Only I Am A Reader
chapter-402

Although the fate of the war was already sealed, it still took the Heavenly Strength Society a whole hour to clean up the battlefield.

"There is no one here."

"Same here."

"All clear here as well!"

Dealing with the idiotic zealots who came rushing in took no time, but that was only the beginning. Some delusional psychopaths actually hid among the corpses with the intent to take down even one more 'demon' with them!

As such, a simple task like corpse burial turned into a prolonged game of minesweeper…

Regardless, mere trickery of this sort was only good at wasting time, the truly tricky part was vetting those who might have slipped into the reinforcements.

The Society's members could easily recognize each other thanks to the nature of their organization and the special linkage formed by practicing the Scarlet Sky method. However, those who joined in late were just a ragtag bunch.

'This is why cheats are awesome.'

Fortunately, for Yeon who had completely awakened her Scarlet Sky Eyes after the succession, distinguishing the imposters by seeing through their Internal Energy was far too easy.

It was too late for Leo to feel jealous of such an inherent ability now that this book was all but over. Even then, he still couldn't help staring into Yeon's enchanting eyes with a slightly problematic expression.

[ You can choose to exit the book within the next 240 hours. Otherwise, your 'True Reading' experience will be automatically suspended at the end of the allotted time. ]

Considering the expectations set by his one and only return experience, Leo's mind had especially agonized about the inflexible timing of the Main Quest.

It sounded like a good idea to capture Geochin and hold him hostage till he was ready to leave this world, but that was definitely an unrealistic delusion.

Although the beheading slash that took the protagonist's life looked so simple, it was the product of Leo's entire accumulation as Leo. A killing blow that was delivered after years of deliberate preparations!

Whether it was the timing or the location, everything served to contribute to that moment, and these were things that even a reader like Leo couldn't control.

To begin with, despite the reinforcements' arrival, such a smooth victory wouldn't have been possible if Geochin didn't breathe his last!

'Should I say this is a relief…?'

Thankfully, however, the amount of time that he was given seemed to match the grace period that he had before coming to the world of 'Murim Supremacy'. Yet…

Leo was feeling a bit regretful.

'Couldn't it have been multiplied by a thousand instead?'

Leo was being greedy, and he knew that deep down. At the very least, he now had the chance to assist Yeon in dealing with the transition that would follow this war.

If a parched man is suddenly offered a whole cup of water after asking for a sip… It would be hard not to wonder, 'If I had asked for a cup instead, would I have gotten more?'

"Ho, you…"

As Yeon's shiny rubies stared back into his eyes, Leo felt even worse. According to his original plan, he would have disregarded everything and run away with Yeon to spend every last minute he had with her!

The Yeon in front of him seemed to be partially aware of that, and her eyes spoke that she would happily do so, even if that made things a little harder for her in the future! Now that the life and death situation had passed, everything else could be postponed!

She knew that something had to be done, but it wasn't like she couldn't salvage it later!

However, that was precisely why Leo couldn't do so. It felt worse to not take such an open invitation, but he believed that sacrifice was also a form of affection.

To his Heavenly Demon who still put him ahead of her position…

"Everyone! Now that the danger has been dealt with…"

Wasn't it only right that he should return the favor?

"Isn't it about time we sit down and have a talk?"

It was time to lay down the stakes for a far more prosperous Heavenly Strength Society.

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

The Heavenly Strength Society has always stood high in solitude. They didn't form alliances with other forces or recognize them as equals, including the Murim Alliance as a whole and Leo had no intention of changing that.

"Then…"

However… Instead of allies, what if the nature of the relationship changed into something more convenient?

"We should be able to get along well like this, right?"

After a brief discussion, the influential figures of the reinforcement party smiled and happily welcomed Yeon's arrangement, confirming their new standing.

"Of course!"

"Naturally!"

Unspoken underlings, that was the nature of the relationship that the Society could share with close outsiders!

Just like the Northern Ice Palace that was 'convinced' to follow the Heavenly Strength Society's orders, the few organizations that were bold enough to come here had accepted their roles as the Society's detachable limbs, a tail that could be easily discarded without consequences.

Rather, Yeon didn't get the chance to practice 'convincing' this time, as soon as everything was implied, they readily accepted!

'The time is in our favor.'

Leo wasn't particularly surprised by the easy success. After all, since they had already risked everything at the minimal chance of victory against the Liberation Army, the reinforcement party was naturally ready to do whatever to survive Murim in its current state.

The victorious Society was now the strongest beacon anyone could latch into. Even if the nature of that relationship was humiliating or lacking in benefits. Neither wealth nor pride mattered when it came to their most precious resource, their life!

Being a tail or a nail was irrelevant, a lizard might cut off its tail to survive, but would a dragon do the same? Just being attached to the behemoth was enough to scare off flies.

'A perfect win-win situation.'

As remnants of the former giants that were once known as Great Sects and Grand Families, they might be useless now. However, once the feeling of a leash was ingrained into their necks, they wouldn't be able to walk away even if they recovered.

And that was when the value of this relationship would be realized. What were once useless tails would become tentacles and limbs to cover the world if needed…

"Baekho Oppa, are you finally free to talk?"

"Bing Baek…"

"I have got it, the thing that you asked for."

Just as Leo finished settling the most urgent task at hand with Yeon, a Hidden Piece revealed itself before his eyes.