Chapter 294: Those Heading to Dmitry (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 294: Those Heading to Dmitry (7)
The atmosphere turned ice-cold.
The applicants, who had imagined all sorts of possibilities ahead of the 4th Test, never expected its true purpose to be weeding out spies. Just as Roman Dmitry had declared, there were indeed rats among them. A former mercenary named Scott felt his heart pound frantically the moment the word "spy" left Roman's lips.
‘...Damn it.’
He swallowed a curse.
The Kronos Empire had commissioned him to infiltrate Dmitry's army and leak information. Up until now, everything had gone incredibly smoothly. He thought he had safely passed the 3rd Test with only the final hurdle remaining, but now Roman Dmitry had put the spies—Scott included—on trial.
His mouth went bone-dry.
The threat to kill the spies—no one doubted the sincerity of those words.
Roman Dmitry was a devil on the battlefield.
He never compromised. Even when taking prisoners, he showed a firm resolve to execute his enemies rather than leverage them for political gain. War with Roman Dmitry was always rife with screams and death. Hadn't the Kronos Empire, hailed as the strongest nation on the continent, suffered the humiliation of paying 500,000 gold just to halt his advance?
Therefore, they believed him.
Roman Dmitry would certainly not let the spies live. This very moment was their last chance to survive.
‘Oh, God.’
His body trembled uncontrollably.
Although he had perfectly concealed his identity while slipping into Dmitry, rumors claimed that Dmitry's information guild possessed terrifying intelligence capabilities. Had they already figured out who he was? If so, was it right to trust Roman Dmitry's words and step forward? Roman Dmitry was a man who never spared a single enemy. Even if he staked Dmitry's honor on this promise, wouldn't it be foolish to blindly reveal his identity?
His mind was a tangled mess.
With his heart pounding as if it might explode, Scott gritted his teeth.
It was then.
"...Will you really spare us?"
A voice spoke from right behind him.
It was the bald man who had been mingling with the crowd back in Adelian. Face deathly pale, he added, "I applied for this exam under commission from the Valhalla Empire. I am truly sorry. If you only spare my life, I will never do anything to harm Dmitry again. Please, spare me just this once."
Thud.
He fell to his knees.
Watching the man bow his head and tremble, Scott was left speechless. A complex mix of emotions welled up inside him. While he sympathized with the bald man, he also thought it was a foolish decision to confess before his identity had even been exposed.
"A wise decision, Deshan."
Flinch.
The bald man gasped in shock.
His name was indeed Deshan.
Realizing that Roman Dmitry already knew his identity, Deshan bowed repeatedly, stammering out words of gratitude. Fear spread like wildfire. The acceptance of Deshan's confession, combined with the terrifying realization that Roman already knew exactly who they were, triggered a chain reaction of confessions from the other spies hiding among the applicants.
"Actually, I too..."
"Please spare me!"
"I am also a spy for Kronos!"
It happened in an instant.
The testing ground fell into utter chaos as people stepped forward from all sides to confess.
It wasn't just one or two.
Out of the six hundred applicants, over a dozen were spies. Those who weren't could only watch with bewildered expressions. Every single spy had been commissioned by either Kronos or Valhalla. Seeing how heavily Dmitry was being kept in check by both empires, the genuine applicants finally realized what it truly meant to follow Dmitry.
Dmitry was... the counterweight to the empires.
Dmitry's future would be a thorny path walked in direct opposition to them.
Step, step.
Roman Dmitry walked forward.
He stopped right in front of Scott, looking past him with a cold expression.
"This is your last chance. One minute remaining."
Scott's heart sank.
He lowered his head.
With Roman Dmitry standing right there as if targeting him specifically, he didn't dare look up. If their eyes met, he felt like his mind would be laid bare. Scott clenched his fists, agonizing over his choice, but he could not bring himself to reveal his identity—even if it meant dying on the spot.
His family.
They were being held hostage.
If he failed to carry out his mission perfectly, his family would face horrific torture and death.
‘...So, this is how I die.’
He chose death.
Time was up.
With his last chance of survival slipping away, Scott squeezed his eyes shut.
"The 4th Test is over. Everyone, except for those who confessed, has passed."
At those words, Scott snapped his head up in sheer shock.
* * *
It was a bewildering moment.
Passed?
Did Roman Dmitry not know his identity after all?
Scott's panic was visibly written all over his face, but Roman Dmitry did not point him out as a spy.
Instead, he looked around at the applicants and spoke.
"I know there are still spies remaining among you. Yet, there is only one reason I do not kill you: you have not yet done anything to harm Dmitry. For now, I highly value your resolve in risking your lives for your mission. However, as you will serve as my private soldiers from now on, you will have to make a choice."
Goosebumps broke out all over Scott's body.
He felt completely stripped naked.
"Whether you will forget your past and follow me, or betray Dmitry as your original mission dictated. Depending on the choice you make, I will deliver absolute reward or punishment."
He was utterly dazed.
Roman Dmitry.
He was a type of human Scott had never encountered in his life.
Scott had undertaken numerous espionage missions to steal information in the past, but he had never met anyone who knowingly turned a blind eye to spies like Roman Dmitry did. Yet, he didn't think Dmitry's intelligence network was lacking. The fleeting glance Roman Dmitry had cast toward him was a powerful warning that his identity was already known.
It was a gut feeling.
Instinctively, he knew he had been found out.
"Congratulations. As of this moment, you are my people."
He had passed.
Yet, at the very moment he achieved his goal, Scott could not bring himself to smile.
* * *
The exam was over.
There were over five hundred successful applicants, and they were granted a final week of leave.
The terrified spies would likely flee during this leave, while those who remained to join Dmitry would have to decide their future between two stark choices. Would they leak Dmitry's secrets, or would they choose to settle in Dmitry and abandon their lives as spies?
The choice was entirely theirs.
After relocating to a private area, Chris asked Roman Dmitry, "...Why did you let the spies live? Personally, I find it difficult to understand your decision, my lord."
Here in Dmitry, Roman Dmitry's commands were absolute.
Chris was prepared to trust and follow any order, but turning a blind eye to spies defied common sense.
Roman Dmitry spoke.
"Chris. No matter how great of an information guild we possess, it is impossible to perfectly control spies who hide their identities. Valhalla and Kronos—they are wary of Dmitry, and they will use any means necessary to uncover our information. If it were you, would you be confident in controlling the empires' intentions?"
"...No, I would not."
"That is why I allowed the spies to exist. I accepted them intentionally."
In his past life, the Demonic Cult had conquered Murim.
On that day, the very first thing the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk did was open the Demonic Cult to the world.
The descendants of the Righteous Faction Murim, unable to accept defeat, would surely plot for the future. So, Baek Joong-hyuk showed them what kind of world the Demonic Cult truly was. He showed them that the Demonic Cult was not a world of devils as people believed, and just how powerful of an existence Baek Joong-hyuk, the one who ruled over them, truly was.
He laid it all bare.
The information leaked by the spies only spread fear of Baek Joong-hyuk and gave his enemies the justification they needed to accept reality.
It was an ironic situation.
Those who initially opposed the Demonic Cult claimed its insularity would cause Murim to regress, yet Baek Joong-hyuk did not restrict the people in any way. The only difference was their acknowledgment of Baek Joong-hyuk's existence above them. The world was not much different from before. However, the more they learned about Baek Joong-hyuk, the more they found themselves unable to dare show any hostility toward him.
They were overwhelmed.
The exposed information, even if it was only a fraction of the truth, instilled such terror that even the spies who had approached with malicious intent could not bring themselves to speak the truth.
Rather than tight control, Baek Joong-hyuk knew that a suitable amount of freedom was the key to maintaining the Demonic Cult's rule.
"In the future, rather than perfect control, I will reveal Dmitry's ways to the people. My goal is to rise to the absolute peak. Even if variables like spies are mixed into my plans, if I were to be shaken by such minor annoyances, I wouldn't have been able to achieve my goal in the first place. Chris, if you were a spy for Kronos, do you think you could betray me without hesitation after experiencing 'me' firsthand?"
It was an arrogant statement.
The Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk.
He never hesitated to show himself.
He refused to accept mediocrity and openly revealed exactly what kind of existence he was.
It was a dangerous judgment.
For an ordinary person, revealing their true self would invite hyenas from all directions to swarm them the moment they saw the bottom of their strength.
But...
"...I believe I could never betray you, my lord."
Chris shook his head.
Because Roman Dmitry's limits were unfathomable.
On the contrary, the more the spies learned about Dmitry, the deeper the dilemma they would face.
* * *
A violet space.
Alexander channeled his magic power.
"Lightning Punishment."
Flash.
Boom!
Crash! Crash!
Rumbleeeee!
As if the heavens were enraged, the sky split open, and hundreds of lightning bolts struck down.
The desolate earth was overturned by the lightning, and the jagged peaks that had stood just moments ago were instantly obliterated. It was a display of power so immense that merely watching it sent shivers down one's spine. Alexander had stepped into the 9th Circle, a realm beyond human imagination, and the magic he manifested resided in the domain of the gods.
Rumble!
The ground shook violently.
Alexander sneered as he gazed at the scene before him.
"Roman Dmitry. I wonder if you can handle this power."
Murim.
It was an existence from his imagination.
After endless contemplation, he had invented 'Aura,' a product of Murim. Knowing that Aura had its limits, he had abandoned his human body to embrace black magic. Immediately after discovering Roman Dmitry's true identity, Alexander had fallen into deep agony. The path Roman Dmitry walked, and the power of the martial arts he displayed, were far too different from when Alexander himself had first transmigrated into the Salamander Continent. He couldn't help but think that perhaps because he had been nothing but a mere commoner back then, he hadn't been able to achieve what Roman Dmitry did.
An inferiority complex boiled within him.
He wanted to prove himself against Roman Dmitry.
He wanted to prove that magic was stronger.
And that the Aura he had developed was by no means inferior to martial arts.
‘My pieces have successfully infiltrated Dmitry. Before long, they will uncover the secrets of your martial arts and deliver them to me. I am the creator of Aura. I created something out of nothing, and I will thoroughly dissect your martial arts to show how pathetic they truly are. And when I prove that your limits are indeed insignificant, I will obliterate your very existence with my magic to prove that my choice to embrace magic was correct.’
Malice bloomed.
The magic manifesting from Alexander granted him boundless confidence, enough to make him forget the inadequacies of his past life.
It was then.
[Lord Alexander, we have a problem.]
A magical link.
It was Mystic's voice.
Alexander's face contorted.
"What is it?"
[I think you should come here first.]
At those words, he moved.
Space distorted, and he appeared in a pitch-black room where Mystic stood waiting.
"Dmitry sent this."
She handed him a single sheet of paper.
Alexander read its contents.
[The Kronos Empire is cordially invited to the 'Swordsmanship Presentation.']
Swordsmanship Presentation.
That term... left Alexander utterly bewildered.