Chapter 123: The Price of Betrayal

"Abort the attack, withdraw immediately!"

"Forget it, cut the ropes, retreat at once and regroup with the others below!"

The members of Web displayed remarkable psychological fortitude and tactical discipline in that moment. It was not so much a profound sense of unity or team spirit, but rather an instinct honed through a long life of desperate survival.

Quickly severing the ropes that anchored them to the alchemy workshop’s tower, the Web members abandoned their pursuit of Wang Yu, plummeting downward to link up with their comrades below.

They had realized that Wang Yu was a hard nut to crack; risking their lives for the bounty on his head was simply not worth the cost.

Some members braced their bodies to absorb the impact of the fall, while others were caught by the telekinetic efforts of their overwhelmed companions below. A few, shimmering with magical light, cast Feather Fall as they neared the ground.

Watching the fleeing Web members from above, Wang Yu narrowed his eyes. He quickly manipulated the Weaver’s Tome, casting a spell rarely seen among mages.

Earth elements coated his legs, and under the influence of his mana, they grew heavy while vibrating with intense, rapid-fire force.

Releasing the invisible platform beneath his feet, Wang Yu descended from the mid-section of the tower, riding the heavy, shuddering mass of earth elements like a falling meteor. Second-tier spell: "Seismic Intrusion!"

The spell was typically used to coat a staff in vibrating rock to deliver a concussive blow, but due to the frail physique of most mages, its power was severely limited.

Wang Yu’s physical prowess, however, elevated the spell to a terrifying new height. He did not use a weapon; he used his own body.

"Boom!" The moment the Web members turned to retreat, Wang Yu slammed into the ground—the very earth already churned by Holo’s vines. The soft, broken soil allowed him to dissipate the majority of the impact.

Then, the vibration and the earth elements surged outward in an exaggerated wave. The ground began to heave and ripple, turning the entire area into a quaking basin.

With the ground beneath them bucking wildly, the Web members could find no purchase. They tried to flee, but it was impossible.

Debris and soil erupted into the air, and the surface rock rose and fell like a stormy sea; running was out of the question, and even standing had become a Herculean task.

This was merely the first phase of Wang Yu’s onslaught. His mental energy hooked into the Weaver’s Tome, not for a simple casting, but to trigger a feature reserved by Avia: Overload.

It consumed a massive amount of magic crystal energy in a short time to amplify the next spell. It was inefficient—consuming fifty percent of the total energy to double the effect of a second-tier spell, or only fifty percent more for a third-tier one.

The energy flooded the spell model, causing the Weaver’s Tome to glow and heat up. Wang Yu plunged his arm into the earth, and an amplified second-tier spell erupted from him: "Rolling Stone Spirit!"

The soil and rocks beneath his feet hardened and reshaped under the influence of the earth elements. Jagged, saw-like blades of stone spun and tore outward in every direction.

Half-buried in the mud, the blades grew in speed and size, churning across the vibrating earth to hunt down the Web members.

Terrified, the Web members unleashed their own power, desperate to escape the quaking, treacherous ground.

But their efforts were in vain. The vines, unaffected by the tremors, erupted from the soil to shatter their last hope of escape, binding the legs of the already struggling men.

The stone saw-blades began their harvest. These men, whose physical prowess barely reached the level of a mid-tier squire, were as fragile as tofu against the spinning stone.

Flesh sprayed, bodies were ground to pulp by the rotating teeth, and the corpses—along with severed limbs—were buried beneath the churning earth.

When the last of the stone blades from the "Rolling Stone Spirit" vanished, the only proof that the Web members had ever existed was the blood-stained ground.

The entire Web detachment was annihilated in an instant by the combined assault of Wang Yu and Holo. Wang Yu looked at his hands, a grin spreading across his face. Truly, an incredibly useful and powerful force.

"Don't get lost in it. This isn't my power. The Weaver’s Tome is just a piece of equipment—it can break, it can run out of energy. My foundation remains unchanged."

After silently admonishing himself, Wang Yu walked onto the blood-soaked soil. Ripple had already sensed a survivor; if he killed them all, who would tell him who the traitor was?

He reached down and pulled the man—the one whose throat Holo had slit earlier—from the dirt. He appeared dead, but Holo had used tiny plants growing from the wound to stem the blood flow; the man was merely unconscious.

Holo emerged from the alleyway. Without needing a command, he knew what to do. Green light gathered and covered the man’s wound, knitting the throat back together just enough for him to speak.

Wang Yu pulled a truth serum from his pocket, first injecting the man with a potent stimulant. As the man’s eyes snapped open, Wang Yu poured the serum down his throat. "Who told you about the Nightfall Church?"

"It was..."

...

Having received the information, Wang Yu fell into a brief silence. He contacted Zig, who was helping rescue the injured orcs. The answer was unexpected, and he decided to let Zig handle the judgment.

"That’s the situation. I thought it best to let you handle it, Professor."

"I see. I am truly sorry. I will deal with this immediately. Go to the Nightfall Church; I will give them an explanation."

"This isn't your fault, Professor."

"Indeed."

Shaking his head, Wang Yu buried the traitor in the earth and headed with Holo toward the Black Street, where the Nightfall Church resided.

Upon arrival, Wang Yu was greeted by the gratitude of the church members who gathered to thank him.

"I am an Archbishop, after all; it is only natural I do my part. I know who the traitor is now. A superior from the Blades of Night will bring him here shortly. You decide his fate."

Wang Yu spoke calmly, but as his voice faded, the gathered believers fell into a heavy silence.

They had finally found a place to call home, a kind and benevolent goddess to worship, and they were working hard to build this sanctuary. The revelation of a traitor left a bitter knot in their hearts.

Who was the traitor? Why would they betray them? Which of the absent believers could it be?

Suspicion rippled through the crowd. Those who knew believers currently away from the church began to grow anxious. Was it someone they knew? Would they be suspected too?

"Stop guessing. It wasn't a believer of the Nightfall Church. It was an informant for the Blades of Night." Wang Yu cut through their speculation.

In truth, on the way back, Wang Yu had realized that the only person who could have leaked the information was the informant he had met in the Shadow of the Royal City.

The possibility of a Nightfall believer betraying them was near zero. While the Lady of the Night was not all-powerful, she could certainly observe her few followers. If she could see them being hunted and relay that to Wang Yu, a betrayal would never have escaped her notice.

The only remaining suspect was the informant.

A flash of movement in his mind—Zig arrived with several weak orcs and Noelle. The man he dragged, bound tightly, was the informant.

Asking the Lady of the Night to lower her veil of concealment, Wang Yu allowed Zig to enter. Zig walked to the front and threw the informant before the believers.

"I apologize for my poor management of my subordinates. I have brought trouble to you all. He is yours to dispose of. I hope you will not hold too much prejudice against the Blades of Night."

Zig bowed deeply and sincerely, offering the traitor who had sold them out for coin to the church’s judgment. It was a clear statement of intent from Zig, and by extension, the Blades of Night.

The informant, covered in dust, lifted his head. He was a handsome middle-aged man who looked reliable and steadfast—a face that stood in stark contrast to his actions.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please spare me! My wife and daughter live in the Shadow of the Royal City, under the protection of a local gang. After we married, we had our only child. I just... I just wanted them to have a better life."

The murmuring believers turned to look at the weeping man.

"As an informant, I often had to meet with people from the Royal City. Over time, the local gang found out I had connections. They didn't know I was an informant, but they knew I had channels."

Wang Yu raised an eyebrow, watching the man continue.

"You all know the greed of gangs. Their desires are bottomless. They deliberately increased their extortion, demanding five times the money. I didn't have it, so they forced me to use information as collateral, or they would harm my wife and daughter."

"I really had no choice! Look, look, this is my daughter and wife. They’re beautiful, aren't they? I really had no choice... sob..."

The man struggled, and a photograph fell from his pocket. It showed a family of three: a younger version of the man and a beautiful woman cradling a laughing girl between them.

The angry believers, who had been clamoring for his death, fell silent. Seeing the photo, they were overcome with hesitation.

They knew the man’s description of the gangs was likely true. Having struggled in the underground city, they understood its cruelty all too well.

Having finally found a home after a life of hardship, they were more capable of empathizing with another’s pain. They were torn: to forgive, or not to forgive?

"Let Archbishop Wang Yu decide." Holo’s voice broke the silence. The crowd turned to Wang Yu, their eyes filled with trust and expectation.

"Me?" Wang Yu pointed at himself.

"Fine." Confirming they wanted him to decide the traitor’s fate, Wang Yu nodded.

"Kill him," Wang Yu said, waving his hand with indifference.

"Why?" A believer couldn't help but ask, though they quickly covered their mouth, realizing the impropriety of the question.

"Why? A man who truly cherishes his family would never use them as a pretext for his own failings. He had countless other paths—he could have strained every nerve to prove his own mettle, or found a way to spirit his wife and daughter to safety, rather than peddling secrets for coin. And to use them as a human shield when the reckoning finally arrived? That marks him as either a creature of bottomless selfishness or a wretch so self-deluded he has fallen for his own pathetic performance."

Wang Yu’s words crushed the last of the believers' doubts into silence.

"Enough. I have made my choice; deal with him yourselves. I have matters to discuss with the Saintess."

With a dismissive wave, and amidst the informant’s wailing, Wang Yu led Sieg and Noelle toward the sanctuary where the Lady of the Night had manifested as the "Saintess."

"You saw through him with such clarity, Wang Yu?"

Sieg asked casually, surprised by the sharpness with which Wang Yu had dissected the man’s character and motives.

"Not at all. I was just talking nonsense. I haven't the faintest idea if his story was true or false. It sounded convincing enough, but I have no way to verify it—I’m no mind reader."

"Huh?"

"I simply couldn't stand the sight of him and wanted him dead. Why should someone be spared the consequences of their actions just because they have a sympathetic excuse? I am no saint; I lack the capacity to fathom or empathize with every person's hardships and reasons."

"I had no desire to hear his justifications. I loathe betrayal; it is a thing beyond forgiveness. He had many choices, yet he chose treachery. Everyone must pay the price for their own deeds. He chose betrayal, so he must pay. Sometimes, one doesn't need such an abundance of empathy."

"Besides, he worships the God of Light. It is the God’s duty to decide whether to forgive him or not; my duty is merely to send him to meet his maker. May the Light be praised." Wang Yu explained, then, struck by a thought, performed the gesture of praising the God of Light.

"…Very well. I believe you are right. I shall look into the situation of his wife and daughter; if they are truly innocent, the Night’s Edge will see to their care."

"That is precisely why I am quite fond of the Night’s Edge," Wang Yu replied with a smile.