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Chapter 963. Results (2)

I was at a loss for words.

I saw my babies sprawled out on the ground in the dark ruins.

It wasn’t just my babies.

The expedition group had been annihilated.

The banners of the guilds and clans were all over the ground, along with their corpses. I couldn’t see it, but I was sure Commander Jin’s corpse was here as well. Of course, my interest was elsewhere. Their lives were none of my concern and whether Commander Jin was alive or not wasn’t important.

My babies were missing their heads.

In addition, the pig\'s corpse was a complete mess compared to the rearguards. His right arm was on the ground, but his left arm was still holding a shield. I was sure he had received the most attacks before dying, and it made sense because he was the main tank.

Jung Ha-Yan was dead as well. Her head was ghastly white, and it was all because she had squeezed every single drop of her mana. I thought her mana would never run out, and even if she could run out of mana, I never expected that it could happen, but the sight before me betrayed my thoughts.

Han Sora was hugging Jung Ha-Yan, and there were arrows sticking out of her. I looked around and found the rearguards. It seemed that they were taken out with one attack.

Sun Hee-Young, Elena, and Hwang Jung-Yeon were dead. I wasn’t sure whether they couldn\'t respond to the ambush or if they simply had no time to dodge.

Ahn Ki-Mo and Yoo Ah-Young, the peelers of the Blue Guild’s rearguards, seemed to have lasted longer than them, but they still couldn’t handle the next wave of enemies.

Belier and Alps were dead as well.

I looked around and couldn\'t see Kim Ye-Ri, Lee Chang-Ryeol, Park Lian, and the rangers.

They were part of the scout team, so it was highly likely that they died somewhere during their reconnaissance mission.

As for Kim Hyun-Sung...

Kim Hyun-Sung was on the ground, and his torn wings were next to him.

Swords and spears were sticking out of him, and he clearly died to protect me.

The sight reminded me of the Outer Gods War. To make things worse, I couldn’t see his head. Inside the world depicted in Kasugano Yuno\'s eyes, I... saw a headless Kim Hyun-Sung.

I heard a swoosh, and the background peeled away.

I was back inside my spacious palanquin, but I couldn’t calm down at all.

Kasugano Yuno’s breathing was uneven, and she was crying while staring at me. I shook my head, but the scenes that had been burned into my brain wouldn’t go away.

‘Hee-Ra noon and Yuno... they must have died as well.’

The strike squads were annihilated, and the expedition ended in a disaster.

Everyone was cornered to the point of no return. In the final battle, they gave it their all, but they were destroyed. I wasn’t sure how the battle even started, but that detail wasn’t important right now.

What mattered was the fact that the difference in power had to have been massive.

‘This palanquin is kind of suffocating.’

I opened the window to look out and saw soldiers marching outside. Everything was still normal. Jung Ha-Yan and Han Sora were moving with the palanquin; Ahn Ki-Mo and Elena were talking to each other. I couldn’t really see him, but I could hear Park Deok-Gu.

“This is what hyung-nim said to me back then—\'If I can do it... you can do better, Deok-Gu. I trust you.\' Honestly, I didn’t really understand it back then, but I think that incident has changed my mindset. I realized that I could do it... that I could grow even stronger.”

“Ah... I had no idea that happened to you, Mr. Park.”

“It’s true! It’s all thanks to him that I managed to grow this big,” Park Deok-Gu said.

They were so talkative.

It seemed that Park Deok-Gu had already gotten close to the tanks of the other guilds.

Sun Hee-Young seemed to have noticed me staring outside.

“Sub Guild Master?”

“Yes, Miss Hee-Young?” I answered.

“Are you okay?” Sun Hee-Young asked.

“Huh? What do you...” I trailed off. “...Actually, we shouldn’t be talking about this. Could you call over Mr. Hyun-Sung for me?”

“Yes, sir. Please wait...” Sun Hee-Young said.

“Okay.”

Soon, Kim Hyun-Sung approached me.

“I heard you called for me, Mr. Ki-Young? Is something wrong?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

\'I should take care of this first.\'

“Please cancel all the reconnaissance missions assigned to Park Lian, Lee Chang-Ryeol, and Kim Ye-Ri,” I ordered.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t assign any missions until I give you instructions,” I added.

“Did they do something that deserves punishment? I understand Mr. Chang-Ryeol, but Ye-Ri—”

“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s not a punishment... I want you to inform them that there’s something else I want them to do,” I interrupted.

“Okay, I’ll do that. But... are you... okay right now... Mr. Ki-Young?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

‘Why is everyone asking me that?’

“What?”

“You don’t look so good. If you’re feeling unwell, how about we take a break?” Kim Hyun-Sung suggested.

“No, I feel fine. I just don’t want to delay things any longer,” I rejected.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw that my eyes and hands were trembling. I took a deep breath and felt like everything was returning to normal, but the distracting thoughts in my head wouldn’t go away.

I found it ridiculous how I had basically become Kim Hyun-Sung upon waking up from a nightmare. I exhaled and felt a bit calmer, so I looked at Kim Hyun-Sung once again.

“Anyway, exclude those three from all reconnaissance missions and... as I always say, safety is our top priority.”

“Right. You don’t have to worry about the expedition team’s safety...” Kim Hyun-Sung reassured me.

“No, I’m talking about you and the guild members rather than the expedition team. Safety has to be the top priority during a raid. I’ll say it again, but the top priority is safety,” I repeated.

“Okay.”

“Then...”

“I’ll let you know when we’re getting close to the sixth strike squad\'s camp. Anyway, Mr. Ki-Young...” Kim Hyun-Sung trailed off.

I wanted to comfort him somehow, but I couldn’t think of what to say to him. I was sure that this wasn’t enough, but I used my finger and tapped my eye. He seemed kind of surprised, but he smiled and nodded.

“Okay.”

“Don’t forget,” I said.

“I’ll never forget,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Do not forget it,” I repeated.

“Okay.”

With that, I closed the window and decided to create new protocols.

We had been moving with safety in mind, but the situation had just gotten worse, so I had to create new ones.

‘Damn it.’

However, I still couldn’t understand it. I don’t know about the others, but I couldn’t imagine something happening to Kim Hyun-Sung, Jung Ha-Yan, and Cha Hee-Ra.

These three were superhumans.

They were a bit lacking in my eyes, but they were strong enough to be called demigods.

When it came to raw power, they were on the same level as the beings up there. I also felt relieved by their achievement, as I assumed that there wasn’t anything here that could harm them.

‘It really is hard for me to understand...’

However, what I had seen was going to happen.

Spirit Gelk\'s loots had told me that there was a big difference between the Templars of the current era and the Templars back then. They both drank the Mole Saint’s blood, but Gen and Simon were only half as powerful as them.

I also felt like Gen and Simon were nothing more than the vessels of the real Templars.

‘They’re preparing the vessels.’

The experiment report did not mention whether they had successfully taken over the bodies of the vessels, but I was sure that it was all because the experiment was still ongoing.

It was hard to say that they were successful. After all, the Templars familiar to me were only on the same level as the Eight Seats, which meant that they were too weak to contain the souls of those who were basically gods.

I had no idea about the process, but I was sure that the details were already in the Templars\' heads, and they were simply waiting for their bodies to ripen for the picking. It hadn\'t been that long since the Templars obtained wings, but the existence of their wings meant that they were ready for the picking.

I also felt like that was one of the reasons the strike squads were annihilated.

The old spirits took over the bodies of the innocent Gen and the wicked Simon. There was one person I had yet to see, and the one who had written that report had succeeded in taking over a body.

I couldn’t determine their exact strength, but they were probably just as strong as our Hyun-Sung. In the worst-case scenario, they were stronger than Kim Hyun-Sung, Jung Ha-Yan, and Cha Hee-Ra.

‘Damn it, Benigoa...’

Well, I couldn\'t really blame her. This was inevitable. Things would have been more difficult if I hadn\'t discovered it so early.

I understood her, but...

\'I’m sure there’s a reason behind your actions and maybe you were even forbidden from doing certain things, but if things still go wrong, I’m going to blame you. Keep this in mind. You’ll be responsible for it.\'

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young... are you okay?” Floretta asked.

“...” “Mr. Lee Ki-Young?” Floretta called out.

“Yes, I’m fine. Is there anything else you need to report?” I asked.

“I don’t. I’m sorry,” Floretta replied.

“You don’t have to feel sorry since I was already aware. I asked just in case... Anyway, take this,” I said.

“What?”

“Upon meeting with the sixth strike squad, please deliver this to Hye-Jin. When you regroup with the first strike squad, deliver this one to Commander Jin.

"There are many things that need to be changed, but they’ll take care of everything.

"It’s the same for you, Miss Yuno. Safety is the top priority. This letter is for Ha-Yan and Sora, while this letter is for Lee Ji-Hye of the Black Swan Guild. I have a letter for Hee-Ra noona as well. If I end up disappearing, I want you to show this to Hyun-Sung immediately. They might become suspicious of Miss Yuno, so—”

“What are you talking about?” Floretta interrupted me.

I had many things to take with me. A small alchemy kit, potions, catalysts, and Gelk\'s loots. I stuffed my bag with things I’d need, but I would be sad if I actually had to use them.

I needed clothes as well.

‘I can’t go to a social gathering looking like this.’

Religious figures would probably be there as well, so I had to dress up.

I opened my closet and saw a white outfit. There weren\'t any accessories for me, and it wasn’t a fancy outfit, so I definitely wouldn\'t attract any attention with this. It was kind of bulky, but it’d make it easier for me to move around. I needed to run around, after all.

‘Is this the right thing to do?’

That question popped into my head, but I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

I needed to do something to change the future.

I opened the window again and heard loud voices outside.

[Would you like to accept the invitation?]

I nodded and—

“Hello, Father.”

“...”

“I’m Templar Genny, your guide," said a child.

I looked down at him and deduced that he had to be around fifteen years of age.

“I’ll be your guide,” Genny added.

I was kind of shocked, but I smiled because he looked exactly like the worst criminal in history—Templar Gen. I would believe it if someone told me that this was what he looked like in his past life.

“Thank you for accepting Saint Altanus’ invitation,” Genny said.