Chapter 349.

Even after Eren pledged allegiance to Prihi, not much changed . As usual, Eren was keen on training, and Puharen was still stuck in his room . There was only one noticeable change: a small pill would find its way to Eren every night .

Prihi stuck to her promise to help Eren’s master and ordered her servant to deliver medicine to Eren every night . Deeply grateful, Eren gave the medicine to his teacher .

As each day passed, Eren’s master recovered his health, and Eren grew rapidly . The boy was now skilled enough to compete against an adult . Though of course, his opponent used a wooden sword, whereas Eren used a real sword .

Those were the happy days .

Then, one night .

Eren, who returned home after his usual training routine, delivered the medicine to his master as usual and shared a rather pleasant conversation with the recovering patient . He then went back to his room .

“Huaaa… . ”

Eren sat in a chair and looked outside the window . Suddenly, a sense of fulfillment began to overtake him . Some would describe this feeling as happiness, or joy .

Eren put his hand on his chest and smiled .

“Ah, right . ”

Now that everything was under control, Eren remembered something he had forgotten— namely, the nuns who had cared for him .

Eren took out a paper and a pen and began writing . He wanted to let the nuns know how well he was doing so that they wouldn’t have to worry about him .

===

[To the Temple of Kterin]

Hello, this is Eren . How are you? Master and I are well . The Royal Palace is so big and amazing . I get to eat on time, and my sword skills are improving, too . Every day is a happy day .

But sometimes it hurts when I think of you . I miss you a lot… .

Today I received a stipend . They don’t usually pay the squires, but I think I got it because I worked hard . I’m sending it to you because it’s useless to me anyway . Please use it well . I’ll keep the letters coming . Thank you for everything .

May the grace of the Lord always be with you .

===

Eren sealed the letter with two gold coins, a stipend he had received from Prihi, in an envelope . The bottom of the envelope was considerably thickened by the coins .

“Huhu… . ”

Eren looked at the letter with satisfaction . He stayed that way for quite some time until scarlet light began penetrating his window .

The light was at first about the size of a firefly . It quickly grew bigger as it passed through the window and shone brightly on Eren’s face .

“…?”

Eren looked out the window with his head tilted .

“What the… . ”

Under the night sky, in the garden of the Royal Palace, an army of soldiers stood with torches in their hands . They were fully armed and clearly hostile, trampling on the grass and the flowers in the garden .

Eren quickly grabbed his sword and stood up .

“…Ah?”

However, when he saw the small figure at the center of the army, he paused .

Eren and his master’s benefactor, Prihi, was there .

**

…Orden woke up in a cave .

He saw the light from a lamp swaying faintly over the surface of the stone ceiling .

Orden couldn’t grasp the situation . He remembered he had felt this same way when he first gained intelligence . Just the fact that he was alive confused Orden .

—Kururu . Kururu .

At that moment, he heard Kurukuru’s voice . Orden slowly turned to the direction that the voice had come from . Kurukuru was kneeling beside him .

—Kururu… .

Kurukuru was apologizing . He felt guilty that he had disobeyed the king’s orders and saved his life . But the humanoid monster did not regret his decision . In fact, Kurukuru was prepared to die . He was prepared to take his own life if the king wished for him to do so .

“…”

Orden stared at Kurukuru in silence . He read his servant’s memory . All the things that Kurukuru had done over the years slowly seeped into Orden .

Kurukuru traveled all over the world to save Orden . He did everything he could do to get his hands on the ingredients for spirit medicine, such as ginseng, herbs, ores and seagrass . Sometimes he even stole from others .

In the process, Kurukuru cut off the Kraken’s leg, broke into the Tower of Heroes, pulled out an Ancient Dire Wolf’s Teeth, and purchased the skin of a Basilisk .

He crossed mountains, explored the seas, ran through jungles, wandered through deserts, and dove into boiling magma .

In the meantime, he lost his arms, became blind, and his antennae burned down . But none of that mattered to Kurukuru .

If only he could save the king .

If only he could be with him again .

The servant was willing to give his own life for it .

“…”

After taking in Kurukuru’s memory, Orden suddenly realized that he had become smaller . He was still larger than an average human, but slightly smaller than three humans combined . His horns, which he had managed with care, were gone, too .

Because of this, his body didn’t feel too heavy .

Orden stood up without saying a word . He moved his stiff legs and stepped forward . The soil beneath his feet felt soft, for Kurukuru had managed the cave with care .

Orden set foot in the world outside the cave .

The dazzling blue sky greeted him . The sun poured down on him . The harmony of the clouds, the sun, and the moon in the sky were beautiful .

Orden stood in absolute stillness and felt the nature surrounding him .

The salty wind, the rolling waves, the rustling leaves, and the golden sand of the beach .

His eyes captured them all .

“This is strange . ”

A chuckle escaped Orden’s lips . He had never looked so closely at nature . He was never really interested in it . Before, all he did was fight and kill in search of his own existence .

Tap, tap .

At that moment, he heard quiet footsteps approaching .

Tap, tap .

Kurukuru, his only servant, stood beside him .

Orden did not turn to face his servant, however . Kurukuru, too, stayed silent . The two monsters stood still and looked at the horizon . They stayed that way for a very long time until all the time they had spent apart had been paid for .

…That was a long time ago when Orden first came back to life .

Lost in old memories, Orden looked up at Vladivostok’s blue sky,

—Kuaaaa, kuaaaa

But a strange sound disturbed his recollection . Orden lowered his head and looked at the origin of the painful groan .

Bual, the devil who had attacked him with obstinate arrogance, was now lying on the ground . He had no arms . He still had one leg left, but it was folded at a strange angle . His stomach was torn and blood and organs were pouring out of it .

Bual had lost completely . His army, which at one point in time seemed to cover the entire surface of the earth, had been annihilated as well .

Orden had destroyed the devil’s army by himself .

—You, you insolent fool… how dare you… .

Despite the situation, Bual had yet to surrender . Orden gazed at Bual . In Bual’s bloodshot eyes and angry gestures, Orden could see his old self .

Orden felt ashamed of himself, so much so that he wanted to teach this transcendent being what he himself had learned . At that moment Orden realized that he and the devil might be similar in some respects, despite the difference in years they had lived to date .

Orden looked down at Bual and spoke .

“I feel sorry for you . Do not ever wonder about yourself again . That will put your mind at ease . ”

—Shut your mouth!

Bual spat at Orden . The cursed mixture of saliva and blood, however, fell to the ground without ever reaching Orden .

—You, I’ll remember you! I’ll kill you no matter what! Even if I die right here, I’ll definitely-

“People live because they’re alive . Do not search for a deeper meaning . ”

—Shut up! Shut up! You-

Orden swung his fist .

Crack—! With the sound of an explosion, the devil’s head disappeared .

Orden shook his fist and turned around . He was no longer a king, so he was not obliged to teach anyone who was unwilling to learn .

Orden sighed and looked up at the sky, surrounded by the stillness of the forest . His gaze traveled downward . An artificial wall stood tall amidst the green of nature . Orden stared at the very top of the wall .

“G-Guardian… . ”

“Mighty Guardian!”

“He’s the Guardian of Vladivostok!”

The humans, who felt Orden’s gaze, began yelling . Slightly embarrassed, Orden looked away .

“Guardian God—!”

“What an honor! We praise you!”

Fervent cheering continued . Surprised at the fact that he was pleased, Orden stood beside Kurukuru . Then the monsters headed back to their dwelling place .

**

[Essence of the Strait Underground Facility]

Dressed in the [Black Lotus Uniform], I arrived at the underground facility where [Dimensional Entropy] was stored . Upon arrival, I heard Yoo Yeonha say “I found a way to reverse the current situation . ”

I decided to hide for the time being and listen to their conversation .

“We need to transmit as much energy as possible to the Tower of Wish . Is there a way?”

“…I’m skeptical . Dimensional Entropy is powerful, but it’s also intractable . Even now, we’re barely keeping it under control with the help of the state-of-the-art stabilizers . It’s too risky to release this kind of energy in bulk . ”

Each of the researchers expressed their ideas .

The nine researchers gathered here were probably the brightest people on this planet, smart enough to manage the Entropy .

“Can’t you find a way? We should be able to pull it off at least once if we raise the output level to the max . ”

“What if the machine gets broken in the process? The whole planet could be destroyed…”

I approached them in the middle of a heated debate .

“Oi . ”

“Uaaaak!”

The moment I spoke, the researchers screamed at the top of their lungs . I could see their hair stand on end . Even Yoo Yeonha seemed surprised, swallowing her saliva .

With a smile, I announced, “Don’t worry about the stability . I’ll help you out . ”

I had multiple Gifts that could be used to increase the output of a machine: [Stigma], [Random Consolidation System], and [Constraints and Amplifications] .

However .

“W-who is this guy? I-identify yourself!”

“How did you get here?!”

The researchers clung to each other and, as one giant ball, pointed their fingers at me . The way the middle-aged researchers screamed in panic was surprisingly cute .

“C-Chief Officer! Please do something! W-w-who is this man?”

“…Haa . ”

Yoo Yeonha glanced over my clothes and sighed .

“It’s okay . He’s on our side . ”

“…Our side?”

“Yes . I’m sure you all have heard of him . This is Black Lotus . ”

“…”

Black Lotus .

The moment Yoo Yeonha announced my name, the researchers froze . Their lips and fingers, which had been moving non-stop until a moment ago, also stopped .

In absolute silence, Yoo Yeonha spoke again .

“It’s okay . I told you, he’s our ally . ”

“…”

Despite her encouragement, the researchers were still skeptical . Left with no choice, I stepped forward .

“The plan will proceed as discussed . I can take care of the stability issue . ”

Saying so, I approached the celestial-shaped machine . And I reached out to the heart of the machine, where [Dimensional Entropy] was placed .

“U-um, be, be careful . ”

The researchers remarked worriedly . I gave a small smile and activated [Random Consolidation System] .

Wiing—

The machine immediately began emitting a loud sound, and suddenly the number 48 appeared at its center .

48% . Truly a tremendous amplification .

I turned my gaze to the researchers again . Their jaws dropped from surprise . These people were experts in their fields of expertise . They must have realized that the machine was completely different from the way it used to be .

“…Now, let’s connect Crevon and Earth with this,” I said and glanced at Yoo Yeonha .

Yoo Yeonha nodded and came to me .

“Should I activate it now?”

“Yeah . ”

“Okay . Come on, everyone! We don’t have a lot of time!”

Yoo Yeonha’s clapping helped the researchers come to their senses . They quickly headed to the control room and began typing on the computer .

About 2 minutes later .

Woooong… .

The celestial machine started to vibrate . The energy extracted from [Dimensional Entropy] was concentrated on one specific point .

*Guoooo… .

The resonance of the vibration shook my skull .

And… .

Koong—!

I felt an artificial vibration above my head . At the same time, my intuition detected footsteps full of hostility . Black water began dripping down from the ceiling .

“It’s the enemy . ” I said to Yoo Yeonha .

“Right . Monsters must’ve sensed the entropy,” guessed Yoo Yeonha .

She quickly grabbed her whip . Keeping my composure, I turned to Spartan .

—Pururu .

Spartan knew what I wanted to say just from the look in my eyes . He quickly disappeared somewhere .

Kuaaaaa— Guaaaaa—

Humans are down below—! Kill the humans—! Curse the mortals—!

The howls of monsters mingled with the sound of the celestial machine and filled the building .

But there was nothing to worry about .

Jiiing—

About 10 seconds after Spartan’s departure, a blue portal appeared right next to where I stood .

“Did you call for reinforcements?”

Having noticed the portal, Yoo Yeonha pouted, slightly discontented .

I smiled at her .

“I did . ”

At that moment, blocks of shadows in different colors rose from the portal . They soon came into their original form .

“Let me introduce ourselves . ”

They were not one but many; at the same time, many were one .

The reason for that was— if you combine them all, you ultimately end up with black .

“We are the Chameleon Troupe . ”

Seat of Yellow, Jain .

Seat of Blue, Khalifa .

Seat of Green, Jin Yohan .

Seat of Violet, Droon .

Seat of Indigo, Yoo Kyunghwan .

Seat of Silver, Kaita .

Seat of Turquoise, Setryn .

Seat of Brown, Hirano Arashi .

And… Seat of White, Boss .

All the Colors of the Chameleon Troupe, except for Cheok Jungyeong, were here .

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