Nick looked down at the letter in front of him. Since its clean front surface was tightly sealed with melted wax, he couldn’t see who it was from. However, Nick knew who sent it right away.

‘Those guys must have sent it.’ They must have been the robed figures he had once believed to be his collaborators—those bastards who disappeared saying that they wouldn’t contact him anymore unless it was necessary. On the other hand, they had been scheming all kinds of evil plans behind his back. Nick was sure that it was definitely from them, and he picked up the letter. His hand trembled as he roughly pulled off the seal and ripped the letter open.

‘As I thought!’ The letter simply said they had something to tell him and contained the location of their meeting place. On the edge of the letter, there was a small marking Nick had agreed upon to communicate with the robed figures. 

‘They are deciding to put this damn symbol now?’ Even though the marking had symbolized their collaboration, it looked deceptive and cheap now, and without any hesitation, Nick ripped the marking apart.

‘Anyway, the reason why this letter came to me is probably because Ellie managed to escape.” Perhaps, she was dead, but Nick repressed this thought from his mind. 

‘Now, I only have one thing left to do.’ It was to kill the robed figures. They were guys who dared to backstab him and make a fool out of him. There was no reason to keep them alive and they needed to pay for what they did. Of course, this would be no easy task. From what he saw, the robed figures’ skills weren’t bad, and above all, Til’s existence hung deeply in his mind. He had spent a long time with Til, so Nick of all people knew how scary the man was. However, Nick thought he didn’t need to worry about Til too much.

‘If I think about the conversation between the two, it seems like one in charge of managing me is the robed figures. Plus, they wouldn’t call Til just to get rid of me.’ Nick was well aware of his skills. If there were several robed figures waiting to ambush him, they would be fully capable of immobilizing him. This fact hurt his pride, but it was the truth.

‘I’m sure the other side is fully aware of this too.’ Of course, Nick would not go alone. He had no plans to die a pointless death, and he was going to bring strong reinforcements to overcome the trap the robed figures were preparing for him.

‘I can’t just take anyone.’ He would need to explain the content of this letter when asking for help, and coming up with a believable story behind it would be a formidable task. Moreover, the robed figures knew that Nick had used the monsters from the Denest Mountain Range to attack Pialu. If that truth was somehow revealed, he would lose everything.

‘I suppose I can’t use it?’ Nick fumbled with the magic box holding the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. If he could, he wanted to use the monsters to get rid of the robed figures. However, he didn’t want to make those guys become suspicious of him by doing something out of character; after all, they didn’t seem to be aware of his betrayal yet. 

‘Then there’s only one option left.’ Among his subordinates, there were conveniently those who committed crimes for their own gains and covered them up. Thinking they were the best options he had, Nick began moving.

*     *     *

‘He’s starting to move.’ From far away, Zich specifically watched one person leave past Pialu’s walls. He was clearly a mercenary by his appearance, and he dashed across the road on a horse while others followed behind him. There was nothing strange about this sight. Pialu was still in an emergency state, and many people were patrolling the area with artifacts and preparing for the unexpected. Considering all this, it wasn’t strange that a mercenary was leaving the city like this.

However, it was strange that there were so many mercenaries moving on horses at once. Only the members of Wolf’s Canine used expensive animals like horses, and there were many more mercenaries going outside the castle walls than usual. 

‘Nick is making his move.’ This meant that the robed figures had finally made their move too. Zich smiled in satisfaction. ‘It seems like they are going to go all out.’ Nick had probably contacted the members in his own Wolf’s Canine division who received artifacts to search for Til.

‘Since he has something to hide, he probably got those newbies with questionable morals.’ It was clear to Zich that after leading them with money, Nick was planning to get rid of these people later to get rid of the evidence. 

‘I should follow them now.’ These guys were heading to the area where the robed figures and Nick had agreed to meet. Zich couldn’t miss this opportunity to screw the robed guys over.

‘Moreover, it’s always so fun to watch these puppets act according to my plans.’ Zich moved like a child, excited about the prospects of having a sweet treat.

*       *      *

After the sun fell and many hours passed since darkness blanketed the land, Nick stood quietly in the forest. He had his sword on his waist and wore armor like he was completely prepared for battle. Considering his occupation as a mercenary and the current situation, his appearance wasn’t strange at all. However, it didn’t change the fact that he was exuding a strange energy. 

Rustle! The grass shook. Nick turned his head and stared at the area where the noise came from. Nick didn’t know when he arrived, but a robed figure was standing there. The figure’s black robe blended in with the darkness and made him look like a ghost. Nick became filled with rage as he recalled the robed figure who had insulted him with Til. But he didn’t rush forward.

“You came?”

“Yeah.”

The robed figure’s voice was different from the one who talked to Til, but that didn’t matter to Nick. They were all the same anyway, and it didn’t matter which one was standing before him when he was going to kill all of them. Probably not knowing what was going through Nick’s mind, the robed figure asked, “Do you know why we called you when we said we won’t contact you anymore?”

“How would I know?” Nick tilted his head, and although he couldn’t see well because of the robe covering the figure’s face, the robed figure slightly narrowed their eyes. Nick’s attitude seemed confrontational rather than clueless.

‘Is the information true?’ the robed figure thought about how he was told that there was a high chance that Nick betrayed them. Seeing Nick’s attitude, the information seemed trustworthy. However, the robed figure didn’t hastily make his judgment. “Why didn’t you follow the plan?”

“What plan are you talking about?”

“Don’t play games with me! I’m asking why you haven’t sold out Til yet!” If everything went according to plan, Glen should’ve caught Til in front of a large audience with a flashy show and been chased out of Pialu. Then, Glen would become the hero of Pialu. However, this plan wasn’t progressing at all, and it was all because of Nick. The robed figure’s voice naturally became angry.

However, Nick wasn’t scared. As a mercenary, he had also experienced many things. If he got scared from just this amount of pressure, he wouldn’t have been able to maintain his position as the vice-captain of Wolf’s Canine. 

“Hey, don’t be like that. How can you tell me to sell out Til? Why should I sell out my closest friend and comrade?” 

The robed figure’s face turned stiff at Nick’s carefree tone. “Are you going to betray us?”

“Betray?” Nick’s tone, which had been dripping with sly sarcasm, quickly changed. “How dare you say that to me? Do you think I don’t know anything!”

The robed figure couldn’t understand what Nick was saying. All they did was follow orders from the higher-ups, provided various kinds of support to Nick, and made preparations while waiting for the perfect time to intervene again. However, the robed figure was sure of one thing—Nick no longer had any desire to collaborate with them. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but let the city know where Til is right now. If you just do this, we’ll give you what we promised.”

“You’re telling me to tell the city where Til is?” Nick was exasperated; he couldn’t believe that Til’s collaborator was acting like he was trying to sell out Til. Hadn’t that plan gone to hell after they decided to betray him and hold hands with Til? Their behavior was abominable, to say the least. Nick didn’t need to listen any longer; he didn’t feel any need to listen to their nonsense anymore.

Swish! Nick took out his sword. Since it was night and there wasn’t any light, the blade’s chilling light didn’t reflect off the sword, but the sound of his sword was threatening. 

“Stop with your nonsense and fight. I’ll make sure you repent for your betrayal.”

“…You’ve lost your sense of reason.” When he saw Nick pull out a sword in front of him, the robed figure no longer hid his murderous aura. He also pulled out a sword from his robe. 

“I’ll give you a warning, but don’t you think that I’ll waver because of Ellie. I know that you guys no longer have Ellie!”

“I have no idea why you’re saying such fucking nonsense but—.” Tap! The robed figure flicked his fingers. Robed figures hiding in the bushes began to appear one by one. They surrounded Nick and glared threateningly at him. “This is my final warning. Follow the plan.”

“Hahaha!” Nick didn’t lose his composure despite the fact that he was surrounded by a large number of enemies. Instead, he let out a low chuckle as if he found them all absurd. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to think this far?” Nick had arrived at their destination earlier and scanned the area. He didn’t notice any clear traps. Thus, there was only one method they would probably employ—they were probably going to surround him and gang up on him. Thankfully, Nick had an excellent method to address this situation.

Fweettt! Nick whistled. Since he infused mana into it, the sound of his whistle traveled across trees and bushes and reached a very far distance. Anyone could tell that he was sending a signal, and the robed figures’ faces stiffened. Nick laughed at them. “You’re not the only one who can fight with numbers, you stupid idiots.”

“Kill him!” The robed figure in front of Nick rushed towards him. The robed figures surrounding Nick also pulled out their swords and rushed towards him. 

Crash! Nick and the robed figure’s swords collided. Even though Nick’s skills were significantly lower than Til’s, his skills suited him as the vice-captain of Wolf’s Canine. Nick easily blocked the robed figure’s attacks. However, even this had its limits. Since he didn’t have an overwhelming amount of fighting power like Zich, Glen, or Til, his strength would slowly decline as the robed figures ganged up on him. However, fortunately for him, he wasn’t alone. 

A loud cry came from the forest. The robed figures turned their heads; a great number of mercenaries were running towards them from across the forest. 

“You bastard!” The robed figure facing Nick gritted his teeth, but Nick was calm.

“Why are you staring at me like that? You guys were the ones who decided to gang up on me first.” Then, Nick strongly pushed away from the robed figure’s sword. The robed figure moved back and stared at the mercenaries rushing towards them. 

“You! You! You! You!” He pointed at four other robed figures and said, “You four will kill Nick with me and the rest of you will block the mercenaries heading towards us!” As expected, the robed figure who approached him first seemed to be the leader. His subordinates followed his order without hesitation. 

“Do you really think that those punks hiding around in the shadows can beat my trained subordinates who’ve been through numerous real-life experiences?”

Nick mocked them, and the leader gritted his teeth. “You won’t have any time to talk, you bastard.”