As If He Felt Guilty

Was he feeling guilty, just as he'd claimed?

Yujun nearly laughed. A Demon God Worshipper, feeling guilty? He knew perfectly well how vile and filthy their deeds were. No—what he knew might be only a fraction of the whole.

He'd laughed because Redios's behavior was ridiculous, and Redios's brow creased.

"What happened to Father?"

"That curious about it?"

"Spare me the chatter and answer!"

Redios looked rattled, raising his voice as he pressed him. Watching that, Yujun changed his mind.

Play this right, and I might squeeze the items out of him with the Castle Lord as a hostage.

In truth, he'd thought there was almost no chance of getting anything from Redios. A Demon God Worshipper with an iron will and blind faith in the Cult was never going to listen to him. That was why he'd come looking already half resigned. This, though, changed things.

"You do know the Castle Lord's treatment is up to me?"

"I've already sent a subordinate to check his condition."

"How devoted."

So he'd sent someone, had he?

Yujun bound Redios's body with Space Domination. Once a barrier was in place to keep him from escaping, he flashed to where the Castle Lord lay.

He's coming. He really did send someone.

A player's presence approached from a distance—the one Redios had dispatched. He, too, was a Demon God Worshipper.

Even so, he's beneath Redios.

Yujun waited, and the instant the man passed before his eyes, he struck him down with the scabbard and subdued him on the spot. Then he slung the Worshipper over his shoulder and returned.

Redios, of course, still hadn't broken free of Space Domination. He was bound fast, unable to so much as twitch.

"Brought him."

"..."

"Hand over the items, and I won't touch the Castle Lord."

He hadn't meant to touch the man in the first place, but at those words, Redios's eyes wavered.

"You know that if you die, items or anything else won't mean a thing."

"I also know you're the worst enemy standing in the Cult's way. If giving you items ends up harming the Cult..."

"Don't worry. Whether you give them to me or not, the Cult is going to be annihilated."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I'll make it so."

It might have sounded like overconfidence, but he wasn't the sort to make empty boasts. And most Demon God Worshippers knew Yujun's resolve well enough.

"...The items I received from Father aren't anything special."

"That's for me to judge."

"Kill me."

"Huh?"

"I'd rather die than do anything that helps the likes of you."

"So you don't care if the Castle Lord dies?"

"This wouldn't be the first time I've been unfilial. I don't care. Besides... in the body he has now, living wouldn't mean anything anyway."

Just as Yujun was about to say more, Redios's body ignited of its own accord. In an instant he crumbled to ash and vanished. Yujun stared, dumbfounded.

He didn't run... He was truly erased.

Had Redios killed himself because he saw no hope?

He was pinned by Space Domination. He couldn't move on his own, and he couldn't cast magic either.

That left only one possibility. The Demon God Worshippers had planted something inside Redios's body, and when the situation turned against them, they had killed him. The Cult was watching this place.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moment Yujun grasped that, he left the room. Obtaining Redios's items was now out of reach. A pity—but they were items he couldn't have gotten no matter what he did, so he didn't dwell on the loss.

He headed for the second son. From here on, he set items aside and aimed to purge as many Demon God Worshippers as he could. Now that he knew they were watching him and reacting quickly, he couldn't give them any more time. Feeling the need to move fast, Yujun broke into a full sprint.

His next target was, of course, the Castle Lord's second son. Whether he had already sensed Yujun or not, the man had abandoned his room and was fleeing. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠But the moment that presence caught on Yujun's senses, the game was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already over.

He appeared in the blink of an eye, subdued the second son with Space Domination, and raised a barrier around them. Two other Demon God Worshippers clung to Sehod's side.

Just as I thought. Both of them belong to the Cult.

Unlike with Redios, he didn't bother asking Sehod a thing.

"What is your purp—"

Before the Cult could act, the blades fell—shhk, shhk—and he took the heads of Sehod and the Worshippers in a flash.

They were going to burn to death at the Cult's hands anyway. Finishing them himself earned experience, and it was far more profitable.

Can't have the Demon God Worshippers doing anything decent.

Redios and Sehod had unquestionably been strong players. They had even received the Demon God's Grace, which had strengthened them further. Even so, bringing that power to bear in front of Yujun was difficult.

The Primordial Player privilege. Beyond the rise in attack and defense, this was also why most Demon God Worshippers feared Yujun.

Ordinarily, they rarely grew truly afraid or lost their will to fight, even against a stronger foe. No—one might as well say it never happened. Facing the Primordial Player was different.

When he fought them, Yujun had often felt less that he himself had grown stronger, and more that the Demon God Worshippers had grown unusually weak. As if the recognition that he was the predator and they the prey had been carved into both their blood. It was no empty confidence that he expected victory against the Worshippers and the Cult.

The two biggest are dealt with. What about the rest?

When he spread his senses, there were more Demon God Worshippers than he had expected. He hadn't thought they would be packed in this openly, and it gave him a moment's pause.

If I can manage it, better to finish them today.

Especially when he considered the effort the Cult was pouring into the Sky Castle to seize Heaven. An opportunity like this had to be used while it lasted. He checked the Castle Lord's condition through the vision orb he had set in the great hall. Improved, the man lay with a peaceful face, doing exactly as Yujun had told him and staying put.

Good. He's behaving.

There was time. Whenever Yujun found a Demon God Worshipper, he dealt with them at once, left the room, and went hunting for the next. He repeated the cycle, and along the way his level rose once more. He also collected a fair number of Legendary pieces.

Quite a few of them are wearing Legendary gear. The Cult must have some coin.

Well, of course they would. They did every filthy thing imaginable in the shadows, and money coming in along the way was only natural. That was what made fighting the Cult worthwhile. There was that much worth stripping off them.

Then, at some point, he spotted a group of Demon God Worshippers approaching the Castle Lord. He had been watching the man without looking away, and he returned to the great hall at once.

In the dead of night, Armene and Sultan stepped out of their rooms at a sudden order from above and ran into each other.

"What's going on?"

"They say it's Shin Yujun."

"Sh-Shin Yujun?"

"You know that elf you thought was a dragon? Turns out he was Shin Yujun."

"...You're lying, right?"

"Why would I lie? It's information we got thanks to Redios, so it's solid."

"Hold on. Did something happen to Redios?"

"His opponent was Shin Yujun. You think he'd still be in one piece?"

"Ha. I'm losing my mind."

Sultan laughed, hollow. The elf he had taken for a dragon had been Shin Yujun, the Cult's greatest enemy? Then what kind of delusion had he been living under all this time? He couldn't even look Armene in the eye.

"A dragon? Sultan really does have a wonderful sense of humor."

Armene said it with a bright, innocent smile.

"You mocking me?"

"No? I just laughed because I remembered how awestruck you were by Shin Yujun."

Even teased like that, Sultan had nothing to say. He had made a truly enormous mistake.

"But you don't have much room to talk either, do you? You went along with me."

"You were so convinced that I had no choice but to play along. I never actually thought that at all."

"Wow. Would you look at this shamelessness."

"Shameless? I think it's more shameless that the one who looked at Shin Yujun and called him a dragon is now turning it around on me."

"Come on. Honestly, you thought it sounded plausible too. No lies this time. Just answer me straight."

"...Fine. I was tempted."

"And you like Shin Yujun, too."

"W-wait. If anyone hears that, I'm seriously done for. I-it's not even true."

"You do admire him, though."

"...I don't."

"Sure you do."

"I said I don't. Anyway, are you going to be all right?"

"Huh? With what?"

"We're about to go face Shin Yujun, aren't we?"

"Are... we? Weren't we going to the Castle Lord's room?"

"We're supposed to pull him out while Shin Yujun is away, but that man's notoriously impossible to pin down. We can't rule out running into him on the way."

"That would be the worst."

Sultan's expression turned grave. Even now, the Cult had no decent plan for catching Shin Yujun. More precisely, every trap they had dug in the name of a plan had failed to land even once. Their superiors' incompetence was frustrating, but he couldn't truly blame them. They were surely straining every nerve to eliminate their greatest enemy. It was simply that Shin Yujun had become a powerhouse too absurdly fast to lay a hand on.

Looking back over his deeds, they were a string of things that were hard to believe. Rumors were bound to get twisted, but honestly, the results on display were so many that it was difficult to write them off as distortion. And so fear came first for Armene and Sultan. Rank-and-file believers might charge in knowing they would die, driven by blind faith and the Cult's brainwashing, but Sultan and Armene were different. Above all, there was nothing to be gained from standing against Shin Yujun.

"Let's hurry."

"Yeah. That'd be best."

"Instead of this, I'll use spatial teleportation."

"The barrier?"

"We'll have to lift the one that blocks it."

"Then the odds go up that he'll teleport too."

"...Hmm."

"Better to just keep running, like we are."

"All right."

The situation was urgent, but they couldn't shoulder an even greater risk. Thinking they had made a reasonably wise call, the two stepped into the Castle Lord's great hall—and found Yujun there to greet them with a smile.

"Damn it. How is he already...?"

"You were sprinting around like that. How could I miss it? And I remembered your faces. Figured you might become obstacles later."

Of all the Demon God Worshippers he had seen in this place, those two were the ones he judged strongest. Armene and Sultan called for support through a messenger. Ordinarily, a request to the Cult took time, but anything involving Shin Yujun was handled at once, without delay.

They exchanged a look. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only thing they could count on was support from above. Until it arrived, they had to hold.