The Shadow Organization Members Raised Through Pay-To-Win Are Too Strong

“What’s with that old hag?”

Simon looked at the uninvited guest.

No matter how she looked at it, it was just a seemingly powerless, ordinary elderly person.

But there was one peculiar point.

‘I couldn’t sense her presence.’

Until the elderly person revealed herself first, Simon hadn’t noticed her existence.

Though that raised brief suspicion, she dismissed it as insignificant.

‘Must have missed it while dealing with the Inquisitor.’

Hadn’t they just fought an intense battle?

She probably missed the Elder’s presence during that process.

“Hmm, what should we do with that old woman?”

Simon narrowed her eyes, lost in thought.

Not that she was considering letting her live.

Whether to kill her or not, there was never any intention of letting her live from the start.

That old woman was the only witness who saw them kill the Inquisitor.

But the Elder spoke with composure.

“I wonder if there’s any good child who would help me? If you listen well, I’ll give you a special reward.”

Should it be called brazen or fearless?

Even in such a dire moment, the Elder maintained a relaxed tone.

“Seems she’s crazy.”

Simon felt embarrassed for having doubted herself for a moment about this deranged old woman.

There was no more time to waste here.

She planned to quickly deal with this witness and place the Inquisitor’s corpse in Hartwell territory.

‘Finally, I can begin the grand plan!’

What she desired was only one thing – chaos.

Making order collapse and people trembling in fear.

Only then could they summon the evil god that the dark mages followed.

“Ah… just imagining it is thrilling.”

Simon muttered with maddened eyes.

Her whole body trembled thinking about the upcoming chaos and disorder.

But first, she needed to deal with the uninvited guest.

Simon pointed at the Elder and gave an order.

“Kill her.”

At that one word, one dark mage began chanting a spell.

The ground split, and dozens of hands shot up to grab the Eighth Elder.

“Kekeke, success! It’s over now, old woman!”

The dark mage who chanted the spell expressed joy at ensnaring their prey.

Now, just squeezing with force would crush the Elder instantly.

“Urgh…!”

Though the dark mage concentrated power, nothing happened.

The Eighth Elder before them stood still with a peaceful face, not even flinching.

“W-what are you doing! Kill her quickly!”

A flustered Simon screamed while urging the dark mage.

However, nothing changed.

The attacks weren’t working on the Elder.

Rather, the composed opponent opened her mouth.

“My… bad children need to be punished.”

Despite the black hands clinging all over, the Eighth Elder swung her hand as if nothing was wrong.

At that moment, the air whirled.

BOOM-!

A powerful shockwave struck the spell-chanting dark mage.

His body was lifted into the air.

“Kuhk…!”

With a scream, the dark mage rolled on the ground.

His two arms were severed at the shoulders, fresh blood soaking the earth.

“W-what was that!”

Simon was shocked.

In the blink of an eye, one companion was taken down.

And with just a single attack at that.

The problem was that she still couldn’t understand exactly what had happened.

“What a shame the arms were cut off… Since you’re worthless for education now, I should hand it over to the Third Elder.”

Far from being flustered, the Elder muttered leisurely.

And then slowly approached them.

“Eek! Stay back!”

In urgency, Simon generated black arrows and fired them, but they had no effect.

The black arrows dissipated before even reaching the Eighth Elder.

As if she were immune to dark magic.

Simon blankly stared at the Eighth Elder.

“M-monster…”

That’s right.

That being could only be described as a monster.

Simon racked her brain and calculated how to escape this situation.

Even a monster couldn’t be omnipotent.

‘Could it be magic resistance!’

The possibility was high.

If magic resistance was high, of course, magic wouldn’t work.

It wasn’t that there was no way.

‘No chance with magic!’

Simon rolled toward Lorenzo’s corpse.

Then she snatched up the sword the Inquisitor had used.

If magic didn’t work, then physical attacks would do.

“Die!”

Simon swung the sword with all her might.

But the Eighth Elder blocked it with one finger.

“…Huh?”

Simon’s eyes widened.

Even though she was a dark mage, she prided herself on her strength.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have toyed with the Inquisitor earlier.

But what about now?

Simon’s attack was blocked.

And with just one finger at that.

“This isn’t right…”

Simon looked back and forth between her hand and the Eighth Elder in disbelief.

The Eighth Elder smiled, watching Simon’s behavior.

It was a cold and cruel smile.

“Bad children must be punished after all.”

With those words, the Eighth Elder’s finger brushed Simon’s neck.

Then Simon suffered tremendous pain.

“Kuh, kuuh…”

She wanted to scream, but the intense pain continued, making even that impossible.

‘My, my eyes feel like they’re going to pop out!’

She couldn’t even breathe.

Her face swelled red.

How much time passed?

When the pain stopped, Simon barely opened her eyes.

That brief moment had felt like an eternity to Simon.

However, the Eighth Elder still stood before her.

“You seem to be the most valuable. Sadly, I can’t take you myself.”

The Eighth Elder expressed genuine regret.

She wanted to take Simon with her, but she had other business.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll have to be satisfied with the intact one.”

The Eighth Elder approached another dark mage.

She planned to hand over the one with severed arms to the Third Elder.

When the Eighth Elder made one gesture, the dark mage’s body floated into the air.

Seeing this, Simon gritted her teeth.

It was a tragedy brought by arrogance.

She never dreamed such a monster existed.

“…”

No, even if she had known, could she have dealt with it?

But what’s done is done.

Her fate now lay in that monster’s hands.

“…”

Simon quietly watched the situation.

There was no way to escape from that monster.

She already showed resignation in her eyes.

‘Huh?’

But then suddenly fog arose, surrounding the mountain range.

The fog was so thick that even trees visible just moments ago couldn’t be seen.

‘Is this a chance!’

No matter how monstrous the opponent, tracking would be difficult in this vision-blocked state.

Simon quietly tried to crawl away to escape.

Before long, she saw something.

“…A carriage?”

It was a strange white carriage with a raven pattern engraved on it.

Simon felt a sense of déjà vu.

Why was there a carriage in a place like this?

Moreover, she couldn’t even hear the sound of the carriage approaching.

Just as questions arose, the white carriage’s door opened.

Figures wearing white robes emerged from inside.

Their faces were covered with white cloth, making their identities unknown.

Shortly after, their gazes turned to Simon.

“Wow, it’s been so long since we’ve seen a dark mage!”

Their voice was full of joy.

“My, we didn’t expect the Eighth Elder to be so considerate.”

The Eighth Elder smiled and answered the figure’s words.

“It’s all the Leader’s will. So I trust you will manage that dark mage well in Mist. And I would appreciate it if you could deliver that armless one to the Third Elder.”

Mist, the underground prison.

They were famous for extracting truth through notorious torture.

They were so cruel they were called the White Hell.

The Eighth Elder handing Simon over to Mist was related to this.

She planned to secure information about dark mages through torture.

Of course, since Mist would handle it, the Eighth Elder needed to take the dark mage she had marked for herself.

“We will do as the Elder says. Above all, He will be amazed at the Leader and Eighth Elder’s gift.”

The white-robed figures loaded Simon and the other dark mage into the carriage.

Soon, the door closed, and the carriage disappeared into the fog.

“Well then, shall I be on my way?”

She was lucky to obtain a living dark mage.

A smile formed on the Eighth Elder’s lips, feeling she could give the children good experience.

* * *

A week had passed since Inquisitor Lorenzo left the territory.

‘Seeing there’s no word, he must have returned safely.’

During this time, Hartwell’s territory was at peace itself.

The priest’s murder case was officially concluded.

But one couldn’t let their guard down.

What if the Inquisitor was met with disaster instead?

Since it would be irreversible then, I had given orders to Black Raven.

The content was to watch Inquisitor Lorenzo.

Though giving such orders would make Black Raven pay attention to Hartwell territory, I wasn’t particularly worried.

Emilia would block information about me anyway.

‘It wasn’t time to be cautious in the first place.’

It was a reasonably rational conclusion.

What if something really happened to the Inquisitor?

It was obvious great trouble would befall the territory, so I couldn’t help but worry.

The entire territory being branded as heretics would happen in an instant.

Then, it wouldn’t end at simply abandoning the territory and fleeing.

The Holy Kingdom would track us to the ends of the earth.

Of course, having Black Raven meant I could avoid becoming a fugitive. Still, giving up everything I’d achieved here would be too wasteful.

Anyway, since nothing happened, there was no need to think about it anymore.

It would just be a waste of time.

‘Should I proceed with the next lesson?’

I adjusted my posture.

My daily routine these days was simple.

Study, learn basic swordsmanship, then learn magic.

In addition, I was managing the Golden Wing Merchant Group.

Since I couldn’t keep managing the merchant group forever, I tried to select a guild master, but I didn’t know finding people would be this difficult.

‘Let’s think about the merchant group slowly.’

Rather than picking just anyone and letting it fail, it was better for me to work a bit harder.

After the merchant group came my studies, with tutors visiting for each subject.

Things like language, history, and etiquette just required memorization. But swordsmanship and magic were different.

‘Swordsmanship is harder than I thought.’

Magic wasn’t easy either, but it didn’t feel difficult or overwhelming since I was still learning the basics.

Rather, it was smooth thanks to high compatibility with mana.

But swordsmanship was different.

Since I had never wielded a sword in my previous life, following basic stances was grueling.

‘I’ll have muscle pain again today.’

My whole body feels drained after sword lessons.

Still, I would follow along diligently since I needed minimum strength to protect myself, but my limitations would soon be exposed.

Just as I was about to prepare for lessons.

[Due to the Leader’s orders, Black Raven members have hunted 5 dark mages.]

[Synchronization progress has reached 25%.]

[You can now absorb the abilities of dark mages hunted by members.]

A new system that wasn’t in the game appeared.