Chapter 163
Chapter 163
Chapter 163
Kurururu-.
Seo-jin rose from the pile of dirt and looked at the man before him.
Sword Star Ju Won-jae.
He had appeared by collapsing the middle of the tunnel Seo-jin was traveling through.
Ju Won-jae looked down at Seo-jin with a frown.
"This one and that one, nothing but thieves stealing what belongs to others. Is that the true nature of the Reverse Heaven Society?"
"......If you look at the name, don't you know? It's obviously insolent."
Seo-jin responded playfully while brushing the dirt off his shoulders, but he didn't let his guard down.
Seo-jin looked at the man standing before him with deep wariness.
'It doesn't seem like I got caught by chance while passing by.'
He probably appeared now to interfere on purpose—it had to be an intentional situation.
Seureueng-.
Ju Won-jae pointed his sword at Seo-jin and narrowed his eyes.
"You bastard, what are you plotting right now?"
Ju Won-jae gazed at the black mage whose intentions were difficult to read and fell into thought.
'At first, I truly believed the Wolf and Rabbit totems had really been destroyed.'
When Nam-gung Cheon and Francesca had infiltrated, the Wolf and Rabbit totems were thought to have been destroyed by his summons.
Though it was suspicious, at first he had no choice but to believe the totems were destroyed.
The remains of the shattered totems, the tribe members wailing in grief, the revival ritual that wasn't proceeding properly due to some abnormality in the ley lines, and even Rei's report.
Everything except Ju Won-jae's intuition was telling him the totems had been destroyed.
But Ju Won-jae's intuition kept sending different signals, and now that suspicion had now become certainty.
The two thieves he had seen before probably weren't just executing a simple diversionary tactic either—they must have each stolen a totem and were fleeing with them.
And the decisive reason that led him to this judgment was...
'Nova's method of movement.'
Ju Won-jae took in the sight of the collapsed tunnel Seo-jin had been traveling through.
If his purpose was to secretly infiltrate and destroy the totems, he could just use teleportation magic to return straight to his base.
But if there was a reason he specifically had to return through such a tunnel, there was only one possibility.
'It means he's returning with the totems in hand.'
The strategy team also knew from conducting various experiments for storing the totems.
The fact that totems couldn't be stored in other dimensions or put in inventories.
Since he couldn't use teleportation magic while carrying the totems, to return he had no choice but to take a physical method rather than magical.
'In the end, they didn't destroy the totems.'
Rather, they had collected and stored them all.
Like the five totems currently in his possession.
But if there was a remaining problem, it was what they were plotting with the totems they had stolen.
"Speak. What are you plotting?"
Ju Won-jae thrust his sword forward and asked again.
Then Seo-jin pointed with his finger at Ju Won-jae's chest.
"The last one you have. Give me that and I'll tell you."
At those words, Ju Won-jae took out the Elephant totem and grasped it in his hand.
"You mean this?"
Then he gripped the totem tightly and conversely threatened Seo-jin.
Kkudeuk-.
"If...... I were to break this, what would happen?"
"Then you'd be eliminated. Because that's your side's last totem."
"I know all the totems on our side that you stole are safe. Don't try to deceive me."
"......You're not completely stupid, I see."
Ju Won-jae applied even more force to the totem in his hand and asked Seo-jin.
"If I break this, it seems like it would cause quite a big disruption to your plan, wouldn't it?"
Kkudeuk-.
Ju Won-jae threatened Seo-jin while extending the hand holding the totem.
As Ju Won-jae said, if even one totem was destroyed, the process of fusing all the totems into one couldn't be carried out.
That's why until now he had made them believe the totems were destroyed rather than stolen.
'But now that I've been caught, it's too late to salvage the situation.'
It would have been best not to be caught at all by someone with Sixth Sense, but it seemed he couldn't completely deceive him.
Perhaps the problem started when Nam-gung Cheon encountered him.
Because Ju Won-jae's Sixth Sense activated the moment he 'recognized' someone involved in an incident.
Though various thoughts were running through his mind, Seo-jin showed no particular change in expression.
Because showing weakness at a time like this would only lead to being dragged along by the opponent's intentions.
"If that's what you want, then go ahead and break it. Did you forget that all the remaining totems are in our hands? You're already in checkmate."
What if Ju Won-jae broke the last Elephant totem he was holding at the end of his threat?
Seo-jin could just destroy all the remaining totems on the strategy team's side.
As a result, he wouldn't be able to achieve his original intention of fusing the totems and saving the natives, but it would still satisfy the original victory condition Nimrod had set.
On the other hand, from Ju Won-jae's perspective, if he destroyed the Elephant totem with his own hands, the possibility of the strategy team winning would completely disappear.
It would mean bringing about the strategy team's first defeat with his own hands.
"......"
Ju Won-jae narrowed his eyes as he looked at Seo-jin, who was coming out even more brazenly instead.
'What he says is correct.'
Regardless of Nova's scheme, if he destroyed even the last remaining allied totem, defeat in this confrontation would be certain.
Of course, if he wanted to spite Nova even at the cost of defeat, he could do so.
'But that's not efficient.'
He shook his head inwardly.
If he couldn't win, should he instead accept defeat and interfere with the opponent's plan?
That was dirty trickery that only common folk would do, and an extremely inefficient emotional act.
It would be best to win this test, but even if he lost, it wouldn't be such a great loss.
If through this test he could clearly grasp Nova's plans and behavioral principles, that would be sufficient.
He could use that as a lesson for next time.
So rather than destroying the totem, it would be better to negotiate with him.
Having finished his thoughts, Ju Won-jae opened his mouth.
"Fine, then let's make a deal."
"What kind?"
Ju Won-jae extended the totem in his hand and continued speaking.
"Compete against me and win, and I'll hand this over. But if you lose, hand over all the rest."
At those words, Seo-jin frowned.
"......Isn't that too much of a loss for me? You want me to stake all the rest just to get one totem?"
"It's not such a bad proposal for you either. I could interfere with your plan even at the cost of defeat, but since that would bring bad results for both of us, I'll hold off. Also, don't you have to defeat me anyway to take the last totem?"
"......"
Ju Won-jae was right.
To obtain the last totem he possessed, he had to defeat him.
A confrontation with Ju Won-jae was essential and unavoidable.
Moreover, proposing a one-on-one duel when the strategy team had the advantage in overall strength?
The very fact that he was making such a proposal meant he was willing to accept a penalty.
'This isn't quite the development I was hoping for.'
But now that it had come to this.
"Fine."
The end of this test was inevitably going to be a confrontation between Seo-jin and Ju Won-jae anyway.
Ju Won-jae examined Seo-jin's physical condition and set a date.
He was in a weakened state from fighting Choi Gang-hyeon. Fighting and winning in this state would have little value.
"Come at me in perfect condition. In three days, I'll arrange the venue."
***
"Leader, will you be okay? That guy is really dangerous."
The Great Cavity, safely returned to.
At the report that a confrontation with Ju Won-jae had been arranged, starting with Francesca, several members expressed concern.
They were people who had climbed the tower together and directly witnessed Seo-jin's strength with their own eyes, but they couldn't guarantee victory against a head-on confrontation with the Sword Star.
He was literally the strongest among current climbers.
However, Seo-jin showed no signs of being nervous at all.
"It's already been decided, so there's nothing to argue about. And this is inevitable since Nimrod used the test as a pretext to pit us and the strategy team against each other."
"That's true."
Rather, considering the test conditions, there had been few armed conflicts between the two sides so far.
Of course, the main reason was that the Reverse Heaven Society side had avoided combat as much as possible.
At that moment, Nam-gung Cheon, who had been listening quietly beside them, spoke up.
"If it was going to turn out like this, why didn't we just fight over the totems from the beginning instead of struggling all this time?"
There would have been no need to go through the trouble of dominating each tribe, creating a native alliance, digging tunnels, and stealing their things.
Wouldn't it have been easier if the representatives had just stepped forward from the start and fought one-on-one?
Then So-yul, who was beside him, clicked her tongue.
"Ehehe, that's too much of a result-oriented view. If we hadn't worked hard until now, would the Sword Star have proposed such a head-on confrontation?"
The very fact that a battle between the two sides' representatives was established was thanks to their achievements so far.
If the Reverse Heaven Society side hadn't secured the majority of the totems, would the strategy team side, which was extremely advantageous in terms of strength, have bothered to propose a one-on-one duel?
They would have pushed through as is and solidified their victory.
More sacrifices and losses would have occurred in that battle process, so the fact that a duel like this was arranged was actually a good thing.
Austin stroked his chin and weighed the gains and losses of both sides.
"From the Sword Star's perspective, this proposal isn't much of a loss either."
The strategy team had already lost seven totems.
If Seo-jin gave up his original plan and destroyed all the totems, they would think that would directly lead to a reversal of strength on the natives' side.
If that happened, the future war situation would become uncertain, so rather than that, he was proposing a one-on-one duel to decide the outcome.
In the first place, Ju Won-jae wouldn't even think about losing in a one-on-one match, so from his perspective, it was a deal with absolutely nothing to lose.
Because in a one-on-one confrontation between a mage and a swordsman, even if their skills were equal, the swordsman would be more advantageous.
Seo-jin calmed the members and opened his mouth.
"Anyway, there's nothing to worry about. The duel will proceed in three days. Until then, control the tribe members well."
Since they had agreed on a ceasefire between both sides until the duel was held.
The tribe members wouldn't need to fight shedding more blood either.
But not fighting meant having spare energy to focus on other things.
They had to control them well so they wouldn't dream of internal conflict or rebellion.
Because he knew that currently, due to the continued defeats and the revival prohibition, public opinion among the tribe members wasn't good.
"Regardless of the duel, our plan continues, Remus."
When Seo-jin turned his head and called the Wolf Tribe chieftain, Remus bowed his head.
"Yes, Savior."
"Your role is crucial. Persuade the tribe members including the chieftains as much as possible. And if persuasion doesn't work......"
"......"
Seo-jin didn't continue speaking, but the meaning was clear.
Remus nodded silently.
After all, he had been thinking the same thing.
***
Three days later.
Central Corridor.
Wu- wu- wu.
Dung- dung- dung-.
The tribes of both forces gathered on either side of the long bridge, beating drums and shouting loudly.
Today was the day when the confrontation between Nova and Sword Star, the representatives of both forces, would unfold.
Ha-yeon waited for the coming battle with a face as tense as the Reverse Heaven Society members.
She had even played the role of a spy to end this test without as much combat as possible, but in the end, the situation had flowed this way.
It was good that the fighting between tribe members had stopped, but a duel that could potentially be even more dangerous had been arranged.
Just then, Yelena suddenly appeared from behind and hugged Ha-yeon.
"Ha-yeon, why do you have that constipated expression? Are you worried?"
"......Yes."
"But who are you worried about? The Sword Star? Or Nova?"
"Both, of course. Either way, it seems like they won't stop easily."
Ha-yeon let out a deep sigh thinking of the two men.
The Sword Star, acknowledged by all as the strongest, and Nova closely chasing after him.
If it was a confrontation between strong people of this level, it would be fortunate if it ended with just an arm or leg flying off.
Their power was enough to, with a bit of exaggeration, destroy mountains and part seas.
One moment's mistake could lead to death.
Compared to the power they could wield, the durability of a human body was incomparably weak.
If one side died instantly during the duel, even Ha-yeon's divine magic couldn't revive them, so from a watching standpoint, she couldn't help but be anxious.
"Well, if they die, that's their fate, what can you do? What's there for Ha-yeon to worry about? They should be grateful just for you treating them."
"That's true too."
Still, Ha-yeon didn't want anyone to die. For the sake of humanity and for personal feelings as well.
That's when it happened.
"......"
The Central Corridor, which had been noisy with the tribe members' shouts, instantly fell into silence.
The Great Cavity became as quiet as a mouse in an instant.
The reason was......
Jeobeok-.
The Sword Star had revealed himself from beyond the cave.
The aura that dominated everyone revealed beneath his chilly eyes.
Any living creature would instinctively sense that he was dangerous.
Moreover, he had ruled the tribe members with fear, and the Reverse Heaven Society's tribal alliance had witnessed his tyrannical power countless times on the battlefield.
They couldn't help but instinctively feel fear just by looking at him.
It was only natural that everyone kept their mouths shut and read the situation at his appearance.
And across from him.
Jeobeok-.
Seo-jin revealed himself.