Yujun Doesn't Rush
Yujun didn't rush.
He wanted to see just how far Caston's skill went, so he didn't put his full strength into it from the start. He pressed in with light, easy steps, as if he'd only stepped out for a stroll around the neighborhood.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Yujun's sword carved the empty air in rapid succession. Not many beings had ever seen that blade clearly enough to dodge it. Caston's ability to evade surpassed even Paranet's — but he wasn't slipping aside with any composure. He was simply clenching his teeth and fleeing Yujun for his life.
What kind of monster is this?!
Caston searched his memory for a time he had ever been driven this hard. There wasn't one. No matter the opponent, they had always knelt before his superior talent for battle. Whatever he did, he stood ahead of everyone else, and that overwhelming strength had won him no small number of fortunes.
I'm wearing two Mythic-grade items, and I'm still being pushed back?
Whoosh! Snick!
A long lock of hair sheared away, cut so cleanly that his temple was left bare. Caston bit down hard on his lip.
"Are you toying with me?"
"Not really. I'm just getting a look at your skill."
"......Unbelievable."
His pride stung. But right now, surviving came first. Dying here wouldn't truly kill him, yet being knocked out of the event early was nearly as hateful.
Inventory.
Caston knew he couldn't hold out much longer like this, so he decided to look for an answer in his inventory.
I just need to get out of this space. Right now.
The only enemy who truly threatened him was the human before his eyes.
A pitch-black space suddenly bloomed in the air. Caston reached for it — and that was when an overwhelming torrent of mana erupted from Yujun's body.
It didn't end there.
Space Domination
Yujun invoked Space Domination and applied just enough pressure that Caston couldn't move at all.
With that, the fight was over. Once he had failed to escape Space Domination and fallen inside its range, Caston had no way out.
"What in the world are you?"
"What kind of question is that? I'm me."
"......"
There was hardly anyone on the Continent who didn't know Shin Yujun. A first-year player — a human said to be stronger than any other player alive. Those in the know still rated Ji Gyutae higher, but they were vanishingly few. Yujun was a new gust of wind. No — something past a gust, closer to a storm. Caston, failing to recognize a man like that, was the strange one.
"Anyway, what race are you?"
At the abrupt question, Caston clamped his mouth shut.
"You need not know. Kill me and be done with it."
He knew he wouldn't be spared. Quarry already in the snare. That was exactly where Caston stood — nothing more, nothing less.
"Nah. Tell me, and I won't kill you."
"......Wagging that filthy tongue. You think I would believe words like that? I will not be fooled."
"No. I mean it."
"......"
"Come on, trust me. I don't have any particular reason I have to kill you. I'm already in first place. Killing you won't even give me experience. At best my kill count goes up by one."
"Hmph. I have heard that humans lie smoothly and well. I doubt you are any different."
"No? I'm not, though."
"Could you stop saying no? I cannot stand the sound of it."
"No? Don't wanna."
As if anyone could cure a Korean of that chronic habit. Not a chance.
Yujun spoke with a firm face.
"Answer my question first. I said I won't kill you. Just trust me once. The world's not that bleak."
"......"
There was no way to escape on his own power. Caston knew that perfectly well, and so he knew there was only one path left. He let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.
"I am of the Dragon-Fang, a race said to have gone extinct in ancient times."
"Dragon-Fang?"
Yujun's eyes went wide. He had heard the name before — not in War of the Gods, but here, on the Infinite Tower Continent. Just as Caston said, the Dragon-Fang were known as a people already wiped out.
"So you're the only Dragon-Fang left?"
"I do not know. I was simply born one day. No one raised me."
"You've never met another Dragon-Fang?"
"That is correct."
Fascinating. The Dragon-Fang were a race in which dragon blood mixed with that of another people.
So that's why he handles magic so well?
Aside from the two Mythic-grade pieces, the rest of his equipment was pitifully lacking. And yet he had that much martial power. Caston was undeniably skilled. Well — Yujun had known he was strong from the start.
He really is the strongest player I've actually seen.
Yujun lifted his sword and settled into a stance that looked ready to bring the blade down at any moment.
"W-wait! You said you would not kill me!"
Caston shouted, startled.
Yujun smiled brightly.
"Trusting a human?"
"Y-you despicable bastard. I will see you dead. I swear it."
"How?"
"You would do well to hope this event never ends."
Furious, Caston began spitting harsh words. Yujun let out a short, dry laugh.
"I'm really not going to kill you."
"......Huh?"
"I keep my promises."
He had broken far more of them than he had kept, but he said it anyway.
Caston's face brightened a little.
"I—I believed you."
"In exchange, I've got a proposal."
"A pro... proposal?"
The first thing Caston had ever said to Yujun was that he had a proposal to make. Now Yujun was handing the very same word back.
"What sort of proposal?"
"Let's form a party. How about it?"
"A party?"
"Yeah. A party. Hunting together. You know what that is, right?"
"Of course I do."
"Ever been in one?"
"I tried it once or twice long ago, but I grew bored quickly and traveled alone."
"Bored? Why?"
"I could see straight through the ones who joined me. They meant to use me."
"Just for that?"
"They coveted my items as well. After that, I never even considered forming a party."
"I see."
Yujun studied Caston in silence. He had two reasons for wanting a party with him. Killing the man would gain him almost nothing — at most, Jo Su-a's rank would climb by one. And Caston belonged to the Dragon-Fang, a race thought long extinct, while possessing formidable martial power.
The enemies Yujun would have to face were not only Coordination. The Demon God Worshippers, whose strength he still couldn't fully measure, were his enemies as well. If things went badly, he might even have to clash with the Demon God itself.
What the Primordial Player did was nothing by comparison.
He had experienced it indirectly, through a virtual battlefield: Demon God Worshippers with no Demon God among them.
I'm definitely stronger now than the Primordial Player was back then.
But the Demon God Worshippers of the present had grown incomparably stronger than those of the past. Not long ago there hadn't been a single Worshipper over level 500. Now it wasn't rare to find one past level 600.
Securing powerful allies was vital if he meant to prepare for the Demon God. They didn't even have to be true comrades. If he gained even one more person he could use as fighting strength when the time came, that was a gain.
"Anyway. Let's form a party. It's not a loss for you either, is it? You can keep going in the event sitting in third."
"That is true..."
There would not be an opportunity like this again. The gap between them had been driven home in a short clash. Could he even call it a clash? He had only been beaten one-sidedly. To call it a battle was a stretch.
A comrade he could trust.
Honestly, I am not sure he can be trusted... but I know he is stronger than anyone I have ever seen.
Caston nodded.
"Very well. Let us form a party."
Yujun smiled, satisfied. Of course he would accept. It was the only way he walked away alive — and it was the better deal for both of them.
"So what am I to do now?"
"Just do what you were doing. I'll call you if I need you later."
"......That is all?"
"Oh, we should exchange messengers."
"Very well."
Before either of them quite knew how, two people who had been aiming for each other's lives had formed a party and traded messengers. Caston scratched his head at the sudden turn.
If it turned out well, then it turned out well.
Forming a party with a human still sat wrong with him, but things had worked out, hadn't they?
Region 1. Region 2. Region 3. Region 4.
The fighting had ended in every region. Each one had reached its target number.
Orthean Palace.
Several lower gods had gathered here. Most were 7th- and 8th-class deities, quite promising ones among their kind.
"How is it?"
"Not bad. It's flowing more or less as we expected. But the problem is..."
"The problem?"
"See for yourself."
One of the lower gods poured mana into a viewing orb. The orb cast a hologram window hanging high above a battlefield soaked in blood.
"What is this?"
"It's the ranking board, but it's a little..."
"These numbers aren't wrong, are they?"
"You know they're not. The System doesn't make mistakes."
"Then what is this?"
"Exactly what it looks like."
"Which region is this?"
"Region 1."
"This is insane. This human, Shin Yujun — a god or a demigod didn't sneak in disguised, did they?"
"Could be. Looking at those numbers alone..."
Ner, another god who had been listening, let out a snort.
"A god disguising themselves as a human to join in on these brats' little game? Know when a joke has gone too far. And being a god doesn't mean you're strong."
"True enough. But he killed over nine million by himself."
"It's not flatly impossible. Nothing's wrong with the System. That player is just unusually strong."
Ner stated it flatly.
"......"
"Hmm..."
The others worked their mouths and said nothing. Ner was the 7th-class god who had created War of the Gods, the setting behind the Tower of Infinity. Her words naturally carried weight.
Then one of the lower gods took a jab.
"But isn't that human the player you gave a special privilege?"
"He is. Why?"
"So that's why you're covering for him."
"Covering for what? I just said that player is strong."
"What kind of privilege did you give him?"
"I gave him the Equanimity trait. S-rank. It's good for its grade, sure, but it's hardly some extraordinary perk, is it?"
"Then isn't that even stranger? He gets one S-rank trait and becomes that strong? In less than half a year?"
"......Right. I'm having trouble accepting it too."
"Equanimity is famous as a good trait. But can that alone make someone this strong?"
The other lower gods seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Ner let out a heavy sigh.
"The player must simply be talented. Why are all of you so suspicious? Did some player you were secretly sponsoring get killed by Shin Yujun? Or is their rank sitting under his? Ah — of course it would be under his."
"......"
"......"
At Ner's words, which struck the heart of the matter, silence fell over the palace.
"I knew it."
"N-no, it's not necessarily for that reason..."
Then the lower god who had challenged her earlier spoke again.
"Think about it reasonably. A kill count of nine million doesn't make sense. Ah, of course a number like that could come out, if the situation was good, the luck was good, and the skill was exceptional. But this human called Shin Yujun is a rookie who hasn't even been a player for a few months."
"So?"
"Ner. You didn't hand out some enormous privilege without a thought for causality, did you?"
"......"