There Is No World For ■■

"Kill the elf, and Save the Man."

—Record No. 444 from the Second Western Frontier Era, slogan of an unknown forest dweller.

__________________________

The moment Balagu and his group stepped inside the castle walls, he turned to the guards waiting behind the gate.

“Find a suitable place for the wretches following behind us. And if anything disgraceful happens that tarnishes my reputation... I won’t let it slide. Understood?”

When a superior gives an order, you obey—especially when that superior is a bad-tempered noble.

The guards quickly ushered away the children and women, disappearing into the depths of the castle. Balagu, meanwhile, proceeded toward Namgung Jeongbaek’s court, bringing only Josef’s men and Pinel with him.

Dovan offered to lead the way, but Balagu deliberately walked ahead.

As soon as he entered the inner castle, he headed straight for the lord’s office. If Namgung Jeongbaek was still inside, they had to strike first.

Pinel and Josef, fully aware of this, didn’t let their guard down for even a second as they approached the office.

Dovan, trailing behind them, looked like he was about to drop dead from the tension.

Fortunately, the office was empty.

Balagu swallowed a sigh of relief, then casually sat down at the lord’s desk and spoke.

“Dovan, relay this order to the guards. Send them outside the castle to secure the surrounding area and escort the displaced wretches here.”

“...Excuse me?”

Dovan blinked in disbelief, his eyes widening.

But the moment Balagu glared, he instinctively bowed his head. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

“Why? Do you have a problem with my orders?”

“N-No, sir! No problem at all!”

His voice rang with forced conviction, as if trying to suppress his confusion.

It seemed he still couldn’t tell Balagu’s voice wasn’t Namgung Jeongbaek’s.

Or maybe he was too overwhelmed to notice.

Either way, deceiving a friend wasn’t exactly enjoyable.

But Balagu kept up the act.

To atone for his past mistakes.

And—for Yeomyeong.

“Oh, and send out the security forces as well. Leave only a skeleton crew to guard the castle. If I hear even a single guard is slacking off, I will personally make you pay. Understood?”

Spreading out the guards.

That was the final step in securing the castle.

Of course, Dovan, unaware of the scheme, hesitated.

“But... then who will protect the castle and the lord—?”

“Did you not just see the battle of dragons end? What’s left to protect?”

“...”

“And as for security inside the castle...”

Balagu turned ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to Pinel and gestured toward him.

Pinel, catching on, unsheathed his sword—and with a smooth motion, enveloped it in sword energy.

The translucent aura flickered with lethal intensity.

Dovan’s shoulders hunched as he bowed lower.

“...Understood, sir.”

The moment he answered, Balagu waved his hand dismissively.

Dovan quickly exited, shutting the door behind him.

As his footsteps faded into the distance, Pinel exhaled a sigh.

“...I can’t believe that actually worked.”

“Sometimes, the most ridiculous plans work best.”

Josef and his men chuckled in agreement.

But as the laughter died down, Balagu let out a weary sigh.

“But it’s not over yet. We still don’t know whether Namgung Jeongbaek is dead or alive.”

Pinel shrugged his one remaining shoulder and scoffed.

“He lost his allies and his stronghold. What’s he gonna do?”

“He may have lost both—but he’s still a mage. And a damn skilled one.”

There was no harm in being cautious.

With that, Balagu began inspecting the office, checking every nook and cranny.

Josef and Pinel watched, puzzled, until Balagu finally muttered:

“Knowing that old bastard, he definitely has a hidden passage in this office. Better to find it now, just in case—”

He never finished his sentence.

Because at that moment—

Clunk.

With a heavy groan, a bookshelf slid open.

Josef’s men froze, Pinel stiffened, and the room fell dead silent.

Beyond the now-open passageway—

A familiar young man stood with three girls.

“...What the hell? What are you guys doing here?”

It was Yeomyeong’s group, the ones who had left the fortified inn earlier.

Balagu instinctively opened his arms, about to greet them—

But froze mid-step.

His expression went blank.

Because in Yeomyeong’s grip—

Was Namgung Jeongbaek, bloodied beyond recognition.

****

After Yeomyeong had placed the nuclear missile into his Inventory, both Neti and the Saint had similar thoughts flash through their minds.

What? What just happened?

Yeomyeong did something, but what exactly did he do? Was it magic? Martial arts? Or maybe something divine?

While the two of them were spiraling through these questions, Seti smiled meaningfully.

"Aha, so that’s what a 'bag' is?"

"...What?"

How did she know? As Yeomyeong turned to ask, Seti stepped forward and whispered in his ear.

"Actually, I’ve been watching everything from the start."

From the start? Yeomyeong thought. Was it Mignium? But just as he was about to ask, the Saint suddenly stuck her head between them.

"Wait, stop."

The Saint spoke and then wrapped her arms around Seti’s waist, positioning herself to block any further skinship between Yeomyeong and Seti.

"First, explain this to me. What’s this 'bag' thing? And where did you send the nuclear missiles?"

Anticipating a lengthy explanation, Yeomyeong briefly scanned the items in his Inventory.

After sifting through hundreds of items, he picked a few objects that were difficult to find beyond Dimensional Gates and grabbed them from the air.

The next moment, a small can of cola appeared in Yeomyeong’s hand.

"Huh?"

As soon as the Saint opened her mouth in surprise, Yeomyeong retrieved the cola and repeated the process—taking it out, putting it back, taking it out, putting it back...

Yeomyeong wondered if the Inventory Retrieval ability was influenced by distance and size, but it was clear that retrieving a small object like a can of cola used minimal mana.

After repeating the process a few more times, Neti, not the Saint, clapped her hands together.

"Ah! I get it now! It’s a space pocket, right?"

"...Correct. You got it right."

While this wasn’t a quiz show, Yeomyeong tossed the can of cola to Neti as a reward.

As Neti caught the cold can in surprise, the Saint, now realizing what was happening, tilted her head.

"A space pocket that can retrieve launched nuclear missiles? I’ve never heard of such a thing that could be used like that."

"..."

"Well, I can’t deny what I saw with my own eyes..."

The Saint gazed at Yeomyeong with a complicated expression. This wasn’t the first time he’d shown abilities beyond imagination.

But still, nukes were nukes. After a brief pause, the Saint carefully spoke.

"Yeomyeong. Can you promise me something?"

"Promise?"

"The nuclear missiles you just retrieved... promise me you won’t use them on innocent people."

Was it a vision? No, she was likely recalling the vision she once saw with Yeomyeong—the one where he and Seti turned Yeouido into a sea of flames, wiping out the National Assembly.

Yeomyeong didn’t hesitate. He looked from the Saint to Seti, then answered.

"I’m not a murderer... If it’s that, I can promise you anything."

"...Thank you."

As the Saint spoke, Neti raised her hand, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! How much more can you fit into that space pocket?"

"...What?"

"It’s not that, but... remember the armory and tank storage where the rats ran to? What do you think about grabbing some weapons and a tank while we’re chasing them?"

"..."

A tank? The Saint tilted her head in confusion, while Yeomyeong narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin.

Weapons and a tank—that wasn’t a bad idea at all.

****

Unfortunately, the armory had already been looted.

All Yeomyeong could retrieve from the large armory were dozens of rifles and boxes of bullets—nothing more.

However, he wasn’t particularly disappointed. He had already heard from Pinel that the Rat Beastmen had ransacked the armory.

What truly mattered now was the tank. With that thought in mind, Yeomyeong headed toward the tank storage...

“This place’s been looted too.”

The tank storage was completely empty—no fuel, no parts, not even a scrap.

“No! My tank!”

Despite Neti’s desperate cry, Yeomyeong pressed his lips together and pondered.

There was no exit here, so how could they have moved the tanks?

The answer to that question came immediately after leaving the tank storage.

Right in front of the opposite door to the storage, mana rippled so intensely it tinted the air red.

It was unmistakable—a Dimensional Gate. A massive gate big enough to fit a tank through.

“After the nukes, now a Dimensional Gate....”

As the Saint sighed, the group looked at Yeomyeong.

Their expressions all seemed to ask the same question: Should we chase through the gate?

Yeomyeong, without hesitation, shook his head.

It wasn’t because of fear or lack of preparation. It was because of the mana emanating from the gate itself.

It was too similar to the red mana he had felt when fighting the Red Arm in the frozen time.

“We should pull back.”

It was disappointing that he hadn’t been able to kill Vikoff, but at least the nuclear threat had been neutralized. There was no need to take any more risks by chasing now.

As Yeomyeong took a step back, the red Dimensional Gate began to dissipate with a hissing sound. Almost as if it had been waiting for him to fall into a trap.

“...Ugh, what kind of country was the Soviet Union to leave something like this behind?”

With Neti’s brief commentary, the group turned and headed toward the hallway where Namgung Jeongbaek had fled.

If there was any silver lining, it was that the Dimensional Gate—an abnormal method of escape—had left behind plenty of traces.

Footprints, bloodstains, and even the obvious traces of mana.

Taking the lead in the pursuit was Seti. She didn’t want to let Namgung Jeongbaek, the man who had played a role in launching the spear attack on her, escape.

She diligently followed the trail of Namgung Jeongbaek through the city alleyways, all the way to the hidden path beneath the alleys.

After circling through the chaotic city streets for a while, they finally found a wooden door leading down into the underground.

Opening the door, they descended into what turned out to be a storage room full of whiskey barrels.

The faint scent of alcohol mixed with wood and blood, but the footprints had long since disappeared. The mana no longer lingered either. Was this the end of their pursuit?

As Seti sighed in frustration, Yeomyeong suddenly started knocking on the whiskey barrels.

Tap, tap, thud-thud.

The barrels produced different sounds depending on their alcohol content—tap-tap meant more liquid inside.

“What are you doing?”

The Saint tilted her head in confusion. Yeomyeong continued to knock, responding as he did.

“I noticed something strange. Just wait a moment.”

After a brief time, he stood in front of the barrels that had produced the tap-tap sounds, then pushed the storage rack.

With a loud creak, the hidden passageway behind the rack was revealed.

“What? How did you find this?”

Seti asked as they entered the passageway. Yeomyeong casually answered.

“When you store whiskey in wooden barrels, the alcohol evaporates over time, and the amount decreases each year.”

“...So?”

“But when the barrels are coated in a fine layer of dust, but still full? The whole shelf? Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Seti smiled faintly and asked,

“...A documentary?”

“A documentary.”

“Why am I the only one not getting it?” The Saint muttered as she followed behind, while Neti comforted her, “Don’t worry, I don’t get it either.”

Soon after, they came to the end of the passage and entered a small, luxurious room.

The room was furnished with a wardrobe, a mirror, and a ladder leading up.

In the room, Namgung Jeongbaek was frantically wiping the blood off his body.

Upon seeing Yeomyeong and his group, his eyes widened in shock, as if he had seen a ghost.

“Wha—How...?!”

Before he could grab his staff in reflex, Yeomyeong was faster—slamming an elbow into his jaw.

A clean spin kick, shattering his molars.

With Namgung Jeongbaek’s pained groan, the cleanup was complete.