Chapter 487: Brothers United (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 487: Brothers United (4)
While Jin was meeting with Amela, the first divisions of Runcandel and Kinzelo—those who hadn't gone to the Gaifa Archipelago—had set up camp in the Sota Desert.
Just as Joshua had used the Prophet’s power to form tunnels beneath the desert, Kinzelo had used their own abilities to create scouting passages, even surreptitiously utilizing parts of Joshua’s tunnels.
Jin’s gaze fell upon the head of the deceased shipyard manager.
The severed neck was jagged and messy, as if it had been torn off by brute force. It was the work of a beast, not a stealthy assassin.
‘Besides, the explosions are deafening despite the distance. This wasn't a botched infiltration; they launched a full-frontal assault on the shipyard from the very beginning.’
Clearly, Kinzelo had decided to approach the secret shipyard in the Sota Desert in a completely different manner than Runcandel.
‘Those Kinzelo bastards… What gives them the nerve to be this bold? They must have an ace up their sleeve.’
The Sota Desert was adjacent to Drakka, the capital of the Lutero Magic Federation.
Runcandel hadn't chosen an infiltration mission lightly; Kinzelo was brazenly poking the world's most dangerous hornet's nest.
“There’s no way our information leaked. For the operation start times to be the same… is it just a damn coincidence?”
While Jin’s mind began to race, Joshua gritted his teeth, his expression contorting.
Boom! Crackle—! Thud! Rumble!
As if they had been waiting for Runcandel to arrive, the explosions grew louder the moment Joshua finished speaking. Vibrations shook the tunnel, which felt as if it might collapse at any moment from the shockwaves radiating from the shipyard.
In other words, Runcandel’s mission had been completely derailed from the start. The frantic alarms of the boundary magic, shrieking amidst the explosions, grated on the group's nerves.
Jin had spent the previous night calculating ways to kill Joshua while successfully completing the mission, but he had never anticipated such a sudden, brazen attack from Kinzelo.
‘But perhaps… this might not be such a bad development. At least for me and Brother Dipus.’
Jin was certain that Joshua possessed information regarding this mission that he hadn't shared with him and Dipus.
As he had told Dipus earlier, the markings for Sectors 4, 11, 17, and 19 on the shipyard’s internal schematics were meaningless.
‘Joshua must have been certain that the Second Brother and I would naively choose one of those four sectors to investigate. He’d think we’d have no choice but to enter one of them to carry out the shipyard’s destruction. Then, he likely planned to use the chaos to slip away to the place where the real prize is, without us knowing.’
Jin had already surmised that the location of the information Joshua intended to monopolize was the ‘2nd Magic Tower.’
Drakka wasn't the only major landmark near the Sota Desert shipyard. Not too far away was Zipple’s 2nd Magic Tower, also known as the ‘Tower of White Night.’
Of course, the idea that Joshua was trying to monopolize information from the 2nd Magic Tower was, for now, just a deduction.
Therefore, once the infiltration began, Jin had intended to test Joshua with Dipus’s help—either by deliberately mentioning the 2nd Magic Tower or by insisting they search the shipyard sectors closest to it.
‘It’s unlikely Zipple would have cleared out all the confidential data in the 2nd Magic Tower in preparation for an intrusion. Since Drakka is right under their noses, they probably wouldn't imagine that we or Kinzelo would dare touch the 2nd Magic Tower. For both our groups, just destroying the shipyard would be more than enough of a challenge…’
Ah!
The moment his thoughts reached that point, a chill ran down his spine.
The puzzle pieces of his intuition clicked into place.
‘There’s no need to test Joshua. It’s definitely the 2nd Magic Tower. Those Kinzelo bastards are planning to draw attention, luring forces from the 2nd Magic Tower to support the shipyard, then raid the tower while it's empty!’
That was why Kinzelo was launching such an overt, destructive assault on the shipyard.
Just as Jin had realized, they were aware that the truly important data existed outside the shipyard—specifically, in the 2nd Magic Tower.
Furthermore…
‘Those damn Kinzelo bastards! Did they also figure out that part of the ship blueprints are in the 2nd Magic Tower, not the shipyard?!’
Joshua was thinking the exact same thing.
However, unlike Kinzelo, who was confidently smashing the shipyard to pieces, he felt a chilling sensation that made his stomach churn.
‘It can’t be a coincidence that they started the attack at our exact infiltration time! The operation… and the information about the 2nd Magic Tower… it’s all been leaked. I don’t know how, but…!’
Joshua’s original plan had been to have Jin, Murakan, and Dipus act as the diversion—the very role Kinzelo was now playing with their assault.
In the meantime, he had intended to slip away toward the 2nd Magic Tower at just the right moment.
Since the interior of the underground shipyard was unimaginably vast, he thought deceiving his brothers and Murakan wouldn't be that difficult.
That was why he had inwardly cheered just yesterday when he confirmed that Jin and Murakan had come instead of Mary. But now, it had all gone to hell.
Amidst the silence hanging between the distant explosions, the eyes of the Runcandel contingent gathered on Joshua.
It was a silent pressure, demanding a judgment from the mission's highest authority.
The anxiety that Kinzelo might beat him to the punch, the pressure of having to recalculate every move from scratch, and the expressionless face of his youngest brother watching him.
All these factors combined made it nearly impossible for Joshua to keep his composure.
‘I must stay calm. If I show even a hint of panic, the youngest will surely catch the scent. He never misses a thing.’
Joshua didn't have the slightest clue.
No matter how careful he was, Jin had already read him like a book.
And Joshua wasn't the only one whose insides were burning.
‘Looking at the scale of Kinzelo’s attack, the shipyard’s destruction is a foregone conclusion. Furthermore, if what the youngest said is true—that the four sectors Joshua highlighted were just a deception—then the logical move for Joshua would be to order a retreat…’
Dipus felt his mouth go dry as he recalled the conversation he’d had with Jin last night.
—I mentioned earlier that there probably won't be anything important in Sectors 4, 11, 17, and 19, right?
—Yes, as you said, since Zipple intentionally leaked the shipyard’s location, they wouldn't have left crucial materials like the ship blueprints here.
—But there will be important materials somewhere else nearby. Naturally, most would be in Drakka, but since we can never raid that place, the most likely candidate is the 2nd Magic Tower.
—So you're saying the truly important information is in the 2nd Magic Tower, not the shipyard, and Joshua plans to pretend to infiltrate the shipyard with us while he takes the information from the tower for himself?
—That’s right.
—Hmm… Let’s say you’re right. Joshua is certainly a piece of trash, but he’s not so foolish as to jeopardize the clan’s greater interests for personal glory. It was only recently that he used the media to grant you those knights during the Black King Corps incident.
—That’s true. But couldn't he have decided that deceiving us is the safest way for him to secure the information from the 2nd Magic Tower?
—It’s possible. But Youngest, your claim is just a theory with no hard evidence. It’s just a guess. Besides, even if you’re right, what does that have to do with killing Joshua?
—When he slips away to the 2nd Magic Tower, there’s no way he'll take both Black Knights. He’ll have to leave at least one behind in the shipyard, both to deceive us and to buy time. But we'll follow him to the tower without his knowledge, leaving that one Black Knight alone in the vast shipyard.
—And then we strike Joshua while he’s with only one Black Knight?
—We strike the moment we can also seize the information he’s gathered from the 2nd Magic Tower. If we’re lucky, he might leave both Black Knights at the shipyard and go alone.
—What if, unfortunately, a Black Knight remains by Joshua’s side at the 2nd Magic Tower?
—Even then, we have Murakan. We can kill him easily.
—No, I’m asking how we’ll handle the Black Knight. Even with Murakan-nim and us, it’s impossible to subdue a Black Knight without killing them. And killing a Black Knight is a completely different matter from killing Joshua.
—Well, that would be closer to treason than a succession war.
—It’s not just ‘closer.’ Killing a Black Knight in the middle of such a critical mission? That is treason. I’m starting to get disappointed; your guess has far too many variables. I thought you had a sure hand.
—This is about killing the 2nd Flagbearer of Runcandel. The man known as the next Patriarch. If you can't handle this much risk, you can't even dream of attempting it. A dangerous opportunity like this might never come again.
—Sigh.
—And I have no intention of killing a Black Knight. I didn't realize the Second Brother was this timid, though. If you want out, then get out now.
—…First, after we infiltrate, let’s search the sectors closest to the 2nd Magic Tower and keep a close eye on Joshua.
In truth, Dipus had been barely suppressing his turbulent mind since that conversation.
He felt a hollow sense of disappointment—both toward his youngest brother, who spoke of killing Joshua based on flimsy assumptions, and toward himself, for agreeing to such a desperate plan.
‘But if Joshua chooses to continue the mission now instead of retreating… then that means the youngest’s leap of logic was the truth all along…!’
Joshua and Dipus.
Unlike the two of them, Jin had already cleared his mind and was calculating other variables.
‘Kinzelo, those bastards ended up helping me again. You’ll choose to enter, Joshua. It’ll be humiliating enough to make you want to die, but just as Dipus noted, you won't abandon the clan's greater interests.’
Jin hid a smile.
His deduction had only moved closer to the truth; he hadn't achieved complete victory yet.
“Ugh, this is frustrating! Hey!”
Suddenly, Murakan shouted, his voice laced with irritation.
“Aren't you the one in charge? Make a choice already. Are we continuing this mission or not? Why are you just standing there like a dazed idiot, huh? I’m a busy man! If we’re heading back, let’s go now. I want to see Strawberry Pie.”
Ultimately, Joshua had no choice.
“…The mission proceeds.”
Thump!
The moment he heard the decision, Dipus felt his heart hammer against his ribs.
He was shocked. He couldn't even begin to fathom how many steps ahead his youngest brother had been thinking.
‘I was wrong to doubt him. I can kill him—I can kill Joshua. All I have to do is follow the youngest's lead!’
Jin saw the disappointment in Dipus's eyes instantly transform into eager anticipation, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.
‘How disappointed will he be when he finds out that the Joshua here isn't the main body? I’m starting to feel a little sorry for him.’