The battle of the La Grange Plains was a major victory for the old humanity.
The Barbarians who boasted peerless martial prowess was annihilated by Sungchul’s fast containing god-like power, and the surviving members were hunted down by the enraged humanity.
The remnants of surviving Barbarians retreated back up north, but they will likely never regain their former power.
It was now time for the victors.
Many lives were lost in combat, and many more lost gratuitously through the hurricanes of war.
But in spite of it all, the humans put on a feast and celebrations.
This was a form of a declaration.
That the humans, even after being abandoned by god, are still alive.
The celebrations were held at the giant circular stadium that used to be a former Rutheginean Colosseum.
It was a peculiar fate for a Colosseum.
The giant execution grounds that once existed solely to cause death was now being used as the ground where all of humanity gathered in unity and mutual desire for cooperative prosperity.
At the place where the gladiators used to fight to the death was now festival grounds celebrating the victory and peace, and the tens of thousands of seats and stands were filled with citizens and soldiers.
Everyone was waiting with abated breath at the unprecedented and historic celebration that was to take place soon.
With a fanfare, the Kings and their supporters soon appeared on the arena grounds.
The People cheered them on enthusiastically to express gratitude for their hard work and sacrifice.
Arcanite, Daincraft, Hesserdein, and McRaed.
The core members of the World Parliament made their appearances one by one.
There was a brief silence when the Human Emperor made his appearance. He was not yet welcomed.
However, once the chairman and the candidate for the One King, Sungchul Kim, made his appearance, the entire Colosseum lit up with such a cheer that the entire city of La Grange shook.
“Hey, I know him! He and I were both Summoned at the Palace!”
One Summoned shouted and pointed desperately at Sungchul who was dressed very neat uniform, but no one heeded him.
The dirt of the Colosseum grounds.
It smelled strongly of dirt and grass due to having been tilled over very recently.
Sungchul who treaded upon this ground felt something that was unfamiliar to him.
The last time he had stood on these grounds, the only things he heard were shouts of anger, blame, and curses. Nothing but pure unfiltered malice.
“Kill the rebels!”
“Kill that black hair!”
That memory was still vivid in his mind.
But it was completely different now.
Everyone was expressing their respect and gratitude towards him.
The passion and feelings contained in the thunderous roar was powerful enough to melt even a heart as cold as Sungchul’s.
“Uwah. I can’t believe I live to see such a day.”
Bertelgia, who was out of the pocket today and boasting her full size tapped him on the shoulder with her covers as she commented.
“Me neither.”
The cheers continued on for a while.
Sungchul looked at the tables placed at the center of the Colosseum grounds. Around it were standing the core members of the World Parliament, and his long time friend William Quinton Marlboro.
Once the Emperor’s eyes met Sungchul’s, he broke into a bright smile.
“Welcome, our hero.”
The Emperor greeted Sungchul whole hearetdly.
Though the cheers aimed at Sungchul were louder, it was not as important to him anymore.
“Are you alright? You seem tired.”
Although the Emperor had make up on, Sungchul could instantly tell that the Emperor was feeling ill.
He could tell by just an exchange of looks.
Noticing there was something physically wrong could be discerned just by looking at the face.
The Emperor attempted to fix his expression before speaking.
“It must be because of all the headache I’ve endured during the war. Anyways, I am not the main character on this stage, it is you.”
He readily yielded the head of the table to Sungchul.
The Kings and their followers were waiting for him while standing.
Sungchul met each of them in the eyes as he walked towards his seat.
He could feel a change.
The ever-so arrogant Arcanite lowered his head show respect to Sungchul, and even Daincraft had a toothy grin in a friendly smile.
Hesserdein didn’t show anything explicitly obvious on the outside, but he ended up saying something quite bold in spite of his usual meek demeanor.
“For the One King!”
The assembly was shocked by what he had said but no one argued otherwise.
“For the One King.”
McRaed winked and repeated Hesserdein’s words.
What began with a single quiet declaration soon became a phrase repeated by all present.
“For the One King!”
Everyone was hoping for it.
For Sungchul to ascend to the position of the One King who will lead them towards the resolution of the Calamities.
The passion did not cool off for a long while.
Only after the cheers died down a good bit did Sungchul notice that familiar faces had joined them at the table.
One of them was his old friend Shamal Rajput.
Though he was neither a King nor their servants, he who had protected order from the shadows for the former World Parliament, his presence here indicated that the Assassin’s Guild that maintained neutrality all this time finally officially recognized the New World Parliament’s legitimacy.
“Congratulations, One King.”
Shamal Rajput reached for a handshake with an stiff expression towards Sungchul.
They exchanged a handshake for the first time in a long while.
His hands were still as warm and rough as he remembered.
“We need to have a long discussion later. I hope you’ll make time.”
Sungchul readily agreed to make time for his old friend.
The next honored guest was the fabled witch, Adelwight.
This is probably the first time in the history that the witch, the continent’s oldest being, attend an official event.
She was an individual whose appearance itself carried historical significance.
But she was someone who had connections to Kromgard.
Sungchul believed that he couldn’t readily welcome her.
But she had done a great amount of work after the battle.
She suppressed the plague that was starting to spread throughout the Capital City with her magic, and purified the water so that safe drinking water could be obtained.
Sungchul was informed of her incredible feats too late after the fact.
He had many things he wanted to say, but she was already seen so positively in the eyes of the general pubic that he couldn’t find a reason to stop her and send her off.
Whether or not she knew Sungchul’s inner thoughts, she approached him with a friendly attitude no different from usual to speak to him.
“I’ve safely sent the woman named Ryze Himerr to the Fae World.”
“You have my thanks.”
“I had no choice. Your letter was so threatening.”
Adelwight gave a bright smile as she took out Sungchul’s hand written letter and imitated Sungchul.
“This woman has nothing to do with me anymore, but I’ve gave her my word that she’s under my protection. I hope nothing unfortunate will happen.”
Bertelgia cackled away when she heard it.
“That’s just like him!”
Sungchul boiled inside at Bertelgia’s betrayal, but Adelwight had such a positive disposition today that he couldn’t really say anything.
She walked up to Sungchul and whispered in a low voice.
“I didn’t come with bad intentions, so I hope you’ll excuse my presence. My relationship with Kromgard ended long ago.”
“…I guess it can’t be helped.”
Though he did not like the idea, she was definitely an important person.
She was the only person capable of opening the way to the Fae World.
And even though she had lived for an eternity, in the end she was still just a mortal and therefore had her limitations.
“Oy, Destroyer. Let’s quickly get this over with.”
Marakia who had been assigned a corner seat of the World Parliament came strolling up with his follower number 1 to urge Sungchul on.
Though Marakia was annoying, it wasn’t so bad as to take it seriously.
After all, today was a day a history was going to be made.
Sungchul decided to accept Adelwight.
“Now, you cute book lady. We’ve taken too much of his time. How about we let the men play with other men and we begin our girls’ talk?”
Adelwight walked with Bertelgia over to the corner of the World Parliament.
It was a clever and appropriate segue.
There were many gazes behind Adelwight that seemed to be pressing them to quickly begin the procedure.
And among them was the Emperor.
“Now, let’s hurry, friend. Let’s finish this.”
He didn’t look very good.
The Emperor who looked ill was trying to hurry on with the ceremony.
Sungchul who understood very well how he felt quickly left Adelwight behind and took his seat.
All Kings and their servants looked towards Sungchul.
The Emperor walked to the opposite end of the table.
Arkaard the dwarf who wore a tall crown walked up to the Emperor and bowed, offering with both hands a scroll decorated in silk and gold.
The scroll contained the signatures of all kings recognizing the ascension of the One King.
The arena with tens of thousands of people fell silent. Despite the number of people present, not one person made a sound.
It was because this was an important moment in human history.
This was a beginning of something great.
The Emperor who stood at the center of this making of history, walked forward and unfurled the scroll.
The scroll already contained all the signatures of kings and their representatives who had joined the World Parliament.
Even the signature of the now-missing king of Rutheginea.
The Emperor took up his golden pen and signed his name at the bottom.
[Emperor of the Human Empire, William Quinton Marlboro]
A short but a powerful signature.
Sungchul received the scroll and took up a pen with everyone watching.
It was time to complete the final piece of the puzzle.
Sungchul added one last line in the scroll.
[The One King who received the support of all the other Kings, Sungchul Kim]
The final piece of the puzzle was finally in place.
The kings and their supporters all gave applause and the audience watching with abated breath finally let out a thunderous roar that filled the air of the arena.
Sungchul who became the One King under such welcome and passion waited for the signs that it was over.
A magic formation appeared in the air suddenly, before a book emerged.
“Urk.”
Bertelgia who had been off having girl talk with Adelwight felt a psychological rejection and withdrew slightly.
It was Unit 49.
While Sungchul had been unconscious, Unit 49 had spent that entire month giving Bertelgia a hard time. Although she hadn’t done anything completely unreasonable, it still left a lingering scar in Bertelgia’s heart.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Arena became heavy once Unit 49 made an appearance.
Unit 49 flew towards Sungchul admist the silence and soon spoke with a rich tone of voice.
“You must add one more signature to the scroll.”
Unit 49 had said.
“Whose?”
Sungchul asked.
All Kings and their representatives have already signed.
How could there be one missing?
It was a strange thing indeed.
While Sungchul was confused, Unit 49 turned towards Marakia before answering.
“Another King has appeared. Although he’s lacking many things to be considered a proper king, the Noble people of Nahak had once conquered and ruled more than half the continent even before the rise of humanity. If he has even one citizen to lead, the King of Nahak has every right to receive treatment equal to any other King gathered here.”
Marakia’s beak opened wide once he heard this.
For human equivalent, it must be like a smile reaching from ear to ear.
“Kukuku. As I thought, you sure know your stuff, you high quality book.”
“What do you mean high quality?”
Bertelgia shouted at him from Adelwight’s side. Marakia whistled and ignored her.
Marakia waddled forward as his follower number 1 watched on, grabbing the pen at the center of the table.
But there was no more room to sign his name on the scroll.
But he found an empty space on the upper part of the signature area to write his name.
[The Sun of Nahak, the black feathered Avian Kingdom’s owner of unprecedented beauty…]
It was about when Marakia had scribbled that much on the page when Unit 49 bluntly said to him.
“Please keep it short.”
She used her magic to erase what Marakia had written. The only thing that remained was King of Avian Kingdom.
“On a closer look, you’re not all that high quality after all.”
Marakia stroked his beak as if unhappy as he finished the signiture.
[King of Avian Kingdom Marakia]
This was the end for the signatures.
Unit 49 took the scroll containing the signatures of all kings and took it into herself.
The wide-open scroll became absorbed into Unit 49’s body and vanished.
The people watched with abated breath at what was happening to this messenger in the form of a book.
And finally, Unit 49 finally spoke.
“I recognize the rise of the One King.”
The moment she finished speaking, a giant magic formation appeared behind her.
It was a Teleportation Formation.
What appeared from within was a giant dragon.
Sungchul instantly recognized the dragon.
‘Kha’nes?’
Half human half dragon appeared.
In her mouth was a coffer.
With everyone watching, the giant dragon that took up half of the arena ground lowered the coffer down next to Sungchul’s feet.
The coffer opened by itself.
In it was the Scroll of Calamity.
The third Calamity that was written there burned away and was erased.
It was finally resolved.
The final Calamity.
[Come this way.]
A voice could be heard.
Though the voice sounded young, it sounded extremely tired.
Sungchul walked forward towards the Scroll of Calamity as if under trance.
A dimensional gate opened.
The Scroll of Calamity wanted Sungchul to enter it.
Sungchul had a feeling he might know what the Scroll of Calamity truly was.
‘Could it be?’
Sungchul entered through the Dimensional Gate.
3 more chapters are out!