Chapter 269 |
Boom!!
Only then did Renok let out a sigh of relief as he withdrew the mana threads that had bound Chen's body.
"Ugh...!!"
As soon as the mana threads loosened, Chen grimaced and collapsed to the ground, sweat pouring down his face.
He had pushed himself to the limit without overtaxing his body, but that didn't mean it hadn't drained his stamina.
On the contrary, the muscle pain that crashed over Chen's body was likely beyond imagination, a backlash from having driven himself harder than ever before.
By forcibly amplifying his physical abilities and sharpening his senses through the Residual Thunder Body, the inevitable aftereffects were unavoidable.
But thanks to Chen's efforts, Renok had been able to conserve his mana to the extreme during the battle with Paldoon.
A single overcharged shot from the double-barrel shotgun, pre-loaded over several days.
Renok lightly patted Chen's shoulder as he slumped down.
"You did well."
"Damn... I don't know whether to thank you or get pissed."
Though his whole body throbbed, Chen knew the experience from this ordeal was invaluable beyond measure.
How many people could claim to have directly felt an attribute shift in their own body before even mastering it?
Just grasping the concept of attribute shift clearly was a massive gain for a physical ability user like Chen.
Chen let out a deep sigh and sprawled out on the ground.
"After all this, you two handle Samyeong on your own."
[That sounds good.]
Manson interjected, his robotic head flickering.
[What you were doing with Ban looked fun. Do it to me next. Huh?]
"Not right now. Manipulating an elite esper who's mastered attribute shift would make control rebound."
Renok felt the same regret.
If he'd known it would be this efficient, he would have tested it on others sooner.
Among those who hadn't fully mastered attribute shift, anyone with good intuition or mana sensitivity would surely have shown even better results than Chen.
'Weyan or Hina would have made great subjects... But for now, it's unavoidable.'
The key was how well they could keep up with the ideal movements and physical prowess Renok envisioned in his mind.
With Weyan's mana sensitivity, matching Renok's intent would have been effortless, and Hina, who had an uncanny affinity for the Residual Thunder Body, would have responded flexibly to bioelectric manipulation as well.
A few more tries, and they might even have reacted to the mana distortion from attribute shifts during mana thread control... But there were more pressing matters first.
At the center of the half-collapsed mansion, amid the rubble caught in Renok's charged shot.
The family head, with both arms broken and held by Manson, lay fallen.
His face looked decades older in that short time. The arrogant confidence that had filled it was gone, replaced only by dazed despair dripping from his eyes.
"There must have been a reason Paldoon couldn't even squeeze into the five families."
Renok met the family head's gaze and spoke calmly.
"They never imagined a force like yours could threaten to seize control of the citadel."
Even without the charged shotgun, the outcome would have been the same.
The other warriors had belatedly moved against Renok, but none had the skill to even touch his true form.
Hojor was somewhat noteworthy among them, but in the end, when Renok had Chen pin his feet and struck the mansion, hadn't it crumbled?
These people had boasted they could capture Renok before he even cast a spell, yet they'd shown nothing in action.
There was no need to keep such ineffectual fools, nor reason to kill them.
The other families, led by Ilwon, had likely thought the same.
A dry cough escaped the family head's lips.
"Cough! Heh, heh... A loose tongue speaks well."
A barrage of emotions crossed the family head's face, leaving only mockery in the end.
"You act like crushing our family ends everything. Do you think the citadel will fall into your hands just like that?"
"That's not for you to worry about."
From behind Renok, Manson dragged out the unconscious Hojor and tossed his bulk in front of the family head.
Boom!!
"......!"
The family head's expression twisted at the sight of Hojor's state.
When Manson wedged a blade between his neck, his face paled.
Renok watched the change impassively and said,
"As promised, I'll take Paldoon's proxy qualification. You agree, right?"
"Ugh..."
Renok locked eyes with the family head, whose face twisted in complexity, and carefully drew up his mana.
Observing the tangled flow of mana within the family head's body, he traced the footprints of the mental images embedded in his depths.
With his emotions so shaken and mind in disarray, peering into his inner world was no challenge.
The crucial thing was identifying who among the Eight Families had allied with the Gido Order.
In a moment the family head didn't even notice, Renok extended his mana into his heart.
As Renok's eyes turned violet, the family head's lips finally parted with difficulty.
*
News that Oryun and Yukryeong had joined forces to topple Paldoon spread through the citadel in an instant.
Ban and Manson's names, along with the newly rising proxy Chen, would soon reach the citadel's residents.
The point of restricting information until now had faded, but if the price was gathering three families' proxies in one place, it was worth it.
The four families led by Ilwon, the three centered on Ban, and Samyeong watching from the sidelines.
Regardless of the details, this three-way split was enough to revive tension within the citadel.
The fact that Yukryeong's proxy, aligned with Ilwon, had sided with Oryun would be seen as highly significant by the other families.
Indeed, Oryun's scattered retainers were already regrouping under the name of training.
Repairing the ruined mansion, restocking vanished supplies, buying weapons, gathering troops, preparing for war.
Renok looked down at the scene with Suryeon and lit a cigarette.
"It's changed a lot more than I expected... Which makes it even stranger."
"What do you mean?"
"The proxy system itself."
Renok replied, smoke trailing from his mouth.
"The family head chooses the proxy, but can't revoke the qualification at will.
The only way to transfer it is through a proxy battle via duel.
"It's like it was designed solely for internal citadel power struggles. But who maintains and enforces those rules?"
"......"
"If everyone's using proxies for the contest, someone has to act as referee to ensure the rules are followed."
Deciding the citadel lord wasn't a sport with spectators and rules.
On the contrary, wouldn't power and status be things people desperately wanted, even breaking regulations?
From Renok's perspective, having grown up in Balkan's shadows without rules or order, this proxy war within the citadel was hard to comprehend.
"If I were Ilwon's family head, instead of this hassle, I'd have pulled back after securing the other four families. Claiming a plausible pretext after getting majority consent from the eight wouldn't be hard."
It was starkly different from the other triad, the cartel.
The reason hierarchy held in the cartel was the absolute leader, Oliviera Ron Meiz, at the center.
But for the Eightfold Star Citadel, having lost its citadel lord, clinging to organizational order and rules felt utterly awkward.
"If they're insisting on formal procedures, there's only one reason."
Renok's eyes sharpened.
"The family alliance leader isn't interested in the proxy battles themselves, but in what stems from them."
And the one who schemed that plan was likely the Gido Order's bishop, Walter Martinez.
What exactly his goal was in moving within this citadel, and whether his actions tied to time-series magic.
Renok knew exactly what he needed to figure out.
He'd succeeded in securing the minimum pretext to avoid being swayed by circumstances, so now it was time to contact the citadel's key figures properly.
"Samyeong, responsible for the citadel's outer defenses. Their family head is known as a superhuman who's completed their hierarchy."
Renok muttered around his cigarette.
"A man who's watched quietly until now might hold different information."
Suryeon looked up at Renok's face and murmured softly.
"I think I get why Chen spoke so highly of you. You're definitely different from me."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not easy to maintain subjectivity unaffected by your environment. It's decided deep in the heart, unrelated to innate ability."
Before Renok could respond, Suryeon turned her head silently.
"I couldn't. Even as I drowned in the pleasures my father created, I thought I'd never escape this citadel."
"......"
"Maybe when Chen suggested running away together, I should have grabbed his hand instead of making lame excuses?"
She murmured, brushing back her long hair.
"If I'd been with people living freely outside, I might have changed... I wonder sometimes."
Suryeon smiled awkwardly after speaking.
"Haha... I said something pointless. What am I telling someone I've known less than a week...?"
She tried to brush off her inner thoughts casually, but Renok listened to her ramble with a calm, unsmiling expression.
What Suryeon had just said wasn't because she saw Renok as comfortable or trusted him.
She was hoping.
Wondering if this wizard could truly shatter the citadel's sticky entanglements.
Wanting to know if he had the ability and wisdom for it.
Renok replied.
"I'm not as great as you think."
Meeting Suryeon's gaze, Renok continued with a face devoid of amusement.
"But one thing I'm certain of."
"......"
"I'll act according to choices I can convince myself of. Pride, honor, gain, loss—they're all secondary."
"That's..."
"Knowing that lets you avoid long regrets, even from mistakes or wrongs."
Suryeon smiled weakly at Renok's words.
"Is there no way to avoid regret altogether?"
"Who knows. Even I don't know that far."
Because he knew the reach of his own talent, Renok never suppressed or controlled himself to fit the environment.
Above all, overcoming his limits and grasping the edge of his talent came first.
It was possible because he knew better than anyone what he wanted and desired.
Looking down at her thoughtful face, Renok reached into his pocket.
"But awakening to attribute shift amid such worries itself... proves your potential."
Unlike Chen, who had only just grasped the feel for mana attribute shifts after a lifetime of trials in Balkan's shadows.
What did it mean that she, immersed solely in spear arts within the citadel, had reached the elite realm?
The directions of talent between the half-siblings were starkly different, but in martial prowess, Suryeon's gift far surpassed Chen's.
It was tempting enough for Renok himself.
"If you need anything, contact me. Not just in the citadel—good opportunities are everywhere."
"..."
Suryeon stared at the business card Renok handed her for a long while.
*
In a dark room.
Two people faced each other across a single curtain.
"It's no surprise."
A calm voice said.
"It was foreseeable from the moment Yukryeong's proxy vanished with him."
[I'm sorry.]
"But I didn't expect him to ally with Oryun and strike Paldoon to unite three forces. No, not even unite. In truth, it's just gathering three proxies to barely claim one pretext."
[......]
The voice wasn't wrong.
It was so unconventional, beyond reasonable expectation, that they couldn't predict his moves.
Even gathering three families' proxies, what use if he couldn't borrow their power?
Yukryeong lost its proxy but still submitted to Ilwon, while Paldoon was half-annihilated.
The pretext Oryun's proxy gained from this was singular.
Starting the citadel lord decisive battle without majority consent from the Eight Families—that alone.
Did that wizard truly plan to overturn the citadel's power struggle through proxy battles?
"Intriguing. But foolish."
Rustle.
The shadow beyond the curtain slowly rose from its seat.
Pushing aside the beaded curtain, an elderly woman with streaked white hair stepped forward.
The sharp-faced old man with piercingly cold eyes muttered.
"Focusing on proxy battles means he doesn't even know who our ally is. No need to worry."
[But another family contacted us first, saying if Samyeong joins, it gets messy...]
"Fools..."
It was frustrating dealing with idiots ignorant of the truth, but unavoidable.
The old woman's secret was too clandestine and sordid to share even with other family heads.
In her position, still sensitive to outside scrutiny, rashly intervening was difficult.
The old woman nodded with a sigh.
"Fine. But no deploying proxies. Losing more before the decisive battle starts would complicate things."
[Understood.]
As the black shadow rose to speak, the old woman's incoming hand seized his head.
Crunch!!
"That's not for you."
[Gah...!!]
The shadow trembled violently, as if struck by lightning.
Looking down at his terrified form, the old woman murmured coldly.
"I'll forgive losing Yukryeong's proxy, but compiling info only after Paldoon fell? That's not just attitude—it's incompetence."
"Mercy, please!"
As the old woman gripped tighter, dark crimson veins bulged on her arm, shattering the shadow's head in an instant.
Splatter!!
Brain matter splattered onto her reddened forearm, creating a gruesome sight.
The old woman stared blankly at her hand, then shook it off indifferently.
"I won't repeat myself."
[I obey.]
Behind her, another black shadow had appeared, kneeling silently.
"Rash actions ruin things, but passive responses won't let them outlive me."
[......]
"Remember: I tolerate laziness and laxity, but not incompetence in results."
Gazing at the liquid dripping from her hand, the old woman slowly licked it.
Closing her eyes to savor the human trace, her face had transformed into that of a completely different young woman.
The alien vitality overflowing her body proved the change wasn't mere illusion.
It was proof of the miracle that reversed her shortening life's hourglass.
Despite the eerie rejuvenation, the old woman's—now young woman's—face held only endless languor and satisfaction.
"...Delicious. Not bad."
After a long moment, her murmur carried an inhuman sentimentality.
"This much is fitting, isn't it? For me, who's devoted so long to the citadel... this much..."
Muttering endlessly like a drunk, the massive root pattern on the wall behind her silently loomed over her.