The Traitors (7)
"……Ha."
Even in this dire situation, Yu-jin couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. Of all things, a human arm spinning through the air like a projectile was utterly beyond his common sense.
Thwack!
"Grrrrowl!"
Jeong Yong-chan's body was flung sideways, struck squarely in the ribs by the fiercely rotating arm. He tumbled to the ground, and moments later, a young man descended from the air.
It was Yeong-sik, who had flown in using Boost.
Click.
Yeong-sik picked up his right arm from the ground where it had fallen and turned to Yu-jin.
"Are you alright?"
Yu-jin nodded silently, his lips pressed tight. He turned his head to look at Jeong Yong-chan sprawled on the floor.
"Urgh, aaah……"
Jeong Yong-chan writhed on the ground, groaning in agony. It wasn't because Yeong-sik's attack had been lethal. No matter how one looked at his stats, Yeong-sik was nearing level 90, but a single blow couldn't take down Jeong Yong-chan, who had activated Blood Moon.
The boiling red-silver aura around Jeong Yong-chan's body began to dissipate. The duration of Blood Moon had ended. It was a buff that granted explosive stat increases in an instant, but its backlash was tremendous. Jeong Yong-chan screamed as twisting pain wracked his entire body.
"……Looks like the situation's wrapping up."
Yeong-sik murmured as he surveyed the battlefield, which was nearing its end less than 30 minutes into the fight. Even the Judas Guild executives who had been holding out against the Salvatore Guild members began surrendering one by one upon seeing Jeong Yong-chan fall.
With the executives surrendering in the guild hall, there was no way the regular members would fight to the death. Terrified by the mines and mentally exhausted, the Judas Guild members dropped their weapons and raised their hands without hesitation.
"It's over, Guild Master."
"Yes……"
Yu-jin, who had been guarding Tiriya, spoke to her in a stiff voice. Tiriya looked at her guild members, who waited with grim expressions for her orders.
"Gather all the surrendered ones in one place."
At her command, the guild members moved efficiently, binding the surrendered Judas Guild members. They were dragged to one spot with faces pale with fear. A total of 15 Judas Guild members had survived the battle.
"G-Guild Master! Please spare our lives!"
"We had no choice—we left the guild because Jeong Yong-chan threatened us!"
The summoners, bound in restraining chains, pleaded desperately with pathetic expressions. Yuna bristled at their shamelessness and stepped forward, but Park Cheol-tae held her back. Tiriya looked down at them, her lips pressed firmly together. She bit her lip with a devastated expression.
All the captured Judas Guild members were former Salvatore Guild summoners. Tears welled in Tiriya's eyes as she gazed at them.
"Why……"
A voice squeezed from her lips like it pained her. Why. The word echoed in her mouth. She knew why they had betrayed Salvatore Guild. It wasn't just because of the Elnot Kingdom's schemes that they had reached such an extreme conclusion.
It's my fault.
Tiriya bowed her head sadly. Yes. The reason they had betrayed her. It was because she had wavered, unable to make any choice.
Choosing between family and guild members was cruel, but it wasn't an excuse. She was the leader responsible for an entire guild. A leader must never waver, no matter the situation. The moment the leader falters, everyone they lead falters too.
But in the end, she had wavered between the two options and fallen into chaos without acting. Expecting them to stick by her side in such a state was nothing but childish delusion.
But……
Tiriya clenched her fists tightly.
"We all laughed together. We lived happily as one."
Anger flared in Tiriya's eyes—an astonishing sight given her usual gentle nature.
"How… how could you do this……?"
She murmured in a faint voice that seemed about to break. The raw pathos in her tone made the Judas Guild members' faces stiffen.
Jeong Yong-chan, barely recovering from Blood Moon's aftereffects, twisted his face viciously and shouted.
"Because you acted like a fucking idiot! Getting played by the kingdom even with a powerhouse like Salvatore! Losing Grace of the Archangel and your power! Why the hell should we follow a loser like you?! Huh?!"
Jeong Yong-chan bellowed at Tiriya like a madman. His words stabbed into her chest like sharp daggers. Tears gathered in Tiriya's eyes.
"You bastard!"
Yuna exploded at his shout, drawing her twin swords and charging at him. This time, Park Cheol-tae didn't stop her.
Thud!
"Guhk?!"
But before Yuna could reach Jeong Yong-chan, someone else kicked him in the face first.
"Yeong-sik……?"
The one who kicked Jeong Yong-chan's face was none other than Yeong-sik. She stared at him in surprise, never imagining that Yeong-sik—who hadn't even experienced Salvatore's past civil strife—would step forward before her.
Thud! Pow! Thump!
"Guhk! Ack! Y-You, what the fu—guhk!"
Yeong-sik stomped relentlessly on Jeong Yong-chan's face as he lay on the ground. His lycanthrope form undone, his face tore open viciously, dark red blood flowing out.
"W-Wait a moment, Yeong-sik!"
Even Tiriya reached out toward him in surprise at his sudden intervention.
Wham!
"Gah……"
Yeong-sik struck Jeong Yong-chan's jaw with full force, as if kicking a ball. Jeong Yong-chan's eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.
The other Salvatore Guild members watched Yeong-sik's actions with intrigued expressions.
"Actually, ever since I first heard about Salvatore Guild's situation, there's something I've wanted to say."
Yeong-sik turned to Tiriya with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.
"W-What is it?"
Tiriya looked at him with a flustered expression. Their eyes met—his deep, sunken gaze locking with hers.
Thud.
Tiriya felt a heavy shock resonate in her chest upon meeting his eyes head-on. An overwhelming presence emanated from Yeong-sik, one incomparable to her own—an aura of absolute authority, like that of an emperor ruling a vast empire. It had nothing to do with his mechanical body or how he'd single-handedly swept through Light Shield's elites.
"If things continue like this, the remaining Salvatore Guild members will all die," Yeong-sik said flatly. Tiriya clamped her mouth shut.
"Trying to create a family-like atmosphere is fine. I felt reassured seeing how warmly you welcomed a newcomer like me."
But.
Yeong-sik continued in a low, steady tone.
"Being a good person alone isn't enough to be a leader."
"I… I know that."
Tiriya bowed her head deeply and replied. Yeong-sik placed his foot on the unconscious Jeong Yong-chan's head and pressed on.
"I can understand Jeong Yong-chan's betrayal. If I were in his shoes and saw the leader unable to decide and waver, I'd have considered betraying too."
Tiriya couldn't respond to his casual mention of betrayal. Ripples of unease spread among the other Salvatore Guild members at his bold words.
"The disaster that struck Salvatore was certainly cruel. But if you'd made a swift decision, things wouldn't have escalated this far."
"That's—"
"It was a disaster you could have avoided or prevented."
Yeong-sik continued, gazing at her bowed head. In his matter-of-fact tone, as if stating plain truths,
he said, "What turned it into this disastrous mess is all on you."
"Eek……!"
Tiriya trembled at his eerily calm voice. Unlike Jeong Yong-chan's earlier shout, these sharp fragments of words tore through her heart with incomparable precision. She thought his words hurt terribly.
"Hey! What the hell are you saying to my sister?! What do you know?! Do you have any idea how desperately she agonized and suffered back then?!"
Yuna grabbed Yeong-sik by the collar and yelled furiously.
"That's exactly why I can say it—because I don't know. No matter how agonizing or hesitant, Tiriya had to choose."
"Shut up! You know nothing! We put up with you because you're new—don't think you're hot shit! You—"
"Enough!"
Tiriya's cry cut Yuna off. She bit her trembling lips with a quivering expression.
"What… should I have done?"
She asked Yeong-sik in a choked, tearful voice.
"Thinking about it now is meaningless. It's already too late."
"Then?"
"There's only one choice for you now."
Yeong-sik said this as he looked down at the 15 captured Judas Guild members.
"Will you kill them? Or send them back alive?"
His question made Tiriya's face harden. The choice she faced right now wasn't lamenting to the traitors of old Salvatore or demanding why. It was whether to kill them here or let them live.
"No matter what you choose, I'll follow you, Tiriya. Not just now, but as a Salvatore Guild member going forward. However……"
Yeong-sik's eyes sharpened.
"If you don't choose, I won't stay with you anymore."
A heavy silence descended at his words. In the suffocating atmosphere, Tiriya lifted her head.
"I…?"
She opened her mouth in a trembling, squeezed voice. That was when it happened.
-Vrrrrm.
A vibration emanated from the communication crystal orb in Tiriya's bosom. It was the one used for the most urgent matters. Tiriya lifted it into her hand.
-Guild Master. There's an urgent matter I must report.
Bae Han-seong's voice flowed from the crystal orb.
"What… is it……?"
Tiriya asked cautiously. Han-seong's stiff voice continued.
-The Northern Borderline has fallen.