1.
Mercenary Alliance Capital Branch.
As always, countless mercenaries gathered on the first floor, chatting amongst themselves.
“Hey, have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
“Hah, this guy! You’ve been wandering outside the capital for too long! Your news is so slow! Open up those dull ears and listen well, because…!”
As usual, the topic of conversation revolved around the most shocking event in recent days.
And in the past week, the most shocking news was, without a doubt—
“The Heroes of Light have declared that they will exterminate <Black Wolf>!!”
“W-What!? Is that true!?”
“…Crazy bastards.”
“Don’t look. You might get dragged into something.”
“They’ve got guts, I’ll give them that.”
It was only natural.
They had just spoken <Black Wolf>’s name so recklessly, and with such confidence.
Just a few days ago, if anyone—no matter who they were—had said something like that, they would have been scolded immediately.
Watch your mouth. Say things like that, and you won’t live long.
But now, with the Heroes of Light declaring war—
“Hah! Why are you all hesitating!? It’s the Heroes of Light we’re talking about!! Four of them have fought in Demon King subjugations before—are you really afraid of some common criminals!?”
Those who spoke boldly now carried weight in the discussion.
“Yeah, you cowardly bastards!! Don’t you know that Lady Selena can locate them instantly!? And you still call yourselves mercenaries!?”
“Tsk. So noisy. Well, I guess D-rank scrubs wouldn’t understand anyway.”
“What the hell did you just say!?”
Because of this, fights broke out almost every day in the Mercenary Alliance Capital Branch.
“You’ve got such a loose mouth, it’s gonna get you killed soon. Let me do you the favor of killing you first!!”
“Hah! Try it, then!! A coward who can’t even open his mouth when it really matters thinks he can kill me!?”
Thud!
Crash!
“You bastard!! Why the hell did you throw that at me!?”
“Get him!! Just beat the crap out of him!!”
The chaotic brawl quickly escalated, with even those who had been quietly watching now jumping into the fray.
Yet, in the midst of all this madness, Dalan remained motionless as he spoke.
“So, what do you plan to do now?”
His conversation partner—Yellow Dragon.
Dalan calmly asked from within the barrier he had quietly erected, as if gauging his reaction.
“If the Heroes of Light truly take action as the rumors say, wouldn’t attacking the Church of Aria become impossible?”
Hero Party – The Heroes of Light.
Each of them was strong enough to individually overwhelm a member of <Black Wolf>.
They were, without a doubt, the protagonists of the <Babylonia> world.
And after the recent banquet, their leader, Asha Mirabelle, had declared the subjugation of Black Wolf.
Thus, Nahan thought—
‘This is complete bullshit.’
We didn’t even attack them, so why the hell are they taking it out on us!?
We let Hestia live.
We let her talk to the Founder.
We even found a way to maintain the Barrier.
‘We did everything for them!!’
‘So why the hell are they only after me…?’
Instead of answering, Nahan shifted his gaze.
【Warning.】
【Hero – <Asha Mirabelle (SSS)>’s hostility towards <Black Wolf (EX)> has exceeded the critical limit.】
【The difficulty of Bad Ending 7 – <The Fanatics’ Revolt> has increased exponentially.】
At some point, a system notification had appeared, confirming that Asha held extreme hostility toward Black Wolf.
‘The episode about finding the <Demon Worshippers> infiltrating the Church of Aria was already a mid-to-late game boss-level event.’
As if it wasn’t hard enough already, things had just gotten even more difficult.
“Captain? What are your orders?”
“…”
What else?
‘If I want to survive, I have to make it work.’
Inside the armor of Yellow Dragon, Nahan steeled his resolve and spoke briefly.
“There’s no change. We proceed as planned.”
Though he was wearing Yellow Dragon’s armor, the one inside was still Black Wolf.
“Yes, Captain.”
Dalan bowed his head and accepted the command.
At the same time, he thought—
‘As expected, Captain has a plan for everything.’
And just like that, Nahan also stood up from his seat and thought—
‘Where do I even start…?’
He had finally managed to get more than six hours of sleep per day.
But it looked like he’d have to go back to surviving on just three or four hours again.
2.
A few hours later.
“You’re dismissed. I’ll be at the new hideout before breakfast.”
“Yes, Captain.”
After returning to Ian Red’s hideout—a run-down church—Nahan activated his artifact and collapsed onto the bed, still in disguise.
‘The Fanatics’ Revolt.’
The episode where Asha Mirabelle, the Hero of Light from the Babylonia Empire, purges the <Demon Worshippers> deeply rooted within the Church of Aria.
It all begins when Asha, who was waiting at the Church’s Capital Branch to recruit a Saint, accidentally stumbles upon a lead and starts chasing it down.
‘And from there, it’s all predictable.’
The usual story—some of the high-ranking priests, including the Pope, turn out to be <Demon Worshippers>, but the Heroes of Light overcome all odds and claim victory.
As Nahan recalled the rest of the plot and started wondering how to resolve this mess—
“…Huh? Wait a second.”
Something clicked in his mind.
He quickly went over the episode details again and muttered—
“This… I don’t actually have to get involved, do I?”
Once again, the protagonist of <Babylonia> is not <Black Wolf>, but <Heroes of Light>.
Because of that, <Black Wolf> does not appear in certain episodes.
And the mid-to-late episode “The Fanatics’ Revolt” is no exception.
Originally, at this point in the story, Black Wolf was supposed to track down and assassinate Viscount Gapelt.
‘But I already killed him, didn’t I?’
In other words, while Asha is busy hunting down the <Demon Worshippers>—
Black Wolf now had nothing to do.
“…There’s nothing to do?”
Of course—
【Main Scenario – <The Unredeemed – Han-Ryang & Celosia> has begun.】
【“You, forever captivating, are my love eternal and unchanging.”】
There was still the new Main Scenario: Han-Ryang & Cheon Il-Hong to deal with, but after resolving the Luna & Mother situation, I had realized something.
As long as I could somehow resolve the tragedy Han-Ryang had experienced in the past, I could probably clear the scenario just by sitting down and giving some counseling, right?
After all, thanks to the reward I obtained last time—<Black Wolf Members’ Memories>—I already had a rough idea of what kind of tragedy he went through.
“…Yeah.”
Honestly, I’d been through a lot.
There should be a section where I can just take it easy for once…
No, I mean, there should be moments where I can at least catch my breath.
A small smile crept onto Nahan’s face as he reached for the tattered blanket and tidied it up.
Now that some weight had been lifted off his shoulders, even this uncomfortable bed—far worse than a military cot—suddenly felt soft like a cloud.
“…”
As his mind and body finally found peace, a certain fact he had been trying to ignore suddenly resurfaced.
‘Come to think of it… Selena.’
Doesn’t she die in this episode?
If I remember correctly, she was killed by the corrupted Pope while trying to protect Asha.
‘…Should I save her?’
But how?
As I mentioned earlier—
This episode is one where even the protagonists of this world—the Hero Party—struggle immensely.
Even these monsters were struggling against the corrupted Pope and his priests—what the hell could I, Black Wolf, possibly do?
‘If I went there, I’d just get caught up in the chaos and die.’
It would be nothing more than adding one more enemy into an already intense battle, making it even more chaotic.
‘They’ll handle it themselves, so I shouldn’t bother.’
It’s the Hero Party, after all.
‘And since I’ve twisted a lot of things from the original story… maybe she could survive.’
Of course—
‘…The chances of her dying are still much higher.’
Feeling a lingering sense of unease, Nahan tightly shut his already closed eyes.
‘What is this?’
I had never even met her in person like the other Heroes of Light, so why was I so bothered?
And why did she feel so familiar?
“…Selena?”
The moment I unconsciously murmured her name out of frustration—
From a shadow darker than the rest, a voice emerged.
“…So you really did know.”
—Holy sh*t, that scared me.
‘Why the hell is she here!?’
Barely holding back a scream, I turned toward the source of the voice.
A gloomy woman emerged from the darkness.
Ash-gray hair.
Ash-gray eyes.
A sharp, piercing gaze.
I had seen someone like this before.
After running through my memories a few times, I finally remembered.
‘Mother.’
Back when Mother was in the Ten, wouldn’t she have looked exactly like this?
‘…Wait.’
If Selena, whom Mother once called her real daughter, had now become the Selena of the Heroes of Light—
‘That doesn’t make any sense.’
From Mother’s memories, Selena was clearly suffering from an incurable disease.
As if responding to my doubts, Selena spoke, her gaze locked onto me.
“I won’t waste words. What did you do to my mother—no, to the criminal Mother?”
Realizing that she was, without a doubt, the same Selena, I folded my hands together and calmly asked back.
“…Why are you asking me that?”
“Ian Red. I can feel it from you.”
…Does she not know that I’m Black Wolf?
“It would be best if you answered properly. No matter how much Asha has come to value you, depending on your answer… I might just twist your neck.”
Yeah, she definitely doesn’t know.
She was famous for being able to see through artifacts and disguises, so I was a bit concerned.
But it seems that the artifact Ruby gave me was really high quality.
Realizing that I could still use the “Ian Red” identity, I quickly smiled.
Let’s say that I met Mother’s soul, not Mother herself, and that I helped her pass on peacefully.
After all, it was just a lingering thought.
Mother had already died long ago—so technically, I wouldn’t even be lying.
“I sent her off without regrets.”
“…Her body. What did you do with her body?”
“There was never a body to begin with.”
I answered simply, intending to add some explanations afterward—
But then—
—Creak.
From Selena’s ash-gray eyes, a black aura began to leak out.
She stared directly at me and gave a cold warning.
“Whatever method you used… it’s clear that you killed my mother.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll kill you.”
“…Huh??”
Wait, no, seriously—
It really wasn’t me!?
