Utria Draws from Her Inventory

The item Utria drew from her inventory was Ukria's Holy Spear.

It was the very spear a duke of the Demon Realm had once turned on Demon King Tolkai, in a bid to seize the Demon King's throne for himself.

Ukria's Holy Spear was the work of Utria's sister—her elder sister. Ukria was famous as a superb item craftsman. Her work took a long time, but she produced pieces of correspondingly high grade and unmistakable effect, and so commissions never stopped pouring in.

With the option active, the spear's attack power climbed to a staggering one and a half million. Utria had no idea that the Planet Destroyer's Sword in Yujun's hand reached an attack power of ninety million. She was certain, then, that no sword could possibly stop Ukria's Holy Spear.

With this, I have a chance. The question is whether that man will actually stand there and let it hit him.

She had prepared thoroughly to handle the holy spear. She had obtained a spear-throwing trait, and its grade was nothing to scoff at.

S+.

In truth, luck rather than preparation had handed it to her—but either way, it would clearly work in her favor now. And in case she missed, she had a second spear ready as well.

The True Holy Spear of Ukria. A weapon several times—no, dozens of times—more powerful than the original Ukria's Holy Spear. Its performance was so outrageous that the fact it could be used only once was almost a shame. It was a gift from her sister Ukria, with whom she was very close. She had received more than one or two items from her besides this, but what she needed most desperately right now was Ukria's Holy Spear.

Utria took the halberd in one hand and Ukria's Holy Spear in the other, so no one would realize the spear was meant to be thrown.

"What are you doing?"

"……Shin Yujun. Today will be your last day."

"Hey. You're telegraphing the finisher a little too openly, don't you think?"

Utria didn't so much as blink at his words. She simply took her stance—not a throwing stance, of course. She made a deliberate show of meaning to fight with both weapons.

Yujun said nothing. But he was an eccentric among eccentrics, a man who had spent his life collecting every item he could get his hands on. There was no chance he wouldn't recognize Ukria's Holy Spear, and what Utria was doing struck him as rather cute. He knew exactly what she was aiming for. Even so, he made no show of it, and simply watched to see how she would come.

She moved first.

A streak of light. She circled him at a speed the eye could not follow.

So that's her specialty.

Utria did not close in rashly. She knew what a direct clash would bring, and so she could not easily commit to the first blow. She was, however, absurdly fast—fast enough to make his eyes swim.

Did she dump everything into Agility? She didn't look short on Strength.

Seeing how well she handled magic on top of that, her stats were probably a balanced build. The speed itself was likely the gift of a skill or a trait. Or an item.

It's something I've never seen. Which means the level requirement is over 500.

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

He was wearing level 630 Mythic-grade armor himself, and yet he had the unpleasant sense of being caught up to. This was all the No-Pay Casual Gamer's fault.

Wish he'd send me a set of armor. Something with a level requirement around 750.

At that point, it was frankly greed. The No-Pay Casual Gamer wasn't sending things in person, so there was no hoping for exactly the item he wanted. In a sense he was leaning on luck—but that was also why he figured there was still a chance, however slim. His Luck was at its peak right now.

Even so, Utria's armor looked decent enough to sour his mood a little. As things stood, all he had properly equipped was a cloak, two rings, a necklace, his armor, and a single sword.

Wait. That's a full set, isn't it?

Still, now that he was past level 700, the day would come to replace armor and accessories again. The trouble was that nothing suitable had turned up.

That was when Utria, who had been doing nothing but spinning circles, finally closed in. A heavy halberd came tearing through the air. Yujun raised his sword and blocked it—and in that instant, Utria let the halberd go. From point-blank range, she hurled Ukria's Holy Spear.

Yujun, who had known the throw was coming, used Flash at once.

The holy spear had nothing like a homing function. In exchange, if it failed to strike anyone, it did not vanish—which meant it could be used again. Utria moved immediately and snatched the spear up from where it had stabbed into the dirt.

She was, without question, faster than anyone Yujun had ever seen. It wasn't a temporary burst, either. That speed held constantly, which suggested more than one high-grade trait tied to speed. If anything, she seemed to be growing swifter still. It wasn't his imagination. She really was.

She called on her lightning as well. Thunder rolled, and a bolt lanced down from the sky into the ground—more precisely, into Utria herself. Electricity crackled and hissed over her body.

What is she doing?

Why was she suddenly attacking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠herself? The question barely had time to form before her figure vanished. Yujun's eyes went wide.

Taking the lightning into her body makes her even faster?

He strained his sight and swept the surroundings, and for an instant he caught her face. Only the whites of her eyes remained—a grotesque sight. But the effect matched the cost. His gaze darted, searching, and the moment she entered his field of view she concealed herself again.

"Just come at me. Quit stalling."

"I'll give you what you want."

The halberd showed itself first. He thought she might be using the weapon as bait again, just as before, but he raised his sword and blocked it all the same. An instant before it met the blade, the halberd changed shape—into Ukria's Holy Spear.

Illusion magic? Don't tell me. Utria was of the Heavenly, not the illusion race.

Yujun split the holy spear in half where it was. A sharp crack. Its attack power was certainly formidable, but it could never compare to the Planet Destroyer's Sword.

"What……."

Utria's flustered voice reached him once. She did not give up. She had already expected the throw might fail, and the True Holy Spear of Ukria was in her hand. She hurled it with every ounce of strength she had.

Yujun could have dodged as easily as he pleased. He chose to meet it head-on instead. If he didn't destroy it here, the item would remain in her possession.

A whoosh—a sword stroke drawn from high to low. The spearhead slipped perfectly into that line, and with a soft slice the True Holy Spear of Ukria parted as simply as tofu.

What had been all but a killing blow was stopped with ridiculous ease, and Utria, who had been moving in a blur, came to a dead stop.

"……How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Is that a skill too?"

"A skill…… you're not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exactly wrong, depending how you look at it."

His Swordsmanship trait, and the skill Sword Unity. He could not say he owed nothing to the two of them. The Planet Destroyer's Sword was not the only factor—Yujun's own attack power was high as well—but what had pushed the sword's cutting edge to its extreme was largely Sword Unity. Swordsmanship had played its part, too. That the True Holy Spear of Ukria had been halved so emptily was no accident.

A sense of being robbed washed over Utria, as if the strength were draining out of her entire body.

Is this the end?

With Sword Unity, Yujun formed twelve swords in the empty air. Wanting a little room to spare, he deliberately manifested fewer than his limit. He judged even this would be enough, and sent them at the Heavenly who had fallen back. All twelve moved at once. Steel sank home—thuk, thwuck—and caught in a sudden ambush, the Heavenly could offer little resistance before they began to fall.

This'll be cleaned up in no time. As expected, nothing beat Sword Unity against numbers. Let's finish it.

He was just about to move in and deal with Utria himself when a black hole opened behind her and swallowed her whole.

"……What?"

Yujun was left standing like a dog that had lost the chicken it was chasing.

Her presence vanished completely, as if she had never existed at all.

"Who was that?"

He felt no flow of mana whatsoever. Then it likely wasn't magic.

A shame. He didn't strictly need to kill her, but it was easier to deal with her while she was in sight. Something like an outside force had just stolen the chance.

I'd chase her if I could. The problem is she left no trail. Residual mana might have given him something, but there wasn't even that. The hole hadn't been made of mana to begin with.

He didn't know where Utria had gone. The Heavenly of the Moderate Faction, however, were still here. He decided to deal with them first.

The swords in the air never rested, severing necks and piercing hearts. He kept spares waiting, and did not let even those who took to the air and fled slip away.

The experience isn't coming in as well as I thought.

Proof that his level had already surpassed the Heavenly. Against enemies below him, high experience was hard to come by. If he wanted to keep growing as quickly as he had until now, he needed prey of a far higher level—and from where he stood now, high-level enemies had become harder to find than to kill.

Once most of the Heavenly were dealt with, Yujun returned to his companions.

"So what do we do?"

"……We must find a way."

"Now that we've been completely found out, is there even a way left?"

"You are quite right. We have reached a point where another infiltration is beyond recovering."

"Then do we break through head-on?"

"I shall call for support first. No—I already called, a little while ago. But it will take them some time to arrive. They have preparations to make, and we……."

Yujun cut Atradeon off.

"You mean we get there first and hold the summoning ritual off ourselves. Is that it?"

"That is correct."

"That's not much different from the original objective."

"There were a few variables, yes, but did we not overcome them safely? The objective must therefore still be carried out."

"I'd say it was a bit more than a few variables."

"You are capable of it."

"From where I'm standing, it looks like you've no intention of doing this together and mean to dump the whole thing on me. Am I imagining that?"

"I shall assist you to the best of my ability as well. Truth be told, I was rather astonished."

"Astonished?"

"At your martial prowess. I knew you were strong, but I did not expect you to accomplish this much alone. You still have not shown your full strength, have you?"

A guess bordering on certainty. He already seemed to know, and Yujun saw no point in hiding it, so he nodded.

"As I thought……."

Atradeon smiled as if genuinely delighted. Yujun almost had the impression the old man was bouncing through a little shoulder dance.

"Why are you so happy?"

"Thanks to you, matters appear to be turning out well. From the moment our infiltration was exposed, our operation had in truth already failed—and yet you possess the power to reverse it. How could I not be glad?"

"……So in the end, you're still dumping it all on me."

"Each of us simply does his utmost at what he is able to do. I myself have gone more than two days without sleep. Do you not see how dark the circles under my eyes have gone?"

"And the distance? Are we almost there?"

"Not much remains. We are close enough to reach the site of the summoning ritual before more of them gather."

"Then we'd better hurry. I'll go on ahead—try to keep up."

Yujun kicked off the ground and, for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first time in a long while, broke into a dead sprint.