Chapter Text
Freeing Legia turned out to be much more involved than he’d expected. He supposed he should have seen that coming, anything that could hold a monstrosity like him wouldn’t be easily taken apart. When they’d tried to break the chains all the old man did was laugh, amused that these little humans thought they could shatter something that he couldn’t damage after hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
The only real option they had was to cut out the chains speared into his body. So, with Beru and Baran cutting, and his undead S rank healers fixing the damage, they began the gruesome work of getting the Monarch loose. It didn’t take long to find a couple crystals placed in his body, but they seemed designed to destroy rather than control their host. It was clear that the Rulers were planning on killing Legia if they couldn’t eventually break his will.
When he brought Baran out, Legia gave him a slightly sad look. “It is a shame… infighting has gotten worse… in my absence. Monarchs will always fight… and compete…, but it has been… a long time… since they killed each other. I am sure… you had your reasons… but it is still a tragedy. To me… Baran was a kind boy… who loved his home so fiercely… and never quite learned… how to hide his emotions…, it is a loss to see him gone. ”
Jin-Woo didn’t know what to say, so he thought it best to keep his mouth shut. He turned to Jin-Chul, who had dropped his Stealth after being immediately spotted by Legia. “Can you go let everyone know what to expect? The last thing we need are people attacking Legia, and have them start getting as much food together as they can.”
Jin-Chul nodded and made his way back to the exit, “I’ll see what I can do. Stay safe.” As he left Yuri started to follow along, but Jin-Woo stopped him and pointed at one of the bombs they’d taken out. If they needed to do anymore bomb removal surgery, it was probably best to keep around the guy that could make instant bomb shelters.
It was slow going but Legia never complained or gave any sign of discomfort as his summons cut through his flesh. He felt like it was fair to assume that it was painful and wished he could help, but how would he even ask that? ‘Hey, being conscious while a magic ant does impromptu surgery probably sucks, but it doesn’t seem to bother you. If it does hurt, do you know a way to make cutting off chunks of your body less painful?’ Yeah, not exactly the most considerate thing to say.
Legia let out a low chuckle, speaking in the slow and halting way he did. “I know that face… of pity and confusion. Yes… I’m in great pain… but one does not get to my age… without a great tolerance for most things. Once, I fought alongside a skilled but young warrior… and was stabbed through the hand. When I removed it without wincing… I joked with the young orc… that being stabbed hurt less than you’d expect. To prove me wrong… he stabbed himself in the hand…, quite proud of himself… In managing to prove the Great Legia wrong… that being stabbed hurts.”
There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Jin-Woo brought up a thought that kept crossing his mind. “I’m not sure if you’ll know, but there’s something that’s been bothering me.”
“Speak your mind, child… we have much time before I can leave this place… and I wouldn’t mind the distraction.”
“I can’t figure out why the Rulers would open this gate. From what I understand, they want to strengthen Earth against the Denizens by sharpening our skills against the people in the dungeons and infuse the Earth with enough Mana to let them show up themselves. I can’t imagine it’s for the first reason since you’re both incapacitated and not brainwashed. And the second reason seems even less likely. I can’t tell why, but magic feels like it flows in rather than out of you.”
“Interesting… there might actually be hope for your planet… this time.”
Well, that was a less than inspiring statement. “What do you mean by ‘this time’?”
“The same decade or so… has been looped dozens of times…, maybe even hundreds. And in all those years…, you are the first human in my presence to realize the oddness…, let alone discuss it with me. Humor an old man…, what are your theories?”
Well, that was certainly not the expected answer. He had to wonder if a secret of the universe was just revealed or if the man had simply lost his mind from age and trauma. That said, he needed him as an ally so what else could he do but proceed like Legia was sane and figure it out later?
He thought for a moment, wanting to pick his answer carefully since this felt like it was absolutely a test. “They likely know that we’re looking to make some sort of alliance with the Monarchs, perhaps they were hoping we would kill you without question and ruin our chances at diplomacy?”
The giant was quiet for nearly a minute as he thought it over. “A wise answer…, but painfully human. You must remember that Rulers are not people… They do not think or act like people. As immortals… they can have a thousand failed plans… to create a single perfect one. Once they create a strategy… they will follow through and see how it ends…, changing course part way… adds unintended variables… and ruins the test. I believe I was placed here… to teach your people that Monarchs exist… and how to kill them.” He gestured to the three different bombs they’d had to teleport out of him.
“If you want to win…, you have to learn how they think…, how they plan…, and how to take advantage of it. Once you do that…, you might be able to save your people...”
By the time they were finally done the gate had already broken and Jin-Woo was worn out. His magic was drained and his face covered in soot and dust from a close call with a magic explosive. On top of that a good portion of his clothes were soaked in blood from when they needed to cut off and regrow a large part of Legia’s arm. But it was done now. The Monarch was free and could finally leave his millennia long imprisonment.
He started to get up, slowly moving his stiff limbs, each joint popping with a volume that could rival most artillery. Leaning back and groaning at the stretch, his back cracked with enough force to shake the ground beneath them.
“Ohhh, that’s much better. Vithos…, help me leave this horrid place.” It took time and a lot of effort, but she eventually was able to move him through the dungeon. The four giants he’d freed earlier were waiting for them and immediately helped their king however they could. Jin-Woo mostly just stayed out of the way, he was good at lots of things, but carrying a six hundred foot tall man wasn’t one of them.
They stepped into the cool air, the sun having already set. The six giants took their first breath of fresh air in who knows how long, basking in the light of the moon. As Legia pulled in vast amounts of air, Jin-Woo looked over in shock when he felt mana drain from their surroundings. It was an odd sensation, he’d never considered that what they considered ‘baseline’ wasn’t actually no magic. It wasn’t a huge difference, but that small change left him feeling off put, like staring up at the night sky to see the stars suddenly disappear.
He clearly wasn’t the only one to feel the shift, the hunters that had been nearby all froze as well as they grappled with the strange feeling.
One of the smaller giants chuckled at their reactions “First time around the big guy? All of our kin get our strength and size by absorbing the mana around us, but most of the time it’s not enough to even notice. It’ll calm down once he’s recovered, but Legia’s presence is always intense.”
He pocketed that piece of information as Jin-Chul came over to him. “How did everything go? It took you longer than expected.”
“Yeah, it was definitely tricky, time consuming, and potentially reality shaking, but we got him out so it’s a win. How about on your end?”
“See for yourself.” Jin-Chul took his hand to lead him over to what looked like some sort of construction site. “It’s not pretty but it should be sufficient for now. With a combination of money and free range from the government, you can get a surprising amount in very little time.” He gestured towards a row of dump trucks that he now realized were filled to the brim with fried rice and vegetables. Next to them were ‘spoons’ made from the shovel of a front-end-loader and a welded-on I beam for a handle. “We’d considered making oversized chopsticks but decided spoons were a safer bet.”
Jin-Woo snuck in a quick kiss to his cheek “Amazing as always. Did anyone have ideas for where they’d go?”
“There was an emergency meeting between the hunter associations that just ended a few hours ago. Once Legia’s role and importance were explained people split over wanting to host such an influential figure to gain favor, wanting to host him to keep an eye on him, and looking to keep such a dangerous being far away.”
“Were any decisions made, or just people talking in circles?”
Jin-Chul chuckled a bit at that. “Mostly talking in circles. But they did decide that they would stay with us in Korea as you’re our only translator right now. After enough butting heads they agreed the long term host discussion would be done by the UN since a video conference of random officials doesn’t have any actual authority.”
“Hm, who’re the main contenders who want to treat him like an honored guest? We can’t risk treating him like a hostile.”
Their discussion was cut off by the sound of a building groaning as Legia sat up against it and ate food by the ton. At one point he expedited the process by simply picking up the entire truck and just pouring it into his mouth.
Jin-Chul refocused on their conversation. “China is pushing hard, they feel threatened by us having Denizen allies and don’t like us potentially becoming a major regional power because of it. The United States are pushing for similar reasons while a few countries like Germany are offering to be a more neutral party that wouldn’t try to use them for their own benefit.”
He nodded slowly. “Got it, anything that is urgent? Otherwise I’m going to bed, I’ve been up for too long.”
“Right now we need to figure out how we’re going to house a six hundred foot tall man. There’s no building on Earth that he could even crouch in and no one feels comfortable making an interdimensional king sleep outside.”
They threw ideas back and forth for a few minutes before deciding to talk it over with the Monarch himself. They could see him slowly getting up as they got closer, but the princess stopped them before they could get in speaking range.
“Any questions and political maneuvering can wait. Legia is tired and needs both rest and healing. We will be staying in your oceans until he has regained his strength as being in water is easiest on his joints.”
She didn’t wait for a response and all of the officials stood dumbfounded as the center of their debates fucked off into the ocean to float around in the Pacific rather than grace any country with their presence.