Chapter 97: The Monster Behind the Mask

Vengor felt an unprecedented terror that he had never faced before in his life.

It wasn’t simply fear.

It was the primal terror any living creature instinctively feels.

“Y-You… What are you?”

Vengor stammered, asking the masked man before him.

The masked man replied briefly, his voice flat.

“No time.”

By the time Vengor heard those words, he was already slammed into the ground.

KWAANG!

“Keuk!”

A fist, brimming with overwhelming power, struck his abdomen and passed through.

Vengor’s Living Armor shattered instantly.

The agony felt as if his internal organs were rupturing, leaving him unable to stand.

But after that, the masked man moved elsewhere.

Whether by intention or not, it seemed he’d been spared.

He appeared where the remaining subordinates were gathered.

His movements were impossible to track with the naked eye.

Vengor couldn’t comprehend it at all.

‘Where had such a monster come from?’

More than that, why did he have to end up in this miserable state? He felt wronged.

Forget revenge, he was about to die for real.

But in that moment, a memory surfaced belatedly.

The Oracle.

The Oracle’s prophecy had really come true.

That they would be annihilated.

So, they’d only been instructed to attack and retreat after a suitable skirmish.

“How’s anyone supposed to know with such vague words. At least warn us if a monster like this is going to show up.”

Sprawled on the ground, he spat curses.

Moments later, the earth trembled.

The air pressed down, as if the world itself was shaking.

KUOOOO!

A massive surge of mana was felt—something he’d never experienced before in his life.

And then came a powerful explosion.

KWA-AAANG!

Shockwaves erupted in rapid succession.

Vengor was left speechless as he watched his subordinates swept away in mere seconds.

Like an exterminator crushing ants, the masked man dealt with them effortlessly.

‘Undying soldiers? Yeah, right.’

He’d always prided himself on being the strongest, but seeing that man proved it was nothing but arrogance and delusion.

Before he knew it, everything around him had become deathly silent.

All the Lamakria People had been utterly annihilated.

Only one survivor remained.

“W-Why… Why did you spare only me?”

Vengor glared murderously at the masked man and asked.

The masked man—Evan—opened his mouth slowly.

“You have a lot to tell me.”

Evan delved into Vengor’s memories.

I was expelled from the regular army, where I had served for ten years.

The reason was an alleged insubordination, but really, it was discrimination against my people.

The Roheim Duchy maintained close ties with the Holy Union of Bellium, even sending tributes monthly.

Because of that, the Lamakria People living within the duchy suffered greatly.

Of course, leaving one’s homeland behind just because of that wasn’t an easy choice.

I stayed till the end and devoted myself to carrying out the duchy’s tasks in hopes of being recognized.

I truly believed that, one day, I’d be acknowledged.

I risked my life in countless wars, greatly contributing to their victories.

I racked up achievements and clung to life desperately.

But, in the end, the hope that I’d ever be recognized was a mere illusion.

Despite all my merits, I could never rise above a certain rank, and eventually, I was discarded like a worn-out tool.

Having fallen to the level of a mercenary, I was left in utter despair.

Then, someone reached out to me.

“Who are you?”

“Armeria. I heard about your suffering, so I came. I act as the god’s emissary, moving to save everyone. How about it? Don’t you want to see your revenge fulfilled?”

A beautiful silver-haired girl—she had a presence that made it impossible to refuse her.

It was as if she could capture a person in a single glance.

She had a mysterious aura.

Strangely enough, everything she said always turned out to be true.

So, I had no choice but to trust her, and I joined the Estia Guild.

That decision became the turning point of my life.

Estia was home to many of my people, and for the first time, I realized happiness living among them.

All the emotions we shared, our common goal of revenge, all came together as one.

I grew used to life there, and my comrades began to consider Estia their spiritual home.

We worked together seamlessly and started carrying out assignments from above without a hitch.

All for the sake of our cause—our efficiency soared.

In this way, I dreamed of my own ideal world.

[Information on Estia acquired.]

***

After thoroughly scanning Vengor’s memories, Evan picked up on several suspicious points.

‘They were being tamed.’

Perhaps it would be better to say their hearts were being toyed with.

They were given just enough reward to satisfy their needs, making it impossible for them to leave.

And gradually, the purpose of the Estia Guild became their own.

Up to a certain point, he could understand that.

But the moment their hearts were wholly consumed by Estia’s way of life—

It felt as if they’d become mindless machines, carrying out tasks as blind devotees.

This is something that would be hard to notice unless someone else looked in from the outside.

Their hearts were stolen, raised as puppets, and they turned into obedient horses.

The moment Estia’s goals became their own, their efficiency multiplied.

‘They put a lot of thought into this. You can’t easily acquire such labor force.’

It was much more effective to have someone act of their own free will, instead of taming them by force or fear—the loyalty and efficiency were greater.

It was a tactic guilds in his previous world often used on hunters.

‘So it’s the same here, too?’

Clicking his tongue, Evan organized the critical information.

‘The location of the Estia Guild. Their scale.’

Of course, he didn’t know the location of the main guildhouse, but he’d learned that branches existed not only in the Ruphes Kingdom, but in other kingdoms as well.

Their scale far exceeded his expectations.

‘I need to deal with at least those inside the Ruphes Kingdom.’

Evan felt the desperate need for a resistance force.

Those already tamed by Estia—especially the devoted followers—were even more dangerous.

Beyond just profit or loss, they would stop at nothing for the guild’s purpose.

Evan slung the tattered Vengor over his shoulder.

“…Let me go! Just kill me instead!”

Vengor squeezed out the words with what little strength he had.

But Evan ignored him easily.

“W-Who are you?!”

At that moment, a voice came from atop the city wall.

Evan raised his head and waved lightly at them.

***

After a moment, the gate opened and a soldier cautiously stepped out.

“G-Greetings, warrior. I-I hope I’m not being disrespectful, but…”

Having witnessed Evan’s overwhelming might, the soldier was trembling as he spoke.

Instead of replying, Evan took off a ring—one symbolizing the Kerthen Count’s household—from his finger and handed it over.

“Give this to the Lord. Tell him I’ll be visiting soon. And, of course, make sure no one but the Lord sees that ring.”

“Yes, yes! U-Understood!”

“Take care of the cleanup here. I’ll be going now.”

“W-Wait!”

It seemed the soldier had more to say, but Evan ignored him and turned to head toward where Rolten was.

Rolten stared at Evan in disbelief.

“What’s that all about?”

Evan, who had gone out for reconnaissance, was now returning carrying a hulking man over his shoulder.

Evan shrugged and answered.

“He’s one of them. I happened to catch this one when he flew near me and brought him along.”

At those words, Rolten let out a wry laugh.

“…There was an explosion just now, and you managed to come out unscathed? By the time I got there, everything was already over. What happened?”

Rolten, who’d been preparing a carrier pigeon, apparently hadn’t witnessed the scene.

Evan considered whether to explain, but decided it was too much trouble to describe everything in detail.

“I don’t really know myself. An explosion went off, and then the bastards scattered everywhere.”

Evan put Vengor down and spoke.

“I think we’ll be able to get a lot of important information out of this one if we interrogate him.”

Rolten nodded and looked down at Vengor.

“Perfect, just what we needed. Securing witnesses like this is important. There are Ignis Guild branches all over the Roheim Duchy too. If we hand him over to them, they’ll know what to do.”

“Yes, I’ll leave it to you. I need to go see the Duke of Roheim right away.”

“Fine, that’s your business. I don’t want any complicated jobs. Anyway, that’s the whole point of this trip in the first place.”

“Thank you. Then, let’s move quickly.”

Evan decided to hurry.

By now, the soldier would have set off to deliver the ring.

He didn’t want to keep the Duke of Roheim waiting.

***

Evan’s party passed through Ever Castle at the border.

From here, they would head straight to Epcalion, the capital of the Roheim Duchy.

Currently, they were passing through several villages on the way.

“Is this guy going to be alright?”

Rolten asked Evan, gesturing at Vengor.

Now, Evan, Rolten, and Vengor made three.

Of course, Vengor was just trudging along, still slow to recover.

He hadn’t said a word and just followed Evan’s commands obediently.

Having experienced Evan’s strength firsthand, he’d given up on escaping.

No—at this point, it was only natural he couldn’t even think of such things.

That horrific scene, that overwhelming power—it was on a whole other level.

His instincts screamed that Evan was dangerous.

Still, right now, Evan didn’t seem that threatening, but Vengor thought he was just hiding his true power.

‘He said he’d let me go later.’

He’d received an unexpected proposal.

If he confessed everything he knew, he’d be set free.

He figured he could spill some shallow information and quietly wait for release instead of risking his life trying to escape.

***

While Vengor was thinking this, Evan explained to Rolten.

“It’s fine. He agreed to cooperate.”

Evan glanced at him.

Vengor instinctively lowered his eyes, unable to meet Evan’s gaze, fear already carved into his soul.

Just thinking back to that moment made his hands shake.

Rolten, finding Vengor’s reaction odd, shifted his gaze to Evan.

“Well, whatever. I’m here too anyway. But we should get out of here quickly.”

Rolten’s eyes turned sharp.

Evan nodded as well.

Ever since entering the Roheim Duchy, he’d felt something was off.

In every village, the Duke’s regular soldiers were conducting searches.

They were rounding up all the Lamakria People indiscriminately.

“Why are you doing this? Please, at least spare the children!”

“We’re innocent! Why should we be punished for what those people did?”

Watching the Lamakria People being dragged away, Vengor clenched his fists tightly.

With his robe pulled up, he was able to pass unnoticed for now.

But seeing his fellow people treated like that, anger surged inside him.

At that moment, Evan spoke to Vengor.

“Stay put. Don’t make trouble. Didn’t you already know this was coming when you people ran wild? You should have thought about the price of rebellion.”

At Evan’s words, Vengor bit his lip hard.

He knew it, too.

The more chaos they caused, the more his people suffered.

And this time, the incident had blown up huge.

He’d deliberately turned a blind eye to it all.

In his shattered state, he’d never thought of anything else.

But facing this cruel reality, guilt began to consume him.

“M-Mother!”

A Lamakria boy struggled as he was dragged away by a soldier.

“Can’t you behave?”

“No! Let go!”

His parents—or so they seemed—fell to their knees, bowing their heads to the ground and begging.

“Please. Just spare our child!”

But disaster struck nonetheless.

“You insolent brat! How dare you!”

The soldier, dragging the boy, flung him aside and drew his sword.

“Orders from above! Any resistance will be executed on the spot. Traitors!”

SWISH!

Before everyone’s eyes, the boy was mercilessly cut down.

Then the soldier shouted.

“You vermin dared to dream of rebellion? Even death is too good for you!”

Every Lamakria heart present was set aflame at the sight.

“Isn’t this too much?”

“Killing a child! Damn bastards.”

“Rebellion? We had nothing to do with any of this!”

“We can’t take this anymore!”

That became the spark, and all the Lamakria People in the village rose up.

A massacre began in the village.

But as he watched, Evan noticed something odd about that soldier.

‘That guy’s ability is strange.’

With his spiritual eyes, he saw the man had already died several times over.

And there, he found a Chaos Value.