Game's Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 160
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Game's Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 160
38. A New Era (6)
Among the nine members of the Imperial Palace infiltration unit, unlike the Grandmaster, Aura Master, and Grand Mage, the one classified under "other" was her.
The defensive ability of Elder Iris Maryagny, who handles quasi-Spirit King-level spatial spirits, is virtually without compare among anyone I've ever met.
Perhaps her appearing before me was for this very day.
That was why Arcia walked forward confidently, using the small-bodied Maryagny as a shield.
"Y-you crazy bastards!"
As they stepped into the 4th stage zone, a world of flames and lava covering every direction unfolded before them.
Startled by that, Maryagny quickly used spirit magic, and her signature ability manifested distorting the surrounding space as if wrapped in a droplet.
"If we break through safely, I'll buy you snacks."
Arcia said that at the sight of Maryagny struggling desperately.
In her own way, she was offering the best reward she could think of, but hearing those words only made Maryagny angrier.
"I'm over 100 years old, you brats! And I've got plenty of money!"
That's her saying: don't treat me like a child.
But what can you do she looks like a child, not just in appearance but in behavior too.
Arcia, with an attitude of not caring what she said, picked up the pace.
In the end, Maryagny had no choice but to focus on her ability.
What Maryagny deployed was not a simple barrier.
It twists space, deflecting attacks rather than blocking them.
Thanks to that, even in a situation that looked like a lava version of an aquarium, not a hint of heat could be felt.
"Impressive. Did you calculate all of this?"
As they escaped the 4th stage's hellfire, the companions accompanying them clicked their tongues in admiration.
What calculation would there be?
It was just a precaution that happened to work well.
But it was a misunderstanding with no downside, so I let it pass.
The high evaluation from those around me will one day protect me like a shield.
"I must be out of my mind came to squeeze some profit out of the Croysen Empire, and now I'm a toy, a scarf, and a shield all at once."
Right after breaking through the 4th stage zone, Maryagny lamented like that.
But Arcia told her to stop talking nonsense and stepped straight into the 5th stage, the Frozen Blood Hell.
As her shoes froze from the cold, Maryagny hastily recast the spirit magic she had deactivated.
And so we entered the 5th stage area.
* * *
"Huh?"
It didn't take long for the Croysen Emperor's expression, which had been gleefully savoring the invaders' suffering, to twist.
"How could they…."
The Hellfire Zone, meant to surely incinerate the enemy, was destroyed without even letting out a single flame, and they broke through the mental attack zone which breaks humans from the inside while leading their struggling comrades as if nothing were wrong.
Adrian's utterly transcendent display was beyond baffling it was almost awe-inspiring.
"This can't be."
The Intelligence Chief, who knew the Imperial Palace's intruder response system better than anyone after the Emperor, had to doubt his own eyes.
And the ministers, who had no idea what was happening, expressed their sense of crisis as the intruders in the holographic feed drew closer and closer.
"S-still, breaking through the labyrinth won't be easy."
The Emperor's wishful mutter.
But that expectation was shattered without mercy.
"That's impossible!"
When Adrian led his party through the 3rd stage labyrinth zone as if on a stroll, the Emperor jumped to his feet with a shriek.
"Y-your Majesty! You should retreat…."
Even without grasping the full situation, seeing the Emperor who had been so confident he would slaughter the enemies lose all his composure made it easy to realize a crisis was at hand.
That was why the ministers urged the Emperor to stop being stubborn and flee at once.
"Not yet. Not yet."
But the Emperor could not give up.
If he chose to flee here, he would have to deactivate the Imperial Palace's intruder "mortal system."
The mortal function was both a hope to destroy the enemy and a constraint that bound their own steps.
The Emperor decided in his heart that he would assess the 4th stage situation and then decide whether to flee.
But then the enemies brought out the elder he had recruited from the Elisia Union.
Recalling Elder Iris's abilities, the Emperor sensed failure at once.
"Haha."
When you're too angry, laughter comes out instead, it seems.
The Emperor's low laughter soon turned into a deep sigh.
"This is driving me insane."
Even breaking common sense should have its limits.
Everything he had experienced in his life had always stayed within the Emperor's expectations.
But in this war, where Adrian had stepped forward as Supreme Commander, nothing went according to plan.
"Has the goddess forsaken me?"
Such a thought was inevitable.
To think he had been toyed with so thoroughly by a young man barely past his twenties he couldn't even feel anger anymore.
"Your Majesty! Make a decision at once!"
After watching Adrian break through the 4th stage and enter the 5th, the Emperor deactivated the mortal mode the intruder response function and spoke to the Minister of Military Affairs.
"You will remain and command the forces inside the Imperial Palace."
Those words meant he wanted time bought for his escape.
For the Minister of Military Affairs, it meant death, so he couldn't help but flinch.
But only for a moment he bowed his head and spoke.
"Your Majesty, please do not forget this servant's loyalty."
"I shall."
With that, the Minister of Military Affairs led half of the Vanguard guarding the Imperial great hall toward the path where the intruders were penetrating.
Meanwhile, the Emperor moved swiftly in the opposite direction from the Minister of Military Affairs and used a Teleport Artifact.
[Teleportation is impossible.]
"Tch!"
Even though the Emperor had lifted the Imperial Palace's teleportation interference formation, the artifact did not activate.
That meant the intruder, Adrian, had spread his own teleportation interference formation to block the Emperor's escape.
In the end, he would have to flee through the emergency passage or reach a teleport gate that allowed constant teleportation.
If he had chosen to flee immediately after the enemies broke in, he could have escaped safely, but now it was dangerously tight.
"Your Majesty!"
-BOOOOM!
The Emperor headed toward the emergency passage located near the Imperial great hall.
But the problem was that the tail behind him was far too long.
"Your Majesty, us too!"
The ministers, desperate to survive, had trailed all the way into the Emperor's secret passage in a line.
At this rate, what kind of secret passage was this?
"All of you, head to the teleport gate!"
"Your Majesty! Spare us!"
The Emperor tried to drive them back in fury.
But for transcendent beings who could run dozens of meters in a second, that only served to buy time.
-BOOOOM! CRASH! BOOOOM!
"Ah, no."
After the first explosion rang out whether the Minister of Military Affairs' unit had encountered the enemies
The sounds of destruction began drawing closer, like approaching footsteps.
With the terrified ministers and high nobles thrashing about, the secret passage fell into utter chaos.
It wasn't that he didn't understand their fear, but because of them, the evacuation which depended on speed had fallen into complete disarray.
"What is this, announcing that the Emperor is here?"
Then, the bodies of the retainers who had ignored the Emperor's order to head elsewhere and had followed behind him swelled like water balloons, and all of them exploded at once.
Amid the scattered flesh, blood, and entrails, he appeared.
-Thud. Thud.
Silver hair and blue eyes.
A beautiful young man with a color scheme that radiated coldness.
"Duke Lawrence, is it."
"A pleasure. Your Highness, Emperor Croisen."
"What became of the Minister of Military Affairs?"
"The Minister of Military Affairs?"
"He should have stood in your way."
"Was the Minister of Military Affairs among those who blocked our path? I killed every noble and soldier I saw, so I didn't notice. My apologies."
His tone was polite, but his striding footsteps and the sneer on his lips were utterly insolent.
At that, the surviving Vanguards cried out at his audacity and blocked his path, but...
"Why show more courtesy than necessary to a dead man?"
At the end of his unstopping steps, a flash of white light flickered, and the Emperor's world began to spin.
The Emperor's lips moved as if he didn't understand what had happened, but no voice came out.
And soon, he could understand what had befallen him.
"Your Majesty!"
A headless body in splendid attire slowly toppled over.
It was none other than his own body.
Yes.
He, the Emperor of the great Empire who had feared nothing under heaven, had been beheaded most pathetically while fleeing.
And so the Emperor's world faded into darkness.
"Farewell."
The cold final greeting of the beautiful young man looking down at him pierced into his ears.
'I'm leaving this world so emptily?'
The Emperor denied reality, but soon, as if his mind had emptied, he could no longer think of anything.
It was the hollow end of Sergei de Croysen, the emperor who had made his name known as the Emperor of Iron and Blood.
* * *
"Aaaah…."
Ignoring the Croysen Empire officials staggering in shock, I collected the Emperor's body into my subspace.
If I left the Emperor's body to be recovered here in the Croysen Empire, they would try to hide his death by any means, so there was no choice.
"What about those who remain?"
At Arcia's question, I fell into thought for a moment, but my deliberation did not last long.
"We need someone to declare surrender. Kill everyone except the highest-ranking one."
I have a tendency to show no mercy to my enemies.
Thus, the decision that followed was nothing short of cold-blooded.
And so, everyone except the Minister of the Royal Household was executed, and the Minister of the Royal Household, who seemed to have lost his mind, was dragged in bound by Gregory.
"Hm?"
We retraced the emergency passage and headed to the Imperial great hall, where we encountered an unexpected figure.
"Oh, who is this? If it isn't Imperial Crown Prince Andre."
"Duke Lawrence? Wh-Why are you…..."
The Crown Prince, who was said to have gone to Dragon Land, greeted us with a bewildered expression alongside the Imperial Guard Knight Division.
For the last ringleader to show up on his own at such a coincidental timing.
With a face that said "what a stroke of luck," I gestured with my chin toward Arcia.
At that, four daggers from Arcia's waist flew out with a blue light and shot toward the Crown Prince.
The Knight Captain of the Imperial Guard standing beside him was an Aura Master, but blocking all four sword-controlled daggers seemed impossible.
Surely, the Crown Prince would be killed by Arcia's Strike.
-Clang.
But.
Arcia's Sword Aura stopped midair without touching a single person.
"At this rate, isn't the war already over?"
At the same time, an unfamiliar voice rang out, and a figure who snatched the four daggers of Arcia's that hung suspended in midair revealed himself, color filling in from his head downward like paint being applied.
The Rhinehearts Kingdom's strike force, myself included, hurriedly assumed combat formation.
"...."
Our strike force includes two Grandmasters, one 8th Circle Grand Mage, and one 8th-circle-level Spirit Master.
Yet not a single one of us sensed that person's presence until he revealed himself.
That was a threat that could never be ignored.
[Blake Russell / Lordmaster]
Race: Dark Elf
Age: 852 years
Affiliation: Dragon Land, Gray Mountains, Black Tree Tribe Chief
Talents: Aura (Supreme), Physical Ability (Supreme), Learning Ability (Supreme), Intellect (Average), Command (Average), Mana (Average)
Traits: Heart Sword, Observing Eye, Environmental Assimilation
Relation: Indifferent / Hostile
Status: Annoyed / Dumfounded
And the moment I examined the opponent's information with the Myriad Mirror.
I felt a line of cold sweat trickle down the back of my neck.
Certainly, this was a trump card capable of overturning the tide of battle.
"He's a Lordmaster."
At my words, not only those belonging to the Rhinehearts Kingdom, including Duke James, but even Maryang, who was practically an outsider, flinched in surprise.
It was only natural the legendary existence positioned above the 8th Circle (Grand Wizard) and Grandmaster was the 9th-circle (Lord Wizard), the Lordmaster.
The figure before us now was an existence on the same level as Grand Duke Lucas.
"There's a sharp-eyed child here."
The Dark Elf male 'Blake Russell,' over 800 years old, had grayish skin, white hair, and silver eyes.
When you see elves, even if they're a different race, you feel they're still people, but the Dark Elf before us looked less like a person and more like an alien being.
If I had to put it bluntly, he was like a monster.
"Y-Your Majesty! What have you done to His Majesty!?"
The Crown Prince shouted as if enraged.
Even so, we intruders, myself included, kept our mouths firmly shut.
This was because we instinctively knew combat was unavoidable.
"They murdered His Majesty! They must be killed! We must avenge him at all costs!"
"What!?"
And the desperate cry of the Minister of the Royal Household, whom Gregory had bound and brought, was like a signal marking the start of a new battle.
"Lord Russell! Please dispose of them!"
At the Crown Prince's shout, deep annoyance was etched across the Dark Elf Blake Russell's face.
But the words that came from his mouth differed from his expression.
"Very well. A promise is a promise."
The Dark Elf drew a thin saber from his waist and approached.
I locked eyes with Arcia.
The two of us have no small number of experiences combining our strength to take down beings a step above us.
Even though most of it was accomplished within the game, the Named of the Opportunity Quests possessed egos almost indistinguishable from reality, so this was by no means trivial experience.
The problem was that this was reality where one death meant the end, but with this many allies on our side, I believed we wouldn't lose so hollowly.
Arcia and I stood side by side, while Duke James paired up with Maryang.
The rest were support resources.
"You need to die."
The Dark Elf approached leisurely, rolling his arm as if loosening his shoulder.
And at some point.
-Pwit!
His figure vanished from my sight, then reappeared before Arcia.
-Kwaaaaang!
"Oh, not bad?"
When Arcia blocked his strike, the Dark Elf wore a deeply surprised expression.
But that was only for a moment.
His silver eyes flashed.
-Seok!
Arcia's left arm fell to the floor along with her shield.
"Huh?"
A foolish question.
That was a sound I made not Arcia.
I mean, shouldn't you at least be able to see what you're fighting?
It was only natural, since I couldn't see a single thing.
"R-run away."
Arcia, blood spurting from her shoulder.
Even in that surreal situation, she only worried about my safety.
Seeing Arcia like that, I steadied my shaken mind.
"Revive!"
Now was not the time to hide my abilities.
I immediately used the 8th Circle regeneration spell, and Arcia's severed arm regenerated completely.
"Playing the healer role in this situation? You're practically asking to be killed first, aren't you?"
"Lord Adrian!"
"Duke Lawrence!"
But in exchange for regenerating Arcia's arm, I offered my throat to the Dark Elf.
-Thud!
In that brief moment, Maryang, judging that I must not die for her own survival, tried to protect me by using a space spirit to block the strike.
Sadly, that attempt was futile before the Lordmaster's Heart Sword.
-Crash!
Her defense, which had held firm until now, couldn't withstand even a single moment and shattered with a sound like breaking glass.
I gritted my teeth and tried to cast an 8th Circle Grand Shield, but against an opponent whose speed couldn't even be tracked by eye, it was a pointless effort.
"Hm?"
But then...?
Should I call it a miracle?
The Dark Elf's sword stopped its advance at the moment it touched the skin of my neck.
At the unexpected turn, I swallowed dryly and looked up at him and soon met a pair of mysteriously magnificent silver eyes.
"You? No... you are?"
And with a questioning murmur flowing from his lips, the sword was withdrawn.