Painful Strike?
Painful Strike?
It was a kind of skill he had never seen before. When he checked the effect, the description claimed it bestowed a truly horrific agony on its target.
So I don't have to aim only for the openings. That's a relief.
He had worried what he would do if he ran into an opponent whose openings he could not see and then found he could not use this skill. The worry had been for nothing.
Is it because of the Absolute Sealing Orb, pain given form? And here I am, picking up another skill like this.
Balrog had still not clawed his way free of the pain. Aside from Chaos, Yujun now knew a second way to make an attack tell against an opponent of higher tier. Painful Strike could not, of course, deal physical damage to such a being. It could plant pain, though. Pain of an order entirely removed from the ordinary.
Just then, four of the Phantom Tribe reached the ground Balrog's explosive attack had scorched bare. The sight struck them dumb. A burning forest they might have set aside. What none of them had expected was the colossal Balrog, shrieking as he rampaged. The shock that landed on Chieftain Yan was especially severe.
"Balrog is being pushed back...?"
Yan had never meant to step into the fight himself. He had meant to watch, and to shape what came after from what he saw. The situation, however, was sliding somewhere strange. A single human player, come out of nowhere, was driving Balrog back, and there was not so much as an ordinary scratch on the man's body.
"What is even going on?"
"The two Demon God Worshippers are already dead."
"Chieftain. What should we do?"
"We watch a little longer."
Once Yujun left him untouched and time began to pass, Balrog's condition improved. The fit-like thrashing stopped, and he settled by degrees.
So the pain holds for about two minutes. Not bad.
It was better than not bad. The effect was excellent. Even Balrog, who ought to have had some tolerance for pain, had suffered like that.
This is actually worth using.
Wanting to test the power of Painful Strike a little further, Yujun took up his sword and closed on Balrog at an easy pace. Balrog recoiled in naked terror and backed away. Even that was not enough. He beat his wings and flung himself into the sky, the movement wholly unconscious.
He must have hurt that badly...
Yujun understood. That did not mean he could turn Balrog loose to roam.
That one, I'm sealing. No question.
As it happened, both Absolute Sealing Orbs had room to spare. The one who would claim a place in the first of them was Balrog.
Yujun kicked off the earth and leapt. In an instant he was on Balrog, and the sword came around.
Balrog twisted, trying to slip the blow, but Yujun's speed was past anything he could imagine.
Shhk!
A fountain of blood burst from the giant's chest. Carrying Chaos, the strike dropped Balrog to death's door in a single blow. Nor did it end there. Yujun had Painful Strike active, and when Chaos and Painful Strike met, an astonishing synergy was born. Unable to endure a pain grown fiercer still, Balrog lost consciousness and fell.
Huh. What?
It had not been a blow meant to finish him outright. He had subdued Balrog exactly as he had first intended. The thing had come about almost by accident, but a good result was a good result. Yujun put the unconscious Balrog into the Absolute Sealing Orb.
Flame roared. Something crackled, then crackled again. Balrog's enormous body vanished, and only the sound of the burning forest went on.
"......"
"......"
"......"
It was not only the Phantom Tribe. Even Paranet, who had taken Balrog's blast and gone on playing dead, stood with his mouth hanging open.
The Apostles of the Demon God, named in the oracle. They were the ones who carried the Demon God's will and saw through the commands He gave in person. Those apostles now stood before Ji Gyutae.
"You are Ji Gyutae, the branch manager?"
"I am."
At the apostle's words, Ji Gyutae inclined his head. His gaze traveled over them, unhurried. He had seen demonkind often enough to be sick of the sight, and he knew them for demons at a glance. The male was Oben. The female was Sharnian. Those were the two apostles' names.
"I heard a human had taken a branch for the first time. You are worthy of it, I see."
"Strong."
The apostles looked at Ji Gyutae and were impressed. Ji Gyutae, for his part, was no less surprised.
Apostles or not, they've taken the measure of my power.
He had drawn his strength in as tightly as he could, and still they had read it. That meant their ability was that far out of the ordinary.
Good. With this much, I can trust them with the work.
Shin Yujun. As hunters sent to kill that arrogant player, two apostles were more than enough.
"How do you mean to deal with him?"
Ji Gyutae put the question out. Oben smiled, cold.
"We go and find him, and we kill him. Is that not enough?"
"You are underestimating Shin Yujun. I know well that you apostles are strong. His rate of growth, however, is fast to the point of being grotesque. You may have looked into him beforehand. Even so, the odds are high that he is more than you imagine."
At the warning, Oben snorted.
"He gained a player's power less than a year ago, did he not? And you would have me take care against a fledgling? Or is it you who slights me?"
"That is precisely why you must be warier still. Why do you suppose the Demon God laid this task on you, an apostle, with His own hand? Trust, perhaps. It also means the matter is that difficult. This is a judgment the Demon God Himself rendered. And you would grow careless? That is no different from making light of Him."
"...I did not say I would grow careless."
"Then I would have you give it everything you have."
"Branch Manager. I meant to do so without your telling me."
As the two of them locked into a fierce contest of wills, Sharnian let out a sigh. Then she spoke.
"We were commanded to eliminate Shin Yujun in accordance with your instructions. What would you have us do?"
"You will not face Shin Yujun alone. If the situation turns against you, you may run. Should even one of you die, there will be no next chance."
At those cold words, Sharnian's pride took its own wound.
"You are saying I cannot face Shin Yujun by myself?"
"I cannot state it as fact. I do believe it."
"...And on what grounds do you say so?"
She asked it with a smile, her teeth clenched hard.
"I am only telling you to be careful. In all likelihood, Shin Yujun is not stronger than you, an apostle."
"Then why did you say I could not face him?"
"As I said a moment ago. It meant you should go into the hunt with the greatest possible caution."
Oben and Sharnian were not pleased, but they nodded all the same. This was a command the Demon God had given in person. Apostles that they were, they had to succeed, no matter what. As Ji Gyutae said, carelessness was forbidden.
"I will have my people see to your convenience as far as they can. In return, I would like Shin Yujun dealt with for certain."
"We need no help. You have only to say where he is."
Oben's manner was prickly. Ji Gyutae gave a bitter smile.
"He is in Sourtul Forest at present."
"Sourtul Forest? Why did he go in there?"
"I do not know why Shin Yujun went to Sourtul Forest either. Because of him, two important laboratories were destroyed. Reason enough that he has to die."
"The laboratories may matter, but the true prize is Balrog, is it not? I was told he would be summoned soon."
"The summoning of Balrog is already complete."
"Already?"
"Yes. The Phantom Tribe were the only remaining obstacle, and I sent a full ten of the faithful to—"
"Branch Manager."
Something cut across his words. It had come out of the ceiling: a peculiar race in the form of a sticky liquid, and one of Ji Gyutae's many subordinates.
"What is it."
"Balrog... is dead."
"...What? Dead? Not that the summoning ritual failed?"
"Yes. Dead... ah. More precisely, he vanished."
"Speak plainly."
"It seems Shin Yujun sealed him. I did not see it with my own eyes, so I cannot be certain, but they say he was holding an orb. The likelihood is high."
"A sealing orb. This has become troublesome."
"Wait. What is all this? Shin Yujun sealed Balrog? Is that the truth?"
It was closer to a snarl than a question. Ji Gyutae's subordinate nodded, and a groan went through everyone present. Ji Gyutae's face in particular looked as though every foul aura in the world had gathered on it.
Shin Yujun. Again.
Knowing the man was in Sourtul Forest had left him with a thread of unease, but this was Balrog. Interfering with the summoning was one thing. He had never once imagined Balrog himself would lose to Shin Yujun. Balrog was a mythic being who stood at the tier of a Demigod. Set stats and skills aside; no one could ignore a difference in tier, and this gap would not have been a step or two.
He hasn't actually climbed to the same tier as Balrog. Has he?
The thought had come unbidden, and Ji Gyutae shook his head. Absurd. It was impossible.
When he surfaced from that reverie, the apostles' faces had gone grave. Balrog, dead at the hands of a mere player. Knowing that, they could hardly stay composed.
"...Does this even make sense?"
"Does it."
"I told you. Shin Yujun is strong."
"One moment... then why do you look so pleased?"
"Hardly. Never mind."
The corner of Ji Gyutae's mouth had crept up before he knew it. He hauled it back down in a hurry.
Paranet, who had been lying flat, crawled his way over to Yujun.
"Master. Why did you shut him in the sealing orb instead of killing him?"
"Because what I gain by locking him up is greater than what I'd gain by killing him."
"Gain? What meaning is there in simply locking him away?"
"I'm thinking of using Balrog like a summon."
"...Pardon? Is such a thing possible?"
The doubt was a fair one. A summon was not something you could take simply because you wanted it. The System granted them as rewards, or else you called them forth through a particular item. Taming a monster that already existed and making a summon of it was impossible.
"Whether it works or not, I'll know once I try."
Yujun was not certain either. Still, he had a feeling that if he used the Absolute Sealing Orb well, he could handle Balrog as he pleased. Even if the taming failed, he stood to lose nothing. He could kill the thing then.
More than that, he had recently found one more hidden option on the Absolute Sealing Orb. His Agility had risen, and with it his eye for detail, and that was how he had noticed it. The orb possessed something called Power Control. The letters were not even small. Why he had failed to see them until now, he could not say. At any rate, he thought that Power Control would let him break Balrog in.
Mine were at full power.
Both sealing orbs he currently held were set to their maximum output.
No wonder they all came out looking half dead.
The maximum was decided by Yujun's mana. In short, his mana was high, so the ceiling had risen with it, and the pain of anyone shut inside an Absolute Sealing Orb would have grown worse in proportion.
Balrog must be dying in there too.
Even so, he meant to leave it at the maximum for now. Next time, he would bargain by adjusting the orb's power. Balrog was a proud one. Breaking that pride would take no small amount of time.
Yujun turned his steps toward the Phantom Tribe, who still stood there as if their souls had left them.