You Don't Have to Say It Like That

"You don't have to put it quite like that."

"Don't you have any unallocated stat points left?"

"I don't."

"What have you been doing all this time? You ought to keep some in reserve, just in case."

"..."

"Do you have any self-awareness as a gamer, or don't you? You don't deserve to be a ranker."

"Wh-what is this guy even saying?"

"We've already been found out, so we might as well break through head-on. Hand over the ring."

Heminine passed the ring over without a word of protest. Strangely enough, the robots made no move to attack the two of them. They only stopped what they were doing and stared, blank and unblinking. Even so, there was no telling when they might turn. He hurried.

"...Ah."

Yujun, running out ahead, stopped dead when he realized Heminine had vanished behind him. Her miserable Agility ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had tripped them up once again.

Should I just leave her?

He shook his head. This was a world of the Illusion King's making. A day would come when illusion magic was indispensable, and if Heminine were dead and gone by then, he would be in a difficult spot. With that in mind, he doubled back and snatched her out of the air as she came flying toward him at a maddening crawl.

"Eep—!"

He had hooked her so hard that a sharp pain lanced through her side.

"What do you think you're doing all of a sudden?"

"You're too slow."

From the moment he caught her, the scenery changed with every heartbeat. The speed was so ferocious that Heminine could barely breathe, but Yujun had no intention of sparing a thought for her comfort. This was nowhere near that kind of situation. Robots posted all across the city began to give chase.

Yujun sounded faintly impressed.

"They're doing a better job of acting like robots than the chimeras I ran into last time."

Well, they were actual robots, so of course they were. Yujun was not the sort to flinch at a warning from a heap of machinery. If anything, he pushed his speed higher still—far beyond anything a set of wheels could follow. That was when the attacks began to fly. Lasers, and missiles on top of them, came bearing down. The straight, beam-like fire he slipped without so much as a glance back, and he outran the missiles themselves. Not one of them ever touched his body.

More robots swarmed in, and small rounds spat from the drones. Yujun ignored them and ran. Those shells, however, were not firepower one could simply dismiss. Every time a round punched into the ground, it went off with a sound like a bomb.

"...What?"

Don't tell me these drones have status windows.

It was difficult to credit that much force to a projectile so small. They had to be carrying traits and skills tied to projectiles—and high-grade ones, at that.

Robots with skills and traits is absurd, but it would certainly explain why they hit this hard.

A simple comparison: the difference between an ordinary man throwing a punch and firing a gun. If even a normal round did this, then taking a laser head-on...

High as Yujun's defense was, a laser might still rise as far as a tickle.

I'd rather it hurt. Tickling is the one thing I absolutely cannot stand.

Fortunately, lasers traveled in straight lines, and with his Agility they were not hard to avoid. Speed was their advantage, bought at the price of a simple path; all he had to do was read, by sense alone, where a robot's muzzle was aimed. Trusting in nothing but the raw performance of his body, Yujun charged. Heminine, locked in his arm, went white.

"What are you doing without even raising a shield? And you use magic so well."

"Mm... I'll use it when I need to."

"..."

She was left with nothing to say. In truth, he was not allowing a single attack to land. More than that, he sheared through the robots lunging at him from the front and blew straight past them.

My level isn't going up.

Yujun clicked his tongue, disappointed. Player abilities or not, they were not living things, and so they granted no experience. Nor did every robot even possess skills and traits. Two in ten, at most.

"Dad."

"Yeah?"

"Want me to just sweep them all away?"

Harp asked it with a face full of confidence.

"You use that and you'll just fall asleep again."

"Not anymore."

"Huh? Why?"

"You know that pill you gave me last time? Thanks to it, the drowsiness is completely gone!"

"Then shall I leave it to you?"

"Yes! I'll do it right now! Hwaaap!"

Harp's mouth swelled to a grotesque size. Fierce, immense energy pooled inside it. Then, for a single instant, silence fell—and his breath tore loose.

The robots massed in front of them were swept away all at once. Dust rose with powdered asphalt and filings of metal, scattering through the air. The neatly paved road ceased to exist. In its place gaped an enormous crater—no, crater was too small a word. The ground had been gouged out far too deep, and far too far.

Insane.

Harp's breath was evolving the further they went. Had it been growing slowly, a little at a time, he might have understood. This had skipped several stages outright.

Does that mean I've gotten that much stronger?

The divine beast growth pill had surely played its part as well. Whatever the cause, the breath had shown power enough to shake heaven and earth. Yujun stroked Harp's head.

"Well done, Harp."

"Heh..."

Pleased, the little beast's eyes narrowed, and his mouth parted just slightly. Thanks to him the avenue lay blown wide open, and Yujun tore down it. The underground base Doctor Sammington had mentioned was not far now—five more blocks to the objective. The closer they drew, the fiercer the robots' resistance became, but nothing could stop him. The instant a somewhat larger machine showed itself, he closed in like a ghost with Flash and sheared it apart with his sword.

Heminine's face hardened as the minutes passed.

"..."

From his flight magic alone, she had known he was strong. She had not known he was this strong.

Could he be even stronger than that summoner my brother brought?

The reason Sorsin was so certain of victory was the summoner he had brought from Heaven. And yet it occurred to her that this utterly willful summoner might be the stronger of the two.

"What's your name?"

"You pick a fine time to ask."

"...Sorry."

"Shin Yujun."

"That's an unusual name."

"Huh? Is this your first time seeing a human? Most of us have names like this."

"The human I saw when I was little had a rather different name."

"What was it?"

"Fabian? Something like that."

"Wasn't that just an alias?"

"It might have been. But I think he looked subtly different from you, too."

"People are all born looking different."

"No... I mean overall. His hair and his beard were entirely gold. His eyes were strangely deep, too. He was a little like an elf."

"Then he was an elf."

"I saw his ears. He was definitely not an elf."

"Hm."

He had been letting it wash past him, since it hadn't seemed particularly important. Then his mind changed.

Don't tell me there's a Western server, too.

A Japanese server already existed. Nothing guaranteed that servers for other countries did not. The problem was how many there actually were.

"Do you know why that man came to the Illusion Realm?"

"He said he'd just come to the Illusion Realm for fun."

"For fun? To the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Illusion Realm?"

"He called himself a dimension traveler."

"..."

"He was a strange man. I was only about five then, and you have no idea what a nuisance he made of himself..."

"What sorts of things did he say?"

"There were so many. Hmm."

Heminine thought hard before she spoke.

"Oh—he said his own world had been destroyed, so he was looking for another server. Server... was that the word? Something like that."

Yujun's eyes went wide. Something very important had just come out of her.

"And then?"

"Huh?"

"So what else did he say?"

"You. Why are you so curious about this?"

"It's fascinating, isn't it?"

"Everyone knows there are more dimensions in the universe than anyone can count."

"Tell me a little more about this man named Fabian."

"All of it? That would take a whole day..."

"That's fine. We can smash the underground base later."

"...This one is strange, too. Are all humans like this?"

"No. I'm a gentleman. Other people are much worse."

And with that, Yujun left Heminine nursing a rather poor impression of humankind.

"If you insist, then just tell me the important parts."

"Fabian was strong, but I don't think he was like you. He seemed a bit older, too."

"To look at?"

"No. Just a feeling."

Fabian's server had almost certainly been destroyed. He could not say which country, but the name and the look of the man pointed toward Europe.

There isn't a server for every single country, is there?

That would be a headache. And among them, how many had actually held off the Demon God? Even one would be fortunate.

If there are multiple servers, does that mean there are multiple Demon Gods? Or does the same one simply repeat?

Was any of this even scientifically explainable? Magic and skills were already a long way from science, but still...

"Where is Fabian now?"

"He left a very long time ago."

"To look for another server?"

"Yes."

"Did he say anything before he left?"

"Not really. He just told me to take care, and went."

"How on earth does he move between dimensions?"

"I think he uses an item."

"What did it look like?"

"Just an ordinary orb...?"

"He wouldn't let you touch it?"

"It wasn't quite that. The first time I ever saw the orb was when he was leaving."

Yujun stored away every word she had said. If he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠later met a player from another server, he might come away with an easy method for bringing down the Demon God.

Among the places that have already fallen, some of them must have known how and been destroyed anyway.

Of course, it was all conjecture. Before he knew it he stood at the front of the base, and the robots closed in around him.

"So much for infiltration..."

An enormous number of them had taken up position on every side. Every robot in the city seemed to have converged on this one spot.

Which means this place matters that much.

Others of the Illusion Race were watching as well. Machines that had been patrolling at fixed intervals had all gathered in one place, so of course eyes were drawn.

"Why are they acting like that?"

"There must be something over there."

"The robots are only trying to stop those two."

"Wait—isn't that Princess Heminine?"

"It is. Is she with the player she summoned this time?"

"That must be a hotspot. Should we go take a look?"

"Are you insane? Get even a little caught up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in that and you'll vanish without a trace."

"True... that explosion earlier was no ordinary thing."

Then a concentrated barrage poured down on Yujun all at once. He did not dodge. He raised his sword and activated a single skill: Sword Barrier, rank SSS.

A bombardment that blanketed the whole area raged on and on.