00263 <-- Episode 263 Disappearance (3) -->
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Combat in Terranor is usually a male domain. There are significantly fewer women on the battlefield than men.
As such, Alita was quite close with not only Karen but also other female knights such as Viretta and Silphis. Since they were also women, she could comfortably share her feelings that she could not share with others.
In the meantime, I also learned quite a bit about Silphis’ married life.
In particular, there were many complaints about how difficult it had been to raise children over the past ten years. Thanks to this, I was able to hear in detail about where they settled and how they lived.
Alita realized that fact later.
‘No matter how much you hide, wouldn’t Sister Silphis contact your husband?’
She knew how worried her husband, Conrad, would be after the defeat of the Knights of the Heavenly Blade, so there was no way she could not convey at least the minimum news.
Of course, if the other party were an ordinary civilian, I wouldn’t dare reveal military secrets, but Conrad was also one of the four captains of the former Heavenly Knights. He just couldn’t return because he was taking care of his children.
‘Of course you’ve heard news about the Heavenly Knights, right?’
I came here with such expectations… … .
“It exceeded my expectations.”
Alita stuck out her tongue as she sat around the room. Could it be that Silphis himself was here?
Seong Si-han hurriedly asked about the current situation.
“What happened to everyone else? Where are they now?”
“We don’t know the whereabouts of Barak or Higher Zenon… … .”
“What about Esed? What about Woodrow and Beretta?”
Silphis’s response that followed far exceeded the expectations of Shihan and his party.
“The Heavenly Knights are all hiding around here.”
Shihan, Karen, and Alita were surprised at the same time.
“Huh? The entire Heavenly Knights?”
“That many people?”
“How did you not get caught?”
***
With many of those who had left returning, the current Knights of the Heavenly Kingdom have significantly recovered their former glory.
The number of people gradually exceeds 80. Even in the Battle of the White Ivory Tower, thanks to their unique survival skills, there were many casualties but no deaths.
If a large group of people like this were to go into hiding, they would usually scatter and hide in groups of three or five. This is common sense.
The problem was that the existing intelligence agencies were well aware of this common sense and were also fully familiar with how to deal with it.
“So I tried to make a bold move.”
Esed, the second-in-command of the Knights of the Heavenly Kingdom, sat across from Seong Si-han and smiled broadly.
“It was completely hidden.”
Shihan stuck out his tongue.
“Are you saying that they completely replaced the entire village?”
“To be exact, we took over an empty village.”
The place where the Knights of the Heavenly Sky were hiding was a small mountain village about half a day away from Palant Village. After arriving there under Silphis’ guidance, Sihan and his party met several residents.
They were all spherical.
‘Captain Time!’
‘Captain Shihan!’
‘You’re safe! Oh my!’
In each house, the Changcheon Knights, disguised as villagers, warmly welcomed the Shihan party.
The house in front is also a member of the Changcheon Knights, the house next door is also a member of the Changcheon Knights, the house behind is also a member of the Changcheon Knights, the house across the street is also a member of the Changcheon Knights… … .
Shihan asked Esed, puzzled.
“What happened to the people who originally lived here?”
“Most of them evacuated.”
“Well, the war was long… … .”
The village of Palant would have been okay because of Conrad’s force, but the other villages would have been dangerous.
Seong Si-han nodded in understanding. It was a pretty good technique.
Suppose someone asks the villagers this question:
‘Have you seen any suspicious outsiders recently?’
There was no way I could say I saw it. All the residents were the same suspicious outsider?
Of course, it is difficult for a completely isolated region to exist in the world. It is quite possible that outsiders who visit the village periodically, such as peddlers, will feel awkward.
Esed took that point into full consideration.
“So, the village chief of Palant and his acquaintances are in charge of communication with the outside world.”
All of those acquaintances were people who had been greatly indebted to Conrad and Silphis. Thanks to that, they cooperated despite the risks.
“Conrad and Silphis seem to have gained quite a bit of popularity over the years.”
“I see. But what about the lord of this region? No matter what, I don’t think the lord would be able to ignore the changes in his territory.”
This mountain village was originally a pioneer village of hunters, herbalists, and slash-and-burn farmers. Like the village of Palant, it is also part of the estate of the nearby nobleman, Baron Zahid.
“Baron Zahid is also on our side. He actively cooperated. He was originally a noble of the Kingdom of Safaran.”
“Can you trust him? No matter how loyal he is to Saparan, it would be difficult for him to act with conviction in a situation like this.”
“Actually, I’m also familiar with the captain.”
“Baron Zahid?”
“Ten years ago, he wasn’t a baron, he was just a dessie.”
“Oh, is Baron Zahid the Deshit?”
Deshit was also well aware of the deadline. He was one of the administrative staff members who had been in charge of supplying the Sapharan Army in the past.
He was quick at calculations and had a quick mind, but the reason why Shihan and the other Heavenly Knights knew him was different.
“If you’re Desit, then you’re a friend from Conrad’s hometown, right?”
It was also a very deep friendship. Conrad didn’t settle in Palant Village for nothing. He had his own corner of faith.
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“I was lucky in many ways.”
Esed shook his head at Shihan’s admiration.
“Rather than saying it was luck, I think it was the result of working hard.”
Anyway, I understand how that large group of people could hide. If there was full cooperation from the local residents and the lord, it is not an impossible story.
“So is this place safe?”
“For the time being.”
In fact, the risk still remains.
Since Baron Zahid is Conrad’s friend, and Conrad is Silphis’ husband, there is a possibility that the information department will find a connection if they look closely. To be honest, it is not possible to say that he was completely hidden.
“But there’s still no sign of that. I guess Lil Stein’s side is also confused, so it doesn’t seem to have much influence.”
Esed’s judgment was that, since he was busy conquering the entire continent, it would be difficult for Lilstein himself to fully demonstrate his skills to all of his subordinate organizations, no matter how thorough he was.
After thinking for a moment, Shihan replied as if he had realized something.
“That could be the case.”
And that raised another question.
“But what about the awkwardness of the town itself?”
There are not many women or children here, so it is quite possible that strangers passing through the village would feel suspicious.
“There have actually been a few instances like that… … .”
Esed scratched his head with a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry, but those people are currently being placed separately.”
He is said to have been kept in a prison, but in reality he is locked in a cave behind the village and is crying like this.
‘Hey, save me!’
‘I will keep this a secret, so please spare my life… ‘
‘Boohoohoo!’
At that moment, Sung Si-han opened his mouth in surprise.
“Wait a minute? We’re blatant villains, aren’t we?”
Come to think of it, taking over an entire village and imprisoning its inhabitants was something only an evil secret organization operating in the shadows would do.
But Esed didn’t look particularly guilty.
“You can’t do that. You can’t achieve your goals by just being good. Sometimes you have to be flexible.”
The Knights of the Heavenly Sword are certainly righteous, but they are not particularly old-fashioned.
How could a group optimized for joint attacks, escapes, and surprise attacks be old-fashioned? They could have shown flexibility whenever necessary.
The deadline was immediately accepted.
“There’s nothing I can do. Just compensate me later.”
“Of course, Captain.”
Anyway, I’ve finally put my worries to rest. I feel a bit more relaxed.
“I’m glad everyone is safe. Oh, by any chance have you heard any news from Barak or Zenon?”
“I don’t know anything about how the world works. I just didn’t try to find out.”
There is a very high chance that this location will be exposed in the process of finding out external information.
“I was planning to secure a solid base first and then slowly look for the leader of the time limit. But I never imagined that the leader would come to me first.”
Suddenly, a smile of conversion appeared on Esed’s lips.
“It looks like luck is on our side.”
And that smile disappeared as soon as the time limit came.
“If you really want to be lucky, this is woefully inadequate.”
That was right.
Lil’ Stein is strong. He’s become so strong.
His subordinates are the same. Neither the Alpha Series nor the Crimson Knights seem to have any chance of dealing with him.
Esed asked, his face suddenly darkening.
“How can I beat Lil Stein?”
***
The Shihan party and the leaders of the Heavenly Knights gathered at the town hall.
Sung Shi Han, Karen, Alita, Esed, Woodrow, Conrad, Silphis, and even Viretta all put their heads together and discuss what to do next.
Shihan opened his mouth.
“The biggest problem, after all, is Lil Stein himself.”
Lilstein’s magic power is far beyond common sense. Honestly, if it’s completely his magic power, he has no weaknesses or countermeasures.
“But if Alita’s words are true, then there’s something wrong with the normal method. There might be something to dig into there.”
For a moment, Esed, Woodrow, and the others glared at Alita with subtle gazes.
They now know that Alita is a descendant of Rusclan and that she was the one who summoned the otherworldly monster at the time.
Although they are not free from hatred towards Rusclans, they feel it is difficult to show hostility recklessly given the circumstances.
“The potion for subduing Crimson Knights no longer works.”
Karen opened her mouth.
“I’ve already tried it. It doesn’t paralyze me at all. Even without Lilstein himself.”
Woodrow and Beretta’s expressions darkened. They still hoped that the suppressing agent would work.
Karen continued.
“The method of deliberately disrupting the flow of speculation is still effective. It seems that even Lilstein has not been able to improve this.”
Silphis replied in a cool voice.
“That’s good news. But we can’t just rely on it because we don’t know when it will be improved.”
The swordsmen of the god-level Lislestein are also a big problem. Alita spoke cautiously, keeping an eye on the situation.
“That Alpha in particular was too strong.”
From Beta to Epsilon, they were terrifying monsters that rivaled the former savior of the other world, Seongshihan. However, Alpha was no match for them.
“Can you beat Alpha, Shihan?”
“Honestly, I’m not confident.”
To Alita’s question, Shihan shook his head weakly.
“There is a big difference in physical ability… … .”
However, that does not mean that Seongsihan had an advantage in other areas.
First of all, the amount of speculation is almost equal. Both have reached the limit allowed to humans.
And it’s not like there’s any particular advantage to having a deadline in terms of skills or experience.
Clearly, Seong Si-han had various experiences during the revolutionary war and accumulated skills through ten years of practice.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to close that gap in just a few months. No matter how genius you are, time is something that cannot be helped.
But Lilstein’s system makes it possible.
The limit is about 100, but the actual number of Crimson Knights handled by Lilstein is in the hundreds. If one person gains combat experience in one month, hundreds of people will gain combat experience in hundreds of months.
Even if we take into account the lack of quality and density of experience, it is enough to catch up with Sung Si-han’s ten years. Rather, it is amazing that the time limit is not behind the experience of hundreds of people.
“If there’s one thing I have an advantage over, it’s the type of martial arts I know?”
Only knowledge of swordsmanship and martial arts was superior to Seongshihan. Although Alpha certainly uses various swordsmanship techniques, this is limited to the knowledge of Terrano.
“I would say it’s on a similar level to Theorant.”
Alpha’s swordsmanship skills were quite high. He could even make others’ skills his own.
“That’s similar too.”
On the other hand, Sung Si-han had a lot of knowledge, but he was not very skilled in all the martial arts he knew. There was a mixture of things he was good at and things he was not good at, and things he only skimmed over superficially.
“When dealing with Theorant, the gap in skill was so large that even though my proficiency was low, I was able to exploit his weaknesses using various techniques.”
But that method doesn’t work against Alpha.
Alpha was, so to speak, a being that combined Zenon’s body and sense, Seongshihan’s fighting spirit, and Teolant’s skills and experience. Unlike Teolant, he had equal fighting spirit and superior strength, so he could easily handle Seongshihan’s various skills.
“So the disaster didn’t have much effect either.”
In the final battle with Levina, Shihan had a lot of fun with new techniques. These were the Twelve Swords and the Eight-Facing Strike, which utilized Disaster’s transformation ability.
But I couldn’t even try that technique against Alpha.
The Eight-Facing Strike has a serious weakness that the Eight-Facing Sword does not have.
“This is a technique that is only useful when you are in a rush… … .”
The Palbangjik is a method in which Shihan directly holds the Twelve Branch Swords and swings them around to launch various attacks. There is no problem when this is used. It can produce the same power as the Palbangjik Sword.
But when you get involved, it’s a different story.
The Eight-Facing Strike can only be used after the attacker himself is in close proximity to the enemy. In other words, if the opponent counterattacks, the main body will immediately be in danger.
On the other hand, the Palbangjiken, which can swing its sword from a distance, doesn’t really matter whether the opponent counterattacks or not, because the main body is far away.
Seong Si-han muttered in despair.
“Is this the limitation of minor copy? Compared to the completed technique of Palbangjeom, Palbanggeok is much lower in level.”
At this point, there was only one thing that Shihan had an advantage over Alpha.
“If we fight one-on-one, I might be able to do something with magic, but… … .”
The artifact of the anti-demon is not infinitely effective. You can stop the artifact by firing a barrage of magic and then take advantage of its opening. Just like Levina did when she was wearing the Blue Raven.
“But there’s no way Lilstein would let Alpha go.”
Shihan sighed. The others’ expressions also darkened.
That was when.
Woodrow raised his hand quietly.
“Hey, this may be a bit of a strange thought, but… … .”
All eyes turned to him. Woodrow continued his questioning.
“Can we possibly go to Earth, Captain?”
Seong Si-han smiled bitterly. In fact, he had thought similarly.
“That won’t do.”
A firm answer came back.
“There are reasons why it absolutely cannot be done.”
