At Yujun's Words
At Yujun's words, Dokgo Minsu, Do Jiyun, and Kim Yohan all wore the same bewildered look.
"A loan?"
"You mean equipment?"
"Yes."
"I've already got good gear, though?"
That was Kim Yohan, a faintly smug expression on his face. The boast wasn't pure hot air, either. Even to Yujun's eye, the quality of their items was respectable. Respectable, however, was as far as it went. He would never have called it the best. By his measure, it sat squarely in the upper-middle tier.
So items with a high equip requirement really are that hard to come by.
They weren't even Mythic, and still the party was wearing gear in the level-400 range. Hunting down anything above level 500 looked about as easy as plucking a star from the sky, and climbing all the way to Mythic would be harder still.
"So what you're saying, Yujun, is that you'll lend us something even better than what we have now?"
Yujun nodded at Do Jiyun's question.
"To us? All of us?"
"Yes."
"Yujun. Hold on a second."
Kim Yohan looked as if he simply couldn't make sense of it.
"You have things better than what we're wearing right now? Besides what you're wearing yourself?"
"Yes. Let me show you, first."
Yujun produced equipment suited to each of them and laid it out. For Do Jiyun, items whose options would push fire-attribute magic to its absolute peak. For Kim Yohan, pieces carrying all-around options that left nothing lacking. For Dokgo Minsu, who lived by the sword, gear whose options would amplify the power and effects of Swordsmanship.
Once they had examined every piece, the three of them stood there in a daze, not a word between them.
"……What is all this……?"
"I'm lending it. Not giving it away."
"Where did you even get all of this?"
"Seriously. How did you collect a full set without missing a single piece? And every last one of them is Mythic."
"Did you even have time to go around gathering items? Ah—you told us before, did you not. That there was something called synchronization. Was that what made it possible?"
"Yes. That's right. And as the condition for lending them, let's each form a single soul contract."
"We can hardly just borrow them for nothing. That does sound better."
Do Jiyun was the first to agree to the soul contracts.
He trusted them, but he couldn't simply hand the items over on a whim. A soul contract was essential.
They aren't all things I need myself, but considering what they're worth, I still can't just give them away.
Yujun formed the contracts one by one, taking his time, then added a single condition.
"If something happens to Atradeon and you resolve it safely, I'll consider giving you the items outright. Dying, of course, is absolutely not allowed."
If they died, the equipment they wore could fall into enemy hands.
"You'll just give them to us?"
"What would we have to do?"
"Just look after Atradeon properly."
"Understood."
"Leave it to us!"
The thought that this would not end as a temporary loan—that they might actually come to own gear this fine—set their eyes blazing. Their zeal was plain enough to see, and Yujun smiled, reassured.
"Yujun. What about me?"
Manuela blinked up at him.
"You're coming with me."
"Okay! I like that!"
The Moonlight-Drinking Pond. A place with a very high chance of hiding an exceedingly rare item. Who would accompany him there had already been decided: Manuela and Paranet. Those two, and no one else.
The Black Sorceress, Yenil…… He had hesitated, given how formidable her strength was, but in the end he chose to leave her behind. Just imagining her hounding him over learning New-Generation Magic was enough to tire him out already, and she would be too busy mastering the magic reinforcement he had taught her to spare the time to follow him around.
He sent a message to Yenil, wherever she was off studying magic, asking her to protect Atradeon.
A reply arrived three minutes later.
Yenil accepted without the slightest hesitation. It was nothing but three short characters, and he had barely spent any time with her, but she was the sort who kept whatever she said.
Now I can leave with an easy mind.
"If anything happens, contact me right away. I'll come by spatial movement."
"Got it."
"Even if it seems minor, call me the moment it feels urgent."
"You certainly worry a great deal. Even if Atradeon goes digging into their affairs, do you truly think the Demon God Worshippers will show themselves at once? People who have stayed hidden all this time? Unless they are quite certain, they will not attack Atradeon."
"So if they do attack, call me immediately."
When it came to facing Demon God Worshippers, it was fair to say no one surpassed Yujun. Against them, his attack and defense amplified by one and a half times or more, and that was no small thing. Even without it, opponents who could match him were already hard to find. Apply that effect on top, and the ending was obvious before the fight began.
Yujun set out for the place where the Moonlight-Drinking Pond lay. He was heading for the most dangerous location known in Heaven, so he steeled himself. Even Sertiphs had been too afraid to go, and the man would have had no reason to lie to him about that. There was a high chance the pond held what he wanted—or something beyond it.
"Master. I can already feel it."
"Feel what?"
"The place we are going. It is exceedingly dangerous."
"I know."
"Not merely somewhat dangerous. Danger without precedent."
"I know that too."
When Yujun answered with a perfectly calm face, Paranet marveled.
"As expected of my master. A living man, and yet he does not fear losing his life! That must be why you have grown so strong."
"What are you talking about. I'm scared of dying too."
"……You are?"
"I'm going because I don't think I'll die. You think I've made my peace with death? I haven't even been dragged into the Tower of Infinity for that long."
Overwhelming defense. That was why he could walk without hesitation into a danger zone like the Moonlight-Drinking Pond. He had been fully exposed to Paulo's surprise attack, with no defense prepared at all, and he had come through unshaken.
The road to the Moonlight-Drinking Pond was close to wilderness itself, for threatening life-forms—monsters—made their homes there in great numbers. He had been curious what the monsters of Heaven were like, and that curiosity was settled in a single stroke.
A lot of them are almost beings out of myth.
Creatures depicted in Earth's myths as monsters. Did that mean the monsters of myth had actually existed on Earth? Probably not. Ner had said the world she created was the one that had been chosen, so it was far more likely that Ner had simply been influenced by Earth's mythology.
A cyclops. Or a cyclopes. The famous one-eyed, man-eating giant stood before Yujun's eyes—and not one of them, but five.
Five insolent cyclopes who feared not even Zeus? Of course, that didn't mean they were stronger than Zeus. He wasn't even sure Zeus existed. In short, they simply had no fear.
"Human…… looks delicious."
"Huff! Huff! Huff! What! A human?"
The cyclopes drooled. Yujun frowned and opened his mouth.
"Have you seen any humans besides me?"
"Y-you're the first. Kehehe. Slurp."
"That sweet smell is driving me mad."
"Look at those soft-looking legs. Tear them off raw and the taste would be unbelievable."
The cyclopes even smacked their lips. They weren't looking at Yujun as a living being at all. They saw him as prey already caught, and they swallowed their drool.
The way they're losing their minds over me—have they been told that humans taste better than the angelic race?
What could make them decide a human they had never even seen was delicious?
Did Ner just import the mythic setting as it was?
Even he had to admit the idea had some merit.
"The witch beside him looks tender and tasty too."
"Are you a fool. Aged meat is not for eating. It pains the stomach."
"Ah. Thank you for telling me. That was nearly a disaster."
Manuela's face fell.
"Now even cyclopes are making fun of my age……?"
"My lady, do not take it to heart. I have not even been mentioned."
Paranet, being undead, had been entirely excluded from the cyclopes' interest.
"I'm supposed to take that as a good thing?"
"Indeed, my lady. To the cyclopes, I am already a being that does not exist."
"……That is strangely comforting."
"Is it not. Heh heh."
Paranet laughed like an old man who had already lived out his whole life. In that moment, the cyclopes lifted rocks. The muscles of their arms swelled as if they might burst. They could hardly be called beautiful to look at, but the thickness and definition drew an involuntary gasp. They were huge, yes—but the striations of muscle were no joke.
"Where did those rocks even come from?"
"Right?"
There had clearly been no rocks nearby, and yet the cyclopes were already holding them.
"Can they use earth magic too? Smarter than they look, for something that stupid-faced?"
The cyclopes' patience reached its limit. One after another, they began to throw.
Whoosh—!
The rocks flew with a ferocity that didn't match their size. Yujun sucked in a sharp breath and cut every one of them down with his sword. He succeeded in severing them all, but he was badly startled.
It's not as if meteors are falling……
The force loaded into the rocks was that heavy. And the cyclopes were only getting started. Rocks kept materializing in the empty air, and they hurled them with both arms. Even their throwing form was perfect, so the power packed into each stone was tremendous beyond measure. The one flaw was that their trajectories were far too easy to read—but their speed more than covered that weakness.
BOOOOM!
BOOM! CRASH!
A rock split in half, its path changed, and it slammed into an ancient tree behind them with a thunderous roar.
"M-Master!"
"What?"
"I-I cannot block this! You see my wrist shaking? This is what came of blocking a single rock."
"Don't block with your sword. Block with your body."
"……."
"You can just use Thousand-Pound Drop."
"Even so, taking it with my bare body is a bit……."
"Try Body Slam with it. I think it'll work."
"Hah. I shall give it a try."
Paranet had only recently finished his evolution, and his frame had grown large enough not to fall short even beside a cyclops. Just then, two rocks came flying at once, straight at him.
Whoooosh—!
BOOOOM!
CRACK! CRRRACK!
The rocks that collided with Paranet shattered to pieces.
"Hnn……?"
Paranet looked around.
"Did I actually strike them?"
"Yeah."
"What."
His posture turned arrogant in an instant.
"The impact was lighter than I expected? The cyclopes were small fry after all."
"You're just ridiculously tough."
"Heh heh……."
Yujun couldn't even guarantee that he himself would come through unharmed if he took the combination of Thousand-Pound Drop and Body Slam, and his defense was extremely high. On top of that, the creature's frame had grown, so its destructive power would be greater than before.
"I shall go and deal with them!"
"……."
Tap!
Paranet charged forward before Yujun could get a word out.
If he mistimes that, it'll be dangerous.
Paranet's toughness came less from the raw performance of his body than from the power of his skills. Yujun surged forward as well. He couldn't leave it to Paranet alone—and above all, there was Manuela. If she took a cyclops's attack, her life could truly be in danger. He had to finish every one of them before that came to pass.
BOOOOM—!
In that instant, he saw Paranet's body go flying.
"Urk!"
A cyclops, instead of throwing a rock, had suddenly launched a kick, and it seemed Paranet hadn't managed to activate Thousand-Pound Drop in time.