Chapter 142 - Meteor (2)
News was coming out from the large tv inside the meeting room.
-Before the Dragon infesting Namsan died, it is theorized that it had summoned a meteor. It has been a week since that event. You can see on the screen that there is a big hole was created in Namsan, and any trace of the old tower cannot be found.
Namsan was burnt to the ground and countless buildings were destroyed. The roads were destroyed without leaving a trace behind. It was hard to think this place was Seoul, but the shock felt by the civilians weren't that large.
Maybe it was because they had already experienced a very big calamity called the Dungeon Shock. Seoul quickly found its equilibrium.
The civilians were actually feeling a sense of pride instead of being worried.
-Alandal's Mr. Kahng-woojin predicted the meteor summoning, and the civilians were able to quickly evacuate thanks to his information. The Dungeon Breaks happened simultaneously around the world, but the most prepared city had been Seoul. Mr. Kahng-woojin's familiars took an active role in suppressing the monsters early on....
Short videos that were shot and submitted by citizens were being replayed. There was a video of the Iron Golem fighting the monsters. There were also videos of several thousand Skeleton Warriors and Death Knights succeeding in killing the monsters.
-The shockwave caused an earthquake that could be felt in Cheonan. However, the Alandal guild's private land didn't suffer any damage from the meteor impact….
The screen showed a footage that was filmed from a helicopter.
Namsan was leveled, and the nearby buildings were destroyed. There were so much debris that one couldn't even find the roads.
As one got further away from the impact zone, one could see relatively whole buildings with only their windows blow out.
However, Alandal was within the demolished part of the city.
It was as if a massive tornado had missed the land and buildings owned by the Alandal guild. The image looked like an island floating atop a dust cloud.
It was as if the dust that had settle to the floor had missed only Alandal. Only Alandal was clean.
-Alandal's protector is none other than president Kahng-woojin. What would have happened if he wasn't in Seoul? What if the Alandal guild wasn't next to the Seoul Station? What would have happened if they moved to Tokyo or even LA?
The screen showed a reporter with a very serious expression on his face.
-The common convention has been broken regarding the Dungeons. The Dungeons are Breaking every day, and the monsters continue to pour out. Some countries have used nuclear weapons to eradicate the monsters. This is to all of our viewers. There is one day left on the national referendum. Whether Korea is placed under the shade of Alandal or they leave this country, the choice is up to you. This is MBS' Park-sungyun.
Jung-minchan turned off the tv with the remote when the anchor finished his words.
The core members of Alandal was sitting inside the meeting room. He spoke with a heavy expression on his face.
“The situation is in our favor. However, we have to prepare for the possibility of the majority voting against us.”
Lawyer Lee-kahngjin had resigned his post as a prosecutor, and he had officially entered into Alandal. He asked with a serious expression on his face.
“If the revision to the amendment is considered void, then we have to leave Korea.”
The content of the revision was to acknowledge the existence of a city state within Korea. It was a very big issue that required the vote of the people, and the treaty could be finalized only when this hurdle was cleared.
This would complete the formation of a city state within Korea.
Lee-kahngjin's speculation was logical, but all the founding members all shook their heads from side to side.
“Alandal is going nowhere. The property we occupy right now will continue to be our territory.”
“What? If the worst outcome happens, don't we have to leave eventually?”
If Korea wasn't receptive to Alandal, then they would ask Alandal to leave to a different country. However….
“President won't leave. If the votes invalidates the change, Alandal will become an anti-government organization.”
“…….”
Lee-kahngjin had a dumbfounded expression on his face. Woo-soonghoon understood what was going on, so he nodded his head.
“President said to never leave the Seoul Station. We have no choice.”
“Huh. Still, the situation won't...”
“Uh-whew. You have to get used to it, lawyer-nim. Just take it as a fact. If the president says he isn't leaving, then he isn't leaving.”
“…….”
Lee-kahngjin checked the faces of all the people present in the meeting room.
There was the Alandal's vice president Jung-michan, support director Kim-haemin, chief secretary Woo-soonghoon, and the director of miscellaneous work Hong-sunggoo, who was known as the Flame man.
Everyone was accepting this matter too matter of factly.
“In the worst case scenario, there might be a clash between forces.”
On one side, there will be the country that won't legitimize the other country within its border. On the other other side, there will be the small city state exerting its right as a sovereign country. The result from this two sides clashing was obvious.
The small city state will win.
“President might want to seize power from the entire Korean government. We have to make a plan for such an eventuality.”
No one spoke as everyone was taken aback by Kim-haemin's words.
“Are you talking about conducting treasonous acts against Korea?”
“I'm trying to stop such a thing from happening.”
“Don't we just have to persuade the president?”
“I think taking over a country is easier than persuading hyung-nim.”
“…….”
Sunggoo, who had been listening to the conversation, spoke up. Silence descended inside the meeting room at his words.
“When is the president coming back?”
“He said tomorrow, but he might be back earlier.”
“Is it really possible to return from Britain within a day? He hasn't even arrived there yet....”
Even if he was on a fast plane, would it be possible to keep such a tight schedule?
“President will use the Dungeon.”
Lee-kahngjin's eyebrows twitched.
“Is the Dungeon some kind of dimensional teleportation door?”
“The president uses it that way.”
“…….”
He was speechless. There were too many things he didn't know about Kahng-woojin. Lee-kahngjin spoke after he thought on the matter.
“Is the Seoul Station the reason why he can't leave Korea?”
“You are correct.”
It was the reason why Woojin insisted on staying in Seoul. Lee-kahngjin leaned back into his chair. In the end, they were in a situation where they had to pray for the vote to pass the amendment.
“The public opinion is in our favor. I did a pre-survey, and the approval of the amendment was overwhelming. There were even some people, who wanted to elect him as the President of Korea.”
Lee-kahngjin calmly read the data.
“If we don't leave Seoul, Alandal can just keep the status quo.”
“What if the Korean Government pressures us?”
Lee-kahngjin smirked.
“Who's the one that cut off the head of the members of congress? Currently, the arrest warrants were issued for them. The public opinions regarding the members of congress is low right now.”
He was right. South Korea blocked the the businesses with ties to the dead congressmen from pestering Kahng-woojin. It was a move done to protect him.
“Unless the threat of the Dungeon Break disappears, no one will bother our president.”
“Mmmm.”
Jung-minchan nodded his head as he listened to Lee-kahngjin's words.
He had been a prosecutor, so he was probably the most well-informed person here regarding these issues. If passed, Alandal and South Korea will enter into an agreement. If the amendment wasn’t passed, they'll just maintain the status quo.
If they were at a disadvantage or something threatened them, they could resolve the problem when it happened. The knife was in Alandal's hand.
“All we can do is wait.”
Everything will come to a head tomorrow. The main problem right now was the fact that Kahng-woojin was heading towards Britain. When he left, he just said, 'Just take care of everything adequately.'
Jung-minchan glanced at Lee-kahngjin, who was still kept in the dark about Alandal's situation.
‘Everyone will freak out if they learn the president was the one, who had summoned the meteor.’
He looked at the founding members, and it seemed all of them had an idea on what had happened.
The news going around was in Alandal's favor. It was spread that the Dragon had summoned the meteor, and Kahng-woojin saw it coming. He had warned the people to evacuate.
“Huh-hmmm. I hope the president comes back quickly.”
Jung-minchan was tasked to setting up the country, and he was its prime minister. However, there was a world of difference between the president being absent, and being here.
“Uh-whew. I wouldn't mind if he took his time in coming back.”
When Woojin returned, Sunggoo would study magic from the Lich in earnest. Sunggoo looked as if he wanted to cry.
***
The number of Dungeon Breaks that had occurred this time was 212.
The only difference from the past was that 19 Dimensional lord had been summoned to earth.
The monsters were dangerous on their own, but now they moved as if they were being ordered by someone. The pressure given by this fact was immense. Moreover, there were some who felt fear from this development.
The Dimensional lord that infested Russia had set up its colony near a forest in Siberia. In North Korea, the Dimensional lord had taken residence inside the presidential palace.
North Korea lost Pyeongyang and the lives of its citizens. Russia took out the infested region of Siberia. Both countries dropped a nuke. It neatly took care of the monsters, but the damage was massive.
Nine Dimensional lords had appeared in Seoul, but Seoul took the least damage compared to other locations in the world.
Seven had appeared in Seoul, and two had appeared in Busan.
Woojin's quick action had killed all the Dimensional lords before they could get their operations running. He had also eliminated the Dimensional lords in Busan.
Overall, there were only 4 countries that were able to kill a Dimensional lord with their own power.
US killed two, Japan killed one, and China killed one.
In these 4 countries, the Roused and the army worked together. They were successful in their subjugation, and the colonies were also destroyed.
The problem was the Dimensional lords in Europe.
There were Dimensional lords in Greece, Germany and the UK.
The monsters gathered around the colonies, and they had done nothing initially except defend their base. Since the monsters weren't doing anything, these countries thought they weren't in imminent danger. They decided approach the situation with caution.
Their forces were gathered very slowly. When the Roused and the army started their subjugation, a day had already passed.
The monster had stayed calm for a day, and they all ran amok at the same time. The monsters had been waiting for their bases to be built. Then the Dimensional lords also started to run amok, so Europe immediately fell into a state of panic.
The heated battles continued, but the number of monsters didn't decrease. The monsters kept popping out from the completed colonies...
The Dimensional lord was on a different level as the regular monsters, so the subjugation itself wasn't easy. The damage kept mounting.
Once the colonies were completed, the situation got out of hand. They were actually taking more damage than Russia and North Korea, who used their nuclear weapons.
This was the reason why Woojin and the Holy Maiden were sharing a conversation on a plane as it headed towards Europe. Thirty percent of Italy's peninsula was occupied by monsters, and the plane was about an hour away from arriving.
“Here. Take this.”
The Holy Maiden made rabbit eyes when she saw Woojin thrust a purple gem towards her.
It was a Dimensional Fragment, and it was a very rare and precious item.
“How can you give such a precious item to me....”
“I borrowed one from you last time. I'm just settling the account.”
“…….”
Ah, he hadn't been lying when he said he'll return it.
She never knew the Immortal was this honest.
“I don't need it any more. You can have it, monarch.”
Woojin smirked at the Holy Maiden's modest answer, and he put the Dimensional Fragment back into his Inventory.
“Well, all right. I'll use it well.”
“…….”
Did he suggest giving it back to her as some kind of trick?
Even if she gave it back to him, he had agreed to take it too quickly....
“Anyways, what do you think about all of this?”
“What do you mean?”
“I'm talking about the current situation. Isn't it similar to what happened on Alphen?”
The colonies had been completed.
Monsters were generated from those locations.
Trahnet's underlings were endless no matter how many one killed.
“It does bring up the horrible nightmare.”
“Doesn’t it? It was quite tedious.”
When she heard his words, the Holy Maiden looked at him with a strange light in her eyes.
Alphen's continents were taken inch by inch by Trahnet's underlings. Their personnel had been constantly reinforced, so it had been inevitable. The surviving countries had formed an alliance, but their influence diminished each day. The only one able to protect a large swath of land had been the Immortal. He had protected Alandal.
“Now that I think about it they don't have an unlimited supply of troops.”
On Planet Alphen, he only killed those, who stepped onto his territory. However, he was in a different situation right now. He had to root out his opponents before they gained more territory.
The colony was the key. It allowed the Dimensional lord to be able to use their power.
If they had spare Energy, they could purchase as many monsters it allowed. Then the rampaging monsters would hunt down the humans, and the Energy would be replenished. Then they could once again reinforce their troops....
“Do you know how I feel right now?”
“How?”
Woojin looked out the airplane's window. It was pitch black outside. This was why the window reflected his face like a mirror. He had a broad smile on his face.
“It feels like I've been gifted a inexhaustible regenerating hunting ground. ”
They can attack him with all the monsters they could summon with the Energy.
He'll kill them all, and he'll gobble up all the EXP.