Chapter 70
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye
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A succession struggle.
The destiny inherent to the nobility.
For ages, it had been a headache for every noble house.
In Odobaekryeong, where every single Awakened One was precious, excessive competition only served to chip away at a family’s strength.
The problem was, unless the odds were overwhelmingly against them, it was rare to find a fool who would meekly surrender their wealth and power to become a vassal to their siblings.
It was better to break away and establish their own power than to fall short of becoming the family head.
And allowing such independence would only weaken the family.
In the end, most nobles established rules to guide the succession struggle as peacefully as possible, concentrating the family’s wealth in the victor to maintain their power.
But there were also families that encouraged even fiercer competition.
One such family was the great magus house of Unlight.
From assassination and conspiracy to duels and war.
They were a mad house that permitted any method to win the succession struggle.
Any other family would have long since fallen to ruin.
The fact that they still reigned as a great magus family was a testament to just how special the Unlight bloodline was.
“It has been ten days.”
And that was why.
From the fortress walls to the pillars and buildings.
In the center of a colossal castle made entirely of steel, with molten iron flowing through its structures.
The Iron-Blooded Castle.
A young man with dark, crimson-tinged hair sat slouched on a steel throne in its heart.
This was why Ren Unlight spoke, his voice cold.
“Since I received the report that the investigation team sent to Unmu City went missing.”
“Ye-yes.”
It wasn’t particularly unusual for Ren to send an investigation team to Unmu City.
The method he’d chosen to get ahead in the succession struggle was to crush, subjugate, and absorb outside forces.
To that end, he had long been investigating such powers.
It was also why, immediately upon coming of age, he had slaughtered the previous lord to become the master of the Iron-Blooded Castle, earning him the name Iron-Blooded Mad Demon.
The team sent to Unmu City was merely a part of that effort, but…
“Laira, I gave you three whole days to find out why the investigation team vanished.”
“Yes, th-thank you for your mercy…”
“—And this is all you have to show for it?”
The maid, prostrate on the floor and trembling uncontrollably, had dark circles stark beneath her eyes.
At Ren’s words, Laira’s shoulders flinched.
Of course, she had her own excuses.
Unmu City was more than a two-day journey even by gate.
It had taken several days just to realize there was a problem with the team and dispatch personnel to confirm their disappearance.
Discovering the cause in a mere three days was nigh impossible.
Yet, there was one reason Laira could not make any excuses.
“I-It’s just, I never imagined so many incidents would happen one after another…”
Two investigation teams.
One dispatch team.
Eight high-ranking Awakened Ones, nineteen low-ranking Awakened Ones, and roughly one hundred elite agents.
Whether that was a large number or a small one…
The answer would vary from person to person.
For a minor lord, it was a force they would struggle to assemble even by scraping together their family’s entire strength.
But for Ren, a direct descendant of the Unlight family, they were nothing more than insignificant, replaceable grunts.
That is, if they hadn’t all vanished in a mere ten days.
*Thwack!*
“Ack!”
And that was why.
Even as a sudden kick sent her flying backward, her abdomen struck.
Laira wasn’t so much surprised as she was accepting that the inevitable had happened.
“To be under attack and still not even know the culprit. You are truly incompetent.”
One incident could have been dismissed as a coincidence.
Odobaekryeong was a vast and treacherous land, and it wasn't unheard of for noble houses or even entire domains to vanish overnight.
But for it to happen three times in ten days?
It couldn't possibly be a coincidence.
It was clearly an attack aimed at him.
The question was, who was the perpetrator?
“Don’t tell me you can’t even figure out that it couldn’t be an outside force?”
“B-but we haven’t detected any movements from the other Young Masters’ or Young Ladies’ factions…”
“That’s only because you’re too incompetent to notice.”
Ren looked down with contempt at his personal maid, who lay twitching on the floor.
Not only had she failed to foresee and prevent such an attack, but she had yet to even find a single clue as to which of his siblings was responsible.
Ren’s censure was only natural.
But with a sudden surge of defiance…
Gagging, she spat out a mouthful of dark, clotted blood, yet Laira forced herself to speak.
“B-but, my lord. Isn’t that a bit strange?”
“What excuse are you trying to make now?”
“I-It’s just that, for a surprise attack from one of the other Young Masters or Young Ladies, the damage seems far too small.”
“…”
“Th-those individuals… they wouldn’t waste such a golden opportunity on just taking out a few grunts.”
Ren’s eyes grew cold.
For a statement from an incompetent maid, it had some merit.
His siblings were all monsters.
They only remained inactive because their forces were in equilibrium, and none wished to give another an opening to exploit.
If they had decided to act, the losses would not have ended with just eight high-ranking Awakened Ones and a hundred or so agents.
“So, are you going to spout some nonsense about an outside force being behind this?”
“N-no. I don’t believe that’s the case.”
The Unlight family was a great magus house.
Only four other powers in all of Odobaekryeong could compare.
Even one of the Hundred Great Families would face nothing but ruin if they dared to bare their fangs at the Unlight family head-on.
That was why only an Unlight could bite an Unlight.
Knowing this all too well as his personal maid, Laira spoke cautiously.
“I’m not certain, but… the culprits are estimated to be a small group of five or fewer, including two or three high-ranking Awakened Ones.”
“…Is that all?”
“Ye-yes. According to the report from the Tracker we sent to investigate.”
Laira hadn't been able to visit the scene herself due to the lack of time and her many other duties.
But Ren had countless competent Awakened Ones under his command.
From their hastily submitted reports, she could deduce a great deal.
One, given that the disappearances occurred sequentially, the assailants were a small elite force, hardly even qualifying as a faction.
And…
“A-among the Unlight, not an outside force, there is only one suspect who would need to, and could, carry out such an act with such a small number of people.”
“…”
“It is…”
*Crack.*
“Hic!”
Laira couldn't finish her sentence.
In truth, she didn’t need to.
The answer had already surfaced in the eyes of Ren, who had just crushed the steel armrest of his throne.
“—That half-wit brother of mine dares to bare his fangs at me?”
“I-it’s just a guess, of course.”
Perhaps it was because she lacked the confidence to bear Ren’s fury if she were wrong.
There was no concrete evidence.
Laira added, as if making a preemptive excuse.
But Ren did not abandon the conviction he had already formed.
He himself knew it was the most rational explanation for the situation.
Especially considering Dion’s actions—beating down the servants right after his Awakening, not stopping there but turning Soma Castle upside down before fleeing.
Until now, he simply hadn't been able to imagine that someone like Dion would dare to attack him.
“It seems his Awakening has made him blind to his place.”
Ren’s eyes turned frigid.
He had already been ridiculed by his other siblings after the incident at Soma Castle became known.
To be outmaneuvered by Dion, who was called the shame of the Unlight family.
That in itself was an event worthy of ridicule not only within the family but anywhere in Odobaekryeong.
It was to wash away that disgrace that he had gone to the City of No Night, risking conflict with the Vlad family, and cooperated in cornering Elise.
But to be so openly bitten like this?
Even if there was no tangible damage, it was an incident that could cause unrest within his own faction.
All the more so because the Unlight family was more thoroughly governed by the law of the jungle than any other.
“Laira, prepare for an expedition.”
“What? A-an expedition? Whose…?”
“—I mean to capture him myself.”
“…!?!”
If a younger brother oversteps his bounds, it is the older brother’s duty to personally cut his throat and tear out his heart.
Seeing Ren speak so coldly, Laira turned pale.
“B-but, my lord. If you do that, it will disrupt our plans.”
“Are you implying I would waste that much time on catching the likes of Dion?”
“O-of course not. But with the Five-Star Alliance beginning to move, just being away for a short time could cause problems…”
Watching Laira speak so earnestly while constantly glancing at him, Ren furrowed his brow.
She was right.
The conquest of the Five-Star Alliance was something he had been preparing for a long time.
It was a crucial result obtained by gathering intelligence through dispatched investigation teams and by giving up a sacred relic this time.
The success or failure of this plan would determine whether he would pull ahead in the succession struggle or fall behind.
In that sense, not just Ren…
Laira, too, could not leave her post right now.
Before being Ren’s personal maid, she was his adjutant, strategist, and second-in-command, overseeing all his forces and plans.
In terms of practical duties, she was in a position busier and more important than even Ren.
And so, with a grinding sound…
Ren, who had already crumpled the armrest of his chair, completely mangled it into a new shape before finally speaking after a long silence.
“…The tail is still there, I presume?”
“I-it should be.”
“Then use the tail to track Dion.”
“As I mentioned before, we’ve already lost contact with them…”
“And?”
“…!”
“Are you saying you can’t do it?”
“N-n-no. I’ll find a way, somehow, I’ll get in touch.”
Her job was to make the impossible possible.
Did he really need a personal maid by his side who couldn't even manage such a simple task?
At Ren’s unspoken question, Laira hastily replied.
But Ren’s orders were not yet finished.
“And contact Alcan.”
“H-him?”
“He ought to clean up his own mistakes.”
“That is…”
The eyes of Laira, already shadowed by dark circles, trembled as if hit by an earthquake.
Now that they had identified a suspect, all that was needed was to form a pursuit team accordingly.
Whatever class Dion had awakened to…
Having been Awakened for only a few months, there would be a limit to the power he had gained and the forces he had gathered.
Two or three families.
A generous estimate of ten high-ranking Awakened Ones would be more than enough to capture Dion—that was the objective assessment.
From that perspective…
Ren’s order was excessive.
It was tantamount to using a dragon-slaying sword to kill a chicken.
Especially since, given Ren’s orders, Alcan was unlikely to act with half-measures.
“…Ye-yes. I will tell him to move as quickly as possible.”
“Tell him he must bring him back alive.”
“Yes…”
And yet.
Laira did not object.
No, she couldn't.
Whether it was advice or a warning…
She knew that any more unnecessary words would result in Ren’s fury crushing her first.
He was Ren Unlight.
The iron-blooded tyrant known among the Eight Sects and Six Demons as the Mad Demon.
And so, with a dark expression over the new complication in their plans, Laira staggered away to carry out his orders.
Left alone, Ren’s cold eyes glinted with killing intent.
“The price for your audacity will be steep, my foolish little brother.”