Chapter 29:  Peaceful Australia

The world was going to hell, and Earth was just turning into a complete mess, but there was one person who was largely unaware of this.

That person’s name was Ryu Zion.

He was a Awakened from Korea, who had now somehow found his way into Australia.

After hastily finishing his preparations to escape Europe, he had used his connections to secure a place in Australia and had immediately moved there!

Australia’s land was vast, but in contrast, not much of that vast land was inhabited by people. Especially since the advent of this new era.

That was why Ryu Zion had chosen this land. It was spacious, yet uninhabited, allowing him to seclude himself in this desolate place until the world calmed down, all while enjoying the comfortable rest he had originally desired.

He had originally retired because he was utterly exhausted, and his body was quite damaged, so he wanted to rest and recuperate thoroughly. To completely laze around, that is.

[So, do you like the house? It’s a safe house I got in a hurry, but it should have everything you need.]

“You got this in a hurry, and yet it’s such a fantastic find? You haven’t lost your touch!”

[Ha! Come on, I’m an S-rank special-class killer! Do you think I wouldn’t have those kinds of connections? I’m more than capable of something like this!]

“Yeah, thanks, man.”

Thanks to him, things had become much easier, and I smiled as I conveyed my gratitude.

[I don’t know what’s going on… but the world’s f*cking chaotic these days. Let’s see each other healthy later. We’re too young to be greeting each other at our graves, aren’t we?]

“Yeah… who would want to die already? I just want to relax, long and lazily.”

[If you want to live like that, don’t make any more enemies. Didn’t you make enemies because you were stirring things up for money?]

“Well… if that’s the case, you should know roughly, but this time I don’t know anything, I really don’t.”

It was a situation that was hard to grasp.

The faces I saw in my nightmares, and the fact that I was in a relationship with them in those nightmares, I roughly learned about through Sargatania’s case.

…But I still don’t know exactly. Damn it, it’s not like the nightmares I had were just one or two. There were so many that I couldn’t count them, nor could I remember them well.

Sargatania, I had that dream again before I met her, so I remembered it well, and the ones who attacked my house, I didn’t remember much besides their names. A dream is just a dream. It’s something you don’t remember well once you wake up.

[Anyway, rest up. Let’s have a drink when you have time.]

“Yeah. Get to work.”

As the call ended, I leaned back comfortably in the rocking chair.

Creak. Creak.

The sound of the chair moving echoed through the quiet house.

“Quiet, peaceful… just perfect.”

The expensive hotels in Europe were nice. They were luxurious, had great facilities, and allowed for a comfortable rest. They lacked nothing.

But still… I liked this kind of atmosphere.

There was a reason I had built a house in the middle of nowhere, where there were hardly any people. I needed this kind of quiet, peaceful time, where I wouldn’t have to meet anyone. My motivation had long since disappeared.

In that sense, the past few days, being chased by monsters that suddenly popped out of my nightmares and became real, were truly horrible. I really felt like my life was in danger then…

Regardless of their intentions, the power they showed was enough to make you feel like your life was on the line…

That’s why I had completely run away to Australia.

Usually, when someone needs to abandon their identity and start a new life, they choose Africa or South America. To hide, you need to go to a place where there are a lot of people and where money can solve most problems, not a desolate place with no people.

You would easily get caught in a place like Australia.

But it’s not like there’s no demand at all. So it’s not impossible to find a place like this.

Since there’s no land, it’s used for things like stashing food and resources in a truly deserted place for hiding, or as a spare warehouse for storing equipment.

Well… it could also be used for criminal activities. Anyway, it’s not like there’s no demand.

And this house had its own well-laid plumbing, and it could supply energy through magic stones while also being self-sufficient. They said there was about three years’ worth of food prepared.

This should be… enough to hold out. It has everything I need. Wouldn’t three years be enough for those unknown obsessions to fade away?

‘It might just be wishful thinking…’

Hmm, maybe what I’m thinking now is just overly optimistic… but there’s nothing I can do. I’m in a situation where I can only hope for that…

Ryu Zion relaxed his body and leaned back in the chair.

“I’m tired…”

I liked this. I liked this even before I retired, back when I was active duty.

It was quiet, peaceful, and serene all by myself. That’s why, when I had some experience, I often operated alone even when I was active.

It wasn’t like I stubbornly went alone when there were tasks that required multiple people. Easy and safe task completion and safety were much more important than personal preferences.

I didn’t have anything strong like a belief, so it wasn’t hard to bend my small thoughts.

Soon, Ryu Zion closed his eyes.

He had experienced two urgent and intense events, and that too in a retired state.

His body wasn’t in the best condition, so it was bound to creak, and it would be stranger if he wasn’t tired.

He had even lent a hand when dealing with Sargatania.

So, leaning comfortably in the chair, Zion closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Creak, creak.

The sound of the rustling bushes in the gentle breeze, the regular breathing of the sleeping man, the movement of the rocking chair.

Soon, the quiet and peacefulness that Ryu Zion desired came to the safe house.

And unlike the situation in Ryu Zion’s house, the world was not so peaceful.

Ryu Zion, who had only thought about escaping Europe in a hurry and moving to Australia without having time to look at anything, didn’t see the global issues and news…

The disasters he didn’t see were gradually approaching to find Zion… and only Zion was unaware of it.

Three years would be enough for it to subside? No, there’s no way. These beings had endured far longer than that, solely with affection and obsession.

It was love, obsession, and affection that wouldn’t subside even if he endured, but… there was no way he could endure until then in the first place.

There were too many monsters on this small planet. No matter where he hid, it would only be a temporary measure.

And even now, while Zion was satisfied hiding in a place like this… while he was just sleeping and waiting.

“…My… lord… where… are, you…?”

Due to the aftermath of the battle, due to the aftermath of mutual destruction, space was distorted and she was dropped in Australia, so the Korean Awakeners couldn’t find her even after searching for a long time.

“This… Aegis… Charlotte… is… coming…!”

Half-lidded eyes, a staggering body.

Nevertheless, instinctively moving, the knight named Aegis Charlotte began to walk.

But, this was not the only thing.

Not just the injured knight… another being had caught the scent.

“…The stench is gone, I think I can finally feel you.”

The second continent. A land newly created due to dimensional fusion.

And, a monster that appeared on that continent, not far from Australia.

“You were not far away… your energy, your scent… I can finally feel it clearly.”

One who had rampaged as if she had gone berserk, after the empire established by survivors from another dimension tried to use her through negotiations but failed miserably.

A being holding two swords with opposing energies, wearing a human skull instead of a helmet on her head.

And… a madwoman who, unable to hide her anger, completely destroyed the empire that had been revived on this second continent not long after, and made it so that no living human existed on this continent.

It wasn’t just humans. Even the monsters that were running amok out of control were all destroyed, leaving not even a seed behind.

The complete destruction and massacre of the second continent, following the Holy Kingdom and Africa.

The perpetrator of that tragedy, the traces she made…

She began to move, leaving behind the tragedy of the continent being torn apart and the rotten blood flowing like a river from the mountain piled up with corpses and debris.

She was, a pathetic hero who saved the world but couldn’t save her lover.

Therefore, she was a contradictory being, a hero and a demon king, who destroyed the world she had saved with her own hands, slaughtered the goddess who instigated it, and became a demon king.

A person who desired love, who couldn’t bear to send away the head of her lover, which was impaled on a stake and insulted, so she wore it on her head.

“It’s been a while… will I be able to see you?”

Not caring about the tragedy she had created, the transcendent being, both a hero and a demon king, began to move towards Australia.