Obelisk Conquest (6)

The game’s host, Murder ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Clown, was thoroughly flustered.

This… this isn’t how it was supposed to go….

From the very start, the humans he’d dragged into the barrier had ignored his words and simply pressed forward, so he’d changed tactics. He’d woven truths into a fabric of lies for a double deception.

He’d thought it was finished once they all stepped into the pit of fire—yet somehow not only the Hero, but everyone who’d dropped onto the other paths as well, emerged from the flames completely unscathed.

That black-haired elf archer and the dark elf thief had simply leaped to the next tile the instant the flames erupted, slipping past the trap entirely.

The white-haired priestess had conjured an impenetrable barrier and strolled right through with the spirit mage as if they were out for a casual walk.

Of course, the trap hadn’t been ordinary fire. It was a special flame raised by Murder Clown’s own mana—unquenchable by water, burning until everything it touched was reduced to ash.

Yet they’d dodged it, blocked it… even tanked it head-on and then sliced it away with a single stroke.

That alone had been absurd enough, but what came next was just as problematic.

The powerful monsters Murder Clown had prepared, and even the Murder Doll Leni who’d requested cooperation to take revenge on the Hero, had all been dispatched with bizarre ease.

Leni especially had suddenly gone stiff as if she couldn’t move, only to be butchered by the Hero on the spot.

Now only one colored tile remained. At this rate, it looked realistically impossible for the tagger to catch them.

In that case….

“Why so quiet this time?”

“…O-ohoho! My apologies! This Murder Clown was momentarily distracted from the game!”

Before he knew it, Allen and Erinn, along with those approaching from the other paths, had all reached the final colored tile.

What am I supposed to do now….

Originally, enough time should have been bought on the previous tile where Leni appeared, allowing the tagger to catch them—but that had failed.

As a result the plan was thoroughly derailed, and now on this final tile he needed a new approach. What he’d prepared beforehand clearly wouldn’t stop these ridiculous monsters.

“No advice this time?”

“O-ohohoho! You’re in a hurry, I see. Understandable. The finish line is right ahead! In that case, the advice this Murder Clown shall offer you is this.”

So Murder Clown had no choice but to throw a gamble. Even if the game wasn’t fair, he still had to uphold the rules themselves—this was the only option left.

To protect his creator, the Magic Legion Commander, and the Obelisk bestowed upon him, he had to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eliminate the Hero’s party here.

“From this moment, the tagger’s pursuit speed will increase. Furthermore, you must answer all of my quizzes correctly! I will pose a total of three questions, and if you get them all right, you may pass!”

Originally this final tile was a place you couldn’t pass without solving the quiz. The tagger’s speed wasn’t supposed to increase, but Murder Clown had introduced this variable to deal with them.

Murder Clown laughed unpleasantly.

“However, since the difficulty is extremely high, if even one of you six answers correctly, it will count as a correct answer for everyone!”

It sounded like a generous concession, but it wasn’t. The three paths were about to converge, so if one person shouted the answer loudly the others could hear it anyway—making the “benefit” meaningless.

Knowing that, Allen spoke with clear exasperation.

“Acting like you’re doing us a favor.”

Murder Clown flinched at Allen’s words, but continued smoothly.

“…Ohoho! Then let us begin the quiz at once! I will only say each question once, so listen carefully!”

He’d already increased the tagger’s speed, and on top of that Murder Clown resolved to make the quiz questions difficult as well.

“First question! Who is the one entrusted with overall command of this Obelisk?”

It was essentially a question only the Demon King’s army would know. How could the Hero’s party possibly know whom Magic Legion Commander Arcel had assigned to the Obelisk?

And yet.

“The guy who brought this Obelisk here?”

Allen answered casually.

“Magic Knight Barkan.”

He had no choice but to know. The overall ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠commander of this Obelisk was naturally the boss here, and no matter how much else had changed, the boss never did.

“Wh-what…?”

For a moment Murder Clown stood there blankly in shock. Allen pressed him.

“Are you stalling for time? The host breaking the rules….”

“O-ohoho! Of course not!”

Murder Clown snapped back to his senses and hurriedly replied.

“Correct! Moving right on to the next question!”

He barely managed to act nonchalant, but Murder Clown was deeply rattled.

How does that human know of Lord Barkan’s existence?

And just as Murder Clown was flustered, Erinn was slightly puzzled as well. How Allen knew so precisely about a subordinate of the Magic Legion Commander overseeing the Obelisk was quite the mystery.

Erinn glanced at Allen but didn’t press the question. Right now, answering correctly was more important.

“Second question! Currently, the legion led by the Magic Legion Commander has many officers, and among them, who is known as the second-in-command!”

This too was a question impossible to answer without knowing the hierarchy under the Magic Legion Commander. Freya, exasperated by the level of the questions, spoke with mild irritation.

“How are we supposed to know that? What a ridiculous question….”

“If it’s the second-in-command under the Magic Legion Commander, then Hellfire Advalt?”

“……?”

Just as Freya’s irritation made her look awkward, Allen once again delivered the exact correct answer. Murder Clown broke out in a cold sweat as he spoke.

“Wh-what are you?! Have you been spying on our Demon King’s army or something?!”

“If it’s correct, just spit out the next question already.”

“Y-you…!!”

Though ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he was Murder Clown, he forced himself to calm down and checked the tagger’s position. Because Allen and the others had cleaned up the powerful enemies that appeared before them so quickly, the tagger had originally been quite far away.

But thanks to the speed boost, the tagger had already closed in to right in front of them—only two tiles away from the colored tile where Erinn’s party stood.

Murder Clown’s eyes widened as he calculated.

At this speed, the moment I ask the question, it can advance one tile….

Then, by the time they answered correctly, the tagger might be able to pounce on them from behind. Especially if they failed the third question, they’d be caught by the tagger without mercy.

Murder Clown grinned as he spoke of the third question.

“Now then, the third question!!”

“Suddenly all excited, huh?”

“Right~ Just like a scrub who spotted a pretty girl~♡”

“…When did I ever do that.”

While Allen looked exasperated, Murder Clown finished explaining the question.

“The third question is to guess the true name of this game’s host—me, Murder Clown!”

“True name?”

Even Allen, who’d been answering so smoothly, seemed to pause for a moment. But soon his eyes widened slightly, as if he’d discovered something.

Then, with a somewhat incredulous wry laugh, he said,

“Joker.”

Originally, I didn’t even know Murder Clown’s true name.

Barkan and Advalt I knew because they were boss mobs in Dungeon in Evil, but for a mid-boss monster like Murder Clown whose name never appeared in the game… well, it was hard to know.

It was simply that a name which had never shown on the status window was now visible. I had no idea why it had changed, but now even the Strength, Agility, and Stamina stats were showing.

Is it because we’re getting closer to clearing the game?

I couldn’t find any other reason. In any case, since I’d answered correctly, Murder Clown had no choice but to let us through.

That was the rule he himself had set, and the moment the rules of the game were broken this barrier would lose its power—so stubbornness would do him no good at all.

“That’s correct, right? We’re going through.”

“…W-wait! How did you know? My name was given to me by the Magic Legion Commander. No one but the Commander should know it…!”

“So is it wrong?”

Murder Clown had no answer to my question, and Erinn snorted as she watched him.

“Look at that—cat got your tongue~♡”

Having casually roasted Murder Clown, Erinn walked forward. It really had been the correct answer; nothing happened when she stepped onto the next tile.

“In that case, it seems I have no choice….”

No choice? Don’t tell me….

“I cannot let you leave. That is my role, after all!”

Murder Clown—Joker’s body began to swell to enormous size. At the same time, the “taggers” that had been approaching according to the rules until now suddenly accelerated.

“You’re going to break the rules yourself?”

I was speechless. He seemed to think he still had a chance, but that was a massive miscalculation. Murder Clown was annoying because of the special nature of the “game,” not because he himself was strong.

The moment he broke the rules of the game, the physical resistance and mana resistance that had been protecting Murder Clown and the taggers vanished. Ordinary attacks would work on them now.

And that choice would probably…

“Finally coming out to fight yourself~?”

…become the most regrettable decision of Murder Clown’s life.

Erinn drew the Holy Sword. At the same time, from the other paths came the sounds of the rest of the party finishing their preparations to fight.

And the moment the tagger that had been chasing us—a monster shaped like a black shadow, a Shadow Dog—opened its jaws wide to pounce—

Three messages appeared at once.

KWA-GWA-GWANG────!!!!

The Shadow Dog vanished without even leaving a shape behind. At the same time I clearly saw Murder Clown’s expression freeze solid.

“That’s what you get for breaking the rules.”

I raised my mana to the fullest. The enormous arm of Murder Clown that had been crashing down toward our heads flinched, then stopped dead.

“If you’d just finished the game properly, you might at least have survived.”

Murder Clown’s eyes filled with something beyond surprise—bewilderment, then another emotion entirely. I couldn’t read his feelings with perfect accuracy, but it was probably terror.

With his body frozen, all that remained for him was death.

“Ah… n-no…!!”

Seogeok!

Erinn’s sword split Murder Clown’s body cleanly in two, and at the same time the barrier that had imprisoned us began to shatter.

Pakang!

The barrier broke completely, and the original scenery of the Obelisk’s interior spread out before our eyes once more.

I looked down at the clown, now split in half and returned to his original size, and spoke as he met his end.

“Game clear.”