“Hey! Why are you surrendering?!”
Venus, the priestess of the tree, shouted in confusion at the surrender of the Underworld Mercenaries.
Then,
Squeak!
[You didn’t say that Golden Cat Theo Park was here!]
Instead, Jango, the leader of the Underworld Mercenaries, scolded Venus with anger.
“What?! Golden Cat?! Where’s the gold?! Are you so incompetent that you can’t handle one stupid-looking cat?”
Ready to draw and swing his dragon claw,
‘Meow! This stinks as terrible as Chairman Park’s poop smell!’
Venus exclaimed in an angry voice, seeing Theo rummaging through his bag in disgust due to the stench of the rats.
Venus, who had been waiting for the death of the Mother Tree, had no interest in external news.
Thus, she had not heard any rumors about the rising star of the Black Tower, the Golden Cat Theo.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
[Stupid?! Watch your words! That person is the great Black Dragon’s subordinate, the deadly dragon claw, Golden Cat Theo Park!]
Jango hurriedly explained to Venus about Theo who was plugging his nose with a nose plug.
In their view, Theo and Venus were on the same side. A single word from Venus could have led to the annihilation of everyone present.
Squeak!
[Anyway, we’re getting out of here!]
“What?! Wait a minute…”
Thus, Jango quickly cut ties with Venus and
Squeak…Squeak?
[Um…great Golden Cat Theo Park, may we leave now?]
he asked Theo, groveling, but
“Puhuhut. Of course not, meow!”
Theo firmly refused Jango’s request, intending to tell them to refill the treasury before leaving.
However,
Squeak! Squeak!
[Understood! Then please eat only me!]
Misunderstanding Theo’s words, Jango walked forward and lay down in front of Theo, saying,
‘This is the fate of a leader. Thank you, guys, for everything. If my life can save the other rats…’
Jango closed his eyes, preparing to be eaten by Theo.
However,
“Why are you lying down, meow? Hurry up and follow, meow!”
Theo walked past Jango towards the treasury.
Squeak! Squeak!
[Yes! Understood!]
At Theo’s call, Jango hurriedly ran to Theo’s side. Theo~nim spared us! Theo~nim is generous!
As Jango was praising Theo,
“What?! This treasure is mine…”
Venus stood in Theo’s way, but
“Move aside, meow!”
Thump.
She was knocked unconscious by a hit to the back of her head from Theo’s front paw.
A moment later,
“Ugh! What’s this smell?!”
Sejun, who followed Theo late, covered his nose from the terrible stench.
Kueng!
[Dad, Cuengi think she pooped herself!]
Cuengi, hanging from Sejun’s leg, said, looking at the unconscious Venus. Being with the Underworld Mercenaries for a long time had deeply ingrained the smell.
Then,
Pop! Pop!
[Master, first block your nose with this. Cuengi, take one too.]
Flamie plucked one of her leaves and handed them to both.
“Flamie, are you okay?”
Sejun asked Flamie in a worried voice, hesitant to take it,
[Yes! I’m okay! Look…ta-da! The leaf grows back!]
Flamie reassured Sejun by regrowing the leaf.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Thanks to Flamie, Sejun comfortably inserted her leaves into his and Cuengi’s noses.
Kueng!
[Flamie~noona, your leaf smells good!]
“That’s true.”
Thanks to the fresh scent from Flamie’s leaf, the poop smell was no longer present,
“Let’s find Theo first.”
Kueng!
[Got it!]
Sejun, along with Cuengi and Flamie, moved towards where they felt Theo’s presence.
As Sejun passed by,
Whoooosh.
The wings of the unconscious Venus caught fire and burned completely.
‘If you do something bad, you must be punished.’
Flamie, who had learned about Venus’s deeds to the Mother Tree through the Birds Bearing Tree, punished Venus on behalf of the Mother Tree.
***
Seoul, Gangnam.
“Master, I will bring the car.”
Right after leaving the tower, while Kim Dong-sik went to get the car,
“Master?!”
“Yes. It’s me.”
Han Tae-jun called his first disciple, Cha Si-Hyeok, who was handling the work of the Awakeners Association on his behalf.
And,
“What?! Safe zone? What’s that?”
Cha Si-Hyeok reported to Han Tae-jun that three more Black Towers had appeared in Korea.
And because of this new phenomenon, the whole world was requesting talks with Korea.
“I have more urgent matters to attend to, so you handle this, Si-Hyeok.”
“What?! There’s something more urgent than this…?”
“I’m hanging up.”
Han Tae-jun declined Cha Si-Hyeok’s request to return quickly and hung up the phone.
It would soon be a year since Sejun had been unable to return home.
‘Naturally, one would want to go home even more on such a day.’
So, now, the most important thing was to ensure Sejun didn’t fall into homesickness and decide to leave the tower.
Then,
Vroom.
Kim Dong-sik arrived with the parked car.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Han Tae-jun and Kim Dong-sik headed to Hannam-dong to deliver Kim Mi-ran’s home cooking to Sejun.
***
“Puhuhut. This is exactly what I was looking for, meow!”
Theo found what he wanted in the treasure vault and smiled brightly,
Squeak!
[Congratulations, Theo~nim!]
Clap, clap, clap.
The Underworld Mercenaries nearby congratulated Theo.
“Puhuhut. Thank you, meow! No! Not thankful, meow!”
Theo quickly took back his gratitude as the rats had just tried to steal his treasure.
And,
“Puhuhut. You guys can leave now, meow!”
Squeak!
[Thank you!]
Of course, it wasn’t just about letting them go.
“Stamp your paw here before you leave, meow!”
Theo pulled out a bundle of contracts. You guys are now my subordinates, meow! Vice Chairman Theo was hard at work even today.
As Theo was collecting stamps on the contracts from the rats,
“Vice Chairman… What is all this?!”
Sejun arrived at the treasure vault and was shocked to see the bustling large rats. He felt chills all over his body without realizing.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, you’re here, meow! Guys, this is Chairman Park, meow!”
Theo greeted Sejun warmly and introduced him to the rats.
Squeak! Squeak!
[Hello! It’s an honor to meet you!]
“Uh? Uh……”
Sejun ended up greeting over a thousand rats.
Upon closer inspection, they seemed somewhat cute. If only they were cleaned, they might look even cuter…
Kueng!
[I am Dad’s son, Cuengi!]
Cuengi proudly introduced himself to the rats, pointing at Sejun. Cuengi’s dad is the best!
As they exchanged greetings, the inside of the Rainbow Castle became busy.
“Hurry and find Venus!”
The royal guard, who had held a funeral and discovered Venus’s secret passage, entered Rainbow Castle to search for Venus.
And,
“It’s the treasure vault! There are intruders here!”
The royal guard discovered Sejun’s group and the Underworld Mercenaries inside the treasure vault and called for backup.
“Who are you to be in our Kingdom of Kov’s treasure vault?!”
The soldiers who requested backup aimed their weapons at them,
Squeak!
[Theo~nim, we will clear the way for you!]
Jango stood in front of the royal guard,
Squeak! Squeak!
[If there’s a fight, dad will be in danger! Put down your weapons!]
Cuengi also tried to step forward,
“Cuengi, let’s eat honey.”
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Sounds good!]
Sejun diverted Cuengi’s attention to honey to avoid further damage.
Then,
“These people are guests of the kingdom. Stand down.”
Piyo! Piyo!
[That’s right! Don’t attack them!]
Chirp!
[Hello, owner of the Mother Tree!]
Kyao!
[Hello!]
King Loui of Kov appeared with Piyot and 100 baby birds.
Just a moment ago.
Prana and Loui found a group of baby birds wandering around the capital while returning to the castle.
“Loui, look! Those are newly born chicks!”
“Oh! Really!”
Thus, Prana and Loui flew towards the birds,
Piyo! Piyo!
[This is a school! The food is so-so, but the sausages sold at the canteen are delicious!]
Piyot was seen eagerly sharing all the knowledge it knew with the baby birds.
However,
Piyo!
[That’s enough guidance around the capital! Let’s go to the castle!]
Piyot, not even two months old, didn’t have much knowledge to share with the baby birds.
As Piyot was about to lead the birds to Rainbow Castle,
“Piyot, where did these baby birds come from?”
Piyo! Piyo!
Responding quickly to Prana’s question, Piyot explained that Sejun and they had worked hard, and the new Mother Tree had birthed these birds.
“Really? I must see it for myself!”
Thus, Prana went to check the new Mother Tree,
“Can we go see the castle now?”
“Of course. Follow me. I’ll guide you.”
Piyot, following Loui with the baby birds, found Sejun.
Thanks to that, Theo managed to leave the treasure vault without any major conflicts, holding the item he wanted.
“Loui, stamp it, meow!”
Theo handed Loui a contract. The contract stated that the treasure vault would be given to Theo.
Loui, who had promised to give what was requested, saw that Theo wanted all the treasures inside the treasure vault.
Though it seemed like a greedy request,
Press.
Loui happily stamped the contract.
If it weren’t for Theo, the country would have been ruined, so giving away one treasure vault was more than feasible.
Moreover, unbeknownst to Theo, there were several more treasure vaults within Rainbow Castle.
“Puhuhut. Now all of this is mine, meow!”
While Theo was laughing brightly, unaware of the fact,
“Your Majesty. We have found Venus.”
A soldier ran to Loui, reporting that they had found the unconscious Venus.
“Then, I must go as I have matters to attend to. Sejun~nim, Theo~nim, thank you for nurturing the Mother Tree.”
Loui bowed in thanks to Sejun and Theo and hurried off to where Venus was.
And,
“We’ll be leaving now!”
Whoosh.
The Underworld Mercenaries also departed.
“Let’s get out of here for now.”
Sejun moved to a place without the foul smell to head to the 99th floor of the tower via waypoint.
Arriving at the waypoint, Sejun asked,
“Vice Chairman Theo, so did you find what you wanted?”
“Puhuhut. Yes, meow! Chairman Park, take this, meow!”
Theo pulled out a bottle containing a teal colored liquid from his bag and handed it to Sejun.
“What’s this?”
Sejun moved the bottle around, looking at the liquid that occasionally shimmered with a metallic luster.
“Puhuhut. It’s something good, meow!”
Theo, hanging from Sejun’s leg, confidently answered with a twinkle in his eye. Praise me, meow! Pet me, meow!
“Really?”
Sejun petted Theo’s head with one hand while examining the bottle closely.
[Giant’s Blood]
???
“Giant’s Blood?”
Sejun, almost brainwashed by the education that unidentified items are dangerous,
“Aileen, could you appraise this for me?”
Sejun quickly asked Aileen to appraise it.
Shortly after,
[The tower’s administrator is pleased that Theo has brought an excellent item.]
Following Aileen’s words, the appraised bottle appeared on Sejun’s palm.
And,
“As expected of our Vice Chairman Theo! Vice Chairman Theo’s paws are worth a million dollars!”
Sejun checked the item and excitedly exclaimed while holding Theo’s front paw.
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! My front paws are very expensive, meow!”
Theo smirked and quietly moved Sejun’s hand to his belly.
***
The Outskirts of Destruction.
“It seems the recovery has finally ended.”
Fenrir remarked as he watched the red mists solidify and form a shape.
And then,
Caw!
As Fenrir thought, Halphas finished recovering and revealed his form.
“What’s going on?”
Halphas asked, seeing that all twelve Apostles of Destruction were gathered in one place.
“Halphas, take command in my absence.”
“What?”
“Get the details from Jǫrmungandr! You all, depart!”
“Yes!”
At Fenrir’s command, the nine Apostles of Destruction from the fourth to the twelfth seats moved towards the nine towers guarded by dragons,
“Let’s go too.”
“Understood.”
Fenrir covertly approached the Black Tower riding on a fragment of Jǫrmungandr.
A moment later,
Boom!
The battle began with the fifth seat of the Apostles of Destruction, the Screaming Banshee, and the Ice Queen Sasha launching an attack that froze the entire Red Tower.
*****
4/10
