Chapter 281 |
The day after the citadel lord selection battle ended, the disturbance in the arena compound had turned the entire citadel into a house of mourning.
The shock among the citadel residents, who realized they had nearly become living sacrifices, was immense.
The citadel residents had been aware they were part of the Three Rulers, but most were ordinary people who lived daily lives within the citadel.
If they hadn't realized the culprits were members of the Ilwon Family and Ibon Family, and if not for the Samyeong Family's presence, uncontrollable chaos would have spread.
"It's a bit late to say this now, but I'm really glad we won the proxy battle."
Suryeon sighed after she finished explaining the situation to the citadel residents.
"I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if the citadel lord position had gone to the Ibon Family head."
The citadel's order held because they had announced that the newly appointed citadel lord was Samyeong Family Head Oren.
If the Samyeong Family head, who had endured disadvantages to save them, took the citadel lord position and punished the Ibon Family head, the citadel could continue to exist.
But Renok slowly shook his head at Suryeon's words.
"The citadel will change no matter what."
"What do you mean?"
"The Eightfold Star Citadel maintained its status by hiding its weakened power through a closed society. This incident exposed the family heads' incompetence and lack of strength, so rumors spreading outside would be swift."
"..."
"Not only will they step down from the Three Rulers positions, but the city council will intervene since they allowed this kind of existence. They'll have to endure significant changes."
The citadel's rule as a shadow overlord under the Three Rulers stemmed from the eight families' formidable forces and the city council's approval.
But this event directly revealed even high-ranking officials' dissatisfaction with the city council's policies, making it hard to maintain the closed social order.
Unlike the cartel, which had the absolute leader Oliviera, the new citadel lord Oren was not a transcendent powerhouse.
Interference from other shadow organizations and the city council was inevitable.
"I see... I understand what you mean. Perhaps it was destined to end up like this after the previous citadel lord's death."
Suryeon nodded with a complicated expression.
"Despite the grand name of the eight families, they were just playing nobles in a closed society, cut off from the outside."
She gazed at the scenery outside the mansion with a complex look.
"Even if not now, someday we would all have been driven out beyond those streets."
"Is that necessary to think?"
Renok chuckled dryly and stood up.
"It was created out of necessity and is just changing. If you've decided where to stand in that process, there's no reason to fear the change."
"..."
"Oren will be a decent leader. He may not protect the citadel as safely anymore, but he can take responsibility for the residents who've lived under their protection."
From there, it was no longer Renok's domain to interfere.
The citadel's internal affairs and future were areas where Renok had neither the qualification nor the interest to meddle.
Watching Renok turn to leave, Suryeon asked.
"Where are you going?"
"To finish the unfinished business."
Renok replied, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket.
"I wanted to wait until Oren regained consciousness if possible... but time is short."
"That's..."
"There must be a reason they fled to the Ibon Family's main residence. It'd be effective to move first before they make their play."
"...Why are you helping us this much?"
Suryeon asked with a complicated expression.
"You've done everything you needed to. As promised to me and Chen, you won the proxy battle and made Oren the citadel lord. Even if you just take your reward and leave, no one would blame you..."
"..."
It was because Renok viewed the essence of this incident from a completely different angle than others.
The identity of the Gido Cult mentioned by the Pandemonium Front's leader.
The investigation started from the words to seek the cult's hidden sanctum if looking for spacetime magic, but now he saw much more.
The reason Proselytizer Walter had invested so much time to obtain access to the citadel's internal facilities.
It was undoubtedly to acquire the ruins with spacetime discrepancies that Oren had shown inside the citadel.
And those ruins were highly likely connected to the now-extinct Old World.
The Pandemonium Front sought Old World relics, and the cult sought Old World spacetime.
Renok had to confirm and remember the destinations each organization aimed for whenever the opportunity arose.
He had come too far to dismiss it as unrelated and turn away.
Confirming the truth and providing answers before the world's end.
Ultimately, it aligned with Renok's own journey to shed his burdens.
"Well."
But instead of explaining to Suryeon, Renok brushed it off with a smile.
"If you're thinking of joining my company, I might tell you then."
"What?"
Leaving Suryeon with a blank expression, Renok turned away immediately.
To wrap up this matter, he needed some preparations.
*
The street leading to the Ibon Family's main residence.
The bustling area, usually crowded with diverse people, was filled with eerie silence.
"..."
It was natural for residents, realizing who the culprits were, to distance themselves from the citadel center.
Renok, walking slowly while trailing smoke, suddenly turned his head.
From a corner of the alley, Chen and Manson emerged slowly.
"Oren?"
"He passed the crisis overnight and is sleeping now. The abdominal organ damage is severe, so he needs thorough rest for months."
[The doctor said he fought for a while even after his guts were half-eaten before passing out? Tough old man.]
Manson chattered, tilting his robot head toward Renok.
[...But you're really going alone?]
"Bringing the injured would just be a hindrance."
Renok smiled.
"Don't hold me back and just watch quietly."
Less than 24 hours had passed since the proxy battle where Chen, Manson, Suryeon, and the Samyeong Family retainers had all fought.
Without Renok's level of mana recovery, few could be deployed to the front lines.
Mana depletion aside, the injuries sustained were not negligible.
In this situation, they'd likely just get in the way.
[Hmm, I'm not one to hear that often... but it's hard to deny.]
Manson crossed his arms and nodded, while Chen looked depressed.
He knew his skills couldn't help in a level 7 superhuman battle, injured or not.
"...Once Oren wakes and disables the citadel's outer barrier, we can call my friends. If you wait a bit longer until then..."
"Then the city council's interference will start too."
"..."
"We need to finish before they intervene, or we'll be implicated as accomplices and things will get messy."
[Considering those old folks' tempers, definitely.]
Renok silenced Manson's interjections with a glance and continued.
"If the cult's involvement is confirmed, acquittal is unlikely. To avoid city council meddling, the best is to wrap it up quickly and just present the results."
"So your conclusion is charging into the Ibon Family's main residence alone?"
Chen shook his head.
"I can't understand high mages' thinking..."
[It's the opposite, idiot. That's how you complete hierarchies by thinking and acting like that.]
Manson stroked his metallic jaw.
[I need to try more insane stuff from now on.]
"..."
Renok sighed at Manson's nonsense.
"If things get tough, I'll just gauge their forces and pull back, so don't do anything stupid and wait at the spot I mentioned."
"That's..."
"Even after wrapping up the citadel, cleanup might be needed."
Renok smiled.
"You get it, right?"
"...Fine."
Chen nodded reluctantly.
"I'll hold off asking about scouting my sister behind my back for now."
"..."
He thought he'd been discreet, but Chen had noticed.
Someone like Suryeon might be someone Chen wanted for his own business.
Chen glanced at Renok's face, chuckled, and turned away.
Manson grabbed Chen's shoulder, waved, and they disappeared.
Renok watched them go, then stepped forward.
Walking the quiet street, Renok suddenly spoke.
"You should head back around here."
"..."
"I said it before, but you'll just be a hindrance. And you lack combat ability."
"...I know."
Emerging from the alley shadows was a slender young man, even thinner than Renok.
"I figured you were the one who spared me in the proxy battle. I suspected as much."
Pale complexion, trembling limbs.
His fearful, weak nature was obvious at a glance.
But his shadow manipulation was genuine.
It was Asui, Oren's nephew, the second-best shadow sorcerer in the Samyeong Family after the family head, and a participant in the proxy battle.
Renok scanned his body indifferently.
"Then why are you being stubborn?"
"...I lack combat talent, but I'm confident in handling shadows."
With those words, a massive shadow veil rose behind Asui, enveloping the surroundings.
"Not as skilled as my uncle..."
Asui swallowed and continued.
"But I can hide what you're about to do from outside eyes."
"..."
Asui's meaning was clear.
He roughly understood what Renok intended.
"You're planning to use your innate domain... and it's likely a disaster type that can't be revealed publicly."
Despite Renok's sharp aura making him tremble, Asui spoke.
"O-Otherwise... there's no reason to push yourself like this..."
"Knowing that, you still come to me with an offer."
Renok smiled.
"Didn't you think I'd kill you to silence you?"
"I-If you intended that... I wouldn't have woken up after the proxy battle..."
Asui sweated profusely.
"I'll just cast the veil; I can't peek inside. The most I can do in my domain is..."
"...Domain?"
Renok asked.
"You can use a domain?"
"...Yes."
Asui nodded slowly.
His face was tense.
"I haven't fully imprinted the mental image yet, but a little..."
*
"Hurry, start."
"Easy to say, but it's not something you fix on a whim. Without precise adjustments, it'll fail every time..."
"We can't hold out long. Hurry...!"
Walter sighed deeply as Ibon gripped and scratched his shoulder violently, interrupting him.
"It's messed up..."
The cult's grace that rejuvenated the Ibon Family head. The side effects came faster than expected.
He should have rested long-term, gradually transforming into an otherworldly being.
But injuries from fleeing during the proxy battle disrupted his internal mana balance, causing bodily collapse.
Proof that the cult's techniques weren't yet perfect for modifying level 7 superhumans.
But instead of voicing that, Walter looked up and smiled faintly.
At the end of his gaze hung Taeo, the Ilwon Family head, bound by dozens of blood threads.
"Since it's come to this, let's do our best, Ilwon Family head."
"You broke the promise...!!"
Taeo thrashed in mid-air, screaming in rage.
"You said you'd save my father if I cooperated!!"
"..."
"So I waited, offering my family's bloodline... How could you deceive me, Ibon Family head!!"
Taeo hadn't been fooled by mere words.
The persuasion that the Ibon Family head could revive the slain previous citadel lord—that's why he'd cooperated, sacrificing everything.
He believed the rejuvenated woman, with the cult's help, had a way to save his father.
He never imagined she'd not only fail to revive him but try to use his own body too.
Walter stroked his chin leisurely and smiled.
"I'm not breaking the promise, actually. As you see, your father's body, which you so desperately want, is right here, moving fine?"
"Shut up!! Just let my father rest in peace now!!"
Despite Taeo's wail, Walter shook his head with a troubled expression.
"Nothing's easy. By calculations, it should have ended once we secured the previous citadel lord's body..."
They hadn't come this far, opening the barrier around the spacetime-discrepant ruins, for nothing.
They thought the security code in the body would unlock it, but the ascender's final system wasn't that simple.
Likely because the barrier itself was created under city council mediation, not just for the citadel's safety.
Evidence the city council was watching these ruins.
In the end, they opened the proxy battle for legitimate claim, but one mage ruined everything.
"But it's not impossible."
Walter extended his hand slowly toward Taeo.
"With the designated next citadel lord Samyeong Family head unconscious, we can temporarily restore the citadel lord qualification by supplying large amounts of blood to this body."
Taeo's pale face twisted madly, but it was futile.
"I wanted to avoid this since it would ruin the body completely... but now's not the time to be picky."
In an instant, a small hole pierced Taeo's abdomen, and immense suction began draining his blood.
"Ugh, aaaaah!!"
The terrified Ilwon Family head let out an indescribable scream, but Walter soothed him gently.
"Don't be so scared. Didn't the other Ilwon bloodkin leave the same way?"
Taeo's screams faded quickly. In moments, his lifeless, wide eyes stared as Walter's low voice continued.
"You were the one who offered your family to save your father."
At that moment.
Woooooong!!
A powerful mana shockwave shook the entire mansion.
Not a direct strike, but openly crushing the surrounding streets.
The opponent's identity was clear.
"...!!"
"That guy..."
Ibon sprang up, glaring into the void.
Her eyes pierced the walls in an instant, peering at the mansion's front gate below.
One man trailed white mana steam from his body.
The mage in the coat looked up at her, blue glow flashing between his eyes.