Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 307

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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307. Restoration Gate (1)
[Restoration]
-Assist in the Restoration of Grand Duke Nereion. Time remaining: 47 hours 59 minutes.
The gate’s objective was simple, exactly as I’d anticipated from the name alone. All that mattered was restoring Nereion to his rightful place.
“Do we head this way?”
A cave loomed before us as we entered the gate, dense dark shrubs surrounding it in such a way that it would be nearly invisible from outside.
What caught my attention was the demonic energy—the thick, viscous mana had a far greater concentration than the last time.
“That would make sense. I can feel two presences inside. Nereion and Diluvian, I’d wager.”
As I followed the cave deeper, I felt the people inside register our approach through my Space Sense. They were on guard.
“We come in peace!”
The cave wasn’t large, so I announced our arrival loudly with both hands raised as we entered from the mouth.
Only then did Nereion and Diluvian relax their expressions.
“It was you. We’ve been waiting.”
We managed to meet with them both, but that wasn’t the problem.
“Your condition… are you well?”
Nereion’s body didn’t look to be in good shape. Of course, it wasn’t as bad as when he’d collapsed bleeding last time.
Still, he’d grown noticeably gaunt, and there was a slight stiffness to his movements.
“Surely not… lingering wounds from that incident?”
“No, that’s not it. There’s only a faint discomfort remaining, but that’s nearly healed.”
It was Diluvian who clarified.
“We’ve been under constant attack.”
That made sense. From the current Demon Grand Duke’s perspective, Nereion would be an eyesore—his own predecessor, the one he’d cast out.
Nereion laughed with a sorrowful edge.
“There’ve been betrayals too.”
“Like last time?”
“Friends I once trusted completely have turned. They’re different now.”
Had he suffered betrayal again?
While I pondered this silently, Nereion seemed to read my thoughts and shrugged.
“I didn’t sustain heavy losses this time. I learned from what happened before—I was able to catch them instead.”
“Though the process did leave him injured. You pushed yourself too hard.”
“There’s no helping it. I’m no longer a Grand Duke, so I had to exert myself like I used to.”
Diluvian too bore marks of injury here and there. It was clear they’d been through an arduous journey while we were gone.
“Still, the struggle wasn’t in vain. There were those who helped us.”
“Yes. We owe our progress here to them.”
Listening to their account, I began to suspect this place was something akin to the Grand Duke’s inner sanctum.
From the moment we entered, I’d sensed the demonic energy was thick and concentrated.
The one complication was that their physical condition wasn’t optimal, meaning we’d have to do most of the heavy lifting.
But I considered that part of the gate’s design as well.
If restoration had been possible with just their strength, they wouldn’t have called us here in the first place.
All we had to do was help the injured Nereion and Diluvian drive out Grand Duke Creshan.
“Lee Shin-hee.”
While not a complete cure, it would be better than nothing. Lee Shin-hee used her Healing Skill, and Nereion and Diluvian gave a small bow of gratitude.
Watching their expressions ease slightly, I was relieved to see the treatment did have some effect.
“What would you have us do?”
I asked Nereion, who was receiving the treatment. It was always best to gather as much advance information as possible.
“Grand Duke Creshan will enter Magwongok soon.”
“Magwongok?”
“It’s where the purest and most abundant demonic energy flows in the Demon Realm. And starting tonight, we enter the Blessing of Demons Day, which lasts three days.”
The Blessing of Demons Day, as it turned out, was a day that occurred roughly every hundred years when demonic energy became extraordinarily abundant.
On such a day, Magwongok would be completely saturated with demonic energy.
“In other words, it’s a place where the Grand Duke will conduct his training, correct?”
“Training, yes—not the wrong way to put it. Accumulating demonic energy is training in its own right.”
“And you intend to strike at that moment?”
At first, I found it hard to grasp. Entering Magwongok on the very day when demonic energy was most abundant?
Yet Nereion clearly had his reasoning.
“Even without the Grand Duke’s seat, I can still command demonic energy. If anything, I have the advantage.”
From his explanation, it seemed that while the Grand Duke would certainly grow stronger, there were limits to how much demonic energy he could wield.
In contrast, Nereion, who’d been confined for so long, could benefit far more from the abundance of demonic energy available.
That made sense.
He wouldn’t be fool enough to walk to his own death. After all, he’d once been the Grand Duke of the Demon Realm.
“Would the Grand Duke not expect our attack?”
We were dealing with a Demon Grand Duke.
I requested more detailed information. It was a Hidden Gate—a concealed one. I was resolved to subjugate it without fail.
“He’ll expect it. I’m still alive, after all.”
“Then wouldn’t that be rather dangerous?”
“There’s a difference between an order to hunt me down and kill me, and summoning other demons to Magwongok.”
“?”
“Magwongok is a space reserved solely for the Grand Duke. Summoning other demons there? And claiming I’ve attacked him?”
Nereion let out a quiet laugh.
“That would only damage his own authority. Even if he captures me, his standing won’t recover from that blow.”
It seemed the demon nobility had their own codes of conduct. I’d simply have ordered absolute obedience without question.
But it wasn’t completely unrestricted.
“He’ll remain alone in Magwongok initially, but he’ll certainly station trusted subordinates at a distance.”
Right. He wouldn’t be that straightforward.
“Still, one thing is certain—he won’t be inside Magwongok itself. He’ll only rush to intercept us once our attack is revealed.”
“So we need to dispose of the Grand Duke quickly? Before his forces arrive?”
Nereion shook his head.
“No. You’ll hold them back.”
“Pardon?”
“Capturing Creshan will be my task alone.”
When I pressed him, Nereion spoke with absolute conviction.
“If I seize the Grand Duke’s position with your aid, I’ll never be accepted. I’ll face the same downfall again.”
That’s why he called it his own fight. Nereion showed no sign of backing down.
* * *
I found myself thinking about this from time to time.
If everything we experienced within Gates was a reconstruction of events from another world……
Then Hidden Gates might be those areas that the original beings—those who had played the roles we now played—had failed to discover or choose.
The sudden recollection of this past thought was prompted by Nereion’s demeanor.
‘What should I do?’
The dilemma deepened. Our given mission was to restore Nereion.
For that, Nereion would need to become a Demon Grand Duke, but if things continued as they were, the success or failure of our mission rested entirely in his hands.
Two possibilities presented themselves.
The first was that Nereion would win on his own while we simply protected the perimeter.
‘If that happens, it’s straightforward……’
The second was that the outcome would depend on my choice. That made things complicated.
The probability of receiving a proper reward would rise if the Gate’s subjugation went according to Nereion’s will.
If I forced my help and we secured victory, Nereion’s displeasure would cost us any genuine reward.
We’d only receive the standard Gate-clearing compensation at best.
‘It’s not even a gamble.’
The Restoration Gate seemed to read in multiple ways. I couldn’t decide immediately. No one knew how the situation would unfold.
Beyond that, I had personal concerns.
Nereion.
Though we’d known each other only briefly and he was once a Demon Grand Duke himself, he wasn’t a bad person to me.
‘I’d like to let him have his way if I could, but the reward won’t be small either.’
My complicated feelings held another regret. I’d wanted to face a Demon Grand Duke at least once.
It seemed I’d contracted a severe case of Fist King fever from the Gate of Poison Trial.
“Should we really leave things as they are?”
The guild members shared my concern and looked a little worried.
Even if Nereion were in perfect condition, we’d be uneasy, and he clearly seemed at a disadvantage.
“Let’s observe for now.”
But there was nothing we could do immediately. Nereion’s resolve was too firm.
Still, he was a former Demon Grand Duke. Pressing the issue wouldn’t work on him.
Besides, deciding our approach now was premature. For now, we’d watch—and if he could manage it, letting him proceed would be more profitable in terms of rewards.
A satisfied Nereion as the new Grand Duke would only benefit us.
‘I’ll observe for now, and step in if it looks bad. At least then we secure the Gate-clearing reward.’
Either way, the plan was simple. Nereion clearly understood Magwongok’s geography.
Moreover, within a certain radius of that place, entry was forbidden to all but the Grand Duke, so we’d face no enemies there.
We simply needed to penetrate the outer perimeter to encounter Creshan himself.
Magwongok was, true to its name, a valley terrain. It sat deep within a mountain range and had only a single entrance.
‘We leave the Grand Duke to Nereion and simply guard the entrance.’
Of course, I had no intention of simply standing guard at the entrance. I needed to see what was inside. If trouble arose, I’d have to be ready to help.
“Let’s wait for now. We should make our move in about an hour.”
“So in the meantime…….”
“I’ll give you a brief explanation of Magwongok’s geography.”
I suspected that Nereion and Diluvian had caught on to our unease as well.
Our reaction—mine and the other guild members’—had been rather telling, after all.
But there wasn’t much to be done about it. From their perspective, we had saved their lives once.
They couldn’t very well call us out on it.
‘I just have to hope Nereion can win this alone.’
Before this, we’d been getting along well, but now a subtle current of tension lingered between us.
I could only pray that this gate would end well.
* * *
I’d learned the basics of Magwongok’s structure and the surrounding terrain in a crash course, but naturally it hadn’t solidified in my mind.
I’d only grasped the general layout. The rest, I’d have to figure out once we were there.
“But are you sure other demons don’t come in here?”
I asked Nereion the question as we headed toward Magwongok.
If Magwongok was a place only the Grand Duke was permitted to enter, yet we were going there, then it meant other demons could technically enter as well.
“We came through a hard-to-search route. There are guards watching the other entrances.”
“Still, the outer region itself is quite vast. There must be gaps in the defenses, right?”
“Oh, there are gaps. Some have made it through before.”
“Then…….”
“If they’re discovered, their entire bloodline is exterminated.”
Ah—so it’s not just the individual who dies, but the entire clan. That I could understand.
“Even the guards posted on the outer perimeter have tried to slip in out of curiosity, and entire houses have been erased for it.”
“No wonder no one tries.”
In any case, now that we’d penetrated the outer region, there was little need to worry about perimeter security.
I was monitoring everything with my Space Sense, and besides, this was Nereion’s territory—he knew it well.
We traveled for about an hour under his guidance, sometimes ascending the mountain, sometimes descending.
There were detours that made me curious, but his answer was straightforward.
“The interior has zones that detect intruders. They’ve changed since my time, so we have to go around them.”
By this point, I’d let my guard down completely. Whatever magic was at work, anyone who could grasp the altered detection zones at a glance was not to be trifled with.
Then again, he was the previous Demon Grand Duke. He looked gaunt, but the aura he gave off now was stronger than before.
‘I’ll trust him for now.’
Not long after, we reached Magwongok, where Creshan, the current Demon Grand Duke, awaited.
The atmosphere was deeply ominous. The thick demonic energy made breathing slightly difficult, just as the Grand Duke had warned.
Sigh.
The fact that Lee Shin-hee and Min-jae were taking deep breaths showed just how potent the effect was.
I made a quick assessment. In a situation like this, the Demon Grand Duke’s presence affected one’s mental fortitude.
‘I should be the only one to engage if it comes to fighting.’
The guild members could easily run into trouble if they went in. Beyond my worry for them, they’d likely become a burden.
Nereion gazed at the entrance to Magwongok.
“He’s waiting.”
“Is he?”
“Yes. The demonic energy calls to me.”
It sounded like something from a second-rate drama, but the gaunt Nereion seemed to have regained a bit of strength now that he was here.
“Then I entrust the rear guard to you.”
“Leave it to me. Call if things get dangerous.”
At my words, Nereion let out a quiet laugh. The implication was clear—he wouldn’t call even if he were dying.
‘That won’t do.’
This was important to me too.
Honestly, it would be selfish of him. If this were reality instead of a gate, his death would mean our deaths as well.
Hmm.
It was then that Diluvian narrowed his eyes.
“That bastard Creshan. More petty than I thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nereion just went in, so the enemies should arrive a bit later…….”
“They’re already coming?”
“Yes. If they’d arrived any later, we’d have had our hands full just breaking through.”
Diluvian drew his spear.
Regardless of what happened between Nereion and the Grand Duke, our job right now was to hold the entrance.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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