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Chapter 280

* * *

After the battle at the ancient fortress ended, the cultists had fled, and the Holy Kingdom and the Great Forest remained behind to conduct investigations.

Before returning, Isna Mielephon parted ways with Leon, saying she had somewhere else to visit.

"Hmm..."

With a playful expression, she wandered around the outskirts of the ancient fortress, where barely a trace of it remained.

The vast remnants of destruction… Truly, if it hadn’t been for Leon, the amount of damage could have been catastrophic.

A Seraph, huh…

Quick-witted as she was, she already knew quite a lot.

Whoosh—

It was then.

Several hooded figures in black robes suddenly descended upon her, surrounding her in an instant.

Their blades were soaked in blood.

Isna tilted her head slightly at them, a mischievous smile still on her face.

They didn’t react.

The black-robed figures simply stared at her in silence.

* * *

The stone hallway stretched on like a dungeon corridor.

Surrounded on all sides by the robed figures, Isna walked calmly and silently.

At the end of the hall, a heavy, cold air filled with unknown energy lingered.

"Hey. Walk properly."

A heavy voice sounded, but Isna’s expression didn’t waver.

Eventually, they arrived at a massive stone gate.

A woman with her robe pulled low over her face—Meryl Dyne—stepped forward, manipulated the artifact embedded in the gate, and opened it.

Inside, several men and women were already waiting.

Their identity?

The continent's infamous rogue organization—The Moonlight Assassins.

A group shrouded in mystery, with unclear motives and unpredictable movements.

They were known as The Moon Watchers.

"We finally caught one."

A murmur echoed through the room.

The voice was filled with venom, as if ready to tear someone apart on the spot.

Isna walked slowly forward.

All eyes turned to her.

Thud!

Suddenly, behind her, someone stumbled and crashed to the floor.

Everyone’s attention shifted from Isna to the fallen figure behind her.

“P-Please! I... I didn’t do it with evil intent! You all know this! My child—without that medicine—he might die! But then I heard that the drug was released on the market…”

"Silence, traitor."

A cold voice shut him down.

The man on the ground looked up at Isna with trembling eyes and then lowered his head to the floor.

“P... Please spare me.”

At those words—

Isna lightly brushed her fingers over the two ribbons tied in her hair.

The ribbons that had held her hair up snapped and fell to the floor.

Then, using both hands, she gathered her long crimson hair into a single ponytail.

Immediately, the other members in the room tensed visibly.

Her smile had vanished.

No more mischief.

No trace of that whimsical, unpredictable nature remained.

Only emptiness—and a suffocating, intense fury—spread coldly across her face.

The twin tails she was known for were now tied into a single, solemn ponytail.

She flicked her fingers.

A crimson glow gathered around her hair, forming something like a radiant halo, holding her hair in place.

"Kalard."

Her voice was cold as ice—completely devoid of its usual playful tone.

At the sound of his name, the man on the ground shuddered violently.

"Because of your actions, many of our members died or were injured. And as a result, we lost that bastard Nyala."

"......"

"If we let him escape again, how many more innocent lives do you think will be lost? Surely you know."

"......"

Kalard, as he was called, lowered his eyes, trembling.

“F... Forgive me!!”

“You damned traitor.”

“Because of you, my teammates…”

“Filthy defector.”

But the mood in the room didn’t soften.

Finally, Isna spoke again, coldly.

“Meryl. The sword.”

At her command, Meryl Dyne tossed a fine-looking sword in front of Kalard.

“If the duty of a Watcher is too heavy, I told you—you may retire under a confidentiality contract.”

No one acknowledges them.

They work in the shadows.

Even those with strong convictions may falter.

That’s why the organization had a rule: if a member could no longer endure, they were allowed to erase all memories related to the group and undergo a retirement ceremony.

Of course, no one had ever actually left.

“Th-That’s…”

“What? You couldn’t even bear that? Still, in honor of your past service, I’ll give you one chance.”

“L-Leader…?”

“Pick up the sword. If you survive, your betrayal will be forgiven.”

Her icy words made him glance nervously between her and the sword.

Eventually, he picked it up.

Instantly, an Aura Blade manifested on the weapon.

A combat ability of those at the pinnacle of martial prowess—an ability known only to strategic weapons among humans.

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A mark of one who had entered the realm of superhumans.

“Uaaaahhhh!!!”

Despite reaching the heights of a master, Kalard screamed in fear as he charged toward Isna.

Isna calmly reached for the sword at her waist.

Slash!!

And in a single moment—Kalard’s head flew into the air.

Fwoooosh!!!

At the same time, his body burst into flames, as though spontaneously combusting.

For a warrior of swordmaster caliber, his end was shockingly swift and pitiful.

Some of the members watching swallowed hard, terrified by Isna’s terrifyingly sharp and precise technique.

“How many casualties?”

“All ten who were pursuing Nyala have died. And all the support personnel were severely injured. We’ve suffered a major loss in strength.”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

This was the chance to eliminate both Cthugha and Nyala—the damned lieutenants of the Outer God.

But it was all ruined because of that traitor.

“I apologize. I failed to properly manage the members.”

A heavy voice echoed as a man bowed his head to her.

“Felibank.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Gather the remaining uninjured members. Track Nyala’s trail. If we let him do as he pleases, it won’t just be one or two cities that suffer. At the very least, we need to suppress his actions.”

“Understood.”

“But don’t overextend this time. I won’t allow any more casualties.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The man called Felibank bowed to Isna once more and walked out heavily.

“You truly have no intention of killing Leon Cascadia?”

An elderly man spoke quietly, his eyes fixed on Isna.

“You still haven’t settled your grudge against him, Garlan?”

“To be honest, no. Commander. It wasn’t the Outer God that killed me—it was him.”

“I’ll say it again: he’s a vital asset in our fight against the Outer Gods. The moment we waste our organization’s strength to attack him, the future will be nothing but ruin.”

The old man, Garlan, stroked his beard with a dissatisfied expression.

“I don’t intend to go against your orders. It’s just the complaints of an old man.”

“Don’t forget. We didn’t gather here for personal revenge. If someone can be used—even a former enemy—we must use them.”

The mood around them grew heavier.

Yet, even in such an atmosphere, Garlan’s expression remained clearly discontented.

Isna turned her back with a tired face.

“I know all of you are under extreme stress with the future changing from what we knew. But wasn’t this much expected?”

As she walked forward, she firmly wiped the blood from her orichalcum blade and sheathed it.

Leon was under surveillance, but the sword she now wielded was, after all, a gift from him.

Truly… an ironic twist of fate.

He had once been her strongest ally, then her most dangerous enemy, and now once again… an ally.

The sense that causality was repeating itself couldn’t be shaken—but even so, she had no other choice.

“Status report.”

Isna forced down her exhaustion as she spoke, and one of the members responded as if waiting for the cue.

“Because of that bastard Kalard, we’re suffering from major manpower shortages. There are hardly any new awakenings of Closed World memories.”

Following that, Meril Dyne cautiously raised her hand and offered a suggestion.

“What if we enlist Leon Cascadia’s help in tracking Nyala?”

Isna shook her head.

“Nyala is already monitoring his movements. But Leon believes Nyala retreated to another dimension. If he starts pursuing him, Nyala will just hide more deeply. In that case, all we can do is watch.”

Nyala was exceptional at gathering intelligence.

And yet, for some reason, he hadn’t properly grasped the nature of the Moonlight Surveillance Unit.

Whether this was due to some kind of memory or hidden power among the members was unclear.

“As soon as Nyala is located, report immediately—do not engage under any circumstances. Remember that. Absolutely no solo actions.”

“We understand.”

All the members bowed in agreement with her orders.

‘I’m so tired… I probably won’t even be able to sleep tonight.’

Isna thought to herself.

Originally, the plan was for the surveillance members to block Nyala’s retreat during the High Castle suppression mission.

But that damned traitor—Kalard’s actions had resulted in the deaths of many members.

He had claimed it was because of his son’s medicine.

Not that she didn’t understand… but as the leader of the organization, she couldn’t overlook the matter.

In the end, many were killed or injured, and the mission had essentially failed.

She quietly reflected.

Too much had changed.

What was unfolding now was vastly different from her original plans.

Even with her Closed World memories, all she could do now was use the future knowledge she had to prevent further escalation or preemptively crush threats.

And now, due to her own haste, Leon had begun to suspect her identity.

She had hidden it well until now… but he was sharp.

He might discover the truth soon enough.

She wished she could just come clean and ask for his help.

But not knowing why he had once sided with the Outer Gods—aside from his family—made it impossible to fully trust him.

At the same time.

Having returned to the Cascadia estate—no, now a duchy—carrying Remiel on his back, Leon roughly tossed her onto a random bed in the guest room.

“Whew. What a pain this damned archangel is…”

“W… whoa! Pretty lady! O… older brother brought another woman home!”

“Arsha?”

“Arsha saw nothing!”

Thanks to Arsha’s innocent outburst, the mansion was briefly thrown into chaos.

There had already been strange rumors lately about Leon womanizing and dragging girls around.

Could it be…?

Leon’s expression turned complicated.

“Leon, I can forgive a lot—but cheating is not one of them.”

“Shut up before I pull you into a hug.”

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