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chapter 139
Command Center Direction
A sudden weather anomaly arrived without warning.
Like a bizarre phenomenon.
CRASH!!
“…!?”
Tian Hengwei’s head suddenly shattered. But what oozed from his neck was not blood.
It was frost.
CRACKLE!!
In an instant, the corpse was covered in frost and ice.
Seo Yoon-ah, contemplating how to handle Um Gi-seon, who was slaughtering a mob giant, hastily put distance between herself and Tian Hengwei.
The strange phenomenon was not happening only to Tian Hengwei.
“Ahhh!”
“What… is this?!”
“Yan! Why the… Guh!!”
The heads of the entire command team near Tian Hengwei shattered, then were covered in ice.
Those who were spared had nearby comrades suddenly fatally stabbed, collapsing instantly.
And then,
SPARKLE-
In an instant, ice transformed into armor, and they became medieval knights and royal guards.
At that moment,
[Dungeon, <Ice Palace> is beginning to open gradually!]
[Warning! Erosion phenomenon occurring. Narrative overlay detected, evacuate the area.]
[Warning! Dimensional rift detected. Narrative is beginning to distort reality…]
[Warning! Dungeon…]
…
Red warning messages stacked layer upon layer.
“Senior Seo!!”
“Combat ends here! Everyone, fall back in formation!!”
Seo Yoon-ah instinctively realized that behind this battle lay a deeply hidden shadow of conspiracy.
And there was only one person capable of orchestrating this.
‘Seo Chang-woo! That crazy bastard actually…!!’
Yesterday, she had felt something off about him.
So she had prepared for any unexpected scenario, just in case.
She hadn’t imagined he would prepare a dungeon overlay!
Dungeon overlay—also known as ‘Overlap’—is a phenomenon where a dungeon manifests over reality.
Unlike a dungeon breaking out violently, this caused a different kind of devastation.
If a break is an explosion, overlap is contamination.
It slowly renders the area unusable and transforms active limbs into difficult-to-use ones.
‘And it’s the <Ice Palace>…! Opening a 4-star dungeon, what does he intend to do!’
Seo Yoon-ah panicked. They needed to escape quickly.
She didn’t know how he could manipulate the dungeon overlay, but fortunately, she had never trusted Xu Chang-you from the beginning.
She knew him too well.
“Hey, sister, leaving so soon? I’d feel a bit disappointed if you did.”
Watching the group form a retreat line, an ice knight grinned.
It was Xu Chang-you’s voice.
“Crazy bastard.”
“Haha. You aim at your juniors, yet pretend to be innocent?”
“But I won’t touch the comrades who are with me.”
Despite being siblings sharing blood, Seo Yoon-ah hated him.
Everything they had done together was only because their goals aligned.
“Is that so? Then I guess you’ll have to stay with me.”
The ice knight, containing Xu Chang-you’s consciousness, moved. Other soldiers followed suit.
At that moment,
RUMBLE!!
The massive shadow of the mob giant poured toward them.
Half destroyed by Um Gi-seon and Kim Min-jung, it was still enough to buy Seo Yoon-ah’s group time to escape.
“Annoying. Tch.”
THUD!
As the ice knights and guards were pinned by the mob giant,
“Break through!!”
Following Seo Yoon-ah’s command, the group attempted to breach the battlefield to escape.
But it wouldn’t be easy.
Too many knights and guards stood in their path.
The snowstorm, which had started earlier, was growing fiercer.
A blizzard and deep freeze in May, right before summer.
Communication Center Direction
‘…A blizzard? Suddenly?’
Kim Min-jung observed the situation through her scope, then hurriedly switched to binoculars.
CRACKLE.
“Nunim, what do we do? Something’s off. Should we pursue it?”
Um Gi-seon’s panicked voice came through.
“Bolt 1, Overlap detected. Awaiting orders.”
“Storm 3, enemies have suddenly frozen. Need confirmation.”
“Cloud 2, Overlap message confirmed. Something is converging on the central area. Continue observation…”
CRACKLE.
“Damn it! Ice Palace! It’s the Ice Palace! Cloud 1! Urgent orders! Cloud 1! Orders!”
The sudden flurry of communication sent chills down Kim Min-jung’s spine.
Through the binoculars, she saw…
A mirage forming where the blizzard originated.
A snow-covered mountain appeared, and atop it stood a majestic ice fortress.
A sight unforgettable to anyone from Cheongrae.
“…Ice Palace.”
A hell that had been barely closed after 80% of the troops had fallen, and which Lee Hyun had risked his life to conquer four years ago, was now reappearing.
Not as a dungeon, but as reality.
CRACKLE.
“Pingxin has all transformed into ice knights and guards! Looks like sacrifices!”
“Seo Chang-woo, that bastard! He did the same four years ago, and now again!”
“Cloud 1, what’s the order?”
Panic and anger filled the voices.
The battlefield had suddenly shifted.
A decision was necessary.
Kim Min-jung gritted her teeth, then lifted the radio brooch to her mouth.
The Snow Queen sensed something unusual at that moment.
[<Snow Queen> narrative rises from the throne!]
[<Snow Queen> narrative declares the previously closed dungeon appears to be opening.]
Lee Hyun narrowed his eyes.
Dungeon?
No need to ask what that was. He could tell immediately.
SPARKLE…
Suddenly, the battlefield’s ambient cold changed.
A sense that could freeze even the Doukshini’s spirit.
Absolute zero.
And then…
BANG! CRASH!
The Archem legion, thought to be gone, stomped the ground in unison.
WHOOSH-
All had become ice knights or royal guards.
Just like during the Ulleungdo operation.
‘No. Stronger than back then!’
[<Snow Queen> narrative clenches her lower lip at the sight of her enslaved vassals.]
Spirit summoning using the bodies of elite hunters or former rankers.
Naturally, they were powerful.
SWOOSH-
Lee Hyun grabbed the Yeouichae tightly with his left hand and pulled inward.
Like a giant dragon twisting outward, the chain swept the ground.
CRASH CRASH CRASH-
Enemies rushing toward them were instantly swept aside.
THUNK! THUMP THUMP!
The chains shot up like arrows from the ground, piercing the remaining enemies.
An almost one-sided massacre, yet…
[Combat Sense (S+) warns of battlefield chill!]
The sensation that unsettled Lee Hyun did not diminish.
[Summoned ice knights and guards are regenerating.]
CRUNCH!
POP- WHOOSH-
The fierce blizzard raged. Limbs shattered? They regenerated and attacked relentlessly.
The number of ice soldiers continued to swell.
Not only those revived by Archem but even those Lee Hyun had already eliminated at the central base.
But what concerned Lee Hyun most wasn’t this.
‘That gem he had in his mouth… from that moment, the air completely changed.’
The blizzard’s range kept expanding.
It seemed it would soon cover the entire base.
‘Is he trying to open the <Ice Palace> like last time? But he should know that won’t work on me anymore.’
He knew Lee Hyun was cold-resistant.
Ice knights? Guards?
No matter how many he summoned, they were useless now.
WHIRRR!!
The long Gowa spun even more fiercely.
Lee Hyun expanded his perception area.
It seemed he was trying something across the entire base.
Simultaneously,
[Hwa An Geum Jeong maximizes Anryeok! Tracking hidden secrets!]
He tried to determine the gem’s identity.
‘…Wuyungwang?’
[■■■■ Magi detected. Attribute similar to ■■dae■.]
It was the essence squeezed from a dead god’s shell.
Lee Hyun acted instantly.
A gut feeling told him he couldn’t let this continue.
[Activate Doukshini’s trust!]
BANG!
WHOOSH-
Lee Hyun dashed along the angled iron track of the Yeouichae toward Xu Chang-you.
The trail of light struck Xu Chang-you’s face in an instant.
“Curious what I intend to do?”
CRASH!!
The light smashed into his face.
His hand gripping the axe felt numb.
SHATTER!
His body broke like glass.
Then, he reappeared a distance away.
Frozen on a stair in midair.
“It’s a ritual.”
But his clothes had changed.
From a white suit to garments reminiscent of ancient Chinese attire…
At the same time,
FLICKER!
A mirage flickered behind him, appearing and disappearing repeatedly.
A sight familiar to Lee Hyun.
[<Snow Queen> narrative bursts out!]
An ice fortress.
The Ice Palace.
“Ritual?”
Lee Hyun’s hand burned with frostbite as he frowned. Xu Chang-you smiled slyly.
“Finally reacting? I’m disappointed. Earlier, when I spoke, you didn’t react at all.”
“….”
“No news from the juniors? Should be hearing soon.”
Lee Hyun’s Hwa An Geum Jeong glowed.
CRACKLE.
“J-… this is… Wood 1. Can… you hear… Senior…?”
Urgent voices on the radio.
Kim Min-jung.
But the noise was severe.
Magical interference.
A strong magical storm swept the entire base.
Simultaneously,
FLASH!
Lee Hyun captured the base in his mind like a photo.
The base was entirely covered in white… no, transparent.
“Sud-… sudden… avalanche… overlap… command…!”
Ice knights and guards rose everywhere in the now-transparent base.
Kim Min-jung was trying to report this anomaly.
“This is Jet. Cloud 1, hold your positions. Repeat: Jet, Cloud 1, hold your positions. If the overlap spreads further, civilians could be affected. Hold positions.”
Lee Hyun pressed the brooch to his mouth.
“If enemy forces try to retreat, don’t hinder, provide cover. Now, we switch operations to maximum cooperation. Over.”
CRACKLE.
“…Confirmed.”
“What? Leaving forces instead of retreating in this situation? You’ve gotten quite ruthless.”
Xu Chang-you’s attire darkened, a dragon emblem forming on his back.
“You, smart as you are, must know what this ritual is… Still want to test me?”
“No matter our deployment, we are Cheongrae. Protecting civilians is our first principle, our iron rule. Turning our backs is disgraceful.”
“You’re facing your enemies and their nation, though?”
“Civilians can’t distinguish enemy or ally. That’s what we learned.”
Lee Hyun’s cold answer twisted Xu Chang-you’s mouth into a sneer, or maybe a grimace.
Lee Hyun continued.
“And what you intend? Of course, it’s a sacrificial ritual. Right?”
The mirage thickened.
The burning base gradually vanished, replaced by the Ice Palace with snow and blizzard.
Reality was eroding.
Overlap accelerated.
Xu Chang-you’s attire now resembled the robes and crowns of ancient Chinese emperors.
A shadow darkened his head.
‘From the start, he intended to use Pingxin as a tool.’
He aimed to sacrifice Pingxin and the civilians of the military base.
Just as the Ice Palace had once been used to awaken the Jade Emperor’s power using Lee Hyun and Cheongrae as offerings.
This time, aiming even higher.
Sacrificial ritual.
Ancient Chinese emperors performed it to honor the Jade Emperor.
Once completed, the emperor became the true earthly ruler, the Son of Heaven (Tianzi).
Xu Chang-you sought to become a top-ranked player through this.
[The Jade Emperor silently watches his disciples from the throne.]
Xu Chang-you now wore a crown adorned with rays, a ceremonial dress of the ancient emperor.
“Insane. Principles mean nothing. Again, leading comrades to death like four years ago?”
Xu Chang-you’s gaze was bleak, as if searching Lee Hyun for something, confirming they weren’t different.
“Who dies? I trust my comrades. It’s different now. And… I won’t let them die.”
Four years ago, he lost eyes, life, and his elder brother, Moon Soo-chan.
Not anymore.
He was Jet.
Nothing left to lose.
Only things to gain.
“So,”
Lee Hyun twisted his mouth, gripping the axe.
“Let’s end this. I’m sick of it.”
FLASH!
WHIRRR!!
The long Gowa on Lee Hyun’s head spun more fiercely, the Yeouichae encircling him like protection.
[Legend, ‘Descendant of ■■dae■’ reveals majesty!]
Sun Wukong’s favorite title: Great Sage Equal to Heaven (Qitian Dasheng).
He earned it by destroying the Jade Emperor’s heavenly palace.
Lee Hyun aimed to emulate this, intending to destroy the Jade Emperor’s palace on Earth.
CRACKLE!!
[The Jade Emperor narrows his eyes, sensing a strange déjà vu.]
