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“Ugh!”

The man trying to strip Eloy off was now clutching his groin, writhing on the ground. Blood stained his pants.

Eloy spat on the ground and muttered.

“What a filthy thing to pull out. And so small, too.”

“You, you—?”

“What? You little maggot! Just give up already.”

Crack!

Eloy easily neutralized his manhood.

A single punch from her knocked the man unconscious.

Leaving the limp body behind, she walked back to where Zeon was.

The situation there was already resolved.

The only intruder still standing was the leader, and his face was twisted with confusion and fear.

“How… how? The venom of the Four-Eyed Bat is supposed to completely paralyze the nervous system.”

“That would be true if we were caught off guard.”

“So you were prepared for it?”

“Wouldn’t it be more unusual to be completely defenseless in an unfamiliar place?”

Zeon asked, genuinely puzzled.

In this hellish world, the most dangerous creatures were not monsters but humans.

Only humans would deceive and kill their own kind.

From the moment they arrived, the atmosphere at Steel Fortress had been anything but welcoming. It would have been strange to let their guard down without any precautions.

Fortunately, they had Brielle’s antidote potion, which easily neutralized the nerve gas derived from the Four-Eyed Bat’s venom.

“Damn it! You bastards dare deceive me? I’ll kill you all!”

The leader screamed, unable to contain his rage.

In an instant, a dark energy swirled around him.

As he directed the dark energy towards Zeon and his group, he shouted.

“Fear, confusion, paralysis!”

“A curse.”

Zeon identified the dark energy immediately.

It was a manifestation of curses.

If struck by it, the curses would disrupt their minds and weaken their bodies.

Zeon raised a wall of sand around the man.

The curse dissipated upon contact with the sand wall.

“What the?”

“Mister, get some sleep.”

Levin stepped in, releasing a controlled electric current to the back of the man’s neck.

Zap!

With a spark, the man rolled his eyes back and passed out.

Levin had become proficient at adjusting the intensity of his electricity. It was easy for him to paralyze just the central nervous system.

Eloy looked at Zeon and asked.

“What are you going to do? They tried to kill us. Are you just going to let this slide?”

“I’m thinking.”

“What’s there to think about? We should find the ones who ordered this and deal with them.”

“And then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“Can you take responsibility for what comes next?”

“Responsibility? For what? We just need to deal with them.”

“There are two thousand people here.”

“What?”

“That’s how many people live here. Their lives are at stake.”

“Damn it!”

Eloy cursed, understanding the implication of Zeon’s words.

Zeon and his group were just passing through.

But those two thousand people had to continue living here.

If they recklessly killed Gawen and his men, the future of those two thousand people would be uncertain.

Interfering irresponsibly could drastically alter the lives of everyone in the fortress. Zeon wasn’t willing to do that without being able to shoulder the consequences.

Eloy sighed.

“Haah! Why does life really have to be complicated. Can’t it be simpler?”

“I acted without thinking once before and almost killed tens of thousands.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“…”

“You’re serious.”

Eloy’s eyes widened.

She had suspected Zeon had a past he didn’t talk about, but she hadn’t imagined it was so significant.

Zeon spoke with a somber expression.

“From an outsider’s perspective, it might not make sense, but there’s a unique ecosystem here. Recklessly interfering could destroy everything.”

The people of Steel Fortress had survived for over a hundred years independently.

Living without external contact meant their perspectives were narrow, and they couldn’t think broadly.

They had their own rules and command structures. Would they be able to adapt if their leadership was suddenly taken away?

Zeon doubted it.

“Any change needs to come from within. Only then can the consequences be minimized.”

“Shit! Maybe we should just leave without getting involved.”

“Let’s go to Elder Holtran’s house. If we tell him what happened, he’ll handle it.”

“That old man? Yeah, that might work.”

Holtran was an insider.

If he led the change, the people might follow.

“But where is Holtran’s house?”

“I’ll find it.”

Levin volunteered.

Turning into his ghost form, he swiftly moved through the village.

There were quite a few Awakeneds in Steel Fortress, but none noticed Levin’s ghostly form.

After ten minutes, Levin found Holtran’s house.

Despite the late hour, the house was brightly lit.

Inside, Jacob, Lucy, and several others were gathered.

They were all followers of Holtran.

An older man among them spoke with a fervent tone.

“We can’t leave Gawen unchecked. Many people have been ruined by his drugs.”

“Look at Jacob and Lucy. They nearly died. He sent them to gather sunflowers while keeping his own followers’ children safe.”

The people spoke passionately, and Holtran listened with his eyes closed.

The dissatisfaction among them had reached its peak.

Gawen ruled Steel Fortress with drugs and water.

He controlled the Awakeneds with drugs and the residents with water.

Nothing could be done without his permission.

This place was Gawen’s kingdom.

Holtran and his followers opposed Gawen’s tyranny, but there was little they could do.

“If we keep up this isolation, everyone will suffer. We need to change by connecting with the outside world.”

“We must somehow trade with this place called Neo Seoul.”

Listening to their conversation, Levin thought to himself/

‘At least there are people here who want change.’

Levin returned to Zeon and Eloy, relaying everything he had heard.

Zeon made a decision.

“Take us to Holtran’s house.”

“Yes!”

They all headed to Holtran’s house together.

* * *

“Wow! This place is a paradise.”

Aslan whistled as he surveyed the inside of Steel Fortress.

Though he didn’t say anything, Duduyan shared the same thoughts.

It had been just an hour since they had infiltrated Steel Fortress, and in that time, they had explored most of the interior.

Contrary to their expectations of tight security, the internal defenses were lax.

The entrance was the same.

Two Awakeneds were on guard, but their watch was merely formal, making it easy to slip past them unnoticed.

The fortress’s entrance was seventy meters above ground, leading to a false sense of security.

Aslan turned to Duduyan.

“What should we do?”

“Kill all the Awakeneds and take over.”

“Of course.”

“That’s the only way we survive.”

Duduyan answered without a hint of hesitation.

After failing to raid the Pegasus Raid Force, their food and water supplies had dwindled. If they didn’t find a solution soon, the families of the Red Storm would starve.

Duduyan caressed the hilt of her dagger.

“I’ll assassinate the leaders. You prepare the way for the boss to come in.”

“Okay!”

Aslan replied with a grin.

Duduyan vanished into the shadows, perfectly blending into the darkness like the Dark Elf she was.

Aslan wasn’t surprised; he had seen it many times before.

“Guess I should get moving too.”

Aslan’s role in the Red Storm was infiltration and information gathering.

His job was to provide Urthian with accurate information for sound decisions.

Usually, that was the extent of his role. But in special situations like this, he had to take risks too.

He strolled casually toward the entrance of Steel Fortress.

“Who’s there?”

“What’s that?”

The guards at the entrance raised their weapons at the sound of footsteps. Aslan spoke nonchalantly.

“It’s me.”

“Who?”

“You don’t recognize me? That’s disappointing.”

The guards squinted, trying to recall the voice.

The dim light and Aslan’s casual approach made it hard for them to consider him an intruder.

One of the guards tried to match the voice.

“Is that you, Oron?”

“Yeah! It’s me, Oron. Finally, you recognize me?”

Aslan effortlessly pretended to be Oron.

The guards fell for it completely.

“Oron, what brings you here at this hour? Your shift isn’t until tomorrow afternoon.”

“I needed to talk to you.”

“Talk to us?”

“Yeah, it’s about…”

Aslan trailed off as he approached the guards. The torchlight illuminated his face.

The guards’ eyes widened in shock.

“Wait, you’re not Oron!”

“Who are you?”

Thud!

Instead of answering, Aslan drew his dagger and slit the guards’ throats.

Thinking he was a comrade, they had let their guard down, and now they collapsed without even a scream.

Aslan sheathed his dagger and muttered.

“Sorry about this. But not really…”

He showed no remorse.

He took the torch and waved it vigorously. Below, someone responded by waving another torch.

The Red Storm was ready.

“Good!”

Aslan activated the mechanism to lower the basket.

Creak!

The pulley system lowered the basket.

Moments later, someone tugged the rope from below.

Aslan reversed the pulley to lift the basket back up.

In no time, the large basket was back, carrying Urthian and others.

Urthian stepped out and addressed Aslan.

“Good job. What’s the situation inside?”

“Duduyan is already preparing.”

“Excellent!”

Urthian grinned, his teeth gleaming menacingly in the torchlight.

Meanwhile, the basket continued to shuttle up and down, bringing more of the Red Storm into Steel Fortress.

In less than an hour, the entire Red Storm had infiltrated Steel Fortress. The fortress still hadn’t noticed the invasion.

Urthian commanded the Red Storm.

“Kill all the Awakeneds.”