Chapter 338
Chapter 338
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 338
Chapter Title: Mercion's Smile
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Something flashed, and he burst out of the space made of darkness.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he was hurled into the Black Tower.
The light was instantaneous to the eye, and the sound arrived a beat later.
Kaboom!
It was a familiar sound.
The rumble of thunder.
Watching the world of darkness created by Mercion collapse, Si-woo and Ye-ryeong were certain of Soo-hyuk's victory.
"That was Mercion just now, right?"
"You saw it?"
Ye-ryeong nodded at Si-woo's question. It was astonishing that she'd spotted something flying that fast from such a distance.
Tap.
Ye-ryeong pressed the pressure points on the subdued Naila. It was a Murim technique to seal her mana and prevent her from using magic.
"Let's go."
"Hey, where are you touching me? Eek!"
Ye-ryeong tucked Naila under her arm and took to the air. Having leaped down from Crashion's back, she navigated the building rubble toward Mercion.
As they descended below Crashion, the surviving Red Tower mages encircled the pair.
Ye-ryeong silently gripped a dagger in her hand. Before she could cut them all down, Si-woo raised his spear to Naila's throat.
"Move."
The Red Tower mages flinched.
Their tower lord, Naila, was a hostage more powerful than any other. Besides, they knew they couldn't win against Si-woo and Ye-ryeong even if they fought now.
They were outmatched in strength and the situation was the worst possible.
In the end, the Red Tower mages parted one by one, clearing a path.
At that moment, Soo-hyuk walking toward Mercion came into view for Ye-ryeong and Si-woo.
"Hey! Lee Soo-hyuk!"
His gait was different from usual.
The fight with Mercion hadn't been easy; he looked a bit fatigued.
Sure enough, up close, Soo-hyuk's skin was blackened in places.
"What happened to you?"
"What about you? What's that under your arm?"
"I didn't kill her. Figured she might be useful alive."
Suddenly turned into 'that', Naila said nothing.
She chewed her lips anxiously, waiting for news of the Demon King's victory—her last hope.
"Mercion was stronger than expected?"
"Wasn't easy."
Mercion's final spell had been near-instant death, stopping the heart.
If his Lightning and Thunder Heart hadn't kicked in in time, it really would've been dangerous.
Tzzzzzt.
Soo-hyuk burned away the remnants of Mercion's magic lingering on his body with lightning.
It was a truly annoying type of power. The thought that it had burrowed into his heart made him shiver—it was the second time he'd nearly died.
Soo-hyuk headed toward Mercion, embedded in the Black Tower building.
Whether he lacked the strength to move or had given up entirely, Mercion slumped against the wall like a corpse, half-propped up.
Seeing no reaction even up close, Si-woo lowered his spear.
"Dead?"
"No. Still alive. But..."
Ye-ryeong muttered, spotting the smile on Mercion's lips.
"Has he lost his mind? Why the hell is he smiling?"
Mercion laughed with his head bowed. The eerie, ominous sight made Si-woo raise his spear again.
Then Soo-hyuk grabbed Si-woo's spear and shook his head.
"He's in no state to do anything."
"Then why's he smiling?"
As Ye-ryeong spoke in bewilderment, Soo-hyuk asked Si-woo,
"Why'd you tell me not to kill him?"
It wasn't the sole reason he'd spared him. Regardless, Mercion deserved death for his long list of crimes.
Yet Si-woo had said not to kill him right away—to keep him alive if possible.
And Si-woo wasn't one to say that without reason.
"Because of them."
Si-woo showed the reason with his eyes, not words.
Was it because the battle had quieted?
A group of people approached from somewhere. All wore black robes.
Robes emblazoned with the Black Tower's symbol: a black magic circle.
But they differed from typical dark mages.
"...What are they?"
There were a huge number of them—easily several hundred. And they looked all sorts of different ways.
From young men who seemed barely adults, to women, boys and girls not yet grown, and even tiny toddlers just weaned.
A real motley crew.
Soo-hyuk paused for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"Kids from the orphanage basement."
Soo-hyuk seemed to have guessed where they came from.
"Orphanage? The one with Mercion?"
"Yeah."
"Dark mages in the basement there? Why?"
Why raise dark mages in an orphanage basement when they had a perfectly fine Black Tower?
Ye-ryeong's question was natural. But her assumption was wrong from the start.
"Wasn't about raising dark mages."
"Then?"
"It was just a massive orphanage."
"...That make sense?"
Ye-ryeong let out a disbelieving chuckle.
Really an orphanage? And they'd been hiding all those missing kids in the basement?
"Uncle!"
"What's going on?!"
Some of them looked familiar.
Kids Soo-hyuk had seen long ago at the orphanage, now grown tall.
The now-adult kids rushed to Mercion. Unlike regular Black Tower mages, they still seemed untouched by the world's filth.
The difference from normal orphanage kids? Traces of magic training.
They'd probably taught magic steadily to the basement kids.
"This... what the..."
Naila seemed too stunned to speak.
Kids with plenty of lifespan left. Especially the young ones—they were essential fodder for reviving the Demon King and restoring power.
And he'd been supplying them steadily, only to siphon them off like this?
"You mad bastard!"
"The mad one's you!"
Smack!
"Ow!"
Ye-ryeong smacked her on the head, and Naila screamed. She wanted to clutch her throbbing head, but her body wouldn't move.
Tears welled in Naila's eyes—pain or humiliation, she couldn't tell. Her first taste of such disgrace.
Step.
Ignoring her, Soo-hyuk approached Mercion, surrounded by the kids.
The kids inspected Mercion's injuries here and there. Spotting Soo-hyuk, they tensed and blocked his way.
Among them, the oldest-looking man aimed his staff at Soo-hyuk.
"Did you do this to Uncle?"
He had the aura of a leader.
Soo-hyuk could tell this man was their head.
"I need to talk to that uncle over there. Mind stepping aside?"
"Didn't answer my question."
The kids' gazes focused on Soo-hyuk.
Gripping their staffs tightly, they seemed ready to protect Mercion at all costs.
A tricky situation.
He couldn't treat these clueless kids like dark mages.
"Step aside."
Then Mercion raised his head.
"He's a friend."
"A friend?"
The kids obeyed Mercion's words half-dubiously. As they parted left and right, a path opened.
Soo-hyuk drew closer to Mercion. Stopping a few steps away, he faced the serene Mercion.
"You were trying to kill me a minute ago, and now 'friend'?"
"Would they have moved otherwise?"
The kids really seemed ready to die for Mercion. It was clear what he meant to them.
"Do they know what you are?"
"They know, but they don't."
"Know but don't..."
Soo-hyuk recalled how the orphanage kids knew Mercion's name but treated him casually.
"Makes sense. Good and evil are relative."
A villain to some, a lifesaver to others. And vice versa, naturally.
Mercion had committed every evil under the sun, but not to these kids.
"You made yourself this way on purpose? For them?"
Mercion nodded calmly.
"It's about time these kids stepped into the world."
How long had he planned this moment?
From when Naila suggested killing Hiles? Or from Soo-hyuk's first orphanage visit?
Whenever it started, Mercion had been scheming this all along.
"For that, this vixen needs to be exposed."
It was a death sentence for Naila. And exactly what Soo-hyuk wanted most from this mess.
Now he got it. Why Si-woo said not to kill Mercion.
To Mercion, Naila had to go. The kids' mere existence was her Achilles' heel, and she'd try to eliminate them.
So Mercion plotted her downfall.
'At least his fondness for the kids was real.'
He'd suspected as much.
With Mercion, only his way with the kids never seemed like acting.
"He's good to this extent, but..."
Soo-hyuk's eyes chilled as he glanced at the kids behind.
"That won't absolve you."
"I know."
Mercion nodded.
"I'm no fool who doesn't get that."
"Good."
One good deed doesn't cancel one evil. It wasn't simple math.
Especially not for Mercion, overseer of ten, a hundred evils.
Then Naila, still tucked under Ye-ryeong's arm, glared venomously at Mercion.
"Why do something this stupid? Think the Abyss runs fine without us?"
Mercion, limp until now, lifted his head.
"The opposite."
"What?"
"Think you lot run without Abyss funding? How piggish are our mages?"
Naila realized they'd dug too deep backing the Abyss all this time.
Right. The current Red Tower relied heavily on Abyss capital.
And not just them.
Runeterra, Blue Zone—tons of major guilds indirectly tied to the Abyss without realizing.
Cutting ties would bankrupt the Red Tower and many guilds.
Countless guilds had waded into the swamp unaware, now too deep to escape.
"You... you bastard... planned this from the start..."
As Naila's face flushed red, Mercion chuckled.
"And now the Abyss is out of my hands."
Mercion turned to gaze at the kids he'd raised.
"It's theirs now."
"What can those brats do?!"
"Thought that at first. But what can you do? Heart wants what it wants."
Naila bit her lip until it bled. At this rate, everything she'd built would crumble.
"The Abyss will pay for all the sins."
Having tried pinning the crimes on Soo-hyuk and crew moments ago, she switched targets.
"Think you can protect those kids? Fat chance. Frame it as kidnapping them to raise as dark mages and..."
"Clementine-nim, thank you for the million-point donation."
At the sudden voice from the side, Naila startled.
Thank you for what?
She barely turned her stiff neck—pressure points still locked—and met Soo-hyuk's eyes.
Soo-hyuk, now masked, had smiling eyes.