Stop, Friendly Fire!

<Chapter 48. - Premature Family Plan - 5>

To Prince, the Metal Army's base was a safe hiding place, but to Seira and Dana, it was a place that allowed them to ruminate over their anger. To Lee Shin Woo, it was a golem manufacturing facility, as well as a beachhead that would allow him a direct route to attack the capital. And finally, to Kratia, is was like a treasure vault.

"As expected. Another world's magic engineering's impressive. I see unlimited potential."

"I'm not so sure, but if you think so, I'm sure it's true."

It's been so long since Kratia had last been so energetic. Then again, it made sense. After all, she'd underwent special training in battle magic, so she hadn't had enough time to study anything. But following the battle, she had projects like the Titan or the Huginn's Eye to look forward to, so...

Normally, one would loathe an increased workload, but she got excited over it like a pervert. 'It's a bit upsetting, but people like her probably revolutionize the world,' he thought vaguely and finished up all the tasks he needed to do here. He'd only pulled the lever on the far right side, yet he heard a loud noise from afar.

"Now we can go to the capital whenever we want."

"...I'm getting tense."

"It's not like we're going right away."

If he could, he'd like to reach level 9 before then. Moreover, he wanted to complete the Titan before then as well. If there were a Hyperbolic Time Chamber lying around somewhere, then he'd go in, undergo strict mana training, and reach level 9 no matter what, but... It was most unfortunate that he didn't have the time right now.

"It's all Seagald's fault."

"But it was ultimately you who pulled the trigger, Lee Shin Woo."

"Giving me the cold, hard truth isn't good for my mental health, so can you not...?"

There was one last thing he needed to find, so he exited the room and perused the other facilities more quickly than before. There was still Arema's room, as well as a place similar to the command and control center (where all the golems' situation reports were directed to) to get to.

There was also a storehouse filled with emergency-use consumable magical devices as well. And...

"Found it."

"It's really dark. What's the room even for?"

"Don't move. If you set foot into this room without Arema's seal, a ton of traps will activate."

Just how important could it be, for the security of this particular room to be even stricter than the command and control center, or the device that remotely controlled the tracks. The party didn't know why they had to, but they followed Lee Shin Woo's instructions and waited outside. Lee Shin Woo used Arema's seal and then went into the room.

At that moment, the once dark room lighted up. It was an extremely small room. Aside from the lights, all that could be seen was a small table, a crystal that lay atop it, and a chair.

"What kind of treasure is it, for them to go so far to protect it?"

"This isn't a treasure. This is the Empire's most dangerous 'switch'."

"Switch...?"

"Ah, is it...!?"

It seems like Dana was the first to realize what it was. Lee Shin Woo strode into the room and placed his hand atop the crystal.

As expected, it was a device that would send a signal somewhere through the infusion of mana. Moreover, it used darkness element mana as a foundation to connect you to someone far away. This is...

"A communication device. Moreover, it's a communication line unaffected by the barrier."

The reason for it being unaffected by the barrier was extremely simple. This communication device was created by the same person who'd made the barrier... In other words, it was created by the surface's Magic Emperor. He ignored the others, who widened their eyes, and calmly sat in the chair.

"What are you doing!? Are you going to declare war on the Emperor!?"

"You dumbass. There's no way I'd do that."

Lee Shin Woo scolded Jin and tapped his cheek. With that, his face and armor began to change. It was an unbelievable change, even to those witnessing it firsthand. What's worse, the group couldn't even sense any magic, so they watched dumbfoundedly.

[Why are you so surprised? I can switch between a human and an undead, so why wouldn't I be able to turn into a golem too?]

"No, you... Your mana presence too."

"Arema Steelworker. If I hadn't seen this with my own two eyes, then I would've thought that Arema Steelworker had returned from the dead. My god. How?"

"When I transformed the Chimeras, I received some info on Arema too. ...Ah, with my current abilities, I could imitate him pretty well without it though."

At that time, everyone realized what his intentions were. They were just speechless. Lee Shin Woo was trying to do something unbelievable!

Lee Shin Woo told his party to remain quiet just in case, and even told them to even stand far away from him. After that, he made sure his disguise was perfect and activated Wild Card while sifting through Arema's memories. This skill would conceal any awkwardness of his.

"Done."

He stepped far enough away from the crystal and then infused his mana into it. Lee Shin Woo waited a short while and then, a person's face appeared on the crystal. Someone he couldn't meet no matter what he'd done on the surface... The surface's Emperor had appeared.

He'd indirectly met the Magic Emperor before. At the time, the Emperor had been controlling the Evileye General, Shurina Von Hegel, so Lee Shin Woo could recognize him immediately. This was the real deal, the true Magic Emperor. He wasn't borrowing another person's body this time. He had shown up in his true form.

Then again, he supposed there was no reason for the Emperor to put up a facade in front of the general he'd sent underground.

[Arema.]

[Your Majesty.]

There was no reason to waste time between them. Arema had served the Magic Emperor for several years and they shared the same beliefs. They could tell what the other was thinking without even saying it.

[So there's been a change underground.]

[That's correct.]

[Report, my loyal friend.]

Yet, Lee Shin Woo was fooling that very Emperor!

[Anti-Skull has made their stand. The exiles were transformed into Anti-Skull and Seagald was attempting to break through the barrier. He's an irregular. He's not like a normal undead; the most dangerous type of individual.]

[So... are you saying that he can move forward? Truly?]

[It's truly unbelievable, but... That's correct. I was forced to sacrifice the Four Heavenly Commanders to find that out...]

Lee Shin Woo had figured out how Arema or the Magic Emperor referred to the denizens underground when Chi Paul had absorbed Arema's body and had become an Android. He couldn't sift through the memories in any detail, but it was the bare minimum to imitate Arema Steelworker.

[...Seagald. A descendant of the Retadanes.]

[...]

A voice filled with profound emotion. He didn't know what else to say, so he remained quiet, but being silent was what Arema Steelworker would do here as well. As one of his vassals, asking about the Emperor's personal feelings was impermissible!

How long did he remain silent? The Emperor suddenly spoke.

[The Retadane family still had that much power left? He must be level 8. Am I right?]

[That's correct. But he uses some unknown power. Flames... Flames that control everything.]

[Flames...?]

The Emperor narrowed his eyes. Lee Shin Woo acted like he hadn't noticed this and raised his voice.

[That's correct. Flames that could both hide and disguise himself... I've never seen flames like it. If he didn't have such an unusual ability, Stake wouldn't have been killed. I wasn't careful enough!]

[Hides and disguises him...? An innate element...?]

[Your Majesty?]

[Move forward? Doesn't act like an undead, but acts like a human being?]

The Emperor was in deep thought. If he acted like he hadn't noticed this as well, then it'd show. Lee Shin Woo questioned and the Emperor asked once more.

[What else did you find out about him?]

[I was able to steal one of his weapons in exchange for one of my subordinates. It was broken, but we've managed to preserve its shape. But does this hold any significance...]

[Show me.]

[Yes, Your Majesty.]

Lee Shin Woo showed him the weapon he'd prepared beforehand. What was it, you say? It was a bisected Fire Dragon's Scale Greatsword.

[...Ha.]

The Emperor laughed.

[Hahahahahaha!]

The room reverberated with his laughter.

[Your Majesty!? Did you figure something out...?]

[Yes indeed! I didn't think I'd see him again, but that's where he was!]

The Emperor raised his voice, as if it would pierce the heavens themselves. The fury and the humiliation in his voice...! Lee Shin Woo acted like he couldn't understand, but then widened his eyes as if he'd come to a sudden realization.

[Your Majesty, is that...? The surface! That's impossible! Are you saying that he's already gone to the surface!?]

[I thought I'd killed him. I was arrogant. I thought he was some foolish hero, but I was wrong. It's been a long time since I've made a mistake like this. He acted like he was dead. A wielder of an innate fire element should've seen through my Lightning Bind. They wouldn't have been killed so easily! What a show. Retadane. He wasn't raised as the successor of light, but as an entertainer on a stage!]

The Emperor's voice kept rising and falling. Lee Shin Woo groaned quietly and the Emperor added.

[There was an individual who rapidly increased his influence with the backing of merchants and religious orders. I assumed he was one of the heroes summoned underground, so I took care of him immediately, but his successor soon appeared, who could wield his power, albeit poorly. I was trying to figure out when I could kill her, but... My assumption was wrong. They're nothing more than pawns that were sacrificed by him.]

[Cut the tail...]

[Indeed.]

Lee Shin Woo presumed. The Emperor gritted his teeth and nodded his head.

[He moved as he pleased by acting like a muscle-headed hero, but he must've went back underground when he'd gotten all he needed. He left behind such good bait (the religious orders), diverted my attention, and hid himself, acting as though he were dead!]

[How dare that traitor... Your Majesty, if you just give me another chance, I promise to catch him and present his head to you!]

[No. You won't be enough.]

Lee Shin Woo gritted his teeth and declared. Then, the Emperor stood up. That pale skin and the protruding fangs. He must've sucked blood just recently, as his teeth were stained with blood.

[I'll send you reinforcements. These lowly peasants don't know their place and weren't satisfied being underground, so they dare bare their fangs at me? Then, I'll just catch them all and crush them...!]

[As you wish, Your Majesty!]

[My loyal friend, Arema. Can you figure out where they are?]

[If you just give me a little more time, then I can figure out where they're hiding!]

[Excellent. The day your suffering is at an end and you return to the surface, I'll give you everything you could want!]

The line went dead. Just in case, he remained in that posture for a little longer. Once he confirmed that the line was dead, he inspected the communication device once more, stepped outside, and closed the door while maintaining Arema's form.

"Nice. That's one thing off my list!"

Then, Lee Shin Woo returned to his hero form and smiled refreshingly.

"Junior, what did you just do?"

"Ah, nothing much."

Lee Shin Woo waved his hand and replied.

"I told you that I was on the surface for a while, right? While I was there, I acted like a hero who could wield flames. But when I met Seagald, I was like 'He can wield flames too?'. So, I thought I could blame Seagald for everything."

"...Is it really that easy?"

"People who aren't at the site of the crime normally take a few clues and come to a conclusion themselves, so if I were to twist those clues around, then it's easy to fool them."

Lee Shin Woo had left the surface very subtly. He was caught in a huge explosion, so no one could ascertain whether he had survived or not, and a successor had even appeared soon after. The Magic Emperor had been leery of this.

But then he'd met Seagald, the only undead who didn't act like an undead, who could not only use an innate element, but also used a sword as his primary weapon. It would be strange if the Emperor didn't suspect Seagald.

And if that happened, it would become easier for him to claim that his words to the Emperor were an act. Though in reality, it was all an act.

"Well, it would've been annoying to have to worry about both Anti-Skull and the palace. I figured the Magic Emperor could take care of Anti-Skull for us, so I improvised."

"That was... improvised...? I thought everything was planned out from the start..."

"It was obviously improvised. Ha. Now that you mention it, I was worried about leaving Jin Jin alone on the surface, but with this, the Emperor won't worry about the religious orders as much. I have to figure out where the Anti-Skull's main base is and tell the Emperor ASAP."

"..."

Lee Shin Woo hummed as he walked through the corridor. Everyone else was speechless. Kratia, who had been quietly watching him, murmured.

"The wicked Heaven Defying General. He's so cool."