Chapter 270: Episode 270

[The Hyacinth Raid Party has used Location Transfer.]

[The raiders’ location will be changed to the previously saved location.]

Just as they were being cornered, the raid party had escaped. They must have set a marker before entering the Revived Plains, which meant their destination could only be the previous battleground: Hylon Forest.

“I shall take my leave now,” Ashuanin announced. “My duration is about to expire.”

The hero of the battle vanished. Normally, Taehyun would have ordered an immediate pursuit, but his own forces had suffered considerable damage. Worse, Big Dream and Hyena, who had been inside the fog, were critically injured. They had taken down forty raiders, but treating his own people was the priority.

“It seems to be a bolt with a piercing effect,” Riel reported, her voice trembling. “Her left shoulder is completely gone! Sir Big Dream is better off since his body is made of bone, but his healing will still take a long time.”

While two healers frantically cast their spells, one remained silent. Eleonora, the A-rank priest who possessed Divine Revelation, surely knew what she had done wrong.

But Taehyun would not forgive her.

“What the hell were you doing?” he snarled, his voice dangerously low. “Why didn’t you cast Divine Revelation? You could have used it the moment Big Dream was hit!”

“I was momentarily flustered,” Eleonora stammered. “I never imagined Turner, an old comrade, would show up…”

“Shut your mouth,” Taehyun cut her off. “Comrade or not, you are a raider of Balak. Staring blankly, caught up in old sentiment, was your mistake and yours alone. Don’t make excuses. Start healing. If Hyena doesn’t wake up, I will never forgive you.”

“…I will heal her, no matter what,” she whispered, her head bowed.

Fortunately, the bolt hadn’t pierced Hyena’s heart, but the injury was still critical. With her entire shoulder gone, the blood loss and pain had to be agonizing. Riel and another healer were already casting their spells, but they would need potions to regenerate the limb. Taehyun ordered an intermediate potion to be brought, his eyes fixed on Hyena’s still form.

“Damn it,” he muttered, a cold anxiety he hadn’t felt in a long time creeping into his heart. As his soldiers slowly returned from the Revived Plains, the Dungeon Master remained frozen in place.

—

“How is it going?” the master’s voice crackled through the communication device.

The man holding it, Fury, glanced down at the forest once more. The raid party had retreated to Hylon Forest after taking heavy losses, and they still hadn’t moved from their camp.

“They’re still in Hylon Forest,” Fury reported. “Their numbers have dropped to about eighty after the battle. At this rate, they’ll have trouble even entering the Silent Forest.”

“It can’t be helped,” Dinen Fradio replied. “Execute the plan now. Have the others install the steles at the locations Gelix designated.”

“Are you planning to absorb the raid party as well?”

“If it works on them, all the better.”

The fifteen steles had been buried in the far western edge of the North. Their exact nature remained a mystery, but their effect was known. Fury looked up at the Thousand-Mile Eye in the sky and tore a summon scroll.

[A Summon Gate has been opened.]

[Raiders and Dungeon Masters who were previously marked will be forcibly summoned.]

Summon Gates were harder to obtain than most exclusive items, but for this plan, the cost was irrelevant. The marked targets were the other four raiders waiting outside, and they were instantly pulled through the gate. A man in a mask pointed to the sky.

“The Thousand-Mile Eye is active. Should we be concerned?”

“Hyacinth has three possible reactions: cooperation, hostility, or indifference,” Fury explained calmly. “Given that she’s here on a commission, which do you think it will be?”

“Indifference, most likely,” the masked man conceded. “In that case, we can proceed as planned.”

“Exactly. You each have three steles. Spread out and install them over a wide area. As I explained, the last three will be installed here.” Fury pointed to a location on a pre-drawn map—the linchpin of their entire operation. The men nodded in unison and dispersed into the shadows.

Fury remained, his gaze fixed on the forest below. He could see Hyacinth flinching. She must have been watching the entire territory and had surely spotted his men by now. It was only natural for her to look so unsettled. After a moment, he too turned and vanished.

—

’This is not good. This is very not good,’ Hyacinth thought, her stomach churning. They had cleared the second battle area, and while it felt like a retreat, forcing two of the enemy’s main combatants off the field was a definite gain. The stress level, however, was another matter entirely.

[Raid Party Average Stress Level: 47/100]

Her members were all seasoned veterans who should have been mentally fortified from countless commissions. Yet their average stress level was nearing fifty. Camping managed their stamina and fatigue, but she had no items to lower their stress. To make matters worse, other raiders had infiltrated the territory. Normally, she might have dismissed them as opportunistic stragglers, but not now.

’It’s been a while since this commission was announced. Even the usual dungeon crawlers have been staying away. So who are they?’ Her Thousand-Mile Eye confirmed they were no ordinary raiders; they were A-rank, top-tier experts at the very least. Hyacinth hesitated. Telling her comrades now would only sow more confusion. ’On top of that, the two S-rankers are at each other’s throats. With MacPain gone, there’s no need to add more tension.’

Their objective was the branch of the World Tree. As a commissioned party, she couldn’t afford to be distracted. Decision made, Hyacinth ended the rest period.

“Is everyone ready? We’re re-entering the Revived Plains.”

“Hold on,” one of the raiders protested. “That’s all well and good, but we don’t have any exclusive items left. If we go in now, we’ll be slaughtered.”

“No,” Hyacinth corrected him. “With Forced Location Change off the table, we still have a chance. I was saving this for the elves in the Silent Forest, but it seems we have no choice but to use it now.”

She had acquired three items for this commission: the already-used Return and Item Block, and a third—Location Switch. The raiders stared at the item in her hand, stunned.

“Is that a Location Switch? Those are even harder to get than Return!” one exclaimed.

“An S-rank exclusive,” another breathed. “There can’t be many on the market. The price must be astronomical.”

“Of course. That thing alone is worth tens of millions of Zen.”

These were items created solely for raiding S-rank dungeons; their value and effectiveness were unparalleled. Hyacinth nodded and was about to explain the plan when a massive vibration shook the entire territory.

“What was that sound?” Perun asked, frowning.

“I think there’s something wrong with your ears,” Turner shot back.

“That tone of yours is quite grating.”

“As if you’re any better.”

Even now, the two S-rankers were bickering. Hyacinth sighed and read the message that had appeared before her.

[The Control Stele has begun to operate.]

[Synchronization Rate: 47%]

[The mana of the fifteen installed steles is resonating.]

[The synchronization rate has begun to increase.]

A phenomenon she had never seen or even heard of was unfolding. Watching the red mana spread across the land, Hyacinth muttered, “Just what in the hell is this place?”

—

Meanwhile, Hyena’s treatment was underway.

“Fortunately, we cast the heal right away, so the bleeding has stopped,” Riel reported. “Now that she’s had an intermediate potion, she should start regenerating slowly.”

Her shoulder began to knit itself back together, the flesh bubbling like rising dough. Her upper body had been stripped for the treatment, but Taehyun didn’t look away. He stared at her for a long time before finally turning his head.

“If I had my way, I’d send you to the torture chamber,” he said to Eleonora, his voice ice. “But I’m holding back because it was only this much. Don’t be relieved. You will take responsibility for this.”

“I have no excuse, even if I had a hundred mouths. My apologies, Sir Taehyun.”

“Hmph. By the way, did they hide their identities through information manipulation? Why did they come back?”

“I don’t know the details,” Eleonora admitted. “They were comrades who would always stop by the lodge to check on Hendy and leave when we weren’t there. I truly don’t know the reason.”

Turner and the others, once members of the Eleonora raid party. Taehyun didn’t know how they’d survived the curse, but the fact remained that they had joined a commission against him. The next clash would pit former comrades against each other.

“Don’t forget you belong to Balak now,” he warned Eleonora. “If you space out like that again, I’ll kill you first. Understood?”

“…I understand. I won’t hesitate again.”

Taehyun gave her one last warning and left the room. Hendy and Sihan were waiting outside and cautiously approached him.

“I-I won’t do it! I can’t!” Hendy cried. “How can you ask me to kill people who were once my comrades?”

“You must not know,” Taehyun said, his voice devoid of sympathy. “They’re the ones who abandoned you. They didn’t care if you were hit with a high-level curse; they just cast you aside. Isn’t it obvious? Since there was no way to revive you, they went looking for a way to break the curse for themselves.”

“Ugh!’ Don’t speak so carelessly when you don’t know anything, you stupid, idiotic demon!” Hendy sobbed, her words laced with fury. Even after he told her exactly what Drophin had relayed, this was her reaction. Taehyun sighed and turned to Sihan.

“You answer. Am I wrong?”

Sihan remained silent.

“See? You can’t even refute it because it’s true,” Taehyun continued coldly. “Whatever you’re thinking, I will issue a forced command through your contract. Just so you know.”

Their past was irrelevant. They were raiders of Balak, and they would obey his orders. Ignoring the sound of Hendy’s weeping, he returned to the Master Room.

“The raid party?” he asked Riel.

“They haven’t appeared yet. I think they’re still camping in Hylon Forest.”

As she said, the screen was empty, showing only the scars of battle on the Revived Plains. Taehyun sat and reviewed his remaining items when a message flashed before his eyes.

[The Control Stele has begun to operate.]

[Synchronization Rate: 47%]

[The mana of the fifteen installed steles is resonating.]

[The synchronization rate has begun to increase.]

’What is this? Did the raid party use it? No, this isn’t an exclusive item message.’ He was reminded of the Lexner raid party and the device they’d used to eliminate his familiars. A low groan escaped him as he watched the red mana spread. “Should I destroy the steles first? But what do they do?”

“This is the first I’ve seen of it, too,” Riel admitted. “It doesn’t look like any installation device raiders use.”

“Hmm. It seems to activate when that synchronization rate hits one hundred.”

Given the raid party’s location, the steles were likely in Hylon Forest as well. Taehyun calmly dispatched his familiars and soldiers into the woods. If the steles were there, he could deal with them and the raiders at the same time. But contrary to his expectations, nothing appeared on the screen—nothing except his soldiers being systematically eliminated.

[S-Rank Familiar Tippet has died.]

[B-Rank Flash Fenrir has died.]

[B-Rank Moonlight Werewolf has died.]

As his forces were cut down, not a single stele was found.

“Master, could this be…?!” Riel gasped.

Taehyun’s face hardened. If it wasn’t the raid party, there was only one other possibility. He straightened his posture and began rapidly deploying soldiers to every corner of his territory.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice grim. “It means we have other intruders.”

And so, the territory of Balak found itself welcoming not only a raid party, but another, unknown enemy.

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