Not understanding was one thing, but an Empress's command was absolute.
After putting away the parchment, Count Hahn transformed back into a hawk and flew toward the Old District once more.
Before long, he arrived at the breach.
To the awe of everyone present, the hawk gracefully transformed back into a man. Count Hahn strode directly into the opening and said without even looking back:
"Come on. Let's clean up this mess."
The moment they saw Count Hahn, the Beyonders present immediately felt invigorated and hurried after him.
A Sequence 3 Demigod was more than enough to inspire tremendous confidence.
---
Meanwhile, at the center of the underground hall, before the throne positioned atop countless gigantic gears, Mozo stared blankly at his surroundings.
He recognized this place.
But not from the Sun King's memories.
Nor from any of the Dream Operas.
Rather, it was from his previous life, before he had somehow ended up in this bizarre world.
And the memory came from a movie.
Its title was Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
Yes.
This place looked astonishingly similar to the chamber where the protagonists confronted the Elven Prince in the film's final battle.
Especially the throne mounted upon several colossal gears.
Mozo could even see countless metallic giant eggs outside the hall, all glowing with crimson light.
For a brief moment, he almost thought he had transmigrated again.
Yet the inscriptions carved into the pillars supporting the chamber were unmistakably the Elvish script of this world.
Feeling somewhat dazed, Mozo crouched down and held his head, trying to remember something.
He had the distinct feeling that the answer was right on the tip of his tongue.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't grasp it.
It was that maddening sensation everyone had experienced before.
And right now, Mozo had fallen squarely into that predicament.
Fortunately, he quickly stood back up and took out the potion.
Since he recognized the place, it meant he hadn't forgotten. He simply couldn't recall it at the moment.
In that case, this potion would help tremendously.
Taking a deep breath, Mozo drank the potion within this ancient ruin.
The next moment, strands of silver-white light flashed across his eyes.
Aside from that, nothing flashy occurred.
Yet Mozo had already completed his advancement.
He had successfully advanced to Sequence 10.
At last, he was a genuine Beyonder.
And with the assistance of his newly acquired abilities, Mozo finally remembered exactly what this place was.
The reason was simple.
The first sequence of his Path possessed only a single ability.
A power called the Nameless Book.
Its effect was straightforward.
It created a book that only he could see and read.
Within that book was recorded every memory from his entire life that he had not already forgotten.
Furthermore, once recorded, those memories would never disappear.
To be honest, among all Paths, even compared to other Sequence 10 abilities, this power was absurdly useless.
But for Mozo?
It suited him perfectly.
After all, wasn't his greatest cheat precisely those fragmented dream memories?
With the Nameless Book, countless blurry dream fragments would now appear before him in their entirety.
It couldn't recover memories that had already been completely forgotten.
But even so, it was more than useful enough.
Thanks to the Nameless Book, Mozo finally understood the truth about this place.
Reading the records within the book, he pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a helpless sigh.
The resemblance to Hellboy wasn't a coincidence.
It was entirely intentional.
And yes, he really had placed four thousand nine hundred Golden Soldiers here.
Furthermore, in order to recreate the movie's immortal Golden Army, Mozo, as the Sun King, had spent several years hunting a Sequence 2 Dragon.
The Undying Dragon.
Then, using the Mysticism left behind after its death and gathering numerous Elven Master Artisans, he forged this otherworldly version of the Golden Army.
It was the perfect fusion of Elven craftsmanship and high-level Mysticism.
One of the greatest symbols of the Elven golden age.
Of course, according to modern classifications, the Golden Army could also be considered a Sealed Artifact.
In fact, its designation could probably be found within the headquarters of every major church:
1-047.
Though the churches had no idea the army itself existed, they could still infer that the missing Sequence 2 Dragon's Mysticism had become a Sealed Artifact.
As for why Mozo had gone through all that trouble?
There were two reasons.
First, personal amusement.
Second, to leave behind a powerful force that his future self could immediately cash in on.
The only things missing were a crown and a command phrase.
At present, the crown that controlled the army should still be located in the Elven capital, Rivendell.
As for the command phrase?
Naturally, Mozo knew it.
Only he knew it.
The master artisans involved in the army's creation were aware that an alternate command phrase existed, but none of them knew what it actually was.
In other words...
Mozo now possessed an immortal army that was absolutely loyal to him.
Realizing that fact, he couldn't help smiling.
But almost immediately, his expression collapsed.
Because while he knew the command phrase...
Could he actually use it?
He wasn't an elf.
He lacked the blessing of the Twin Sacred Trees.
He didn't possess the bloodline of the Elven King.
Yet he knew a secret that should have been known only to the Sun King.
And he still hadn't figured out what exactly was going on with the Special District above.
Under those circumstances, how could he possibly bring the Golden Army into the open?
The moment it appeared, it would probably be surrounded by a horde of high-sequence powerhouses.
In other words, it could only serve as a trump card.
And a troublesome one at that.
A trump card that would create endless complications once revealed.
If he wanted to control the army openly without being connected to the Sun King...
Then it seemed there was only one option.
Steal the Sun King's crown from Rivendell.
But wasn't that even more ridiculous?!
Provoking an ancient race that could practically be considered his own people just for a Sequence 2 artifact whose full potential he couldn't even utilize?
That was simply idiotic.
After thinking it over for a while, Mozo eventually relaxed.
The gains from this trip were already substantial enough.
As for the Golden Army...
It could continue sleeping beneath the earth for now.
He would deal with it after finding a better solution.
With a trace of regret, Mozo prepared to leave.
At that exact moment, however, he noticed that the magical circuits painstakingly carved throughout the hall by the Elven Master Artisans were issuing a warning.
Someone had entered?
No.
Judging from the signals, they were still in the outer regions.
They hadn't reached the core chamber yet.
Using the ancient magic woven into the throne itself, Mozo quickly observed the intruders.
And there he saw Count Hahn and his group.
Looking at the conspicuous mayor standing at the front, Mozo suddenly felt as though he had come up with a very good idea.