Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 176

Pursuit (5)

Swish!

Chains of divinity sprung from the floor, coiling around the man.

Helplessly ensnared, he slammed his head against the floor, and Eile seized the opportunity to beat him into near-death.

“Hah, he really made me work for it until the end.”

Withdrawing his sword, Eile wiped the sweat from his brow.

Even after landing a One Flash strike, the resistance was fiercer than expected, but he finally managed to subdue him completely.

Peeking out the window, he saw residents buzzing with curiosity, drawn by the commotion, and even guards pushing through the crowd.

The abandoned building in the city center was ablaze, smoke billowing, making it impossible not to attract attention.

While it was the spy who would ultimately face the trouble, Eile also found it bothersome to explain things to the city guards and the Dawn officials.

‘I should slip away before things get complicated.’

After gagging him and securing him with ropes over the chains bound by his skill, Eile slipped out the back door, avoiding the eyes of the people.

He fled to a deserted alley, leaving behind the scene of the uproar caused by the discovery of the burning sacred fire. It was a spot he had scouted before raiding the place.

Thud!

The man was thrown down, rolling on the ground.

Eile approached him as he groaned and removed the gag from his mouth.

The chains, their duration expired, had vanished, but he was still helpless, near death and bound by ropes.

“You… you’re making a mistake right now.”

“Sure, I am.”

Ignoring him, Eile took a photo of his face.

Then, he sent the photo to Tasha, with whom he had previously established contact via messenger.

This was to confirm whether he was indeed a member of Nightmare, not just someone in disguise.

If it was just a superficial disguise, he wouldn’t be able to fool his own guild members.

“Indeed…….”

The answer she sent back was as expected.

Swan, a formal member of Nightmare.

Once again, it was a formal guild member, not just someone from a subordinate guild.

It wasn’t just the appearance that was the same; everything from the use of daggers to the job and fighting style matched perfectly.

“Who ordered you to do this?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. I’m acting under the guild’s orders in secret. We can’t just sit back and be taken advantage of by the variable that is the Ancient Spirit. Now that you know, untie me first.”

“Ha.”

Eile scoffed at his brazen lie.

“I already knew you were a spy planted from the outside. And that you’ve been constantly stirring up trouble to worsen the relationship between the two guilds.”

“What nonsense…….”

“And the mastermind behind it is Apollion… right?”

“What……?”

Swan’s face changed in a very satisfying way as he panicked.

He quickly reverted to his original expression after that subtle change, but Eile wasn’t one to miss that fleeting moment.

This guy wasn’t a spy from the opposing guild, Dawn, nor was he a traitor bought off by the Iron Cross.

He was a spy acting under the orders of the Apollion Guild, which was being treated as a complete outsider in the current landscape between the two guilds.

And it wasn’t just his story alone.

Including Dawn guild members caught in Nightmare’s territory, and a number expected to be even greater.

They had secretly planted spies in Dawn and Nightmare, so that even the other top 6 guilds wouldn’t notice.

‘I knew something was off.’

Even Eile was only able to realize the truth after hearing the story from Sir.

The Nightmare and Dawn guilds had been in fierce competition since the days of the 1.5-generation virtual reality game, ‘New World.’

To further intensify the conflict between the two, the Apollion Guild had been carefully intervening and working behind the scenes.

Thanks to that, they were able to swallow an entire guild without being checked while breaking the existing balance, and they made two powerful competitors exhaust their strength through an all-out war.

From a results perspective, it was a very successful strategy of sowing discord.

“One of the personnel dispatched for rear attacks……. So that’s why you weren’t caught right away.”

Eile nodded at the additional information Tasha sent.

If he were to go to a distant territory at a time like this, the guild would naturally notice something suspicious.

But Swan’s case was different.

The war between the giant guilds wasn’t just about the all-out war; fierce rear operations were also taking place behind the scenes.

Destroying each other’s key strongholds and supplies in the rear, exchanging attacks and defenses.

He was a guild member dispatched to the rear area for that purpose.

He was faithfully carrying out his missions in front of the guild, and they would never have imagined that he was doing something like this on the other side.

“Since when have you been doing this? Looking at your guild joining date, it’s been 6 months…….”

Thud!

At that moment, Swan’s body, which had been tied up, slumped.

His eyes lost focus, and he lay sprawled out.

Judging from his physical condition, he hadn’t died.

“Forced termination, huh.”

Eile clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed.

Forced disconnection.

If you forcibly disconnect while engaged in battle or captured, you will be given a slight penalty.

However, it seemed he judged that it was much better than being caught up in Eile’s interrogation and leaking even a hint of information.

‘Well, I’ve gotten everything I needed anyway.’

From the beginning, he didn’t think he could extract any more information from him.

He had already achieved enough, and now all he had to do was inform his huge clients of this fact.

This information with tremendous repercussions.

“But what should I do with this…….”

Eile looked down at the slumped Swan with a troubled expression.

* * *

Sir of the Iron Cross.

Karin of Nightmare.

Solos of Dawn.

The three guild leaders were sitting at a round table.

No less than the top-ranked players in the entire ranking, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place, were present, and even the one or two ranked players standing at the entrance, assisting each of them, were all high-rankers in the top double digits.

Such a sight, where half of the six guild leaders who dominate Warlord gathered in one place, was by no means easy to see.

Especially now, when the entire continent was swept up in a full-scale war.

“Well, can you understand now?”

Sir asked, looking at the guild leaders on either side.

Numerous documents were placed on the round table.

Among them were photos of both guild members that Eile had taken and sent directly.

Those photos were direct evidence that spies were hiding in both guilds.

“You can’t stop spies from infiltrating when the guild’s size gets bigger. But Apollion’s involvement is unexpected.”

Solos said, slamming the data down.

Aside from the photos of both guild members, the data Sir had collected left them with no choice but to be convinced.

“They started a fight first to avoid being checked, and as soon as the war broke out, they moved as if they had been waiting for it. But the fact that some of the spies have been affiliated for nearly a year means they had this plan from the very beginning. Is this even possible?”

Karin said, as if she couldn’t believe it.

Carrying out such a long-term plan was by no means an easy task, and moreover, Apollion was a new guild with no originating game.

A guild that started its power in Warlord.

But for such a guild to have set up this plan at a time when the game had barely started, it didn’t make sense.

“It’s impossible. The speed at which they first built their power, and even coaxing the Cerberus guys so willingly. It’s something that couldn’t have been done if they were just a simple emerging guild.”

“Do you have any guesses?”

“Yes, Alcyone has returned.”

“Huh?”

The first virtual reality game and the one representing the 1st generation of the three major games, ‘EastHone.’

Alcyone was the strongest guild at the time, completely dominating EastHone.

“Such nonsense…….”

Karin said, as if she was dumbfounded, and Solos agreed, looking at Sir.

The three guild leaders gathered here were all prestigious guilds with originating games.

They were able to bring their power as it was from the beginning, and that became the foundation for them to move forward.

However, on the other hand, as for the 1st generation game, EastHone, none of the top 6 guilds, let alone any noticeable medium-sized guilds, had an originating guild.

Other prestigious guilds that were about to gain a foothold in EastHone had already been completely dismantled by Alcyone’s hands a long time ago.

That was why Alcyone was called the strongest and the worst guild at the same time.

Alcyone, which unified the entire region with overwhelmingly irresistible power, raised all tax rates on trading floors and stores at once.

Naturally, those who rebelled rose up, but their reaction was nonchalant.

Rather, they voluntarily acted as villains, claiming that there was no problem in a game where freedom was guaranteed, and monopolized huge profits.

They crushed all those who rebelled or posed a threat, and never gave up the power they held even for a moment.

“Alcyone didn’t come to Warlord.”

Karin’s firm confirmation.

As she said, Alcyone remained in EastHone, which was already established, and did not come to Warlord.

At first, everyone naturally thought that they would come over, aiming for a bigger market, but it was a decision that overturned everyone’s expectations.

“Then why didn’t Alcyone come over? Leaving behind a market that can’t even be compared to previous games.”

“It’s been a long time since they fiercely competed. They must have lost their touch from comfortably settling down and being complacent, and more than anything, they would have become public enemies if they came to Warlord as a new challenge.”

“What if they’ve been hiding their identity until now because of that?”

“Nonsense. Are you saying that without knowing that Alcyone is still actively working?”

EastHone was still continuing without shutting down its servers.

Although many games were greatly affected by the emergence of Warlord, the three major games that dominated an era still maintained a certain scale.

Alcyone was still active there, and although not as much as before, they were monopolizing the entire market and making a lot of money.

“What if they set up a substitute just as a smokescreen? It’s not an impossible story. As you said, it’s been a long time since the days when they had to compete fiercely. There’s no chance of problems occurring either.”

Alcyone’s guild members all wore masks while active.

As they were the ones who voluntarily acted as villains from the beginning, they hid their faces and identities to prevent resentment.

“All we know are their game nicknames. It’s possible to deceive us as much as they want.”

Sir said to them.

Of course, all they had was suspicion; there was no evidence or data on this.

But now that the situation had come this far, it was a plausible story, and silence lingered in the room for a moment.

The guild leaders sitting here also knew them well, of course.

The name of Alcyone, which was so famous that gamers couldn’t not know it.

Even across generations, the impact they showed at the time was still talked about as the strongest, and it was not something that could simply be dismissed as an old story.

* * *

“They’ve gathered faster than I thought. But it doesn’t matter now.”