ALL NOVEL Chapter 252
Chapter 252. Full-scale Battle
Yoo Ji-han demanded the cooperation of the Rulers with half persuasion and half threat.
In the end, the Rulers decided to unite in preparation for Desa’s attack.
“I’ll trust you.”
“I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Although some remained skeptical until the end, the opinion to trust the heroes, prioritizing the stability of Maz, prevailed.
After all, the intentions of the heroes were far from simply wanting to ruin Maz.
“This is the highest point in the area.”
“Good. Please wait a moment.”
“……Huh?!”
Kugugugugu!
The rooftop of the already tall building rose even higher with the power of Mumu.
Consequently, the bodies of those who came up with Yoo Ji-han soared into the sky.
“You’re too high! Someone save me!”
“Calm down. I’ll mark the location on the map now.”
From high in the sky, Yoo Ji-han gauged the direction of the Thread of Truth and marked it on the map.
Round marks began to multiply on Maz’s map.
Every time a new mark was drawn, the expressions of the Rulers managing that area turned serious.
“What?! The attack will start from this mine?”
“Even the Opal Knight Order is stationed here!”
“Isn’t this just underestimating us too much?”
“No, they can be hiding anywhere.”
It had already been confirmed that Desa manipulated Space Distortion.
His puppets could exist everywhere, from bustling cities to remote areas devoid of people.
Once Yoo Ji-han completed marking the map to a certain extent, he said,
“For now, this is it. They are mainly concentrated around the mine.”
“That’s a relief to hear.”
“Exactly.”
“……?”
The Rulers were relieved that Yoon Do-ha’s puppets were primarily distributed near the mines.
Min Yu-ri, who found their reaction puzzling, voiced her confusion.
“Um, why is that a relief?”
“Isn’t there hardly anyone around the mines?”
“But there are dwarves. Quite a few too.”
“That’s why it’s a relief.”
“Huh?”
“If we use the dwarves as shields, we can minimize casualties among the citizens.”
“……!”
The Rulers intended to minimize human casualties by utilizing the dwarves.
Min Yu-ri’s expression tensed at the unexpected answer.
Kwahk!
Next to her, Kim Si-hu tightened his grip around his staff.
‘Their values are completely messed up.’
The Rulers were the highest-ranking individuals in Maz.
If they held such values, it was obvious that the people they governed would think similarly.
Kim Si-hu soon relaxed his grip and said,
“Aren’t the dwarves citizens of Maz?”
“They aren’t citizens officially. And dwarves are different. We humans are vastly superior beings.”
“What makes us superior?”
“What do you mean what makes us superior? Are you really asking such an obvious question?”
“Compared to dwarves who are just strong, humans are capable of thinking better.”
“Those foolish creatures should be thankful just for being used by us.”
The disdainful attitude of the Rulers towards the dwarves was palpable.
Kim Si-hu felt anger rising and was about to step forward.
But Im Mi-a, who sensed Kim Si-hu’s emotional shift, pulled on his arm.
“Stop. You’ll just be a distraction.”
“……Okay.”
At her straightforward words, Kim Si-hu somehow suppressed his anger.
Just then, the Ruler of this area, Kruba, spoke up.
“Regardless, we need the miners who work at the mines. The dwarves are Maz’s assets.”
“Kruba, are you worrying about the dwarves again?”
“I’m worried about Maz, not the dwarves. What would you do if all the dwarves who work in the mines disappeared right now?”
Dwarves made up 96% of the workforce.
They were responsible for most of the dangerous and arduous tasks in the mines.
Humans worked under the pretense of managing the dwarves.
But they did not possess even close to the dwarves’ level of experience and knowledge.
“If the dwarves disappear, there will be hardly anyone to become miners for Maz.”
“Oh come on, you really think they’d all die?”
“We can always replace dead dwarves.”
Unlike the other Rulers, Kruba did not view dwarves as equivalent to humans.
In the food chain, humans were at the top, and other races, including dwarves, belonged below them.
However, he was well aware that Maz needed dwarves.
‘This guy might be more useful than I thought.’
Among the Rulers of Maz, Kruba was one who viewed dwarves somewhat favorably.
Of course, he couldn’t be deemed perfect.
Even in the mines he governed, the treatment dwarves received was not that great.
‘I need to keep the fact that there are dwarves aiding Desa a secret.’
While Yoo Ji-han listened attentively to Kruba’s words about the necessity of dwarves.
*
“This place should be safe. Almost no one knows its location.”
Team 2, who had been underground all this time, was going to leave it in a secure location.
It was a shelter prepared for the Rulers of Maz in case of a disaster.
“We must protect it at all costs.”
“Yes! Don’t worry.”
Min Yu-ri carefully laid the unconscious Park Jae-kyung on the bed.
After laying down all the heroes from Team 2 on the beds, Yoo Ji-han looked at Kim Si-hu.
[Security System]
A large oval of magic enveloped the heroes’ bodies.
It was a spell that would send a signal to the caster if someone touched them without permission.
“If anything happens to them, Maz will face destruction at our hands, not Desa’s.”
“……I’ll keep that in mind.”
Yoo Ji-han’s intense gaze pressured the shelter’s administrator.
The administrator gulped, realizing this was not just an empty threat.
“Please take charge of the western command.”
“Sure.”
Thud!
Watanabe bumped his fist with Yoo Ji-han as a farewell gesture.
The two parties promised to split directions separately to cover all of Maz.
Withdrew their fists, Watanabe said,
“To be blunt…”
“Yeah?”
“I feel that the overall combat strength of Kallem isn’t that high. The King of Kabuum you mentioned is likely the most powerful opponent we’ve encountered.”
Watanabe thought Kallem’s level was below that of Earth.
As for Yoo Ji-han, aside from the King of Kabuum, whom he also felt was similar to a Rank 1 Hero,
He hadn’t experienced overwhelming strength in Kallem yet.
“But I never expected to fight alongside Yoon Do-ha.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Anyway, I’ll contact you once we arrive at a suitable location.”
“……You remember the last thing I requested, right?”
“I’ll remember.”
Watanabe flashed a meaningful smile while looking at Yoo Ji-han.
“Muahaha!”
He then left, leaving behind his distinctive hearty laughter with his party members.
Following that, Yoo Ji-han’s party moved to a location where the local Rulers had gathered.
“Are you ready?”
“Do we really have to be together?”
Yoo Ji-han intended to gather the local Rulers in one place.
It was more efficient to protect them together rather than wasting the forces of each Knight Order to protect scattered Rulers and sending the remaining knights to other areas.
“You kept saying you couldn’t believe it and that you wanted to see with your own eyes.”
“Well, still…”
“We’ll personally protect you since we’ve gained recognition from the King of Kabuum.”
“T-that’s reassuring.”
The knights of Maz were already dispatched to each region under the command of the Rulers.
In parallel, Yoo Ji-han’s party led the Rulers toward another shelter.
“I’m worried. The moon will soon be full again.”
During their journey, a Ruler expressed concern over Kallem’s moon.
Under normal circumstances, they would have been preparing for a new festival.
But they were bracing for a battle akin to war.
“It’s been barely any time since the last festival, and we’re already having another…”
“Even if we’re busy, we must uphold the tradition passed down since our ancestors.”
“Hasn’t the cycle of the moon grown too quick lately?”
Kim Si-hu, who was eavesdropping on their conversation, was also feeling the change in the moon.
With the red moon followed by the rise of the yellow moon, the presence of magic in the air was thickening.
As a Mage, it provided the best environment for utilizing magic.
‘It must be the same for the enemy.’
For Desa, the power source that moved his puppets was ultimately magic.
The rising moon would also work to his advantage.
But then,
“……!”
Yoo Ji-han caught sight of the Thread of Truth extending.
The problem was that the location it led to was very close.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Ji-han?!”
Fwuh!
Yoo Ji-han dashed forward, leaving his party behind.
—Uhehehe!
It wasn’t just running; it was more like flying.
As he sped along, the Sylph’s wind pushed him strongly from behind.
“Mmmmmm!”
With Mumu’s support making the uneven ground easier to navigate.
Yoo Ji-han managed to reach his target faster than expected.
“Over there!”
On a quiet roadside stood a man wearing a large hat.
Yoo Ji-han met eyes with the man, who had turned into Yoon Do-ha’s puppet.
‘He’s looking at me.’
At that moment, Yoo Ji-han realized.
Desa, who was somewhere looking at him through the eyes of the puppet.
“Ugh… Ugh.”
The man, now a puppet, let out a short groan, whether he still had consciousness or not.
[Invisibility]
Swoosh—
Yoo Ji-han’s body began to vanish as if melting into the air under the bracelet’s power.
Immediately afterward, the puppet man’s neck twisted backward.
Yoo Ji-han had knocked him out with a punch.
‘Where are you?!’
Yoo Ji-han ran after the nearest Thread of Truth.
If Desa had taken direct action, he couldn’t have run far.
—Over there!
—Next is that way!
Following the instructions from the Sylph, he dashed through the spaces between buildings.
While chasing the shining thread, Yoo Ji-han encountered a familiar-looking human figure.
“What are you doing here…?”
“Kurrrr!”
It was Grun Heights, the young dwarf who had guided Yoo Ji-han’s party around the mines.
*
As the process of turning the now-fallen human into a puppet was nearing completion,
Desa, who had been keeping his eyes closed, felt his eyebrows twitch.
It was due to Yoo Ji-han entering the view of another puppet.
“How strange… Strange.”
Yoo Ji-han precisely pinpointed the location of a new puppet within a not-so-small area.
Moreover, the man who had just collapsed was a puppet created for surveillance.
Feeling strange since detecting that shifting space distortion in the mine.
He couldn’t consider it mere coincidence that he kept appearing in the puppet’s view.
‘There’s definitely something, but what could it be?’
The opponent has means or methods to track his puppets.
What that is specifically, he didn’t know, but Desa sensed that Yoo Ji-han would become a significant obstacle for him.
The carefully prepared plan was just beginning to unfold.
“One thing is certain.”
Desa opened his previously closed eyes.
“He is a human that cannot be left alone.”
A different sense of crisis than the one that had chilled his blood with Watanabe.
From being a wandering Mage to the royal mage of Kallem.
The instinct of someone who had climbed from the bottom to the top warned him.