I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 229: Episode 3-2_Harbinger (1)

1.

People say, or so the stories went.

“Who could have imagined that an empire that seemed eternal would fall to the very Allied Nations it had once shown mercy to?”

“Even the blood lord Emperor could not defy the passage of time or the softening influence of peace.”

“In the end, the Empire was no different from any other.”

No matter what schemes the Allied Nations had employed, history is always written by the victors.

The common folk, who had no choice but to believe what they saw and judge by what was visible, murmured amongst themselves.

“Is the Empire really gone for good?”

“Won’t the Allied Nations just become the new Empire?”

“I don’t know about that. It’s not a single kingdom we’re talking about.”

Ultimately, the continent was just another place where people lived. Their own safety was what mattered most, and regardless of who won or lost, they would bow their heads to whichever side offered them the greatest benefit.

In that sense, the Empire had fallen.

However, it was not a complete collapse.

“Oh, Your Highness! You were here.”

“We are so sorry we could not serve the late Emperor, Your Majesty.”

Once rumors about the imperial princess spread, and word got out that she had settled in Teheran Castle with the Black Magic Cult, the scattered remnants of the Empire’s power began to gather. The once-large but quiet castle grew lively, soon swelling with people.

In this way, the Black Magic Cult—and the princess—were steadily building their strength.

Even though she had not asked for help, people came of their own accord, wanting to support the princess who had dragged herself up from despair. Not much time had passed, but by the time Kim Buja returned, the changes were so profound that he felt that success was now well within reach.

’At this rate, this isn’t bad at all.’

Their forces were still laughably insufficient compared to the Allied Forces. A head-on clash was unthinkable. Even if they holed up in this natural fortress for a siege, the continent was so firmly in the Allied Forces’ grasp that, once they concentrated their forces, they could scale the walls over a mountain of their own dead if necessary.

However, cracks had already formed in that once-solid power, in those sturdy walls. Their alliance with the Temple was effectively broken, and they no longer had any divine mandate borrowed in the name of God.

Across the continent, the Allied Forces were no longer seen as righteous crusaders purging an Empire tainted by unholy powers. They were nothing more than tyrants who had rebelled against the Empire and seized the throne by brute force.

That was what made this possible.

The difference in power was absurd, yet the fallen Empire had managed to secure both the “justification” to reclaim what had been stolen and the minimum “strength” to back it up.

In a meeting with the princess, the saintess, and Lerbel, Kim Buja made his declaration.

“We’re going to bring down the Allied Forces.”

The princess nodded, while the saintess cautiously asked, “But we’re still not ready.”

She no longer doubted Kim Buja. Or rather, once her fixed belief that only the Temple could serve God had been shattered, she had become more accepting of many things. Kim Buja, who had contributed greatly to that shift, was now someone she trusted.

And because she trusted him, she voiced her honest opinion. She didn’t know much about war, but anyone could see this was a fight they could not win.

“How are we supposed to win?” Lerbel, the Red Dragon, felt the same. She knew that Buja had received Cassius’s power, but even so, she understood this would not be easy.

Because she was a dragon, she could look at the situation more objectively, which only made it all the more interesting.

’Where does that confidence of his come from?’

If she manifested in her true dragon form, she could single-handedly overturn this disadvantageous war. However, that would violate the rules. If she descended into the middle realm for her own amusement and intervened in human affairs, other dragons could do the same—a harbinger of annihilation.

Kim Buja, on the other hand, wasn’t bound by such rules and could act in Cassius’s form. Yet unless he could fully draw out that power, it might only embolden the Allied Forces instead.

As for his method, Buja explained it simply.

“We hold Teheran Castle, seize Arhel with a small elite force, and then we start the war.”

It was a simple and straightforward plan. Saying it was easy, but even a simple statement could feel profoundly different depending on the confidence with which it was delivered.

“How?” Lerbel was the first to break the ensuing silence.

Kim Buja smiled as if he had been waiting for that very question. “If you help, it’s doable. So, what do you think?”

* * *

Naturally, it wasn’t going to be easy.

The reason he had suddenly decided to carry out such a difficult plan was because he had his own measure of certainty. His promotion to SVIP, the Essence of the Red Dragon, and his new magic. His stats had clearly risen since Chapter 3-1, and on top of that, he’d had an unexpected encounter with Lerbel.

If it had just been a casual meeting, he would never have dared to devise such an extreme plan. Dragons who were enjoying their games never revealed their true identities. Even if discovered, they would rather kill the human who found them out than ever act openly as a dragon.

Lerbel, however, was different. Or perhaps she might not have been, if not for Hwangdo. Because of Hwangdo, she had given up her game and, at Kim Buja’s request, moved to Teheran Castle. For Hwangdo, whom she believed to be the child of Cassius—a child who no longer existed—Lerbel intended to spend the rest of her life.

That was why this plan was possible.

“I need gold,” he said, making the brazen request.

If not for Hwangdo, it would not have been strange for Lerbel, in her true form, to swallow him in a single bite for such insolence. Dragons were a race that, according to the history books, lived for tens of thousands of years and found joy in hoarding treasure.

They loved gold and jewels. To them, a lair was a measure of a dragon’s pride, and the amount of treasure piled within was proof of how much amusement they had enjoyed and how much effort they had put in.

And he was telling such a dragon to empty her lair.

Lerbel let out a soft, questioning sound.

There was no need for many words. As a dragon who had lived through countless years, she had experienced more than enough to understand. She knew exactly what Buja was thinking when he made this request, and she knew what he was putting on the line. She knew it all too well, which was why she was so taken aback that she simply asked, “What’s the price?”

Just one question. If she had never even considered it, she would have flatly refused or pretended not to hear.

Kim Buja gave her the answer she wanted. “I’ll bring Hwangdo to visit often. That goes without saying.”

Sometimes, the love that dragons and humans feel for their family defies all logic and common sense. If that love had been built over thousands or tens of thousands of years, then her devotion to Cassius’s bloodline was understandable.

That was why Lerbel was wavering.

And since this might be a request for everything she had ever gathered, Buja had no intention of testing the waters. He gave her a firm promise.

“When I’m finally able to die, I’ll die on the continent. Will that do?”

“...Fine.”

Hwangdo moved with Kim Buja. If Buja died on Earth, there was no way Hwangdo could cross over to the continent alone. A human’s lifespan capped out at around a hundred years, while a dragon’s was more than a hundred times that. To Lerbel, whether he lived or died meant nothing. However, not being able to see Hwangdo after he died was a different matter entirely.

That was what he was promising.

Of course, anyone could make that kind of promise with words.

’If I can die whenever I want, what does it matter whether I die on the continent or on Earth?’

He could die tomorrow for all he knew; he was leading a reckless war where death could come at any moment. On Earth, Sand Castles—dungeons no one had even figured out how to attack—were spreading. As time went on, dungeons were appearing that even Fly couldn’t touch. There was no guarantee he would live to eighty or ninety, so this promise was essentially an interest-free loan with no maturity date.

However, that promise, backed by his conviction, brought him his payment.

Gold and artifacts.

“We only need enough weapons and armor to outfit the strike force. Forget the rest. We can’t have too much treasure flooding the continent.”

He refused to do anyone else a favor, taking only what he needed. As he absorbed the mountain of gold piled up in Lerbel’s lair, he also swallowed a sigh.

’If only I could take all of this with me.’

If he could bring all these jewels and items back to Earth, he could live a life that would put an oil prince to shame. He pushed the regret aside.

▶ Gold Owned: 18,214,222G

He steadied his mind at the sight of an amount of gold he had never even imagined in his life, then began to move.

Toward the final Chapter of his gold missions.

* * *

The Allied Forces were no longer willing to endure.

“The Temple bastards are refusing to cooperate.”

“That Imperial wench is regaining her strength.”

“At this rate...”

“We must wipe out the last of the bloodline!”

To them, the Empire was a thorn that had to be completely torn out. If they wanted to solidify their identity and hierarchy, they had to erase the very word “Empire” from people’s minds.

Yet they had failed to do so.

Even though they had toppled that vast Empire and killed the Emperor with ease, they had failed to finish off a single person—the princess—and had ended up in this situation.

The people of the continent no longer saw the Allied Forces as heroes who had destroyed an Empire steeped in darkness. Instead, they saw them as villains who had joined hands with that darkness to push the Empire into a pit of evil.

Of course, no one dared to say that out loud. The continent was still ruled by the Allied Forces, and it had been quite some time since they had revealed their true nature through the logic of power.

However, this could not last. Rule carried out in this way could never be eternal. On top of that, the Allied Nations themselves were growing increasingly busy with political infighting as each faction tried to secure its own share.

It was time to make a decision. If they did not, they would destroy themselves.

The leader of the Allied Forces, who had been listening in silence, raised his hand. The noisy war council chamber fell silent at once. He was the man who had united the self-interested Allied Nations into one.

He spoke. "Prepare for the final war. Gather every last soldier."

At the words of the man who stood his massive greatsword upright, everyone swallowed hard. His expression, full of rage and displeasure, was so murderous it looked as if he might smash everything around him. The killing intent radiating from his face alone was enough to send chills down the spines of everyone present.

He was the Grand Sword Master, a knight who had reached a realm where he could cut down a hundred Sword Masters.

"There will be no more mercy."

The Allied Nations, too, were preparing for their final war.

2.

The rumors spread quickly.

The Allied Forces made no attempt to hide it. If anything, they prepared so grandly it was as if they wanted the Empire to know. They conscripted troops, marched forward, and made no effort to conceal their movements.

Rumor had it that not just tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands would take part in the war. People clicked their tongues.

"Poor princess."

"So this is how it ends."

There was no one who could stop the Allied Forces. Even the Temple could not ignore their request. They acknowledged the Black Magic Cult, but they would not interfere in the war between the Allied Forces and the Empire.

An enormous force was divided and gathered in dozens of locations. However, they did not rush. It was as if they were hoping that, crushed by their overwhelming presence, the enemy would destroy themselves.

Slowly. Leisurely.

As if to show the continent whose true master it was, they prepared for war.