Chapter 166. Hidden Peace (1)

Destroy something otherwise indestructible. This effect didn’t ignore physical defense or anything like that. It only made it possible to counter the absolute effect given by the system.

Bang-bang-bang!

The translucent dimensional wall shattered like a glass window, then turned into powder and scattered.

“Ooooh!”

“Heavenly Destroyer! It’s the Heavenly Destroyer!”

The dozens of demons participating in the mission cheered, but Yoon-seok felt the sense that it wasn’t for him.

‘..I guess they are only trying to scream first, aren’t they?’

Embarrassed, Yoon-seok quickly turned away.

“I don’t think I heard the latter part. Can we just pass by?”

“..Yes? Ah, yes! That’s possible!”

“That’s what he said.”

Yoon-seok shrugged as he looked at Cheon-ma. She ordered the team to march again, but she said she would lead in front and left first. She appeared to be enjoying herself, so Yoon-seok left her alone. An unexpected incident occurred in which the Expedition Leader Zrayburn died suddenly, but.. anyway, the mission was progressing steadily.

“So, what’s next?”

“N-next?”

“Yes. It’s a 30-day mission, but it’s not over just because we crossed the wall.”

“P-please give some time to think..”

Jeffrey responded in tears. Crossing the wall was unexpected.. well, he understood. In-game terms, it was like a high-level player who ignored the normal route and proceeded with the scenario by force.

“Fuuuh, fuuuh..”

Jeffrey took a deep breath. His bewildered look disappeared, and his eyes changed.

“Now that we’ve crossed the wall, the Queen must have sensed us as intruders. There is a high possibility that a bunch of enemies will appear after this.”

“How about the level?”

“It may be a little high, but it will be similar to those before. Instead, there will be many more.”

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

“..Pardon?”

Jeffrey stared as if he didn’t understand. Instead of answering, Yoon-seok nodded in Cheon-ma’s direction.

—Squeaaaaaak-! Khiek..?

—Khieeeeeek, squeak-!

10m, 7m, 5m.. the only thing they had in common was that they were all reminiscent of alien creatures. Invaders of completely different sizes and appearances appeared, screaming before they turned to dust under Cheon-ma’s strength.

“The numbers don’t matter. Just let me know what we should keep in mind.”

“..What we should keep in mind?”

“Yes.”

“..”

Jeffrey’s brow furrowed. The main theme of this mission was the battle against the invaders. They continued to appear for 30 days, gradually exhausting the expedition. And when it reached its peak, the Expedition Team engaged in a final battle with the Queen. But in a mission where that battle was the main focus, the battle itself wasn’t even a problem? So what was he asking him to keep in mind?

“How could such a thing exist for people like you..”

“What did you say?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Thinking that he had made a mistake, Jeffrey hurriedly changed the topic. Of course, it wasn’t that Yeon-seok didn’t hear what he just said, but if he presented something that appealed to him, he might pretend he didn’t hear it.

“If there’s no problem with the battle, there won’t be anything special until the 7th day. So why not try the special challenge?”

“Special challenge?”

Yoon-seok’s eyes widened with interest. He had been thinking about something along those lines since he came on this mission, but it wasn’t the kind of thing that was easy to find. However, the reason Jeffrey mentioned this first was probably because there were some clues.

“As I said before, there is nothing special until the 7th day. The pace of the advance here is meaningless.”

“..What does that mean?”

“The distance we walk is irrelevant. The space changes depending on the date, and finally, on the 30th day, we arrive at the place where the Queen is.”

In other words, it meant that they just had to hold out. Yoon-seok’s gaze drifted to the front of the formation. Even while they were conversing, Cheon-ma was opening the way. There were demons following her with a sword in hand and challengers who eagerly tried to contribute.

“Let’s say we don’t know about this either.”

“..Understood.”

Yoon-seok returned to the original topic.

“So, are there any special challenges that you know of?”

“Yes. I don’t know what the reward is or the specific details, but.. I heard that it happens on the third day.”

“The third day, huh..”

What should he do until then?

“..”

A pretty good idea came to mind.

*

The first, second, and third day..

Three days drifted past. From a foggy plateau to a swamp, from a swamp to a volcanic area. As Jeffrey said, the space changed with each passing day..

“Oooooooooh!”

“Is it a volcano this time? Speed up the march!”

“Understood!”

Sadly, no one noticed the connection between these new spaces and time. Of course, apart from that, the mission was cruising by. Even Yoon-seok was astonished.

‘I didn’t know it was going to be like this..’

Cheon-ma secured the Expedition Leader position by force, but as the days went by, the resistance to her decreased significantly. He didn’t expect it, but he understood why. Although the ordeal had begun in earnest, there were no casualties after Cheon-ma took command, and even injuries were rare.

With overwhelming force, she blocked the invaders singlehandedly, reducing the burden on the expedition. It was natural for their hearts to soften.

“Are you going to die in this kind of place?”

“Tsk, tsk. You can barely deal with this..”

“Your posture is wrong, you punk. It’s because you swing your sword like that..”

Cheon-ma faithfully performed her role as an Expedition Leader. Although she rescued several challengers in crisis, she didn’t show off and gave advice to those in need. Regardless of who they were.

“I-I am from a different faction, so why..?”

“I don’t care about that. All of you belong to this expedition.”

“She is a respectable person. Hah!”

Even the Killian demons recognized her. She surpassed former Expedition Leader Zrayburn in terms of creating harmony.

“Why are you still here?”

After passing another wave, Cheon-ma approached Yeon-seok.

“Aren’t you going to join us today?”

“Yes. I’m going to join the expedition today.”

In the meantime, Yoon-seok had been away from the expedition and moved alone to hunt the invaders. It was to build up his contribution and at the same time receive hidden rewards like special challenges. Contrary to expectations, he couldn’t find any, but thanks to this, his contribution steadily accumulated, though it wasn’t comparable to Cheon-ma at the forefront.

Anyway, Cheon-ma was pleased to hear that Yoon-seok would stick around today.

“Is that so? That’s good news.” historical

“Good news? Even if I were here, I wouldn’t be of any more help.”

“At least I wouldn’t be bored.”

Yoon-seok laughed. It was quite fun to slaughter the invaders while leading the expedition, but it appeared she lacked any tension.

“Maybe there’s something pretty interesting that’ll happen today.”

“Something interesting? What’s that?”

“I’ll let you know later. I’m not sure yet.”

Yoon-seok sprinkled the bait and roughly glossed over it. If someone else had acted this way to her, it would have been a great disrespect, but..

“Fufufu. I am looking forward to it.”

Cheon-ma smiled softly.

“By the way, how’s the expedition?”

“It’s not bad. Sometimes, it reminds me of the past. It’s not a problem because everyone listens well.”

Cheon-ma scratched her cheek.

“Is that kid doing well?”

That kid, she meant Asura. Instead of answering, Yoon-seok pulled out Asura from his pocket and handed him over.

“This kid seems a little stronger than before.”

“..Can you feel that?”

Yoon-seok was a little surprised, but it was true that Asura had grown. After all, even the invaders could be registered on the {Death God} list. However, there was no significant change except for the fact that his basic stats had risen a little, and he now had two additional utility abilities other than miniaturization. But how the heck did she know as soon as she saw him?

Cheon-ma replied as if it were nothing.

“About that, don’t you know just by touching him? I think his muscles have gotten stronger, too..”

“Grrrrr, grrrr.”

“Well, even if you hold it tight enough, it won’t explode and die.”

“Grrrr, grr?”

Asura flinched and rolled over in her palm to act cute. For Yoon-seok, who was watching, it made him speechless, but.. well, he understood his struggle to survive. Those peaceful (?) times continued.

[There is a special challenge within a 1km radius.]

From the moment the third day began, he had been waiting for that phrase to appear. Cheon-ma and Yoon-seok’s eyes met.

“It may be dangerous, so stay inside.”

“Grrrr?”

Cheon-ma stowed Asura away and called out to Mu-zhen.

“Group Leader Jin, lead the expedition while I am away. I will not forgive you if anyone dies.”

“Understood.”

“Well then, let’s go. This way.”

Having organized the situation, Cheon-ma immediately launched off toward where she felt the energy.

“You also come with us.”

“Yes? Aaaaargh!”

Yoon-seok thought that he might be of help, so he grabbed Jeffrey as he followed.

800m, 500m, 300m. As they followed Cheon-ma, the distance between them and their target decreased, and before long, a red-patterned egg placed on a rock with lava flowing around it came into view.

[Protect the Dragonian Egg until the guardian appears.]

The task of the mission was simple. Protect this egg for a certain time, and it would be over. As a side note, the challenger who provided this information to Jeffrey could not complete this seemingly simple task. A small number of challengers left the main camp and found the egg, but they had no choice but to give up due to their lack of power.

“Look at this! With such a size, maybe it really is a dragon egg!”

Cheon-ma, who arrived first, raised the egg high with one hand. As expected, she was very excited as a smile bloomed on her face.

‘..After all, she used to like dragons.’

Cheon-ma’s unspoiled innocence. Of course, it couldn’t be said that they fit well, but to Yoon-seok, this look wasn’t bad either.

‘Let’s just focus on what we need to do.’

Yoon-seok put Jeffrey, who he dragged by the collar, on the rock with the egg. After that, they cut down the invaders coming in from all directions, but there was nothing to say about the battle itself.

Slaaassshhh-!

About an hour passed, and the invaders gradually stopped appearing. The sky split open, revealing a giant dragon’s form.

—So you’re the expedition team that came not too long ago.

It looked similar to Disaster from the 8th-floor mission the other day, but the color was different. If there was another difference, there was no pressure like what he felt from Disaster.

—I will repay the favor I received this time. What do you want?

Yeon-seok smirked. He didn’t know where or what that dragon had been doing after leaving the egg, but now it was here.

‘As expected, that’s the story.’

Protect the dragon’s egg and receive a special reward from the dragon. Up to this point, it was just as Yoon-seok had expected.

“What can you give us?”

-Anything. Even if it is a weapon that can extinguish the Queen.

A weapon to extinguish the Queen. This felt like the representative reward, but given the dragon’s nuance, it didn’t seem like the only reward. To be honest, Yoon-seok thought he could just deal with the Queen without such a thing, but what should he ask for?

He quickly shook his head.

“I will have this egg.”

She held the egg tightly.

“I cannot hand over Chaos Red Devil Dragon to anyone!”

She had already given it a name as well.