Chi-Woo stood frozen in shock for a while and finally came to his senses. This wasn’t the time to act like this. He needed to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible, but the thought only led him to another question.

“First of all, I want to make sure that we’re in the Middle World, right?”

“Well…you can think that way for the time being.” Just like he did in the Abyss, the Abyss King had randomly built a world and forcefully overlaid it with the Middle World—and not just one or two, but nine worlds.

“Why did he keep only you and me specifically in the Middle World?”

“Only the Abyss King can properly answer that question, but I think it’s probably for the purpose of separating us. Rather than directly confronting you and me, I think he intends to exclude us for now and diminish our power as much as possible.” The Abyss King’s action was understandable as the expeditionary force included not one but two figures that were extremely burdensome to deal with. It was hard for the Abyss King to guarantee victory one-on-one with either Chi-Woo or Chi-Hyun, not to mention two-on-one. Thus, he had separated the two from the expeditionary force and immediately carried out his plan.

“Okay, then—” Chi-Woo sucked in a deep breath. “What should we do in this situation?” Chi-Woo had no idea what to do no matter how much he thought about it, but he was sure that his brother would be different. Although it seemed as if even his brother hadn’t expected this situation, if it was Chi-Hyun—if it was the hero praised and revered as the legend, he must have gone through a similar situation like this before. Chi-Woo was sure that Chi-Hyun could come up with a solution.

“There…is a way.” As expected, his brother had an answer. “There are about…two methods we can choose from in the present situation.” Moreover, Chi-Hyun had two solutions in mind rather than just one. Of course, this wasn’t something that Chi-Woo could be mindlessly happy about. Although it wasn’t bad that they had options, the person who said this was Chi-Hyun; if his brother, who sought extreme efficiency, had been pondering so long about these two methods…

“There must be serious pros and cons for both.”

Chi-Hyun smirked in response. “They say experience is the best teacher. You at least catch on quicker than before.” He said words that sounded like both a compliment and an insult and cleared his throat. “To put it in a way that you’ll understand, this is what the Abyss King has done.” Chi-Hyun spread his hands, and dozens of shining threads of mana flowed out and entangled with each other like crazy to form a sphere; it looked like a tangled mess of electric wire.

“Since it seemed like he couldn’t devour Liber, he decided to wreak havoc and mess it all up instead.” Although it was an explicit metaphor, the Abyss King’s action wasn’t completely incomprehensible. Humans would sometimes make similar decisions; they destroyed something if they thought they couldn’t have it.

Chi-Hyun continued, “Returning the current situation back to normal is like unraveling this complicated thread.”

As mentioned before, there were two methods. “Here we have to make a choice,” Chi-Hyun said slowly. “Do we trust those who came with us—or not?”

Chi-Woo’s eyes slightly widened at Chi-Hyun’s unexpected question. What was he saying now? He asked, “What if we trust them?”

“Then we wait for now,” Chi-Hyun said clearly. “Materializing a world of this level means that the Abyss King used an appropriate medium matching the world he created. Only by defeating that medium can the expeditionary members get out of the world they’re in, and this is something that can only be done from inside each world.” In short, Chi-Hyun was saying that they had to hope and pray that the expeditionary members who were scattered across different worlds would escape on their own and return safely.

“We don’t have to wait until the medium of every world is destroyed. Five. Once around five worlds are destroyed, this tangled skein that we don’t know where to even begin to unravel would become much more stable. Then I may see a different way to handle this situation.” Although he wasn’t sure, if this plan worked out, there was a high possibility that their situation would improve. “But then there’s no way for us to step in right now. There is literally nothing we can do but trust them and wait.”

As Chi-Hyun said, if Chi-Woo trusted his teammates, and they lived up to his trust, they could opt for a safer and more reliable solution. Chi-Woo wanted to trust his teammates. However, considering the Abyss King had done something that far surpassed a great demon’s territorialization, he couldn’t just be optimistic about the results.

Chi-Woo asked, “What if we don’t trust them?”

“Then we carry out our original plan.” As soon as he said this, Chi-Hyun immediately cut the skein he’d conjured into two. “Like this.” Then he said, “The Abyss King is hiding in one of the worlds. Upon finding him, we immediately break through the passage that connects here and there and defeat him.” All anomalies were solved by dealing with the core of the problem. In that sense, this was the most standard and efficient method. However, Chi-Woo felt an unknown sense of anxiety.

“If you choose this method, though, you can’t guarantee the safety of the expeditionary force.”

“What? Why?”

“I told you that currently, the nine worlds are systematically linked to each other.” They didn’t know what kind of tricks the Abyss King may have put in place; there was a high possibility that as soon as there was external interference, a series of unknown problems would arise. Perhaps the different worlds might be separated like that and left stranded. Chi-Woo, who had experienced such a case at the former Salem Academy, could roughly guess what his brother was warning him about. Given how little certainty they had, this was an option that should never be chosen. If something went wrong, there may be a catastrophe in which he would separate from his teammates forever.

“Can’t we just…go over each world and solve it one by one?”

“You want to unravel each string one by one…well, that’s also a possibility.” Then Chi-Hyun added, “If only we can find the beginning of the thread.”

“If we look for it in earnest…won’t we be able to find it…?”

Chi-Hyun snorted. He created the tangled skein again and held it out to Chi-Woo, as if telling him to untangle it. “Look for it.” In the first place, the tangled skein was a metaphor to help Chi-Woo understand what the situation was like. If it was as easy as it sounded, Chi-Hyun wouldn’t have ruled out such a possibility to start with. In the end, there was only ever one option.

…No. Chi-Hyun must really be considering the second option since Chi-Woo hadn’t gotten dragged in and was left behind with him. Of course, Chi-Woo had no intention to give up his teammates, and he chewed on his lower lip. He needed to trust them, but it felt uneasy for him to stay still and do nothing.

Chi-Hyun finished what he had to say and asked Chi-Woo, “So, what are you planning to do?”

* * *

Chi-Hyun’s prediction was spot on. Seven Stars’ first team were befuddled by the sudden change in their situation. They had gone to sleep after completing guard duty first, but when they woke up, most of the expeditionary force was gone. The only ones left were the members of the first team and a part of the expeditionary force. Realizing the situation they were in, the first team gathered in the center. Everyone put their heads together and shared opinions, but they couldn’t think of a concrete plan. Later, they all closed their mouths and looked at one person, hoping that he would lead them out of this dilemma with a wise decision.

Ru Amuh didn’t say anything. He simply stared intently at the dense mist flowing around them, which hadn’t been there before they fell asleep.

“What do we do?” Ru Hiana asked with an anxious expression. She had endured and waited so far, but when Ru Amuh continued to remain silent, the anxiety in her heart grew to unbearable proportions. “Ruahu!” Even when she called out to him, there was no answer. In the end, Ru Hiana couldn’t endure anymore and was about to approach him, but—

“We have no choice but to wait for now.” Noel gave her opinion. As promised, she had joined Seven Stars’ first team according to Ru Amuh’s request. “Young Master and my lord must have noticed the situation by now. Rather than messing up their work, we should stay quietly—”

“No.” Then someone interrupted Noel. “We can’t do that.” Ru Amuh finally opened his mouth and broke his silence. “Currently, we have been separated from the expeditionary force for an unknown reason. Rather than being far away from the place we are in, it feels more like we’re in a completely different dimension.” Ru Amuh’s S-rank Synesthesia allowed him to analyze their current situation almost perfectly with only his senses. “Though we don’t know what happened to our allies, including those two…I’m sure if it’s Teacher and the legend, they would have noticed the situation by now and are working on countermeasures.” Ru Amuh’s calm voice seemed to have the mysterious power to quell everyone’s anxiety.

Noel tilted her head. “Yes, that’s why I suggested waiting quietly…”

“However, a significant amount of time has passed since we realized our situation. That must be the same for those two. Still nothing has happened yet.” He was suggesting that Chi-Woo and Chi-Hyun should have done something by now if they were able, but nothing had happened yet. “It’s either one of the two. There’s no proper measure at the moment, or they’re trusting us and continuing with their original plan.”

“Hm….”

“In order to make sure that there’s no problem with the original plan, we can’t stay still like this. We need to do at least something for Teacher and the legend.”

Surprisingly, Ru Amuh’s argument was consistent with Chi-Woo’s wish. Moreover, it was the method that perfectly matched the ideal situation painted by Chi-Hyun. Although Noel seemed to have a lot to say, she didn’t open her mouth. She had joined the expedition as a team member, not as a team leader. She was aware enough to watch how she behaved. Moreover, Ru Amuh was known as the right arm of Seven Stars, and the young master valued him to the point that he considered Ru Amuh his alter ego. As such, Noel thought he must have a good reasoning behind his decision.

On the other hand, she was a little envious. How good was their trust in each other that he could think like that? Noel said, “All right. Then what should we do first…?”

“First…”

Dulia, who had been on the lookout, shouted hastily, “What? When? Suddenly!”

Out of nowhere, dark shadows emerged one by one through the thick fog flowing around them. They were fully clad in dark armor with eyes glowing red from inside their helmets. Dulia screamed as she found an overwhelmingly large figure among them.

“Black heavy armor…spear…giant…General of Darkness? It’s General of Darkness Gotaya! It’s Gotaya!” He matched the description Evelyn had given them about Gotaya perfectly. All the people gathered around Ru Amuh began murmuring amongst themselves. They had no idea how Gotaya had suddenly appeared, but one thing was clear—Gotaya, one of the Seven Chasms and the Abyss King’s guard captain, had appeared with an army. Gotaya’s forces gradually emerged and surrounded the Seven Stars members in the center of the campsite. Everyone took a step back and put their backs together with a nervous expression.

“Ruahu…!” Ru Hiana gulped and called out anxiously to Ru Amuh.

“It’s all right,” Ru Amuh calmly murmured while pulling out the long sword from his waist. “It’s perfect timing.”

Ru Hiana blinked. “What do you mean perfect timing? What do you…?” However, she couldn’t finish her question because Ru Amuh had suddenly rushed out with a kick to the ground. Shocked, Ru Hiana quickly called out to him, but Ru Amuh did not stop. He rushed toward Gotoya, who had now completely revealed his grandeur appearance.

General of Darkness, Gotaya. According to Evelyn, Gotaya was a faithful follower that the Abyss King always kept closely by. Though the Seven Chasms weren’t divided by ranks, if she had to compare them, he would no doubt sit on top in terms of power.

Hearing this, Emmanuel and Yunael had quarreled with each other for a long time. They argued that they should be the one to deal with a being at that level. Listening in on the conversation, Ru Amuh had quietly laughed without saying a word, but—

“Ruahuuu!” Ru Hiana shouted at the top of her lungs as Gotaya’s army stampeded toward Ru Amuh with their weapons. At that moment, Ru Amuh’s eyes flashed. It was almost at the same time that a terrible windstorm erupted from Ru Amuh’s swing, and it collided head-on with Gotaya’s forces.

Whooosh! Then everyone, including Ru Hiana, clearly witnessed what happened next. Kabbooooom! The enormous army charging toward Ru Amuh at once was swept away by a sharp and powerful storm and scattered all over at once.

I, Emmanuel, should take charge of fighting that fiend called Gotaya.

What the heck? What are you suddenly talking about! Of course, I, Yunael, the balance keeper of Seven Stars, should take him!

While the conversation that day flashed through his mind, Ru Amuh stared at Gotaya and ran towards him like a storm. His face seemed to be saying, ‘Don’t make me laugh. I’m the one who would get him.’