Chapter 490
C490
Woo-!
Joshua swung his sword once, and the bodies of five magicians were split in two.
Other nearby magicians tried to escape and were killed by Jane's Sword...
The Black Knight standing next to them couldn't even emit a final scream.
It had been thirty minutes since their infiltration.
During that time, they had killed over two hundred bosses and magicians, and also taken down over thirty members of Kinzelo and beastmen who, unfortunately, witnessed the scene.
Reinforcements from Drakka and the Second Magic Tower had already entered the underground shipyard.
They had managed to suppress Kinzelo, but had not yet encountered Joshua and his group because the shipyard was immense, coupled with Joshua and his group's exceptional stealth capabilities, but it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.
Instead of pressing forward, Joshua and Jane waited for another Black Knight while purging the trials.
"Mon is here, Second Flagbearer."
Joshua turned his head in response to Jane's words.
The Black Knight named Mon had been observing Jin's movements for the past 20 minutes instead of moving with them.
The reason Joshua had ordered Mon to stay behind Jin was simple:
He wasn't sure if Jin had discovered that the blueprints were in the Second Magic Tower.
"What did it seem like?"
"He didn't take the shortest path to Sections Seventeen and Nineteen. It looked like he was carefully monitoring the actions of Kinzelo's members."
"Did you personally hear what my brothers were discussing?"
"The Twelfth Flagbearer was on high alert, and Zipple's reinforcements were continuously added. Especially, Murakan's senses were sharp. If I had approached even a little, it would have become a problem."
Not everything is possible even for the Black Knight.
It was challenging for the Black Knight to get close enough to hear Jin, Murakan, and Dyfus without being detected.
The only reason he could glimpse their path at all was because Mon was a Black Knight.
"They're not taking the shortest route."
Joshua pondered on that fact and shook his head.
"I think it's best to proceed assuming that Jin is well aware that the battleship blueprints are in the Second Magic Tower. My ominous premonition seems to have been correct."
"I share the same opinion. Even if he wasn't aware at all of the Second Magic Tower, he would have realized after seeing Kinzelo's terror. The Twelfth Flagbearer is sharp and perceptive, so it's impossible that it would have escaped his notice."
"We should actively use Jin and his group from now on. Kinzelo will also send true powerhouses to the Second Magic Tower who won't engage in terrorism."
"It's a bit annoying that we haven't shared information about the Second Magic Tower with the Fourth and Twelfth Flagbearers from the beginning."
"That's not an issue, Mon-nim. Jane-nim. I didn't withhold information about the Second Magic Tower from my brothers because I wanted to monopolize it."
Joshua sincerely believed that Jin and Dyfus would divert the attention of Zipples within the shipyard, and he could easily get the blueprints.
If only Kinzelo hadn't acted this way.
"That's right. The real problem is that our information leaked to Kinzelo. The only individuals who could penetrate the guards of the three and extract information are mainly Yona Runcandel and the Nameless King. But it seems unlikely that Nameless personnel were involved in this incident."
"The leader of Kinzelo may have used a special power, or there may have been some demon involved. At the moment, not even the Prophet was able to find the location of the battleship blueprints without leaving a trace and without anyone knowing."
Mon and Jane responded like this, but indeed, there were traces that numerous humans were used to help the Prophet find the location of the battleship blueprints.
Her prophecies and magic always required a living human as a catalyst.
However, the two Black Knights were unaware of this.
"We will confirm the information leak through the Prophet later."
Joshua thought for a moment.
'No matter how the information leaked, I have to compete with Kinzelo. And Jin... is probably thinking of taking advantage of the opportunity created by my involvement with Kinzelo to steal the Second Magic Tower.'
For now, let's follow Jin's plans.
That's the conclusion Joshua arrived at.
Perhaps it's for the best.
After all, my original plan was to infiltrate the Second Magic Tower alone, without Kinzelo.
The cooperation of Jin, Murakan, and Dyfus could be really helpful.
'Besides, both Jin and Kinzelo won't let this slide.'
Joshua reached into the pocket of his infiltration suit and touched an object.
It was a key, the key to the armored vault of the Second Magic Tower that Sandra Zipple wore around her neck.
Before infiltrating the Sota Desert, the Prophet had meticulously copied the location of the vault and its contents, even replicating this key.
-Accessing the armored vault of the Second Magic Tower quickly is impossible without this key. There are hundreds of illusory and defensive spells. They won't activate if you have the key.
-Are you sure?
-When have I lied?
-Wouldn't it have been better to copy the blueprints?
"You're talking nonsense again. That wouldn't have been possible with more materials. I managed to create the infiltration tunnel, locate the armored vault, and even replicate the key for you with the limited resources I had. You should be grateful for that. Did you think a dead demon like Rontelgius could achieve something like this?"
-What do you mean?
-Did you think I wouldn't know that you relied on that bastard demon? I just turned a blind eye to your pitiful and comical acts. Now make sure to succeed this time, and bring back the battleship blueprints and the object.
Joshua recalled the conversation he had with the Prophet before his departure.
He didn't know the Prophet had information about Rontelgius, but that no longer mattered.
Jin will discover the true nature of the shadow force marble, and if it is as significant as my intuition suggests, I can retrieve it at that moment.
For a while now, the Prophet had been needling Joshua, probing his pride, and showing signs of betrayal, but the Prophet was undoubtedly Joshua's most crucial asset.
'Besides, if Kinzelo's leader and other special individuals had abilities equal to or superior to the Prophet's, they would have taken not only the plans of our operation but also this key.'
Joshua remained the most likely candidate to loot the objects from the second magic tower.
As his thoughts converged, he felt reassured that the situation would unfold once again according to his calculations.
"Mon-nim," Joshua said with a determined tone.
"Please tell me, Second Flagbearer."
"We will stop lurking in the shadows and move swiftly. Mon-nim, you must divert Zipple's attention from now on."
Although they had already killed more than two hundred bosses and magicians, as well as over thirty members of Kinzelo, Joshua and his group were still in the midst of their infiltration mission.
Zipple had only suffered losses due to acts of terror.
Joshua's words meant they had to cease the infiltration and start causing destruction.
If the Kinzelo members with the rank of assault team commander or lower, roaming freely in the shipyard, were small fish, the Black Knight was a whale.
The miscellaneous fish couldn't match his presence.
"I and Jane-nim will head straight to the Second Magic Tower. If possible, join us after the destruction, but prioritize your survival and escape."
"Understood."
"And, Mon-nim, please tell me the path Jin and his group took. It's time to team up with him again."
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A sudden pause.
Jin and his group, who were running, stopped at the same time.
This was because they felt a strong energy and an explosion out of nowhere, as if a punch had been thrown.
Although acts of terror were continuous, this level of change was something even those who had reached this level could feel.
"Hey, what's going on? Were there Kinzelo guys with so much energy? With this kind of vibration, a couple of whole sections over there seem to have disappeared."
"It's towards sections Four and Eleven, Murakan-nim. That's where Joshua and the Black Knights were, so it might be that a battle erupted between them and the specters who came for support."
"...No, I don't sense any magic, Elder Brother Dyfus. If an explosion of this magnitude were caused by magic, it should have altered the mana flow within the facilities."
"In that case, Joshua might have genuinely attacked sections Four and Eleven."
"As I anticipated, Joshua may have left a Black Knight in the shipyard to act as a distraction."
"Is the Black Knight pretending to have genuinely attacked sections Four and Eleven, and Joshua takes the opportunity to head to the Second Magic Tower?"
Normally, one would have questioned if their conjectures went too far...
But Dyfus had decided to trust Jin after seeing Joshua's decision to continue the mission.
At least for this mission.
"In any case, now it's likely that Zipple's reinforcements will converge over there. This means that the optimal time for us to enter the Second Magic Tower is imminent. Let's wait a moment to see if the vibrations are approaching or receding."
The vibrations were rapidly receding.
"It seems like the Black Knight..."
Jin, who had been talking until then, suddenly held his breath and brought his index finger to his lips.
Seeing that, Murakan and Dyfus also quickly ended their presence.
A distant scream was heard.
Jin and his group were at that moment near Section Seventeen, and like Joshua and his group, they had come this far and killed most of Zipples and Kinzelo members.
In particular, they didn't leave a single magician alive who came to support from the Second Magic Tower.
In other words, there weren't many survivors near Section Seventeen.
Therefore, unless there were newly arrived reinforcements, there should be no sound of fast footsteps.
'The sound of footsteps is too scarce to be reinforcements. And the footsteps are too fast. They seem like highly trained warriors running at full speed.'
Someone was approaching Jin and his group after massacring the remnants near Section Seventeen.
Dyfus and Murakan could also feel the sound of those footsteps running carelessly, as if there was no need to be cautious.
And shortly after, Jin and his group, who were hidden in the pipes near the entrance to Section Seventeen, could witness two figures disappearing as fast as light.
"Joshua and the Black Knight...!"
Dyfus was the first to speak.
There was only one Black Knight.
He got goosebumps all over his body checking that Jin's prediction was right once again.
"Oh, kid. You were right."
Murakan also whistled amazed, but Jin had a rather stern expression.
"That might not be good, Elder Brother Dyfus."
Dyfus raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"Why?"
"It was perfect to leave a Black Knight to draw attention and sneak into the Second Magic Tower in the meantime. But doesn't it seem like he's heading to the Second Magic Tower if he wants us to see it?"
"Hmm."
"If they're running at full speed, it means they must want to get there as fast as they can. Although we're on a path that's relatively close to the Second Magic Tower, there's a separate shortcut. In other words, Joshua should have taken another path, not this one."
Listening to Jin, they realized it was indeed so.
"If that's the case, Joshua might have been following us to figure out our path."
"Kid, maybe they were running fast without thinking much?"
"Murakan, didn't you say earlier that it seemed like someone was following us from behind?"
"Well, I did mention it. I had a feeling, but I wasn't sure."
"And Elder Brother Dyfus and I also had that feeling, right?"
There was a moment of silence.
"...Ugh, fine. I don't know about Joshua, but a Black Knight could have confirmed our path from a distance. So why? If they checked our path, it should be with the purpose of secretly infiltrating the Second Magic Tower, right? There's no reason for him to intentionally let us know, right?"
Dyfus spoke, sounding frustrated, and Jin pondered for a moment.
"Well, maybe because he's sure of something. But what that something is... honestly, I can't think of anything. I guess we'll have to be dragged by that guy."
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