Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 409

A gate that wasn’t a dungeon.

It was known that sometimes intelligent beings capable of conversation were discovered within, but despite this, there had never been any recorded instance of communication with a gate.

Of course, in a world where the Assembly held the reins, their words couldn’t be taken at face value, but according to their announcements, it was like this:

-We have discovered a potentially intelligent being within the gate that may be capable of conversation.

However.

-Due to their extreme aggression and rapid emotional changes, it was difficult to classify them as fully intelligent beings.

Therefore.

-They were not intelligent beings but monsters, and they had to be annihilated.

Such was the announcement.

So, how could one not be curious?

“Plea…se.”

The Dark Elves, their wills connected, clearly conveyed their intentions and even bowed.

And throughout the long conversation, they showed no aggression or emotional changes.

What Lee Ro-woon consistently felt was desperation.

“Oh, great one.”

Also, reverence and respect.

“Please, save our clan.”

They prostrated themselves on the ground, heads bowed, and remained still.

It was as if they were showing that they wouldn’t move until Lee Ro-woon accepted their request.

“Hmm.”

Lee Ro-woon paused for a moment, considering what they had said.

‘It’s quite an interesting story.’

They called themselves the children of Elk.

Also, they were Dark Elves, like monsters, but by chance, they had regained their reason, and they said that they had survived among themselves without being swept away by what they called.

-Corruption.

Then, these elves, the children of Elk, saw Lee Ro-woon, a stranger, for the first time, and witnessed him easily dealing with the corrupted ones.

That power and appearance….

-It must be someone sent by Elk.

It felt like a messenger sent by Elk, their god and the mother of all things.

-We beseech the hunter of Elk.

The hunter of Elk.

That was what they thought of Lee Ro-woon.

What they asked of such Lee Ro-woon was to purify the land where the children of Elk lived.

Also, to save those among the corrupted who could be brought back.

So, it was bound to be quite an interesting story.

“How many of the children of Elk are there, as you say?”

Lee Ro-woon said, pondering.

“About a thousand.”

The answer was immediate.

“There are barely thirty of you?”

The Dark Elf nodded at Lee Ro-woon’s words.

“We judged that gathering together was not good for survival. Also, we are scouts looking for a way to escape this cursed land.”

“So, there is a land where the children of Elk reside?”

The Dark Elves, who had been answering without hesitation, fell silent.

“You come to me with such a request, but you can’t tell me where your base is?”

The Dark Elves waved their hands at Lee Ro-woon’s quiet voice.

“It’s not that….”

They looked visibly flustered.

‘It could be a trap.’

After all, this was a gate.

Even their intelligence could be part of their aggression.

It could be a sophisticated strategy to lure them into a trap.

Of course, it wouldn’t matter even if it was a trap.

“It’s not something we can decide.”

The Dark Elves said, heads bowed.

“It’s something that can only be done if the chieftain himself steps forward….”

Well, it wasn’t wrong.

“Go and come back.”

“Yes?”

“Go get permission and come back.”

Only then did their faces brighten.

“Then… ?”

Returning to the beginning, what they had asked for was to be saved.

Lee Ro-woon’s words felt as if he had accepted that request.

“Just go and come back.”

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, the Dark Elves nodded and began to move.

* * *

“What are you doing?”

Not all the Dark Elves had left.

A Dark Elf called Balak remained, tasked with assisting Lee Ro-woon.

It was called assistance, but it seemed like he was placed as a watchdog to keep Lee Ro-woon from leaving.

“It’s too vast.”

“Yes?”

“This world is too vast.”

The scale of this gate was larger than the Chinese continent.

That was just from examining the Ring of the Emperor.

Even at this moment.

Whoosh.

Lee Ro-woon was creating a map by channeling magic through the ground beneath his feet.

The land continued to grow larger.

“It’s too inefficient to run around this land.”

Moreover, according to what he had examined and heard, the terrain changed, and there were also dense forests.

Just running around such places would take more time.

“Riding a Pamir….”

The Dark Elves rode beasts called Pamirs, which looked similar to reindeer.

They were said to be faster than expected, tireless, and talented at running through trees.

“Too weak.”

Lee Ro-woon said.

“…….”

Balak, as if at a loss for words, closed his mouth.

“So… ?”

“I need to make a mount.”

There was something he had been preparing and waiting for since before.

Something he couldn’t do yet because his regained power was insufficient.

However.

‘The power of the magic stone has risen to some extent.’

As the Demon King’s magic stone filled up to some extent, he regained his sealed abilities.

A vast subspace opened.

Within it, something began to appear, following Lee Ro-woon’s magic.

Squirm.

As it appeared from the subspace, Balak, who was next to him, trembled.

The children of Elk, like Balak, also possessed skills no different from the Dark Elves, monsters of this SS-class gate.

That meant that each one of them had skills equivalent to a ranker.

Such Balak.

“Wh-what is this….”

He was terrified and stepping back.

“Step back.”

Lee Ro-woon’s warning.

“The miasma is so thick that your skin could rot.”

As Lee Ro-woon said.

Whoosh!

The ground where it was placed was turning into an even darker shade of gray.

The power that sucked the life out of the surroundings and devastated them was the aura of death, miasma.

Thud.

Now it had fully revealed itself.

Balak had long since moved far away after hearing Lee Ro-woon’s warning.

The ground shook with a resounding tremor.

“…….”

Lee Ro-woon looked at it with languid eyes.

A large bone.

“Dragon Bone.”

The corpse of a dragon.

The one that had been the biggest contributor to Lee Ro-woon regaining a considerable amount of power after returning from the world of chaos, and the one he had stolen from Hwasan’s corpse disposal site.

The scales, skin, and flesh had melted into Lee Ro-woon’s, and the remaining bones had appeared here like this.

-The Death Dragon Augolas.

The corpse of what was called a disaster.

“This alone is not enough.”

But Lee Ro-woon couldn’t be satisfied.

The Death Dragon was dangerous even among dragons.

But Augolas was not a proper Death Dragon, but an incomplete one.

It was too young, and its reason was eroded and collapsed.

What Lee Ro-woon wanted to create was not something like this.

-The strongest undead?

He recalled the words of his Demon King master.

-There are many ways to create undead, and the results vary greatly depending on the method. Among them, the strongest.

His master, who laughed as if he had heard an interesting question, said.

-It’s very simple.

A very easy answer.

-If you use the strongest corpse, you can create the strongest undead.

An undead could exert more power than it had in life.

An undead could evolve by absorbing miasma.

But the easiest and most certain way was to use the best corpse.

In the end.

-If we’re going to make it, we’ll be able to use all that power.

The material was the most important thing.

-Even the same skeleton is different depending on the material. A skeleton made from the bones of a weak human and the bones of an orc, known for their strong bones, can’t be the same, right?

After that, it depended on the necromancer’s capabilities.

However.

‘Augolas’s corpse is only S-class at best.’

What Lee Ro-woon wanted to create was something more than that.

To do that, he would have to hunt another dragon, but that was not something he could do now.

What Lee Ro-woon was about to do now was.

-If not that….

He recalled the words of his Demon King master again.

-Combining what is called the best is also a way.

That was.

-Something close to creation.

Thud!

Another corpse fell to the ground, shaking the earth.

A massive skeleton, not inferior in size to the Death Dragon’s corpse.

This was also from a being called a disaster.

“Balrog.”

Balrog.

The bones of the guy he had hunted while dealing with the affairs of the Five Great Families.

He had taken out the remnants left after creating the rage.

Now, Lee Ro-woon was going to use these two corpses.

“Shall we begin?”

He was planning to create one undead.

Whoosh!

Dark, dense magic began to emanate from Lee Ro-woon’s body.

* * *

The reason he decided to help the Dark Elves was also because he had time to spare.

Also, curiosity about the unique existence of the gate was another reason.

But there was something that drew Lee Ro-woon’s attention the most.

It was about why the children of Elk had become corrupted.

-There is a story passed down among us.

A legend.

The only being who had maintained their sanity and survived in the broken world was said to be the chieftain who was now leading the children of Elk.

The story he had heard through him was like this.

-The great Elk fought against the invasion of Cron.

Elk, the god of the elves, faced Cron, a being who stood in opposition to them.

A battle between Elk and Cron, spanning the world, began, and all the elves stood on Elk’s side and fought against Cron.

But in the end, Elk was defeated, and the world was consumed by Cron, repeating corruption and war, and the current corrupted ones were created.

The reason he was interested in this story was one.

“It’s like….”

The stories he had heard.

“It’s like my masters’ stories.”

The rise and fall of the world, and even its end.

Those stories were similar to those of Eun and Einheart, and Gehenna.

That was why Lee Ro-woon wanted to know the truth of this story.

-Elk.

Who was the absolute ruler of the world?

-Cron.

Who was the invader?

If it was as he thought.

‘Another king.’

Elk was another king.

Divine beings who claimed to be the kings of the world, like the Martial King, the Sword King, and the Demon King.

Then Cron was.

“Is it you again?”

Chaos.

It was highly likely.

That was why Lee Ro-woon wanted to meet the chieftain first and talk.

Also, another possibility.

-Purification.

He also wanted to know the result of the purification they desired.

“They will be back soon.”

Balak informed Lee Ro-woon that his companions, who had gone to meet the chieftain, would be returning soon.

At the same time.

“…….”

He closed his mouth and stared ahead with horrified eyes.

The miasma and magic that were being emitted made his skin crawl.

It was terrifying and frightening just to face it.

Those like Balak were said to be the most outstanding Elk warriors, but Balak had a face that seemed to have lost all will to fight.

“What on earth….”

Balak asked again cautiously.

“What is that?”

Listening to Balak’s voice, Lee Ro-woon took a step back.

There, something similar to a mountain existed.

“My Pamir.”

A giant bone dragon.

“You can take a look while you’re here.”

Lee Ro-woon said, reaching out his hand.

Then he commanded.

“Awaken.”