The Organization Called the Guardians of Balance
The man who led the organization known as the Guardians of Balance was Jacob, and he swept his surroundings with eyes bright and keen.
Far off, the Demon God Worshippers were drawing near. Every player under the Guardians of Balance watched them with extreme wariness.
In truth, no such beings had existed in the dimension they came from. There had, however, been a power just as capable of bringing a world down, and that power was an Ancient Dragon — not some great wyrm breathing its last, but a demon dragon in the full of its prime. Once it began to rampage, those who survived all the way to the end had no choice but to flee into another dimension. Had they not lucked into an item called Chance of Revival, they would never have reached this place at all. The demon dragon's breath would have reduced them to ash.
This side, on the other hand, looks a little easier to hold off.
All they had to do was deal with the Demon God Worshippers. If the Demon God descended, that would of course become a problem — but stop the descent, and the problem solved itself.
This continent still has plenty of chances left. We take the lead and stop the Demon God's descent, however we have to. And then... we go home.
Jacob wanted, somehow, to return to the Earth where he had lived. His wife and two daughters. Even his mother, left on her own. For better or worse, they had not been summoned to the same place as him. Listening to the first-year players summoned after the fact, he had been able to piece together the state of Earth, and fortunately, aside from people vanishing, nothing else of note had happened — at least not by then.
Arranging a meeting with the Demon God Worshippers had been a kind of probe. He honestly had not expected them to agree so readily. The Cult, it seemed, was every bit as interested in the rising power that was the Guardians of Balance, and had pushed for the meeting just as aggressively as the Guardians themselves.
I wonder if they realize we're a poisoned chalice.
By any common-sense reckoning, the Guardians of Balance had plenty of reasons to want to get along with the Cult. The Cult was, for all practical purposes, the real power on the Continent, and the Guardians needed to secure a foothold of their own. It could easily look as though they wanted the Cult's help. Jacob figured that alone would be enough for the Cult to take the bait.
Even if they didn't, it hardly mattered. He was confident in their strength. Short of some absurd monster on the order of a demon dragon, no group could break the Guardians of Balance with ease. Of that he was certain. The only enemy that might qualify, Jacob judged, was the Cult's Demon God Worshippers right in front of him.
Show them our strength here, and the Cult won't dare come at us lightly.
Jacob was not the only one among the Guardians of Balance. They were the last warriors to survive a planet on the brink of ruin — champions of a desperate war fought against the end itself. With only the elite left standing, their level of force was not something the players of this continent could be measured against. Jacob had met people who called themselves top rankers, and realized at once that they sat several cuts below him. Where he came from, his presence had been overwhelming. There was no way the green recruits of this place could stand as his match.
While he turned that over, the man leading the Demon God Worshippers stepped forward. Jacob, facing him, spoke first.
"Jacob. I lead the Guardians of Balance."
"You may call me Bishop Shomain."
"Bishop? A bishop, is it..."
He had heard enough to know roughly where a bishop sat. Inner circle, but not the one at the very top.
"And the Cult Leader?"
"This is not a matter for him to involve himself in."
"...This sort of matter?"
Displeasure showed plainly on Jacob's face, but Shomain paid it no mind and went on.
"Should the Guardians of Balance devote themselves to our Cult, we will grant you power beyond what you deserve."
"More arrogant than I expected. Enough. Those who beg a god for their strength have no power worth giving the likes of us."
"Are you saying you wish to fight?"
"I was about to ask you the same."
As their tones roughened, the air between the two sides turned vicious. The Guardians of Balance had come ready for a fight to begin with. One spark, and it would ignite.
The Cult was the first to bend its pride.
"Then how about an alliance, to start? I hear the Guardians of Balance have been making it known that you mean to keep the peace of the Continent. We are of the same mind."
"Our aims align, then."
Jacob smiled, and Shomain answered with a smile that meant more than it showed.
"There is something I'd like to ask, though. What does bringing the Demon God down have to do with the peace of the Continent? If anything, I'd say it's the opposite."
"That is the sort of thing one says when one knows the first thing and not the second. Well. We have never explained it ourselves, so I suppose you could hardly know."
"Then what, exactly, is it supposed to be?"
"A tremendous calamity will soon strike the Tower of Infinity. We seek to descend the Demon God precisely in order to stop it. It will not be the Continent alone that falls into danger. Heaven, the Demon Realm, the Illusion Realm — annihilation will come for every one of them."
Was any of that true? Jacob was not naive. He did not take the words of that wicked-looking bishop at face value.
"And how are we meant to believe it?"
"If you cannot, then nothing can be done about it. Our Cult possesses a noble Saintess who sees the future."
"Sees the future? There was someone with an ability like that on the planet I came from. But at the decisive moment, the prophecy was wrong. What unfolded was the exact opposite. Having lived through that, I find your word difficult to credit. Even if seeing the future is real, a prophecy is never accurate every time."
The smile lingering at the corner of Shomain's mouth deepened.
"The Saintess is different. A being of another order entirely. She was born chosen by the universe. Whoever that person you saw may have been, their ability would fall woefully short of hers. That much is obvious."
"...Even granting that. Descending the Demon God can't be the only way, can it?"
"It is the only way. Players, weak beyond all measure, cannot hold back annihilation on their own."
"Are you looking down on the Guardians of Balance?"
When Jacob said it, plainly displeased, Shomain shook his head.
"I am not dismissing you. Had I dismissed you, I would not even be exchanging words."
"Can you not tell us what it is that brings this annihilation?"
"We do not know its identity either. Only that it is dangerous."
"And if the Saintess is lying?"
"Shut that mouth!"
Bishop Shomain flew into a rage out of nowhere.
"What..."
"Speak one more irreverent word about the Saintess, and I will take it that you mean to make enemies of us."
"You treat her almost like a god you're worshipping. You're not planning to descend the Demon God into the Saintess's own body, are you?"
"What did you..."
The words sent Shomain into a fury — but it was not Jacob who had spoken them.
Yujun, who had been hidden, revealed himself.
"Sh-Shin Yujun?"
Shomain's eyes, small as grains of millet, flew wider than they ever had.
"I'm right, aren't I?"
"What are you talking..."
"Your face says I am. Human trafficking wasn't enough for you, so now you're sacrificing a Saintess chosen by the universe, too?"
Yujun said it with a sneer, but Shomain's shock outweighed his anger; he did not even rage. He only scrambled backward. Slipping in among the Demon God Worshippers, he let out a breath of relief.
A little closer and I'd have died. To think I was running my mouth without even knowing he was right beside me...
He had thought he already understood how exceptional Shin Yujun's strength was. He had not imagined the man's stealth would be so superb that a bishop like himself could not sense him at all.
Bishop Shomain was not the only one startled. The Demon God Worshippers flinched as one, drawing their weapons and dropping into combat stances.
That was when Jacob addressed Yujun.
"Who are you, showing up out of nowhere to ruin this?"
"You are the Guardians of Balance, right?"
"We are. Did you come alone?"
"Yeah."
"You've got no fear. Do you even know where you are?"
"You're not exactly overflowing with it yourself."
Yujun answered with a light laugh. Shomain and the Demon God Worshippers watched the exchange with their hearts in their throats.
"Th-they're insane."
"He doesn't know who Shin Yujun is."
"If he knows and he's still acting like that, then he really is crazy."
"This Jacob looks pretty strong, though. Think he might actually be able to handle Shin Yujun?"
"We'll see."
The Demon God Worshippers looked at Jacob, locked in confrontation with Shin Yujun, almost with pity. They were not even on the same side, and yet sympathy rose on its own.
The players of the Guardians of Balance had gathered a fair amount of information, but it ran mostly to the Cult and the state of the Continent — skewed hard to one side. There were those among them who knew of Shin Yujun, but they were few, and almost none who had heard the name also knew the face.
Jacob, of course, had not relaxed his guard where the newcomer was concerned. The mere fact that the man had hidden his presence from him was enough to say this was no ordinary opponent.
"You're no player of the Cult. Leave. This is not a matter for some lone player to stick his nose into."
"Never mind that. What country are you from?"
The furrow between Jacob's brows deepened.
"Now that you mention it, you're from the East. I came from Britain."
Just as expected. Even with the auto-translation, the accent remained. It was not as if he had never heard a British accent; failing to notice it would have been the harder feat.
"How long since you were summoned to the Tower of Infinity?"
"...This is hardly the time for an interview."
"It's even less the time to be cozying up to the Cult."
"And who are you to..."
Yujun set his sword at Jacob's throat.
Jacob's eyes never caught the motion. No — he had not even seen the blade being drawn. All at once it was there, close enough to kiss his Adam's apple. The Guardians of Balance players behind him erupted, readying spells or raising weapons.
"...An assassin-type, are you?"
Jacob said it low. His head could leave his shoulders at any moment, and still he fought to keep his composure. At times like this, an A-rank Equanimity trait was a genuine help.
"Answer the question."
"Eleven years. It's been eleven years."
"Longer than I thought. Was the planet you came from destroyed completely?"
"Yes."
"How did you end up here?"
"An item. We came by means of one."
"You moved thousands of people to another dimension with an item? What kind?"
"An item called Chance of Revival."
"Never heard of it."
"From the look of things, summoning here began about five years ago. You'll probably need another five years to pass before one can be obtained. I can't be certain, but..."
"So it literally hands you one more chance."
"Yes."
"How did you get it?"
"We cleared a hidden dungeon and happened upon it. But... how long am I meant to stay like this?"
"Until I run out of questions."
"..."
Even with Yujun's sword at Jacob's throat, neither the Cult nor the Guardians of Balance could make a move. For the Guardians, one slip from their leader and his head would be gone. The Demon God Worshippers knew Yujun's terror far too well to step forward. The instant anyone struck at that back, which looked so utterly unguarded, the counterattack would come at once. And there was no need to lay a hand on Shin Yujun while he was already at odds with the Guardians of Balance.
The Guardians of Balance. The Demon God Worshipper Cult. And Yujun, standing between them. The suffocating standoff dragged on.
Then Harp, perched on Yujun's shoulder, opened his mouth wide as if to yawn. Densely concentrated energy formed inside it. He spun toward the Demon God Worshippers and fired his breath as it was.
The breath came flying before they could brace. None of them had imagined an attack like that would erupt in a moment like this, and the Demon God Worshippers scattered in blind panic.
A shriek of compressed energy — and then the blast.
The center of their ranks was torn open in a single straight line.
The Demon God Worshippers who had been standing there vanished without so much as a shape left behind.
"...What... was that."
"...Doesn't look like a dragon."
"Th-that was a breath attack just now, wasn't it?"
The faces of the Guardians of Balance players who had watched it hardened in an instant. A demon dragon had left them with a vicious case of trauma — a breath attack was enough to drag the old terror straight back up. To see one fired right before their eyes, in that state... and the power and the shape of it were so close to a dragon's breath that they could not have kept the fear down if they tried.
With his free hand, Yujun stroked Harp's head.
"Good job, Harp."
"Yes! I counted all the way to exactly one hundred and eighty seconds, just like Dad said, and then I fired!"
"Mm. Not off by a hair. Our Harp counts well, and he's clever, too."
"Hehe. I'm glad I could help."
A faint, quiet smile had been resting at the corner of Yujun's mouth as he looked at Harp. The moment his eyes turned to Jacob, the expression changed completely — back to that first face, cold and without mercy.
"Come to think of it, I never asked your name. What is it?"
Jacob swallowed dryly, then opened his mouth.
"J-Jacob."