Chapter 172 : Negotiation (2)

Amidst her exhausted patience, Yuliana had all sorts of thoughts.

What on earth could it be?

What on earth is this man trusting to act so arrogantly in front of her like this?

Of course, she knew.

I was a figure related to Cain, and if there was something I trusted, it would be Cain.

‘It seems that Cain being in this world has been proven to some extent just by this reaction, but…….’

The problem was that no matter how much I had Cain as my backing, she could no longer overlook this kind of insolence.

“……This is the last warning. Go back now. I can no longer just let this pass either.”

“Do as you wish.”

Yuliana stopped thinking now.

In a situation where she was not even sure whether Cain was still in this world or not, she did not feel like overlooking that arrogance any longer.

‘No, even if Cain exists, so what? Seeing that he hasn’t revealed himself until now, it must not be the Cain of the past.’

Until now, many players were curious about Cain’s whereabouts, but nothing had been revealed about Cain’s whereabouts.

If it were a giant of that level, no matter how much he tried to hide, it would inevitably show in some way, but there was almost no evidence that Cain existed until now.

‘Although a testimony that someone saw Cain did come out once in the past…… it has been quiet since then.’

A basis for dealing with the aftermath was created.

If so, there was no reason for Yuliana to endure any longer either.

Srrrng…….

Yuliana’s sword was drawn out.

Taking out a weapon was a declaration that there would be no more conversation, and that was the same for me as well.

Swaaek!

Yuliana’s sword, moving at an invisible speed, rushed toward me.

Just one arm would be a sufficient price for the arrogance shown today.

‘He will understand if I do it moderately.’

Although she had taken out a weapon, Yuliana had no intention of killing me.

My backing was backing, and above all, there were still things left to ask me.

Kwaduek!

However, the sound heard soon after was not the sound of flesh being cut, but the sound of Yuliana’s sword being blocked by something.

And Yuliana knew the black aura holding her sword.

“……Demonic energy. It seems you thought you could fill the skill gap with that, but you are very mistaken.”

Bellerophon is a faction wary of the danger possessed by Fragments, but that did not mean Yuliana had not absorbed any Fragments at all.

After all, Yuliana was also once a proponent of Fragments and a party directly involved in the experiment Bellerophon conducted a long time ago.

In short, Yuliana also harbored Demonic energy.

Sss!

Demonic energy began to spew out from Yuliana’s whole body.

Unless it was a fight between one with Demonic energy and one without, if both possessed Demonic energy, naturally what decided the outcome was their original skill.

Therefore, Yuliana considered that this fight would not even be established in the first place.

Kkududuek!

Until Yuliana’s Demonic energy rather began to bind Yuliana herself.

“What is th─”

Yuliana tried to react to the abnormal phenomenon that occurred suddenly in her own way, but what was binding Yuliana now was the Demonic energy originating from Yuliana herself.

Naturally, running away or such was impossible in the first place.

Spirit Magic.

Self-Entanglement.

Kkuduek!

Yuliana, whose whole body was bound by her own Demonic energy in an instant, stared at the man in front of her with a shocked expression.

“How…… on earth?”

As far as Yuliana knew, magic that moved Demonic energy did not exist.

But then what on earth was this magic binding Yuliana right now?

“Do you feel like listening to me properly now?”

“……How can you use such magic?”

“I have quite a few talents.”

Magic that completely binds movement by using the opponent’s energy instead…….

‘It won’t unravel easily. Is it magic that is impossible to break with force?’

Even now, Yuliana was doing her best to break the magic, but the magic showed no signs of unraveling.

The problem was, even if she succeeded in breaking this magic with force, it was obvious that Yuliana would consume not a small amount of power to break this magic and the Demonic energy composing it.

No, perhaps she might just use up her power and fail to break the magic.

‘If there is at least an easy way, it would be making a new contract…….’

Exactly what price would a demon try to receive to nullify magic of this level?

She didn’t know for sure, but the price would definitely not be small.

Yuliana had no choice but to admit it now.

In the World of Justice Online, a fight between players inevitably becomes a battle of wits like a card game.

But Yuliana had almost no cards to counter the first card I played.

If this were a fight with lives on the line, Yuliana also would not have cared about herself, but this fight was closer to a friction of opinions rather than a life-or-death fight.

“Have your thoughts changed a bit now?”

“……I admit that you are special regarding Demonic energy. But that and not being subjugated to Demonic energy are completely different issues.”

“Stubborn.”

“That’s my line.”

I smirked.

“But it wouldn’t be very useful to act so stiff in this situation, would it?”

“Don’t bluff. This is the middle of the Griffin Knights. If a disturbance arises here, all members will swarm here in less than a minute.”

“Probably. But do you think I would care about such a thing?”

The moment she saw my deep eyes, which were too calm even in this situation, Yuliana felt as if her heart was cooling down coldly.

She was thinking wrong.

Yuliana had no choice but to completely revise the evaluation she had made of me until now.

Until now, Yuliana thought of me as someone who, although a bit special, was ultimately acting confidently trusting the backing called Cain.

But it wasn’t.

What I trusted was not something like Cain, but solely myself.

Otherwise, I couldn’t have eyes like that.

“……Vell Blackwood, you are making a big mistake right now. I admit that you are special. Your resistance to Demonic energy is probably much higher than others too. But you can’t. The Fragment is a dangerous power.”

“You are really stubborn as a mule. How many times do I have to say I am fine.”

“If it were you, could you believe those words?”

“Yeah.”

Should she call that confident, or should she call that shameless…….

“……Even if you can, I am not. And even if your words are correct, there is no reason for Bellerophon to give you a Fragment.”

“There seems to be some misunderstanding.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t I say it’s a deal? I didn’t say to give it for free.”

Yuliana was dumbfounded.

“What can you do for Bellerophon? There is almost nothing Bellerophon lacks. We have money, and we have people too.”

“I will work for Bellerophon. I want a Fragment in return.”

“……Didn’t I just say we have people too?”

“People are what you lack no matter how many you have. Let alone in a situation like now, even more so.”

At that point, Yuliana also couldn’t possibly not know what I was talking about.

“……You, how did you know that?”

“It is a simple deduction. If there are those who want Fragments and those who don’t, it is a natural flow for big and small disputes to arise.”

It was as I said.

Bellerophon was fighting an invisible war that had continued from a long time ago.

Bellerophon, which ostracizes Fragments.

The Hall of Subjugation and Demonic people, who want Fragments.

Those who want Fragments but do not belong anywhere in particular.

In fact, just looking at numbers, players who did not belong to Bellerophon were absolutely more numerous than those who did.

It had to be that way.

Fragments harbored the biggest secret for players who came to this world, and to solve that secret, eventually, they had to collect Fragments.

Nevertheless, the reason Bellerophon could still sustain this war was that compared to the latter, the force called Bellerophon was united.

In short, Bellerophon always suffered from a manpower shortage.

Talented people were dying day after day in the invisible war, and the power of Demonic people gradually became stronger.

The reason Bellerophon could not take any special action despite the figure called the Supreme King appearing in the Eastern Union was also the same.

Bellerophon’s front line had already reached its limit and they did not have the capacity to expand the front line any further.

Whether I had the ability to be worth it was not much of a problem.

Since my ability was as good as proven already by subduing Yuliana at once.

“How can I trust you?”

“Because trusting me would be better.”

“It sounds like you’re saying there is no reason to trust you? You could be a spy sent from the Hall of Subjugation.”

“If that were the case, wouldn’t killing you, who are subdued right now, be better in many ways?”

“That is…….”

It was a correct statement.

If I were a spy sent by the Hall of Subjugation, killing Yuliana right now would be hugely beneficial in many ways.

Yuliana was a figure with great importance even within Bellerophon, and an opportunity to kill such a figure was never common.

“What I want is simple. I will work for Bellerophon and receive the price for it, that’s all.”

“And that price is a Fragment.”

“Right.”

Yuliana had no choice but to fall into deep thought for a moment at my words.

Should she accept this proposal, or not.

At a glance, it was a story that wasn’t too bad for Bellerophon either.

From the perspective of Bellerophon, which always suffered from a manpower shortage, hiring manpower with Fragments they just piled up without using was not a bad thing.

However, before accepting the proposal, there was something Yuliana had to ask me.

“……I have something I want to ask.”

“Speak.”

“I heard that an independent operation regarding the Supreme King’s assassination was carried out at the Winter Castle, and the person in charge was you, Vell Blackwood. Is that correct?”

“Correct.”

“Can I take the fact that you are standing here fine to mean that the operation was successful?”

Yuliana met my eyes.

Even Insight could not read anything inside the eyes that seemed to harbor an abyss.

“Do I have to answer?”

“Yes. I think trust is the most important thing in a deal, don’t you think so?”

“It’s not a wrong statement.”

I nodded slightly as if agreeing, and added.

“The Supreme King is dead.”

“……!”

It was a short statement, but because the meaning contained within was never light, Yuliana could not hide her shock.

The Supreme King is dead.

And I was the person in charge of the Supreme King assassination operation.

What this meant was clear.

“Did…… you kill him?”

“Resultingly, it became like that.”

This was not ordinary information.

It was already a known fact that the Supreme King had disappeared suddenly, but even so, there were more deductions that the Supreme King would not have died.

But the Supreme King is dead?

Setting aside how on earth such a thing was possible, verification was the priority for now.

“……Do you have evidence?”

“Evidence. I have very huge evidence that everyone can see.”

“What does that mean?”

“That sky.”

I pointed to the ceiling.

“The Supreme King opened the sky.”

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