Chapter 286 Independence -15
Chapter 286 Independence -15
"What's this?"
The ulterior motive was obvious, but Jiha played along and feigned ignorance.
At Jiha's question, Alex answered with practiced ease.
"Actually, I've recently heard some rather suspicious rumors. That there was someone else... behind Shade's appearance, the chaos in Waris, and the slaughter of people."
"..."
That's you, isn't it?
"And that the one behind it... was the one who profited the most from this whole affair."
"Me?"
Jiha laughed bitterly.
When an incident erupts and the truth is lost in darkness, the first to be suspected is always the one who gained the most.
When someone dies, the one who collects the insurance money always becomes the first suspect.
"Of course, I'm not saying I suspect you. I'm merely relaying that such rumors exist. Surely Chairman Jiha, who so helpfully handed us the suspect, couldn't possibly be the villain..."
Alex artfully trailed off, stoking the crowd's unease.
The prominent figures directed their suspicious gazes at Jiha once more.
To them, Jiha was a lowborn upstart who had rocketed to prominence without pedigree.
And hadn't he just savagely stabbed a man in the side with his sword?
The finely dressed men and women recoiled at the blood splattered on Jiha's hands and blade.
It was only natural they trusted Alex, the younger brother of a Unique celestial and the chairman of the Species Alliance, more than Jiha, who showed no hesitation in cutting men down.
"After all, you were a Common."
As Alex elegantly concluded, the crowd silently nodded in agreement.
Even though Jiha had fought the vicious wanted criminal right before their eyes, risking his life to subdue him, these people trusted Alex over Jiha.
"Ah, is that so?"
Jiha tsked.
So that was what Alex's scheme was all about.
Watching the situation Jiha had created unfold, then swallowing the fruits whole. Alex had judged that removing Jiha and absorbing his forces would not be difficult.
Indeed, the majority of the partygoers were siding with Alex.
A bleeding underdog's words would never sound as sweet as an elegant prince's.
"Please cooperate with the investigation, Chairman."
"If I cooperate, I'll stop being chairman soon enough."
Jiha was alone here, and this mansion was Alex's den.
Not only the guards but also all the prestigious figures at the party trusted Alex far more.
Fighting here would be overwhelmingly disadvantageous.
"I can see you've done some thinking, but do you think I'll disarm and cooperate here, or not?"
"If you refuse, then what on earth..."
"Did you seriously think I'd play nice?"
Jiha leveled his sword, and Alex's eyes narrowed.
"Then I'll have to take it as confirmation of the suspicions. Are you all right with that?"
"Hey, you hear that? Were we on the same team or something?"
Jiha asked Lowchen, who was pressing his wounded side and steadying his breath.
Drenched in cold sweat, Lowchen answered heavily.
"If you become a corpse, I'll make use of you as a subordinate."
"The man himself says so. So?"
Alex's ploy was so shabby that Lowchen couldn't help but bristle.
A man who had clawed his way up from the gutter instinctively rebels against the elegant scheming of someone looking down from on high.
Alex spoke calmly.
"How can I trust the words of a suspect? It will all come to light once everything is properly investigated. And refusing to cooperate is no different from admitting you are the mastermind behind this affair, Chairman."
"Right, playing politics to the bitter end."
Jiha smiled cynically.
Alex had set a political stage.
Before all these celebrities, a socially esteemed and trusted man like him could sway the room's mood with a few plausible words.
The truth didn't matter. Whom they believed was what mattered.
"A fitting way to deal with a rampaging wild dog."
The upper echelons of society harbored a subtle resentment toward Jiha, who had suddenly surged upward.
Here, "upper echelons" did not refer to the ranking system... but to those with money and renown.
In a normal society, they would be called nobles or magnates, but Warsland was governed by the law of the jungle and its ranking system.
'It's a military regime, really. Since money and knowledge alone can't seize power.'
In a world where those with power naturally ruled from high positions, those who had everything except Mana were bound to harbor discontent.
At least Uniques and Legends had traditions and racial backgrounds, so they weren't openly slandered. But how were they supposed to accept a man who had been a Common until recently suddenly seizing the pinnacle of Waris?
"Right, now I have a pretty good idea where your organization's funding came from."
Jiha spoke as he looked at the hostile gazes and disapproving faces directed at him.
No matter what Jiha said, these people would not listen. They would believe Alex's words.
"..."
Lowchen, seeming to grasp the situation as well, stared silently at Jiha.
He looked curious to see how Jiha would break through this predicament.
'The stage is set now. To see is to covet. Alex has finally laid his true intentions bare before everyone, and now there's no turning back for him.'
Alex was the type who always made escape hatches before making a move.
Hadn't he dismissed the uproar over inviting Sirel to this party by claiming he hadn't known any better?
To catch a man like this, his escape routes had to be sealed first.
Jiha had calculated that, and now it was over.
Jiha rested his sword on his shoulder and narrowed his eyes.
"I've been too soft. I still haven't shown you people who I really am."
Jiha addressed Alex and the people silently watching from behind him with calm deliberation.
"You all think I'm a rootless stray dog who got lucky and clawed his way up. You see a wretch who choked on filthy dust, a lowlife not worthy of sharing the same air as you. Ah, don't deny it. If anyone says otherwise when it's written all over their face, I'll kill them first."
"You have a foul mouth."
Alex spoke on behalf of the crowd.
Jiha bared his teeth and stepped forward.
"Is my mouth the only thing that's foul?"
Jiha looked past Alex and shouted at the people behind him.
"You all know I've been protecting the lives of the citizens. That I've fostered commerce and made it thrive. Yet even after watching me fight right before your eyes, you're ready to swallow that fool's words and turn your backs on me... Still, I'll give you one chance."
Jiha made a brief declaration.
"Those who trust me and will follow me, come to this side. If you survive this, I'll put you to good use. As for the rest... do as you please."
"Who would listen to the words of a stray dog?"
Alex answered elegantly.
"I'll give you one minute. Decide."
"..."
At Jiha's unilateral ultimatum, the people only grew more guarded and held their ground.
Those who had lived in comfort and luxury, never knowing hardship since birth—when had they ever heard such violent words?
Most took Jiha's offer as a threat.
Lowchen, suppressing his wound, tsked.
"A waste of effort. No matter how much you talk, they won't listen."
"..."
Jiha ignored him and stared straight ahead.
Once the fight with Alex began, much blood would flow. The onlookers standing by could not even imagine such a thing.
That a storm of blood would soon engulf them.
'Alex is just planning to use whoever survives as witnesses. He values human lives no more than flies.'
Whoever died here, and however many, it could all be disguised as the work of Lowchen and Jiha.
With that justification, Alex intended to ascend as the ruler of this city.
Concluding that Jiha's forces, once deprived of their leader, would collapse and be easily absorbed.
'After tonight, I will become the sovereign of a major power. Things will be different from now on...'
Alex sneered, and Lowchen shook his head, but Jiha did not waver.
It wasn't an offer made with any real expectation that someone would come.
He would lead an army, conduct politics, and devise strategies to conquer all of Warsland.
This political overture was merely the starting point.
'They won't all die. A few survivors will serve as witnesses...'
As Jiha gripped his sword, the crowd rippled and then parted to the left and right.
"Comin' through, just a moment. Move aside."
A short-legged dwarf and several human men emerged at the front of the assembly.
While Alex and the others looked on in disbelief, the dwarf led seven men toward Jiha's side.
They were the men Jiha had met at the last secret party—Tonikang, Teroma, and the others he had spoken with.
They remembered how Jiha had stood against Shade's attack and protected them.
The dwarf Tonikang flashed a hearty grin.
"Would it be all right if we joined you, Chairman?"
"Nothing but stinking men here."
Contrary to his words, Jiha was smiling.
Tonikang laughed boisterously.
"What's wrong with no women? We'll go along slapping each other's balls, men among men."
"Are all dwarves like this?"
Jiha let out a dry laugh.
Those who trusted him and bowed their heads first were worth accepting.
"Stay behind me. I'll protect you as best I can, but I make no guarantees."
"Understood. We'll manage."
Tonikang and the other men withdrew behind Jiha at a distance.
"..."
Watching this, Lowchen wore a surprised expression, while Alex shook his head with a disappointed expression.
"An unexpected development, it seems. It's fine. It must be my own failing that I couldn't earn their trust."
"Oh, no, Lord Alex."
"We trust you, Lord Alex."
Lovely women and a middle-aged man rushed to console him. Still, Alex shook his head with an air of sorrow.
"I'd hoped they'd trust my words alone, but it seems there's no other way. As things stand, I have no choice but to forcibly disarm the Chairman."
At Alex's words, a guard brought forth a sword and presented it to him.
Alex shook his head, his expression feigning regret.
"I ask one last time. Jiha. Will you not trust me, lay down your sword, and handle this matter according to proper procedure? For the safety of the citizens and the future of Waris, this approach is best..."
"Gashiel was a virgin until yesterday, right?"
"..."
People blinked in confusion at the sudden remark.
Alex, who had been putting on an elegant act, saw his expression shift in an instant.
With a single sentence, Jiha had provoked his enemy into a rage, and he smiled cruelly.
"So, is she still a virgin today?"
"You..."
Before anyone else could react, Alex lunged like an arrow.
Unleashing his Mana, he cloaked his entire body in power and roared.
"How dare you insult my sister!!"
"Not being a virgin is an insult now? People stop being virgins. It happens."
Jiha sneered but carefully received Alex's attack.
According to Lowchen, Alex was stealing and using Gashiel's Mana, so he had to be treated as a Unique.
No, a senior officer of a secret society—he had to be regarded as above Unique!!
Jiha deliberately relaxed his stance, letting the strength go from his heels as he met the sword.
Clang!!
The two-handed strike pressed down on him. Alex glared with bloodshot eyes, and the transmitted force made Jiha's arms tremble.
In terms of Mana alone, Alex surpassed Lowchen.
Purple Mana coiled in tendrils around the pure white blade, dazzling to behold.
Crack.
Jiha's body, deliberately deprived of stable footing, was pushed back involuntarily.
As Jiha appeared to be clearly at a disadvantage, those on Alex's side cheered.
"Stay strong, Lord Alex!"
"Finish him off quickly and sort this out!!"
Alex paid no attention to what was being said behind him and poured in even more Mana.
Right now, those bloodshot eyes held nothing but the intent to kill Jiha.
Even as he was pushed back, Jiha laughed.
"Why so angry? Because someone other than you took Gashiel's virginity?"
"...I'll kill you!"
Dark energy gathered in Alex's right hand, and he thrust a fist toward Jiha's face.
Thanks to that, the pressure on the sword lessened, and Jiha quickly dodged to the side... but the dark energy Alex had coiled around his fist and released did not dissipate. It remained.
The wavering darkness fluttered like a black butterfly as it flew at Jiha.
"It explodes."
At the words that suddenly reached him, Jiha quickly pulled back.
Flash!
A dark mass flickered where Jiha had just been standing, then exploded silently.
It was a brief flash, less than a second long, but if he had stayed still, it would've undoubtedly inflicted massive damage.
'Look at the floor...'
As proof, the tile Jiha had been standing on moments ago had been completely pulverized.
A silent explosion, but it would not have left even a trace of a human body behind.
'And it's a targeted area effect...'
With that level of destructive power, the surroundings should have been caught up, yet the floor right next to the blast was perfectly fine.
It was possible only because it was a Special Ability.
"Troublesome."
With a Unique's Mana, he could probably spam it, right?
Seeing the black darkness coiled around Alex's right hand, Jiha asked, glancing sideways.
"Going to cooperate?"
The advice just now had come from Lowchen.
Lowchen, who had wrapped cloth around the wound in his side, still looked terrible.
"It was on purpose."
Lowchen's face was thoroughly displeased.
The sword strike Jiha had driven into Lowchen's side had been peculiar. He could have plunged deeper but had deliberately stopped.
Nursing his suspicions and observing the situation, Lowchen could tell that Jiha had done it intentionally.
Killing Lowchen with Alex still in the picture wouldn't immediately benefit Jiha.
The optimal play was to keep him alive, use him in the fight against Alex, and then deal with both of them.
And when that situation stubbornly failed to materialize, he had taken it upon himself to orchestrate it on the spot.
Believing that seeing Alex's scheming would instinctively make Lowchen reject him.
"I asked if you're going to cooperate."
Jiha let out a wry laugh and asked again.
Lowchen now fully understood Jiha's intentions.
He too was a man who had lived with a sword in hand, relying only on his own skill. Faced with the reality that his enemy had spared him, his pride stung and fury surged.
But even stronger than that was his antipathy toward Alex, his instinctive revulsion.
A life spent rolling in the dirt couldn't help but find it repulsive when faced with the scheming of a pampered young master.
Jiha too had lived a life rolling in the dirt, and he knew what Lowchen would choose.
Everything was going according to Jiha's calculation.
Knowing this, Lowchen spoke sharply nonetheless.
"Bullshit. I just find that bastard more distasteful than you."
"I feel the same."
"How delightful that we see eye to eye. I hate it."
"You're next after him."
Jiha sneered and gripped his sword.
Lowchen also raised his blade, enduring the pain.
It was a collaboration.