Chapter 70
Chapter 70
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Calculated Strike
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“You caused quite an incident, hyung.”
He met Oh Min-jae in the mountains outside Magit.
It was the location of the gate to the Ironclad Spider’s nest, known to the public as a logistics warehouse.
“Here to nag me?”
Wang-sik said, looking at the black shield he had prepared for this job. Its performance was a far cry from the golden shield he normally used, leaving him rather unsatisfied.
“No. I’m here to tell you how much I respect you. I wish I could have seen it myself. Phew! I heard you fell from the sky like divine punishment, right?”
Oh Min-jae gave him a thumbs-up.
“That’s my hyung for you.”
“Still, lay low for a while. The imperial knights and even the mages are on the move.”
“Good.”
“You have no intention of stopping, do you?”
“When you stir things up like this, information starts to flow.”
“You seem smarter than me when it comes to causing trouble.”
“I’m saving the Earth.”
Although Oh Min-jae was giving a warning, he didn’t try to stop him.
In truth, as long as Wang-sik covered his face and wasn’t caught on-site, there was no way to track him.
And there was another person he trusted.
“Seon-gi hyung, welcome.”
A man specialized in this kind of work had arrived.
Shadow.
It was time for the ace of Dark Moon to return to his true calling.
“How’s Seon-yeong?”
Sa Seon-gi shook his head.
It meant there was no change.
With Gong Yeong-ji’s help, she could take a walk for about twenty minutes, but that was it.
She wasn’t recovering any further. It was clear that without Gong Yeong-ji, her condition would worsen.
“Don’t worry. If she holds on, a donor will appear.”
Ultimately, she needed a heart transplant. When that time came, Sa Seon-gi would officially join the team.
“So, is Seon-gi hyung taking over now?”
“We need to divide the roles.”
Wang-sik’s plan was not yet over.
“Since we’ve started, we need to see it through to the end.”
When Wang-sik explained his plan, Sa Seon-gi and Oh Min-jae agreed it was necessary.
However, Oh Min-jae had a crucial warning to give.
“Hyungs, you know Eliana is on the empire’s investigation team, right?”
Her name was one of the most famous in the empire.
She was one of the greatest spirit mediums in history, specializing in earth spirits.
While famous for causing earthquakes, she possessed another unique spirit magic.
“If she uses a spell called ‘Memory of the Land,’ she’ll be able to see what you looked like. So never travel long distances on the ground. As soon as the job is done, you have to get on a Hadis and ascend immediately.”
Currently, Eliana was the only one on the continent who could use Memory of the Land. But that wasn’t the only method of tracking.
“It’s the same if a necromancer summons the spirits of the dead. Don’t forget there are many ways to track you.”
This was one of the reasons one couldn’t act recklessly in Azelan.
With so much power concentrated in the empire, a proper investigation would leave no room for escape.
“It’ll be about a day. If we drag it out any longer, we could all be exposed.”
“A day is enough. I’ll draw their attention first, then Seon-gi will make his move.”
“Be careful.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”
Wang-sik left with a reassuring smile.
“So, I just need to kill the designers and retrieve the records?”
Sa Seon-gi gave a final confirmation of his assigned mission.
“That’s not the primary objective. Only bring them back if it’s possible.”
Two research journals Wang-sik had brought were already on the table.
Sa Seon-gi glanced at the journals for a moment before boarding the prepared Hadis.
The gate city of Velatun.
It was a center of trade and boasted the largest economy outside the capital.
The lord of this city was Count Alfonso, head of House Veradora, but the real power lay with another name.
Marquis Bjorn.
He was a legendary figure who had started as a merchant and risen to the rank of marquis.
During the imperial war, he had entrusted his entire fortune to the current emperor, earning him the title of count. He continued to demonstrate his loyalty and eventually became a marquis.
The wealthiest family in Azelan.
The golden family that operated six merchant guilds was none other than House Montesto, with Bjorn as its head.
House Montesto was located in the center of Magit, where the city hall should have been.
The grand mansion was guarded by fifty private soldiers on the perimeter, with two 5th-Circle mages standing watch from hidden positions inside.
In addition, there were twenty hidden guards, including assassins not known to the public.
With great wealth came a great need for protection.
But they rarely had to act.
The heavy security served not only as a practical defense but, more importantly, as a deterrent to any thoughts of invasion.
For a full five years, not a single person had dared to invade House Montesto.
Even five years ago, the only incident was a brief disturbance caused by someone who had lost their entire fortune to one of Montesto’s merchant guilds.
That man had died such a brutal death that no one had dared to attack the place since.
But tonight, that era of peace came to an end.
Screeeech!
It was common to see Hadis flying over Velatun. Although there had been a recent incident, it was in a small eastern city, so security in Velatun had only been slightly tightened.
However, it was an unwritten rule not to fly over the city center, a rule someone had just broken.
This caught the attention of the guards.
“We’re under attack!”
A guard shouted upon seeing a person drop from a Hadis.
‘Fast.’
Despite five years of peace, their vigilance hadn’t wavered in the slightest.
‘But it’s useless.’
Lightning-infused Magic Missiles and Fireballs flew toward the falling Wang-sik.
They were cast by a 5th-Circle mage, and their power was immense.
BOOM!
As the explosion erupted in mid-air, the guards thought they had caught the intruder.
But the intruder, dropping swiftly from the blast radius, was unharmed. Instead, he unfurled a black aura and plummeted into the center of the mansion.
CRASH!
Half of the mansion collapsed from that single impact.
The middle of the mansion caved in, leaving only the first floor of the three-story building intact.
The guards’ faces turned pale.
The central second floor.
That was where Bjorn’s bedroom was located.
Shouts erupted from all directions as they converged on the collapsed area.
Standing calmly on two feet amidst the chaos, Wang-sik looked around.
He could see the body of a fat man entangled with a naked woman.
With half his head blown off, there was no chance he was alive.
‘Simple enough.’
Another volley of magic and arrows rained down on Wang-sik, but he didn’t even glance at them.
Boom! Thud, thud.
The spells and arrows failed to inflict any damage on Wang-sik.
Seeing this, a mage stopped his advance to focus his mind for a powerful spell.
‘Too late.’
When Wang-sik extended his hand, a chain shot toward the sky. It latched onto the body of the Hadis hovering at a distance, and Wang-sik was instantly pulled skyward.
He was out of range of the arrows and magic.
But Wang-sik couldn’t just make a clean getaway.
Pursuers on the family’s private Hadis were right on his tail.
Moreover, Velatun’s defense forces had been contacted and were now swarming toward him.
In an instant, he was surrounded by enemies from both the front and back.
‘Their response is good.’
Velatun’s security system was clearly different from Lorent’s.
They responded in near real-time via communication magic, and the level of their trained soldiers was exceptional.
‘There are too many.’
There were five Hadis chasing him from behind, and ten had appeared in front of him in a flash.
And their numbers were still growing.
“A man only moves forward.”
Despite the crisis, Wang-sik didn’t change direction.
Whoosh!
The city defense unit in front launched the first attack. Arrows flew from one-handed crossbows, and mages in the rear conjured fireballs.
Their target was the Hadis Wang-sik was riding.
They intended to shoot him down.
‘Holy Shield.’
Boom!
Wang-sik’s shield blocked all the attacks.
The Hadis faltered for a moment from the explosions and arrows, but once it recognized Wang-sik’s shield, it began to follow his commands.
“Ram them.”
CRASH!
The Hadis, cloaked in the Holy Shield, collided with a city defense Hadis.
As the opposing Hadis shrieked and fell, Wang-sik’s Hadis let out a cry of victory.
“Don’t get excited. We only took down one.”
Wang-sik wasn’t satisfied with just one.
Fwoosh!
As he brushed past another defense unit, he shot out his chain, wrapping it around the neck of a Hadis.
He then pulled it in and threw it at another Hadis.
CRASH!
The two colliding Hadis plummeted to the ground.
Meanwhile, numerous attacks flew at him from the rear.
“Watch out.”
Not only from behind, but magic also erupted from the city’s watchtowers.
The security system was impressive.
Their only misfortune was that their opponent was Wang-sik.
‘Holy Fence.’
He created a wide shield beneath the Hadis to block the magic and instantly escaped the city.
But the situation was not ideal.
The number of pursuing Hadis had grown to thirty.
“You’re not exactly the fast type, are you?”
Not all Hadis had the same speed.
The city defense’s Hadis quickly caught up. They began throwing hooked chains at Wang-sik’s ride.
‘This is getting annoying.’
Clang!
Wang-sik shot out his chain, caught an approaching hook, and pulled with all his might.
The force sent the Hadis soldier plummeting to the ground.
Swinging the chain-bound hook above his head, Wang-sik extended his hand toward a soldier on the opposite side.
Thwack!
The hook embedded itself in the soldier’s neck, and another pursuer fell.
Just then, an unexpected message appeared.
—Evolution conditions have been met.
—The Evolution Quest will now begin.
It was a message from the Mark of the Guardian. But he had no time to check it now.
“You’re free now.”
Wang-sik hooked his chain onto the masterless Hadis and switched places.
He had moved to a faster Hadis.
The startled Hadis began to fly erratically, but when he wrapped his chain tightly around its neck, it regained its balance.
Then, he kicked its flanks with both feet, and it shot forward at maximum speed.
“Now our speeds are about even.”
Attacks continued to fly at him, but they couldn’t penetrate his shield.
There was a problem, though.
‘The distance isn’t increasing.’
If anything, it felt like they were herding him.
‘Does that mean there are more reinforcements somewhere?’
He needed an escape route.
Just then, Wang-sik’s eyes caught a stream of water glittering with fractured light.
It was the river that cut across the continent.
“The chase ends here.”
A smile appeared on Wang-sik’s face.
“You did well.”
Watching the ground below, Wang-sik leaped from the Hadis.
Splash!
Plunging into the river, Wang-sik immediately used a skill.
‘I happen to be a decent swimmer.’
Like a fish, he skimmed the riverbed, cutting swiftly through the current.
At the spot where he had fallen.
Twenty-five Hadis flew over the river, watching the water below. Some landed on the riverbank, while others followed the current from the sky, waiting for Wang-sik to surface.
As time passed, more troops flocked to the riverbank, and the number of Hadis in the sky reached one hundred.
The death of a marquis favored by the emperor had triggered a state of emergency.
They did everything they could. But results don't always match the effort put in.
“Nothing, sir.”
The city defense captain had to hear those words. But he couldn’t bring himself to order a halt to the search.
“He has to be here somewhere. Widen the search area, and have the soldiers who can dive go into the river! Gather all the mages who can use detection magic!”
The captain tried every possible method, but in the end, he could not find the intruder.
As the search party fell into despair, Wang-sik emerged from upstream.
He had swum against the current.
“Phew, that wasn’t easy.”
Wang-sik slipped into the riverside bushes, discarded his wet clothes, and changed into a clean set from his inventory.
“Don’t feel too wronged. I can’t even count how many people died because of you.”
Marquis Bjorn.
He was the largest investor in the gates.