novelCrossroads Part II
| ← Ch.211 | Ch.213 → |
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
A man and a woman sat opposite me in my drawing room.
"Thank you for meeting with us. My name is Jericho, head of the NCR Guild's foreign affairs."
"And my name is Medina Alejandro, and I'm the head of the NCR Guild's disciplinary force, as well as the eldest daughter of our guild master, Jose Alejandro."
"Welcome, " I said curtly."Please, help yourself to some tea, although I'm not sure it'll be to your tastes."
"Please, you don't have to worry about us. We're just honored to meet you face to face, " Jericho said with a smile.
"So, what brings the two of you here? From what I hear, things aren't looking too well for you..." I said simply. I didn't want to be to blunt, but I didn't want to beat around the bushes too long.
"What a shame. I see the rumors have reached all the way here, as well."
"It is quite embarrassing." Jericho and Medina both laughed off my small taunt. I knew for a fact that they knew what I was trying to do, but outright ignored it. That had to mean that things weren't looking good for the NCR Guild if they couldn't properly defend themselves at my taunt.
"I see, " I said with a small smile of my own. While I was no saint, it was nice to hear that a criminal guild like the NCR Guild was experiencing heavy losses.
"Since I'm sure you know what has been going on, I'll get straight to the point, " Medina said."Our guild has been experiencing heavy losses due to one man; a man by the name of Pedro. We have recruited support from wherever we could to defeat this man, but nothing has been of help so far."
"I see."
"That is why we have decided to extend our reach. We, the NCR Guild, have accrued quite the wealth of our own over the past eight years, but no other guild or organization has accepted our request for aid. Do you know why that is?"
Of course I knew. If I didn't know back then, I definitely could see why now."Because they all want Pedro on their side."
"That's exactly it. They all want Pedro for themselves, regardless if we get destroyed or not. Even most of our allies had abandoned us for this one man."
-Serves them right. - I thought to myself. I fought to keep the corners of my lips from rising.
"I'm very sorry to hear that, " I said with the best poker face I could muster, but I wasn't sure if Medina bought it.
"That is why we are afraid that Pedro has by now sold his services to someone like Luana and will soon launch a direct assault on us." A worry that only came from not knowing the true abilities of Pedro."We also believe that you worry as well, since another powerful being has appeared. You have to be feeling that your position is being threatened."
I suddenly burst out laughing. Why were they worried about me? I will admit that Pedro's combat style was similar to mine. We both were capable of killing our enemies in one or two attacks while brushing off whatever damage we received. No normal tanks could ever do that, even with support from healers and supporters. But I didn't expect Medina to take that into account and say that they were worried for my sake. I couldn't help but find that amusing.
Medina, on the other hand, didn't even flinch and continued talking."Would it not make sense for us to join forces?"
"Okay. You make a fair point, " I said in between chuckles."But Pedro is a deva. Killing him once won't be the end of it and there aren't any methods to detain someone as strong as him for very long." I purposely left out the part where Pedro was soon going to meet his end. Only I needed to know that.
"There is a way. Reveal Item."
==[Scroll of Summon: Death Prison (Rank 9)
Imprisons a dead target in Death Prison before they can resurrect.
1st condition: If the target will resurrect in the spot they had died at in three hours, this Scroll must be used within three hours of the target's death.
2nd condition: If the target will resurrect in the closest Store, this Scroll must be used within three minutes of the target's death.
3rd condition: If the target will resurrect at their Respawn Point, this Scroll must be within three seconds of the target's death.
This Scroll can only be used on devas.
The target can be imprisoned for a minimum of 24 hours. However, for every 10 non-respawnable deaths sacrificed, the sentence can be increased by another 24 hours, to a maximum sentence of 1 year.
This Scroll will be destroyed after use. ]==
"..." I had never seen this item before.
"Just once! You just need to kill Pedro once and we will be able to imprison Pedro's soul in the Death Prison. We are prepared to make the sacrifice if it means we can imprison him for one year as well, " Medina said, but I was more focused on the 10 non-respawnable deaths part. If they wanted to imprison Pedro for one year, they were going to need 3, 650 lives.
"I'm sure you feel threatened with the appearance of a new rival, Mr. Lee. And if you do help us, I will personally make sure you are properly compensated. We are prepared to fulfill whatever request you may have." The way Medina smiled as she made her proposition reminded me of how villains negotiated with each other in movies.
I smiled back."I have to say... you are quite convincing."
——
A few hours later, Medina and Jericho finally left and I had returned back to my room and was lounging on my sofa.
"I should help them if they really need my help that badly." I made my decision to go to Mexico and butt in a little.
——
The NCR Guild's headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico...
"Lee Jiwon accepted our request for aid?" Jose Alejandro asked Jericho and Medina, skeptical.
"Yes, father! He agreed to help when we promised him a Rank 8 item, two billion golden rings and the promise that we will fulfill whatever wish he desires."
"Hmm..." Jose remained skeptical while his eldest daughter sounded excited. Jose had thoroughly investigated Lee Jiwon's past activities over and over again. It wasn't because of Pedro; Lee Jiwon was powerful enough alone, and that warranted the need to know everything there was about him.
There was one thing Jose knew for sure about Lee Jiwon; while Lee Jiwon didn't seek to protect the weak, he did tend to stay on the right side of justice. It was pretty obvious considering the famous battles Lee Jiwon had participated in. He protected the Myth Guild from the Blood Prince, the Werewolf Clan from the Predator Duke, and the Ravi Guild from the upper caste guilds of India. Lee Jiwon had saved the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and defeated the Grim Reaper, another member of the Seven Monarchs. Lee Jiwon had also fought San Tuan Guild, infamous for stealing people's abilities and Stat points.
Ever since Pedro had started attacking the NCR Guild, many of the NCR Guild's oppressed had managed to escape, revealing to the rest of the world the many inhumane crimes the NCR Guild had committed. Jose was positive Lee Jiwon had heard of those reports as well. He was sure that Lee Jiwon would never stand with the NCR Guild, but still made contact with the legendary deva. The reason was simple... to lower the value of Pedro!
There were currently many powerful guilds and organizations that wanted Pedro for themselves, and the NCR Guild couldn't afford to make enemies out of all them. But actions were louder than words and just being able to meet with Lee Jiwon was enough for Jose. He doubted that Lee Jiwon would ever accept his request for help, but that didn't matter. Just being able to meet was enough to spread rumors saying that Lee Jiwon did not like the appearance of Pedro. That would make the guilds and organizations vying for Pedro's attention hesitate and potentially turn them away for fear of antagonizing Lee Jiwon. But the problem now was that Lee Jiwon had really accepted the NCR Guild's request.
"Ha..." This all sounded too fishy to Jose, but he couldn't exactly go and ask Lee Jiwon why he agreed to help."Fine. When did he say he will come?" Pedro's attacks were growing stronger by the day.
"Well..."
When Medina hesitated to answer, Jericho answered instead."He only told us that he would come as soon as he was able."
A vein pulsed on Jose's forehead."What? The two of you know quite well what our situation is like and that's the best you could get?" Jose wanted this done as soon as possible, because he just couldn't figure out what Lee Jiwon was planning.
"I...I'll contact Lee Jiwon once more. He did say he will come as soon as he can, so I'm sure there is nothing to worry about, " Jericho quickly added.
"Contact him now... no. Call him tomorrow. We can't seem desperate."
"Yes, sir!"
"And start spreading the rumors. Just make the necessary adjustments of what we initially planned." The only thing they could do now was to continue with their plan. It might become a problem in the future, but right now, they were allied with Lee Jiwon for the moment.
"Then should we just say that Lee Jiwon has allied with us to defeat Pedro?" asked Hugo, the head of Intelligence.
"That's right. It'll be enough to make the rest of the world second-guess the value of Pedro. We need to make this worth whatever we're going to pay Lee Jiwon."
"Yes, sir. I'll get on it right away."
—
As Jose Alejandro and the NCR Guild had anticipated, once the rumors that Lee Jiwon had decided to join forces with the NCR Guild against Pedro, many guilds and organizations that had been vying for Pedro's attention pulled away. There was no guild or organization out there willing to become enemies with Lee Jiwon, the deva who had defeated four of the Seven Monarchs!
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