Chapter 309 – Interference
“Lily, are you alright?”
“…Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Not badly. But… Keros…”
Lily’s expression darkened noticeably as she looked at Keros.
He had thrown himself forward to protect her, taking Richard’s sword in her place, and now looked to be in critical condition.
His form appeared… faint.
[His presence has taken damage. If left like this, he will disappear.]
“What do you an?”
[It ans he needs treatnt.]
After speaking with Reto, I realized that the greatsword—the ghost sword—inflicted significant damage on spiritual beings.
He needed imdiate attention, but the situation made that difficult.
Outside the building, divine na users were starting to gather. Since they were still approaching, it was impossible to know the exact number.
Richard, standing alone, seed to recognize the unfavorable odds and chose to buy ti instead.
The battle entered a brief lull, and in that gap, I quickly assessed the situation.
“Lily, how did you end up here?”
“…Well.”
As she explained, the Golden Mask was ntioned, and both Karl and Lochter’s expressions turned grim. It seed they had also been approached by the Golden Mask.
“For , it was Azonne who approached.”
Piecing it all together, I saw the plan: scatter the World Tree Union’s core forces, then target Lily.
If the rest of us hadn’t sensed Lily’s mysterious call?
She would’ve been taken.
Richard had more than enough power to subdue her. Judging by the sealed wall, he clearly intended to abduct her without leaving a trace.
In other words, had she been captured, we wouldn’t even have known where she vanished to.
To put it simply, it had nearly been a disaster.
So, Lord Azonne is involved in this too…
Richard’s composure likely ca from Azonne’s presence. This wasn’t the result of a spontaneous decision—Azonne had backed him strategically.
They must have moved with the assumption that Lily would be drawn here.
“They probably believed that if we stepped into their trap, the chance of success would be high.”
What bothered was that all of this happened before any negotiations over the Leaf Monopoly began.
Which ant—it was preditated.
Is that even possible?
There shouldn’t have been ti to gather intel to lure us into a trap.
Then I rembered—Azonne had personally handed out golden boxes to our group, and behind them, the masked ones had slipped in notes.
If they used Greed’s Eye to read our desires and chose targets to lure us?
It’s plausible.
“You’re not going to engage? Tucking your tail now?”
Soon after, Richard threw out another provocation.
Karl, incensed, stepped forward, but I blocked him.
He shot a glare full of frustration, but I shook my head.
Six…?
I could now clearly sense the number of divine hosts outside.
Three at the entrance, three more at the rear door.
With Zarakan dead, only three sub-captains remain from the Cleaners’ core force.
If three on one side were the sub-captains Richard brought, then—
“Who are the other three?”
Azonne had arrived with them earlier, so one of them must be Lord Azonne.
Which ant two more had joined Azonne.
There were no allies of ours in Aintrier. So it was safe to assu these people had been summoned by Azonne.
If we fought now?
Worst-case scenario, 7 vs. 4.
A guaranteed loss for us.
We had to avoid combat at all costs.
They might take serious damage too, but we’d be wiped out.
For the World Tree Union, it would be a blow that uproots the foundation.
This wasn’t the outco I had envisioned.
My goal was division, after all.
“…Wait. Division?”
I paused for a mont.
Then I rembered the two individuals likely sticking close to Azonne.
“This…”
Suddenly, I recalled Aintrier’s power structure and glanced toward Richard.
“The situation is quite ironic.”
“What is?”
“Four versus four. The numbers are perfectly even. If we clash now, we’ll all suffer irreversible damage. Don’t you agree?”
Richard paused at my words.
His reaction confird it—he didn’t know exactly how many were waiting outside.
He soon smirked and said,
“Why assu it’s just us?”
“Then… are you saying you knew we’d co here?”
That was the deciding blow.
Richard’s expression shifted.
He, too, seed to realize sothing was wrong.
This building was surrounded by a barrier that made it impossible to locate. We had only co here because of Lily’s mysterious call, but from Richard’s perspective, it might have looked like soone had guided us here deliberately.
“Who do you think called us here?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“If you’ve spent your life working under clients, then you should understand their mindset better than anyone. Still haven’t figured it out?”
“You arrogant…”
“If you want to fight, I’ll oblige. However…”
I narrowed my eyes and locked onto Richard.
The pre-activation stage of Divine Hunter—Target Designation.
Once a person becos the hunter’s target, they are struck by an overwhelming sense of killing intent.
As expected, Richard’s face froze.
Even with [Fear Resistance], being paralyzed by killing intent was a first for him.
“You will die. I swear on my na.”
Richard, overwheld by this intense pressure for the first ti, silently looked around.
The witch stood with her staff raised, eyes fierce. Lochter also took a battle stance, lifting his sword with his usable arm.
Richard calculated in his mind.
If he summoned the three sub-captains, could he win?
He could.
He trusted in himself and his subordinates’ abilities.
They could slaughter them and avenge Zarakan.
The tension crackled.
A volatile atmosphere, ready to explode from the smallest provocation.
But—
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
Richard clicked his tongue briefly and lowered his sword.
He could avenge the sub-captain.
But that was it.
The Cleaners only pursued visible profit. A win that brought only loss? He would pass.
The shadow arms vanished one by one, and the swords disappeared into thin air.
Richard slowly backed off and spoke.
“You’re right. I’m not a fan of playing soone’s hunting dog. I’ll retreat for now. Let’s not do each other any favors. But let ask one thing.”
“If it’s about Zarakan, I have nothing more to say.”
“No. I want to know the whereabouts of another person. Samuel Barber—where is he now?”
“Why ask about Samuel? You’re the ones tracking him. Shouldn’t you know better?”
Richard bared his teeth in a grin. Though he smiled, the air around him was terrifying.
“You’re not ready to talk, I see. We’ll et again. The next ti, the situation might be a bit different.”
“We’ll see. I doubt it’ll be that different.”
Richard glared at for a mont, then vanished into the darkness.
Once he disappeared, the tension finally dissipated. Karl moved beside , still on alert.
Still gripping his dagger, he cautiously asked,
“What the hell? Did he really leave?”
“Seems so.”
“What’s going on? Who even was that guy?”
“We’ll have to find that out now.”
My gaze followed the lingering aura.
Richard had rejoined the three at the entrance. The four of them retreated toward the party venue in a tailing formation.
As expected, they were Cleaners.
The remaining auras were from three individuals behind the building.
Splitting up?
As Richard moved, one of them followed quickly as if cued.
One headed toward the party hall, while the other two disappeared into the forest.
I gauged their direction and exhaled deeply.
“Karl, the party’s over. Get everyone back to the inn.”
“Hey, wait!”
Leaving Karl’s call behind, I dashed toward the window, crouched, and leapt through it.
CRASH—!
Glass shattered around as I landed and unleashed explosive strength.
Burst Strike!
KWAANG—!
With the burst, I shot forward in a straight line.
But my destination wasn’t the party—it was the forest. The one heading to the party was probably Azonne.
First, I had to identify the remaining two.
Sensing , their presence vanished as if swallowed by the earth.
They had used so sort of ability. If I hadn’t seen their aura, I never would’ve found them.
First, the one behind that tree—
Light Pierce!
I summoned the Vampiric Ring and fired a maximum-charged piercing arrow.
CRACK—!
Several trees were punctured, and with a groan, one figure was launched into the air.
As soon as I spotted the airborne figure, I drew my bow and fired another shot.
Dense magical waves.
He was a mage.
“Guh!”
Hit by the arrow, the mage’s shield broke and revealed his identity.
An old man with long, flowing white beard—an unfamiliar face.
But the robe—that was familiar.
“The Ivory Tower…?”
“…Damn. So I was discovered?”
When I ntioned the Ivory Tower, the old man grimaced.
That reaction confird it—he was a mage from the Ivory Tower. But not one of those I’d boarded the Ship Gridnt with. If he had been, I’d have seen his aura then.
That ant he was stationed in Aintrier beforehand.
If he was from the Ivory Tower and associated with Lord Azonne, there were only two possible people.
One was Modin, the master of the Ivory Tower.
But it wasn’t him.
Then—
“Sub-Tower Master Nagrok?”
His flinch gave it away—it was Nagrok.
Now exposed, Nagrok sighed and raised his hands.
“This has beco quite troubleso. I have no intention of fighting.”
“Is that just your opinion?”
He understood my aning, hesitated, then shook his head.
“It’s the Ivory Tower’s stance.”
With that answer, I shifted my gaze.
His identity confird, there was no need to clash with Nagrok.
I could confront him later and learn his true motives.
Now, the last one.
“If you wanted to watch, you shouldn’t have gotten caught.”
I looked down at the ground.
Whether they used magic or powers, no divine na user could escape my eyes.
This one had crept toward underground during my clash with Nagrok.
Whether it was curiosity or intent—I didn’t know, but it worked in my favor.
I changed direction and unleashed another burst.
Then ca Quanru.
As I spun midair, I raised my leg high and brought it down sharply into the earth’s center.
KWAHHHH—!
With a roar, the ground erupted violently.
A black shadow.
As the figure soared into the air, I leapt to strike.
“…!”
Tiny explosions suddenly burst in front of .
A silent, intricate detonation.
Hundreds, thousands of white threads spread from the air, forming a web that completely ensnared .
Layered spiderwebs crashed in.
My vision went dark, and my charge was halted by the taut web.
I had beco a white cocoon.
“Magic Webbing…?”
A well-known restraint material commonly used by Cleaners—I knew it well.
But this webbing was different from what I knew.
Stronger, more elastic.
And it was laced with paralytic venom that drained my strength.
Krkkt…!
It won’t break?
I couldn’t even tear through it with my strength.
“Reto!”
At my call, Reto responded.
Ssss…
Transparent liquid flowed over my arms and quickly enveloped my body, then turned golden and pushed the webs away.
Rrrip, rrrrip!
As the webbing fell away, the enemy looked visibly flustered.
Magical webbing was incredibly strong against physical and magical force, but had a key weakness—spiritual energy.
As I tore free and looked around, the enemy had vanished.
Escaped.
But I had already identified them.
When I saw the Cleaners with magical webbing… I should’ve known…
It looked like even Pri Root had joined this Dark Sales.
One of the Black Stars.
The Spider Queen, Azolett, had made her appearance in Aintrier.
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