From a Sudden Event into a Sealed Chamber...

He had been pulled from a sudden event into a sealed chamber once before.

Back then, he'd had to plant a World Tree Seed, and the situation now was uncannily like that one. The only real difference was the urgency—this was desperate on a scale that didn't even bear comparison.

Yujun didn't hesitate. He flung his inventory open and drew out two items: the World Tree Seed, and the Vigorous Growth Fruit.

The World Tree really does come in handy. Last event, growing one had produced Angel's Tears. This time, it would be the tree's turn to suppress the dark demonic energy. Reading the line about the fruit's effect scaling with the user's mana, Yujun nodded. I can grow it even faster than last time. The gap between who he'd been then and who he was now was almost embarrassing to compare—his Magic had risen at least tenfold.

The problem is that it won't just sit still. If the World Tree finished growing before that thing could interfere... He judged his odds were good. He knew the answer, so he carried it out at once, planting the seed at a suitable distance and using the Vigorous Growth Fruit.

Seed and fruit drank in his mana.

Wooong. Woo-woong.

Tremendous growth energy flooded the World Tree Seed, and the earth began to rumble. The purity of his mana played no small part.

That was when the withered tree struck back. Every curse it possessed poured down on the World Tree, and a flood of curse messages slammed into Yujun, the one who had planted the seed.

"There is no end to how underhanded you are."

So it actually knew what it was doing. Curses were Manuela's specialty—though of course, when she used them, they weren't underhanded. She was on his side. Wasn't it always romance when you did it, and adultery when someone else did?

Yujun opened his inventory and dealt with the curses the tree had laid on the World Tree. The consumable dispelled every last one of them. High-grade and precious, yes, but this was exactly what it was for. He didn't regret it in the slightest.

The "tree" was rattled. Being a tree in the most literal sense, it showed nothing on the outside, but Yujun's senses had long since surpassed the superhuman, and he caught it anyway—a tremor, vanishingly small. Before the thing could try anything else on the World Tree, he struck first, pouring mana into his sword and slamming it into the base with everything he had.

Kwaaaang!

The whole area shook violently, but the tree took no damage at all. He'd expected that. Without missing a beat, he hammered it again and again. The tree didn't so much as twitch.

And yet it worked. The dark demonic energy spewing from the tree dropped sharply, growing fainter with every blow. So I'm the one doing the interfering. Even in fights between players, taking a heavy shock while rapidly drawing up mana left the insides in chaos. The tree wasn't shaken quite that badly, but every attempt it made failed before it could begin—which meant Yujun was doing this right.

His strikes were incredibly fast. The Swift Sword (SSS) trait, evolved from Speed Sword, casually shattered the limits of what Strength and Agility could produce and sent them soaring past. The blade swung at a speed even his own eyes struggled to follow. And it wasn't only fast. The power grew stronger too, and a single strike landed two or three times. In accumulated damage, the efficiency had multiplied several times over.

Yujun glanced toward the World Tree. It had already grown taller than he was, and its growth was still accelerating. The claim that the Vigorous Growth Fruit answered to the user's mana didn't seem to be a lie—it was shooting up far faster than last time. Once it hit its stride, the rest was instant. Before the withered tree could so much as check it, the World Tree reached full growth, and the dark demonic energy pouring from its rival ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vanished completely.

That should do it. Everything had gone exactly as the Storyteller said. He'd predicted failure, but only because he'd underestimated Yujun—or, more precisely, because he hadn't grasped the level of Yujun's inventory. Without the Vigorous Growth Fruit, this would've been rough. If it hadn't grown this fast, the empire would've fallen before the World Tree ever finished. He was struck anew by just how much power an item could hold.

"Hang in there."

He said it while patting the World Tree. Whether the words got through, he couldn't say. He laid a powerful barrier over it and left.

Surely the beings of darkness aren't going to keep showing up. One green light had come on, at least. Their procession hadn't continued without end. Only traces remained on the battlefield. Nothing living was left.

Should I call Paranet? No. Summoning him through Space Movement would pull him off his post, and Yujun didn't like the fallout that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might follow. If he simply ran flat out, he could match a teleport well enough. Better to go himself.

He accelerated, then accelerated again, until at last the empire's walls came into view. Only then did he chain Flash after Flash and slip inside.

Fwoosh! Kwaang! Kwang!

"Aaaagh!"

"H-hot!"

"Hold the line! If the second defense line breaks, we're finished!"

In the Tower of Infinity, where everyone except the monsters was a player, even those who weren't soldiers could join the fight. Compared to the soldiers, though, they were far below—honestly, no different from powerless civilians. And the beings of darkness were monsters whose strength defied common sense. The empire's people were no match for them, so the soldiers, knights, and mages threw themselves desperately into the fight.

Even they couldn't hold for long. A single burst of the dark demonic energy those beings produced swept away dozens, hundreds of soldiers. They were, quite literally, spending their lives to protect their country. Conte and Haren, the strongest among them, along with Paranet and Manuela, were at least putting up a fight—but there were simply too many enemies. It was only a matter of time before this place fell.

Not too late, at least. Yujun let out a breath of relief. Manuela had been sending him updates, so he already had a rough grasp of how things stood.

No wonder they ended ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up with a name as vague as "beings of darkness." That was his verdict once he got a proper look. Their forms were blurred, with nothing sharp or distinct about them, and yet they radiated a powerful sense of dark. A little like dark spirits, maybe. Subtle differences, but the feeling they gave off was similar.

This wasn't the time to stand around observing. Yujun raised his sword and began the slaughter, and from the moment he moved, their numbers dropped visibly.

Shuck! Ssk!

Cut off from the tree he had suppressed with the World Tree, the beings of darkness could no longer replenish their dark demonic energy. They were far weaker than at the start, and not one of them could withstand a single blow of his—even without Chaos mixed in.

Maybe I should try a little magic. There were too many to cut down one by one, and the empire's players would take heavy losses if he did. Yujun drew up his mana. The power near his heart swirled, and as that vast current moved, the surrounding ground trembled. The beings of darkness paid the anomaly no mind at all, which suited him just fine. He could prepare a grand spell at his leisure. The vortex swelled, growing larger and larger.

Meteor's a bit much... If his goal were to wipe the imperial capital off the map, a meteor spell would do nicely. Since it wasn't, he held back. What's a suitable spell? Casting something massive without thinking would only increase the damage to the empire, and there was no time. He decided quickly. Hellfire. Burn them down.

Hellfire was by no means a small spell. Among mages, it was famous for its power—and now hundreds of them formed in the air at once. Enormous fireballs filled the sky in every direction, bright enough to turn the darkening heavens into broad daylight. In the moment the empire's players gaped, the spell poured down on the beings of darkness.

Kwakwakwakwang! Kwakwakwang! Kwaang! Kwakwang!

A tremendous explosion shook the entire area. Roar and blast—the sound was so immense that even Yujun, the one who had cast it, winced. The result, naturally, was every bit as spectacular as the noise. Most of the beings of darkness in the rear lost their lives.

Not much time passed before every last one of those countless beings was gone. Extinguished, to be precise, by Yujun's sword and magic. The empire's players had held on, but they had no ability to finish the beings themselves, so the number the empire as a whole had taken down was very small. In a word, Yujun had killed them all.

Nice. Nice. At this rate, he could look forward to the final reward. Far from borrowing the empire's strength, he'd solved everything alone. A bonus was as good as his.

How good is this thing going to be, that it's teasing me like this? A real master of the push and pull. Yujun smiled, pleased. It seemed he couldn't claim the reward right away. He wasn't disappointed. If anything, it only heightened the anticipation.

He looked around. Corpses lay strewn in numbers beyond counting—soldiers who had fallen to the beings of darkness. So many dead... They were orcs, sure, but looking at them still left a bitter taste. If I'd gotten here a little sooner. He might have been able to keep them from dying. Not quite guilt. More like regret.

That was when Manuela approached, her face drenched in sweat.

"We're alive..."

"You're not hurt?"

"Nope. I was just supporting from the back. You?"

"Have you ever seen me get hurt?"

"Right. Stupid question."

"Maaasteeer!"

He'd been wondering where that unpleasant voice was coming from. It was Paranet.

"What. So you were alive."

"...Is this not far too cruel? You speak quite as though you hoped I had perished."

"Oh? If that's how it sounded, nothing I can do."

"M-Master? Why will you not deny it!"

"You wanted a denial?"

"Yes! Of course!"

"..."

Paranet fixed him with a look full of expectation. Yujun ignored it with ease.

At that moment Haren flew in on a Fly spell and bowed low.

"Thank you."

"Save the thanks. I'm doing this for the money— no. For the items."

"I'm grateful anyway. This is the first time my foresight of the future has ever missed. I never thought I'd be this happy to see my own prophecy proven wrong. It's all thanks to you."

"If you're that grateful, how about a gift."

"All right."

She agreed so matter-of-factly that Yujun's eyes went wide.

"For real?"

"Here. Take it."

Haren drew a single item from her inventory and held it out. She's just handing it over? Suspicious as he was, Yujun took it first. Suspicion was suspicion. An item was an item.