Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse-Chapter 227 : betrayal

The man, a member of the cult, clenched his fist around the grass on the ground as if trying to relay something important.

"B-betrayal… the leader… dragon…!" he groaned before collapsing completely.

The words were fragmented, but the message was enough to catch the Black Dragon pioneers' attention. They exchanged confused looks.

"Betrayal? Leader? Dragon? What the hell is he talking about?"

"Betrayal sounds like a straightforward rebellion, but is he saying the leader was overthrown?"

"And what's with the dragon? Why bring up a dragon?"

"Hell if I know. He was probably just babbling while on the brink of death."

Nina cut through their speculation with a sharp order.

"Enough chatter. Get them ready to move. They'll die if we don't act soon."

"What? You're planning to save these guys?" one of the other pioneers asked, clearly surprised by her decision.

"Sure, we were technically allies at one point, but we never really worked together. Do we really need to go out of our way to save them?" another added.

"Who said anything about saving them? We're keeping them alive so we can extract information. Don't you see this as a chance to impress the lord?" Nina replied, her tone sharp.

The two companions looked at her uneasily. The territory they were talking about conquering wasn't close, and by the time they got there, any information would likely be outdated.

'Isn't this a waste of time?' they thought.

Sensing their hesitation, Nina sighed.

"Just help them, alright? It won't do you any harm either," she added.

"Ugh, fine," one of them muttered reluctantly.

"Seriously, what a hassle," the other grumbled.

Despite their complaints, the two pioneers followed Nina's lead, picking up the cult members and moving them through the dimensional portal. As they carried the barely conscious pioneers, one of the cult members whispered faintly, as if speaking in a dream.

"Save… the leader…"

With those words, the man fell completely unconscious.

The next day, as planned, Justin and his group joined the expedition to reclaim the territories. Due to Fafnir's size, the dragon was left behind for the journey, as it would be difficult to move such a large creature on land. Besides, with Justin, Derek, and Ethan leading the way, there was no need for Fafnir's presence to wipe out an expedition or two.

"I'm Justin. I'll be joining you today. Let's get along," Justin introduced himself, his voice cold.

All the alliance members and pioneers visibly flinched at his words. Their silent resistance was obvious, but Justin's eyes grew icy as he continued.

"And if any of you keep staring at me like that, I'll kill you. That's not a threat—it's a promise. I'll literally kill you with magic. If you don't believe me, I can make an example out of one of you right now," he added, his voice deadly serious.

At that, the pioneers and alliance members quickly averted their eyes, scattering their gazes in all directions. The former leaders of the alliance, who had watched one of their own lose his head to Justin's magic the previous day, went pale with fear.

Only when everyone avoided meeting his eyes did a satisfied smile spread across Justin's face.

"Good. Keep it that way. Now, let's get going, shall we?" he said.

"...."

No one responded, the tension palpable.

"Still no response? Are you ignoring me because you don't want to show respect? If you keep acting like this, I'll just…" Justin began to say, his tone dark.

"No! We were just caught off guard, that's all! Please, forgive us!" one of the alliance members hurriedly exclaimed, cutting him off.

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'Caught off guard? I gave them a whole day's notice. What nonsense,' Justin thought, but he let it slide. There was no point in nitpicking small things with these people. If he did, they'd never stop making excuses.

"Fine, let's move," Justin ordered.

"Y-yes, of course!"

As soon as the signal was given, fifteen pioneers moved in unison, clearly well-practiced from working together often.

'If I hadn't come, they probably would've laid low in their territories, claiming them without a fight,' Justin thought.

It was lucky he had shown up in time. Had he been even a little late, he would've had to track them down and drag them back himself. After they'd marched halfway to their destination, one of the alliance members, who had been nervously watching Justin the whole time, finally spoke up.

"Um… Justin," the alliance member began hesitantly.

"...Justin?" Justin repeated, his voice dripping with cold amusement.

"Why… why do you ask?" the alliance member stammered, clearly confused.

"Do I look like your friend? What makes you think a lowly pioneer like you can address me as an equal? I'm not your buddy, and I'm certainly not just 'Justin' to you," Justin snapped, his tone harsh.

The alliance member's eyes darted nervously, realizing he had made a grave mistake. Though it seemed like a minor issue, it was a serious breach of etiquette. Leaders of great territories wouldn't tolerate pioneers addressing them informally, and any normal leader would have responded with rage—perhaps even violence.

Justin could tell that the alliance members had grown too comfortable under Damian's leadership, forgetting the hierarchy they were meant to respect.

"Get your head straight. I'm not Damian. If you don't start treating me like the leader I am, I'll remind you how a real leader deals with subordinates," Justin warned, his eyes narrowing.

Whether a regular leader or not, pioneers are fundamentally governed by the law of the jungle. A hierarchy naturally forms based on the difference in power. Damian had been an exception, trying to treat everyone equally. But now, even the alliance members were quick to correct their tone.

"Ah, understood, my lord... I mean, Lord of the territory. I'll address you that way from now on," the pioneer stammered.

"Good. Now, what do you want?" Justin asked coldly.

"Well, my lord, is it necessary for you to accompany us? If you're searching for a doctor..." the pioneer trailed off.

"So, you're suggesting you find the doctor after reclaiming the territory and then report back to me?" Justin interrupted.

"Yes, we thought it might be exhausting for you to visit every territory personally..." the pioneer replied.

"Come on, we both know that's only half true. Why pretend otherwise?" Justin said with a smirk, his eyes cutting through the excuse.

The pioneer hesitated, lost for words.

"I'm not one for pretending. If you've got something to ask, do it properly," Justin added.

"Then... why are you visiting every single territory yourself? None of these lands are yours," the pioneer asked, finally speaking plainly.

"First, I'm familiarizing myself with the land I'll rule in the future. Second, I'm keeping an eye on what you all are doing. And third, I'm dealing with anyone who shows dissatisfaction by killing them on the spot. Clear now?"

Everyone—pioneers and alliance members alike—froze. The first reason alone was shocking enough, but the last two hit them even harder.

"W-wait, lands you'll rule…?"

"Of course. I'll be conquering these lands," Justin said casually.

"But… weren't you allied with Damian?" the pioneer asked, clearly shaken.

"Damian has already handed it over to me. He's too tired to deal with it anymore."

"…!?"

"Oh, and by the way, he gave me the Guardian Summoning Scroll a while back. I'm planning to set up a dimensional portal in a convenient spot before I leave. So, resisting is pointless."

At that, the pioneer collapsed to the ground, his legs giving out. Handing over the Guardian Summoning Scroll meant there was no way to bolster the territory's defenses further. And the portal? That meant Justin could invade any time he wanted.

Even if someone else overthrew Damian and took over the territory, there would be no way to resist Justin's forces.

The realization hit the pioneer hard, and he muttered incoherently.

"Why… why? Why would a leader do that to his own land?"

"Obviously because of how you've all been acting. He's fed up with it. When a leader feels he can't handle the responsibility anymore, he passes it on. You really didn't know?" Justin replied with a smirk.

The pioneer looked up at the sky with a hopeless expression, overwhelmed by the turn of events. His dreams of leading his own independent territory were shattered, and now he had no choice but to serve under Justin.

"This must be a nightmare," the pioneer mumbled.

"I can make it a real nightmare. Want me to blow your head off?" Justin offered, his tone cold.

"…!"

"Want me to help you escape reality? I can arrange that," Justin said with a menacing grin.

"N-no, please! Absolutely not!" the pioneer cried, scrambling to his feet.

"Good. Unlike Damian, I don't care about your circumstances. So you'd better remember that," Justin said with a chuckle, watching the panicked pioneer scramble to comply.

"You'll need to start aligning with me from now on. No one's going to be considerate of your position anymore. And remember, I have no problem with executing or punishing anyone who steps out of line," Justin warned, his tone sharp.

"...."

"I have to say, though, I'm impressed by how quickly you adjusted to reality. It'd be nice if the others had your sense of self-preservation," Justin muttered to himself before turning and continuing on.

The faint sound of the pioneer's footsteps followed behind him, much weaker than before. It was the sound of a man walking the path of regret. What could have been a journey with comrades had now turned into the burden of carrying a master's weight. But it was too late for regret—it was all their own doing.

The first territory was reclaimed with surprising ease. Justin and his companions didn't even need to lift a finger. The pioneers from the second migration were too weak, and the alliance members crushed them without much effort.

After reclaiming the territory, the alliance members eagerly called out to Justin.

"We'll gather all the people and return to the main territory right away!"

It was a desperate plea, their way of showing that they had no intention of staying in the reclaimed lands. Justin waved them off, uninterested, and began his search for a doctor. But there wasn't even a general physician in this territory, let alone an obstetrician.

"Waste of time. Let's move to the next one," Justin muttered, signaling for the group to move on.

The same pattern repeated in the second and third territories. Every time, Justin would converse with the former leaders of the alliance, make it clear that he would soon take over, and lay out his plans. Most of the alliance members accepted their fate, but two of them stubbornly fought back.

They refused to bow and live under Justin's rule, claiming they would rather die than serve him.

Naturally, they were struck down instantly by Justin and Derek .

"Seriously, how did that guy think he could fight us when he hadn't even completed his second-tier job change?" Derek muttered in disdain, spitting on the second man's corpse.

Their former leader's pitiful death shocked the other pioneers, and none of them dared to seek revenge.

Even Damian, who had once been tormented by the alliance members, felt sorry for them.

"There's nothing that could have been done. They hated being equals and couldn't stand being ruled. But as for leading themselves… well, that wasn't going to work either," Damian said with a sigh, cutting his explanation short.

After visiting all the alliance territories and firmly establishing the hierarchy, Justin mounted Fafnir and departed. It would take almost a month to visit every territory, so he decided to leave the remaining lands alone for the time being.

'This should buy me some time,' Justin thought. For now, he wasn't in a rush to claim these lands as his own. In fact, leaving them unattended for a while would create the impression that his conquest was still ongoing, further spreading fear.

Besides, now that everyone knew Justin and Damian were cooperating, no one would dare to treat Damian lightly, out of fear of retaliation from Justin.

While leaving the territories alone for too long would eventually weaken that fear, Justin planned to take over as soon as his administrative reforms were complete, so there was no real concern.

'It's a bit disappointing, though. I searched over ten territories and didn't find a single doctor,' Justin thought. He would have been happy with any kind of physician, not just an obstetrician.

But his disappointment didn't last long.

"Wait… a rebellion in the cult leader's territory? And the leader has been imprisoned? Some of his loyalists escaped and came to me for help?"

The news waiting for him was enough to blow away any lingering frustration.