The Immoral Lord that Kim Jin-Woo encountered once again was still in the form of a small and delicate girl. But unlike before, she was no longer alone. The Beastfolk King, who had run away cunningly in the last battle, was with her.

“Finally, everyone’s gathered.”

The Usurper made an off comment instead of a greeting, and Kim Jin-Woo found himself looking at the chained Heavenly Giant Lord before turning to Angela, and finally the Beastfolk King.

Perhaps because of his memory of being savagely beaten in their last encounter, the Beastfolk King shuddered when their eyes met. However, seeing how he tried to straighten his expression and stiffen his head, it was evident that he had mentally prepared himself at the very least.

“And where is the Wish Stone?”

Kim Jin-Woo, who was glancing around, turned his attention to the Immoral Lord at her question. Angela took one step forward in front of Kim Jin-Woo, before backing away again.

“As you can see, I’ve entrusted it to the person I trust the most.”

Angela smiled brightly, while the Immoral Lord had a sad look on her face in contrast.

“It’s sad that I’m no longer that most trustworthy person, but I understand. You can’t trust me now.”

At that heinous attitude. Kim Jin-Woo snorted. It was she who ruined his life with her acts of betrayal and deceit. There was no way he would ever trust her again.

That was for the better. Now was not the time to bring up his old feelings and start the blame game.

With the surviving Highlords, the Underworld Tree, and the Wish Stone gathered in one place, all the factors that will determine the future of the Underworld were now gathered in one place.

Intuitively, Kim Jin-Woo knew that today was the day that the future of the Underworld and even the surface would be decided.

Naturally, he became more sensitive. He did not intend to overlook even the smallest clue or sign, and at that heightened sensitivity, Kim Jin-Woo felt various oddities that were hiding in the shadow of the Underworld Tree.

< Master, I can’t help but feel that this is a trap. >

Angela whispered silently via their telepathic link. Since she was sensitive to any signs of vitality, she must have noticed the various hidden life forms that were most likely part of an ambush set up for them.

But Kim Jin-Woo remained calm. He did not waver at all despite the fact that the number of beings that he felt lying in ambush was probably more than both the number of Einherjar and Nagas combined.

After all, he knew that this was not going to be easy in the first place.

< You can ignore the Beastfolk King. He prefers to live as a fox than to die as a wolf. He will never take a risk and fight a fierce battle with me. >

< Still, we are outnumbered. In addition, this is basically their own frontyard. >

Angela’s concerns were certainly justified. The Beastfolk King aside, the most important factor was the Immoral Lord. She had solely reigned under the name of the ‘Usurper’ for a period so long that none who were gathered here could even possibly imagine, and the Forest of the Underworld Tree was practically no different from her home ground. If there was indeed a trap prepared, there was no way it would be sloppily done so.

As such, Kim Jin-Woo was highly wary of the Usurper. But his concerns were a little different from Angela’s.

If she intended to overwhelm him by force, that would have been for the better for Kim Jin-Woo. After all, his own strength was too unique and powerful to be overcome.

Having absorbed the powers of many powerful beings and finally making them his own, he had already transcended the power level of a Highlord, and even if he had to confront all the other Highlords that were gathered here right now, he was more than powerful enough to overcome them all.

But that was exactly what he was concerned about.

The Usurper would surely be aware of that fact, but despite that, she allowed him easy access into the vicinity of the Underworld Tree and showed up brazenly. There was no doubt that there must be some secret trap to make up for their overwhelming gap in power. And he was certain that it was the kind that he will never notice until it’s too late.

< If anything happens, to hell with the Wish Stone and the future of the Underworld and whatnot. I will only take care of you, Master. I don’t care if you punish me for disobeying you afterwards. >

Kim Jin-Woo, who was continuously scanning the area to pick up any clues, suddenly cracked into a smile, momentarily forgetting about the situation that he was in. Angela’s resolute voice somehow made him feel reassured.

There were no traps that she could escape from if she put her mind into it, as she was the Lord of the Red Castle and ruler of the Back Floor. Once again, having the presence of someone as strong as her helped him feel more at ease.

< Because the only thing that matters to me is the safety of Master. Nothing else takes precedence over Master’s well-being.”

< I trust you. >

Kim Jin-Woo finished their short conversation and looked at the Immoral Lord once again. Seeing how she said that she had been waiting for him, Kim Jin-Woo was certain that she had something to say.

“Seeing that the seals of the Nagas have been broken, it seems that you’ve realized the nature of Night.”

“I’ve learned one more truth behind the lies you’ve spouted.”

The Immoral Lord had clearly said that the Nagas were descendants of the Earth Dragon. But the reality was completely different. They were descendants of Jörmungandr, the Underworld Serpent, and the clan of Night.

“Is there any truth to anything that you’ve said?”

That wasn’t the only lie she had said. She had also said that the end of the Underworld would come from the surface, but the destruction of the Underworld that the One-Eyed Lord witnessed in exchange for one of his eyes was because of ‘Night’.

Her lies and deceit overlapped everywhere he looked, which was why Kim Jin-Woo found it impossible to believe anything she had once said.

“I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

Saying that she didn’t mean to deceive him despite all the lies and deceit felt like the biggest contradiction to ever exist.

“Your body isn’t entirely yours, is it? What you hear, the monster inside of you will also hear it. That’s absolutely not what either of us want.”

Kim Jin-Woo had no intention of listening to what would probably sound like a bunch of excuses, but that didn’t mean that he could easily deny everything she said either. In fact, what he was truly most concerned about was Night that resided inside of him, as it lay waiting to reveal its true nature at any moment.

“That aside, you sure are talking a lot,” Kim Jin-Woo quipped.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. Almost all the preparations are over, and the time to make a decision has come. And that hateful monster will not overturn our choice.”

The Immoral Lord seemed strangely excited, chattering away as if she was enjoying the reward for having kept silence thus far.

“Don’t call it ‘our’ as and when you like it.”

Kim Jin-Woo showed blatant displeasure at the Immoral Lord’s choice of words.

“Don’t stare at me like that. When this is all over, you will definitely thank me for this.”

Kim Jin-Woo still couldn’t figure out where the Usurper was getting all her confidence from, but the confident look on her face seemed completely unshakeable.

“Whether I’m going to thank you or bow to you later on, I want you to clear the way for now.”

Kim Jin-Woo took a step forward.

“Because it’s not you who I came to meet today, but the Underworld Tree.”

At his cold words, the Usurper nodded her head as if she knew that was what he was going to say. But even then, she refused to take even a single step back.

“Do you intend to stop me?”

“I’m not intentionally trying to stop you, but ultimately, that’s how it might look to you.”

Kim Jin-Woo had gotten used to her inconsistent attitude by now, thus he decided to ignore her and stepped forward.

“I don’t know why you’re trying to block my way only now.”

He had already approached the Underworld Tree once. Back then, the Usurper did not stop him. Rather, she was the first to inform him of the existence of the Underworld Tree, and it was also her that guided him to the Underworld Tree to let him experience its divinity in person.

Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t figure out what was different from then and now. But at the very least, he knew what he had to do now.

“If you are going to get in my way, then all I have to do is to break through you.”

At his words that sounded like a declaration of war, the atmosphere around them changed completely in an instant. The gloomy air froze cold, and the silent forest began to become noisy.

“Then let’s carry on the rest of the conversation after we cool our heads, shall we?”

The Usurper slowly retreated from Kim Jin-Woo’s soaring presence, and was soon behind the forest in the distance.

“I don’t know if things are going to cool down or get heated up.”

Kim Jin-Woo smiled coldly when he saw enemies appearing one by one from the shadow of the forest.

The Nagas, who had been silently waiting on standby, raised their scales sharply and hissed with the wind.

“Kaaaaaaargh!”

The Beastfolk King presented a rather pathetic performance in their last battle despite having allies to back him up, but this time, he displayed a completely different majesty.

His huge body effortlessly jumped up a tree before crashing down, crushing dozens of Einherjar in one fell sweep.

The way he devastated his surroundings looked like a lion leaping through a flock of sheep.

Thanks to him, the EInherjar had a hard time holding out against the Beastfolk King. Although they were born for battle, they were nowhere near strong enough to stop a Highlord, and to make matters worse, wild beasts in all kinds of ferocious forms jumped into the cracks in the collapsed ranks.

“You little rat.”

Kim Jin-Woo charged towards the Beastfolk King to attempt to overturn the situation, but the cunning and agile Highlord thoroughly avoided contact with him.

Even when the Beastfolk King was unfortunate enough to come into Kim Jin-Woo’s attack range, he immediately started running around, and Kim Jin-Woo, who was unable to unleash the power of Greed due to not understanding what the Usurper’s plans were, found himself frustrated at being unable to catch the sleazy Highlord.

“Another name for the Beastfolk King is the ‘ruler of the forest’. Although this may not be the exact same forest he once ruled, all the existing trees and grass here helps to make him stronger and more agile.”

Dominique, who was exposed to greater knowledge of the Underworld after her awakening, consoled her master when she saw the Beastfolk King.

“However, no matter how much the Beastfolk King can jump around like that on his own, the battle situation won’t change much.”

It was exactly as she said. The Beastfolk King continued to run around and pick off the Einherjar, but in terms of the overall battle, there was only a limited minor swing in advantage.

The battlefield was far too wide, and the Beastfolk King could not afford to stay in one place. The Einherjar that were lost were immediately restored upon his escape and quickly pushed out the army of wild beasts.

The beasts were ferocious, but they were unable to withstand the onslaught of Einherjar, and as time went on, the battle began to swing in Kim Jin-Woo’s favor.

“This just makes it even stranger. What is the purpose of this battle?”

Kim Jin-Woo tilted his head as he watched the Einherjar advance little by little. He had no idea what was the purpose of this meaningless battle.

At first, he wondered if there could be any traps, but as the meaningless battle of attrition continued on without encountering any particular threats, Kim Jin-Woo started to have his doubts.

The Beastfolk King also didn’t seem to have any intention of actually stopping him, and the Immoral Lord didn’t seem to be heading to the frontline of the battle either. Only the summons were being killed off, and the battle showed no signs of ending any time soon.

“But that doesn’t mean we can just ignore them either. If the Underworld Tree truly isn’t as neutral as Master says it is, then we need to be prepared for the worst,” Dominique commented.

This was the reason why he had to continue this exhausting battle, despite initially hoping to avoid any unnecessary battles.

Considering that it was nearly impossible to predict how the Underworld Tree might react, Kim Jin-Woo had to remove all external threats and variables as much as possible before confronting it. And the army of the Beastfolk King and the Usurper were powerful enough to be a cause for concern.

Kona’s Thoughts

Not-finalized draft