The moment they heard the low sound ringing in their ears, their blood ran cold.
No— that wasn’t right.
Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump thump. Thump thump. Thump.
Their hearts pounded wildly.
At the same time, their fingertips began to tremble.
It felt as if their bodies themselves were sending a warning.
As if saying that a beast they could never defeat was nearby.
“Divine Lord!”
Jeok-o shouted with clenched teeth.
Whoosh! Crimson wings burst out into the air and wrapped around him.
Only then did the trembling finally stop.
“I saw the Deposed Lord heading this way and chased after him.”
At that moment, Seolya spoke.
Behind him, the faint image of a celestial being appeared like a mirage, draped in flowing robes.
That must be the Northern Heavenly God.
“Imok? You mean you chased Imok here?”
“Yes. His appearance was… strange.”
“Strange? In what way?”
Seolya fell silent for a moment.
Jeok-o, thinking he was being ignored, almost flared up as usual.
But it seemed that was a misunderstanding.
“It looked as if he were in the process of transforming into something else.”
Seolya’s expression was different from usual when he said that.
Jeok-o realized that he had merely been choosing his words carefully before answering.
That guy… choosing his words?
Jeok-o turned toward the place where the wave had come from.
His heart was still beating rapidly.
The sound seemed to urge him to run away.
What kind of appearance did he have?
No— more importantly.
“Almost like… rather than a human, a Post-Apocalypse— Jeok-o?”
“That bastard Imok went that way, right?”
“Wait! Where are you going?”
Startled, Seolya grabbed Jeok-o as he began walking toward the source of the wave.
“Let’s go back. I did chase Imok here, but the situation has changed now. There must be a Post-Apocalypse Creature over there. A very powerful one.”
“Let go.”
“I won’t try to stop you a second time.”
Seolya added coldly,
“If you die here, I’ll only benefit from it. Do as you please.”
But Jeok-o, who would normally have erupted at those words, wasn’t even listening.
“That bastard is definitely over there.”
Seolya’s brows narrowed at Jeok-o’s muttering.
“That bastard?”
Surely he didn’t mean Imok.
Then…
“You must be mistaken. You think he is over there?”
The one who had been the cause of their earlier argument.
“Damn it! What the hell is that bastard doing this time?”
“Jeok-o!”
“I should have snapped his neck back then! If I had, I wouldn’t be feeling this uneasy now—!”
BOOM!
That same wave surged again.
And this time, it didn’t stop at once.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The ground roared from below, and the snow-covered earth burst upward.
At the same time, a violent gale erupted.
Everything the wind touched crumbled into ash and scattered.
The wind grew stronger and stronger.
Both Jeok-o and Seolya recognized what it was.
“A Dry Wind!”
Dry Winds that caused droughts were a common type of Post-Apocalypse Creature.
They had fought them several times while defending their cities.
But…
BOOM!
BOOM!
The wind carrying the force of footsteps grew stronger.
The strengthening wind tore through the air with piercing sounds.
Screeeech. Screeeeech. Screeeeeech!
The noise grew faster, louder, more urgent.
It sounded like a scream.
As if something were being chased.
Then something black came flying toward Jeok-o and Seolya at terrifying speed.
It was enormous.
A long body with multiple wings sprouting from its back.
A bizarre shape.
“…!”
Jeok-o and Seolya didn’t even have time to react.
The enormous Post-Apocalypse Creature— as large as a battleship— crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact.
No.
It was thrown to the ground.
It was slammed down violently.
The spot where it landed sank deeply under the creature’s massive weight, forming a huge crater.
Twisting its long neck, the creature roared.
A grotesque cry no one could understand.
Not human speech, nor the cry of a beast.
Something horrifying.
Seolya barely managed to escape into the air with the help of his Divine Lord.
Looking down at the writhing creature on the ground, he said,
“Imok?”
Even Seolya sounded doubtful as he muttered it.
“What? That thing is Imok?”
“No… that can’t be. That can’t be. But when I chased him earlier, his appearance was somewhat…”
A heavy silence fell between the two.
It didn’t last long.
The Post-Apocalypse Creature flapped its four wings wildly, creating powerful winds as it rose into the air.
Its dragon-like jaws opened to their limit.
The world rumbled.
The ashes swirling in the air began to glow white and spin in circles.
The shining ash particles swirled like a snowstorm and were sucked into the creature’s mouth.
They gathered together into a sphere that grew larger and larger.
It looked as though it might explode at any moment.
Both Seolya and Jeok-o felt their skin prickle painfully.
They couldn’t say for certain, but instinct told them something terrible would happen if the sphere inside the creature’s mouth exploded.
At that moment.
“Well, well. Kids are playing war games, and an adult brought an air-to-air missile.”
A swarm of glittering jewel butterflies appeared.
From above them, Seonjeong-gong suddenly poked his head out.
Jeok-o shouted.
“What the hell is that thing?”
“Hahaha. Think of it as a sudden event.”
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
“You know, those things happen. If you max out certain stats, secret events pop up with a bang. Oh? I don’t recognize that face. Red young master, have you never played games? You look like a model student. Wow, you don’t look like it at all!”
While speaking leisurely despite the terrifying waves raging around them, Seonjeong-gong glanced down at the creature and added,
“I was worried about what field we’d use if this place got destroyed, but I guess I don’t have to worry anymore.”
“What are you even—”
Seonjeong-gong’s cheerful voice cut off Jeok-o’s words.
“Ta-da.”
🙁
This place is not a safe zone.
The awakened dragon has not yet closed its eyes.
“Dragon…?”
Event the system cannot intervene in
Event name: “The Year of 0 and 1” that calls the Deepest Rift
Someone has discovered a legacy that temporarily summoned the past, present, and future within the Deepest Rift.
Thus, the snake has temporarily evolved into a dragon.
This evolution is incomplete.
There is a time limit.
Remaining time: 1 minute
※The Shangsi Snake used in this event is in a degraded state.
※Repeated copying of real creatures or items may cause deterioration.
※The dragon created by this event has not been fully stabilized.
The Post-Apocalypse Creature raised its neck.
A roar burst forth.
—――――――!
But listening carefully, it wasn’t a roar.
It was a scream.
Its enormous body suddenly flew up into the air and flipped onto its back.
In that same position, the creature’s body was slammed violently back onto the ground.
BOOM!
It struggled as if pinned in place.
BOOM!
BOOM!
KWAANG!
Blood burst from its jaws.
At the same time, the sphere inside its mouth shot outward.
The sphere wriggled as if alive, swelling larger.
But—
“Damn, that thing’s persistent.”
Someone grabbed it out of the air.
Thud.
The creature staggered and was pushed aside.
A figure standing beneath its shadow was revealed.
Jeok-o’s eyes widened.
“You—!”
“Later. Big brother’s busy right now.”
The person hidden in the creature’s shadow spoke without even turning around.
Seolya muttered.
“Blood.”
The man whose figure had finally been revealed was drenched in blood from head to toe.
“Stingy time limit too.”
His entire body was covered in golden cracks.
Thousands of fractures ran across him like drought-cracked rice fields.
Blood flowed endlessly from those cracks.
“If this bastard hadn’t run away, none of this would’ve happened.”
Muttering irritably, he bounced the white sphere the creature had spat out like a rubber ball several times.
BOOM.
The creature crashed into the crater it had created.
The sphere struck the ground and exploded—
But it was immediately crushed beneath his dirty boots like a cigarette and extinguished.
Remaining time: 20 seconds
“I went through hell to find this thing, and it’s not even permanent use? Are they insane? Where’s the business ethics? Kaliban, I swear I’m reporting you to the Fair Trade Commission.”
The moment he turned and shouted behind him, the creature that had been motionless suddenly twitched.
Jeok-o twisted his body forward as if about to leap and shouted.
“You crazy bastard, behind—!”
The creature’s jaws swallowed the man’s head.
Jeok-o froze with his eyes wide open.
“…What?”
But the next moment.
Pop.
With a dull sound, the creature’s head exploded.
The headless body collapsed to the ground.
“Disgusting…”
The man, now drenched in the creature’s blood from head to toe, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and muttered.
Remaining time: 3 seconds
Seonjeong-gong laughed.
“Good work, darling.”
Instead of a reply, he received a raised middle finger.
Then the man’s figure swayed heavily.
Remaining time: 0 seconds
The awakened dragon closes its eyes again.
This place is now a safe zone.
🙂
“Oof.”
As he collapsed, Kaliban caught him by the waist and lifted him.
Kaliban carried the fully grown man as lightly as if he were a stuffed doll.
Jeok-o grabbed Kaliban and stopped him.
“Wait, Seonjeong-gong.”
Kaliban seemed not to hear.
Humming to himself, he walked up into the air along the staircase formed by jewel butterflies.
“I said wait!”
“Hahaha. Look at all the dust. Today’s schedule— meal and bath. No, bath first.”
“Seonjeong-gong!”
Only after calling twice did Jeok-o realize that Seonjeong-gong had not failed to hear him.
He had simply pretended not to.
The butterflies flying upward shattered apart and formed a doorway.
Creak.
The door opened.
The staircase led straight into it.
Just before Seonjeong-gong stepped through, Jeok-o rode his Divine Lord’s wings and blocked the path.
“Hahaha. Western Lord Jeokbaek.”
Seonjeong-gong finally spoke with a smile.
“No— now you’re Western Marquis Jeok. Congratulations. No promotion gifts though, hahaha.”
“Explain.”
“Explain?”
Seonjeong-gong tilted his head innocently.
Seolya, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
“That Post-Apocalypse Creature… was it Imok, Seonjeong-gong?”
“Sharp observation.”
Seolya looked like he wanted to say more but closed his mouth.
At a glance he seemed expressionless as usual, but his face had turned pale.
“Don’t worry, Northern Marquis.”
Seonjeong-gong reassured him with a smile.
“As long as you don’t give up being human, you won’t end up like the Deposed Lord.”
It was an incredibly vague standard.
But neither Seolya nor Jeok-o protested.
For some reason, something heavy had settled in their chests.
“More importantly, all of you should head back. The bridge will close soon. Hahaha. Surely you don’t want to die right after becoming marquises?”
The butterflies that Seonjeong-gong had stepped on split into two streams.
The swarm wrapped around Jeok-o and Seolya, spinning around them.
Seonjeong-gong lifted the corners of his lips beneath the shadow of his robe.
“What are you doing?”
“Hahaha. You’re welcome to praise me. Such excellent service spirit.”
“What the hell are you doing? Why won’t this come off?”
“Now then, escort our honored lords safely home.”
Jeok-o and Seolya disappeared from beneath the bridge.
Seonjeong-gong waved as if sending them off.
Then suddenly he said, “Oh dear,” and adjusted the person in his arms.
The left side of the man’s face, which had been cleverly hidden by the creature and Seonjeong-gong, was finally revealed.
“Snake… scales?”
Seolya muttered.
Snake scales clung densely to the left side of his face.
But that wasn’t the real issue.
“OZ…!”
Unlike the right side of his face, the left side clearly belonged to OZ of the Central Territory.
Flutter.
Just before Jeok-o and Seolya completely disappeared, OZ’s face peeled away like a sheet of paper.
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂