Chapter 561: The Magician and the Thorns (2)

Thud!

Christin Lewis’ corpse fell to the ground with a dull thud, silencing everyone.

“...”

Mio came to her senses first and asked, "Just what did you do...?”

"Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re confused, but please listen to me. I had no choice but to do it," Milphage spoke. He pointed to the path where he had come from and said, "I overheard him talking to Isaac Dvor.”

"Is that true?"

"I know it’s hard to believe, but what can I do when it’s the truth? I decided to kill him right before he started talking nonsense.”

“...” Mio wordlessly stared at Milphage. It didn’t matter whether Milphage’s story was true or false, there was one issue that would never be resolved because of what he had done.

"Don't you think that it would have been better to let him speak?”

If Christin Lewis was the traitor, he would have protected the fake Mr. Shoot.

They would have managed to uncover the real Mr. Shoot.

"Uh...” Milphage slapped his forehead and said, "I didn't think that far, damn it...”

“...”

Milphage had always given off the impression that he was dumb, but Mio didn’t think that he was dumb at all. There was no way the Mercenary King and the Guild Master of Hallem would be a fool.

‘It's very suspicious.’

Milphage’s recent actions made Mio doubt Milphage. The possibility that Milphage was the traitor had opened up in her mind, and it made her feel a headache.

'I can’t trust anyone.’

She couldn’t trust Milphage and either of the two Mr. Shoots. Of course, she couldn’t trust Kiora as well because she was with Milphage.

‘It reminds me of fiends...’

Mio was reminded of the fiends’ dirty tricks to make others distrustful of others. In addition, it hadn’t been that long since they met, so the others had no choice but to stick out to avoid suspicion.

Rumble!

The clearing suddenly trembled, and it felt as if the ground would cave in.

"Cough, Mio! Hurry! This way!"

John Maverick gestured at her, but she ignored it.

'I can’t trust anyone here, so it’s best for me to move by myself.'

Swoosh!

The ground vanished, and a sense of weightlessness inundated Mio.

***

Tenmei Mio and Mr. Shoot were nowhere to be seen after they fell into the hole.

John Maverick stopped writhing in agony.

The wound on his torso could no longer be seen by the time he stood up.

"Tenmei Mio... I didn’t expect her to be so difficult to deceive," muttered John Maverick.

"What’s up with the way you handle things?!" Milphage growled. "We almost got caught! The whole thing almost went up in flames!"

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down," said John Maverick—no, Isaac Dvor. He grinned at Milphage and explained, "I was a mercenary myself, so I thought I did a great job. Did I fail to imitate a decent mercenary?”

"What are you talking about? Have you already forgotten? Seo Jun-Ho—he can read the memories of the dead!” Milphage exclaimed.

It would be the end of him if the truth about how he had been colluding with the fiends came to light. His wealth, honor, friends, and even his family would abandon him. His empire would collapse in the blink of an eye.

"Don’t be too worried. Do you really think that he can come here?”

"That monster is unpredictable. Anyway, didn’t you promise? You promised that you would hide and protect me."

"Yes, I promised. I’m holding up my end of the bargain by giving you insurance." Isaac was sure that even if Seo Jun-Ho managed to make his way here, there was no way he would doubt Milphage.

"Ta-da!" Isaac gestured exaggeratedly at Christin Lewis’ corpse. "He would have no reason to doubt you because the so-called traitor is already dead. You just have to dispose of that corpse, and he will have nothing to read.”

Isaac grinned and tapped Milphage’s shoulder. "You should relax."

"Whew." Milphage sighed. He scratched his head as complicated thoughts filled his mind. "I guess we have to wrap everything up properly."

"I’m an expert at wrapping things up, so don’t worry about it. Ah! What about your subordinate?”

“...” Milphage fell into deep contemplation upon recalling Kiora. Kiora had always been by his side even before the Hallem Guild became a part of the Big 6 and now Big 5. He had always treated her like family, and he reckoned that the latter thought the same.

Milphage gnashed his teeth and said, "If possible... I’d like you to spare her."

"Oh, are you sure about taking that much risk? It seems that you really love your subordinate. I wish my liege knew how to love us, too...”

"Stop talking nonsense. Just make sure that Mr. Shoot and Mio are dead.”

"Yes, I’m—” Isaac stopped speaking and peeked over Milphage’s shoulder with a look of amusement. “Hm, I think you’re the one who should make sure that he’s dead.”

"What?"

Crack!

A cracking noise echoed from behind Milphage.

Milphage turned around and saw the dead Christin Lewis cracking his neck.

Crack, crack, crack!

Christin Lewis tilted his head upon putting his bones back in place.

"Ah, I felt like I died and came back to life. Wait, I actually died..."

Christin Lewis’ golden eyes turned to Milphage.

"I wish it weren’t you, but it seems that you’re the traitor all along, Milphage."

“...”

Milphage's eyes quivered as he stared at Christin Lewis.

"What, what? How...?” Milphage muttered blankly.

"I saw something strange while we were at camp.”

A small invisible insect was attached to Tenmei Mio's neck.

His Holy Eye could barely see the insect because of its stealth.

“It was a tracking gu that the Dark Moon Pavilion of the Fiend Association often used for special missions. I wasn’t actually sure because I only saw it being described on a document,” said Christin Lewis.

The tracking gu could be attached to the target by brushing past them. Afterward, one could keep track of the target by using the bug as a GPS.

"When I saw that bug, I instantly realized that the traitor’s target was Mio-nim.” Christin Lewis suspected everyone else aside from Mio. "I honestly let my guard down. I didn't expect that you'd kill me without hesitation.”

However, the unfortunate death ended up being an unexpected boon.

Milphage’s actions made Christin Lewis sure that the former was the traitor.

“...” Milphage glared murderously at Christin Lewis. He wanted to kill the latter to shut his mouth. He wanted to tear the latter apart along with his memories.

“Now that I think about it, you’ve done a few suspicious things. How come I didn’t think much of them until now?” Christin Lewis muttered. He turned to look at Milphage and continued. "You tried to take off Specter-nim’s mask when he collapsed after killing the Heavenly Demon. When did you become a traitor?”

"... Isaac Dvor. Are you going to keep listening?"

"I don’t know. This is so interesting that I can’t keep my eyes off it. Anyway, I'll take care of it. I’m a good owner who takes good care of my customers.” Isaac waved his hands, and dozens of playing cards appeared between his fingers.

“It hasn't been that long since you revived, but I’m afraid that I will have to make you leave for the afterlife once more, Mr. Saint,” said Isaac.

Shwik!

The playing cards flew toward Christin Lewis.

Thunk!

A golden dome unfolded in front of Christin Lewis and deflected the flying cards.

"It seems that the God I serve has no intentions of calling me to His side just yet."

“Hoh.” Isaac Dvor's expression turned strange. The bunch of playing cards he had thrown at Christin Lewis weren’t ordinary attacks. Those playing cards would make even Valencia quite nervous while facing them.

"This is unexpected. You should not be this strong based on our investigations."

“I guess you weren’t lying when you said that, you fanatic,” said Milphage. He could still remember Christin Lewis’ words about how his divine power had become dramatically stronger for some reason on the 7th Floor.

"Well, I talked big, but I am not strong enough to beat you two into submission." Christin Lewis knelt on one knee and clasped his hands together. "I will not move even a single step from here until Mio-nim and Mr. Shoot’s return."

Would His shield shatter first, or would the others find him first?

"All things are according to His will."

Christin Lewis solemnly drew the holy sign on his chest.

***

Swoosh!

A thorny bush emerged from the ground and wrapped around Mio’s legs.

The monsters made out of bushes and covered in thorns took that as a sign to attack, and they immediately charged at Mio.

"Blue Moon Style Second Move: Sword of the Swallow."

Mio lowered her stance and ran as if she were sliding on the ground to cut the bush monsters into dozens of pieces.

Mio severed the thorny bush around her leg and looked around.

‘It does not seem like there’s an end to this...’

She had already cut down more than a hundred bush monsters, but she could still see dozens of them in the distance. Mio was starting to feel nervous, but she forcefully suppressed her nerves.

'Serene as still water. I have to be calm.’

The bush monsters weren’t that strong, so she was steadily climbing the castle.

At this rate, she would reach the top floor of the castle in two hours.

'I need to cut down the Queen of Thorns.’

She had to get rid of the thick fog as soon as possible.

Mio stepped forward and danced with her two swords.

Slice!

The bush monsters reached out for her like zombies, but she cut them all down.

‘It’s dangerous.’

Mio twisted herself in mid-air to swing her two swords in a circle.

Slice!

The bush monsters collapsed, but her swords had also inadvertently cut down the wall made out of thorny bushes at the end of her current path.

“...!”

A vast clearing could be seen between the hole in the wall, but the thorny bushes quickly filled the hole.

'That's definitely...’

Mio stepped forward with both her swords in tow.

Swoosh!

She gouged a larger hole in the wall, and she immediately jumped into the hole.

“...” Mio wordlessly glared at the regenerating wall. The bush monsters seemed like they were afraid to chase after Mio, and they melted into the walls, ceiling, and the floor

"Haaa..." Mio got up and looked around. She saw a thick pillar of thorny bushes that seemed to be holding up the entire castle.

Rustle!

“...!” Mio was startled to see a woman’s figure emerge from the bushes in the pillar. It was her first time seeing the woman, but Mio’s grip on her swords tightened upon seeing the latter.

"Valencia Citrin,” she said.

"I didn’t expect that you’d find this place," said Valencia. Half of her body was still in the pillar, but it seemed that she had no issues with it as she continued. "Your luck is abysmal. I can’t allow this castle to collapse just yet."

“Does that mean that this castle will collapse if I cut that pillar down?”

“Yes, it will,” replied Valencia.

It was the only reason she urgently came down from the top floor.

However, Valencia was right.

Mio’s luck was abysmal.

‘Ugh...’ Mio’s legs were trembling—no, her entire body was trembling as if she were a young deer facing the headlights of a careening car. She was trying her best to stay calm, but Valencia was too strong for her to stay calm.

"Give up. You’re not my match.”

Valencia flicked her hand, and hundreds of thorny bushes emerged from the floor.

"Ugh..." Mio momentarily felt like she was standing in front of Erebo at Seo Jun-Ho difficulty on Another World. 'No, s-she’s stronger than Erebo...’

The trajectory of the thorny bushes was diverse, and it was extremely difficult to detect where they would appear next. Mio became faster and faster as she deflected the thorny bushes, and it was all because she knew that her speed would fall if she got hit.

‘I have to block everything. Everything, everything, everything...!’

It had only been three minutes since their encounter, but Mio had already cut down more than a thousand thorny bushes.

"You fight well." Valencia looked somewhat impressed by Mio’s prowess.

"Unfortunately, there is no way you can avoid this one,” said Valencia.

She raised her hands and started moving them as if she were playing the Cat’s Cradle game. At the same time, innumerable thorny bushes emerged from the floor, the walls, and the ceiling.

"Cage of Thorny Death."

The thick thorns made Mio’s mind go white. How could she avoid so many thorns? She looked around, but she couldn’t see anything else other than thorny bushes. Her hands were busy cutting down the approaching thorny bushes, but it wasn’t enough.

‘Ah.’ Mio suddenly felt a shiver down her spine. She could feel it; her death was imminent. She pursed her lips and was about to burn everything she could to make a last stand.

Boooooom!

However, a massive ring made out of weapons fell from the ceiling and sliced the thorny bushes apart.

"Weapon Hell? Mr. Shoot!" Mio’s expression instantly sank. ‘No, no...'

Mr. Shoot wasn’t here to help her, and it was evidenced by the fact that Mr. Shoot’s Weapon Hell was flying straight toward her rather than Valencia.

“...” Mio’s outstanding vision captured the figure behind the spinning ring.

The slender figure wearing a helmet was none other than Mr. Shoot.

- Die. Tenmei Mio.

Mio’s heart became filled with pain upon seeing the words on Mr. Shoot’s LED display, but Mr. Shoot’s arrival meant that she could finally see a way for her to survive this entire ordeal for the meantime.

“If that’s your wish..."

Shwaaah!

A wave of darkness abruptly emerged and engulfed both Mio and Mr. Shoot.

"Welcome..."

...to Oni’s Forest.