The Price of Help
The front-row seat to the Angel Guild's love-and-war drama, sadly, came to an end before long.
I popped the last of my popcorn into my mouth with a touch of regret, and Raguel, seeing me return to my senses, let out a sigh of relief and turned back to face forward.
"Ahem. In any case, Miss Lily — welcome to the Angel Guild."
Michael offered the greeting calmly, though he looked a little dizzy. In the drama just now he'd seemed to lose ground to Gabriel fairly often, but that Michael was nonetheless one of the strongest players in DeoEn.
By name and by fact, the strongest user alive — aside from Sword God and Leo.
Of course, the gap between those two and Michael was heaven and earth. More than that, even. But Michael had something the two of them lacked.
A guild.
As the master of DeoEn's number one guild, he possessed far greater wealth, buffs, and stat bonuses than anyone else. In guild warfare, at least, he held a several-times advantage over the other single-digit rankers.
Though Leo and Sword God are exceptions, of course.
Beings outside the rules were a different matter entirely.
"You must have seen several kingdoms on your way here. How were they?"
"Quite well managed. I liked them, actually."
Thalikal had been the same — perhaps that was why the Eden Federation in the north was so well maintained, with nothing to find fault with in the scenery.
The Kingdom of Shabeth, where Gabriel presided, had been especially striking — not a single sick person in sight, the streets simply full of smiling faces.
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Then let me get straight to the point."
At Michael's words, the eyes of Raguel and Gabriel converged on me. Gabriel, too, seemed entirely unconnected to her earlier spat — she listened to Michael with complete seriousness.
"We would like to recruit you into the Angel Guild, Miss Lily. If you join, I promise you a seat among the Seven Archangels and every form of support we can offer. And of course, we would never interfere with your personal streaming."
"Our guild master may be... that kind of person, but he's excellent at both combat and administration. I can vouch for him."
...Unconnected, you say?
"Gabriel."
"Hmm? It's the truth, Michael."
Gabriel smiled sweetly, then turned her gaze directly to me.
"If you join us, I promise you the very best treatment. Mm. I don't know if it's to your taste, but — beyond the guild's interests and ours as its members — this could become a new bond for you as well."
"Hmm..."
Tap. Tap.
My fingers drummed on the round table. The percussion echoed through it like the second hand of a clock.
Tap.
"...Since you all asked so directly, I'll answer just as directly."
"...?"
"?"
"What do you mean?"
Raguel asked. I glanced at her once, then looked at Michael.
"I'll join the Angel Guild as a temporary mercenary for your siege war. But depending on circumstances, I may invade the Empire."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"I don't know whether you'll need my help — though I rather doubt it. As long as the Angel Guild defends the Eden Federation properly, there should be no problem."
At an announcement that bordered on a unilateral declaration, all three Archangels around the table went rigid.
It was Gabriel who broke the silence.
"...If that's the nature of it, then I cannot accept. Miss Lily is more than strong enough, and we'd welcome her on our side — but the Empire is off the table."
"......"
"The Empire cannot be beaten. And above all, this siege war is a contest between users. The Empire has no users capable of carrying out a siege—"
"Why wouldn't they? They have two of them as we speak."
The Empire, famous for refusing to recruit users, had two very, very famous ones of its own.
Leo and Sword God.
"Both of them hold marquisates. They're 'participants' who own castles."
"...But rather than striking those two while they sit idle, wouldn't it be better to attack elsewhere? Attacking a difficult opponent makes no sense when—"
"One moment, Gabriel."
Michael raised a hand and cut her off. The situation was grave enough that Gabriel stopped without a trace of spite or complaint.
"For Miss Lily to go this far, she must know something for certain... Miss Lily."
"Yes?"
"Did you come here knowing something?"
Confusion spread across the faces of the two Archangels at Michael's question. Know something? Didn't Miss Lily simply come because she was interested in the Angel Guild?
But having heard Uriel's words earlier, Michael had begun to think differently. Lily had shown not the slightest interest in the Angel Guild all this time. When she'd accepted Raphael's ten million won donation, she'd promised a duel or a meeting at some later date — yet in the months since, no one had ever heard of the two actually meeting.
The same with Raguel during the Mock Siege Battle. The same during the world boss raid. Not a single word of contact, ever — and now, just before a siege war began, she appeared out of nowhere and brought up this?
Something's going on.
After all his years running a guild, Michael could come to no other conclusion. And whatever it was, it clearly wasn't money or position she was after.
As if to confirm his thought, Lily gave a small nod.
"The Empire is going to invade soon. Together with Sword God."
And that would be the beginning of the end for the Eden Federation.
"The Empire's plan is simple. Sword God and the Eight Swords seize every castle in sight, and then the Imperial army pours in behind them."
"Since the castles are already taken, the Imperial forces can march in without spilling a drop of blood, and even if the stragglers and survivors mount counter-sieges afterward, they can hold the walls easily enough. Mm. After all, rather than fighting a 'siege war,' it's far easier to defend than to attack."
"And when the users come knocking later to lay siege in return, it won't matter. They'll have no castles of their own, and even if they somehow scrape one together, they'll never stop Sword God and the Eight Swords."
Besides, with DeoEn's rank 1 and rank 2 on the same side, losing was simply not an option.
By then, five Archangels were gathered around the table — Uriel and Sandalphon had come rushing in with the urgent news — and every one of them hung on my words.
"...And so the Empire intends to wage a 'war of conquest' through Sword God — using the siege system and the Empire's military might together."
"""......."""
"Stopping it will be nearly impossible. No matter how strong you all are, your opponents are the number one ranker and the Eight Swords."
Even DeoEn's strongest guild could not overcome beings who existed outside the rules. The very title of "strongest" had only ever been possible because those two had abandoned the road to it. If Leo and Sword God had cared about guild management from the start, the Angel Guild would never have held the position it occupied now.
Uriel, her mouth hanging wide open, couldn't seem to close it, stammering as she spoke.
"Is— is that for real? No way, that's..."
"It's information from a source I trust."
Leo and Naphras. Arne I could take on faith, but those two were trustworthy beyond question. Naphras, especially, was not the sort to lie when it came to anything concerning the spirits.
A hand went up on one side of the table.
"Go ahead."
"Sandalphon here. When you say those two — does that include Leo?"
Among the users affiliated with the Empire, there was one more monster besides Sword God capable of toppling nations. Master of five elements — the spirit mage, Leo.
"That's right. But Leo is positioned elsewhere, so she won't be coming toward the Eden Federation."
Which meant the only one we needed to worry about here was Sword God.
The expressions of the Seven Archangels shifted in subtle, complicated ways. Not having to face Leo as well was a genuine relief — but a formidable enemy still remained. Leo, unlike Sword God, had shown herself in many places and her abilities were well documented. Sword God, having returned after a year's absence, would be wrapped in the veil even more tightly.
Michael nodded slowly and raised his hand.
"Then why are you helping us, Miss Lily?"
The Angel Guild hadn't even known the Empire was coming. The Empire had been preparing its war in secret, and since the opening move was the entry of Sword God and the Eight Swords, not a single Imperial soldier — knights included — had yet moved. There had been no way to detect it.
Indeed, everything the Angel Guild had prepared so far had been aimed simply at the other guilds — stockpiling defenses against superior numbers rather than against individual powerhouses.
"If we had met the enemy unaware, we would have collapsed in an instant. Of course, we wouldn't have sat still — we'd have launched a counterattack straight away — but by then we'd already have lost four or five kingdoms."
If it truly came to that, even the Angel Guild would have found it nearly impossible to recover.
I looked at all of them.
I don't like the name "Angel" Guild.
The celestial race that had tormented me my entire life. Merely hearing that name made loathing rise in my throat, made fury boil up so hot that my hand itched to seize a spear and a hammer that very moment.
But these people were different.
They're not celestials, and they don't bear the celestials' name.
What they wielded was power refined by the System. Even their names were merely borrowed from Earth's mythologies.
And above all...
"It's the price."
I was a person bound to pay what was owed.
"...Price?"
"I have business with Sword God and the rest of the Eight Swords. But as of now, I have no justification to act. I have no guild to fight a siege war under, and no castle of my own."
But there was still a way for even someone like me to join the siege.
"What I need is the Angel Guild's name."
The Empire's first target was the Kingdom of Cres — the kingdom Raguel protected. The Angel Guild and the Empire were destined to collide, and the only ones who could withstand the waves I intended to raise were the Angel Guild.
"Every action I take will affect the Angel Guild. You may even become permanent enemies of the Empire."
"......That—"
"But at the very least, the Angel Guild will not fall."
Even if the end of that road was the Empire's own ruin.
They're experimenting on the spirits.
I had to meet Maguk Duke.