Game of Divine Thrones

While Woohyuk and Leifina were tackling the higher levels of the Twilight Tower, Lee Jaesung and other Bronze Crown leaders were preparing for the eventual battle in the Valley of Kings.

Their current location was the Blue Misty Forest, as they felled some trees in order to build a ship to cross the Stymphalion Lake.

“It’s so much harder when the Boss isn’t around.”

“Nothing to do about it since he said that he will be gone for a little while.”

Lee Jaesung and Jung Sanghoon spoke as sweat poured down their faces. Unlike in the past, the party’s mood was rather somber.

Even if it had been a few days since they had lost their friends, none had forgotten that battle.

“Let me help you big sister.”

“Huh? No it’s fine, you are playing your Flute after all.”

Yoo Kayoung smiled back at Song Anna as she loaded a log onto the cart.

Her Flute’s buff was very useful in these kinds of situations.

“Still…”

“What are you worried about?”

Yoo Kayoung wiped the sweat off her brow as she approached Song Anna, who lowered her face with a dark expression.

“It’s nothing.”

“I’ve told you many times now, it wasn’t your fault. Stop beating yourself up over it.”

Song Anna felt guilty for being the one that was held hostage by Inoue.

As her heart felt heavy, Ahri, who was sitting next to her, raised her head and wagged her tail.

“You see, now Ahri is bored. Start playing the Flute again.”

“...”

Song Anna’s mood cheered up a bit seeing Ahri’s cute antics.

She resumed playing her Flute, falling into a trance as the time flew by. Soon after they had finished cutting down the trees.

[...Come here.]

She heard a soft whisper.

Startled, Song Anna spun around, but there was no one there.

“Who...who are you?”

It wasn’t the first time that this voice that was nothing but a soft whisper spoke to her.

[Come here.]

The voice was a bit clearer. At the same time Ahri stood up and ran in a certain direction.

“Hey! Ahri!”

Panicking, Song Anna chased after her. In truth it wasn’t that dangerous since all the monsters had already been taken care of. If ever she was to get lost, she could always use a Return Stone to arrive back at the Fortress.

“Where were you headed huh? Bad Ahri.”

Song Anna picked her up and scolded her. Still, rather than focusing on her, Ahri was staring straight ahead. 

Naturally, Song Anna also followed her gaze.

“A rock…?”

There was a large rock in the middle of the forest.

[Please release us from this rock.]

“Why is it that you are locked up in there?”

[An evil witch cursed us, binding us to this rock.]

The forest's blue mist was the result of the Witch’s desire to control the abilities of an Undine, a water spirit.

This forest had been an ideal place for the Witch’s hideout, and she had bound the Undines to the rock with a Magic Array.

[The others can’t hear us.]

Only an innocent child who had yet been corrupted by the world could commune with a spirit.

It was an ability which could only be discovered by trying.

Song Anna went ahead and destroyed the array, following the Undine’s instructions.

[Place the fox on the rock.]

The white fox had the innate ability to weaken the Witch’s magic. It didn’t take long for the rock to split open, causing a soothing blue energy to burst out.

[Thanks to you we are now free.]

As the mist in the forest began to clear, Song Anna who had been hugging onto Ahri, saw some white text appear before her.

[Hidden Class: Child Blessed by the Seven Stars]

[Intimacy with Spirits increased by 25%]

[Due to the Undine’s blessing, the First Star has risen]

[You can now commune with Spirits and summon them to the Material Plane.]

“What, what is this?”

Song Anna stood there with her mouth agape.

The Undine emitted a blue aura as she sat upon her shoulder.

[You are our friend, and have thus been Chosen.]

“What happens if I summon you to this plane, giving you a real body?” 

[I have no idea, want to give it a try?]

Song Anna nodded back. 

As soon as she completed the contract with Undine, they were both bathed in a blue light. 

Soon after a little girl with blue hair appeared and was of a similar age to Song Anna

“Uh…..oh…”

“Since you’ve made a contract with me, although I don’t know if I can be of much help, I will follow you from now on.”

The Undine stared at Song Anna with a smile.

*  *  * 

In front of the Fortress’ Fountain, a slim Chinese woman interrogated her prisoners.

“So you refuse to talk until the very end?”

“I really just don’t know anything about Chun Woohyuk….”

The prisoners that had been captured were all subordinates that served under other Bronze Crown leaders and had no intel on Woohyuk.

Although they repeatedly claimed to not know anything about Chun Woohyuk, Liang Tsuyu didn’t believe them.

“A Silver Crowned Leader that only has 10 subordinates… do you guys think you can joke around with me because I am a woman?”

“I heard they are an elite group…”

“Ha, this is a waste of time. Looks like I will need to meet him myself in order to learn more.”

Liang Tsuyu sighed, after which an aide of hers asked.

“What should we do with them?”

“Put them all in the Labor Camp, regardless of whether they are men or women.”

Ever since Inoue had died, Liang Tsuyu had forbidden any prostitution.

Of course there were still some women who continued to sell their bodies in secret, but at the very least the brothel and the sexist atmosphere it created was gone.

Now that she had settled all internal problems, how to win the main battle was still quite the headache.

Due to the loss of two Silver Crown Leaders, their faction was in quite the tough spot.

“We need some sort of special tactic, something that can swing the momentum back in or favor.”

“Why don’t we try a sneak attack during the night?”

Lately the Red Faction had been rather passive, so there hadn’t been any major conflicts during the day or night.

Aside from Chun Woohyuk’s last invasion, that is.

“We have no choice but to do that.”

“Yes, even if it isn’t anything huge, at least it will stop the enemy’s momentum.”

“Alright, gather all the leaders, we will hold a strategy meeting.”

Following her command, her subordinates were darted in their own direction.

While she sat on the near fountain, pulled out her Estoc (1)

 

A scar running down her cheek was reflected on her blade’s surface. 

‘Just you wait Chun Woohyuk, I’ll take your head tonight.’

It had been a few weeks since she had arrived in this new world, and she had to fight and claw her way to her current position.

After putting so much effort in growing her own personal power, when she stopped to look around, she noticed that she was stronger than any other man and became her group's Leader.

If it was a one-on-one duel, she had some confidence.

After visualizing how her duel with Chun Woohyuk would go, she opened her eyes exuding a sharp aura.

* * *

Night fell and the moon shone in the sky.

Liang Tsuyu covertly led an elite unit to invade the enemy faction. Their objective was the Guard Tower situated near the Witch’s Sanctuary.

Due to the heavy fog in the area, it would be quite difficult for the enemy to detect them. Especially now that it was the middle of the night.

[Make sure not to make a sound. It is said that she operates at night.]

They had learned from the prisoners that Hong Yuri preferred to operate during the night.

Even then they still chose this place as the target, because the plan was to leverage her close relationship with Chun Woohyuk.

‘You will have no choice but to come running once you learn your lover is in danger.’

She would ambush Woohyuk as he ran over to save his girlfriend.

Her eyes shining like a cat, Liang Tsuyu carefully examined the Guard Tower that sat on the hill before them.

There were only a few patrols, so it didn’t appear that they were expecting their arrival.

[We need to settle this quickly. If we cause a big commotion, we might get ourselves in trouble.]

They naturally wanted to suffer as few casualties as possible.

As Liang Tsuyu took the lead, her subordinates clad in leather armor followed behind.

When they silently crept their way up the hill, a woman’s voice rang out. 

“What is your purpose for showing up over here?”

It was Hong Yuri.

She looked down at Liang Tsuyu, as she stood atop a thin tree..

“You guys hurry and climb!”

Liang Tsuyu ordered her team, and then pulled out her Estoc

Upon seeing her response, Hong Yuri harrumphed. 

“You want to fight with me? Hmm...but I’m not interested in fighting unless it’s against handsome men.”

“Stop spouting nonsense and come down here you bitch!”

“What? Did you just call me a bitch!?”

Hong Yuri’s eyes turned blood red as she sent her New Moon’s Attraction flying  towards Liang Tsuyu

“Kuk”

Liang Tsuyu rolled to the side, avoiding the New Moon’s Attraction by a hair’s breadth.

However her next attack soon followed.

Cachaeng!

Sparks jumped out as their steel blades clashed. 

Hong Yuri licked her lips as she stared at Liang Tsuyu.

“You are so weak, even your face is so much uglier than mine.”

“Shut up!”

Angry, Liang Tsuyu tried to stab her repeatedly. 

A technique that could send out a flurry of stabs depending on the user’s level of skill.

Although it consumed quite a lot of Stamina, it could usually be used to suppress the opponent.

Of course this was only the case against ordinary people.

“Ha!”

Hong Yuri laughed as she jumped into the air.

Shortly after her translucent chain bound itself around Liang Tsuyu.

“Shit”

“Escape if you can.”

An electric shock ran through the translucent chain. As Liang Tsuyu screamed in pain, her men attacked Hong Yuri as one.

“That was nice, I really wanted to try out this technique just once.”

Hong Yuri let out an evil laugh as she dodged the incoming arrows.

A blood vortex originated from her hand and then spread out.

KoOooooooo!

[Cursed Princess’ Song]

Its destructive power was so great, because it used up 10% of all of her Blood Energy.

A spell that reversed the blood flow in your opponent's body. Even if they managed to endure it, if they were within the Blood Vortex AoE, the skills they could use were limited and their Stats dropped as well.

“Just what class do you have?”

“Blood Queen.”

Although she was nothing but a maid in the eyes of a certain man.

Hong Yuri grabbed a nearby enemy and sank her fangs into his neck, bright red blood flowed down into her throat.

“Vampire…?”

Liang Tsuyu trembled, a look of incredulity upon her face.

It wasn’t a monster that she was facing, but rather a player.

Something about this situation was just too wrong.

“Why are you so scared? Should I turn you as well? You look like you would be quite useful.”

As Hong Yuri bared her fangs, dozens of vampires appeared beside her.

[Red Crescent Moon]

Even without having to rely on the Call to Arms skill, she could summon up to 100 vampires to her side at a moment’s notice.

“Dammit…! Everyone, retreat!”

“No...Now?”

“Yes, right now!”

Seeing their leader use her Return Stone, the rest of them quickly followed suit.

Hong Yuri tossed the man she had just fed on to the ground, with an expression of boredom.

‘If it weren’t for Woohyuk, you’d all be dead.’

Using Carmilla temptation, she could have put them all in an illusion. She could have also hypnotized Liang Tsuyu after she’d been tied up by the translucent chain.

Still, she had to let them go in order to keep the balance between the two sides. Liang Tsuyu couldn’t die until Woohyuk cleared the Twilight Tower.

As soon as she died, there would no longer be any Silver Crown leader on the opposite side.

‘They just got their asses handed to them, so it should be quiet for some time now.’

Since they didn’t know Woohyuk’s whereabouts, they also had to be on guard as to where he might strike next.

Hong Yuri bit her bottom lip as she thought about Woohyuk and Leifina being together in the tower.

‘Let’s worry about that later on. If I start getting jealous, I’ve already lost.

He wasn’t the kind of man to easily succumb to a woman’s charms anyways.

She may be the one suffering through some tough training instead. 

Hong Yuri had a bitter smile, as one of her vampires approached.

“Queen, I’ve brought the prisoners.”

“Good work.”

In order to expand her influence, she needed to grow her number of vampires.

Hong Yuri sank her fangs into the unconscious captive’s neck, causing him to wake up to a scene of pure terror.

* * * 

After Liang Tsuyu’s failed sneak attack, the Canyon Battle entered a period of relative calm.

Although the Red Faction was in a favorable position, Samuel’s incompetence was such that he wasn’t able to bring an end to it by himself.

Before leaving, Woohyuk had left his coins as well as command to Hong Yuri.

During the daytime Lee Jaesung would be acting commander in her stead and controlled the other Bronze Crown leaders.

Although there were still some deaths everyday, the number was quite low and wasn’t enough to cause any real shift in power.

It was at this point that Woohyuk climbed the higher floors of the Twilight Tower one by one .

The higher each floor, the bigger the stage would be, as well as the difficulty of the quest required to clear it.

From suppressing a Noble’s rebellion, to rescuing a princess who had been captured by a fallen Empire.

Woohyuk eventually managed to clear any trial thrown his way, and finally stood before the door numbered 100 as it opened.