Yujun and Manuela, at Once
Yujun and Manuela slipped on the transparent rings at once and set out to roam the palace.
Barely two days remained before the scene Manuela had witnessed in her imagination would come to pass in truth. Time was not so short as to be desperate, but neither was it an hour for taking their ease.
"I thought so the first time I saw it, but this palace really is enormous."
"It is."
Manuela agreed with him.
And it was not only the palace. The Underground Kingdom seemed to hold no other realm at all, and yet its scale was anything but modest. Beyond the walls stretched a sea with no end in sight, and forest grown thick and deep. Past the trees lay green plains, vast enough that one might fairly call the place another continent sunk beneath the earth. There was even a sun, pouring down a gentle warmth.
He had no idea why a sun should hang underground, but under conditions like these he could see the appeal of coming down here to live. That had to be why so many players had gathered in the Underground Kingdom.
Looks like it's been around for quite a long time, too.
There was a reason the scramble for power here burned so hot. The place was the choicest ground there was—not because the soil was rich, but because chances for players to raise their levels lay scattered everywhere underfoot. The dungeons near the Underground Kingdom were too numerous to count, and their difficulty ran high besides. Plenty of them still sat uncleared around the kingdom, and the fight to monopolize those dungeons had only sharpened the struggle between the Royalist Faction and the Noble Faction.
Once I get the Transcendent Stone this time, I should go find the dungeon with the worst reputation.
Time passed quickly.
Without warning, a grand banquet was held in the kingdom—not one of the regular feasts, but a celebration of Sirius's safe return. It ought to have been a party where everyone laughed and made merry. The air in the hall, however, had sunk in precisely the opposite direction. Nobles of the Noble Faction and nobles of the Royalist Faction were locked in a war of nerves. No fists had flown, but they raked at one another with words, provoking by inches. The mood was vicious enough that if a single noble lost his temper, it looked ready to erupt into a brawl on the spot.
Yujun and Manuela were seated in the hall as guests of King Calton.
"Whoa. Unreal. This is insane."
Every delicacy of land and sea was there. Not a single dish was missing.
"Hey, this is good. You try some."
Yujun offered it to Paranet.
"……I fear I am unable to partake of food."
"You can't? Sorry. Manuela, get over here and try this. It's seriously good."
He brought the slice of pizza in his hand up to her mouth.
"Hah— w-wait, are you f-feeding m— mmph!"
"Well? Good, right?"
"Mm…… yeah."
Manuela chewed for a long while before she nodded.
His stomach full, Yujun let his gaze travel the length of the hall. He had felt it for some time already. The place was one spark from going up, and the only people eating with any composure were his own party.
"Who are they?"
"From what I hear, the guests who brought His Highness the prince home."
"They let someone of unknown identity into the kingdom? Surely not."
"Come now. Would our Underground Kingdom be that careless? They'll have finished confirming who they were long before letting them in."
"True enough. Bandits are swarming out there. They wouldn't do it halfway."
"Ah, since you mention bandits— have you heard that rumor?"
"Hm? What rumor?"
"You haven't? The Jhorhen Mountain Stronghold. They say the whole place has frozen solid."
"……Frozen? What are you talking about? I don't follow."
"I can hardly believe it myself, but they say the mountain froze through, the entire thing."
"It froze?"
"Whatever sorcery it was, there's no sign of it melting. The rumor is probably true. It isn't just one or two people who claim to have seen that mountain."
"Hah. Once the banquet's over, I'll have to go see for myself."
Listening in on the nobles with his exceptional hearing, Yujun tilted his head.
Two full days had passed since he cast Blizzard Storm, and it was still frozen? The spell had been immense, yes, but he had never imagined the ice would hold for anywhere near this long.
It's a little strange to chalk it up to the skill simply being that powerful.
Had there been some special item at the Jhorhen Mountain Stronghold? Or a dungeon?
Yujun's eyes narrowed.
Looks like I'll need to go back to the Jhorhen Mountain Stronghold.
That was the moment. Three figures with cloaks pulled low stepped into the banquet hall, and Yujun watched them closely as they entered on bold, unhesitating strides.
Those are the ones.
They were, without a doubt, the players Manuela had seen in her vision. Showing up late, buried under cloaks that large, it would have been stranger not to recognize them. One of them, she had said, would demand the Transcendent Stone from the king. Then the scene she had imagined would unfold exactly as she had seen it.
What had been little short of certainty became fact.
KRA-KOOM!
An argument broke out among the nobles, and someone cast a spell. Ordinarily, using magic in the palace would have meant immediate arrest by knights or soldiers, but the situation now was different. The Noble Faction had risen in open rebellion. Worse, just shy of half the kingdom's entire order of knights had taken their side.
"Do you think you can bear it?"
King Calton spoke quietly.
The duke answered him.
"Surely Your Majesty knows well enough which of us holds the advantage."
"Duke Huserden. I always thought the day would come when you raised your banner against me. Did you imagine I opened a banquet like this without a thought in my head?"
"I know. You will have prepared a great deal. All the more reason this should be a fair and honorable fight, should it not?"
Calton was so dumbfounded he let out a hollow laugh. He knew, in exacting detail, the things Duke Huserden had done to assemble the power he now held. To hear the word honorable leave that mouth— he could not have found it more absurd.
The duke seemed to catch the meaning of the laugh. His expression stiffened, just slightly.
"Well. You aren't entirely wrong. There were ways you might have had me assassinated."
"I knew they wouldn't work in any case…… and what meaning would a throne won that way even hold?"
"What's there to drag out? Let us finish this."
Players of the Royalist Faction and the Noble Faction crashed together.
KRA-KOOM!
The king had his reasons for making the banquet hall the ground of the decision. It was wide. Enormously so. And more than one barrier had been laid over it, strong enough to withstand magic of every kind. The palace was not about to come down over a clash of this order.
KRAK! BOOM!
Spells of every sort tore through the air. In moments the interior of the hall was choked with smoke, and a handful of players who had attended the banquet with no idea what was happening fled in a rush.
Yujun shot toward the king. If Calton died, all of it would be for nothing. The king startled at his approach, then eased once he confirmed the face.
"So it was you."
"I just need to protect you, right?"
"I can look after this body of mine myself."
"Then I only need to wipe out those Noble Faction bastards?"
"I would be grateful if you did."
Manuela laid her buffs and her blessing over him then. Feeling a mysterious power settle into his body, he plunged into the melee where magic was still flying.
One Noble Faction player, faced with Yujun's sudden appearance, swung a sword on reflex. Yujun raised his own blade at his leisure and caught the blow.
Shhk!
It was the sword of the man who had struck first that split clean in two. The player recoiled in shock.
"Y-you're insane!"
Yujun drove the sword forward. It sank between the player's brows, and the man died where he stood. In the next instant Yujun cast Flash. A throwing dagger buried itself in the spot where he had just been.
"Tsk."
The dark elf who had aimed for him clicked his tongue—and then felt the world begin to spin.
Wh…… what?
That was the dark elf's end. Yujun took the dark elf's head in passing and drove his sword into the back of the skull of a player who had turned his back.
Thud.
Three Noble Faction players were down in a breath. The faction seemed to have felt the danger at last, and a magical bombardment began to pour toward Yujun.
KRA-KRA-KRA-KOOM!
He cast a shield. He could have dodged, but raising a shield would make the enemy spend even more magic trying to smash it. He was counting on draining their mana as well. Yujun formed the shield and cast Flash.
Shhk!
Another Noble Faction player fell. Against an enemy they could not see, they had no choice but to be cut down helplessly. Yujun would appear, then cast Flash again and vanish, and every time he did, one player or more went down. From the Noble Faction's side, it was a predicament of no ordinary kind.
"What is that bastard?"
"Someone King Calton brought in."
The nobles who had been casting from a distance muttered among themselves.
Duke Huserden witnessed Yujun's work as well.
"Indeed. So he did have a card in reserve."
Unless the king was a fool, there was no chance he had prepared nothing. Knowing that, Duke Huserden had still forced a head-on contest, because he was certain he would win. He turned to look behind him. Three players stood there, faces hidden beneath their cloaks.
"I'm counting on you."
Duke Huserden trusted those three alone. He knew their skill did not fall the least bit short of his own, and one among them was overwhelmingly stronger than he was. He did not doubt victory by so much as a hair.
Their reaction, however, was a little strange. They had gone slightly rigid.
"What are you doing?"
"……We need time."
"Time?"
"Only a moment."
With that, the three turned their backs.
"That's Shin Yujun, isn't it?"
"I'm certain. He isn't even hiding his face."
"……."
"No, but why is Shin Yujun here?"
"How should I know?"
They were players belonging to both the Demon God Worshippers and Coordination. Granted the Demon God's Grace, they had gained a power that was anything but natural. They had been strong to begin with, but since receiving the Grace not long ago they had become strong past any comparison with what they had been. Their confidence had been boundless. Against Shin Yujun, it was a different matter.
"I'd heard he went into Sourtul Forest, but I never thought he'd come all the way to the Underground Kingdom. What should we do?"
"Hm…"
At Son Jihye's words, Go Gwanghyeon—the leader of the three—swallowed a groan. He could not get a read on how far Shin Yujun's strength actually went. The name had grown famous enough that there was no one who failed to know it, yet there was no one who knew, with any precision, just how strong he was. That was why he hesitated.
"We'll have no choice but to fight……."
Go Gwanghyeon let out a heavy sigh. Having come this far, flight was no longer possible. If they ran while leaving Shin Yujun alive—the man they were meant to kill before anyone else—the Demon God Worshippers would not sit still either. Better, even, to die fighting him than that.
"And things had been going so smoothly."
"I know. For now, I think we should aim for when Shin Yujun lets his guard down."
"Does that bastard even have a guard to let down? I wonder."
"By the time he's wary of us, it'll already be too late. That moment is the only chance we'll get."
"All right. Understood."
Go Gwanghyeon nodded and relayed the plan to Duke Huserden.
"I'd like you to concentrate your attacks on that player."
"What? Out of the question. The risk is far too great. Waste our firepower on a single man, and the Royalist Faction could push straight through at any—"
"He is not a man to dismiss as merely one. Shin Yujun is strong."
"Shin Yujun?"
"That is the name of the player wearing that shabby cloak."
"You're saying even the three of you would be hard-pressed against him?"
"Yes."
"……."
"I'm asking you. If there is an opening, it will be only once. If not then, even we cannot guarantee victory."
Go Gwanghyeon spoke it like a verdict.