Chapter 490: Everyone Had a Plan (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 490: Everyone Had a Plan (1)
Swa-ak!
With a single sweep of Joshua’s sword, five mages were sliced clean in half. Other mages nearby attempted to flee, but they met their ends at the blade of the Black Knight Jane, dying before they could even let out a final scream.
Thirty minutes had passed since they infiltrated the area.
In that time, they had slaughtered over two hundred administrators and mages. They had also cut down more than thirty Kinzelo members and beastmen who were unfortunate enough to witness the carnage.
Reinforcements from Drakka and the 2nd Magic Tower had already entered the underground shipyard.
For now, the reinforcements were occupied with suppressing Kinzelo. The shipyard was also vast, and Joshua’s party possessed exceptional stealth, so they had yet to be discovered. However, it was only a matter of time.
Instead of continuing to move, Joshua and Jane shook the blood from their blades and waited for the other Black Knight.
“Mon has arrived, 2nd Flagbearer.”
At Jane’s words, Joshua turned his head. The Black Knight named Mon had spent the last twenty minutes monitoring Jin’s movements instead of moving with the group.
The reason Joshua had ordered Mon to tail Jin was simple.
He wasn’t certain. He didn’t know if Jin was aware that the blueprints were located within the 2nd Magic Tower.
“What did you find?”
“He isn't taking the shortest path to Sectors 17 and 19. He seems to be observing the Kinzelo members’ actions very closely.”
“Were you able to hear anything my brothers said?”
“The 12th Flagbearer was on high alert, and Zipple reinforcements were constantly arriving. Above all, Murakan’s senses were sharp. If I had gotten any closer, I would have been detected.”
Even a Black Knight had limits.
Approaching close enough to overhear the conversations of Jin, Murakan, and Dipus without being detected was a feat beyond even a Black Knight in this environment. The only reason Mon had been able to track their route at all was because of his elite status.
He isn't taking the shortest path.
Joshua turned that fact over in his mind and shook his head.
“It’s best to proceed under the assumption that the youngest is fully aware the ship blueprints are in the 2nd Magic Tower. My bad feeling turned out to be right.”
“I agree,” Jane added. “Even if he hadn't known about the 2nd Magic Tower, he would have figured it out after seeing Kinzelo’s tactics. The 12th Flagbearer is sharp and insightful; there’s no way he would have missed it.”
“We’ll have to use the youngest to our advantage from now on. Kinzelo will surely send their true elites—the ones not participating in the terrorism—to the 2nd Magic Tower as well.”
“It does bother me that we didn't share the information about the 2nd Magic Tower with the 4th and 12th Flagbearers from the start,” Mon remarked.
“That won't be an issue, Sir Mon, Sir Jane. It wasn't as if I withheld the details about the 2nd Magic Tower from my brothers just to monopolize the glory.”
Joshua truly believed that having Jin and Dipus draw attention inside the shipyard would be far more helpful in securing the blueprints.
If only Kinzelo hadn’t acted out like this.
“True. The real problem is that our information was leaked to Kinzelo. The only people I can think of who could have stolen that information from under our noses are Yona Runcandel or the Nameless King. But the likelihood of Nameless intervening in this affair seems low.”
“The Kinzelo Leader might have used a special power, or perhaps there was demonic intervention. Didn't the Prophet reveal the location of the ship blueprints in a similar fashion? Without a single trace. Without anyone knowing.”
Mon and Jane replied as such, but in truth, the Prophet’s discovery of the blueprints’ location had left behind the traces of countless humans used in the process. Living humans were always used as catalysts for her prophecies and magic.
It was simply that the two Black Knights were unaware of that fact.
“I will verify the source of the leak through the Prophet later,” Joshua said, falling into thought for a moment.
Whatever the leak was, one thing is certain: we are now in a race against Kinzelo. And the youngest... he’s likely planning to raid the 2nd Magic Tower while Kinzelo and I are entangled.
For now, I’ll play along with his plan.
Joshua reached a conclusion.
Perhaps this is for the better. My original plan was to infiltrate the 2nd Magic Tower alone without Kinzelo’s involvement anyway, so having the youngest, Murakan, and Dipus join the fray might actually be helpful. Besides, neither the youngest nor Kinzelo will have this.
Joshua reached into the inner pocket of his infiltration suit and felt an object.
It was a key. The key to the 2nd Magic Tower’s vault, which Sandra Zipple used to wear around her neck.
Before infiltrating the Sota Desert, the Prophet had identified the location of the vault and its contents, and she had perfectly replicated this key.
— Without this key, it is impossible to quickly access the vault of the 2nd Magic Tower. It is protected by hundreds of illusion barriers and boundary spells. They won't trigger if you possess the key.
— Are you certain?
— Have I ever lied to you?
— Then why didn't you just copy the blueprints themselves?
— There you go with your incompetence again. If you had given me more materials, it wouldn’t have been impossible. You should be grateful I created an infiltration route and a key with those meager materials, not to mention finding the vault's location. Do you think someone like the dead Rontelgius Rampen could have done this?
— ...What did you say?
— Did you think I didn't know you were relying on that demon? I only turned a blind eye because watching an orphan struggle is so pathetic and amusing. You must succeed this time. Bring back the ship blueprints and the item.
He recalled the conversation he had with the Prophet before departing.
I didn't know the Prophet knew about Rampen, but it doesn't matter now. The youngest will uncover the identity of the Spirit Energy Orb for me, and if it’s as significant as my intuition suggests, I can just take it from him then.
For some time now, she had done more than just mock him and prick his pride; she had shown signs of potential betrayal. Yet, the Prophet was undoubtedly Joshua’s greatest weapon.
Furthermore, if the Kinzelo Leader or their special ability users possessed powers superior to or equal to the Prophet’s, they would have stolen this key along with our operational schedule.
He was still the one with the highest probability of seizing the items in the 2nd Magic Tower.
Once his thoughts were organized, a sense of relief washed over him. The situation was once again moving according to his calculations.
“Sir Mon.”
Joshua spoke as he sheathed his sword.
“Speak, 2nd Flagbearer.”
“Enough with the stealth. From this moment on, I want you to draw the Zipples’ attention.”
Though they had already cut down over two hundred administrators and mages and thirty Kinzelo members, Joshua’s party had strictly been on an infiltration mission. The killings had merely been a necessary part of navigating the chaos of the ongoing terrorism.
Joshua’s command meant they were to stop infiltrating and start destroying.
Even if it was just one man, he was a Black Knight.
If the Kinzelo members currently rampaging through the shipyard—those below the level of an assault captain—were minnows, then a Black Knight was a leviathan. Their presence was on a completely different scale.
“Sir Jane and I will head straight for the 2nd Magic Tower. Join us after you’ve caused a sufficient distraction, but prioritize your survival and escape.”
“Understood.”
“And tell me the path the youngest’s party took. It’s time I matched his pace again.”
*
Step.
Jin’s party, who had been running at full tilt, stopped simultaneously. They had sensed a sudden, powerful eruption of energy, followed by an explosion.
Terrorist attacks were ongoing, but this was a shift in the battle’s scale that anyone who had reached a certain level of mastery could feel.
“Huh? What was that? Was there someone among those Kinzelo bastards with this much power? Based on that vibration, it feels like two whole sectors over there just vanished.”
“It’s coming from Sectors 4 and 11, Lord Murakan. That’s where Joshua and the Black Knights were, so it might be a battle between them and the Wraith Squad reinforcements.”
“...No, I don't feel any mana at all, Second Brother. If an explosion of this scale was caused by magic, the flow of mana within the shipyard would have shifted.”
“Then Joshua might have attacked Sectors 4 and 11 himself.”
“As I suspected, Joshua is likely leaving one Black Knight behind in the shipyard to create a diversion.”
“Making it look like a Black Knight is attacking Sectors 4 and 11, while he uses the opening to head for the 2nd Magic Tower?”
Normally, Dipus would have questioned if that wasn't a bit of a stretch. However, after seeing Joshua’s decision to continue the mission earlier, Dipus had resolved to trust Jin—at least for this mission.
“In any case, the Zipple reinforcements will flock over there now. That means the optimal moment for us to enter the 2nd Magic Tower is imminent. Let’s wait a moment and see if the vibrations move further away or closer.”
The vibrations were moving away at a rapid pace.
“It seems it really is a Black Knight...”
Jin, who was speaking, suddenly held his breath and brought an index finger to his lips. At the signal, Murakan and Dipus also hastily suppressed their presence.
A distant scream was heard.
Jin’s party was currently near Sector 17. Like Joshua’s group, they had killed most of the Zipple and Kinzelo members they encountered on their way here. In particular, they hadn't left a single mage who had come as reinforcement from the 2nd Magic Tower alive.
In other words, there were very few living souls left in their vicinity. Unless a new reinforcement unit had arrived, they shouldn't be hearing the footsteps of someone running at such incredible speed.
Too few footsteps for a reinforcement unit. And they’re too fast. It sounds like warriors trained to the limit running at full speed, not mages.
Someone was slaughtering the remnants near Sector 17 and heading straight for them.
Dipus and Murakan also felt those footsteps, which charged forward without any caution, as if there was nothing left to fear.
And a moment later.
Hiding among the large pipes at the entrance of Sector 17, the party saw two silhouettes vanish at lightning speed.
“It’s Joshua and a Black Knight...!” Dipus was the first to speak.
There was only one Black Knight with him. Dipus felt goosebumps rise on his skin at the fact that Jin’s prediction had hit the mark once again.
“Oh, kid. You were right.”
Murakan whistled in admiration, but unlike the other two, Jin’s face was grim.
“This might not be something to be happy about, Brother Dipus.”
Dipus’s eyes filled with questions.
“Why?”
“Leaving one Black Knight behind to draw attention while he enters the 2nd Magic Tower fits perfectly, but... doesn't it feel like they took this path specifically so we would see them?”
“Hmm.”
“They're running at full speed, which obviously means they need to get there quickly. We're near the path to the 2nd Magic Tower, but this isn't the shortest route. In other words, Joshua should have taken a different path. Not this one.”
Now that he mentioned it, it was true.
“If what you’re saying is correct, it means Joshua was tracking our movements and knew our route.”
“Kid, couldn't it just be that he was in a hurry and didn't think much of it?”
“Murakan, didn't you say earlier that it felt like something was tailing us?”
“Uh, yeah, I did. I wasn't entirely sure, though.”
“And Brother Dipus and I felt it too, didn't we?”
A brief silence hung in the air.
“...Sigh, fine. Even if Joshua couldn't, a Black Knight would certainly be capable of tracking our route from a distance. But why? If he confirmed our route, shouldn't his goal be to enter the 2nd Magic Tower without us knowing? There’s no reason to let us see him on purpose.”
As Dipus spoke in frustration, Jin fell into thought for a moment.
“I’m not sure. He must be doing this because he has some kind of confidence. As for what that is... honestly, I can't think of it right away. It seems it’s our turn to play by Joshua's rules.”