Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Bullying Within the Party (2)

Zap!

Riv swung her staff, and the flow of Mana in Chloe’s Torture Magic scattered.

Seoyun’s twisted body collapsed to the floor.

Seoyun’s fingertips were still trembling, and she was still groaning as she let out rough breaths.

Riv looked at Chloe with sharp eyes and said.

“Human trash.”

Pow!

A Crimson Mana wave burst from Riv’s staff and pushed Chloe back several steps.

“Kuh! How dare you…!”

Chloe gritted her teeth and raised her staff again, and Riv’s staff grew even redder.

“Riv, calm down!”

Goodwill urgently stepped between the two.

But Riv’s gaze turned to Goodwill.

“You’re the same, Hero.”

“What?”

“Do you know how many hours Seoyun slept yesterday?”

Goodwill’s mouth closed.

“Two hours. While you were sleeping in the tent, this person stood guard and calculated the next route. Even the trap circuits, with a swollen ankle!”

Riv looked at Seoyun, who was trembling from the aftereffects of Torture Magic, with pity.

“But you didn’t know. Do you think protection is only moving when someone screams?”

“I was trying to save the Imperial Knights…”

“No. This isn’t the first time.”

When Goodwill made an excuse with a stiff face, Riv snorted and cut him off.

“You always said to cheer up. But you never once shared the work. Even when Chloe bullied her, you only told her to stop.”

Riv approached Seoyun and supported her.

“You only wanted to be a good person, not someone who takes responsibility.”

Goodwill could not refute.

But Chloe sneered at Riv and said.

“Traps are the Guide’s responsibility. If dangerous places remained, she should have cleared them all in advance!”

“Seoyun told you not to go.”

“You should have stopped her more strongly!”

“Do you think that makes sense? That is how you people shift the blame.”

Riv looked at Chloe with contempt.

“No honor, no chivalry. This party is nothing but a human trash can that grinds up one person and passes off the responsibility.”

“What did you say?”

Chloe, enraged, fired an attack spell again.

It seemed she did not care whether Seoyun was next to Riv or not.

Zap!

A blue flash flew toward Riv’s face.

But Riv merely tilted her staff once and let the magic flow aside.

Boom!

The missed flash collapsed the Dungeon’s stone wall.

“You wench, what kind of Mana…”

When her magic was easily blocked once again, Chloe’s face turned white.

It was only natural, since throughout the Dungeon raid, all Riv had shown was beginner-level recovery magic and support magic.

But the power Riv revealed now was on a different level, enough that it was embarrassing to call them fellow mages.

The power to crush an Imperial Knights executive-level mage in an instant.

She was no ordinary opponent.

Chloe realized that Riv was not an easy target.

“An outside adventurer attacked an Imperial Knight! Catch that wench!”

She shouted at the surrounding Imperial Knights.

“Traitor! Arrest her at once! That is an order!”

The Imperial Knights all drew their weapons at the command.

Goodwill reached his hand toward Riv again.

“Riv, apologize for now. If you apologize to Chloe, I can somehow…”

“Telling the victim to apologize.”

Riv scoffed at Goodwill’s words.

“That is what bystanders do best.”

Bang!

A huge Crimson Mana wave exploded from the end of Riv’s staff.

The charging Imperial Knights rolled and were thrown back.

Chloe deployed a barrier, but was pushed by the Mana wave and slammed into the stone wall.

“This Mana is!”

“It is the Demon Race’s Crimson Mana!”

“She is a Fallen traitor!”

Dark red Mana surged around Riv.

It was clearly different from ordinary Mana, which showed a white and blue light.

She had released the power she had hidden to maintain her Disguise.

“Have you finally recognized it! You entered a labyrinth touching the Demon Realm and thought there would not be a single eye of the Demon Race?”

Riv laughed at the Imperial Knights’ complacency.

Throughout the Dungeon raid, they had only pressed forward for results and were desperate to obtain loot.

They had been advancing by sacrificing Seoyun.

“Haa…“

She held Seoyun, whose consciousness was blurry from pain.

“Seoyun. It will shake a little.”

“Riv…?”

“Let’s get out of here for now.”

Riv aimed her staff at the ceiling.

Boom!

The moment the Mana explosion covered their vision, the Emergency Exit hidden in the ceiling opened.

“It’s a hidden escape route! Block it!”

“Seoyun! Seoyun! The Guide is being kidnapped!”

The Holy Sword, which had never been drawn while Seoyun was being tortured, was drawn the moment she tried to leave the party.

Bang!

When Riv’s crimson Mana rushed before his eyes, the Hero’s feet stopped for just a moment.

That single hesitation from the Hero was enough.

Riv flew into the escape route with Seoyun in her arms.

Seoyun’s vision blurred.

With the sensation of soaring in Riv’s arms as the last thing, Seoyun’s consciousness cut off.

…

At the same time, Imperial Knights Headquarters.

Commander Hadowk read down the urgent telegram that had come up.

[2nd Battalion Hero’s Party Attacked]
[Guide Han Seoyun Defected]
[Accompanied by an adventurer presumed to be a traitor]
[Immediately after the Guide’s departure, route interpretation impossible. Dungeon raid halted]

And beneath the telegram lay a separate order stamped with the imperial seal.

[Keep the fact of 3rd Imperial Princess Eileen’s disappearance strictly confidential]
[Publicly announce that she is recuperating at the detached palace]

“First the Princess, and now the Guide.”

The Advisor swallowed dryly.

“Do you think the two incidents are connected, Commander?”

“Can you not tell even after seeing these? If there is anyone who believes they are not connected, that person is a traitor.”

Hadowk roughly placed the order on the desk.

Nowhere in the Imperial Household’s order was there any sentence asking about Eileen’s life or death or a rescue plan.

Only three things were written.

Maintain strict confidentiality.

Announce the Princess’s recuperation at the detached palace.

Severely punish those who spread rumors.

What the Imperial Household feared more than the Princess’s death was the fact that a capable Princess had left the Empire of her own accord.

The most capable people in the Empire leave in search of a better place.

Everyone leaves for the Demon King.

Falling is a better life.

The moment such rumors spread, the Empire’s justification of loyalty and devotion would collapse.

“Han Seoyun is also a Transmigrator whom the Princess personally assigned to the expedition plan.”

“Yes. Right after the Princess disappeared, we must prevent rumors from spreading that even the Guide she had taken notice of has disappeared. Especially to the Transmigrators.”

Hadowk rose from his seat.

“Seal the border. Capture the Guide alive. Execute the traitor on sight.”

“Yes!”

“Immediately put Goodwill in command of the pursuit. Our 1st Battalion will also begin pursuit at once. I will go myself. Prepare immediately.”

Just as the Advisor was about to leave, Hadowk called him back.

“Heoseul.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Keep the Imperial Knights from talking so rumors do not spread. Neither the Princess nor the Guide is missing.”

A murderous gleam swirled in Hadowk’s eyes.

“They betrayed the Empire. After the Guide is captured, she will be interrogated about the Princess and then quietly disposed of.”

…

An alarm was ringing in the Demon King’s Army Strategic Operations Room.

“Emergency Exit opened!”

“Agent Riv has deviated from the planned route!”

“We have not yet confirmed the target Han Seoyun’s intention to join. At this rate, it is a kidnapping!”

Reports from the executives poured out.

On the main monitor, Riv’s shaking vision and unstable Mana levels were displayed.

The vital signs on the sub-monitor also rose and fell rapidly.

‘She used a lot of Mana.’

The Demon King watched Riv, who was running away with Seoyun in her arms, on the monitor for a while.

“No.”

At the single low word, the operations room fell silent.

“That is not a kidnapping, but an emergency rescue.”

The Demon King tapped the desk with his finger and thought.

Then he spoke firmly.

“Article 24 of the Demon King’s Army Field Safety and Temporary Protection Regulations. At a scene where a person’s body and mind are threatened by violence, isolation takes priority over consent procedures. You must be alive to make a contract and to refuse.”

“But it is true that Agent Riv violated the Fallen Plan.”

“We will ask for that responsibility after she returns alive.”

A red light flashed in the Demon King’s eyes.

“-Quiet down.-“

The Demon King’s voice pressed down on the operations room.

“Do you think the operation is over when the field agent has not returned?”

At the Demon King’s words, everyone in the operations room froze for a moment.

“Safety first. What is Riv’s current location?”

“Uncertain. We sent rescue signals three times, but she avoided them all. It seems she cannot distinguish between the Imperial Knights and the Demon King’s Army rescue team.”

“Hmm… What about the Empire’s movements?”

“The advance party led by Hero Goodwill is pursuing from behind. The pursuit team that departed from the Empire is scheduled to arrive in half a day.”

“Is the leader of the pursuit team Commander Hadowk?”

At Hadowk’s name, the air in the operations room grew heavy.

Then Eileen, the former Princess, who was standing in front of the monitor, spoke.

“Riv is not avoiding them. Guide Seoyun is making her avoid them.”

Eileen drew a line on the Mana map.

“Guides judge strong Mana flows as danger signals. She is probably mixing the traces of escape into nearby circuits and erasing them.”

“Are you saying Han Seoyun is evading all that pursuit?”

“I said I needed her because she has that level of skill.”

The person who designed this Dungeon expedition was none other than Eileen.

The terrain of that entire area was all inside her head.

“It’s here. It looks like the path is cut off, but in reality you can go down along the valley. Seoyun will go this way. There is no other remaining path but this one.”

The Demon King looked at the path Eileen drew for a moment, then rose from his seat.

“Set hazard pay for the dispatch team at double. The operations room is to immediately rotate with the night shift. Have a protection officer from the Fallen Department accompany them as well.”

“Uh, protection from the Fallen Department… you mean even a Brainwashing officer?”

“That’s right.”

“Han Seoyun is not Fallen. Nor is she a prisoner or hostage. From immediately after the rescue, we must make that fact clear to her. Brainwashing is necessary.”

“Are you going too, Demon King?”

“Heh heh heh, Riv is my employee. If Hadowk of the 1st Imperial Knight Order has stepped forward, I will have to go myself.”

The Demon King wore a black cloak and smiled wickedly.

“How troublesome, going personally…”

“My precious subordinate is being chased by the Imperial Knights. For her safety alone, it is only natural.”

He looked at Eileen.

“Team Leader Eileen, can you come along and read Seoyun’s Mana?”

“Of course.”

Eileen also put a red coat over her Demon King’s Army uniform.

There was no hesitation in the hand that folded the Mana map and put it in her bag.

“Because she is the person I wanted to bring.”

A red Portal opened in the center of the operations room.

Eileen stepped into it first.