Chapter 824
Episode 208. The Balmur Alliance’s Duty (1)
November 7, 1803.
“Hmm… So this is Luce’s gift for me, Murakan. Quite a rare item, indeed.”
Murakan lay on his side, scratching his back as he spoke. Beside him were piles of cookies baked by Latrig, and empty baskets that once held strawberry pies. Murakan was reading a collection of erotic paintings that Luce had entrusted to Tikan.
“Originals, not even copies. How on earth did you manage to get this on the run? Regardless, the kid’s thoughtful. I like it a lot.”
“Murakan, slacking off again?”
“What do you mean slacking off, Quikantel? I have nothing else to do.”
“Everyone else is busy except you.”
“What am I good at? Fighting. But there’s no fighting right now. Don’t think I’m just playing around because I want to.”
“Well, that’s true, I guess.”
The Red-Eyed Tribe continued their invasion of the Lutero Magic Federation. The conflict between the two powers was known as the Red Horse War.
Even though Elona had been freed from her seal, Ziphl had yet to gain the upper hand. In fact, the invasion had become more relentless, causing them trouble. Unlike the Balmur Alliance, they lacked teleportation technology.
Of course, Elona’s appearance wasn’t meaningless.
Whenever the Red-Eyed Tribe failed to locate her or miscalculated the time it took for her to arrive on the battlefield, those who encountered her were invariably wiped out.
Fortunately for the Red-Eyed Tribe, no airborne fortress or Great War King had yet faced Elona. They already regarded her as something beyond a mere Celestial Warrior of the Cheongmyeong Tribe.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Murakan recognized them as Jin and Gilly’s and quickly hid the erotic paintings and snacks out of sight.
“Oh, you’re here, kid. And my strawberry pie. I was meditating. You know how it is—when your power reaches this level, it takes quite some time just to organize it.”
“Clean the cream off your mouth before you speak. It’s obvious you were just goofing off.”
“That’s all part of management, you could say.”
“Sure, sure. I’m heading out to the Sword King’s Domain.”
“The Sword King’s Domain? Got it. Strawberry pie’s coming too, right?”
“Unlike you, Gilly has a ton of work and needs to rest. If you want to hang out with Gilly, you better do something yourself.”
“What kind of cold-hearted talk is that? Are you saying I have to do something just to get a date with strawberry pie?”
“Dating and hanging out don’t exactly mean the same thing.”
“Strawberry pie, do you agree?”
“Hmm, better than just sitting here looking at those paintings…”
“Heh, understood. Then I’ll get to meaningful work right away. Let’s go, kid!”
Murakan followed Jin out, and Gilly chuckled softly at their backs.
“Ugh, even with my old strength back, I just can’t get used to this.”
As the Red Owl finished its spatial leap, Murakan groaned again.
“I’ve got places to be today, what am I gonna do?”
“Ugh… If it’s to hang out with strawberry pie, I can handle this much.”
“Jin, you’re here? Murakan’s here too.”
“Brother Jin, and the great Black Dragon Murakan!”
Valeria and Luce greeted them warmly.
“Oh, Luce. The gift was perfect. It’s worthy of my collection. If you want anything, just say the word!”
“There are some big parts in the drying yard that need to be carved out. Please use your great power, Murakan! The knights and mages here alone will take too long.”
“That sounds like a meaningful task even strawberry pie would approve of. Alright, let’s go!”
Murakan immediately followed Luce into the drying yard.
“What about Dr. Quall?”
“Lately, Luce has been handling most of the construction, while Quall’s been focusing on research. He’s with Honka in the lab, but he’s in a delicate state, so it’s better not to disturb him. He’s practically losing his mind. If anyone but me goes in, there’ll be chaos.”
The internal beast Honka, a toad, had spent the longest time with Marliet Hister in the past. That meant Honka had witnessed the process of creating Ielo firsthand.
Thanks to that, Honka’s memories were a huge help in mass-producing Ielo. Although Honka didn’t fully understand Marliet’s work, he could describe what he saw and heard, and Quall would infer from that.
“I see.”
The Balmur Alliance’s growth depended heavily on Quall’s research. Distribution of communication devices, mass production of Ielo, the Golden Fleet, the Laprarosa restoration project, mass production of Red Owls—except for the paper production in the Wantaramo Forest, all of these were Quall’s responsibilities.
Moreover, Ziphl and the Red-Eyed Tribe were too busy fighting the war to check on the alliance, and Kinzello was still dealing with Orgal and Zephyrin’s condition. This made it the perfect time to focus on research.
Among these, communication devices and mass production of Ielo were urgent tasks. The Red Horse War might escalate into a world war at any time.
But the Red-Eyed Tribe wasn’t the only problem.
The Demon Barrier guarded by Ameris.
If that barrier ever fell, the demons trapped underground would begin to stir. And they bore no goodwill toward the surface world. After the world split in two, the demons had been forced underground against their will.
Most demons aimed to resurrect the Sun God or seize the surface.
—[There’s only one entrance to the underground world. Yet someone’s been pulling mortal beings up without my knowledge… How insolent. I don’t know what trickery they used, but I’ll find them, ask how, and punish them. How many demons have they summoned?]
—We can’t be sure, but we estimate no more than ten thousand. However, only about ten are strong enough to pose a real threat.
—[That’s just dust. They’ve been sneaking them out like petty thieves, using that steel dimensional gate ability you mentioned.]
According to Ameris, the demons under Orgal’s control were mere “dust” compared to the whole.
Besides, they likely possessed ancient technology like the Red-Eyed Tribe, making them a tough opponent for the current Balmur Alliance.
‘Of course, it’s best if the Demon Barrier never breaks… but Elona’s seal collapsed unexpectedly, too.’
The Demon Barrier and the Demon King Zito, sealed within the Holy Kingdom.
Jin had a premonition that, like Elona, these too would be unleashed suddenly one day. The Balmur Alliance—and the world—had to stand firm even after all these threats emerged.
Murakan’s return alone wasn’t enough. Ziphl’s ongoing stalemate with the Red-Eyed Tribe despite Elona’s presence proved that. It wasn’t about one person’s power; the entire faction had to be overwhelmingly strong.
“I’ll update you on progress. The communication devices will soon be produced in batches of five or more and distributed to each base. The portable versions have prototypes, but they still need improvements before practical use.”
“Still, having prototypes already is encouraging. Damn, that’s faster than Teven expected.”
“The mass-produced Ielo aren’t prototyped yet, but thanks to Honka, Quall’s finding clues one by one. If all goes well, the finished product will be ready within a year, as promised.”
“A year, huh? The Red Horse War won’t be over by then. As long as the Demon Barrier and Zito hold, there’s enough time.”
“And the Golden Fleet… well, analyzing recent Red-Eyed Tribe artifacts has yielded some progress, but there’s a fundamental problem. You know what it is, right?”
“I heard it needs a massive Light Core.”
“Exactly. We need to convert a Light Core or something equivalent into a power source. To get one that big, we either have to complete the Laprarosa restoration or take it from the Red-Eyed Tribe. The former’s timeline is uncertain, and the latter’s highly unlikely. The Golden Fleet’s blueprints were designed based on the Light Cores of the Demon King Tribe, not the Red-Eyed Tribe.”
“We’re not in a position to snatch a Light Core from the Red-Eyed Tribe anyway. That would mean entering the war. Plus, using their Light Core feels… off.”
“Even if we had a Light Core now, converting it into a power source is another problem. It’s not something we can solve with technology alone. At least, not with what we know so far.”
“So, if not technology, then divine power?”
“Probably. The missing parts of the Golden Fleet blueprints your brother Boras gave you are likely related to that.”
Right now, finding the lost blueprints was impossible. Those parts had been missing even before the current Demon Kings were trapped in Laprarosa.
“So unless my record magic becomes stronger or we find some revolutionary method, the Golden Fleet can’t be completed. Of course, even if not the Golden Fleet itself, building a comparable fleet is possible given enough time.”
To strengthen record magic, they needed to find a place of inheritance, but Valeria hadn’t found any new ones since Marliet.
‘In my past life, Valeria seemed to have found most of the inheritance sites when I was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. This time, with all the changes I’ve caused, it might be sooner… but there are too many uncertainties to just wait around.’
Besides, even if record magic improved, there was no guarantee they’d find the lost blueprints—or that the methods would still be feasible now.
Because of this, Valeria and Quaul were focusing on a “groundbreaking discovery.” They insisted that they needed to figure out the method themselves.
“As expected… the biggest issues are the Laprarosa restoration project and the construction of the Golden Fleet.”
“Exactly. Those two are why we’re running all sorts of experiments. But yesterday, the doctor and I came up with an idea.”
“What kind of idea?”
“Kaltor.”
“Kaltor?”
Julian’s guardian dragon, Kaltor.
After being rescued from Joshua’s villa by Jin in the past, Kaltor had consumed part of Ozdok’s inner core but still hadn’t regained consciousness. His heart was completely shattered—it was no surprise he remained unconscious.
However, thanks to Julian’s devoted care and the efforts of their comrades, there were signs recently that he might slowly start to awaken.
“That’s right—the thunder dragon, Kaltor. Once he wakes, we plan to try communicating with the storm god, Feitel. Feitel’s power is thunder-based, and as a deity, he should possess divine authority. We believe this might hold the key to our solution.”