Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 206

206. The Turbulent Field (4)

‘What…?’

Eile’s face hardened in bewilderment, and silence filled the passage.

Eile was so surprised by her words that he momentarily stopped walking.

Even though Alcyone was an elite guild, Eile knew that Alisa was not just an ordinary member.

But being a founding member of Alcyone was on a different level.

It meant she was one of the top executives with an unassailable status, having been with the guild since its inception.

When Eile paused, Alisa, who was walking ahead, turned back.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of doing anything strange now. I haven’t been involved in guild matters for a long time.”

She said casually and started walking again.

Eile silently followed her.

‘Certainly… if she had any ulterior motives, she would have acted on them by now.’

Considering her actions of extracting Seia one step ahead of the Apollon Guild and securing her safely, it didn’t seem like she intended to betray them.

In the first place, from the Apollon Guild’s perspective, they could have simply killed the princess to end everything without any hassle.

There was no need to deceive him by going through all this trouble.

“Originally, I wasn’t going to care about what the guild was doing. That’s why I didn’t level up in Warlord, which I started late, and focused on lifestyle content.”

That decision had changed after meeting Eile, but he didn’t bother mentioning that part.

“If you were in such a high position within Alcyone, was there a reason why you suddenly left the guild?”

“It’s the same as I said before. I felt disillusioned. But it’s too late to say such things now.”

Alisa walked silently, looking ahead.

Eile, carrying the princess on his back, couldn’t see her expression.

Since he had never heard any news of internal strife within the Alcyone Guild in the past, he couldn’t guess what the circumstances were.

“Wait, could it be that the other executives are also hiding somewhere or something?”

Eile, who had been deep in thought, suddenly asked.

There were a total of seven founding members in Alcyone, and even excluding the two she mentioned, there were still five left.

He absolutely didn’t want a situation where another guild leader of the Six Great Guilds, like Yuron, turned out to be a former Alcyone executive.

Fortunately, Alisa shook her head.

“The other five all moved to Apollon as they were. They are the top five executives of Apollon, including the guild leader. Kruger, who is the guild leader, used to be known as Warden in Alcyone.”

‘So that’s how it was…’

Eile pondered her words.

In fact, after hearing about Alcyone, he had already somewhat anticipated Kruger’s identity.

Both had chosen the same knight-type class, held the top rank, and, most importantly, they were guild leaders representing their guilds.

At least there were no other executives hiding their identities, so it was a relief that the Six Great Guilds cooperating with him wouldn’t suddenly betray him.

“Still, at least I won’t be betrayed as soon as I take the princess. If we can just get out of here safely…”

“Eile, there’s something you need to know.”

Alisa stopped in front of a small passage.

Eile nodded at her serious tone.

“It’s true that the princess is the only key to reversing the current situation. But that alone won’t be enough to end it. Apollon’s power is much stronger than anyone thinks right now.”

“I don’t think anyone is underestimating Apollon, of all guilds.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about their real, unhidden power.”

“Hidden…?”

“Alcyone grew by defeating other guilds from the beginning. They easily defeated guilds with significant differences in size, and because of that, they were considered a threatening force and faced a lot of checks and balances. Later, they even faltered while fighting against a semi-alliance of virtually all the guilds in East Thorn. They eventually overcame it, but everyone remembers that experience. So, what do you think the executives who moved to Warlord did this time?”

Alisa’s meaningful words were thrown out.

In any game, if there’s a guild with overwhelming power from the start, all the other guilds will unite to oppose them.

They had already experienced it once in East Thorn. The executives knew that fact very well.

“Then…”

Eile’s eyes trembled with a premonition, and Alisa silently nodded.

The Apollon Guild had deliberately concealed their power to avoid a semi-alliance, and the executives had been intentionally lowering their rankings all along.

Levels, skill composition, equipped items, and even actual combat data.

Even among all virtual reality games, Warlord had the most accurate ranking system.

But even if it calculates everything, it’s impossible to judge actions that have never been seen before.

If they never showed their true skills even once, it was entirely possible to hide their rankings.

“Now that they’ve made the gamble of seizing the royal family, Apollon will definitely reveal their true power.”

* * *

Thud!

Karin, the guild leader of Nightmare.

She shook off the blood from her dagger as she entered the inner part of the Root’s path, chasing after the pursuers.

At her feet lay mangled corpses.

She had instantly killed the two Apollon rankers she encountered inside, following those guarding the entrance.

Despite being a top-ranked player in Warlord, even a proper reaction was impossible in the face of Karin’s speed.

However, one of the three rankers who had been attacked managed to react to her surprise attack and remained standing.

“Is it okay to leave the northeastern front empty?”

“That’s what I should be saying. You’ve been plotting in the capital all this time, haven’t you?”

Silas and Karin exchanged words as they faced each other.

Silas, who had easily blocked the previous attack, was a top executive of Apollon and ranked 8th in the world.

From the start, Karin didn’t think she would be taken down by a mere surprise attack.

The two, who had already crossed swords several times, aimed their weapons at each other.

Thud!

“Oh, you’re already having a fight.”

A man suddenly appeared and intervened.

Another executive of Apollon, Lucan.

Karin’s face twitched at his silent appearance.

Silas alone was not an easy opponent, and if Lucan, who was also ranked 10th in the world, joined in, it would be quite troublesome.

‘But that’s unlikely to happen.’

“Should I help?”

“No, go ahead.”

Silas said firmly, glancing sideways.

It meant he didn’t want her to interfere in their fight, which was what Karin expected.

Silas, who was full of pride in his skills, would never allow himself to be on the side of two people, unless he was facing them alone.

“Well… I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

Lucan shrugged and turned his head.

After all, chasing the princess was the top priority right now, and there seemed to be no need for two executives to stick around.

Swish!

“Where are you going? Shouldn’t you be ganging up on me?”

The dagger Karin threw was embedded in the wall next to Lucan.

She already knew about Silas’s strong pride and was trying to provoke him before the battle.

“Then have fun, you two.”

Lucan chuckled and passed by, lightly ignoring the dagger stuck in the wall.

But unlike him, Silas’s expression stiffened as Karin had hoped.

Clang!

As soon as Lucan disappeared beyond the passage, Silas kicked off the ground and swung his sword.

Whoosh!

The unique-grade skill, Assault, was activated, causing a massive explosion.

One side of the wide passage was completely destroyed by the fiery attack skill from the start.

Silas, who immediately stuck to Karin who had dodged the attack, unleashed a barrage of attacks.

When facing her, a swordsman who wielded dark属性 [dark attribute], even a small wound could not be allowed.

She had to be careful not to be afflicted with powerful debuffs, including curses.

At the same time, her excellent firepower, including the previous area-of-effect skill, was too much for Karin, a rogue class, to easily counter.

Therefore, the key was evasion.

Swoosh!

The skill, Shadow Step, was activated, and Karin instantly circled behind Silas.

She kicked Silas hard in the back before he could even react.

Then, she pulled on the daggers she had thrown on the floor in advance.

Whirr!

The chains connected to the daggers moved all at once.

The sturdy chains wrapped around Silas, who was being knocked back by the kick, and tightly constricted his entire body.

“Ugh… !”

Whoosh!

Of course, Silas quickly activated a status ailment解除 [status ailment removal] skill and immediately broke free from the bound state.

But Karin had already spotted an opening due to his slower-than-usual reaction.

“Too late.”

Whoosh!

Karin had already activated the Dual Acceleration skill while Silas was being knocked back.

Her momentarily maximized speed was tremendous, and she had reached Silas’s face in the blink of an eye.

An attack that could not be blocked even if he broke free from the bound state.

Clang!

But Karin’s dagger failed to pierce his neck, and a loud metallic sound echoed.

Surprisingly, Silas, who had blocked the previous attack, stepped closer.

“I’ve received confirmation that I don’t need to hide from Kruger anymore. I’ll stop playing around now.”

“This is…”

Karin’s eyes trembled as she crossed swords with him.

Somehow, all the equipment Silas was wearing had been completely changed.

Weapons and armor that even she had never seen before.

Beyond the crossed swords, a completely different look in his eyes was staring at her.

“You know what? I’ve been annoyed at being lumped together with the Six Great Guilds and all that.”

Crack!

“Ugh…”

Karin’s expression contorted at the pressure on her grabbed left arm.

A cold sneer hung on Silas’s lips.

“The scraps that couldn’t even set foot in East Thorn are discussing who’s the strongest. I can’t help but laugh.”

* * *

[Current Rankings]

[1st – Kruger (Apollon)]

[2nd – Silas (Apollon)]

[3rd – Lucan (Apollon)]

[4th – Ixion (Apollon)]

[5th – Dagos (Apollon)]

[6th – Sir (Iron Cross)]

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