Chapter 277 |
Light and Shadow (2)
The moment he realized that the Ibon Family's proxy representative was not affiliated with the cult, he had some inkling of it.
If an outsider like Walter wanted to be treated as an honored guest by the citadel's high-ranking officials, the status of proxy for one of the Eight Families would have been the most suitable option.
Regardless of the alliance with the Ibon Family head, it would have been the perfect pretext for making an official appearance.
"There are truly many skilled sorcerers in this megacity. I'm envious."
Walter smiled.
"Just the other day, I met a spirit summoner whose skills were so impressive that I was taken aback. It really made me think the world is vast."
"......"
"My visit to this city was ultimately part of the greater undertaking, but now I feel it's quite fortunate."
There was no trace of killing intent or eagerness from him.
"If you have no intention of fighting, it might be better to remove the bracelet and step down."
Renok said.
"Are you planning to just keep talking?"
"You're quick on the uptake. That's right."
Despite the indifferent remark, Walter nodded readily.
"In truth, I didn't expect the proxy battle to unfold in such a stalemate."
"......"
"I had planned to set the other families as mere spectators and quickly conclude the ritual by putting forward one of my own...... But then an outsider united the families and turned it into a battle of legitimacy, complicating everything."
The meaning behind Walter's words was obvious. The situation had reached this point, which was an outcome he hadn't anticipated.
Originally, he should have easily won a formal proxy battle against the disorganized Paldoon, Samyeong, and Oryun families and secured the position of citadel lord right away.
Uniting families with different goals and motivations to reshape the board was solely Renok's doing.
He had overturned the situation by handling all the procedures—legitimacy, qualifications, and proof of power—before the other families could interfere.
If he hadn't single-handedly reversed the disadvantage of a 3-to-1 proxy battle and dragged it to a captain's duel, Walter wouldn't even have needed to step in personally.
"Because of that, I didn't pay much attention to the combat capabilities of each family's proxy representatives, and I never imagined it would lead to this trouble."
Walter smiled bitterly and nodded.
"It was my miscalculation. That's why I'd like to propose a deal."
"A deal......"
It was surprising. He hadn't expected Walter to reveal his true colors at this stage, let alone try to win him over.
It was probably because internal assessments concluded that the original plans wouldn't proceed smoothly against Renok.
"From what I've gathered here and there, you're already quite famous as a freelancer outside."
While Renok pondered, Walter quickly got to the point.
"Among other things, there are rumors that you're seeking clues about timeline relics or rituals as rewards for designation requests. I assume that's the reason you entered this citadel as well?"
He extended his hand with a generous smile, as if he knew exactly what Renok desired.
"If you cooperate with us, I'll personally hand over items that will be auctioned before the main auction as the proxy for the Ilwon Family. Among them, there are a few timeline artifacts that you're after."
"......"
"What do you think? Isn't that more than enough compensation for giving up just this one fight?"
"Well......"
Rather than seriously considering Walter's offer, Renok quietly contemplated what this situation implied.
It was a vivid reminder that Walter's current response was a privilege born from one-sided informational superiority.
If Walter had known Renok was the same person as Evan, or that he already possessed all the information about the ruins, would he be trying this hard to sway him now?
By perfectly separating his two identities and building airtight alibis, even the cult's bishop hadn't noticed anything amiss and was throwing out empty promises.
Promises he had no intention of keeping himself.
The answer had been decided from the start.
"The price doesn't quite match."
Renok smiled.
"My faith isn't strong enough to accept that offer."
Pzzzzzt...!!
A brilliant blue bolt of lightning surged from beneath Renok's feet, striking Walter directly.
Boom!!
The ground shook violently from the lightning strike exploding upward, and dust billowed in all directions.
The audience's fervent cheers erupted, assuming the final proxy battle had begun, while the other family heads' expressions changed dramatically.
Renok ignored those reactions entirely, focusing on the opponent before him.
From within the spreading dust like mist came a chillingly altered voice.
"You knew from the beginning that I was with the cult, didn't you?"
"......"
"Playing me like a fool...... Heh, it seems the Samyeong Family head's abilities exceeded expectations. Fine."
Walter emerged from the epicenter, his arm dangling limply.
He hadn't properly blocked Renok's preemptive strike, but there was no sign of pain on his face.
Hooking his finger into the inner side of the bracelet on his dangling wrist, he applied force and said,
"The world doesn't always go as one plans."
Clang!!
As the chain bracelet shattered, the light bound to Walter's bracelet transferred to Renok's, illuminating the eight chain rings brightly.
This was clear proof that the proxy battle ritual had ended, and Renok now held the designation rights for all the families.
But before Renok could move to designate Oren as citadel lord, Walter acted first.
From the outskirts of the massive estate housing thousands of citadel residents, a pale radiance began to erupt.
Fwoosh!!
The radiance enveloped the entire estate in a massive hemispherical barrier arching into the sky.
At the top of the barrier, a heterogeneous rift appeared, as if cut with scissors.
Creeeak!!!
As the sudden rift in the sky slowly opened, it began greedily sucking in something from the bodies of the spectators in the estate.
Pale, ethereal forms, like souls being drawn out, detached from the people's bodies and flowed toward the apex of the barrier.
Witnessing the unknown energy leaving their bodies, the spectators fell into immediate chaos, turning the estate into a pandemonium in an instant.
"Kyaaah!!"
"S-save me!! What is this!!"
It was hard to believe this ritual had started so abruptly; its scale and execution were immense and thorough.
The rift opening in the sky. The pale radiance spreading with the momentum to devour thousands of lives.
It was the large-scale spatial translocation ritual 'Amrita's Scale' that Walter had attempted at Lavaton University.
Offering a certain number of lives as sacrifice to relocate an equal number of lives.
The ritual's capture range encompassed the entire vast estate—a scale that would consume thousands at once.
Even enhancing efficiency with human lives as the price, achieving this magnitude without prior preparation would be impossible.
The Ibon Family head and Walter had planned from the outset: if things didn't go as intended, slaughter all the citadel residents and replace them with Gido Order members.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to see so much blood spilled like this......"
Walter, with his back to a pillar of pale radiance, smiled.
"If you hadn't rejected my proposal, this tragedy wouldn't have happened. This is all because of you."
"As long as you can obtain the citadel lord's authority, the survival of the citadel itself doesn't matter, it seems."
Ignoring Walter's words cleanly, Renok asked,
"Is that ruin site so important to the cult?"
"......If you know that much, there's no need for further words."
Walter nodded readily.
"It's not just some tourist spot with exotic scenery. That trace, disconnected from this world's timeline, is undoubtedly a remnant of the old world...... In this sky sealed shut, it's essentially a 'rift' to the world—something exceedingly rare."
"......"
"In this world where even communication with the gods has become difficult, an extremely scarce gateway to the outside...... Do you understand what that means?"
"No."
Renok replied indifferently.
"I'll beat you down here and hear it slowly then."
At that moment, a pitch-black shadow rose from a corner of the estate where the two faced each other.
Whoosh!!
The remnants of the shadow incantations that Asui had placed covertly throughout the estate, even at the cost of overextending himself as the vanguard.
They surged up all at once, as if by prior agreement, and spread rapidly across the estate.
The thick black shadow fragments targeted the junctions connecting the pale radiance pillars extending from all directions.
Rather than confronting the radiance head-on, as if aware of the ritual, the black veils deflected it at an angle, distorting the barrier's flow.
The rift slowly opening in the sky began to close, and the flow devouring people's lives started to halt.
"......!!!!"
For the first time, the smile vanished from Walter's face, but the preparations by Renok and Oren didn't end there.
Rumble!!
The walls surrounding the spectator seats of the estate crumbled, revealing stairs leading outside.
These weren't originally there.
Emergency passages physically manifested from shadows.
But to the citadel residents whose life force was being drained, it wasn't a major concern.
"I-I'm alive......!!"
"Run, quick!!"
"The family heads will handle this somehow!!"
Walter's face twisted as the citadel residents began fleeing the estate en masse.
"This is......!!"
The shadows erupting right after the two's conversation ended.
The culprit behind this was obvious.
Walter's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
The positions emitting strong manipulation mana for shadows: two locations.
The lanky young man behind the stage.
And the Samyeong Family head seated among the Eight Families' head seats.
The two shadow sorcerers were concentrating their minds to manipulate shadows and evacuate the people inside the estate.
"Don't interfere!!!"
Walter bellowed, charging toward the back of the stage, but a powerful shockwave exploded from behind, launching his body high into the sky.
Boom!!
"......!!!"
He had braced for losing an arm, but he couldn't afford damage that would immobilize his body.
Gripping his ragged shoulder, Walter looked up at the sky, his expression oddly changing.
"A soul absorption barrier modified from the Twelve Parish Doctrinal Principles, broken so easily......"
"......"
"It seems someone from the Samyeong side has made contact with us. Without understanding the ritual's operating principles, they couldn't suppress just the rift's formation so precisely......"
Muttering to himself, unaware that the perpetrator was right before his eyes.
The method Walter had used on the vessel at Lavaton University. The large-scale spatial translocation ritual he had tried to force open using dormitory students' lives as sacrifice.
Having seen through and disrupted that ritual's activation, Renok had anticipated Walter attempting the same with the citadel residents.
The series of disturbances at Lavaton Magic University had likely been a trial run for pulling off something similar inside the citadel.
Canceling the ritual immediately after activation would be difficult, but interfering with the barrier's operation and weakening its effects was feasible.
The two shadow sorcerers, Oren and Asui, possessed the capability to execute Renok's instructions perfectly.
"If you think only you were hiding schemes, you're mistaken."
Looking up at Walter floating in the air, Renok smiled.
Whirr...!!
As he drew up mana, the bracelet on his right arm shattered, and the ground around him began to press down heavily.
"You'll have to play with me until the area clears out."
*
A plan that should have proceeded flawlessly, regardless of the proxy battle's outcome.
The Ibon Family head trembled in rage upon realizing the crack in the board he had designed, even at the cost of allying with the Gido Order.
"How dare you......!!"
There was no need to say who the master of the shadows disrupting the barrier and interfering with the ritual was.
The Ibon Family head's venomous gaze quickly turned sideways.
Oren, leaning back in his chair with eyes closed.
He had thought it was mere posturing to feign disinterest in the proxy battle itself, but had he been preparing for this from the start......!!
Only then did he realize that Oren had already uncovered their plans and the cult's involvement. With a face full of fury, the Ibon Family head swung his hand.
Boom!!
In an instant, the spot where Oren sat was swept away in a massive explosion.
The other family heads jumped to their feet in alarm.
"Ibon Family head!!"
"What is the meaning of this!!"
"No matter how we're from opposing factions, this is......!!"
For families like Sagun, Yukryeong, Chilhyeon, or Paldoon, even with enemies elsewhere, they shared the awareness of being part of the same citadel.
The proxy battle system itself had been created to avoid fratricide among the Eight Families' direct bloodlines.
In this situation, suddenly attacking another family head was nothing short of abandoning the legitimacy of the proxy battles built up until now.
The Ibon Family head bellowed with a savage expression.
"Kill the Samyeong Family head right now!!"