Chapter 206
After the fight ended, the Violets took care of the battlefield.
First, they organized the injured and handled the troops.
“They should recover quickly.”
Fortunately, those harmed by the Laplacian monsters didn’t die.
Daphne, who was brought to the scene, immediately provided treatment.
Since they were not allowed to die yet, Rigel’s guys also completed emergency measures for now.
“You guys…!”
Soon, the search and excavation troops waiting outside entered and reassured everyone.
Since contact had been established, they were not hostile towards us, but they were somewhat on guard.
“I really can’t believe what Irene said was true…”
“How dare they!”
There were no unforeseen circumstances. Most people were unaware, but a few had been given prior notice.
While the banquet hall was being organized, the Violets restrained Rigel’s group.
While securing them with chains and restrainers for the Awakened, the other Violets aimed the heavy machine gun they had just set up.
“Let’s take them down if they come at us!”
“Bang bang and shoot!”
Of course, the suppression wasn’t going smoothly.
“Hey! Let go of this! Not going to? I’ll call a lawyer and sue!”
“Shut up!”
One of the ladies kept rambling, so I brought the butt of the gun down on her head.
She quieted down.
“Tsk tsk, to think a Hunter would talk about suing…”
I could hear Helios’ people murmuring.
In the Awakened society, strength is ultimately important. How absurd would it be for someone who had drawn their sword and lost to talk about the law like that?
On the other hand, the Violets bagged up the shattered Laplacian monsters.
“What is this?”
Muttering to myself, a nearby Scholarship Officer explained.
“That’s a Draugr. It’s a Laplacian bio-weapon modified from humans.”
From a glance, it looked hideously monstrous and didn’t seem easy to handle.
Fortunately, the Scholarship siblings disguised themselves as Resolvers to help, otherwise many would have died.
As the situation gradually calmed down, the people around began to ask questions.
“Who on earth are you?”
“…Irene. How did we end up here?”
The people in the banquet hall looked like they had many questions about the current situation.
As everyone’s gaze focused in the center, Irene began to speak.
“Everyone, I was recently abducted by my uncle Rigel. During that process, I realized that Rigel’s group was planning a coup right here today. So I came to stop it.”
As Irene’s short speech ended, the banquet hall buzzed with noise.
People exchanged glances, hiding their suspicions and wariness.
“Miss, what is that troop? You say it was left by your father?”
An old executive asked suspiciously.
To that, Irene replied firmly.
“That’s right. They are the troops my father left behind for unforeseen circumstances. But it’s not the time to explain that. For now, we need to discuss how to handle this situation and the direction we will lead our clan.”
And then she declared.
“Therefore, I will immediately convene a temporary board of directors with the authority granted to me as the acting CEO and my clan shares.”
“Puhahaha!”
Rigel, sprawled on the floor, burst into laughter.
He sneered at Irene and said.
“What? Don’t make me laugh. You think you have shares as a kid? What…!”
In an instant, Irene’s golden eyes sparkled.
“Of course I do.”
“…!”
She pulled out a stack of documents from her pocket and held them high.
“As you can see, I have enough clan shares to convene a general assembly. Moreover…”
As she unfolded the documents, the crowd held their breath.
“Just yesterday, I received a transfer of shares from my father. Currently, I hold more than half of the clan’s total shares.”
The unexpected declaration shocked the banquet hall.
“What?!”
“That’s a lie! No way!”
“If you find it hard to believe, see for yourself.”
Saying that, Irene showed the documents to the nearby executives.
“My God, it’s true. How is this possible…”
The mages and experts present in the banquet hall nodded in agreement.
The documents Irene handed over operated through a magic formula, manipulatable only by the owner.
Seeing that, Rigel’s gang lowered their heads in stunned silence.
Wasn’t that how the Roman soldiers felt witnessing Jesus rise from the dead?
Of course, it didn’t end smoothly.
Some conservative Hunters were already reaching for their weapons. They seemed to have misunderstood something.
As expected, Chief Morgan muttered, clutching his head.
“Irene… you didn’t, by any chance, kill your father…?”
However, Irene kept her mouth shut.
She merely gestured towards the back.
“If you’re curious, ask him yourself.”
A loud thud echoed as the ground shook.
The banquet hall door opened, and the Violets appeared with a colossal figure.
Everyone’s faces were filled with question marks at that strange sight.
Some people raised their weapons, watching cautiously.
And no wonder. The Steel Giant that joined us was a battle machine in itself.
“What’s that?”
“What other trick are they pulling—”
The moment people were murmuring, a voice echoed from the machine.
“Helios members, I have returned. I am Orion.”
All eyes in the banquet hall widened in surprise.
**
The people gathered in the banquet hall could not hide their shock at the sight of the giant mechanical figure.
It was a spectacle one might see only in a sci-fi movie.
“What nonsense is this! That’s just a robot!”
One executive screamed, denying reality.
“Irene, you’ve gone crazy! What are you doing?”
Another shouted with an agitated voice, a mix of fear and anger present.
Watching their reactions, Irene recalled the past.
When she witnessed her father being revived, she had been no different from them.
“I was just like that back then.”
She remembers the scene where Violets had borrowed the hospital operating room to resurrect her father using the technicians and researchers captured from Magnavis.
The process of disconnecting the brain and spinal cord from his dwindling body and implanting it into the machinery. The terrifying sight of the machine powered on and moving its arms and legs was unforgettable.
Just like now.
The giant mechanical figure took a step forward.
The ground trembled slightly with its movement.
“Everyone, I understand that it’s only natural for you to misunderstand. The difference between the me you know and my current appearance is heaven and earth.”
The machine giant spoke.
“However, I am indeed that person. The CEO of Frontier Services, Orion Solstice.”
At his words, people unleashed even louder denials and doubts.
Morgan, at the front, stepped up and shouted.
“Nonsense! You need proof to believe this!”
Stregonics turned to Morgan and looked at him.
“Morgan, do you remember when we first went to the Abyss-Return Dungeon? Remember how we had many fun stories after getting trapped when the Gate closed? Didn’t you tell me about your first love? It was Mina, right? Am I correct?”
Morgan’s eyes widened in shock.
He stood frozen and, with a trembling voice, replied.
“That… I never told anyone that name… How do you know that?”
Orion continued.
“Eliot, you were late to work just before the third joint expedition. You were drunk. Was it because you got rejected after confessing to a maid cafe waitress? The person you met afterward is standing right next to you, isn’t it?”
“Ugh! Why are you bringing that up here?”
The startled man glanced at his wife as Stregonics kept on speaking.
“Rita, I remember when you infiltrated the continent as a rookie, and you fell ill after getting hit by a monster egg.”
“…My God. You really are the chairman…”
The cyborg’s body turned toward Chief Viktor this time.
While people were in disarray, his attitude remained unchanged.
“Impressive! Irene. You must have done a lot of research for this show. Where did you get all that data…”
“Viktor.”
“Hey, clunker, what now?”
“Do you remember what happened during the early Argos mountain expedition? I saved you when you were trapped while searching alone.”
“Oh, I remember. I got caught by Kranos’s group…”
“While I understand the suspicion, please don’t test it. That’s just official record, right? Didn’t I tell you later that I just got lost while going to the bathroom? I was embarrassed, so I asked to change the record.”
The moment Viktor heard those words, he slumped down.
What happened back then was a secret known only to him and his captain.
Tears flowed from his eyes as he knelt down.
“…Captain. It really was you. I’m sorry, I…”
Irene and the Violets couldn’t hide their surprise.
Seeing someone so cynical crumble so easily was shocking.
As people began to gradually accept the giant cyborg’s identity as Orion, Rigel shouted in an angry voice.
“That’s a fake! You idiots, that’s Stregonics! A combat robot from Magnavis!”
Irene retorted coldly.
“Strictly speaking, it’s not a robot. It’s a cyborg weapon. By the way, Uncle, how do you know so much about that? Magnavis never revealed this to the outside.”
At Irene’s words, footage appeared on the screen. It clearly captured Stregonics.
“The 13th Street Shootout. Remember? Some of you might have heard about me. That’s Stregonics. But, Uncle, how did you know about that? I heard you had a few meetings with a Magnavis executive…”
Faced with her sharp questioning, Rigel was left speechless.
The people around began to murmur.
“Could it be that the attack incident was caused by Rigel’s group?”
“No way, how could that be possible?”
Amidst the murmurs, Stregonics spoke again.
“Rigel.”
“Hah, this clunky robot dares to impersonate our brother.”
“You were five years old, playing with a toy plane and fell from a tree.”
Rigel yelled through gritted teeth.
“Wow, you really did your research thoroughly, huh?”
But Orion didn’t stop.
“And at sixteen, you got bad grades on a test and got scolded by your parents. You ran out of the house and hid in a nearby arcade. Do you remember when I went to look for you? I brought you a hamburger set. A potato bacon double set we ate together.”
“…!”
The color drained from Rigel’s face.
Even if he wanted to deny it, he could no longer do so.
He looked around in fear, and gritted his teeth, attempting one last act of resistance.
“Don’t be fooled, everyone! Can’t you see those people over there? That’s the Ariel Group! The terrorist group that blew up Magnavis!”
Then Irene shot back again.
“No, Uncle. Those people are part of our clan’s Special Operations Division.”
“Special Operations Division? We don’t have such a department!”
Irene replied resolutely.
“No. Those individuals are part of our clan’s Special Operations Division.”
“You said Ariel Group! Special Operations Division? Did we ever have such a department?”
Orion’s voice echoed through the speaker.
“I apologize for the confidential nature of this matter. It was an unavoidable choice made to protect my family and clan.”
The gaze of the people looking at Irene changed.
They seemed to finally understand the overall situation.
Even if some parts were incomprehensible, they wholeheartedly believed that the captain had a reason for making such a choice.
“This is unbelievable…”
Despair lingered among Rigel’s faction. With the former leader resurrected and returned, there was no turning back.
It was all over.