"Ch-Chaldo is here!"
The scouts stared at the approaching storm, terror hollowing out their eyes.
They had told themselves they were prepared. They had rehearsed courage, forced calm onto their faces.
But the moment that silhouette appeared, all that borrowed composure shattered.
On the Conqueror's path, no one was allowed to stand in the way.
Even the so-called "high-class adventurers" at Level 2 were simply crushed, like insects under a boot.
The instant they saw it, every adventurer with even a shred of strength, whether hiding or locked in battle, dropped everything and rushed to intercept him, throwing themselves into the road ahead.
Just like the first time Chaldo had invaded Orario.
"You haven't improved at all!"
Chaldo raised his black greatsword. A single swing annihilated everything in front of him.
Anyone below Level 5 was meaningless as an obstacle.
Even if Shadow had already gone to the agreed location, Orario should have at least sent Ottar and Finn to meet him.
Only a coordinated assault from the two of them might have been entertaining.
Fortunately, Chaldo did not have to wait long.
As he stepped into the Central Plaza, someone familiar appeared.
"Long time no see, old friend."
Gareth was the first to stand before him.
"The dwarf, huh? Shame this isn't a drinking hall. Is it just you?"
Chaldo scanned left and right. No other first-class adventurers in sight.
Gareth alone was worth, at best, a passing glance. It would take ten of him to be interesting.
"Keep me company for a moment," Gareth said, steadying his stance. "Even if I'm not your final opponent."
He uncorked a potion and drank it down.
In the next instant, his muscles packed tighter, his gaze sharpened, and even his presence shifted.
To Chaldo, it was obvious. Gareth's aura had changed.
"That potion, and that gear of yours… not bad. But you don't seriously think borrowed power can stop me."
"If I don't try," Gareth snarled, lifting his heavy battle axe, "how would I ever know the answer?"
He swung with everything he had.
There was no conserving stamina for a long fight.
Not against Chaldo.
If he wanted to be standing when the two leaders of Freya's familia arrived, he had to stand now.
"Then show me how much you've grown."
Chaldo parried the descending axe and sent Gareth flying with casual force.
Only half strength.
And yet Gareth skidded back, dug in, and stood again after barely ten steps.
"Not much," Chaldo said, almost amused. "But it'll do."
The next slash carried more weight.
His interest would last exactly as long as Gareth could keep forcing it.
"This has to end fast. The 'Heavy Hitter' won't hold much longer."
Ottar appeared in the Sixth District, facing the horde besieging the Ganesha familia's territory.
Like Mia, he needed to inflict maximum casualties as quickly as possible, then rush to the Central Plaza to support Gareth.
According to Finn's prediction, Chaldo had no real interest in Babel Tower. He would spend time assessing Gareth.
Knowing Finn had shoved Babel Tower onto the gambling table, Ottar could not afford a single ounce of restraint.
He went all-in.
Around him, high-level adventurers hidden in the surrounding buildings revealed themselves.
The dark faction had driven monsters toward the shelters, expecting a prolonged siege. Once a shelter broke, the civilians inside would be slaughtered.
But the moment they moved, they realized they were the ones surrounded.
The same scene unfolded around nearly every shelter.
Mia, the black and white elven kings, the Elephant God's spearhead, and other top-tier forces Orario had not shown earlier all appeared at once, flanking and ambushing the attackers.
In less than ten minutes, the dark faction's frontline fighting strength was collapsing.
By the time Valletta received the reports, she finally understood.
She had been played.
"Damn it… there are no hidden troops at the Central Plaza!"
Fury and panic gnawed at her. She could not comprehend how Finn dared to gamble like this.
The Central Plaza sat beneath Babel Tower, and beneath Babel Tower lay the Dungeon, the axis of the world's survival.
Finn had used an empty-city feint there?
Valletta would not even have dared to imagine it.
She did not know that Alfia had tracked Finn down and beaten him to the edge of death, and that during that clash he had sensed something unusual about the Conquerors' intent.
Finn had no time to verify. He used the weakness anyway.
The price did not matter.
It was working.
Then Valletta recognized the true problem.
Outside of the two Conquerors, the dark faction had far too few top-tier assets.
Valletta had to command. The Dis Sisters were nowhere to be found. Basilem could not let his spirit soldiers stray too far from him.
They had fielded more bodies than Orario, but beneath the Conquerors their elite was effectively reduced to Basilem's controlled troops.
And Valletta knew Basilem too well to place much hope in him.
"Damn it! Where are the Dis Sisters?! If even one of them were here, I wouldn't be this pinned down!"
Her teeth ground together.
If the Dis Sisters were present, she would still have options.
She could have them strike one shelter with overwhelming force and butcher the civilians inside.
Or have them lie in wait and assassinate first-class adventurers mid-battle.
Either way, Finn would pay a brutal price for splitting his forces.
But now, unless Valletta went in personally, she could only bleed passively.
And if she left, the whole dark faction would truly unravel.
So she could only watch Finn's strategy succeed.
"Gather the army. Move on the Central Plaza!"
Valletta's order snapped out like a whip.
She understood Finn had prepared for this too, but she had no choice.
If she guessed right, once the first-class adventurers finished cutting down the attackers near the shelters, they would abandon those fights and converge on Chaldo.
She needed a timing play, forcing Orario's elites to commit early, splitting their attention at the worst possible moment.
Even first-class adventurers could not afford distraction against Chaldo.
If Valletta's troops harassed the battlefield, more and more bodies would simply be fed to Chaldo's blade.
If she could pressure Finn into activating his barrier early, fast enough, she might still catch him off balance.
If Babel Tower fell, it would be a decisive dark faction victory.
"So that's the idea, huh? The little guy thinks he can scheme against me."
Chaldo said it, and then he laughed.
He admired the audacity.
"But my next swing will cut you in half. The one after that will split Babel Tower."
He pointed his greatsword at Gareth.
He was not boasting. Not the first claim. Not the second.
Gareth, the man known as Orario's strongest shield, had endured this long only with every external advantage stacked on him, and now there was not a single patch of unbroken skin left.
He could no longer even speak back.
Even if Chaldo did not swing again, Gareth might die simply from drying out in his own blood.
"That's enough. Leave the rest to me."
"You did well," another voice said, dryly amused. "If this were ten years ago, I might've even fallen for you."
Ottar and Mia appeared almost simultaneously, stepping between Chaldo and the collapsing dwarf.
Chaldo watched as Gareth was carried away.
Then he watched the barrier seal the Central Plaza shut.
Now no one outside could interfere.
Seeing Mia arrive instead of Finn only pleased Chaldo more.
"Funny. The old faces keep crawling out. Perfect. I'm warmed up."
He drew a deep breath, and his pressure climbed, climbing, climbing.
He would allow Finn to scheme once.
Only once.
Now it was time for a Conqueror's true full strength.
If these two could not satisfy him, he really would cleave Babel Tower.
And as Mia stared at him, her expression sharpened.
"…Don't tell me you've recovered."
"Who knows," Chaldo replied flatly. "Are you two ready?"
Facing the two leaders of Freya's familia, the Conqueror's face held not even a sliver of emotion.
The game was over.
"Boar brat," Mia said softly. "We're going to gamble our lives."
"I understand."
No more words. No more unnecessary breath.
Whatever Chaldo's condition truly was, neither of them had even the slightest room to retreat.
Finn patted Sid on the shoulder, then pointed toward the dark faction army massing outside the barrier.
"Sid," he said, voice steady, "use the Infernal Peerless Superheated Shockwave Cannon on them."
....
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