How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 271 - Fog Valley (1)

We were approaching Fog Valley. In the sky heading east, I contemplated routes for entry and retreat. Both were important.

If this was a trap, getting caught during the entry phase would be significantly different from not getting caught. Making contact with the imperial agents and escaping was equally important. The best option was to enter and exit covertly, but we always had to keep the worst-case scenario in mind.

For entry, we decided to make a wide detour to the south and enter from the east of Fog Valley rather than the west. We chose to focus on safety even if it took a bit longer. If devils were waiting, they’d be watching the western skies.

‘We should also avoid eyewitness accounts from people in the area as much as possible.’

For retreat, we actually chose the north. I thought they’d expect us to go south. If our location wasn’t pinpointed during the escape, we could create confusion.

We set three contact points. Since this was enemy territory, separate dragon carriages could be in danger. The plan was to head straight back to the empire if the situation wasn’t favorable, or move to the next contact point if it was.

If we couldn’t meet at the third contact point, we decided the dragon carriage would escape on its own, and we’d escape by our own means.

“Sir, we’ll arrive soon.”

Past midnight, we landed quite far to the east of the mountain range where Fog Valley was located. Landing is just a manner of speaking; we jumped out mid-air.

Terka, who had experienced wingsuit flying a few times before, spread his arms and legs as if familiar with it.

The cold was noticeable due to being high in the air and winter approaching. I adjusted our direction while wrapping myself in winds.

I would have liked to head straight to Fog Valley like this. It would have been a much easier path.

But we couldn’t do that. If we could, we would have ridden dragons and dropped from above. There’s no way the devils wouldn’t detect our flight.

I checked the surroundings, flew for a while, and then landed on the ground. I immediately took off the wingsuit.

“This is…”

“Tear it into small pieces and put it here.”

I dug up the ground with winds. We didn’t have the luxury of carrying the wing suits around. But it felt odd to just discard them intact.

Even if they knew I could fly, I didn’t want to immediately show them how it worked.

After burying the wing suits, now unrecognizable in shape, we immediately headed towards Fog Valley. Terka seemed quite tense.

I found it a bit strange, as he wasn’t this tense when we snuck into the dwarves’ tunnels last time.

“Why are you so tense?”

“Me? I’m not?”

“What do you mean you’re not?”

“I’m not.”

I didn’t press Terka further as he shook his head. The situation was similar to entering enemy territory back then, so I thought it might be because of the Great Devil.

Hmm. Observing people’s reactions, it seemed they feared the Great Devil more than I did.

Actually, I expected the opposite. In this world, the Great Devil was from a very long time ago, and I knew about it from the game.

Despite the time that had passed, its infamy seemed to have grown even stronger. Even Terka was like this.

“Relax, the Great Devil isn’t here. And you know we won’t die, right?”

I said this with the Amulet of the Season That Doesn’t Exist in mind. Terka immediately frowned and shuddered.

“Ugh, I’d rather meet the devil than go in there.”

“It’ll be better than last time.”

Terka had reason to dislike it so much. He had only experienced entering with Denif and me. It’s a bit better with just two people. It’s best when I’m alone.

Of course, either way, the feeling of your mind being polluted by unpleasantness is the same.

“And how can you dislike something more than the devil when you’ve never even met it? Are you saying you dislike it more than dying?”

“It’s just a figure of speech.”

His tension seemed to ease a bit after I teased him a little. After that, we advanced towards the valley in silence.

At some point, even though we were still quite far from Fog Valley, I could sense enemies.

It was a massive encirclement. Suddenly, I was reminded of the past. When I was rescuing Toun Zaha with Phiri in the north. There was an encirclement then too.

However, the current encirclement was larger and denser than back then. It could simply be because this was their territory in the east.

‘Back then, they had to hide their identity.’

But even at a glance, there seemed to be quite a difference in quality. At this point of expansion, the answer was already clear.

I concluded that Fog Valley was a trap set by the devil and its followers. Even if it wasn’t, it was better to think that way.

There was enough reason to think so. Both from what Terka, who had lived in the east, said and from the current encirclement.

There was a high probability that they deliberately didn’t capture the imperial agents until they entered the valley.

‘They might have been captured by now.’

We can’t rule out the possibility that they’re luckily hiding in the valley. It’s a place always filled with thick fog. The imperial agents were elites.

The valley itself wasn’t a small place either. However, I was a bit more worried.

It felt like there was a higher possibility that even the member of that secret group might be part of the trap. They might have staged the entire thing from the beginning.

Of course, these were possibilities we had considered from the empire. It’s just that the probability seemed higher now that we were here.

‘Let’s go and see for now.’

Actually, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a staged act or not. If that person is part of the trap, they might not have caught them yet. They might be deliberately making the escape difficult.

I just need to bring that person before Erendil. I’m the only one on this continent who knows about Erendil’s Mystic Power.

They don’t know that. If Erendil can determine whether it’s true or false, we can turn their trap against them.

***

“Are we really okay to go? You said they’re spread out in front, left, and right?”

“Trust me.”

No matter how thick and dense their encirclement was, it wasn’t much of a threat to me with my winds. The same goes even if there’s fog.

I can know exactly where they are and which direction they’re looking.

Their encirclement was watching both inwards and for entry from the outside. The empty spaces right now were actually paths to death.

But that didn’t apply to me with my expanded winds. I know that the gaps in their surveillance are actually trapped paths.

“Even if it looks dangerous right now, this is the way in.”

That’s why I could confidently say this even though they were positioned ahead of us. Terka’s face showed conflict as he frowned.

He didn’t distrust me, but he seemed a bit worried. I slightly furrowed my brow.

“What’s really wrong with you?”

“What?”

“Why are you so scared? You weren’t like this last time.”

To be honest, the current situation with a high probability of the devil being here is much more dangerous, but considering Terka’s skills, this was too much.

Honestly, it wasn’t a problem to argue about in the current situation, but thinking about future events, it seemed better to address it now.

“You’re not acting like this because I brought you out at an important time, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Act like a Sword Master’s disciple. Before I write in my adventure memoir that you were a coward after all this is over.”

Of course, I had no intention of writing any adventure memoir. I didn’t even know if things would end well. It was just a threat to Terka. This guy is sensitive about his reputation.

“What? Adventure memoir? Hey, that’s not fair. How am I a coward?”

“Looking at what you’re doing now, you are.”

“People won’t believe…”

Terka couldn’t finish his sentence.

“They probably will, you know? You know too, right? Who wouldn’t believe the words of Carl Schurtafen, called the Sword of the Empire?”

“…”

“There’s no risk of dying if you stick close to me. What’s the problem?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Don’t tell me you were just pretending to be tough last time because Rina was there?”

“…That’s not it!”

Terka flared up. I wondered if it was true. I had never worked with just him in the game. Maybe he was originally a coward.

“Anyway, if you don’t want to hear such things, behave properly. I’m not joking, you know? This is the Great Devil who appeared after nearly a thousand years. If this ends well, it will definitely go down in history.”

Terka tilted his head slightly, as if he hadn’t thought that far. It’s actually an obvious statement. Wasn’t it the same for the founding emperor?

If all this ends well, stories about Erendil, me, the Sword Masters, and key figures will inevitably come out.

Terka’s role as Mondegreen’s disciple might not be huge, but it won’t be small either. Just look at the attack on the dwarves’ tunnels, and now he’s here with me.

Results will come out within two years at most, meaning if things go well, Terka could be treated as a hero for the rest of his life based on his actions now.

“Oho…”

My words seemed to have quite an impact as life began to return to Terka’s face. It felt like I was babysitting even after coming all the way here, but I added one more thing.

“If you do well now, I’ll put in a good word for you too.”

“What do you mean, put in a good word? I’ve been doing well all along. I wasn’t even nervous.”

Terka shrugged, pretending not to know. Well, it seemed he was trying to play it cool in his own way.

“Right. Just keep doing like you are now.”

We moved forward. Devil worshippers passed by on our left and right. The closest was only about 30 meters away.

This was possible by blocking all sounds with winds in addition to the thick fog, and hiding even our presence.

As we advanced a bit more like that, we had to stop. It was because of the devil’s fragment.

‘They’ve planted them here too.’

It was the same as what we encountered in the north before. Should I call it an avatar of the devil? It wasn’t visible to the eye, but beneath the fog, a strange presence crawling on the ground could be felt.

I immediately minimized my winds. They might have sensed something from the detection just now.

However, fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t noticed. The devil’s fragment continued to crawl around on the ground.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

I left Terka behind for a moment and moved stealthily. It was to directly confirm the devil’s fragment. I had a hunch.

As expected, the devil’s fragment was more intense than when I saw it before, and the atmosphere it gave off was different too.

It wasn’t simply because my senses had become keener since then. There was a high probability that it was because the devil was in this Fog Valley.

The devil can use those fragments as a medium for spatial movement. It probably hid them in various places.

‘Hmm. To avoid this, we’d have to make too big a detour.’

The presence of the devil’s fragment in the empty spaces between the encirclement was likely intentional.

But it was also tricky to break through the encirclement by force. Unlike in the past, the frequency of communication between teams was faster now.

It was too risky a move for us, who needed to enter Fog Valley and find the agents.

Moreover, there was a high possibility that there would be devil’s fragments even in the places we’d detour to.

Going around would be too far and likely just waste time, and breaking through straight ahead was even more impossible.

Tsk, is there no choice? I clicked my tongue and returned to Terka. In the short time we were apart, his face had become tense again.

“What? Is something there?”

He really did seem to be on the cowardly side.

“Get ready.”

“Wh-what?”

There is a way to break through, though it also has risks.