#15 Ambush (4)
First to move was Lete. Her shadow spread out massively, giving rise to black spikes like stakes and terrifying tentacles.
The number of them was staggering, and each spike and tentacle was as thick and fearsome as a pillar. It was the same attack that had overwhelmed Noa before and pushed the cultists' mage to the brink. Lete now was even more grown than then, bolstered further by the stronghold buff, making her stronger still. Even against an opponent a whole tier above her, it was an assault that wouldn't yield—but Eve pulverized it all in the span of a single breath.
She swung her sword, kicked with her feet, and sometimes just lightly leaped to dodge it effortlessly. Her movements were like a butterfly's, yet each attack was as devastating as a meteor. Lete's expression hardened at the sight.
Breaking through the onslaught of countless spikes and tentacles, Eve had already closed in to point-blank range. Lete couldn't react right away. Up until now, she'd only ever toyed with foes from mid-range.
Now that she was in her embrace, if Eve brought her sword down, Lete would be rendered unable to fight any longer.
"―――Aaaahhh!!"
But before Eve's strike could reach Lete, Noa's slash came flying in. Noa's sword clashed with Eve's, spewing countless sparks. Of course, Noa was overwhelmingly outmatched in power. Her arm looked just as slender as Noa's—perhaps even more so—yet the gap felt like that between an adult and a child. Still, even as her stance crumbled, Noa didn't break; instead, she converted the rebound into rotational force and attacked Eve again.
Eve let out a small "Hoo" of admiration but parried the blade effortlessly.
'Hurry...!'
Gaon leaned his back against the gate, plastered flat as he waited for it to activate. The magic stone embedded in the gate. He watched the light gathering in it with mounting anxiety.
Five minutes... no, a bit had passed since activation, so maybe three... no, just two more minutes...!
Ka-ang! Kaaaang!! Thud—!!!
The duo of Lete and Noa put up a solid fight. Both were top-tier Lv.3s, receiving the stronghold's buff, and acquitting themselves admirably. Lete handled mid-range and blind-spot attacks to probe for openings, while Noa countered whenever Eve closed to close range.
At this rate, maybe they could pull it off. It was right at that optimistic moment.
"...I can't let it slip away. So."
Slicing through the grasping tentacles and blocking Noa's holy slash, Eve murmured. Then her hair and eyes turned golden.
"―Full power."
What followed was over in an instant. Eve's body blurred. An afterimage lingered, and then her form became a storm, raging between Lete and Noa.
A chain of slashes like a whirlwind. The two had no way to block it. Summon tentacles or spikes, and they'd be shredded like logs. Noa raised her sword to block one slash, only for five or six more to come crashing down.
In moments, their bodies were mangled, drenched in blood. Noa dropped her sword first, kicked in the gut, tumbling away covered in dirt. Even in that state, Lete raised her arm for a counterattack—only for it to be severed, her jaw smashed, consciousness flying away.
Soon after, the two heroines lay rolling on the ground like trash.
The time it took? A mere two minutes. Naturally, the gate behind him wasn't ready yet.
Against the Most Noble Knight, the pinnacle sword of the Holy Light Kingdom—five minutes was far too generous.
"It's over now, King of Ruin."
Eve, who had wrought this wretched scene, stood before Gaon in a serene demeanor, barely a drop of sweat on her, as if it were nothing.
* * *
Crack—!
The magic stone split in two. It was an essential material for opening the gate; without it, the gate was useless. Even replacing it now would take another five minutes to charge—and Eve wouldn't give him that chance anyway.
In the end, Gaon slumped against the silent gate in hollow defeat.
Before him still stood the holy knight, sword gleaming with radiant light.
"...We're screwed."
"It's over, King of Ruin. Time to subjugate you."
"Yeah? Gonna kill me? Since you haven't yet, maybe I can hope a little that you'll spare me?"
"......."
Eve looked down at Gaon with golden eyes. There was no need to exchange words with him, but now that she'd stopped the gate, even if he stalled, it meant nothing.
...Or maybe there was a reason. Eve recalled the bizarre sights she'd seen reaching this place: the territory's odd landscape.
Before she could draw a conclusion, he spoke first, as if reading her mind.
"Eve, you—you're from the East, right? Same place as me."
"......!"
Eve's eyes widened ever so slightly. So it was true.
The massive hotel at the territory's heart that looked unmistakably modern no matter how you sliced it. The NPC-like people inside, and above all, this peculiarity that seemed to spring up out of nowhere. Considering all that, it was a possibility anyone would think of.
"Then you... How did you know?"
"The vibe's different. Looks too, almost didn't recognize you 'cause you're so pretty, but there's that Korean feel. Otherwise... just a hunch?"
Call it intuition. Or maybe because she's this strong, she must be cheating somehow. It made sense if she was a fellow player. No, she had to be at that level, really.
"Anyway, now you know we're from the same hood? So, uh, can't you let me live? We're both stuck in this game."
"...So it is inside a game. I had a feeling, but."
"What. You didn't know that either? The name's like, 'Empire—'"
"Enough. No need to hear it."
Eve cut him off sharply.
"You're done here. Sure, I wondered if you might be from the East, but now I know, so that's that."
"...Won't you reconsider? This is murder."
"I've already killed plenty as a holy knight."
"No... Killing game NPCs is the same?!"
"Who knows. Not much difference."
Eve gazed down at Gaon with cold, unflinching eyes. In her mind surfaced the scene from Stonevic, the city she'd passed through before coming here.
Stonevic brimmed with eerie vitality despite the recent cultist raid. Good in itself, but the cultist restraint devices everywhere made her frown. They turned captured cultists into women, had the townsfolk rape them to vent rage—and no one batted an eye. They saw it as natural.
Plus the rumors and info gleaned from lurking and questioning locals. And here, mingling casually with monsters. Commanding orcs, undead like the skeleton mage she'd just beheaded, even a destruction-attribute heroine's loyalty.
Putting together what she'd seen and heard, Eve reached a conclusion.
"......It's been seven years since I came here."
Eve spoke again after a brief silence.
"Dropped into this world at 19, survived with help from those around me until now."
She'd vaguely known it was a game world. But it felt too real for mere code and text—the people here seemed utterly ordinary. They had pasts, emotions, thoughts, dreams, futures. Not just main characters affecting the story, but everyday folk too.
To Eve, this wasn't a game. They were living people. Reality.
She'd aimed for a reward to return home, but that was just needing a goal. She was fine not going back. Besides, without Gaon, it was a quest she'd half-given up on anyway.
"There are people I've indebted myself to, people I enjoy living with. I'm quite satisfied with life here."
"......."
"And you threaten this world. I've confirmed it with my own eyes. My instincts tell me so. You're dangerous. If you live—it's no good."
From the start—even before falling into this world—Eve believed evil deserves death. She couldn't tolerate the innocent or her loved ones harmed by villains.
Becoming the kingdom's top sword was thanks to player cheats, sure. But earning the title of Most Noble Knight came purely from her uncompromising sense of justice.
So she couldn't spare Gaon here. He was too dangerous. Even setting duty aside, sharing soil with this man disgusted and unnerved her beyond endurance.
Thus, he ends here. Fellow countryman or not, unavoidable.
"I'll make a grave in our homeland's style and pray for you, King of Ruin—no, King Gaon."
"...Fuck."
"Maybe this sends me home. Hate me all you want when you do."
Eve gripped her sword without further delay, swinging at Gaon—
"―Annoying!"
—but slashed behind him, at "King Gaon."
Countless tentacles had appeared from nowhere, lunging at her—but in one breath's slashes, they were diced to bits.
"Gaon niiiiiim!!"
From amid the tentacles, Lete leaped in—not to attack Eve, but to shield Gaon beyond her.
Eve sliced Lete mid-leap, and she collapsed atop Gaon like a broken doll.
Meaningless struggle. It only bought a fleeting moment. But that worthless instant—was worth its weight in gold to Gaon.
"Holy Knight Eve, I request negotiation!"
"?!"
"What I demand in negotiation is our salvation! Spare us now and leave this place! Whatever you require, I'll accommodate to the utmost!!"
Dice Result: 27 / Required: p ≥ 91
Gaon attempted Persuasion. At the same instant, an invisible die appeared before his eyes and rolled—but before the result, Eve's sword moved.
Puuk—!
"...Guh...ah...."
The sword, infused with holy mana, pierced Lete's body, accurately impaling Gaon's heart where she shielded him.
Bones cracking, innards ruptured—a novel agony he'd never felt. Feeling mortal wound and surging blood, Gaon watched the die's result.
If it succeeded, maybe he'd live. Clinging to that final hope, the result he saw was.
* * *
And. I came back to life again.