Chapter 510: Counterattack

“Welcome.”

When Oliver and his group arrived at the small town that was their destination, they were greeted by a man.

His name was Eli, the branch manager of Crime Firm here. He was also the main reason why Oliver was able to take on this mission.

This was because they needed local assistance to find Eve, who had been spotted in a small town outside Randa. In that regard, Oliver’s strong ties to Crime Firm made it easier to get cooperation than for most wizards.

In other words, Tower of Magic didn’t just comply with Oliver’s demands blindly; they made their decision after considering his skills and conditions.

“I received word from Director Gordon. My name is Eli…”

Eli mentioned Gordon Goodhart, who was the director of the R Division of Randa as well as the director of the Culture and Arts Association.

It was Gordon who had requested cooperation before they left Randa.

‘You’re going to find Eve, who was spotted? Hmm… Alright, we’ll cooperate. I know what Eve is and have a general idea of its value, but since we don’t have the means to secure it, I’ll tell the branch manager over there to assist you.’

Gordon, typically known for his extensive knowledge, understood what Eve was and its value, but accepted the fact that Crime Firm couldn’t secure it. He decided to cooperate willingly.

In exchange, he made a different request.

‘What do you want?’

‘I’ll tell you after the job is done.’

Gordon said he would state his desire later. Oliver was curious but didn’t push, agreeing instead because time was of the essence.

Eli continued introducing himself.

“…I’m in charge of this branch in Nofton. It’s an honor to meet the famous Dave from Randa.”

Running a hotel in Nofton for identity concealment and money laundering, Eli showed excessive courtesy to Oliver.

He did the same for Derek, Yareli, and all the others who had lived less than half his life.

“Oh, there’s no need for that! You’re the honored guest from the famous Tower of Magic. This level of courtesy is only natural… Besides, you’re Sir Dave! Even though this isn’t Randa, we’ve heard about you here. You’re quite well-known.”

Just as Eli mentioned, Oliver had become quite famous outside Randa.

After suddenly appearing in Randa, a place filled with wealth and violence, he quickly gained fame as a fixer, and then quickly success by starting his own business. It would be odd if people didn’t know him.

On top of that, rumors swirled about him being a Tower experiment, originally from the Tower itself. He also strategized to help the Fighter Crew and quickly built power, creating a whole new myth. Stories, like appearing with numerous women in his business, further spread his name like a spice.

None of the stories were fully true.

“First, would you like to come inside? I feel guilty leaving such esteemed guests standing outside.”

Eli pointed to the hotel he managed.

It was a hotel built along the river that ran through the town. Although modest compared to hotels in Randa, it had a decent number of guests.

“Most of the guests here are Crime Firm members or employees, or people who trade with us… We offer discounts and services based on rank, so they all gather here.”

As Oliver looked around at the packed guests, Eli explained. He was very perceptive, perhaps because of his service industry experience.

“Thanks to this, the town itself is dying out, but this place still thrives… If it’s alright, would you like to enjoy a bit as well? Though it can’t compare to Randa, I’m confident in the food, drinks, and casino services here.”

“Thank you for your kind offer, but may I go straight to business? I volunteered for this mission, so I want to do my best.”

Hearing this, Eli smiled and led Oliver and his group to his office.

As soon as they arrived in Eli’s modest office, he pulled out a file and handed it to Oliver.

Oliver opened the file. Inside were photos of large men in thick leather and fur, as well as a blonde woman.

“Who are they?”

“Strangers who suddenly appeared in this town. They looked unusual, so we took pictures of them.”

Oliver agreed. They all looked strong and their eyes and demeanor didn’t suggest they were tourists.

“Could you turn to the first photo?”

Following Eli’s direction, Oliver flipped to the next photo in the file.

It showed the aftermath of a battle. The building and ground were covered in white ice, with people frozen into the ice here and there.

“It was a human trafficking organization operating out of this town. They were originally just a bunch of punks, but a few years ago ‘Enjoyment’ appeared and took the boss’s seat. That made them more prominent… but not anymore.”

“They were defeated by these people?”

“Yes, it happened just a few days ago. Judging by the ice magic, they seem to be wizards from the Skadi Faction, and they’re all foreigners. I’d guess they are from the traditional Skadi Minor School or at least trained by them.”

The traditional Skadi Faction was the original Skadi group, roots of the Skadi Minor School inside the Tower of Magic. The true source of ice magic.

“They came to this town one day, loitered around, contacted the human trafficking organization, and then started fighting. That’s the result you see there.”

“I see. Did you find this out because we were coming?”

“No, it wasn’t that. We were already looking into it before Director Gordon contacted us. It happened in the town I manage after all.”

“These people haven’t had any conflicts with you?”

“No, they haven’t. Not only were they not in conflict with us, but they even asked for our help.”

Eli pulled out a magical weapon covered with a cloth from the side of the office.

It was similar to the ones retrieved from Hogg’s warehouse.

“A magic engineering weapon.”

“You recognize it. Yes, it’s a handmade model from the north. They handed over quite a few of these weapons and asked us to cover up the commotion they were causing, using our connections with the mayor.”

“Did you accept?”

“Yes, it was the wise choice.”

Eli answered candidly.

“I don’t like that outsiders came to this town and stirred things up, but if they have that kind of power, that’s different. As you can see, this town doesn’t have the forces to stop wizards of their level. As a small branch, we’re also unlikely to get support.”

Oliver nodded in understanding.

Crime Firm is, as the name suggests, an organization that operates in the shadows and uses violence, but its true nature is that of a profit-driven entity.

They sometimes use violence, but they can also respond softly depending on the benefit or opponent.

This would be even more true for the underfunded small-town branch.

“Was this woman the one who provided the weapons?”

Oliver pointed to the thin blonde in the photo.

“No, the weapons were simply trucked in. We don’t know who provided them. We didn’t bother to find out. We did, however, investigate their activities in this town. It was quite interesting.”

Eli took out another photo. It depicted wizards freezing the World Tree.

Unner spoke up.

“That explains it. The reason we couldn’t see this town even after connecting to the World Tree before arriving. They’re physically freezing and sealing the World Tree to trap Eve.”

Just as she said, the group had tried to check the town by connecting to the nearby World Tree before entering Nofton, but they failed.

They couldn’t see inside Nofton at all, and Unner had mentioned that the path seemed physically cut off. Apparently, this was the reason.

They had iced over all the World Trees inside the town, physically isolating it.

Oliver found it reckless but effective.

No matter how skilled a net navigator is, it’s difficult to confront Eve in the Root Net.

Humans, using nature or magic power, can briefly borrow the power of the World Tree, but Eve was born in the Root Net. It’s not a fair fight.

So the best method was to change the rules and physically isolate the World Tree itself.

‘The question is how they managed to do it.’

Oliver pondered. Although the numerous World Trees across the globe appeared separate, in reality, they were part of one great tree.

In essence, the World Tree was more vast and intricately connected than the oceans, more densely woven than a spider web.

No matter how skilled a wizard is, it’s unreasonable to suggest they could systematically freeze the World Tree on a city level.

‘Or maybe it is possible… If there’s another Eve, as mentioned, they could possibly do it with that Eve’s help.’

Oliver wondered based on what he heard from the Moirai School. With Eve’s assistance, freezing the World Tree would not be impossible.

The difficulty wasn’t freezing itself but where and how to freeze. A new question arose from this line of thought.

A question that should have been obvious.

‘But why would Eve go after another Eve?’

According to Pandora, Eve was originally one entity, but now they were in a state like sisters.

When Pandora parted ways with Oliver, she mentioned being worried about the first Eve. So why would one Eve chase another Eve? He was curious.

‘Well, I’ll find out soon enough.’

Oliver sorted his thoughts and continued listening to Eli’s explanation.

As expected of Crime Firm’s branch manager, Eli avoided openly conflicting with powerful figures, but he thoroughly investigated to find out what they were doing and where their base was.

It was the kind of information that required effort to obtain even before Director Gordon contacted them.

“For now, this is all the information we have gathered. I hope it’s helpful.”

“It was very helpful. Thank you so much, Eli. With this more detailed information, the mission should go much smoother.”

“Oh, no need to thank me… Ah! Might I ask a small favor?”

Eli placed a list on the table.

“This is the list of weapons we received in exchange for cooperation. Could you relay my words along with this list to Director Gordon?”

It wasn’t a difficult request, so Oliver readily agreed. Though Gordon had asked, the detailed information was thanks to Eli’s efforts.

“What should I tell him?”

“Could you ask on my behalf if we could use these weapons to arm our local branch? The competition in this area is heating up because of the independent gangs coming from Randa… but our manpower is insufficient. I should tell him personally, but if someone like Sir Dave relays it…”

In contrast to his professionalism earlier, Eli now wore a fawning smile as he made his request. Oliver agreed to pass on the message.

“Ah, thank you. Will you be moving out immediately? If you wish, our forces can accompany you. If you’d like to stay another night, we’d be honored to host you for free at our hotel.”

Oliver politely declined.

“I appreciate the offer, but it’s better to keep only those necessary for this kind of task. Just receiving this information is more than enough, thank you.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I suppose there’s no helping it.”

Oliver graciously turned down Eli’s offer and left the hotel with his group.

For what they had just obtained so quickly after arriving, the information was incredibly high quality.

Oliver, along with Derek, Yareli, and Unner, began verifying the information by checking World Trees in the small town.

“It all seems to match up.”

“Indeed, all of his emotions while talking appeared genuine.”

“So are we changing the plan?”

“No, we’ll stick to the original plan. Let’s continue scouting the town.”

***

As Oliver suggested, the group scouted the entire town and then secured lodging in a hotel along the river.

They ordered room service for dinner instead of dining in the restaurant, and Oliver ate the others’ food too as they discussed the mission.

They talked about things like the traditional Skadi Faction or magic engineering weapons, focusing on topics still unfamiliar to Oliver.

Thankfully, Derek, Yareli, and Unner answered diligently within their knowledge.

After the conversation, Oliver handed out the ‘items’ he had prepared beforehand and they went to sleep. Several hours passed.

···Creak.

In the pitch-black early morning hours, there was a faint sound of the door opening in Oliver’s room.

Through the slightly opened door, nothing could be seen, but something entered. Moments later, multiple daggers materialized above Oliver, stabbing directly down.

Thump! Thud! Crunch!!

The swiftly attacking knives stabbed him precisely in the throat, chest, abdomen, and groin—all vital points.

Simple, but precise actions served the purpose of killing.

Oliver spoke.

“So, you’ve come to kill me?”

“…!!”

Nothing could be seen in the air—more precisely, no normal vision could see what was there, but someone turned their head toward him.

Oliver didn’t miss that timing and activated the black magic, Ghastly Maw.

The shadow lying in bed instead of Oliver unwound like a ball of yarn and grabbed the knife.

The tentacle-like shadow extending from the Ghastly Maw’s head caught the knife and then the invisible arms, body, and legs, revealing the figure.

It was a gangster from Eli’s hotel wearing a cloak infused with invisibility magic.

“Ack!!”

One of the captured assassins screamed. That was because Oliver’s shadow tendrils were slowly eating away at his flesh.

Startled by the sensation of his flesh being stripped away, the gangster screamed, and a similarly startled Oliver quickly reined in the shadow.

“No! Don’t eat it. Just take off the cloak and throw them away.”

Oliver exerted influence on the shadow, forcing it to follow his command.

Otherwise, the greedy shadow, imbued with the sorcery, magical power, and life force of the flesh cook and having devoured Fen’s creature, would surely eat the person next.

When Oliver exerted his influence, the shadow did as commanded, removing the cloak from the trapped figure and throwing them toward the wall.

Crash!!

The solid wall broke down in a cloud of dust, and the assassins’ spines and limbs twisted in impossible directions, creating a new doorway.

Through this new entrance, Oliver greeted those armed with magic engineering weapons.

“Greetings, Eli.”