Mechanic Goliath Combat Golem.
Height: 10 meters. Splits into 50 units during combat.
An overwhelming level of power that can even one-shot Death Knights and Liches.
However, its usage is extremely limited.
It's useless for anything except wave defense.
Because all combat activation must go through the Ego System.
The golem's enemies are tower monsters.
It reacts only to those bastards.
When the wave ends, it automatically stops combat operations.
Meaning it can't be used for inter-national warfare.
Well, it can move, but what are you going to do with that?
Non-combat movement is so damn slow it's not even a threat.
Wave defense is going smoothly.
Both countries that have already fought defense battles, and those that haven't.
China eventually surrendered as well.
Just a moment ago, Chairman Liang Fei personally appeared on TV, announced that China would accept all conditions proposed by Korea, and requested support.
So then?
We have to deliver.
The problem is—
"Do you think they'll really keep their promise? China's a bit different, isn't it?"
At Juhyeok's question, Commander Jeon Seong-il answered with a bitter smile.
"We can't be certain. They made an official declaration first and said they'd sign the treaty later… but honestly, it's hard to trust China."
Same here too, huh.
This declaration might just be an empty check.
There's more than enough chance they'll go back on it.
"I kinda hope China breaks their promise."
Look at that Kosak's eyes.
If China really plays dumb, no one will be able to stop him.
"Why d'ya think so? As long as they don't mess with Summoner Bong, I won't do anything. I'm a good Kosak."
Meanwhile, Japan also released a statement.
In exchange for Holy Weapon and golem support, they declared they would cede Tsushima Island.
"Japan…?"*
Jeon Seong-il shook his head side to side.
Meaning he doesn't trust them either.
Still, we can't just refuse outright.
We have to provide support.
"I also hope Japan breaks their promise."
Yeah, yeah.
Of course you do.
If China and Japan break their promises?
From the Kosak's perspective, that completes the cliché.
Running back and forth between China and Japan, tying ribbons, going on a full-blown rampage.
The best case is that China and Japan keep their promises.
'Even if they don't, it's fine.'
There are plenty of methods.
Peaceful ways to plunge China and Japan into the abyss of despair.
We've done it before on our Earth.
Canceling player qualifications through tower deletion, and halting upper-grade mana crystal mining.
The psychological shock from that is enormous.
So bad that getting hit by a few nukes might actually be preferable.
Anyway, the immediate crisis is over.
Each country will handle the Sync-Out waves on their own.
So what do we do now?
Tower climbing.
Up until now, Juhyeok and the veteran summoned beings had been repeatedly farming the 75th floor to collect Mechanic Goliath Combat Golems.
But now—
[Entering Republic of Korea Black Tower, 89th Floor.]
The floor once overseen by the Evil Dragon Partalon.
But after the bastard fled, it became completely empty.
Entering the tower itself isn't forbidden.
It's just that no missions are generated.
The reason for coming here is simple.
To search for any traces he might have left behind.
They'd been busy responding to Sync-Out waves.
They'd tried tracking him during brief breaks, but with no particular results.
Now that golem deliveries are finished and there's plenty of time, they can focus fully on searching for Partalon.
"Judging by dragon habits, he would have prepared a place to live—his lair."
"I know because I'm a dragon. Since we sleep a lot, we set up lairs deep in caves or atop high peaks."
That's right.
There must be a lair somewhere on the 89th floor.
They have to find it.
The environment here was unbelievably vast.
Tall, rugged mountain ranges stretching endlessly, covered in dense greenery.
A place where one could hide without fleeing at all.
"So his lair is somewhere in those mountains?"
"That is correct."
Search start.
Riding Crackers, flying low along the mountain ridges.
Rajiks's detection skill and Mackenzie's Finding magic were activated.
Whenever a suspicious location appeared, they landed and searched it directly.
After roaming around the 89th floor for quite some time, carefully inspecting everything—
Zap!
Some kind of signal came through.
"…Wait a second."
Juhyeok fixed his gaze on a specific spot.
"Did your crown tingle again?"
"Yeah. Zap."
"As expected, truly mysterious. Hehe."
"Eh, was that me? It's thanks to the Judge's Hammer."
What's truly mysterious is the hammer.
I thought it only had functions for interrogating sinners or revealing sins.
But when holding the hammer, if something bad is about to happen, or something suspicious occurs, it immediately sends a signal.
"No, my lord. Artifacts choose their own masters. The Judge's Hammer has accepted you as its master—how could this not be your merit?"
Our princess sure knows how to pick flattering words these days.
Truly the main pillar of Korean shamanistic faith.
Anyway, the intuition was correct.
A cave entrance visible through layers of piled rocks.
Just big enough for one person to enter.
Even Gobang, without gigantification, would have to crawl in with effort—
but once inside…
"Whoa!"
It was shockingly wide and tall.
Roughly the size of a baseball dome.
Indeed, a nest fit for a dragon.
But as expected, it was empty.
Nothing remained.
"Spread out and search. If you find anything, report it."
"Yes, my lord."
"Roger!"
"Hooeeng!"
Please, let something turn up.
Anything that can identify Partalon.
He's a reptile.
Even a shed skin or a scale would do.
And then—
Zap!
Another signal.
What is it?
Around here somewhere.
But there's nothing.
All that's visible is dirt, gravel, and—
"Huh?"
Juhyeok bent down.
Then carefully picked up an object that caught his eye with his fingers.
"Ah, Summoner Bong! That is…?"
At some point, the Kosak had trotted over.
"Is that a sword you pulled out from your lower half? It's all curly."
It was hair.
About two finger joints long.
"I sometimes pull mine out too. It's a hobby."
"…It's not mine."
"Then whose is it? Mine's blonde, and Old Man Gwang and Old Man Mae have white hair."
Right.
This one is black.
"It's not Brigadier Bae. Brown maybe, but not black."
"Wanna die?"
Then—
"Gasp! Don't tell me it's Princess Gyeondallae? She has black hair, right? Then that must be from—"
"Yes, yes, you bastard!!!"
"Did you pull it?"
"…I'll tear you apart!!!"
There's one thing I'm curious about here.
"Mr. Crackers, dragons have body hair too, right?"*
"They do, but it's not this thin or curly. It's about as thick as straw and straight—"
"What if it's in polymorph form?"
Crackers tilted his head as he answered.
"Then naturally, since it's a human form, the hair would be thin. Also, depending on the attribute, the color of head hair, armpit hair, and even that hair is determined."
"If this hair came from a polymorphed Partalon, then he would be a Black Dragon."
"Exactly."
Let's confirm it.
"Princess."
"Yes, my lord."
"Would this hair help in tracking him?"
"Hmmm, if it truly belongs to him, th-then probably."
"Here, take this."
Juhyeok held out the hair to Gyeondallae.
She received it with trembling hands.
Now that they'd found a clue, they exited the cave.
Time to draw a talisman.
Gyeondallae began working.
She took out the Yellow Emperor Paper, held the hair in one hand, a brush in the other, and recited the true name of the Evil Dragon Partalon.
"It is complete."
"Let's use it."
Gyeondallae threw the talisman high into the air.
In that instant—
Whoosh!
The tracking talisman ignited.
"Ah! It's working."
"Then?"
"South."
Got you, bastard!
You're dead.
"Depart south!"
A real man strikes while the iron is hot.
Set the direction and go straight.
Spapapap! Papat! Papapapapat!
Crackers' infinite turbo blink flight.
If the tracking cut off, they threw another talisman.
Papapapapapat!
And thus, they arrived at—
"Huh?!"
A massive coastline.
The coral-filled Great Barrier Reef.
But countless Sync-Outs had formed everywhere.
"Australia."
….
"So it's Australia."
"It's Australia."
"Austria?"
"Why'd you skip the 'rail'? It's Australia."
The fleeing Partalon.
The place he hid was the fallen continent of Australia.
"Exact location?"
"Not sure. Somewhere around here. I'll keep casting it."
It's not easy to find.
With information still lacking, the tracking talisman only gives a vague sense of direction.
There was nothing special in sight besides tower monsters.
What if Partalon is suppressing his presence and disguising himself as a normal tower monster?
'What do we do?'
At that moment, Rajiks's eyes flashed.
"…Nuke?"
A nuke, huh.
Not a bad idea.
Dropping nukes indiscriminately on another country could be a problem, but—
In fact, a large-scale nuclear operation had already been carried out in Australia several months ago.
At the request of refugees who escaped from Australia.
But it's currently suspended.
Because of environmental pollution?
No.
Because it wasn't effective and cost a ridiculous amount.
Are nukes expensive or something?
'We've got nukes to spare anyway…'
Alright.
"Drop them."
"Heeaaak!!"
Carpet bombing begins.
If we keep blowing things up, he'll show himself.
Or die from the nukes.
Spapapapat!
Shooo, shoooosh, shwoong!
Kukung! Kwakwakwakwa-kwaang!! Kugugugugugu.
Northern Australia was burning.
Mushroom clouds rose everywhere.
"Man, blowing things up after a while really relieves stress."
"Hooeeng!"
At last, a wish fulfilled.
Rajiks, the dimensional mega-explosion demon, with madness in his eyes.
Partalon chose Australia as his refuge.
A country already ruined, where no one comes looking.
And it's vast.
Surrounded on all sides by tower monsters.
Perfect for hiding out for a while.
Who would come looking?
But someone did.
That bastard.
A summoner from another Earth in a parallel universe.
'H-how?'
How did he know?
This is insane.
That guy is a player known to have completely conquered the Black Towers of two worlds.
What does that mean?
It means he dealt with the free-contract dragons of the 89th and 90th floors.
Even though the 90th floor had an Ancient Dragon.
That green dragon flying around dropping nukes right now must also have been a Black Tower free-contract dragon.
'Damn traitorous bastard.'
Does he have no pride as a dragon?
Giving humans a ride and playing nuclear bomber?
This isn't the time for that.
He has to run—no matter what.
Kwa–kwa–kwa–KWAANG!! Kugugugugugu.
Mushroom clouds kept blooming one after another.
If he stays here, he'll either die to a nuke—or get caught by that guy and die.
He had prepared countermeasures while hiding.
Teleport-point magic circles had been set up all across the Australian continent.
First, the southern hub point.
Spot!
After the first relocation—
Hwaaaah!
He reverted to his true body.
Ssshaaaaak!
Partalon flew off at full speed.
He revised his strategy.
He didn't know how, but that guy had pinpointed his location.
He'd do it again next time.
So then?
Head for a major city with lots of humans.
At the very least, they wouldn't be able to drop nukes there.
And even in the worst-case scenario, he could take humans hostage and hold out.
Even if he couldn't fight the man head-on, he was confident he could evade him.
He was a Black Dragon—surely he could manage that much.
—
At that moment!
Ssshaaaaak!
"…Huh?!"
A hard object flew up from below in an instant.
"T-this!"
He tried to evade—but—
Thud!
It was already too late.
His vision went pitch black.
Partalon lost consciousness and plummeted straight down.
Just before Partalon fell—
The Chaos Demon King was sleeping soundly in the nearly-collapsed Sydney Opera House when he suddenly snapped his eyes open.
Ku–kung! Kugugugugugu—
A faint sound carried from afar.
The building trembled slightly.
At this rate, it might just collapse entirely.
…An earthquake?
The Chaos Demon King stepped outside.
The vibrations and explosions were still ongoing.
"Zz."
Why an earthquake of all things?
It's a pain to move.
It had been peaceful for once.
No Sword Immortal bastard, no Stone Monkey—what a world!
Still, he couldn't stay here forever.
Someday, he'd have to return.
This wasn't a dimension connected to his own world.
That's why, while he was here, he planned to sleep without thinking about anything.
So what if it shakes a bit?
Just not having to see those damn Sword Immortal and Stone Monkey faces was already a blessing.
Come to think of it…
Suddenly, he felt hungry.
It had been quite a while since anything entered his mouth.
Since I'm up, should I fill my belly?
He'd need to catch and eat a few things.
Not undead jiangshi, though.
If I catch one of those bird demons flying in the sky and roast it…
That was when—
"Hm?"
Something big was flying in.
And very fast.
It looked like a bird—yet not quite.
"No, that's not a bird."
Looking closer, it resembled a lizard.
Black scales, wings, stubby limbs, and a long tail.
That thing, could it be…?
A memory surfaced.
He knew what it was.
"…A dragon?"
The Chaos Demon King had heard before.
There were many kinds of dragons.
In the West, there were dragons like that—unlike the usual kind, they were bulky and even had wings.
Gulp.
The Chaos Demon King swallowed dryly.
A dragon.
Looks delicious.
And he'd heard that Western dragon hearts were good for the body.
If I eat it, will I get stronger?
Getting stronger would be nice.
No one would dare look down on him.
Heh heh, and that dark color—looks just like a silkie chicken.
Since it's a dragon, maybe a "silkie dragon"?
Whatever.
Decision made.
The Chaos Demon King pulled out a massive iron club from his waist.
Bzziiing!
He infused it with dense demonic power.
"Hey, you! Fall!"
Tsipipipit!
Ssshaaaaak!
The iron club shot forward at tremendous speed.
It struck the Western dragon square in the head.
Puk!
A sound like a skull cracking.
Shooooot! Kwaaang!
The creature crashed downward.
At the same time, the Chaos Demon King swiftly cast a spell.
"Bind!"
Charrarrrrk!
The iron club transformed into chains and bound Partalon tightly.
"Uhehehehe!"
Caught him easier than expected.
Was he distracted by something?
Either way, the Chaos Demon King smiled in satisfaction.
Now then—how should he eat this one?
Roasted? Boiled? Or raw?
Let's start by slicing open the belly and pulling out the heart.
Sssssk.
The Chaos Demon King's nails extended.
He stabbed straight into the Evil Dragon Partalon's chest—about to drag downward—
Suddenly!
Papapat! Papapapat!
The atmosphere churned violently.
Spot!
Another dragon appeared right in front of him, hovering low in place.
"…Ah…"
The Chaos Demon King blinked.
Another dragon?
A Western dragon, the kind that's good for your body?
And this one was green.
A vegetable version?
Looks nice and fresh.
What a windfall!
Eat the black one and the vegetable one—
But then?
"…What?"
The green one wasn't alone.
There were people riding on its back.
Humans.
This is troublesome.
There was something the Chaos Demon King could not eat.
Humans.
Eating humans accumulated karmic sin.
Then immortals would kill him, or heavenly troops would mock and execute him on the spot.
That's why he never ate humans.
Thanks to that, he'd preserved his reputation even in the demon world.
But why was a dragon carrying humans on its back?
Was it a dragon raised by humans?
If I chase off the humans and just eat the dragon—
Wait.
…
One object caught his eye.
A wooden hammer held by a young, ordinary-looking human man.
He knew it the moment he saw it.
The aura spilling out was familiar.
The Chaos Demon King's hair stood on end.
Cold sweat ran down his forehead.
Because he knew who that young man was.
And he knew what kind of world he himself had escaped from.
"…Fuck. The Black Tower."
And that young man—
The very Bong Daehyeop whom Yama and the Sword Immortal had been dying to meet.
His mouth went dry.
His appetite vanished instantly.
What should he do?
Should he run—right now?
—
Dropping nukes on ruined Australia.
The so-called "Beating the grass to startle the snake" operation.
It worked.
The startled snake really did come out.
While nukes were being dropped, Mackenzie spoke up.
"Junior Summoner."
"Yes?"
"I sensed a flow of mana over there. It appears to be teleportation."
"Oh!"
Found him at last.
They flew over quickly.
"Sir Mae was correct. There's residual mana here. Thanks to that, activating the tracking talisman became much easier."
Now he was a rat in a jar.
He might teleport again, so they chased him relentlessly—
"…What the hell?"
Juhyeok was startled.
A grotesque monster stood before them.
It looked human—but wasn't.
Hair sprouting all over its body, a single horn in the center of its forehead like a rhinoceros, sharp teeth, and three bulging eyes.
A tower monster?
No—doesn't seem like one.
And over there, bound tightly in chains, a black-scaled dragon.
That was definitely Partalon.
Someone strong enough to capture a dragon…
Would he understand human speech?
Better ask.
"…Um?"
"Oh, y-yes?"
He understands.
And in Korean, no less.
"Who are you?"
"I, uh… I'm Honse."
"Ah…"
Who's Honse?
Just saying a name doesn't help.
If I interrogate him with the Judge's Hammer—
Juhyeok slightly raised the hammer.
The Chaos Demon King immediately waved his hands frantically.
"W-wait! P-please calm down. I'm on good terms with the Stone Monkey—no, with the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."
Huh?
What did he just say?
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven?
—
Bright grin.
Juhyeok's face lit up.
Whiit! Thud!
He jumped straight off Crackers' back.
Trot trot.
He ran over, bowed deeply, and greeted him warmly.
"Oh my, what a guest from afar! What brings you alone to such a rough place? Ah! I'm Bong Juhyeok."
The Chaos Demon King awkwardly bent forward as well.
"Oh, you're too kind… I've heard a great deal. Please call me Honsema—no, just Honse. Bong Daehyeop."
They clasped hands and shook.
"Welcome! If you'd told us in advance, we'd have gone to meet you. Hahaha!"
"Oh dear! Meet me? You must be busy—I'm the one at fault for barging in without a plan. Hehehe!"
The atmosphere was extremely friendly.
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