Because Failure Cannot Be Tolerated

Failure could not be tolerated, so he opened with Super Concentration.

His level's absurdly high.

He couldn't pin the Castle Lord's level down to an exact figure, but he could tell it sat somewhere north of 850. It wasn't a judgment built on evidence. He simply felt it, all at once. The curse had also dragged the man's stats down hard, if only for the moment.

Can I even call this temporary? This feels like the kind of curse that lasts forever.

Ordinarily a curse of this sort broke when the one who cast it died, and yet the Castle Lord's condition hadn't changed at all. That left two possibilities. Either the player who laid the curse was still alive, or the curse itself was something special.

I can't just leave him and walk away. I have to break it here.

Yujun had already pried at the restriction binding Iere. No curse was going to scare him. He checked the Castle Lord's heart first. Curses of this magnitude usually nested there, because the heart was tied directly to life itself. Charge in recklessly to dispel one and you were liable to strike the heart before the curse ever came loose, and kill the patient in the attempt. Just as he'd expected, the curse sat heavy near the center of the heart.

This is better, actually.

New-Generation Magic included spells for healing and for breaking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠curses. That was why he had stepped forward without hesitation.

Easier than I thought.

Yujun fed mana in and prodded at this and that, and the moment he was certain, he sheared the curse buried deep in the Castle Lord's heart clean away. Astonishingly, the Lord's face began to reclaim its youth. Color returned to skin that had been pale and papery, and the hair and brows that had fallen out started growing back at a startling pace.

Even what he lost is restoring itself on the spot?

From what Yujun had read of it, the curse on the Castle Lord was definitely not the sort that altered one's appearance. There was no reason he should have snapped straight back to his original form. One suspicion did occur to him.

Touch of Healing?

Touch of Healing did have an effect that restored whatever had been damaged.

So it really can treat hair loss too.

Of course, if the hair was falling out for genetic reasons it would only fall out again, but with periodic upkeep a near-permanent fix was entirely possible.

Didn't work on Paranet, though.

Either way, he'd learned something useful. A tremendous weapon had just fallen into his hands, and Yujun grinned.

"What are you, really?"

The Castle Lord, restored to perfect health before anyone quite noticed, bolted upright and asked. His face was full of laughter.

"Ask me like that and how am I supposed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠answer? More to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the point, isn't there a reward? I don't think the help I gave you was exactly small."

"You'll have your reward. What do you want?"

"Items, obviously."

"I would gladly hand you every rare thing I own, but most of them have already gone to my sons."

"Sons?"

"You didn't know? I have three."

From the way he spoke, the Castle Lord still hadn't realized his third son was dead.

"Why weren't you carrying the items yourself? Why scatter them everywhere?"

"Just before I ended up like this—no. After the curse took hold, but before my condition grew as grave as it was a moment ago, I summoned my three children in secret from the Demon God Worshippers. From the instant the curse was planted, without a soul knowing, I had already sensed my death. So I decided the items in my inventory had to be dealt with one way or another. That is why."

Yujun let out a long sigh. If he'd known that beforehand, he wouldn't have killed the third son so easily. Even so, he couldn't afford to give up hope yet.

"You split them equally among the three? Even shares?"

"No. I passed most of the items to my eldest, the one most likely to become the next Castle Lord."

"The other two didn't object?"

"I am the Lord of Sky Castle, and my authority is absolute. They could not defy me merely for being my own sons. Precisely because they are my sons, they could defy me even less."

Yujun nodded. If they wanted to inherit the lord's seat, the sons would have had to swallow it.

"So the eldest has the best chance of becoming Castle Lord?"

"He does. Not simply because he is firstborn. He is capable, and of the three he possesses the greatest martial strength. There is no shortcoming in him."

"The problem caused by the curse is completely gone now. Aren't you going to take the items back?"

"I want to, desperately, but my eldest's influence has already grown past anyone's ability to rein it in. To be frank, even if I asked, he wouldn't so much as pretend to listen."

"I heard the second son is capable too."

"He is. I certainly did well by my children."

The Castle Lord said it with pride, and Yujun stared at him without blinking. The Lord caught the meaning in that look and faltered.

"Ahem. Ahem..."

"Let's get to the point. What are you going to do about my reward, then?"

Yujun wanted the reward and to be gone. Looked at a certain way, he was demanding payment from a father whose son he had killed, standing right in front of the man. Of course it sat badly with him. He had broken the curse, yes, but that alone wasn't enough to let him stand there with a clear conscience.

"This is all I can give you."

Two bottles of elixir.

"I kept the elixirs back, just in case. Beyond these, I have nothing."

Yujun accepted them with a complicated expression. They were certainly fine items, and hard to come by, but he already possessed a healing ability more effective than any elixir. Short of selling them, there was no particular profit to be had.

"I'll hold on to them for now."

"I'm sorry. Truly, that is all I have to give. And..."

The Castle Lord hesitated, then forced the words out.

"This is shameless of me, but I have a request."

"A request? What."

"Among those around me, there will be someone in league with the Demon God Worshippers. Or someone who belonged to their cult from the start."

"Obviously."

"I want every last one of them rooted out."

"Hold on. Isn't that something you can do alone now? You've got your strength back..."

"The items..."

"Don't tell me you handed over the equipment you were wearing, too."

"Would it not have been a waste to die still clinging to it?"

"Well. That's true."

The Castle Lord had believed he was going to die. The gear he'd been wearing would have been his finest items, and letting it rot with him would have been a terrible shame. Yujun could understand the choice. He himself would never have surrendered his own items, no matter the circumstances. He was about to refuse the request when a good idea struck him.

"And if one of your sons is tied up with the Demon God Worshippers? What then?"

"It would pain me, but I would have to cut him down."

"And the items you handed over, the ones I might end up with in the process?"

"You really are a mercenary."

"Mercenary? I'm taking what I'm obviously entitled to take. And you said it yourself. Dying while still clinging to those items would be a waste."

"I don't care. Take every one of them. I won't say a word."

"Good."

In truth, what difference would the Castle Lord's objections have made to Yujun? The man had no power to compel him anyway.

"Where do you want to start?"

"My close aides, first..."

"No. Start with the eldest son."

Yujun cut him off.

"...Why?"

"Because he's suspicious. If we crush the others first and he catches on, we're in trouble."

"You're certain. Why?"

"No reason."

"It isn't because I gave him the items... is it?"

"Even if it weren't that, I would have checked the eldest first."

"Better to do as you say, then. Very well."

"One thing. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Don't move. Stay in bed and keep pretending you're sick."

"So I don't draw the Demon God Worshippers' suspicion. I'll do it."

"Just send me information through messenger. And the moment a Worshipper approaches, tell me at once."

"Understood. Be careful. My eldest, Redios, is my child, but he is no ordinary man."

"And the second?"

"If we're speaking of cunning, the second has him beat."

"Where are the two of them?"

"There's a good chance they'll appear in the banquet hall tomorrow. There's an event connected to it."

"Did you open the banquet yourself?"

"Ha. As if."

"The Demon God Worshippers arranged that too?"

"They did."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

The cult wouldn't have thrown a banquet for no reason at all.

"Ah. It may be because so many notable figures of Heaven attend these banquets."

"To recruit them?"

"Less recruitment than... an intent to make puppets of them, I should think."

"Hm. That sounds right. This isn't the time to stand around. I'm going, so keep up the act."

"Don't worry."

Once they'd exchanged messenger contacts, Yujun returned to the banquet hall. He passed right beside the guards, and not one of them noticed he was there. Perhaps because he'd arrived so late, the number of players had thinned considerably. Most seemed to have gone into the rooms assigned to them. The Castle Lord's mansion was certainly vast enough to house a great many players without strain.

Yujun extended his senses and began searching for the aura of the Demon God Worshippers. The presence that had been so distinct earlier was only a faint trace now.

Did the Worshippers all go inside too?

Maybe they'd finished their business and would never show themselves again.

I should go after them.

He was about to follow a Worshipper's scent when his mind reeled and the world seemed to wrench around him. He tried to resist, but a force he could not oppose took hold, and his vision went dark.

What greeted Yujun when he opened his eyes, clutching a splitting headache, was a system hologram.

The strength drained out of his body all at once.

Don't tell me...

Uneasy in a way he couldn't name, Yujun opened his status window. His skills and traits hadn't vanished, but they had been sealed, and his pure stats had all been cut in half.

"Shit..."

There was no way a curse wasn't coming out of him. Being dragged off somewhere was fine. He'd wanted that, if anything. There might be something to gain, and there always had been, until now. But a debuff that even Equanimity couldn't block, and an effect this unreasonable—

Cutting my stats in half...

The one mercy was that Manuela's blessing was still holding. Yujun narrowed his eyes and looked around.

"Aaaagh!"

"Charge! Charge!"

"Annihilate those fools who dared set foot on our empire's soil!"

"Waaaaah!"

A host of soldiers was rushing toward him, and knights on horseback with them. A battlefield. Was there any word that fit better? All around him, soldiers were packed tight in the grip of terror. They stood so thick he couldn't even see a line of retreat, and fleeing would have been nearly impossible.

Abilities sealed, stats dropped, and of all times, a crisis like this...

He had no idea how they'd done it, but they had certainly prepared with enthusiasm. Yujun understood at once that if he meant to survive this, he would have to reclaim his original power first.