BRDM 175

chapter 175

The world of Jack and the Beanstalk had been utterly erased — drowned beneath the waves brought by the Sea Beasts’ great floods.

What little remained of the land were just a few scattered island peaks, once mountain ridges in a forgotten world.

And on one of those islands—

Fwoooosh!

[You are entering the Dungeon!]

A group of figures materialized out of the light.

It was Ramon’s team.

“…So this is the Deep Sea Dungeon,” someone muttered.

“Getting here wasn’t exactly easy.”

“But why are there so many Sea Beasts wandering around? Is the dungeon on the verge of another Break?”

Esteban’s eyes widened as he took in the surroundings — his first time stepping into the infamous Deep Sea Dungeon he’d only heard about in rumors.

And it was far more hostile than he’d imagined.

This many Sea Beasts…?

Even the dead islands were unsettling, but the beaches were worse — the sea was teeming with monsters, filling the entire horizon.

Just watching them made him dizzy.

In the real world, he might have been thrilled at the sight — all that would mean a fortune in mana stones.
But here, it was hell itself.

“Indeed. They said this place was wrecked, and they weren’t exaggerating.”

“Do you know anything more about it, Sir Luciano?” Ramon asked, noticing the older man’s calm expression.

“I don’t know much,” Luciano replied, lighting a cigar with a bitter grin. “Only second-hand reports. This is my first time seeing it for myself.”

He exhaled a plume of smoke and glanced across the churning waters.

“And from the looks of it, things are even worse than expected. If a third Break erupts here, the damage will dwarf the first and second combined. Maybe I should’ve dragged a few more corporate bastards along for the ride.”

The others fell silent, their faces tightening.

“What could Guirye possibly be after in a place like this…? I can’t make sense of it.”

Luciano’s eyes narrowed, but he had no answers.

Still — despite the chaos — a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

They always pull the most unpredictable stunts… and that always leads to new opportunities.

To him, forging an alliance with Guirye was no longer optional. The man’s arrival had already shaken Guam’s quiet ecosystem beyond repair — and great upheaval always meant one thing.

Profit.

There’s that smell again… the scent of money. Delicious.

As his tongue wet his lips greedily, his gaze drifted toward two men standing apart from the others.

“And who are those two? Why’d they suddenly join us? Doesn’t look like they plan to cooperate.”

Ramon followed his gaze.

Two men stood there, clad in heavy armor.

Their appearances couldn’t have been more different.

One was shorter and lean, with sharp eyes and an air of intelligence. A silver-bronze sword was slung across his back, and a shield hung from one arm — like a hero from ancient Greece.

The other was a towering giant, easily over two meters tall, wrapped in the pelt of a great lion. His muscles bulged like boulders beneath it. In one hand he held a massive club, and a great bow was strapped across his back.

Both of them wore masks — one shaped like a serpent, the other like a lion.

Perseus and Heracles.

Names that anyone familiar with Greek myth would recognize — heroes of legend.

They were envoys sent by the Sons of Zeus, a fanatical group who claimed to be the reincarnations of the god’s divine offspring.

Leading them was a man without a mask — Maxence Degrémont, one of the few within the Sons of Zeus permitted to show his face.

“Hmph.”

Luciano frowned. Their sudden inclusion in the raid didn’t sit well with him. Those zealots were as troublesome as any cult.

“I’m not sure,” Ramon said. “They only said they had business with Lord Guirye.”

“With Guirye? Hah. Come to think of it, it’d be stranger if they didn’t know each other,” Luciano said with a dry laugh.

Then the realization dawned on him — remembering exactly what lineage Guirye claimed.

“But aren’t they lunatics who think they can overthrow their father Zeus and take his throne? How could Guirye possibly coexist with them?”

“Ereb—Maxence—is at least reasonable,” Ramon said.

“Reasonable? The man’s brain is said to house a nest of vipers,” Luciano replied coldly, his cigar smoldering. “If they start anything foolish, let me know. I’ll show them how sharp my homeland’s blade, Bolo, really is.”

“Your words are reassuring as always, Sir Luciano. Then let’s move.”

Ramon clapped his hands sharply.

Clap!

“Alright, everyone — you should all be ready by now. As I said before, rewards will be distributed according to contribution, so cooperate and—”

Before he could finish—

Shrrrkk!

“—!?”

A chilling sensation ran up his spine. Everyone froze, looking upward.

What they saw made their blood run cold.

The charred remains of countless Sea Beasts — bodies blackened and broken — were falling from the sky like rain.

Boom!
Boom! Boom!

“W-what the hell…?”

“How could anyone do this to a Sea King…?”

Luciano rushed toward one of the corpses — and swallowed hard.

Gulp.

He couldn’t even think of harvesting its core.

The Sea King’s head had been smashed in, its skull caved deeply as if struck by something unimaginably heavy.

Even a High Ranker couldn’t produce such force.

“What kind of monster did this…?”

“That’s an incredible amount of power,” said Heracles, his deep voice rumbling behind the lion mask. His eyes gleamed with savage interest. “Is there a giant warrior up there? I’d like to test myself against whoever did this.”

“The residual lightning output is immense,” Perseus murmured, examining the scorched wound. “No wonder Rhadamanthys struggled.”

Both of their gazes turned skyward.

“Looks like we’ll have to climb up and see for ourselves,” said Perseus. “Something extraordinary is happening.”

Maxence sighed. “Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t be easy?”

Luciano clicked his tongue at the way they ignored everyone else. These weren’t people one could really cooperate with.

He turned to Ramon, who nodded grimly.

“Then let’s move! Lord Guirye may need our support!”

From his inventory, Ramon drew out a shimmering seed.

[Mother’s Bean Seed]

The seed from which Jack’s fabled beanstalk sprouted. After foolish Jack sold their cow, his furious mother threw the beans out the window—only for them to grow and reach the heavens.

Type: Magic Item
Origin: Fairy Tale — Jack and the Beanstalk

Meanwhile—

Pater.

More precisely, Diovis Pater — an old name for Jupiter, the Roman form of Zeus.

A perfect alias for someone like Guirye.

And right now, Lee Hyun lived up to that divine name.

Because—

[Nimbus Cloud — Subjugated]

He had tamed the Nimbus Cloud itself.

Nimbus Cloud

A divine artifact — the steed once ridden by a certain Great Sage of Heaven. A manifestation of cloud itself; with sufficient magic and understanding, the user can command rain, wind, and lightning.

Currently, due to Adaptation, it has fused with the White Sea within Jack and the Beanstalk.

Type: Holy Relic / Mount / Arcane Tool
Origin: Myth — Journey to the West

No one knew exactly how the Nimbus Cloud had become one with the White Sea.
Adaptation altered narratives, twisting time and causality themselves.

For the Dungeon Giants, that must have been a terrifying realization.

If the Sea Demon King had seized the Cloud, they would’ve lost both their sacred treasure and their homeland.

But now?

It had become their shield instead.

Kra-kooom!

Bolts of lightning crashed down endlessly.

Each strike blew apart hordes of Sea Beasts, sending waves of electricity coursing through the flooded ground.

Kyeeeeh!
Kreeeek!
Kieeeeek!

Their howls filled the storm.

Even the Dungeon Giants, whose axes could barely pierce the monsters’ hides before, watched in awe as the lightning tore them to shreds.

“…!”
“…!”
“…!!”

And at the heart of the storm stood their queen, Hela.

“Do you see, warriors?!” she cried.

All eyes turned to her.

“The White Sea — our homeland for centuries — now shields us! That is the power of the avatar sent to protect us!”

Every gaze turned to Lee Hyun, cloaked in thunder.

“As long as his blessing stands, we are invincible! Undefeated! Drive these insolent beasts back to the depths where they belong!”

“WAAAAAAH!”

“Follow the Queen!”
“Protect the Magus!”
“The White Sea defends us!”

Their war cries rose like a storm.

Morale — the truest weapon of war — had returned to their side.

Feeling the surge, Hela flashed a fierce grin at Hyun.

A signal.

Time for the next phase.

Hyun nodded silently—then slammed his rune staff into the ground.

BOOM!

Mist began to swirl above the White Sea, spiraling faster and faster, crackling with power.

Kzzzzzt! KRAK!

A thunderstorm vortex formed.

Sea Beasts were swept outward by the sheer force.

KREEEEH!
KRAAAAH!

The Giants roared, their spirits ignited.

For the first time, they could see it—

Hope.

A chance to drive the Sea Beasts out of their world completely.

We’ll clear them out — all of them!

Hela felt that same determination burn within her as she plunged back into battle.

SHRRAAAK!
BOOOM!

And yet—

Even as she fought, Queen Hela couldn’t banish one lingering thought.

Can Pater really keep his promise?

Lee Hyun had told her—

“You’ll have to abandon the White Sea eventually. The Nimbus Cloud has become part of it — separating them is impossible.

But I’ll find you a new home. A safe one.

There’s… somewhere perfect in mind.”

A new homeland…?

The word was foreign to her. Neither she nor her people had ever imagined living anywhere but the citadel of Utgard.

Yet what he said made sense.

The “Black Sea” — what they called the surface — was already dead.
And eventually, this world would crumble too.

But where could they possibly go…?

“Why do you think you have to live in this world at all?”

That single question had shaken her.

Another world…? Is that what he meant?

She didn’t understand it fully — but she’d chosen to believe him.

They had no other choice.

If survival meant trusting the outsider, then so be it.

Meanwhile, Hyun’s thoughts were elsewhere.

Now that Nimbus is secured, it’s time to move the “treasure.”

He adjusted the cloud’s flow with one hand and pulled something from his inventory with the other — a card.

The Rabbit Hole Keycard.

Though soon, it’ll be renamed “Eagle’s Nest.”

It had once belonged to the drug lord Nayeli, tied to her divine authority.
Even after separating it from her, the artifact was still fundamentally hers.
If the [Gate] or [Passage] were ever restored, she could reconnect to it.

But what if I flood that passage with an army of giant warriors…?

Reconnection would become impossible.
Even attempting it would destroy her.

Or… I could just leave the door open and let chaos do the rest.

A cold smile crept across his lips.

He tapped the card lightly with his rune staff.

Fwoooosh—!

A surge of light rippled outward, shaking the entire fortress of Utgard.

[Applying modified Rabbit Hole enchantment: Creating a new passage to the outside world!]

[A Dungeon Gate is forming…]

A new Door was opening—

One that led straight into the Rabbit Hole.