Monster Heavenly King - Chapter 170



Only Noblemtl

170. Elf (3)

A man approaches with a fierce expression.

“I haven’t heard anyone go into the forest. What are you guys?”

Since the forest where the elves were located was strictly controlled, it was natural for them to be on guard.

Before Hyunseong could even speak, Kangcheol stepped forward.

“I’m just an Awakened One who happened to come here. I just got out of the maze.”

“You got out? From there?”

“okay.”

“You were lucky.”

At Kangcheol’s words, the man seemed to be deeply thinking about something.

A man tilting his head while staring at the steel so intently.

“I think I’ve seen you somewhere…”

“It is the steel of the Steel Guild.”

“… Have you heard of the Steel Guild? It’s a guild in Korea, right?”

Still, it seemed like it was a fairly large guild and had awakened members who were known overseas.

The Awakened One’s gaze, which had been scanning the area, stopped at Hyunseong, who was wearing a robe over his head.

“What’s that over there?”

In response to the man’s question, Kang Chul stepped forward and let out an angry voice.

“In moderation?”

Because there was no reason for them to be questioned.

In the labyrinth, it doesn’t really matter whether the Awakened are wearing robes or not.

‘Originally, there was no need to answer the first question…’

The only reason I answered was to make things go smoothly.

Since he had bowed and entered the room the first time, he naturally thought he was above others and asked other questions without any hesitation.

There were definitely guys like this.

‘Especially among the awakened ones on the front lines.’

Just the fact that you’ve made it this far means that you’re among the top among the many awakened people.

There were many people who thought they were special and accepted it for granted because they were praised by those around them.

“Oh, calm down. We didn’t really mean to fight. We were just being a bit sensitive, so we asked a few questions.”

A man who is desperately making excuses in response to Kangcheol’s reaction.

After all, it seemed that Kang Chul was not an easy opponent, so he chose to retreat immediately.

“I mean, we’re going in there soon.”

“…You’re going into the forest?”

“okay.”

“I don’t really recommend it.”

Steel spat out pure sentiment.

The inside was so dangerous that even he, a skilled attacker, felt lost and threatened.

If we had continued to fight without Hyeonseong, things would have been difficult in many ways.

“If you knew how much of a bounty there was on an elf, you wouldn’t say that.”

A man with a dark, hahaha laugh.

It was unusual for someone to have a magic stone mine like Steel, but even for an Awakened player who was clearing the 7th floor, 10 billion was a lot of money.

“Besides, we are going to prepare for that.”

“… Then I won’t stop you.”

I was curious as to how they would attack, but I couldn’t ask.

Asking for a strategy was no different than asking for a core skill.

Hyunseong, who had been quietly watching from behind, spoke to Seol-ah.

‘What method do you think it will be?’

-Well, I can’t even guess.

I think it would be difficult to catch an elf at the current Awakening level, but there are always exceptions.

Even Seol-ah could not have predicted what kind of outrageous methods humans would try.

‘… Burning the forest?’

-There are already guys who tried that when I was in that world.

‘What happened?’

– It was rain that was made to fall by magic, and the rain that fell for several days all came together in one place and drowned them all.

‘That’s scary.’

-I don’t know how, but I hope it doesn’t involve taking hostages.

Since so many humans have tried so far, it’s possible that they’ve caught an elf or two.

If you were thinking of using that elf as bait to attract other elves…

-The situation will get considerably worse.

‘… In what way?’

-The elves will no longer be hiding.

Elves had a sense of racial affiliation towards their own race.

That’s why, even if it was an elf I had never seen before, if I took them hostage, I couldn’t even attack properly to save them.

-That’s somewhat true.

Even the elves would go to great lengths to save their own captured race.

But the elves weren’t stupid either.

If there is no chance of saving them, you will have to give up cleanly and choose to kill them all.

-And, I will make the race that killed the same elf with their own hands pay the price.

‘… to the race?’

-Yes. And from then on, distrust of that race will continue.

In short, it was said that a war had broken out between humans and elves.

In fact, in the world where Seol-ah was, there was a time when humans did things like this and elves went around massacring humans.

-That war was quite one-sided.

The magical skills of elves are such that if they were human, they would be able to claim a place in a country.

When those guys rushed in in a group, humans were helpless and could do nothing.

-furthermore…

The 7th floor, where the forest spreads out endlessly, is a very advantageous place for elves.

Even the humans of this world had not yet established how to deal with magic.

-If something like this happens again in this situation…

It will be worse than before, not less.

Hyunseong, who had been listening to Seol-ah’s explanation, seemed to be deep in thought about something.

‘Maybe… that’s what the Association intended.’

-what?

‘Elena told you before, didn’t she? That the Association was preparing for war.’

-… Now that I think about it, that’s what happened.

‘Now it’s ready.’

It was clear that they were confident that they could capture the elf, so they offered a huge bounty and waited for the Awakened to gather.

To provoke the elf in any way.

‘Because when faced with a huge desire, humans can become more cruel than anyone else.’

It was clear that if the elves went on the attack, they would start playing the media in earnest.

We decided to conquer the 7th floor, which is beyond the 6th floor.

However, there were not only monsters there.

We approached them in a friendly manner because there was a race we could communicate with, but they massacred the raiding party without any response.

‘Elf is not someone you can communicate with. They are enemies of the Awakened and, by extension, of humanity. That’s how it is.’

This may be a bit of a far-fetched argument, but what can you do when there is evidence that a dead person was responsible and that an elf did it?

The idea was to create an excuse to openly capture elves without getting criticized.

-It’s quite detailed.

‘Well, I’ve fought with guys who always talk about excuses.’

Those Murim Alliance guys somehow packaged themselves and gave themselves legitimacy.

‘That’s when I realized how scary media play can be.’

At first, I thought it was just ordinary nonsense, but it worked so well that I ended up dealing with not only the moderates but also those who were in the middle, and I even had to suffer the humiliation of having to deal with people who didn’t need to be dealt with.

If your predictions are true and the association’s intentions are met.

‘It won’t end with just a little bit of blood flowing.’

The Association is not stupid, so they would have prepared in their own way, and the elves will also resist fiercely.

As I was thinking that, the man opened his mouth.

“Anyway, congratulations.”

“Congratulations?”

“There are only a handful of Awakened people who have gone into that forest and come back alive. So, what’s it like inside?”

“You’ve been asking me rude questions all this time.”

“I told you, I’ll be in soon.”

“That’s not why we should tell you.”

A man who clicks his tongue at Kangcheol’s firm words.

I tried to sneakily tease him and slowly get some information.

The guard was quite strong and did not spit out any information.

Rather, Kangcheol, who disrupted the opponent’s pace, opened his mouth as if it was no big deal.

“I met an elf. Or, to be more precise, I was attacked.”

“…?! Is that true?”

A man with his eyes wide open.

Not only did he wander through the forest, he was also attacked by elves, and he came back alive.

This may have been the first party to survive an attack by elves.

‘I thought it wasn’t normal…’

It might be beyond your imagination.

The man’s expression became serious.

Originally, I was planning to just listen to the information and then kick them out, but the information and skills they had were quite valuable.

“We buy information about elves.”

“What’s the price?”

“Hmm, how about a strategy for conquering the Forest Guardian area on the 7th floor?”

“This is information I already know.”

The man frowned at Steel’s words.

“really?”

“If you don’t want to believe it, you don’t have to. We just won’t make a deal.”

“Okay.”

What’s unfortunate is that since it’s the male side, there’s no choice but to bow down and go in.

While he was pondering what price to give, Hyunseong intervened.

“How do you prepare for the elves?”

“I guess that would be okay.”

“What? Hey, that’s…”

“Even if we knew that, it wouldn’t be a method we could put into practice right away, right?”

“Besides, since you didn’t say it was a strategy, it doesn’t seem like a surefire method.”

“Okay.”

A man in distress due to Hyunseong and Kangcheol’s instigation.

He seemed to have started tapping away at the calculator in his head.

“First, I need to know how much information you have. If I don’t know that, the deal won’t be possible.”

“How strong are the elves, how many of them are there, how many ways are they fighting? And any tips for escaping the maze?”

“… Is it true?”

Even leaving the previous ones aside, the last one was a coveted piece of information.

Because failure meant escaping the maze that would lead directly to death.

Hyunseong shrugged his shoulders and said.

“This is just a tip.”

However, that tip is just a tip that goes beyond the rules.

It wasn’t a complete lie, as the elf’s barrier contained a tactic.

Of course, even if it is a formation, depending on the formation, your tip may not work.

-You have a bad personality.

‘Only you will do it.’

-Where can you find a sword as good as mine?

‘He must be a very kind person, having even trained the Demon King.’

-That’s because I was young back then! It’s a story from my immature days.

‘They used to say ‘forever young’ and all.’

It was disgusting that he only tried to escape at times like this.

Anyway, Hyunseong stops arguing with Seol-ah and waits for the man’s answer.

Immediately afterwards, words of affirmation were heard from his lips.

“Okay, let’s deal.”

“So, what methods did you use to deal with the elves?”

The awakened one looked around at Hyunseong’s question and then cautiously opened his mouth.

It seemed like a whisper, but the voice came through clearly.

“… is a hostage.”

“hostage?”

Kangcheol tilts his head.

The man continued his explanation without paying attention to her reaction.

“I got information that elves have a strong racial bond.”

“So, you’re going to use other elves?”

“okay.”

“That means… it sounds like there’s already an elf that’s been caught?”

“that’s right.”

Hyunseong and Kangcheol looked around at the man’s affirmation, but there was no sign of an elf.

“It’s no use looking for it. What if that precious thing is visible to the eye?”

If it was natural, it was a natural measure.

Hyunseong looked around and sighed softly from inside his robe.

‘This is the worst.’

-I know.

I thought that wasn’t the only way, but it turns out that’s exactly how they use hostages.

‘He may look a bit awkward, but…’

The preparations were quite thorough.

If the elf tries to rescue the hostage, the consequences will be reversed.

If that happens… it will probably go according to the scenario I just told Seol-ah.

‘This is a headache.’

-What are you going to do?

‘What should I do?’

He sighed softly and answered.

‘We can’t let the association do as they please.’