There's a Synchronization Marble at Home...
"You have a Synchronization Marble at home? Not in your inventory?"
"The grade is something I've never seen before, and... it's not exactly the sort of thing I feel like carrying around."
"Hand it over."
"I don't want to. The way you're acting, it must be incredibly precious, which only makes me want to keep it more."
"Then you can die a glorious death trying to hold off the Blood Lord."
"There's no guarantee it'll end that way..."
"The Synchronization Marble is tied to my ability. It's completely useless to you. So drop the greed and give it to me—before I simply leave for the Heavenly Realm."
Even under Yujun's threat, the warden kept hesitating. At last Reylon, unable to endure it, shot him a look.
"Ah, fine. Take down the Blood Lord, and I'll give it to you."
Yujun shook his head.
"No. While I deal with him, you go fetch the marble. I'll have the Blood Lord down by the time you get back. That way no one gets cheated, and everyone walks away with what they want."
"We'll do it that way."
Reylon answered in the warden's place.
"And one more reward."
"The Synchronization Marble? You're saying that isn't enough?"
"Don't you think it's a little light, as payment for stopping the Blood Lord?"
"You have a point. We're short on time, so state what you want. Plainly, and quickly."
"If you've got a trait gem or a skill gem, give me one of those. Mid-grade or higher."
Not one of the wardens present could hide how absurd they found the demand. Gem items were hardly some stray mutt's name you tossed around on a whim, and it was exceedingly rare for anyone to hoard something that precious instead of using it.
Yujun studied Reylon's face for a long moment, then spoke.
"If you don't have one, I'll leave without even taking the Synchronization Marble."
"Hah—this brat, I swear! Even being unreasonable has its limits!"
"Know when to quit!"
When the more junior wardens barked at him, Reylon turned a razor-sharp glare on them. The men who met his eyes clamped their mouths shut at once.
"Human. I do possess a mid-grade trait gem. I will, however, hand it over only after all of this is finished. Is that acceptable?"
"Fine."
He had no idea why Reylon had never used it, but once he had confirmed the trait gem the man produced, Yujun nodded. He stepped over the shattered door and walked out of the conference hall.
The Blood Lord was closing in at a terrifying pace, prisoners in tow. Delay any longer and the whole building might be blown apart, so Yujun judged it better to go out and meet them. The judgment proved exactly right. The moment his feet touched the ground, the Blood Lord and his prisoners arrived.
"...What are you."
The Blood Lord looked down on him without preamble.
"Are you asking to be killed?"
It was precisely the reaction Yujun had hoped for. A villain ought to stay consistent. Let one show even a hint of decency, and his resolve would soften for no good reason.
Yujun dropped to one knee.
"I greet the great Blood Lord."
"Hm?"
At the sudden show of courtesy, Marcus tilted his head.
"Were you one of my subordinates?"
"Of course not."
With a sharp crack of displaced air, his body shot forward. The kneel had been for the launch. Faced with a move he could not have predicted, Marcus reacted a beat too late. Unable to dodge, he raised a hand to block Yujun's sword. He did it because he trusted the durability of his own body—but trying to stop that blade with bare flesh proved a catastrophic miscalculation.
A wet chop. Yujun's attack power sat beyond all measurement, and Marcus's right arm came clean off.
Vampires were a race that boasted extraordinary regeneration. Marcus had expected the limb to restore itself at once, yet strangely, the severed arm refused to knit back together.
"What is the meaning of this?"
He sprang well back and muttered it, shock written across his face.
"What's there to explain? You're simply obeying the laws of nature."
"What have you done to my body."
"You know perfectly well, don't you?"
"...Insolent wretch."
"Wow, though. You're seriously tough. How are you even holding that in?"
Yujun had struck him with Painful Strike, laced with Chaos, and yet the man endured without so much as a groan. His teeth were clenched hard, but it was nothing short of astonishing willpower, and on that point Yujun felt a measure of respect. He himself would never have held out. The raw power was one thing, but wasn't this one even more impressive than Balrog?
That was when the prisoners charged. Whenever they had grown so fond of him, they clearly could not bear the sight of the Blood Lord taking a beating.
No. They're being controlled by force.
He knew it the moment he saw their eyes. The focus in them was blurred, and no matter how he looked, they did not seem to be moving of their own will. They shifted all at once, like marionettes. So this, too, had to be counted among the Blood Lord's abilities.
An ability that lets him command players that strong however he pleases... I want it.
The Blood Lord kept glancing down at his arm, as if its failure to regenerate struck him as deeply wrong.
"That curious?"
"You wield a peculiar energy. I have seen it once before. Back then it was not so pure, nor so destructive..."
"Oh?"
Few players could recognize Chaos. And since the Blood Lord did not know its proper name, it seemed he did not actually possess it himself.
"Do you know how to counter it, too?"
Marcus gave no answer. He unleashed a blood art, and a mist of blood swelled in an instant, blanketing the ground around them. Tall trees that touched the mist began to melt away with a crackling hiss. What was strange was that the prisoners who entered it remained perfectly unharmed.
Not that the mist is weak... If you're under the Blood Lord's domination, his ability doesn't seem to touch you.
Their safety was no guarantee of his own. Yujun bound the charging prisoners with Space Domination. A vast surge of mana drained out of him in a single moment, but there was no time to regret it—the blood mist had already reached his feet. He opened the distance with Flash, then called on Super Concentration and Unity of Sword and Body.
And of all moments, the wardens chose then to come out of the hall to help.
"Stay inside! Evacuate if you have to!"
"We'll assist you!"
"You're in the way!"
At the sight of Yujun's face, empty of even a trace of humor, the wardens flinched and nodded. In truth, having them there would do no good. Their skill was undoubtedly high—they did not manage prisoners of this caliber for nothing—and that was precisely why they must not get involved. The moment they fell under the Blood Lord's domination, the fight would only grow more troublesome. It was simply better if they never stepped in at all.
Whether his shout had done the work, the wardens made no move to approach him.
They listen well.
Thanks to that, Yujun could devote himself entirely to the Blood Lord. Five swords had been born of Unity of Sword and Body. For the Yujun of before, maintaining them would have been a considerable strain. Not anymore. Now that his proficiency with the skill had risen, this much was nothing. Ever since he had gained the Genius trait, the speed of his learning was beyond comparison with what it had been. So much had changed, starting from the smallest things, and Unity of Sword and Body was only one part of it.
Prisoners gifted in close combat began to pour on a ferocious assault, and Yujun met each of them with the single sword in his hand. Steel rang and rang again. True to Sky Prison, where only the most dangerous were confined, the power each of them carried was like a great mountain. Yet the instant those colossal forces met Yujun's blade, they seemed to vanish without a trace. His defense was high, certainly, but the greater reason was that he was slipping every attack aside. It was swordsmanship of a high order, and Unity of Sword and Body at GX Tier was no ornament. It supported not only the sword but the whole of combat, and it even helped him find his opponents' openings, so that fighting several at once felt far too comfortable.
Clang. A slash. Then one of the prisoners was cut. The blow landed on the wrist.
"Gyaaaaaah!"
Even with his mind dominated by Marcus, the man could not endure it, and a scream of agony tore out of him. It lasted only an instant, but the moment one of them was knocked out of the fight, the tide reversed completely. Until now Yujun had focused solely on blocking and evading. Now the prisoners were hard-pressed just to dodge him. A whoosh, a heavier rush of air, a slash—and the instant his blade so much as grazed them, terrible pain followed without fail. Two more dropped out of the fight.
The swords waiting behind him moved. In a flash they took the heads of five prisoners. The rest saw it coming and still could not avoid it. Dealing with Yujun alone was already more than they could handle.
"Kahahahaha!"
Blood Lord Marcus burst into roaring laughter, clapping his hands.
"A masterpiece."
Whatever pleased him so much, he laughed for a long while. He did not even look as if he meant to fight in earnest, and the blood mist was no longer advancing toward where Yujun stood.
"What, you're not going to fight?"
"You possess astonishing power, human. A monster in your own right."
"Even so, being called a monster stings. The ones lying over there look hundreds of times more grotesque."
Yujun tossed the words out carelessly while reading the Blood Lord's condition.
How did he heal that wound?
The strike had carried Chaos. Regeneration ought to have slowed to a crawl, or stopped altogether. And yet, in no time at all, the Blood Lord was fully restored.
Well. He must have some special ability.
He probably would not be fine if his neck were cut, or his heart pierced. Yujun had already sent Manuela and Do Jiyun far off to safety. If either of them were taken hostage in a fight against the Blood Lord, nothing could be more troublesome, and he had come determined to shut such variables down at the source. That was also why he had not called Paranet. He had stationed the summon as escort for the party, against whatever crisis might arise. If he needed him later, he could call him then. A summon could return to his side at any moment, and even death would only delay him until he revived. Summons were not precious for nothing. A growth-type summon was hard to obtain and harder still to raise, but once you had raised one, the convenience was undeniable.
Yujun kept the five swords floating in the air and held his standoff with the Blood Lord. The Blood Lord wore only a calm smile and showed no intent to attack.
"You're really not going to fight?"
Yujun asked first.
"Human. I see nothing to be gained if the two of us fight."
"All of a sudden?"
"If you and I were to clash, we would be evenly matched. An ending in which only one of us dies will not be permitted. Either both die, or both live... And I do not wish to die."
Marcus had endured long years and only just escaped Sky Prison. He had no desire to stake his life on a fight with a human who had appeared out of nowhere. Even if he won, it was plain he would suffer grave wounds. His regeneration was not infinite. Two or three more strikes of that strange energy, and he might have to live thereafter bearing truly serious injuries. More than Yujun's martial power, it was confronting the energy called Chaos that filled him with fear.
"So I will make a proposal. I shall withdraw here, and I would ask that you not pursue me."
Yujun said nothing.
"You and I are beings capable of exerting great influence upon the world. An ending in which we both die meaninglessly in a place like this is one even the System would not permit. You, too, must harbor the desire to live. What do you say?"
Yujun, who had kept listening to see what nonsense the Blood Lord would spout, let out a hollow laugh.
"What are you even saying."
"...Hm?"
When the reaction proved far cooler than he had expected, Marcus was faintly thrown.