Chapter 142 – Chapter 26: Conquest #3

In-gong returned to the Black Flame Dragon. He had already expected it, but the area surrounding the Black Flame Dragon was calm. The black ash on the ground and the dry, broken body parts made it obvious as to what had happened.

Sepira couldn’t speak. She was doing her best to act as calmly as possible, but she was clearly emotional. She staggered as her eyes were busy looking around, hoping to spot any survivors.

In-gong, who carried Felicia on his back, didn’t try to stop Sepira. It wasn’t easy to say comforting words, so he just boarded the Black Flame Dragon quietly. He also thought it was lucky Felicia and Silvan had lost consciousness.

Having stayed on the Black Flame Dragon before, he knew its structure and headed straight to the captain’s room. However, In-gong checked the mini-map, as was his habit, and his eyes widened.

“There are survivors!”

Sepira rushed up the stairs at In-gong’s cry. Instead of waiting for her, In-gong headed straight to the place where the survivors were. It was the crew room.

There was an awful smell as soon as he opened the door. Delia, who was standing behind In-gong, blinked with confusion.

“The smell of alcohol?”

There were three crew members on the floor. There was one woman and two men. The thing they all had in common was the terrible smell of alcohol. One of them was still holding a big bottle.

After arriving late, Sepira sighed as soon as she saw the three people. Then she turned toward In-gong with a somewhat embarrassed face.

“Today was their day off.”

It seemed like they had drunk alcohol and gone to sleep without noticing the disturbance. They were lucky.

If the mission had been accomplished as usual, Sepira would have told them off for drinking and falling asleep even though it was their day off. However, the survival of the three people cut through her tension, and she started crying.

“There are three more people, so moving the Black Flame Dragon won’t be a problem.”

Sepira dried her tears and told In-gong. In-gong was gladdened by this and headed toward the captain’s room.

In-gong sighed as he watched Silvan and Felicia laying side by side on the big bed. As he watched the two people sleeping peacefully, In-gong’s heart calmed.

‘Carack will be worried.’

He had simply left without explaining properly.

The distance to the fourth base wasn’t that far, so long range communication should be possible. He felt sorry for the worried Carack, but the quickest he could send some news was tomorrow.

‘I saved Call.’

The reason why he hadn’t called Vandal in the fight against the Famine Knight was because Vandal’s current location was too far away.

As the level of the King’s Knights increased, the distance of Call also increased, so it might be possible one day. However, there was no reason to use it.

He accepted Felicia and Silvan as members of his knights, so he wanted to save Call.

In-gong arranged his thoughts and turned his gaze to Delia. She was very tired and wanted to rest, but he needed to know the situation. After leaving Felicia and Silvan to Sepira, he took Delia to an empty room nearby in order to hear her story.

They had been writing down the unknown characters from the indigenous species when the Famine Knight entered suddenly. Based on the story, the purpose of the Famine Knight seemed to be the ruin, like In-gong had surmised, and not Silvan and Felicia.

In-gong then decided to stop here and rest for today. He was curious about the characters carved in the ruin, but he couldn’t leave Felicia and Silvan alone on the Black Flame Dragon.

In-gong sent Delia to take care of Felicia and lay down on a bed. It had been a huge day for In-gong as well. There were no problems with his stamina thanks to the constant level ups, but his nerves were still frayed.

“Protect the perimeter.”

“I will. Goodnight, My Master.”

Green Wind kissed In-gong gently on the forehead before scattering back into wind.

In-gong closed his eyes, and soon, he fell into a deep sleep.

&

“Master, wake up. It is morning.”

Instead of Carack’s rough voice, Green Wind’s soft voice tickled his ears. In-gong opened his eyes slowly and saw Green Wind. She handed In-gong a glass of water and said,

“I saw what the orc did. Here is a cup of cold water to drink. I’ve also prepared water to wash up.”

He turned away from Green Wind’s bright eyes and saw the basin beside the bed. It was filled with cold water.

“How is it, Master? Aren’t you fine without the orc?”

“Yes.”

Green Wind laughed at In-gong’s words. Her face was so beautiful that In-gong refrained from saying Carack would have prepared a towel to clean his face.

Anyhow, In-gong woke up thanks to Green Wind and headed to the captain’s room. He looked at the time displayed on the mini-map and saw that it was already noon.

“You’ve come. Both of them are calm.”

Delia welcomed him as he entered the captain’s room. Sepira had fallen asleep while sitting down. She and Delia had alternated guarding Felicia and Silvan. Delia had dark circles under her eyes, but her expression was bright. In-gong felt sorry toward Delia and made up his mind—one more hand was needed to help.

“So, that is why you called me?”

“Yes, you are a perfect housewife.”

In-gong muttered as he summoned Carack.

“That—I thought it was because there was a crisis.”

“Then would you like to change your position?”

“I will work hard.”

Carack whined playfully, and In-gong just laughed. Another reason was that he wanted to experience the increased distance of Call after the level up.

“How has it been?”

“There was an uproar. Prince left with just the words that 6th Princess was in danger. 8th Princess had just arrived and was talking to me, so she must have been surprised when I disappeared.”

It was a natural story. Moreover, it was a dangerous situation, so it was frustrating not knowing the situation.

‘Caitlin will worry a lot.’

An image of Caitlin stomping her feet came to his mind clearly.

“Anyway, I want to ask you to handle the work. Both Delia and Sepira are too tired.”

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

Carack pounded his chest with a trustworthy face and walked out of the room. As expected, he showed his skills. Thanks to that, Delia and Sepira’s feelings seemed to deepen, but In-gong could understand. It was enough that Nayatra didn’t join them.

Time passed, and it became evening. Silvan was still asleep, but Felicia had woken up. She washed up and had a meal with Delia’s help, then watched In-gong with teary eyes again. She hugged In-gong and thanked him repeatedly.

Thanks to Felicia, In-gong barely managed to ask Carack and Delia to leave the room. He had something that he could discuss only with Felicia. Delia exchanged glances with Felicia before leaving the room, then In-gong put Felicia back on the bed. He sat down in a chair opposite her.

Felicia opened her fan and covered her face because of a simple reason:

“I’m so embarrassed.”

The tips of her long ears were red. She had cried most of yesterday and was doing the same today. In-gong laughed because she looked pretty cute.

“Isn’t it too late now?”

“It is really embarrassing.”

Felicia complained before fanning herself a few times, then she faced In-gong with a well-prepared expression.

“Okay, I am ready. You can speak now.”

“Noona, I have a confession.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute.”

Felicia hurried to restrain In-gong as she fanned herself and took deep breaths. Her embarrassed gaze peeked at In-gong from behind the fan.

Then after a few minutes, Felicia took a deep breath and told In-gong again,

“Okay, again.”

“I have a confession.”

In-gong and Felicia burst out laughing. Felicia stared at In-gong and said,

“You will tell me now?”

“Yes, I think I can speak if it is Noona.”

It was a secret he kept even from Carack. It was a very important secret that related directly to In-gong. However, it would be okay if the other person was Felicia.

In-gong stared straight at Felicia with red eyes and said,

“Felicia noona, I am a Conquest Knight.”

They were short and simple words.

In-gong swallowed his saliva while Felicia rolled her eyes. Then she called out to In-gong,

“Shutra.”

“Huh?”

“What is that?”

The serious atmosphere was broken, but this was also good. In-gong nodded and said,

“Let me explain.”

“Uh, that… In summary. There are four beings who yearn for the end of the world, and each of them chose four knights which are referred to as the Four Knights of the Apocalypse. They are Conquest, War, Death and Famine… and you are the Conquest Knight?”

In-gong nodded at Felicia’s question. Then Felicia continued to narrow it down.

“Among the four, Conquest betrayed the rest, and she longs for the maintenance of this world, not its destruction. Therefore, she decided on a knight like Shutra, who wants to protect the world. Apart from her, the other three are still working toward the end of the world. Gerard was the Famine Knight, while the enemies with the violet aura which we dealt with several times are associated with the Death Knight. Whereas, the barbarians were associated with the War Knight.”

“That’s right.”

Felicia quickly understood. She accepted In-gong’s story and sighed.

“It is the first time I’ve heard of this, but… I am convinced. Everything fits.”

With Shutra’s explanation, the questions in her head started to be answered one by one.

Felicia asked In-gong,

“Shutra, have you only recently awakened as a Conquest Knight?”

“That’s right. It happened during the Red Lightning tribe mission.”

Felicia closed her eyes at In-gong’s answer. This time, it really did make sense. The Prince of Scraps, the incompetent 9th Prince had only started to show his greatness during the Red Lightning tribe mission.

“But then… I can’t imagine what it is like to be a knight. In a sense, Conquest is like a divine being, isn’t she? Have you received a revelation?”

“It’s not like that… I just know in the moment. Oh, I’m also a knight, not Conquest. In fact, I only recently came to know about the rest of the beings and their knights. I had to do my own research.”

“Indeed… Anyway, one mystery has been solved. Somehow, even if you were a genius, it was too much. Nevertheless, Shutra is a special person.”

Shutra had become too strong in such a short period of time. This was due to the power of Conquest.

‘There is also Protagonist Correction.’

However, he couldn’t talk about that.

In-gong watched Felicia and said,

“Noona is also special. So, I am confessing this secret.”

His words were flattery, but they were also true. Felicia spread open the fan again and said,

“At any rate, it is good. I really appreciate it. Especially the fact that I am the first to know this secret.”

Caitlin and Chris didn’t know this story. Just like when she found out about the inventory, Felicia was competing with Caitlin and Chris strangely.

“Okay, Shutra. You’ve told me the story, so I will tell you my conclusions.”

Felicia folded her fan with a loud sound and leaned closer to In-gong.

“For now, let’s keep it a secret.”

There was no smile on Felicia’s face. She was currently very serious.

“It is fine to report that the group attacking us consists of the Death Knight and War Knight. Maybe the Demon King’s Palace already knows about the Four Knights of the Apocalypse. They have great knowledge after all.”

Felicia was a ruins expert, but she was only 20 years old. The Demon King’s Palace had a vast collection of knowledge Felicia didn’t know. There might be something about the Four Knights of the Apocalypse in there.

So, they could tell the Demon King’s Palace that the Death and War Knights were attacking. Maybe they already knew about it.

“But we must hide the fact that Shutra is the Conquest Knight.”

Felicia grasped In-gong’s hand tightly. It was a warm hand.

“Shutra, I trust you. I know that you are different from Death, War and Famine. But the Demon King’s Palace may not think this way. Do you know what I mean?”

“I know.”

The Death Knight and War Knight were enemies of the Demon King’s Palace. It was possible the palace would treat In-gong, a Conquest Knight, like them. In the worst case scenario, they would try to remove In-gong.

“Yes, then let’s keep it a secret. I’m sorry for the Demon King’s Palace, but you are much more precious than them.”

Felicia said with a gentle smile, and that smile was so beautiful. In-gong turned his eyes away awkwardly and said,

“Mmm, as expected of Silvan hyung’s twin.”

The words were beautiful but also embarrassing. Felicia immediately released In-gong’s hand after being compared to Silvan. She covered her red face and said,

“Ah, well. Okay. Based on this story, the Famine Knight likely wants something from the ruin. Then it makes sense to check what it is. Isn’t that right?”

“Of course. Let’s go back as soon as the sun rises tomorrow morning.”

The Famine Knight had coveted something in the ruin. By obtaining it, they would gain a huge help and deal a blow to Famine simultaneously.

“By the way, Shutra, I was wondering about one thing.”

‘“What is it?”

“The Four Knights of the Apocalypse? So, is this the apocalypse? Do you know what type of apocalypse?”

It was a reasonable question.

In-gong laughed awkwardly and said,

“I am still investigating.”

&

“As soon as you see it, you can read unknown words. A scam. It is a scam!”

“Caitlin noona would have said that I’m amazing.”