Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 298
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 298
63. For Peace (1)
Aea wore a serious expression.
The fact that contact had been lost with both the kidnapping team sent to secure Adrian's family and the terrorism team tasked with collapsing each nation's government could only mean they had been subdued.
"Does that mean even our plan was within Adrian's expectations?"
Looking at the perfect response to their attack, there was no other way to think about it.
Lightly blocking the online attack was impressive enough, but to even fend off a mighty surprise assault force composed of a Demon King and a Heavenly King...
It was a situation that was hard to accept.
"How much time has passed since we started the plan?"
The combat power of the two teams was such that a battle would only be possible if more than 30 dragons fought with a huge uproar.
To secretly eliminate such a kidnapping team and terrorism team, Adrian and Arcia would have no choice but to step in personally, and Aea had even confirmed the two were on the battlefield before moving the teams.
Thanks to that, he felt like a complete fool.
Aea expressed his confusion by biting his nails.
"Wait, the fact that my computer was hacked means... damn it!"
But that was only momentary.
Recollecting something, he urgently attempted teleportation.
'It means my IP address on this side has already been exposed!'
The reason was that he realized a step too late that his location had been discovered by the enemy.
A mistake he would not normally make.
Falling briefly into panic as the entire plan ended in failure had dulled his thinking.
"You think you can leave?"
-Grab! Thud!
He could not escape.
Adrian, who had appeared at some point, seized Aea by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
Naturally, teleportation had also failed due to Mana interference.
At the appearance of Adrian, whom he had never expected, and Arcia, who as always quietly followed behind him, Aea swallowed dryly with shaking eyes.
"You, right now you're in space...."
"I'm in space too."
"What does that mean?"
"I obtained divinity and don't use it much, but I received quite a few precious gifts from the goddess."
As he said that and extended his hand, a black eagle appeared in the empty air.
The Opportunity of Grand Mage Lucas, Grand Duke of Rondel.
To be precise, it should be called an Opportunity the goddess made for Adrian.
"Say hello. He's my pet, black dog."
Aea, who possessed abilities surpassing those of an ordinary Heavenly King and Demon King, recognized the black eagle's abilities at once.
"Shared vision and shared magic, clones, and mimicry?"
"The mimicry skill can perfectly transform into the appearance of any living being or object, including people. Not only that, it can even directly manifest supernatural abilities of the 8th Circle or below. If you control it directly and meticulously while sharing vision, even your parents wouldn't be able to tell the difference between black dog transformed into me and the real me."
"Then you and Arcia, who are in space right now, are clones of that black dog?"
"Correct."
Adrian praised Aea for understanding at once, saying he had good comprehension, but to Aea it only sounded like mockery.
"But I confirmed that you, who commands the army, used teleportation to send a massive force of enormous mass into space! How do you explain that...."
Black dog's ability level was 8th Circle or below.
But the ability used to send the great army into space was at the level of Authority surpassing the 9th-circle.
So Aea tried to deny reality and argue back, but soon trailed off.
Because the real Adrian only needed to step in for the part involving sending the great army into space.
"...."
As Adrian curled up the corners of his mouth as if to ask whether an explanation was even necessary, Aea let out a sigh and hung his head.
"Complete defeat. I was completely played."
Aea had planted pawns throughout the Rondel+Earth alliance just in case, but it seemed even that had been seen through.
Adrian made the choice to deceive not only the enemy forces including Aea, but even his own allies.
The allied forces currently out in space did not know that Adrian, seated in the position of Supreme Commander, was fake.
'No, whether I should even call that fake is questionable.'
From the start, if black dog's clone was merely relaying Adrian's words while sharing vision, it was hard to even call it fake.
It was simply a terminal device in human form.
'If it were not such a perfect stand-in, but merely someone whose appearance had been changed through magic, I wouldn't have noticed easily either.'
He had been perfectly thorough, just in case.
And the sense of defeat that washed over Aea upon realizing this was indescribable.
"What do you plan to do with me?"
Aea asked of his fate.
Until now, there had not been a single deviation from Adrian's plan.
He did not think that coming up with a different idea now would let him win.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you."
Adrian held Aea's abilities in high regard.
So he intended to use him as a technician working for him.
But there was something he had to do first.
"Go."
"What?"
"I'll let you go. From now on, work for me."
"What do you mean?"
"You don't want to die, do you?"
"You're telling me to spy for you if I want to live?"
No lengthy explanation was needed.
It was exactly as he said.
"Yes, that's right."
"Hah..."
When Adrian made an innocent face as if to say it was only natural, Aea was instead left speechless.
After a brief silence followed, Aea took a deep breath to calm his emotions and asked Adrian.
"Haven't you already designed everything? From where I stand, it doesn't look like the Heavenly Tribe and demon race could ever bring you down, no matter how hard they tried."
"That's right. I will never lose."
"Then why?"
"Because there's always a chance of the unexpected. I'm 99% certain of victory, but I want to eliminate even the 1% possibility of defeat."
At Adrian's words, Aea bit his lip.
He had been shouting "Down with Adrian!" just moments ago, and now he was in a position of being directed by that very target.
Then, a good idea suddenly occurred to him.
If he took on the role of relaying information in the middle, couldn't he cause confusion for Adrian with false information?
However.
"There will probably be temptation. The temptation to pull tricks from the middle. But you need to know this. Just because you pull tricks doesn't mean I'll play along, and the outcome won't be reversed either. If anything, you'll just die if you get caught."
Wasn't this the Adrian who had already placed a noose around his neck?
There was no way he would be lenient enough for shallow tricks to work.
Adrian's words seemed as if he had read his mind.
Thanks to that, even the last handful of hostility and pride remaining in Aea was crushed.
"This should be enough for you to understand. Contact me directly on my terminal device. You know the contact information without me having to tell you, right?"
From the start, there was no such thing as a choice.
The noose Adrian had placed around Aea turned out to be a dog collar.
"Damn it."
In the end, Aea, who had his back against the cracked wall, spat out a short curse.
He then used teleportation.
In the earlier situation, Adrian had blocked teleportation to prevent Aea from escaping, but this time he did not block it and even saw him off.
Thus Aea vanished, and Adrian wore a meaningful smile.
"Will you be all right?"
After he disappeared, Arcia approached Adrian, who had reverse-summoned Black Eagle, and asked.
Even if it was for gathering information, was he really sure about letting Aea go like this?
Adrian answered far too calmly.
"He's not a fool either."
In any case, even if he went wild, he was within his grasp.
* * *
The elite unit to which the Heavenly King and Demon King who had infiltrated Earth belonged was cleanly executed.
I thought about forming a master-servant contract with them like the Four Heavenly Kings under me, but since I thought it was not what the goddess desired, I cleaned them up as planned.
Three Heavenly Kings and three Demon Kings each.
In addition, six dragon-class Heavenly Tribe and six demon race each.
A total of eighteen transcendent Heavenly Demon race had died.
This meant one thing.
Their main force was now in an even more weakened state.
It was bound to have a direct impact on the war situation.
"Huh? Your Highness the King?"
And I returned to where I was supposed to be.
As I crossed the interior of the Heaven-Piercing Fortress used as the flagship and approached Black Eagle, who had transformed into me, the staff officers of the Supreme Command swallowed empty air in panic.
Their expressions said they could not understand why there were two of me.
Moreover, when Black Eagle, who had been sitting in the Supreme Commander's seat until now, scattered into smoke with a "poof!" sound, everyone was not just panicked but horrified.
"W-wait a moment. Are you saying that was a clone all this time?"
The alarmed staff officers' faces were steeped in agitation.
I maintained my composure to reassure everyone and sat down in the Supreme Commander's seat.
It was only natural for them to be shaken.
-Boom! Crash!
The battle that had begun from the core was still in full swing.
Enemy attacks repeatedly struck the outer wall of the Heaven-Piercing Fortress we were aboard, and from that, low impact sounds and strong vibrations erupted.
"It's only that I stepped away for a moment because there were signs that the Heavenly Tribe and the demon race were about to commit a surprise attack force made up of elites to Earth. Even though I was far away, I was directing the battle the entire time, so you don't need to worry."
"Then what happened on the surface?"
"We stopped them safely, so I returned. Thanks to that, we were able to shave off a considerable portion of their forces. Ah, have Bringham's 2nd Army slowly fall back to the rear. There's no need to stick our heads into a place that obviously looks like a trap."
"Ohh, understood!"
My command continued, having taken up the baton as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Everyone, let's focus. And Vice Commander, please start thinking about the menu for the command staff celebration banquet after our victory."
"Understoo... no, what did you just say?"
The situation on the battlefield was a back-and-forth of gains and losses.
The Vice Commander, a former U.S. Navy man, seemed unable to understand my joke.
It was probably because this was a solemn occasion with the fate of the entire world at stake.
But what could be done? The staff officers had joined to assist me, so he would have to get used to it.
The Vice Commander cleared his throat and added an unnecessary explanation.
"We vastly outnumber them, but each of their attacks is powerful and threatening."
But this side has many cards to play.
Cards more than enough to make up for any visible difference in forces.
I pointed here and there on the hologram map with my finger.
"From now on, let's transmit nuclear warheads to the six regions I've marked, all at once."
"How many units shall we send to each?"
"Let's go with 50."
Nuclear warheads.
Despite being a critical asset, they are weapons with a terrifying name that no Earthling can help but flinch at.
Among Earth's military forces, a powerful weapon that Rondel cannot afford to underestimate.
The most frightening thing about such nukes is the fact that their stockpile exceeds imagination.
Nuclear warheads cannot directly harm a Transcendent, but if they precisely strike the enemy's weak points, they cannot help but be sufficiently threatening.
-Kuuwoong! Go-go-go-go-go!
"It's working! The target point lines are collapsing all at once!"
"Now, let's go. While the enemy is thrown into confusion, let's break through the center. All forces, advance."
"Yes!"
When I launched nuclear warheads at the points I designated, the enemy forces were thrown into disarray.
Meanwhile, the command staff, who had been following orders silently but with doubtful expressions, brightened up.
This was because the nuclear explosions that erupted across six armies broke apart the enemy formation in one stroke, as if setting off a chain reaction.
'Since I've come up to space anyway, I might as well use these nuclear warheads generously without sparing them and wipe them all out. Keeping them on Earth would only cause conflict and be of no help whatsoever.'
Everyone else was absorbed in the war before their eyes, but I had to think even about what came after.
"Commander! The artificial planet as well, head-on!"
"I will defend against their attacks, so our forces will advance as planned."
The enemy's main camp drew closer and closer.
Filling my vision, I showed interest as I looked at the structure that even the word 'gigantic' was insufficient to describe.
'Once the war is over, I'll take that and dismantle it.'
Then, as if determined not to allow absolute breakthrough, the enemy's artificial planet spewed thousands of beams of light.