The Only Enhancer - Chapter 187
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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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Chapter 187
187 – The Opening of the Great War (1)
Jung Ji-hwan began moving swiftly even before Min-jun uttered the word “war,” and by the time Min-jun spoke it, he had already ended the call and taken action.
Min-jun, in turn, understood Jung Ji-hwan’s movements and sensed the three auras approaching from afar.
He frowned, distinctly feeling one aura that stood out far more prominently than the others.
The other two also felt like formidable beings at Calamity Level 8—one might say they were mature Calamity Level 8s, so polished it was almost embarrassing to compare them to Uldin.
Yet while those two were at that level, the third existed on an entirely different plane.
One might say it was a being that transcended the maturity of Calamity Level 8 and could even glimpse realms beyond.
To be precise, it stood at the threshold itself.
Min-jun rubbed his chin as he contemplated the creature.
Should I call it a realm? The aura he sensed made it abundantly clear that it stood at a level similar to his own. After all, Min-jun himself, if pressed, could be called one who had ascended to Level 8 and stood at the threshold.
But if there was a difference…
‘Am I slightly higher?’
Unlike him, this creature could not seamlessly weave its aura into nature itself.
Min-jun might indeed be slightly superior, but he did not think about it so simply. The power of fairies and the power of monsters were certainly different, after all.
Unlike fairies, who originated from nature and gradually developed it each in their own way, monsters wielded a power that followed a different path from nature itself. Perhaps that was why it could not merge with nature.
In fact, the monster’s aura was so ferocious that it seemed to carve space itself with a keen edge—judging by that alone, it certainly did not appear inferior to him.
Because of this, Min-jun maintained his tension and scratched his cheek.
The problem was that even if Min-jun faced that creature, two would remain.
Those two were also Calamity Level 8, which was troublesome beyond measure. Even if all the executives rushed at one, another would still be left.
‘If I strengthen Bella and have all the guild members throw themselves at them…’
There was a possibility. He initially thought to strengthen all the guild members beforehand, but shook his head.
With a monster at a level similar to his own present, no matter how vast his power, if he strengthened all the guild members, the drain on Min-jun himself would be considerable.
Strengthening only Bella was already pushing it considerably, but at least it fell within his calculations.
He would strengthen Bella and entrust the rest to the executives, Bella, and the guild members.
Some executives would need to be paired with the guild members.
Sending Isabella and Jung Ji-hwan in that direction should help balance the scales somewhat.
Besides, Isabella was a tank, after all.
‘So should I prepare this way and wait for the executives to arrive? Those creatures are in the same position—they’re waiting too.’
In fact, just as Min-jun said, those creatures were also waiting for him.
Just as Min-jun sensed that creature, it too detected Min-jun to some degree.
No matter how seamlessly Min-jun’s power merged with nature, that creature was nature’s natural predator—one might say it could read nature itself.
In any case, it had long since noticed his existence.
Min-jun suspected that was precisely why the creature did not rush forward recklessly.
Thinking that the creature’s waiting was a stroke of fortune and hoping to buy as much time as possible, Min-jun hastily opened a portal.
Then he anchored the ship in place and further reinforced the magical formations, raising the alert level while taking care to ensure they would not shatter upon impact.
And so he waited for the executives to gather.
When all the executives arrived, the war seemed certain to begin.
Min-jun also had the feeling that this war would not end with just defeating those creatures.
0.
Decan, known as the Hero of Monsters and the Assassin of the Land, could not help but furrow his brow upon hearing Ursula’s account. There existed those who could be called descendants of the Fairies, and a system referred to as the ultimate crystallization of the Fairies had become bound to this place.
And upon realizing that the monsters, along with the system, were now shackled to Earth, he could not help but deepen his frown.
The Fairies had bound countless of his brethren, preventing them from ever invading elsewhere.
Decan could only bow his head deeply, unable to erase the bitter expression from his face.
He already knew that they were invaders.
But he also understood that such actions were necessary for their survival.
That is why he had waged war fiercely and ultimately endured.
He had scattered among his kin without seizing the temperate Fairy Planet.
Survived, yes—but how could this be called victory?
Perhaps those Fairies who had perished, their souls preserved within the system like cargo in an ark, were the true victors?
Unlike the monsters, cursed to be bound to Earth or the Fairy Planet.
That was precisely why they had been able to cross over to Earth, where the system existed, yet Decan could only taste bitterness.
—So we must wage war again.
Upon hearing that they must invade this planet once more, he felt only bitterness, yet he nodded as if in understanding. He himself did not enjoy trampling others to rise above them.
But behind his back stood countless brethren.
Because he could not kill them with his own hands. Because he loved his kin more than anyone.
Decan had no choice but to stain his hands with the blood of Fairies.
Was he not once called the ultimate weapon of the Underground alongside the Bloody Golem, the Hero of Monsters?
That is why he now raised his sharp, pointed hands once more.
Then Decan asked Ursula.
—What must I do?
He asked the Witch of the Deep Sea, now a leader, what role he should play, and Ursula nodded before speaking to him.
Since she had already mentioned Min-jun’s existence, Decan understood as well.
—I would be grateful if you could assess this one called Min-jun.
—Hmm, so you wish to know if he is stronger than me, and if so, to what degree.
—Precisely. Though you are called the Hero of Monsters, Decan, I must ask you: if we were to return to that time, could you slay the Fairy King?
At Ursula’s words, Decan could not help but smile wryly.
The Underground monsters were said to be researchers to such a degree that they all devoted themselves to research. Of course, warriors existed among them, but they were exceedingly rare, and Decan was one of them.
And among such warriors, he was uniquely one who had received the favor of the Monster King, becoming a weapon that had undergone brutal modifications and gained immense power from the Underground researchers.
Though such an experiment would have been impossible without the Monster King, it had made him surpass even the Bloody Golem and become unmatched among monsters in strength—yet that was all.
He could not defeat those called Kings.
—Had I been able to defeat the Fairy King, I would have been called the Monster King.
—I share that assessment. Which is why it pains me to use you merely as a probe, yet….
—It is necessary work. You mentioned extracting the royal essence and injecting it into yourself, yes?
—Yes, precisely. Once the injection is prepared, please assess that creature’s capabilities.
—Understood. I comprehend fully.
Min-jun had essentially inherited the power of the Fairy King, so it was necessary to determine whether he had already reached that level or if he still fell short.
And Ursula spoke to Decan thus.
—I shall use a death curse to ensure you can be resurrected here.
Decan furrowed his brow and shook his head at the sight of Ursula, who was pleased to have kept one elderly, decrepit Elder until the very end.
A life-prolonging incantation? For Decan, once hailed as a hero, it was nothing more than a distasteful ritual.
To sustain his own life with the lives of his brethren.
Of course, I respected the methods of Ursula, the Witch of the Deep Sea, but I had hoped she would not force such practices upon me. Yet just as I was about to refuse, Ursula spoke.
-Of course, I understand. One who cherishes his kin as you do would naturally wish to decline. However, should you be absent from this final, ultimate war, our chances of victory would grow all the dimmer. So please, accept this gift. The one whose life shall be bound to yours is one from whom life has already departed—surely it would be an honor even for that Elder. Must we not seek the light of our people?
-…Your intentions are noble. Very well, I shall accept.
Decan, ultimately swayed by Ursula’s words, nodded his head in agreement.
At the sight of Decan nodding as if resigned to the inevitable, Ursula smiled with a subtle, knowing expression.
Her words were not lies, after all—though there was a hidden agenda beneath them.
She had concealed it somewhat, but what she said was not untrue.
As Decan and Ursula clasped hands, two of Decan’s subordinates materialized from the void.
With the arrival of those who had fought as his right and left arms since the great war, Decan nodded as if all preparations were complete, and Ursula spoke to him.
-You need only depart when I begin infusing the essence.
-Then that moment shall mark the prelude to the great war.
At Decan’s words, Ursula laughed and nodded. As the reality of the war’s imminent beginning settled upon her, Ursula envisioned a bold future and thought to herself.
-‘How fortunate that Decan lives.’
She had worried that her plans and preparations might unravel once more, but if this was how things stood, the situation had changed entirely.
The perfect opponent to draw forth Min-jun’s full strength.
Decan, the hero of the monsters—the final material needed for Ursula to absorb the essence.
He would remain a hero until the very end.
For Ursula, the Witch of the Deep Sea, would ensure it.
How much time had passed?
Not long at all. Using the sorcery of this space, she had recovered considerable materials—or rather, military forces—and with Decan and his subordinates now assembled, the pieces were in place.
Now only Ursula’s essence-implantation ritual remained.
Ursula and her fellow sorcerers had prepared the ritual based on information passed down through ages, and having made these preparations long ago, perhaps that was why.
They had gathered evolution spheres in mad abundance, ensuring the Monster King’s essence could take root properly within the monster—within Ursula herself.
These evolution spheres were not created by slaughtering her kin, but rather by having monsters born on Earth consume one another in a cycle of predation.
Without them, the ritual would surely fail.
Once they had gathered vast quantities of evolution spheres and immense magic stones to complete their preparations, Decan nodded toward Ursula.
Ursula herself stepped into the magical circle that would contain her, and the materials surrounding her—the evolution spheres and magic stones—began to emit light.
As Ursula’s eyes slowly closed, the essence began to be infused gradually.
Watching her adapt as the essence was introduced bit by bit, Decan turned his body and spoke to his two elite subordinates.
-Let us depart as well.
Once more, the hero of the monsters stirred to action, to ignite another great war.
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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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