Ten Demon God Worshippers

Ten Demon God Worshippers.

"What? They've already gone in."

"Why so fast? Didn't they say there was more than one? And that one of them was far stronger than the rest?"

"They must have had some way to travel."

"Look at the footprints."

"Huh? You're right."

"Looks like they just ran the whole way."

"Look close at the tracks. They went in only a few minutes ago."

"And when did they dig up the ground? That should've taken a fair amount of time."

Komallan, who had been studying the surroundings with care, went rigid all at once.

"What's wrong?"

The Demon God Worshipper beside him caught his expression and asked.

"This wasn't done with magic."

"What wasn't?"

"The ground they tore up. Looks to me like they just dumped mana into it and blew it apart."

"…Huh? Looks like magic to me. No matter how I look at it."

"Look closer."

"……I can't tell."

"Hopeless."

Komallan put on a show of calm and stepped into the laboratory first.

"Let's finish this quickly and go get some rest."

"Yes."

"Ugh. What a pain."

These were no ordinary Demon God Worshippers. They ranked among the upper tier of the organization—elites, in a word—and not one of them entertained the thought that they might lose. That did not mean they meant to be careless. This was a situation that demanded they keep their losses to a minimum. If it could be done, better to erase the target without a single death among them.

Three stairways led down. Where the quarry had gone was obvious. They hadn't even bothered to hide their tracks; the footprints had been left behind as if on display. The Demon God Worshippers descended in tight order, nearly sliding down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the steps, and it was not long before a small sound reached them—the murmur of two people talking.

"They're up ahead."

"Everyone, get ready."

The Demon God Worshippers each finished preparing their skills.

In that instant, a hologram window appeared before them.

The message did not appear for the Demon God Worshippers alone. It rose before Yujun's party as well, not far from them.

What is this?

Yujun's eyes narrowed. An event that every player joined—and the largest scale, no less.

And they're launching it out of nowhere?

There had been no warning. Then again, perhaps this was the warning. They had at least been given ten minutes to prepare.

Why now, of all times…

Yujun's face tightened. They had only just reached another laboratory, and now an event was starting. The timing was far too convenient.

Then another message appeared on the hologram window.

Small mercies, I suppose.

If it had dumped them back in the residential zone after they'd come all this way, he would have been thoroughly irritated. That would at least have gotten them out of Sourtul Forest, but escape was going to happen sooner or later regardless. An event like this was an excellent opportunity for Yujun, who was parched for anything that meant a level-up.

"Ten minutes… That's tight if we want to look through the whole lab."

At Jo Su-a's words, Yujun answered.

"We should deal with the Demon God Worshippers who followed us first."

"…Right."

Jo Su-a tensed, just a little. Yujun was strong, but the enemy numbered ten. She could not leave everything to him. And the Demon God Worshippers who had appeared this time were stronger than the ones they had fought before. The pressure coming off them was different.

The Demon God Worshippers burst into the room where the party waited.

"So this is where you were."

"You found us quick."

"You left tracks. On purpose?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"If you lot got lost wandering around, I couldn't finish this quickly."

"…You think you can beat us?"

"Yeah."

Yujun raised his sword. The Demon God Worshippers finished their own preparations. Three minutes had passed since the event message appeared.

Three of them launched themselves forward, and at the same moment every manner of spell came screaming toward Yujun. Paranet and Jo Su-a threw themselves into the fight as well. It became three against ten.

Yujun met the magic with Ancient Magic and turned to face the Demon God Worshippers closing in. Paranet and Jo Su-a each took one. Of the melee fighters, a single opponent remained. Yujun's was Komallan.

Komallan was smiling, as if he'd hooked exactly the catch he wanted.

"You're Shin Yujun?"

"Yes. That's me."

"……What."

The sudden politeness seemed to startle him; a flicker of confusion crossed Komallan's face. Yujun had not aimed for it, but a very small opening appeared all the same. He moved.

"Y-you coward—"

Before Komallan could finish, Yujun's sword grazed his forehead and passed on. Unfortunately, it took neither head nor neck. Even so, it was enough to turn Komallan's blood to ice. The man who had overreached ripped the distance wide open.

The instant Yujun tried to close in, dozens of spells came flying at him.

Boom—boom—boom!

A shield unfolded through Ancient Magic. There was a reason it sat at EX++. Two layers of shield stopped the magic wrought by eight Demon God Worshippers.

Reliable as ever.

The virtue of a magic swordsman lay in how well he could answer every situation, every variable. In a fight, he was all-purpose. Fall short in either sword or spell and the result would be merely passable, but Yujun handled both with ease. His swordsmanship, in particular, might as well have stood at the peak.

Several more magical volleys followed, and each time Yujun shut them down without difficulty, Ancient Magic answering as easily as a drawn breath.

Komallan was not the only one shaken. The other seven sucked in empty breaths.

"What the hell is that guy?"

"That doesn't look like ordinary magic."

"It's not dark magic. Doesn't seem like normal magic either. Don't tell me it's Ancient Magic?"

"……No way."

"If we leave this, Komallan's in danger."

"Dump everything we've got."

Yujun had gained enough room to spare a glance around. Jo Su-a and her opponent were dead even. Paranet had begun, little by little, to be pushed back. His stats were excellent, but he lacked skills and traits. Even so, he could buy time, and that was enough for Yujun to commit to the remaining eight with some peace of mind.

These aren't ordinary.

Once they understood how sharp his offense was, they stopped giving him openings. Landing a proper attack grew difficult. Where had a pack like this come from all at once? They had clearly used some method to make themselves strong in a short span. Nothing he knew among items did that. The closest thing was an elixir, and those lasted almost no time at all. There was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠great deal about the Demon God Worshippers' strength that refused to add up.

Either way, I just have to clear them all.

They were within what he could handle. The problem was—

Time's a little tight.

Could he kill all eight in the five minutes that remained? It didn't seem likely. It wouldn't matter if he failed to finish every last one. Once the event ended, he could move at once and deal with them.

And so, with two minutes left before the event began—

"Ah—no!"

Jo Su-a took one Demon God Worshipper's head. With that, the balance that had held so evenly broke apart. Jo Su-a took Komallan, and Yujun was free to pour his attacks onto the Demon God Worshippers who had been casting from a distance.

"Block him!"

"Somebody pin him in melee!"

The Demon God Worshippers shouted, urgent. But who among them wanted to close with that man? Every one of them hesitated. That hesitation became a disaster.

Shhk!

In a flash, the neck of a Demon God Worshipper still preparing a spell came away.

A burst of rapid advance. Yujun was fast enough without a skill, but fold a skill into the movement and he could push even harder. Efficiency, maximized. The Demon God Worshipper who had just died was the result.

"Another one's dead!"

"Then we drop into Formation Three."

The Demon God Worshippers did not fall into panic. Instead they raised a solid barrier and switched to holding out, weaving defensive magic together with spells that restricted Yujun's movement. Not one of those spells carried real killing power.

Hm.

Awkward. If they had come at him aggressively, he could have met fire with fire and finished them in a single stroke. Drag the fight out like this, and even he had no good answer.

So Yujun turned his eyes to the Demon God Worshipper locked even with Paranet. The man was too occupied fighting Paranet to notice anything else. Yujun struck at his back.

Vmmm! Vmm!

There was no room to close in himself, so he reached for one of the more violent spells in his Ancient Magic.

He had poured mana in generously, and the effect was tremendous. The Demon God Worshipper's body crumpled in an instant and vanished without a trace.

"……."

"……."

At that astonishing sight, the battle paused. Careless or not, to die so emptily to a single spell cast from a distance…

Seven remained. But almost no time was left.

A shame.

He had wanted to take at least one more before he went, but the situation was not so forgiving. Force it, and he might be the one who paid. Yujun gave it up and waited for the event.

A familiar message. In case the warp left them defenseless, Yujun wrapped himself and his companions in a solid shield. The Demon God Worshippers seemed to have had the same thought; shields rose around them as well.

Fwaaah—!

Until the warp came to an end, Yujun studied their faces with care.

If I run into them at the event, I kill them on sight.

The place changed—from the gloomy laboratory to somewhere beneath a blinding sun, where players beyond counting stood or sat.

"There are so many…"

"There really are."

Jo Su-a and the two Hon, already bound into the party, had been pulled along as well.

"What? Where did you go?"

"We kept running… It looked like the Demon God Worshippers were going to catch us, so we broke off toward somewhere else."

Yotolban answered, dragging in rough breaths.

"I see."

Players of the Continent, gathered in a single instant. With every race assembled, tension hung over the grassland.

"An event, out of nowhere?"

"Doesn't the System usually post some kind of notice beforehand?"

"What's going on."

"At this scale, the rewards have to be insane."

"Why are you so simple? The top ranks will take every reward."

"Even scraps would be a gain, wouldn't they?"

"True enough."

No one panicked overmuch. They prepared for battle. In an event of the Tower of Infinity, no one could know what might happen. Yujun did not relax either.

A place I don't know. However strong I've become, the world is wide.

Level 500 content. Everything beyond that was an unknown world, even to him. And a surprise event like this—he had never experienced one, had never even known of one.

A reward for surviving means that dying here doesn't actually kill you.

It was the same as the Species Tournament. Back then, dying had not been dying. You revived the moment the tournament ended. Elimination was the better word. Perhaps that was why the players' faces were not especially dark. They seemed to take it as an event, plain and simple.

"The rankers hiding all over the Continent will ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠show themselves here."

"Yeah. I heard there are plenty of players stronger than the ones in Coordination."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"People stronger than Coordination? Far as I know, those guys are the strongest."

"Well, even Shin Yujun, famous as a rising rookie, is supposed to be stronger than Coordination's players. If even he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is—and he's only been at this a year—how many hidden masters do you think there are?"

"Shin Yujun's basically a mutant. Using him as a point of comparison is a bit…"

"He's famous for his growth speed, sure. Honestly, aren't there quite a few stronger than him?"

"Well, I think about the same. When this event's over, we'll really know who's the strongest."