Chapter 74

“You’re seriously saying you’re one of our informants?”

Holanghee’s voice was laced with disbelief.

The man nodded frantically, asking her to lift her foot. Still dazed, Holanghee stepped back.

Freed, he scrambled to his feet and glanced around in panic—checking if anyone had seen what had just happened. Fortunately, the area was empty.

With a sigh of relief, he turned to the totem and pressed his hand to it. His mana flowed into the structure, and the silver glow shifted to blue. A pillar of blue light shot skyward.

The totem had been “secured.”

Dusting off his hands, the man gave Holanghee a faint, absentminded look.

“Well then… I’ll be going.”

Still suspicious, Holanghee raised her head. On instinct, she grabbed his wrist and turned toward the totem. The blue pillar shimmered faintly, surrounded by a thin golden ring—visible only to Ord players. It signified that the totem was protected.

The sight erased her final doubts. Holanghee released him, and the man gave a polite nod before hurrying away.

She stood frozen for a moment, staring at the totem. Then her jaw clenched, and fury filled her eyes.

Noquia, you lying bastard.

In theory, only a handful of people ever knew the identity of an informant. To ensure perfect infiltration, even allies had to be deceived. It was an advantage—but also a fatal flaw.

Holanghee had to warn Father, Theo, and Blaine that Noquia wasn’t one of them. All three still believed she was Ord’s informant. If anyone had released that poison at the entrance, it was probably her.

But during a Territorial War, category chat only connected players by position type. Father could relay messages to Theo, since they shared the same position—but Blaine wouldn’t receive them.

She had to tell both Father and Blaine. Fast.

Just as Theo had predicted, Jezenia’s camp had turned into another battlefield.
Ord’s invading players were clashing with the respawned Jezenia troops—a full-blown second round.

Even amid the chaos, allied players methodically found and captured the Totems of the Deep Sea one after another. Only one remained.

At this rate, even without Theo’s help, all five totems would soon be under Ord’s control—and once that happened, Jezenia’s boss crystal would appear.

Everything was nearly ready. All that was left was to bring Noquia.

After leaving the rear line in the hands of his allies, Theo stretched a massive Veil from the camp’s center to its entrance using seven steps, then seized a charging direwolf.

Mounting it in one motion, he rode across the Cottonflower Hills toward Ord’s side.

Behind him, the fifth blue pillar rose into the sky.

Holanghee scoured every corner of the camp, searching for Father, Blaine—and Noquia.

Then, in the distance, she finally spotted them. Blaine and Noquia stood together before a totem.

The two seemed to be talking. Then Blaine stepped back, and Noquia reached toward the totem.

Holanghee’s expression darkened. Her teeth clenched.

She triggered a movement Action and charged, her urumi* lashing through the air.

A thunderous crack echoed as the whip-blade cut forward. Blaine turned, eyes widening in horror, and screamed as the blade whipped past his face.

Noquia spun at the sound, instantly spotting the incoming strike. She parried it with her daggers—but she couldn’t dodge Holanghee’s follow-up.

The hinge knuckle on Holanghee’s fist grazed Noquia’s cheek, leaving a deep line of blood.

Noquia flinched and stumbled back, clutching her face. When she saw who had hit her, disbelief gave way to fury.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Blaine finally recognized Holanghee too, blinking between them in confusion. He had no idea why she’d attacked Noquia—but Holanghee, approaching cautiously with her weapon still drawn, gave the answer.

“She’s not one of us.”

“…What?”

“Sweetie, go find Father.”

“Eh?”

“Find Father and tell her Noquia isn’t an informant—then tell Theo, too.”

Blaine looked between them, stunned, unable to process it. Meanwhile, Noquia gave a short, incredulous laugh.

“What kind of nonsense is that? You’re saying I’m not an informant?”

“Yeah. You’re not.”

Holanghee swung her urumi across the ground, its metallic hiss slicing the air in warning. Noquia flinched and took another step back.

“If I’m not, then what am I? Who the hell fed you that nonsense?”

“If you’re really our side’s informant, then prove it.”

“…What?”

“I said, show me your proof.”

Noquia let out a short, incredulous laugh—but her expression slowly stiffened. The laughter died. Her face went blank, unreadable, her eyes coldly fixed on both of them.

Realizing something was wrong, Blaine instinctively began to back away.

The moment he moved, Noquia’s gaze snapped from Holanghee straight to him—and in the blink of an eye, she lunged.

Blaine’s eyes widened as he tried to react, but she was faster.

He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact—only for the sharp crack of thunder to explode in both ears.

His body trembled from the sheer force of it. When he opened his eyes again, Holanghee stood in front of him, hair whipping in the wind. The urumi in her hand dripped blood, splattered across her white outfit like crimson rain.

Noquia had been thrown back, clutching her arm in pain.

“Tch. You and Father—your reach is cheating.”

“Then who told you to use daggers?”

It was déjà vu. Noquia grumbled. “That line’s cheating too.”

Holanghee snorted, clearly done humoring her. She jerked her chin toward Blaine. “Go.”

Swallowing hard, Blaine turned and ran.

Noquia’s gaze followed his retreating back before returning to Holanghee. Her tone was strangely calm.

“Hey. For a dagger-wielding assassin, do you think it’s easier to strike from the front… or the back?”

“…What?”

A chill ran down Holanghee’s spine. She frowned, uneasy. But when she blinked—Noquia was gone.

“Shit.”

She spun around, but Blaine was the only one she saw, sprinting into the distance.

“?”

Scanning the area quickly, Holanghee froze as a sudden movement flared behind her. Pain exploded in both sides of her ribs before she could even react.

Her vision turned crimson. Her knees buckled. The agony was too sharp for a scream to escape.

As she fell, clutching her side, she caught a glimpse of Noquia—darting after Blaine like a shadow.

I have to warn him…

But no voice came out.

All she could do was hope Blaine had realized it too—that he knew Noquia was the enemy. He wouldn’t go down easily.

Noquia closed the distance fast. Her daggers gleamed as she slashed toward Blaine’s back.

He sensed it at the last second, spinning around—eyes wide with shock—but mana was already surging through his Via Lactea staff.

He’d anticipated it.

Light erupted between them as Blaine’s spell detonated, engulfing Noquia in a burst of energy. The explosion scorched the air—but instead of retreating, she pushed forward, diving into the blast head-on.

Flames and searing pain burned across her body, but she didn’t care.

Caught off guard by her recklessness, Blaine tried to escape—but she was already within striking distance. Her twin daggers arced upward toward his neck, gleaming inches from his skin.

Watching the blades rise toward his throat, Blaine thought, ‘This is it.’

Holanghee was down. No one else was nearby.

There was no way out. He started to close his eyes—accepting the end—forgetting one crucial fact.

He was still lucky.

Clang!

The sound rang clear, but the pain never came.

Instead, a familiar voice spoke beside his ear.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Blaine’s eyes flew open. No way. He must’ve imagined it. Don’t get your hopes up, he told himself.

But when he turned his head, the figure standing there was real.

“Theo…?”

Theo turned slightly, his expression as flat and calm as ever.

“Yeah.”

“Hyung!”

Blaine’s voice cracked as he threw himself at Theo, hugging him tight. Theo froze for a moment, then awkwardly patted his arm.

“So. What exactly is going on?”

“She’s not an informant.”

The answer didn’t come from Blaine.

Theo looked up toward the voice—Holanghee, staggering toward them, her face pale but eyes blazing.

“Not an informant?” Theo repeated.

“I ran into the real one. Asked her to prove it, and this bitch couldn’t.”

Theo turned his gaze toward Noquia, disbelief flickering in his eyes.

“Is that true?”

Noquia said nothing, her expression tight, her gaze shifting away.

“You’re in the same position as Father,” Holanghee continued.

“Tell her quick. We’re going to crush this bastard.”

The murderous glare in her eyes said she meant it.

Still dazed by how fast everything had escalated, Theo glanced between the two of them—then quickly opened a line to Father and repeated everything Holanghee had just said.