879

 [Chapter 219]

[The Mastermind (2)]

The Twins Basilisk had claimed the nearby roads and forests as their territory, it was said.

Currently, there seemed to be no signs of their forces trying to descend into the city.

That was somewhat good news.

Of course, they couldn't be entirely happy about it.

The monsters were surely aiming to expand their forces further.

Once they reached a certain number, they would lead their forces to invade.

So they had to start the subjugation battle and clear them out before that happened.

The S-rank clans participating from Seoul are ours, Blaze, Silla, Tempest, and Regulus Clan, five in total.

In addition, clans from the areas we manage are also participating...

Pandora Clan had three Twelve Seats.

As a result, they had to bear a lot of burden in large-scale operations where Twelve Seats were deployed.

Fortunately, thanks to having subordinate clans, they could somehow bear the burden.

Eun-ha decided to bring one subordinate clan each from Jung-gu and Dongdaemun-gu, including Dominic's clan.

Assuming 10 people per clan, about 80 players from Seoul would be moving to Gangneung.

It was an operation where a large-scale force was moving for the first time since the Seven Devils' terror.

If we add the support from players in Gangneung city... It will be an operation with over 100 people.

That night.

Eun-ha didn't return home and was busy reviewing the operation.

As it was an operation to battle two 3rd rank overrank monsters, there had to be many people deployed.

A number exceeding 100 seemed appropriate.

Nevertheless, he couldn't shake off his worries.

"The numbers and skills are all excellent, but... In the previous regression, most died fighting those two..."

In his previous life, Eun-ha couldn't know what had happened to the players who left for Gangneung.

The death toll exceeded half.

The survivors couldn't accurately remember the situation that occurred at the time.

Moreover, a considerable number went mad as their minds collapsed.

He only knew that for some reason, the operation failed and they had difficulties in subjugating the commanders.

Is there a monster among them that can interfere with minds?

Eun-ha thought about this.

He suspected the existence of a monster that could use brainwashing magic powerful enough to drive <Holy Mother> Park Hye-rim mad.

Then he shook his head.

It was a narrow-minded thought.

He couldn't suspect monsters.

He couldn't rule out the possibility of it being a person, considering conspiracy theories.

Thinking about how Baek-yeon's power was greatly weakened by this incident back then, it could be thought that someone plotted it.

He recalls the existence of a person who can handle brainwashing magic skillfully enough that others couldn't uncover it.

Only one person came to mind.

Armageddon.

But Armageddon was already dead?

Eun-ha stopped thinking.

No answer came out no matter how much he thought.

Anyway, he decided to do his best not to produce the same result as before regression, preparing for the worst-case scenario.

That's why he called Ryu Yeon-hwa, who was also staying at the headquarters.

"Yeon-hwa, can you come here?"

[Okay.]

She seemed to have been training hard.

Her breathing was somewhat rough.

A moment later, Ryu Yeon-hwa came.

Eun-ha welcomed her warmly.

"What's the matter? Are you going home now?"

"I'll go home after finishing this. You're coming too, right?"

"Yes."

"Then wait a little." "Okay. But why did you call me?"

"I have a favor to ask you."

In the worst case, if what's about to happen is someone's conspiracy.

And if a similar result to the previous life occurs.

He had to prepare accordingly.

That's why he called Ryu Yeon-hwa.

Eun-ha opened his mouth.

"Tomorrow when we leave for Gangneung."

"Yes."

"I'd like you to form an independent detachment and follow us. Take Twenty-five with you so you don't get caught by others' tracking. You know Twenty-five, right?"

"You mean the person I met at the wedding last time? The one who called me fourth madam."

"That's right, get help from him."

Unfortunately, there was no way to overturn this situation.

They had no choice but to get on the board someone had set up.

In that situation, what Eun-ha could do was catch the opponent off guard.

That is, bringing clan members not listed in the operation roster as reserve forces.

"How should I form the party?"

<Divine Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa.

She would be the biggest variable.

Eun-ha trusted her.

And she didn't question Eun-ha's words to create a reserve party.

She trusted Eun-ha.

So she voluntarily asked.

"How about 7 people: me, Ariel, Nam-hoon oppa, Jo A-ra, Ga-yeon, Tae-hee, and Woo-bi unnie?" "Should we bring Lala too?" "Yeah, that would be better."

"Is it a dangerous task?" "I'm not sure yet."

"Alright. Then I'll secretly follow you with the help of this person called Twenty-five."

"Please do."

You can use myths if necessary.

Eun-ha was confident.

Still, he couldn't shake off his anxiety.

☆

Day broke.

The attack force moved to Gangneung on buses chartered by the Mana Management Organization.

The road conditions were good as all transportation to Gangneung was cut off.

Leaving early in the morning, they were able to arrive in Gangneung by lunchtime that day.

"The speed at which the colony is growing is terrifying right now. They say the number of monsters hatching from eggs is no joke either."

Silla Clan's navigator approached and told the attack force members.

Players active in Gangneung were also providing information one after another.

The information they gave all pointed to the worst.

People's faces hardened.

If their numbers keep increasing like this, a situation where they attack nearby cities could occur by tomorrow.

Everyone had similar thoughts to Eun-ha.

In the end, they had no choice but to make a decision.

"We have no choice but to leave right now. It will get dark in a few hours, but we can't help it."

"Calculating until it gets completely dark, we'll have 2-3 more hours. It's quite a tight time, but it should be doable."

<Yama > Kang Hyeon-cheol.

<Holy Mother> Park Hye-rim.

The two offered their opinions.

People seemed to agree.

There was a possibility that the colony could grow rapidly at night and invade.

If that happened, it would be the worst-case scenario.

They had to subjugate them urgently.

"Alright, then let's go subjugate them right away. We don't have time to waste."

Eun-ha agreed too.

So the players decided to move locations with the help of Gangneung city clan players.

They had to get off the car on the way.

The road was destroyed and not in a usable state.

The players who got off the car headed towards the location where the colony was being formed at a quick pace.

Eventually, they were able to arrive at the colony.

""""...."""

"This is no joke."

Beyond, snakes were intertwined, blocking the road.

Soon, the snakes that discovered the players made sharp sounds.

People were at a loss for words seeing the snakes covering the entire area.

Hoshimiya Kaede muttered in a disgusted tone.

"Kaede."

"Yeah."

"It doesn't seem easy to break through all those guys. Find the fastest path to reach the commanders."

"I'll go up in the sky and look."

"Twin navigators."

"Yes, Clan Lord. But my name is..."

"Quickly analyze the number of individuals covering the area, their names, information, average rank of the group, etc."

"He always calls us twins. Why can't he just call me Ling... Tch, fine. I'll do it."

Eun-ha gave instructions to his clan members.

They decided to leave the small fry to the Gangneung city players.

The goal was solely the subjugation of the commanders.

They couldn't waste strength dealing with small fry.

[It's a message from Kaede. Confirmed the location of the commanders. The coordinates are....]

While the rangers were risking danger to find a path,

The first person to find the commanders' location was Hoshimiya Kaede.

Jin Seo-na sent a telepathic message.

"They're spread out on both sides of the road."

The information was that the Twin Basilisks were active about 3km apart.

Then they had to divide the attack force into two here.

Eun-ha and representatives from each clan exchanged opinions.

"We and our subordinate clans will deal with the Basilisk on the left."

"Pandora Clan Lord. Don't you need support from other clans?"

"We have enough dealers and supporters, but it would be good to have a clan to take charge of rear support..."

In response to Regulus Clan Lord Koo Yeon-su's question,

Eun-ha looked at the faces of those gathered around him one by one.

Then Tempest Clan Lord Kang Ye-hee caught his eye.

"Tempest Clan, please support from the rear."

"Okay, let's do that. Let's go, Su-jin."

Kang Ye-hee nodded immediately.

Then she led <Silent > Yu Su-jin and clan members away.

Blaze, Regulus, and Silla Clan soon moved to subjugate the commander on the right.

Eun-ha looked around at his clan members.

"Let's go too."

Kaede is acting as the coordinates.

Eun-ha opened a subspace.

Clan members entered the subspace, and Eun-ha entered last and closed the subspace.

"Whew, it's much bigger than in the photos. Is that a snake? It's a dragon."

"Jin Pa-rang, I've told you many times, don't try to look at its eyes unnecessarily."

"I know that, okay?"

Those who came out of the subspace were able to spot the nearby commander.

Jin Pa-rang clicked his tongue while hiding his body in the bushes.

Unlike other snakes, the Basilisk was especially long and huge.

Mok Min-ho gave a warning.

"What should we do?"

At that moment, Kaede quietly landed where they were.

She nocked an arrow to her bow and asked for Eun-ha's opinion.

"Eun-ah noona."

"Yes, Eun-ha."

"Can you use magic to counter the Basilisk's petrification magic?"

"I learned it perfectly yesterday. Don't worry about that."

"What about magic to increase mana resistance?" "I'll cast that on you now too."

"I hope you'll cast the magic again before its effect ends."

"Don't worry. I plan to do that. Anything else to say?"

"Don't get hurt."

"You too, Eun-ha."

Noh Eun-ah smiled slightly.

Eun-ha entrusted the rear to her and spoke to Jin Seo-na.

"Seo-na, you know, right?"

"How could I not know when you say it like that?"

"I believe you know."

"Sigh, okay. You want me to be able to exchange telepathy with the players dealing with the other commander at any time, right?"

"That's right. As you know, those guys share each other's lives."

"Don't worry. I'll let you know when they signal from the other side. And I'll let them know when we signal."

"I'm counting on you."

"Good luck."

Noh Eun-ah, Jin Seo-na, Meilin, Meiling, and Cha Eun-woo were planned to stay in the rear.

Bae Su-bin and Kaede in the middle.

Eun-ha, Mok Min-ho, Jin Pa-rang, Dominic, etc. were planned to be at the front.

Finally, after confirming the battle formation, Eun-ha spoke to Kaede who was waiting to fire at any time.

"Kaede, give the signal. We're starting the battle now."

"Got it."

"Those who can fly, be careful of the commander changing to Phase 2. They say wings sprout from its back when it changes to Cockatrice mode."

After Eun-ha's order ended,

Finally, Kaede shot her arrow.

The light-imbued arrow burst in the air, falling to the ground in an arc.

Kyaaak!!

Thousands of arrows rained down.

The Basilisk, which had been sitting still coiled up like the king of snakes, writhed its body.

It noticed Eun-ha's presence.

"Battle start."

With Eun-ha's words,

The players came out of the bushes and rushed at the commander.

It was the beginning of a long battle.

☆

The Twelve Seats and attack force members from Seoul arrived in Gangneung.

The battle began.

At that time, the group following the king was hiding their presence quite far away.

"Seven Twelve Seats being deployed is beyond expectations."

"It can't be helped since 3rd rank overrank monsters appeared, two of them at that. And it looks like many because Pandora Clan has three Twelve Seats."

"Perhaps one clan having multiple Twelve Seats is a double-edged sword. They might be able to sway the political situation usually, but in emergencies, they have to deploy forces proportional to the number of Twelve Seats."

"Even if they drafted subordinate clans from Yongsan-gu, Jung-gu, and Dongdaemun-gu, it must be quite a burden."

"With today's incident, Pandora Clan will lose a considerable amount of their forces and influence in their managed areas, walking the path of decline."

The king spoke indifferently.

Mastema nodded in agreement with the king's words.

Among the slayers, there was one with excellent ability to see distant scenes while hiding their presence.

They could check the battle in detail through the mirror he created.

"It's a shame <Divine Spear> wasn't deployed. If <Divine Spear> had been deployed too, Pandora Clan would have surely walked the path of decline..."

"It can't be helped. I can understand Noh Eun-ha's feelings. He probably wants to preserve some forces in Pandora Clan just in case."

Seven Twelve Seats gathered.

The king thought that was enough.

<Divine Spear> wasn't a match.

After wiping them out this time, they just need to slowly strangle Pandora Clan to death.

It was then.

"Noh Eun-ha killed a commander."

"Impressive skills."

Noh Eun-ha reflected in the mirror.

He caught the Basilisk off guard with support from his party members.

Approaching from a blind spot, he quickly made a hole in its head.

But as long as the other individual is alive, the Basilisk doesn't die.

It was then again.

"<Thunder God> and <Yama > cooperated to kill a Basilisk."

Almost simultaneously, another individual lost its life.

The slayers clicked their tongues at the battle of the Twelve Seats, who are mentioned among the top three strongest in Korea.

Then, a large man with a lot of flesh spoke.

He had an appearance reminiscent of Abaddon.

"Halphas, I want to eat them. Give me one. I'll eat them."

The man who introduced himself as Halphas.

No, the Mine sucked his finger.

He didn't seem to feel a crisis even though two Basilisks had died.

It was the same for <Puppeteer > Lee Dong-hyuk.

"Then I'd like the other one to be handed over to me. It would be perfect to use as a puppet."

<Puppeteer > giggled.

Then the slayers snickered too.

They each added their own words.

"Then I'll take <Silent >. I'll take her and train her to my taste."

"I'll play with <Holy Mother> and when I lose interest

"I'll play with <Holy Mother> and when I lose interest, I'll just collapse her mind and send her back to society. It would be strange if all the Twelve Seats died, right?"

"Then what about Noh Eun-ha? Han Chang-jin? Jin Pa-rang?"

The king let them chatter frivolously.

His gaze was fixed solely on the mirror.

"The Basilisks are reviving." "Yes, as expected."

Commanders sharing life vessels.

The two were supposed to disappear from this world after dying simultaneously.

But they weren't disappearing and were preparing to regenerate.

Bewilderment appeared on the faces of the players reflected in the mirror.

"They will never be able to kill them."

The king raised the corners of his mouth.

He declared.

Of course, that was natural.

Because─

"─I have the third life vessel."

There weren't just two life vessels.

There were three.

The artifact handed over by the king.

Mastema hugged it with both arms and smiled coldly.

The king nodded.

"We'll launch a surprise attack when their strength is drained. That will be the end."

It's not cowardly.

We do whatever it takes to win.

That is what's right, and that is justice.

It was the king and their way.