To Obtain the World Tree Seed...
For a moment, the idea of staking one's life to obtain a World Tree Seed didn't quite make sense. Think it through, though, and it wasn't strange at all.
To Yujun, a World Tree Seed was commonplace—he had more than ten of them. For anyone else, it was anything but. On a day one went up on the Black Market it would sell for a fortune, and yet parting with a World Tree Seed for money was a fool's bargain. Its uses were simply too boundless.
"Why?"
"It's nothing. So they're prisoners now, and they never even received the World Tree Seed?"
"Unfortunately... Besides the World Tree Seed, there were other consumables they could have claimed as a victory bonus. They didn't get to choose a single one. The two who were taken prisoner can't return to the place that promised them the reward."
"Where did you get information like this, Do Jiyun?"
"By messenger. Even now they won't stop screaming at me to come save them."
She wore a bitter smile, and Yujun smiled along with her.
"So it isn't all that dire, then?"
"They're prisoners, so they won't be killed right away. But unless the moderates pay the points, or someone goes and rescues them in person, they'll have a hard time getting out of this."
"And that's why you asked me for help?"
"I figured you were the only one who could bring them back from Heaven in one piece. And you were close to them, weren't you?"
"I'd normally just let it pass... but if those two have been taken prisoner, I don't have much choice. I'll go to Heaven."
"Shall we leave right now?"
"Mm, no. I'll deal with the prisoners first, then go."
Do Jiyun tilted her head.
"The prisoners? I didn't think you'd care what happened to Sky Prison..."
"I need the EXP. Stop the prisoners, and I might pick up achievement rewards or titles too. That's fine, right?"
"...It isn't urgent right this second, so I suppose it doesn't matter."
"Then we're good."
"That's our Yujun. Overflowing with a sense of justice."
At Manuela's words, Do Jiyun's face went blank.
"...Based on what?"
"Human! You dare doubt my master? Hmm?"
When Paranet piled on as well, Do Jiyun let out a long sigh.
"But Yujun. You shouldn't get involved with the Blood Lord. You know who he is, don't you?"
"I don't."
"He's the last vampire left in the world. He'll be stronger than anyone you've ever faced."
"Vampires are that strong?"
"He isn't strong because he's a vampire. Strip the race away entirely, and the Blood Lord is simply an absurd monster."
"Was he the one who let them all out, by any chance?"
"I don't know that either. But if every prisoner has been released, that means the Blood Lord is wandering this city right now too, doesn't it?"
"A vampire's basically a mosquito. Perfect."
"What? How is that perfect?"
"I've got a phobia of mosquitoes."
"Ah... so that's what you meant. You're probably the only person alive who'd treat a vampire—the Blood Lord, no less—like a mosquito."
"I'm not underestimating him."
"Honestly, I can't picture you losing. Still, you'd do well not to let your guard down."
Yujun nodded. He had no intention of getting careless.
The Blood Lord, the strongest prisoner in Sky Prison. The name alone suggested a certain degree of strength. They wouldn't have tacked Lord onto it for nothing.
He had more than enough justification to kill the prisoners. They had committed large-scale crimes across the Continent and any number of dimensions; putting them down wouldn't prick his conscience. The real goal, of course, was experience and achievements.
Even if I miss the achievements, the experience is guaranteed. So.
There was absolutely no downside. Provided he didn't die.
He could see the guards moving busily through the city. Their first priority was the Blood Lord. He was the biggest catch, so of course he was. And he wasn't all that far from where Yujun stood.
Even so, Yujun had no intention of seeking him out first. He meant to kill the prisoners trying to escape Sky Prison before anything else.
"By the way, are there any players locked up here who were framed?"
At Yujun's question, Do Jiyun shook her head.
"Not a chance. Everyone in Sky Prison was seized by high-ranking figures from Heaven who descended to the Continent themselves. The evidence was already all over the scene. There's no such thing as a false charge here."
"I see."
"Honestly, the prisoners will just end up locked in Sky Prison again someday by the celestials. If you hunt them down and kill them yourself, it might even be kinder from their perspective. Not that any player wants to die right now, of course."
If he let them reach the Continent, there was a good chance they'd become enemies later anyway. Do Jiyun laid out the last of what she knew.
"Oh, did you know? Half the prisoners in Sky Prison are supposedly Demon God Worshippers. Those bastards really do stick their noses in everywhere."
"...Is that so?"
One more reason to kill the prisoners.
"W-why are you doing this to me? I'm not going to do anything! I've completely reformed!"
A fallen apostle who had once driven the Holy Empire of the Continent to the brink of collapse, Reyef fled desperately from a single player.
How can a human be that strong? They said it's only been five years since they appeared!
Being locked in Sky Prison didn't mean he lived in ignorance. If anything, listening to the chatter of players who came through as tourists had only given him more information. He had gathered no small amount about humans: extraordinary potential, yes, but they hadn't been in the Tower of Infinity long enough to pose a real threat. That was the extent of what he knew.
And it was completely wrong.
"Does this even make sense?! Fuck!"
When Reyef first heard the reports on humans, he had snorted. So what if their potential was impressive? With that thought, he had meant to dispose of the human player who came looking for him in a single stroke and leave Sky Prison behind.
Instead, his left arm was severed.
The suddenness left his mind floating, but he grasped the situation quickly and chose to run.
Not even the Blood Lord—I never thought I'd run from a mere human.
It was deeply humiliating. By the standards of someone who had lived for ages, humans were a race barely different from newborns. And here he was, fleeing in disgrace from a single one of them.
But Reyef valued his life. He knew that if he was caught here, he would die. He didn't want to die.
"Hhk—hah!"
He never looked back. Flight magic carried him on, and still a sword drove into the nape of his neck with a wet shlick. It was a duplicate blade, conjured in empty air through the skill Sword Unity. Reyef had felt safe with Yujun so far away. He died all the same.
"My level's starting to stop going up."
He muttered it after already putting down his sixth prisoner. Of those trying to slip out of Sky Prison in secret, he had killed all but one. The exception had escaped too quickly to be dealt with.
One is nothing.
Heaven would catch him again anyway. No need to worry much.
The problem was the Blood Lord, and the handful of prisoners throwing their strength in with him. The guards could barely handle the Blood Lord alone. Powerful prisoners taking his side meant Sky Prison now faced a crisis without precedent.
"Warden. We have to request aid from Heaven."
"He's right! Set the other prisoners aside—the Blood Lord is on another level entirely. We can never stop him."
Warden Reylon swallowed a groan. Had Sky Prison ever faced an emergency worse than this? He could say with certainty that it had not. He had managed this place ever since it was built.
"There's no helping it."
If at all possible, he had meant not to request support from Heaven. It wasn't pride. Had Heaven been as it usually was, perhaps—but now that its power was split into two factions, he couldn't hope for proper aid given freely. If either the moderates or the hardliners came to fully own Sky Prison, the place would have a hard time ever returning to what it had been. That was why Sky Prison must not become anyone's possession.
"No matter what I do, this place ends up a wreck all the same. Requesting support from Heaven..."
Just as Reylon moved to commit, someone flung the conference room door open. No—kicked it in, and stepped through.
It was Yujun.
"I've got a proposal."
"Who are you?"
"You're the one in charge here, right?"
"I am Warden Reylon."
Several guards moved to subdue Yujun, but Reylon raised a hand and stopped them. He hadn't done it for nothing. The presence pouring off Yujun's body was tremendous. The man was only standing there, and still it made the body tingle. Reylon judged it necessary to hear him out first.
"A proposal?"
"You need to stop the Blood Lord right now, don't you?"
"..."
"..."
"What, why so quiet? Did I have it wrong?"
"You're right. The Blood Lord is the biggest headache at present."
"I'll take care of it."
"...Human. Your arrogance goes too far. Are you saying you can capture the Blood Lord?"
"Yeah. But it won't be free. You'll have to give me a reward that matches the job."
"And where is the guarantee that you can bring the Blood Lord down?"
"I'll show you myself. You have to go face him anyway. Watch how it goes, and if it looks like I'll win, you can promise the reward then. I don't mind."
"You trust us? What if, by some chance, you defeat the Blood Lord and we play dumb?"
"That's why I'll take it in the middle. If you don't give me what you promised, I'll just leave the Blood Lord alive and head off to Heaven."
"..."
"Insolence!"
"Don't you know that arrogance is poison?"
Two guards shouted, but Yujun let it go in one ear and out the other.
"You'd better decide fast. That Blood Lord bastard seems to be heading this way."
"Very well. First... what is it you want?"
"An item, obviously. And don't think you can fob me off with something mediocre. I'm from the Continent. Whether the Blood Lord reigns or Sky Prison falls, it makes no difference to me."
"True. You have no such obligation. I wonder whether there's a specific item you want."
The guards found it strange that Reylon was being so deferential, but a few of the more capable ones had roughly gauged the extent of Yujun's strength. So they watched without complaint. Reylon, needless to say, even more so.
"You happen to have a Synchronization Marble? If anyone here does, say so."
The item that mattered most to him, above all else, was still the Synchronization Marble—the orb that let him pull items from No-Pay Casual Gamer's inventory. Synchronization sat at only ten percent, and the gear transferred so far already carried options that dropped his jaw. How much better would the items get as that percentage climbed? The Synchronization Marble came first. That was why he asked.
"A Synchronization Marble? We've got one of those at my place."
A vacant-looking guard said exactly what Yujun had been waiting to hear.