Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

-You bastards!-

"...?"

Suddenly, Justin heard someone shouting up ahead. At first, he thought it was a hallucination, but judging by the surprised expressions of the others, he wasn't the only one who heard it.

-What the hell!? Are you kidding me!?-

Another shout rang out, clearer this time. The voice was unmistakably human, though it wavered and was difficult to make out.

"Let's go!" Justin ordered as he broke into a run, the other pioneers following close behind. After about a minute of running, the voices grew louder.

-Drop your weapons immediately. This is your last warning.-

-Screw you! Why should we trust you!? I'd rather die fighting!-

-Then die. Makes my job easier.-

-Hey, wait!-

As they closed the distance, Justin could make out three distinct voices in conversation. One voice in particular seemed oddly familiar.

Just as they reached the end of the path, Justin recognized the speaker.

"...Grayson?"

It was Grayson, the leader of the settlement Justin had visited to recruit artisans. They had negotiated peacefully and agreed on a verbal alliance not too long ago. Now, Grayson stood surrounded, his expression a mix of anger and desperation. When he saw Justin, his eyes widened before he shouted in relief.

"Thank God! You're here! Help me out, ally!"

Justin quickly surveyed the scene. Aside from his own group, there were three distinct groups of pioneers present. One of them was led by Grayson, who was surrounded on both sides by two other groups. The first group was led by a young man, and the second by a woman.

"Ally? Since when did you have an ally?" the woman scoffed, her expression full of disdain.

"Don't drag innocent people into your mess," the young man added, frowning at Grayson.

It was clear that neither of them believed Grayson. They likely saw this as a desperate attempt to rope Justin into his problems.

"No, seriously! He's really my ally! You remember me, right!?" Grayson exclaimed, his voice growing more frantic as he looked toward Justin.

"Never seen you before in my life. Who are you?" Justin responded with a blank expression.

"You bastard!" Grayson cursed under his breath.

The woman and the young man exchanged knowing glances, nodding as if this confirmed their suspicions. Before Grayson could have another outburst, Justin chuckled and stepped forward.

"Just kidding. Yeah, he's my ally. But what's going on here?"

"...!?"

Both the woman and the young man stiffened in surprise. It was clear that the two of them had allied themselves against Grayson, who was vastly outnumbered. Grayson had only twelve pioneers under his command, while the young man had twenty-two, and the woman had sixteen. Together, they had Grayson on the verge of defeat.

But now, with Justin's unexpected appearance, their seemingly assured victory had been thrown into doubt.

"Damn it! I almost had a heart attack!" Grayson sighed in relief, glaring at Justin.

"I found it hilarious. I wanted to take a picture of your face just now," Justin teased with a grin.

"Laugh all you want! But seriously, help me! I'm about to die here!" Grayson pleaded, his gaze shifting toward the other two leaders.

From their expressions, Justin could tell what had been going on. The woman and the young man had joined forces to eliminate Grayson as a competitor.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Grayson, stop saying you're going to die. No one's trying to kill you," the young man said, visibly annoyed. "We just told you to disarm and withdraw from the quest."

"How is that different from killing me!? That's the same as sentencing me to death!"

"If you give up the quest, we won't harm you. What I'm worried about is what happens if you get your hands on the city," the young man explained.

"Exactly. Someone like you, with a fortress to defend? That's a nightmare for the rest of us," the woman added, smirking.

The young man narrowed his eyes at her. "You're hardly in a position to talk. You're no better than he is."

"At least I haven't killed any other pioneers or taken their rewards by force. I've threatened, but I never went through with it," she shot back.

"Only because they gave in without a fight! You were ready to kill them if they resisted!"

"Which makes me better than you, since I didn't have to kill anyone to get what I wanted."

As their argument unfolded, Justin began piecing the situation together. The three of them must have crossed paths during a dungeon exploration quest and learned about each other's actions. The problem was that Grayson had the worst reputation among them.

'The young guy seems like the type who keeps his hands clean, and the woman stays just within the line of acceptable behavior. That's why they teamed up to take Grayson out of the picture.'

Grayson, after all, had been infamous for invading neighboring territories, killing pioneers, and annexing their land. To the other two, he must have seemed like an imminent threat that needed to be dealt with before he could grow any stronger.

'They don't want to kill him outright because they've kept their hands clean up until now. But they figured forcing him out of the quest would be enough.'

Just as Justin finished his assessment, the young man turned toward him, seemingly remembering something.

"By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Damian, and this is Emily," he said, nodding toward the woman.

"Justin," Justin replied simply.

"Why are you giving my name out like that?" Emily muttered, but she didn't seem particularly upset. She stepped back, leaving the conversation to Damian.

Damian's expression stiffened slightly as he continued, "So, you really are Grayson's ally, huh...?"

Before Justin could respond, a lively voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, old boss! Long time no see!" the voice chirped.

Before Justin could react, Damian's eyes widened in shock. "Nina!? What are you doing here!? Didn't you leave for the other territory?"

Nina, a female mage, grinned and waved cheerfully. "Oh, my old companions? The new boss, the lord here, wiped them all out! He gave me a chance to surrender, so I switched sides to the stronger team!"

"...!?" Enjoy more content from empire