As Leifina planned her secret lessons, Woohyuk left for the Talis kingdom unawares.

Helena and Catsy were the only ones accompanying him.

Bailey wasn’t part of the group because Woohyuk had sent Bailey to the Lydia Kingdom to keep an eye on the northern region’s situation.

On the other hand, Catsy was included in the group this time because she had useful abilities as a beastwoman.

Beastmen could climb walls with their sharp claws, or use their keen sense of smell to chase after someone.

'There are many beastmen in the Talis kingdom.'

In the Norton Kingdom and the Enoa Kingdom, beastmen were rare, so Catsy would’ve quickly stood out.

However, the Talis Kingdom was the exact opposite.

Its southern tropical climate was similar to the climate of the world where the beastmen originally lived, so many of them settled down in the Talis Kingdom.

'Ivanov is probably raising an army by now.'

In the past, after conquering the Talis Kingdom, he borrowed Demon King Astaroth’s power to invade the surrounding kingdoms.

Moreover, he was successful due to Red Dragon Carnelian.

The troops of the small kingdoms trembled at the sight of the dragon, which were known to have gone extinct.

Obviously enough, the armies were unable to deal with the dragon and collapsed.

'I won't let that happen this time.'

Although it had yet to happen during this life, Woohyuk had once suffered a great deal because of Ivanov.

It was at Ravenhill, a province in the northwest of the Enoa Kingdom.

Ivanov rode Carnelian and crossed the Karlheinz Mountains through the skies, killing many of Woohyuk’s capable va.s.sals.

If Woohyuk didn’t deal with Ivanov using this opportunity, the tragedy could be repeated.

However, the current priority was to find and obtain the Sangreal Chronicles.

“Has Eteria Rodinus found the Sangreal Chronicles yet?”

Woohyuk asked Helena as they walked through the gra.s.sland under the powerful sunlight.

She was contacting Eteria Rodinus by using a pendant-shaped communication artifact.

“Yes, they must’ve encountered some trouble during their ruin explorations.”

[White Ghost King's Sand Temple.]

It was one of the ruins believed to contain the Sangreal Chronicles.

The five wis.e.m.e.n could’ve easily cleared the ruin, but a problem had occurred.

The demon king's army had suddenly entered the ruins.

“Then we should go help them as fast as possible. Your comrades may get surrounded by them.”

"Of course we should. But they won’t go down so easily.”

Eteria Rodinus was a secret society of wis.e.m.e.n.

They were good at magic and were also very knowledgeable in other fields.

So even if a crisis were to happen, they would find a way to survive.

As she had been raised by Saint Boetius, Helena believed in them.

“We could also use the characteristics of the White Ghost King's Sand Temple against the enemies.”

“Did you conquer these ruins before regressing? Then you will be of great help.”

“First, inform your comrades that those ruins are similar to a survival game.”

Although it looked like a dungeon, the White Ghost King's Sand Temple was actually a Colosseum-like arena.

Its true form would be revealed when one arrived at the top of the ruins.

The obelisk located in the middle of the arena would s.h.i.+ne, and transport the intruders to an unknown s.p.a.ce where a vicious survival game would begin.

Helena halted her steps in surprise at Woohyuk's explanation.

“A survival game? We’re not even in the demon world… Are you telling me the Eeth continent’s system allows that?”

“The stage where the game takes place is similar to the demon world. This is made possible because this world is divided into different levels and dimensions as you mentioned previously.”

Otherwise, there was also the possibility that the White Ghost King's Sand Temple was an imaginary world like the Memory Garden.

The obelisk at the center had a similar function to the divine tree that led to the Memory Garden.

“Anyways, I guess that you safely cleared and escaped these ruins in your past life? Though you didn’t obtain the Sangreal Chronicles for some reason...”

“There was no Sangreal Chronicles in the sand temple, at least back when I challenged the ruins. Perhaps you people of Eteria Rodinus explored if before me and took it away.”

The White Ghost King's Sand Temple had the structure of a pyramid. It was a ruin where you have to climb up from the bottom. It had countless secret pa.s.sages and hidden areas all over the place.

In his past life, Woohyuk had mobilized an archaeologist to investigate the temple for three entire months, but they didn’t find any special ancient doc.u.ments.

They didn’t learn anything interesting from the White Ghost King in the s.p.a.ce connected to the top floor either.

“Meeoooow! Master, I'll find this item for you!”

Catsy softly shook her tail as she woke up, and let out a delicate cry.

Helena asked Woohyuk some more questions as he patted the cat-girl’s head.

“But what are you saying we should use specifically? Should they hide in a secret room and wait for the demon kings' army to be killed in the survival game first?”

"Yes. It's impossible for them to defeat the White Ghost King.”

The White Ghost King was strong enough to forcibly summon intruders into his alternate s.p.a.ce.

Helena laughed out loud when Woohyuk confessed that he couldn’t beat him at the time and retreated only after getting the final treasure.

“Then are you confident to defeat him this time? Knowing you, you don’t like losing, right?”

“I’m not sure. It might be possible if I go over my limits a bit.”

“That won’t do. You will become more likely to lose your mind and go berserk.”

“Have you ever thought of it this way? That this is an attempt for me to surpa.s.s my limits?”

Woohyuk's greatest goal and wish was to return to his original world with all of mankind by filling in the empty Divine Thrones.

Helena nodded to him because she knew his wish.

“I admit that you have great willpower. That's why we take the risk of giving you the choice. But don't think about misbehaving just because we give you too much freedom.”

"I understand. I’ll be careful.”

Woohyuk responded half-heartedly and vaguely ignored Helena’s words.

He knew well enough from experience that arguing with her wouldn't get him anywhere.

'And she’s not the type to fully obey him just because she lost the debate.'

He couldn’t think of a way to tame Helena, unless he secretly fed her the love potion.

He had tried to look into her past with the Memory Pendant, but to no avail.

Saints were protected by the G.o.ds, so magic trying to access their memories did not work on them.

‘I have to keep the love potion for the future.’

For now, it was the only way he could gain absolute control over Princess Eleonora.

She was the key to acquiring the Holy Aperian Empire.

Unlike his past life, Woohyuk was rapidly expanding his power, and the Holy Aperian Empire was still strong enough to send troops to other countries.

That was why he had officially declared himself a representative of the G.o.d of Light and formed friendly relations with Rosenkreuz.

In order to subjugate and conquer neighboring countries without diplomatic friction, it was necessary to pay attention to the eyes of the Holy Aperian Empire, the Eeth Continent’s suzerain.

So if he could gain Princess Eleonora’s help...

'I will be able to achieve my goals a lot faster than planned.'

Using a love potion would be an ethical issue, but Woohyuk didn’t care.

He had already tried out all the normal methods before his regression, but to no avail.

But Woohyuk’s goal was to solve the main problem, and not deal with ethical questions.

Therefore, if he could take a shortcut that needed him to be heartless or deceive someone, he would not hesitate to take it

Instead, he didn’t plan on appealing to people as a savior or a knight in s.h.i.+ning armor or a G.o.d.

He would not be like Marcus, who deified himself after taking control of the Theresian Empire and slaughtered people meaninglessly.

As he recalled the past, Woohyuk stared at a giant tree in the distance.

A rare sight in the gra.s.slands.

Vicious wild animals were swarming around it.

“Master, please be careful! If you get too close to one of them, you will have to deal with the entire pack!”

Catsy raised her tail and moved with caution.

However, Woohyuk kept walking without a single hesitation.

Helena also silently followed him, and Catsy watched in confusion.

"Master…?”

“It's illusion magic. It’s a device that protects the ruins from intruders.”

Most major ruins were often hidden in this way.

When Woohyuk arrived at his destination, he took out Verserios and swung it diagonally, causing the landscape to shatter.

A black portal then appeared before them.

“Now, take the lead Helena. I don't know where your comrades are.”

“How wicked of you. Trying to use a weak woman as a s.h.i.+eld...”

Helena acted terrified and stepped in front of him.

A desolate desert soon unfolded before her eyes.

“It’s just like what I heard from Rusud. A desert in the middle of a green prairie.”

“It is because of the White Ghost King’s curse. This phenomenon will continue happening until that pyramid disappears.”

After catching up to Helena with Catsy, Woohyuk pointed towards the magnificent pyramid on the hill.

Helena nodded and spoke up again.

“If you want to obtain the Sangreal Chronicles, you will have no choice but to meet the White Ghost King. We won’t have to worry about avoiding the eyes of the demons thanks to the hidden pa.s.sages, so the key is clearing the survival games.”

“There is no need for everyone to challenge the survival game. If we’re unlucky, we might get in situations where we have to attack each other.”

“… It sounds like you're saying you're going to challenge it on your own. This is about obtaining the Sangreal Chronicles, so we can’t just stand by either.”

“Then join the survival game one person at a time. Keep a gap between each other.”

The s.p.a.ce where the White Ghost King was located consisted of five levels like a pyramid.

The first stage started on the bottom floor, and the next stage continued above it.

The number of partic.i.p.ants in each stage couldn’t overlap, so if one planned out well in advance, a total of five people would be more than enough to challenge the survival game.

“So if we move in turn taking into account the time limit of each stage, we won’t encounter each other. It will take a little while for everyone to gather on the 5th floor though.”

“Does it really matter? It’s fine as long as there is no witch or demon king in the ruins.”

Everyone from Eteria Rodinus was basically a mage who had reached the level of a sage.

They would be more than strong enough to clear the White Ghost King’s survival games.

Moreover, as the demon king’s troops would go up in stage, they would struggle against each other and the number of individuals would significantly decrease over time.

So there was no need to pay much attention to them.

After Woohyuk finished explaining, Helena had a momentary discussion with her comrades in the ruins through the communication pendant.

Afterwards, she nodded towards Woohyuk.

“They say they are hiding in a secret room in the corner of the fourth floor. For now, let’s go join them.”

"Good. Let's hurry.”

Woohyuk and Helena rushed to the pyramid.

Then Catsy’s ears twitched.

She raised her ears and looked back.

“Master, I think there’s someone about to enter through the portal...”

Catsy's sense of smell was sensitive, so she could smell the individual on the other side of the portal.

As Helena urgently cast a stealth spell on the three of them, a muscular and st.u.r.dy blond man and a girl with red hair appeared through the black gap.

It was Dragonlord Ivanov and the Red Dragon Carnelian.