Stop, Friendly Fire!

Did everything go as Lee Shin Woo wanted? Well yes, yes it did. Since Lee Shin Woo's original goal was to shock the Vulture General and clear as many cities as possible without incident.

"Ha, in the end, that bald-headed bastard didn't come."

"You really are too much. You don't even know if he's bald or not yet."

"So why the hell did he scout us out if he wasn't going to come? Man, this pisses me off."

"You said not encountering him was a good thing."

"...Yeah, I did, but..."

But if he was being honest, Lee Shin Woo wanted to take down one of the 12 generals prior to hunting another one with the other heroes. Regardless of whether the Empire reacts strongly or weakly to the news, the heroes should be able to deal with the situation better.

...And there was one other thing he wanted.

"Since I gain two permits to the secret shop for every city I clear... Tch, I've only gathered 10 more."

"Hey, you took mine too, so you have 15 total."

"Yeah, you're right. So let's take a look..."

Any hero who helped take down one of the 12 generals would be rewarded, regardless of how much or how little they did. On the other hand, killing undead heroes or clearing cities was different.

For the former, Jin wouldn't receive any reward, but for the latter, he would receive a single permit. It was the same for Kratia as well.

"I have a total of 75 permits."

"75!?"

Kratia, who quietly listened in, was shocked. It would be difficult for the other heroes to even accumulate 10 permits, yet here he was with 75!

However, there were three reasons Lee Shin Woo was able to gather these permits so quickly. First, killing undead heroes (most of his seniors didn't have any experience in this). Secondly, purifying cities (even if his seniors partied up, it was difficult for them to purify an entire city, and most importantly, they were worried that it would cause trouble in the future, so they didn't easily attempt level 3 danger zones and up). Thirdly, killing the 12 generals (his seniors hadn't killed one).

"They're all things that would be difficult for my seniors..."

"Since you've hunted one of the 12 generals and purified cities with me, you should have more secret shop permits than our seniors."

"Yeah. I was thinking about going to God's garden again to get another artifact soon, but I've been putting it off since I can't think of anything that fits. ...Still, the fact that you have 75 of them is amazing."

Lee Shin Woo thought he'd be able to gather more permits than the other heroes if he put his mind to it, but to think he'd accumulated this many... One of the reasons behind this was the fact that Jin gave him his permits.

"But it's important to note that nothing has changed, even though I've gathered so many."

"Should there be some sort of change?"

"If what God told me is true, then yeah..."

He had a feeling when he had first gathered 10 permits. Not only did he get a message, but he could feel these permits, these shards of God's power, shake. It was as if these tiny fragments would fuse into something greater... Yeah. To put it in words, it felt similar to a level up.

"Then... If you amass 100 of them, will something change?"

"So you think something will happen too, huh."

100 secret shop permits. He was too embarrassed to even ask his seniors about this. It would be impossible to gather so many of them if one didn't either kill the 12 generals or actively clear out cities. One would have to be Lee Shin Woo to even try it.

"It'd be chaos if I asked them what'll happen if I gather 100. I'd rather not."

"They probably won't know anyway."

"Yeah, this is probably impossible for Ethan Cruz."

What would happen when one collected 100 secret shop permits? He had some idea, but he decided against thinking about it right now. Lee Shin Woo would be able to gather the remaining 25 permits quickly, so he would just need to check then and there.

"Well, that's that. We need to figure out what we do from here on out."

"Are you going to attack another city?"

"Cities aren't monsters, so do they just form out of nowhere? Do they regenerate?"

The undead wouldn't occupy purified cities. Killing all of the undead wouldn't purify a city. God would personally shine her power upon a purified city.

Giving permits to heroes who have purified a city shouldn't be unrelated to that phenomenon, but in any case, low rank undead were afraid of Her power and the high rank undead would be leery of the city and avoid it.

"And for a long time, our seniors hadn't tried to purify the cities. There are only two or three more level 3 danger zone cities left. The fact that it's not over after I've wreaked so much havoc tells me just how powerful the Empire is."

"Then let's go take them out."

"...Let's leave the rest of them as leftovers for our juniors."

"Leftovers?"

Jin and Kratia tilted their heads, but Lee Shin Woo smiled bitterly and looked away from their inquisitive gazes. It sounded good, leaving a few cities in the level 3 danger zone for his juniors, but it was actually because taking out all of the cities would provoke the Empire more than he thought necessary.

Most of the heroes were operating in the level 3 danger zone, and aside from his elites forces, his Pauls were in the level 3 danger zone as well. Honestly, he was being bold enough. A person needs to know when to stop.

"Honestly, that's not the only reason. ...You see, tomorrow's the day I have to see Seira."

"Do we both have to see her?"

"Yeah. I know you avoid the other heroes, but just come with me this time. It feels reassuring to have you with me."

"If you're really that insistent, then..."

Lee Shin Woo wasn't really concerned with what Seira's intentions were, or what she was doing to prepare for Ethan Cruz's plan. That's because Lee Shin Woo was already on top of it.

He just wanted to meet with her since Lee Man Bok's words were still bothering him. That was why he was dragging Kratia with him.

"Then, I suppose I should hide my troops before we go."

[Giants do not hide!]

"The Titan hides for 60 days to be active for just 4 minutes."

[If that's what the Titan desires, then we'll swallow our pride!]

Figuring out where his forces should hide (when he wasn't leading them) was his first problem. He couldn't manage them individually, especially since they were split up and moving independently, so he needed a place to station them.

However, the answer was right in his face: a dungeon. Dungeons were, by their very nature, secretive, and they could hide several undead. Also, Lee Shin Woo and Kratia could take protective measures on them, like they had done for the Kerr Century Winery.

So which dungeon should he pick? Would he just do as Lee Man Bok did and just pick any random dungeon, and hide it by covering it in mana or magic? No, that was the reason Lee Man Bok died a second time. He couldn't ridicule his choice and then copy him.

The dungeon Lee Shin Woo had picked was...

[Level 3 dungeon - You have discovered the Darkness Hidden Sewer's hidden path. The dungeon's information is updated.]

[Level 4 elite dungeon - You have acquired the permit for the Darkness Hidden Sewer. All stats increase by an additional 10 inside the dungeon. The dungeon's information is added to your minimap. All actions are buffed within the dungeon.]

"They all got out of here too."

"Seems like you were right. The higher the danger zone, the higher the Pauls' intellect, and the higher chance that their tests succeeded, so... they join up with Anti-Skull immediately."

The underground passages (which were in the cities) that Anti-Skull had used for their experiments! His seniors didn't know about these passageways, and the 12 generals didn't know about them either. Because it was so difficult to enter them, it was much better to choose one of them, rather than randomly picking a dungeon.

"Since they're so well hidden in a purified city, the undead will instinctively avoid them, and heroes wouldn't enter a city without any prey. If Lee Man Bok had just a little bit of sense, then..."

"Then you could’ve just kept him alive and told him about this later."

"I shouldn't have to teach a level 7 this. Moreover, there's a saying in my country that says 'humans never change', Jin. It means that no matter how much I try teaching a dumbass like him, he'll still be a dumbass."

"'Humans never change'..."

One of the reasons Lee Shin Woo had continuously attacked and seized cities was to find an appropriate location to hide his troops. Of course, it was difficult to find an underground passage that was deep and wide enough to fit the Giants, but...

"Shin Woo, shall we begin?"

"Alright."

Like they'd done with the Kerr Century Winery in the past, Lee Shin Woo and Kratia expanded the secret facility, creating a space that would allow the Giants to hide without feeling cramped! Moreover, they created another secret passageway, giving them an alternate way to get out.

"Ah, that part's mana structure is a bit off."

"Leave it to me."

It was as difficult as reconstructing the dungeon, but because Lee Shin Woo and Kratia were plenty experienced in it by now, they were quite efficient.

What was most amazing was the fact they maintained the dungeon's 'uniqueness' while going about their work. Jin watched as the facility widened and became deeper in the blink of an eye and was shocked as always. However, it seemed like Kratia wasn't pleased with the final result.

"We could've made it so much better if we could use spatial magic."

"Like Feotane von Seldin."

"...Hoo. Someday, I'll learn it and beat him."

Lee Shin Woo thought it'd be faster if he just killed him and absorbed his bone, but decided not to say anything.

They had finished expanding the facility, and when hundreds of Giants, as well as the rest of his Paul Corps had safely entered, Lee Shin Woo suddenly received a private chat request. It was from Ye Jin Jin. He tilted his head, and as soon as he accepted her request...

[Ye Jin Jin: You were alive. That's such a relief...! I'm so glad!]

He wouldn't hear the end of it if he said 'Hey wait, you know I'm dead already'. Lee Shin Woo told her he was safe and asked her what was going on. Then, she replied like this.

[Ye Jin Jin: The level 3 danger zone is in chaos right now. Senior Ethan hasn't even led one of the 12 generals in yet, but one of them is moving already!]

"What!?"

Lee Shin Woo's goblin fire burned finely. He couldn't just let this go!

"If you know one of the 12 generals is coming, then you don't even need to bait one of them. You can just take that one out."

[Ye Jin Jin: No, you can't. You can't! Even Senior Ethan said that we shouldn't mess with them...!]

"Even Senior... Ethan?"

[Ye Jin Jin: He said he's (the general) a lot different from the rest. Even the other seniors, who saw their movements by chance, are shaking in their boots right now. He's so fearsome that they're hesitating over whether they should go on this expedition or not.]

"That bad?"

If that's the case, then was it the Vulture General that Lee Shin Woo had been waiting for? If he saw his air force, then it would make sense that they were quaking in their boots. Even if most of heroes had a way to attack flying monsters, they weren't specialized in aerial warfare.

'But the fact that Ethan wants us to avoid it is bothering me.'

Why did he want them to avoid it? Was it because he was communicating with the general? If not, was it because he had no connection with that specific general?

Lee Shin Woo thought the latter was more likely. Ethan Cruz was incredibly meticulous, and if he said that they should avoid him, then it was likely that that particular general was one that he couldn't control with his abilities.

[Ye Jin Jin: Yes, he's really scary and he's also strange. Apparently, that general broke a city in the level 3 danger zone!]

"...Huh?"

[Ye Jin Jin: It's strange, isn't it!? You don't understand why one of the 12 generals under the Emperor would destroy one of their own cities, right? Plus, according to our seniors, he destroyed three cities.]

"..."

Hearing that, Lee Shin Woo's goblin fire shook. Since she couldn't see his goblin fire and could only hear his voice, Ye Jin Jin continued to go on and on.

[Ye Jin Jin: Moreover, he managed to conquer three cities in just a few days... I don't know if there's something strange going on in the Empire, but what I'm sure about is that he's a strange undead and that he's really dangerous. Plus, he apparently leads huge undead as well.]

"Hey, that's..."

[Ye Jin Jin: Even if all the heroes worked together, we probably wouldn't be able to beat him... Our seniors have already nicknamed him. He's full of contradictions, so they called him the Heaven Defying General.]

"...He sure sounds amazing."

'I thought the world had blessed me with the name, but it's already being used by my fellow heroes. Is this the power of karma?' Lee Shin Woo thought vacantly.

[Ye Jin Jin: He is amazing. So, you have to be careful too, Mr. Shin Woo. If you see him, don't fight him and just run away!]

"...Yeah, I won't fight him."

The contradictory existence, the Heaven Defying General Lee Shin Woo weakly replied to her appeal.

Although he liked to injure himself to train, he really didn't want to kill himself.