Episode 490
Chapter 137: Everyone Had Good Plans (Part 1)
Swish—!
With a single swing of his sword, Joshua cleaved five mages in two. The other nearby mages tried to flee, but before they could even scream in agony, they were cut down by the Black Knight, Jane.
Thirty minutes had passed since their infiltration began.
In that time, they had slain over two hundred administrators and mages. Unfortunately, more than thirty members of Kinzelro’s faction and beastmen who witnessed the carnage were also cut down.
Reinforcements from Drakka and the Second Tower had already entered the underground shipyard.
So far, they hadn’t encountered Kinzelro directly—he was busy suppressing them, and the shipyard was vast. Plus, Joshua’s group excelled at stealth. But it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.
Joshua and Jane wiped the blood from their weapons and waited for the other Black Knights instead of pressing forward.
“Mon has arrived, Second Unit,” Jane reported.
Joshua turned his head. The Black Knight called Mon had spent the last twenty minutes shadowing them, but instead of moving with the group, he was scouting the movements of Jin’s faction.
The reason Joshua had ordered Mon to tail Jin was simple: he wasn’t sure if Jin even knew the ship designs were stored in the Second Tower.
“What do you think?” Joshua asked.
“He didn’t take the shortest route to sectors 17 and 19. It looked like he was carefully watching Kinzelro’s faction’s movements,” Mon replied.
“Have you heard anything from my younger brothers directly?”
“The guards in the Twelfth Unit were tight, and the Ziphl reinforcements kept coming. Above all, Murakan’s senses were sharp. If I’d gotten any closer, it would have been a problem.”
Even for Black Knights, some things were impossible.
Getting close enough to overhear Jin, Murakan, and Dipus’s conversations inside the shipyard without being detected was beyond even their capabilities. The only reason Mon could at least track their route was because he was a Black Knight.
He wasn’t taking the shortest path.
Joshua shook his head silently, pondering this.
“It’s best to assume the youngest sibling is fully aware that the ship designs are in the Second Tower. My gut feeling was right.”
“I agree. Even if he hadn’t been aware at first, after witnessing Kinzelro’s terror attacks, he would have figured it out. The Twelfth Unit is sharp and insightful; they wouldn’t have missed it.”
“We need to make full use of the youngest from now on. Kinzelro will send his real forces—those not involved in the terror attacks—to the Second Tower.”
“I still regret not sharing the Second Tower’s information with the Fourth and Twelfth Units from the start.”
“That’s not a problem, Mon, Jane. It wasn’t about hoarding the information for ourselves. I genuinely believed that Jin and Dipus drawing attention inside the shipyard would help us acquire the designs.”
If only Kinzelro hadn’t acted like this.
“That’s right. The real problem is that Kinzelro has leaked our information. The only ones who could have breached our defenses and stolen intel are Yona Runkandel or the Nameless King. But it seems unlikely the Nameless King is involved this time.”
“Kinzelro’s leader might have used some special power, or perhaps demons interfered. The Prophet didn’t reveal the ship design’s location like that—no traces, no one knew.”
Mon and Jane answered this way, but in truth, the Prophet’s discovery of the ship design’s location involved many humans as catalysts. His prophecies and magic always required living humans as a medium.
However, the two Black Knights didn’t know that.
“We’ll verify the leak’s source through the Prophet later.”
Joshua fell silent for a moment.
“No matter the leak’s origin, one thing’s clear: we’re now competing with Kinzelro. And the youngest… he’s probably planning to steal the Second Tower’s designs while Kinzelro and I are distracted.”
For now, it was best to play along with the youngest’s moves.
Joshua reached into the pocket of his infiltration suit and fingered an object.
A key.
The one Sandra Ziphl wore around her neck—the key to the Second Tower’s vault.
Before infiltrating the Sota Desert, the Prophet had confirmed the vault’s location and contents in the Second Tower and had perfectly duplicated this key.
—Without this key, quick access to the Second Tower’s vault is impossible. Hundreds of illusion barriers and protective spells are in place. The key disables them.
—Are you sure?
—Have I ever lied to you?
—Then why not just copy the designs themselves?
—That’s foolish. Even if I had more materials, it wouldn’t have been easy. You should be grateful I made the infiltration suit and key with such limited resources and even revealed the vault’s location. Do you think the dead Rontelgius Lampen could have done this?
—…What?
—I knew you were relying on that demon. I just turned a blind eye because I pitied the orphan’s actions. This time, you must succeed. Bring back the ship designs and the item.
Joshua recalled the conversation with the Prophet before departure.
“I didn’t expect the Prophet to know about Lampen, but it doesn’t matter now. The youngest will uncover the true nature of the spirit orb. If it’s as significant as I suspect, I’ll take it then.”
Though the Prophet often mocked him and even hinted at betrayal, he was undoubtedly Joshua’s greatest asset.
“If Kinzelro’s leader and his special forces had powers equal or superior to the Prophet’s, they would have stolen this key along with the operation time.”
Still, Joshua was the most likely to steal the Second Tower’s items.
With his thoughts organized, a sense of relief washed over him—things were moving according to his plan.
“Mon,” Joshua said, sheathing his sword.
“Yes, Second Unit?”
“Stop playing coy and move quickly. From now on, you’ll draw Ziphl’s attention.”
Though they had already slain over two hundred administrators and mages and more than thirty Kinzelro members, Joshua’s group was still on a stealth mission. The frequent kills were just collateral damage from the terror attacks.
Joshua’s words meant to stop sneaking and start causing destruction.
Even a single Black Knight was a whale compared to the Kinzelro foot soldiers rampaging in the shipyard. The small fry couldn’t match their presence.
“Jane and I will head straight to the Second Tower. Join us after the destruction if possible, but prioritize survival and escape.”
“Understood.”
“And report the youngest’s route. It’s time to coordinate with him again.”
Pause.
Jin’s group, running at full speed, suddenly stopped. Like a spike piercing the air, they sensed a sudden surge of energy and an explosion.
Though the terror attacks continued, anyone at their level could feel the shift.
“Huh? Was there anyone among Kinzelro’s lot with that much power? That tremor… it feels like two entire sectors just vanished.”
“Sectors 4 and 11, Murakan. That’s where Joshua and the Black Knights were. It could be a battle between the arriving phantom troops and them.”
“No, I don’t sense any magic, Second Brother. If such a large explosion were magical, the shipyard’s mana flow would have changed.”
“Then Joshua might really be attacking sectors 4 and 11.”
“As I suspected, Joshua might have left a Black Knight in the shipyard to cause trouble.”
“Pretending the Black Knight attacked sectors 4 and 11, while he sneaks off to the Second Tower?”
Normally, Jin would have called that speculation too far-fetched. But after seeing Joshua’s decision to continue the mission, Dipus had decided to trust Jin—at least for this operation.
“Either way, Ziphl’s reinforcements will now focus there. That means the perfect moment for us to enter the Second Tower is near. Let’s wait a moment to see if the tremors grow closer or fade.”
The tremors quickly receded.
“I think it really was a Black Knight…”
Jin’s words stopped abruptly as he suddenly hushed himself, placing a finger to his lips. Murakan and Dipus quickly followed suit.
A distant scream echoed.
Jin’s group was near sector 17, and like Joshua’s team, they had killed most of Ziphl and Kinzelro’s forces on their way here. Especially the mages sent from the Second Tower—none were left alive.
In other words, few living remained near sector 17, so unless new reinforcements had arrived, there shouldn’t be any sound of fast footsteps.
‘Too few footsteps for reinforcements. And they’re moving too fast. It’s not mages—it’s warriors trained to the extreme, sprinting at full speed.’
Someone was massacring the remaining forces near sector 17 and heading straight toward Jin’s group.
Deefus and Murakan could clearly hear those footsteps charging forward recklessly, as if there was nothing left to fear.
And shortly after,
the group, hiding near the pipes at the entrance of District 17, caught sight of two figures vanishing at lightning speed.
“Joshua and the Black Knight…!”
Deefus was the first to speak.
There was only one Black Knight. The youngest member’s prediction had once again proven correct, sending chills down his spine.
“Oh, kid. You were right.”
Murakan whistled in amazement, but Jin’s expression was more serious, unlike the others.
“This might not be something to celebrate, Deefus.”
Deefus raised an eyebrow.
“Why’s that?”
“They used the Black Knight to draw our attention, which worked perfectly, and then slipped into the Second Tower. But don’t you think it was almost like they wanted us to see them heading there?”
“Hmm.”
“If they were running full speed, that means they had to move fast. We’re close to the path leading to the Second Tower, but it’s not the shortest route. Joshua should have taken a different path—not this one.”
Now that Jin mentioned it, it made sense.
“So, if you’re right, Joshua was tracking us from behind, figuring out our route.”
“Kid, maybe he was just running fast without thinking much?”
“Murakan, didn’t you say earlier it felt like something was tailing us?”
“Yeah, I did. I wasn’t sure, though.”
“And Deefus and I felt the same way, right?”
A brief silence fell over them.
“…Hah. Even if we can’t be sure about Joshua, the Black Knight could have easily observed our movements from a distance. So why? If they tracked us, it must have been to sneak into the Second Tower without us noticing. There’s no reason to make it obvious.”
Deefus sounded frustrated, and Jin fell into thought for a moment.
“Well, whatever confidence they have must be based on something. What that is… honestly, I can’t say right now. Looks like this time, we’re the ones being led by Joshua.”