Chapter 199
Gerwen couldn’t hide his flustered expression.
He hadn’t expected Zeon to say something like that at this exact moment.
“W-what do you mean by that?”
His voice trembled uncontrollably.
“You’re the one in charge here, aren’t you? Then you should be the one to kill them.”
“I… I’m too old. I don’t have the strength.”
Gerwen put on a pathetic expression.
When he first allowed Zeon and his group into the Iron Fortress, he had been confident.
Back then, he had awakened fighters backing him up. But now, there was no one left by his side.
The awakened fighters he had treated like limbs were all lying on the ground, defeated by the Red Storm Brigade.
Those addicted to drugs were no match for them.
The very drugs he used to control them efficiently had turned into poison.
Having lost all his awakened fighters, Gerwen was nothing more than a powerless old man.
Desperately, he looked for someone to take his side.
The one who caught his eye was the elder, Holtran.
“Holtran!”
“Gerwen.”
“Convince him! We must kill all these scavengers. If the location of the fortress is exposed, many will come after us. We won’t survive.”
“You mean you won’t.”
“What?”
“Only your power won’t survive. What does it matter to the others if the ruler changes?”
“How can you say that? You’re an elder of the Iron Fortress!”
“That position means nothing. I can abandon it anytime.”
Holtran’s face was filled with disgust.
Now it was Gerwen who grew desperate.
“You fool!”
“Who are you calling a fool? You’ve done nothing but suppress and sideline me all this time.”
“This isn’t the time to argue over personal feelings. We must think of the people living in the Iron Fortress first!”
Gerwen tried everything to persuade him.
But it wasn’t enough to change Holtran’s mind.
Meanwhile, Deborah carefully listened to their conversation.
Her eyes gleamed.
She could see a way out of this situation.
‘There are two factions inside the Iron Fortress. The closed-off group led by that man… and the opposing faction. The closed faction has been annihilated by our attack, and the opposing faction lacks power…’
Her mind spun rapidly.
Urtian, Komak, and the other leaders of the Red Storm Brigade simply watched her.
Deborah rarely stepped forward—but when she did, she always produced results.
She looked at Zeon.
‘The problem is this man…’
No matter how clever her plan, it would be meaningless if Zeon rejected it.
Still, it was worth the risk.
‘He’s currently a bystander. He doesn’t want to get further involved in the Iron Fortress.’
After organizing her thoughts, Deborah spoke carefully.
“First, I’ll apologize for today.”
“Hm?”
“No matter the reason, what happened today is entirely our fault. I won’t make excuses.”
“You’re taking a long time to get to the point.”
“Because it’s important. The Red Storm Brigade needs this place. And the people here need protection.”
“Haha! You killed all the awakened who were protecting this place, and now you want to replace them?”
Zeon couldn’t hide his disbelief.
But Deborah continued calmly.
“I’m sorry about that. But from what I can see, those who died weren’t particularly welcomed here anyway. I’d like to ask you, Elder Holtran—if we join the Iron Fortress, would you accept us?”
Holtran, suddenly put on the spot, looked stunned.
His thoughts became tangled.
‘A clever woman.’
Zeon was impressed.
She had used the children to prevent his intervention, seized control of the conversation, and redirected the flow in her favor.
On top of that, she had instantly grasped the internal power struggle of the Iron Fortress.
By subtly excluding Zeon—the outsider—from the discussion, she was reshaping the negotiation around Holtran, who held the authority.
She was no ordinary woman.
“Wow… she’s seriously cunning.”
Even Brielle couldn’t hide her amazement.
Eloi whispered to Zeon.
“You’re just going to let things go her way?”
“What else would you have me do?”
“A lot of people died. They should pay for that.”
“We didn’t spill that blood.”
“…That’s true.”
“We’re outsiders anyway. Just passing through for a night. The decision is theirs—and so are the consequences.”
“You’re colder than you look.”
Eloi glanced at Zeon with newfound realization.
Zeon simply crossed his arms, making it clear he had no intention of interfering.
At that moment—
Urtian limped toward Zeon.
“Sand mage!”
“It’s Zeon.”
“What?”
“My name is Zeon.”
“Ah… I see. Zeon! My name is Urtian.”
“I don’t think we’re on friendly terms.”
“That’s right. Honestly, I’d like to grind your bones to dust and drink them. But Deborah stepped in.”
“You seem to be quite under her control.”
“She’s worth it. Without her, I’d be nothing. She’s the true master of the Red Storm Brigade. Look around—no one’s fighting anymore because she stepped in.”
Urtian was right.
Duduyan, who had been defeated by Eloi, and Komak, who had lost to Levin, were still capable of fighting.
Yet they had stepped back and were simply watching.
The reason was Deborah.
It showed just how great their trust in her was.
“She is my wife—and the matron of the Red Storm Brigade. We all respect and follow her decisions. If she hadn’t stepped in, you’d be dead by my hand.”
“Isn’t it the other way around?”
“You think I’d die from wounds like this?”
Urtian brushed the dust off his injuries as if nothing had happened.
In reality, his severe wounds had already partially healed.
It was thanks to the tattoos engraved all over his body.
Seeing that, Brielle spoke without thinking.
“A Guardian Talisman? You received that tattoo from a High Elf.”
“You recognize it? Then you must be a High Elf.”
Urtian immediately saw through her identity.
As Brielle said, the one who had engraved the Guardian Talisman on him was a High Elf.
Only a very small number of beings—even among High Elves—knew such tattoos could be created.
“Why is a High Elf with humans? Were you cast out as well?”
“…Something like that.”
“That’s rare. High Elves never abandon their own.”
“Well, life is unpredictable.”
“Hoh… you’ve picked up quite a human edge.”
Urtian looked at her with interest.
High Elves had a completely different way of thinking from ordinary elves.
Because of that, they were rejected even by other elves and existed only in small numbers.
Even among elves, they were considered alien.
But in exchange, they possessed unmatched talent in specific fields.
The High Elf who gave Urtian his tattoo was one such example.
He had obsessively studied tattoos.
Elves valued purity above all else.
They believed the body inherited from their parents should remain untouched until death.
For them, tattoos were strictly forbidden.
Yet that High Elf broke the taboo and researched them anyway.
He discovered ways to amplify power and even cast magic through tattoos.
The one etched on Urtian was one of his early masterpieces.
At the time, Urtian had been cast out from his people, his mind consumed by rage.
He needed power to protect himself.
The High Elf needed a subject to prove his research.
Their interests aligned.
That was how Urtian obtained the Guardian Talisman.
“Young High Elf. Why are you mingling with outsiders? Have you forgotten your kind’s principles?”
“And why should I explain anything to a fallen elf?”
“Why do you think I’ve fallen? Because I live among humans? Because I married a human woman? Or because I loot?”
“….”
“One day, I was dragged into a strange world and abandoned by my own kind. They said I was too different to travel with them. Left alone in the desert, I lacked experience and was captured by humans. With mana shackles on, I suffered every kind of abuse. I was even violated by another man.”
Elves were naturally beautiful beings.
There were those who felt desire even toward men—and they didn’t leave an elf alone.
“That’s when I realized something. To survive in this hell, I had to abandon all my old values and morals. I don’t think that was wrong.”
On that day, the pure elf was reborn as something monstrous.
He killed the scavengers who captured him—and took control of their group.
That was how the Red Storm Brigade was born.
In the beginning, it was small.
Few members, weak power.
But over time, it grew.
And with it, the number of families increased.
Urtian met Deborah.
They had three children together.
Even so, their way of survival never changed.
In this world buried in sand, there was no land where they could truly settle.
They had no choice but to survive through plunder.
To take and to kill in order to live—
was not wrong.
Even now, after being thoroughly defeated by Zeon, that belief hadn’t changed.
Brielle stared at Urtian without fear.
“If you keep living like that, someone stronger than you will take everything.”
“Heh… it won’t be that easy. I’m not weak either.”
“Really? Is that why you got crushed by Zeon?”
At her mocking, Urtian’s face twisted.
“That’s because his ability is broken—not because I’m weak. A sand mage? I’ve never heard of such a power even in Kurayan.”
“Are you sure sand mages didn’t exist there?”
“As far as I know, they didn’t. If they had, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.”
He answered honestly.
From the moment Brielle stepped in, Zeon no longer paid Urtian any attention.
Perhaps he no longer considered him a threat.
Then—
“Ghk!”
Suddenly, Gerwen screamed and collapsed.
A dagger was embedded in his chest.
“Ugh… y-you… Holtran… how could you…?”
Gerwen looked at Holtran in disbelief.
It was Holtran who had stabbed him.
Looking down at him, Holtran replied calmly.
“If you’re gone, everything is resolved.”
“Hol… tran…”
“The Iron Fortress will change now. The Red Storm Brigade and I will make sure of it.”
“You… joined hands with outsiders… you’ll regret—”
Gerwen couldn’t finish his sentence.
He died.
Holtran stared at his corpse with a heavy gaze.
Deborah spoke to him.
“Well done.”
“A promise must be kept.”
“I swear on my children’s lives. This is our home now. The Red Storm Brigade will protect the people of this fortress.”
“I trust you.”
In the end, Holtran chose to unite with the Red Storm Brigade.
Most of Gerwen’s awakened fighters had been killed, and there were many civilian casualties as well.
But more people survived than died.
To protect them, they needed the strength of the Red Storm Brigade.
And so, the situation was resolved in an unexpected way.
Deborah approached Zeon.
“As you can see, the Iron Fortress and the Red Storm Brigade have decided to join forces.”
“Impressive. You managed to reach an agreement with Holtran.”
“Do you object?”
“I’m an outsider. I have no grounds to object. That’s why you negotiated directly with him, right?”
“If it weren’t for you, it wouldn’t have gone this smoothly. Thank you.”
Because Zeon’s overwhelming presence pressured both sides, Deborah and Holtran each made concessions.
That allowed them to reach an agreement quickly.
It was an alliance formed simply to survive—
in the presence of a force powerful enough to overturn the entire balance.