Chapter 135

Grave of the Radiant Dragons

It was the dimension where the King of the Dead, the Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo, and the King of Radiant Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction, “Dragon Emperor Antares,” fought their final war.

The strongest among the eight Monarchs born from the primordial darkness.

The only Monarch who had ever overwhelmed the Shadow Monarch.

The King of Radiant Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction, Antares.

He was a being of destruction who would not hesitate to bring about his own ruin if it meant war filled with blood, screams, madness, and devastation.

Yet, in the end, he was defeated by Sung Jinwoo, and the Legion of Destruction that he led was wholly absorbed into the Shadow Army.

As a result, the dimension once known as the “World of the Dragons” was left in ruins, with the ashen remains of dragon corpses whose souls had been stripped away, scattered and swept by the wind.

The immense amount of ashes spread through the cracks of the dimension, drifting to different places.

And so, by sheer coincidence, the ashes found their way into Echo Forest, where dimensional rifts had already opened in various locations.

Looking back, it was nothing short of a miracle that Cha Hae-In and the Wyvern Kaisel happened to enter this particular rift among the countless others.

Had they entered another dimension instead, Kaisel might have never recovered his strength and would have disappeared forever.

Regardless, something strange happened.

From the moment Kaisel stepped into the space where the gray ashes swirled, his depleted strength began to gradually return.

And the deeper they ventured into the areas where the gray snow fell heavier, the deeper they went into Echo Forest, the faster his recovery became—albeit slightly.

Then what would happen if they directly entered the source of these gray ashes, the Grave of the Radiant Dragons?

Perhaps Kaisel could fully restore his strength.

[That is my thought as well.]

Beru nodded in agreement with Cha Hae-In’s hypothesis.

At that moment—

“I’m going too if Cha-Cha goes!”

“Huh?”

Sirka suddenly interjected, clinging to Cha Hae-In’s arm with fierce determination.

“I couldn’t bear it when you went alone last time! From now on, no matter where you go, I’m coming with you.”

[The King of Yetis, the Monarch of Frost, also gladly approves.]

“Wait, no, you can’t just approve that on your own.”

Sung Suho was taken aback when even the Monarch of Frost joined in.

He had only just reunited with his mother after years apart, and now, it seemed like they were about to be separated again.

To make matters worse, the place his mother intended to go wasn’t even in the same dimension.

She planned to pass through the dimensional rift beyond Echo Forest and enter the Grave of the Radiant Dragons.

“There must be a dungeon somewhere beyond that filled with the dragon ashes. Once inside, Kaisel’s strength should recover at a much faster rate.”

“I agree with that reasoning. But if that’s the case, I’ll go with you.”

“No, you won’t.”

Cha Hae-In looked at Suho with a firm expression.

“You need to return to Korea first. We never know when or where the Apostles of the Itarim will appear again. You have to stop them in place of your father.”

“But those Apostles could show up where you’re going too.”

“So what if they do?”

At Suho’s rebuttal, Cha Hae-In smiled confidently, her gaze unwavering.

With that, she spun the Demon King’s Longsword in her hand and firmly planted it into the ground before looking back at her son.

“Son, are you seriously worried about your mom right now?”

Crackle! Crackle!

Sung Suho glanced at the Demon King’s Longsword, blue lightning flickering around it.

Now that he thought about it, his mother was an S-Rank Hunter who had once effortlessly cut down an Apostle of the Itarim with that very sword.

Cha Hae-In grinned mischievously and began scolding Suho playfully.

“Who’s worrying about who here? You should go back and level up. How do you even sleep at that level? When you return, I’ll check your level, understood?”

“Ugh…”

Suho felt utterly wronged.

Mom, you never said stuff like this when I played games as a kid…

Even Beru nodded along, looking pleased at Cha Hae-In’s words.

[Indeed, while the Young Lord has become stronger than an ant larva, it is still difficult to feel at ease leaving him alone.]

In the end, Suho sighed and conceded.

“Fine, I’ll at least help you find the gate leading to the Grave of the Radiant Dragons. That should be okay, right?”

After all, he had some unfinished business here.

Namely, post-battle cleanup.

—

“Hyungsoo-niim—!” (T/N : Hyungsoo means Sister-in-law)

Over the waters near Facade Island, an Ajin Soft private jet arrived.

Yoo Jinho had flown across the Pacific the moment he heard that Cha Hae-In had been found.

“Huuuwaah! Hyungsoo-nim, you must have been through so much! You don’t know how worried I was… Sniff…!”

“Ji… Jinho-ya. I’m fine, so please, that’s enough…”

Cha Hae-In glanced behind her awkwardly as Yoo Jinho clung to her, wailing with tears and snot running down his face.

Behind him, his entourage of secretaries looked flustered, completely unaccustomed to seeing their normally composed CEO in such a state.

But Yoo Jinho didn’t care.

“Sniff! Hyungsoo-nim! I remember everything now! He left me behind! No, I mean! Hyungnim, Hyungnim—!”

“Ah, yeah, Suho already told me about that. Alright, alright, stop crying now.”

“Hicc! Hiccup!”

No matter how much she tried to calm him down, Yoo Jinho just kept sobbing.

Ever since regaining his past life’s memories, every time he thought about Sung Jinwoo and the sacrifices he made alone, he couldn’t hold back his tears.

And now, it turned out that Cha Hae-In also remembered everything and had even been stranded in a bizarre dungeon all this time!

If he didn’t cry now, then when would he?

“Huuuwaah…”

“Jinho, please… think about your age. People are watching.”

But what could she do?

Right now, the person standing here was no longer the iron-willed CEO of Ajin Soft, the one who built his own success story.

He had momentarily returned to being the reckless young man of his twenties, who used to follow Sung Jinwoo around with a bright, carefree smile.

Cha Hae-In, well aware of how Yoo Jinho was feeling, could only smile helplessly, realizing there was no stopping him.

Then, suddenly—

Yoo Jinho’s swollen eyes met Sung Suho’s gaze as he stood beside Cha Hae-In.

“…Ahem. Anyway, I’m just relieved you’re safe, Hyungsoo-nim. And Suho, you’ve been through a lot too.”

“….”

Trying to regain his composure in front of Suho was futile at this point.

Suho simply shook his head.

Once Yoo Jinho’s tearful outburst had finally settled, Suho brought up the real reason he had called him all the way here.

“Anyway, Uncle Jinho, I need to borrow some money.”

“Oh, right. You wanted to buy the exclusive rights to the Glacier Dungeon, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I’ll pay it back soon by selling the spring water from Echo Forest.”

At the mention of business, Yoo Jinho’s demeanor shifted.

Of course, his eyes were still puffy from crying, so his usual charismatic presence was somewhat lacking.

Suho had already updated Yoo Jinho about his mother’s rescue and the current predicament on Facade Island due to the Glacier Dungeon.

The situation was as follows:

“The Glacier Dungeon is no longer conquerable. The beasts inside can’t be cleared out anymore.”

To clear the dungeon, they would have had to eliminate the Ice Elf tribe, including Sirka.

But since that was no longer an option, they needed to find an alternative solution.

“I understand that much. If the Ice Elves are close to my Hyungsoo-nim, then, of course, we can’t just kill them. What about relocating them outside the dungeon instead?”

“You mean letting them live on Earth?”

Even if they removed the Ice Elves from the dungeon, it would still technically count as clearing it.

However, the Ice Elves outright rejected that idea.

“Absolutely not. The Baruka tribe has a duty to protect the Monarch’s Sanctuary. We will remain in the forest.”

Yoo Jinho turned to the small figure glaring at him—Sirka.

“Huh, she’s pretty cute. What’s she saying?”

“….”

To Yoo Jinho, Sirka’s beast-like language just sounded like adorable babbling.

“Alright, so relocation is out of the question. But you’re saying the spring water from the Glacier Dungeon—Echo Forest’s spring—is a valuable detoxifying potion?”

“Yes. Since it’s underground water, it won’t dry up easily.”

Of course, even underground water wasn’t limitless. If they kept drawing from it, it could eventually run dry.

But that wasn’t necessarily a problem.

“Hmm. If we flood the market with too much supply, the price will drop. The key is to release it in controlled amounts. Also… we need to determine just how effective the detoxification is.”

Yoo Jinho calmly ran the calculations in his head.

The description simply stated that it neutralized toxins, but they needed proper verification.

Which poisons could it counteract? How potent was the effect?

Thorough testing was necessary before launching it as a product.

Evaluating a product’s true value before selling it was the most fundamental business principle.

And ensuring that process was done properly required manpower, time, and, of course, money.

That was where Yoo Jinho, the businessman, came in.

“But Suho, let me confirm one thing. Technically, you joined the Scavenger Guild’s raid on this dungeon. Doesn’t the Scavenger Guild want to claim the exclusive rights?”

Yoo Jinho was curious.

After all, this was an incredibly lucrative business—just drawing and selling hot spring water from the dungeon would generate an enormous profit.

Why wasn’t the Scavenger Guild fighting for it?

At that moment, Thomas Andre’s secretary, Laura, approached from the Scavenger Guild’s side.

“That is indeed a regrettable situation for us. However, the Ice Elves have stated that they will only allow Mr. Sung Suho access to Echo Forest’s spring.”

Laura looked genuinely disappointed.

But from the Ice Elves’ perspective, their decision was obvious.

Echo Forest’s spring was located within the Monarch of Frost’s Sanctuary and was not something to be freely shared.

Even finding the path through Echo Forest’s blizzards was nearly impossible for ordinary humans.

This meant that, ultimately, their only option was to ask the Ice Elves to retrieve the spring water for them.

“The Ice Elves have made it clear that they will only fulfill such a request for Mr. Sung Suho or Ms. Cha Hae-In.”

It was a given.

Suho and Cha Hae-In had earned the trust of the Ice Elves, even receiving the acknowledgment of the Monarch of Frost himself.

“So, our Scavenger Guild would like to propose a deal with Mr. Suho—”

“Wait.”

Yoo Jinho raised his hand, cutting off Laura mid-sentence.

At that moment, a flurry of secretaries rushed to his side, carrying thick stacks of documents.

Laura instinctively swallowed nervously at the overwhelming sight.

‘…This isn’t going to be an easy negotiation.’

The foolish young master who had been sobbing with swollen eyes in front of his sister-in-law moments ago was gone.

Now, standing before her was Yoo Jinho, the iron-willed businessman, exuding an aura of cold calculation as he gazed down at her.