But Why Were the Players...

"But why were the players trying to get off the deserted island?"

"The reward, I'd guess."

"A reward?"

"You think they made it a deserted island for nothing? One look at how thick the God's Minions are packed, and it's obvious. Break through that and take the items. That's the point."

"……?"

Paranet was staring at Yujun as if he'd said something deeply unhinged.

"What's with that look?"

"Master! Pray apply a little common sense. Who in the world would imagine they could break through the God's Minions and escape this island?"

"Me, for one. And getting past them might be a hidden piece."

"Is it not rather excessive, posting God's Minions for such a task? Even supposing some treasure does lie beyond."

"Doesn't matter to me if there's no item or reward past there."

"Then why go at all?"

"I'm curious. I want to see how strong a God's Minion really is. Two birds, one stone."

"Hmm…"

Yujun started forward, careful with every step. He was testing how close he could get before the thing attacked, but a God's Minion was no robot. There was no telling when it would lunge.

Laser fire, and that trick where a giant hand appears behind you. Those two.

A God's Minion. Nothing but a minion, and still this strong. What, then, were the gods themselves? They didn't seem able to interfere much with the Tower of Infinity. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He could tell as much from the way Ner had secretly passed him an item — and she had paid fifteen million points for the privilege. Only by going that far had he barely come away with the cloak. They were not free to act as they pleased, nor to reach down and move the Continent.

When Ner was the operator… what was it she said. Something about winning a contest.

Operator Ner had granted him the inventory perk and Equanimity, calling it thanks for all the money he'd poured in. Wasn't that the same reason she had sponsored him the Primal Shabby Cloak?

If she's good to me, fine. Not like I have to pay her back.

The God's Minion still hadn't spared him a glance.

So it attacks once you cross a set distance. Or when you try to leave the island.

He was close enough now that even an ordinary eye could have picked the thing out. Yujun stopped. The God's Minion did not attack.

This far is fine, then?

That was when it happened. The God's Minion fired a laser toward a point very far away. A player who had taken to the sky, trying to flee the island, was struck and fell.

"……."

It catches an escape the instant someone tries it. Getting close doesn't seem to bother it much.

Yujun drew up his mana. The Primal Shabby Cloak — and the option woven into it, a forty-five percent increase to every stat. Every stat, of course, included mana. His had climbed to a height no one else could hope to match.

Wooong. Wooong—

The air warped. The ground shuddered. He had hauled out a vast quantity of mana all at once, and it poured from his whole body in a torrent.

First, Ancient Magic. His Magic Comprehension trait had climbed a step to SS-rank, and his mana had risen another forty-five percent on top of that. He was already curious how much fiercer Ancient Magic would be.

When the other side hasn't noticed yet, the answer is still…

Space Domination. The skill he favored most, and one that boasted tremendous power. Its warning signs were vanishingly brief, which made it perfect for an ambush. Yujun fed the mana he had drawn up into Space Domination.

Fwaaa—! With a sickening crunch, the minion's body began to crumple like a tin can.

Warning messages stacked up one after another. If they were warnings at all. They read more like a notice that the attack simply did not work. The God's Minion didn't seem to feel pain; it never so much as frowned.

A bit different from the Heresy Inquisitor, isn't it?

The Heresy Inquisitor had locked up whenever he took heavy damage. The God's Minion did not. Bound inside Space Domination, its mind stayed perfectly clear.

Figures. Ordinary attacks don't work on this one either.

He had already known. He had only been testing, on the off chance. The God's Minion slipped free of the space, and the instant it left the spell's range it fired. A laser leapt from its hand. Yujun slipped aside without effort. High Agility, maybe. An ordinary player couldn't even see a God's Minion's laser, it was that fast — and Yujun dodged it on dynamic vision and reflex alone, without so much as tracking its path.

This is insane.

His movement before the cloak and after it were two different things entirely.

This doesn't even feel like me.

The God's Minion poured out lasers without a pause. Yujun evaded every one of them. He didn't allow so much as a graze. Deciding that would not do, it switched to the same method it had used to kill two players before. A single giant hand formed behind Yujun's head.

Good thing I watched for that.

Even if he hadn't known, his reflexes would likely have carried him clear. As if he'd been waiting for it, he spun and cut. The giant hand split in two. Another laser fired. Yujun dodged.

Is that all it's got?

He wondered whether a God's Minion could make as good a sparring partner as the Heresy Inquisitor had. For a while, the same exchange repeated. Yujun threw probing, halfhearted strikes, feeling the thing out, and the God's Minion came at him as if it meant to kill. Not once did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its attacks land. For the creature, a case like this must have been almost unheard of. At last the God's Minion stopped and opened its mouth.

"Who are you?"

"What are you on about?"

"Who are you?"

"You actually want to know?"

"I do. I have never seen a player as strong as you. And yet your rank is strangely low. Why."

"Why? Because my level's low. Obviously."

"Your level is low… And yet you possess strength such as this?"

The God's Minion sounded impressed. For the first time, its expression changed. The face had been so rigid Yujun had half taken it for a robot. Apparently not.

"You are a God's Minion, right?"

"Did you not come here already knowing that?"

"Why are you blocking this place?"

"Because I was ordered to."

"So you do whatever you're told, like some servant? That why they call you a minion?"

Yujun had only meant to needle it. The God's Minion snorted.

"Yes. To serve those beings is a glory. You would not know that joy."

"Wouldn't know. Don't want to, either. You seem pretty satisfied with the work, though."

The minion nodded without a moment's thought.

"R-right…?"

Yujun scratched his head. He hadn't expected conviction that absolute. If the thing was happy, then it was happy. He didn't understand it, but still.

"So? You done fighting?"

At that, the God's Minion let out a short laugh.

"I know your rank is low. That is why your ambush did me no harm whatsoever. And still you mean to fight me?"

"Do minions usually just run their mouths?"

"You and I are different from the moment of our birth. I, who bear the Divine Realm, am no foe the likes of you could ever—"

Yujun used Flash (SSS+). In an instant he was behind the God's Minion, and up to that moment it hadn't noticed a thing. By the time it whirled around, it was already too late. His sword, steeped in Chaos, sheared the God's Minion from crown to heel.

Shhk!

The God's Minion split clean down the middle. The cut face was, as expected, immaculate.

Now this is nice.

To think the Chaos attribute would take on a sword. He had more or less expected it, but using it for real, the effect was absurd. By any common measure, he had just killed an enemy he should never have been able to beat.

Something was wrong. The minion's body, cut in half, vanished without a trace — and a laser came streaking in from not far off. Yujun twisted aside.

What…?

He turned his head. A creature identical to the God's Minion he had just cut down was standing there as if nothing had happened.

"M-Master. Is that thing not resurrecting? I saw it! The very instant you slew it, it took shape again upon that boundary!"

"If you saw it, you might have warned me."

"Ah…"

"Coward! You caught me unawares before, but from this moment you will not have the slightest chance!"

The God's Minion shouted and charged. Yujun let out a hollow laugh.

"You ambushed me too. Spare me the lecture."

He laid Chaos over the blade. Watched from outside, it looked as if it might swallow a person whole. The power was tremendous, and yet, fortunately, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it laid no great burden on the weapon.

I don't carry a Transcendence-grade sword for nothing.

His sword's excellence was not limited to raw attack power. As the God's Minion closed in without a trace of fear, Yujun used Flash again. A thin smile crossed the minion's face.

"I do not know how you killed me… but farewell."

A tremendous explosion burst from the creature as it spoke.

…A self-destruct?

KABOOM! BOOM!

He had only just used Flash, and he couldn't cast it again right away. The blast took him full on. Searing heat swallowed his whole body. The minion's flesh tore to shreds and came flying as fragments. A suicide attack, and its power was no joke — and he had eaten it point-blank, so close that even his reflexes had no time to answer.

"M-Master! Do not die! Master! Where do you think you are going, leaving me behind!"

Paranet came running, wailing. Yujun, standing there without a scratch, snorted.

"What's with the dramatics. I'm fine."

"Wh-what…? Y-you are unharmed?"

"Yeah. As you can see."

Perhaps his defense was simply that high. The God's Minion's self-destruct had done nothing at all, making a mockery of the fact that he had taken it dead center, from point-blank range. Yujun raised his voice.

"Tapagol."

"Yes."

"You know the spot where the minion comes back, right?"

"Yes."

"Go there and gigantify. The moment it appears, grab it and hold on."

"Understood."

Paranet's mouth twisted.

"Master. I am quite capable of that myself."

"You're small. No."

In truth, Paranet was larger than your average Death Knight or orc. He simply could not compare with Tapagol once the golem had used Gigantification. Knowing that, he conceded, as if he had no other choice.

Tap.

The God's Minion had already resurrected and was running at him, and the look on its face was something to behold. Its brow was knotted as if the situation made no sense at all — and still it was committing to another self-destruct. Chaos settled over Yujun's sword once more. Wary of it, the God's Minion halted where it stood.

"What in the world is that energy?"

"Curious?"

"If I am honest, yes. It is astonishing. An energy that ignores the gap in rank and inflicts wounds. I have neither seen nor heard of such a thing."

"Well. I picked it up by chance, so I don't really know either. How many times do you have to die before you stay dead?"

An odd question. Still, the God's Minion surely couldn't resurrect forever. No item, ability, or skill like that ought to exist. The very idea of unlimited revival was absurd. Once or twice, maybe. Not this.

Come to think of it, where did that auto-resurrection scroll go?

The auto-resurrection scroll. He had no idea what had become of it. He was certain he'd had one… It was the only item that had vanished when his inventory synchronized. His best guess was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that the operator had decided a perfect resurrection broke the balance and deleted it outright. Then again, there had been a Demon King who came back more than once.

"How many? You ask how many times I must die? You would be shocked if I told you."

The God's Minion roared with laughter.

"Oh, I'm dying to hear it. How many times do I have to kill you?"

"Counting would be pointless. Kill me thousands of times. Tens of thousands. Here, I am all but invincible. Sweat and struggle all you like. The outcome is already decided."

"Invincible? You keep coming back no matter how many times you're killed?"

"Well? Does despair take you?"

"Not even a little."

One look was enough. The System was letting it revive with no limit on the count, and that was why the thing was so full of itself. It probably wasn't bluffing. When it said invincible, it likely meant it — at least on this deserted island. A good idea surfaced, and the corner of Yujun's mouth lifted.