Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 171

171. Intervention (2)

The war between the six major guilds, Cerberus, and the Iron Cross, was being carried out in secret, without any grand declaration. As such, news of it hadn’t yet reached most users.

However, a fierce battle was indeed taking place within that silent battlefield.

Koo-oong!

An explosion rumbled low across the earth.

Due to the inter-guild battle raging in the mountains, the once-strong fortress had already completely collapsed. Battles were erupting one after another amidst the rising smoke and ruins.

“They’re coming from the front!”

“Block them here!”

A narrow passage connected to one side of the fortress.

The Cerberus guild members all drew their weapons at the sight of a user running towards them.

All five of them were quasi-rankers [players just below the top ranks].

Due to the narrow passage, evasion was impossible, and no ordinary user could pass through unscathed.

However, the woman running straight at them was far from ordinary.

Whoosh!

Sir avoided the spear that was reaching out for her and slipped into the gap.

Her longsword pierced through an abdomen, subduing one of the guild members in an instant.

Kilik! Kwadeuk!

She spun to dodge a sword aimed at her side, and at the same time, plunged the stolen weapon into her opponent’s neck.

She cut them down one by one, breaking through in an instant.

The narrow passage only made it more difficult to deal with her.

“Keuheok……!”

The five guild members collapsed helplessly, and Sir, straightening her longsword, fired sword energy directly at the wall in front of her.

Kwaaaang!

The thick wall was smashed open, revealing the inside.

Five users stood in the room.

Sir, already knowing they were Cerberus members, immediately used the ‘Instant Acceleration’ skill to approach them.

The four users barely reacted to her incredible speed and tried to block her, but it was not enough.

Jjeoeong!

Those who tried to block the sword strike were immediately sent flying into the opposite wall.

The guild members sprawled on the floor.

Even quasi-ranker level players, members of one of the six major guilds, could not withstand her skills.

“Ha…….”

The only man still standing let out a hollow laugh.

A man with a long spear on his back and armor engraved with the Cerberus guild emblem.

He was Yuron, the guild leader of Cerberus, a top-ranked player ranked 5th in the world.

“Coming in through the door when I’m right next to you. This *used* to be your fortress,” Yuron said with a sly smile.

He had a very handsome face, but Sir’s face was filled with displeasure as she faced his smile.

“You mutt, Yuron, you’re not one to talk.”

“Are you going to keep pushing that weird modifier? You’re the only one who puts ‘dog’ in front of it.”

“Shut up.”

The two guild leaders of the six major guilds faced each other on the battlefield.

They had a long-standing rivalry that had continued since the second-generation virtual reality game.

“This fortress was better defended than I thought. I figured you’d be off guard, but I had a hard time.”

“I already knew you guys were going to start a war. The friction you’ve been awkwardly building with Apollyon is just a smokescreen. Knowing your personality, there’s no way you’d just lukewarmly keep each other in check.”

“Well, you know me well.”

Yuron nodded and admitted it.

It was something that should have been kept secret from others, but he knew there was no point in denying it here.

He had been fighting against her since the days of Armenia Online.

In fact, there was virtually no other user who knew him better than she did in the game.

“Judging from the fact that you were putting on that clumsy act, I’d have to assume you were in cahoots from the very beginning… I still wonder how Apollyon managed to win you over,” Sir said suspiciously.

He didn’t get the nickname ‘Mutt Yuron’ for nothing.

Whether it was negotiation or threat, he was not an easy person to control.

But for him to move this far for Apollyon…

“Are you going to go under Apollyon this time?”

“Why? If we wipe out those Griffin guys and split the land in half, we’ll benefit too.”

“Everyone knows that’s not the deal.”

“Haha…….”

Yuron let out a strange laugh.

The current situation, where Apollyon was making great strides, would eventually be a very bad move for Cerberus in the long run.

But Yuron wasn’t cooperating because he *didn’t* know that.

“Since when have we been so talkative!”

Kaga gagak!

The spear and longsword clashed fiercely.

“I know you’re trying to lure me into a conversation to find out something… but it’s too boring when we’re fighting after so long,” Yuron said with a grin as he got close to her.

Then Sir’s expression turned cold.

“If that’s the case…….”

Jjeoeong!

A sharp series of strikes aimed at Yuron’s neck, and he lightly parried and retreated from the relentless attacks.

She was planning to inflict a fatal wound by activating a skill as soon as even a small gap appeared.

But at that moment, suddenly the walls on both sides were smashed and two users appeared.

Lake and Arrun.

They were top high rankers, ranked 9th and 14th respectively, and the top executives of the Iron Cross, Sir’s right and left arms.

“What……!”

Peo-eok!

Yuron, with his amazing reaction speed, barely blocked the attack, but was hit in the foot by Arrun and rolled on the floor.

“Tsk, you brought a lot of people.”

Yuron, who quickly got up, took a stance.

There were three high rankers.

Moreover, the 2nd, 9th, and 14th ranked players were gathered in one place.

“I guess I’ll have to stop here.”

“There’s no way I’m going to let you go easily.”

The three rankers surrounding him approached.

It was a good opportunity to eliminate the leader of the hostile guild, and they couldn’t let him go easily.

But Yuron’s lips, who was clearly in danger, rather curled up into a smirk.

Kwaaaang!

A huge explosion suddenly occurred.

A large-scale magic spell, Meteor Shower, which had been cast in advance from the outside, struck the fortress.

Because it was aimed exactly at the place where they were standing, the ceiling and walls completely collapsed and everyone inside was thrown out.

“Damn it, I told you to take it easy,” Yuron grumbled as he emerged from the collapsed debris.

He was also caught in the explosion and suffered considerable damage, but not enough to die.

“Keuk…….”

Sir, who had escaped from the debris on the opposite side, raised her head.

The executives who were with her also did not die, but the distance from Yuron was too far.

“I’d like to have a hot showdown here if possible… but I have to buy some time for now. Let’s not go anywhere and fight steadily.”

Yuron smiled, immediately turned around, and ran away.

As his figure completely disappeared, Sir, frowning, let out a short sigh.

“For now… I have no choice but to rely on the other side.”

* * *

Askalon’s palace.

Princess Seia was pacing around the room anxiously.

It was because of the current situation where things that seemed to be going smoothly were rather twisted.

Large-scale wars between guilds broke out in all directions.

One of the six major support groups was collapsing, and the other suddenly changed its attitude and returned to supporting the prince.

She still had the upper hand in the Grand Assembly, but she didn’t know what would happen if things continued like this.

Then, an aide who was watching her opened his mouth.

“You seem to have a lot of worries. The initiative has not yet been handed over to the prince.”

“The problem is that the word ‘yet’ is attached to it. We can’t just sit back and watch.”

Kadeuk!

Seia bit her nails.

The power of the ancient spirit that appeared in the northeast was so great that even the six major guilds could not easily stop it.

She had to somehow prevent the next incident from happening again, but the problem was that after Apollyon cooperated with the prince, the Knights of the Final Day became even more difficult to track down.

It was clear that they were taking action and plotting something.

Compared to the prince, who had some restrictions, he was showing completely different movements than before, as he was receiving support from the six major guilds.

It was not easy to track down the external forces that had been moving until now.

She couldn’t just sit back and watch.

‘Then…….’

She needed an external force that could hunt down, dig up, and destroy those who were hiding in the shadows and plotting conspiracies.

And if there was a group that could do this best…

There was only one place that came to her mind right now.

“Lord Asel, contact the Order of Light right now.”

* * *

After safely storing the second relic, Eile left Eltris and headed straight to the negotiation table with Nightmare.

Sitting across the table from him now was Karin, the guild leader of Nightmare.

He had come to her in person, but it was surprising that she was directly involved in the deal in the midst of the war.

Anyway, they were trying to trade the Western Relic as expected, and what Karin requested was the help of the Order of Light, including Eile.

“So… you’re asking me to help with the war against Dawn?”

“War? How many troops can you bring?” Karin asked with a smirk.

Although the relic fragments were important, they were only one of the four core fragments.

From Karin’s point of view, it was unreasonable to expect the Order to pour all its forces into a huge war between the six major guilds.

“The entire Order can’t move for just one relic fragment. In that case, it’s better to sell this at a high price and hire more mercenary guilds that specialize in war. But that’s not what we need.”

Karin spun the relic fragment placed on the table.

“When running a guild, it’s important to use talent in the right place. It’s important to make the most of your special skills.”

“Special skills……?”

“Suspicious movements are being reported in the rear. You’ve heard that the Griffin in the northeast was attacked by an ancient spirit, right? We can’t be safe if such an incident occurs while we’re fighting a full-scale war.”

“So you’re asking me to hunt down the Knights of the Final Day?”

“That’s right. But it’ll be a little different from what you’ve done so far. Lewin wasn’t stupid enough to be easily fooled by clumsy tricks.”

She was asking him to track down the Knights of the Final Day who had infiltrated the rear of the territory.

Nightmare already had people in charge of that problem.

However, the fact that she had approached him separately for negotiations meant that something ominous was being discovered.

‘This Apollyon and the six major guilds are using the Knights of the Final Day… this is going to be a big problem.’

He couldn’t receive their data now that he hadn’t accepted the conditions yet, but perhaps the Dawn Guild, which was opposed to Nightmare, had sided with the prince.

It meant that problems could be starting to arise in the world event that was supposed to be easily resolved.

If that were the case, this would certainly not be easy.

But if it was hunting down hidden heretics, the Order of Light was the expert.

“How about it? Is it possible?”

“Of course.”