Chapter 149

After disembarking from the Tristan, Seoyoon first observed the Imperial citizens on the island and the surrounding environment to gauge the changes that had occurred.

‘It’s a bit different… but similar.’

The atmosphere inside the island was similar to when Seoyoon first arrived during the previous Cycle.

However, seeing that some facts differed from her memories, it seemed certain that the actions of the two people who had arrived on the island before her had brought about various changes.

As before, Seoyoon, wearing the perception device, began to follow the instructions of the Imperial soldiers. A few hours passed, and the Exploration Team leader, Felix, eventually called the members together.

“Before we begin the exploration in earnest, we will conduct a final check. Everyone, stand by and follow instructions!”

At that moment, she felt two familiar presences.

One was the General, who had come to inspect the exploration team that landed on the island as usual, and the other was Taewoon, who for some reason was acting independently.

‘…Is he moving while pretending to cooperate with the Empire?’

It couldn’t have been easy, but his resourcefulness was truly impressive.

Guessing from this that things were proceeding smoothly, Seoyoon slowly waited for a moment when she could make contact with Taewoon.

And on the night the first exploration ended, she finally received a signal from Taewoon.

“A moment.”

“…Yes.”

With Aquila’s help, Taewoon conveyed everything that had happened so far to Seoyoon as if passing by. After confirming this, Seoyoon nodded and immediately gave Taewoon her conclusion.

“…In one week, I’ll gather people who can be of help and join the Sanctuary. We’ll talk in detail after that.”

“Understood.”

Since things had progressed this far, there was no need for Seoyoon to remain at the camp and do anything.

It would be far more constructive to gather the necessary strength and join Yerin’s group while she had not yet drawn the General’s suspicion.

‘In the current exploration team, surely…’

She remembered that a man named Leon, who said he had lived as a Paladin outside, an Elf martial artist named Arbina, and Biwen, an Alchemist from the Central Academy, had stood out.

Deciding to contact them first and turn them into allies to oppose the Empire, Seoyoon quietly returned to the camp and began to organize her future plans.

The location of the second Seed had been found, and Seoyoon, the final observer, had arrived on the island.

The group at the Sanctuary, having heard the news, also began preparing for action; now, they were simply waiting for the right moment.

‘The Seed… it would be ideal to seize it somehow.’

Taewoon knew that Kaira was plotting to swallow the Empire using the completed second Seed, but he knew nothing about exactly how she intended to utilize it.

If he didn’t know the opponent’s objective, he simply had to seize the Seed and take control of the situation.

However, with the first Seed already stolen by Yerin, it was certain that Kaira would have prepared sufficient defenses for the second Seed.

‘Perhaps… the Seed itself is a trap to lure us in.’

Therefore, extreme caution was needed when taking action.

While he intended to oppose the General, engaging in an all-out war with her subordinates on an island with nowhere to run was a completely different story.

‘If it’s a risk I have to take anyway, it would be ideal to use the moment when attention is drawn elsewhere as much as possible.’

Coincidentally, the Imperial support promised by Padrik was not far off.

Thus, Taewoon, who asked Seoyoon to delay her plan to head to the Sanctuary by one day, decided to act from the shadows on the day the members’ desertion and the Imperial reinforcements were planned.

Eventually, the promised day arrived.

‘Seoyoon’s group will leave the camp and head for the Sanctuary at 7 PM.’

He didn’t know exactly when the Imperial support would arrive on the island, but Taewoon simply had to watch for the timing and start moving at the appropriate moment.

As the time approached 7 PM, Taewoon vanished from the camp, moved near the beach, and silently waited for the Imperial support ship to be spotted.

‘Are they… not coming yet?’

There was a possibility that the date had shifted due to delays during the voyage or that the support had been canceled.

Thus, Taewoon stopped waiting for them and began to act around the time the camp became chaotic as Seoyoon’s group’s escape was discovered.

Drawing upon the power of The Red Man, Taewoon began to project a blueprint in his mind through his Magical Power, and reaching out, he snatched one of the threads of light woven like a spool.

When he opened his eyes, Taewoon was inside the underwater facility he had visited previously.

Since he had decided to steal the Seed anyway, there was no reason to hesitate. Taewoon quickly concealed his presence and moved to the laboratory he had checked last time, where he could see researchers studying the Seed and several Guardians.

‘As expected… the Seed is being protected by some means.’

However, it wasn’t a level of security that Taewoon, who had even used Apostle Transformation, could not penetrate.

He would be caught by the Guardians nearby, but since Taewoon intended to head to the Sanctuary and join everyone after today anyway, it wouldn’t be a problem.

‘With my current senses… it should be more than possible.’

In an instant, before anyone nearby could perceive it, Taewoon had already moved right in front of the glass tube where the Seed was being cultured.

The startled researchers struggled, and the Guardians, who belatedly sensed Taewoon’s presence, became greatly flustered and began to draw their weapons.

However.

‘You should have concentrated more.’

That single moment of opening was like several seconds to Taewoon.

Breaking through the seal and shattering the glass tube in an instant, Taewoon held the Seed in his hand and began to summon the Crimson Mist. Before the Sealing Arts Master running from afar could form a Magic Formation, he escaped the facility and returned to the beach.

“…Whew.”

“You look exhausted. Would you like this lady to lend a hand?”

In an instant, detecting the presence in his instinctive domain, Taewoon quickly widened the distance and drew Barata with his remaining hand.

Watching this quietly, Kaira twirled her long hair with her fingers and flashed a sinister smile at the stiff-faced Taewoon.

“It seems I need to push the underlings a bit more. To think this precious object was stolen so easily…”

“As I thought, you were monitoring me?”

“It is not necessarily that. But I am not so dull that I cannot see through your intentions. Did you not arrange the situation too artificially?”

The Imperial reinforcements via Padrik and the desertion of the exploration team members recruited by Seoyoon.

The fact that she sensed an anomaly from those two facts was no different from saying she had already had such movements in her sights.

‘As expected of the Empire’s Hero…’

At Kaira’s gesture, the wide-range Bounded Field that Taewoon had faced in the past unfolded, blocking all of Taewoon’s escape routes.

Simultaneously, Kaira, who covered the inside of the Bounded Field once more by creating bars of fire, smiled brightly and drew a glowing sword, pointing it at Taewoon.

“Now, what will you do? Do not expect me to hold back. This is a moment I have been looking forward to in my own way.”

“….”

“You must be hiding a power far greater than what you showed before; if you do not bring it all out, you will lose your life in the blink of an eye.”

Kaira’s words were certainly correct.

In fact, the iron cage and Bounded Field trapping Taewoon now maintained a posture of solidity with a strength that could not even be compared to before.

‘But…’

He felt certain that if he used the ‘Second Apostle Transformation,’ which could exert even more powerful strength, he could escape this place and evade Kaira’s grasp.

Having made his decision, Taewoon concentrated his mind and placed his hand on the Wax Mask, and soon, an endless energy surged as the Crimson Mist began to fully encroach upon the inside of the Bounded Field.

‘It’s not that I don’t want to trade blows once… but now is not the time.’

Remembering the warnings from Seoyoon and Biryeong in the past, Taewoon reached a conclusion based on rational judgment. He projected his Magical Power in the form of a net to analyze the components of the Bounded Field and observe its gaps.

‘…With my current power, I can sufficiently escape.’

The judgment was instantaneous, and the conclusion was just as fast.

Reaching into the air, Taewoon attempted to move outside the Bounded Field by grabbing a thread of light, but Kaira, who was watching, let out another sinister smile.

“Do you think I would so easily let go of someone who tried to deceive me?”

As Kaira drew a feathered spear from the rift in space and swung it, a massive pressure crushed Taewoon, forcibly fixing his physical body to those coordinates.

Startled, Taewoon drew even more of The Red Man’s power, but the force emanating from the feathered spear was so formidable that it was impossible to shake it off at once.

Ultimately, chased by flaming swords, Taewoon had to temporarily give up on leaving the Bounded Field and hurriedly counter them.

Naturally, the power of the simple attacks had increased to a degree that could not even be compared to when she had played along with him before.

It was fortunate that Taewoon was skilled at controlling his body and mental image; otherwise, he would have faced a situation where his insides were shaken in an instant, making it impossible to even release Magical Power properly.

“If you keep thinking of crude tricks, you will never survive in this lady’s hands.”

There were as many as ten flaming swords, and this time, a giant flaming sword from the sky began to plummet fiercely toward the ground, targeting Taewoon.

Due to its massive size, the surrounding land was filled with the shadow of the sword, and the heat contained within showed an intense power capable of burning the forest and making the ground boil.

Amidst that truly earth-shattering majesty, Taewoon’s eyes began to glow calmly.