The Ultimate Trump Card

Vival and Abalam had arrived at the Warehouse Section on the 4th floor. The two were incredibly excited about their first outing in a long time.

Vival shouted in delight as he looked at Cheshire, who had collapsed, Kesia, who was trembling violently, and the Slaughter Beast and the remaining humans, who were all stunned. He was thrilled, thinking he had overwhelmed the entire crowd just by appearing. Abalam was equally satisfied with their shocked reactions, but he was trying his best to remain calm so as not to smear Paimon’s reputation.

Abalam looked down at the trembling Slaughter Beast and evaluated it.

The reason Vival was this excited was simple. To his eyes, the Slaughter Beast clearly appeared to be a powerhouse with significant strength. This was what drove Vival mad. As an extreme battle junkie, he always craved and obsessed over fights with such strong opponents. Abalam was just as much of a battle junkie who loved blood and death, but he conceded the fight with the Slaughter Beast to Vival. He did so to have the humans all to himself while Vival was occupied. Abalam didn't show it, but he was looking forward to hunting the humans. Hearing the screams of dying humans was the ultimate pleasure for him. That was why Abalam intended to give the weak humans time to run away while Vival fought the beast, only to hunt them down one by one. He wanted to give them a chance to escape—a false hope—only to trample and break them. Hope torture was one of Abalam’s dark hobbies.

Vival, completely oblivious to Abalam’s plan, pulled a spear out of thin air and flew toward the Slaughter Beast. At that moment, the air in the Warehouse Section trembled.

A crazed Slaughter Beast, dozens of Warehouse Keepers... and on top of that, those demon bastards who looked like a strange comedy duo. Every monster that could possibly crawl out had done so. Why does it make me so angry to see them appearing one by one, looking all cool like the Avengers? It’s probably because I have to fight those bastards until I bleed.

'Sigh...' I couldn't understand with my brain how things could get this twisted. I don't even remember rolling a snowball, but it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feels like an avalanche happened on its own. Thanks to that, I was currently feeling the sentiment of a weak human caught in the massive whirlpool of fate. It was a total catastrophe. Seeing uninvited guests gathering one after another, I couldn't help but think the world was once again trying to screw me over. Is it my destiny to keep rolling like this until I die? Maybe this is because of my Luck stat. No, it’s certain. I remember being so happy in the beginning because my Luck was 666. Back then, I thought it was a huge win because my luck was abnormally high. But as my survival time grew longer and strange entities appeared one by one, I was physically experiencing the fact that a ridiculously high and ominous Luck stat of 666 was never a good thing.

“J-Jojun...” At the appearance of the demons, Cheshire collapsed. She had been shocked from the moment they appeared, and now she was trembling, looking up at them as if she were completely terrified. I couldn't tell what kind of expression she was making because of the neon mask she was wearing, but... she must be incredibly afraid.

“Hup!!” Meanwhile, Aila, who had quickly snapped out of her panic—perhaps because she was a doll—dragged the completely shell-shocked Kesia over and hurriedly cast a barrier. I grabbed the back of the necks of Aram, who was excited and ready to run out to kill the demons, and Cheshire, who was trembling in fear, and dove into the barrier. I didn't know how much of those monsters' attacks Aila’s barrier would block, but I figured it would at least delay the situation where we’d be wiped out helplessly.

'Damn it...' For the record, the demons were currently looking down at us, discussing who to kill first. Perhaps that was why they didn't pay much attention to whether we put up a barrier or not. Right, those guys were treating us like mere bugs. They must have been careless, thinking we were weak humans. That’s why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they were leaving us alone regardless of what we did. But I don't know if they realize this: I never lose to bastards who let their guard down.

“Cheshire. Do you know exactly what those things are?”

“U-uh? Yes. Yes... Those things are... the vanguards of the Upper King... The fact that they’ve come out means... the Upper King will appear soon... *Sob*... I’m sorry... Jojun... I’m sorry... Because of me... for making you come to a place like this...”

I didn't know what kind of bastard the Upper King was, but... seeing Cheshire this terrified, he must be stronger than I could imagine.

“Cheshire. First, stop crying and calm down.”

“*Hic*. *Sob*... Okay...”

I stroked Cheshire’s hair as I spoke. Currently, the Slaughter Beast and the Warehouse Keepers were focusing their attention on the Upper King’s vanguards, so they weren't paying attention to us. Furthermore, the demons seemed determined to kill the Slaughter Beast before us. Thanks to them treating us like absolute weaklings, I had a small window of opportunity to pull a trick.

“Cheshire, that bastard called the Upper King... is he stronger than the owner of the Palace of Binding?”

“Huh? The, the Palace of Binding...?”

“Yes. Is he stronger than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Deep-Layer Lord?”

“Uh... what?”

Cheshire looked up at me as if asking what on earth I was talking about when I mentioned the Palace of Binding and the Deep-Layer Lord. Then, her body stiffened. Her brain, which had been frozen due to the worry of the Upper King appearing, began to function again.

“Ah...” She finally remembered. The fact that I was a Cultist loved by the Evil Gods.

“D-don't tell me...” Cheshire looked up at me with a voice filled with ecstasy. Hope had sprouted in her voice, which had been filled with nothing but despair. I didn't take my eyes off the demons who had started fighting the Slaughter Beast and nodded in response.

“Yes. It’s exactly that.”

“P-Paimon is disgustingly strong, but... if it’s a monster of the abyss... it’s worth a fight.”

“I’ve been waiting for those words.” Cheshire’s words gave me certainty. Suddenly, a whopping 500 points of Mana drained from my body in an instant. My legs gave out, and I staggered for a moment. At that, Cheshire, who had been sitting, quickly stood up and supported me. Her grip tightened. She must have regained the will to fight. Since I couldn't betray her expectations, I immediately summoned a monster even worse than the demons from the bottom of the abyss.

“Summon Deep-Layer Lord.”

A way to overturn the scheduled defeat and kill the arrogant demons. I pulled out the strongest trump card among all the cards I possessed. It’s time to clean up the warehouse that has become noisy because of all sorts of bugs.

Abalam screamed and tried to throw his spear at the human who was swirling with Mana. However, before he could, the air split open and knocked his spear away. A spider’s foreleg popped out. The air trembled for a moment, and the Warehouse Keepers began to flee. Furthermore, not only the Slaughter Beast but even Vival, who had been fighting her, stopped moving and turned their heads toward the place where an overwhelming power was felt.

No matter how stupid Vival was, he could easily tell that he shouldn't oppose that thing. Because that was a monster in the true sense of the word.

In an instant, the system window that had been popping up in front of Jojun was torn apart by a single gesture from Kishiria.

The external pressure that had been crushing Jojun’s body vanished. The enraged Kishiria bore the penalty entirely on her own. She eliminated the 3-minute summon time penalty at the cost of spending a massive amount of causality. Since she particularly hated demons, she had no intention of letting Vival and Abalam, who had dared to show their faces without knowing their place, leave alive.

“K-Kishiria.”

Feeling Kishiria’s rage at the moment of summoning, Jojun cautiously called out to her, wondering if he had made some mistake. He had no choice but to be careful because she was such a finicky summon. If Kishiria was in a bad mood, the one who would die was Jojun himself. However, contrary to Jojun’s worries, Kishiria was not angry because of him. Therefore, she sneered at Jojun, who was trembling with anxiety, as if telling him not to worry about such trivial things, and asked.

“Uh... yes.”

Kishiria said, looking at the shocked expressions of Vival and Abalam.

Deep darkness from the abyss began to flow from her body. In an instant, the tide of battle turned. Now, it was the stupid demons, not the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠intruders, who had to rack their brains.