The group succeeded in returning to Dareu with the help of Yu IlHan’s warp skill. Their tearful story was relayed to Yu IlHan in whole.
“That’s why everyone is so ragged?”
“Yeah…… Though, none of us died. Oh, a few of Paté’s undeads crossed the river of death.”
“An unpredictable and unanticipated mana resistant enemy suddenly attacked from another dimension… There’s no way I could believe such a thing…… but.”
Yu IlHan shrugged his shoulders while looking at the comparably intact unidentified enemy’s corpse right in front of him. The twisted halo that still gave off sparks as well as the tattered curtain-like wings definitely wasn’t a life-form that Yu IlHan had seen before.
[Life-form?]
A completely unexpected retort came in. It was Helièna, who had returned to normal after the blessing of the goddess of beauty wore off. Of course, her suspicions were just regarding a single thing. She could not believe at all that these weird beings that manipulated some sort of weird energy that was not mana, and resisted her charm were life forms.
However, Yu IlHan’s reply was very simple
“Well, their speech was stiff, so it’s no wonder you guys may think that these are robots or the like, but that’s because they weren’t given proper egos, and does not imply that they do not undergo metabolism. Meaning, I cannot come to a conclusion for sure for now.”
Yu IlHan was the master of the Record skill. By this point, even encountering non-recorded things would allow him to see the common records they had with other beings that were recorded. However, Yu IlHan couldn’t come to any conclusion after seeing these. Whether these were life forms or not, or where they came from, or how they were made if they were indeed non-life forms!
“I really want to start analyzing these things, but…….”
“So cool…… how can such a beautiful world be…….”
“Dareu? This is really Dareu……?”
Seeing the group that was rendered speechless in front of the transformed scene of Dareu, Yu IlHan felt that he needed to delay that work a little. Yu IlHan laughed and checked up on the group. After the battle, they looked very tired and most of them were wounded, amidst the figure of the group, only Na YuNa looked as vitalized as ever.
“Waaaaaaaaaah, waaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Mr. IlHan~, let’s have a wedding over there! A wedding~!”
What she was looking at was the castle that Yu IlHan was currently in the middle of building.
Since he was preparing a residence for the dragons by using mana and matter through the Declaration skill, he decided to build the residence of elves, wolfkin, and his own group, and somehow, a little bit of his deep desires came into play and he went slightly overkill. The result being a European-styled kingdom that seemed to be from the 1st generation fantasy novels.
“Fine, I’ll allow it so you just need to go and find a good man.”
Yu IlHan smacked Na YuNa who was screaming her heart out in joy while clinging onto his arm, on the forehead. However, Na YuNa was still all smiles and continued shaking Yu IlHan’s arm.
“Of course, the opponent can only be Mr. Ilhan~! I love you, Mr. ILHan!”
“I thought you forfeited?”
“No, I’m not four-feeted!”
“I know, you’re four feet tall.”
Yu IlHan made a bitter smile. However, it wasn’t that Na YuNa always acted selfishly like this either, and this was probably because she had come back to a safe environment after a harsh battle. He could understand that much.
However, understanding how she felt and defending her against the grim reaper that appeared behind her was a slightly different matter.
“I’ll admit that you don’t give up so easily. However, that will only lead to your death.”
“Hiiiik, Liera-unni!”
While the two had the usual sit-com like moment (though, to Na YuNa, it was like a horror special movie), Yu IlHan clapped his hand to gather everyone’s attention.
“I’ve prepared your individual rooms in the castle so go and wash up. I’ve also prepared a landing zone for the two fortresses so Mystic, you can go move them there.”
[Master does absurd things without twitching an eyebrow…]
[This is nothing new.]
The ones residing in the two fortresses all vacated its premises. The elves and wolfkin looked around in wonder, thinking if this place was really the same Daeru they once knew of, while the children belonging to the Dragon’s Army (though, some of them were too big to be called ‘children’ anymore), were satisfied with the ambient mana density of Dareu and shouted in joy.
“Everyone levelled up a lot.”
“Well, we’ve been going around higher worlds like hell so that’s obvious. Though, it’s not like none of them died either……. What’s even more amazing is the current you.”
Erta licked her lips while looking at Yu IlHan, who had become slightly taller than before, and whose eyes seemed to hold a little bit more light. Moreover, the golden vertical line on his red pupils made her feel as if she was looking at a dragon.
“Yu IlHan, you have really become a higher existence…….”
“Yeah.”
Yu IlHan admitted it easily.
“That’s the reason I told you guys not to come to Dareu. The moment I came to Dareu, not only did it undergo another Great Cataclysm, the lower worlds where their mankind expressed their submission to me were all transfused with Dareu, and the mana of the world started going berserk.”
“The lower worlds? With Dareu? How can such a thing be possible?”
Erta didn’t seem to know about it either. Yu IlHan gave a glance to Helièna, but it seemed that such a phenomenon was the first for her as well. He thought that it may have been possible for Greed, who could eat away anything, but it seemed like devouring things and fusing them together were slightly different.
[It’s a power that only darling has. I’m sure of it. How about you research into your powers a little more? Even though you have mastered the Record skill, darling still can’t use all your powers, no?]
“Yes, you’re right. I’m still immature……. Okay, I’ll think about that by myself. …… Thanks for protecting everyone, Helièna.”
[It’s darling’s request after all.]
Helièna made a warm smile while saying that. She had changed too much, for the better, since the time they had first met. Yu IlHan liked this side of her more.
“Go inside and rest, Helièna.”
[I will rest. But being by darling’s side is the best rest for me.]
“……Ugh.”
Facing her, he felt ticklish and as if he was committing a crime against Liera, so he turned his head away with an awkward smile. There stood Kang HaJin who was piggybacking the fainted Kang MiRae. He already knew that she was the one in the group who protected all the others.
“So…… Miss MiRae has collapsed and is not waking up?”
“It seems like she had overused her mana. Thanks to that, her circlet’s maximum durability seemed to have decreased a lot too…….”
“I’ll have a look at that later. Please let her rest first.”
“Please. Not just the circlet, but MiRae herself too.”
“……Later then.”
Kang HaJin and Kang MiRae entered the castle. Following the two, the others outside all entered the castle in a line. The ones that remained behind were Helièna, who had no intentions on entering in the first place, and Kim YeSeul, who was looking at her son with a surprised gaze.
“Son, are you not hurt anywhere? I was so surprised since you changed so much.”
“It’s me who’s worried. Is mom alright?”
“Mom’s completely fine of course. Though, I’m worried about the future. If there are so many of those things…….”
“It’s fine. I got a sample, and we won’t need to separate into two groups again.”
He was quite surprised at the fact that an incident happened while he was cleaning up the world he was in after becoming a higher existence, but he was somewhat prepared for an unexpected foreign invasion at any time.
What’s important was that everyone had safely come back to his side. And that he had succeeded in leaping to the realm of higher existences before any more danger would befall on the group.
“Son, you’re great. Really. Mom always believed that you could do it.”
“Well, you never doubted me in the first place. ……Thanks mom. Though this is nothing new, and is quite embarrassing to say, leave everything to this son of yours.”
“Okay, son.”
The emotion in his mother’s eyes wasn’t just happiness. If she didn’t feel the slightest jealousy at the fact that her son had reached where she couldn’t even though she had researched countless years, that would be a lie.
However, it was because it was her son that she could accept it in a satisfied manner. She could feel proud, and happy. She could also feel truly relieved when her son said ‘leave everything to me’.
“Yes, I’m relieved now.”
Kim YeSeul stroked her son’s reddish, glowing hair. It felt formless, and she could feel a strange sensation and the warmth from it seeped into her hands, which made her feel slightly good.
“Mom will also go rest now. Let’s talk about the rest at that time.”
“Yeah, go back and rest.”
Kim YeSeul also retired. Helièna seemed to have waited for everyone to disappear as she clung onto his arm immediately after Kim YeSeul left, but Yu IlHan didn’t bother shaking her off.
Although this might sound very calculative, it was the reward for her splendidly doing her mission. The reason he didn’t scold Na YuNa so harshly last time was also because of the same reason. Yu IlHan felt awkward at himself for acting like that, but still felt that this was the right thing to do.
“I’ll let you off this time.”
[I know, I know. Darling is showing the side of a transcender now. That’s fine. I’ll do the rest. I’m so happy.]
“Your problem is that you act like you know everything.”
[Ufufu.]
Helièna fully enjoyed her time alone with Yu IlHan, that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Even while hanging out with her, Yu IlHan used the Declaration skill to build the dragon’s nest, city, and palace to use up the overflowing mana in the lands and in the air. Helièna calmly watched the grand spectacle of creation and asked him.
[Darling, are you going to fuse Earth with Dareu?]
“If possible, then sometime in the future.”
If it was possible to fuse two different worlds into one bigger world, there was no reason for him not to try. Perhaps this was predestined from the moment a gate connecting Earth and Dareu was opened, or perhaps from the time Yu IlHan acquired the ancient elven magic formation.
“I’ll have to use an enormous amount of power to let the Will of the Guardian absorb the ancient elven magic formation and cover the entire world again.”
[It will definitely be possible. Yes, once that happens, it will become easier for darling to protect everything that you need to. Fufu, you really acquired a fitting ability, darling.]
“I don’t even know why I got such a power…… but all’s well that ends well I guess.”
It wasn’t just the higher existence factions. The others had met an opponent that used an unknown form of energy, and it was obvious that they would cause trouble for him later. To Yu IlHan, who destroyed and created foreshadows, allowing a hit from an already known last boss to land was unacceptable!
“Whatever whoever is imagining, I’ll show them something out of their imaginations.”
[That’s it, darling. Perfect…… and so.]
Helièna asked while tilting her head.
[Why are there so many dragons in this world? And all of them are near higher existences too.]
“Well, I’ll introduce them to you later. Hey, there are a few of them coming.”
Yu IlHan shrugged his shoulders and made a smile. Beyond the horizon, he could see a group of dragons returning after their first successful hunt.
The one leading them was of course the red dragon Ruby that had eaten all of Echjar’s meat and blood. She left at level 294, but seeing that she had become level 296 now, it seemed like the other monsters being spawned in Dareu were not to be trifled with either.
[Father, Ruby has returned!]
[……’Father’?]
Helièna voiced out her doubt. Yu IlHan made a small smile again.
“Didn’t I say I’ll introduce them to you?”
The higher existence faction, Dragon’s Nest. Their frightening potential was germinating.