Chapter 338: Justification for Slaughter

Heavenly City District 5.

The headquarters of the Ascender Guild, located in the deepest part, was running at the extreme of extravagance.

Expensive magic stone chandeliers scattered soft light from the ceiling, and top-quality wine and delicacies were set upon the massive round table where the guild's leadership had gathered.

However, a faint tension lingered in their expressions.

"I heard everywhere below District 6 has been completely laid to waste?"

"Yes. They say a guy called the Death Lord or whatever chewed everything up. Not only the remnants of Red Flag, but even the neutral alliance were all forced to their knees."

Guild Leader Karon clicked his tongue while swirling his wine glass.

"As if Lupus dying wasn't enough, to think those bottom-tier districts fell entirely into one bastard's hands. The world is truly turning in unpredictable ways."

"Still, our District 5 will be safe."

The Vice Guild Leader continued his words with a relaxed smile.

"We received intelligence that the meeting of the Seven Lords in District 1 ended not long ago. I heard a new agreement was made among those monsters."

"An agreement?"

"Yes. They officially recognized only up to District 6 as that guy Kim Minwoo's territory, and agreed that he would absolutely not cross the line from District 5 onwards."

At those words, a light of relief spread simultaneously across the faces of the executives sitting around the round table.

"True. No matter how much of a crazy bastard he is to wake up and become one of the Seven Lords, he can't help but fear the existing six."

"It is natural logic. The moment that bastard gets greedy and crosses the line, a 6-on-1 situation will be created."

The Vice Guild Leader added mockingly.

"Of course, the remaining six won't all join forces to suppress Kim Minwoo, but would there be only one or two who find it unpleasant for someone from the bottom to crawl up? If only given the justification, they will all lunge to bite him. Unless Kim Minwoo is a fool, he absolutely won't be able to send his army up for the time being."

"You're right."

Guild Leader Karon laughed heartily and raised his wine glass.

"Now that Lupus is gone, there is no breakwater in this middle district to block our Ascender Guild's growth. While that bastard consolidates his internal stability in District 6, we will swallow all the prime resources of this District 5 and go to a higher place..."

It was when his words reached their peak.

Taaaaang!!!!

A pitch-black bullet fired from hundreds of kilometers away, faster than sound, tore through District 5's multi-layered magic defense shield like a piece of paper and flew in. The thick outer wall was pierced, and.......

Peo-eong!

"......Huh?"

The head of the Vice Guild Leader, who had been smiling relaxedly until just a moment ago, burst apart like a watermelon.

Blood and brains dyed the round table red, and the headless body slumped forward with a thud.

"......!"

"W-What......!"

The moment the executives' thinking stopped.

Kwaaaang!!!

The massive main door of the meeting room was ripped off entirely, raising a cloud of dust.

Three figures walked in slowly through the acrid smoke. A woman wearing a black dress, a man twirling twin daggers between his fingers, and an assassin shining with red glints in her eyes.

"Oops. Looks like you were having a meal."

Namgung Min grinned without even wiping his bloodstained face.

"W-Who are you! Are you bastards from District 4?! Or remnants of Red Flag!"

Guild Leader Karon drew his greatsword in shock.

The defense shield being pierced was already astonishing, but the guild's second-in-command was killed instantly by a single snipe.

It was clear that the rankers of the upper districts had made up their minds and sent an assassination squad. Because otherwise, there was no way they could spew such a foreign and terrible murderous intent.

"Spit out who is behind you right now! Do you think you will be safe after daring to strike the ruling guild of District 5!"

At that shout, Namgung Min widened his eyes and tilted his head.

"Behind us? We don't have anything like that."

"What?" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"We're just diligent newbies who just came up after taking the test in District 6. We were just walking by and your signboard looked too displeasing so we bumped into it a little, why are you making such a grand fuss about who's behind us or assassination squads."

"Don't spout bullshit! You're telling me trainees who just came up from District 6 tore apart the guild headquarters' defense shield?! And where did that snipe fly in from!"

Namgung Min's lips tore open bizarrely and went up.

"Ah, that's just like an admission congratulatory cannon fired by a kind-hearted neighborhood noona. Anyway, this is just an accidental incident by hot-blooded trainees."

It was merely uncontrollable rookies coming up and causing a mess.

"These crazy bastards...... Strike! Mince them all!"

Along with Karon's roar, the elite guards waiting in the meeting room simultaneously drew their weapons and rushed in.

The auras spewed by dozens of powerhouses crushed the interior.

However.......

"I received a revelation that a holy relic of god is in a pagan temple."

Han Siah whispered in a soft voice.

Pitch-black mist spewed out like a storm from the Scythe of Silence she was holding.

Seoeoeok!

As the scythe lightly drew through the empty air, the upper and lower bodies of the three elite soldiers rushing at the front were silently separated.

Amidst blood spurting like a fountain, Han Siah smiled benevolently and took a step.

"If you hand over the holy relic, I will grant you painless rest."

"You crazy bitch......! [Ascension Sword Aura]!"

Karon's eyes reddened as he raised his greatsword to activate his highest-tier skill.

The moment mana condensed explosively and the blade shone blindingly.

Taaaaang!

Once again, a pitch-black bullet fired from the spire flew in.

“Keuaaaak!”

Karon's right shoulder evaporated entirely.

The greatsword rolled on the floor, and the condensing skill scattered vainly.

It was the supporting fire of the Death Sniper, Ifrin, who was perfectly controlling the tide of battle from hundreds of kilometers away.

“Wow, that noona's supporting fire is seriously hot! I can't lose either.”

Namgung Min's figure scattered in the empty air.

The trajectory of the Demonic Sword Cardis was erased.

The moment the first blade that induced defense grazed them, the second blade pierced the napes of the soldiers from an unavoidable blind spot.

“Keugh, cough……!”

Slaughter.

It was a one-sided butchering.

Whenever Han Siah's scythe grazed them, the defense shields were torn apart like paper, and Namgung Min's daggers accurately dismantled only the vital spots of living beings.

Those trying to run away backward fell with their hearts pierced by the blade of Lee Seoyoon who was hiding in the shadows, and those trying to prepare even slightly threatening magic or skills had their heads burst apart without fail.

“M-Monsters…….”

The time it took for the executive branch and hundreds of elite troops of the Ascender Guild to be annihilated was merely 10 minutes.

In the middle of the meeting room that had become a sea of blood.

Guild Leader Karon, the only one with his life still attached, was crawling on the floor while vomiting blood.

“D-Do you think you'll be safe…… after committing such an act……. Do you know how much tax we've offered to the top…… from District 1……!”

“Ah, you talk too much, seriously.”

Puk.

Namgung Min's dagger was planted into Karon's heart without hesitation. The light finally disappeared from Karon's pupils.

It was the moment the Ascender Guild, which had dreamed of being the conqueror of District 5, was erased like dust.

“Let's see.”

Namgung Min looked around while shaking off the blood-stained blade.

“I wonder where the safe is?”

“It's this way.”

Han Siah, who had broken through the massive steel door inside the meeting room before anyone noticed, walked out carefully holding an item wrapped in a holy cloth.

Through the gap in the cloth, three jewels emitting a mysterious and magnificent light could be seen.

Three divinity crystals.

It was the holy relic they had targeted.

“It is excellent. Lord Minwoo will be pleased.”

Han Siah smiled ecstatically while embracing the holy relic in her arms.

Namgung Min hummed a tune and sheathed his twin daggers.

“What, District 5 is nothing special either. How boring.”

He pointed at the still-pierced ceiling with the tip of his chin.

“Hey, how about we go straight up to District 4 like this? We're rookies taking the test anyway, so isn't it good to speed up the progress?”

“For the expansion of the cult, I will trample down however many dens of heretics there are.”

Lee Seoyoon appeared from the shadows and clicked her tongue.

“Take it easy, you lunatics. That guy Kim Minwoo told us to smash only up to District 5.”

Despite Lee Seoyoon's dissuasion, the deep madness that had yet to fade was gleaming in the eyes of the two.

Namgung Min's thirst, starved for pure slaughter and butchering.

And Han Siah's blind faith to expand god's territory with the blood of heretics.

Their grains were different, but both had the eyes of perfectly insane predators.

The Seven Lords would be relieved thinking they had tied down the massive disaster named Kim Minwoo below District 6.

However, they did not know.

That the crazy hounds unleashed by the Death Lord, who didn't give a damn about the agreement of the Seven Lords, had already begun to bare their teeth toward the upper districts.

＊ ＊ ＊

Kim Minwoo, who returned to Earth using the [Heavenly City Free Pass].

The Earth he returned to after a long time had been turned completely upside down, truly at the level of a heaven and earth creation, while he stayed in the Heavenly City.

The biggest change was exactly the status of the Ilsung Group.

To the extent of being called an awakened dragon while decorating the cover of the American TIME magazine, Ilsung had now become the absolute ruler of the global economy.

At its center was the dimensional emission cooling module planned by Kim Minwoo and announced by Ilsung.

A miraculous technology that throws out the immense heat generated in AI data centers into the dimensional rift (space), making the cooling cost 0 won.

In front of this technology, the owners of American big tech companies who had the global economy in the palm of their hands, such as Googol, Aamazon, and Micronsoft, had to gather in the main conference room of the Ilsung Group and tremble.

“Robbery, you say. We don't force you to buy it. You just don't have to use it. Instead, your competitors will use it. They'll be running servers with 0 won in electricity bills and slashing service prices by half; how long will you last?”

In front of Vice Chairman Kim Hyungseok's notification that was close to a threat, the great Big Tech CEOs had no choice but to scramble to sign the humiliating contract of paying a toll.

Even the US President, Robert, had chosen acquiescence in front of Kim Minwoo's overwhelming military power and Ilsung's technological hegemony.

“The money copying is going very well. And the believers are gathering well too.”

The unification of North Korea, the monopoly on reconstruction projects, and even China's infinite opening. As Kim Minwoo satisfyingly scanned the situation on Earth, an item he had forgotten about suddenly brushed past his mind.

‘Ainel's Second Tablet.’

The special item he had won the bid for by paying 57 trillion won at the Sky Auction House.

It was an item that opens an unknown dimension when combined with the First Tablet.

A time when an absolute spec-up was needed ahead of the dispute with the Seven Lords of District 1 right away.

“I need to clear this.”

He remembered promising to combine the tablets with the French ranker Isabella 4 months later.

But much more time had passed since then.

Kim Minwoo called her without delay.

“Hello, Ms. Isabella? Are you not coming?”

Isabella's tired-sounding voice was heard over the receiver.

―……Why haven't you contacted me until now?

“I was busy. I had to unify and handle North Korea, block the Shanghai Gate, and go to the Heavenly City.”

―Haa, I was busy too. Because of the Earth 2.0 update, S-rank and SS-rank gates burst open simultaneously, so I didn't even have a moment to catch my breath while running all over France.

“You suffered through that. Shouldn't we go clear the tablet?”

―……Ah, right. The tablet.

Isabella, who had been silent for a moment, answered.

―Understood. I will dispatch my private jet right away. I'm going to Korea.