Chapter 70

“What happened? Is Nox attacking us?” Justin demanded.

“He’s here! That bastard showed up!”

“…What?!”

Confusion flashed through Justin’s mind. Why would that fool try to invade now? His forces were weaker in both numbers and strength. Was this a desperate gamble—or sheer stupidity?

No matter the reason, there was no mercy to be had.

“Everyone, get ready for battle! We’ll end him—”

“No! He’s not here to fight!” Nathan blurted out before Justin could finish the order.

The room froze.

“Then why did he come?”

Swallowing hard, Nathan lowered his voice.

“He’s here to surrender. He says he’ll do anything—anything—if we just let him live.”

“…What?”

Even Justin was at a loss for words.

“What the hell… Where are we?”

Nox and his crew, bound tightly with ropes, glanced around in disbelief.

Clean buildings lined paved streets, a pristine fountain gushed in the middle of the plaza, and even the air smelled fresher here.

It was nothing like their own dilapidated, chaotic settlement.

While his followers wore expressions of confusion, Nox quickly pieced together what had happened.

“Did they use the domain reform function? But that costs… forty thousand mana stones. Did these bastards seriously gather that many in the meantime?”

His mouth went dry.

He had expected some disparity in power, sure—but this wasn’t just a gap. This was a chasm.

“No way to fight back now… but maybe this gives me a chance to live.”

He swallowed hard, trying to focus on what little hope remained. If he had come here as an invader, his group would have been annihilated before they even set foot past the gates.

But he wasn’t here to fight. He had come to submit.

“B-Boss, this is a bad idea. Maybe we should—”

“Shut up!”

His snarl was sharp enough to silence the trembling underling instantly.

“Are you an idiot? Don’t you see we’re being watched from every direction? One wrong move and we’re dead before we can even blink!”

The man shut his mouth immediately, the fear in his eyes evident. They were already tied up—any sign of resistance now would be suicide.

“Useless cowards. I’m doing this to save us, and they’re making it harder at every turn…”

But before he could curse them further, a voice—cool and sharp as a blade—cut through the air.

“Long time no see, huh?”

“…!”

The moment his eyes met Justin’s, a chill ran down Nox’s spine.

Even without a word, those cold eyes made it clear: I’m deciding whether or not to kill you right now.

Instinctively, Nox’s posture shifted, his voice trembling despite himself.

“L-Long time no see.”

“Cut the crap. Didn’t you stop using honorifics with me?”

“….”

The mockery stung. He had planned to act tough, maybe even speak casually like they used to. But standing face-to-face with this overwhelming force? That confidence evaporated like smoke.

Swallowing his pride, Nox lowered his gaze.

“I-I apologize for what happened before… I lost my temper.”

“Whatever. I don’t care about that now. Explain yourself—why the sudden surrender?”

The commanding tone felt like a slap to the face. Shame and humiliation burned in his chest, but he knew the truth: he had no leverage left.

“…I was found by other pioneers. They discovered the location of our settlement.”

“Other domains?”

“…Yes.”

His voice grew heavy as he began recounting everything that had led to this desperate moment.

It all started with the dungeon exploration quest.

Recently, Nox’s crew had begun hunting gnolls for the first time, albeit cautiously and far away from the main areas dominated by Justin’s party.

They weren’t making much progress, but at least their hunts were stable.

“If we keep this up, we might catch up to those bastards soon.”
“Yeah, we’re finally leveling up properly. Feels good.”

That shaky confidence soon led them to a fateful decision: they accepted a dungeon exploration quest far too early.

“We’re handling gnoll mobs just fine. We’re ready for this.”
“Besides, those guys are still messing around in the same hunting grounds. We’re not that far behind.”

With foolish bravado, they ventured into the hills where the dungeons lay hidden.

At first, everything went smoothly. They avoided goblin hordes and stumbled upon a dungeon entrance faster than expected. Their energy remained high.

But then…

“GRAAAH! Humans… STOP!”

“SHIT! RUN! MOVE OR DIE!”

The moment they encountered an orc, everything fell apart. Panic set in as they fled, barely escaping with their lives.

Their will to try again? Shattered.

Yet, they couldn’t let go of their pride.

“That must’ve been a special-case dungeon—probably way harder than the others.”
“Yeah, the system said there were multiple dungeons. Let’s try a different one.”

Desperate to salvage their dignity, they wandered deeper into the hilly region in search of another entrance.

But instead of finding a new dungeon… they found something much worse.

“Hey, who the hell are you guys?”

They stumbled into a rival group of 12 pioneers—well-equipped and fresh from clearing their own dungeon, sporting shiny new gear.

Instinctively, Nox’s crew backed off.

“J-Just passing through.”

“Bullshit. Think we’ll just let you go? Grab ‘em!”

“…!”

The strangers were merciless. Resistance would’ve meant instant death, so Nox’s team surrendered without a fight.

Their captors forced them to reveal their settlement’s location and then gloated over the discovery of yet another vulnerable group of commoners.

“What luck. A whole village full of future slaves—easy pickings.”

And as they left, they tossed a final, cruel command over their shoulders:

“Be back here tomorrow with ten commoners in tow. We’ll use them as meat shields. If you don’t show up, we’ll come for you and your precious little village.”

“…So, you came crawling here because you thought surrendering to me would be better than dying to them?”

“…Yes.”

The words felt like shards of glass sliding down his throat.

But all Justin did was laugh.

“Since when did you start caring about the commoners, huh? Suddenly a conscience grows now that someone else is bullying them?”

Nox didn’t even flinch at the mockery laced in Justin’s voice. His head remained low, eyes fixed on the ground.