“What? Say that again,” Tarneck said with a frown as his subordinate Ohn delivered her report. Ohn bowed her head and responded, “We tried to take him by force…but he was too powerful, so we were forced to retreat. There is no other excuse. I am sorry.”

Tarneck was left speechless. He gulped. Ohn was apologizing for her failure, but she had served him for countless decades, successfully completing all her tasks with precision. Tarneck knew that the situation was serious if Ohn couldn’t handle it.

At first, he’d also thought that the report he heard was absurd, so he could understand how embarrassed and surprised she must have been when she saw the events unfolding before her own eyes.

‘They say that the student is better than the teacher…so this guy is more terrible than the Martial King!’ The Martial King’s old nickname was Walking Disaster because he caused havoc in every place that he visited and left it a disaster zone. But even that guy was quiet for four days after entering the Cave of Yaaneck. However, this new guy had already caused a ruckus after only a few hours! He did not stop at beating up prisoners or the guards, he was destroying the entire cave. When he was told that this new arrival had touched the main vein, Tarneck had let out an involuntary sigh.

What a crazy guy! Didn’t he know that if this place caved in, he would die along with everyone else as well?! Of course, hoping that Martial King’s disciple would possess common sense was wishful thinking, so Tarneck had to push that thought out of his mind. The question how this disciple of Martial King escaped from the limitations of the system also briefly crossed his mind. However, again, he felt it was pointless to use common sense to find an answer. Tarneck had to quickly organize his thoughts.

For the Central Bureau, the Cave of Yaaneck was a very important place that could not be damaged since it was a mine that contained important minerals like the Blood-Tear Stones, the main material of Adamantine. It was an indispensable source of funds for the Central Bureau, which was always in constant need of money. It was also a place where one could obtain clues about outside beings, including the otherworld gods. It wasn’t supposed to be ruined like this.

Losing the Cave of Yaaneck would be a fatal financial blow for the Central Bureau. Tarneck was also worried that he would lose Laplace before getting all the information out of him. Apart from all this, Tarneck thought, ‘This is unacceptable!’ As the once-revered Devil King, his pride would not allow this failure. If he were pushed and toyed just as he’d been during the Martial King’s time, he might just as well bite down on his tongue and die.

『From this point forward, all guards are ordered to assemble at the locations I have designated. Keep the prisoners at bay with a minimal amount of manpower. Everyone else must arm themselves for combat. Our target is that Shadow King ###! No matter what happens, be sure to catch him! If necessary, I will even allow you to kill!』

Tarneck blasted a message to all the Bridgeheads scattered throughout the cave, regardless if they were working or taking a break. The purpose of the Central Bureau’s existence was to manage the stage and maintain order. Naturally, direct intervention with players was subject to system sanctions. Thus, even though the Central Bureau used the Tower’s system to deal with prisoners, it had never physically punished them.

If players were injured or killed, the Central Bureau would suffer a much larger loss in retaliation. Telling his subordinates that they could kill meant that Tarneck would take on all responsibility. He was showing his willingness to resolve this issue no matter what the cost.

“Ohn, you should contact the Central Bureau immediately. I need the assistance of the special police team. Tell them I need a substantial force that is ready to take action right away. Let them know that the opponent is a player who is said to be one of the Nine Kings, and he is a monster who is also a disciple of the Martial King.”

As Ohn was about to acknowledge the order with a nod, another messenger fell between the two of them. It was Neng. Unlike Ohn who was Tarneck’s subordinate in the cave, Neng was Tarneck’s right-hand man. He had served Tarneck for thousands of years since the Demon World. He was also the deputy director. Neng’s expression was stiff. “I have an urgent message!”

What was more urgent than trying to stop the cave from collapsing? Tarneck was about to tell Neng to hold off on reporting any insignificant information until they defeated Yeon-woo. However, as he listened to Neng’s report, he grew dumbfounded, his eyes widening.

“Chemical and other prisoners of the Brotherhood have rebelled! The prisoners’ resistance is so powerful that the prison guards are struggling to contain them!”

“What?” It was one dramatic disaster after another. Tarneck was facing a growing mound of troubles.

***

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! The inside of the cave shook violently.

“What is happening?” As he was absorbing the mineral vein with Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword, Yeon-woo was flabbergasted by an unexpected development.

[The ‘Blood-Tear Stones’ recognized by ‘Extrasensory Perception’ have been absorbed through ‘Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword’!]

[You have acquired 15 high-quality Blood-Tear Stones.]

[You have acquired 179 intermediate-quality Blood-Tear Stones.]

[You have acquired 90 high-intermediate-quality Blood-Tear Stones.]

…

[The acquired Blood-Tear Stones have been refined. You have succeeded in creating and obtaining a new type of mineral, ‘Blood Essence’.]

[You have acquired 3 ‘Blood Essence’.]

[You have acquired 3 ‘Blood Essence’.]

…

Blood-Tear Stones were the main ingredient of Adamantine, so Yeon-woo was planning to take a lot of them if the chance presented itself. He wanted to recreate the Adamantine Nova, which they’d used to create Kynee, to bolster Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword. And to kill two birds with one stone, he thought about kidnapping the Vampiric Lord, too.

However, the Blood-Tear Stones he’d absorbed with Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword had combined with each other to create something completely different.

[Blood Essence]

[Category: Mineral]

[Rank: EX]

[Description: A completely new mineral created from the concentration and purification of many Blood-Tear Stones. The color of the mineral is deeper than that of blood. The exact origin of this mineral is unknown, but it appears that it originates from solidified blood shed by a great entity. It boasts extreme hardness. It cannot be used easily, but if the essential material contained in this mineral can be purified, an enormous amount of energy can be obtained. Based on this quality, the mineral has the potential to become an energy tank.]

Yeon-woo had never heard of Blood Essence before. Even his brother, who had collected and gathered almost all of the information and secrets of the Tower had never come across this mineral. Yeon-woo perused the contents of his brother’s diary to see if there was any information, but he could not find anything.

Furthermore, the rank and the description of the energy tank caught Yeon-woo’s eyes. Materials with an EX rank were never openly traded in the Tower. In addition, if it had the potential to become an energy tank, even high rankers would foam at the mouth and grow blind with greed.

Since everyone wanted more magic power, especially mages and elementalists, Yeon-woo would be able to set whatever price he wanted. Thus, the appearance of this new mineral was not something bad for Yeon-woo. It might not become the Adamantine that he wanted, but if he brought it to Brahm and Henova, they would be able to experiment with the mineral and make a lot of good items. However, there was something about the energy in the Blood Essence that felt familiar: it was divine power.

However, it was not the divine power of a god in the Tower, but of a god with a completely different characteristic. It possessed chaos. And just as he couldn’t understand how the Crawling Chaos appeared in the Tower, Yeon-woo did not understand why this otherworld god’s divine power was here.

‘It really looks like coagulated Blood Essence from a living being. The Blood Essence seems to have come from something living yet not living at the same time. Why aren’t the Central Bureau people doing anything about this?’

Very little was known about the origin of Blood-Tear Stones. Those who knew of its existence only knew that the Blood-Tear Stones came from mines managed by the Central Bureau. However, in Yeon-woo’s eyes, the Blood Essence was the true state of the material; the Blood-Tear Stones were just fragmented parts.

‘So…Cave of Yaaneck…what exactly are the coordinates of this place?’ Yeon-woo strongly felt that the realms the Central Bureau classified as “unexplored lands” might actually contain secrets bigger than anyone knew. Maybe they even held the key to understanding the meaning or origin of the Tower.

In any case, it seemed that he unexpectedly peeked at one of the secrets of the Central Bureau. It was a welcome surprise. Although he’d been taken aback at first, it wasn’t something detrimental. However, something else confused Yeon-woo. ‘A rebellion?’

The cave walls had shaken as if they would collapse at any moment while he was absorbing the veins of Blood-Tear Stones at a rapid rate, and the prisoners began to behave strangely. Instead of being terrified and confused, they’d begun moving in an orderly fashion, as though they’d been waiting for this moment.

They gathered into formations, and those in the rear began to support the attack on the guards by bringing out weapons and supplies from somewhere. Additionally, most of the prisoners had shoved handfuls of the finely ground, powder-like Blood-Tear Stones into their mouths, releasing the magic power that had been restrained.

The Tower’s system and its functions returned to all the prisoners, and as they regained their skills, the impressive Effects of various skills filled the cave, making the Bridgeheads suffer injuries.

No matter how strong the Bridgeheads were, the sheer number of prisoners overwhelmed them. Also, since they were in a narrow tunnel, there wasn’t much room to maneuver.

Still, the Bridgeheads did not easily crumble.

“Drive out the prison guards!”

“You dare treat us like slaves all this time? You’re all dead!”

“In the name of the Brotherhood, we will punish the Central Bureau for monopolizing the Blood-Tear Stones and taking control of the Tower!”

The prisoners’ side used pickaxes and bamboo spears as weapons while calling out their skills.

“Damn it! Stop them!”

“How did they escape the constraints on the system?”

“Is that important now? These damn players. If anyone heard what they’re saying, they’d think we were exploiting them! You were the ones blinded by money and whined to stay here!”

“Tarneck is coming soon! Hold on until then!”

On the Bridgeheads’ side, the guards tried to reinstate the system constraints and restrict the prisoners once more. In the meantime, they used their authority and rights as Central Bureau prison guards to quickly build up a defense.

There was an impasse between those who wanted to break through and those who blocked them. No one seemed to care about the bits of rock and cave matter that fell all around them.

「Kya! This is pure chaos, pure chaos. How come these things happen everywhere our master shows up? His ability to bring utter chaos and destruction is no longer an art but science now, right?」 Shanon added his usual comments, but Yeon-woo just ignored him and frowned. ‘My kidnapping plan has failed.’

He’d intended to use the chaos of the impending cave implosion to kidnap those whom he suspected to be the Vampiric Lord and quietly exiting. Tarneck would be distracted with rectifying the confusion after part of the cave collapsed, allowing Yeon-woo to slip through. Yeon-woo would have then used that chance to find Laplace. However, his plan was now in shambles.

There was confusion here, for sure, but it had created the opposite of the effect he desired. It was clear that the prisoners had been planning a rebellion for a long time, and they had coincidentally rebelled at the exact same time that Yeon-woo planned the collapse of the cave. He felt like he had been hit on the back of his head.

Moreover, the prisoners had figured out an unconventional way to free themselves from the constraints of the system, so trying to kidnap anyone during the chaos was now impossible.

‘Ah, things are becoming too complicated. Where the hell are you? Who can pull off something of this scale while avoiding the watchful gazes of the Central Bureau?’ Yeon-woo had two suspects in mind: the Daud Brethren and Sea of Time.

Both were classified as large clans, but players considered them secret organizations since they rarely engaged in external activities. Unsurprisingly, not much was known about their movements or purposes. Jeong-woo did not have much contact with them either, so Yeon-woo found it difficult to understand their objectives. ‘It may have also been the Vampiric Lord’s doing.’

Even if the Vampiric Lord had managed to hide her identity in Cave of Yaaneck, it was possible that she was now openly using her skill and playing a hidden ace. Or… ‘It could be both.’

Yeon-woo could not ignore the possibility that the Vampiric Lord was taking advantage of the situation for her own purposes. Yeon-woo had planned to sneak in and sneak out without causing too much of a stir. However, in the end, with such a complicated situation unfolding, Yeon-woo decided that he had to act. ‘Where are these guys?’

Using his Extrasensory Perception, Yeon-woo realized at once that the main culprits of the chaos, Chemical and the halfling Mary, were nowhere to be found. Yeon-woo quickly expanded his Extrasensory Perception to encompass a larger area. He found a group of five deep in the cave, hurrying to the unexplored area that Tarneck had warned them not to enter. It was also a path to the heart of the cave.

‘So, they’re using their pawns to rebel and deflect attention while they seek out what they truly want? Make others look one way while they go another way. It’s a good strategy.’ At least, it would have been a good strategy if he weren’t here. Yeon-woo raised his head as he refrained from saying what he thought out loud.

He had already absorbed all the Blood-Tear Stones from the veins. Only the dregs remained, so he was no longer interested in absorbing more. Even if he didn’t do anything, the cave would probably soon collapse due to the constant shocks. “Shanon, Hanryeong.”

「Hahaha! Are we finally able to cause our own havoc? Do you know how painful it is only being a spectator while the master has fun?」

「Please give us your orders.」

“Pull Gylfi and Tarneck’s forces over here. In the meantime, I’m going to pursue the party of five who are heading deeper inside the cave.”

「I will execute your order!」

「Understood.」

Ssss! The two shadows separated from Yeon-woo’s shadow and traveled through the cave at a high speed.

“Boo.”

「I…await…your…orders.」 A red portal appeared beneath Yeon-woo’s feet for an instant before his surroundings completely changed. Below his feet, Yeon-woo saw five people, including Chemical and the halfling Mary, sliding down the tunnel. Then, as if they suddenly felt a deathly aura, Chemical and Mary stopped running and raised their heads.

“You…!”

[Sky Wings]

Swish! Yeon-woo descended as his wings extended out. He did not know when Tarneck would manage to find him, so Yeon-woo wanted to quickly suppress this group and hide. He didn’t have time to engage in any conversation. His first target was Chemical.

“You!” Chemical had already regained his skills, and with a twisted face, he attempted to counterattack. It was an opportunity to repay the humiliation that he had received just a moment ago.

Chemical wasn’t sure if he could withstand Yeon-woo if he were still constrained, but now that he’d regained the powers that gave him the name Executioner of Hot Sands, he thought he could break that arrogant person’s neck.

Bang! But Chemical didn’t even have the chance to lift a finger, he had already fallen to the ground, foaming at the mouth and unconscious. His body was quickly sucked into the shadows.

“That’s one,” Yeon-woo muttered as he moved onto his next target, Mary. He looked as though he were only walking leisurely in the park.

“Swallow him, right now!” Mary cried out.

Swoosh! A tremendous suction force burst out of Mary’s outstretched palm. Bathory’s Vampiric Sword! Someone other than Yeon-woo was using the Vampiric Lord’s signature skill.