Chapter 87

Episode 5: Citizenship / Chapter 87: Debut (1)

TL: emptycube

ED: Obelisk

Sponsor: tom555j

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{The seven overseers, who will exercise the right of earthlings in their stead, have been confirmed.}

{The seven overseers can exercise the following rights as alliance members.}

1. Enter and trade with other species on their planets.
2. Freely use the supply store.
3. Select missions.
4. Plan and propose tactics.
5. Run for public office.
6. View information.
7. Overseers can permit other earthlings the above rights.

——————–

The seven overseers had been decided.

The Demon King Choi Hyuk.

The Sovereign of Balance Richard.

The Sovereign of Paradise Camilla.

The Sovereign Jessie.

The Queen of England Diana.

The Ethiopian Sovereign Yohan.

And, the Sovereign of Opportunity Nasir.

13 sovereigns remained besides them. Among them, the nine sovereigns who cooperated with Richard managed Nasir’s recruits and could exercise Nasir’s rights themselves.

The four sovereigns besides them were all in a miserable condition. They didn’t cooperate with Richard nor were they on Richard’s hit list either. After the Great Nasari War, they, themselves, had withdrawn their applications to preserve their lives and had laid low.

The world population did not know what exactly went on in the great war. They only heard that the Berserkers and the allied forces came to a truce after a fierce battle. All they heard was the announcement that ten sovereigns had died in combat on the allied side and that the sovereigns, who had been chosen to be overseers from the allied side, were to protect their colonized lands which were now in a state of anarchy.

Conspiracies were rampant. There were even rumors that this was all self-fabricated. The people were suspicious, and they were enraged that they had lost their country’s sovereign, but what could they do? Things had already taken place. It was now a time where it was difficult to survive if you didn’t curry favor with the surviving sovereigns. Whether they were happy or not, they had no choice but to gather under the mantle of the sovereigns, who were in command of the colonized lands, as Earth was gradually getting drier every passing day and there was no harvest even when fall came.

More and more people began to migrate to Dragonic. The colonization of Dragonic became more active, and Earth was becoming empty.

Still, Choi Hyuk spent most of his time on Earth. Although his previous residence had turned into ash, it didn’t matter since he had Naro’s spaceship.

Choi Hyuk would conduct all sorts of training, but when night fell, he would make the spaceship walls transparent and blankly watch the sunset. As the rotation of the collapsing Earth slowed, days were slowly becoming longer as did the sunset.

“Hmm~ ♩ Hmm ♬ Hmm… ♩ Nana~ ♬ ♪ “

Naro waved his mitten-like hands as it played its guitar. Even though its hands were like that, it skillfully strummed and plucked the guitar with precision in a cheerful manner. It always improvised its songs, yet they were all pleasant to listen to.

Training and handling duties regarding his colonized lands during the day and watching the sunset while listening to Naro’s performance at night was Choi Hyuk’s daily life.

While he blankly looked out at the sky, reminiscing his memories, the shrinking sunset slowly became hazy like a candle that would go out at any moment, and twilight set in the sky.

As people left the city, only one house would be lit across another. Even the red-light district, which had been bustling with nightlife, was now deserted. There was now less light pollution, leaving the sky above the city filled with stars.

“Yaah- As expected, the sky of the cold universe is pretty.”

Flame-Rain appeared this time as well. He didn’t sense her arrival, yet at some point, she was standing next to him, starting a conversation. Still, Choi Hyuk wasn’t taken aback. He was now familiar with this, and he had also predicted it as well. Since the advancement evaluations had ended and they had chosen the seven overseers, it was about time for her to make her appearance.

Instead, it was Naro who became taken aback. The fellow jumped up, raised both its arms and shouted,

“Invader? While we are maintaining a karma barrier? Master! Be careful. She’s strong beyond my perception!”

“I know. Don’t worry. She’s my friend.”

Choi Hyuk calmed Naro down and looked at Flame-Rain. Her bright, hazy flames, which covered her surroundings, first caught his attention. She uncovered her face and had wrapped the flames around her like silk clothes.

Choi Hyuk carefully examined her before letting out a sigh.

“… I still have no idea.”

He had reached the 5-star level. He was enlightened and could unleash his own flames. Yet, he was still unable to estimate Flame-Rain’s level. It seemed as though the difference between them hadn’t shortened in the slightest.

Although he was confident that there was no one on Earth who could match him, there were rows of unimaginably strong experts one step outside Earth. If Flame-Rain was already like this, then what monsters were those known as the ‘Exalted Wings’?

Whether she knew Choi Hyuk’s frustration or not, Flame-Rain looked away and showed interest in the scared Naro.

“Huh? The Armoured Soul Tribe? That’s not it… Hmm, it looks like it’s still being born. Hyuk, you found a good friend.”

Flame-Rain said ambiguously after approaching the wary Naro and examining it from different angles.

Choi Hyuk concealed his frustration and asked, hoping to listen further,

“Armoured Soul Tribe?”

“Yeah, one of the most influential tribes of the Flame Wing Alliance.”

Although she said they were one of the most influential tribes… Choi Hyuk, an earthling, didn’t know this information even though he had become an alliance member.

“Just what is the identity of the alliance? I still have no idea.”

At Choi Hyuk’s grumble, Flame-Rain patted his shoulder.

“That’s why I’m here. I came here today on more official business.”

She took two steps away before waving her right hand and placing it on her chest.

Blaze.

Flames surged.

After getting in a decently official looking position, she said in a polite tone he had never heard before,

“I truly congratulate you on being chosen as one of the seven overseers. I am Flame-Rain and I have been dispatched as your guide for the welcoming event commemorating earthlings joining the alliance, as well as for the overseers’ membership training.”

“Welcoming event? Membership training?”

“Yes. There will be a banquet in commemoration of earthlings joining the alliance, and then, lessons on the composition of the alliance, the progression of battle against the monsters, and battle objectives, amongst others, will be held afterwards. All seven overseers and major figures in charge of the Laniakea Supercluster, especially Dark-Sound of the Dark Tribe, a key figure of the Exalted Wings, will attend.”

For some reason, Flame-Rain’s expression looked bitter when she mentioned the Exalted Wings. However, Choi Hyuk didn’t notice. Only the words ‘Exalted Wings’ rang in his ears. Nothing else mattered. ‘Exalted Wings’, weren’t they Choi Hyuk’s enemy? The existences who sat at the top of the alliance. The ones who started this damn game.

‘Does that mean I get to meet them?’

His heart beat with a dangerous urge.

However, now was not the time. Choi Hyuk tried his best to hide his thoughts. With an indifferent face, he slowly said,

“I must go. How do I get there?”

When he did, Flame-Rain, who was standing in an official position, relaxed her posture and said friendlily,

“What do you mean ‘how do you get there’? I will take you there. Haven’t I personally come to bring Overseer Choi Hyuk there~”

She stretched her hand out and said humorously,

“Hold on. Nuna will take you to a nice place.”

Choi Hyuk was in a serious mood as he was going to confirm his enemy’s face, yet Flame-Rain’s unhesitant attitude was that of a friend cajoling him to come to a party. He smiled.

‘This isn’t bad.’

This mood was actually good.

It was currently time to hide his inner thoughts. If he was agitated and revealed his hostility, he would only arouse the Exalted Wings’ attention. He currently didn’t have the strength to take revenge. In a situation where he had to force himself to smile and conceal his inner thoughts, he was thankful to Flame-Rain who naturally created a good mood.

‘… Don’t tell me, she did this on purpose?’

Although he suddenly had this suspicion,

“Hurry, hurry! Let’s go! Earth is wonderful but Dark City in Laniakea is marvelous too! To repay you for the coffee last time, I will buy you something delicious!”

Choi Hyuk’s doubtful mind disappeared when he saw her jump up excitedly like a young girl. He shook his head as he stretched out his hand.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Their hands touched.

Flame-Rain’s hand was cool and soft. The moment the tips of their hands touched, she retracted her hand slightly, seemingly surprised, before aggressively latching onto his hand and pulling him in. At her strong pull, Choi Hyuk’s body leaned towards her, almost touching.

“Huh?”

Choi Hyuk became surprised, but Flame-Rain shouted,

“Let’s go!”

Blaze!

Before Choi Hyuk’s body could touch hers, surging flames swallowed the two of them.

Whoosh!

The extreme heat melted the space around them. The two of them, wrapped in flames, traversed through dimensions like a comet.

“… Wow. To be able to pass through the extremely distant dimensional passage with her own body…”

In the place Choi Hyuk and Flame-Rain left, Naro analyzed the remnants as it fell into a trance.

**

As karma developed, it would slowly transcend existing matter and approach pure karma. Because of this, Choi Hyuk could stare directly at the sun without blinding his eyes when he was at the 2-star level.

However, Flame-Rain’s flames were currently so bright that he couldn’t open his eyes. He could still see the bright light even through his closed eyes. He kept his eyes closed until darkness pushed its way back into his eyelids.

When he opened his eyes, he was in a place which seemed to be from a dream. It definitely wasn’t Earth.

“… Could dimensional travel be so comfortable?”

Choi Hyuk said in slight admiration. To earthlings, dimensional travel was uncomfortable, always accompanied by the urge to vomit, as their bodies felt like it was being flipped inside out. A discomfort that they could never get used to. However, it was comfortable this time, as if he had just woken up from a nap.

“Of course~ Because I’m the driver,”

Boasted Flame-Rain. Choi Hyuk somehow didn’t want to acknowledge it so he changed the topic.

“Where are we?”

“Hmm… Earthlings call this place the Great Attractor? In your terms, you can consider it the center of the Laniakea Supercluster.”

Although Flame-Rain used names from Earth in her explanation so he could understand, Choi Hyuk was still unable to.

“… What’s that?”

When he asked, Flame-Rain said in an overly boastful manner. She… was the type to mess with people the closer they got.

“Huh? You don’t know that? Can’t you even memorize your own address? This nuna will teach you just once, so listen carefully. They say that Laniakea means ‘immense heaven’ in Hawaiian. Earth is a part of the Milky Way Galaxy (what we call the 103^rd barred spiral galaxy). And the Milky Way Galaxy is part of the Local Group along with the Andromeda Galaxy, Triangulum Galaxy and others, and the Local Group is also a part of the Virgo Supercluster along with countless other groups. And this Virgo Supercluster, along with the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster and others, is part of the Laniakea Supercluster. Of course, the Laniakea Supercluster is also part of a bigger supercluster… but let’s stop here. Anyways, this place, in the scope of the entire alliance, is equivalent to a capital city of a small country. How about it? How do you feel coming to a city for the first time?”

Earth -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Local Group -> Virgo Supercluster -> Laniakea Supercluster.

According to her, Dragonic, which was Earth’s colonized land, was also within the Local Group, and the majority of the missions entrusted to earthlings took place in the Local Group. She said that very rarely did earthlings take part in a mission somewhere within the Virgo Supercluster…

As she explained, Naro sent him telepathic messages to help him understand. Because of this, Choi Hyuk could understand the vast scale of the universe. The universe was too enormous. To the point where Earth was too small to even call it a speck of dust…

“… Amazing.”

Forgetting to scold Flame-Rain, who had been extremely boastful, Choi Hyuk blankly looked around at his surroundings.

Dark City of Laniakea. It was a city composed of dark matter, which humanity had yet to observe.

Edit: Darkness-Sound, Darkness City, Darkness tribe -> Dark-Sound, Dark City, Dark Tribe