The Absolute Sealing Orb

The Absolute Sealing Orb.

It was the only one Yujun possessed. Not equipment, and not a consumable either — an item that could keep a person alive and imprison them for eternity, but only one. To use the Absolute Sealing Orb a second time, he would first have to release whoever was already sealed inside. Strictly speaking, it was closer to a permanent item.

I was really saving this. I didn't want to use it.

There were situations where the orb would truly be needed. A dragon, say. Or the Demon God. He had meant to keep it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for enemies of that caliber, and the thought of spending it now drew a sigh out of him.

"Didn't think I'd be wasting this on vermin."

The Heresy Inquisitor, abruptly demoted to vermin, came to his senses and was just about to bristle when—

"Body Slam!"

A heavy impact slammed him flat.

"Guh—!"

"Master! I have dealt with him!"

"Well done."

"Heh. Think nothing of it. Only give the command! I am quite confident I could hurl him clear to the Demon Realm and return."

"That's a bit far."

"......I-is it? Then perhaps the boundless sea would be a more fitting distance?"

Yujun turned the Absolute Sealing Orb over in his fingers. A waste, yes. Even so, this was not a moment he could afford to hold it back. He had to use it. To think he couldn't kill the man over a gap in rank — had there ever been anything so galling? And if he left the bastard alive, there was no telling when he would turn up again to make off with the Angel's Tears.

I'll use it.

But there was something he had to do first.

"Paranet."

"Yes!"

"If he tries to run, Body Slam him. Understood?"

"Yes, yes! But... 'if he tries to run,' you say?"

"You'll see in a minute. Tapagol. You find the Angel's Tears."

"Un...derstood."

Tapagol moved at once.

"You two, stay where you are."

"Understood."

"Sure."

He hadn't asked the two teammates to search for the Angel's Tears either. If either of them nursed a greedy thought and tried to flee with the things, that would be trouble — and should he catch so much as a hint of it, he was prepared to kill them and swallow the penalty. One way or another, the preparations were finished. He drove his sword into the head of the Heresy Inquisitor, still twitching on the ground, and the blade sank in with a dull thunk.

"S...stop... please."

"Then maybe don't go around bragging you're invincible. You're not."

"Th-this is... unjust. I never said any such thing...!"

"Yes, you did. I heard you."

"What kind of twisted logic is that..."

"Get up."

"......What?"

Yujun took three steps back and tossed the Heresy Inquisitor his weapon.

"Pick that up and stand."

"......What are you scheming?"

The Heresy Inquisitor's eyes narrowed. There would be a reason for this. Some purpose, without a doubt.

Don't tell me he's tired?

That didn't hold. Yujun looked far too composed — his breathing hadn't even roughened, and more than anything, he hadn't moved enough to be tired.

"What is your intent?"

"Can't you tell? I'm saying we fight fair and square."

"That undead is staring at me as though he means to devour me whole. You call that fair?"

"Got a problem with it?"

"......"

"I gave you a chance. So take it."

"Very well. If that is how you mean to have it, I will not refuse. I was caught off guard before, I grant you... but from this moment, it will be different."

"Yeah, yeah."

Yujun had a reason for deliberately letting the Heresy Inquisitor go. It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the growth of his Swordsmanship trait. The man was strong, and he used a sword at a level high enough that, among every player Yujun had seen, he might fairly be called the finest. And yet the Heresy Inquisitor would not die, all because of a difference in rank. At first it had been irritating — absurd, even. Thinking it over, though, this was an opportunity. Combat experience. A chance to develop his swordsmanship. SSS sat among the very highest of grades, but that did not mean there was no room left to grow. It was not a true ceiling. Hone it, and he believed the skill's rank could still rise — especially after watching Paranet's Body Slam come into being. He could not keep treating this place as nothing more than a game.

And right on cue, an enemy who won't die... which means I don't have to hold back.

Half-hearted sparring improved no one's skill, and less so when the opponent was weak. In that sense, the Heresy Inquisitor was the most perfectly suited training partner Yujun could have asked for.

Could there be a better punching bag than this?

Paranet seemed to catch the thought at once.

"Master... heheh. Brilliant, as expected."

"Don't laugh like that."

"Yes? Why not?"

"It's creepy."

"......Yes."

Paranet's shoulders slumped.

An act.

Yujun took his attention off Paranet and looked at the Heresy Inquisitor, who was watching the point of his sword with a tense face.

"Well? You coming or not?"

At that, the Heresy Inquisitor closed in like a shot. Skill or not, the air around them changed — searing hot, then biting cold.

The skill he tried to use earlier, before Paranet Body-Slammed him and canceled it. Let's have a look.

He had never seen anything like it while playing War of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gods. A harmony of fire and ice. Flames bloomed along the blade, then froze solid in a rapid crackle.

And what's the point of that?

Manifest a flame attribute, only to freeze it on the spot? It made no sense by any common measure Yujun knew — but the Tower of Infinity was not a place that ran on common sense. The instant the Heresy Inquisitor's sword met his, a tremendous explosion engulfed the area, vast enough to fill the whole of that wide space. Yujun hastily raised a shield before the World Tree at his back. The tree came through unharmed. He, on the other hand, had to take the blast with his own body.

"That all?" he said quietly, smiling.

The Heresy Inquisitor was aghast.

"You took that bare, and you lived?"

"Your attack power's just low. And here I thought a higher rank meant you'd hit harder."

At the mockery, the Heresy Inquisitor seized his sword and swung. Yujun slipped aside from the attacks the man drove home through clenched teeth, and he didn't so much as bring his own blade to bear. If the weapons clashed, the Heresy Inquisitor's sword might shatter. When the man had used his skill, there had been no direct collision, and the weapon had survived — but sword on sword, and it would have been smashed to pieces.

Stats look about even. On traits, I'm well ahead.

Yujun reined in the effect of Absolute Dominion (SSS). It was a skill whose power shifted wildly with the user's will, and he had chosen to restrain it because it seemed to be the very reason the Heresy Inquisitor could not bring his strength to bear. Sure enough, the moment the effect lifted, the man's speed climbed. Unaware that Yujun had done it on purpose, he swung with renewed delight.

So that's how much Absolute Dominion was carrying, all this time.

Meeting him grew taxing.

Perfect.

This was what he had wanted. An opponent weaker than oneself could never make for real training. Yujun fought with the sword alone, not a thread of mana in the exchange. He had been giving himself wholly to evasion, but little by little his attacks grew more frequent. He had handicapped himself, and still his SSS-rank Swordsmanship began finding the answers on its own.

The Heresy Inquisitor grew desperate. If that earlier paralysis held, he would suffer for a long while without even the mercy of death, and so he moved as if his life depended on it. Then, in a single instant, Yujun's sword sheared through his neck. The Heresy Inquisitor's body crumpled where it stood.

"What, it's over?"

He had only just begun to warm to it, and the man had collapsed in a heap. The heat went out of the fight.

This won't do.

His swordsmanship did seem to be ripening, little by little. Even so, he had felled the Heresy Inquisitor far too quickly, without meaning to. Their stats were equal; the gap in technique had simply been that severe.

I need to fight at a steeper disadvantage.

The Swordsmanship trait, socketed with a high-grade gem, was developing far too fast. A good thing, without question — and still not enough. Yujun made a drastic decision. He removed the Helm of Omnipotence.

The four-piece set effect vanished, and his attack power, defense, and stats plunged. A single helm, and he felt drastically weaker. In its place he equipped the Eagle Eye Scouter. He had taken the helm off in part because he wanted the drop in stats, and in part so that he could wear the scouter at all.

Things ordinarily invisible would become visible. He fixed on that line. He wanted to take swordsmanship into himself by seeing it with his own eyes and feeling it in his own body.

The Heresy Inquisitor broke free of his paralysis. With no thought of giving up, he charged at once — the same union of fire and ice as before.

If I take this one, it could actually be bad.

He was without the helm now. Defense and stats had fallen off sharply. And then, perhaps thanks to the Eagle Eye Scouter, the world slowed. Time crawled. The grain of skill and magic began to show itself. Yujun set his sword forward, and the explosion burst, flame and shards of ice rushing in to swallow him.

Somehow... I think I can stop all of it.

His sword cut fire and ice in a rapid succession of strokes. He found each grain and severed it, and everything the blade touched was annihilated. Until now the sword had felt as if it moved of its own accord. Now it seemed he perceived and governed even the play of his fingertips on the hilt, down to the smallest motion. It was new. And it was a pleasure.

Between Equanimity and Swordsmanship, it always felt like I was still just playing a game. Not now.

Life. He could feel it in the sword.

When he cut apart the magical debris left by the blast, the Heresy Inquisitor's face went blank. Understandable. Even Yujun of a few minutes prior would have been startled by a sight like this. His strokes had grown too fast for the eye to follow, and the Heresy Inquisitor did not dare think of closing in. Come near, and his whole body would be carved to pieces. He knew he could not die, and still fear took root.

"More!"

"......"

"More! Throw more at me! I can feel it — something's about to click!"

Yujun shouted like a madman. His eyes were wrong.

"M-Master! Is your head quite all right?! You're hurt, aren't you? You are, right? You hit your head, didn't you?! See — why did you take the helm off...!"

Paranet looked at him with worried eyes. Yujun paid him no mind. Bloodshot, he glared at the Heresy Inquisitor.

"Hurry!"

"Y-yes! I understand!"

The Heresy Inquisitor used the skill once more, and flame and shards of ice flew toward Yujun. Yujun swung with a face soaked in rapture.

"H-he's insane..."

The Heresy Inquisitor stared at him, sick of the sight. Once again Yujun cleaved ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every last scrap of debris clean in two.

Paranet seemed to realize something. He murmured in astonishment.

"Ah, so that, too, was an extension of the training. Truly, to behold Master is to feel one's breast swell of its own accord with majestic—"