There Is No World For ■■

Early Evening

After finishing their preparations, the group had a simple meal before heading straight to the western district of the city.

Instead of sneaking into the sewers, Yeomyeong and his group boldly boarded a carriage.

The sewers were so crowded with people that, paradoxically, there were fewer eyes watching them on the main roads.

After a short while, the buildings bathed in the sunset's glow began to come into view through the carriage window.

It was the only fully completed building in the city: the Pantoriano Building, the headquarters of the Western Court Lord.

Yeomyeong stared at it for a moment before speaking.

“...Neti, you don’t have to participate in the battle. You can stay back and support us.”

His words carried a sense of concern and care. Neti, who had been looking out the window as well, widened her eyes in surprise.

“Eh... brother-in-law? I’d be more useful than sister in a fight like this, you know?”

Her response was brash and unrestrained. Seti poked her sharply in the side, but Neti ignored it, opening her bag and making two rifles hover in the air.

“I specialize in telekinesis and reverse engineering magic. I’m way more useful than sister, who can only fight. I’m also learning high-speed movement techniques like Bi-gak-sul, so I won’t fall behind in a fight. You know, right?”

Yeomyeong nodded, remembering the swift movements of Neti’s legs as she caught up with him at the northern station.

“And as for combat power, I can fire rifles with telekinesis. That’s more than enough.”

As though to prove her point, Neti made two more rifles hover in the air.

The sight of four rifles floating around the carriage was impressive, but Seti, sitting next to her, let out a deep sigh.

“...Why didn’t you mention that you have no actual combat experience and can’t precisely control spells?”

“Ah, well, that’s....”

“Neti, we’re not here to play around. We could get hurt, or worse, we could die. So... like Yeomyeong said, stay back and support. Understand?”

“...”

Neti didn’t argue. She knew her sister’s words were irrefutable facts, and any rebuttal she made would be nothing more than an excuse.

While Neti silently returned the rifles to their case, a flash of light suddenly erupted outside the window.

Everyone in the carriage immediately turned their heads, but the light had already vanished.

All Yeomyeong could sense was the distorted mana that lingered where the light had been.

“...Was that magic from the Shepherds?”

Yeomyeong frowned.

To use magic so blatantly, and to use such powerful magic that anyone sensitive to mana could feel it?

There were two possible scenarios.

One: the magic was cast out of desperation, too urgent to conceal.

Or...

“Or they don’t care if they’re discovered anymore.”

Yeomyeong didn’t waste time thinking. His actions were quick.

“Everyone out, we’re heading into the sewers from here.”

He opened the carriage door and jumped out.

“Eh?”

Neti responded with confusion as Seti grabbed a wooden box full of weapons and followed behind Yeomyeong.

Left alone in the carriage, Neti hurriedly climbed out and followed them into the sewer entrance.

Of course, she didn’t forget to toss a gold coin to the carriage driver.

Splash

As Neti dropped into the water of the sewer, Yeomyeong immediately released mana throughout the tunnel.

There should have been a group of bribed guards nearby, but instead, his senses picked up something else.

The familiar stench of the Shepherds.

And not just one, but the distinct presence of dozens of zombies being dragged around. It was clear—they weren’t even trying to hide it.

“...What do you want to do? Should we take care of the Shepherds first? Or should we go straight to the building?”

Seti, also sensing the Shepherds, asked, and Yeomyeong placed the wooden box labeled Magic Wand on the ground, opening it.

Inside were anti-tank rockets and warheads, commonly referred to as Ala's Magic Wand. Yeomyeong strapped one of the rockets to his back before responding.

“Let’s do both. Kill everything we see, and head to the building as quickly as possible.”

Neti was about to say, Wow, this is a crazy plan, but seeing her sister grab a rocket launcher, she wisely kept her mouth shut.

****

Kwaaang!!

A thunderous explosion roared through the sealed sewer, flames devouring the space and blasting out shockwaves.

All that remained beneath the inferno was a pile of shredded pig-headed brutes and zombies—reduced to nothing but charred scraps.

The scene was brutal, but the girl who had caused it didn’t even glance down at the corpses she trampled underfoot as she sprinted through the sewer.

As soon as she felt the presence of more Shepherds ahead—

"Neti, reload."

Seti tossed the empty rocket launcher back to her sister.

Neti caught it mid-air with Telekinesis, immediately grabbing another rocket from the ones floating beside her and loading it into the launcher—also through Telekinesis—before handing it back.

It was their tenth reload. Their rhythm was flawless.

It took her barely thirty seconds now.

Of course, her sister's rate of fire was even faster than that.

"Intruders?! Sound the ala—"

The pig-headed brute stationed at the sewer fork spotted them and shouted—

But no scream could outrun a rocket.

The deafening whoosh of the rocket launch filled the tunnel, the flash of the warhead blazing through the dark.

KWAANG!!

The brute vanished, obliterated into a mist of blood and soot.

A few zombies, barely outside the blast radius, managed to survive—if it could be called surviving.

But they didn’t even have time to groan. Yeomyeong’s sword carved a swift arc through the air.

A clean sweep—heads hit the floor before their bodies.

The group kept running, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

It was neither infiltration nor battle.

Just relentless, one-sided slaughter.

"How far is it now?"

Neti asked, her voice strained from carrying several rockets floating around her with Telekinesis.

All three of them were using Bi-gak-sul, their high-speed footwork propelling them through the sewers at breakneck speed.

She had only asked because, at this pace, they should’ve reached the Western Court Lord’s building by now—

But the answer came from someone unexpected.

"The Court Lord’s building? You’re already here."

A voice emerged from the shadows ahead.

The trio stopped instantly, their gazes snapping toward the source.

The figure in the darkness wasn’t a Shepherd.

Shepherds didn’t have such a small, emaciated frame.

Seti’s finger hovered over the trigger, debating whether to launch the rocket—

But the figure pulled down their hood, revealing their face.

"Who sent you? The East? The South?"

A gaunt, skeletal face with bloodshot eyes.

The twisted mana infesting their brain... unmistakably the same as the Corrupted Humans they had encountered in Manchuria.

But this one was different—an improved variant, apparently capable of speech.

Shepherds and now Corrupted Humans...

Yeomyeong felt an eerie déjà vu and quietly gathered mana in his core.

The figure grinned mockingly.

"Whoever you came for, it’s too late. The Western Court Lord has already opened the path to the underground. What sleeps beneath... is ours now."

His voice was soft and lilting, as if reciting poetry.

Neti’s eyes narrowed, her fingers twitching as she silently loaded another rocket.

People like this—

They usually had either traps prepared or terrifying strength to back up their arrogance.

But before her thoughts could fully form—

Crack.

The figure’s neck twisted 180 degrees with a sickening snap.

The body collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

“...The hell—”

Neti froze.

Did he just kill him with Telekinesis?

That wasn’t a typical Telekinesis technique. Not even the self-proclaimed archmage from the farms could do something like that.

It wasn’t a spell—

It was something far more visceral.

Slowly, her gaze turned toward Yeomyeong.

He stood calmly, as if the act he had just performed was the most natural thing in the world.

There was no triumph, no tension—

Just cold, calculated indifference.

...Who exactly is my brother-in-law?

Her curiosity was on the verge of boiling over when Yeomyeong lowered his sword and said,

"Neti. Get your weapon ready."

"...Huh?"

"Focus. It’s starting for real now."

As if on cue—

From beyond the tunnel, dark shapes emerged one after another.

One. Two. Five. Ten. Twenty. Forty—

In seconds, the sewer was filled with dozens of figures.

Each pair of eyes, glowing red, glinted with the madness of the infected.

****

A massive concrete staircase, plunging deep into the earth.

Two sets of footsteps echoed through a place untouched for countless years.

Click, clack. Click, clack. Steady, measured steps.

After a brief silence, Jo Pantoriano, the Western Court Lord, spoke.

"To think... such a vast space existed beneath the city."

He halted, peering down the seemingly endless stairs.

What could be hidden down there—

that required such thick concrete bunkers to protect it?

"...Is this really an armory?"

The question slipped from his lips, unbidden.

The one descending the stairs beside him paused and replied,

"Yes. It is an armory."

"What kind of weapons would demand this level of fortification? It feels more like... a place sealing away a Demon King."

The companion chuckled softly at his guess.

"A Demon King? The thing down here... is far beyond a Demon King."

"...Beyond?"

"A Demon King couldn’t even scratch the World Tree."

The words, layered with meaning, made the Court Lord falter.

The gravity of that statement didn’t sink in immediately—

But a lifetime of education and knowledge soon unraveled the hidden implication.

Only one kind of weapon had ever destroyed the World Tree.

A weapon from Earth.

"..."

The Court Lord swallowed hard and turned his gaze to his guide.

An Earthling—

With a grotesquely ornate horse-head mask covering their face.

Moments ago, the figure had seemed reliable.

Now, that same face felt monstrous.

Silence thickened between the stairs—

and the chill of fear crept into the Court Lord’s eyes.

The horse-headed figure inclined his head and spoke,

"It was all thanks to you, Court Lord, that my nation was able to find this place."

"Y-yes... It was my contribution that made this possible..."

"His Excellency will reward you... generously."

"..."

Yes—the reward.

A chance to escape this decaying world.

To become a noble of the advanced world—Earth.

Desire was the most potent drug of all.

The Court Lord crushed his doubts and fears beneath his ambition—

and resumed his descent.

Or at least—

He tried to.

But before he could take another step—

A deep, thunderous impact from above froze him in place.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

The tremors shook the ceiling, sprinkling dust and concrete debris from above.

What the hell...?

"An attack...?" The Court Lord’s voice wavered. "How—how could they be here already?! How did they reach this deep?!"

"..."

The horse-headed figure didn’t answer immediately.

Narrowing his eyes, he studied the ceiling. When the tremors began to subside, he spoke at last.

"There is no need for concern. It’s nothing."

"Nothing?!" The Court Lord snapped. "Did you not hear that?! You call that nothing?!"

"The entire western sewer is crawling with our forces, and the building is layered with wards and detection spells. There is no need for concern."

"But didn’t we unleash a massive spell when we unsealed this place? What if—what if someone tracked it—?"

"If someone foolish enough to do that exists—"

The horse-head mask tilted slightly.

"Then we simply kill them."

The Court Lord’s face remained tight with doubt—

but he could find no words to argue.

The power Earth had demonstrated thus far was undeniable.

Yes... Yes, surely... It’s nothing...

He repeated the thought to himself.

He was still clinging to it—

—When the ceiling above them exploded.

KWAANG!!!

The concrete cracked, a massive hole blasting open above their heads.

Shards of debris and clouds of dust rained down—

And through the settling rubble—

Appeared an intruder neither of them could have predicted.