Yujun Doesn't Go Looking for Coordination
Yujun made no move to seek Coordination out himself.
Even if he searched in earnest, he was in no position to find them. He had already set a surveillance orb in the building where Mah had been, and if he loafed through Koruna Kingdom long enough, he figured he might cross paths with Coordination sooner or later.
He was not, however, simply drifting with no end in sight.
Keep disrupting whatever the cult is doing, and they'll come to stop me one way or another.
Of that, Yujun was certain. Mah had not seemed like a man puffing himself up out of fear of death. Coordination would come to Koruna Kingdom. He was sure of it.
If they're on the Continent, they'll be here soon.
Could there really not be a single member of Coordination who knew spatial movement magic? And if there wasn't, someone from the cult would step forward to help them. All that remained was to wait for prey that would soon walk in on its own two feet.
"Will you be calling the lady again?"
At Paranet's question, Yujun shook his head.
"Not until I've dealt with Coordination."
No matter how he turned it over, he could not believe Coordination had grown strong enough to threaten his life. If his companions were with him, though, they might be the ones in danger. Manuela and Yenil were formidable in their own right, but numbers would still make things difficult.
There's no guarantee Coordination comes alone, either.
If anything, it would be stranger if they came by themselves. The Demon God Worshippers could think. They would bring every extra scrap of strength they could muster.
Yujun changed his appearance again. A vast store of mana drained away once more, only to refill to the brim almost at once. While he was at it, he gave Paranet a new face as well, then summoned Tapagol and recast him in the shape of a dwarf.
Harp needed no disguise. The beast could turn invisible.
As Yujun grew stronger, Harp had picked up a number of abilities, and invisibility was one of them. Its virtues were twofold: attacking did not break the concealment, and sensing Harp at all required solving a pattern formula the beast itself had set. In short, if you were not Yujun, you could not see Harp — unless a truly exceptional mage came along. And exceptional, in this case, meant someone on Yujun's own level. The odds of anyone discovering Harp were as good as none.
Even so, he started to wipe every trace of their scent from the surroundings, then stopped.
Wait. Do I even need to hide how I look?
He had already killed Mah. The disguises had been so the man would not flee ahead of time, not so Yujun could skulk about hiding from the Demon God Worshippers. Manuela and Yenil were safe in the Golden Temple, and he felt no particular need to conceal who he was.
He released the illusion at once and walked the street as if he owned it. He did not wander blindly. He sharpened his senses and searched for the aura of Demon God Worshippers.
Their presence drifted from every corner, but what he wanted was a different scent. There was no point wringing people the cult had merely kidnapped. He wanted those with their feet planted inside the cult itself. Koruna Kingdom was infamous for letting the cult run wild, and he found what he was looking for quickly.
Three of them...
He drew a little closer and listened.
"Damn it."
"What now?"
"The air lately's been wrong. When I get a feeling this bad, I've never once been mistaken."
"Bad how?"
"You didn't hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Forget it. I can't say."
"Oh, come on. What is it?"
"I said no. If I talk and we get screwed, it won't just be me."
"Tsk. Hurts a little, realizing that's all our friendship is worth."
"Still no."
One of them clearly meant to take the secret to the grave, so Yujun inserted himself.
"What is it? I'm curious too."
The three Demon God Worshippers froze at the face suddenly thrust into their midst.
"Sh-Shin Yujun?"
"How are you here...? We heard you were in the Heavenly Realm."
"Looks like that one knows something."
The worshipper who had spoken of the bad feeling spun on his heel and ran.
"Look at him, ditching his own cult brothers. Real piece of work, isn't he?"
"D-die!"
One of them flung a concealed weapon — Yujun had not even seen him draw it — and tried to open the distance. Harp's breath slammed into him.
KWA-AAAAANG—!
The force was far too much.
"...Harp."
"I'm sorry. It's been so long I couldn't hold it back. No — I thought I had held it back. I just didn't think the power would come out like this..."
"It's all right."
That the blast had landed like that even after Harp throttled it meant Yujun had grown just that much stronger. Harp grew in lockstep with him.
"Good work."
Several blameless buildings had been erased, but aside from the worshipper who fled first, the other two had vanished in the breath without a trace. Missing their equipment was no great loss. What they had been wearing was nothing special.
Harp must get restless just sitting still. Better to let him blow off steam now and then.
Even so, the beast needed to learn to meter that breath. It was lucky only a few derelict buildings had gone flying. A blind strike like that might easily have killed innocent players. Even Yujun could not endure it without a shield. Ordinary players had no hope of taking the hit and staying on their feet.
This isn't the moment to stand around.
Just then Paranet, quick on the uptake, cast a spatial movement spell. He did not take Yujun with him. He went alone, returned almost at once, and dragged back the worshipper who had fled. Then he gazed at Yujun with eyes that plainly begged for praise.
"Well done."
"Heh. Thank you! Shall I kill this wretch right away, though?"
"Hold on."
Yujun struck the Demon God Worshipper's cheek lightly. Any harder, and the man would die.
Smack!
"Guh—!"
The worshipper's eyes rolled, and he came around.
"What's your name?"
"...Coward."
Yujun laughed, incredulous.
"You saying that to me? Isn't ditching your friends and running the bigger cowardice?"
"You... Coordination will soon—"
"I know. Coordination's coming?"
The worshipper's eyes flew wide.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I heard. I can rake through a man's brain and pull the information out. The price is that he suffers the worst agony in the world. And he can't pass out, so he has to endure it for hours."
"..."
Yujun laid out the lie without a flicker in his expression. Because he had already known Coordination was coming, the worshipper had no choice but to believe him.
"By now you know exactly how to skip all that pain and die clean, don't you? Name."
"Jyohen."
The threat had landed.
"What was the secret you were sitting on? That Coordination's coming?"
"Yes. And that you were here."
"So the seal doesn't bind you?"
"It is permitted, so long as I am not revealing a secret you do not already know."
"If I already know it, you can say it? I didn't realize that."
One more fact about the seal.
"You didn't know? You said you rake through brains for information..."
"Obviously a bluff."
"...You son of a bitch."
Shhk!
He severed Jyohen's neck without hesitation. With the seal in place, pressing any further would have been meaningless.
Yujun went looking for the next prey. Koruna Kingdom was crawling with Demon God Worshippers, and he hunted them without rest until the sun went down.
"Hold."
At Ban Soyeon's word, the members of Coordination stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Has anyone heard how many believers are dead?"
"Last I heard, about a hundred and fifty."
"It's past two hundred now."
"...What? Already? How much time has even passed?"
Han Jiyun, mage and healer both, startled.
Ban Soyeon smiled with a bitter edge.
"You all know it. He isn't the Shin Yujun we saw back then. Don't get careless just because we received the Grace."
"Careless? You think we'd get careless? Scared is closer to the truth."
"That's even worse."
Cheon Sihyeon, young but exceptionally gifted, muttered as if to himself.
"I'm just saying. Do you have any idea how strong we've gotten? I don't know about me, but Soyeon could probably hold Shin Yujun off by herself."
"That's all it would be. She couldn't bring him down."
"Which is why we came together. Today's the window. Give Shin Yujun any more time, and we'll never get another chance to kill him."
"Yeah. I know."
With the Grace and the flesh augmentation complete, they were condemned to a stall in their growth. Power that exploded all at once could not come without a price. The boundless potential a human being carried — erased. That was the penalty they had taken.
They had not welcomed the Grace or the bodily modification at first. Then they felt the power those things amplified, and their thinking changed completely. Unable to contain the force boiling up inside them, they had sparred with one another and dealt out serious wounds, only to be stunned all over again when those wounds closed in an instant.
"Long as we don't die in a single hit. Then we're invincible."
At Han Jiyun's words, the members of Coordination nodded. Fold her healing into that astonishing regeneration, and they became something close to deathless.
Before they set foot in Koruna Kingdom, Ban Soyeon gave her orders.
"Protect Jiyun first. No matter what. Even if it kills you."
"Obviously. Jiyun's the thread our lives hang from."
"Got it, noona."
Cheon Sihyeon's eyes — eyes that belonged to Ban Soyeon alone — turned vicious. A look that did not belong on that boyish face.
"You... don't get worked up again."
Worry threaded the words.
Cheon Sihyeon shook his head.
"We've finally got the chance to kill the Shin Yujun who wounded our pride. I won't lose my head. I'll fight exactly as planned."
"Good boy. Our Sihyeon."
Ban Soyeon stroked his hair. She would not have done it ordinarily, but this matter was too important. If Cheon Sihyeon — tremendous in force, and a liability besides — did not run wild, she believed they could kill Shin Yujun with ease.
And Coordination was not the only presence here. Two believers, the elite of the elite, had come with them.
Deias, one of the renowned elves called the Knight of Flash.
And Geron. He bore no particular epithet, but he was a demon who did not fall short even set beside Deias. The pair wielded power enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with Coordination's members, Grace and flesh augmentation and all.
Honestly, I never thought the cult would attach support this solid.
Ban Soyeon felt as though she had been handed a gift she had not even dared to expect. She had words for them as well.
"You've been briefed on Shin Yujun, yes?"
Deias and Geron nodded without a word.
"You must not charge him alone. Under any circumstances."
"There is no chance of falling to that wretch in a single stroke, so I will decline the impertinent advice."
"..."
"..."
If the two reinforcements had a flaw, it was that they were extremely arrogant — and that they scorned the members of Coordination outright. Even so, there was nothing to be said. Within the cult, the pair stood higher. Talk back, and severe punishment could follow.
Just you wait.
Without quite meaning to, Ban Soyeon found herself hoping Shin Yujun would smash the two of them to pieces.