Chapter 94
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Counterattack
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The Union of Bandit Nobles.
An alliance of numerous roguish aristocrats.
Though its nature kept it from operating in the open, the number of nobles who had joined its ranks was among the highest in the Deformed City.
Until now, the nobles belonging to the Union had taken pride in that fact, subtly looking down on and mocking others.
But in this moment.
Every one of the Union’s nobles wore a grim expression.
“…What are we going to do now?”
“What do you mean, what?”
“I’m talking about the White-Masked Young Master!”
*CRASH!*
With a sickening crunch, a light slam of his hand caused the table before him to half-collapse, proving his strength as a high-level Awakened One.
He roared.
“That madman has already brought down seven families!”
When the Kahul family fell.
They had laughed.
Even if it was a job they’d undertaken on the Union’s orders, it was pathetic that they fell, unable to handle a force just recently formed by a mere up-and-comer.
Then, after he vanished for about a month.
When three more families fell.
They still thought little of it.
Reing, Kripare, and Ulman were weak, and they had let their guard down, allowing themselves to be picked off one by one.
As long as they remained vigilant, they were all certain that no matter how much the White-Masked Young Master rampaged, he wouldn’t be able to cause any more trouble.
…Until just a short while ago.
Before a certain incident occurred.
“Even the Rembhaiga family was taken down! Are you saying we should just keep waiting like this?!”
The Rembhaiga family.
The news that they had fallen, along with the two families accompanying them, had turned the entire Union upside down.
No matter how many families were part of the Union, most were low-ranking nobles who survived by thievery.
The fact that the Rembhaiga, one of the stronger low-ranking noble families, had been defeated even with the help of other families meant only one thing.
It was the horrifying implication that most of the families in the Union could not withstand the White-Masked Young Master’s assault.
It was only natural that the bandit nobles were now in an uproar.
It meant that, depending on the White-Masked Young Master’s whim, anyone in this room could be the next victim.
To hell with the greater cause; for the bandit nobles who had joined the Union purely for profit and loss, this was something they could not simply tolerate.
“That’s why we’re monitoring the area around the Waryongjang and tracking the White-Masked Young Master’s movements.”
“You were tracking his movements, yet you let more than ten of our subordinate bandit groups get wiped out?!”
Moreover, the White-Masked Young Master’s attacks didn't end there.
Even after destroying the Rembhaiga, he had continued to crush smaller bandit groups one after another.
Those groups were their hands and feet.
Normally, they would have fought to protect them, but…
As long as they couldn't handle the White-Masked Young Master alone, it was obvious they would just be shattered like the four Reing brothers.
The bandit nobles could only watch with their eyes wide open as their own limbs were cut off.
“That… was because the White-Masked Young Master is too elusive. It couldn’t be helped.”
“That’s what’s so absurd! He couldn’t have vanished into the Labyrinth, so how could you lose track of his entire party? Does that make any sense?”
“What’s the point in grilling me about it!”
He was truly a phantom.
Impossible to block.
Impossible to catch.
Just as they were debating how to deal with this ghost-like White-Masked Young Master, the commotion grew until it threatened to shake the entire conference hall.
A single voice was heard.
“—Do not be swayed.”
“……!”
It was a low voice.
But heavy.
A voice that echoed through the air.
As they all paused, hearing the sound that resonated as deeply as an echo in a cave, the owner of the voice spoke.
“It is merely the tantrum of a pup, an issue that will soon be resolved.”
It was more a prophecy than a declaration.
Utterly certain.
Absolute.
Hearing those words, which inspired not just confidence but blind faith in an inevitable outcome, most of the bandit nobles fell silent.
Of course, there were exceptions.
“…When you say ‘soon,’ when exactly do you mean?”
“Is that important?”
“It’s important to us.”
“……”
“The longer it takes to deal with the White-Masked Young Master, the more the Union becomes a laughingstock, and our businesses will suffer.”
The bandit noble who had slammed the table pointed this out in a sharp voice.
The other bandit nobles subtly nodded, showing their agreement.
The reason the bandit nobles could run rampant in the Deformed City wasn't because they were individually stronger than other nobles.
It was because even the other nobles feared their powerful backer, the Union.
But what if, after losing seven families to a single up-and-comer, their response was also slow?
No one would fear the Union anymore.
In the worst-case scenario, like hyenas pouncing on a wounded lion, other nobles might even join the hunt.
Survival of the fittest was the iron rule of Odobaekryeong.
No noble would miss an opportunity to plunder a weakened opponent to increase their own power.
“Are you saying you’ll go against the will of the Union?”
“I’m merely asking for a chance.”
That was why.
The bandit noble of the Black Cap tribe, Raka, with a physique unusually burly for a goblin, shot to his feet and shouted.
“We may not know where the White-Masked Young Master is, but we have a way to retaliate against him right now, don’t we?”
“…Do you not know who is there?”
“Even if it risks provoking the Lord of Nakrangseong, it’s better than just taking this beating.”
Don't act rashly.
He had just said so.
But seeing Raka show no signs of changing his mind, and the other bandit nobles murmuring as if they agreed with his words, he finally fell silent.
He nodded.
“Do as you wish.”
“Thank you.”
If you don't need the Union's support, then do as you please.
Until Raka, having received permission, left with his eyes gleaming, accompanied by the nobles who shared his sentiment, the one who had been watching silently finally spoke in a low voice.
“The quality of the Union has fallen.”
“Quality, always low. Bandit bastards, worthless things.”
“That’s what I’m saying. At least in the old days, they knew their place, like the insects they are.”
A hundred years ago, they wouldn't have dared to lift their heads in his presence.
Now, he felt contempt for them acting as if they were something special.
He thought.
Stagnant water is bound to rot.
Perhaps it would be better to clean out the Union on this occasion.
Especially considering an important event was just around the corner.
“It can’t be helped.”
“Keke, that’s right. Can’t be, helped.”
“—We have no choice but to step in ourselves.”
“—White-Masked Young Master, we will devour him.”
And so, with a heavy thud.
And the sound of heavy footsteps.
He quietly vanished into the deep darkness.
***
“…I am glad to hear the hunt is going well.”
“It is thanks to the many considerations you have shown, my lady.”
In the garden of the Waryongjang.
Seated across from her was the chieftain of the Dark Elves and the grand steward of the Waryongjang.
Hearing Arsha’s polite response, Pandora lifted the teacup before her.
After taking a sip of the warm tea, she spoke quietly.
“Honestly, I am astonished.”
“Are you referring to my lord’s plan?”
“That is certainly astonishing as well, but…”
To be precise.
It was a preposterous plan.
How could he possibly evade the Union’s eyes and attack the bandit nobles?
When Dion first told her, she had doubted her own ears, and then wondered if he was in his right mind.
She almost felt a sense of pity for the Rembhaiga family, who, despite such thorough preparations, were ambushed by such an absurd method.
But what had truly surprised her was something else.
“What surprised me the most was the fact that the Gongja annihilated the Rembhaiga family.”
“He only dealt with the nobles and their core forces before withdrawing, so it wasn’t quite an annihilation.”
“That is what makes it all the more astonishing.”
That he would strike the Rembhaiga.
When Dion had said it, she had expected him to take out a few bandit nobles in a surprise attack.
Even if he were bolder, she thought it would end with him assassinating the head of the Rembhaiga family and returning.
The party Dion had mobilized for this operation consisted of only seven people.
Even if all of them, except for Naru, were high-level Awakened Ones, and among them were exceptionally skilled individuals like Parsha, their numbers were far too small to face the Rembhaiga family, which had gathered over a hundred soldiers, including fourteen high-level Awakened Ones.
But the result was the complete annihilation of the bandit nobles.
Moreover, Dion’s party had only lost a few mounts and suffered no casualties.
This achievement, so incredible it was staggering, had naturally turned the Deformed City upside down.
“My father even asked several times if the report was accurate.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, the Gongja’s achievement is just that remarkable.”
Pandora was just as surprised by the result.
In fact, more so than anyone.
It was an impossible feat given Dion’s abilities, as he had struggled against Rashanta, the dungeon boss, during the Twisted Tree Domain incident.
It had only been a couple of months since then.
He couldn't have gotten that much stronger in such a short time.
If he had been hiding his true strength since then in preparation for a moment like this, it was something to be marveled at in many ways.
“—To an extent that is almost excessive, I might add.”
That was why.
Pandora had added that heavy remark.
“…Are you saying the problem is that my lord has been too successful?”
“After suffering such losses, the Union will no longer underestimate the Gongja.”
Seven families had fallen at Dion’s hands.
He had killed or captured over thirty high-level Awakened Ones.
It was enough to send even a massive organization like the Union into a frenzy.
Especially since this damage was inflicted not by a high-ranking noble, but by an up-and-comer with only two territories.
That was why Pandora offered her advice.
“It seems he has already accomplished enough. Why not try to dissuade the Gongja now?”
“I cannot do that.”
“……”
She was momentarily at a loss for words.
She knew how wise and prudent Arsha was.
As such, she had naturally assumed Arsha would accept her advice.
“May I ask why?”
“Because that is my lord’s will.”
“…Even if following that will could lead to the destruction of your clan?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Faced with that unhesitating reply, she fell into an even deeper silence.
Arsha spoke calmly.
“We elves are like mistletoe.”
“Like vines that can only survive by clinging to a vibrant tree, we barely subsist under my lord’s protection.”
“Without the grace bestowed upon us by my lord’s… no, by my lord’s maternal family, our race would have perished long ago.”
The elven race had fallen after the era of the Five Heroes.
Despite that, Dion had taken them in as his people when they had nowhere else to go.
“Therefore, we must never go against my lord’s will, nor can we tolerate it.”
“……”
“Not from anyone.”
In the first place, without Dion’s protection, they would have already been destroyed, and would be destroyed someday anyway.
A life he had saved.
It was only right and proper to use it for his sake.
Though they had fallen, it was the last pride they had to uphold as a race that was once the noblest of all.
So calmly.
So placidly.
Yet speaking without a hint of wavering.
After gazing into the deep, golden eyes of the elegant Dark Elf, Pandora gave a slight nod.
“I see. I understand.”
Why he had taken Arsha as a concubine.
Agreeing for a different reason than before, Pandora suddenly turned her head.
Looking past the Waryongjang’s manor surrounding the garden, in the direction of Nakrangseong, she finally spoke.
“Would you please tell everyone to close all the windows of the Waryongjang and refrain from looking outside?”
“…It seems we have uninvited guests.”
“It appears the Union perceives the Gongja as a greater threat than I thought.”
“Please be careful.”
“Rest assured.”
*Clink.*
Setting down her teacup, Pandora quietly rose to her feet.
As she slowly left the garden, she finished her sentence in a low voice.
“My purpose here is to fend off the moths until the Gongja returns.”
And so…
Pandora left the Waryongjang.
Instead of the White-Masked Young Master, whose whereabouts were unknown, they had come to retaliate against his territory.
—To greet the Black Cap goblin, Raka, and the more than twenty other high-level Awakened Ones who had come with him.