episode_0051

Duke of Diascota. He was one of the high-ranking nobles in name and reality who ruled some territory in the Peren Empire and had a large army. The duke was ready to withdraw immediately when the emperor declared that he would not leave the palace despite the Red Gate.

‘Damn you. Even in that situation, I never thought he would try to protect the artifacts and gold and silver treasures in the imperial palace without knowing what was right or wrong. But it actually worked out well. If that guy dies, the forces will be reorganized again.”

Diascota looked at the numerous knights following behind him. Soldiers who have been trained with great care over a long period of time. Approximately over 2,000 knights obeyed his orders in unison.

“So, you’re saying that there is a safe zone if you move inside?”

“Yes, Mr. Diascota.”

“Source of information?”

“This is information that has spread in the Internet community, but we have verified it ourselves, so there is no need for concern. There is definitely such a thing as a safe zone, and this information has been exchanged several times within the imperial palace, so it is not incorrect information.”

“It’s fascinating. There is actually a safe zone at the center of the Redgate vortex.”

“Not naturally occurring. It was confirmed that Leos, the former head of the Gate Management Headquarters, created the upper Red Gate by artificially sealing it.”

“Leos? What is that guy doing? Why is he the only one who seals the upper Red Gate?”

“…As I just told you, I am the head of the Gate Management Headquarters.”

“How do I know such nonsense? So is he strong?”

“…According to the information we have obtained, the force itself appears to be strong. It doesn’t seem like there is any particular force forming and moving.”

“You guys can handle it, right?”

“Of course. No matter how strong an individual is, he or she is still an individual. Our total troops number over 2,000. As it happens, even if Leos has formed a force, he will not be pushed out of power.”

“Hmm, I like it. Anyway, let’s take away the safe zone that guy Leos created.”

The knight commander’s expression as he looked at Diascotta became strangely distorted. The knight commander criticized Diascota in his heart.

‘Despite the fact that the imperial family has already talked about this issue several times, you still act like you’re hearing this for the first time. It’s so absurd that it’s almost astounding.’

However, he did not show his reluctance and simply lowered his head. Diascotta was a lord to whom he had to obey and a nobleman with real power in the current situation. As discipline breaks down in the world and an apocalyptic situation arises, power becomes more powerful.

It seems like all the knights will immediately panic and leave to find their own way and disobey orders, but that is absolutely not the case. Since it was no different from CCTV monitoring each other, they couldn’t have done something like that in the first place. And above all, the leash that held them tight was capital.

“Knight Commander Debigail: If it turns out that your information is true, I will grant you a year’s worth of food.”

“It is an infinite honor. Duke of Diascota”

The expressions of other knights looking at them with envy. Duke Diascota looked at them and smiled. People who risk their lives for only a small amount of money. This is because the greed of renegades who leave behind the honor of chivalry and move only for money was laughable.

Although he was in the position of employing them, those who followed the duke after openly abandoning the royal family were, to the duke of Diascotta, nothing more than hunting dogs that could be used and discarded.

Under the escort of the knights, Duke D’Ascota slowly moved inside the Red Gate Vortex. Occasionally there were monsters that rushed at them, but when the knights attacked them, they instantly lost their lives and fell to the ground, so Diascota laughed at the emperor’s fuss.

‘Is there really a need to catch mutant monsters? Just like now, all you have to do is avoid the strong ones, catch only the weak ones, and move to a safe zone.’

Duke D’Ascota was a man who always put his own selfish interests first. The safety of the country? Survival of the people? Noble honor? That wasn’t important to Diascota at all. His greatest concern is how safe he can be. Also, it was about things like how much one could benefit.

‘feel so good.’

Duke D’Ascota prayed. I hope that the palace will be eroded by monsters and meet its demise. If you do that, you can go straight to the palace and steal various artifacts and gold and silver treasures. Of course, it would take quite a while for the monsters to disappear, but it didn’t matter. Duke D’Ascota simply planned to hide in a safe area, declare it as his duchy, and build a strong castle from within to defend it.

“The flow is good.”

The path into the Red Gate Vortex. Numerous knights were cutting down monsters and moving forward, and there were no strange monsters called mutant monsters around. Actually, I was worried even before I came here. I had countless concerns about what I would do if I encountered the upper Red Gate surrounding the imperial palace. However, contrary to concerns, the advance continued with much success.

“Stop!”

When Knight Commander Debigail shouted, numerous knights all stopped. Duke D’Ascota got off the carriage-like artifact he was riding on with startled eyes and asked Debigail a question.

“What’s going on?”

“I can feel the energy of humans around me. They are probably the ones occupying this area. What can I do?”

Duke D’Ascota said as if he was annoyed.

“What are you asking about something that should be obvious? Kill them all.”

As Debgeil pointed forward with his sword, the knights dispersed all at once and began to search out those who were hiding.

“Kaaak!”

“Kkah…”

As those who were hiding from the monsters were cut to pieces by the knights one by one, their lives began to be taken away. A few escaped, but it was meaningless. No matter how difficult it was to secure visibility due to the abundance of bushes, the knights had close to 2,000 troops. They spread out in all directions like a fan and started running, making it almost impossible to escape the encirclement.

“Save me…Please save me. We didn’t do anything. I just…I just wanted to live, so I hid here.”

Looking at the man begging for his life, Debigail closed his eyes and swung his sword.

-Suddenly

At the same time, Debigail spoke while looking at the man’s body lying on the ground.

“We also have no choice but to survive.”

Not long after the chase, dozens of people hiding nearby were killed.

“I can no longer feel the presence of people around Duke Diascota. Would you like to go further? Or would you like to look at trends around here?”

“What is there to look at? You just have to push forward.”

“It seems strange. The people I just killed weren’t very strong.”

“What’s the problem with that?”

“Being weak in itself is not a problem. The strange thing is that they are still alive. This is the inside of the Redgate Vortex. There will definitely be mutant monsters, and if you encounter even one of the mutant monsters, everyone nearby should have already died. However, the fact that so many people are crowded together means that there are no mutant monsters nearby.”

Duke Diascota spoke as if he were annoyed.

“What are you trying to say? So aren’t we just lucky? They say that if we can’t see the mutant monsters, luck will follow us.”

“That’s not true… The number of monsters that were normally reported was very small, and the number of mutant monsters was also extremely low. As if…someone is artificially reducing the population.”

Debigail felt uneasy and ordered some of the knights to check the inside of the surrounding Red Gate.

“Knight Commander Debigail! The Red Gate is sealed here!”

“Here too! Found here too! Someone sealed it!”

Debigail’s expression twisted.

‘According to the reported information, it will definitely take a while to reach the safe zone…?’

He was anxious and made several assumptions.

The first assumption is that the reporting may be incorrect. It was very unlikely that the information I heard before leaving the imperial palace was wrong.

The second assumption is that there is a force coming here, sealing the entire Red Gate in that short period of time.

‘Could it be…Leos…?’

This is ridiculous. It was unreasonable for one person to seal the Red Gate, which is located over 10 km away, in less than a day.

Debigail felt uneasy and gave orders to the knights.

“Move to the rear first. Go back and watch the trends…”

“What are you doing!”

Duke Diascotta got angry and slapped Debigail on the cheek.

“Now, every day is urgent. Who can call back the army at will? Just push forward and get in!”

“Ha…but Duke Diascota…”

“You know better than anyone else the fate of the knight commander who disobeyed his superior’s orders, right?”

“…”

Debigail had no choice but to slowly move his troops forward.

And not long after, I found a man rustling in the bushes.

“Who are you?”

They are different from those I met before. The man, who had an overwhelming size and seemingly well-trained muscles, raised his head and asked a question.

“Are you my brother?”

“…”

When Debigail was silent, the man, Bendict, glanced at Debigail and Duke Diascota, sighed, and waved his hands.

“Don’t waste time and go somewhere else. Right now, my brother is exploring the surroundings to kill the intruders.”

Duke Diascota looked at Bendict with a puzzled expression and spoke.

“We are the only ones around, so are you referring to us as intruders?”

“Ah…is that so? Fuck… I’m in big trouble. I feel like I heard something again. I told you to just scout around and not get caught… ah… can’t you just go? I’m an intruder and I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.”

Bendict started scratching his head wildly. Knight Commander Debigail carefully gestured toward his subordinate.

“Go and kill him.”

First of all, only one knight was sent to determine the strength of the team. Bendict jumped forward for a moment toward the knight who was charging at him with a sword, then dodged the sword and grabbed the man by the back of his neck, pinning him to the ground.

-bang!

As the man’s head was hit with a huge sound, silence fell around him.

“I’m warning you, please take your own path. I’m worried that my brother will really go crazy if he kills this many people. Let’s pretend we haven’t seen each other. Let’s just do our own thing.”

“Ha. Are you saying that after killing me first?”

“I don’t think that’s what you, who tried to kill me first, would say?”

Duke Diascota laughed and gave an order.

“Kill that arrogant bastard right now!”

Bendict muttered quietly as he drew his sword.

“If a person smiles and treats you well, you need to know the extent.”

Bendict and the Templars immediately began clashing.