"I will now talk about what I have planned for the future."
Earth. Yu IlHan spoke in a voice neither loud nor soft to those looking at him, including his mother and his son.
"As you can feel right now, the growth speed of Earth is very, tremendously, a little annoyingly... fast."
Everyone nodded their heads. It hadn't been long since Earth experienced its 3rd Great Cataclysm, but the concentration of mana on Earth was thicker than most worlds after the 4th Great Cataclysm.
And the concentration of mana was becoming thicker right now as well. From the moment the hell dungeon, where all sorts of demons roamed, was completely fused with Earth, its growth accelerated even further. The 4th-class monsters which were once considered disaster-level could now be seen frequently if you walked about.
"Originally, I tried to accelerate the growth speed of Earth. I wanted to grant the privilege of returning to Earth to the people of Earth who are currently residing in other worlds. However, it worked a little too well, and from the current state of things...."
At this rate, Earth would enter the realm of higher worlds in a few years, and the seal on Earth would be lifted, allowing the people of Earth to come back; however, they would be wiped out by the horrifying monsters of Earth. This was the perfect situation of 'too much is worse than too little'.
So, he needed to tweak his plans slightly.
"There are two major things we have to do. First is to slow Earth's growth, and I think I can address this to some extent with the artifact I designed and will create with the help of the mages here. I'm also going to activate the Hourglass of Eternity whenever possible."
"This is about slowing down the growth of an entire world, but you're saying it like it's no hard job, huh?"
"I accelerated the growth without much difficulty, so it's nothing new to me."
Yu IlHan wasn't familiar with magic before, but right now he had exceptional mages on his side: Kim YeSeul, Kang MiRae, and Erta. Although it was annoying to talk to her, Helièna was also superb in her abilities. He had the confidence to succeed if it was with them.
"The second is to form and raise as much battle force as possible before Earth becomes a higher world. Only like that could we defend against any invaders. One of the forces is the Dragon's Army and... from now on, I'm planning to go around various worlds connected to the people of Earth to procure allies."
"My dear, IlHan said he'll actually look for allies of his own accord...!"
"Please don't look at me like a child debuting at a playground!"
One of the biggest forces, Kim YeSeul, was quite difficult for Yu IlHan to act against. Yu IlHan, to the best of his ability, replied to his mother, who was touched, and continued speaking.
"Naturally, it will be impossible to visit all worlds that the people of Earth were scattered to. First, I'm planning to search for the ones belonging to the Front Line Alliance. Fortunately, that will become a lot easier thanks to Miss MiRae acquiring an ability to move across worlds.
"Does that mean-"
"Yes."
Kang MiRae's expression immediately darkened as she had predicted his answer. However, Yu IlHan was merciless and continued speaking without any hesitation.
"I'm planning to split up the members. I will be on the Guardian fortress, and Miss MiRae will be on the Flying fortress. For concealment, Mir will also be on the Flying fortress, and as for the rest, you will be suitably split up between the two…"
When Yu IlHan said that, a fierce battle of wits began. A war-like psychological warfare! As if to pour cold water on them all, Yu IlHan took out a piece of paper.
"...fortresses as I've listed according to level and class on this paper."
"..."
Yu IlHan won't always be done in. Everyone looked at Yu IlHan as if they'd been betrayed, but he did not allow for any objections or arguments.
Yu IlHan made all members who had reached 4th class, except for Helièna and Kim YeSeul, join Kang MiRae's side, and he proceeded with it despite Liera's strong protests.
"Please take care of any danger, Liera."
"Ugggggggh. I'm fine with everyone else, but why are you taking that succubus!"
[Oh my, miss ex-angel is quite worried, eh?]
Helièna smirked at Liera when she protested. Her leisurely smile made Liera even angrier.
"Of course I am! Why do I go with Kang MiRae but you take that succbus!"
[Do I really have to put it into words? It's obviously because my darling likes....]
"It's because the very existence of this thing is a bomb, so only I can treat it with caution. And since Helièna and I are here, I can only put the majority of the rest with Miss MiRae."
Yu IlHan told her the cold and hard truth in place of Helièna's teasing. Helièna pouted since she was treated like a ticking bomb.
[You should have just said you wanted to protect me. Darling really is embarrassed.]
"Then we'll depart like this. Oh, before that, communication devices."
Yu IlHan distributed new communication devices. Although it didn't look that much different from before, the aura inside it provoked a few ex-angels.
"IlHan, this is...."
"The angel's ring!?"
Just as Liera was about to say something, Erta shouted instead. Yu IlHan only gleefully smiled at the two shocked angels.
"I couldn't find a better alternative to send intentions through dimensions. Thanks to that, we can call each other however and whenever we want, even if we're in different dimensions!"
"Yu IlHan, you should really learn what consideration is... uuuu!"
"Hmmm, it does nag me a little, but I guess it's fine since I can talk to IlHan even when we're far apart...."
"No! I can't accept this!"
Things were wrong since he started using dragon-made equipment while with a dragon, Yumir. Liera thought, 'It's fine since we've already come this far', but Erta still couldn't accept it. Yu IlHan licked his lips and extended his hand towards Erta.
"Then you give it back."
"That's...."
Erta pondered for a moment, but she still put the communication device in her bosom. Reality always requires one to look away, even when one knows something. This was such a moment. Yu IlHan laughed and cleared up the situation.
"Then we'll depart immediately. I guess it should be better if Miss MiRae and the others check up on your own families first."
"Thank you for your consideration. We shall do that."
"You must at least give me a comm three times a day. Aside from that, please tell me whenever something arises as well. I'll immediately go there."
"Understood."
"IlHan, I'll kill you if you cheat on me! I'll know with the blessing of the god of love!"
"Needless worry, you're the only one for me."
The group split up. The reason he left the Flying Fortress was, of course, that the gear was better there, and also because Mystic could control it of her own accord even without him around. The Flying Fortress was originally supposed to be under the control of the Flying Fortress, but it could also be operated by Yu IlHan if needed, so there were no problems.
"Then where are you planning to go first, son?"
Seeing Kang MiRae and co. going over the gate on the Flying Fortress, Kim YeSeul asked her son. Yu IlHan shrugged his shoulders and replied.
"I'm going to gather the people with the most responsibility I know of, at the same time being as strong as the elite guilds."
"As strong as the elite guilds? Even though you told all of us that you'd gather them first, the first target isn't a guild?"
"Yeah, these guys are the only exceptions."
The people he was referring to were none other than the proud, strong friends of Korea, Suppression! If they, who maintained their places to protect the citizens even while being treated poorly by the country, were like that, there was no need to doubt their personalities.
The second criterion of his judgement was, of course, battle capability, and until the 3rd Great Cataclysm arrived, Suppression had levels and skills that didn't fall short of those of any other 1st-rate guilds, so there was no need to worry about that either. And most decisively,
"Suppression is relatively cohesive in regards to which troops they are from. So I only have to go around 14 worlds to collect them all."
['only' 14 worlds, huh? Ufufu.]
Helièna giggled at Yu IlHan's nonchalant words.
[It really is surprising. Until now, there was no lower existence that could leap through dimensions like that, you know? But somehow, TWO such miraculous beings were born in the small world known as Earth. How did that happen?]
He shrugged his shoulders and replied.
"Perhaps it was destined the moment humankind of Earth was scattered throughout other worlds."
[Fufu, it really is interesting to be with you, darling. I think it's gonna be much more fun in the future too.]
"Hah, it will be sooo interesting, I know."
"Enjoying everything is a good thing, son. If you don't get into danger because of it, that is."
[Oh my, you understand me, huh?]
The Heaven's Army, the Army of Brilliant Light, the Destruction Demon Army, the Garden of Sunset – just thinking about them made him sick, but 'interesting'?
Of course, it was a good thing that he had made her, who could treat all that as 'interesting', into an ally, but he would only make a loss if he was swept by her thoughts and emotions. This was also why he put Kim YeSeul into his group. As long as his mother was with him, he had the confidence to remain calm.
"Let's look for their big guy first, then. I really hope he is still alive."
"Son, you've become strong."
"Yeah, though, I feel a little sad because I feel like I'm becoming numb to death."
Yu IlHan immediately activated Warp. His destination was the world Midora, where Colonel Yoon DaeHan and 39 of his subordinates were residing. This was a world he had looked for for the first time, but since he had come into contact with the colonel several times, finding it and recording it were not so difficult.
"This world is a 2nd... No, a 3rd?" Yu IlHan estimated that he had arrived at Midora successfully when he saw the concentration of mana in the air. Since he had experienced so many worlds, this much was nothing to him now.
"It really is a different world. Amazing."
"I'm sorry, Mom. I don't think we have the time to leisurely go around touring."
"But how are you planning to find them all when it's not just one or two that we're looking for?"
When Kim YeSeul asked in confusion, Yu IlHan raised a hand with a faint smile. Invisible magical power flowed from his hand and came into contact with the world when his Record skill activated, beginning to read it.
"...Just now, what did you…"
[Oh my... I think I'm falling for you all over again, darling.]
Kim YeSeul was surprised upon seeing the Record skill's absurd ability up close, and the Succubus Queen Helièna wore a thick smile. Not so long after, Yu IlHan severed the flow of magic power from his hand and spoke.
"Found them all."
"Did you say you just found them all? All 40 of them?"
"5 of them died, but yeah. They are together as I predicted."
"...Amazing."
While Kim YeSeul renewed her assessment of her son's capabilities, Yu IlHan activated Warp again to the location where Colonel Yoon DaeHan was battling his subordinates.
[Kroaaaaaaaaaar!]
"Don't retreat. It's aiming for that opening!"
"We can't kill this. It's impossible for us!"
"We can! The reason we've crawled into this forest is right in front of us. We can do it if we don't give up!"
Battling a 4th-class giant snake of level 230, the soldiers shouted all sorts of things. At that place, there were people other than just the soldiers, but Yu IlHan could immediately recognize who belonged to Suppression; they were still using the artifacts that Yu IlHan made.
[What are you planning to do with those humans that are struggling against such trash, darling?]
"You probably have a hard time believing, but they are within the top 0.0001% of Earth with their abilities."
[Oh my, can we really defend a higher world with those scrubs?]
"Hmph."
Yu IlHan snorted at her and took out a dragon bone spear.
"I'll make them all into 4th class before Earth becomes a higher world, so don't worry."
Then, he threw it lightly without thinking much about it.
[Kuaaaaaaaaak!]
The thrown spear fell like a comet from the sky, pinning the snake's body to the ground. When the snake struggled, scattering green blood everywhere, those prepared to receive its attack were all put at a loss.
"Where did this attack come from?"
"Ah, look at the sky! The sky!"
Even though Yu IlHan deliberately avoided striking the snake's vital points, the snake was left half-dead. Anyway, it didn't die instantly, so the Guardian fortress's figure was revealed, and people doubted what they were seeing.
"Colonel Yoon DaeHan!"
Preparing to jump down from the Guardian fortress with his Ruin Calling open, Yu IlHan shouted.
"Come back with me to protect Earth!"
"No!"
The reply unexpectedly arrived quite soon. It seemed Yoon DaeHan realized the spear's owner was Yu IlHan the moment he saw it on the snake.
But anyway, 'no'? He wasn't supposed to reject so easily. Just as Yu IlHan tilted his head, about to shout again, Yoon DaeHan shouted in a confident, strong voice towards the sky.
"I was promoted a little more while I was still on Earth!"
"Ah, I'm sorry."
This was the moment when 'Major-General' Yoon DaeHan and his 35 subordinates joined the Earth defence force.
Needless to say, this was merely the beginning.