A Warrior Race (2)

The shock must have caught me completely off guard; words failed me.

"Not what you pictured from the gallery, huh? I know there's quite a gap between the handle 'One-Eyed Old Man' and how I actually look. All the newbies react like you."

"No, well... it's just..."

To be frank, his appearance was indeed startling. In fact, my shock was almost entirely due to his looks. The fact that someone with the handle 'One-Eyed Old Man' turned out to be a fresh-faced youth certainly played a part, but what truly threw me was how impossible it was to connect this person with the name 'Odin.'

Isn't Odin that god from Norse mythology?

Unless everything I had learned growing up was wrong, Odin might not have been a purely benevolent deity, but he certainly wasn't an evil one either. On top of that, he wasn't just any minor god; he was the All-Father, the chief sovereign. What could he possibly have to do with the Demon Lord Gallery?

"I admit I'm a bit surprised, but..."

Trying to collect my composure, I took a closer look at the white-haired youth standing before me. Gradually, several unmistakable details caught my eye: a raven perched on his shoulder—practically the mascot of Norse myth's Odin—and the leather eyepatch covering one eye, his most iconic trademark. No matter how you looked at it, this was no coincidence.

As my thoughts spiraled into confusion, Odin broke the silence.

"What's the matter, newbie? Experiencing cognitive dissonance because I seem both different from and similar to the Odin from your world's myths?"

"Yes—wait, how did you...?"

He spoke as if he were reading my mind. While that was unnerving enough, a moment of reflection reminded me that something similar had happened when I first met the Marquis. It was probably some sort of magic.

"Spot on. Well, technically speaking, the Marquis used future sight to observe the future where you voiced your question, whereas in my case, I just peeked straight into your head."

"Magic really is convenient, isn't it?"

"If you feel cheated, come over to my dimension and train for about a hundred thousand years. You'll be able to do it too."

"......"

One-Eyed Old Man—no, Odin—spoke in a tone that was strangely irritating yet breezy. He was undeniably an ancient elder from ages past, but seeing that youthful face speak with such casual flippancy was mind-boggling. Isn't it practically an unwritten rule that an archmage should look like a dignified old grandfather with a long, flowing beard?

"You know that's subtly rude, right? Thinking an archmage has to look like an old codger is pure prejudice. Once you hit a certain level of mastery in magic or martial arts, rejuvenation and youth-restoration come naturally as a package deal. Why on earth would anyone choose to stay wrinkled? Anyone keeping an old-man appearance is just roleplaying, plain and simple. Only crazy bastards walk around looking old on purpose."

"Even so... isn't there such a thing as common sense?"

Setting his looks aside, his speech was far too casual. If anything, it sounded closer to a teenager's internet slang than a proper adult's. That was the hardest part to wrap my head around.

"What are you talking about? You see people talk like this in the gallery all the time. If it really bothers you, want me to switch personas? I keep a grumpy, stubborn old-fart persona tucked away since you seem to prefer that sort of thing."

"No, it's fine. I'll just adapt."

At some point, I had grown used to Odin reading my thoughts and answering before I could speak, so adjusting to his speech pattern shouldn't be too hard. Probably.

"Good enough, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then. Oh, and about your question earlier regarding the connection to your world's mythology—I'm still looking into that, so I can't give you a clear answer yet. If you're really curious, look up the gonik 'Ferryman' on the gallery and shoot him a DM."

"Thank you."

I had to admit, having someone answer my questions without me needing to voice them was pretty convenient.

"Nothing else you're curious about, right?"

Without waiting for my answer, Odin casually sat down beside me and began rummaging through his belongings, pulling something out.

"What is that?"

"Special jerky made from Saehrimnir. Fantastic bar snack. Chomp down on this with a mug of mead while watching the matches, and it's absolute heaven. Want some?"

"...This is virtual reality anyway, so it's not like you can give me any, right?"

"Sharp kid."

"......"

My forced viewing of Odin's mouth-watering mukbang didn't last long, however. The timer floating in the center of the colosseum reached 00:00.

The brief announcement echoed across the arena, and figures soon began to materialize in the center. Once the flash of light faded, what stood there was a single blond man facing twenty-one creatures.

I describe them as "creatures" for a simple reason: a grotesque mass writhing with countless tentacles, a humanoid sporting demonic bat wings, a beast resembling a monstrous wolf, an eight-armed giant... There was no single word other than "creatures" broad enough to encompass them all.

In any case, the twenty-one Demon Lords looked thoroughly terrifying, repulsive, and overwhelmingly powerful—to the point where it seemed they could shred the lone blond man on the opposite side of the ring in a fraction of a second.

"They look pretty formidable."

My instincts, honed over more than a decade of hunting monsters pouring from the Gates, sounded the alarm. Those twenty-one Demon Lords were definitely no pushovers. If I were to compare them to monsters based on their presence, movement, and sheer size, they had to be at least 2nd Class.

Furthermore, they weren't mindless beasts; they were Demon Lords possessing intellect and combat experience on par with—or superior to—humans. Their actual fighting prowess had to be leagues ahead of regular monsters. Even evaluating my own abilities, going all-out with my supernatural powers would at best let me take down two or three of them in mutual destruction.

No matter how strong Equilibrium is, isn't this pushing it?

Or did his weapons have some special trick? My gaze shifted toward the paired blades held by the Demon Lord Equilibrium. In one hand, he held a pure white longsword radiating brilliant holy light, while in the other, he wielded a dagger as black as the pitch-black abyss.

It's too far to see them clearly, though...

"Newbie, don't forget this is a 4D virtual reality space. If you can't see, just zoom in."

"Huh?"

"Just focus your eyes on where you want to look and think it. It'll zoom in automatically, and you can even check the weapon stats and participant profiles."

Following Odin's slightly exasperated instructions, I finally managed to take advantage of the features provided by this moderator-hosted arena. When I inspected the two blades, their lore and stats were staggering.

"'The Holy Sword that severed the heavens, the Demonic Sword that cleaved the earth'... that sounds terrifying."

The descriptions of their performance and history were so absurd they practically flooded my field of vision. Splitting entire continents, piercing the heart of an Earth Mother goddess... They were items that defied reason, weapons completely off the charts. With armaments like that, his chances against twenty-one Demon Lords seemed more than favorable.

"Hm? What are you talking about? The divine and demonic functions of those blades are sealed for this match. He's only allowed to rely on pure swordsmanship."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you think the gallery folks would go wild if he just carried the fight with overpowered weapons? They're cheering because he takes down Demon Lords armed with magic, martial arts, sorcery, and sci-fi technology through sheer swordplay alone. There's a reason that guy has a massive fanbase among the martial-faction Demon Lords."

"Winning through pure sword technique... does that even make sense?"

To my knowledge, swordsmanship was just one of many ways to kill monsters and men—a desperate last resort used only when standard, efficient means like firearms or supernatural abilities ran dry. It made no sense to me.

"Stop asking and just watch. You'll see."

On either side of the arena, the lone Demon Lord and the twenty-one challengers assumed their stances.

The twenty-one Demon Lords snorted fiery breaths, began chanting arcane incantations, and pumped explosive power into every fiber of their muscles. Yet Equilibrium showed no reaction whatsoever.

Until the countdown fully expired, he merely inspected the two swords in his hands.

The twenty-one Demon Lords moved like literal lightning. A dozen or so brute-force combatants crossed the several-hundred-meter expanse of the arena in under a tenth of a second, thrusting their demonic claws toward Equilibrium. Meanwhile, the caster-types completed immense magic circles in the blink of an eye, casting a shadow over the entire battleground.

Meteors and lightning plunged from the sky, while fists, blades, and spears converged on a single point in an overwhelming storm of bloodlust and slaughter. In that very fraction of an instant—

Equilibrium took a single step forward.

And then—every single Demon Lord collapsed.

Crude and simplistic as my description sounded, it was genuinely the best I could do. The moment Equilibrium stepped forward, every single Demon Lord was sliced apart. That was the unvarnished truth.

"......What was that just now?"

My mind simply couldn't process what had transpired. I saw dozens of Demon Lords lunging at Equilibrium ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the moment the match began, but I had no idea what happened over the next two seconds. To describe exactly what my eyes registered: the charging Demon Lords abruptly halted, the spellcasters in the rear stopped chanting, and an instant later, every single one of them was diced into pieces. The meteors hurtling from the sky had been bisected and slammed harmlessly into the corners of the arena, while the lightning seemed to have avoided Equilibrium entirely, charring only the scorched earth around his feet.

"Check the replay in slow motion. He executed footwork in nanosecond intervals, deflecting and cutting down every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠single attack in sequence. He even severed the magic itself. It's been a while since I've seen that Hero Spy's fast-sword technique."

It was just as Odin said. When I used the gallery arena's replay feature to slow the scene down to a thousandth of its normal speed, I could finally see the swordsmanship of Equilibrium—or rather, the Hero Traitor—parrying every blow and striking back in the span of an eyeblink.

"...Is he even a living creature?"

In all my life, I had never heard of an organism—or any form of physical matter, for that matter—that could perceive and act within nanoseconds.

"Who knows? But if you're already blown away by that, how are you going to handle what's next? There's still plenty left to see. If you get this hyped over every match, you're going to have a field day watching all twenty-four hours."

Odin's words held true. With short intermissions sprinkled between matches, ten hours flew by in what felt like an instant. I found myself astounded by the appearance of each new challenger, baffled by the spells and martial arts they unleashed, and captivated as I rewound the replays to marvel at their micro-movements.

Yet most astonishing of all was that, with only one single match left before the arena closed, the Hero Traitor had not suffered a single defeat.

"...He's incredible."

Frankly, my initial shock had long since transcended into awe and deep respect. It felt as though I had witnessed the absolute peak a living being could reach. If only I could replicate even ten percent—no, even one percent—of that swordsmanship...

"Isn't it a bit early to pass judgment? The final match is the real highlight."

"Pardon?"

"The announcement's coming up right now. Look."

"You've probably heard one of their names in your world's lore before. A case similar to mine. In fact, since he hardly ever posts in the gallery, you've probably never seen him mentioned on the board."

A case similar to Odin? 'TenCommandments' was?

Come to think of it, I recalled the 'Ten Commandments' as a term from the Bible. If a Demon Lord was tied to the Bible... could he be some devil from the wilderness?

However, Odin's calm explanation completely shattered my assumptions.

"He's one of the Three Great Swordmasters of the Demon Lord Gallery, and the undisputed master of quick-draws and slashes."

"His real name is Moses."