Chapter 117
“We’re in the southwest region of the third zone. It’s very far from the Capital, which is in the eastern region of the first zone,” Yuki said.
“It’ll take over a month on foot without a warp gate user,” Enrique added.
Frank turned to the virtuous-looking Asian man, Kwan Hoi-San, and asked, “Are the warp gate users ready?”
“Yes, but there is a problem,” he answered.
“What problem?” Yuki asked as she frowned.
Hoi-San quickly replied, “The birdfolk have laid out a mana sheet over the city, which impairs warp gate formation.”
“Does that mean we can’t open a warp gate here?”
“We can, but... the travel distance has almost halved.” Hoi-San approached the Mirror World map on the wall, placed his thumb on Pollon Nest and his pinky toward the east, and reduced the distance by half. “This is as far as we can take you.”
“Why don’t we just have another warp gate user wait for us there?” Yuri asked.
Hoi-San answered, “There are no human cities in the vicinity. Considering the time it will take for the warp gate user to reach this area and prepare a warp gate... We would need at least three days.”
“We can’t wait that long. No one knows what the birdfolk might pull. We have to leave now,” Seong-Hwi said firmly, and the others agreed.
“A warp gate user is standing by in Glasgow and the subsequent cities. We have mobilized every Black Market warp gate user, but...” Hoi-San trailed off.
“We’re on our own until Glasgow.”
“Correct. You must cover this half-handspan distance on foot, and I’m sure the birdfolk will chase after you.”
Frank turned to Seong-Hwi and asked, “Would they chase us even with the demon Ranker Taizet’s warning?”
Seong-Hwi shook his head and answered, “He specifically said he would guarantee our safety in Pollon Nest. That promise is void once we leave this city.”
“What about that elf? She’s a consul of the Sēmen, right? She warned the birdfolk not to touch our items.”
“The birdfolk are backed by the angels. The matter is so big that even the archangel Gabriel has gotten involved. Besides, there’s no way a consul of the Sēmen would go out of her way to involve herself in a matter concerning mere inferior races.”
Leo asked, “But they don’t know about the Elixirs. Can’t we just give them the artifacts and leave?”
Enrique answered, “Hah, don’t be so naive. Do you seriously think they’d just let us go like that? Another race stole the dungeon's clear rewards in their backyard—an S-rank dungeon, at that. I’d bet their pride was immensely damaged, considering they call themselves an intermediate race.”
Seong-Hwi agreed. He also knew something his teammates did not. He recalled what Seriel had said to him in the dungeon.
“Cough! Fairy! There isn’t much time! Find the Elixir somewhere in this dungeon! I must offer it to the God of Heaven!”
The angel knew about the Elixir. There’s no way they’d just let us go. They’ll chase us as if their lives depended on it, he thought.
He stood up and said, “The more we stall, the more time they’re given to prepare. We must leave now. However long we wait, it doesn’t change the fact that we have to reach Glasgow on our own.”
“That’s... for the best.”
“Huuu, I feel like I’ve died on this job several times already.”
The others agreed.
Yuki turned to Hoi-San and said, “We’re leaving right now.”
“I figured you would say that, so I’ve already made the preparations,” Hoi-San answered as he turned to the bone-skinny man beside him.
The man nodded and trembled as he gathered all the mana he had to activate a skill.
“Hup!”
[Activating Skill: Warp Gate.]
An oval gate made of blue mana was formed.
“Keep in mind that they’ll begin chasing us from the moment we exit the warp gate. There will be no breaks,” Yuki said as she entered the warp gate first.
The others entered one by one.
“Are you not going to enter, Sir Cheon Seong-Hwi?” Hoi-San asked as he turned to Seong-Hwi, who was staring intently at the map on the wall.
He momentarily remained silent and mumbled, “It might... be possible.”
“Pardon me?”
“Let me ask you for a favor,” Seong-Hwi said to Hoi-San as he pulled something out from his pocket.
***
“Sir Fragor! They’ve made their move!” a birdfolk with grey wings reported to Fragor, sitting on a giant perch stand.
“Where are they?”
“East!”
“Chase them through a warp gate now! Do not let them escape! Pollon Nest might be done for if we fail!”
“Yes, sir!”
Fragor stared at the grey birdfolk flying away and thought, I’ve already contacted Sir Remus. Once he arrives, they will be nothing but wingless rats.
The World Ranker Remus, 94th in the world ranking, used to be 93rd until he was defeated by the human Lee Kang-San. He was recovering from his injuries in Harpy’s Embrace for a revenge match, but the humans would be helpless once he showed up.
“I’m sure he will feel better once he hunts some humans. Yes, this has turned out perfectly!” Fragor shouted.
Alleviating Remus’s sour mood by letting him hunt humans and helping him prepare for his revenge was for the betterment of the birdfolk.
In that case, we must drive the humans into a corner until Sir Remus arrives, he thought.
He thought of the perfect individuals for the job.
“The brothers of the dead Saurix. There is no one better than them in hunting groups of prey.”
***
Seong-Hwi and the others quickly raced through a forest. Enrique was the avant-garde, Leo and Yuri were the mid-garde, and Frank, Yuki, and Sonya were the arriere-garde; a 3-2-1 triangular formation. Seong-Hwi was excluded from the formation to play a free role to maximize the advantages of a wing.
“Frank, if that’s too heavy, want me to lift it for you?” Seong-Hwi asked Frank, who was running with the black sack on his back.
Frank smiled and answered, “Hah! I’m fine. Focus on the commander.”
Seong-Hwi turned to Yuki, who had only just recovered from her injuries, and asked, “Are your injuries fine, Onie Yuki?”
“I’ve been brought back to life, thanks to you. I never thought you’d also have a healing skill. You’re too valuable to turn into a mannequin. I’d have to choose only one of your skills to keep, after all.”
“That’s quite an odd compliment.”
Sonya told Yuki, “The wing’s D Weapon is in... the specialization category.”
“A specialist D Weapon, huh? No wonder you can freely use skills of various categories,” Yuki nodded in understanding.
Yuri remarked, “It’s not like every specialist can use all the categories, right? Specialists are just people who can’t be put in one of the five main categories.”
“Seong-Hwi is just special. The ability to activate that many skills is amazing, but it’s even harder to use them appropriately in combat,” Leo added.
Although Seong-Hwi’s mana patterns did not get tangled thanks to his D Weapon, he had put in a massive amount of effort to appropriately use his huge arsenal of skills.
“It’s as if he spent ten years researching skill combinations. Are you sure you’re not a first-generation human? Hahaha!” Frank joked.
Seong-Hwi smiled because Frank was technically not wrong.
Just then, Enrique brought up a sensitive subject. “So... What are we gonna do with the Elixirs?”
“Huh? What do you mean? Weren’t we gonna divide the one billion Coins evenly between us?” Yuri remarked.
“But we have two, and I think Seong-Hwi has other plans,” Enrique said.
“Other plans, huh? Like what?” Seong-Hwi asked.
Enrique shook his head. “I have no idea, but... I doubt you’re gonna give them to that geezer.”
He was referring to Filipe Kabuka, the leader of Clan Black Market. The air among the party members suddenly grew heavy, especially around Leo, who had been an avid follower of Kabuka, and Yuki, who had a dual contract with him.
Frank laughed to break the awkward silence. “Haha, I’m... already more than satisfied. My caliber went up a lot in the dungeon, and I became a Single-A with the Karma I obtained. Whatever happens, I won’t harbor any resentment.”
It was an indirect approval of whatever Seong-Hwi had planned.
Enrique smirked and said, “It’d be great if I could get some more Coins out of this job.”
Yuri and Sonya also indirectly approved.
“Ahem. There’s an item with A-rank potential I have my eye on.”
“There’s also... something... I want.”
Seong-Hwi replied, “Sure thing. I was guaranteed three hundred million Coins. I also have a rich friend.”
He did not bother hiding his true intentions. With this, he had practically announced that he wouldn’t hand the Elixir over to Kabuka. His teammates did not directly say anything that would imply they would betray Kabuka because it might activate the penalty of the quest they had accepted, Kabuka’s Request.
[Kabuka’s Request (Common Quest)
Rank: A
Description: Bring the item that Filipe Kabuka desires directly to him the moment it is obtained. This mission is strictly classified. Any breach of contract will activate the penalty.
Condition: Advance payment of 50 million Coins.
Penalty: Mana sealed for 1 year.]
“So, that’s why you entrusted me to safeguard the Elixirs... Because I’m the only person in the team who hasn’t received Sir Kabuka’s quest,” Leo said.
It was as Leo said. As soon as he saw Leo acting as Kabuka’s keeper in the mansion in Kigali, Seong-Hwi came up with the plan to pick a fight with one of his teammates to make Kabuka put Leo on the team. Hence, he incapacitated Victor Handke, whom he noticed had a shield, and suggested that Leo join the team.
It was not a bad deal for Kabuka either, since Victor was only a spy. It did not change anything for him since Victor would be replaced by Leo, whom he trusted. However, he messed up by not having Leo accept the quest containing the penalty. Since Leo was a Maasai warrior who was indebted to him, Kabuka did not even have the slightest doubt that Leo would betray him.
As a result, Seong-Hwi took advantage of that psychological flaw and gained a teammate who was not shackled by Kabuka’s quest, and had Leo safely keep the Elixirs as soon as he found them. If anyone other than Leo had even touched the Elixirs, they would have been shackled by the description of having to bring them directly to Kabuka the moment they obtained them.
Frank expressed amazement, saying, “Hah! You thought of that the moment you met him? That’s insane.”
“But how? That plan wouldn’t have worked unless you had unconditional trust in me.” Leo shook his head in disbelief and glared at Seong-Hwi, continuing, “Were you sure that I would betray Sir Kabuka? What will you do if I take the Elixir to him?”
Seong-Hwi smiled meaningfully and answered, “Even if you do, Kabuka can’t use it. Isn’t that right?”
Leo remained silent, recalling the Elixir’s description.
[Elixir (Consumable Item)
Rank: S
Description: A legendary panacea that removes all debuffs, cures all diseases, recovers life force, lifts all curses, extends lifespan, and regenerates body parts.
Condition: Its effects only activate if the individual who genuinely cares for the one they use the Elixir on sacrifices their life.]
The Elixir could not be used by oneself. According to its condition, someone else who genuinely cared for the individual had to sacrifice their life for it to be used.
“Does Kabuka have someone who would genuinely lay down their life for him? There might have been one, but not anymore. Now that you’ve begun to harbor doubts toward him, no matter how small, your feelings can no longer be truly genuine,” Seong-Hwi answered with certainty.
Leo, who formerly considered Kabuka as the savior of his people and a father figure, might have been able to lay down his life for him. However, he was wavering after finding out about Kabuka’s hidden nature from Seong-Hwi. This had all been orchestrated by Seong-Hwi, a warrior with a blazing heart but an ice-cold mind.
“Looks like I’ve made... a terrifying friend,” Leo muttered.
“I apologize if I’ve hurt you, but that man is not worth your life. Not even close.”
Leo faltered even more because the look in Seong-Hwi’s eyes was genuine.
Frank, unable to follow the conversation, smacked his lips and asked, “What kind of secret conversation are you two—”
Just then, the alarm of the Spy Drone Controller in Enrique’s hands blared.
“They’re coming! Prepare for battle!” he shouted.