There Is No World For ■■

"Shit, dodge!"

One of the crossbow-wielding thugs spun around and shouted, as if simply turning his back would somehow let him evade the incoming arrows.

But Bendu, being a mage, knew better.

Unless one had trained in footwork like a knight, there was no way a person could outrun arrows flung by Telekinesis.

"C-Captain? Wait, just—!"

Bendu made his decision in an instant. He grabbed a fleeing subordinate and used him as a human shield.

At almost the same moment, a rain of arrows tore into the backs of his unfortunate men.

Even before their dying screams had faded, Bendu flung aside his human shield, raised his staff, and began casting.

He made his living through appraisals, but he was still a mage of Drayterial—one who had fought in countless battles.

Especially battles between mages. He had grown sick of them.

But this time, the enemy acted in a way he didn’t expect.

Instead of maintaining his Telekinesis or weaving another spell, Yeomyeong drew his sword and charged straight at him.

"A knight?"

No, it had to be a knight. What kind of mage had a body that well-trained?

…Then how the hell did he use Telekinesis?

Bendu swallowed his confusion and completed his spell.

With a crackling roar, a bolt of lightning erupted from his staff—an electrified spear designed to punch through Telekinesis.

The spear of lightning was so blinding that it seared into the retinas of those watching.

Yet the response from his opponent was almost absurdly simple.

Yeomyeong merely raised his sword.

And the moment the lightning struck—

He brought it down.

Mana exploded into a flash of blinding light, momentarily obscuring everyone’s vision.

But even through the glare, every single witness in the street saw it.@@novelbin@@

The faint blue Sword Aura flickering along the blade of his sword.

Bendu recoiled in horror and rushed to cast another spell.

But Yeomyeong’s sword was faster.

The blade cleaved clean through his wrist, severing the hand that gripped his staff.

Most people would have screamed at the sight of their own hand flying through the air.

But Bendu was an experienced mage.

He neither wasted time casting another spell nor made the fatal mistake of turning to run.

Instead, he dropped to his knees immediately.

"I—I surrender! Please, spare me!"

Afraid his opponent might suspect him of faking his surrender, he raised both hands high over his head and pressed his forehead to the ground.

His speed in prostrating himself was so absolute that not only did it shock the gathered onlookers, but even Yeomyeong—who had been about to behead him—found himself hesitating.

"…."

Yeomyeong stared down at him, momentarily at a loss.

…Is this guy insane?

He had launched a broad daylight attack over a Vision Relic.
Had used his own men as shields.
Yet now, the moment things turned against him, he was groveling like a dog?

Yeomyeong scowled and raised his sword again, but Bendu frantically blurted out,

"I—I didn’t know who I was dealing with! Just let me live, and I’ll give you anything you want! Gold, anything in the pawnshop, it’s all yours!"

"…."

"Oh, right! You’ll need money and power to protect your Vision Relic! I can introduce you to the Southern Court Lord! If you work under him—"

Crack!

Bendu’s words were cut short—literally.

Yeomyeong wrenched his neck with Telekinesis.

His body slumped like a puppet with its strings cut.

The onlookers’ eyes gleamed.

Not because they had just witnessed a murder in broad daylight.

But because of one particular phrase Bendu had uttered—Vision Relic.

To an outsider, it seemed as though Yeomyeong had killed Bendu specifically to silence him about the relic.

An outsider who could wield both magic and Sword Aura.
A Vision Relic.
And Bendu’s death.

The scavengers who had gathered quickly slunk away into the depths of the street, each carrying a new piece of information to spread.

Even the thugs who had survived the arrow rain began fleeing.

Among them was the rough-looking man who had led Yeomyeong into the pawnshop.

Yeomyeong didn’t stop him.

After all, someone had to spread the rumor that he had found a Vision Relic in the sewers.

A moment later, Balagu, who had been silently observing, stepped forward and asked,

"What if the rumors spiral out of control?"

It was a reasonable concern, but Yeomyeong simply shook his head.

"There’s nothing to worry about."

"Why not?"

"People only see what they want to see."

****

"Do you know what confirmation bias is?"

In the office of the Southern Court Lord, Ekaterina idly moved a chess piece across the board.

Before her was an enormous game board.

But unlike a normal Go board, it didn’t just have Go stones.

Chess pieces, janggi pieces, and intricately carved miniature figures were scattered across it.

Anyone with a keen eye would notice that it was a scaled-down model of Drayterial’s power structure.

Each piece represented the city's three Court Lords and their subordinates.

The rat beastmen army, the Shepherds from Korea, and the lowly, foolish citizens.

Ekaterina moved the black queen that represented herself and spoke.

"No matter how much evidence contradicts their beliefs, people will only believe what they want to believe. And that goes double when they’re blinded by greed."

Tap.

She placed her queen in the center of the board.

Only then did the Southern Court Lord, who had been gazing out the window, turn his head.

"…What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I’m saying don’t waste your energy trying to suppress the rumors. You won’t be able to stop them anyway."

His expression twisted in irritation.

"So I should just sit back and watch while a bunch of filthy lowlifes flood the sewers because of some absurd rumor about a Soviet secret vault?"

"Those lowlifes don’t think it’s absurd. The fact is, a Soviet Vision Relic really was found in the sewers."

Ekaterina smirked as she moved another piece.

The Southern Court Lord’s patience snapped.

"How the hell is that a fact?! The Soviets left behind an armory! Machine guns, rocket launchers, maybe! A Vision Relic? That’s the biggest load of—"

"Have you not been listening to a single word I’ve said? The truth doesn’t matter. What matters is what the people want to believe."

"Then what do you suggest we do?!"

Bang!

He slammed his fist onto the desk, sending the board trembling and toppling pieces over.

"Are you telling me to just let things continue as they are? What if—by some insane stroke of luck—those vermin in the sewers find the Launch Code before we do? Every plan we’ve worked on until now would go up in smoke!"

"…You're overthinking it. Do you really think any of them even know what the Launch Code is?"

"That’s not the point—! As long as the sewers are swarming with rats and scavengers, someone will eventually uncover the truth!"

"…."

"Rumors don’t die out, they spread! More people will keep flooding into the sewers, not fewer! At this rate, we won’t have the Launch Code by His Majesty’s festival—!"

"That’s enough."

The air inside the office turned frigid.

The Southern Court Lord, caught off guard, snapped his mouth shut.

A heavy silence settled over the room.

For a moment, nothing moved.

Then, Ekaterina reached down and righted the fallen black queen.

"Fine. I admit our plans have been disrupted. But in that case, we just change the plan. What’s the problem?"

"…Change the plan?"

"Since it’s come to this… why don’t we add to the rumors?"

No sooner had she spoken than she pulled a small ring from her coat.

A plain, unadorned band of iron.

But when the Southern Court Lord recognized it, his eyes widened in shock.

"A Vision Relic… left behind by the previous Tower Master?"

"Use this ring as bait to fan the flames even higher."

"…."

"Announce it in your name. Declare that whoever finds the vault will be rewarded with this ring."

"…You're saying we ignite the fire?"

Ekaterina whispered like a devil.

It wasn’t difficult to predict what would happen if they followed her suggestion.

With the railroads cut off, the unemployed, the vagrants, and all manner of outcasts were dreaming of striking it rich as they descended into the sewers.

And down there, they would slaughter each other, piling corpses into mountains.

And after that…

"We’ll just turn them all into zombies."

A proposal to make use of the filth.

The Court Lord found himself involuntarily impressed as he asked,

"It’s a brilliant plan, but… is that even possible?"

Instead of answering, Ekaterina picked up a black king piece that had rolled beneath the board.

She toyed with it for a moment before setting it down in the very center of the board with a decisive clack.

"Of course it’s possible. After all… we have a dragon on our side."

A dragon.

At that word, the Court Lord swallowed hard as he stared at the black king.

Ekaterina was also gazing at it.

Which was why neither of them noticed the white queen piece rolling across the board.

****

After Yeomyeong Spread the Rumor About the Vision Relic

The city of Drayterial was boiling over like an active volcano.

Every thug and cutthroat who thought they were worth something had swarmed into the sewers—only to come up empty-handed.

No sign of the secret vault. No clues, no leads.

Of course, a few lucky ones had stumbled across some gold, but they were the rare exception.

"So many people have been searching, and no one's found anything? Is this whole thing just a fake rumor?"

Some rational voices began questioning the validity of the search.

But such skepticism was drowned out almost immediately.

"Didn’t you see the Vision Relic they found in the sewers last time? It’s definitely real!"
"If it were a hoax, would the Southern Court Lord have put up a bounty?"
"Find the vault, claim the former Tower Master’s ring. It’s all ours."

Then, the moment the Southern Court Lord publicly announced a reward for finding the vault, the people’s belief—and greed—transcended into something akin to religious faith.

And popular faith always leads to challenges against authority.

"We’ve searched the eastern, southern, and northern sewers. That only leaves… the west."
"I heard the Western Court Lord is hoarding the vault for himself!"
"Unseal the western sewers! The city belongs to the people, not the Court Lords! The sewers must be free!"

The public’s attention turned toward the locked-down western sewers.

Of course, very few dared to denounce the Western Court Lord outright.

Anyone that bold had long since been buried six feet under.

Instead, the citizens of Drayterial found a different way to get back at him.

They picked locks, bribed guards, and slipped into the darkness unseen.

No matter how tightly the Western Court Lord tried to keep it shut, a single hand could never block ten.

The blockade didn’t last long.

The Western Court Lord, enraged, declared that any trespassers caught in the sewers would be executed on the spot.

But the people of Drayterial, ever defiant, simply took it as a challenge—sneaking in even more quietly.

Some guards even took bribes to let people through, completing the quintessential Drayterial scene.

With Chaos Brewing and the Western Sewers’ Lockdown Crumbling

Yeomyeong decided that the time was ripe.

It was time to draw out the Shepherds hiding inside the Western Court Lord’s building.

The first step was acquiring maps to study the geography around the Court Lord’s domain.

"Terrain is the foundation of battle." That was Seti’s philosophy, and Yeomyeong had taken it to heart.

No, he took it even further.

He tracked the patrol routes of the mages.

Bribed the surrounding guards.

His preparations were flawless.

Unlike the strategy, their equipment needs were minimal.

A few weapons—swords, guns, and supplies.

If anything took time, it was acquiring masks to conceal their identities.

"Masks and weapons… Are we going on an assassination mission?"

That was Neti’s comment after preparations were complete.

Yeomyeong didn’t deny it.

"Our main objective is to uncover the Shepherds’ goals and the Western Court Lord’s plans… but if we can kill them, we should."

"…."

Neti didn’t ask ‘Brother-in-law, why do you hate the Shepherds so much?’

She already knew.

The seeds of hatred sown by the Korean government were far too numerous to count.

She was simply satisfied that Yeomyeong was standing against them alongside the resistance.

Her sister, on the other hand, had taken it a step further.

"Wouldn’t it be faster to just fire ten anti-tank rounds into the sewers and bury them all alive?"

"…."

"Now that I think about it, it’s a shame. If Josef had brought a proper bomb, we could’ve just leveled the whole building."

Words that were anything but a joke.

Neti swallowed a nervous laugh.

Seti, meanwhile, casually hoisted up a crate labeled Magic Wand and slung it over her shoulder.

And with that, their preparations were complete.

There were less than ten days left until the Emperor’s festival.