Judgment of the Sinners
Who are you?
Who could he be?
Someone who emerged from the Labyrinth and holds the trust of the Five Lords?
That could not be all. He was hiding far more.
And—
Bringing out something of that caliber means he wants something in return.
That confidence.
He had displayed a Unique-grade item before everyone.
The Throne of Light upon which the Sun God was said to have sat.
Whether it had come from the Labyrinth or he had already owned it, I could not say—but the sheer audacity was staggering.
And not even on his own land, but inside the Empire itself.
Before countless nobles.
He had not brought it out merely to show off, or because he truly wanted a hundred billion gold.
It was a challenge: go ahead, put up something that can make me tremble like this.
Is this all you’ve got? I’m disappointed.
Fine. That had been thoroughly entertaining.
If he had shown merchandise of that level, then I would have to show him something that would catch his eye in turn.
What should I reveal?
What item could I put forward that would shake him?
“Ah. And there is someone newly confirmed as a ‘sinner.’ What shall we do?”
The Lord of Darkan asked.
With the air of a man who found the question absurdly obvious, the man in seat number one answered.
“‘Sinners’ are all to be killed. That is the rule.”
Sinners. Players.
They all had to die. That was the rule.
From the third day onward, the quality of the auction items began to change in earnest.
Weapons of Legend grade and higher poured down like rain.
Even Myth-grade pieces appeared with unsettling frequency.
The treasures that made eyes widen of their own accord left every participant in the auction speechless.
I was no exception.
Among them, one item in particular.
“The next lot is the ‘Baal Armor’! An armor presumed to be connected to the ‘Four Calamities Baal’ that recently overran Delphian! Behold this ferocious form that seems steeped in every curse imaginable! Truly astonishing!”
······ The Baal Armor had appeared as an auction item.
Death God Religion.
According to the Sword Saint’s Diary, the Baal Armor’s location was somewhere within the Empire.
But it had not been here—not in Darkan Territory.
Something that had not existed here had suddenly appeared.
Someone had brought it specifically to put it up for auction.
And that someone······
Number one.
The man who had been casually pouring out items of at least Legend grade.
The only person capable of putting treasures on the block that one would not normally see unless the Empire’s own warehouses had been looted was number one.
He reacted to the Throne of Light.
Yet he would not suddenly dump high-grade merchandise for no reason.
Displaying treasures priced beyond anyone’s ability to digest would only raise suspicion.
He had begun to move after seeing the Throne of Light I had put forward yesterday.
He had watched for a chance to bid, but the auction house’s “rules” had prevented him—so was he telling me to simply “watch” as well?
He’s trying to figure out what kinds of items I react to.
Faced with pieces of this caliber, at least one of them was bound to draw me in.
Especially the Baal Armor—something I absolutely had to obtain in order to complete the Baal Set.
Even if I did not want to react, I would have no choice.
“Noble guests! The ‘Baal Armor’ is not merely an ominous object. The grade our auction house has assessed is Ultimate Myth! Among everything that has appeared today, we dare claim it is the treasure of treasures—the absolute pinnacle—and since it is connected to the ancient legendary existence ‘Four Calamities Baal’ that brought ruin to the Mountain of the Cultivator and Delphian, I believe you already understand its rarity without further words!”
Ultimate Myth.
And armor related to Four Calamities Baal!
No matter how intense the ominous aura it carried, seeing an item of this level at an auction was nearly impossible.
“If it’s Ultimate Myth, isn’t that a grade close to Unique?”
“The Four Calamities are the monstrosities that helped bring down the Old Empire······.”
“Huh. A treasure of those Four Calamities.”
Even the Empire’s nobles could not help but marvel.
The Baal Armor that had appeared was far removed from the form of ordinary armor.
Black smoke rose from it endlessly, like a heat haze.
At first it had seemed repulsive, yet after the auctioneer’s explanation even that quality looked special.
“The starting bid is five hundred million gold! Bid increments of one hundred million gold! A treasure you will never regret. Only the chosen one may possess it!”
A starting price of five hundred million gold.
Naturally, the number of people who could even participate would be limited.
Flutter!
Someone snapped open a fan.
“Honorable guest number three! As expected, your eye is no ordinary thing!”
The young lady of Dersian had entered the fray once more.
For two days straight I had been fixed in seat number two, and the Dersian young lady in seat number three.
It had not been intentional.
I had simply ended up in number two after buying every item whose value exceeded its bid price.
Even if it sells, number one is merely watching. He doesn’t care that the item is being sold.
In the earlier lots, number one still had not moved.
He was displaying the composure of a man who did not mind if the piece sold.
“Is there no one else? The Baal Armor is easily worth more than a billion gold. And according to the records we have examined over a long period, the ‘armaments of the Four Calamities’ are also connected to the ‘origin of the Four Calamities.’ Are you not curious where they came from? Do you not wish to know?”
I was curious. I wanted to know.
But six hundred million gold was a burdensome sum even for Empire nobles.
How many people would have brought that much money intending to spend it at the auction?
At most no more than five.
··· And one of them was me.
“Aaaah······!!!”
Then it happened.
A man suddenly rose from his seat, staring into empty air in pure terror.
His face was deathly pale, as if he were stricken with disease, and he was sweating madly.
He was the outsider who had first been sitting on the right—one of the invited guests.
Even as every gaze locked onto him, he shouted without regard.
“D-Death God! Spare me! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so please just spare me!”
What was he suddenly saying?
·········Death God?
Moments later the man pointed at another person seated among them.
“Number fifty-three, that bastard! That guy is a ‘Player’ too! He hid it behind a mask but I’m certain! So please······!”
Thud!
Roll······
In an instant the man’s severed head tumbled across the floor.
I furrowed my brow inwardly.
I could not tell what had cut it.
I had felt no sign, no hint of anything.
No one had even moved with the intent to attack.
It had simply been severed.
As cleanly as if an invisible Death God had scythed it.
“W-what?”
“What is this?”
People were thrown into confusion.
Especially the invited guests.
In contrast, the Empire’s nobles and the auctioneer acted as if nothing had happened.
They did not even glance at the dead man.
They averted their eyes completely, as though he were filthy refuse.
And—
······ Are they smiling?
············ They were covering their mouths and smiling.
As if what had just occurred was familiar.
As if they were looking forward to what would come next.
Ding!
Ding-a-ling!
Before long, figures in black hoods stormed into the auction house.
Hoods pulled deep, wearing copper-colored fox masks.
Black bells hung at their waists.
The same kind of bell the silver fox-masked swordsman I had met in the Abyss Labyrinth had worn.
Surrounding the corpse, they held the black bells and pressed their hands together in prayer.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling!
They shook the bells without pause and sprinkled an unknown white powder.
At the same time—
“Huk······!”
“H-his appearance is changing!”
······ The form of the man whose neck had been severed began to transform.
Face, body, even the clothes he wore—everything was different.
He had become an entirely different person.
“······.”
I was left speechless.
I had no choice but to be speechless.
Hudson was the same.
Because that appearance was unmistakably that of an Earthling.
A foreigner with blond hair.
On the white T-shirt was printed “I’m Champion” in English, along with his own face.
Anyone could see he was an Earthling with a powerful sense of self-love.
He too lay dead with his neck cut.
A thoroughly wretched sight.
“‘Sinner.’”
“‘Sinner.’”
“‘Sinner.’”
Every one of the black-hooded figures poured out the same words.
Then—
Ding!
Another figure wearing a silver fox mask revealed himself.
He stretched a hand toward the corpse.
In that instant—
Zzzzt! Zzzzzzt!
Lightning swirled from his hand. The vortex of lightning transformed into the maw of a fierce beast and swallowed the corpse whole.
Having finished the “incineration” of the body, they withdrew once more outside the auction house.
“······ We will temporarily suspend the auction.”
“Wait—you need to give a proper explanation. Or I will not remain here any longer!”
“That is not possible, guest.”
When one of the invited people protested, the auctioneer coldly shook his head.
“Not possible?”
“Since a ‘sinner’ has appeared within the territory, no one may leave. We must perform disinfection. Once all invited guests receive a ‘normal’ judgment, it will be possible.”
“I am not a sinner.”
“Yes. But this is the ‘rule.’ Please understand.”
“Bullshit! I’ve never even heard of such a rule!”
“Even if you refuse, it cannot be helped. By now every warp in the territory will have been stopped.”
“······ What?”
They had stopped every warp?
It was something one would not dare attempt unless prepared to sink into the Abyss.
They would go that far to root out sinners, and once the “disinfection” was finished they would release them.
People’s gazes naturally turned toward one place.
The words the dead man had shouted before dying.
That there was one more Player—one more sinner.
Number fifty-three.
········· Master.
The auctioneer spoke.
“Until the auction resumes, we would be most grateful if the guests would wait in the banquet hall.”
Everyone gathered in the banquet hall kept their distance from number fifty-three.
It was only natural.
If one carelessly remained near someone pointed out as a sinner, the sparks would inevitably fly.
Master stood frozen.
He had confirmed that every warp had been stopped.
There was nowhere left to run.
Even if he was a two-star Transcendent, this was Darkan Territory—a place where every sort of powerhouse, including Guardian Knight Pamel, had gathered.
The ones with black hoods pulled low, wearing copper-colored fox masks. If they carry black bells, they are without question the Death God Religion.
But right now I did not even have Master in my sights.
There was far too much to think about.
The Death God Religion that had suddenly stormed the auction house.
They had all been Transcendents.
Transcendents bearing the Clover (♣) mark.
The berserker the Dersian young lady had brought bore the Spade (♠) mark.
Even among Transcendents, the marks appeared to differ.
And they seemed to function according to the order of the trump cards.
Whether strength and weakness were determined in the sequence of Clover (♣), Heart (♥), Diamond (◆), Spade (♠).
Do Transcendents with trump-card marks wear copper-colored fox masks?
There had to be a standard for who wore the fox masks.
Something else was strange as well.
The silver fox mask that appeared afterward.
The silver fox mask that had “incinerated” the corpse.
He had been a two-star Transcendent.
The same as the one I had met in the Abyss Labyrinth.
But he was not the same person.
A Transcendent who bears a Spade mark together with a star.
That was a case I was seeing for the first time in my life.
A being who had transcended with a star had undergone a second transcendence under the Spade mark.
It was now certain that the Empire had discovered a method of transcendence other than stars.
Yet something caught at me with force.
What I had seen.
The “lightning skill” displayed during the incineration.
That skill is definitely······.
I told myself no, it could not be—yet there was no way I would fail to recognize that Unique Skill.
The one-and-only Unique Skill in the world: Thunder Lion, the skill the Great Mage of Lightning had finally obtained after transcending!
Thunder Lion is the Unique Skill of Thunder God Descent.
······ My alt character, Thunder God Descent.
The transcended Great Mage who freely commanded lightning-type skills.
But was this even possible?
A one-star Transcendent had become a two-star Transcendent.
Moreover, he bore a transcendence mark other than a star and now served as an Executor of the Death God Religion.
Looking only at those facts he would be a different person—yet a Unique Skill cannot exist in two places.
It is unique because there is only one in this world.
If someone already possesses it, no other person can ever hold the same skill.
“Hey! I only came because I was invited!”
“If I’d known it would be like this I never would have come!”
“If this isn’t the Empire’s tyranny, then what is it?!”
People poured out their rage.
This auction had never been a pure-intentioned auction from the beginning.
Perhaps they had invited people they already suspected of being Players.
In that case, Hudson too had become a target of that suspicion.
“If you’re not a ‘sinner,’ then prove it.”
“Just thinking that filthy sinners share the same space makes me nauseous.”
The Empire’s nobles stood far off in the banquet hall.
Wearing expressions of open disgust.
But prove it?
How was one supposed to prove they were not a Player?
If we simply remained still we would be “judged” at their whim.
We did not know by what standard they judged or confirmed.
Then—
Thud.
······ Where are you going?
Ignoring the look in Hudson’s eyes that seemed to ask that very question, I walked toward the center.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Where does a ‘suspect’ think he’s going?!”
The nearer I approached, the more the Empire people’s faces twisted.
I paid them no mind either way.
The only one who interested me was a single person.
Oh ho. What is the reason you reconnected what you arbitrarily severed?
The man of number one.
Approaching him head-on, I reconnected the thread of the Golden Rule with him. He looked at me with open interest.
In front of him I took out “that.”
An Empire Token? What do you intend by showing me an Empire Token?
The Empire Token I had received from the silver fox mask in the Abyss Labyrinth.
He asked what I thought I would accomplish by showing it.
But this was no ordinary Empire Token.
As if proving the point, the eyes of number one—who examined the token once more—trembled ever so slightly.
Hmm? Wait. This mark is definitely······!