advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/Ritesh_Jadhav0869
Goryeo → Eastmarch (neighboring country)
Gasi → Grath (Sword King)
In the dark of night, several stealthy figures climbed up the steep cliff face—worn smooth by centuries of crashing waves.
"...I'm just saying, did we really have to find a spot like this to come ashore?"
"Idiot. You want to use the port? We scouted the entire coastline. This is the best landing site."
"So why did the higher-ups send us grunts to gather intel first? Aren't they worried about getting exposed? And the captain said his wife was giving birth today. Does he even have a wife?"
"Who knows. But I heard from the captain of the ship next door that several of the Kings started fighting with another country out there."
"That explains it. Oh—we're almost at the top."
As the chatter stopped, the figures hauled themselves over the cliff's edge with one final effort.
But the moment they crested the top, they found a young man standing quietly a few steps away. His face was obscured by darkness.
"What were you all talking about just now? Would you mind telling me?"
The young man's gentle voice reached their ears—and made their hair stand on end.
"Who's there?! Take him down!"
A roar. Several flashes of cold steel.
But the scene of blades cutting flesh never came. The young man before them simply extended his index finger and blocked every attack.
"...What?!"
Before anyone could process what was happening, a shrill whistle split the air.
Thud.
Several headless corpses collapsed to the ground. In an instant, only one figure remained standing among them.
Gulp.
The sound of swallowing. The last survivor's legs trembled violently. He stared in terror at the young man casually flicking blood from his hand.
He hadn't even seen what happened. All he knew was that within a single breath, all his companions had started cosplaying the Headless Horseman.
Even his cousin-in-law—the battle captain of the neighboring ship—couldn't do something like this!
"So? Can you tell me now?" The young man sighed and looked at the last survivor with something like helplessness.
The survivor's voice shook. "I-I-I'll talk!"
"Don't kill me!"
But the young man raised a hand to stop him. A white spider and a short white-haired girl appeared beside him.
"I'll leave this to you, Frieren."
The white-haired girl nodded slightly.
"Zoltraak."
A cold voice. A dark beam of light erupted from the tip of the ruby staff in her hand.
BOOM.
In the distance, the sea surface exploded in a massive spray of water.
Seeing this, the white spider vanished on the spot.
When she reappeared, a lifeless corpse was skewered on her sharp forelegs.
"Is that... the captain?" The last survivor stared at the body thrown to the ground, pupils contracted.
He recognized it.
That was the captain of their ship.
"But didn't the captain say he had something to do today, so we could move freely?"
He couldn't figure it out. And he didn't dare think too hard about it.
Even a captain of that level had been killed effortlessly by the white-haired girl. The young man before her was clearly a powerhouse beyond anything he could imagine in his wildest dreams.
"My lord, this is everything."
The survivor spilled everything he knew like beans from a broken jar.
Russell looked at the headless corpse before him, lost in thought.
Don't misunderstand—he wasn't the one who'd delivered the final blow. The man's head had simply exploded mid-sentence.
"Tsk. This again."
Russell clicked his tongue.
There was no doubt these corpses had been demons while alive.
That was the strange presence he'd sensed earlier from the abandoned factory.
As for why the last survivor's head had suddenly exploded—he'd simply said something he shouldn't have, triggering a taboo set by their supreme being.
That said, the survivor had actually revealed some useful information.
Their forces had seven powerful beings known as Kings, and above the Kings stood the strongest being of all—the Overlord.
However, only four Kings had come this time. Three Kings and the Overlord had yet to arrive.
According to the survivor, he was a fighter serving under Grath the Sword King, one of the Seven Kings. The captain had sent them ashore first to scout the situation.
As for the captain himself...
That was the demon Frieren had killed with her cannon.
Russell had detected him rapidly moving away from the coastline, which was why he'd had Frieren take him out.
Also, the four Kings were apparently fighting with a country on the other side—so they had no time to deal with this area.
No further information was available.
"Why does this feel familiar?"
After processing everything, Russell felt a strange sense of recognition—as if he'd encountered similar monsters somewhere before.
Looking at the several Iron-rank [Pirate Fighter] and Bronze-rank [Elite Pirate] materials in his hand, Russell fell into thought.
After a while, he suddenly remembered a secret realm he'd experienced back when he was a Bronze-rank cardmaker.
[Black Flag].
"What was that demon's name?"
"Right. Moore."
"Didn't he say something about being a King when he died?"
At the time, Russell had thought he was hallucinating and hadn't taken it seriously.
But now, looking at these materials—eerily similar to what [Black Flag] had produced—plus that unusually large map inside the realm... he had reason to suspect this new group of monsters was connected to [Black Flag].
"So they're from the same world?"
Russell was extremely confident these demons were definitely related to Black Flag.
"I just don't know where this secret realm is."
With a sigh, he brought the demon corpses back to the abandoned factory.
Since these monsters were rowing toward East-Haven, the secret realm could only have appeared on the sea.
"And they're at war with another country."
"Eastmarch?"
After much thought, that seemed to be the only surviving nation near East-Haven.
"So there must be at least Emerald-rank demons in this secret realm."
Russell had gained a general understanding of Eastmarch's situation after Lucas Shaw appeared in East-Haven.
Their strongest was a Diamond-rank cardmaker. In truth, the country's territory had been shrinking for years—they were one breath away from extinction.
If this were a few decades ago, their parent nation might still have helped. But now the Federation itself was a mess, with the northern situation growing more dire by the day. How could they spare resources for a vassal state?
It would be more accurate to say Eastmarch had only survived this long because of Federation support.
Therefore, if this newly emerged secret realm contained Emerald-rank monsters—combined with the demons already plaguing Eastmarch—fighting an entire country wasn't impossible.
After some thought, Russell decided to contact Zayne. The newly emerged secret realm was closely connected to East-Haven, but his current identity made it inconvenient to notify the Association directly. Better to let the security director handle the headache.
Besides, Zayne could just claim the discovery came from his subordinates.
Don't ask which subordinates.
Soon, the expressionless middle-aged man arrived at the scene.
Looking at the bodies on the ground, Zayne paused briefly before asking in a low voice, "Sir, who provoked you? Do you need me to arrange cleanup?"
Hearing this, Russell glanced at him. "Don't make it sound like we're villains. The Spirit Begging Society's goal is to promote love and peace. We shouldn't think about fighting and killing all day."
"Feel their auras again."
Zayne didn't know what to say to that. He'd been a Society member for years—how had he never heard about this great goal?
But in the end, he carefully sensed the aura of the headless corpses on the ground. "...Demons?"
Seeing that Zayne had identified them, Russell nodded. "Found them on the coastline tonight."
Then he shared the details and his analysis.
Zayne couldn't help but frown. "Understood, sir."
"I'll handle it."
After dealing with the demon situation, Russell patted the middle-aged man's shoulder. "It's not safe here anymore. Find a new meeting place and let me know through the communication card later."
A ripple of energy—and he vanished from the abandoned factory.
Zayne was left alone, staring silently at the corpses on the ground.
Morning. Russell stretched his stiff body.
Glancing at the extremely bizarre sleeping posture of the white-haired elf girl beside him, he couldn't help but twitch.
He poked her smooth cheek with his slightly cool index finger.
"Stop it..."
A slightly disgruntled mumble. Frieren narrowed her eyes and wrapped herself tighter in the thin blanket.
Ignoring the white-haired old lady who was lazing in bed, Russell started his morning routine alone.
He still had to get to work.
Alas, such was the life of a working man. Even as a Gold-rank cardmaker, Russell couldn't escape the tyranny of the eight AM start time.
When he arrived at headquarters, he found a familiar face standing in front of the Vice President's office.
Zayne.
But this time, standing beside him was Luther, Director of the Secret Realm Office.
"Good morning, Vice President."
Both middle-aged men greeted Russell in unison.
"Good morning." Russell nodded in acknowledgment. He already knew why they were here. "What can I do for you?"
Zayne spoke up. "Vice President, our people found the body of an unknown demon on the coastline."
"Initial assessment suggests a secret realm has appeared on the sea."
"But the exact location is unclear."
As expected—exactly what Russell had arranged for Zayne to handle last night.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, feigning a headache. "Did you tell President Simon?"
Zayne and Luther were silent for a moment before answering. "President Simon told us to find you."
Though he'd expected it, Russell still couldn't help feeling annoyed. "Tsk..."
"President, why don't you just become the actual President?"
Since Russell had come to East-Haven, he'd basically done all the work. Simon was nowhere to be found.
Zayne and Luther pretended not to hear the Vice President's complaints.
"Fine. Take me to the scene."
"Yes, sir."
Boarding the Association's headquarters vehicle, the three men and their cards arrived at the location.
Though it was still summer, the sea breeze near the coastline was chilly in the early morning.
The Association's cardmakers didn't care about that—they'd already set up a perimeter around the area.
Even though there wasn't a living soul nearby.
Russell glanced at the abandoned factory in the distance, then turned to Zayne. "Any surveillance footage from the area?"
Zayne hesitated briefly before replying. "The cameras near the coastline haven't been maintained. No video available."
Russell nodded. He was just going through the motions.
Besides, there was definitely no chance of surveillance cameras anywhere Kai had chosen.
"That's unfortunate—" Russell was about to say the trail had gone cold when he raised his head and looked toward the distant horizon.
Dozens of massive steel warships were sailing steadily toward East-Haven.
Zayne and Luther naturally noticed the unusual movement as well.
"Demons?"
Their confusion was understandable. The vessel used by the demon group the Association had discovered this morning was a small wooden boat—completely different from the huge steel ships in the distance.
It was reasonable they couldn't make an immediate judgment.
While everyone watched the approaching fleet...
BOOM!
The deafening roar of naval cannons echoed along the shore.
Pitch-black shells streaked toward them at high speed.
"Alert!"
Zayne's cold voice rang in every cardmaker's ears.
Russell's cards appeared beside him.
"Bakudō #81: Dankū."
A transparent barrier materialized before everyone, blocking a shell about to strike them.
BOOM!
A violent explosion. Red smoke rose slowly.
But blocking just one shell wasn't enough. Dozens of giant ships in the distance had fired more than a dozen shells at once.
But Russell's cards weren't the only ones present. The other cardmakers sprang into action and blocked the remaining shells.
And Russell didn't just have Aizen.
With Fubuki's cooperation, Mikoto Misaka successfully brought a falling shell to a gentle halt before her.
"Finally, I don't have to use coins anymore." The brown-haired girl flexed her right hand and gently placed her palm against the giant shell's surface.
As restless electric current carved furrows through the ground around her, the massive shell—wrapped in an orange-yellow beam—rocketed back even faster than it had come.
WHOOSH!
A deafening sonic boom. Circular shockwave clouds formed over the sea surface. The surging water was instantly torn apart, leaving a scar across the waves.
The Railgun operated on electromagnetic acceleration principles, but usually used coins for convenience.
Now that the enemy had so generously provided ammunition, it would be a waste not to use it.
Behind Russell, a group of lower-ranked cardmakers watched the Vice President's counterattack with excitement.
"This time—"
But just as they were about to speak, their throats seemed to seize up. They fell silent.
In everyone's sight, a roaring wave of sword pressure screamed outward and collided violently with the shell Mikoto had fired back.
The next moment, the shell was cleaved in two.
BOOM!
The shockwave from the explosion whipped everyone's hair back.
The lower-ranked cardmakers stared blankly at the scene before them.
Russell, Zayne, and Luther frowned and looked toward the giant steel ship that had launched the sword pressure.
A young man holding a sword stood proudly at the bow.
There was no doubt—that attack had come from him.
"This level of power..." Russell's frown deepened.
The giant steel ship was now less than two miles from the coastline. He could clearly sense the other party's aura.
It was undoubtedly powerful.
Using Lannide as a reference, this one was at least one tier stronger than her.
"But fortunately, not Emerald-rank."
At that moment, the confident voice of the sword-wielding young man reached everyone's ears.
"If you surrender now, I, Grath the Sword King, might spare your lives.