The Thing I Feared Has Come to Pass
The thing I'd been dreading had happened.
Mythic.
A grade capable of overturning everything — class, traits, and every other stat a player had to their name. It was valuable enough that people said even a talentless, hopeless newbie could break into the rankers if they got their hands on a single piece of Mythic-grade gear.
Because the higher you climbed, the more matches came down to nothing but whether you had Mythic equipment or not.
This is my chance.
Yena swallowed hard.
She was a ranker who had played DeoEn since day one, a streamer once famous enough to have cracked Rank 3 on the ladder.
Her skill hadn't died, of course — she still held a spot inside the top 100. But the reason people called her washed up was simple.
Take away Death's Echo, and what have I actually got?
Aside from the unique trait she'd obtained in the early days — a legend in its own right — she had virtually no hidden pieces to her name.
Yena prided herself on not falling behind the high rankers in raw skill, but the rankers counted among the top ten all carried Mythic-grade equipment as a matter of course. Even Vlack right now held three Mythic items, and Leo — the one they called the strongest — had spirit attributes that were Mythic in their very nature.
The rankers only kept getting stronger, and Yena, unable to obtain anything Mythic, had ended up exactly where she was now.
Do you accept?
An opportunity. The chance of a lifetime.
Obviously I'm taking it!
Yes, she was in the middle of a Newdlebak carry right now, but this mattered more. If she was doing it anyway, doing it together with Lily would have been nice — but a quest like this was almost certainly single-player only.
I'll make it up to Lily plenty afterward.
"Yeees!"
Upon failure, you will receive no reward of any kind. Even if you attempt this quest again later, you will not be eligible for the first-clear rewards.
"Even if I can't eat it, I'll take a bite! …or whatever!"
You have accepted the request.
"...?!"
Her vision warped. A brief lurch, and then Yena steadied herself against the dizziness.
Yena's left eye glowed blue. A tremendous current of mana surged through her mana channels with violent force.
"Ooooh…"
"I have granted you eyes that discern evil. Should you look upon one tainted by wickedness, you will know their true nature in that very instant."
"Wait… don't tell me this is a Mythic-grade item you're giving me in advance!"
"I don't know what you're talking about — but yes, I have entrusted you with a portion of the divine authority of Lord Blue-Ring that I myself hold."
"OHHHHH!!! I'll sweep them ALL away and come back!"
Yena kicked off the dark leaves and shot away in high spirits.
The priest Blen stared after her for a long moment, then bowed his head toward the spot where she had vanished.
"…Grant rest to the wicked who are guiltless."
"…There's no culprit among these people."
With the last of the beastmen gathered in the village hall, I had finished discerning every single one of them.
No culprit.
Could the priest actually be the one behind it after all?
The wolf beastwoman Cora raised her hand. I nodded.
"You can identify the culprit just by looking? And if you're lying…"
"I didn't judge them by sight and sound alone. I compared the mana of the illness against the wavelength of each person's own mana."
Anyone carrying within their body the mana — or some power like it — capable of causing the sickness. There was no one.
Of course, it was possible they'd used some object to generate the mana, but using something like that always left a trace on the body.
Beep—!
An abrupt bird cry turned every head. A small owl perched beyond the window of the village hall, a message tube strapped to its leg.
One of the beastmen took the message and handed it to Hoa.
"You don't contact us unless it's serious…"
"What is it?"
"…Attackers."
"What?"
"Attackers wreathed in red and blue aura are assaulting the village… cutting the beastmen down with single strokes…"
The moment Hoa rose to his feet, the beastmen of Re Village sprang up after him.
"So it was you people all along! You tied us up here so you could attack!"
"What nonsense is that?! You're the ones who invaded!"
"You planted a traitor, didn't you!"
"Ha! Now you're suspecting your own villagers? You've truly fallen as far as you can fall!"
"Shut your—"
KWAAAAAAAM!!
A colossal ring of wind bore down on both representatives, driving them flat against the ground. Hoa and Cora crawled against the floor, pinned.
"The thing I'd been dreading has happened. Internal strife…"
"You—! Don't you dare speak so carelessly…! What could you possibly know—"
"It doesn't apply only to you."
"…?"
Suspicion and discord sown through a mysterious enemy. Because of it, the beastmen had kept fighting each other — driven to the very brink of slaughter — until we appeared as the variable.
Which meant that whatever he — or they — had to do next was…
How strong would Yena be at full power?
A thrill of anticipation settled into the spear shaft I gripped.
"Block it!"
"This is no ordinary…"
SHLAAAK!
"…Huh. That was easy?"
Having already claimed twenty-five of her targets, Yena recovered her red-and-blue daggers and glanced around.
Beastmen felled in a single stroke. There were certainly freaks out there who violated and terrorized monsters for pleasure, but Yena wasn't one of them. There was the streaming angle, too — a single-stroke kill triggered the One Shot, One Kill buff, one of the assassin's skills. And they did look human enough that it felt a bit off.
The reward was Mythic-grade, and the warning text had been grim enough to make her a little tense. DeoEn never handed out a hidden piece for free, after all. Like they said in the movies — great power comes at a great price. That was DeoEn's law.
"You villain! How dare you lay a hand on Karin—"
Swish—! Thwack. Scritch.
"…No, wait. There's no way it's this easy."
There was no such thing as a Mythic-grade quest this simple. Yena touched her left eye.
The red eye had turned clear blue, just like Lily's. The quest wasn't even finished yet, and she'd already received her reward. Her stats were only Legendary-tier for now, but once the quest ended, they would surely bloom into their complete Mythic form.
"No matter how I think about it, the reason she gave me this must be because a situation's coming where I'll need to use it, right?"
"Lily? Why would the final boss be Lily?"
Still talking, Yena sliced through one more neck and turned her head.
What is this, what are they saying.
"What do you mean?! Lily is the enemy?!"
Yena's expression froze. Every puzzle piece that had nagged at her a moment ago suddenly clicked into place.
No. No way. Really…?
"NOOOOOO!! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!!!!"
"Ah… aaaaah…"
All strength gone, Yena slumped down into the undergrowth.
No wonder things were going suspiciously well.
She abandoned, once and for all, any hope that Lily might simply yield. This was the woman who had once stepped in to save a spirit that had put her half through a wall. Granted, Lily had charged a price for it — but she was hardly the type to approve of a massacre route like this, and even with a Mythic reward on the table, she'd never agree easily.
Absolutely not.
"Hahahahaha."
"Guys, this isn't about winning or losing… it's about my relationship with Lily. Ah. But seriously, Mythic-grade, man…"
First, she'd try persuading her. And if that failed, she'd give up.
Choking back tears, Yena pulled herself to her feet. It was the only way.
"Huh…?"
Words materialized before her eyes.
"Lily… no, my angel?"
She was allowing it? Lily was?