[The two seals are merging into one.]

As soon as the message popped up, the seal in Kim Jin-Woo’s left hand and the seal he had received from Krasto melted, becoming malleable as they shone with a faint light. The two rings merged and became one, beginning to glow brighter than before.

[Once, there was no one who knew not the names of the Highlords, the great Lords who ruled the Underworld. But the 

Usurpers

 desired that no one would be able to find the traces of these former lords, and thus, only a few who still remember their splendid glory and their noble names remain.]

[But even the Usurpers could not completely dispose of all the Power Fragments that the former rulers had scattered all over the Underworld as they disappeared. The Usurpers used those fragments to establish their authority as new rulers, instead of destroying them.]

[One who still remembers their names seeks to resurrect the power of the Highlords.]

[You are more than qualified. You are the one and only being to rule the entire 9th Floor in the history of the Underworld, and you are a true king that controls a hundred labyrinths.]

The Ancient Lords of the Underworld, who had been more highly respected than anybody else back when there was only one Underworld, were none other than the Highlords.

Now that even the name of the Highlords had disappeared, the Underworld Counts used the title of ‘Lord’ without knowing what it truly meant. But it wasn’t a forgotten name for Kim Jin-Woo, who still held the traces of their power in his hand. 

[Underworld Viscount Kim Jin-Woo has become a Highlord.] 

[You have become a Highlord, but you are still a Highlord in name only. If you collect the Power Fragments of the Ancient Lords that are scattered far and wide, you will become a true Highlord.]

[Even though you are a Highlord in name only, the birth of a Highlord, which has not occured for a long time, is a blessing to all of the Underworld. But the news of the birth of a new Highlord does not please the Usurpers. The Usurpers will try to bring down your nominal and insignificant title of Highlord, instead of blessing the birth of a new Highlord and restoring their former glory.]

[You are unable to use the powers of a Highlord until you assert your dominance.]

As expected, things weren’t going to be so easy. Even though Kim Jin-Woo had finally inherited the title of a Highlord after burning himself out to find the traces of the Ancient Lords, the only thing he had received for now was only the title itself.

Furthermore, holding on to the title of a Highlord was a huge risk, since he could be torn to shreds without any traces left behind if he were caught by the Usurpers. His new title was doing him more harm than good for now. 

[You must quickly build up your strength. The Usurpers’ surveillance is meticulous and thorough, and nothing will escape their sight. By the time the turmoil in the Underworld subsides, the Usurpers will learn of the existence of a new Highlord.]

[The fastest way for you to increase your power is to collect the Power Fragments of the Ancient Lords. If you are lucky, you may be able to gather all the scattered Power Fragments, and fully restore the authority of the once mighty Highlords.]

[Fragments collected so far (2/?)]

In addition, the Underworld system had imposed a time limit on his collection of the Power Fragments. Although it had taught him how to collect them quickly, the situation was far from favorable for him.

Given that the Power Fragments of the former Lords were their seals, Kim Jin-Woo not only had to confront the forces of the Other Underworld that were invading through the passageway, but he also had to deal with the existing Nobles. It would be hard for him to obtain their seals in such a situation, but he had to do it. If he didn't finish refurbishing his defenses before the war was over, then it was certain that he would face a danger incomparable to the crises he had gone through before.

This was a crisis among crises for Kim Jin-Woo, but he didn’t allow himself to be frustrated. Rather, he just smiled at the warning window that had appeared before his eyes. After all, he had known early on that his hard work would eventually pay off.

‘Never think your title of Highlord is the same as those of the current Nobles. Even the mightiest Duke's authority is nothing compared to that of a Highlord. So, if you are fully recognized as the Highlord, you will have already succeeded in your revenge.’

Ustus, one of the Thought Fragments left behind by the One-Eyed Lord, had said that the power of the Highlord was different from that of a labyrinth master who could only exercise limited power. Ustus had also said that if he wanted to be a Highlord, he had to be recognized by many others, and that he could enjoy that power only if and when they acknowledged his authority as a true ruler.

Kim Jin-Woo already had a hundred labyrinths under his control, and he had a lot of knights who had sworn allegiance to him, albeit by force due to the Underworld system. In that respect, it was safe to say that he had already solved the biggest obstacle to becoming a true Highlord.

“Now the real fight begins.” The Noble’s Seal on his finger gleamed faintly as he murmured to himself, staring off into the Underworld’s depths where the Spider Duke was hiding. 

Although he had obtained the title of a Highlord, it didn’t mean that Kim Jin-Woo could lead a powerful life right away, or that he would instantly be in jeopardy because of the Usurpers hunting him down. 

The Power Fragments he had for now were too small and insignificant to revive the power of the Highlords of yesteryear, and the Usurpers had yet to notice the 9th Floor. 

As he had originally intended, Kim Jin-Woo worked diligently to take the down gems from the surface back to the Underworld. In order to uncover the whereabouts of the down gems that had found their way to the surface, he had left Angela behind to keep an eye on Mr. Baek, who was more or less a key member of the distribution network of down gems on the surface.

However, Kim Jin-Woo was unable to learn any useful information. Mr. Baek, who had seemed so eager to contact his clients right away when he obtained the down gems, had remained inactive for a couple of days since then. Angela and Kim Jin-Woo thought that Mr. Baek intended to raise the price of down gems by dragging out his trades, so they remained patient.

***

In the meantime, Yoon-Hee traveled back and forth between the surface and the Underworld, as she slowly realized what she had been missing out on. Her world was expanding little by little as she experienced the warm sun, the fresh air, the bright world, and the comfortable environment where she could be safe.

But her new world was much like a ‘half-world’, that only existed when Kim Jin-Woo was around her. He didn’t allow her to open portals under any other circumstances, and she could only head to the surface via the portals he opened.

It was no wonder that she was so eager to travel to the surface. Just like all the dungeon babies when they had first set foot into the surface world, she wanted to know and feel the world above a little more.

However, Kim Jin-Woo still didn’t allow her to roam freely. He said, “That’s it for today. Head back.”

Despite the fact that Yoon-Hee was now able to roam around the front yard of his safe house, the sudden, unusual order caught her by surprise as she was looking up at the clear, blue sky above. She replied, “So soon?”

“You’re now fully adapted to this bright world. From now on, you’ll only be allowed to come up to the surface when we learn the whereabouts of the down gems,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Her lips moved several times, as if she had much to say, but Yoon-Hee kept quiet till the end. Looking at Kim Jin-Woo with resentment and longing, she silently crossed through the portal leading to the Underworld.

“I can’t keep doing this,” Kim Jin-Woo muttered. Just traveling to the surface endlessly without any tangible results was a waste of time for him. There was a lot of work he had to take care of urgently, so he just felt pathetic after putting in so much effort into taming a mere subordinate like Yoon-Hee. 

But Yoon-Hee was no ordinary subordinate. He could use her as a reason to participate in the War of Succession of the 11th Floor, and she was free from the Underworld system to some extent.

If Kim Jin-Woo didn’t tame Yoon-Hee properly now, he wasn’t sure when she would lose her loyalty to him. She was undoubtedly different from her past self, when she had been put up for auction as a mere slave with limited intellect. Her possessions and abilities today were different from before. 

Therefore, he put extra effort into taming her as he fought back his boredom. He had no choice but to keep up with this kind of boring and tedious work until the day she could be utilized.

Between Kim Jin-Woo’s multiple round trips to the surface and back, two battles had broken out on the 9th Floor. The enemy could have looked for another floor instead of the highly fortified 9th Floor, but they were tenacious in their focused attacks toward it.

“Isn’t this weird? If I were them, I'd rather attack the 10th or 8th Floor since they’re relatively easier to attack. That’s the reason why I opened a direct path for them, and yet they’re still choosing to attack us. If there weren’t any battles on the other floors, others would think there’s something special on the 9th Floor,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

He had even opened the passages to the 8th and 10th Floors to divert the enemies’ attacks, but his efforts had been in vain. The enemies attacked only the 9th Floor of the Underworld.

“Do you think it’s possible that they have some kind of an agreement among themselves?” Dominique asked.

“That’s possible. Seeing how chaotic they are in their attacks, there’s no way they wouldn’t have clashed against each other. It’s possible they’ve come to some kind of consensus that if they continued to fight amongst themselves, they would never be able to get their hands on the down gems here.”

Kim Jin-Woo’s reasoning was rather weak, but since he had little information about the enemies, he could draw only a limited conclusion. As he gave his perspective, it suddenly dawned on him that he had missed something.

"Hold on. If they can come here from there, we can also go there from here, right? Then, why haven’t we ever thought of crossing over ourselves?" He found it ridiculous as he asked himself the question, but in truth, he and the others already knew the answer. 

The enemy's offensive was so fierce that Kim Jin-Woo didn’t dare covet their territory. And now that the front lines were being held, he didn’t have any interest in their Underworld, because the down gems in that place had obviously run out.

“Because there’s nothing for us to gain,” Dominique responded, adding that there was no merit in launching an offensive against the invaders, who had to be overcrowded beyond the passageway.

“But how can we know that? We haven't even seen what it's like over there, have we?" Kim Jin-Woo asked. In the end, he organized an expedition to scout the area beyond the passageway to resolve his doubts. Naturally, Uther was included in the group.

“I think just sending Greed Slimes there would be enough. I don’t know why you want to send me, too,” Uther said, vehemently resisting the decision.

Kim Jin-Woo snorted at Uther, saying, “Greed Slimes are too small and weak. There are too many variables before they can establish themselves.”

“Even so, I still don’t understand why I should go over there…” Uther put on a sad expression, hoping he would be able to persuade Kim Jin-Woo out of his decision.

Kim Jin-Woo ignored him and said, “If you think it’s really dangerous, just take a look at what’s out there and come back quickly. But don't even think of doing it half-heartedly. You’ll have a companion with you.”

Uther grew sullen again after he heard the response, as if he had been serious about only doing his job half-heartedly. 

“Rikshasha,” Kim Jin-Woo began.

“My King.” Rikshasha, his Under-Elf Runner who had performed brilliantly as the leader of the Under-Elf Rangers over the course of the last year, stepped forward.

“The same goes for you. Don’t overextend yourselves, and if you think it’s dangerous, return quickly. In the worst case scenario, you have my permission to abandon the mission and return immediately,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

There was a subtle difference between how he spoke to Rikshasha and how he spoke to Uther. He knew for sure that the fanatical Under-Elf, who was blindly loyal to him, would certainly go the extra mile to carry out her mission.

“I will carry out your order with my utmost loyalty,” Rikshasha said. Her eyes were alight with an intense sense of duty, as if she was determined to never return early.

“Don’t overextend yourself. If you think there won’t be any fruitful results, there are other avenues we can look into,” Kim Jin-Woo insisted.

“I will keep that in mind,” Rikshasha said.

Kim Jin-Woo sent the scouting expedition out right away, hoping that Rikshasha’s blind loyalty and sense of duty would bring about the desired results.

However, the expedition, which he had sent out with some fear and anticipation, returned not even two days after they left. Fewer than half of the original fifty members returned, with only six Under-Elves who were proficient in hiding, Rikshasha, and Uther remaining.

“My King!” Uther knelt before Kim Jin-Woo’s feet, as his body bubbled all over from having used up two-thirds of his slime mass in just two days.