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Chapter 232

Kim Jin-Woo had never imagined that the Usurper would start making his move now.

However, he didn’t fret, because he wasn’t alone. Mimir, who had been singled out as the first target of the purge right away, was in the same situation, and there were also Highlords who had awakened earlier than him.

It wasn’t that there was some kind of secret agreement, but Kim Jin-Woo didn’t think that the Highlords would want to coexist with the Usurper. Perhaps they too would start to make their moves.

However, it would be difficult to liaise with them right away. Mimir didn’t seem to have any intention of going to the front lines, perhaps because he had his own plans in mind, and the Highlords, including the Wailing Lord, were too far away from them.

Moreover, the Wailing Lord, with whom Kim Jin-Woo already had a prior agreement, had been robbed of something she loved, and she was probably too busy to tend to this matter. Kim Jin-Woo figured it would be hard to get assistance from her at the moment.

However, he had left an insurance plan in place for a day like this.

“Soon, chaos will fall upon the Underworld. Keep your focus and don’t be shaken.”

The blood of the Dragon Emperor, Agryptus, was in his possession.

“I’ll do my best to protect your labyrinth. But if that doesn’t work, with life and death on the line, I’ll take away all the duty borne by my son.”

Although it came with a few terrifying conditions, Agryptus was the first being that Kim Jin-Woo could reach out to for help. However, contrary to his expectations, the Dragon Emperor didn’t visit the Grand Labyrinth. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo decided to find him himself.

“Please give me a chance to wash away my sins.” The reunited Ortehaga begged again and again to be given a chance to restore his honor.

From Kim Jin-Woo’s point of view, it sounded absurd for a coward to speak of honor and the like, but he didn’t mention that contradiction. Right now, even the coward had a role to play.

“Guide me to your father,” he suddenly said. Ortehaga was left dumbfounded by his request, but he simply continued, “If your father is the unusually paternalistic Dragon Emperor I think he is, I’m sure he’s left you a little something.”

Ortehaga didn’t answer. However, it was too easy for Kim Jin-Woo to read into the mind of the immature Drakan, and he added, “With this, I’ll erase all your past mistakes.”

“Is that true!?” Ortehaga exclaimed.

As expected, the Drakan had fallen for the bait. His nature was so frivolous that it was ridiculous to think of him as a descendant of the proud dragons. Honor wasn’t something that could be restored with words alone, and he had proven that with his actions.

To Kim Jin-Woo, that didn’t matter at all. For him, someone who lived in a world where only the strongest survived, something like honor was nothing more than simple wordplay and delusion.

“So, guide me,” he reiterated.

“I’ll do as you wish, so please keep your promise,” Ortehaga said. He suddenly put his hand into his scale-covered breastplate made of unknown material, and pulled out a familiar sort of parchment.

“A portal scroll.” Kim Jin-Woo smiled as he looked at the parchment he had seen several times thanks to Mimir.

***

It wasn’t that difficult to meet the Dragon Emperor. As soon as Ortehaga tore the parchment apart and they stepped into the portal that appeared, countless Drakans surrounded them, followed by the appearance of the Dragon Emperor himself.

“Your butt must be pretty heavy, old man. I thought you’d come to me first,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Please explain yourself,” Agryptus replied.

Kim Jin-Woo frowned at the Dragon Emperor’s response, which was different from what he had been expecting. He asked, “What? Didn’t you get any contact from, you know, down below?”

“What do you mean, contact? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The Dragon Emperor truly didn’t seem to be aware of anything.

“This situation has gotten awkward, hasn’t it?” Kim Jin-Woo remarked. He was certain that Agryptus would have received orders from the Usurper, but that wasn’t the case. When he explained the situation to the Dragon Emperor, the latter’s expression quickly turned serious.

“It seems he doesn’t trust me anymore,” Agryptus said.

As soon as the Dragon Emperor spoke those words, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but think that the Usurper might have noticed that he and the Dragon Emperor had struck a deal.

He brought up a potential issue, saying, “The only ones that know Ortehaga is in my labyrinth are my trusted subordinates.”

“I too have no reason to talk about the faults of my clan when we might gain a Successor.” The Dragon Emperor had a reluctant expression as he said his security was tight.

“Things have gotten messed up,” Kim Jin-Woo said. Given the circumstances, it was no longer feasible to depend on the Dragon Emperor when he had been expelled by the Usurper. “No wonder things were going so smoothly.”

Even Mimir had failed to find out what the Usurper’s plan was, leaving Kim Jin-Woo’s mind in further disarray.

“Maybe I’m not the only one the Usurper is targeting,” Agryptus said.

The Usurper was said to trust no one, and thus there was no guarantee that even the Dragon Emperor would be safe. Even though he was a powerful being with his own mighty army, there was no way one hand could block ten. The Dragon Emperor seemed to have felt a sense of crisis, as his eyes looked more sunken than before.

“Now that it’s come to this, we must solidify our relationship even further.” Agryptus’ decision was surprisingly quick and decisive.

“Are you going to be alright? This is different from just helping out. Aren’t you also bound by your loyalty to your words?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

When Kim Jin-Woo asked about the unique trait of the Drakans, who would be cursed and damned for eternity if they break their words, the Dragon Emperor didn’t hold back in expressing his displeasure. “A master? A grown Drakan only serves themself.”

Apparently, the relationship between the dragon and the Usurper was more transactional than one of servitude. Kim Jin-Woo, despite failing to obtain any meaningful information, had been able to obtain a reliable ally in the Dragon Emperor thanks to the recent turn of events.

***

Kim Jin-Woo immediately went to seek out the Wailing Lord. However, her labyrinth was still empty, and he couldn’t meet her.

In the end, he returned to the Grand Labyrinth without any significant results, and began to reinforce his power by unleashing the insane amount of down gems Mimir had provided him with. However, having experienced the vast difference in power during the fight against the Satyrs, no matter what he did, he felt he was lacking.

But it was Angela who came to his rescue as a new alternative. After obtaining the True Blood, herindividual power became unparalleled, and soon, she began to form her own army by taking in the vampires that were drawn to the scent of her True Blood.

The truth is, until that point, Angela’s role in the Grand Labyrinth had been somewhat ambiguous. Unlike Morrigan and the other summons, she didn’t participate in the tough work of fighting on the battlefield, nor did she participate actively in the management of the labyrinth like Dominique and Rikshasha. She was simply a vampire that followed her Master around, having nothing else to do. That was the perception others had had of her.

However, her status had completely changed after obtaining her True Blood. The vampires had come to her after hearing rumors of the True Blood that supported her.

Hundreds of vampires shuddered, looking as if they were ready to die for the newly reincarnated Queen of True Blood, and they didn’t hesitate to lay themselves at her feet and declare themselves her slaves.

Given the situation, it wasn’t unexpected that Morrigan and the other summons expressed serious concerns. To them, who only served their one true King, seeing a crowd supporting a Queen right next to their King was unfathomable.

“Give me your permission, and I’ll wipe out these idiots who don’t even know who their true Master is,” Morrigan said, audibly enraged.

Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but get upset by Morrigan’s request. He had gotten nervous because of the news that the Usurper had begun to make his move, and he had no time to play along with Morrigan’s moods. He said, “They will be useful. So don’t interfere with what the vampires are doing.”

“But!” Morrigan protested.

How many times had it already been? Kim Jin-Woo let out a long sigh once more and said firmly, “Don’t act without my permission.”

It was in the nature of the Grand Labyrinth’s loyal summons to immediately eliminate anything, even a speck of dust, that could harm the dignity of their King. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo had to be firm with his orders. Thanks to this, he wasted a good amount of time dealing with the summons.

“Keke, looks like everyone’s dissatisfied.” Angela, who was, in a way, the culprit behind all of this, smiled the whole time as if she were enjoying the situation.

“That’s because they don’t understand why I’m not taking any action against the vampires,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

“Since it’s come to this, why don’t you just take them under your control?” Angela asked.

“Stop talking nonsense,” Kim Jin-Woo said. He knew very well that Angela would gladly hand over her entire clan if he wished to. But he had absolutely no desire to do so.

As a True Blood Vampire, the more vampires followed her, the more powerful she would become. Vampires would definitely be more useful if they followed a True Blood Vampire than if they were tied to a blood pact.

Given that fact, Kim Jin-Woo was very pragmatic with his decision-making, and refused to make any irrational decision clouded by doubt and envy.

“If you treated them as well as you treated Dominique and Rikshasha, there wouldn’t be such an uproar,” he remarked.

The only concern was that Angela was intentionally ignoring the resentment of the radical summons, including Morrigan.

The truth was, Dominique and Rikshasha didn’t seem upset at all about Angela’s fortunate turn of events. In fact, they seemed glad that a new power had joined their forces, and thus the True Blood Vampire was openly accepted by the war fanatics.

Angela seemed to be enjoying the attention, as she teasingly paraded her vampire followers around. However, she had a completely different attitude in dealing with the others compared to how she dealt with Dominique and Rikshasha.

“Are you intentionally ignoring them? I don’t understand why you’re treating them differently from the two girls,” Kim Jin-Woo continued.

Angela responded frankly, “Because Master’s affection is different.”

As it was an answer that wasn’t worth thinking too deeply about, Kim Jin-Woo didn’t respond.

***

The forces following Angela continued to grow. There seemed to be so many vampires in the Underworld that Kim Jin-Woo was left stunned.

Angela had initially chased the various migrants away from their residences in order to accommodate the vampires, but eventually, she had no choice but to occupy the entire western segment of the Grand Labyrinth’s outer perimeter. Unsurprisingly, the number of vampires who were now following her exceeded a thousand.

“I’m upset that I now have less time to spend with Master.” Angela complained that she needed more than a day just to take the newly joined vampires into her army, but she knew better than anyone else what was needed at the moment. So, despite her occasional grumbling, she spared no effort in expanding her powers.

As her clan grew stronger, she became stronger in return, as expected of a True Blood Vampire who grew stronger the more followers they had. She was growing at a truly astonishing rate.

At that point, even Dominique, who had trusted her to some extent, began to watch over the vampires with a subtle, concerned gaze. Of course, Angela paid no attention to what Dominique felt, as long as she was able to set aside some time to spend with her master.

“I didn’t manage to meet the deadline, but I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with the result,” Daedalus reported after a week. Kim Jin-Woo was finally able to hear the news he had been waiting such a long time for.

At the same time, the Ant Ghost finally arrived at the Grand Labyrinth.