My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness - Chapter 174
#174
Footsteps of a Hero (1)
“Wow… the Internet is abuzz with Hahoe Tal these days. Well, I said it all to the point where it was even on the news. “Maybe it was because of the video’s influence, but it was slightly pixelated.”
“Still, I think I’m overreacting more than I thought.”
“I can’t help but be amazed. Isn’t this the first time a being like the Bone Dragon has appeared on Earth? Plus, the people in our country like that kind of thing, so it continues to ignite the flame.”
“Something like that?”
Jin So-ran, seeing Heinz tilting his head, smiled and continued speaking playfully.
“Why do you put a K in front of it? Nowadays, they call it K-Hahoe mask. Did you say you were also nominated for the Duyuno Club? Phew.”
“…Hmm, it’s so useless. Anyway, the important stuff is almost over, so I’ll leave now. Jinso-ran, let you handle the rest.”
“Ah yes! Okay, Rod. “Please come in.”
After concluding the small talk and leaving Heterosis’ office, he immediately disappeared into existence and fled to his residence.
Of course, the real Heinz II was still in the Kingdom of Thalia, and he was currently using “object projection.”
‘I should refrain from projecting myself as Hans until my work in Japan is over. By the way, it’s Buncheonhoe…’
The conflict between Hans and Buncheonhoe that occurred not long ago gave him a lot to think about.
This time, thanks to Heratos, we were able to break the trap and turn the tables, but that was not a reason to look down on them.
‘In fact, it’s the opposite. If I had been careful, the only answer would have been to cancel the summons. Against an enemy of that level, the undead were of little use.’
In fact, it wasn’t that he didn’t bring out the undead from the beginning.
I just gave up midway after realizing that my poor fighting power would only get in the way in the fight against them.
It was only natural, considering the fierce battle in which black magic had to be poured out like a bombardment across the battlefield.
The undead that were created on Earth using only black magic without special materials or processes inevitably had limitations.
Of course, it would have been helpful if the high-ranking undead from the immortal army had been brought out…
‘Until I created the subordinate subspace, I thought I could now summon undead from the other world and use them at will… Well, back then. It was a time when I didn’t know much about the laws.’
Unlike the awakened people who deviated from the laws of the world, the undead of the other world, who operated by their own systems, collapsed as soon as they were taken out of the earth, making normal operation impossible.
Except for Heratos, whose heart role was replaced by Hans due to his uniqueness as a bone dragon.
In addition, as in Outerica, it was impossible to send reinforcements through the transmission line when necessary, so there was currently no other way than to cancel the summons if it felt dangerous.
‘But we’ve acquired quite a bit of high-quality materials this time, so things will get better in the future, right? The preparations for Salma’s transformation into undead are slowly coming to an end.’
As such, we had high expectations for the Earthlings and Awakened Undead that are currently being painstakingly produced.
Although their level may be a little lower than when they were alive, the undead who meet transcendence but ignore the laws of the world will continue to be helpful in the future.
‘Just in case, the finishing work will have to be done on Earth. A process that requires a lot of time and materials can be done in another world and the benefits can be enjoyed on Earth. This is an environment that all necromancers would envy.’
This meant that the additional corpses secured this time would be reborn as top-class undead in just a few days on Earth, so the power increase was happening at a speed that was unimaginable to the Buncheonhoe.
But even that was still considered insufficient for now.
‘That level of strength was only limited to the Japanese branch… including a small number of people who came from China to provide additional support?’
I couldn’t properly search the minds of the people I dealt with this time because I couldn’t afford to capture them alive, but according to the information I had collected so far, the Buncheonhoe was not an organization limited to Asia.
However, if East Asia’s power was that strong, I couldn’t even imagine how much power they would spread around the world.
‘It’s not a joke, if they decide to do it, they could easily devour several countries.’
However, if they did so, Beoncheonhoe would have no choice but to take unnecessary losses, so they chose the current route.
Perhaps there may be a country that has already fallen into their hands, although it has not yet been revealed.
‘…No matter how much I think about it, Hans alone is not enough. We need more power.’
No matter how strong Hans is, there are limits to what he can do alone.
In order to effectively block their ambitions, they also needed to increase their numbers…
‘They are too large to expect anything from the Returner Association or the awakened management organizations of each country. There is no law preventing information from being leaked in the process of consultation between multiple people.’
Or maybe there is a spy in that key position.
Likewise, it was impossible to just trust in the ‘those hostile to the Buncheonhoe’ who were bound to exist somewhere.
‘I feel more comfortable just doing everything myself. Well, if you really encounter them, you can provide at least some indirect support.’
As expected, the best thing to do was to train multiple avatars to be strong, as originally planned.
Perhaps the Buncheonhoe bastards will never understand.
Why is Hahoe Tal’s interference so persistent?
And soon, not only Hahoetal but other disruptors will appear one after another to interfere with them.
***
[Kkihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi!]
Clutter! Rattling—!
In the center of the northern mountain range of the Aeon Continent, surrounded by high mountains, there was a jet-black castle rising up in a terrain that did not receive much sunlight.
A magical world where it is not only cool all year round due to various environmental problems, but also overflowing with the energy of death due to the numerous undead scattered around.
It was a labyrinth of eternity summoned by the Immortal King Hans and a place tentatively called ‘Immortal Castle’.
[It’s really great. Since I actively used the abyss, the maturation period seems to be shorter than I thought. Good job, Dwell.]
[That’s too much praise, immortal king! This is nothing!]
Deep inside the castle, against a background that made the otherwise gloomy interior even more eerie, two skeletons were having a friendly conversation.
All kinds of magic circles carved everywhere and strange-looking magic tools scattered here and there.
Biological tissues that appeared to be samples continued to wriggle and show off their presence, and various neatly placed experimental instruments reflected cool light.
On top of that, there are bloody restraint devices hanging from the blood-soaked operating table that block any resistance from the bound person, and there is even something like an incubator filled with an abyss and bubbling over.
It was truly a ‘laboratory of a mad wizard’.
‘Actually, it’s a laboratory for lichs, so it’s not wrong. Currently, we are also working as a workshop to create special undead.’
Hans glanced at the lichs around him and then turned his gaze back to Dwell, the director of this laboratory.
Thanks to the different flow of time, he was able to return from Earth without much of a burden, but since it was only once every 10 days, he had no choice but to leave most of the work to his subordinates.
However, although Dwell’s combat power was lower than that of other executives, he was also a veteran Acrich who had lived much longer than Hans.
For him, managing the undead process was not that difficult, and of course he was able to earn the trust of the Immortal King by handling the task perfectly.
[Okay then… these are the following.]
Warr—
and thanks to that belief.
Hans poured out the bodies of the awakened people carefully selected from Earth onto the laboratory floor.
There is one man in a suit from Beoncheonhoe who can be said to be on the same level as Salma, and fifteen corpses that are slightly inferior but can be useful if processed with care.
[…Oh, do these all go through the same process as that friend…?]
[Hehehe—Yeah. These will all need to be written separately, so pay special attention to them.]
[Ah, I understand, my king! Just leave it to me!]
They said it wasn’t that difficult, but that didn’t mean the process, including the process of dealing with the abyss, was really easy.
Of course, there is a lot to worry about and it is a task that requires a lot of effort, and suddenly I am in charge of so many things…
[Then I will come back next time.]
[…Yes.]
However, with many capable subordinates under my command, I am now in charge of this harsh task. For Hans, who had become accustomed to the environment, it was just a daily routine.
In the first place, the Immortal Army was a black company from the beginning, so it could not be helped.
After handing Dwell a pile of work, he was busy going around here and there, checking the progress of the work he had instructed his subordinates to do, and issuing new orders.
And finally.
[Good, then I understand that is how we will proceed from now on.]
[Girl… I will do my best…]
Hans finished everything, including the matter with Olivia, and quietly disappeared from the immortal castle again.
To finish what we were doing on Earth.
However, even after the storm had passed, there were people who maintained their usual calm….
Damn it!
“…Wow, isn’t this really too much to do?”
“Oh oh! This is fun. Is there anything harder than this, Riley?”
They were Princess Riley and Hesperon, who were confined in the living quarters of the Immortal Castle and were concentrating on magical training.
Riley looked at a bunch of ice flowers blooming brilliantly at the bottom of the garden and shook his head with a laugh.
It had been nearly two months since she had been taken prisoner here, and more than a month since Hesperon became the new resident.
And what I had just said without realizing it was a sentence that had become a habit of hers for almost a month.
It stuck to my mouth so much that now it just pops out out of habit.
“Heron, do you know what you just did?”
“Huh? “What did I do wrong?”
“…No, there’s nothing particularly wrong with it. It’s just that you’ve just surpassed what it took me over ten years to achieve. “And that was just over a month.”
“what?”
Riley sighed once again, looking at him with a blank expression on his face.
The situation now was different from when I was 11 years old and was overtaken by Lee Se-ah less than a month ago.
‘It’s been a whopping 8 years since then… But the limit was to earn just a few more days than when Se-Ah was there?’
Even that was the time it took to pass on all the knowledge that she had only delved into as theory, as she lacked talent for magic.
Now, unlike back then, it is not possible to receive help such as magic books or magic tools to help with training!
‘Ah… I’m glad I didn’t try too hard with magic. I worked hard, but if I was overtaken in succession like this, I would definitely be discouraged.’
When the princess was struggling to rationalize herself and control her mind.
Hesperon was reading the text that appeared in front of him with blank eyes.
《The entity achieved enlightenment through repeated training. Acquire the skill “Introduction to Magic.”
‘I thought the level of theory was higher than I expected. Something like this also happens.’
Princess Riley’s level as a wizard was not very high due to her limited talent, but as the princess of the empire, the teachings she was exposed to could not have been of a low level.
In addition, as he was smart and had a good memory, there was no possibility of distortions in his knowledge, so it was not surprising that he developed this skill.
“Whew, what do you like? Anyway, I’m not a real wizard… this is just something I learned at a general level…? No matter what anyone says, I am destined to become an emperor…”
“Ah—of course, Riley. So just calm down.”
“An honorific!”
I snuck in on what she was saying while frowning and muttering, and it responded like a ghost again.
The two people start bickering again over that.
However, this was all preliminary work to appeal to Hesperon, a tactless and naive young man from another world who is not yet familiar with the caste system.
I don’t know how much detail she knows about Earthlings, but if she didn’t take the medicine in advance, other Earthlings later… Isea could feel uncomfortable after hearing the story.
‘Okay, now it’s time to move on to the next step. …to the princess escape scenario.’
As we had become friends with him as originally intended, Riley also began to call him comfortably, and as a bonus, he had taken his first steps as a full-fledged wizard, so he had gained everything he needed right away.
It’s a pity that she wasn’t interested in summoning magic and couldn’t learn it in detail this time, but if she stayed by the princess’s side, there would be plenty of opportunities later.
In fact, if you use Hans, you can learn it right away, but since Hesperon came into contact with the princess as the awakened person of Earth, it was necessary to become stronger.
‘Now… then what about… huh?’
While I was continuing to think like that.
He paused for a moment as the message appeared before his eyes again at an unexpected time.
《Achievement achieved! I began walking the ‘path of salvation’ to save the world.》 《
More than half of the living intelligences of the Outerica dimension have recognized your struggle against evil. As a reward, the perk “Hero’s Footsteps” is granted.》
《You have achieved an achievement and had a great impact on the world. Your karma will increase additionally.》
Of course, of course.
The message was a sentence that appeared in front of the hero ‘Heinrich St. Randguard’, not the novice wizard Hesperon.