Chapter 2684 – 2684. God’S Atlantis

The Minister of Public Works frowned as he saw his subordinate rushing towards him. Such instances usually meant bad news.

“Your Excellency!”

“Speak.”

“There’s a drug problem spreading within the district!”

“That’s nothing. Drug dealers are everywhere.”

The followers of the cult used drugs. They used them to create special medicines, and they also took them to elevate their mood.

“The amount of drugs being distributed is five times the usual! And the price is less than 30% of the original! Not only the followers of the Deep Sea Star Cult but also ordinary people are getting their hands on drugs! At this rate, the entire district will be consumed by drugs!”

If the district became a haven for drug addicts, productivity would naturally decline, and all sorts of problems would arise, including economic and security issues. So what if it was a cult? On the surface, the cult was an enemy of the Empire. They couldn’t openly embrace the cult.

The Minister of Public Works’ expression quickly turned serious.

“Where are these drugs coming from?”

“They’re from merchants who came from outside. The verification process is still ongoing, but… it seems like they’re using our tools.”

“…Those tools we sent to the Baldert District?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. They’re selling drugs in our district!”

The Minister of Public Works immediately recognized the culprit behind this situation. It was the Illusionist. The Illusionist had manipulated the merchants’ minds and was pulling the strings.

“…Find the drug dealers and kill them.”

“That’s… not easy. The Deep Sea Star Cult is protecting the drug dealers. And since the guards are also followers of the Deep Sea Star Cult…”

Merchants selling drugs cheaply. A cult that wanted drugs. The two were creating a synergy. The district was in chaos because of drugs? The cult’s messed-up lives wouldn’t care about that.

“…Damn it. I need to meet with the cult leader.”

The Minister of Public Works couldn’t control the cult’s followers. Officially, the cult and the Minister of Public Works were enemies. The ordinary followers naturally knew this as well.

“Your Excellency. We need to resolve this situation before the drugs spread further.”

“I know. Prepare some valuables to appease the cult leader.”

“…The work related to Baldert…”

“Halt it. Didn’t you see the Illusionist’s reaction? That woman is openly provoking us. She wants a fight. There’s no reason to start a war by giving a crazy woman an excuse.”

“The drug dealers were clearly under a spell. If we break the spell and bring them to the public, we can gain the justification, can’t we?”

“To break that spell, we need the help of the Angelus Legion. The cult and they are on the worst of terms. Even if they cooperate, if it becomes known that the drug dealers provided drugs to the cult, the justification will shift to their side. It’s best to quietly bury this matter.”

“…My thinking was short-sighted.”

*Crack*

The Minister of Public Works gritted his teeth.

The Illusionist was reacting quite aggressively. Even though there hadn’t been any particular friction, she suddenly did this.

An incomprehensible action.

It couldn’t be said that the Illusionist had suddenly gone crazy. If she was crazy, the drug supply seemed like a move targeting the cult.

‘Could it be? Did she realize that I was involved in corrupting Erica Baldert and instigating the assassination of the Three Great Dukes? That’s impossible. All traces related to that were cleaned up. Even my current subordinates don’t know about that.’

His head was getting complicated.

However, one thing was certain: the Illusionist was hostile towards him.

‘Things aren’t going well.’

• • •

The Barclay Legion Alliance.

Currently, the most powerful legion in Atlantis.

This massive legion, formed by the alliance of over 50 legions, was hostile to the Justia Empire. There were many reasons, but the most prominent was their resentment towards the Empire’s use of exiles.

‘It’s a bit better now, but in the early days of Atlantis, the discrimination against exiles was immense, wasn’t it? Especially in the Empire, they didn’t even treat exiles as human beings.’

The Justia Empire was a class-based society. What happened when exiles from other worlds entered this society? They were naturally ostracized. Even if they were accepted somehow, they couldn’t avoid discrimination. In the early days of Atlantis, the number of exiles was small, so it must have been even worse.

‘I heard it wasn’t long ago that the discrimination against exiles disappeared.’

It wasn’t that the continentals suddenly had a change of heart. It was simply because the exiles were strong. The exiles who arrived in Atlantis were basically those who had passed the tutorial.

‘Exiles can all use the status window and have unique traits. The continentals also realized that they shouldn’t completely turn the exiles into enemies.’

Now, there didn’t seem to be much difference between exiles and continentals. That was how it appeared on the surface. If you looked closely, discrimination still existed.

‘Anyway, what’s important now is to strike a blow against the Barclay Legion. That way, they won’t even think about ruining my wedding.’

I headed to the meeting place. There, I met a disheveled middle-aged man with blond hair, wearing a coat.

Rupert Galicsey.

He was one of the executives of the Barclay Legion.

“The clown has arrived. How long will the King of the Desert insist on that ridiculous mask? Does the mask even have any meaning?”

“I’m here as a member of Helten, not as the King of the Desert. This mask represents that. Don’t waste time with your sarcasm and get to the point.”

“Tsk. If the situation wasn’t so unfavorable, I wouldn’t be borrowing the power of a criminal…”

Rupert irritably took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step (天魔君臨步).

I lightly stomped my foot. A wave of energy spread out, pressing down on Rupert’s body. Rupert bit down on his cigarette, enduring the pressure of the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step. However, a trickle of blood flowed from his lips.

“Heavenly Demon…! What the hell are you doing?!”

“I should be the one saying that. How dare you put a cigarette in your mouth in front of me without permission? That alone is an insult.”

“You bastard…”

Rupert, who had been growling, spat out the cigarette and wiped the blood flowing down his chin with the back of his hand. He lowered his stance. He had realized that I was strong.

“I can’t believe Helten would send such a crazy bastard…”

“Helten values skill. They sent me as a sure card.”

“From now on, your job is to kill the sub-master of the Barclay Legion. Aren’t you afraid? If you make a mistake, your forces could suffer a blow.”

“The Heavenly Demon Sect is not weak. Moreover, this matter is related to Helten. I’ll ask you in return, do you have the confidence to be safe after turning the Heavenly Demon Sect and Helten into enemies?”

Rupert only clicked his tongue instead of answering. He probably hadn’t grasped the extent of the power of the Heavenly Demon Sect and Helten. And he wouldn’t want to turn Helten into an enemy.

“But why are you trying to kill the legion’s sub-master? Are you on such bad terms?”

“…Currently, the Barclay Legion is divided into three factions. There are the hardliners, the moderates, and the centrists. The sub-master, Roman, is the representative of the hardliners. He’s the one who proposed and pushed for the plan to attack the Illusionist’s wedding. Roman’s argument is that the attack itself can show the Barclay Legion’s presence by ruining the wedding.”

“And you, as a moderate, are against it?”

“I’m a centrist. The scale of the Illusionist’s wedding is too large. The Emperor, as well as the Imperial Five Dukes, will be gathered in one place. With the legion master currently absent, the plan has more than a 50% chance of failure. Roman. That guy is just blinded by ambition.”

“Can’t the moderates and centrists oppose it?”

“One, the hardliners’ power is greater than the moderates. Two, that crazy bastard can turn his blade towards the moderates and centrists.”

“What’s your master, Vanley, doing?”

“…The master has been focusing on growth since the last failed attack on the Imperial Palace. That’s why Roman is acting up.”

In martial arts terms, it seemed like Vanley had entered secluded training.

“So, the moderates and centrists don’t want to be seen killing the sub-master themselves, so they’re using an outsider like me. It looks like a hunting dog is being boiled in a pot.”

“If you succeed, that won’t happen. The hardliners’ voices are loud because of Roman’s power. If Roman disappears, they’ll have no choice but to be mindful of the moderates and centrists. This time, the centrists are planning to promote the leader of the moderates to sub-master. What happened to you will be glossed over.”

“And the hardliners will just stay still?”

“Some of the hardliners have been recruited. You just need to kill Roman. If you don’t succeed, our plan will fail too.”

“If Roman dies, you won’t attack the Illusionist’s wedding?”

“I’m doing this because I don’t like that plan. Does it look like we’re just trying to kill Roman because we’re greedy for power?”

“Isn’t that an excuse, and you actually want power?”

“We’re not like you.”

“Alright, you bastard. If you weren’t a client, you would have died by my hand.”

Rupert frowned and glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.

Smart Rupert. He knew I wouldn’t kill him, so he was glaring at me.

“It would be best if you and Roman both perished.”

“That won’t happen, so keep dreaming. You’ve prepared the payment, right? It’s a prepayment, so hand it over.”

Rupert took out a small piece from his pocket. Smaller than the palm of his hand, it was a part of a broken disc.

「Fragment of the Extreme Trial
 If you collect 3 fragments, you can challenge the Extreme Trial.
 Rank: S」

“I received the payment properly.”

“…Do you know what the Extreme Trial is?”

“That’s why I’m taking this as payment.”

“What is the Extreme Trial?”

“……”

I didn’t answer. Rupert snorted and turned his head away.

He probably thought that the Extreme Trial fragment was nothing special because it was S rank.

‘Fool. What’s important is the reward you can get when you succeed in the Extreme Trial.’

If you succeed in the Extreme Trial, you can unconditionally raise the rank of one of your traits or skills. In other words, you can raise an SSS rank to EX rank. If you fail? You get nothing.

“Guide me to the place where that Roman or whatever is.”

“I hope your arrogance has a basis.”

Rupert took out a space-time teleportation scroll for me. For a moment, I suspected it was a trap, but no ordinary trap could stop me.

Rupert and I tore the space-time teleportation scroll almost simultaneously.

「You have entered the 6,548th district, the Village of Need.」

Dozens of enemies, armed with weapons, showed their killing intent towards me and Rupert. A man in the center of the enemies smiled maliciously.

“You’ve finally arrived. I thought I was going to die of old age waiting.”

I glared at Rupert. Unlike before, Rupert avoided my gaze.

“Can’t you do your job properly?”

“It seems someone switched the space-time teleportation scroll. …Was there a traitor on our side? I have a suspect in mind. I promise to punish him later.”

“Make sure to kill that bastard.”

First, I took a step forward.

Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step (天魔君臨步).