The Sword Empress and the Fighting Demon
He's scared. Completely terrified.
Seong Yujin read the fear written plain across Taylon's eyes. It was only natural. His level might still be low, but his swordsmanship had already reached a height that could tear the apocalypse itself apart. Unless Taylon's eyes were knotholes, he would have seen that truth for himself.
Well, if we actually fought, I'd probably still lose.
Level was not something you could simply ignore. Traits and skills could narrow the gap, sure, but a tenfold difference was still a wall that was hard to climb. Even so, Yujin drew his sword without the slightest hesitation.
With my skill, I can at least take one of your arms. You know that too, don't you?
Even if Taylon somehow won a fight against Yujin, he would almost certainly lose a limb in the process. And after that, the only road left for him was ruin. The other four Lords of Terra would never leave a maimed King of Slums alone.
Yujin grinned, one subordinate's head already rolling at his feet, and looked straight at Taylon. Through the spray of crimson blood, he could see the man's expression harden.
In that brief span, eight of the trash had already gone down. About twenty remained—every one of them fighters over level 20. Yet Seong Yujin was certain he could wipe them all out in less than ten minutes.
So what's it going to be?
He severed another man's arm and glanced at Taylon again. Even as his subordinates fell one after another, the Lord showed not a shred of fighting spirit. In other words, he had no intention of fighting.
Clever bastard, I'll give him that.
He had no confidence in victory, so he simply refused to engage. Relief washed through Yujin—followed immediately by irritation. Taylon had dared to bare hostility toward him. A mere level 100. Some idiot playing king on the First Floor. Leaving a creature like that alive was itself a humiliation.
If I were only level 20 already…
He would have taken the fool's head in a single stroke.
I need to level up. Fast.
He clicked his tongue inwardly and was about to swing Black Wing [A] once more when—
"Enough!"
A roar thick with overwhelming mana burst from Taylon's mouth and swept the surroundings.
KRA-KRACK-CRACK!
Spiderweb fractures raced across the walls of nearby buildings; dust billowed into the air.
Tch.
Yujin frowned. Low-tier trash or not, a level 100 on the First Floor was still nothing to take lightly. For now, at least.
Half of his own will, half forced by circumstance, he stopped attacking. Only then did the sluggish flow of time snap back to normal.
Shhhhhhh—!
Blood rained down like a summer downpour.
"Aaaargh!"
"M-my arm!"
"Grrrk—!"
Agonized screams and thick, gurgling wails tore from the throats of the men who had been cut. Those who could still scream were the lucky ones. The ones whose heads had been severed never got the chance to utter a single word.
Yujin sheathed Black Wing [A] and turned. Taylon's face was rigid as stone.
"You…"
He worked his mouth as if trying to say something, then simply shook his head with a heavy sigh.
"You wanted a horse, didn't you?"
Just as Yujin had expected, Taylon had decided there was nothing more to gain from further conflict. Even with his subordinates writhing and moaning on the ground, he offered not a single word of protest and simply changed the subject.
"Yeah."
Yujin had known it would come to this, so he nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Fine. I'll give you one. And I'll take only one Coin instead of three."
For Taylon, it could not have been an easy decision. He had slashed the price by two-thirds—and not through bargaining or talk, but through a brief, brutal skirmish. That alone was enough to chip away at the prestige of the King of Slums. Yet he made the call anyway. Better to take the loss than to lose even more by fighting a lunatic like Yujin.
But Taylon had still underestimated him.
"One Coin? After you picked the fight first? The horse is free. And for emotional damages, you hand over three Coins. That's what a proper transaction looks like."
Seong Yujin was not merely a madman. He was a completely, thoroughly insane one.
Clop-clop—
The sound of hooves was oddly pleasant.
"Would've been nicer if it were a higher grade," Yujin muttered, a faint smirk tugging at his lips as he stroked the black horse's neck. "But free is free. I'll take it."
And as a bonus, three Coins on top of it. Taylon's "gifts" had been rather generous—even if the look the man had given him could have killed.
If Taylon had been even a little stupider, or more ruled by emotion, things would never have ended this cleanly. It was precisely because the man was sharp and coldly rational that this outcome had been possible.
"Still, I'd better watch my back from now on."
He had backed down today, but he remained one of the Five Lords who ruled Terra—the King of Slums. He would absolutely seek revenge for what had happened.
"I need to level up before that bastard draws a blade and decides to kill me."
Two paths lay open to him. Having earned the right by slaying the Earth Dragon, he could ascend to the Second Floor…
"Or I can hunt right here."
In the first timeline, he would not have hesitated for a second—he would have chosen the former without a thought. Clearing the Tower had been the only goal that mattered. Now, though, everything was different.
If I climb alone, I'll just get the exact same ending as last time.
Slowly, carefully, he needed to build a solid foundation.
"Hmm."
And for that, he needed to find the Sword Empress and any other useful talents as soon as possible, then take them in as slaves—no, as companions. The Tower was vast, and players were many.
"No rush. One step at a time."
Level first. Fortunately, the First Floor had plenty of hunting grounds perfect for newbies to grind. The only real downside was the distance from Terra—but that was exactly why he had extracted a horse from Taylon in the first place.
"Perfect."
He would grow to at least level 20, then start looking for decent recruits. There was even a chance he might run into promising players out in the hunting grounds. Anyone who was out hunting at this stage instead of hiding away in Terra already had some promise. Those were the ones worth taking in.
Yujin tugged the reins of the massive black steed and headed for Terra's southern gate.
The commotion was over.
The three men who had been beaten into bloody pulp by the boy's fists lay unconscious, no longer even able to groan. Lee Sia watched the gruesome scene—and at the same time carefully observed the boy they called the Fighting Demon.
A little gross, but…
Honestly, she also felt a surge of satisfaction. His methods had been brutal, yet the men had started it. If she thought of it as them simply paying the price for their actions, it did not bother her all that much.
If I'd had the power, I would've done the same.
In fact, a growing fondness was blooming for the boy who had overcome his physical disadvantage and won the fight himself.
With guts like that, he's not half bad.
Three grown men had been reduced to pulp under his fists, yet his nature itself did not seem vicious. If anything, he looked timid and fragile. But his combat ability alone was outstanding enough to trust.
I'm recruiting him.
As a hunting companion, he was more than satisfactory. Lee Sia began walking slowly toward the boy. Onlookers stared at her in surprise. The attention made her a little tense, but she did not turn back.
"Hey, kid?"
She called out carefully.
The boy—who had been staring down at the fallen men with a pained expression, perhaps because of what he had done—flinched hard and scrambled backward, putting distance between them.
"N-no, I'm not looking for a fight."
She waved both hands to show she meant no hostility. Still, wariness filled the boy's eyes. Lee Sia spoke even more carefully.
"Want to stick with me for a while?"
No beating around the bush—she asked straight out. She judged that directness would do more to ease his suspicion. And it seemed to work. The wariness in his eyes lessened, just a little.
"…With you?"
"Yeah. Together. Isn't it safer to travel with someone than wander around alone in a place like this?"
It was not wrong. If the boy had been with other adults, those men probably would not have jumped him so easily. Even so, he did not nod right away. No matter how he looked at it, traveling with Lee Sia did not seem like it would make him any safer. If anything, walking around with a beauty like her might only invite more trouble.
"I'd rather be alone…"
He was about to refuse when—
"Die, you little bastard!"
Someone burst from the crowd of onlookers, swinging a vicious-looking axe. A friend of the fallen men? Or just someone who coveted the boy's gauntlets? There was no way to know. Only one thing was certain: no matter how quick the boy was, he would never dodge that axe blade. The attack was that sudden, that fast.
"Ah…"
The boy's eyes flew wide; he raised his hands far too late. Despair flooded his gaze. He was certain he was about to die. Opposite him, the man swinging the axe wore a triumphant smile.
And then—
Seok—!
A long, thin red line appeared across the man's neck.
"Huh?"
His movement stopped. Not because he chose to. His body simply no longer obeyed the brain's commands. The red line widened; head and torso parted.
"Wh-who…?"
His head had been cut off. Yet neither he nor anyone else present had seen who did it, when, or how. Only one person had seen.
The boy alone stared, eyes bulging, at the sword now resting in Lee Sia's hand.
"You fucking bastard—people are talking and you start swinging an axe?!"
Before anyone realized it, Lee Sia had drawn Crimson Lotus [E] and was spitting curses, seething with rage. She had not even fully registered what she herself had just done.
The boy looked back and forth between Lee Sia and the man collapsing like a rotten tree stump. Then he nodded.
"I'll go with you."
Anyone who could swing a sword so fast it was invisible was a master of the blade. Traveling with her would clearly be a huge help. Besides…
The way she casually cut a man's head off and then started swearing was terrifying.
Gulp—
The boy swallowed dryly without meaning to.
And so the Sword Empress and the Fighting Demon met.