kscans

Chapter 334 - Interlude: A Dangerous Foe and the Voice of God

The spear's weapon skill, "Shooting Star," launched from the airship, fell precisely into a dense crowd, defeating the surrounding players in a single blow.

This served as the signal to start the battle, but the players were in a state of considerable confusion.

They understood the damage was abnormal. Launching Shooting Star from that altitude would result in immense damage. Furthermore, those in the attack range were mid-guard type players whose defense wasn't that high. It was understandable that they were defeated in one hit.

The problem wasn't that, but its accuracy.

While the airship was now above the mansion, the spear had been thrown from much farther away. There had been a considerable distance from there to here. Despite that, it had been thrown precisely into what looked like the most crowded area.

NPCs were AI. It might be possible for them to land a definite hit through advanced calculations, but if that were the case, the question became whether they could win at all. They had been told their opponent was quite strong, but a thought crossed their minds. Weren't they doing something incredibly reckless?

Most of the players here were participating in the battle because Shooting Star had offered them rare equipment. Since it was close to the current best-in-slot gear, they felt it was worth taking a slight risk in the game to obtain it.

It was possible to just run off with the items, but then they would face appropriate retaliation from Shooting Star. And if Shooting Star was taking responsibility for whatever happened, there was no reason to refuse.

Furthermore, the chance to fight against the top-ranking clan from the Clan Wars, "Daedalus," and the NPCs who were close to them, was an attractive prospect for newer players who hadn't participated in the Clan Wars.

They were by no means weak. Yet, they were sometimes looked down upon by veteran players without even having fought. There was an atmosphere where your rank was already decided just because you hadn't participated in the Clan Wars.

They wanted to win this battle and dispel that atmosphere. They would get rare items, and Shooting Star would take full responsibility for any repercussions from their rampage. With that understanding, they had joined.

That was how it was supposed to be, but a problem had already occurred.

The plan was to abduct the NPC's pets at this mansion, return to Shooting Star's base in the Demon Country, and intercept them there. Normally, they should have finished everything and returned to the Demon Country before reinforcements arrived, but they were bogged down dealing with the mansion.

It was probably because of the female samurai. They had been instructed not to let anyone into the mansion, but an NPC female samurai had led a charge with several other samurai. Her ferocious attack broke through the front-line wall, and the leading female samurai managed to get inside the mansion.

That wasn't all. Afterward, Hayato and his group arrived on an airship, a vehicle they had only heard about in rumors. They had expected them to return by ship, so they thought they still had plenty of time.

This time, they were meant to be a wall for intimidation and to buy time until the pets were abducted. The real battle was supposed to be at the base in the Demon Country. It wasn't that they weren't prepared for battle, but they were only moderately so.

Their opponents had also just fought the raid boss Shuten Doji, so they couldn't have had much time to replenish items or repair their gear. Considering that, they thought they could win with their numbers, but the previous attack had tipped the scales toward anxiety.

Amidst this situation, the leader of Shooting Star, Harrington, raised his sword to draw everyone's attention.

"Hurry with battle preparations. Healers, resurrect the fallen with Resurrection magic. We will meet them head-on."

Harrington was clad in white armor that concealed his entire body, and his face was completely hidden by a helm. It was said that the only ones who had seen his true face were his butler, Ronios, and his maid, Cremola. According to Ronios, he was a man in his thirties.

Someone interjected at Harrington’s words.

"Are we fighting here?"

"Yes. But you don't need to win. Just buy enough time to capture the pets."

"B-but..."

"No excuses. Losing here is within our expectations. The real fight is at our base in the Demon Country. To that end, buy time."

Some questioned the logic, but they were hired hands, and if it was okay to lose here, then it was a perfect opportunity to test their own skills. Everyone began their battle preparations.

Amidst them, one player said.

"It’s okay if we win here, right!?"

Whether they truly believed that was unclear, but there are always people who say such things. It can have a positive effect by raising morale or getting a laugh, but if they don't understand the difference in strength with the opponent, they're just a clown.

"That is not possible."

A maid wearing glasses appeared in front of the person who had just spoken. The surrounding players were surprised by the maid who had appeared in an instant.

"Wha..."

The moment he spoke, the maid’s right body blow struck his stomach. The impact was enough to lift his body off the ground for a moment. Even in that state, the damage calculation was normal, and he wasn't defeated in one hit.

But before he could counterattack, a second, then a third punch was unleashed by the maid, his HP dropped to zero, and he collapsed on the spot.

The maid then brushed the dust off her skirt and adjusted her glasses. She cast a look at her surroundings as if looking at trash.

"Today’s cleaning looks like it will be rewarding."

In the center of the stunned players, the battle suddenly began.

A few minutes into the battle, the players were witnessing an unbelievable sight.

A female samurai who countered every attack with fluid movements.

A small child with a hidden face, who never looked at her opponents, continuously unleashing weapon skills from the Hand-to-Hand Combat skill tree.

A menacing-looking man with a fearless smile, beating down the surrounding players.

And a maid rampaging to such an extent that it could create a new phobia of maids.

After the maid, the other three had also appeared out of nowhere and were mowing down players.

Even if one was surrounded, the other members would provide support. Though they had surrounded them all, their opponents attacked their weak points and broke their formation. It was such a disparity in strength that it felt like it would be better to fight one-on-one.

And it wasn't just those four.

From the sky, tamers on a Griffon and a dragon were attacking. Furthermore, magic attacks were flying from the airship, targeting the healers.

Shooting Star had a few tamers who could fly, but they couldn't keep up with the movements of the enemy's Griffon and dragon, taking damage from one-sided hit and away tactics and being defeated one after another.

Magic and long-range attacks couldn't reach the airship, and they were taking fire unilaterally. A song could be heard from the airship, inflicting multiple debilitating effects on them.

Those were problems, but an opponent with an even more problematic aura appeared, riding a giant crow.

Women in Gothic Lolita dresses and a figure who appeared to be a woman clad in red armor. The woman in red armor was wearing a helm, so her face was not visible, but those who knew, knew.

They knew she was in the enemy clan, but they hadn't expected a final boss-like opponent to come to the front lines. The players who knew her identity thought to themselves that buying time was impossible.

The women in Gothic Lolita dresses who had dismounted from the crow, despite the presence of nearby players, slowly formed two parallel lines as if it didn't matter, and raised their respective weapons to the sky.

"Demon Lord Lunaria-sama! To battle!"

The women in Gothic Lolita dresses chanted in unison.

With that, everyone realized.

The figure in red armor, Demon Lord Lunaria, walked slowly between the lines of women. Then, without a word, she drew her sword.

The Demon Lord vanished. By the time they thought that, she was standing before the player at the very front, having already swung her sword horizontally.

That player collapsed with a look of surprise. A tank who should have had considerable defense was defeated in an instant.

"This sword has judged you all to be weak. I will not use my full strength, so you can rest assured."

She had defeated the front-line tank in a single blow, or rather, with several slashes too fast to see. Even if she wasn't at full strength, there was no reason to be assured if she could be defeated in an instant. Besides, they could feel something like killing intent from the Demon Lord.

This was a game world. There was no problem and no pain in being defeated. Despite that, they felt fear before the Demon Lord in front of them. It felt as if being cut down here would mean their real selves would be cut down too.

Once they thought that, this was no longer a game world. Forgetting even about forced logout, the nearby players began to flee, each trying to be the first.

Seeing this, Demon Lord Lunaria pointed the tip of her sword at the fleeing players.

"Begin the annihilation."

As Demon Lord Lunaria said this, the women in Gothic Lolita dresses smiled and lunged at the players.

Some players resisted, but it was like a drop in the ocean. They might have won one-on-one, but the women in Gothic Lolita dresses coordinated to defeat them one by one, surely. The resurrection magic couldn't keep up, and the front line collapsed easily.

They tried to do something, launching long-range attacks from the mid and rear guards, but the Demon Lord's Army paid them no mind.

Attacks like arrows were knocked down by weapons before they could hit, and magic was nullified by magic of the opposing element. On the rare occasion an attack landed, they were immediately healed with magic or potions. And if they were attacked, they were defeated in an instant.

Even if losing here was expected, they were barely able to buy any time. In the blink of an eye, about a third of the nearly two hundred players had been defeated.

And more reinforcements arrived from the airship. Several people descended via ropes.

Since the players here had shared information, they knew. One was the leader of the clan "Kokuryu," and the other was a woman in a Gothic Lolita dress, just like those in the Demon Lord's Army. The two of them landed on the mansion's roof.

The two looked towards the mansion entrance and jumped down there. Moreover, the woman in the Gothic Lolita dress swung her giant scythe as she did. Just with that, the surrounding players took considerable damage.

Immediately after, a red-black aura-like substance emanated from the woman in the Gothic Lolita dress.

"Just die already!"

It was quite terrifying to see a woman who could be called a black grim reaper go on a rampage. However, there were only two of them. And one was a player just like them. Since there was no damage between players, they thought their opponent was effectively just one person and began to attack, but that was a naive thought.

The leader of Kokuryu was protecting the woman in the Gothic Lolita dress. She blocked attacks with the swords in both her hands, and sometimes with her own body. And despite being right next to her, she was never hit by the attacks unleashed by the black grim reaper.

They were rampaging with such coordinated movements that it made one wonder how much practice it would take to achieve such synergy. The other way around would have been understandable, but a player was supporting the movements of an AI NPC. It was enough to make everyone wonder what one had to do to be able to do that.

And from the mansion's roof, members of Kokuryu who had appeared at some point were launching long-range attacks to interfere, even if they dealt no damage. If something flew at your face, you would reflexively dodge. They were aiming with that in mind.

The reinforcements didn't stop. This time, knights clad in black armor descended via ropes. When those knights landed on the mansion's roof, they readied the giant shields they carried on their backs. Then they jumped down near the woman in the Gothic Lolita dress and the leader of Kokuryu.

"I’d like you to leave some of the glory for us! Now, you two, head inside the mansion with Cecil-dono. We're counting on you to help Sieg-dono and Max-dono!"

"Then I shall leave it to you. Please act in a manner that does not bring shame to the Demon Lord's Army."

"Consider it done! Now, let's go! Show them the power of the Demon Lord's Army!"

As the leader of the black knights said this, the other knights let out a loud, intimidating roar at their surroundings. In the game, it was just a loud noise with no particular effect, but they still flinched. It was enough to make their bodies freeze as if they were stunned or paralyzed.

Immediately after, the black knights charged with their shields raised.

This time, they used the shield's weapon skill, Shield Bash, a body slam with the shield raised, to send the surroundings flying. A knockback occurred, and the players directly behind the front line were sent flying as well.

With this, there were no longer any players near the mansion's entrance.

In the meantime, someone else descended from the airship. It was a woman with several weapons equipped on her back and waist. She held the rope with just her right hand and slid down.

"Cecil-dono, we’ll take it from here! We're counting on you to help Sieg-dono and the others!"

"That looks fun too, though. Well, I guess I'll yield this time. All right, I'm counting on you!"

At the black knight's words, the woman said this as she entered the mansion.

Buy time, that was the order, but they hadn't bought much at all.

And they thought.

Hadn't they picked a fight with an opponent far more dangerous than they had ever imagined?

By now, most of the players were thinking just that.

Ten minutes into the battle, less than half of the players on Shooting Star's side were still standing.

Those still standing and those lying down waiting for resurrection had already lost their will to fight and wanted to escape immediately, but they remained because they had no idea what Shooting Star would do to them if they did.

Besides, if they were to be wiped out after doing all this, they would be laughed at as reckless fools. They had to at least land a single blow and were fighting back, but they still couldn't reach them.

When Jolth, the leader of the famous major clan "Bandit," and the vice-leader Victor arrived, they thought for a moment that they would be allies, but there was no such luck.

Thinking about it, Jolth was on good terms with Hayato's clan. If he were to take a side, it would be theirs. However, perhaps because there was nothing he could do, he just stood there with a strained expression, watching the carnage.

Even in this situation, there were a few glimmers of hope.

One was the female butler Ronios and her guards who had entered the mansion.

If they succeeded in the original objective of stealing the NPC's pets, they could salvage some of their pride even if they lost here. They prayed that at least that much would succeed.

And the other hope was the maid Cremola, who was currently climbing the rope of the airship. A moment ago, she had slipped through a gap in the Demon Lord's Army and was climbing the rope.

Hayato, the leader of the opposing clan. The word was that he was weak with a production skill build, but if they could say they had defeated him even once, it wouldn't be a bad result. It couldn't be called a win, but it couldn't be called a loss either.

To at least prevent them from being followed, the players were fighting with all their might against the NPCs who had descended to the ground.

When that Cremola finished climbing the rope, a cheer went up.

But that turned to despair in a few seconds.

A giant black dragon appeared on the airship's deck. Even from a distance, they could see it was a menacing dragon with chains wrapped around its body and three eyes.

When that dragon spewed a dark breath from its mouth, Cremola was blown off the outside of the airship. It seemed her HP had already reached zero, as she hit the ground without any resistance.

Seeing this, the players thought it was over and fled. They had joined because they thought they could win, in addition to receiving rare equipment. But that hope was almost completely crushed. They couldn't stay on a sinking ship.

The leader, Harrington, was shouting, "Don't run!" but they no longer had any obligation to listen. The players immediately fled from the scene.

However, that was a naive thought. The NPCs, including the Demon Lord, attacked, as if to say they wouldn't be allowed to escape now.

"Demon Lord! Fight me!"

Perhaps aiming for a comeback, Harrington shouted this, and the Demon Lord's forces stopped.

Then, Demon Lord Lunaria slowly turned her body towards Harrington.

"You want to fight me?"

"Yes. I request a duel."

"I have no reason to grant that, but I don't want to be thought of as a coward. You may draw your sword."

"I thank you..."

Immediately after he said that, an unbelievably massive magic attack directly hit Harrington, reducing his HP to zero in an instant.

One of the players pointed at the airship, where a maid holding a gun could be seen. The attack had come from there.

"Eh? Ah, um. I wasn't just playing around, but I got a little excited... Should we aim together next time? I’m sorry, I'll do my best as the Demon Lord, so please don't use Destroy. Even a Demon Lord can't withstand that."

It seemed the Demon Lord was on voice chat, but for some reason, she was bowing and apologizing. Then she let out a small sigh and turned her gaze this way.

"I got scolded, so I've decided to go into Demon Lord-style trampling mode. The duel is off."

The Demon Lord's Army, which had stopped moving, started to move again.

With the maid Cremola and the leader Harrington defeated, it was safe to say there was no hope left.

All the players who had been there fled like scattering spiders.

Inside the mansion, the female butler Ronios was in a predicament.

To put either the NPC's pet calico cat or the young Nine-tailed Fox into the "Cage of Discord" and bring it back. That was this time's strategy.

If they brought the pet back to their base as a hostage, Hayato and his group would definitely be angry. They were probably already angry just for the attempt, but given Hayato's personality, there was a high possibility he wouldn't bother with them if it ended as a mere attempt. So, it was necessary to abduct the pet for sure.

She had thought she was lucky.

Just as she was looking for a chance to abduct the pet, the Shuten Doji subjugation event occurred. And when they arrived in the Eastern Country, Hayato and his group had headed to Onigashima, but they had left the pet at the mansion.

Wait for the members to gather, then abduct the pet and return to the base in the Demon Country before Hayato and his group returned.

That was how it was supposed to be, but the event ended before they were fully prepared.

She also had a deal with Amanda, so she needed to keep the Demon Lord tied up in the Eastern Country. Although she was a bit uneasy about the number of people they had gathered, an opportunity like this would never come again. So she decided to force the issue.

At first, it went smoothly. There were several samurai in the mansion, but they weren't that strong. She lost her guards, but in the end, only Ronios remained.

All that was left was to abduct the pet and escape.

Basically, a pet cannot move without its master's command. Just as she was about to quickly abduct it and leave the mansion, for some reason, the calico cat, which shouldn't have received any commands, resisted.

The Nine-tailed Fox just stared this way curiously without fighting, but the calico cat attacked as if to protect it.

Although the resistance took time, she managed to get the calico cat into the cage without defeating it.

That delay must have been her undoing. The moment she put it in the cage, an NPC female samurai came into the room. And as if grasping the situation in an instant, she immediately attacked with the sword she was holding.

"Do not think you will die an easy death!"

A female samurai with an angry face saying dangerous things. She wanted to ask what the people waiting outside were doing, but the moment she received the attack with her rapier, she understood why. The NPC before her was undoubtedly a formidable foe.

The problem was here. She had managed to put the calico cat in the cage, but because she had hurriedly drawn her rapier to receive the female samurai's attack, she didn't possess the cage as an item. It was left on the tatami mat.

By the time she realized it, it was too late. The female samurai was maneuvering to protect the cage. A situation had arisen where neither could afford to give the other an opening to put the cage into their item bag.

She possessed the key to open the Cage of Discord. But even if she returned to the base without the cage, they might be able to open it somehow.

Basically, Shooting Star and its subordinate clans were composed only of members with combat skill builds, so there were no players with a Lockpicking skill of 100, and they hadn't tested whether the Cage of Discord could be opened with the skill.

Besides, Hayato's clan had an ace from the Tamer Guild. She had heard that this item was something that had leaked from a destroyed organization. It was better to assume that the Tamer Guild, which had destroyed that organization, had a way to open it.

So, to ensure that Hayato and his group came to the base in the Demon Country, the calico cat in the cage was absolutely necessary. Even if it was just a common calico cat, she was sure that Hayato and his group would definitely come to take it back. She was convinced of it.

But the female samurai in front of her was in the way. With a ferocious attack, she prevented her from getting close to the cage. Right now, perhaps because of her anger, her attacks were wild, but if time passed and she calmed down, she would become even stronger.

She had no intention of losing, but she couldn't defeat her immediately either. This meant that the chance to abduct the calico cat was surely gone.

Whether she was lucky or unlucky, she couldn't tell at this stage. It had been a chance, but at the very last moment, the opponent had had the luck. Or perhaps it wasn't luck, but a problem with the strategy, she thought.

She had waited for more people to gather due to her deal to keep the Demon Lord tied up in the Eastern Country, but Amanda seemed to have already taken the Demon Lord's Castle. In that case, she should have just ignored that and forced the issue, she now thought.

Neither in reality nor in virtual reality did things go her way. It was probably because she lacked the power to accomplish anything. She was only average because she was protected by the power of the Foundation. Without it, she was inferior to a normal person.

Ney, who picked a fight with another Foundation, and Jolth, who left the Foundation. Despite being in similar circumstances, their ability to act and their courage were completely different from hers. She thought their actions were foolish, but she also admired them.

And Hayato. A man who quit his job to rely on game prize money just because he wanted to open a coffee shop. She thought he was an even bigger fool than Ney or Jolth, but that big fool had made his own dream come true.

There was a possibility that he knew Ney was a blood relative of the Foundation and an investor in this game, but Ney wouldn't show favoritism even in a game. Even if he was a close friend, she would never give him money for that reason.

Then, Hayato had seized his dream with his own power. Whether by luck or skill, it didn't matter. The result was everything. Hayato had the power to accomplish something.

Despite being a blood relative of the Foundation, a winner from the moment she was born, a victor in a way that words couldn't express, she felt she had nothing, while Hayato seemed to have everything.

So she was jealous.

If she fought Hayato and his group with all her might, she might change in some way, win or lose. She had caused this uproar with that thought, but now it was all about to fail. They were in a situation where they couldn't even fight each other with all their might.

From outside, sounds like explosions and screams could be heard. Hayato and his group had returned from Onigashima. The female samurai, noticing this, was moving more nimbly than before.

She didn't need to win. Reinforcements would come soon if she waited. All she had to do was concentrate on not letting the calico cat be taken. That's probably what she was thinking.

She couldn't take the calico cat away in front of the now calm female samurai. So she really didn't have the power to accomplish anything, a self-deprecating thought dominated Ronios's mind.

If this result was due to luck, she wondered if she should have prayed to a god sometimes, but she laughed at herself for coming up with that thought. And if she was going to rely on a god, she wouldn't have done this in the first place.

Just as she thought she had no choice but to hope that the cage could only be opened with this key, it happened.

"I have made it so that cage can only be opened with the key you possess. Return to your base without worry. I shall prepare the stage you desire."

A voice echoed in Ronios's mind.

It wasn't an auditory hallucination. It was an inorganic voice, neither male nor female, but she had definitely heard it.

The next moment, startled by the voice, she was caught off guard and took a direct hit. Then, in the blink of an eye, she was cut down again and again, her HP dropped to zero, and she collapsed onto the tatami mat.

Immediately after, Ney and the others came into the room, but that didn't matter to Ronios. What was important was the voice from before.

Whose voice was that just now?

Ronios's mind was filled with that thought, but she stopped thinking. At this point, there was nothing she could do. Besides, if she were to believe that voice, Hayato and his group would come to take her key with all their might.

She didn't know if that voice was an enemy or an ally. It might be neither, just a whimsical god of this world.

The moment she failed to abduct the calico cat, she had already lost to Hayato and his group. On top of that, she hadn't made a deal, and she was relying on something whose whereabouts she didn't even know, so it was no longer by her own power alone. To struggle any further in this situation would be just unsightly.

Even so, she wanted to fight Hayato and his group a little longer. As a clan, they had already lost. All that remained was a personal fight. She had just lost a moment ago, but she wanted to believe it was because of that voice. Besides, if that voice said it would prepare the stage she desired, then she still had some luck left.

She knew she was being selfish, just as Jolth had said, but she couldn't stop. Even if she lost, she should lose after giving it her all. Otherwise, she couldn't change. If she couldn't change, she would be the same as the blood relatives of the Foundation she hated, those who were only interested in stagnation and self-preservation.

With these thoughts, Ronios selected "Resurrect" from the menu that appeared when she fell and returned to her base in the Demon Country.