Episode 487
Chapter 135. Brotherhood United (4)
While Runcandel and Kinzelro’s first squads stayed away from the Kaifa Archipelago, all of them had set up camp in the Sota Desert during Jin’s meeting with Amela.
Just as Joshua had used his prophetic powers to carve out tunnels beneath the desert, Kinzelro had also employed their abilities to create reconnaissance passages, even covertly using parts of Joshua’s tunnels.
Jin’s gaze landed on the head of the dead dry dock manager.
The jagged cut at the neck looked torn rather than clean—completely unsuited for a stealthy assassination.
‘And the explosion was loud, even from quite a distance. This wasn’t some sudden accident during infiltration—it was a brazen attack on the dry dock.’
It seemed Kinzelro had chosen a completely different approach to the secret dry dock in the Sota Desert than Runcandel had.
‘What kind of confidence do those Kinzelro bastards have to pull off something this reckless? They must be counting on some solid backup.’
The Sota Desert bordered Drakka, the capital of the Lutero Magic Federation.
Runcandel’s choice of a stealth operation wasn’t without reason. Kinzelro was boldly poking the world’s most dangerous hornet’s nest.
“Our intel couldn’t have leaked, and yet the operation start times are the same… Damn coincidence?”
As Jin mulled this over, Joshua clenched his teeth, his face tightening.
Boom! Crackle! Thud! Rumble!
As if waiting for Runcandel’s arrival, the explosions grew louder the moment Joshua finished speaking. The shockwaves rippled through the dry dock’s interior, shaking the tunnels as if they might collapse at any second.
In other words—
Runcandel’s mission had gone completely off the rails from the start. The frantic alarms of the defensive magic mixed with the explosions grated on the group’s nerves.
Jin had spent all night calculating ways to kill Joshua and still succeed in the mission, but Kinzelro’s sudden terror attack was something he hadn’t anticipated.
‘But maybe this isn’t such a bad development. At least not for me and Dephus.’
Jin was certain Joshua held information about this mission that he and Dephus hadn’t been told.
The four zones marked on the dry dock’s internal map—4, 11, 17, and 19—were meaningless, as Jin had already told Dephus.
‘Joshua must have been sure that Dephus and I would naively pick one of those four zones to investigate. After all, he probably thought we’d have to interfere anyway, since the dry dock was going to be destroyed. And then, under the cover of the chaos, he planned to slip away alone to the real location of the information.’
Jin suspected the true location of the intel Joshua wanted to monopolize was the “Second Tower.”
Near the Sota Desert dry dock wasn’t just Drakka. Not far away stood the “Tower of the White Night,” known as Ziphl’s Second Tower.
Of course, this was only a guess—that Joshua intended to hoard the Second Tower’s secrets.
That was why, once the infiltration began, Jin planned to probe Joshua alongside Dephus. They would deliberately mention the Second Tower or only search the areas closest to it inside the dry dock.
‘It’s unlikely Ziphl has secured all the classified documents in the Second Tower against infiltration. Drakka is right next door, after all. They wouldn’t expect us or Kinzelro to touch the Second Tower. Both sides would be more than satisfied just destroying the dry dock…’
Ah!
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a shiver ran down Jin’s spine.
The pieces of his intuition clicked into place.
‘No need to question Joshua. It’s definitely the Second Tower. Those Kinzelro bastards are trying to draw attention, lure the Second Tower’s forces to reinforce the dry dock, and then loot the place while it’s left vulnerable!’
That was why Kinzelro was openly attacking the dry dock.
They knew, just as Jin had realized, that the truly important documents were outside the dry dock—in the Second Tower.
And—
‘Damn those Kinzelro bastards! They also figured out that some ship blueprints are stored in the Second Tower, not just the dry dock!’
Joshua felt the same way.
But unlike Kinzelro, who was confidently smashing the dry dock, he felt a cold, sinking sensation in his gut.
‘There’s no way it’s a coincidence that the terror attack started exactly when we began our infiltration! Our operation details and the Second Tower’s existence must have been leaked. I don’t know how, but…!’
Joshua had originally planned for Jin, Murakan, and Dephus to handle the distraction caused by Kinzelro’s terror attack.
Meanwhile, he intended to slip away to the Second Tower at the right moment.
The underground dry dock was vast enough that deceiving his brothers and Murakan wouldn’t be difficult.
So when he confirmed yesterday that Jin and Murakan had come instead of Merry, he inwardly rejoiced. But what a mess this had become!
Amid the distant explosions, a heavy silence fell as Runcandel’s group all turned their eyes to Joshua.
An unspoken pressure to make a decision—the ultimate authority in this crisis.
The fear of being outmaneuvered by Kinzelro, the stress of recalculating every move from scratch, and the blank expression on his youngest brother’s face—
All these weighed heavily on Joshua, who barely managed to mask his emotions.
‘Stay calm. If I show even the slightest sign of panic, the youngest will definitely catch on. He’s not the type to miss a clue, no way.’
No matter how careful he was, Joshua had no idea that Jin already saw through his plan.
And he wasn’t the only one burning with anxiety.
‘Judging by the scale of Kinzelro’s terror attack, the dry dock’s destruction is practically complete. And as the youngest said, the importance of those four zones Joshua insisted on was just a ruse to fool us. Joshua should be the one to decide to retreat now…’
Dephus recalled his conversation with Jin last night, feeling his mouth go dry.
“You said earlier there’s nothing important in zones 4, 11, 17, and 19, right?”
“Yeah. As you said, Ziphl deliberately leaked the dry dock’s location, so they wouldn’t leave anything critical like ship blueprints here.”
“But there must be important documents somewhere else near the dry dock. Of course, Drakka would have the most, but we can’t touch that. The most likely place is the Second Tower.”
“So you’re saying the real secrets aren’t in the dry dock, but in the Second Tower, and Joshua is pretending to infiltrate the dry dock with us while trying to steal the Second Tower’s info alone?”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm, let’s say you’re right. But our eldest brother may be a scoundrel, but he’s not foolish enough to risk the family’s greater interests for personal glory. He even manipulated the media during the Black King incident to get articles published for you recently.”
“True. But Joshua might have decided it’s better to deceive us all to safely extract the Second Tower’s information.”
“That’s possible. But youngest, your claim is just a possibility without solid proof. It’s all speculation. And even if it’s true, how does that justify killing Joshua?”
“When he escapes to the Second Tower, he won’t take both Black Knights with him. At least one will stay behind in the dry dock—to deceive us and buy time. But we’ll sneak off to the Second Tower without Joshua knowing, leaving only one Black Knight in the vast underground dry dock.”
“And then kill Joshua when he’s with that one Black Knight?”
“We strike when he’s about to secure the Second Tower’s information. If we’re lucky, both Black Knights will stay in the dry dock, so he might be alone.”
“What if one Black Knight stays with Joshua in the Second Tower?”
“Murakan will be there, so we can handle it.”
“No, I mean how will you deal with the Black Knight? Even with Murakan, subduing a Black Knight without killing them is impossible. And killing a Black Knight is a completely different matter from killing Joshua.”
“Well, that’s more like treason than a power struggle.”
“Not just like it—it is treason. Killing a Black Knight during such a critical mission? That’s definitely betrayal. I’m starting to get disappointed. Your theory has too many variables. I thought you had a sure card.”
“It involves killing two Runcandel heirs. The ones known as the next family heads. If you can’t handle such a risk, you’ll never even try. This dangerous opportunity might never come again.”
“Huff.”
“And I don’t intend to kill the Black Knights. I didn’t expect you, Dephus, to be so scared. If you want to back out, then back out.”
“…For now, after infiltration, let’s search the zones closest to the Second Tower and watch Joshua closely.”
In truth, after that conversation yesterday, Dephus had barely been able to suppress his unease.
He was deeply disappointed both in his youngest brother, who was willing to kill Joshua based on flimsy speculation, and in himself for hastily agreeing to go along with it.
‘But if Joshua chooses to continue the mission instead of retreating now, then… the youngest’s wild guess was right…!’
Joshua and Dephus.
Unlike them, Jin had now cleared the confusion from his mind and was calculating yet another set of variables.
“Kinzel, those bastards have ended up helping me again this time. You’re the one who’ll make the move, Joshua. It’s going to be damn embarrassing—almost enough to want to die—but like Deepus said, we won’t give up the family’s greater interests.”
He hid his smile.
Because, so far, their suspicions were only inching closer to the truth—they hadn’t fully secured victory yet.
“Ugh, this is frustrating. Hey!”
Suddenly, Murakan shouted Joshua’s alias with a sharp edge in his voice.
“Aren’t you the one in charge? Make a decision already. Are we continuing the mission or not? Why are you just standing there like that? I’m busy! If we’re heading back, then let’s move quickly. I want to see Strawberry Pie.”
In the end, Joshua had no choice but to answer.
“…We’ll proceed with the mission.”
Thump!
The moment Deepus heard the decision, he felt his heart pounding wildly.
He was shocked. He couldn’t even begin to guess how many moves ahead the youngest had been thinking.
‘Right, I was foolish to doubt him. Joshua can be taken down—if only I follow the youngest’s lead carefully!’
Once again, Jin could clearly see Deepus’s disappointment shifting into hope—and, as expected, felt a twinge of sympathy.
‘If he knew that the current Joshua isn’t the real one, how crushed he’d be. I’m starting to feel a little sorry.’