Chapter 175 - Chapter 175 (1/2)

Jin-Woo could only doubt his own hearing just then.

Who wanted to help who now? A monster helping a human?

He was so flabbergasted that he ended up blurting out what was on his mind.

"You seriously think I'll believe you?"

The unknown man formed a serious expression.

"Then, I shall make you believe me."

He began chanting some kind of a spell as his lips moved at an incredible speed that looked like a video playback sped up tens, no, hundreds of times.

At that moment, Jin-Woo sensed the magical energy present within this empty, open arena suddenly coagulate around this man. In the blink of an eye, he summoned his shortswords out.

If the gathering magic energy carried even a hint of aggression, then the blade of his weapon would have pierced into the man's forehead already.

However, Jin-Woo patiently waited.

The amount of magic energy being utilised was very small when compared to the reserves both Jin-Woo and the man possessed. And he couldn't sense any aggression or hostile intent from the gathered energy, either.

'…...'

Jin-Woo readied the ultimate version of the skill 'Dagger Throw', 'Dagger Rush', and waited with bated breaths.

The needle-like tension continued to prick him in his skin.

Eventually, the strange language flowing out of the man's mouth came to an end, and a System message popped up in Jin-Woo's view along with the familiar 'tti-ring'.

[King of Giants, the Sovereign of the Beginning, 'Reghia' has activated the 'Skill: Pledge of Trust (Negotiable)'.]

[Once the 'Skill: Pledge of Trust (Negotiable)' has been agreed upon, both the initiator and the acceptor cannot lie to one another.]

[Will you accept the 'Skill: Pledge of Trust (Negotiable)'?] (Y/N)

What attracted Jin-Woo's attention, first of all, was not the contents of the man's suggestion, but the title denoting what the man's true identity was.

'The King of Giants, is it.....'

He remembered the Giant-type monsters he hunted down on his way to here. Most likely, there must be some kind of a connection between this revelation and the reason for the face of the super-massive Giant protecting the Gate being the same as this man's own mug.

As Jin-Woo fell into a contemplative silence, the man patiently waited for an answer.

'What should I do?'

Jin-Woo looked at the blinking 'Y/N' and pondered his options.

Seeing that the System even bothered to give him an alert like this, the effects of this skill or whatever must've been for certain.

He needed to think about who'd be in more of a disadvantage when unable to lie to the other party here. However, there was no reason to think too deeply about this as the conclusion was already clear in his mind.

'Obviously, it'll be a loss for him.'

After all, this side was standing on an advantage.

In case a question Jin-Woo could never provide an answer for comes around, all he had to was to kill this creature, even if that sounded callous and cold-hearted.

This deal was suggested by the other side, to begin with. And Jin-Woo wasn't naïve enough to feel guilty for a monster, of all things.

'Yes.'

Tti-ring.

A System message appearing simultaneously with the mechanical beep quickly informed him of the successful completion of the negotiation.

['Pledge of Trust (Negotiable)' has been initiated.]

[Through the mutual consent of both the initiator and acceptor, the two parties involved cannot lie to one another until the contract has been terminated.]

The King of Giants urgently repeated what he said before as if he was waiting for Jin-Woo to accept the Pledge.

"Please, free me from this seal. I shall help you."

"Euph.... Euph....??"

Jin-Woo's eyes went extra round from surprise. His voice didn't want to come out of his mouth as if his throat had been blocked off.

A smile crept up on the face of this King of Giants after seeing Jin-Woo's struggles.

"That's right. That is the power of the Pledge of Trust."

"..."

Indeed, the effect had been confirmed to be real.

Half out of curiosity and the other half out of testing purposes, Jin-Woo was about to answer 'I shall completely trust you. Let me undo those chains right away'. But he really couldn't say any of those words at all.

'So, this is the Pledge of Trust at work....'

Jin-Woo confirmed the effects of this 'skill' and felt his heart beat faster.

With this, he could trust to a certain extent what this King of Giants had to say to him. There was a simple reason why he didn't trust 100%, though.

If they had no choice but to speak only the truth from now on, then it was rather obvious that the other party would withhold information that might prove to be damaging to itself.

Jin-Woo's glare became sharper than when there was no Pledge between the two.

"How come it's possible to converse freely with you, unlike how it is with other monsters?"

"Monsters?"

"Creatures emerging out from the Gates."

"...Ah, ah. You must be referring to the denizens of the Chaos World."

The King of Giants cracked a mocking grin.

"I shall ask you something in return. How could you even think of placing mere denizens of the Chaos World on the same pedestal as a Sovereign who rules over them?"

He then formed a dignified expression truly fitting for a 'King'.

"All the denizens of the Chaos World emerging from the so-called Gates are, without exception, remnants of the defeated army. They have lost the battles against the army of the Rulers and become captives. They had to remain tied to a leash for an uncountable number of years, so it's only obvious that their ego has been eroded somewhat. However, I am the King. I am different from them. I have patiently waited for the fated day when I can make my escape from their grasp."

The King formed a thin smile next.

"And that's how I got to encounter you."

"...."

Jin-Woo worked hard to keep his emotions in check and to analyse what this guy was saying as objectively as possible.

'If he's really an existence on a higher realm than other monsters, then....'

….Then, he might really find himself with some important clues here.

Gulp.

His saliva travelled down his throat.

He had a ton of stuff he wanted to ask right now. But, before he did that, he needed to confirm something else first.

"By any chance, when you said the army of the Rulers, were you talking about those wearing silver armour with wings on their backs....?"

"That's right. Those dogs are the soldiers of the Rulers."

As expected. It felt as if another puzzle piece had clicked into its rightful place.

He suddenly thought that the 'video playback' the angel statue showed him was not some make-believe crap, but someone's real memories of an event that did happen, instead.

Just what the hell was going on in this world, then?

Jin-Woo asked another question.

"Why do those b*stards called Rulers keep sending these monsters to us?"

The reason for the existences of the Gates. If he could find out the reason why these Gates kept popping up, then couldn't he be able to do something about it and stop that from happening again?

Jin-Woo biggest concern lay with that.

"I have told you that already, have I not?"

The King of the Giants spoke with much more emphasis in his voice.

"They are preparing for war."

"War?"

"They will change this world into a suitable battlefield to engage the Sovereigns in yet another warfare."

"I don't quite follow you here... Just by sending monsters to Earth, this planet suddenly becomes a warzone?"

Well, it was true that sometimes, a situation far more horrifying than a warzone could develop from a Gate, but still.

Jin-Woo momentarily recalled the event that took place in Jin-Ah's school. Even then, those were matters that involved humanity. He just couldn't see how those would serve as preparations for some kind of a war involving non-human races.

"It is all to inject magical energy into your world."

THUD!

Jin-Woo felt as if he was struck in the back of his head just then.

If monsters were calamities emerging from the Gates, then magic energy was the blessing coming from the Gates. Not just the Hunters, but many civilians thought similarly along these lines.

Magic crystals, as well as Mana stones. These items containing magic energy were treated as the greatest source of energy in the modern world.

But then, that energy was actually nothing more than footholds for the upcoming war?

The King of Giants continued on with his explanations.

"There is simply no better way to propagate the type of energy that didn't exist before than by sacrificing the blood of those that possess the necessary energy. So, the Rulers decided to utilise the captives they had in their possession."

There was no need to even mention that the density of the magical energy around the world was gradually getting thicker every day.

That was not a naturally occurring phenomenon. No, more than likely that was the fruits from the trees first germinated from the fertile field cultivated from the blood of the monsters.

"The magic energy fortifies a world. They plan to fortify your world so it wouldn't get destroyed from the impacts of the warfare."

"In that case, this warfare is....?"

"Yet another blood-soaked struggle between the Sovereigns and the Rulers. Not too long from now, the world you're living in will become a true hell."