Did everything go as Lee Shin-Woo wanted? Well yes, yes it did. Since Lee Shin-Woo's original goal was to shock the Vulture General and clear as many cities as possible without incident.

"Ha, in the end, that bald-headed bastard didn't come."

"You really are too much. You don't even know if he's bald yet."

"So why the hell did he scout us out if he wasn't going to come? Man, this pisses me off."

"You said not encountering him was a good thing."

"...Yeah, I did, but..."

But if he was being honest, Lee Shin-Woo wanted to take down one of the twelve generals prior to facing another with his fellow heroes. No matter how the Empire reacted to the news, that would make it easier for the heroes to deal with the coming danger.

...And there was one other thing he wanted.

"I got two permits to the Secret Shop for every city I clear... Tch, I've only gathered 10 more."

"Hey, you took mine too, so that’s 15 total."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's take a look..."

Any hero who helped take down one of the twelve generals would be rewarded, regardless of how much or how little they contributed. Killing undead heroes or clearing cities was a different story.

For the former, Jin received no reward, but for the latter, he got a single permit every time. It was the same for Kratia.

"I have a total of 75 permits."

"75!?"

Kratia, who had been listening quietly, cried out in shock. It would be difficult for the other heroes to even accumulate 10 permits, yet here Lee Shin-Woo was with 75!

There were three reasons Lee Shin-Woo was able to gather permits so quickly. First, he had been killing undead heroes, which most of his seniors didn't have any experience in. Secondly, he had been purifying cities, which would be difficult for his seniors to do even if they teamed up; besides, they rarely attempted to clear level 3 danger zones and up for fear of causing trouble for themselves in the future. Thirdly, Lee Shin-Woo had killed a couple of the twelve generals, while his seniors had killed none.

"They're all things that would be difficult for our seniors..."

"Since you've defeated one of the twelve generals and purified several cities with me, you should have more Secret Shop permits than our seniors."

"Yeah. I was thinking about visiting the Goddess’s Garden again to get another artifact soon, but I've been putting it off since I can't think of anything appropriate… Still, 75 is amazing."

Lee Shin-Woo had expected to gather more permits than the other heroes after putting his mind to it, but the fact that he’d accumulated this many was partly because Jin had been giving him all his permits.

"But it's important to note that nothing has changed even though I've gathered so many."

"Should there be some sort of change?"

"If what the goddess told me is true, then yeah..."

Lee Shin-Woo had experienced a change when he first gathered ten permits. Not only did he get a message, but he could also feel these permits, these shards of the goddess’s power, shake. It was as if these tiny fragments would fuse into something greater... Yeah. To put it into words, it felt similar to a level up.

"Then... Will something change if you collect 100 of them?"

"So you think something will happen too."

A total of 100 secret shop permits. Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t possibly ask his seniors about it. It would be impossible to gather so many of them if one didn't either kill members of the twelve generals, or actively clear out cities. One would have to be Lee Shin-Woo to even try it.

"It'd be chaos if I asked them what'll happen after gathering 100 permits. I'd rather not."

"They probably won't know anyway."

"Yeah, this is probably impossible for even Ethan Cruz."

What would happen when one collected 100 Secret Shop permits? Lee Shin-Woo had a rough idea, but he decided not to think about it right now. He would be able to gather the remaining 25 permits quickly and get his answer then.

"Well, that's that. We need to figure out what we do from here on out."

"Are you going to attack another city?"

"Cities aren't monsters. They don’t just spring up out of nowhere, do they? And they don’t regenerate."

The undead wouldn't occupy purified cities. It wasn’t the act of killing all the undead alone that purified a city. The goddess would personally shine her power upon it.

Giving permits to heroes who have purified a city must be related to that phenomenon one way or another, but in any case, low rank undead were afraid of Her power, and the high rank undead would avoid it out of wariness.

"And for the longest time, our seniors have been avoiding purifying cities. There are only two or three more level 3 danger zone cities left. The fact that it's not over after I wreaked so much havoc tells me just how powerful the Empire is."

"Then let's go take them out."

"...Let's leave the rest of them as leftovers for our juniors."

"Leftovers?"

Jin and Kratia tilted their heads in question, but Lee Shin-Woo smiled wryly and looked away from their inquisitive gazes. He’d come up with a noble-sounding excuse of leaving the handful of cities to their juniors, but he’d actually made the decision because taking out all of the cities would provoke the Empire more than necessary.

Most of the heroes were operating in the level 3 danger zone, and aside from his elite forces, his Pauls were there as well. Honestly, he was being bold enough. A line had to be drawn somewhere.

"That's not the only reason… You see, tomorrow's the day I have to meet Seira."

"Do we both have to?" asked Kratia.

"Yeah. I know you avoid the other heroes, but come with me this time. It feels reassuring to have you with me."

"If you insist..."

Lee Shin-Woo wasn't really concerned with what Seira's intentions were, or what she had been preparing to counter Ethan Cruz's plan. Lee Shin-Woo was already on top of it.

He wanted to meet her since Lee Man-Bok's words were still bothering him. That was also why he was dragging Kratia with him.

"I suppose I should hide my troops before we go."

[Titans do not hide!]

"The Titan must hide for 60 days so that it can activate for 4 minutes."

[If that's what the Titan desires, we'll swallow our pride!]

The first problem Lee Shin-Woo would have to deal with was figuring out where his forces should hide without him leading them. He couldn’t micromanage every single one of them, especially since they were split up and moving independently; he needed a place to station them.

The answer was right before him: a dungeon. Dungeons were, by their very nature, secretive, and they could hide a good number of undead. Moreover, Lee Shin-Woo and Kratia could take protective measures to conceal the dungeon like they had done to the Kerr Century Winery.

Which dungeon should he pick? Would he just do as Lee Man-Bok had done and pick any random dungeon, concealing it with mana or magic? No, that was the reason Lee Man-Bok died a second time. Lee Shin-Woo wasn’t going to do what the man did after ridiculing him.

Lee Shin-Woo decided to select...

[Level 3 dungeon - You have discovered the Darkness Hidden Sewer's hidden path. The dungeon's information is updated.]

[Level 4 elite dungeon - You have acquired the permit for the Darkness Hidden Sewer. All stats have increased by an additional 10 inside the dungeon. The dungeon's information is added to your minimap. All actions are now buffed within the dungeon.]

"None of the test subjects are here, either."

"You seemed to be right. The higher leveled the danger zone, the higher the Pauls' intellect, and the higher chance that their experiments succeeded... They must have joined up with Anti-Skull immediately."

He chose the underground sewers in the cities that Anti-Skull had been using to conduct experiments! Lee Shin-Woo’s seniors didn't know about these passageways, nor did the twelve generals. Because they were so difficult to access, choosing one of them would be better than randomly picking a dungeon.

"Since they're well hidden in a purified city, the undead will instinctively avoid them, and heroes wouldn't enter a city without any prey. If Lee Man-Bok had just a little bit of sense..."

"You could’ve just kept him alive and told him about this later."

"I shouldn't have to teach a level 7 hero this. Moreover, there's a saying in my country that goes, 'humans never change'. No matter how much I try teaching a dumbass like him, Jin, he'll still be a dumbass."

"'Humans never change'..."

One of the reasons Lee Shin-Woo had continuously attacked and seized cities was to find an appropriate location to hide his troops. Of course, it was difficult to find an underground passage that was deep and wide enough to fit the Titans, but...

"Shin-Woo, shall we begin?"

"Alright."

Like they'd done with the Kerr Century Winery in the past, Lee Shin-Woo and Kratia expanded the secret facility, creating a space that would allow the Titans to hide without feeling cramped! Moreover, they created another secret passageway, giving them an alternative exit.

"Ah, that part's mana structure is a bit off."

"Leave it to me."

Reconstructing a dungeon was difficult, but because Lee Shin-Woo and Kratia were plenty experienced in it by now, they were quite efficient.

What was most amazing was the fact they maintained the dungeon's 'uniqueness' while going about their work. Jin watched as the facility widened and deepened in the blink of an eye. As always, he was shocked beyond words. However, it seemed like Kratia wasn't pleased with the final result.

"We could've made it so much better if we had access to spatial magic."

"Like Feotane von Seldin."

"...Hoo. Someday, I'll learn it and beat him."

Lee Shin-Woo thought it'd be faster to just kill the Archmage and absorb his bone, but decided not to say anything.

They had finished expanding the facility, and after hundreds of Titans, as well as the rest of his Paul Corps, safely entered, Lee Shin-Woo suddenly received a private chat request. It was from Ye Jin-Jin. He tilted his head. As soon as he accepted her request...

[Ye Jin-Jin: You’re alive. That's such a relief! I'm so glad!]

He wouldn't hear the end of it if he said, 'Wait, you know I'm dead already, right?' Thus, Lee Shin-Woo simply told her he was safe and asked her what was going on.

[Ye Jin-Jin: The level 3 danger zone is in chaos right now. Senior Ethan hasn't even lured one of the twelve generals in yet, but one of them is on the move already!]

"What!?"

Lee Shin-Woo's goblin fire blazed. He couldn't just let this go!

"If you know one of the twelve generals is coming, you don't even need to bait them. We can just take that one out."

[Ye Jin-Jin: No, we can't. We really can't! Even Senior Ethan said we shouldn't mess with them...!]

"Even Senior...Ethan?"

[Ye Jin-Jin: He said the general is a lot different from the rest. Even the other seniors, who saw their movements by chance, are shaking in their boots right now. They’re so fearsome that our seniors are hesitating over whether they should join this mission or not.]

"That bad?"

Was it the Vulture General that Lee Shin-Woo had been waiting for? It would make sense for the heroes to be quaking in their boots if they saw an air force. Even though most heroes had the means to attack flying monsters, they weren't specialized in aerial warfare.

But the fact that Ethan wants us to avoid it is bothering me.

Why did he want them to avoid the general? Had he been communicating with them? If not, was it because he had no connection to that specific general?

Lee Shin-Woo thought the latter was more likely. Ethan Cruz was incredibly meticulous, and if he said that the heroes should avoid the general, it was likely that that particular general was one he couldn't control with his abilities.

[Ye Jin-Jin: Yes, he's really scary and also strange. Apparently, that general tore down a city in the level 3 danger zone!]

"...Huh?"

[Ye Jin-Jin: It's strange, isn't it!? Why would one of the twelve generals serving the Emperor destroy one of their own cities? Plus, according to our seniors, he’s destroyed a total of three.]

"..."

Lee Shin-Woo's goblin fire shook. Since she could only hear his voice and not see him, Ye Jin-Jin continued to go on and on.

[Ye Jin-Jin: Moreover, he managed to conquer three cities in just a few days... I don't know if there's something fishy going on in the Empire, but I’m certain he's a strange undead, and that he's really dangerous. Apparently, he’s leading a huge army as well.]

"Hey, that's..."

[Ye Jin-Jin: Even if all the heroes worked together, we probably wouldn't be able to beat him... Our seniors have already nicknamed him. He's full of contradictions, so they called him the Heaven Defying General.]

"...He sure sounds amazing."

I thought the world blessed me with the title, but it's already being used by my fellow heroes, Lee Shin-Woo thought vacantly. Is this the power of karma?

[Ye Jin-Jin: He’s amazing. You have to be careful too, Mr. Shin-Woo. If you see him, don't fight him and just run away!]

"...Yeah, I won't fight him."

The contradictory existence, the Heaven Defying General weakly replied to her appeal.

Although he often injured himself for training purposes, he really didn't want to kill himself.