Chapter 123

While living among the ice elves in their village, Cha Haein made every effort to return to Earth. Whenever she had a moment to spare, she flew out on Kaisel to search for the dimensional rift they had crossed through.

At first, she thought they would be home in no time. All they had to do was retrace their steps. But she soon ran into a wall.

For one thing, flying through the relentless blizzard that obscured their vision was a challenge in itself. More importantly, once they took to the sky, they discovered that there was more than one dimensional rift.

A world that had lost its Monarch.

As the frozen forest drifted through the gaps between dimensions, it was being torn to shreds, reduced to tatters with every passing moment. Countless dimensional rifts were forming in the sky above it. Finding the one connected to Earth among them was no easy task.

Still, Cha Haein and Kaisel refused to give up, wandering through the blizzard day after day.

Then something went terribly wrong.

GRRR...

["Kaisel?!"]

At some point, Kaisel, the wyvern protecting Cha Haein, had begun to grow a little weaker with each passing day.

The reason was simple. There was only one thing that made shadow soldiers immortal: the mana supplied to them by the Shadow Monarch. But Kaisel had become so far removed from Sung Jinwoo that he could no longer receive that mana.

["This won't do. At this rate, Kaisel will disappear before we find a Gate back to Earth."]

This was not Earth. There was no telling what enemies might appear, or when or where they might strike. If she encountered an unexpectedly powerful foe, she would need Kaisel's strength.

From then on, Cha Haein stopped blindly searching for Gates through the blizzard. But she had by no means given up.

["I'll trust my husband. He'll find me, no matter where I am."]

Her voice was full of conviction. Cha Haein trusted Sung Jinwoo. She believed he would find her wherever she might be. After all, he had come looking for her even in this world, where fate would otherwise have kept them from ever meeting.

Having decided to stay put and wait for Sung Jinwoo, Cha Haein began teaching the young ice elves swordsmanship. She hoped they would develop the strength to defend themselves against the ice spirits that attacked the village at every opportunity, even after the day she left.

It was around then that Cha Haein, who frequently fought spirits near the Echo Forest, discovered the "gray snow."

* * *

Suho decided to leave for the Echo Forest immediately to find his mother.

"Are you really going?"

The ice elves watched him anxiously.

"Will you be okay? The Echo Forest is really dangerous..."

"That's right. Chacha said so too. You have to be at least A-rank by human standards to go in there."

"Are you A-rank, Suho?"

"Why does he seem so weak when he's Chacha's son? The energy I sense from him doesn't seem even half as strong as hers."

"Oh, come on. That's true of everyone. None of the humans who've invaded this place have been stronger than Chacha."

Ironically, heavily armed humans had begun crossing over just after Cha Haein left for the Echo Forest, as though a new Gate connected to Earth had opened.

How absurd would she find it when she returned and learned of this?

In any case, humans had begun arriving, but none had developed friendly relations with the ice elves.

The very purpose of magic beasts was to obey the Monarchs they served and "destroy" everything. They were beings that destroyed all but their own kind. Befriending mere humans was unthinkable.

In that respect, Cha Haein was a remarkable exception. She was the savior who had helped them.

No, even so, they might never have formed their current relationship had they been unable to communicate. The only reason Cha Haein could speak with the ice elves in the first place was the necklace Sung Jinwoo had given her.

It was the special necklace he had prepared for their sixteenth wedding anniversary. Sung Jinwoo had imbued it with all sorts of wondrous functions for Cha Haein, one of which was translation.

In truth, he had added that function for a purely personal reason: to let Cha Haein communicate with shadow soldiers who could not speak Korean so she could send them on little errands.

Thanks to that personal touch, Cha Haein alone could communicate with the ice elves and avoid becoming their enemy.

Other humans, however, could not communicate with them at all. To the ice elves, they were merely prey to be hunted on sight.

That was why they asked humans just one question upon encountering them: did they know "Sung Jinwoo"?

There was always a chance that Cha Haein's husband had sent them to find her. Even without a shared language, they could at least pronounce a name. They intended to spare anyone who recognized the name Sung Jinwoo.

Of course...

Sadly, not a single human knew Sung Jinwoo. The ice elves clicked their tongues in disbelief.

Among races from other dimensions like themselves, there was no one who did not know "Sung Jinwoo, the Shadow Monarch." He was the sole victor of the long, terrible War of the Monarchs, and through that victory had become the true ruler of all these dimensions.

Yet the humans of Earth, the very people he had saved, did not remember him. Not one. Not a single soul.

It was truly ungrateful.

"I'll show you the way to the Echo Forest."

Sirka hopped across the snow to stand in front of Suho. Her movements were much lighter and quicker than before. Once Suho had confirmed that she was not an enemy, he had neutralized Kasaka's Venom.

With the strength damaged by the snake venom restored to her muscles, Sirka puffed out her chest more confidently than ever.

"Ahem. I may not look it, but I'm the guardian of the Baruka tribe."

The guardian watched over the borders of the Echo Forest. Naturally, she knew the way there like the back of her hand.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Suho vanished into the blizzard with Sirka. The ice elves left behind in the village stood watching anxiously long after the pair had disappeared from view.

* * *

The moment they reached the Echo Forest through the blizzard, Suho saw the true nature of the spirits the ice elves feared.

Chunks of ice suddenly clumped together in the blizzard-swept air, transforming into magic beasts.

[Ice Golem]

...

GROOOAR!

Sirka went pale at the sight of countless ice golems charging out of the forest with pounding footsteps.

"Watch out! They're the spirits of the Echo Forest! But why are they coming out already?"

At those words, Suho's and Beru's eyes lit up in unison. The incorporeal spirits had inhabited the ice to create physical bodies for themselves. That was what the Ice Golems truly were.

[Young Monarch! It seems the golems that collapsed the ground outside the dungeon were all spirits too!]

Before Beru had even finished shouting, Suho had drawn his twin swords and was already charging toward the Ice Golems.

"Arise!"

WHOOOOSH!

At that instant, shadow soldiers rose as one around Suho, black vapor rippling from their bodies.

[I am my master's spear!]

WHOOSH!

Quay, the Shadow Lancer, shot forward faster than anyone, as though he had been waiting for this very moment.

[MOOOO!]

CRASH!

The Shadow Minotaurs, Mino and Tau, used brute strength to push back the Ice Golems attacking from Suho's left and right.

[Number of Shadows That Can Be Stored: 3/3]

Those were his permanent employees—the shadow soldiers Suho could store. As it happened, though, he also had plenty of day laborers he had extracted just today.

"Everyone, come out!"

[Shadow Kobold Lv.1]

...

[Shadow Troll Lv.1]

Knight Grade

They were all the monsters he had hunted immediately after landing here. Suho had extracted every one he killed and hidden them in his shadow.

Their numbers came to a full...

[Number of Shadows That Can Be Extracted: 36/36]

"Wipe them all out!"

KRRRK!

GROOOAR!

At Suho's command, a total of thirty-six shadow soldiers began driving back the Ice Golems.

"Wh-what? How are there so many?!"

Already flustered by the Ice Golems' untimely appearance, Sirka stared at the soldiers Suho had summoned, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.

"You really are Chacha's son!"

Of course, their strength fell far short of Cha Haein's shadow wyvern, Kaisel, but Suho's soldiers made up for that in numbers. And unlike Kaisel, who grew weaker the more strength he used, these soldiers could never die as long as Suho had enough mana. They were a truly immortal army!

But as Sirka fell back and supported Suho with her bow, she told him something he had yet to learn.

"Suho, be careful! The spirits of the Echo Forest are the same! No matter how many you kill, they keep coming back!"

[MOOOO!]

CRASH!

Just then, Mino and Tau's savage strength shattered the Ice Golems' frozen bodies.

[You have defeated an Ice Golem.]

At the same time, an astonishing sight unfolded.

WHOOOOSH!

New spirits rode the freezing wind into the shattered remains of the fallen Ice Golems. The surrounding ice gathered together again, and the golems revived, good as new.

A curious gleam entered Suho's eyes.

'They regenerate?'

What fascinating creatures. Though the principle was the exact opposite of his shadow soldiers', the result was similar: no matter how often they were killed, they regenerated endlessly.

"This is nice."

Suho's eyes sparkled.

Enemies that kept regenerating no matter how often you killed them were certainly difficult to handle.

But the kills still counted?

"This place is perfect for leveling up!"

CLINK.

[You have purchased 'Item: Intermediate Mana Potion.']

Suho immediately downed the mana potion in one gulp and bared his teeth in a savage grin.

"Come on, then. Send as many as you like."

And become my experience points.

[Status Window]

Name: Sung Suho

Level: 40

Class: None

Titles: Wolf Slayer, Natural Enemy of Insects, Demon Slayer

HP: 15,310/15,310

MP: 2,411/2,411

[Stats]

Strength: 115 Vitality: 49

Agility: 49 Intelligence: 49(+10)

Perception: 49(+5)

(Available Stat Points: 0)

[Skills]

Passive Skills: Toughness Lv.5, Dual Swordsmanship Lv.3, (Unknown) Lv.max

Active Skills: Ruler's Authority Lv.1, Shadow Extraction Lv.2, Shadow Storage Lv.1, Storm Slash Lv.3, Giant’s Armor Lv.1, Iron Body Arts Lv.4, Bloodlust Lv.1, Elven Footsteps Lv.1, Wind of the Grasslands Lv.1 (Spirit Possession Only)

[Number of Shadows That Can Be Extracted: 36]

[Number of Shadows That Can Be Stored: 3]

[Blessings]

Kandiaru's Blessing

Rakan’s Blessing

Blessing of Plagues

[Equipped Items]

Vulcan's Horn x2

Ashen Ring (Perception +5)

Ring of Horus (Intelligence +10)

Ice Bear Robe (Defense +50)

End of Chapter 123