The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board

Seol asked Jamad a question after hearing Jamad’s confident answer.

“They’re trying to use Purga? Are you talking about the Old God Festival?”

“You know about the Old God Festival? How the hell do you know about that too?”

Seol furrowed his brows and changed the subject.

“So that’s why they abducted people from Nobira…”

“I’m sure the attack on Wiggleton was also just a part of this. The captured citizens were likely all tossed into Purga’s mouth to receive his powers.”

“...Then wouldn’t the people captured from Nobira share the same fate if we do nothing?”

“Of course. And then they’ll use Purga’s powers again to attack another city or to attack Fortress Gulia.”

“I doubt it would be possible with just trolls… oh no, is this also connected to Setena?”

The Setena Kingdom was located to the east of the Nevenia Kingdom. Setena often fought with Nevenia as its land was harsh and infertile.

If Setena was involved with the trolls, the situation was much worse than Seol had first thought.

Jamad continued, almost like he was agreeing with Seol’s thoughts.

“Even if Setena did amass as much power as it could, it would be impossible for them to defeat Nevenia’s knights. However, there could be an opening if the Sulfur Skull Tribe caused a commotion on a different border or if they attacked Fortress Gulia. This was all something that the little brat of the Sulfur Skull Tribe, Zando, suggested.”

“Why was the plan rejected then?”

“It’s because some of the chiefs at the meeting, including me, rejected it. Our relationship with Setena wasn’t too good back then, and there were also a few other problems.”

If everything that Jamad told him was the truth, he had essentially received valuable information for free.

“How much time do we have left then?”

“Until what? Ah, are you talking about the time left before they offer the captives as offerings?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not sure… I don’t know what they did, but if they escaped through land then it would take probably a week… yeah, they probably arrived at the volcano today.”

This meant that it would also take Seol about a week, or even more, to arrive at the volcano.

“We have less time than I thought.”

“No, that’s not necessarily true.”

“What?”

“It’s not like the old god is their subordinate or anything, there’s no way that an old god would go according to someone else’s schedule. Also, Purga’s the type that enjoys fooling around, so he’s probably toying with them now. They’d probably start with a Consolation Ceremony to make sure that they don’t infuriate him, then take a lot more time before they ultimately sacrifice them.”

“How long?”

“Probably a month.”

“It takes that long?”

“Yeah. And since it takes that long, Nevenia could probably withstand their attack if they properly prepared for it. However, since Nevenia’s royalty doesn’t know about their plans, they’re just stuck defending the fortress without being able to do anything.”

Seol rubbed his chin and thought to himself.

“It’s probably impossible, huh?” asked Seol.

“What is?”

“Convincing the army in Gulia to deploy elsewhere.”

“Hmph. So you’re telling me that your plan is to go to Gulia, convince the commander there to deploy the army, and then have the commander go to Nevenia to convince military authorities there?”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Alright, let’s head to Gulia for now.”

Karen gave a despondent laugh.

“Isn’t that the same plan as before?”

“It’s different, I’ve given up on persuading the commander. In the first place, their goal is to deter the attack and that doesn’t matter to me at all. All I have to do is save Hamun.”

“Well, do whatever you want. Then, are we going to be leaving immediately after arriving in Gulia?”

“Yeah, we will.”

Seol’s eyes looked further north, at something which he couldn’t see with his own eyes.

“We’ll be heading to the Yognatun Volcano.”

* * *

There were less than twenty members.

And even then, the majority of them were gasping for air, completely exhausted.

It had already been a long time since they buried their horses, yet they pressed on further and further.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

“Fucking bastards… so they came through here.”

“The passageway isn’t that big. Only a small number of them can pass through.”

“The exact amount they needed to attack Nobira.”

“Mira, what should we do? Shouldn’t we notify Gulia?”

Mira looked at her comrades with bloodshot eyes.

Their eyes were the same as well, likely due to their lack of sleep. Even though they were all tired and haggard, none of them complained.

“We’ll be too late if we pass by Gulia. And if they were going to make a move, they would’ve done it earlier, those bastards…”

“I doubt those idiots even know about this. What the hell are they defending when this exists…”

There was a tragic story behind how Mira’s party had ended up all the way here.

After absorbing all of the ruin hunters in Nobira, Kibo's faction created a system.

Kibo ceased personal participation in ruin expeditions and instead oversaw multiple independent ruin hunter factions under his leadership.

One of these factions, obviously, was Yu Mira’s faction.

Mira’s faction was successful in their first expedition, but when they returned, they were faced with an incomprehensible situation.

[The location has been destroyed.]

[Your location is no longer set as Nobira.]

[You must now set a new location.]

What greeted them was neither Kibo nor the residents of Nobira.

It was the remains of a razed city.

They searched through Nobira, completely at a loss for what to do.

They were simply hoping that there would be a hint or a clue that could help them understand what happened.

As Mira hurried through the streets of Nobira. As she saw the survivors dying on the streets or quickly trying to escape the city, someone called her name.

- Gasp… Gasp… Is that you, Mira?

- Ahjussi!

Mira ran into a comrade of hers who was caught under the debris of a destroyed building. Though he was luckily breathing now, it was clear that he didn’t have much time left.

- What… What the hell happened?!

- Nobira… was crushed… by them…

- Them?

- The… the trolls.

Mira was furious, but barely managed to hold onto her senses.

- J-Just hang on for a little bit, okay? I’ll get you out of there…

- No… it’s too late for me. Just let me die.

- Ahjussi!

- Leave… Forget about Nobira and live on, Mira. There’s no place for you here now.

It was a shocking statement. It felt like her world was crumbling down.

- …What about Kibo?

- He’s dead.

- Don’t lie to me!

- I guess I can’t fool you, huh… How shrewd… He’s been caught by them.

- Where are they?

- I don’t know. But they did bring wagons with cages on them, so there are probably tracks…

- ……

- You have to leave, Mira. You have to live on.

- No, I can’t do that.

With the light of life slowly escaping his eyes, he left his final words for Mira.

- Then… What are you still doing here?

Raise.

- Hurry, go after them…

Thud.

The man had died.

- Find them.

Mira and the ruin hunters scoured every last inch of Nobira. And not too long after, they discovered tracks that were likely made by the trolls.

- It’s to the north.

- What are we going to do now?

A transferee which had survived and still remained in the city came closer to them.

- Don’t go after them, you’ll all just die. No one chased after them.

- …What?

- All of the transferees in Nobira received a revenge Adventure. Still, they all ran away to Kongory. Even if you chase after them, you’ll be the only ones.

Mira simply nodded.

- Step back.

- You… You must be out of your mind! This is practically suicide!

- What should we do, Mira?

Mira pulled her hood over her head.

- We’re chasing after them.

- Let’s go!

All of the transferees with Mira received a similar message.

[Adventure ‘Cold Revenge’ is scheduled.]

[This Adventure is very dangerous.]

[You have skipped your Rest.]

[You begin your next Adventure.]

[Your 13th Adventure is starting.]

[Adventure 13. Cold Revenge]

……

And like that, Mira’s party had tracked the trolls’ traces all the way here.

As they were unable to have a proper rest or even a proper meal, their conditions were at their absolute worst.

After passing through a long, dark tunnel beneath the country’s border, they arrived at a point beyond Nevenia’s border.

“So from this point on, we’re no longer in Nevenia, right?”

“We’ve collapsed the tunnel, but it wasn’t done properly since we didn’t have enough time. They can probably just restore it again.”

“It’s fine, we have more important business anyway.”

Mira was looking further, at something that she could barely see.

“They’re heading over there.”

“What are they plotting?”

As she looked even further ahead, she saw a massive mountain.

“...Yognatun.”

It was the Yognatun Volcano, a massive mountain where an old god, Purga, the Fire Monkey, resided.

* * *

Seol’s party, like Mira’s party, relentlessly headed north.

There were no real issues for them other than the fact that the terrain became increasingly harsher.

Furthermore, it was quite a bit louder now after the trolls’ attack.

It was to the point that even the bandits here, if they did exist, would have headed south after the recent events.

“How much longer until we arrive in Gulia?”

“About four days?”

“Damn, this is taking so long! Ah, but wasn’t this around the time when you were supposed to meet Chao?”

It was pointless to talk about.

“There is no way Chao would be waiting there when Nobira was burned down.”

“Hm… We worked so hard to get the item she wanted though… Was it all for nothing?”

“That’s something to figure out after we finish this first.”

“So once again, we’re in the same situation as before. Damn, it…”

Jamad then asked Seol a question.

“Even if we head to Yognatun through Gulia… How are you going to face the Sulfur Skull Tribe?”

“I’m going to worry about that once we arrive there. We'd be late if we made plans first before we moved.”

“That’s true, but…”

Karen then pounded on her chest with a proud look on her face.

“Just trust me and Karuna. We’re invincible together, Master.”

“That’s the exact reason why I’m worried, though.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Karen and Karuna had a Unique Skill that made them stronger when summoned together. Karen was already powerful enough now, and if Seol had another summon just as powerful as her, saving Hamun wouldn’t be difficult at all.

‘The problem is… I’m unable to summon them both at the same time.’

“Look, elf. It looks like you haven’t properly understood the situation here since you don’t stay in the Shadow Space for long,” mocked Jamad.

“What?”

“Right now, it’s very cramped.”

That was the problem.

Seol lacked Shadow Space.

Even though Seol was somehow able to summon Karen alone, it was impossible for him to summon Karuna too when his stats had been adjusted.

‘I don’t have enough Wisdom.’

Currently, Seol had way too little Wisdom compared to the number of summons he had.

Though he could command them, he didn’t have enough to perfectly control them.

“First, let’s think of a way to quickly increase my Wisdom.”

“How would there realistically be a way to do that?”

“Either that or you have to face the Sulfur Skull Tribe on your own, Karen.”

“I’ll think really hard about it. I’m sure we’ll come up with something if we all think hard.”

- She switched sides so fast LMFAOOO

- I guess the Sulfur Skull Tribe is too much, even for her.

- She read too many murim novels LOL

It had become night once more and Seol went to sleep after making Jamad, who slept during the day, stand guard.

Fwooosh…

The further north they traveled, the colder the night air became.

The chilling wind made Seol inch closer to the campfire.

Closer…

Come closer…

Seol opened his eyes.

‘What was that?’

He heard someone’s voice, like a phantasm.

Seol shook his head and looked around him.

Jamad then quickly spoke to Seol who had just woken up.

“So you woke up. I was just about to wake you.”

“...What’s going on?”

“Look over there.”

Beyond the dark field, he could sense something coming closer to them.

“Wild animals?”

“No, it’s a peculiar energy.”

Flash!

As the thing approaching them flashed a beam of light, Karen got up too.

“What’s going on? Wild animals?”

“...So you were up too, huh?”

“Hehe, I just wanted to joke around. What should we do, Master?”

After asking Seol, Karen walked toward her sword to grab it.

“Should I kill them before they come here?”

Closer…

Closer…

‘...Again.’

After realizing that the hallucinations he heard were related to it, Seol stopped Karen.

“For now, let’s just watch.”

After a bit of time, it had reached close enough where they could recognize each other.

Seol’s party could now clearly see the being in the field.

“...A troll?”

“Are they a member of the Sulfur Skull Tribe?”

What approached Seol was a troll.

As all of the trolls near Nevenia’s borders were likely members of the Sulfur Skull Tribe, they prepared for battle. But then, the troll showed that he recognized Seol.

“Snowman! It’s me!”

“Who… that voice… don’t tell me!”

As the troll waved his finger, a bright light appeared in front of him.

It was a troll wearing old-fashioned glasses.

“It’s me, Mael!”

[The requirements have been met.]

[Helper ‘Mael, the Star Child’ has appeared in this Adventure.]

[Helper ‘Mael, the Star Child’ will join you in this Adventure as an ally.]

“Why is Mael here?”

North of Nevenia, Seol had run into an unexpected ally.

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