chapter 160

First of all, he needed to gather more information.

The most important part of the fight was information.

Just how many Demigods were in Silkid, what powers they had, why Agni hadn’t moved, Nix’s current location. There were many things he needed to know, but none of them were easy to find out.

‘It would be a great help even if I just found out what powers they had,’

Anything that would point out their weaknesses would help.

In the past, Riki had told him that Hydra’s weakness was fire. Thanks to that small piece of information, Frey was able to kill a Demigod with just an 8 star spell.

Although he had only been able to do it because she was barely alive after Riki attacked her, the fact remained that he was able to do so because he knew her weakness.

‘Did he say Guardian Warrior?’

The true ruler of the city. Urha said that it was a concept similar to a City Lord.

Therefore, he was likely to know more about Demigods than others.

Didn’t Rnei almost surrender simply because of Sarman’s choice?

After making his decision, Frey headed to a bar in Al-Tarha.

The city had reached a state of lawlessness, but it hadn’t devolved completely yet.

There were still several open bars that seemed normal. But it was unclear how long this last bit of order would last.

It was fine to grab guards and pull the information directly from their minds as he’d just done, but if he wanted to get a good grasp of the overall situation, it would be best to observe a large group.

That being the case, bars were some of the best places to gather information.

Creak.

He pushed open the shabby door and headed in.

Even though it was midday, the bar was crowded. However, contrary to what one might expect, there weren’t any loud noises in the bar. Only a low murmur could be heard in the bar since most of the customers were drinking quietly.

When the door opened, everyone turned to look at Frey for a moment before they turned away, uninterested.

This proved that Frey’s disguise was perfect.

Frey sat in a spot that made it convenient to listen to the others’ conversations while ordering a simple meal.

“Have you heard the story about Rnei?”

“The rumour that the desert was frozen? Do you believe that?”

“It’s not a rumour. Lukel said he saw it with his own eyes.”

“Hmph. It’s not rare to see a mirage in the desert.”

“That’s true.”

Frey’s actions in Rnei seemed to have already spread far away as warriors in Al-Tarha already knew about it.

‘If it’s already spread this much, the Demigods should have heard about it.’

But there were few people who actually believed it. After all, a desert had been frozen.

Just saying those words was enough to spark disbelief.

Perhaps the longer one lived in Silkid, the less likely one was to believe such a story.

‘So the Demigods will be more vigilant.’

It was possible to trick the eyes with a mirage, but it wasn’t possible to annihilate the creatures with one.

They would also know that freezing a desert wouldn’t be a difficult task for a 9 star Wizard.

“What should we do now?”

“We’re already in the same boat. What can we do? Whether we live or die, we have to follow Milled from now on.”

“I don’t like him. Sir Porto is the Guardian Warrior. So why is he acting like he’s in charge?”

“We can’t do anything about it. The monster who burned Talhadun favours him.”

Frey narrowed his eyes.

So it wasn’t Porto, the Guardian Warrior, but a man named Milled who was controlling the city?

Besides, the fact that Agni favored him was important information. This man wasn’t Agni’s Apostle, so that meant he’d pledged allegiance to him.

Or.

‘Another Demigods’ Apostle.’

That was a possibility.

If not…

Frey shook his head at the sudden thought. He didn’t have enough information to make a random conclusion.

“Should we just stick with Ivan?”

“The so-called Great Warrior? Forget it. No matter how strong he is, he’s only human.”

“We’re on the right side. I saw Talhadun disappear with my own eyes. Fighting those monsters is suicide. I… I don’t wanna die just yet.”

“…”

Silkid.

It was a place known as the Land of Warriors, but it seemed that not all of them were proud and honourable Warriors.

At least, most of the people in this bar had chosen to run away without fighting.

Nevertheless, they were afraid because they were unsure about the choice they’d made. Therefore, they used alcohol to drown away their anxiety.

To save their lives by discarding their prides.

Frey didn’t blame them.

After all, it wasn’t wrong to fear death. But at the same time, he was disgusted.

Frey listened for another half an hour while filling his stomach with food.

Then he slowly organised the information he obtained.

Al-Tarha hadn’t intended to surrender at first. They had formed armies of their own to fight against the enemies, but unfortunately, they were annihilated before they could even fight.

Then a man named Milled appeared to rally Al-Tarha together with the Guardian Warrior Porto.

‘This is all I’ll learn from here.’

He wouldn’t learn anything else even if he kept sitting there.

Frey got up and left the tavern before looking at the castle in the center of the city.

According to the information he’d obtained, Milled was living in that castle.

‘So Milled holds the key.’

Frey recalled the information.

A man who appeared to be in his early 30s with pale, white skin that was rare to see in the desert, which made him easy to find.

Frey was about to head straight for the castle when he noticed there were people crowded around something. Naturally, Frey’s eyes turned to see what it was.

“…”

It was a group of corpses.

They were corpses that had been dismembered and displayed in the town square on a spear.

It seemed that the corpses had been there for a long time already as they were covered in maggots and had an extremely rotten smell.

It was a sight so disgusting that it would make most people vomit.

A word had been engraved on a sign in front of the corpses.

[Purge]

Frey clicked his tongue.

Then, he went towards a man among the onlookers nearby who gave him a good impression.

“Who is he?”

“Huh? Did you just arrive in the city?”

The hairy man looked at Frey with a suspicious gaze, but Frey simply responded without a change in his facial expression.

“I arrived from Gollod yesterday.”

“Ah. I see.”

Gollod was one of the cities that had been destroyed by the Demigods. The survivors were only those who were away from Gollod at that time or those who had barely managed to escape with their lives. Most of them headed to Al-Tarha…

This was a story Frey had just heard in the bar.

The suspicion on the man’s face disappeared, and he nodded.

“These are those who rebelled against Milled.”

“Rebelled?”

“They rebelled against the formation of a subjugation squad, and this was the outcome. Tch. If they had kept to themselves, they would’ve still been alive. They were proud for nothing.”

“Who are they going to hunt?”

“The Great Warrior, Ivan. Have you heard about him? He’s a man who has recently been traveling around Silkid gathering forces. It’s said that he is a thorn in the side of the monster who captured Silkid.”

“…”

Frey was speechless.

This man had just told him that they were building a team to subjugate Ivan, who was going all around Silkid to gather forces, and had brutally executed everyone who protested.

‘Hah.’

His chest cooled down at that moment.

They had crossed the line. It was no different from selling not just their pride but also their morals and ethics as humans.

The scale in Frey’s heart gradually shifted to one side.

He took a small breath to organise his thoughts.

‘There’s no way their subjugation team could annihilate Ivan’s forces.’

And Milled should’ve known that.

Then, what was he aiming for? Did he want to inflict losses on Ivan’s group at the expense of the complete destruction of the subjugation team?

Or did he simply want a reason to execute rebels?

‘No.’

Those were all byproducts.

What Milled was after… was probably a civil war.

This was Frey’s thought.

He intended to create animosity between the two sides and eventually lead people of the same country to point their swords at each other.

Step 1 was already successful. Silkid had been divided into two groups.

And now, it was time for step 2. Which was to deepen the hostility between the two forces. Until it reached the point where they regarded each other as their sworn enemies.

‘This isn’t good.’

If this insidious plan was to work, Silkid would not fall from the outside but from the inside. The Demigods would be able to remove one of the most powerful countries on the continent with barely any effort of their own.

This wasn’t simply about losing the nation’s territory.

Even the identity of the country called Silkid would disappear.

In a sense, it was a far more terrible end than the simple destruction of the country.

‘This isn’t a plan a Demigod could think of.’

If one didn’t understand the dark side of humans, one wouldn’t be able to make such a plan.

Frey looked towards the castle again.

Milled.

He would have to meet him and, if necessary, kill him.

* * *

[You seem to be pretty busy these days.]

Iris looked back and found Lord standing there without any sign.

Iris was confident in her ability to move without a trace, but Lord was on a completely different level.

This fact remained even after she’d obtained the power of space after becoming his Apostle.

[Where have you been?]

“Silkid.”

[Why there?]

It was a suspicious tone.

Iris answered without panicking because it was a common occurrence.

“Agni called over ten Demigods. I thought it was a bit too much, so I went to take a look. Maybe he was planning something.”

Although she said it in a roundabout way, her words were definitely hinting at Riki’s betrayal. After that incident, even the Demigods would not easily talk about Riki in front of Lord.

This was because it was no different from pushing Lord’s buttons. But this time, Lord was surprisingly calm as he said.

[I see.]

“…”

[I’m heading to the Kastkau Empire today.]

“Are you going to destroy it?”

[That depends on their choice.]

It was said with a lazy voice. Iris’ expression didn’t change as she said.

“Is that all you wanted to talk about? If so, then…”

[That man you saved. He is called Frey Blake.]

“…”

Those words broke Iris’ composure for the first time. Lord also showed a reaction for the first time.

A smile appeared on his otherwise blank face. As if he was enjoying Iris’ reaction.

[I won’t ask why you saved that man. After all, that was one of the conditions. But the next time I meet him, I will kill him. And just as I declared the other day, I will do it very painfully. I will make him regret not dying at that time.]

Iris understood Lord’s intention.

It was a warning.

Maybe the next time she tried to stop him, she herself might not be safe.

Hok.

The Lord’s figure disappeared without a trace. Maybe he had gone to Kastkau as he said.

“…”

Left alone, Iris almost collapsed as she felt her legs lose strength, but she forcibly endured it.

Then, she leaned her head against a wall and muttered.

“…I want to rest.”

Just one day would be fine.

But she soon shook her head.

Rest was a luxury for her. It had already been that way for 4,000 years.

* * *

A man opened his eyes. It felt like he’d been sleeping for a long time.

“This is…”

Where was he?

He looked around.

All he could see was a desolate land where not even a blade of grass could be found.

Although it was a desolate landscape, the man was feeling an unknown emotion.

‘Longing.’

He was happy but also sad at the same time.

These conflicting emotions blended together, causing confusion.

Why the hell was he feeling this way?

The man had a headache.

And more importantly, who the hell was he?

“…”

He couldn’t remember.

He couldn’t remember anything.

But there was one thing he was certain of.

The desert wasn’t pleasant.