Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 193: Betrayal

He tried to teleport, but it was impossible. The crystal dust was resisting his use of magic. Fortunately, his law was still present, and he could still fly, so he tried to zip away from the cloud of crystal dust.

But the dust suddenly hardened around him, and it was as if he were trying to move beneath a frozen lake. The monster was finally using skills since the fight began instead of just shooting and controlling crystals.

’.....bad news!.....’ Atrox grunted as he struggled to get away. He wanted to change the law he was using, but he resisted because that seemed to be the only thing affecting the crystal monster.

A flash of light, and the monster was standing together with her in the dust of crystal, its shapeless face turned toward him. Atrox could have sworn he saw it smirk.

Without waiting, Atrox wanted to brute-force his way out, so he made the space between them explode with fire. A shockwave of heat ignited with a whoosh, but just as it appeared, it suddenly disappeared—

Only to reappear behind the Tower and slam into it from behind. Atrox winced as the Tower shook. His attack had been turned against him!

’.....is this the special trait of the crystal dust? To deflect attacks back to the attacker? And why’s this guy not finishing me off... Ah... I see....’

The monsters had talked about taking Atrox away, and as he watched helplessly, the crystal dust bent around him, warped around the Tower, and then began to float toward the city.

It wasn’t as fast as it should have been because of the law Atrox had set in place, but the fact that it was moving at all—and taking Atrox with it—made his heart beat faster.

’...I have to do something!.... now!.....’

All his attacks would be deflected back to him, not to mention the monster being more powerful than him. So he simply dropped the law he was using and watched as the crystal dust shot forward.

He immediately set another law. "Everything around the Tower is rejected!"

The pulse that came out of the Tower rippled with a shockwave that slammed into the crystal dust and cleared it away. The monster was also thrown back.

Atrox grinned and teleported far into the sky, where he promptly dropped the previous law and adopted another one. "This Tower is unseen!"

It was as if an eraser had been taken to clear the image of the Tower away. It hadn’t actually disappeared—it was just that eyes wouldn’t register it when looking at it.

But they could tell that he was higher up in the sky.

"Shit. That was intense. Quick thinking, Atrox. If I was the one..." Slya shuddered. They had watched the fight while holding their breath. Everything was so fast they could only truly see the monsters when they stopped moving.

If they hadn’t been in the Tower, they were sure they would have died without knowing what had killed them.

"What are you going to do now? We can’t stay here for long, and that monster can still spread its crystal dust somewhat," Tiber said.

Atrox sighed. "If only I could use two Commander’s Laws at the same time, then it would have made things easier. I don’t think the others can get here in time. They’re also fighting their own monsters."

’...and the other enchanted Towers would be just as useless unless they all gang up on the crystal monster...’

Suddenly, Atrox and the others heard a scream. It was familiar, filled with pain and shock. Atrox jolted. "Pomora!"

’....what the... Something can make her shout like that? Is she wounded? An attack?.....’

Atrox swung the Tower around immediately, just as Tiber called out. "Stop, Atrox! Wait!" The Tower slowed. "We don’t know what’s going on. It might even be a mimic. But think about it—what can we do against something that makes a Master Knight scream out like that?"

Atrox gritted his teeth. "Shit. You’re right."

He took a deep breath and thought about it. Pomora was strong. If there was something stronger than her that could hurt her, then he’d be truly useless. He should just trust that she was strong enough to deal with whatever was happening.

Just then, he heard a series of explosions and a thunderclap so strong it shook the air and made it tremble. And then there was silence. The sound of fighting had suddenly stopped.

Atrox froze, holding his breath. ’...what’s going on?..... Wait... Even the crystal monster has stopped chasing me.....’

And then he saw it—the crystal monster shot into the air and began scanning the sky. Atrox tensed as if staying completely still would strengthen the magic of the Commander’s Law.

And then he suddenly breathed out in relief as he saw Steelclaw shoot out from behind the monster, carried by an angry cloud. Lightning-flickering eyes swept over the monster... and passed it as he also began looking at the sky.

Atrox felt a chill, and his brain seemed to flip.

’.....what?!..... Steelclaw?.....’

Steelclaw moved closer to the crystal monster, and the two whispered together before continuing their search.

Inside the Tower, Atrox’s eyes were wide, his mouth dry, and his gut tightened. He understood then. Steelclaw had betrayed them. Or maybe he had never supported them in the first place.

Little things he had overlooked began flashing through his mind.

’.....dlodus... The clone that Steelclaw sent to the second layer had been in the ruin with the Rift Seed before. Tiber saw it in the monster’s dream...’

’...somehow, the monsters got their hands on human-made enchanted tools that were assisting them in creating armies... Armies... Armies!! Steelclaw wanted revenge on the Soryu Clan, and recently, when Atrox met him for cooperation, the man said he’d do it himself....’

’...how the man wanted nothing to do with Atrox, but suddenly, he began to cooperate....’

’....he’s going to use the monster armies? But how? Can it be related to why the monsters want me alive?.....’

’....are the two other Flagbearers still alive?....’

All of this flashed through Atrox’s head, and he said flatly, "Steelclaw has betrayed us."

Tiber and Slya were silent. They had more or less come to the same conclusion after seeing the man talk with the monster.

After a while, Tiber said, "You don’t seem that shocked."

Atrox smiled, but there was no warmth. "I’m trying to think of how we can get out of this mess."

Hopeless, Slya asked, "And have you?"

"No."

"Shit."