Chapter 326
Chapter 326: District 7 (3).
A murmur spread through the crowd.
“Wait, that snipe just now…….”
Someone picked up the bullet embedded in the floor.
A melted lump of metal.
However, only the pattern engraved on the surface was clear.
Eagle wings.
“It's Ifrin!”
Silence descended.
Rank 3 of District 2.
She could not be compared to the Seven Lords.
However, there was no one in the Heavenly City who did not know that name.
A record of burning down a single district alone.
The legend of piercing a target's heart from hundreds of kilometers away.
Such a monster had come down all the way to District 7.
“Crazy. Ifrin?”
“Then, she couldn't catch Kim Minwoo?”
“He blocked the snipe without even moving a single step?”
The crowd's gazes turned toward the sky.
The Bone Dragon was taking flight.
The black coat fluttered atop the massive skeleton dragon's back. The four Legion Commanders followed behind it.
Toward the sniper.
“Don't tell me…….”
Someone swallowed their saliva.
“Are they going to fight? With Ifrin?”
It was a feeling of their hearts shrinking.
The 3rd rank of District 2 versus the emerging monster.
It was a matchup they could not see in their entire lives in District 7.
Silence.
Gunfire erupted from afar.
Tadadadadang—!
Flashes ran rampant.
Sounds of explosions erupted one after another.
Even the deafening roar of buildings collapsing.
It was a distance several kilometers away.
Even so, it felt like their ears would tear.
The crowd could not even breathe properly and only looked at the sky.
Far away, flashes cut through the night sky.
Once.
Twice.
It was over ten times before they could count to three.
“Crazy…….”
Someone muttered.
That is a battle.
A realm they could not reach in their entire lives.
A world of monsters where even looking was a luxury.
But now, that world was unfolding right before their eyes.
How much time had passed.
Kuuung—.
The sky darkened.
The Bone Dragon was returning.
“Is it over?”
“Who won?”
The murmuring grew louder.
The skeleton dragon landed in the middle of the plaza.
Dust rose.
Beyond it, Kim Minwoo's silhouette was revealed.
And…….
What was held in Olivia's hand.
Ttuk.
Ttuk.
Drops of blood fell.
Silver hair drooped limply, wet with blood.
The golden pupils had already lost their light.
A face that had hardened exactly with an expression mixing anger and shock.
It was Ifrin's head.
Hwik—.
Olivia indifferently threw the head.
A parabola.
Silver hair fluttered in the wind.
The severed head slowly cut through the empty air and flew.
No one could move.
Teolsseok.
In the middle of the plaza.
The head of the 3rd rank of District 2 rolled in the dust.
“…….”
Mouths dropped open.
Words did not come out.
What is that.
What did we just see.
It did not feel real.
The crowd froze.
Ifrin died.
The 3rd rank of District 2 to a District 7 newbie who had just come up.
“Crazy…….”
Someone spat out with a trembling voice.
They were surprised when Irokes died too.
They were surprised at the rumor that he had faced the Blood Witch and returned alive too.
But this was on a different level.
He did not fight the Blood Witch.
Irokes was not a top-tier powerhouse.
But Ifrin?
Even if she was at the bottom of the top, she was undeniably a super powerhouse.
A sniper counted on one hand in the entirety of the Heavenly City.
Such a monster was rolling on the floor with only her head remaining.
Kim Minwoo stepped down from the Bone Dragon.
He scanned the crowd once.
“So, the answer to my proposal?”
No one dared to open their mouths.
Only suffocating silence filled the plaza.
＊ ＊ ＊
District 1, Red Flag headquarters.
Kung―!
The office desk shattered.
One of the Seven Lords and the man called Blood Wolf.
Lupus's fist was embedded right into it.
“That bitch Medea…….”
Lupus's teeth ground loudly.
It came to mind.
The sky dyed with blood.
A red storm.
The sight of her coming down smiling and grinding his kin away as if taking a walk.
To face her, he had to step up personally.
If they were not in the middle of a war with the Demonic Cult, he would have moved.
However, Heavenly Demon Yoo Honbi.
As long as that variable existed, he could not easily empty his seat.
“These dog-like bitches seriously…….”
That damn Demonic Cult.
That damn Medea.
His head felt like it would split just from those two alone.
Kkiik―.
The door opened cautiously.
A Red Flag executive entered sweating cold sweat.
“Lu, Lord Lupus.”
“What is it?”
“An urgent report…… has come from District 7.”
“If it's about Irokes, I already heard.”
“Not that…… Ifrin has…….”
His lips trembled violently.
“She was killed in action.”
Silence.
“……Who?”
“By Kim Minwoo…….”
The air froze for a moment.
Lupus's eyes narrowed.
“Say it again.”
“Ifrin, who was sent on a request to District 7, was killed by Kim Minwoo!”
Lupus's face hardened stiffly.
The guy who killed his younger brother.
At first, he let it slide as nothing major.
It was a stupid thing to go down all the way to District 9 just because one incompetent blood kin died.
With the Demonic Cult running wild, he didn't even have the time to care.
His only response was sending District 4 Head Irokes to District 8. While concentrating his troops on the power struggle with the Demonic Cult, his feeling was to just try and block the path Kim Minwoo was coming up.
If it was Irokes, he would at least buy some time.
All of the Red Flag executives thought so.
Why?
‘Because even the Seven Lords-class didn't strike and come up at this speed.’
A District 4 Head is not a toy.
Even if they might die after exchanging blows, it was absolutely not a position to be cleaned up in half a day.
But he died.
Too fast.
So he sent Ifrin.
He felt at least this level of check was necessary.
Ifrin.
Rank 3 of District 2.
Not one of the Seven Lords, but a top-tier powerhouse.
Even the Seven Lords could not ignore her snipe.
At the very least, she is a considerably annoying opponent.
However…….
“……She died?”
Lupus's voice dropped low.
“Yes…… Even though there is the District 7 penalty, still…… this is…….”
The executive's neck shrank back on its own.
A chill ran down his spine.
‘This bastard…….’
At first, he just considered him a guy who luckily rode his way up.
A possessor of the Murderous difficulty who popped out of District 9.
It could happen.
Because the world is wide.
Even when he swallowed District 8 in a single day, it was still within the realm of possibility.
Because there was the variable called Medea.
But to cut down Ifrin in District 7?
That is a different story.
The birth of a new powerhouse to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Seven Lords.
It might be the starting point of that.
Conciliation did not work either.
Declaring an independent faction, he is running wild however he pleases.
As if he didn't care about the order of the city at all.
District 9 was cut off.
District 8 was cut off.
Now even District 7.
The taxes coming up from below were starting to get blocked.
No matter how wealthy District 1 is, the tributes from the lower districts are not at a level to be ignored.
The higher the district, the greater the investment poured into the ones below.
All of that is evaporating.
From District 6 upwards, it is even more of a headache.
The start of the middle tiers.
Capital incomparable to what has been seen so far is buried there.
Mines, factories, weapon exchanges.
The core of the interests that Red Flag had built over decades was concentrated there.
Composure disappeared from Lupus's face.
A serious light settled.
“The choices…….”
He muttered unconsciously.
“Are narrowing.”
Three paths were drawn in his head simultaneously.
One.
Crush the Demonic Cult and go down.
It is the most refreshing choice.
The problem lay in the fact that it was not easy.
The Seven Lords were seven in total.
A situation where Medea had already jumped into the mess.
Would the remaining four stay still?
Those bastards always aim for an opportunity.
The moment Lupus pours his full power into the Demonic Cult, a knife could be stabbed in his back.
Two.
Form a ceasefire agreement with the Demonic Cult.
Temporarily sheathe their swords, block Medea, and take care of Kim Minwoo first.
Cut off the monster inside before the disaster outside grows bigger.
The problem is Yoo Honbi.
Would that fox-like bitch compliantly hold hands with him?
It was obvious she would demand something.
And a very expensive price at that.
Three.
Do nothing.
Wait up above.
For Kim Minwoo to come up.
Then smash him head-on.
The simplest method.
However, there were too many things to lose in the meantime.
It was a risk either way.
“……Interesting.”
He was tired.
But it was somehow enjoyable.
His heartbeat quickened.
A threat soon becomes stimulation.
Danger soon becomes fun.
It had been a long time.
A situation where he had to rack his brain like this.
“It's been a long time since I've had such an annoying choice.”
Lupus chuckled.
He was one of the seven rulers.
The choice was always one.
To crush.
However, he was getting tired because of some nobody from District 7.
“Did you say that bastard is gathering believers?”
“Yes. He established something called the Death Cult and is forcing faith.”
“Forcing?”
Lupus's eyebrows twitched.
“Does he kill them if they don't believe?”
“No, that's not it, but…… for some reason, the believers are increasing like crazy. Voluntarily.”
The executive's voice trembled.
“There are reports that more than half of the residents of District 7 are already affiliated with the Death Cult…….”
“Half?”
Lupus's brow furrowed.
Half in just a few days?
That is a number impossible with simple rule by fear.
There is something.
There is something drawing people to that Necromancer.
“Then, he must have obtained divinity.”
Lupus muttered low.
“Seeing as that crazy bitch Medea didn't extort it, he must have a move of his own…….”
Seueuk seueuk.
Lupus's eyes, which had been trimming his nails, turned sharp.
“Pass it on to Yoo Honbi. That I will hand over the Blood Pool (血池).”
The executive's complexion turned pale white.
Blood Pool.
A red swamp situated in the heart of District 1.
A producing area of elixirs growing in the blood-soaked land.
Resources coveted even by the Seven Lords poured out from there.
It was an area currently occupied by Red Flag.
Handing that over entirely to the Demonic Cult?
“Lu, Lord Lupus! That place is……!”
“I know. What I am giving up.”
Lupus's voice sank coldly.
“I have to offer at least this much for that woman to stay still.”
Lupus snorted.
“In the meantime…….”
The hand trimming his nails stopped.
“I am going down personally. To District 6.”
The executive's breath stopped.
One of the Seven Lords was moving.
And downwards at that.
Lupus slowly stood up.
District 6 was in the middle tier.
Penalty?
It was much less than the lower districts.
It wasn't non-existent, but it was at a bearable level.
Murderous intent settled in the Blood Wolf's eyes.
“I have no intention of standing by and watching that bastard run wild anymore.”
Seueup—.
His blood-soaked fingernails elongated.
They became sharp murder weapons and cut through the darkness.
Red light flickered at his fingertips.
The smell of blood filled the office.
“If Yoo Honbi refuses…….”
His voice sank low.
“Tell her to be prepared for a fight to the death.”
The executive's legs trembled.
The corners of Lupus's mouth twisted.
“I hate being swayed this way and that.”
Kill.
Or die.
That was Lupus's way.
It had always been like that.
He hated complicated things.
Calculating was annoying too.
‘Lupus had decided not to weigh things anymore.’