Portugal (1)
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
And its international airport, Humberto Delgado.
Was it because the country was in the middle of collapsing, or had it always been like this?
Compared to Incheon International Airport, it looked quite old.
But.
That place was absolutely packed with people.
“Korea! Korea! SKY! SKY!”
“Marisa! Marisa!”
“Please save our country!”
The Portuguese citizens were holding huge banners and hand signs.
News that SKY would be visiting Portugal had already spread across the entire world.
Because of that, everyone in Portugal, from children to adults, waited desperately for the world’s top players.
The passion was so intense that—
“Wow.”
“This is insane, isn’t it?”
—you could see it even from far away, before going through immigration.
All 14 members of the SKY guild. Every single one of them had entered Portugal!
Still, fortunately, they did not have to deal with that enormous crowd.
In fact, there was no need to go through screening at all.
When the president and prime minister personally came out to welcome them with the utmost courtesy, what inspection was there left to do?
“Oh dear, you must have had a hard time coming all this way.”
“We are truly, truly grateful that you accepted our Marisa Soares’ request!”
The flight time alone had been a full 13 hours.
Still, they had come comfortably.
That was because Portugal had sent them a VIP-exclusive aircraft.
It was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner Business Jet version, and apparently the flight alone was worth around 400 billion won.
“Hello.”
Baek Jinwoo greeted the president as they shook hands.
“Oh my, to think I would get to shake this precious hand. Haha, we’re in your care.”
“Yes, after all, this is the country where our guild member belong. We’ll clean out the dungeons before we leave.”
“Th-thank you.”
Those words were incredibly reassuring.
“Here, this person will guide you.”
The president introduced someone. He was a soldier in his mid-thirties.
“Sir! I will guide you! It is an honor, Jinwoo Baek!”
He was extremely spirited and disciplined.
“I am Major António Gomes of the National Defense Force, Special Support Division! I will first escort you to your accommodations.”
“Yep.”
The accommodations were quite impressive.
It was a five-star hotel in the capital, called Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon.
They had given them 14 rooms, all of them suites.
The treatment really is good.
Seeing each and every employee look tense, worried they might make even the slightest mistake, made him feel a bit awkward.
But.
Weren’t they simply being treated well because they deserved it?
—Wow! Jinwooo! The room is amazing!
He had originally planned to head out right away, but decided to rest a bit first.
No matter how much of a monster Baek Jinwoo was, a long-haul flight was still tiring.
He had brought 100 cream buns made by Marisa.
They were packed into a large box and even vacuum-sealed.
Now Lamba’s efficiency would be maximized.
“Everyone, get some good rest today.”
After summoning all of his summons, Baek Jinwoo flopped down onto the bed.
Oooh.
It was soft and fluffy.
What brand was this?
Harringtons?
It was supposed to be expensive, and it definitely felt worth the price.
The summons would probably each do whatever they wanted for five hours before being unsummoned again.
—Have a good night, my lord.
—Jinwoo, sleeeep well!
“Yeah, good night.”
Starting tomorrow, they would be grinding dungeons like crazy, so he had to get plenty of sleep.
* * *
The next day.
After eating the hotel breakfast early in the morning, they came to the conference room.
All SKY guild members were present, along with Major António.
“First.”
Borrowing a pointer, Baek Jinwoo tapped the map.
“The Vice Guild Master’s team will clear the north. From here to here.”
“Okay.”
Baek Jinwoo split the group into two teams.
No matter how strong they were, they could not all travel together across the vast land of Portugal.
They had to split up and maximize efficiency.
First.
Team 1?
Hong Ari’s team!
Hong Ari, An Gijeong, Kang Geonho, Oh Sunyoung, Jeong Siu, Kang Daehyuk.
Team 2?
Hwang Juwon’s team!
Hwang Juwon, Gi Jaehyuk, Kang Jihoe, Song Yeonhee, Han Yuna, Seo Yiyoon.
The Vice Guild Master and the advisor handled it neatly, cleanly, and with perfect sense.
And then there was one more person not included there.
Hwang Jiwoo would move together with Baek Jinwoo.
There was no particular reason.
The main focus of this journey was Explosive Dragon Sorcerer, and Explosive Dragon Sorcerer got along well with Hwang Jiwoo.
“The south, from here to here. Mr. Juwon, I’m counting on you.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
And then—
“The central region, especially the city right above Lisbon, Tomar, is the worst, right?”
“That is correct!”
António nodded.
“We believe an S-grade dungeon break has occurred there.”
“S-grade, huh.”
He had explained it before, but ordinary dungeons also had difficulty levels.
From F-grade to S-grade.
However.
S-grade dungeons were rare.
Rachel had once told him that the chances of one appearing were almost nonexistent.
To be honest, Baek Jinwoo did not really know.
That was because ordinary dungeons were an entirely different concept from Battle of Summoners.
Back then, they were stage dungeons.
Probably.
For a place like Portugal, which was likely even more backward in summoning than the former Republic of Korea, there was a high chance they had mistaken a high-difficulty A-grade dungeon for it.
But what if it really is an S-grade dungeon?
The rewards would be pretty worthwhile.
Usually, the major bosses around the 10th floor of the Tower of Trials were S-grade.
“This place is the most urgent to deal with. At this rate, the monsters will start swarming the capital soon. It’s also made transportation to the north extremely inconvenient.”
Tomar.
He had heard a rough explanation about the place.
A land where not a single person lived! An abandoned city!
Since it had been left unattended for quite a long time, monsters were crawling everywhere, and ordinary players did not even dare approach it.
‘I love it.’
The more food there was for Explosive Dragon Sorcerer to eat, the happier Baek Jinwoo became.
Should he just go all out this time and sweep through the countries in order of how badly they were suffering?
Honestly, Explosive Dragon Sorcerer really was the future.
No matter if another summon unlocked its latent abilities or awakened—none of them could compare in front of Explosive Dragon Sorcerer.
True Devour was just that broken.
Of course.
The higher he went in the upper floors of the Tower of Trials, the more often he would run into situations where he had to split his summons into several directions, so he could not rely on only one summon.
It was better for all of them to be strong across the board.
“Then let’s proceed like that. Transportation support will be provided, right?”
“That’s correct! Will three helicopters be enough?”
“No, make it two.”
Baek Jinwoo grinned.
“I’ve got one that’s better than a helicopter.”
Celestial Wyvern.
At this point, there was probably no player better than Baek Jinwoo at handling this guy.
“Then Vice Guild Master, and Mr. Advisor?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s meet back here in Lisbon exactly one month from now. And don’t slack off on training just because you’re hunting.”
““Okay!””
This journey would surely help level up their summons quite a lot as well.
* * *
On the hotel rooftop.
- Kiiiirurururururu!
After the wyvern spread its wings wide and let out a roar, it lowered its long neck.
Hwang Jiwoo naturally climbed onto it.
For reference, SKY guild members basically all undergo wyvern training.
It was to clear Friday Dungeons quickly, so because of that, they did not have any particular fear of wyverns.
Still.
This was probably António’s first time.
“António?”
“Y-yes, yessir…!”
He was not showing it outwardly, but it was obvious.
Just look at his face. He had gone pale.
“Do you happen to be afraid of heights?”
“N-no, I’m not!”
He really was not.
But?
For an ordinary person, riding a wyvern without safety gear was a different matter altogether.
Still.
Portugal’s fate was hanging in the balance.
This was the moment that ten million citizens had desperately prayed for with clasped hands.
If he was too scared of something like this to guide them?
He should hand in his officer’s badge.
“Where should I get on?”
“Get on behind Hwang Jiwoo over there. My Celestial Wyvern has a skill called ‘Levat Falling’, so it’s safe. There’s no need to worry.”
“A-all right.”
HunGyo had unlocked it beforehand.
A skill that controlled gravity so that if a rider ever fell, they could land safely on the ground!
As long as you rode it, there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Now then.
Everything was ready.
Baek Jinwoo sat down comfortably at the very back.
“Let’s go!”
- Kkiaaaaaaak!
Fwoosh, fwoosh!
The wyvern beat its wings a couple of times, then leaped from the rooftop.
And then—
“U-uwaaaaaaaaah!”
António’s scream rang out high in the sky.
I mean, it was not even going that fast.
What a drama queen…
* * *
The sight of Portugal from the sky was definitely bleak.
Cities all over were already in ruins.
Collapsed buildings, monsters appearing here and there.
“António.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
After flying for a while, he had calmed down. Apparently, he had realized he was safe.
“Please guide us. Which way is Tomar?”
“Ah, over there!”
He pointed far into the distance.
“You can tell at a glance the monsters are swarming, right?”
“They really are.”
There were a lot.
Not quite as many as Asmodeus’ subordinates, but it looked like about half that number.
“I think it’d be better to start clearing from the outskirts rather than going straight into the center.”
“That would be much better for us!”
Portugal had no ability to deal with dungeons anyway. So it would not be enough to just deal with the center.
They had to clean the whole place out in one sweeping pass!
Of course, more would probably appear again later…
That was something to think about when the time came. Right now, they had to reclaim the territory stolen by the monsters first.
Fwoosh, fwoosh!
Baek Jinwoo picked a point on the outskirts and landed there smoothly.
Then he called out his summons.
“When I bring out my summons, don’t be too surprised.”
“Ah, I know!”
António replied with an awkward smile.
It was already a famous fact. Still, he could not help finding it amazing.
To think he would get to see in person the summons of Baek Jinwoo, the world’s number one, whom he had only ever seen through the media.
And António was a fan of Explosive Dragon Sorcerer.
It’s just too cute.
He liked it even more because of the contrast between that image and its overwhelming power.
—My lord, did you call for me?
—Wow! Where are we this timeee?
One by one.
As the summons came out, each saying a word or two, António was moved.
“I’ll summon mine too.”
Hwang Jiwoo also began bringing out her own summons one by one.
Frost Cat, Lich, and Ice Ghost appeared.
Kwaagagagagaga!
Then even the Grade A Ice Bird and Jormungard revealed their tremendous presence.
“O-ohhh.”
He had been a little worried.
Could they really reclaim this lost city?
But now, he felt like he did not need to worry anymore.
They looked far too dependable.
“We’re going to walk forward and freeze or burn everything we see. If it gets hard, let me know. I’ll have you ride the wyvern.”
“N-no, that won’t be necessary! I may look like this, but I’m still a soldier! Stamina is not a problem!”
“Heh, good then.”
They began preparing for the hunt.
“Lamba.”
—Yeah!
“Here, cream buns!”
—Niiice!
Munch munch.
The moment she ate—
—Whoaaa! My body feels weird! I can feel my strength rising!
—Then hurry up and start swinging, Lamba.
—Got it!
Whiing whiing whiing whiing whiing whiing!
The targets were HunGyo, Aso, and Gale Slayer.
All three evenly!
—Good.
—Nice!
—Krk….
It seemed like they could clearly feel their attack speed warming up faster than before.
They stretched their bodies as if satisfied.
—I’m ready too, Jinwoo.
Fwoooosh!
Flames billowed around her.
Anything pierced by that would probably melt instantly, no matter what it was.
It carried that much ruinous power.
“Then, shall we get going?”
Whatever was waiting in the center—let’s wipe it all out.
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