The World After the Fall
chapter-38

'Steel Region'

The 5th region of the 12 regions of the Great Lands was completely covered in steel. As such, the region was abundant in steel as well as other metals and ores. Many blacksmiths and artisans worked in the region. The 5th region's nickname was the 'Home of All Weapons'.

Since a lot of Nightmares resided within the region, its production of cultivation towers or weapons increased and the region became one of the most important regions in the Great Lands.

Recently, the ruler of the 5th region wasn't too happy. An old man with distinct features frowned.

"What did you say?"

"…"

"The Lord of Darkness did what?"

The Chief Secretary shivered in front of the old man. He was the ruler of the 5th region and had the nickname, 'Unbreakable Steel'. His name was renowned in the Great Lands. In just 80 years after he had come up to the Great Lands, he became the Lord of the 5th region and was ranked on top of the Great Ones.

Lord of Steel, Huhyou.

He looked down at his Chief Secretary and frowned.

'What was his name… Allen?'

He had been chosen to take the position since he was born in a good family with a good upbringing, but it didn't satisfy Huhyou. Allen was in charge of intelligence within the organization but all the information he brought was outdated information.

If Huhyou fired the Chief Secretary again, it would be the 24th time during this quarter. Huhyou changed his tone and asked again, "Relax and tell me. So, what is the Lord of Darkness up to?"

Jerome, the Lord of Darkness, was the ruler of the 9th region, which bordered the 5th region. Huhyou had qualms with Jerome because of Jerome's sly and vicious nature.

'Maybe it's about time for me to settle the score with him.'

The 9th region had been up to no good in recent years. The region welcomed all fugitive Adapters and for the first time, contracted middle to low-level cultivators to increase the production of Products. They were obviously increasing their army force. This was the only possible reason. They were preparing for war.

Under the current circumstances, it was apparent that their target would be the neighboring 5th and 7th regions. Allen shivered and said, "I-it seems that the Lord of Darkness is contacting [Chaos] for some reason."

"[Chaos]? What about that place?"

Huhyou was surprised. Under the 295th Great Lords Decree, all Lords of the Great Lands were forbidden from meddling with [Chaos].

"Well… it's complicated."

Allen seemed to have prepared something as he called out to [Little Brother] and showed up a hologram panel. Huhyou looked at it closely.

"What about it?"

He knew about the video. It had the Non-Adapter who killed the Frost Dragon alone. The famous [99th Floor Solo-Clear Video] with a man who stabbed the Frost Dragon.

He remembered a former secretary who insisted on scouting him. Purchasing Products or recruiting Adapters were the secretary's job so he did not really care.

'Wasn't it proven to be fake?'

The video that topped the rankings on [Little Brother]'s network had become a problem as the Cultivator had disappeared. Even now, some were debating if the video was fake or not.

"The product… is the Product that was being created under the contract by Lord of Darkness."

"What?"

Huhyou then looked more closely.

'Wait… this one…'

As the man thrust against the Frost Dragon, there was weird energy. It was very faint, but he recognized that energy.

'Awakener… in a tutorial?'

Even the Lord of Steel himself, who was the most powerful Awakener in the Great Lands, had not succeeded in being awakened in the tutorial. Huhyou quickly asked, "Where is this Product now?"

The secretary hesitated.

"…He escaped."

Escape?

"What do you mean?"

"He… refused to clear the tutorial. He destroyed the roof of the tower and ran to [Chaos] through the Tree of Imagery. That's what I heard."

Huhyou thought he misheard it.

"What about the Cultivator waiting at the 100th floor?"

"He was killed."

"…Are you kidding me?"

"N-no, my Lord. I can't believe it myself, but Lord of Darkness seems to trust the information."

Huhyou could not speak. If that was true, the Product's value was immeasurable.

'That's why the Darkness is poking at [Chaos].'

The situation did seem complicated.

"But does the 9th region have a connection with [Chaos]?"

"I-I came across this information while I was at it… but it seems they had been meddling in [Chaos] for a long time even before this incident."

"Long time?"

"Yes, my Lord. Few among the Ten-Clan of Chaos had been in regular contact with the Lord of Darkness."

Huhyou's face sunk. It meant the Lord of Darkness had been disobeying the decree for a long time already.

'What are you up to?'

He thought about bringing this up to other Lords for a second. But doing so wouldn't really change as it wasn't a situation for the other Lords to pay much attention to. Other than the eastern region, which was comprised of the 5th, 7th, and 9th regions, all regions of the Great Lands were battling a vicious war. It wasn't certain if the Lords of the other regions would have room to come and accuse the 9th region for its crimes.

"Who else knows this information?"

"I think it is only known within the 9th region. But 7th region would have their intel so they should know that by now."

It was very possible. The 7th region was the land of the Lord of Fire, Abraxas. Huhyou pondered for a minute and spoke.

"Go send a message to the Nightmare Union and ask for permission to use the [Narrow Door]."

Narrow Door.

The artifact that allowed 'Living' to look like 'Death'. The Five Renowned Families, or Nightmares, used this [Narrow Door] to travel to [Chaos] without dying.

"A-are you trying to go into [Chaos]?"

"No, I need an eye. We need to be on top of the situation."

"…Who should we send?"

"Send 10 people from the Gold First Class. …and send Hyeyoung."

The warriors of the Steel Region were divided into five ranks. Adamantium, Mithril, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Each rank was also divided from First to Fifth Class. The Gold First Class was mostly comprised of Adapters who were at least in the 5th stage.

The leader of Gold First Class, Hyeyoung, was almost as powerful as the higher-ranked Mithril. The group as a whole seemed to be overkill for [Chaos].

"We need to make sure. We do not know what might happen."

"Y-yes, my Lord."

Huhyou saw his Chief Secretary going away and dove into his thoughts.

'Chaos…'

There was an old friend in Chaos that he fought alongside during his tower days. He was called the best doctor back then and had the name, the Doctor of Despair in [Chaos].

'Chunghuh, I wonder how you're doing.'

Their pathways in Awakening divided them up, but Lord of Steel thought of his old friend from time to time. Chunghuh insisted on staying as a human before becoming a perfect Awakener, but he eventually lost his life as a human.

'He would've lived longer if it wasn't for his temper.'

Huhyou smiled at the memories that he shared with his friends.

'I hope he fixed his temper there.'

"Hey, fight me again."

Chunghuh spoke with his bruised eyes and swollen cheek. He couldn't understand. He was the Doctor of Despair, the best doctor within [Chaos]. As rumored, he was also the 'Strong of the Depth,' one of the very few within [Chaos].

It didn't end there. He had a grand past. He was born in World 12764 and was the clearer of the [Master]'s Tower. World 12764 was famous within the Great Lands. It was named the 'Middle Land' or it was also known as 'Moorim.'

Those from Moorim were automatically considered a great power, as it was the world that gave birth to the Lord of Steel and its Legendary generation. Moreover, Chunghuh was from the Legendary generation.

"I think we've done enough, old man."

Jaehwan spoke irritatingly. The Doctor of Despair was in bad shape. His clothes were ragged and his hat was destroyed. Over 20 swords were strewn out on the training ground had already destroyed and Jaehwan still hadn't pulled his sword out from the scabbard.

"I still have my final skill! Kid!"

"…"

"You will surely die if I use this! That's why I'm not using it!"

He had been saying that over and over again. He kept saying that even with 10 'Normal Slashes'.

"You can't beat me, old man."

"You never know until you try."

"You are weaker than me."

Weak? Chunghuh rubbed off blood from his nose and smiled. The blood turned into white powder and scattered.

"You insolent fool. How old are you?"

"About 50."

"How old do I look?"

"…I don't know. 200?" Jaehwan guessed.

"Wrong!"

"…then how old?"

"A thousand!" Chunghuh answered proudly. Jaehwan was a bit surprised. He had not imagined the man to be that old.

'He's like a kid for being so old.'

Jaehwan became curious about what he would be like when he turned a thousand years old.

"Do you see the difference now?"

"…"

"Even if you stabbed for over 50 years, you can't beat me when I slashed for a thousand years!"

"I only stabbed for 30 years."

"Same thing!" Chunghuh shouted. "You will not beat me!"

Jaehwan then became doubtful and asked, "Did you really slash for a thousand years?"

"YES!"

"…It looks like you only did it for 10 years."

Chunghuh exploded.

From the tower to the Great Lands to Chaos and the Depth, he only slashed over and over again. Of course, he did not do it every single day for 1000 years, but he still kept at it. For the normal slash that only took 1 second, he did 8 hours of it per day. After 100 years, he had achieved a billion slashes. His body was filled with the energy of being awakened. He left behind the power of being Adapter and moved onto a new world. Chunghuh had not forgotten that moment ever since. He didn't do as hard after he had achieved the billion slashes, but if everything he had done was counted, it would exceed 5 billion slashes.

The miracle created by all those slashes were now being focused on the blade of the old man. Jaehwan felt something and changed his stance. It seemed Chunghuh was really preparing to use a powerful skill. Chunghuh gritted his teeth and shouted.

"Let's see what you think after you take this one!"