Chapter 182 - The Valkyrie’s Ruins 1 (1/2)

The purpose was to defend against potential attacks from the Queen of Thorns Alice.

While the Norton Kingdom had barren soil and cold weather, it had a lot of areas where Mandragoras could be cultivated.

Therefore, they could inflict an effective blow on the kazaks.

In terms of geography, it was close to the Enoa Kingdom ruled by Alice.

The question now was who would manage Dreadlore while Woohyuk was away.

It would be a waste to leave Sieg or Bailey, members of his main force, in a remote area instead of taking them with him.

After contemplating for a while, Woohyuk decided to choose one of the undeads who had awakened after the Lich King's throne had reactivated.

So in the midst of selecting applicants and preparing a tournament...

“Death Knight Huperion greets Asura, the new Master of Dreadlore.”

A white-haired man wearing black plate armor came to him.

“Hmm… you are?”

“I was the commander of the guard who supported Nakron. And when he left this fortress, he put me in charge to protect Dreadlore.”

“… I see.”

There is no need to hold a tournament.

The former second-in-command of the fortress was right before him.

Woohyuk stood up from the throne and summoned Verserios.

“Swear your allegiance to me. Only then will I allow you to continue your previous assignment.”

“I will lead my army to conquer the empire and offer it to you if you were to order me.”

For Huperion, Woohyuk was no different from the successor to the throne, as he had been enthroned through a legitimate procedure.

Even if he was not a lich, he was the master Huperion had to serve with his life.

All the dead, including him, who had been asleep until now were waiting for Woohyuk's command in the fortress.

“The time is not wight. You simply have to protect this castle with all your might.”

“Understood, Lord Asura.”

“Then, let us pledge a master-slave contract.”

Woohyuk descended the stairs and placed Verserios’s blade on Huperion's shoulder.

However, this was merely a formal procedure.

Woohyuk had already obtained the title of Nakron’s Successor, so the master-slave contract had been created already.

“But where will you go after leaving the castle? My heart cries in anguish as I cannot stand by My Liege’s side after my awakening.”

“First I will conquer this world. After that, I plan to challenge the Demon God’s Throne.”

“… You truly are Nakron's successor. I have not known you for long, but I’ve realized that My Liege is an outstanding hero.”

Huperion looked up at Woohyuk with admiration.

What an ambitious and powerful monarch.

“How many troops do you have under your command?”

“Ten thousand, My Liege. We may not number much, but it is an army that Lord Nakron himself recognized as elites in his lifetime.

Before challenging the Death God’s throne, Nakron had sealed them in the basement of Dreadlore, in case he would fail and not to return.

He then installed a device on the royal throne to select his future successor.

Woohyuk nodded at Huperion's detailed explanation.

“So that's how it happened. I will be able to leave with ease and leave this place in your care now.”

“Please do not worry about Dreadlore. Moreover, you can teleport here at any time, My Liege.”

If a warp gate was installed using magic engineering, those who were registered in advance could move to the specific location anytime, anywhere.

An example was the God of Light’s sanctuary in the Holy See.

And such a warp gate was also installed in Dreadlore.

This was tremendous information considering the fact that even small kingdoms were unable to do so because of the astronomical costs of warp gates.

Nakron seemed to have accumulated a huge wealth during his lifetime.

Feeling the importance of this fortress, Woohyuk agreed.

“I will stop by whenever I have time. Until then, raise a powerful undead army. I believe you have the skills to accomplish it.”

“Please leave it to me.”

Huperion bowed to his ruler.

When the conversation ended, Woohyuk left the room and headed to his own elite army.

“My Lord, we are all ready to leave. The morale of the soldiers is also high.”

“Good work, Sieg. But where is Brynhild?”

Everyone was gathered there except for her.

Sieg scratched his head awkwardly.

”That’s… She said she wanted to see the deads who woke up in the basement...”

“For what reason? She doesn’t like creatures of darkness by nature normally.”

“It might be something related to the Norton Kingdom.”

The Norton royal family had long been fighting the undead.

But in the past, they were also a noble family who once served Nakron.

In other words, since the tiger had disappeared, the fox decided to play the role of King of the forest.

“We mustn’t trust the Norton royal family too much. If Alice decides to expand her territory, they may ally with her.”

“That would be troublesome. Oh, there’s Brynhild.”

Sieg looked up with a happy expression.

Brynhild flapped her white wings and landed gracefully.

“Did you find out anything from the deads, Brynhild?”

“Yes, something a little shocking.”

“What is it?”

“It is said that the Norton royal family has been trying to uncover the secrets of eternal life for a long time. They have been secretly conducting human experiments.”

Their desire was to become immortal and rule the Norton Kingdom forever.

Woohyuk nodded at Brynhild's story.

“It's definitely possible. They would have ended up killed by Nigel and Logan in the near future if we hadn’t intervened, though.”

“We cannot leave them be. We never know how they would backstab us in the future.”

Brynhild also thought that Colesman could betray Woohyuk at any time.

As she repeatedly emphasized the problems of the Norton family,

“Meow! Master! I have something to report!”