Chapter 101: The Fall of Delbet
Lee Shin and his party arrived at the entrance of the Citadel City of Delbet. The gatekeeper checked the identities of the members of Lee Shin’s group, who were all wearing robes.
"Hmm, where are you from?" the gatekeeper asked.
"We are from Lantan,” Kanoko said.
"You’re from Lantan?" the gatekeeper asked.
Kanoko retrieved Lantan's emblem from her pocket and showed it along with her Pattern to the gatekeeper.
"Wow… you came from Lantan," said the gatekeeper.
"We want to meet the Lord. It's urgent, so we'd appreciate it if you could inform him as soon as possible," said Kanoko.
"Oh, I see. What should I tell the Lord?" the gatekeeper asked Kanoko.
"Tell him that Kanoko and Kohei from Lantan have come. We have to deliver urgent news regarding the Merteng situation,” Kanoko said.
.
“All right, please wait a moment," said the gatekeeper.
As the gatekeeper went inside to deliver the sudden news of their guest, the other soldiers also began to move quickly. Kanoko and Kohei let out a shallow sigh after seeing that.
"Will everything be okay?"
"We'll be fine. They don't know that we invaded Merteng. They'll probably just confirm our credentials with Lantan," said Kanoko.
"But Lantan doesn't know our plan, do they?"
"Yeah, but if it's Hazuki, he'll handle it sensibly," said Kanoko.
"Well… if it's Hazuki, he'll probably handle it with his usual tact."
Kogo chewed on his lips anxiously, despite Kanoko and Kohei’s reassurances. Although Lee Shin also hesitated at Kanoko's sudden proposal, he eventually accepted the plan, thinking it would be much easier if her plan succeeded. Besides, it did not matter if her plan failed because there was a backup plan.
Thump.
A small door, part of the massive entrance, opened, and the gatekeeper rushed out.
"Please come in. The Lord is waiting," said the gatekeeper.
The four of them smiled faintly. As they passed the largest door of the city, they realized the city had developed considerably, far more developed than the current Merteng.
The challengers were reminded of the vast differences in development between Merteng and Delbet upon seeing the latter's thriving cityscape, despite their awareness of Merteng's destruction and reconstruction.
After walking inside for a while, Lee Shin’s party finally arrived at the entrance to the inner city of Delbet. The knights guarding the place saw Lee Shin’s party and took them inside. The air was heavy with unconcealable tension from the castle entrance to its interior.
“You may enter,” said the knight.
The door opened with a creaking sound, revealing a large table in the center of a spacious room. Sitting there was a middle-aged man, Robert Plant, the Lord of Delbet.
The man exuded immense strength and an elegant atmosphere, which bespoke that no qualified individual from Lantan could harm him regardless of their prowess.
“All right, so tell me, what made you rush here all the way from Lantan,” Robert asked.
Robert sounded arrogant yet dignified, gentle yet fierce. Kanoko and Kohei tried their best to hide that they felt pressured by Robert’s aura, but they could not pretend well before Robert.
‘Whoa…’
After looking at the members of Lee Shin’s party, Robert seemed interested. Although Kanoko and Kohei appeared to be the group's leaders, they were frightened, and the wizard behind them was tense. However, the man with a bat on his shoulder seemed unequivocally calm.
‘He must be the real one.’
Robert’s sharp gaze ignored the three challengers and targeted Lee Shin instead. When Lee Shin felt the gaze, he stared back at Robert. When their eyes met, sparks seemed to fly off.
The sudden tension between Lee Shin and Robert made the muscles of the others around tighten.
"Hmph, let’s sit down first," Robert said.
The three challengers, who had been on edge, breathed a sigh of relief. Robert had been the first to ease the atmosphere, almost like the strong doing the weak a favor.
Robert was still not even a little nervous, but Lantan’s qualified individuals here were. If he were here alone, they might not have been this anxious. However, Robert had two extraordinary knights and a wizard on either side of him, and ten knights were blocking the entrance they had used to enter.
The Japanese challengers could not relax because they knew they would be the one in real danger if a fight broke out, not Lee Shin.
‘Are they the guardian knights of this castle? The wizard looks like the Head of the Ministry of Magic.’
Lee Shin wondered why someone as skilled as Robert would meet messengers from an ally with such a force. It seemed clear to Lee Shin that Robert had noticed something.
"Well, is that bat a pet or something?" Robert asked Lee Shin, looking at Lilian.
"What? How dare you—" Lilian got offended.
"Wait. Since you already seem to have noticed, let's not waste our time, Lord Robert Plant,” Lee Shin replied.
Robert’s gaze hadn’t left Lee Shin the whole time, silently telling Lee Shin to reveal his identity.
"Hahaha, I don't know who you are, but you're quite bold," Robert said, looking at Lee Shin.
"I'll ask you directly. Where are Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju?” Lee Shin asked.
For the first time, confusion flashed on Robert's face at Lee Shin's straightforward question.
‘Wait. Has he not figured out who I am?’?thought Lee Shin.
If Robert had figured that out, he would have been more attentive and guarding better due to the disappearance of soldiers and knights in the Demon Realm between Tetir and Merteng. But if that wasn’t the case, Lee Shin had nothing to worry about.
"Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju? Why is Lantan looking for them?" Robert asked.
"You don't need to know that,” Lee Shin replied.
"Hmm... Strangely, someone with a mere Orange Pattern has such a strong influence. If you reveal your identity, we'll tell you where Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju are," Robert replied, looking at Lee Shin.
"Are you serious? You still haven't noticed who I am?" Lee Shin said.
The atmosphere in the room shifted suddenly. Robert's eyebrows knit together, and his expression hardened.
Bang!
Lee Shin abruptly slammed the table, and his mana froze as it followed the resultant cracks in the table to attack Robert.
Craaack—!
Clang—! Crack!
Robert pulled out his sword quick as lightning and shattered Lee Shin's ice. The soldiers and knights drew their swords with a resounding clang, preparing themselves for battle immediately.
“What the hell is happening all of a sudden…?” Kohei was shocked.“Darn it!” Kogo shouted.
“We have to stick together!” Kanoko shouted.
Kanoko, Kohei, and Kogo gathered together to stop the charging knights. In the meantime, Skeletons with ominous glares crawled out of Lee Shin's shadow, which stretched out in all directions.
“This power is… No way…” Robert muttered.
"You just realized it now? Since you know my identity now, it's your turn to answer," said Lee Shin.
Lee Shin's black mana spread throughout the space as he talked. Since they were in the middle of a battlefield in the enemy territory, he couldn’t drag out the fight and had to finish it as soon as possible.
[Summoning the World of Death]
A strong sense of death aura filled up the entire space. The frozen wicked thoughts of the dead started to melt down and began to flow toward the knights.
“Keugh…!”
“Darn it! My body feels so heavy all of a sudden!”
“Hang in there! It’s just a spell!”
This skill decreased the abilities of all living things, so everyone here was 10% weaker now except for Lee Shin.
[Due to the effect of Divinity Class, all abilities have increased by 20%.]
At the same time, the Divinity Class increased Lee Shin’s strength.
Woong— Kwaahhhhh!!
A black bolt flashed from Lee Shin’s finger and attacked Robert. The waves of thunderbolts swept around the entire space, and Lee Shin’s powerful dominance seized the area.
Krahhhhhh!
Khaak!
The Undead, immune to death’s grip, tore apart the knights, mercilessly extinguishing the enemies' lives one by one.
[You have taken away the Strength of Knight Philip.]
[Your Strength has increased by 1.]
[You have taken away the Agility of Knight Primo.]
[Your Agility has increased by 1.]
[You have taken away the...]
[...]
Since the Chaos stat had grown, the extortion of enemy stat had also become more active. Lee Shin could feel the growth in his abilities in real time. It was an overwhelming battle filled with fear.
Feeling the danger of the World of Death more than anyone else, Robert Plant turned very pale.
"Where did your confidence and composure go?" Lee Shin laughed at Robert.
Mana gathered in Lee Shin’s hands as he approached Robert.
"I'll ask again. Where are Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju?" Lee Shin asked more demandingly.
***
The aftermath of the battle was a telltale sign of the battle’s ferocity. All the furniture was broken, and the entire castle had shaken as if in an earthquake.
Cough!
Robert, who kept vomiting dark red blood, glared with his bloodshot eyes—a reaction common among those who had come face to face with something unbelievable. Lee Shin pierced Robert’s heart; Robert didn’t answer him until the end.
[You have defeated Lord Robert Plant, the Castellan of Delbet.]
[Your merit points have increased by 7,500.]
Robert Plant's sword dropped beside his cold body. Lee Shin picked up Robert’s sword and grabbed the gem embedded in the sword’s pommel called the Stone of Life.
When Lee Shin injected his mana into the gem and started to apply pressure, a crack appeared on the gem's surface. Crack!
Finally, the Stone of Life turned into powder, and the castle shook. And soon, the castle became a dead city.
[You have shattered the Stone of Life of Delbet.]
[Your contribution to the fall of Delbet is being calculated.]
[You have acquired the merit point based on your contribution.]
[Your merit points have increased by 99,800.]
If the first reason for invading Delbet was to check whether Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju were alive, the second was to obtain these merit points.
[You have used 100,000 merit points.]
[You have acquired the 『Yellow Pattern』.]
[Yellow Pattern]
You have received the qualification to go to the Yellow Zone.
# Your Health and Mana points increase by 9%
# Your overall stats increase by 15%.
Before the orange pigment on Lee Shin’s hand had even dried, it had turned yellow. The Japanese challengers who saw it could not help but laugh out loud.
"Wait, so he just got the Yellow Pattern?"
"It hasn't been long since he got the Orange Pattern, though."
"He wasn’t satisfied with just defeating knights, so he brought down a castle to get merit points."
"Is he from the same world as us?”
"I'm more surprised that Lee Shin got the Yellow Pattern just now. Did a Qualified individual with an Orange Pattern really kill the Castellan of Delbet, the guardian knights, and the Head of the Ministry of Magic?” Kanoko asked.
"I knew he was powerful… but it's still unbelievable."
The three challengers remained silent, in shock. In the meantime, Lee Shin looked at the Pattern on his hand, lost in thoughts.
To get to the Yellow Zone as quickly as possible, where a full-scale war was happening, Lee Shin thought destroying a castle was the best way. Additionally, starting from the Yellow Zone, Tetir and Merteng had a ground travel route separate from the Demon Realm.
Now that Lee Shin had the Yellow Pattern, he also had a nice secondary route in that direction. What mattered to Lee Shin now was whether Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju were alive.
"Get up." Lee Shin ordered, looking at Robert Plant, who had become undead.
Lee Shin handed Robert’s sword to the undead with glaring blue eyes.
"Your knights are helping you even in death," said Lee Shin.
[Strengthening of the Corpse]
After strengthening Robert Plant with the knight corpses around him, Lee Shin asked Robert about Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju, hoping that his memories had not disappeared yet.
“I remember,” Robert replied.
“Good, so where are they?” Lee Shin asked.
"They're heading to Narden through the Yellow Zone," Robert replied.
“What? Why are they there?” Lee Shin asked.
"To lure out the Saviors hiding in Narden," Robert replied.
Lee Shin’s face hardened. They were trying to use hostages to lure Shin Ha-Neul, Kang Ji-Hoon, and Baek Hyun-Ah and kill them because these people would likely take the risk to save those two.
“Damn bastards.”
"Wow... that's terrible."
"Exactly! What kind of humans would do such things?"
The three Japanese challengers, who had been listening to Lee Shin and Robert’s conversation from behind, spoke up. Lee Shin looked at them and shook his head.
‘Don't they ever think about their past?’
Lee Shin clicked his tongue, walked up to the window, and spoke while looking at the Delbet, which had been destroyed instantly.
"We're leaving. Now."
There was no time to waste here. It was certain that Tetir would lead a large army here, as they would not have expected that the Delbet Castle would abruptly disappear.
First, Lee Shin’s party had to get out of here quickly. Next, they had to rescue Kim Kang-Chun and Ji Eun-Ju, who had left some time ago. After entering the Demon Realm, Lee Shin could not deliver the message to Merteng, but he thought it would be enough if they were informed of Delbet's fall.
‘I wonder if Jaden negotiated well with Wildes.’
Things could get a little complicated if the negotiation fell through, so Lee Shin hoped it ended well.
***
"Darn it, there are so many soldiers over there as well."
"We're almost in the Yellow Zone, though."
"There are soldiers all around. My Terrain Detection has already detected so many of them. I think it will be hard to get out…” Kanoko said.
Trying to avoid Tetir’s soldiers closing in from all directions, Lee Shin and his group hid inside a mountain to observe the enemy's movements. Their current situation made it hard for them to avoid the enemy.
‘I think it would be best to handle them quickly and get out of here.’
Lee Shin had to use his mana, which covered a wide field, to locate the enemy's position and attack their weakest spot.
"We're just going to break through, so get ready," Lee Shin announced his plan to the group.
Lee Shin’s mana waves had detected a large group of soldiers that seemed slightly different from Tetir’s soldiers. He moved north to confirm their identity and smiled after learning it.
‘There they are.’
The reinforcements that Lee Shin had been waiting for had finally arrived.