Seyril's Grace

"There's not a single decent one among those S.E.N bastards."

Having heard the whole story, Wolya clicked her tongue, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"I've heard the situation. It seems S.E.N has truly made up its mind to come after you. Who would have thought even Lilith would set her sights on you."

Arti Gracia was still connected over comms. She sounded like the sudden emergence of the elusive Lilith had given her a splitting headache.

"This time, Lilith will surely move to corrupt you completely. A Yggdrasil Item to counter mental erosion would certainly be useful... but there's no way you could carry one into a game labyrinth."

To fight Lilith, he first needed a means of blocking her dreamlike bewitchment.

"And what is S.E.N's counterpart on your side doing? Surely there was a fellow called the 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven'?"

Wolya seemed far from reassured by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Midgard, the department that supervised S.E.N.

"Another incident flared up, so they're focused on that. You've heard of 'Ouroboros,' haven't you?"

Had he heard of it? That was the mega-corporation that had once bared its fangs, scheming to swallow Jucheongwang whole. According to Wolya, it had ties to the Entertainment District.

"That Ouroboros has connections to S.E.N. Their recent movements have been suspicious, so the department is keeping a wary eye on them."

"Ouroboros is connected to S.E.N?"

Wolya's expression darkened. She had reacted sharply to that name before, too.

"In any case, we'll be working on countermeasures on our end. If Lilith contacts you, let us know."

After cutting the call with Arti, Ryu Hwi sat in his chair in silence. With three of Jucheongwang's five members gone, a desolate air hung over the shop.

"So what have you decided to do?"

"For now, no more Legend of Lambda broadcasts for a while... I'll rotate through the other game labyrinths and rack up tickets and RP as fast as I can."

"Your goal is Seyril's Blessing, then?"

The skill Seyril's Blessing from Legend of Lambda had been created based on the labyrinth blueprints Loki had handed over. A perfect recreation was impossible, but it should produce an effect similar to Mental Resistance.

The question was whether it could carry him through Intuition Lv4 — but for now, there was no other way. To hold back Lilith's corruption, Seyril's Blessing was essential.

"I have no intention of being dragged around by those S.E.N bastards any longer than this. I need to find a way to land a real hit on them."

"Do you have something in mind already?"

Even if this incident was resolved without disaster, the threat of S.E.N wouldn't vanish. They needed a way to strike back — a warning that anyone who carelessly laid a hand on him should be prepared for at least this much.

"Well, about that..."

When Wolya heard the method he'd come up with, she blinked.

"Won't that provoke S.E.N far too much? There are Platinum-ranks among them, you know. Something that reckless is—"

"Were you so careful about protecting yourself when we went up against Latia?"

"..."

Ryu Hwi's words were more than enough to shut her mouth.

"...Fair point. Back then, we didn't give a damn about consequences, did we."

Wolya wore a thoughtful look for a moment, then nodded.

"Fine. Three of Jucheongwang's family have been abducted — I can't just let that slide. We'll make them pay the proper price for touching Jucheongwang."

At length, Wolya steeled herself as well. She was no happier about the current situation than he was.

"So — can Noir actually be freed from Lilith?"

"That's..."

Lilith's soul was parasitizing Noir's. And it wasn't just Noir — all one hundred and eight Golds were in the same predicament. Ryu Hwi had no idea whether any means existed to do something about a soul itself.

Just in case, he'd made inquiries with Midgard too, but the answer had only been that Yggdrasil Items related to the soul were exceedingly rare.

If only he could Delete Lilith's soul alone out of Noir's...

Is that impossible, for now?

Even if a soul could be converted into data, isolating and deleting only Lilith's was beyond him at present. With Intuition at Lv3, he couldn't even perceive a soul. He had looked straight at Noir without recognizing the Lilith inside her.

"Then let's move fast. We don't have much time."

Ryu Hwi converted immediately and dove into the game labyrinth. Left alone, Wolya let out a long sigh.

"It's like we've gone back to those days."

Back when Jucheongwang ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been in the Entertainment District, Ryu Hwi had been perpetually consumed by rage. The man just now reminded her of that time.

In Legend of Lambda, gathering RP and tickets was brutally hard. The rewards were far too meager for the difficulty. Which meant, inevitably, he had to tour the other game labyrinths.

He cleared them the way he had in his World of Phantasm days — exploiting every tool, every trick, every means at his disposal. Once Ryu Hwi set his mind to grinding game labyrinths, no labyrinth besides Legend of Lambda could stop him.

Leisurely enjoyment never entered the equation. Right now, Ryu Hwi was pushing through labyrinth after labyrinth for one purpose only: RP and tickets.

If there were more labyrinths available, I could rake in a mountain of tickets just from login achievements alone...

But for now, all he could do was hunt for the most efficient clear routes and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grinding methods.

The deadline Lilith had given him was drawing near. Because she might pull something the moment the seventh day arrived, Ryu Hwi prepared his Random Box pulls on the sixth day.

The pickup banner, naturally, was Legend of Lambda. There was only one target: Seyril's Grace.

"Seyril's Grace is surely SR-rank, Master. Your odds of pulling it are decent."

Just as YggON said, Seyril's Grace would be an SR. The odds were there — but nothing was guaranteed, so he couldn't afford to relax. Some pulls from the broadcasts were still banked, so he could at least reach pity.

"No broadcast this time?"

"No. This is no situation to be summoning 'Noel'."

Right now, '5555' would be frantically busy. With Bisque, one of their developers, gone, she had to shoulder the 'updates' alone.

Under normal circumstances, his heart would have raced wondering what would drop. The man of the present felt none of that.

NNNRN.

RRNNN.

Even when the early results turned out poor, he didn't so much as blink. YggON, too, simply watched her master's actions in silence. Decent-looking SRs appeared here and there along the way, but Ryu Hwi didn't spare them a glance, spinning the Random Box on and on.

At last — pull one hundred twelve.

"Got it."

Normally, he would have been a great deal happier. Right now, all he felt was relief — if he'd failed to pull it this time, he would have had to scramble for some other means.

He dumped Exp into it immediately, leveling the skill up.

Even at (ygg), only twenty-five percent. Still nowhere near enough.

He combed through the SR skills he'd newly acquired, looking for anything with good synergy with Seyril's Grace.

SR — Seyril's Protection. A sacred power that guards the hero from every calamity. Defense Boost (Passive) — a passive skill that raises defense.

If he used it as a fusion material to strengthen Seyril's Grace, the result might prove worthwhile. Without hesitation, he raised Seyril's Protection to (ygg) as well. His Exp reserves had some slack to them, so pushing an SR skill to (ygg) was quick work.

Lambda's Blessing would be the ultimate, fully-realized form of this series. If the combination produced it, he'd gain a tremendous advantage — but he wasn't daring to hope for a result that far.

The question was which of the two — Seyril's Blessing or Seyril's Song — carried the mental-resistance enhancement.

Twenty-five percent on its own won't accomplish much anyway.

Which meant there was nothing to do but gamble.

A skill in the lineage of Seyril's Grace and Protection combined. He invested Exp and pushed Seyril's Blessing further.

Seyril's Blessing Lv1 → Lv2 (4,000 Exp). Lv2 → Lv3 (8,000 Exp). Lv3 → Lv4 (16,000 Exp). Lv4 → Lv5 (64,000 Exp). Lv5 → Lv(ygg).

Grace, Protection, and the enhancement of Blessing — 117,200 Exp in total. With the Exp he'd stockpiled until now, he could even raise Intuition to Lv(ygg).

Mental Resistance had climbed to thirty-five percent. Better than twenty-five, but still an awkward middle ground.

"Well... better than nothing, I suppose."

He equipped Seyril's Blessing. It was one of the few weapons he had against Lilith's corruption.

"YggON — can I hold out against Intuition Lv4 with this?"

"It will be difficult."

He nodded at YggON's cold assessment.

"Consider yourself warned, Master: Intuition Lv4 alone will not suffice. You'll need resistance at a level capable of fully repelling Lilith's corruption."

YggON judged the danger of Intuition Lv4 to be greater even than Lilith's erosion. A countermeasure that was better than nothing — that was all this was.

"Master, what will you do about pity?"

Having sunk every ticket and RP into pulling Seyril's Grace, he had reached 300 pulls. Hoping for something usable in the SSR, he spun the pity Random Box. Beyond a rainbow-streaked presentation, a gleaming SSR materialized before Ryu Hwi.

A system-type had dropped. If it wasn't something like the World of Phantasm system skill, it might be genuinely useful — but he couldn't count on it. He checked the effect of Wings of Lambda.

Multiplies acquired RP by 1.2x.

A skill so magnificent YggON could hardly believe it had come out of her own gacha. It made instant sense why it was an SSR.

"About time this showed up."

1.2x RP gain. If it had appeared sooner, his grinding efficiency would have been incomparably higher. It was an excellent system skill, to be sure — but it wasn't something he could deploy as a 'trump card' right this moment, which stung.

With that, the bare minimum of preparation was complete. All that remained was to roam the other game labyrinths and bank as much RP and Exp as possible, then wait for Lilith to come.

The next day, a young girl came looking for Jucheongwang. He had memories of that face — without a doubt, one of Lilith's avatars. As if to prove the fact, the girl's eyes glittered violet.

"I went out of my way to grant you a one-week reprieve. Finished with your pointless flailing?"

The young girl spoke with an arrogance ill-suited to her appearance. Wolya looked her over and clicked her tongue.

"Gold-rank Selen Asta. The one who passed the qualification exam to retain Gold status at the tender age of twelve? I've seen you playing around in Super Gemini, but... who'd have thought you were one of S.E.N's lackeys."

"Careful with that word, 'lackey.' I am Selen who is Lilith, and Lilith who is Selen. I've come here today in the role of Lilith's herald. If you wish to make the distinction, call me Selen Lilith."

Without waiting to be offered a seat, Selen pulled out a chair and sat down as she pleased.

"Since you're bound to wonder, I'll tell you upfront: Bisque and Ragna are unharmed. I haven't used the corruption on them, either."

First, Selen Lilith delivered the news that Bisque and Ragna were safe.

"Of course, that depends on how today's contest goes. The battlefield, as I said before, is Legend of Lambda."

Selen smiled meaningfully. It was a vicious smile — less that of a 'bratty child' and more that of a 'demon'.

"I'll warn you now: 'Lilith' has no intention of any 'fair contest.' She delights in crushing her enemies when the odds are overwhelmingly in her favor, savoring their misery as they beg for mercy."

"..."

Ryu Hwi said nothing. He had never once imagined it would be a fair fight.

"The rules are simple. Clear all 108 stages. Lilith will be scattered across every corner of Legend of Lambda. Find each and every one of her, and beat them in a duel. And since it's you playing, the difficulty will be 'Fall of Saynal,' naturally."

Lilith intended to savor, for as long as possible, the sight of Ryu Hwi writhing in torment. He had no intention of politely playing along.

"Let's get one thing straight."

Ryu Hwi opened his mouth, facing Selen directly.

"I'm not the type to sit back and take a beating. Are you confident you won't regret it?"

"Hm?"

Selen Lilith's violet eyes glittered.

"Make us regret it? Go ahead, if you think you can."

Selen Lilith dismissed it as a mere provocation, taking no more notice than that.

"Then you'd best resign yourself to whatever happens from this moment on. And..."

Ryu Hwi let out a quiet sigh.

"Let me show you just who you dared to pick a fight with."