Chapter 281: Light and Shadow (2)

The moment Lennok realized the Ibon Family’s representative wasn’t from the cult, he had somewhat suspected it.

If an outsider like Walter wanted to be treated well by the Fortress’s high-ranking officials, then being a representative of one of the Eight Families would indeed be the most suitable path.

Apart from collaborating with the Ibon Family Head, it would have been the best excuse to appear in public.

“There are truly many skilled sorcerers in the megacity. I’m envious.”

Walter smiled.

“Just recently, I met a spirit user, and I was quite surprised by their exceptional skill. It truly made me realize how vast the world is.”

“……”

“Although my visit to this city was merely part of a grand scheme, I now consider myself very fortunate.”

Despite the flag being raised, Walter didn’t rush at Lennok; he merely kept smiling.

There was no killing intent or ambition emanating from him.

“If you don’t intend to fight, you’d better take off your bracelet and step down.”

Lennok said.

“Do you intend to keep talking?”

“You’re quick to catch on. That’s right.”

Despite the indifferent remark, Walter readily nodded.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect the Proxy Battle to become this tense.”

“……”

“We intended to set the other families as mere spectators and quickly conclude the Proxy Battle by putting the Ilwon Family forward… But then an outsider unified the families and challenged us on a matter of legitimacy, and things took an unexpected turn.”

It was obvious what Walter meant. The situation reaching this point was an unforeseen outcome.

Originally, they should have secured the Fortress Head position immediately after a perfunctory Proxy Battle against the Paldun, Samyeong, and Oryun Families, who hadn’t properly united.

It was solely Lennok who manipulated and swayed families with differing objectives and motives to reshape the entire game.

He completed all procedures—legitimacy, qualification, and proof of strength—before other families could even interfere, completely overturning the situation.

If he hadn’t, by himself, overturned the 3-to-1 disadvantage in the Proxy Battle and forced it into a final duel, Walter wouldn’t have even had to step forward himself.

“Because of that, I didn’t pay much attention to the combat power of each family’s representatives, and I didn’t realize that would lead to this trouble.”

Walter smiled bitterly and nodded.

“It’s my misstep. That’s why I’d like to propose a deal.”

“A deal…”

It was surprising. To think that even at this point, he wouldn’t reveal his true colors, but instead try to win Lennok over.

That was probably because they had an internal assessment that their original plans would be difficult to carry out with Lennok as their opponent.

“Having listened around, I hear you’re already quite a famous freelancer out there.”

While Lennok was deep in thought, Walter quickly got to the point.

“Among other things, I’ve heard rumors that you’re requesting clues about time-related artifacts or spells as compensation for specific requests. Perhaps that’s why you came to this Fortress?”

He extended his hand with a generous smile, as if he knew exactly what Lennok desired.

“If you cooperate with us, as the Ilwon Family’s representative, I will specially hand over items that are to be auctioned before the actual auction begins. Among them, there are a few time-related artifacts you might desire.”

“……”

“What do you say? Isn’t that enough compensation for merely giving up this immediate battle?”

“Hmm…”

Instead of seriously considering Walter’s proposal, Lennok quietly pondered the implications of the situation.

He was keenly aware that Walter’s current response itself was a demonstration of the privilege afforded by a unilateral information advantage.

If Walter knew that Lennok was the same person as Evan, if he knew that Lennok already possessed all the information about the ruins, would he still be so eager to persuade Lennok like this?

Because he had perfectly separated his two identities and meticulously established alibis for his movements, even the cult’s Bishop couldn’t sense anything amiss and was offering useless empty promises.

Empty promises he had no intention of keeping himself.

The answer was decided from the start.

“The price doesn’t quite match.”

Lennok smiled.

“My faith is too lacking to accept that offer.”

Crackle…!!

A brilliant blue lightning bolt surged from beneath Lennok’s feet and struck Walter directly.

Boom!

The ground instantly shook from the lightning strike that erupted from the earth, and dust clouds billowed everywhere.

The passionate cheers of the crowd, believing the final Proxy Battle had begun, echoed, and the expressions of the other Family Heads drastically changed.

Lennok paid no attention to their reactions, focusing solely on the opponent before him.

From within the dust cloud, a chillingly altered voice emerged.

“You… you knew I was with the cult from the start, didn’t you?”

“……”

“To toy with me… Heh heh, it seems the Samyeong Family Head’s abilities were more than I expected. Well, fine.”

Walter walked out from the center of the explosion, his arm dangling limply.

It seemed he hadn’t properly defended against Lennok’s opening strike, but there was no trace of pain on his face.

He hooked a finger inside the bracelet on his dangling wrist, applied pressure, and spoke.

“Because things in the world don’t always go as planned.”

Clatter!!

As the chain bracelet shattered, the light from Walter’s bracelet transferred to Lennok’s, illuminating the eight chain links brightly.

It was clear proof that the Proxy Battle ritual had concluded, and Lennok had finally seized the nomination rights of all families.

But before Lennok could move to nominate Oren as Fortress Head, Walter made his move first.

From the outer perimeter of the vast manor, which housed thousands of Fortress residents, a pale light began to erupt.

Whoosh!

The light, engulfing the entire massive manor, superimposed a colossal hemispherical barrier in the sky.

Above this barrier, an alien rift appeared, as if cut and pasted by scissors.

Rip!!!

As the rift, suddenly drawn in the sky, slowly opened, it began to greedily siphon something from the bodies of the spectators in the manor.

A whitish form, as if souls were escaping, was expelled from people’s bodies and drifted towards the top of the barrier.

Witnessing the unknown energy leaving their bodies, the spectators instantly fell into chaos, and the manor swiftly turned into an pandemonium.

“Aaaaah!”

“S-save me!! What is this?!”

The ritual, which began in the blink of an eye, was unbelievably massive and thorough.

A rift opened in the sky. And pale light spread, threatening to absorb thousands of lives.

The large-scale spatial transfer spell Walter had attempted at Rebatenon, ‘Amrita’s Scales’.

It sacrifices a certain amount of life, and in return, moves an equivalent number of lives.

The spell’s range covered the entire vast manor. It was a scale that could sacrifice thousands of people at once.

Even if efficiency was boosted by sacrificing human lives, a ritual of this scale would be utterly impossible without prior preparation.

The Ibon Family Head and Walter had, from the very beginning, intended to massacre all Fortress residents and replace them with Guido Cult members if things didn’t go according to plan.

“It’s regrettable. I didn’t want to see so much blood spilled this way…”

Walter, with the pale column of light behind him, smiled.

“If you hadn’t refused my offer, this catastrophe wouldn’t have happened. This is all because of you.”

“It seems the Fortress’s continued existence doesn’t matter, as long as you can gain the Fortress Head’s authority.”

Lennok cleanly ignored Walter’s words and asked.

“Is that ruin truly so important to the cult?”

“…If you know that much, then there’s no need for more words.”

Walter readily nodded.

“It’s not merely a tourist attraction with strange scenery. Those traces, detached from this world’s timeline, are undeniably remnants of the Old World… It’s essentially a ‘rift’ to another world, hard to find under this closed sky.”

“……”

“A communication channel to the outside world, incredibly rare in this world where even communication with gods has become difficult… Do you understand its significance?”

“No.”

Lennok replied indifferently.

“I’ll crush you right here, and then I’ll listen to that slowly.”

At that moment, from a corner of the manor where the two faced each other, a jet-black shadow surged forth.

Whoosh!

The remnants of shadow magic, painstakingly laid out secretly throughout the manor, even pushing Asi to the forefront.

As if on cue, these traces simultaneously surged forth, rapidly extending throughout the manor.

The thick black shadow fragments headed towards the junctions connecting the pale columns of light extending from all directions.

As if knowing about this spell, instead of directly blocking the light, they created a black veil, deflecting it obliquely and disrupting the barrier’s flow.

The rift that had been slowly opening in the sky began to close, and the flow that was siphoning people’s lives started to sever.

“……!!!!”

For the first time, the smile vanished from Walter’s face, but the preparations Lennok and Oren had made didn’t end there.

Boom!

The walls surrounding the manor’s spectator seats crumbled, revealing stairs leading out of the manor.

These were not originally present.

An emergency passage created by physically materializing shadows.

But that wasn’t a crucial fact for the Fortress residents, who were currently losing their life force.

“W-we’re saved…!!”

“Run! Quick!!”

“The Family Heads will somehow stop this!”

Walter’s face contorted as the Fortress residents instantly began fleeing the manor.

“This is…!!”

The shadow that erupted as soon as their conversation ended.

It was obvious who orchestrated this.

Walter’s eyes quickly scanned his surroundings.

There were two locations from which strong shadow manipulation magic was flowing.

The lanky young man behind the stage.

And the Samyeong Family Head, who was seated among the Eight Families’ Family Heads.

The two shadow sorcerers, concentrating deeply, were manipulating shadows to evacuate the people inside the manor.

“Don’t interfere!!!”

Walter roared and dashed towards the back of the stage, but a powerful shockwave erupted from behind him, sending his body flying high into the air.

Thump!!

“……!!!”

Even if losing an arm was acceptable, he had to avoid damage that would render his body immobile.

Walter, clutching his tattered shoulder and looking up at the sky, had a strange expression.

“A Soul Absorption Barrier, created by modifying the Twelve Parish Interpretive Principles, shattered so easily…”

“……”

“It seems someone from the Samyeong side has made contact with us. There’s no way they could so precisely suppress only the rift’s formation without understanding the spell’s operating principles…”

Walter muttered, completely unaware that the culprit was right before his eyes.

The method Walter had used for incarnation at Rebatenon University. And at the same time, the large-scale spatial transfer spell he tried to unleash at the cost of the dormitory students’ lives.

Lennok, having discerned and countered the activation of that spell, had guessed that Walter would attempt the same thing with the Fortress residents.

The series of commotions at Rebatenon Magic University were likely nothing more than a test run for similar schemes within the Fortress.

While it might be difficult to cancel the spell immediately after its activation, it’s certainly possible to disrupt the barrier’s operation and weaken its effectiveness.

The two shadow sorcerers, Oren and Asi, possessed the capability to perfectly execute Lennok’s instructions.

“It’s a mistake to think you’re the only ones hiding something.”

Lennok smiled, looking up at Walter, who was suspended in mid-air.

Whoosh…!!

As he channeled mana, the bracelet on his right arm shattered, and the ground around him began to be heavily suppressed.

“You’ll have to play with me until the area is clear.”

A plan that should have unfolded perfectly, regardless of the Proxy Battle’s outcome.

The Ibon Family Head trembled, realizing that the scheme he had risked by partnering with the Guido Cult had developed a crack.

“How dare you…!!”

There was no need to state who was controlling the shadows that covered the inside of the barrier and disrupted the show of force.

The Ibon Family Head’s venomous gaze quickly shifted sideways.

Oren, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.

He had thought it was merely an act of bravado, feigning disinterest in the Proxy Battle itself, but was this what he had been preparing for all along…!!

Only then did the Ibon Family Head realize that their plans, and even the cult’s existence, had already been exposed to Oren, and he swung his hand with a furious expression.

Boom!

The spot where Oren had been sitting was instantly swept away, causing a massive explosion.

The other Family Heads sprang to their feet with bewildered expressions.

“Ibon Family Head!!”

“What in the world are you doing?!”

“Even if we are opposing factions, this is…!!”

Families like Sagun, Yukryeong, Chilhyun, or Paldun, even if they have enemies elsewhere, always shared the understanding that they were all members of the same Fortress.

Wasn’t the Proxy Battle system itself created to prevent internal strife between the direct bloodlines of the Eight Families?

In such a situation, suddenly attacking another Family Head was nothing short of abandoning all the legitimacy accumulated by the Proxy Battle system.

The Ibon Family Head yelled with a fierce expression.

“Kill the Samyeong Family Head right now!!”