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chapter 149




There was no answer, but Frey wasn’t impatient.
The silence didn’t even make him feel uncomfortable.
After all, his question wasn’t easy to answer, and because he’d just defeated Rezil, the atmosphere in the room was very heavy.
Nevertheless, he wanted them to think deeply about this topic at least once.
“Rezil Wilsemann said the only thing that can stop the Demigods on this continent is the Circle. So the survival of the Circle is paramount, and we can’t afford to lose even a small amount of power.”
Even though his name was called, there was no response from Rezil. He simply stared at Frey with an unreadable expression on his face.
“He wrapped it up in a very reasonable way. Right. It didn’t sound foolish at all.”
Rezil didn’t know about the existence of Paragon.
And even if he did know, he didn’t know that its power was equal to or even greater than that of the Circle.
This was why he believed only the Circle could do something about the Demigods.
“In short, he is insisting that we survive till the end. The context is a bit different, but he’s basically saying that by surviving, we would win.”
“…”
Rezil’s eyebrows twitched.
“But that would just be limited to a personal victory. Can we say we won if half of the continent is killed? The Circle survived, and the Demigods showed their power, so could it be said that our chances of winning increased?”
Several of the members’ faces changed when he said those words.
Then, someone raised her hand.
It was Simone.
She was still breathing heavily with a pale face, but she seemed to be in a much better condition than before. (TL: Yes, Simone is female, I will explain at the bottom so as to not affect your reading)
“Half the population? Is Rounder Frey suggesting that they would carry out a massacre of that scale? I don’t have any intention of defending them, but they’re not indiscriminate slaughterers. We might not understand them, but they definitely move in accordance to the principles of thought.”
“You are making contradictory claims. If they’re not slaughterers, then do you know why they destroyed Geotanbul and Talhadun?”
Simone hesitated for a moment before responding.
“…it could be a simple warning. A threat to the Circle in order to encourage submission…”
“Then I’ll change my question. Do you understand the principles of the Demigods’ actions, who might have destroyed a country and a city as a warning?”
Frey looked at her with a cold face.
“The Demigods act on principles that we don’t understand. That is why they’re so dangerous. We don’t dare to understand them, but from a mortal’s perspective, the Demigods are nothing but a group of slaughterers.”
Frey spoke with a clear tone.
The Demigods and the other races living on the continent could not understand each other.
Like mana and divine power, they could never be mixed.
Nevertheless, Simone’s dissatisfied expression didn’t go away.
Frey looked at her and said.
“You don’t seem convinced. Fine. Then show me how solid your thoughts are.”
“What do you mean?”
“There should be circles from Geotanbul and Silkid here, right?”
“…here.”
“Here too.”
Some raised their hands.
They looked incredibly depressed, with dark rings around their eyes and a dismal aura surrounding their bodies.
They seemed very listless since their homes had been destroyed.
Simone was quite shocked as well.
Because their hostile gazes were all locked onto her.
“Simone Kylia. Can you look them in the eyes and say those words again? That the Demigods aren’t slaughterers?”
Simone couldn’t open her mouth.
Frey looked at her.
He had expected the Strow Necklaces to be rotten, but he never would have expected them to stoop so low.
“Don’t be afraid. We can win. Demigods aren’t absolute beings. Isn’t the reason they call themselves ‘Demigods’ because they know this fact, too? Our enemy has appeared from the dark. So we should make our move, too. War is inevitable.”
War.
Someone from the Phisfounder Armlets couldn’t help but gulp at those words.
“A-, are you saying that we’re going to have an all-out war against the Demigods?”
“That’s right.”
Everyone sucked in a cold breath at Frey’s resolute words.
The Trowman Rings’ members, including Beniang, were all incredibly shocked.
‘That doesn’t sound like Frey…’
She felt a little strange, but she couldn’t tell why.
“Are you afraid of fighting?”
“Th-, that…”
“No.”
It was Altan.
He had an interesting look on his face as he said.
“The Phisfounder Armlets will unconditionally follow Frey Blake’s will.”
“What?”
This was the first time that Altan, who had always remained neutral, had ever picked a side.
His sudden remark shook everyone in the room once again.
Rezil swallowed his shock.
He was certain that Frey had already recruited the Phisfounder Armlets even before the meeting began.
‘What a meticulous man.’
He must have planned to hide in the hall from the start.
First, he waited and observed how the meeting was going. Then, when Rezil took control, he appeared.
He aimed for the moment when the attention of everyone in the hall had been concentrated on one place.
And by overwhelming Rezil, he was able to bring that attention under his control.
In the end, everyone in the room had no choice but to focus all of their attention onto Frey’s every move.
If he had appeared with the Trowman Rings, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to gather this much attention.
Moreover, those who had agreed to cooperate with Frey could not be looked down upon.
Nora, the former Magic Warrior King’s Successor.
Swordna of the Hiralgard, who had the absolute support of all Elves.
Not to mention the Phisfounder Armlets, one of the Three Great Circles.
“We will not accept it.”
Rezil was forced to open his mouth at the end.
He looked at Frey with a burning gaze.
Frey looked him in the eyes and said.
“You won’t fight the Demigods?”
“That’s right. The Strow Necklaces will not move until we fully grasp the Demigods’ intentions and abilities.”
“Right. You said even if millions died, you wouldn’t move.”
Frey nodded with an expressionless face. Then, he turned his gaze to the Lucid Swords.
“How about you? Will you obey Rezil’s will?”
“…we.”
Jekid glanced at Rezil before saying.
“…will follow the will of the Strow Necklaces.”
That was better.
That saved them from the worst.
The atmosphere had been overturned by Frey, and the Phisfounder Armlets had gone over to his side.
But now that two of the Three Great Circles had announced that they wouldn’t participate, he couldn’t act arbitrarily.
“…”
Rezil saw disappointment spread across Frey’s face. It quickly disappeared, but he was certain that he saw it.
That face made him believe that things weren’t going the way Frey had hoped.
Rezil decided to be content with that.
* * *
The meeting ended shortly after that.
Of course, the emergency meeting wasn’t over.
After all, it wasn’t a matter that could be easily concluded in a day or two.
The meeting wouldn’t end until proper countermeasures were decided.
For the time being, the Circle members would continue to stay in the Jun family residence.
When he returned to his room, Rezil couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
‘It was supposed to be an easy meeting to lead.’
He closed his eyes and went over everything that happened.
Since joining hands with the Lucid Swords, the Circle had been as good as being in the palm of his hand. He could lead however he wanted, and he could get rid of the troublesome members as he pleased.
He had no doubt that it would be the same that day. But the appearance of one man changed everything.
Frey Blake.
‘From today, the Circle will be split into two factions.’
Perhaps everyone who had been in attendance felt this too.
After the confrontation between Frey and Rezil, they would forever be incompatible.
It was far from Rezil’s intentions.
He screened the opposing parties, and then, he tried to forcefully absorb them. It was a coercive method, but he did it in order to make the Circle become ‘one’.
But Frey was different.
Somehow, he’d polarised the Circle’s way of thinking.
Why would he do that?
Wasn’t it suicidal to want to fight the Demigods with a divided Circle?
He was definitely not a foolish man who wouldn’t even know something so simple.
[This is war.]
That’s what Frey’d said.
Rezil slammed his hand on the desk.
“War? War?!”
It was an unusually radical decision, but he didn’t even seem to be aware of it.
“How could he dare to say such a word?! The higher the level, the more clearer you’d feel it.”
Those on Earth might not have known just how far past the clouds the sun was.
But as you got closer to it, you would certainly feel it.
It was a gap that couldn’t be narrowed even if one traveled for a lifetime.
The Demigods were like the sun, and the higher a person reached, the more clearly one would realise this fact.
One would realise the Demigods’ overwhelming presence.
At the same time, a single conclusion would be reached.
“We can’t win.”
Humans would never be able to defeat the Demigods.
Why couldn’t he accept the simple truth?
Circle?
The power that fights against the Demigods in the dark?
Protectors of the continent?
“Bullshit!”
It was all bullshit!
What could the Circle do when they couldn’t even beat a Demigod?
They would only be able to survive if they got a bit of recognition. It would be enough even if they only moved from ‘beings that are easy to kill’ to ‘beings that are slightly annoying to kill’.
At that time, perhaps the continent would be able to enter an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity. At least, all the petty fighting and war would disappear.
Different races and countries would no longer have to fight against each other.
It would literally be a paradise, a utopia.
Why couldn’t he understand this?
“It can’t be helped.”
The choices had all disappeared due to Frey’s appearance.
The Circle would probably bare its fangs towards the Demigods and be defeated.
And he had no intention of joining its mass suicide.
Rezil’s expression became frozen, and his heart stilled.
He called Simone into the room, and after he told her what he had to, she left.
* * *
A group of people stood in the backyard of the Jun family residence.
Rezil realised that all of the core members of the Strow Necklaces, as well as many executives of other small and medium circles who promised to cooperate with him, had come.
There were quite a few of them, at least forty. Each of them was either an Archmage, a First Class Warrior or a Master Class Knight.
Rezil opened his mouth.
“We will be leaving the Circle today.”
“…”
This had already been discussed beforehand, so everyone nodded without panic. There were some executives who weren’t completely convinced, but they still decided to join Rezil’s group.
One of these executives asked.
“Where are we going?”
“To where Lord is.”
“By Lord… do you mean the Demigods’ Lord…? D-, do you have a connection to him?”
“Exactly. He will accept us.”
It was unavoidable.
Originally, he wanted to walk a bit closer to him.
He should have showcased more of the Circle’s power.
That way, the other side would have accepted his surrender more eagerly. Even Lord wouldn’t want to participate in troublesome and drawn out battles, so he would be useful.
Still, it couldn’t be helped.
Because saving his own life took priority at that moment.
Frey Blake would soon launch an all-out war against the Demigods. If he surrendered after that, there was no guarantee whether Lord would accept it or not.
Rather, he might be wary of him, or even worse, he might torture him for information before killing him.
Luckily, Rezil knew a lot of information that Lord would find useful.
“Today, we will be leaving this place. And we will abandon our circles’ names as well.”
“You mean we can’t use the Strow Necklaces’ name anymore?”
“Right.”
“What if the Demigods give us a coercive command?”
“We’ll follow it.”
“Any order?”
“That’s right.”
Rezil frowned.
What was going on? That was quite an unseemly question.
He had already discussed most of what was happening with those gathered here. There was no way someone would ask such a silly question unless they wanted to tease him.
But when he turned and saw the speaker was wearing a hooded robe.
“…”
Rezil felt a chill.
It was as though a cold ice spike had been rubbed against his spine.
The atmosphere cooled down as well, and no one else in the group spoke up, perhaps feeling the coldness.
He opened his mouth.
“I thought so.”
The man then took off his hood, and when Rezil finally saw his exposed face, his expression froze.
“…Frey Blake.”
“I hoped my prediction wouldn’t be right. Truly. But you guys still ended up crossing the line.”
Prediction.
It was expected?
Was that the reason for Frey’s disappointed expression at the end?
Rezil spoke with a hard look.
“Right. You didn’t trust me from the start.”
“No. But I tried to trust you.”
Krrr.
The ground started shaking, and the atmosphere seemed to shake with it.
The faces of those nearby paled considerably.
Mana rose up from Frey’s body. Just that alone was enough to blow their minds.
“…Rezil Wilsemann, if you had been willing to give up your position, I would have changed my mind a little. The things you’ve done so far weren’t extreme enough to be completely unforgivable. After all, it was only your narrowmindedness that caused this to happen.”
At that moment, Rezil realised that he had no intention of sparing them.
His mana erupted as he looked at Frey with cold eyes.
“I admit that you are very strong. But you were too arrogant to come here alone.”
“When did I say I was alone?”
Shuk.
A group appeared around Frey.
Seeing their faces, Rezil’s expression became as hard as stone.
“…”
Deep down in Frey’s heart, he couldn’t help but sigh.
He had sincerely hoped they wouldn’t resort to betrayal. He had expected Rezil to have at least a single shred of human dignity left.
Even though he was only halfway there, he was still considered a 9 star Wizard, someone who walked the path of Magical Science.
Moreover, he had the true last name of Strow.
But it seemed his expectations were for naught.
Frey closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, there was no longer any hesitation.
Frey spoke in a low voice.
“Purge.”
(TL: So, as many of you might know, Korean is a language that often omits certain things, for example ‘he’ and ‘she’. Hence when you see it in translated text, it’s usually added by the translator to help the reader(at least that is the case for this novel). Usually, this isn’t much of a problem as most names are gender specific, but sometimes it’s not so clear. Simone Kylia, Circle Rounder of the Trowman Rings… is a woman. The hangul for the name ‘Simone’ is ‘시모네’ but the pronunciation is ‘See-mo-ne’, so I took it more as the Italian masculine name rather than the English feminine name because the feminine name in hangul is simply ‘시몬’. Sorry about the mix up.
ED: The same happened recently in SLR. He/she pronouns will be assigned to characters to avoid any ambiguity and maintain the translation team’s sanity.)