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Chapter 199

Gawen couldn\'t hide his bewildered expression.

He hadn\'t expected Zeon to say such a thing at this moment.

"Wh-What do you mean?"

His voice trembled from the shock.

"Aren\'t you the one in charge here? So, you kill them."

"I\'m too old and weak."

Gawen wore a groveling expression.

When he first brought Zeon\'s group into Steel Fortress, he had been confident.

At that time, he had powerful Awakeneds supporting him. But now, there was no one around him.

All the Awakeneds he commanded were lying on the ground, defeated by the Red Storm.

The drugs used to control the Awakeneds had turned out to be a double-edged sword, rendering them ineffective against the Red Storm.

Without his Awakeneds, Gawen was just an old man with no power.

Desperately, Gawen sought someone to support him.

His eyes fell on Elder Holtran.

"Holtran!"

"Gawen!"

"Convince him. We must kill all these scavengers. If our fortress\'s location is revealed, many will come after us. We won\'t survive."

"You mean you won\'t survive."

"What?"

"Only your power will not survive. What does it matter to others if the ruler changes?"

"How can you say that? Is that something an elder of Steel Fortress should say?"

"I can give up my elder position any time. It\'s not that important."

Holtran showed a look of disillusionment.

This left Gawen in a panic.

"My friend!"

"Who are you calling a friend? You\'ve kept me in check and mistreated me all this time."

"This isn\'t the time to talk about personal feelings. We must think of the people living in Steel Fortress first."

Gawen tried to persuade Holtran desperately, but it wasn\'t enough to change Holtran\'s mind.

Meanwhile, Deborah listened intently to their conversation.

Her eyes sparkled as she seemed to see a way to resolve the current situation.

\'There are two factions within Steel Fortress. The closed-off faction led by this pleading man, and the opposing faction. The closed-off faction has been decimated by our attack, while the opposing faction lacks power...\'

Her mind raced at an alarming speed.

Urtian and Kormac, leaders of the Red Storm, only watched Deborah.

They knew that although Deborah rarely stepped forward, once she did, she always produced results.

Deborah looked at Zeon.

\'The problem is this man...\'

No matter how good her plan was, if Zeon rejected it, it would be pointless.

But it was worth a try.

\'This man is currently a bystander. He doesn\'t want to get more involved in Steel Fortress.\'

Having organized her thoughts, Deborah carefully spoke up.

"First of all, I apologize for today\'s events."

"Hmm?"

"No matter the reason, today was entirely our fault. I have no intention of making excuses."

"Your preamble is long."

"It\'s because this is important. We, the Red Storm, need this place. And the people here need protectors."

"Haha! You killed all the Awakeneds protecting this place, and now you want to take their place?"

Zeon couldn\'t help but show an incredulous expression. But Deborah continued unfazed.

"I regret that. But those who died by our hands didn\'t seem very welcome here anyway. I\'d like to ask Elder Holtran. If we were to join Steel Fortress, could you accept us?"

Holtran\'s face showed a look of surprise at suddenly being addressed.

His mind was racing.

\'Clever woman.\'

Zeon was impressed by Deborah.

She had used the children to prevent his intervention and naturally took control of the conversation, steering it in her favor.

She also quickly grasped the internal power struggle within Steel Fortress.

She was subtly excluding Zeon from the conversation while reshaping the power dynamics with Holtran, who had decision-making authority.

She wasn\'t an ordinary woman.

"Wow! She\'s no ordinary fox."

Even Brielle was stunned, staring at Deborah with her mouth agape.

Eloy whispered to Zeon.

"Are you going to just let things go her way?"

"And if not?"

"A lot of people have died. We should make them pay for the bloodshed."

"It wasn\'t our blood that was spilled."

"Is… that so?"

"We are outsiders here. Just passing through for a night... The decision is theirs, as is the responsibility for it."

"You\'re colder than I thought."

Eloy looked at Zeon with newfound surprise.

Zeon crossed his arms, clearly indicating he had no intention of interfering in Deborah and Holtran\'s conversation.

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At that moment, Urtian limped over to Zeon.

"Sand Mage!"

"It\'s Zeon."

"What?"

"My name is Zeon."

"Ah, I see! Zeon! My name is Urtian."

"We\'re not exactly in a friendly conversation."

"Indeed! I\'d love to grind your bones into powder. But Deborah stepped in."

"You seem to be under her thumb."

"She\'s worth it. Without her, I\'d be nothing. She\'s the true master of the Red Storm. Look, no one\'s trying to fight since she stepped in."

Urtian was right.

Duduyan, who had lost to Eloy, and Kormac, defeated by Levin, could still fight. Yet, they stood back and watched because Deborah had taken charge.

It showed how much trust they had in her.

"She\'s my wife and the matriarch of the Red Storm. We all respect and follow her decisions. If she hadn\'t intervened, you\'d be dead by now."

"Isn\'t it the other way around?"

"You think I\'d die from these mere injuries?"

Urtian brushed off the dust from his wounds, trying to look unaffected.

In reality, his severe wounds were partially healed, thanks to the tattoos on his body.

Seeing this, Brielle inadvertently spoke up.

"Guardian tattoo? You\'ve been tattooed by a High Elf."

"You recognize the Guardian? You are a High Elf."

Urtian instantly realized Brielle\'s identity.

As Brielle had pointed out, the one who tattooed him with the Guardian was a High Elf. Only a handful knew about the existence of a High Elf capable of creating the Guardian.

That handful were all High Elves.

"A High Elf mingling with humans? Have you also been cast aside?"

"Something like that."

"That\'s quite rare. High Elves never abandon their kin."

"Life can be full of surprises."

"Hah! You seem quite tainted by the human world."

Urtian\'s expression turned intrigued.

High Elves had a completely different mindset from regular elves.

As a result, they were often shunned even by other elves and were very few in number.

Even among elves, they were considered an alien race.

However, they excelled in specific fields with unrivaled abilities.

The High Elf who gave Urtian his Guardian tattoo was a prime example.

He had an unusual obsession with studying tattoos.

Elves typically valued purity above all.

They believed in keeping the body inherited from their parents pure until death.

For such High Elves, tattoos were an absolute taboo. But he broke this taboo and researched tattoos.

He created ways to amplify power or cast spells using tattoos.

Urtian\'s tattoos were one of his early masterpieces born from this obsession.

At that time, Urtian had been cast aside by his elf group, and his rage had clouded his judgment.

He needed power to protect himself, and the High Elf needed a test subject to prove his research.

Their mutual needs aligned, allowing Urtian to receive the Guardian tattoo.

"Young High Elf, why are you with these people? Have you forgotten the virtues of High Elves?"

"Do I need to explain myself to a fallen elf?"

"Why do you think I\'m fallen? Because I associate with humans? Because I have a human wife? Because I plunder?"

"......"

"One day, I was dragged into a strange world and abandoned by my kin. They said I was too different to stay with them. Left in the desert, inexperienced, I was captured by humans. I wore a mana restraint and endured all sorts of abuse. I was even violated by other men."

Elves are naturally beautiful.

Some people felt sexual desire for male elves and wouldn\'t leave them alone.

"Then I realized to survive in this hellish place, I had to abandon my former values and morals. I don\'t think it\'s wrong."

That day, the pure elf was reborn as a demon.

He killed the scavengers who captured him and took control of their group. Thus, the Red Storm was born.

The Red Storm started small.

They had few members and weak power. But over time, their strength grew, and their families expanded.

Urtian met Deborah, and they had three children together.

Even with a family, Urtian and the Red Storm\'s survival methods didn\'t change.

In this sand-covered world, there was no land for them to settle. They had no choice but to plunder to survive.

Taking and killing to live wasn\'t wrong.

Even now, after being defeated by Zeon, that belief remained unchanged.

Brielle didn\'t flinch at Urtian\'s fierce glare.

"If you keep living like that, someone stronger will take everything from you."

"Hah! It won\'t be easy. We\'re strong too."

"Hmph! I guess that\'s why you were so easily defeated by Zeon."

Brielle\'s taunt twisted Urtian\'s expression into an ugly scowl.

"That\'s because his ability is absurd, not because mine is lacking. A Sand Mage? I\'ve never heard of such a power even in Kurayan."

"Really, there were no Sand Mages in Kurayan?"

"Not to my knowledge. If there had been, I wouldn\'t have been so taken aback."

Urtian answered honestly.

Since Brielle stepped in, Zeon had paid no more attention to Urtian.

Perhaps he no longer saw Urtian as a threat.

At that moment.

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, Gawen screamed and collapsed.

A dagger was embedded in his chest.

"Guh! How... Holtran, how could you?"

Gawen looked at Holtran in disbelief.

Holtran, who had stabbed Gawen in the chest, looked down at him and answered.

"Without you, all problems are solved."

"Hol...tran."

"The Steel Fortress will change now. The Red Storm and I will make it happen."

"Ugh… Joining forces with outsiders... You\'ll regret it..."

Gawen couldn\'t finish his sentence before he died.

Holtran looked at Gawen\'s corpse with a somber gaze.

Deborah spoke to him.

"Well done."

"Keep your promise."

"I swear on my children\'s lives. This place is our home now. The Red Storm will protect and guard the people here."

"I believe you."

Holtran ultimately chose to merge with the Red Storm.

Most of the Awakeneds who followed Gawen were killed by the Red Storm, and there were many casualties among the common people. But there were more survivors.

To protect them, they needed the Red Storm\'s strength.

The situation resolved in an unexpected direction.

Deborah approached Zeon and spoke.

"As you can see, the Steel Fortress and the Red Storm have decided to unite."

"Impressive. You\'ve reached an agreement with Holtran."

"Do you oppose it?"

"I\'m an outsider. I have no grounds to oppose it. Isn\'t that why you directly negotiated with Holtran?"

"If it weren\'t for you, we wouldn\'t have reached an agreement so easily. Thank you."

Both Deborah and Holtran had made concessions due to the overwhelming presence of Zeon, making it easier to come to terms.

It was an alliance formed for survival against the powerful entity that was Zeon.

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