The Support Ate it All - Chapter 156: No.471 Great Eagle Escort Mission (6)

After taking a short break, the escort team crossed the third mountain pass and reached their destination.

“You’ve done well. Here is the promised payment.”

Head guard Kang handed a heavy pouch to each of the Ronin lined up.

They wore faces filled with joy as they cautiously opened their pouches and found them filled with silver coins.

Finally, the line dwindled and it was Go Hyeon-woo and my turn.

“Here you go. You really worked hard.”

But instead of pouches, he handed us four small and faintly glowing boxes.

[Great Eagle Escort Random Box (D)] *4

Head guard Kang then naturally moved on to the next Ronin.

No one seemed to find this odd.

Go Hyeon-woo gave a bitter smile.

“Moments like this make me realize that all these things, which seem no different from reality, are actually illusions created by the dungeon.”

“It’s a chilling thought.”

What would it feel like to become a puppet in an endlessly repeating puppet show?

Go Hyeon-woo looked around carefully as he spoke.

“It’s chilling and a bit sad. Even though they’re comrades we’ve lived and fought with, once the dungeon resets, they’re just forgotten.”

“That’s not entirely true.”

“……?”

Even if the dungeons are not directly connected like the Great Eagle Escort ones, our actions can still have huge effects on future dungeons when they are part of a larger storyline.

For example,

“Younger brother Kim.”

The bonds built with characters like Ratty and Woeful can continue.

I asked them,

“Hey, are you leaving?”

“For now, we plan to focus on training. I thought my skills were sufficient wherever I went, but I learned a lot this time.”

“I hope you achieve great success in your martial arts.”

“Thank you. See you again, brother Kim.”

After exchanging brief farewells, Ratty and Woeful left without looking back.

Go Hyeon-woo couldn’t take his eyes off their retreating figures for a long time.

“It’s really strange…”

“What is?”

“Those two… Their qi doesn’t seem particularly strong, but they look like they have great potential. It’s hard to define.”

I smiled.

“You have a good eye. They will become legends one day.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes.”

Ratty and Woeful might not be the main characters, but they frequently appear in linked dungeons.

They are what you would call super-supporting characters.

Moreover, their already considerable skills will improve dramatically as the story progresses.

“Later on, they even earn a nickname. The Invincible Ronins.”

“Ooh…!”

“You’ll see them often, so remember them well.”

“How could I forget?”

Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes sparkled with interest.

Rumble…

At that moment, the sound of something collapsing echoed in our ears.

Since the raid was completed, the dungeon had begun to collapse and reorganize.

We needed to leave but there was still something left to do.

“Weren’t you curious about what was inside the carriage?”

“Of course I was curious. But Kim-hyung really has a mischievous side. Why did you leave that detail out of the strategy guide?”

“This kind of thing should be saved for last. Now, I’ll tell you.”

The identity of the cargo.

At the time we first joined the temporary guard position, the Great Eagle Escort Agency was already on shaky ground, yet they endured further expenses to gather Ronins and were determined to transport the cargo.

And what about the Demonic Cult?

They not only planted spies to manipulate the head guards but also mobilized the powerful King of Hell Squad to seize the cargo.

During this process, the Ronins resisted more fiercely than expected, but the other party was willing to take the losses and fight another round.

What could the identity of the cargo be to warrant such measures?

“……!”

Go Hyeon-woo was intensely focused on me. He was extremely curious about the next answer.

But there was one more thing that needed to be shown.

I took out the random boxes from my inventory one by one before gathering a total of four in one place.

“There are seven random boxes you can obtain from [Great Eagle Escort Mission].”

The clear reward from head guard Kang was up to four.

If the carriage was damaged or there were casualties, the number would decrease accordingly.

Additionally, if you defeated the King of Hell Squad leader, you would get two more. And head guard Jo would drop one as a bonus.

The vice commander didn’t drop items, but if you grabbed him by the collar and threatened him, he would give you a piece of the Treasure Map.

“And when you gather four and open them inside the dungeon,”

Click,

As I opened the lid of one random box, pitch-black smoke began to rise from it.

The smoke enveloped the remaining random boxes and their shapes changed like dough.

After a moment, when the smoke cleared, something else was placed where the four random boxes had been.

It was a very old cracked porcelain jar.

It was covered in talismans and tightly bound with golden cords.

[Sealing Demon Box (B)]

Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes deepened.

“This is the identity of the cargo?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, it doesn’t seem ordinary even at first glance. What is it used for?”

“Just as the name implies.”

Sealing Demon Box.

It’s a porcelain jar that compresses and seals demonic energy to its limit.

To ordinary martial artists, it’s not only useless but also harmful. But to those who practiced demonic arts, it was like a supreme elixir.

“And this kind of thing was packed inside the carriages.”

“Indeed. One alone is immense, but if there were many, it’s understandable why the demonic cult would pursue it so fervently. They will never give up.”

“Absolutely.”

In this escort mission, Go Hyeon-woo and I were guarding the cargo so the other side had no choice but to retreat.

They are the kind who would risk death for their goals, but if the power difference is too vast, it would be a meaningless death.

However, this is just a temporary retreat; the demonic cult’s attacks will continue.

Next time, they will come with a force strong enough to contend with Go Hyeon-woo and me.

Go Hyeon-woo muttered to himself.

“Then the Sealing Demon Box will eventually fall into the hands of the demonic cult.”

“That’s how the story goes. We can’t always intervene.”

“If there are many Sealing Demon Boxes, creating a powerful group would be easy… but will that be enough?”

The demonic cult had already lost the Great Demon War. And they splintered into many factions and sunk beneath the surface.

This was why they lost the Sealing Demon Box.

But the question was whether creating a new armed group while they were still weak could change the situation.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Of course not.”

“Then what are they trying to achieve?”

“You’ve got one thing wrong—they don’t need an armed group. They need a unifying force.”

“……!”

Go Hyeon-woo raised his eyebrows as if he were realizing something.

He had been so focused on the number of Sealing Demon Boxes that he had only thought about using them to create a “group”.

“What if they concentrated the demonic energy from all those Sealing Demon Boxes into one person?”

“An incredibly powerful master would be born.”

“Exactly. The Black Death Squad is similar.”

We had secretly tricked them and left only with what we needed, but the original story of the Black Death Squad goes like this.

The Black Snake and White Snake dominated the Black Clan Squad. And they were capturing the young people of the area and training them in the ways of the Demonic Cult.

Even with the demonic arts only half-completed, they obtained bodies close to immortality, and the Black Snake himself had taken several direct hits from the Inferno Fist without showing any signs of serious injury.

However, their ultimate goal was not to become stronger themselves,

“But to cast the grand spell on the master they would create.”

“Indeed. The picture is becoming clearer.”

The Demonic Cult was operating covertly across various parts of the central plains.

Their desire was also the same.

The return of a single absolute master who would reunite the fragmented Demonic Cult.

“And by uniting the linked dungeons—”

The Feathered Serpent altar and temple were tied together into one grand story called “The Descent of the Feathered Serpent Through Human Sacrifice Rituals.”.

Therefore, the linked dungeons were collectively called the [Descent of the Feathered Serpent] series.

Similarly, by combining the dungeons including the Black Death and the corresponding Great Eagle Escort—

“—it’s called the [Return of the Heavenly Demon] series.”

When we came out through the teleportation portal, Shin Byeong-cheol revealed himself from his concealment and greeted us,

He yawned with his mouth wide open.

“Yaawn— You’re out.”

“What time is it now?”

“Half past six.”

Since the dungeon took longer to clear than usual ones, we had entered yesterday afternoon and only finished by morning.

Still, it was a bit earlier than I had anticipated.

I exchanged glances with Go Hyeon-woo, and we both nodded almost at the same time.

“A bit of meditation and breakfast, then we can head to class just in time.”

“A single round of the Qi circulation should suffice.”

“Are you guys really crazy…?”

Shin Byeong-cheol was astonished by the extreme behavior of us training fanatics.

We just had a fierce battle inside the dungeon, yet as soon as we came out, we were already talking about meditation and training.

Moreover, we planned to attend classes and mentoring sessions right after.

Go Hyeon-woo responded with a serious demeanor.

“The path to becoming a master is long and full of hardships. This is merely a part of that journey. Isn’t that right, Kim-hyung?”

“Go Hyeon-woo is right.”

When I agreed, Shin Byeong-cheol shook his head.

“Of course, you two get along perfectly. You must be very pleased.”

“Haha, don’t be like that. I also have news that will make you happy, Shin-hyung.”

“…What is it? I mean, what might it be, customer-nims?”

Shin Byeong-cheol’s tone immediately became friendly since the news that could make him happy was almost predictable.

As expected, what came out of Go Hyeon-woo’s inventory was an E-rank random box obtained from the recent Escort Mission dungeon.

“Thank you for your hard work early this morning, Shin-hyung.”

“Oh my, customer-nims, you shouldn’t have. Thank you. Thank you.”

Shin Byeong-cheol rubbed his hands together gleefully with a big smile on his face.

And then he swiftly took the random box and grasped the lid before he asked,

“…Should I open it now?”

“Whenever you choose to open it is up to you. But Shin-hyung… Are you sure about this?”

Last time, he had opened it right away and gotten an F-rank wooden cup.

However, Shin Byeong-cheol smiled confidently this time.

“Oh, that was just bad luck last time, this time it’s the real deal. Watch closely, I’ll show you… Look, will I get the rainbow-colored gold?”

Shin Byeong-cheol energetically opened the random box.

Click,

[Antique Teacup (F)]

“……”

Shin Byeong-cheol blinked as he looked down at the teacup.

I gently patted his shoulder.

“Your collection is growing.”

“Why is my life like this?”