Chapter 969
Episode 240: The Crisis of the Red-Eyed Clan (Part 2)
The Red-Eyed Clan’s third city, Patlok.
“Damn it! To see our comrades in Gaila and Usrok fall so miserably…!”
Rakhiman Hog shouted in frustration.
As the fourth city, Usrok, came under attack, the rest of the Red-Eyed Clan’s cities naturally went on the highest state of alert.
Every time a communication link with Usrok was briefly established, the news was bleak.
Screams of comrades being slaughtered amid raging magic and fire filled the airwaves, and even the Great King Gaila couldn’t hide his shock as he shouted. Due to interference, the exact words of Gaila and the others were unclear.
But one thing was certain: the air was thick with screams and death. And on the screens of the commanders’ bracelets, only one enemy appeared—Elona Ziphl.
Simat stared grimly at the spear that appeared on his bracelet’s screen. The last transmission from Gaila was playing on a loop.
—“I thought the Sacred Water Hall would be overrun immediately, but it’s resisting far more fiercely than expected. Gaila Tun, this pointless struggle will only wear us out.”
—“Gah… ugh!”
—“Well, I suppose you can’t understand what I’m saying anyway.”
Along with the voice, a blurry video showed fragmented scenes of the battle.
Gaila had charged at Elona recklessly, attacking wildly, his mind shattered and reason lost.
But those attacks posed no real threat to Elona. She calmly blocked Gaila’s strikes, biding her time—deliberately not ending his life until the power of the Sacred Water Hall fully consumed him.
—“Finally, it’s quieted down a bit. Hmm… so originally, the transformation called Fortress Flower was used to buy time for the troops to retreat. And this fortress… it’s that airborne fortress that destroyed the First Tower of the Lisrit Autonomous District in the past?”
—“Kahak, ghahak.”
—“Ah, looks like there wasn’t enough blood to operate the airborne fortress… it’ll make a fine trophy.”
That was all the communication left on the bracelet. There was surely more before and after, but interference made it impossible to discern.
‘Elona Ziphl seems to possess abilities that disrupt communication and dimensional travel, much like the great powers before the sealing era… She likely learned this through recent battles in the Demon Realm. And this transmission probably got through during a brief moment when Elona was too occupied fighting Gaila’s comrades to maintain perfect jamming.’
Simat focused more on the abilities Elona displayed than on Gaila’s demise or Usrok’s destruction.
Witnessing the deaths of comrades was unbearably painful, but if they didn’t respond immediately, the same fate awaited the others.
“…Comrade Rakhiman, we must fight.”
Rakhiman’s eyes widened.
“Simat, what are you saying? You were the one who argued against sending reinforcements to Usrok at the emergency meeting after the crisis began!”
Rakhiman glared at Simat as if ready to tear him apart.
Indeed, Simat had vehemently opposed the other Great Kings’ calls to send aid to Usrok during the recent communications.
The Great Kings believed that no matter how strong Elona was, it made no sense to stand idle out of fear of a single enemy infiltrating the main base. If the airborne fortresses moved together, they could not only stop Elona but kill her.
Yet, the supreme commander of the Red-Eyed Clan, Bakarun, sided with Simat’s opinion once again. So naturally, Rakhiman wanted to kill Simat for suddenly saying they must fight.
“That’s right. Regarding Elona, I still believe we shouldn’t fight her now. In fact, after seeing Gaila’s last transmission, I’m even more certain. Whatever happened in the Demon Realm, Elona Ziphl is far stronger than we’ve realized. And it seems she’s gained an extremely powerful form of mind control.”
“Hah! Then what exactly do you propose we fight?”
“The Imperial Court. In my opinion, the Red-Eyed Clan must immediately mobilize all airborne fortresses and troops to strike the Imperial Court.”
“What…!? What nonsense are you spouting? Even Gaila didn’t have enough blood to operate the airborne fortress and was defeated by Elona.”
“We can turn second-class Great Kings and below into Undying Soldiers, and by adding the blood of the Qingming Tribe still in Patlok, we can get the fortress operational immediately.”
“You madman! Even during the Great Sealing, our clan avoided such reckless acts!”
Rakhiman slapped Simat across the face, but Simat’s expression didn’t change as he continued.
“Also, the first city’s airborne fortress can be operated the same way. If we activate both fortresses at once, seize the Imperial Court’s key strongholds, and secure the Qingming Tribe’s buried remains they’re hiding, the remaining two fortresses should become operable.”
In ancient times, the Red-Eyed Clan originally possessed six airborne fortresses.
Five were controlled by the Great Kings ruling the fortresses, and one was the exclusive fortress of the Twin Warriors. But the Twin Warriors’ fortress was currently missing, and Gaila’s Usrok fortress had just become Ziphl’s trophy.
Simat was convinced that if things continued like this, all remaining fortresses would fall into the hands of Ziphl or the Imperial Court, and the Red-Eyed Clan would be doomed.
“We must use all four fortresses to reverse our relationship with the Imperial Court first. Then, while Ziphl and Runkandel keep each other in check, we must find the Twin Warriors somehow.”
“This is ridiculous. Fine, let’s say we follow your plan. But what do you base this on? What makes you think we should turn our healthy comrades into Undying Soldiers and exhaust the precious blood of the Qingming Tribe on such a gamble? We haven’t even confirmed if the Qingming Tribe’s remains exist in the Imperial Court’s strongholds.”
“Ha, comrade Rakhiman.”
Simat sighed and met Rakhiman’s gaze. At that moment, Rakhiman inexplicably shrank back, nearly stumbling.
It was as if he had locked eyes with the wrathful Twin Warriors of old.
“You’re simply choosing between slowly starving to death or taking a gamble with hope. Do you think I want to turn comrades into Undying Soldiers? We clearly decided to strike the Imperial Court right after Bakarun awoke, and we moved immediately, but the enemy created variables even faster.”
The Bamel Alliance had grown stronger with Jin’s rise to power and the returning expedition forces. Ziphl had not only awakened but grown stronger. And suddenly, Kelliak’s return and the change in the ruling family were just more bad news for the Red-Eyed Clan.
Kinzello hadn’t shown much after the Demon Realm campaign, but the fact that the other three powers avoided provoking him proved his strength.
Meanwhile, the Red-Eyed Clan had lost Gaila, his entire fleet and forces, and the airborne fortress Usrok in a sudden assault—right when they had decided to betray the Imperial Court and were preparing carefully.
“You said the Qingming Tribe’s blood might not be in the Imperial Court’s strongholds? That’s true. But then we take the blood of the Imperial Court’s own people. We must subdue the Imperial Court and find the Twin Warriors’ whereabouts to have any future. Do you think it’s easier to defeat the Imperial Court with our current forces? Or the Bamel Alliance, Ziphl, or Kinzello?”
Rakhiman could no longer show his anger.
Even discounting the illusion of the Twin Warriors’ majesty he felt from Simat, the argument itself made sense.
“Perhaps Elona is already moving. It’s been an hour since this transmission arrived. It wouldn’t be surprising if Patlok fortress is now facing the same fate as Usrok. And Patlok is the closest to Usrok.”
“…Ha! Understood, comrade Simat. I’ll contact comrade Bakarun immediately.”
Reddish light spread across Rakhiman’s bracelet as a spear-shaped icon appeared.
{Comrade Rakhiman, has there been any other communication from Usrok?}
“Comrade Bakarun, comrade Simat has something to say.”
{Speak.}
Simat calmly relayed his opinion to Bakarun.
Though Bakarun showed displeasure at the idea of turning comrades into Undying Soldiers, he accepted Simat’s proposal as soon as the explanation ended.
{We should act immediately. Even discussing details feels too risky. Which area will be the initial target?}
“Pirrol and Meisil. When the Imperial Court provided us with Qingming Tribe blood, most of it was delivered through Pirrol. And according to the information I’ve gathered, Meisil is likely the Emperor’s residence.”
Pirrol and Meisil were both ancient cities of the small aquatic people.
Pirrol was where Orgal had once come to meet the Red-Eyed Clan and fought Manof and his subordinates.
At that time, the Man were weapons created based on information left in Temar’s body, but Orgal had not yet properly shared that information with Jin.
{Understood. Our First Fortress, Pibilok, will strike Meisil immediately. It will take about an hour to activate the fortress.}
“If Elona Ziphl doesn’t attack Patlok during that time, the first phase will succeed. We’ll begin preparations immediately.”
Rakhiman didn’t object to the two deciding without him, the rightful lord of Patlok. The awe he felt toward Simat warned him not to interfere.
Except for rare, unusual cases like Simat, the Red-Eyed Clan was a society where subordinates strictly obeyed their superiors.
No one resisted the sacrifice of becoming Undying Soldiers to activate Patlok. The Red-Eyed Clan willingly offered their blood and lives, shouting:
“For the Red-Eyed!”
“The red sky will return once more!”
At that very moment, the two airborne fortresses, Pibil and Patle, began rising toward the underground sky.
Unaware of Elona’s invasion, the royal court was simply relocating the buried members of the Cheongmyeong tribe to Pirolo, intending to both reward and punish the Jeokmyeong clan.