was mourning her death.

It was understandable. Helena was still lacking in skills but her instincts were better than anyone else. This was why she spoke some absurd words. Most of the half-draconians hated her for advocating to quit playing with the empire and leave for a bigger world.

Playing? The power of the empire wasn’t weak enough to be ignored by her. All the half-draconians were fighting desperately.

It was in order for the low-grade warriors to break through the elite soldiers of the empire to cut the knights’ necks. The intermediate warriors fought, learned, and trained themselves to fight and win against the single digit knights and the senior warriors trained and bled every day to deal with the magicians more efficiently. All the half-draconians engaged fiercely and passionately in the war that had been going on for centuries.

Helena denied all of them. She even made an absurd declaration to move all the half-draconians to the Chaos Mountains.

‘There are no half-draconians who want to fight against monsters.’

The still young (by half-draconian standards) Helena and the group who followed her didn’t understand the difference between a monster with a strong body and a skilled human. In short, a battle with the latter was more enjoyable, difficult, and worthy of learning.

However, Helena’s group had fewer opportunities to learn this fact. In particular, Helena’s innate strength was higher than a single digit Red Knight so everything seemed boring for her.

‘...Sometimes I will miss her.’

Hao made a bitter expression. He had no affection for Helena. Even so, it was a bit strange that the woman who complained every time he visited Descarta Mountain was completely gone.

“This guy, it is hard to see your face. Do I have to call you for you to come?” The atmosphere was festive but it was called a funeral. Hao prayed for the deceased for a while and once he opened his eyes, Bunsdel was by his side.

“I greet the strongest lord,” Hao greeted him politely and Bunsdel waved his hand with an expression like he was chewing on shit.

“What nonsense about being the strongest? I’m a fool who can’t even participate in the war because I’m afraid the grandmaster will appear.”

“Haha...”

Hao knew it—Bunsdel was someone who once treated Helena as a princess and regarded her as a companion, not a subordinate. He wasn’t someone weak. Rather, he was frighteningly strong. No one even thought of protesting this fact. Knowing this, the vast majority of the half-draconians considered him as the lord.

However, Bunsdel didn’t officially take the lord’s position.

‘It is because he can’t let himself run wild.’

The blood of the evil dragon in Bunsdel’s body was very thick. The moment he stood on the battlefield, he was unable to control himself and would destroy all visible life. The word ‘massacre’ was just right.

It was unknown what would be the aftermath if he became stronger with the power of the lord and stood on the battlefield. The empire’s front lines would collapse and the grandmaster would emerge. The battle between the two people would sweep over the half-draconians, causing massive casualties.

This was why Bunsdel didn’t take the lord’s position. He feared his power that might break the balance of the present and lead his people to destruction.

If he was officially qualified as the lord then he would be able to control the blood of the fierce dragon. As it happened, he became lord through the will of his people rather than by law. His qualifications were incomplete and he couldn’t control the blood of the evil dragon.

“These days, there aren’t many pleasures apart from drinking.”

Bunsdel sighed and reached out to Hao, who handed him a large bag. It was full of wine bottles. Bunsdel’s face became bright as he checked the label.

“It is great that there is a half-draconian among the humans.”

“Haha...”

Hao recalled the first time he became a half-draconian. It was more than 10 years ago and even then, Bunsdel had been in front of him. In order to obtain the qualification to become a half-draconian, he had to agree to the absurd demand of distilling alcohol every day. This forced Hao to constantly travel back and forth between the hunting grounds, the cities, and Descarta Mountain for two months straight.

At that time, he thought it was an absurd linked quest. Now looking back, the strength, stamina, and persistence stats that grew every time, made him who he was today. Naturally, Hao didn’t feel thankful to Bunsdel. Even now, the amount of money this damn person snatched away due to all the alcohol was enormous. It was crazy that every time he received a summoning quest, he also received a sub-quest to buy alcohol.

Hao wanted to leave Descarta Mountain quickly and brought up the main topic.

“So why did you call me? You wouldn’t have simply called me to attend a funeral.”

Hao’s value was unique even among the half-draconians. He was a human and could fully integrate into human society. This allowed him to fulfill many duties that other half-draconians couldn’t accomplish.

“Tsk, you are always too much in a rush.” Bunsdel shrugged while opening a bottle of wine. “I need you to investigate Helena’s death.”

“...?”

“She was someone who was qualified to be a lord. I must find the culprit and get revenge.”

“What culprit? Didn’t she die in the Chaos Mountains? She was hit by a monster.”

“It doesn’t make sense no matter how I think about it. Helena might be aggressive but she will never fight a monster until she dies. Helena wasn’t killed by a monster. She was struck down by someone’s wisdom. My guess is that the culprit who killed Helena is a human.”

“...!”

Hao originally wouldn’t have believed it. He would’ve dismissed it as nonsense. However, one human passed through Hao’s mind. Coincidentally, this man had clashed with the half-draconians in Frontier. The supreme one, Grid. Maybe...

If it was him then he could’ve really defeated Helena...

‘No, it would be impossible for Grid alone.’

Still, Grid had his knights and his colleagues. A chill went down Hao’s spine at this thought.

‘Are the rumors about him hunting in the Chaos Mountains true?’

After getting rid of the half-draconians who tried to conquer Fronter, did he kill Helena and establish a foothold in the Chaos Mountains? It was crazy speculation but it might be possible for Grid and the Overgeared members. No, it should be possible. This was the only explanation behind their dramatic rise in levels recently.

Bunsdel’s words continued, “I heard there is a human city near the Chaos Mountains. Infiltrate there and gradually discover the truth of the incident.”

Ttiring~

A quest popped up. It was a quest to find the culprit who killed Helena and report it to Bunsdel. There were two quest clear conditions: Find the culprit, or find the Heart with Bunhelier’s Protection. In any case, it was a quest to find one of them and report it to Bunsdel.

‘Bunsdel’s real purpose must be the heart.’

As Hao stated earlier, Bunsdel lacked the status of the lord but the story would be different if he absorbed Helena’s heart. It was clear that he would be the strongest lord of all time.

‘By the way...’

Hao hesitated when he saw the huge quest rewards. It would be difficult to accept the quest if the culprit who killed Helena was really Grid. He had already signed a contract with Grid. How could he betray his colleague?

‘...Wait.’

This was a quest with a time limit of one year. He had enough time to discuss it with Grid. Hao decided it might be a good quest to use in reverse and accepted it.

“Leave it to me.”

“You are reliable as always.” Bunsdel smiled.

He didn’t know that his trusted subordinate was actually with the enemy. The small seeds that Grid scattered were taking effect all over the continent.

***

The city of dwarves was often treated as a fantasy. Farmers cultivated the fields with epic rated hoes, women used unique rated sticks to do their washing, and shabby street vendors displayed legendary rated items. The story of Talima was so vague that people didn’t believe it easily.

The same was true for the players of the Yatan Church. They successfully entered Talima thanks to Amoract’s revelation and saw a sight they didn’t expect. It was just that Talima was more spectacular than the rumors.

A golden palace that shone brightly under the sun. Unique and legendary rated items were scattered around the street stalls. It was a modernized civilization unlike the other kingdoms in Satisfy that represented medieval times.

“Isn’t the water gun that the little boy is playing with unique rated?”

“It seems so...”

“......”

Players had seen the Overgeared Kingdom’s soldiers and farmers armed with rare and epic items. They were confident that the rumors about Talima were true and thought they wouldn’t be too surprised. Nevertheless, the scenery of Talima was more than rumored and the players of the Yatan Church were astonished.

“How much is this?”

“1,555,000,999 gold.”

“......”

However, Talima was like a pie in the sky. The dwarves’ pride in their work was so great that the price was unrealistic. They were trying to sell an epic item that could be seen anywhere for 1.5 billion gold. Therefore, there might be many amazing things but none could be acquired.

Rose frowned and asked the Second Servant walking next to her, “I’ve heard the dwarves have been isolated for decades. Why aren’t they surprised to see outsiders?”

“It is because they are idiots who know nothing but their jobs. They don’t care about anything else so they don’t doubt us.”

“How stupid...”

“Huhu, it is thanks to this that we can easily act.”

The Yatan servants and hundreds of Yatan Church players—they were able to enter the Elliter Mine without any hindrance from the dwarves. They discovered the fine cracks in this world and prepared for the ritual without any delay.

“This time, we will turn the world into hell.”

At least five—this was the number of great demons the Yatan Church expected to summon.