Chapter 729: Doubt and Conviction (3)
‘It’s like killing two birds with one stone.’
I thought it was a profitable business in many ways.
It was quite a beneficial situation, especially since it dealt with the betrayers who tried to stick to our side and could accuse the devil’s double life attached to the angel. I fully understood the elders’ feelings, who looked like the sky had collapsed.
‘I’m sure they made a bet, too.’
I also remembered them investing quite a bit. In the first place, those pigeons couldn’t reliably supply divinity.
If people like Benignore and Elune trash were compared to office workers who got a full salary on the continent, the elder pigeons could be compared to pigeons who didn’t have a fixed workplace.
Those worms led their lives only with the a.s.sets they had acc.u.mulated so far.
There might’ve been a source of supply somewhere, but it wasn’t enough to say that it was stable.
‘So can they really stay put?’
Things were going to get messy. They didn’t seem to wonder who did it or why. The look they had on their faces told me they were wondering how to solve it.
They were so cornered that they couldn’t think of the cause of the failure.
“This… This job… What should I do about this?”
‘What do you mean? It’s obvious. There’s no other option. How am I supposed to handle this? You have to hang in there for now. Don’t you think so?’
“I think we need to see if there’s any other way. No, in the first place… I don’t know why this happened… Are there any other orders coming in?”
“There’s a lack of information right now, and they’re still fighting on the frontlines. It looks like humans are moving the wires. They put pressure on our team… They’re even heading to the temple.”
‘That’s a quick response.’
The North fired a signal. The two camps, which had implicitly entered a truce, then became wary of each other.
‘We’re a little tired. How about you guys? Oh, you too? Then let’s take a little more rest. We don’t have to talk, but we know. We need to clean up inside, and there are many issues to be dealt with because of the big battle that suddenly broke out. Let’s not invade each other’s territory.’
Against that backdrop, it was said that the one who first stabbed the back of the head was on the side of the angels.
Of course, even if the damage wasn’t that great, the fact that the signal was fired was important. There was no reason for mankind not to move. The area where Kim Hyunsung was had been completely lulled, but that alone was meaningful.
It went to show that the hero was revived, and the Light faction gained the power to fight one more time. Perhaps Jung Hayan had finished recovering her mana by that time as well.
Our gray warrior would have to prove himself, so his body would naturally be heated up, and Cha Hee-ra would’ve already woken up and ready to fight once more.
Our Hyejin was also steadily following the manual, putting the wires up and pressuring the enemies.
Of course, since it was based on a forward base, it wouldn’t reach the heart of pigeons as they expected, but it would come as a shock that they had shown their willingness to play in a groundbreaking manner.
“Are the dragons supposed to join us?”
I didn’t know for sure, but the chances were high. Even if it’s only some of them, the fact that they came out of their hiding alone meant that they were prepared to give aid.
To sum things up, the pigeon’s one shot didn’t necessarily come as a positive for the angels.
Perhaps, if Kim Hyunsung moved, things would be a little more fun. If Alps had delivered the revised manual, they would soon begin to move.
“The… The fallen swordsman is moving…”
‘Yeah, it’s about time.’
It wasn’t a situation where reason was attached, but it also came to our allies as a great opportunity.
In fact, the general situation didn’t come as a big problem for pigeons either. They could just do what they had done so far. It was easy. They just had to give up what they had and repeat what they did before.
However, that was no longer the case.
“We have to go back. Right now, we have a meeting…”
“We’re already here, Lee Kiyoung. First of all… We’ll take you on board.”
‘Yeah, that’ll make it easier.’
As soon as I stepped in, angry voices were heard from all over the place.
“What the h.e.l.l is going on!”
“War again! What the h.e.l.l!”
“What’s going on right now? Can you believe it? Where did they get the permission?”
“That’s not the point, is it? It’s a matter of how we can deal with this.”
“Let’s send out troops. We can’t let humans step into this sacred temple.”
“What do you mean send troops? How am I supposed to send troops in this situation? It’s nothing short of fighting again. Let’s tell them that there was a misunderstanding and a mistake!”
“From the very beginning, humans have been hostile to us. It’s not the time to talk nonsense. Now is the time to fight.”
“We can’t waste our money on useless war games when the new plan is just around the corner. Let us consider the divinity bound here. We need to look at the situation more rationally.”
‘That doesn’t seem very rational.’
I felt like I was looking at ants in the financial market on the first day of the Great Depression. It was hard to open my eyes and watch everyone holding envelopes in their hands.
The situation was so difficult that their eyes looked like their souls had been taken away from their bodies.
‘It’s a complete mess. There’s no greater mess than this.’
As soon as I showed a slight presence, everyone’s eyes began to turn to me.
Jihye, who was next to me, was expressing the direness of the situation with her worried expression, and her self-control acting skills stood out.
I tried to hide my facial expression as much as I could, but I couldn’t hide my discomfort completely.
Did I feel something uneasy about the exclamation? I could see the expressions of the elderly pigeons looking at me turning a little darker.
“Everyone, calm down.”
“Oh. Lee Kiyoung.”
“Dear Lee Kiyoung, have you heard the news?”
“Lee Kiyoung!”
I took a breath first.
“Have you heard?”
It was important to pretend like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Yes, I’ve been told that humans are dragging troops into the temple and that the fallen swordsman is starting to move again.”
“This… this job.”
“You don’t have to panic. There will be no change in the plan. I think it would be better to send troops to maintain the front and make room again. Of course, I don’t know if that will calm them down, but fighting right now is not good for our plan.”
“But…”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to reduce the budget now?”
“We’ve already reduced the budget to the limit. The divinity you have invested in continues to move the small continent. Tens of thousands of simulations are scheduled. The same goes for the divinity needed to access systems that maintain continents. Technically, it’s not something that can be scaled back. We can retrieve the divinity we’re working on, but if we do it now, we’ll suffer from catastrophic losses.”
“How… big of a loss?”
“Already about a third of the divinity… No, it’s more than that.”
‘Can you make it work?’
I wouldn’t have to say much.
‘It’s not just a big loss. It’s a total disaster.’
It was a plummet.
“There’s no other problem with the plan. The experiment is also going well. I just need to solve this problem. Yes, we just need to get through this crisis.”
Frankly, the fact that the founder put that sentence in his mouth meant that it was already over, but that wasn’t important.
They’d believe what they wanted to believe, anyway.
The belief that if they endured that time, it would give good results someday. The belief that even though there was a crisis that would go on for quite a while, the one who survived would win.
Such faith would move them.
“If anyone wants to pull out their investment, I’ll give it back to you right now. Of course, we can’t return the princ.i.p.al as stated in the contract, but…”
“…”
“…”
“You probably feel uneasy. Yes, I can fully understand your anxiety. However, it’s especially at times like this that we need to work together. If everyone moves as one, what kind of crisis can’t we solve? It’s just something we haven’t put on the table yet. Yes, this incident is unprecedented, but…”
“…”
“…”
“It can be corrected. There will be some damage, but if you bear it, you’ll still rise more than enough. What’s important is to be prepared not to have this problem again. Why … and who made the troops move?”
“We’re trying to figure that out right now, but…”
“As expected. Maybe… I’m not sure.”
“…”
“There seem to be secret forces present.”
“…”
“Of course, it’s not something I can easily say here, but I think there are forces that don’t want the new plan to happen. Yes, I’m sure of it…”
“That’s strange.”
“Yes, it’s strange. It wouldn’t be easy for things to go this far if they weren’t determined to screw it up. The fact that poor humans reached out to us was inherently top secret. Of course, you know what’s going on, but it’s just me, Dominions, Seraphim, and Cherubim, who know the exact location.”
“…”
“I can’t believe they’re doing this…”
It was when I said that.
“But none of our troops left the premises.”
Someone then spoke up. When I turned my head, I noticed a face that seemed to be trying to pretend to be calm. His blue hair, his trademark, stood out.
‘He appears like the main character every time.’
Of course, his expression didn’t look good. He was probably aware that things were a little messed up.
Seeing that he confirmed that there were no internal troops, he seemed to have completed his own investigation.
Maybe he was aware that he had stepped into a spider’s web by that moment.
“It’s not the troops waiting in the temple. It’s the troops that kept the front from the outside. It was planned. And didn’t I tell you? There’s a secret force abound. Evidence of a military operation would have been destroyed a long time ago.”
“What a wild guess.”
‘He’s being more careful than I thought.’
I could feel that he was being cautious with his remarks. If he had noticed that the spider web was made for him, he naturally would’ve moved cautiously.
He was currently judging that there was a lack of information.
I could see why angels suddenly attacked humans, what other cards I had, what exactly I was aiming for, and what I had prepared for him.
“There’s something that bothers me to say since it’s just a guess. Many people don’t like the new plan. As far as I remember, Cherubim was against it as well…”
“…”
“Don’t tell me…”
“…”
“It can’t be, right?”
He called me a disgusting person. I thought it was only proper to show him a disgusting expression.
I smiled and opened my eyes while looking at him. I was sure he wanted to punch my face so badly. I felt good at times like that.
“Do you want a war against humans?”
“…”
“I guess it’s true. Someone who wants to kill innocent people and fill their belly, in this sacred temple, in the mask of an angel… He must’ve been hiding like a rat.”
“…”
“It’s such a tragedy. A great tragedy.”