Chapter 269: Oryun (2)
“……”
Lennok silently reached inside his coat, facing the fierce aura of the Lancer’s spear.
The woman, observing him closely, put strong force into her step.
[Wait, wait, wait!! My head shouldn’t be crushed, at least!]
Thud!
The Lancer’s foot ruthlessly passed over Manson’s head and struck the ground with a loud impact.
But realizing there were no metal fragments left in between, the Lancer flinched and looked up.
“Good thing it’s not a living creature.”
“……!!”
Lennok said, gently shaking Manson’s head that he held in his hand.
“But it’s… a bit too heavy.”
Thud!!
[Handle me gently…….]
Realizing that Manson’s head, which had been under her foot, had crossed space into Lennok’s hand, the Lancer faintly frowned.
“Space movement… is it Translocation?”
“You’re not wrong.”
The artifact acquired from the battle with the Arashakh Expedition, Compassion of the Archangel.
With its limited-range Translocation ability for inanimate objects, he was able to retrieve Manson’s head.
This was possible because Manson’s head was entirely made of metal.
“We didn’t come here to fight you. If you’ve been watching, you should have noticed.”
Lennok said to the Lancer as he reattached Manson’s head to his body using mana threads.
“We have business with the Fortress Head of the Oryun Family. Please guide us.”
Upon the direct mention of the Fortress Head, the Lancer reacted.
She turned to Lennok with slightly narrowed eyes, then silently shrugged her shoulders.
Her tightly sealed lips parted.
“……You talk a lot for someone who came with a proxy from the Yukryeong Family.”
Clang!
Raising her crescent blade and pointing it at Lennok, she took her stance once more.
“Two people are no problem. I’ll gladly take you on.”
“……This is getting nowhere.”
Bringing Manson was one problem, and her mistaking him for a Yukryeong Family proxy was another.
As Lennok shook his head and was about to pull out a ticket from his pocket at that moment.
The Lancer, mistaking it for him drawing a weapon, lunged forward like an arrow.
Whoosh!!
Immediately after, Manson, whose head was restored, swiftly blocked Lennok’s front.
[This woman really can’t recognize a guest……!]
Moment Manson drew his sword from his waist, the two superhumans clashed properly.
After Manson and the Lancer twisted their upper bodies in different directions, sparks flew dozens of times in the air, followed by a continuous series of clashing sounds.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tang!!
Each swing of the two blades drew diverse trajectories, spinning and curving.
One trajectory split into more than five, assaulting from all directions, but rather than directly aiming for vital points, they aimed to seize spatial advantage.
A fighting style that aimed to gain the initiative in combat rather than seeking a quick, decisive kill.
It was Manson who moved first.
[Hoooh……!!]
With a heavy breath, Manson lowered his stance, dodged a horizontal spear thrust, and re-gripped his sword.
In a fleeting moment, the blade, which had been sheathed at his waist, poured out as if flowing, drawing a blurry, smooth sword strike like a wave.
The sword strike, flowing along the path of the spear thrust, burrowed inward, then regained momentum, sharply slicing close to the Lancer.
In response, the Lancer also rotated the shaft of the spear in her hand counter-clockwise.
Wheeeeeeng……!!
Blurry mana light mixed into the sword and spear, followed by a collision.
Kwaaang!!
With an impact like an exploding bomb, the chaotic courtyard turned into a devastated wasteland.
In the fleeting moment that the two recoiled briefly from the shock.
A massive ice mirror appeared in the air and slammed down between them.
Kwooong!!
“……!!”
“That’s enough.”
As the two warriors, who suddenly faced their own reflections instead of each other, flinched, Lennok stepped forward.
“I’ll say it again, we have no intention of fighting. On the contrary, there’s something we’d like to work with you on.”
“……I’ve told you many times we won’t appoint a proxy.”
The Lancer brought up an unrelated matter.
“How much more do you intend to manipulate our family? The Oryun Family’s will has been clearly stated enough. Stop with the nonsense and go back.”
“……What?”
It seemed the Lancer of the Oryun Family was mistaking them after having similar experiences several times before.
Just as Lennok was about to respond, someone burst through the shattered door, running.
“Sister!! What’s going on?!”
The young man who rushed out and stood next to the Lancer gaped when he saw Lennok’s face.
Lennok, recognizing the young man’s face in turn, also showed a strange expression.
“Wait, you’re……”
“Van?”
“……Was it Chen?”
A freelancer he had worked with when taking on an Agent’s request to deal with dark wizards and terrorist organizations.
He was quick-witted and had been helpful in the final operation at the factory district, so Lennok remembered his face and name.
He even recalled Chen grumbling about taking requests to earn startup capital; he never imagined seeing him again in a place like this.
“……”
As the two showed signs of recognition, the Lancer, who had been holding her crescent blade with a fierce aura, subtly lowered her spear.
Realizing there had been a misunderstanding, she cleared her throat awkwardly and muttered.
“Hmm, hmm…… Well, if you’re acquaintances of my brother… I, I might have made a mistake…”
Lennok stared at her intently, and the Lancer quietly bowed her head.
“……I apologize.”
“I’m truly surprised. I never thought you’d visit the Fortress.”
Chen, who had brought coffee, chuckled awkwardly as Manson and Lennok sat on the smooth wooden floor.
Lennok also smirked at his face.
Thinking about it, Chen knew Lennok was an excellent wizard but didn’t revere or fear him.
He simply did his best in operations, treating him as a thoroughly competent colleague.
He didn’t particularly assert himself, but he consistently did more than his share in any task he was given.
In every respect, there was no doubt he was a capable person.
“We’ve both been busy, so it can’t be helped.”
He naturally placed the coffee in front of the two and took a seat next to the Lancer.
“It’s really been a long time since I’ve seen your face. Though I think we exchanged contacts after the job was done.”
“Did we?”
Chen chuckled, unbothered.
“Time truly flies. Just about two years ago, we were both freelancers, and now you’ve become an untouchable noble, hasn’t he?”
“Well. Haven’t you become excessively flattering since I last saw you?”
“What do you mean? A wizard who went head-to-head with The Triad and won needs a much grander title than that.”
“……”
At that, the woman, who had been quietly listening to the conversation next to Chen, twitched her shoulder and looked at Lennok with a slightly surprised gaze.
“I see… So you’re the new star of District 49 who recently joined the Cartel’s leadership.”
“Hmmmm…”
“I believe the world knows you by the name Adamant Thunder…”
Lennok looked at the woman, his gaze slightly lowered.
He had thought that the insiders of the Fortress were indifferent to outside news, but this woman seemed to know a lot about external rumors.
That was probably because she was high-ranking enough to be interested in outside news, or perhaps she was originally from outside.
And seeing Chen’s reaction to her, the former was likely the answer.
“How did your startup go?”
At Lennok’s sudden question, Chen avoided his gaze.
Lennok, unsurprised, continued.
“The Oryun Family was your maternal home. Did you return from external work because of a problem with the family?”
“It’s my fault.”
The woman, who had been listening with a gloomy expression, said.
“We’ve been driven into such a corner that we can’t maintain the family without the help of my brother who left home… It’s truly a pathetic situation.”
“That’s not your fault, Sister.”
Chen calmly retorted.
“It’s the karma of my father, who wasted so much time filling his own greed until the Fortress Head changed.”
A faint hint of contempt was even present in his voice.
The Lancer, referred to as ‘Sister,’ quietly shook her head.
“……Don’t say that. Even so, I should have personally looked after those who rely on this family. I couldn’t even do such a simple thing.”
[This atmosphere is more serious than I thought.]
Manson subtly tilted his head toward Lennok and whispered.
But since it was a mechanical voice, the two people sitting opposite could hear everything anyway.
Chen tried to say something more to his words but soon gave up and gave a wry smile.
He rose and gestured outside.
“Shall we go out and talk for a bit?”
Leaving the Lancer, who was hunched over with her coffee cup, the three ascended to the mansion’s rooftop.
Though the mansion was heavily damaged and dirty in many places, it was still a quaint mansion from which one could feel a hint of elegance.
Its evident beauty stood out compared to other houses and structures inside the Fortress.
The nighttime view of the Fortress from the balcony between the tiles was quite beautiful, even by Lennok’s estimation.
Instead of streetlights and fluorescent lights, soft lanterns illuminated the streets, and fireflies danced in the sky.
The poignant sound of string instruments drifted from the streets, and a strong, undeniable scent of wood.
It was definitely a sight not easily seen in Vulcan.
Chen leaned against a railing, staring blankly at the night view, then chuckled.
“As a child, I hated this street so much… I never thought I’d return to it at this age.”
“……”
“Well, as you can see, I can’t help you much in this situation. I don’t know why you came to the Fortress, Van, but if you need the power of the Eight Families, you’d better look elsewhere.”
“So the family had its own circumstances, it seems.”
The Chen Lennok remembered was quite decisive and clean-cut.
Even after working with him against dark wizards and terrorist organizations, hadn’t he cleanly disappeared to pursue his own business?
If a man of such character had purposely returned to a ruined family to clean up its mess, there must surely be a good reason.
“My sister and I have different mothers.”
“……”
“I, being the child of a concubine, ran away from this hateful family… but before that, my sister took great care of me.”
Chen stopped there, then sighed and shook his head.
“……I said something unnecessary. What’s the point of talking about this now?”
[……]
At that low sigh, Manson subtly looked back at Lennok.
Lennok understood Manson’s thought from that gesture but cleanly ignored it and asked Chen.
“What do you want to do?”
“What?”
Chen hadn’t said much, but Lennok could easily guess what had happened to the Oryun Family.
After the sudden death of the Fortress Head, the Oryun Family, unable to keep up with the power struggles among the Eight Families, had fallen, and the family head had died.
The reason was probably some mistake caused by the family head’s greedy nature.
The only successor who took over after him was in a difficult situation, having lost power and unable to exert influence.
Chen, having heard the circumstances, visited the Fortress to help his half-sister, but he wasn’t able to do much.
The sight of this mansion, unable to hide the damage from the political strife, clearly proved it.
“You said you were gathering people to prepare for a business. Knowing your personality, you must have produced some results by now.”
“……”
“Are you thinking of abandoning everything you’ve built up to help your family?”
“You’re right.”
Chen replied.
“I don’t have much time. I also have quite a number of employees who trust and follow me. In fact, I originally intended to help my sister with my friends who assist with my business.”
“And then?”
“Immediately after entering the Fortress, everyone except me was forcibly expelled.”
“……”
“They probably want to prevent a losing family from putting up useless resistance.”
He muttered, clenching his fist.
“If only I had the right to appoint a proxy, it would be different…”
Lennok could guess why Chen had given up on bringing his friends.
It would be practically difficult to engage in a full-scale battle with the five families of the Fortress at that moment.
Not only could he not guarantee victory, but it would also result in immense damage regardless of the outcome.
He wouldn’t want the safety of his friends, who helped with his business, to be jeopardized due to his own circumstances.
“Then are you going to let go of everything like this?”
Lennok asked.
“Watching your own flesh and blood slowly wither away?”
It was a provocative challenge.
There was no need to explain how much Chen, who had temporarily put aside his business to find his kin, cherished her.
Hadn’t he remained in the ruined Oryun mansion because he valued her life more than the survival of the family he had abandoned?
Even Lennok couldn’t bear those words, and the corners of Chen’s mouth faintly twisted.
“Then, Van, are you planning to help?”
“……”
“No, right? Then I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you’d shut up.”
Chen said with a pained smile.
“I haven’t worked with you for long, but I know what kind of person you are. You verify, judge, and derive answers based on your own standards. You don’t move unless a definite judgment is made.”
“Hmm.”
“Once you make a decision, you don’t hesitate, but the judgment itself is very cautious and weighty. I don’t particularly dislike you, but I don’t think such a person can help us.”
Someone who is utterly trustworthy as a colleague, but difficult to become a colleague with.
That was probably the impression Chen, who had observed Lennok while working together, summarized holistically.
Even while considering it a somewhat aggressive and definitive judgment, Lennok also thought, in a way, that it wasn’t wrong.
It must be because he possessed a certain discernment, fitting for someone who personally meets people and conducts business.
Chen, who had rapidly poured out his words, self-mocked.
“……Damn it, I don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m sorry.”
“No, you saw correctly.”
Lennok said, closing the distance to Chen.
Lennok saw Chen’s face twitch and silently pulled out a ticket from his pocket.
“As you said, I like to see and judge things for myself. That’s how I was able to make a decision.”
“Wait, this item is……”
Lennok chuckled, seeing Chen’s eyes widen upon seeing the inscription on the ticket.
“Starting today, the ‘such a person’ you mentioned will be helping you.”