Chapter 304: The Honcheon Sword (3)

Above the Maha.

Louis stared intently at the colossal black ice barrier that enveloped a vast area like a dome.

It’s tough.

And not just simply tough. Countless dragons had already exhausted every effort to shatter this barrier, only to fail miserably and throw up their claws in defeat.

This was no ordinary barrier. It had been erected by Kaiders, a Three-Attribute Zero-Tier powerhouse. To break it would likely require a force of similar caliber.

Which means I can’t shatter it right now…

The greater problem was Louis’s inability to discern Kaiders’s true intentions. Why was the mage still holed up inside, refusing to emerge? Understanding his purpose was crucial for devising a countermeasure.

Fine. If I can’t figure out his plan… I’ll just smash through this barrier head-on!

Whether he ascended to Three-Attribute Zero or completed the Honcheon Sword, Louis only needed to find a way to thwart the enemy’s plan by any means necessary.

Guff promised to sharpen the Honcheon Sword’s blade…

Though deeply reluctant, Guff had agreed to remove the sword’s rust, bound by his own word. However, given Guff’s infrequent moments of lucidity, the task would likely take a considerable amount of time.

For now, Guff is safe under the care of the Twins and Fin.

Louis had left the Twins and Fin as watchdogs, wary of Guff’s potential for treachery. Furthermore, Genelocer would soon relay the information Louis had shared to the Elder Council.

With most of his tasks handled, Louis’s thoughts turned to Wang Cheolsoo.

What was that all about?

When I was forcibly transmitted to Earth, that phrase had definitely appeared on my smartphone:

Only Wang Cheolsoo can forge the ultimate Honcheon Sword.

That meant Wang Cheolsoo himself was somehow connected to the sword’s completion.

I wasn’t entirely clueless about this connection.

It probably has something to do with souls…

Guff’s work involved removing the sword’s rust and refining the vessel that would house the soul.

Only when a soul was contained within this meticulously prepared vessel could the True Celestial Sword be truly completed.

In fact, Guff had said as much himself:

To sever Kaiders’ soul, another dragon’s soul was required.

The problem was, where could he find one?

He couldn’t simply kill a healthy dragon just to complete the Honcheon Sword.

No matter how I look at it, Wang Cheolsoo seems to be the key to solving this problem.

Otherwise, why would he have been sent all the way to Earth to retrieve that guy, especially since the Honcheon Sword was already in his possession?

Still…

”…Is that bastard really worth anything?”

This time, something felt deeply suspicious.

After all, he had personally witnessed Wang Cheolsoo’s utter incompetence firsthand.

He couldn’t for the life of him figure out how to make use of him.

“Sigh… I guess I’ll just go shake him down and see if anything comes loose.”

Louis tore his gaze from Maha’s barrier and turned away.

Whoosh!

Breaking the sound barrier in an instant, Louis hurtled toward the Great Wall.

Scanning his surroundings as he streaked through the air, he arrived near the Great Wall and sensed the presence of the Flame Siblings.

They’re here.

Deep within the Great Wall’s military encampment.

Following the energy emanating from the siblings, Louis suddenly froze at the sight that unfolded beneath him.

“What the hell is this…?”

Louis sighed in disbelief and descended to the ground.

Thud.

As he landed, he found himself facing a circle of soldiers with their backs turned to him.

Despite a man falling from the sky, no one paid him any attention.

They were all too engrossed in something else.

The soldiers huddled together, cheering wildly.

“Hey, try harder!”

“Oi! You’ll get caught if you keep that up!”

The soldiers were shouting at the top of their lungs, their eyes fixed on a single point.

Grrr…

Trapped in an iron cage was a snowfield Orc.

Its eyes gleamed with murderous intent, saliva dripping from its jaw. It looked as though it hadn’t eaten in days.

The Orc leaped and stretched its hands upward, desperately trying to grab something. And what the Orc’s hands were reaching for…

“Kuaaaack!”

Wang Cheolsoo hung upside down, bound tightly by ropes.

Whoosh.

“Kuaaack!”

Whoosh-whoosh.

“Kiyot!”

Each time the snowfield Orc’s hand lunged for his head, Wang Cheolsoo strained upward, barely evading the demon hand.

Whoosh.

“Aaaah! You barbarians… Kyaaah!”

Whoosh.

”…Hey! You guys…!”

Whoosh.

“Is this… Gak! …fun for you?! Kiyoohock!”

Dodging the Orc’s grasp, Wang Cheolsoo screamed at the top of his lungs.

But there was a major problem.

“What’s he babbling about?”

“How should I know? Probably just begging for his life, right?”

The words pouring from Wang Cheolsoo’s mouth were none other than Korean.

There was no way the soldiers could understand him.

They simply watched him squirm like a caterpillar clinging to a tree, chuckling to themselves.

Louis scratched his cheek.

Ah, right, they probably couldn’t communicate at all.

He’d rushed out in a panic, forgetting that no one there spoke Wang Cheolsoo’s language.

That must have caused him some trouble…

Not my problem. But why is he acting like that?

He’d only been gone for a few hours.

What on earth could have happened in that time to leave him in such a state?

The answer to his question likely lay with the Flame siblings, who had been entrusted with overseeing Wang Cheolsoo.

Finding them wasn’t difficult at all.

“Hmm… Did we raise him too high? It’s better if he’s just barely out of reach, right?”

“Yeah, let’s lower him a bit more.”

Beside the large pulley stood Kendrick, gripping the rope tethering Wang Cheolsoo. Tania nodded in agreement beside him.

Louis pushed through the crowd toward them.

“Huh?”

“Teacher!”

The Flame siblings recognized Louis and waved cheerfully.

But they weren’t the only ones who recognized him.

“Uwaaah! I’m gonna die! Big Brother Louis, please save me! Waaaah!”

Upon seeing Louis, Wang Cheolsoo burst into tears and snot, wailing as if he’d found his savior.

Louis, of course, ignored him completely, focusing solely on the Flame siblings.

”…What are you two up to?”

“Ah, this?” Kendrick grinned, holding up the rope in his hand. “That guy finally came to his senses after you left, Teacher…”

“The moment he woke up, he started screaming at the top of his lungs!”

“We couldn’t understand a word he was saying.”

“But as we listened, we started getting this weird, nasty feeling… That’s when it hit us!”

“Ah, this bastard’s cursing us out!”

“So we just hung him upside down.”

“Just hanging him would be boring, so we released an Orc too.”

“Then the soldiers came to watch!”

The Flame siblings chattered back and forth, recounting their antics in a flurry of back-and-forth.

Louis listened quietly, scratching his cheek.

I told them to bring him to his senses, but the Flame siblings ended up driving him completely out of his mind.

What was the point of scolding them? He was the one who had driven the siblings to this state. Criticizing them would be like spitting in his own face.

“Good job,” Louis said, reaching out to Kendrick. “Hand over the rope.”

“Yes, sir!” Kendrick swiftly handed over the rope and stepped back.

Gripping the rope triumphantly, Louis shouted down at Wang Cheolsoo, “Hey, can you hear me?”

“Yes! I can hear you! Please, spare me!”

“Don’t you know…?”

“I don’t know! I swear, I don’t!”

“Huh? You don’t know?” Louis’s expression soured, and he subtly loosened his grip on the rope.

Wang Cheolsoo’s body plummeted downward.

Crraaaack!

Grrrk!

The orcs had been growing increasingly agitated moments earlier. The ravenous creatures, their eyes blazing with hunger, reached out for him.

With each scream, Wang Cheolsoo’s cries grew louder.

“Aaaah! I know! I know!”

“What?”

“Anything! I know anything! Please… please!”

Unmoved by Wang Cheolsoo’s desperate pleas for mercy, Louis tugged lightly on the rope.

“Hk… Hngh…”

Wang Cheolsoo finally managed to wriggle free from the Orc’s grasp. Salty tears streamed down his face and dripped onto the Orc’s head.

Oblivious to Wang Cheolsoo’s plight, Louis spoke with a stern expression.

“I won’t repeat myself. Listen carefully.”

“Hk… hngh… Yes.”

“That bastard Kaiders escaped because of your stupidity.”

“It’s not like I wanted this to happen…”

“Oh, really?”

“I was being used too, from the start…”

“One more word out of you, and I’ll toss you into the ogre pit instead of the orc pit.”

“Y-yes! I’ll shut my mouth and listen carefully!”

“Good… Let’s get back to the main point. Because of your foolishness, that bastard Kaiders is running wild.”

“Yes…”

“I don’t know what his goal is. Do you?”

“I… I don’t know either.”

“Hmm, I figured as much.”

”…”

“Anyway, that bastard’s up to something. Whether it’s world domination or world destruction… I can’t tell.”

“Yes…”

“But what am I supposed to do about you? You’re stuck here in this world now, aren’t you? Just so you know, I have no idea how to send you back to Earth.”

“Huh?”

“And if Kaiders’ goal is to destroy this world… you’ll die here too, understand?”

”…?!”

Wang Cheolsoo’s jaw dropped wide enough to fit a fist.

T-that can’t be?!

He had no idea how he’d ended up in this place.

But one thing was certain: he was now inside Evan.

If Louis was right and Evan was destined to be destroyed by Kaiders…

D-does that mean I’ll really die too?!

Faced with a problem far more serious than dangling as an Orc’s snack, Wang Cheolsoo’s face turned deathly pale.

Louis watched, a slight smirk twisting his lips.

“You want to live?”

“Y-y-yes! I want to live! I don’t want to die!”

“Then why were you trying so hard to kill me, you little shit?”

”…I was wrong.”

“Anyway, you want to live, right?”

“Yes! Yes! I want to live! Sniff…”

“Then prove it.”

”…P-prove it? What do you mean?”

“Give me a reason why you should live. What can you do?”

“Uh…”

“What’s something only you can do in this world? Information only you know? Weapons only you possess? Anything at all, just tell me.”

Wang Cheolsoo’s pupils trembled.

Something only I have? Something only I can do?

There was never anything to begin with.

He could draw his Webtoons only because of the dream Kaiders had shown him.

His ability to interfere with this world through his Webtoons wasn’t his own power, but Kaiders’s.

Now, he couldn’t even do that anymore, and everything he knew had originated from Kaiders.

How could Kaiders possibly be unaware of something he himself knew?

He racked his brain, but nothing came to mind.

Wang Cheolsoo hesitantly opened his mouth.

“Um… well…”

“What is it?”

“I don’t have anything…”

His voice was dejected, carrying a hint of pitifulness. But who was Louis?

He felt no sympathy whatsoever for the man who had tried to stab him in the back.

“You don’t have anything?”

”…No.”

“If there’s no other way, I’ll just have to die.”

With those words, Louis released the rope completely. Wang Cheolsoo’s body plunged into the iron cage.

Kuaaaaaah!

The Orc charged at Wang Cheolsoo, roaring with glee.

“Uwaaaaah!”

Wang Cheolsoo screamed in terror, his face pale with fear. Tightly bound, all he could do was roll desperately across the floor.

But then…

“Whoa! What’s that!”

“He’s fast!”

He was rolling too well. Knowing that capture meant certain death, Wang Cheolsoo thrashed frantically, rolling across the floor with incredible speed. He rolled so fast that the Orc was thrown off balance, its clumsy swipes missing him repeatedly.

Louis watched the spectacle and offered a terse commentary:

“Well, who knew even a slug could roll like that…”

To Wang Cheolsoo, it was a desperate struggle for survival, but to onlookers, it looked exactly like that: a slug frantically rolling.

Wang Cheolsoo rolled across the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

I’m going to die… I’m going to die!

It was clear as day what would happen the moment the monster’s hand closed around him.

I’m going to be eaten alive… torn apart while I’m still breathing!

His mind was consumed by a single, desperate thought:

No! No! I don’t want to die!

Survival was his only driving force.

Perhaps because death loomed so close, Wang Cheolsoo strained his brain with superhuman intensity.

Grrr!

The Orc’s thick hand was inches from his face when he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

“I know something! Something only I know!” Wang Cheolsoo shouted at the top of his lungs.

Then—

Crack!

The sound of something snapping filled the air as the Orc’s body toppled backward.

In the next moment, Wang Cheolsoo’s body floated upward and flew toward Louis.

Thud.

“Hah… Hah…”

Wang Cheolsoo gasped for breath, having barely escaped the jaws of death.

His face was deathly pale, and his ragged breaths fogged the air as Louis’s cold eyes bore into him.

“Is it true? If you lied to escape this crisis… you’d better be prepared.”

Even the hopelessly oblivious Wang Cheolsoo understood the gravity of Louis’s warning. Next time, it wouldn’t just be some Orc.

Desperate, he nodded frantically.

“It’s true! I swear! Something only I know! Something… something only I possess!”

“What is it?”

“The Lord God’s toy!”

Louis’s eyes gleamed at Wang Cheolsoo’s desperate cry.