Paranet and Rakkuak

Paranet and Rakkuak collided.

KWAANG—!

The shockwave was violent enough to stagger Do Jiyun where she stood far back, and it ripped through everything nearby.

In raw strength, Paranet was the one driven back. The difference in size was plain, and Rakkuak was no ordinary player. Even so, shoved rearward by that single clash, Paranet judged that he had a chance.

Now. This is when Master's favor shows its worth.

He invoked the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Mana seeped up through him, and he felt an immense power settle into his limbs. At the same time, a sense of how he ought to fight began to come clear. Only now did he understand how wastefully he had been fighting all this time.

I thought my fear was gone. It wasn't.

A heartbeat of hesitation. A flinch. He had never grasped that those small things decided a fight, and so he had gone on dodging out of habit. More than the battle with the troll still before him, Paranet replayed the fights that had come before, and from them he drew a new understanding.

His stance changed.

Even in the moment Rakkuak roared and charged, Paranet held perfectly still. Only when the distance had closed enough did he move—shooting forward and driving his sword straight out. He called on Thousand-Pound Drop and a body slam together, and the thrust came at so exact an instant that Rakkuak had no time to answer it.

Thuk!

KWAAAAANG!

"GRAAAAH!"

The sword did not merely sink between Rakkuak's brows. Weighted by Thousand-Pound Drop, Paranet crashed into him, and the troll sprayed a fountain of blood from his skull as he was hurled far back.

But the opponent was a troll. Not just any troll—Rakkuak, reckoned the strongest of every troll on the Continent. He possessed a monstrous regeneration for which the word invincible did not feel like exaggeration. The wound punched open between his brows sealed itself in an instant, as if the strike had never landed.

"Krrrk. I'll kill you."

Under that murderous glare, Paranet felt a clammy sweat break along his nape and down his spine. Of course, an undead body did not sweat. It was nothing but his imagination.

No need to flinch. I'm the stronger one.

That last exchange had settled, beyond any doubt, who held the advantage. He was wrapped in Goddess's Grace and every manner of absurd buff. He owed it to himself to fight as if they were worth something.

Rakkuak charged first again. A crimson force clung to his hands—Hardbody Art, the technique that was his alone. He had abandoned the thought of storing power. He meant to fight in earnest. Which was to say, he had acknowledged Paranet as a strong opponent.

Paranet swept a finger beneath his nose.

"How gratifying."

Forever standing in the shadow of a master far greater than himself, he had never once been given his due. This moment delighted him beyond measure. It was the exact opposite of what Rakkuak had intended.

This time Paranet refused the head-on collision. There was nothing to gain by meeting force with force. His gift lay in slipping an opponent's attacks—in evasion. That did not mean he meant to throw away the insight he had just won. He did not forget that a blow had to land at the proper moment.

Shuk! Skk!

Aided by the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and by Thousand-Pound Drop used at exactly the right instants, Paranet was able to press Rakkuak hard.

But there was something he knew, and still overlooked. Rakkuak was not the only prisoner in this city.

"Rakkuak! I've come to help!"

The one and only friend Rakkuak had among the prisoners had arrived. An ogre, this time. The ogre Goredham. He was no twin-headed ogre, only an ordinary one of his kind—and for that very reason he was more famous, a player whose infamy had spread far and wide.

Rakkuak shouted.

"Stay out of this! This is a fight between superior warriors!"

"What kind of talk is that! We're friends! Helping each other is only natural!"

"Is it? Very well! Help me, then!"

Paranet, who had been quietly hoping the ogre would mind his own business, was disappointed. Was a troll's heart really that much like a reed in the wind? A troll ought to have stubbornly held his own line. Who would have thought he would change his mind on the spot and call for help?

The situation had turned sharply against him. Rakkuak the troll alone was no easy fight, and if an ogre joined in as well...

"My lady! I believe I shall require your aid!"

"I'll do what I can!"

Manuela had grown a great deal stronger after receiving equipment from Yujun, but she was still no Paranet. She could not hold an ogre by herself. Had she chosen some other skill from the skill archive instead of Goddess's Grace, things might have gone a little differently—but that choice was already past. Regret would come too late. She did not regret it in the first place.

While Paranet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠held the troll, Do Jiyun and Manuela faced the ogre Goredham. Do Jiyun hurled powerful flame magic at the ogre as he charged like a bulldozer, and Manuela laid on every curse she possessed that dealt in weakness and restricted movement.

KWA-KWA-KWANG!

Even so, stopping Goredham's advance was impossible. His resistance to magic was extremely high. To Do Jiyun and Manuela's misfortune, the matchup itself was terrible. Holding the ogre back was already beyond them.

Goredham launched his massive body, as if he meant to use the whole of it as a weapon. Do Jiyun raised a shield to blunt the impact, but the ogre's hand crumpled it with absurd ease. Then the fist came driving in.

KWAANG!

Do Jiyun was thrown through the air.

Manuela's eyes went wide, and in the instant she moved to fly toward Do Jiyun, Goredham kicked at her instead. It was too late to use Blink.

That was when another player cut in.

Goredham's fist, meeting a keen-edged sword, began to split. The blade went further and sheared through the arm as well.

"Guhk!"

Thud! THUD!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Goredham staggered back. The sword's owner had no intention of letting him go. He leapt as high as the ogre's head and, in one motion, drew the blade down from above.

Shuk!

Landing, Yujun did not pause. He ran straight to Do Jiyun. After a glance at her condition, he asked Manuela.

"She only took the one hit?"

"Y-yeah..."

Manuela answered, looking dazed.

"But what happened? Why are you only showing up now?"

"I'll explain later. First we put out the fire in front of us."

Do Jiyun had not died on the spot. Yujun drew a mid-to-high-grade potion from his inventory and poured it into her mouth. He was glad he had not been late. A little later, and Manuela or Do Jiyun would have been dead. The thought that a few more minutes of idle talk in the banquet hall would have cost him every companion sent a chill through his gut.

Good thing I hurried.

Yujun moved in behind Paranet, who was locked in a dead-even struggle with the troll.

"Paranet. You didn't check the message I sent, did you? Are you ever going to look at them when they come in?"

At that, Paranet put on a deeply wronged face.

"I possess no messenger. How am I to look?"

"Oh. Is that so?"

Manuela and Do Jiyun had been in the middle of a crisis; they would not have seen a message either.

"I thought you, at least, would catch my telepathy..."

"...My apologies."

"Figures. The only one I can count on is Harp."

Paranet had nothing to say.

"Dad! Is there something I can do?"

Harp, delighted by the words, spoke up.

"Sit this one out. You've worked hard enough. Step in later, when it's truly urgent."

"Yes!"

Yujun stepped in front of the troll as it swung a fist charged with crimson force at Paranet. He set his sword upright and thrust it forward.

Shuk!

"GRAAAAAH!"

The great bones of the troll's fist sheared away as easily as tofu under a knife.

Sword Unity.

A sword formed behind the creature and moved. It flew for the back of the skull, and before Rakkuak could even register it, the blade punched clean through. Woven with Chaos, the strike was fatal even to a troll of Rakkuak's regeneration.

The red light in Rakkuak's eyes went out.

"He was an absurdly high-level one."

Five levels at once. Past level 600, a surge of experience like that was a rare thing.

Paranet, who had been locked in a bloody struggle with Rakkuak, let out a hollow laugh.

"As expected of Master. You arrive and settle the matter in a single stroke."

"You're not hurt anywhere?"

"No, sir! You know full well how sturdy I am!"

"You fought well. You've grown a great deal."

"...Hah. Such excessive praise. Thank you! Thank you!"

"I mean it. I'm glad I trusted you with this."

"Ah... ah."

Paranet's joy was plain to see. Praise from Yujun was as rare as rain in a drought. He had never expected words this sincere.

"So why were you brawling with a troll and an ogre out here?"

"I did not seek the fight. It seems ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠someone set all the prisoners loose."

"Oh? Is that right?"

Yujun had been too busy searching for his party to grasp what state the Sky Prison was in.

It's true.

Widening the range of his senses, he felt multiple players of overwhelming presence moving actively about—and, quieter than that, the movements of those trying to slip out of the Sky Prison in secret.

That's the wise choice.

The Sky Prison was famous as a place one entered and never left again. There was nothing to be gained by lingering here once the prisoners had been freed. The troll and the ogre just now had simply let rage rule them and done something stupid. And what had the result been? They had met an absurdly empty end at Yujun's hands. For players who had once dominated an era, it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a shabby last act.

"Yujun!"

Do Jiyun, having come to, rose with a smile.

"Oh. You're all right?"

"Yes. Thanks to you."

"That was all money. Pay me back."

"Cheap, compared to the price of a life."

Then Manuela asked.

"Yujun. So what are you going to do?"

"About what?"

"The prisoners escaped."

"Well. A leisurely tour is out of the question."

"Should we head back?"

"Can we? The warp gate will be an even bigger mess."

Manuela had no answer to that.

Yujun turned his head toward Do Jiyun.

"Do Jiyun. Where are Jo Soep and Joseon's Greatest Sword? They aren't locked up, are they?"

"No. They aren't prisoners at the moment... though I'd say their position is a little ambiguous."

"How so?"

"I'll keep it simple. There are two factions opposing each other in the Sky Prison. They signed on as mercenaries for one of them, lost a war that wasn't all that large, and are currently prisoners of war."

"...Prisoners of war?"

"Yes."

"Is the Sky Prison that big? Big enough for a war?"

"Strictly speaking, it's Heaven. You can think of the Sky Prison as a world under Heaven's authority. The distance is close, too. That doesn't mean Heaven throws its weight around here freely, though."

"The Sky Prison is connected to Heaven?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know. Then the war you're talking about happened in Heaven?"

"That's right."

"How did they end up dragged into Heaven as mercenaries?"

"They weren't dragged. Both of them chose it themselves. Originally they only meant to sightsee in the Sky Prison, but it seems a notice came down from Heaven to the Sky Prison. Jo Soep and old Joseon's Greatest Sword saw the war-participation pay written on it and got hooked."

"They joined a war just for the points?"

Yujun, who held stacks of Mythic-grade items worth over ten billion points apiece if sold, could not quite understand.

"Of course they didn't go on that alone. There were points, and an item reward on top."

"What kind?"

"A World Tree Seed. An item like that is worth risking your life for, isn't it?"

"...What?"

Risk your life for that?