After revealing his inner thoughts, Tiotudo worked with Plu-El to come up with a plan . They had to somehow acquire the outsiders’ help, and at the same time, convince their comrades that it was the right move .

  Despite brainstorming, they failed to form a clear plan . Neither of the two could comprehend how the outsiders’ society worked, and they didn’t know who was an ally and who was a foe . When they had made contact with the outsiders the first time, the worst possible outcome had occurred .

  Just when their minds had stopped working, something favorable happened .

  “Look at this, Plu-El!”


  Tiotudo raised his Device .

  “This is…… . ”


  Plu-El’s eyes turned round . One of the Gems mounted on Tiotudo’s Device started glowing . It was the copper-colored Gem .

  “Yes! The Warrior Gem is awake . ”


  The Warrior Gem was one of the special Gems alongside the Royal Gem and the Shaman Gem, and that same Warrior Gem was announcing its presence .

  “It is as I had thought . The Royal Gem and the Shaman Gem awakening around the same time isn’t a coincidence . ”


  “You were right . Congratulations . ”


  Plu-El congratulated him, but she looked wry . Tiotudo had awakened his Warrior Gem, which had remained non-respondent over a very long period . It should be an occasion for a celebration, and being his friend, she was happy . Moreover, the might of their people had increased, and Tiotudo’s influence would grow amongst his people . He would be able to encourage others to join forces with the outsiders .

  The scary part of this awakening was that it gave more credence to Tiotudo’s theory about the creature’s seal unraveling . Tiotudo knew it as well, so he wasn’t disappointed with Plu-El’s lackluster reaction .

  Plu-El soon got rid of the bad aftertaste and focused her attention on the Gem .

  “What ability does it have?”


  “I only awakened its basic ability . ”


  “Do you mean the Mental Shield?”


  This power shielded the user from any negative influence on their mind .

  “You have to quickly awaken the other abilities . That’ll give us some leeway . ”


  “We have work to do . That’s more important than awakening my abilities . ”


  “What work?”


  “Our plan . ”


  Plu-El scrunched up her face .

  “Are you talking about the cooperation with the outsiders?”


  “Yes . ”


  “You’re rushing this . ”


  Plu-El said in a tense voice . The distrust of outsiders had taken a deep root within their people . Even if Plu-El and Tiotudo raised their voices at the same time, the probability of their comrades listening to them was slim . Rather, the move might buy enmity from their own people .

  However, Tiotudo didn’t back down .

  “We have no time . Magical energy is starting to leak out of the labyrinths . It’s proof that the unraveling of the seal has begun in earnest, and soon, their officers won’t be so passive . We have to set up a cooperative system before that happens . It’ll increase our chance of victory by a little bit . ”


  “Even if we try to convince them, how many would listen to us?”


  “You’re missing the forest for the trees, Plu-El . ”


  Tiotudo spoke in a low voice .

  “The chances of us winning the fight against the creature is minuscule in the first place . ”


  Plu-El had no response to that .

  “Don’t worry . I have a plan . ”


  Tiotudo spoke .

  “We use the authority passed down for generations amongst our people . ”


  “What authority?”


  “The descendants of the royal, the shaman, and the warrior families hold no sway over our people now . You, me, and Aruwen do not have much authority over our people . ”


  In spite of that, some followed Aruwen . This remained true for Plu-El and Tiotudo too, but the number of their followers was tiny . Them being descendants of these important families didn’t earn much prestige .

  “However, it’s an entirely different story if a real royal, shaman, and warrior show up . ”


  Their people longed for the days of their past: the golden age of peace in their large kingdom . As they faced more adversities in their lives, the yearning only deepened . This yearning was what gave Aruwen, Plu-El, and Tiotudo a modicum of power .

  “Soyoung is the daughter of an outsider, yet she can somewhat live amongst us . It’s because your husband was one of the few outsiders who took our side . At the same time, you awakened the Shaman Gem and received the authority that came with being a shaman . You used this authority to shield your daughter . ”


  Plu-El didn’t deny Tiotudo’s assertions since it was all true .

  “Yes . It also bought Soyoung much more hate . ”


  Tiotudo didn’t deny it either . Plu-El possessed proof of the power they revered, yet she had a daughter of mixed blood . This colored the eyes of those around her when they viewed Soyoung .

  “You can be the proof that the authority of old is still alive . Let’s break this down . You have the authority of the shaman . I awakened the Warrior Gem, so I have the authority of the warrior . If these two pillars join forces, we can create a once in a lifetime opportunity . ”


  That opportunity was the opportunity to come in contact with outsiders .

  “Moreover, Aruwen no longer has the authority to oppose our opinions . No, his opinion is worthless . He lost the Royal Gem, and the one who stole it awakened it . ”


  Tiotudo stared straight into Plu-El’s eyes .

  “You don’t have to do anything . I just want to borrow your authority as a shaman . I’ll carry out the plan, and if things go wrong, I’ll bear the responsibility . ”


  Tiotudo’s eyes remained firm, and it was enough to make her want to trust him . He was blunt and wooden, and on top of that, he was the friend she trusted the most .

  “Alright . I’ll trust you . However . . . ”


  This time Plu-El spoke in no uncertain terms .

  “Do not say that you’ll bear the responsibility by yourself . You might have overlooked it, but I’m the one who activated my special Gem first . I’ll not be pushed around like this . If we’re carrying this out, both of us will bear the responsibility . You got that?”


  She winked at him . Tiotudo just silently looked at her for a while . He then smirked . It was a very rare smile from him .

  “This is why I like you . ”


  “Oh my! Are you trying to seduce a married woman? I’m sorry, but you aren’t my type . My only love is my husband . ”


  “I was dumped even when I’m not even interested . That isn’t fair at all . ”


  The two of them bumped fists as they laughed for a long time .

  “Let’s go do this . ”


  “Alright . ”


  They had to convince their comrades, so they moved to gather them . However, someone had already done what they went out to do .

  “Hey! You’re finally here . ”


  A familiar face was standing at the center of a crowd . Aruwen had shut himself inside his room for a long time, so he looked gaunt . However, his eyes were sharp .

  ‘This isn’t good . ’


  Tiotudo didn’t know what was happening, but he knew it couldn’t be good . Plu-El had the same thought, and she frowned .

  “I was planning on calling you guys here . You have excellent timing . ”


  Aruwen pushed past his comrades as he approached the two of them . Unlike his rough outer appearance, his eyes were full of killing intent .

  Tiotudo spoke in his usual tone of voice .

  “Did you make peace with yourself?”


  “Why would I make peace with myself?”


  “I’m talking about you saying farewell to the Royal Gem . ”


  All expressions from Aruwen’s face disappeared, and his eyes became empty as if they belonged to a dead person . Plu-El felt a physical aversion to him, so she took a step back .

  Aruwen laughed as if the previous blank face had been a lie . However, the sound of his laughter gave away that it was forced .

  “No way! It’s the treasure of our people . We can’t let that go away so easily, right? We have to get it back, and we had already decided to do that . ”


  “About that…… we should discuss our plans again—”


  “Wait a moment . I received some very good news . ”


  Aruwen stopped Plu-El from speaking . He then brought forward a short man who looked like a mouse .

  Tiotudo and Plu-El felt a sense of crisis . This man was supposed to be monitoring the person who had the Royal Gem .

  “Can you explain it to the two of them?”


  “Understood . ”


  The short man stood in front of Tiotudo and Plu-El and proudly spoke .

  “Magical energy is leaking toward the city built by the outsiders . Of course, the monsters followed the magical energy . So the outsiders are sending patrols out of their city to kill the monsters . Our target is part of the patrol . ”


  The faces of Tiotudo and Plu-El hardened; in contrast, Aruwen’s face brightened .

  “You hear that? After we ambushed him, he hid in the city like a coward . But now, he has finally crawled out . We’ll never get a better chance . We have to kill him before he gets corrupted by the awakened Royal Gem . We have to kill that bastard and recover the Royal Gem . ”


  A faint trace of madness appeared in Aruwen’s eyes .

  “Of course, you’re going to help me, right?”


  ***

  Sungyoon took a stride . The combination of his enormous strength and the low gravity of the Moon allowed him to jump high .

  ‘It’s scary every time I try this . ’


  Sungyoon glanced upward . He felt that the abyss of space would pull him in, and he would disappear into the black sky . Fortunately, the gravity kept him bound to the Moon, and Sungyoon could look at his surroundings without worry . He used his excellent eyesight to aid in the search .

  His gaze stopped somewhere in the distance .

  “What do you see?”


  Sungyoon heard Tim’s voice through the communication device installed in his helmet . He kept his eyes fixed on his target as he answered .

  “I found one . I believe it’s a Troll . ”


  “Is that so?”


  Sungyoon pointed toward the troll . Tim pushed off the ground and his body also soared upward .

  “You’re right . ”


  While Tim was in ascent, Sungyoon approached the descent part of his jump . After landing on the ground, he approached Grace, who was holding a tablet displaying the terrain around Armstrong city .

  “It’s around here . ”


  Sungyoon took a stylus and drew a circle around the region where he saw the Troll . Tim soon rejoined the party .

  “Let’s move . ”


  Sungyoon’s party jumped across the surface of the Moon to the shallow crater where they had spotted the monster .

  “I see it . ”


  They caught sight of it .

  ‘Did it come out of there?’


  Sungyoon saw a labyrinth entrance next to the Troll . The labyrinth was also marked on the map . It was a mid-rank labyrinth, and the party didn’t have much interest in it .

  “I’ll kill it . ”


  Tim accelerated, and his ax flashed when he reached the Troll .

  Suh-guhk!

  If there was air, that was the sound the attack would have made . The Troll’s head was lopped off way too easily .

  Sungyoon, Emily, and Grace arrived after the Troll’s corpse turned into a moonstone .

  “Here . ”


  Tim handed over the moonstone to Sungyoon . When he was done, he looked up .

  “Let me check if there are any monster—”


  Tim stopped speaking . Sungyoon, Emily, and Grace looked toward the labyrinth . They had spotted some people coming out of it . The party knew them, but also didn’t know them .

  “They came out again . ”


  Tim spoke as he raised his shield .

  The group that had ambushed Sungyoon’s party not too long ago once again encircled them .