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Suaak-!
Joshua swung his sword once, and the bodies of five mages were split in two. Other mages nearby tried to escape and were killed by the sword of Jane, the black knight next to them, without even being able to utter a final scream.
Thirty minutes had passed since their infiltration.
During that time, they had killed more than two hundred managers and mages, and also cut down more than thirty of Kinzelo's members and beastmen who misfortunately witnessed the scene.
Reinforcements from Drakka and the 2nd Magic tower had already entered the underground shipyard.
They had managed to suppress Kinzelo, but they had not encountered Joshua and his group yet because the shipyard was vast, coupled with the exceptional stealth capabilities of Joshua and his group, but it was only a matter of time before they would be discovered.
Rather than continuing to move, Joshua and Jane waited for another Black Knight while purging the evidence.
"Mon is here, 2nd flagbearer."
Joshua turned his head in response to Jane's words. The Black Knight named Mon, had been observing Jin's movements for the past 20 minutes instead of moving with them.
The reason Joshua had instructed Mon to stay behind Jin was simple: he was uncertain whether Jin had figured out that the blueprints were in the 2nd Magic tower.
"What did it seem like?"
"He didn't take the shortest path to the 17th and 19th sections. It looked as if he was carefully monitoring Kinzelo's members' actions."
"Did you personally hear what my brothers were discussing?"
"The 12th flagbearer was on high alert, and Zipfel's reinforcements were continuously being added. Above all, Murakan's senses were sharp. If I had gotten even a little closer, it would have become a problem."
Not everything is possible even for Black Knight.
It was difficult for the Black Knight to get close enough to hear Jin, Murakan, and Diphus without being detected. The only reason he could get even a glimpse of their path was because Mon was a Black Knight.
They aren't using the shortest path.
Joshua reflected on that fact and shook his head.
"I think it would be best to move on the assumption that Jin is clearly aware of the battleship blueprints being in the 2nd Magic Tower. My ominous feeling seems to have been correct."
"I share the same opinion. Even if he hadn't been aware of the 2nd Magic tower at all, he would have realized it after seeing Kinzelo's terror. The 12th flagbearer is sharp and has insight, so there's no way he would have missed it."
"We should actively use Jin and his group from now on. Kinzelo will also send real powerhouses, who are not participating in terrorism, to the 2nd Magic Tower."
"It's a bit bothersome that we didn't share information about the 2nd Magic tower with the 4th and 12th flagbearers from the beginning."
"That's not a problem, Sir Mon. Dame Jane. I didn't withhold information about the 2nd Magic tower from my brothers because I wanted to monopolize it."
Joshua genuinely believed that Jin and Diphus would divert the attention of Zipfels within the shipyard and he could easily obtain the blueprints.
If only Kinzelo hadn't acted like this.
"That's right. The real problem is that our information was leaked to Kinzelo. The only individuals who could break through the guards of the three of us and extract information are primarily Yona Runcandel and Nameless King. But it seems unlikely that Nameless personnel were involved in this incident."
"Kinzelo's leader may have used a special power, or there might have been some demons involved. At the moment, even the Prophet was not able to find the location of the battleship blueprints without leaving any trace and anyone knowing."
Mon and Jane replied like that, but in fact, there were traces that numerous humans were used to help the Prophet find out the location of the battleship blueprint. Her prophecies and magic always required a living human as a catalyst.
However, the two Black Knights were not aware of that.
"We will confirm the leakage of information through the Prophet at a later time."
Joshua fell into thought for a moment.
'No matter how the information was leaked, it's certain that I have to compete with Kinzelo. And Jin... will likely be thinking of taking advantage of the opportunity created by my involvement with Kinzelo to rob the 2nd Magic tower.'
For now, let's go along with Jin's plans.
That's the conclusion Joshua reached.
'Perhaps it's for the best. After all, my original plan was to infiltrate the 2nd Magic tower on my own without Kinzelo. The cooperation of Jin, Murakan, and Diphus might actually be helpful. Besides, both Jin and Kinzelo won't be holding onto this.'
Joshua reached into the pocket of his infiltration suit and touched an item.
It was a key, the key to the 2nd Magic tower's vault that Sandra Zipfel had been wearing around her neck.
Before infiltrating the Sota Desert, the Prophet had thoroughly copied the vault's location and its contents, even replicating this key.
-It's impossible to access the vault in the 2nd Magic tower quickly without this key. There are hundreds of illusion and defensive spells in place. They don't activate if you have the key.
-Are you sure?
-When have I ever lied?
-Well, wouldn't it have been better to just copy the blueprints itself?
-You're spouting nonsense again. That wouldn't have been impossible with more materials. I managed to create the infiltration tunnel, locate the vault and even replicated the key for you with the limited resources I had. You should be grateful for that. Did you think a dead demon like Rontelgius Lampen could accomplish something like this?
-... What do you mean?
-Did you think I wouldn't know that you were relying on that demon bastard? I just turned a blind eye to your pitiful and comical acts. Now make sure to succeed this time, and bring back the battleship blueprints and the item.
Joshua recalled the conversation he had with the Prophet before their departure.
'I didn't know that the Prophet had information about Lampen, but it doesn't matter now. Jin will find the true nature of the shadow force marble, and if it's as significant as my intuition suggests, I can take it back at that time.'
From some point on, the Prophet had been needling Joshua, poking at his pride and showing signs of betrayal, but the Prophet was undoubtedly Joshua's most crucial asset.
'Furthermore, if the leader and other special individuals from Kinzelo had abilities greater than or equal to the Prophet's, they would have taken not only the plans of our operation but this key as well.'
Joshua was still the most likely candidate to plunder the items from the 2nd Magic tower.
As his thoughts came together, he felt reassured that the situation would once again unfold according to his calculations.
"Sir Mon."
Joshua said with a determined tone.
"Please speak, 2nd flagbearer."
"We will stop being in the shadows and move quickly. Sir Mon, you need to divert Zipfel's attention from now on."
Although they had already slain over two hundred managers and mages, as well as more than thirty Kinzelo members, Joshua and his group were still in the middle of their infiltration mission. Zipfels had only suffered casualties due to the acts of terror.
Joshua's words meant that they should stop the infiltration and start causing destruction.
If the Kinzelo's members at the level of assault team commander or lower, who were running rampant in the shipyard, were small fish, the Black Knight was a whale. The miscellaneous fish could not overcome its presence.
"I and Dame Jane will head straight for the 2nd Magic tower. If possible, join us after the destruction, but prioritize your survival and escape."
"Understood."
"And, Sir Mon, please tell me the path Jin and his group took. It's time to team up with him once again."
***
A sudden pause.
Jin and his group, who were running, stopped at the same time. This was because they sensed a strong energy and explosion out of nowhere, as if an awl had popped out.
While the acts of terror were ongoing, this level of change was something that even those who had reached this level could feel.
"Hey, what's going on? Were there Kinzelo guys with this much energy? With this kind of vibration, a couple of entire sections over there seem to have vanished."
"It's towards the 4th and 11th sections, Lord Murakan. That's where Joshua and the black knights were, so it could be that a battle broke out between them and spectres who came for support."
"...No, I don't sense any magic at all, elder brother Diphus. If an explosion of this magnitude were caused by magic, it should have altered the flow of mana within the facility."
"In that case, Joshua might have genuinely attacked the 4th and 11th sections."
"As I anticipated, Joshua may have left one black knight behind in the shipyard to act as a diversion."
"Is the black knight pretending to have genuinely attacked the 4th and 11th sections, and Joshua is seizing the opportunity to head to the 2nd Magic tower?"
Normally, he would have questioned whether his guess was going too far, but Diphus had decided to trust Jin after seeing Joshua's decision to continue the mission. At least for this mission.
"In any case, now the Zipfel supporting forces are likely to converge over there. This means that the optimal moment for us to enter the 2nd Magic tower is imminent. Let's wait for a moment to see if the vibrations are moving closer or further away."
The vibrations were rapidly moving further away.
"It seems that the black knight..."
Jin, who had been talking up to that point, suddenly held his breath and put his index finger to his lips. Seeing that, Murakan and Diphus also quickly killed their presence.
A distant scream could be heard.
Jin and his group were currently near the 17th section, and like Joshua and his group, they had come here and killed most of Zipfels and members of Kinzelo. Particularly, they did not leave a single mages alive who came to support from the 2nd Magic tower.
In other words, there weren't many survivors left near the 17th section. Therefore, unless there were newly arrived reinforcements, there shouldn't have been any sound of rapid footsteps.
'The sound of footsteps is too scarce to be reinforcements. And the footsteps are too fast. It's like highly trained warriors running at full speed.'
Someone was coming towards Jin and his group after slaughtering the remnants near the 17th section.
Diphus and Murakan could also feel the sound of those footsteps rushing carelessly as if there were no need to be cautious.
And shortly after that, Jin and his group, who were hiding in the pipes near the entrance of the 17th section, could witness two figures disappearing as fast as light.
"Joshua and the black knight...!"
Diphus was the first to speak.
There was only one black knight. He got goosebumps all over his body at the fact that the prediction made by Jin was accurate once again.
"Oh, kid. You were right."
Murakan also whistled in amazement, but Jin had a rather stern expression.
"That may not be a good thing, elder brother Diphus."
Diphus raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Why?"
"It was perfect to leave one black knight to attract attention and enter the 2nd Magic tower in the meantime. But doesn't it look like he is heading for the 2nd Magic tower if he wants us to see it?"
"Hmm."
"If they're running at full speed, it means they must want to go there as fast as they can. Even though we're on a path that's relatively close to the 2nd Magic tower, there's a separate shortcut. In other words, Joshua should have taken a different path, not this one."
Listening to Jin, they realized that it was indeed the case.
"If that's the case, Joshua might have been trailing us to figure out our path."
"Kid, maybe they were just running in a hurry without much thought?"
"Murakan, didn't you say earlier that it felt like someone was following us from behind?"
"Well, I did mention that. I had a feeling, but I was uncertain."
"And elder brother Diphus and I also felt that way, right?"
There was a moment of silence.
"..... Phew, fine. I don't know about Joshua, but a black knight would have been able to confirm our path from a distance. So why? If they checked our path, it should be for the purpose of secretly infiltrating the 2nd Magic tower, shouldn't it? There's no reason for him to intentionally let us know, right?"
Diphus spoke, sounding frustrated, and Jin pondered for a moment.
"Well, maybe it's because he's confident about something. What that something is... honestly, I can't think of it right away. I guess it's our turn to be dragged by Joshua."