𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟕𝟔
After the meeting was over, we were led by Ha Sa-dam to meet Ha Si-rul, the head of the clan.
“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a little about you from General Ha Sa-dam. You seem to be a group of extraordinary people.”
“You overestimate us. We don’t know much about the current situation, so we’d like to ask for your cooperation.”
“Yes, of course. I think it would be helpful to exchange the information we have.”
In that way, we were able to hear more detailed stories from Ha Si-rul.
The overall flow was the same as Ha Sa-dam had told us, but there were many helpful details mixed in, so we were able to have a satisfying time.
“In the end, you split into two groups to find your colleague named Sophia, and each of you came here?”
“Yes, that’s right. And judging from the movements of our colleagues who arrived first, it seems that they found traces of her here.”
That’s why it’s necessary to build a cooperative relationship with Ha Si-rul in front of us and to take action actively.
Hearing that, Ha Si-rul nodded with a somewhat serious expression.
“Listening to your story. . . I have a hunch. Maybe the priestess of the First Faction that I mentioned earlier is involved.”
“Priestess?”
During the information exchange earlier, Ha Si-rul said this.
The First Faction, which was the first to take an unusual attitude and start plotting in secret, had an unidentified priestess at its center.
And the priestess was a figure who appeared out of nowhere, and the First Faction said that she was a member of a family that had been secretly hidden, but the truth was unclear.
“Also, I heard that the priestess always covers her body with a veil, but when we put together various eyewitness accounts, there are many similarities to the woman you mentioned, Sophia.”
“Are you saying that the priestess could be Sophia herself?”
“It’s just speculation.”
This is another headache.
If that’s true, why on earth is Sophia acting as a priestess of an unknown clan in this place?
With the information we have now, we can’t even guess what it means.
「𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙅𝙪𝙝𝙬𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩.」
As they arrived here first, they must have other clues.
I made sure of the order of priorities and asked Ha Si-rul for help.
“Yes. I’ll use the power of the clan to find out where your colleagues are. It seems that your situation is not unrelated to the clan’s crisis.”
Just as she said, I don’t know what it is, but I feel like there is some kind of causal relationship between us.
In that way, we, who shared the same goal, began to search for the whereabouts of Cheong Juhwa and her party who had disappeared.
And unexpectedly, we were able to meet them in person not long after.
“As I thought, you came here.”
It was the Second Faction, which formed one axis of the Hawon Clan, and they had sent an envoy to the Third Faction.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Ha Si-rul and Ha Sa-dam greeted the envoys with surprise and started another meeting, and in the meantime, we met with our separated party and shared our situations.
I hurriedly spoke to Han Seo-ah.
“What happened?”
“A lot of things happened. . . First of all, the most important news is that I saw Sophia here.”
I nodded slightly, as I had expected it. Seeing that, Han Seo-ah continued.
“. . .Oppa knew it too? The priestess with the First Faction is Sophia. But there was one problem.”
“What was it?”
“She didn’t remember us.”
It was shocking news.
No, is she saying she lost her memory this time? No matter how much, it’s not something that can be easily resolved.
“So. . . We decided to join hands with one of the factions to figure out the situation. We had no choice but to do so before we were kicked out as intruders.”
“Was it the Third Faction?”
“Yes. But when we looked closely, that faction was in a strange state too. So we quickly withdrew and turned to the Second Faction again.”
After that, they heard about the clash between us and the Third Faction, and we came here after communicating with the faction’s leaders.
“Someone is manipulating the people here, and what about the Fifth Faction?”
“I checked, but there was nothing special. I found a powerful yokai hiding among the Third Faction members during the day. Do you know anything about it?”
“I don’t know. There are a lot of suspicious people. Do you know the name?”
“It he called Gong-dal.”
“Even Gong-dal was a yokai. . . It seems that this place has already become a strange world.”
Listening to Han Seo-ah, it seems that there are quite a few yokai hiding here besides Gong-dal.
It’s unlikely that all of them have the same power as Gong-dal, but even if they are at a similar level, they are a very dangerous force.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“Let’s find Sophia as soon as possible.”
“Yeah. . . I think we should.”
Anyway, it’s a positive thing that everyone has gathered here.
Watching Seo-ah’s back as she went to talk to Yoo Ha-on who had returned, I quietly thought back on the sequence of events.
「𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚?」
Leaving aside the identity of the mastermind who is plotting within the Hawon Clan, that was the most fundamental question I had at the moment.
「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨, 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣.」
It’s clear that something unusual is happening.
And at the center of it all is Sophia, who has lost her memory, and an unidentified mysterious being.
I had an intuition that the crisis might be closer than we thought.
“I think we should ask for cooperation.”
There’s no need to hesitate.
Now that we know that Sophia is staying in the First Faction’s area, all we have to do is mobilize our maximum force to rescue her.
However, judging from the previous Gong-dal, there’s a possibility that the opponent’s force will exceed our expectations.
That’s why we’re asking for cooperation. And the target was already set.
“Rescuing the priestess is definitely worth a try.”
“We can protect our colleague, and if things go well, we might be able to find out more details.”
“Yes. I definitely feel that we don’t have much time left. Perhaps the situation has already reached its end.”
Ha Si-rul hesitated for a moment before nodding at our suggestion. She also decided to get help from the Fifth Faction and Cheong Juhwa and her party, and to get the cooperation of the Second Faction.
As we finished preparing for the upcoming battle, a letter arrived from Cheong Juhwa and her party, who were headed for the Second Faction’s territory, accepting the proposal.
“The operation will take place in two hours. We should get ready to move.”
“. . .Please be careful. It’s an enemy camp, so anything can happen.”
Since it would be useless to have a lot of people gather and just have a full-scale war, the number of people participating in the plan was set to a small elite force.
Generals Ha Sa-dam and Oh-cheon from the Fifth Faction, Pae-yong and Geum Sah-yang, who were sent by the Second Faction, and us.
Assuming that the other generals are similar to Ha Sa-dam, it means that we have the help of four high-ranking exorcists.
Since the opponent is just one faction, I didn’t think our forces would be insufficient.
As the planned time approached, we began our operation and soon met the other party at the boundary line leading to the First Faction’s area.
“. . .Are you from the Fifth Faction?”
“Hey, Pae-yong. Are you really okay with these kids? We’re dealing with one of the six factions now.”
The woman called Geum Sah-yang looked a little nervous, and Pae-yong didn’t deny it.
However, Ha Sa-dam immediately retorted.
“It seems you haven’t seen them yet. Surprisingly, each of them has skills that are not inferior to mine.”
“What? Do you want me to believe that now?”
Well, Ha Sa-dam is the best talent in the Fifth Faction.
It may be something that they can’t understand for those who have been living in this Hawon Clan’s abode.
Taking advantage of their hesitation, I hurriedly stepped in and explained the situation.
“There’s no time to argue. Even if it’s not pretty, can’t you cooperate with us as if you were being fooled?”
“. . .Don’t misunderstand. We’ll cooperate properly. It’s not anyone else’s order but the leader’s.”
In that way, we used various concealment techniques to enter the First Faction’s area, passed through several barrier lines, and were finally able to see their headquarters.
“We won’t be able to hide ourselves any further. That general on the other side, Jegal-yun, is no ordinary sorcerer.”
“In fact, he is arguably the best in our Hawon Clan when it comes to miscellaneous tricks. Everyone, be careful.”
If both Geum Sah-yang and Ha Sa-dam gave such an evaluation at the same time, there was no doubt that this Jegal-yun was a man of great ability.
“The First Faction’s chief general is Jegal-yun, Seon Pyo-wang, Heo Pyung-su, and Nachal. Are there four of them?”
“Yes. It’s possible that they have brought in outsiders, but that’s their original force.”
Then there was no reason to hesitate.
We divided our group into two, with one team holding back the chief generals while the other team secured the priestess.
With that conclusion, as we entered, as expected, barriers and spells began to pop out from everywhere, blocking our way.
“Intruders!”
“Call everyone! The enemy has invaded the inner sanctum!”
However, the barriers didn’t work on me or the others, and the other spells weren’t impossible to break through if we joined forces.
In that way, after fully entering the opponent’s territory, we split into teams as planned and rushed towards the priestess’s residence.
「𝙒𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚.」
Since most of the enemies would be drawn to the group outside, only four of us headed for the priestess’s residence: me, Geum Sah-yang, Arietta, and Echinacea Lianqi.
“Ack!”
“W-What! Intruders! Intruders!”
Ignoring the numerous people, we searched for the priestess and soon found her hiding in her bedroom.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙖!」
I spoke to her directly, but she didn’t seem to recognize us, as if she had really lost her memory.
“Sophia, don’t you remember?”
“W-What do you mean, no, by any chance, are you. . .?”
I don’t know exactly, but somehow I felt a strong sense of incongruity in her appearance.
At that, I quietly uttered the word in my mind with a hunch.
「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」
Cling!
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