Siegfried didn't bring Hamchi along on this adventure, and there was a simple reason behind it. ‘It’s our first trip together, so it should be just the two of us.’ Since this was the first time he and Brunhilde were going somewhere together, he did not want a third wheel tagging along. Besides, Mount Amon was not as high as Mount Kunlun, so the climb would not be too difficult for Siegfried and Brunhilde. Thus, he figured they could treat it like taking a casual stroll. ‘And it’ll be a nice change of pace for both of us.’ Plus, after acquiring the secret documents of the empire, Siegfried had already made his decision to walk the Path of the Supreme King. This trip with Brunhilde was a way to clear his mind and shake off all the thoughts weighing down on him. Siegfried arrived near Mount Amon using a warp gate, and he boarded an airship for the next leg of the journey. Now, there was a reason he did not take the Hurracan, his super airship. The Hurracan was a toy Dragon Lord Gerog built out of boredom, but it was fitted with cutting-edge technology that made it far advanced by human standards. In other words, it was a state-of-the-art airship, one that was far superior to other modern airships. The Hurracan was currently being disassembled as part of the Proatine Kingdom’s research and development of the kingdom’s next generation of battleships. This new generation of battleship was going to be a combination of the Hurracan, the Iron Fleet, and the Invincible Armada of the Marchioni Empire. Once completed, it would become the most fearsome battleship in the world, and if enough were produced, then it would, without a doubt, become the most powerful armada. ‘Man... I have a bad feeling about this...’ Siegfried couldn’t shake off the uneasiness while sitting inside the civilian airship. His eyes darted nervously around while he fidgeted in his seat. The airshop was made of wood with nails missing in certain places and cracks visible on the surface. Click, click, cliiiick! To make things even scarier, the engine was so old that it rattled violently and made a clicking noise. From Siegfried’s perspective, the airship looked like it could crash at any moment. “What’s wrong, dear? Are you feeling unwell?” Brunhilde asked, tilting her head after seeing him look uneasy and restless. Siegfried hesitated before answering, “Ah, well... that is... I just have a lot of bad experiences with airships.” “I always end up crashing whenever I ride one. Haha... Hahaha...” If he had a jinx, then it was this. Every time he boarded a civilian airship, something would go wrong. He would have passed it off as mere coincidence if it had happened only once or twice, but it had happened so many times that it was only normal for him to feel anxious whenever he had to board one of them. “It’s all right, dear. I’m here with you,” Brunhilde said, smiling warmly and holding his hand firmly. “And besides, you can fly now, right?” “Nothing’s going to happen.” With his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit, Siegfried was guaranteed to survive even if the airship did crash. ‘Yeah, what are the odds of anything happening again?’ Reassuring himself, Siegfried squeezed Brunhilde’s hand back and did his best to calm his nerves. About ten minutes later... The old engine roared, sounding like it was about to explode at any moment. Despite that, the airship soared high into the sky and flew toward Mount Amon. “It’s really nice to travel ,” Brunhilde said with a smile. “I agree,” Siegfried replied, smiling back. Seeing how relaxed she seemed after a long time made him feel happy. She had been so exhausted from raising their child and handling the kingdom’s affairs, so it was clear that this trip was a much-needed vacation for her. “Should we go somewhere after all of this is over?” Siegfried asked. “We never had a honeymoon, did we? So I was thinking maybe we could—” The cockpit door opened, and a man wearing a captain's uniform stepped out. “Ladies and gentlemen, I will be your captain today.” “H-Hiiiiik?!” Siegfried shrieked in horror as if he had just seen a ghost. “W-Why are you here?!” —The man standing before him, the captain of the airship, was none other than Alfred, the very man who caused Siegfried’s phobia of airships in the first place. Who was Captain Alfred? To answer this question, we would have to go back in time. It all started two and a half years ago, back when Siegfried had just obtained his class, the Debuff Master.[1] At the time, Siegfried boarded an airship in search of the legacy of the legendary blacksmith, Herbert. Just a few hours after the airship took off, it crashed. It was all because the ship’s captain spent all of his maintenance budget to pay off his debts elsewhere. As a result, Siegfried crash-landed on an island where the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament was being held. Fortunately, by some strange twist of fate, he won the tournament, which eventually led to him becoming the ruler of the Proatine Kingdom. The captain of that doomed airship back then was none other than Captain Alfred, who was the very man standing before Siegfried. In a way, Captain Alfred was the one who set Siegfried on the path to becoming a king. Well, not that he had done it intentionally. “Do you know him, dear?” Brunhilde asked. “We need to get off! Now! Right now!” Siegfried exclaimed frantically. “That guy is a total disaster! This airship is definitely going to crash!” “What the—? Ain’t you that brat from back then?” Captain Alfred asked, squinting and furrowing his brows after recognizing Siegfried. Then, he said, “Wow, you’re still alive? Damn, you got a long life, kid.” “What did you just say, you old geezer?!” Siegfried snarled, baring his teeth at him. Siegfried’s nose scrunched up after catching a whiff of scent that hit him like a punch to the face. It was a putrid mix of cigarette, booze, and sweat coming from Alfred. It was like Alfred was unleashing a noxious aura. He took a closer look and noticed that Captain Alfred’s nose was flushed red, an indication that he was intoxicated. “Wait... A-Are you... DRUNK?!” Siegfried’s face turned ghastly pale after realizing that Captain Alfred was drunk. At least the last time, he was not drinking on the job. But now, he was going to pilot an airship while wasted? “Are you crazy?! You’re a captain! Why the hell are you drinking while flying?!” Siegfried screamed. “What’s the big deal, ya coward? Hic! I’ve been doing this for twenty-two years! And guess what? Zero accidents in the past twenty-two years! A spotless record!” “Zero accidents my ass! You crashed the last time I was on your ship!” “Oh, right... Guess you caught me! Bwahaha!” “Y-You!” Siegfried stammered in anger. His anger gauge filled to the max, and he was about to lash out when— “It’s all right, dear. We can fly if we have to,” Brunhilde said, quickly pulling him back and stopping him from lunging at the old pilot. Reluctantly, Siegfried took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “But what’s going on?” Brunhilde asked. “Well...” Siegfried proceeded to explain his unfortunate past encounter with the intoxicated old pilot. “I see... But wasn’t that a blessing in disguise if you look at it from another angle?” “If he had not squandered his money and crashed the airship, you would have never ended up in the Proatine Kingdom, right? And if that hadn't happened, you wouldn’t have become king.” “And we wouldn’t have met and gotten married.” “Haha... I guess if you put it that way?” “See? Try to think positively, dear. It’s not like we are going to crash again or—” A deafening explosion suddenly shook the airship. “AGAIN?!” Siegfried screamed in anger. Then, he quickly said, “We need to get out of here, now!” Unfortunately, the explosion wasn’t caused by an engine failure. An unidentified object had collided with the airship. The next thing Siegfried knew— The ship exploded into pieces right before his eyes, and he blacked out right afterward. [Alert: Status Ailment!] [Alert: You have been knocked unconscious!] The airship had been shot down. Something or someone had attacked it and brought it down. His vision went completely dark. [Alert: Status Ailment!] [Alert: You will regain consciousness in 5 hours, 59 minutes, and 53 seconds!] [Alert: 5 hours, 59 minutes, 52 seconds!] [Alert: 5 hours, 59 minutes, 51 seconds!] [Alert: 5 hours, 59 minutes, 50 seconds!] [Alert: Character’s survival status will be revealed once the status ailment is lifted!] [Alert: Pray that your character is not dead!] Han Tae-Sung sat frozen inside his VR capsule and stared blankly at the notification on the black screen. Just when he thought the jinx was finally broken, the airship suddenly exploded for unknown reasons. It seemed that his cursed history with civilian airships was far from over. What frustrated him the most was that he had no way of knowing whether his character survived the crash or not due to the status ailment. But that was not the main problem... He could simply take the death penalty and respawn if he had died in the crash. But what about Brunhilde? She wasn't an Adventurer; she was an NPC. “Please... Please let her be okay...” Tae-Sung prayed with all his heart. Losing Brunhilde in some freak accident was something he couldn’t even begin to imagine. “Please... Let her be safe...” Unable to do anything, Tae-Sung remained trapped inside the capsule, anxiously waiting for the countdown to end. Time crawled at a snail’s pace as if knowingly tormenting him. [Alert: 3 seconds remaining!] [Alert: 2 seconds remaining!] [Alert: 1 second remaining!] Siegfried’s pitch-black vision slowly brightened. [Alert: You have regained consciousness!] [Mount Amon Foothills: Dragonkin Village] A notification indicating his current location popped up in front of his eyes once his vision returned. “What the hell?” Siegfried groaned, sitting upright. Then, a voice asked him, “Are you up?” Siegfried looked up and saw a pair of slitted golden reptilian eyes looking down at him. Siegfried jolted in surprise. Then, he opened his Inventory and took out his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp. He prepared to swing his weapon at the Dragonkin if it showed any sudden movements. “No need for such hostility, human. You were unconscious in the forest, so I simply brought you here,” the Dragonkin said with a smile. “Oh...” Siegfried muttered after realizing that the Dragonkin was not an enemy. He relaxed and put his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp back into his inventory. Putting away his weapon without even making sure of his situation was indeed a risky move. However, Siegfried had no problem with it. It was all because he knew he was capable of defending himself even without a weapon. King Leonid trained him in hand-to-hand combat, so he was capable of unleashing devastating power with his bare hands. “Where am I?” Siegfried asked. “This is our village.” “I see... Thank you for saving me, but—” “Were there any survivors?” For Siegfried, Brunhilde’s safety was his top priority. Making sure that she was safe was the only thing on his mind right now. “Yes, there was one.” “That survivor landed not far from where you were.” The Dragonkin pointed just beside where Siegfried had been lying down. Siegfried hurriedly looked while praying, ‘Please...!’ Ironically, reality had a cruel sense of humor. ZzzZz... ZzZzz... Zzz... Sprawled on the ground and snoring like a chainsaw was none other than Captain Alfred. Judging by the stench of alcohol radiating from him, it was clear that he hadn't passed out from the crash. ‘Are you kidding me?! Why does this bastard have such ridiculous luck?!’ Siegfried raged inwardly. But his rage lasted only for a second... “Were there any survivors? Did you find anyone else?” Siegfried asked. “No, we have found none aside from the two of you. We discovered the wreckage of an airship, so it definitely crashed,” the Dragonkin replied. “We didn't find any other survivors, but we didn't find any bodies as well. So whoever you’re looking for might still be alive.” Siegfried immediately stood up and headed for the exit. ‘I have to find her. She’s not dead. She can’t be dead...!’ At this moment, he was thinking of only one thing–Brunhilde. He had to find her no matter what, and he was not going to waste another second sitting around doing nothing. “Wait,” the Dragonkin called out, stopping him. “I have to go find her.” “I do not know who you are looking for, but you cannot leave the village right now. So, stay here and wait for a bit.” “What do you mean by that? Why not?” “The angels are out there.” Siegfried didn't expect the following words to come out of the Dragonkin’s mouth. “Our home, Mount Amon, has fallen under the control of the angels. You will be killed immediately if you wander around outside.” 1. Author-nim left us a note to see Chapter 55 and Chapter 56. ☜