Chapter 120: Pawn
Troy watched his hand fall to the ground, cut in such a grotesque way that it was obvious how inexperienced the person responsible was with wielding a sword.
Then the pain came over him like water released from a broken dam, violently rushing through his entire body as if to remind him how painful it was to have his own hand cut off.
"Fuck!"
Troy dropped to his knees and tried to use his other available hand to block the gushing blood emerging from his severed wrist. It flowed like a stream of water, and the robe he was using to cover it was not enough to stop it completely.
"Fireball."
As if the pain from his severed hand wasn’t enough, Troy received a direct hit from Cillian’s Fireball and was thrown several meters away.
The flowing blood Troy had been trying to block frantically halted, as it became even worse, causing him to feel pain worse than earlier.
Cillian closed the distance while grabbing the Obituary Page and returning it to his Inventory. After storing the Artifact away, he found himself standing directly in front of Troy. Without hesitation, he aimed the broken sword at Troy and threw it toward his remaining hand.
"Ugh!"
Now that Troy’s hand was pinned to the floor, Cillian conjured the last Fireball he could muster at the moment. Any more than that, and he would experience Mana Drainage. It wasn’t just Fireball either. He could no longer conjure Water Wall, Gale, or Stone Ball, which he hadn’t even gotten the chance to use.
That’s why Cillian knew he had to calm down.
’My mana is a bit unstable. I need to rest for half an hour, maybe an hour or so. Also, my Fireball is flickering strangely, and I can see some cracks forming on this simple spell of mine. But this will be over soon.’
It would definitely be over. That was why Cillian was ready to release the Fireball until Troy called out to him and spoke with a tone of pleading confidence.
"Please, wait! I will tell you everything you need to know! As long as I can answer them, I will tell it to you! I’m half blind! Fuck, I should’ve noticed it was you earlier before you changed your face...!"
Troy pleaded desperately, yet the flicker in his eyes didn’t show that his words were something he genuinely wanted. It was more than that, as if he was trying to soothe Cillian’s anger toward him so that, when they made a deal, he could ask Cillian for something in return for revealing certain information.
This made Cillian fall silent as he stopped moving, the Fireball ready to be released at Troy’s face at any moment. His eyes, however, remained fixed on the fearful Troy, who didn’t seem to be afraid of Cillian at all, but of something else.
Troy, who had seen this as his way to cooperate, started to reveal information that he thought would be helpful to Cillian.
"The White Shepherds are the leaders stationed at each great family’s territories! The Viola Family is under this woman who has purple eyes! I believe she’s the one who captured Jack Trade in the Academy to ask questions, which is also the reason why they know it’s you who spoiled their attack!"
Cillian’s brows knitted.
He recognized that woman. The one he believed was the strongest of the three White Shepherds, who had looked down at him from the invisible platform in the Bone Maze back then.
’So each family has White Shepherds looking out through them?’
Cillian mused inwardly before trying to determine whether Troy was about to pull any tricks. However, as far as he was concerned, he remained vigilant of Troy’s movements and would be able to see if he did.
But there was nothing after careful observation.
Then, after a moment of pondering, Cillian asked.
"The Brown Shepherd."
Troy’s face froze before letting out a stupefied laugh.
"Just what are the things you don’t know..."
After holding back his laughter, Troy revealed the information he knew about the Brown Shepherd within their organization.
Then, he described him in a word that baffled Cillian.
"A pawn."
Troy paused.
"I only saw him once during one of our teachings. The Brown Shepherd, who looked at us warmly, told us that he was nothing but a mere pawn following the instructions from above. I don’t understand what he meant. A stupidly strong pawn... is that what he was trying to say to us?"
’A pawn...?’
The one who caught Aiden was a pawn?
For a moment, Cillian felt that Troy was bullshitting him. Well, it wasn’t like he fully believed everything Troy had said anyway, since he would cross-check it himself at a later date. However, having prior knowledge wasn’t a bad thing, because once the facts were confirmed, Cillian would know which was which.
Still, the Brown Shepherd, whom Cillian thought was the leader of the Shepherd of Creation, is definitely not weak.
Cillian couldn’t confirm the suspicions brewing in his mind at the moment. Hence, he set aside his suspicions regarding the Brown Shepherd for now.
"Rough numbers regarding the attacks. How many Black Shepherds are here in Viola right now? What about White Shepherds? Is there a chance that the Brown Shepherd might come?"
Troy paused.
"It seems you’re aware that we’re aiming for the ’God’ that Arthur is trying to summon. Unbelievable, did someone spoil it to you from our group... Ah fuck, it doesn’t matter anymore... The Black Shepherd’s count is over three hundred people, including us. The White Shepherds currently active, as far as I know, are at least ten of them. The Brown Shepherd... will definitely not come. He hasn’t returned from his ’trip’ yet. We don’t know what trip it is, but everyone is made aware of it."
’Trip?’
Cillian was about to ask what the purpose of this trip was until Troy revealed that there was no exact reason for it.
And the Brown Shepherd even told them about it.
’Did he get tired of manipulating things in the shadows and decide to have days off? Motherfucker, I can’t read this organization at all. I don’t even know what to think anymore, but... this should be enough for now. I can’t delay being here any longer. So...’
Cillian pondered inwardly before saying calmly.
"What made you so cooperative that you were even the one to tell me information? I was planning on killing you right away—"
Before Cillian could even finish his sentence, Troy’s voice interjected with a pleading tone as he reasoned with him.
"The last Black Shepherd staying at the entrance is deaf. He’s my little brother..."
"..."
Troy gritted his teeth, his eyes quivering heavily. A second later, he found himself convulsing while trying to force out the words he wanted to say as he begged Cillian.
"Please, spare him. He can’t harm you whatsoever since he’s only blocking the entrance with his Ruiner ability. I’m sure he’s waiting for me to come and get him, and with you wearing my face, he’ll definitely follow you outside. So please..."
Eventually, Troy’s begging eyes soon turned lifeless.
Lying on the ground as his own blood soaked his own clothes, Troy’s pleading voice was soon gone.
Cillian carefully looked at Troy’s corpse before aiming his Fireball at him, just to be sure that this wasn’t some trick Troy had been plotting until the very end. Then, the Fireball struck his face, making his already lifeless body even more grotesque to look at.
[Death Flags x2]
[A scent of Death is within you]
Cillian slowly dropped to the ground, lying in the pool of blood of the person he had just killed, exhausted and clearly in a dilemma.
"Fuck..."