The Perfect Indulgence Shuttle
"Priest Andrew. What's the karma count now?"
"……Six hundred seventy-four down to three hundred seventy-four. Just what kind of life have you been living to rack up karma like this?"
"So it purifies about three hundred at a time. We'll need two more."
I drew out the Holy Grail and washed Priest Andrew's hands once more.
And then—
"Guhk……!!"
Priest Andrew's eyes flew open wide as lanterns.
He could produce one more Indulgence.
Just as expected.
The smile at the corner of my mouth deepened.
Priest Andrew had become the perfect Indulgence shuttle.
His karma had been washed completely clean.
Isaac could scarcely believe it.
Outside of Kramdel, the decisive reason he could never set foot in another human city was this very karma. His mere presence radiated oppressive weight. People feared him. Attention clung to him whether he wanted it or not. In the worst cases, the city guard would come and throw him in a cell.
It had been that way in every human city except Kramdel.
No one is paying me any mind.
Trembling with something he could not name, Isaac stepped carefully out into the city square.
Under ordinary circumstances, simply standing there should have drawn every eye. That was what karma did.
And yet no one cared. Far from noticing him, they simply went about their own business.
"Mister! Why are you crying?"
"Ah……"
A little boy who looked about six years old came up and spoke to him.
In that instant both of Isaac's hands—his entire body—began to twitch and shake.
Priests and children were the most sensitive to karma. Children especially could sense it by pure instinct. In all the years since his karma had climbed so high, not once had a child ever approached him. Running away in tears had been the best he could hope for.
"Mom! This mister is a grown-up and he's crying!"
"You little—did you pull some weird prank on him again?"
"No! I didn't do anything!"
When was the last time he had heard a child's voice so bright?
Of course, he had done terrible things. He had brought a city to ruin. He had sabotaged wars, robbed city lords blind, and committed murders beyond counting. Priests had loathed him. Instead of Indulgences, they had brought Holy Knights and tried to kill him.
Someone who would listen to his story? Someone who would believe him?
There had been no one. Not a single soul.
He had thought he would remain sealed forever inside Kramdel, living and dying among monsters. Even that life had never given him a single day of ease. Outwardly he had pretended composure, but every hour he had fretted that the monsters might one day see through what he was.
As if Isaac had ever wanted to live among a pack of monsters. He had always dreamed of a life spent among people.
I believe everything about you. Caw.
And then, suddenly, someone who believed in him had appeared.
It was the first time. Even if that someone had worn the form of a Corpse Crow—to ask nothing and believe everything? Honestly, Isaac had assumed it was a con. Countless people had threatened him or tried to use him for something.
But that someone had not been a fraud. Not a fake. The real thing.
And so, without the slightest hesitation, that someone had spent Indulgences to wipe Isaac's karma clean.
I absolve you of your sins, Isaac.
Declaring forgiveness, that someone had laid a hand upon his head. The gesture had looked casual—but Isaac knew full well how much courage and resolve it required.
He had never felt this way in his life. He had never received such blind faith from anyone either.
Then he must not betray that faith. He had to become different from what he had been until now.
Was this what it felt like to be born again?
"Thank…… thank you…… kh…… khuhk."
Isaac lifted both hands and scrubbed at his face. But the tears kept falling, drop after drop, onto the ground—streaming without end, as if he were a child again.
Preparations were finished.
All that remained was the advance.
Clear a Party Dungeon
A party dungeon was not simply a dungeon cleared by several people at once. At its foundation, a party dungeon ran on the faith and trust of its members—and for that reason, its difficulty was monstrous.
And among them, the one infamous as the most vicious of all:
The Demigod Trait Dungeon.
Every preparation for heading there was, at last, complete.
Heart of the Eternal Lord.
We boarded the hydragon carriage and left Knight's Garden behind us.
Isabella, Isaac, Serengeti—and me. A party of four.
"How's the body?"
"Fine, sir. Light enough to fly."
When I asked inside the carriage, Serengeti cheerfully demonstrated walking on both legs as she answered.
As expected of a Supreme Elixir. The remaining concern had been the Demon King's curse, but while it remained temporarily lifted, it did not seem to burden her much.
Even so—only fifty-six hours.
Clear it in the shortest time possible.
We had to finish while Serengeti was still awake.
The Demigod Trait Party Dungeon was an incomprehensible dungeon that everyone rated not merely as "extreme" but as "vicious." No one had ever cleared it completely. The best record sat somewhere around eighty percent progress.
And since that record was mine, I could be certain of it.
So I have to break my own score.
I propped my chin lightly on one hand.
Even as Wilhelm, I had never fully conquered this dungeon. Could the present party composition clear it?
The entry condition for the Demigod Trait Party Dungeon is four people.
Demigod Trait Party Dungeon. "Demigod" was the epithet attached to dungeons created by unidentified transcendent beings. Those entities, said to have existed in the ancient Genesis era, had designed trials into the dungeons much as they had into the Towers—complete with various conditions.
One of those conditions was that you had to enter as a party of exactly four. No more, no less. Always four.
On top of that, no party member could carry any karma, and the party leader's Honor had to be five hundred or higher.
A dungeon only the honorable may enter. Meaning the Demigod who built it was a sacred being, I suppose.
At any rate—when I had challenged it as Wilhelm, the party composition had honestly been better than this one. We had had a high priest, a guardian specialized in defense, and a thief skilled in reconnaissance.
The current party, on the other hand……
……The composition is far too offensive.
Two assassins, one knight, and I myself was an attack-oriented warrior. Defense was nonexistent. It was a combination that either smashed through everything it hit—or got smashed itself.
The worry was real. But what we had now that we had not had then was a foundation of trust.
At the very least, these party members won't betray us.
A party dungeon was the worst kind of place—stained with betrayal and backstabs. No matter how good the party composition, one traitor and it was over. And when I had played as Wilhelm, it had been an endless festival of double-crosses. The mercenary I trusted, the knight I trusted, someone I trusted—someone stabbed me in the back every single day.
All three of them were traitors.
Everyone except me had turned. They had brawled like starving dogs to monopolize the rewards. Reaching roughly eighty percent progress under those conditions had been a miracle.
In that sense, the current lineup was actually better. At least there would be no betrayal.
……Or could there be?
Then again—back then, I had never imagined they would betray me either.
"Someone is following us."
Serengeti spoke up without warning.
We had taken a warp out of the city and were heading for the Demigod Dungeon.
……Huh. I had not noticed at all. Judging by their faces, neither Isaac nor Isabella had either.
"Would you like to see the face, sir?"
"Do it."
Serengeti nodded and flicked her foot.
In that instant, she vanished—as if she had teleported.
What was more astonishing:
"Kh……?!"
In the place where Serengeti had been sat a man.
The man recoiled in shock, but the technique was familiar to me.
Position Swap. Serengeti could exchange her location with a target of her choosing. It sounded simple, but it was a Star's Authority earned through Transcendence.
I looked at the startled man. Shaggy hair.
And level ten, no less. A level-ten powerhouse had been tailing us.
The man quickly recovered his composure and rolled up his sleeve.
Thuk.
At the sound of a footstep, Serengeti reappeared in the man's place.
"Did you see the face, sir?"
"Hair was too long—couldn't make out the face. But he had a hidden weapon tucked in his sleeve. Assassin type, looks like."
"What shall I do?"
"Kill him."
"Understood. I may as well get a proper look at the face while I'm at it."
Thuk.
The man appeared—still gripping his sleeve in the same posture.
"What the hell is—"
Thuk.
Thuk.
"What—"
Thuk.
Thuk.
"Stop—"
Thuk.
Thuk.
With every footfall, the man was carried farther and farther from the carriage. Their positions kept swapping as Serengeti closed the distance.
Thuk. Thuk. Thuk. Thukthukthukthuk.
At last, in the middle of the grassland, Serengeti and the man met.
"Pfft."
Having seen the man's face, Serengeti delivered a short appraisal.
Haksal was certain.
To clear Main Quest 6, Randolph would absolutely come here.
He always shows up where no one expects him.
It had been that way every time. Across the previous five Main Quests, Randolph had always outstripped everyone's predictions. This time would be no different.
The Demigod Trait Dungeon. A party dungeon said to be impossible to clear—and the bastard would appear intending to clear it.
The entry conditions are absurdly strict, but Randolph will manage them.
Four party members with zero karma. And a party leader with Honor of five hundred or higher!
Other people said it was impossible. Forget the party members—how was anyone supposed to hit five hundred Fame at this stage of the game? Only a player could serve as party leader, and for a Randolph with no faction behind him, it was out of the question.
Haksal had thought the same. That was why he had tried sniping from "common-sense" angles, time and again.
He breaks common sense. He will come here no matter what.
The line everyone had drawn as common sense. Only by shattering that line could you snipe Phantom—could you snipe Randolph.
He was certain.
Main Quest 6: Clear a Party Dungeon. The bastard would absolutely appear at the Demigod Trait Dungeon.
This time, the sniping would succeed. And when it did—
I will be remembered as the one who killed Phantom.
Among everyone who played Pangenia, Phantom was the greatest. A god. And the one who killed that god would become a god-slayer himself.
From the beginning, that had been the only thought in his head. After Wilhelm's death judgment, Haksal had thought of nothing but hunting down the player Phantom and killing him.
"…………He's here."
After waiting so long, he had finally found Phantom.
A carriage drawn by a horned hydragon. Judging by the direction, it was unmistakably headed for the Demigod Trait Dungeon. And at this point in time, the only human who would be going there was Randolph!
At last!
Haksal silently cheered. How long had he searched and waited? He had misjudged and let the target slip past several times—but not this time.
Even your stubborn luck ends today, Phantom.
The long wait was finally over. After today, every player would know.
Haksal quietly tailed the hydragon carriage.
And then—
"Kh……?!"
The view in front of his eyes suddenly changed.
Inside the carriage. Two men and one woman in sight.
He immediately groped for his sleeve.