Chapter 100
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Confrontation (1)
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What touched my skin was cold, hard, and utterly devoid of any warmth.
Stone.
It was too rough to be marble.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The ceiling.
Far above, I could see a massive, circular ceiling.
“Ugh.”
A piercing headache stabbed through my skull as I pushed myself halfway up.
I slowly looked around.
It was an incredibly vast space.
Giant pillars stood in rows, supporting the ceiling.
Blue crystals were embedded in the walls and pillars, casting a mystical light that illuminated the area.
“Sage?”
[٩( ᐛ )و]
*Purrrr!*
Thankfully, Sage had made it through the teleportation safely.
I placed Sage, who was rubbing its body against my cheek, on my shoulder.
Then, suddenly, from a dark spot nearby untouched by the magic crystals' light, a familiar voice drifted out.
“Welcome, Master Hanul.”
It was spoken in such a whisper that it was barely audible.
Still, from the tone and demeanor, it was obvious who the speaker was.
“Andro.”
“Hoho, what a coincidence. I just so happened to have some business and was about to leave the Audience Chamber when, by pure chance, I saw you pop out of a conveniently connected rift. This is quite the extraordinary coincidence, indeed.”
“...Right.”
What an incorrigible black butler.
Nodding in satisfaction, Andro beckoned from behind a pillar.
“Please, come this way for now.”
I walked toward the black butler, who was hiding and whispering behind the pillar.
His attire was much the same as when I had summoned him.
A well-groomed mustache and a neatly worn suit.
Right down to the fedora on his graying hair.
Andro bowed deeply and greeted me politely.
“It is the first time we've met here, Master Hanul.”
“I see.”
“What do you think of the Audience Chamber where our Lord resides?”
“Well, for starters…”
I gave a simple impression after scanning the ‘part’ of the Audience Chamber visible to me.
“It's big.”
That was about all I could say at the moment.
The Audience Chamber was vast.
So vast that it was difficult to make out the smaller details within it.
But even so.
At the end of the red velvet carpet that cut through the center of the chamber.
Beneath the bluish light streaming from the ceiling, the throne set high above was clearly visible.
That must be the throne where the Dream Lord sits.
However, the person I had expected to see was not there.
‘The Dream Lord is nowhere to be seen.’
As if reading my thoughts, Andro let out a soft chuckle and spoke.
“Hoho, our Lord just retired to his bedchamber. He was quite mentally exhausted and in need of sleep.”
“He has a bedchamber?”
“Indeed. Within the main tower that houses the Audience Chamber, there are various living spaces, including bedchambers and a dining hall.”
Right. I had confirmed it from the watchtower during the last wave, but the actual internal structure of the Lord's Castle was quite different from how it appeared in MonMonMak.
The Audience Chamber, in particular, wasn't just an open room but was located inside a massive main tower.
Still, it was a bit disappointing.
I thought I'd finally get to meet the Dream Lord in person this time.
But if Andro, Viewer 1, possessed this kind of teleportation ability, couldn't I visit the Lord's Castle whenever I wanted?
“If I may say one thing.”
Andro began to speak in a low voice.
“Ordinarily, it is a taboo, impossible for you to set foot in the Lord's Castle, especially the Audience Chamber, with a mere ability. The Lord's Castle itself must accept you for a specific reason.”
“A specific reason?”
“Correct. For instance, like during the last invasion.”
It meant that direct teleportation was impossible unless it was a critical situation where the castle's very existence was at stake.
“Then this time, too…”
“Yes. In fact, the Lord's Castle was requesting your summons. However, our Lord prevented it.”
The Dream Lord stopped it?
“He intended to endure it on his own. He did not wish to burden you, Master Hanul.”
“Hmm. Then why did the Lord's Castle call for me?”
“You will understand if you follow me.”
With those words, Andro began to walk.
The atmosphere as he led the way was quite serious. However.
“…But, Andro.”
“Yes, Master Hanul.”
“Do you really have to walk like a sneaking thief, hiding here and there?”
It was just that the way he led, tiptoeing and darting behind pillars as if to avoid being seen, looked a bit frivolous.
To that, the black butler replied confidently with a placid smile.
“Hohoho, I am merely concerned that our Lord might fall into unnecessary worry upon discovering your visit. You should tiptoe along as well, Master Hanul.”
Isn't it just because you're afraid of getting your tail chopped off if you're caught sneaking me into the castle?
I didn't say it out loud and just followed Andro.
[Sage informs you that this space is composed of a complex subspace formula, making it several times larger than it appears to the naked eye!]
I nodded at Sage, who was bouncing excitedly beside me.
I, too, could tell that what I was seeing wasn't the entirety of the Audience Chamber.
Despite following Andro for about ten minutes, the shining throne in the distance hadn't gotten any closer.
The Ice-Ear Turtle and Ru, who were supposed to be stationed in the Audience Chamber according to the MonMonMak dot-screen, were also nowhere to be seen.
After walking for another thirty minutes or so.
Suddenly.
“We have arrived, Master Hanul.”
As I followed Andro around a giant pillar, an unfamiliar scene unfolded.
The distant throne vanished in an instant like a mirage, and the pillars supporting the hall, as well as the blue light from the ceiling, disappeared.
In their place, a square, sealed room-like space appeared.
Inside, a dark fog swirled so thickly it was suffocating.
In the darkness where I could barely see an inch ahead, something warm touched my cheek.
[Sage alerts you to the presence of a very dangerous monster!]
A dangerous monster.
The pressure must have been immense, as Sage was trembling on my shoulder.
“Hoho, it truly makes one's skin crawl. I do wish we could dispose of that thing as soon as possible.”
As Andro muttered, the fog cleared away with a whoosh.
It didn't become bright as if a light had been turned on.
Rather, a faint blue light spread out, making it just bright enough to distinguish my surroundings.
And in the center of the sealed room, which was enclosed on three sides, stood a rectangular cage two meters high.
I looked at the ‘being’ inside and spoke.
“So this is what was giving the Lord a hard time?”
The thing in the cage was a creature I knew well.
A body like a lump of crude oil, with an eyeball embedded in its center.
Its size had shrunk dramatically to about my own, but there was no mistaking it.
It was Idic of the Void.
The creature glared at me, its eye wide with an arrogant air.
“That is correct, Master Hanul. I'm sure you realize the reason.”
Andro, standing beside me, muttered with a bitter expression.
The reason.
Hmm.
…Hmm.
“…I don't know?”
At my words, both Andro and Sage's eyes widened.
Andro's narrow eyes opened so wide that I could distinguish the whites from the pupils.
“What? You don't know?”
“Yeah. My breathing feels a bit tight.”
But I figured that was because the black fog hadn't completely cleared yet.
“Can you not hear its bizarre whispers echoing in your mind, Master Hanul?”
Bizarre whispers? Some kind of mental attack?
I shook my head.
“I don't hear a thing.”
“H-Huh. We did surmise that the Lord's Castle needed you because you possessed a resistance to that sinister thing, but…”
Andro began to mutter something with a confused look.
“To be completely unaffected by its interference. How can Master Hanul…”
It seemed Idic was still struggling desperately, even while trapped in that cage.
It looked like it was spewing out some kind of wide-range mental attack.
If so, I could understand why the Dream Lord was exhausted.
‘But why doesn't it work on me?’
Judging by Idic's bloodshot eye, it was still trying something with all its might.
But before I could ponder that question for long.
[The Gardener of the Mother Goddess senses a sinister energy and rushes over!]
“?”
[The Imperfect Secret Bird pursues the malevolent energy and flies to you!]
[The Watcher of the Nineteen Hells gazes at you with a look of half interest, half displeasure!]
Ah, don't tell me.
Incarnations contracted with a Divine Seat generally have increased resistance to mental attacks.
The contracting Divine Seat takes care of it, not wanting to see their incarnation being played like a puppet with their mind controlled.
Well, among them are many Divine Seats with the twisted sentiment that ‘Only I can control their mind.’ But anyway, that's how it is.
In that sense.
Although they are provisional contracts, my body receives the authority of three Divine Seats at once.
The Divine Seats, having noticed Idic's mental attack, immediately began to use their deterrent force and express their anger.
[The Gardener of the Mother Goddess issues a stern reprimand, demanding to know how such a grotesque thing dares to mock her servant!]
[The Imperfect Secret Bird remarks that the black thing would burn quite well and begins preparations for a burning at the stake!]
[The Watcher of the Nineteen Hells tempts you, promising a sweet reward if you get that unpleasant thing out of their sight!]
The roars of the angered Divine Seats echoed in my head.
No, from my perspective, *this* was the real mental attack.
In any case, what they wanted from me was one single thing.
To teach a lesson to the Idic that dared to use a mental attack on their incarnation.
Then the story is simple.
“Sage.”
*Purr?*
“There's no risk of that thing physically harming me, right?”
[Sage is now analyzing Idic's main body.]
After a moment, Sage bobbed its body up and down.
[Sage reports that Idic's mental attack is at a Lv. 10 level. It has also identified its intent to spread mental corruption and devour the Lord's Castle's monsters. However, it confirms that Idic has no other means of resistance.]
“Oh-ho, devour them? So it was having such commendable thoughts.”
Anyway, if the mental attack doesn't work.
That thing is just a black balloon trapped in a cage.
“Andro, take care of Sage.”
“Master Hanul? What are you planning to do…?”
“So that thing is basically throwing a tantrum in the Lord's living room. What should we do with a monster that doesn't listen?”
“…D-Don't tell me.”
The black butler stared at me with horrified eyes.
With a meaningful smile, I walked toward the caged Idic.
“I don't usually like to resort to violent means.”
My opponent was the one who had endangered the Lord's Castle and tried to take the lives of my monsters.
Even now, it hadn't given up its ambition to devour the castle.
In that case.
“I have no choice. A friend who doesn't listen needs a taste of tough love.”
“?!”
As I approached, Idic, finally realizing something was wrong, widened its eye.
But it was too late. My shadow had already fallen over its body.
“Andro, open the cage for me. There's something I need to check.”
“M-Master Hanul…?”
“Andro?”
As Andro gestured with a reluctant face, the caged Idic began to shake its body frantically.
A desperate gesture, begging him not to open it.
“----!”
*Clang.*
And the cage opened.
Idic tried to escape the cage, but just because the physical path was open didn't mean the magical restraints binding it were released.
Thus, the void monster could only watch as I entered the cage with a smile.
I clenched and unclenched my fist, then spoke with a hint of regret.
“Still, it'd be heartless to just beat you up.”
[Lord's Remnant - Idic]
“Let's just add a little more love.”
“---?!”
* * *
The tough love worked better than I expected.
“M-Master Hanul. I no longer hear the mind-scattering whispers.”
“Hmm, did it come to its senses?”
“…Whether one could say it's come to its senses… W-Well, it appears dazed on the outside, but in another sense, I suppose it has come to its senses.”
“Phew, that's a relief.”
I finally gazed at the limp form of Idic.
I won't describe its appearance in detail.
However. The Divine Seats, who had watched the scene of tough love from beginning to end, all spared no praise.
[The Gardener of the Mother Goddess waves, saying she's finished her popcorn.]
[The Imperfect Secret Bird grins as it cleans up the pyre it had set up.]
[The Watcher of the Nineteen Hells looks at you with a moved expression.]
“Well then, shall we wrap this up?”
I deactivated Lord's Remnant and let out a soft sigh.
To think the first thing I did after arriving in the Audience Chamber was to "show some love" to a disobedient void monster.
It was then.
[…*Sob*.]
From the limp, sprawled-out body of Idic, a voice suddenly emerged.