Chapter 318
Chapter 318: Heavenly City (8)
Heavenly City District 1, Shadow Guild Headquarters.
Red lanterns hung in every alley.
The air was a mix of the sweet scent unique to the entertainment district and the smell of alcohol. Succubi came and went down the streets with languid steps, and Ratmen scurried between them.
On the outside, it was a red-light district.
But the true commodity here was not pleasure.
"District 3 supply movement route confirmed."
"Demonic Cult dispatch unit's movement path acquired."
"Red Flag elites, entering District 8."
The basement of the building.
Dozens of crystal balls glowed faintly.
Information coming up from each district was being gathered in real-time. Ratman informants sorted reports without a moment's rest.
At the center of it all was Agatha.
His hand, scanning the crystal balls from behind his monocle, stopped.
District 8 emergency dispatch.
The moment he confirmed the keywords, Agatha's eyes gleamed.
Blood Witch descends.
Red Flag annihilated.
Demonic Cult dispatch unit annihilated.
Kim Minwoo, survival.
Medea and Kim Minwoo, deal concluded.
His fingertips trembled minutely.
Agatha had handled information for decades. The veteran experience of not batting an eye at a typical urgent report was ingrained in his body.
But this was different.
"This is……."
Agatha sprang to his feet.
Clutching the report, he sprinted up the stairs.
With agility unique to Ratmen, he dashed across the corridor and stood before a red door.
"My Queen, an urgent report has come up from District 8."
Agatha's voice was a pitch higher than usual.
The gleaming look in his eyes behind the monocle was unusual. Lilith unraveled the pink hair coiled around her finger.
"Speak."
"The Blood Witch has descended directly upon District 8."
Her finger stopped.
"That crazy witch?"
"Yes. And……."
Agatha unfolded the report.
His fingertips were trembling minutely.
"Kim Minwoo and the Red Flag elites engaged in battle. The result is……."
Agatha swallowed his saliva.
"District 4 Head Irokes deceased. All elites under his command annihilated."
"……What?"
Lilith's eyes narrowed.
"Irokes is dead?"
"It is said the battle ended in just a few minutes."
A District 4 Head was a top-tier combat force even within Red Flag.
A wolf that had survived for hundreds of years, dead in merely a few minutes?
The corners of Lilith's mouth crept up subtly.
'That's fast.'
She had expected his growth.
But to think it would be to this extent.
"The Demonic Cult side……."
Agatha paused for a moment.
"Medea personally took action. It is said the entire dispatch unit, including Lee Seokjun, was massacred."
Lilith's eyebrow twitched.
Blood Witch Medea.
Her infamy was spread throughout the Heavenly City.
An existence that neither the Demonic Cult nor Red Flag would touch first.
In return, she also left alone those who did not touch her.
It was a sort of unwritten rule.
At least in District 1, it was like that.
"……She made a move first?"
Lilith's voice dropped even lower.
"Yes. Afterwards, it appears she had some sort of conversation with Kim Minwoo. And then…… It is said a change worthy of being called a cataclysm occurred in District 8. The sky was dyed red, and a blood-red shower poured down."
"Hmm……."
Lilith asked while stroking her chin.
"Has Medea ever gone down below?"
"There are no records of it."
"But she went down, you say? And of all times, exactly when Kim Minwoo came up."
"……Yes. And it is said they had a conversation and made a deal. The content of the deal is…… that Medea will wreck the place in District 1."
"……Wreck the place?"
"The Demonic Cult and Red Flag. It seems she intends to wedge herself between the two and throw a blood feast."
Lilith's brow furrowed sharply.
The Demonic Cult and Red Flag.
If Medea wedged herself between them, it meant Shadow could not guarantee their safety either.
'She's letting that bomb-like woman loose between the two?'
Blood Witch Medea was such an existence.
A monster that no one in District 1 could stand against unless Blood Wolf Lupus or Heavenly Demon Yoo Honbi stepped up personally.
Agatha scratched his head and added.
"Medea has gone back up to the upper districts. And Kim Minwoo left a message with our District 8 Head."
Agatha swallowed his saliva.
"To choose between himself and the Demonic Cult."
Silence descended.
The corners of Lilith's mouth slowly went up.
It was a smile.
"Oh my."
A languid voice flowed out.
"Our little boy has really grown a lot while I wasn't looking, hasn't he?"
"My Queen, this is a serious situation."
Agatha adjusted his glasses.
"If Medea runs amok while we have entrusted our protection to the Demonic Cult, we will be swept up as well. Moreover, if Kim Minwoo concluded a deal with one of the Seven Lords, the implication is……."
"I know."
Lilith raised her hand and cut off Agatha's words.
"So what is your analysis?"
"There are three options."
Agatha pointed at the report with his claw.
"First, maintain the relationship with the Demonic Cult and observe. Second, immediately break ties with the Demonic Cult and fully invest in Kim Minwoo. Third……."
"Third?"
"Playing both sides. Biding our time and watching the situation."
Lilith smirked.
"What do you want to recommend?"
Agatha's tail twitched nervously.
"……To be honest, the third. Kim Minwoo's growth trend is phenomenal, but to trust him completely just because he made a deal with one of the Seven Lords is……."
"Dangerous?"
"Yes. We still have too little information. What his objective is, what he is trying to gain in the Heavenly City. There are too many variables to rashly go all-in."
Lilith stood up from her seat.
Beyond the window, the lights of the Heavenly City twinkled.
"Agatha. Medea, what could that woman have received to accept the deal?"
"……I apologize. I lack the information to deduce that far……."
"Anyway, isn't it because Kim Minwoo gave her something that she felt like making a deal?"
"That is correct. Furthermore…… the fact that she accepted the deal itself is also significant."
"Right. She's a bitch who kills everyone if things go wrong. With the witch's temper, it wouldn't have been strange even if she just twisted his neck. But she didn't?"
"……Could it be, Lady Lilith…… that Kim Minwoo's growth is to that extent? To the point where Medea is reluctant to make a move?"
"A deal, basically, is only made when there is a balance."
Agatha's eyes flashed.
"If Medea truly concluded the deal for such a reason……."
Beyond the monocle, a heat akin to madness flared up.
"We absolutely must hold Kim Minwoo's hand. The speed of his growth…… it just doesn't make sense!"
Lilith slowly nodded her head.
District 9.
She was surprised back then too, when that Necromancer deflected her fingernails.
But she was merely the lowest combat force among the Seven Lords.
On the other hand, Medea?
The top tier of the Seven Lords.
If his skill was at the level to avoid the clutches of that crazy witch…….
"……I might have been looking down on that Necromancer too much."
Even considering the penalty of District 8, it was so.
Lilith turned around.
Her blue pupils sank coldly.
“Withdraw from the Demonic Cult.”
Agatha's tail stopped dead.
“Leave only the branches. Pull out all the core personnel, and disperse the assets too.”
“M-My Queen. That is…….”
“We are living as nomads for the time being. I have no intention of standing in the middle of this mess. If that bitch Yoo Honbi is going to die, let her die alone.”
Lilith looked out the window.
Red lanterns were dyeing the night streets.
A scream could be heard from somewhere. The night of District 1 was always like that. A city where blood, pleasure, and death were entangled.
“And…….”
The corners of her mouth slowly went up.
“Send a message to Kim Minwoo. Tell him that I, Lilith, am willing to discuss it very positively.”
Agatha picked up a pen.
“However, find out exactly what he can give to us, Shadow. Simply creating an underworld and sharing it like before won't do. We will have to risk a lot too, after all.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Heavenly City, District 1 conflict zone.
Corpses formed a mountain.
“Kuhaha! Push them! Kill the filthy beasts!”
The Demonic Cult's Slaughter King, Jang Muhyeok, swung his sword.
Behind him, the Demonic Cult elites charged with a shout. Sword energy cut through the empty air, and blood spurted like a fountain.
—You mayfly-like bastards. Die!
On the opposite side, the massive werewolf Cerobes roared. Red Flag's elites charged following behind him.
One of the experts under Jang Muhyeok drew his sword and rushed in, but his head burst open with a single wave of Cerobes's arm. Red brains were scattered in all directions.
Heavenly Demon Yoo Honbi and Blood Wolf Lupus.
The monsters directly below the two leaders had personally stepped onto the battlefield.
“I will personally cut the neck of anyone who retreats!”
—Kill! Until blood forms a river!
Shouts and screams mixed together.
The battlefield was already reminiscent of a hellscape. Severed limbs were scattered about, and corpses with their innards spilling out covered the ground. It was impossible to even tell who was winning.
At that moment.
Ttogak—.
A single footstep could be heard piercing through the battlefield.
‘……!’
Jang Muhyeok turned his head.
Far away, someone was walking over.
Ttogak—.
One step.
Hundreds of meters disappeared.
Ttogak—.
Another step.
The distance closed to right before his nose.
“Th-that is…….”
Jang Muhyeok's face turned pale.
Jjugeul—.
The corpses beneath his feet began to shrivel and twist.
All the blood drained out.
The flesh shriveled up.
Skeletons with nothing but bones remained scattered all over the battlefield.
A pale woman smiled.
Crimson pupils gleamed beneath the moonlight.
“B-Blood Witch!”
Someone screamed.
The battlefield froze.
Both the Demonic Cult and Red Flag, all movements stopped. Those who were killing and dying simultaneously looked in one direction.
“Medea!”
Jang Muhyeok gritted his teeth.
“We have never touched you! Just why—.”
“So?”
The crimson pupils scanned them as if looking down at bugs.
It was a look that seemed to not even have a shred of interest.
Ttak.
Medea snapped her fingers.
Swaaaaa—!
A blood-red waterfall poured down from the sky.
No, it wasn't a waterfall.
A massive wave of blood surged from all directions.
“Keuaaak—!”
The flesh of those touched by the wave melted away.
Muscles dripped down, and bones were exposed.
They shriveled up without even being able to let out a scream.
“This crazy bitch……!”
Jang Muhyeok swung his axe.
A half-moon aura blade sliced through the blood-red wave in a single breath.
But more blood surged through the divided gap. There was no end. A blood-red wave that surged in no matter how much they blocked.
No matter how much of a second-in-command Jang Muhyeok of the Demonic Cult was, he couldn't dare to face Medea head-on.
The attack did not discriminate between the Demonic Cult and Red Flag sides at all.
Cerobes and Jang Muhyeok's faces turned pale white.
‘We are in big trouble.’
The political landscape of District 1 was turning into a chaotic mess.