An Audience
An Audience
The hunters meekly followed the soldiers. With the mindset of 'we're dead either way, so let me ride it out as far as it'll go.'
Jihoon walked in silence, staring only at the ground.
'It's all because of me.'
He couldn't open his mouth. He just didn't want to think about anything.
Because of him, this kind of thing had happened, and because of him, he was about to drive everyone to their deaths.
To be exact, it wasn't Jihoon's fault and was purely due to bad luck, but to him, pushed to his absolute limit, everything seemed to be his own fault.
"I don't want to... I don't want to die..."
"U-Omma—sob..."
The way there felt just like a house of mourning. A mood where everyone expected to die to some extent.
Right then, the tearful healer gathered her courage and spoke up.
"Excuse me! Everyone, don't be so down...! Who knows, right? Couldn't they... spare us... maybe?"
Even as she said it herself, there was no strength in her voice. Because even she thought it was utter nonsense.
Though they seemed to be keeping them alive for now, these were magic beasts. Even if they possessed intelligence, they were by no means friendly toward humans.
Jihoon recalled the situation from a moment ago. The magic beast that had emerged from among the soldiers, draped in a robe, and able to speak the same language as them.
He reflected on what that magic beast had said.
'He definitely said "His Majesty".'
If these magic beasts had a king, and if that king was keeping us alive... what was the reason? Was there something he could do by utilizing hunters like us?
To extract information?
Is it a trick to wait until a Break?
Or just a whim of the king?
While he kept rolling his brain, before he knew it, the soldiers halted their steps.
The place they arrived at was in front of a giant door.
"Ith'ka soren, vh'na."
"Kzhur'om, thessa vun."
The gatekeepers and soldiers seemed to engage in a conversation of meaningless words, and soon, the door opened.
Jobeok, jobeok. As the soldiers backed away one by one, the party members finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"...That means go in, right?"
"Probably..."
As if telling them to get in quickly, the back of their heads prickled.
They moved their steps beyond the door.
The interior was vast beyond expectation.
"Ah..."
"Haha... what is all this?"
Dozens of soldiers lined up on both sides—no. Calling them soldiers, the appearance of their armor was different from before.
Would the word 'knight' be fitting? Knights of pitch-black.
The reason they were lined up along both sides lay in the throne at the end of that center path.
A being sitting comfortably on such a throne, arrogantly looking down at us.
Probably the magic beast those bastards called king.
As they took in that sight, the king slowly opened his mouth.
"Welcome, strangers."
Hwaak—
Dense magic power flared out from him.
So mighty was it that the surrounding magic power trembled in resonance.
'Crazy!'
The hunters couldn't even breathe.
Their bodies felt as if they would be torn apart by the magic power wave alone. Truly an overwhelming amount of magic power.
"Normally, it would be right to kill you, but I suppose showing mercy just once wouldn't hurt."
The king did not rise from his throne. As if he didn't even feel the need to, he rested his chin on the armrest and asked.
"Do you want to live?"
The king flicked his finger.
"If your attack grazes me even once, I shall send you all back intact."
He smirked.
"Who will step forward first?"
The hunters all held their breath, exchanging glances.
There was no way anyone could readily step forward after witnessing that magic power wave just a moment ago.
In a situation where most were D-rank or C-rank hunters, who could possibly make a decision?
"I'll go first."
In such a situation, Jihoon approached the king alone, as if having made up his mind.
As the leader here, he belonged to the party's few C-rank hunters.
Among them, he was at the absolute top—a hunter who had no match within the C-rank.
Therefore, the one with the highest possibility was himself as well.
And.
"Everyone, I'm sorry. As the leader, I have no face to show you."
Because there was no other way to relieve his guilt toward the party members.
He did not look back.
[Skill Use - Taunt (D)]
The bastard reacted. However, rather than feeling that the skill had worked, his movement was merely like a tiny fly landing on his face.
'Is it not working?'
Whatever, it didn't matter. If Taunt didn't work, he just had to head straight on.
He discarded the shield he was holding. Gripping only his sword, he thought.
'I only need to succeed once.'
[Skill Use - Heavy Strike (C)]
The skill activated. His body sped up in an instant.
The king still watched this leisurely.
"Don't look down on me!!"
Looking at the charging Jihoon, the king's mouth moved as if saying something.
『Gravity』
Kiiing—
'Huh?'
"Keuhp—"
His knees bent. Beyond bending, his body dug into the ground.
"Keo-heok-!"
From top to bottom.
Tremendous pressure struck his body.
His body wouldn't move at all. Not stopping there, the pressure grew stronger and stronger until Jihoon's head pressed down as if to shatter the floor.
From the side, he looked without a doubt like he was kowtowing to the king.
The king ultimately couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Puhu, puhahaha!!!!"
As the king laughed, the soldiers laughed along. Only mockingly derisive laughter filled the surroundings.
The ruler of demons and one of the 72 Demon Kings.
Andras.
In front of him sitting on the throne, a transparent window floated.
[Kill the challenger!]
This window, which had first started popping up several hours ago, kept confounding his head.
System, Gate, Challenger.
It spouted words he couldn't comprehend at all and kept issuing orders to him.
Kill the challenger. Even hearing those words, he couldn't understand what it meant. What on earth was a challenger?
At this rate, he felt his mind might not remain sane. So he raised magic power to protect his mind.
Meanwhile, sensing a strange presence outside the castle, he ordered his vassals to bring them in. Capture them alive without killing them.
He thought those people might be the challengers.
But the reason he didn't kill them immediately?
If he killed them according to this blue window, wouldn't it feel like losing somehow?
After bringing them here, he would kill them under his own judgment. That way, it would be killing them by his own will, not by the system's.
Facing those bastards like that, he promised to send them back alive if they succeeded in landing an attack on him.
And yet.
"Puhu, puhahaha!!!!"
He laughed for a long time.
Well, how could it not be hilarious?
Charging with full killing intent, only for the result to be bowing down to him?
Moreover, their utilization of magic power was beyond crude, and the techniques they used were cheap imitations he felt sorry to even call magic.
If trash like that was called magic, he could lead his army right now and invade that world over there according to the system bastard's words without any problem whatsoever.
Honestly, he had expected a little bit.
A short while ago, around the time he was languidly waiting for the captured challengers to be dragged in.
A sudden magic interference had occurred.
Although he blocked it immediately, penetrating the detection of this body, Demon King Andras, even for a single moment was worthy of praise.
Of course, praise was praise, but daring to insult me was a severe crime.
Still.
He wanted to see that audacity right in front of his eyes, but to think it was only to this extent.
Though it was a bit disappointing, since he got to witness such an amusing sight, Demon King Andras was satisfied in his own way.
How long had he been watching the comical sight of the challenger?
[Kill the challenger!]
The system began popping up windows as if urging him.
'Time to wrap this up.'
He was starting to get bored anyway.
'I'm not killing those bastards by following the system. It's me judging and killing them of my own free will.'
With that thought, he gave a brief hand gesture, and the knight next to him raised his sword high.
The direction it swung down toward was the immobilized Jihoon's neck.
"Thanks to you, I was entertained. This is your reward."
The corners of the king's lips curled up endlessly.
"I shall send you off without pain."
The moment he finished speaking, the knight swung his sword as it was. At the very instant the sword came crashing down...
Something pure white blocked the path in front.
"That's enough—"
Saying that, she casually waved her hand.
With just a single wave of that hand.
——Kwaang!
The upper body of the knight swinging the sword blew apart without a trace of its shape left.
Purple blood splattered in all directions, and at the center, white hair fluttered briefly before settling down.
"Ahem—"
Silence.
No one could utter a word.
On the surface, she clearly looked like a small, delicate girl.
But why?
"I'll only say this once!"
The instinct that the very act of trying to do anything could pose a threat to their lives burned into their minds.
"From now on, anyone who moves without permission..."
Even from the face of the king sitting on the throne, all laughter vanished for the first time.
—Uuuung
9 circles simultaneously activated on Tia's body.
The initiative over the magic power of the entire area flipped in an instant.
"...will be killed."
Tia smiled brightly as she spoke.