Chapter 252 Open World (1)

Chapter 252 Open World (1)

Open World (1)

It was a minor earthquake.

Although the table shook, none of the glasses fell over, and I didn't hear anything breaking.

Only the chips piled on the table collapsed.

"An earthquake?"

He was startled by the sudden natural phenomenon, but...

...the nobles inside returned to their usual selves and continued gambling as soon as the tremors stopped.

Except for one person.

"Hey, Confucius, where are you going?"

"I suddenly remembered something I have to do. I'll fold this round."

The man flipped his cards over and left the table, taking only his chips.

And he took off his mask.

Although he enjoyed the concept of a gambling house where you could hide your identity with a mask...

'No matter how I think about it, that wasn't just an earthquake.'

Lee Baekho, who came out to the night street, sat down on the nearest bench and organized his thoughts.

Although the other nobles didn't seem to have heard it because of the noise inside, he clearly felt it.

The wave of energy that came from underground.

'It felt like a mixture of mana and divine power.'

He couldn't have been mistaken, as his Perception stat was high, and he had a talent for mana.

Then...

'They were talking about breaking the protective barrier, and they really did it.'

Lee Baekho soon reached the truth.

They were truly persistent bastards.

It wasn't a coincidence that they chose midnight, when the labyrinth opened, as the time to attack.

'...Empty house robbery...'

He didn't know the details since he was away from the royal palace. But Noark must have entered the labyrinth fully prepared.

They probably poured all their strength into it.

Without even imagining that their own tactic would be used against them.

'...If this goes well, those bastards down there might all die.'

It wasn't a positive situation for Lee Baekho.

He was even considering clearing the game with Noark if he had no other choice.

'Should I go down and help them?'

That thought briefly crossed his mind, but he chuckled and shook his head. It didn't suit his play style.

Actually, if it were this kind of situation...

'The royal palace must be empty now.'

Lee Baekho's lips curled up into a wide smile.

____________________

Jerome Saintred, the captain of the 1st Royal Knight Order.

A frown appeared between the brows of the protector of the royal family, the Knight of Light.

It was because of the news he had just received.

“The royal palace is under attack...?”

At first, he thought it was a counterattack from Noark.

But that didn’t make sense either.

They had been careful with security, gathering troops under the pretense of targeting the labyrinth and only revealing their true target, the Noark headquarters, two hours before departure.

And besides...

...the protective barrier had just been broken.Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

It meant that Noark didn’t have time to send enough forces to attack the royal palace.

“Have the orders to return been issued?”

“Not yet.”

“Then there’s no change in plans. We continue the expedition.”

Jerome led the army and quickly moved underground. And as time passed, he received news about the identity of the group that attacked the royal palace.

‘...I can’t believe it wasn’t a group.’

Only one person had dared to attack the royal palace.

He wondered if it was a solo act by the Ruin Scholar, whose threat level had recently been upgraded, but even that guess was wrong.

“Lee Baekho.”

Once a promising explorer, he was the one who caused that disaster after being revealed to be an evil spirit.

Of course, very few people knew about that disaster.

It was thoroughly covered up by the royal family, who valued his abilities, and he was given a new identity.

‘This is troublesome. How did he know? That even I would be away on an expedition?’

As far as he knew, Lee Baekho didn’t have any means of obtaining information. He used to communicate with an accomplice outside through the evil spirit gathering...

...but he was currently banned from the gathering.

It was also something the royal family had a hand in.

They subtly revealed Lee Baekho’s identity to the evil spirit called the GM, and when he didn’t ban him, they sent him to Noark and made him an enemy.

‘Then did he just guess?’

Jerome fell into deep thought.

He had heard that an earthquake occurred on the surface because of the aftermath of breaking the protective barrier...

...but there was one thing he couldn’t understand.

To deduce this situation from an earthquake?

That much was possible.

But acting on it was a different matter.

“...So that earthquake earlier was because of that?”

“Do you believe it?”

“Isn’t that more plausible than that nonsense about the royal family being afraid of Noark?”

The bear-like man was quick to understand, perhaps because he had been to the royal family’s treasury once. He knew that the royal family’s hidden strength was much greater than he had imagined.

“...Maybe we’ll be able to enter the labyrinth next time.”

The bear-like man then expressed his hope that this cold war might end sooner than expected.

And he was also worried about the city’s economic problems.

“Yandel, if this continues, shouldn’t we use the cash we’ve saved instead of hoarding it? The prices will return to normal once the labyrinth is stabilized.”

I was a bit touched by his words.

Was it because he was a veteran explorer with a family to protect?

Ainar and Misha didn’t seem to think about these things at all.

“Just wait and see. We’ll know what’s going on tomorrow.”

“Right, I was being impatient.”

We then changed the subject and chatted about various things, drinking together.

That’s when...

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

...alarm bells rang from outside.

It was my first time experiencing this in over a year of living in this city. The alarm bells didn’t even ring when my carriage exploded and the GM and Lee Baekho caused chaos.

But they were ringing now?

Clank, clank, clank.

I hurriedly went outside, and I saw guards from the Public Safety Department running towards one place, their boots clanging.

I grabbed a random guard and asked what was going on.

Although he said he couldn’t tell a civilian...

...he immediately changed his attitude when I revealed my identity.

“My name is Bjorn, son of Yandel. I’m a noble who was bestowed the title of Viscount by the royal family. So answer me. What’s going on?”

“...We, we don’t know either. We were just ordered to go to Karnon for support. I heard from my colleagues that there’s a big fire.”

A large fire in Karnon, the Imperial City, at this time...

‘There’s no way it’s a coincidence.’

Then don’t tell me those Noark bastards invaded?

Well, I didn’t know.

But it was possible.

If they knew about the royal family’s plan to rob their empty house, they could have used this kind of strategy.

‘Ha, the royal family can’t do anything properly.’

That’s when, as I was sighing...

...the bear-like man spoke.

“A fire in the Imperial City, it doesn’t seem like an ordinary incident... I wonder if Raven is okay.”

Huh? Raven?

Why is she suddenly being mentioned?

‘Ah, she’s staying near the royal palace to learn magic.’

...Damn it.

I felt my heart pounding as soon as I realized it.

An ominous premonition washed over me.

This kind of premonition rarely failed, so my anxiety was even greater.

“I hope it’s just an ordinary fire—”

“Avman, I’ll be going now.”

“Where are you going in this situation? Yandel, listen to me. It’s best to just stay home in times like this.”

The bear-like man grabbed me as I got up from my seat.

But...

“Don’t worry, I’ll find her and bring her back soon.”

“Then I’ll come with—”

“What are you talking about? You have to stay with your wife.”

I told the bear-like man to close the bar and go to my house with his wife.

Misha would also be worried.

I had to at least tell them what was going on.

And I felt reassured knowing that all my teammates were together.

“...Be careful.”

I then parted ways with the bear-like man and climbed onto the roof of a military carriage heading towards Karnon, the Imperial City.

Although the soldiers inside made a fuss...

...they all quieted down when I revealed my identity.

And after some time...

“Viscount Yandel! We’re almost at Karnon!”

...the carriage arrived at its destination.

My body froze involuntarily.

“.......”

The sky was red, even though it was the middle of the night.

The tall, well-maintained walls were stained with black soot, and the air was filled with acrid smoke.

And...

...screams and roars mixed together, coming from beyond the flames or outside the fire.

‘Crazy, what the hell happened?’

Karnon, the city of nobles, was burning.