NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1024
<1024 – Lord of Darkness (2)>
While the Gegeobdo-in was forced into a lifelong role as a graduate student, Oknodie’s head spun like a wind-up toy, having hopelessly lost its chance at becoming a Guardian Deity.
At the end of its gaze sat Taehoram, sulking with a defeated expression, its feathers drooping.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Taehoram, confused, caught on to the situation.
Oknodie’s sneaky intent to look back at the original Guardian Deity now that it had lost its new one!
“Chirrr…!”
If it were a dog, it would be growling ferociously, but Taehoram squawked in anger!
You ditched me for a new Guardian Deity and now that the new candidate is missing, you’re trying to make a deal with me?
Despite being just a mere Demon and a bird, Taehoram was furious.
“Chirp! Chirp!”
I’ll peck you to bits!
Taehoram flapped its wings wide and stomped around Oknodie, throwing a fit!
It grabbed stones and twigs from the ground and hurled them, even knocking down walls with its wings—clearly showing how mad it was.
“Are you so happy to reclaim the Guardian Deity position that you can’t contain yourself?”
“Chirp Chirp!”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. It must feel great for someone avoiding unemployment!”
Taehoram, unable to contain its extreme rage, charged at Oknodie, putting its beak forward for a headbutt.
Oknodie, using its palm to conjure a telekinetic barrier, lightly caught Taehoram and grasped it firmly.
“Chirp?”
Why am I being caught?
Taehoram blinked in surprise at its unintentional but earnest charge.
Oknodie ran its fingers through Taehoram’s feathers and said:
“Chirp, chirp! You’re not possibly hesitant about becoming a Guardian Deity, are you?”
Taehoram bit Oknodie’s hand, breaking its hold.
“Ouch! You foolish bird, how dare you bite your owner’s hand!”
“Chirrr…!”
“Didn’t you just call me a dirty street monster who eats all sorts of junk?”
“Chirrr…!”
“I may have called you a lousy bird with a stomachache from eating Holy Bombs… but thanks to that, you’re not being eaten by the Gegeobdo-in!”
“Chirp Chirp!!”
That’s why you’re still alive, flapping around wildly on my arm while squawking.
Honestly, I felt a bit guilty for my actions, and Oknodie wore a look of conscience, but then Taehoram flew right up to my face and started slapping me with its wings.
“Ugh, I’m sorry!”
“Chirp Chirp.”
Only then did Taehoram’s anger seem to fade as it graciously tucked its wings back to its sides.
It still turned its head sideways at a 90-degree angle, a sign of lingering sulkiness, but feeling Oknodie’s sly gaze on it made Oknodie secretly chuckle.
“Did you two make up?”
“Yep!”
“Now you don’t have to worry about being swept away by a typhoon, right?”
“Exactly!”
Finally, judging that Oknodie had completely escaped the danger of fainting from Taehoram’s outburst, Sadi and Sing cautiously approached.
From about 1 km away, just past the 200m marker.
After one faint, the distance between body and mind had considerably increased!
“Isn’t this kind of absurd? I thought when I came to the East, I’d be fighting for my life at a checkpoint, prepared for death, but it’s just been a contest between Sadi and Oknodie.”
“Ha! We’re both surprised here. I never expected there to be such strong Dark Sorcerers in the Eastern Empire. Thanks to that, I’ve learned just how luxurious their summoning rituals can be after all those years of unchecked power.”
In the Western World, gathering spirits in a castle or securing artifacts of the Heavenly Sovereign would be something they wouldn’t even dare to attempt.
While the followers of the Benevolent Deity received divine quests often leading to calamities and confronted dark forces to prevent injustice, even powerful entities like the Three Great Evils wouldn’t be entirely free to act at will.
Even the Chairman of the Foundation, who had planted scholarship students in key positions across various nations, would utilize their massive influence to evade the Benevolent Deity’s forces rather than crashing head-on.
But the East was a whole different story.
The Heavenly Sovereign and the Buddha.
With both major figures gone and a vacancy in the Benevolent Deity faction, there was no one left to keep the dark forces in check.
Thus, Wizards easily exploited the people, dragging them into weirdness and strange powers while extracting their spirits with no difficulty.
Although their talents and skills were relatively lesser compared to the Western World, the sheer size of the power they had built enabled a phenomenon where their combat power could still surpass expectations.
“Anyway, with this, the Wizards who invaded the Wangwon City targeting legislators are practically all dead. Most of the teenagers from the checkpoints under their thumb are nearly wiped out too.”
“Which checkpoint is Sing’s enemy?”
“Not Sing. It’s Sia.”
It was only natural for Oknodie to have doubts.
While Sing harbored grudges against the checkpoints of the Eastern Empire and visited the Academy, the particular checkpoint among the ten she bore a grudge against was decided randomly each time.
This variability was due to differences in Sing’s specs, specialties in sword techniques, and growth speed across encounters.
“The Four Heavenly Swords of the Four Heavenly Families. It’s a checkpoint that adds poison to its blade, wielding both poison-based attacks and swordsmanship at the same time.”
“Whoa. The top of the Ten Great Checkpoints!”
“Did you know?”
“Cough. I have my ways.”
“From what the Foundation told you, right?”
Giving excuses even after death, the ever-helpful Chairman of the Foundation!
“Then does Sia have the surname Sa?”
“No. My younger sister and I are recognized as illegitimate children who haven’t been acknowledged as formal members of our family. So we haven’t been given a surname either.”
“I see! If you had a surname, your name would sound a lot more unique!”
“There was a time I desperately wanted that surname. Until I lost my younger sister.”
“Having it would’ve been nice, right?”
Sing lingered on the ring on Oknodie’s finger for a while.
She felt the presence of the ghostly imitation of Fake Lin subtly glancing at her.
Even though they looked different and had a different gender, even if they were a mere ghost mimicking her real younger sister, they recognized each other as family.
That connection was evident in their exchanged gazes.
Sing liked that connection.
“My younger sister could have lived more splendidly and safely.”
“I see!”
“Of course, I wouldn’t accept it now even if offered. Having you around is far more reassuring than any family.”
“Hehe. I do feel a bit dependable. I consistently feed and take the Fake Lin for walks, even preparing enhancements with similar artifacts.”
Sing, who had been nodding quietly, suddenly froze.
“Enhancement?”
“Yep! Enhancement!”
Enhancement.
The process of boosting an item’s performance.
There was a reason Sing was shocked.
While it sounded nice, there was a snag to it.
Sing had learned about that snag at the Academy.
“Isn’t there a risk of failure in enhancement… which could destroy an item?”
“There is, right?”
“…So, you were planning to engage in work that might destroy Fake Lin?”
“Oh come on, Sing! Of course, I would use facilities and additives to increase the success rates!”
“Sorry. I got a bit unnecessarily anxious there. Since coming to the Eastern Empire, my emotions have been sensitive, and today my stomach is hurting more than usual.”
Stomach aches and sudden mood swings?
Oknodie raised an eyebrow.
Isn’t that a widely known side effect of a certain condition?
I’ve heard that plenty of times.
Especially in this round.
From whom did I hear that?
-Oknodie. Sorry, but I can’t make you lunch today. Ask Miss Reap to make it for you.
-Huh. Isabel, are you not feeling well?
-It’s that time of the month for me.
-Is it the day of the quiz?
-…Yes, there is such a thing. A little 11-year-old who isn’t tall wouldn’t understand the secret days of women.
-Huh!! Hidden Quest!! When do I get to experience that?
-Hmm… If you eat well and grow like you are now, maybe in a year?
-Yay!
-Oh no, now I’m getting worried too. Let’s spend winter break together. Who knows when your first experience might start? Got it?
I heard it from Isabel!
She even volunteered to be my quest guide to experience a new quest together during winter break.
It’s all thanks to my excellent reputation usually.
Life hasn’t been wasted after all.
Being a good kid has its rewards!
Oknodie nodded proudly.
“Enjoy your new quest! I’ll have mine next year, so I don’t need to enjoy it now. You don’t have to share stories to avoid spoiling it for me!”
“…? I don’t know what it is, but I got it. I won’t cause trouble.”
“Then, would you like to take care of yourself while waiting?”
“Is there anything else?”
“If the Wizards and warriors have all vanished, outside those walls is just a no-man’s land.”
“That’s true.”
“So, it’s like a blank slate where the first to eat claims ownership, right?”
“…But the owner of the Eastern Empire isn’t the checkpoints, it’s the Heavenly Sovereign?”
Oknodie scoffed.
“I can’t acknowledge some fake Heavenly Sovereign as the master of the Empire.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I’m planning to create a colony for our chirpy friend to guard around Wangwon City! The amount of gold we gain per turn will let us accomplish more during the graduation phase!”
With a stomach ache and generally unwell, Sing nodded willingly.
“It’d be great to leave just the Four Heavenly Checkpoints standing. I want to tie up loose ends with them personally, if nothing else.”
“I’ll handle that!”
The Eastern Empire, having lost its regional overlords, began to fall under the wicked invasion of the Gegeobdo-in!