Level Up Machine

Chapter 61 Armor of the Demon God (6)

“No, no. This isn’t, no.”

Tiria’s mouth released a murmur filled with confusion. She looked at the three corpses lying propped against the wall with a look of disbelief. Her body began to tremble.

“This can’t be happening.”

As if struggling to accept reality, she reached out towards the three corpses.

Crack.

The corpse she touched fell to the floor. The corpse, which appeared to be that of a young boy, was missing one arm, as if it had been severed by a sharp blade.

“Aah, ah…

Tiria’s face turned pale. She recalled the threatening video she had received from the Elnote Kingdom. In the recording crystal, the video showed her younger brother’s arm being brutally cut off.

With a desperate expression, she raised her head and looked at the remaining two corpses. Although it was difficult to discern due to significant decay, she instinctively realized that the two corpses were those of her beloved parents.

“No, noooo!”

Tiria collapsed to the ground and began to clutch the corpse of the young boy with both arms, screaming. It was a desperate cry, like that of a grieving beast.

“Why, why!”

She sobbed, unable to accept the reality unfolding before her eyes.

Her mother, father, and younger brother were important hostages to the kingdom.

If they were to die, the kingdom would lose all the negotiation leverage they had over Tiria.

For this reason, she naturally assumed her family would be alive. In fact, not only she but all the other guild members were certain of the hostages’ survival.

But as if to crush such expectations, her family, who had been taken hostage, were now cold corpses.

Yeong-sik quietly looked down at Tiria’s sobbing figure with a deeply somber expression.

‘Why?’

A brief question surfaced in his mind.

From the Elnote Kingdom’s perspective, there was no reason to kill Tiria’s family. They still wanted to create an army of summoners, and to do so, they needed to control the Salvator Guild, which had many powerful elite summoners.

Though the Salvator Guild had been destroyed, there were still many who supported Tiria. Even without considering her supporters, the remaining Salvator Guild members alone were a formidable force, one that few guilds could handle.

For instance, hadn’t the Salvator Guild, with only ten members, wiped out the remnants of the Light Shield Guild?

‘Judging by the condition of the corpses… it seems like they died from exhaustion.’

Yeong-sik’s eyes glinted coldly as he looked at the corpses Tiria was holding. It wasn’t unusual for someone imprisoned to die from exhaustion. In fact, in this era, it was rare for prisoners to survive.

The issue was that those who died from exhaustion were individuals the kingdom couldn’t afford to lose.

That they died from exhaustion, rather than beating or sudden accidents, indicated that basic management measures for the hostages had not been taken.

It was strange. It was as if they had given up on the entire plan to take over the Salvator Guild.

‘Maybe they’ve come up with another plan.’

Yeong-sik thought as he looked down at the sobbing Tiria.

If his assumption was correct, it was an incredibly cruel thing to do.

They used her as they pleased and took everything away. Then, when they had another plan, they discarded her like an old shoe.

The desperate despair she felt wasn’t even considered. She was discarded simply because she was no longer useful.

Yeong-sik felt a wave of nausea. His head felt hot.

“Sniff, waaaaaah!”

Tiria’s sobs continued. Yeong-sik just quietly watched her without offering any words or actions of comfort.

It was impossible to console her here. She was in too desperate a situation to be comforted.

“Why, why did this happen?”

Still clutching the corpse of the young boy, Tiria opened her mouth. Her voice was faint, as if wrung out.

“If I had made my decision a little sooner, would this have not happened?”

She asked Yeong-sik in a pleading voice.

It would have been simple to console her here. Telling her that she was not at fault, that everything was due to the Elnote Kingdom’s vile actions, would have given her some comfort.

But it would have meant nothing.

“No. It wouldn’t have happened.”

Yeong-sik answered her question in a flat voice. Tiria’s body flinched.

“Is it all my fault?”

She looked back at him with a desperate expression, as if grasping at a fraying rope.

Yeong-sik opened his mouth with a deeply somber voice.

“Yes.”

He cut off her desperate hopes with a firm voice.

Tiria’s expression darkened with deeper despair. An obvious emotion of anger began to surface in her eyes. It wasn’t anger directed at the Elnote Kingdom that had caused her this severe despair. It was anger directed at Yeong-sik, standing right in front of her.

“You’re saying it’s all my fault? How can you say something like that so casually? That I should have decided sooner? Do you think it’s that easy? I also…

Tiria stood up and walked briskly towards Yeong-sik. She reached out with her slender hand and grabbed him by the collar.

“I also thought about it. I spent sleepless nights thinking. But, but…”

Tears welled up in Tiria’s eyes as she clutched Yeong-sik’s collar. Transparent tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t continue speaking and lowered her head.

“I know it’s not easy to give up one side. If I were in the same situation as you, I wouldn’t have been able to decide easily either.”

His deeply somber voice continued.

“But still, you had to make a decision, Tiria. You couldn’t hesitate. The position you’re in now requires that.”

Yeong-sik spoke to her with a calm expression as she wept. His composed tone, to the point of being infuriating, caused Tiria to let out a hollow laugh involuntarily.

“Ha, haha…”

Her grip on Yeong-sik’s collar weakened.

“So, what should I do now?”

She spoke in a voice full of despair. The guild she cherished had already fallen, and the family she tried to save was dead.

She felt as if a part of her heart had been emptied.

“There’s nothing left to choose from anymore. Everything is over…”

“No.”

Yeong-sik interrupted her.

“It’s not over yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Elnote Kingdom has taken everything from you.”

Hearing the words ‘Elnote Kingdom,’ Tiria’s body flinched. Yeong-sik continued, looking at her.

“Are you planning to just let them get away with it?”

At his words, Tiria closed her mouth tightly. Of course, she wanted revenge. She didn’t want to stay silent.

But taking revenge against the ‘king’ was no simple task. The Salvator Guild had already crossed an irreversible line. They had attacked the empty royal castle, sealed all the doors, and stolen items from the royal treasury, an act bordering on rebellion.

However, killing the ‘king’ was a completely different matter. It would lead even the remaining Salvator Guild members to ruin.

“But…”

“As I said before, the choice is yours, Tiria. Whatever you decide, I will follow.”

Yeong-sik’s calm voice steadied Tiria’s turbulent heart.

She closed her eyes.

She recalled the countless disasters that had befallen her and her guild members after her family was kidnapped.

The faces of those who died because of her hesitation flashed through her mind.

It was already too late.

Revenge wouldn’t change anything.

Killing the king wouldn’t bring them back to life.

The tattered Salvator Guild would never return to its former glory.

Helping the remaining members live in peace might be the wiser choice.

However…

“I…”

Tiria’s voice broke the silence. There was a cold chill in her eyes.

It was a look unimaginable from the usually gentle Tiria.

“I don’t think I can just let it go.”

She spoke firmly, as if shaking off her hesitation.

Her words brought a faint smile to Yeong-sik’s lips. It was a fatherly smile, like watching a child grow up.

Tiria stepped closer to him.

“Yeong-sik, you are… quite a cruel person, unlike how you appear.”

With a faint smile that seemed ready to disappear at any moment, she looked up at him.

Her tear-streaked face caught Yeong-sik’s eyes.

Seeing her soaked in tears, Yeong-sik thought to himself how beautiful she looked.

“Thank you, Yeong-sik.”

She looked up at him and said. His cruel words, which felt like they were tearing her heart apart, gave her something to lean on and rely upon.

Yeong-sik reached out and gently stroked her hair.

“Ah…”

A short gasp escaped Tiria’s lips at his touch. The warmth from his hand seemed to spread throughout her entire body.

It was hard to believe his body was made of mechanical parts, not flesh and blood, so warm was his touch.

She recalled the times in the past when her father would often stroke her hair.

She remembered how her mother would embrace her with a gentle smile.

She remembered her little brother clinging to her clothes with playful affection.

Tiria’s face, leaning against Yeong-sik’s chest, began to contort. Tears welled up in her eyes again.

“Sniff, sniff…”

Soft sobs came from Tiria’s lips. It wasn’t the beast-like wailing from earlier, but more like the sobbing of a child.

“Huuuuuuuu…”

Tiria buried her face in Yeong-sik’s chest and began to cry. Yeong-sik gently stroked her head and spoke.

“It’s alright. This won’t happen again.”

Yeong-sik’s calm voice reached her ears.

“I will make sure of it.”

Yeong-sik’s eyes shone sharply as he spoke.