Chapter 124: Traitors’ End

Afern, who had been bowing, hurriedly raised his mana to resist the cold.

Crackle!

However, the cold was powerful, and Afern froze in an awkward position.

Of course, freezing didn’t mean he lost consciousness.

Inside the ice, Afern released mana and resisted continuously.

But that was only for a moment.

“Bind.”

Next, Gaon cast Bind, and Pacheonki burrowed into Afern’s body.

That was the end.

Afern, who was already struggling with just the cold, had no strength left to block the Pacheonki and eventually lost consciousness.

He only lost consciousness; he wasn’t dead.

Gaon had no intention of killing Afern right now.

He needed to interrogate him.

Whether it was Abyss, Kurshum, or another force.

If by any chance Afern had nothing to do with the three situations Gaon presumed?

If visiting the teahouse was really, by any chance, a coincidence?

It didn’t matter.

Afern was on the death list.

In other words, he was fated to die anyway.

“Uh…….”

“Er……!”

“What……!”

And as Afern was subdued in an instant, those behind showed various reactions like dismay, confusion, and disbelief.

After all, who was Afern?

He was a mage superior even to Mild, the Tower Master of Lude Tower.

He was the strongest in Lude Tower.

Yet he was helplessly defeated.

Reactions like dismay, confusion, and disbelief were natural.

Mild, who was with Gaon, was the same.

For Afern to go down like this??

Mild’s biggest enemy was Afern.

Mild knew better than anyone how strong Afern was.

That’s why the current situation was even harder to believe.

I knew he was strong, but…….

Mild swallowed and looked at Gaon.

He knew Gaon was strong.

But he hadn’t known it was this overwhelmingly so.

Good thing I made the oath…….

What if he had refused the oath?

The probability of meeting the same end as Afern was very high.

Right then.

“Everyone…….”

Gaon opened his mouth.

“You’ll have to make an oath.”

Abyss could be mostly identified by the restriction.

But not Kurshum.

And there could be others allied with the demon camp besides Kurshum.

The way to find them was simple.

The mage’s oath.

“For your information, your Tower Master did it too.”

At Gaon’s words, most looked at Mild with surprised faces.

Faces asking if he really made the oath.

And Mild opened his mouth.

“If you hear the conditions, you’ll all understand.”

The conditions Gaon mentioned were ones with nothing to fear if not allied with the demon world.

Rather, they could claim innocence, so it was worth doing voluntarily.

Of course, no one’s expression changed at Mild’s words.

And Gaon continued.

“This isn’t a request.”

At Gaon’s words, everyone flinched.

Right then.

Look at this?

Gaon’s eyes flashed.

Someone inside was secretly raising mana.

Why raise mana in this situation?

Gaon immediately lifted the one raising mana into the air.

“Uh!”

The one floating in the air let out a flustered voice.

And Gaon could tell.

Abyss, huh.

Restrictions were visible on the head and chest.

Crackle!

Gaon immediately froze the floating one.

I need to clean up everything first.

Besides the one just frozen, there were several Abyss in the group.

And they wouldn’t make the oath.

Rather, there was a high chance they would interfere.

In other words, it seemed better to handle them before they did anything foolish.

Gaon waved his hand.

Then the grouped people were forcibly separated.

Crackle!

Crackle!

Next, Gaon froze all those with restrictions.

Everyone flinched again at Gaon’s sudden, bold actions.

“The oath conditions are first…….”

And Gaon started mentioning the conditions.

Shortly after conveying all the conditions, Gaon scanned them and said.

“Start.”

As soon as Gaon’s words fell, several started making the oath.

And those glancing around also started one by one.

Right then.

“Urk!”

One of those who started the oath first vomited blood.

And Gaon could see.

The circle was damaged.

The circle being damaged during the oath.

What that meant was that the oath was a lie.

And what that meant was alliance with the demon camp.

Crackle!

Gaon froze the one who vomited blood, just like Afern.

And he looked at the remaining people.

“……!”

Most had shocked faces.

After all, they probably hadn’t expected there to be those allied with the demon world.

They must have thought everyone would successfully complete the oath.

“……I swear.”

“……I swear.”

At first, the oath was forced.

But those who learned there were traitors took the oath seriously, and one by one, they completed the swear.

And those who completed the swear started monitoring those who were making the oath or hadn’t started.

Gaon was also looking at the mages who didn’t open their mouths until the end.

In a situation where traitors had emerged.

Yet they showed no sign of making the oath.

Crackle!

Crackle!

No need to watch further.

Gaon froze them all.

Like Afern, he didn’t kill them.

Those present here were the ‘core’ of Lude Tower.

In other words, if allied with the demon world, they would have been guaranteed significant positions and know that much.

And to confirm the facts, interrogation was necessary.

Swish.

Gaon looked at those who successfully completed the oath.

All were relieved.

As if thinking they had survived.

The problem was that they hadn’t survived.

Gaon had the death list.

Those whose names were on the death list were to be killed even if not allied with the demon world.

“Who’s Elbas?”

Gaon asked Mild.

“First row, fifth from the left, the one with the black rose embedded in the robe…….”

“Targon?”

“Second row, first from the right…”

“If frozen, say frozen. No need to explain.”

“Yes.”

“Katarina?”

“Second row, third from the left.”

At Gaon’s calling, everyone was puzzled.

Especially those called felt puzzlement along with fear.

And as the calling continued, everyone realized.

The common point of those called.

“Lak?”

“Last row, third from the right.”

“I see.”

Gaon nodded.

Crackle!

Crackle!

Crackle!

And all those called froze at once.

Naturally, there was resistance, but it was meaningless.

Even Afern failed to resist; how could they succeed?

Shatter! Shatter! Shatter!

Next, the frozen ones shattered into pieces and met death.

And Gaon looked at the survivors.

“You could live because you didn’t cross the line. Be careful not to cross that line in the future.”

Finishing his words, Gaon then said to Mild.

“Soon, there will be contact from Gardion. I’d prefer not to visit again.”

“……Understood.”

“And I’ll interrogate and kill these guys separately here. Think of them as dead.”

“Yes!”

Mild answered, and Gaon took the demon turncoats, including Afern, and entered the building.

“……Phew.”

With Gaon gone like that, Mild let out a deep sigh.

And he swallowed and looked at the survivors.

Coincidentally, the survivors were also letting out low breaths.

“Ahem.”

Mild cleared his throat to draw attention and said.

“I think no one believes my choice was wrong. It was an inevitable choice for the tower’s future.”

“…….”

“That’s…… Hmm…….”

“Urgh!”

At Mild’s words, several made faces showing displeasure.

But that was it.

Afern and the leaders of each faction were all dead or scheduled to die.

What would happen if they fought Mild now?

Moreover, from the situation, Mild seemed to have kept his faction almost intact.

Right then.

–Kuaaa…….

–Kuaaa…….

Screams came from inside the building.

Everyone, including Mild, flinched at the screams.

The screams sounded very familiar.

They seemed to know whose screams they were.

“……”

Silence fell for a moment.

–Kuaaa…….

–Kuaaa.

To be precise, only those outside were silent.

Screams continued to come.

“……So, what do you plan to do, Tower Master?”

The one who broke the silence was Becom.

Regaining his composure at Becom’s question, Mild answered.

“Let’s go back to the central tower and talk slowly.”

It seemed they couldn’t have a proper discussion here.

Only Kurshum, huh.

Gaon made a regretful face.

Unfortunately, the interrogation results showed that without exception, all allied forces were ‘Kurshum’.

Of course, the reason Gaon was regretful wasn’t because no other forces besides Kurshum emerged.

It was because the information they knew was insignificant.

It was things he already knew through Kurshum executive Hailey.

I had expectations.

Gaon looked at Afern, who was slumped.

Afern was strong.

Stronger than Hailey.

So he thought Afern’s position in Kurshum wouldn’t be low.

But contrary to expectation, Afern wasn’t even an executive.

And with a low position, he knew little.

The helpful information was only where and how they made contact.

Let’s end it now.

Further interrogation didn’t seem likely to yield new information.

In other words, it would be a waste of time.

Gaon waved his hand.

Whoosh!

Then wind blew, and blood lines appeared on the necks of all who were slumped.

Like that, without exception, all met death.

Whoosh!

Next, Gaon burned all the corpses and took out a communication crystal orb from his pocket.

And he injected Pacheonki.

Swaaat!

The crystal orb started glowing.

-Yes, Lord Gaon.

Shortly after, Graxios’s voice flowed out.

“Lude Tower cleanup is done. You can send people.”

-You worked hard.

-And there’s information to report urgently.

“Speak.”

Unlike usual, urgency was felt in Graxios’s voice.

It was presumed something quite big had happened.

-A problem has occurred in Coexistence Zone 18.

“……Coexistence Zone 18?”

And at Graxios’s following answer, Gaon asked back while recalling the situation in Coexistence Zone 18.

Coexistence Zone 18 was a place where the human camp had the advantage.

And greatly so, about 8 to 2.

Yet suddenly a problem arose?

Could it be a civil war or something?

-Demons are gathering in the north of Coexistence Zone 18.

-According to information from Seionia, it’s at least marquis-level.

“……!”

Gaon couldn’t help but be surprised at Graxios’s words.

Marquis-level meant two situations.

First, a scale comparable to a demon marquis.

Second, a real ‘demon marquis’ has moved.

Both were no ordinary matters.

But if comparing, a large scale was better.

After all, a demon marquis was a being that required at least an 8th Circle mage to oppose.

“Response?”

The marquis-level information came from Seionia.

In other words, it meant Seionia was aware, and he was curious what choice they made.

-The 5th Holy Order from Coexistence Zone 16 and the 7th Holy Order on standby at the papal office have departed.

“Two Holy Orders…….”

The Holy Orders were Seionia’s top combat organizations.

That should be enough to block, but…….

It was a coexistence zone, but an area where mana was dominant.

With two Holy Orders, even a demon marquis could be sufficiently blocked.

But only up to there.

It wasn’t enough to capture a demon marquis.

“Hmm…….”

Gaon let out a groan.

He was deliberating whether to go to Coexistence Zone 18.

During the deliberation, a sudden thought made Gaon open his mouth.

“By any chance…….”