Chapter 111: Omen (2)

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“Did you say Turgar made a move?”

“They’ve mobilized their subordinate organizations and have begun directly pressuring Dirsen.”

“Hm.”

Queen narrowed her eyes at the report that had just come in.

Since NOX’s emergence, Dirsen, the successor of Lahan, and Turgar, his closest rival, had been locked in a cold war.

Neither wanted to deplete their power in a full-scale war, so they instead expanded their influence and escalated their power struggle.

An all-out war was a last resort, only to be considered when nothing else worked.

After all, if Lahan showed weakness due to internal conflict, there were plenty of hungry forces waiting to pounce.

“For them to finally start moving must mean their patience has reached its limit.”

“It seems the presence of NOX has become a significant threat.”

“Of course it has.”

NOX was a newly formed organization that had grown rapidly in the Western Third Commercial District.

Under normal circumstances, Lahan would have crushed it before it could grow, but Dirsen, from the opposing faction, had unexpectedly joined hands with them.

To Turgar, the situation was undoubtedly outrageous.

“How are our preparations?”

“We’re ready to act at any moment.”

Ninth Lord gave a small nod.

Currently, all NOX members, excluding those sent out for reconnaissance and surveillance, were staying at the headquarters.

They had temporarily reduced operations until the identity of the mysterious group that attacked Six and Carl could be uncovered.

There was no reason to expose their strength before they knew who their enemies were.

“Are we sure that group isn’t connected to Turgar?”

“There’s no sign of that. We’re monitoring closely, so if any contact occurs, I’ll report immediately.”

Ninth Lord had already infiltrated Turgar’s side with an intelligence network.

Some had been bribed, others blackmailed with leverage, and a few even replaced entirely with NOX operatives.

Each one was feeding valuable information back to NOX.

“For now, tell the executives out in the field to stay vigilant. If we move directly, that’ll be the next phase.”

“Understood. Then, shall I report to the Master…?”

“I’ll handle it. Seolbaek?”

Beep.

At Queen’s call, Seolbaek, who had been dozing off against the office wall, flapped his wings and flew over in an instant.

Queen gave him a gentle smile and stroked his head before drafting a letter to be sent to Carl.

Meanwhile, Six, who had slaughtered all of the enemies who attacked their group, stood amidst a pool of blood.

“……”

After surveying the area and confirming no enemies remained, he shrugged and returned to Dirsen’s side.

“Good thing we changed the meeting room. Judging from how they came straight for this place, it seems someone leaked information from the inside.”

“…Noah, I was only safe thanks to you.”

“They were insignificant enemies. Even if they’d burst into the meeting room, I’m sure you would’ve handled them easily.”

At Six’s words, Dirsen looked around at the dozens of corpses.

Even for him, facing this many attackers at once would have been overwhelming.

In other words, had it not been for Six, they would have suffered some kind of damage.

“Those damned rats.”

Crunch.

Dirsen stomped on a severed limb.

He erased the notion of their cold war from his mind entirely.

Until now, he had let the occasional covert strike slide, since he had done the same in return, but this ambush had clearly crossed the line.

“To send this pathetic level of force to attack me is laughable. It’s worse than a deliberate strike—it’s insulting.”

“A provocation. They’re saying they can afford to throw away a few dozen like pawns.”

Six stared at the corpses.

His killings were a form of art.

That’s why they had to be precise, laced with aesthetic value.

But these were nothing but vermin—unworthy of any such treatment.

So he hadn’t held back.

“What will you do?”

“……There’s only one choice.”

Dirsen raised his head, face hardened, and continued.

“It’s war. The moment they started this fight, it became unavoidable.”

As the head of the successor faction, Dirsen needed to show resolve.

If Turgar could provoke them this openly and Dirsen did nothing, his position as leader would become shaky.

Internal faction struggles were, at their core, battles of influence.

“Emergency! It’s an emergency!”

Just then, one of Dirsen’s subordinates came running toward them, gasping for breath.

When Dirsen shot him a questioning glance, the man answered with a trembling voice.

“O-our forces are under attack! Too many places are being hit at once—we can’t even get a clear picture of the situation!”

“What?!”

Dirsen gasped in shock.

Had the attack with a few dozen men merely been a distraction?

His expression grew urgent as he looked to Six and Gallon.

“It seems they were aiming for this moment. Let’s head up—quickly.”

“Agreed.”

“Hmph.”

Dirsen’s faction included about 40% of Lahan’s branches, old allied groups, and NOX.

As the former ruler of the Western Third Commercial District, his power was considerable, but if they were all being attacked at once, it could only mean Turgar had made the first move.

They swiftly exited the underground Flick and emerged above ground.

It was already well past midnight.

In every alley, underworld forces were surely lurking, radiating their presence.

But tonight, for some reason, everything was eerily silent.

“…Hold on.”

While returning to their base from Flick’s exit—

Six stretched out his hand, stopping Dirsen.

“What is it? We must hurry.”

“Where is the subordinate who delivered the report earlier?”

“What? What are you talking about…?”

Dirsen turned to look behind him—and froze.

The subordinate who had warned them of the crisis was nowhere to be seen.

“…This is.”

“Hm.”

Gallon, who had remained silent, narrowed his eyes and quietly positioned himself behind Dirsen.

There were about a dozen of Dirsen’s direct subordinates present here.

And just moments ago, they had been accompanied by troops from their affiliated organization.

‘Dirsen’s schedule and the meeting room location were leaked. It has to be the work of an insider.’

‘But the mole may not be just one person.’

Six and Gallon reached the same conclusion at nearly the same time, their eyes meeting.

“First, we need to figure out what’s going on…”

Shkkt.

Before Dirsen could finish his sentence, a sudden spray of blood erupted.

Weapons burst through the backs of several of his direct subordinates.

“What?!”

“Gah!”

“It’s a betrayal!”

“You bastards…!”

Caught off guard by the ambush, the rear-guard subordinates turned around in shock.

But half of the dozen were killed instantly in the surprise attack.

“This way, behind me.”

“……”

Gallon pulled Dirsen back behind him.

That side had already collapsed beyond control.

And since they weren’t NOX members anyway, their deaths didn’t really matter.

“Wh-What is this…?”

Dirsen was in complete shock.

The same comrades who had just pledged loyalty now betrayed him.

What’s worse, they were from an organization that had allied with Lahan since his father’s era.

“Forgive me, Young Master.”

“Duron! You bastard!!”

“You have to go with the mainstream. No matter how strong this rising group called NOX is, Turgar’s side is simply more reliable.”

The bald man called Duron spun a knife in his hand and narrowed his eyes.

“Succession in an organization should follow what’s natural. Isn’t a proven second-in-command better than an unproven heir?”

“Noah! Kill that man!”

“I’d love to, but…”

Six scanned the rooftops on either side, his expression settling.

‘So even guiding us out here was part of the trap.’

Inside Flick, the presence of other organizations had introduced too many variables.

So Turgar had stirred talk of war to lure them outside.

All to prepare a definite trap.

Thup. Thup-thup.

Several figures dropped down from the darkened rooftops.

From their light movement, it was clear each one was highly skilled.

Shrrrk.

Six spread his palm and extended a thread of Heavenly Silk.

But Gallon stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll take this.”

“Are you sure?”

“After vomiting earlier, I feel better. Besides, your skill is more suited for support than the front line, right?”

“That’s true.”

Six stepped back without argument.

Although the Black Label Numbers held specialized roles, the higher the number, the stronger they were.

In simple terms of raw strength, Gallon For was two levels above Six.

Crack, crack.

Gallon rolled his shoulders and loosened his wrists as he slowly stepped forward.

‘Total of 47.’

Thirty-five tagalongs who came up from Flick.

Twelve newly appeared enemies.

“A perfect number for a warm-up.”

Shwish!

The other side didn’t answer and charged at Gallon all at once.

Their bloodlust was directed only at him, ignoring Dirsen entirely.

Kkak.

Gallon pulled out black fingerless gloves from his inner pocket, slipped them on, and looked up.

“If I’d known this was coming, I wouldn’t have drunk so much last night.”

Spat!

Gallon and the enemy at the front passed each other in an instant.

At the same moment, Gallon’s fist swung at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

The enemy’s head exploded on impact, scattering blood everywhere.

“One down.”

That one wasn’t the only victim.

Gallon danced through the group like a wolf among sheep, his movements on an entirely different level from everyone else.

Thwack! Thwack!

Each time his fist landed, a head burst without fail.

Blocking or dodging was meaningless.

There simply wasn’t anyone here faster than Gallon.

Thup-thup.

He bounced lightly in place to adjust his rhythm, then called out to three who stood at the back, unmoving.

“You three aren’t joining in?”

From their presence, it seemed those three were the leaders.

But they remained stationary, sending only their subordinates charging at Gallon.

‘Trying to wear me down, huh.’

Gallon chuckled.

It was true that boxer-type fighters expended a lot of energy due to full-body movement.

But as a monk of The Cult, his case was a little different.

Whirr.

Instead of mana, divine power flowed through his body, constantly invigorating him.

The only time that flow stopped was when his faith wavered—and…

‘When I was crushed under the Master’s gaze.’

One hundred matches, ninety-nine wins, one loss.

Gallon, the undefeated boxer, had only ever lost to Carl.

Crack.

With a deliberate straight punch, a fan-shaped shockwave rippled forward.

The approaching members of the enemy group were caught in the blast, their limbs torn apart.

Gallon stepped on their heads and leapt through the air toward the enemy leaders.

“Hrk!”

His fist, harder than rock, came crashing down from above.

Gallon had no doubt it would smash his opponent’s skull.

Clang.

But it was blocked—neutralized—by a counterpunch from the enemy.

“……”

Gallon’s eyes widened.

Being blocked was one thing.

But the energy he felt from the opposing fist was unmistakable…

“A Demon Human?”

It belonged to a fool who had made a pact with a demon and given up his soul.

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