“What’s the Empire’s movement?”
“Nothing significant so far.”
It’s been a week since the World Boss appeared.
The kingdoms, along with the Talikal and Outsiders, are in chaos, but the Empire, the root cause of this mess, remains silent.
Even under the pretext of ‘Seal,’ it can’t move for three weeks.
The King of Talikal, Dria, showed a deep frown and slammed his hand on the table.
The main forces are on standby, and the Lily, who provided much support, is unable to move due to the seal.
It would be nice if the kingdom’s knights could step up, but without the help of Outsiders, knights can’t contend with that absurd World Boss.
The kingdom needs to conserve its strength for a war against the Empire.
“Should we be thankful for their inactivity… or is it just a sign before the storm?”
“The Empire isn’t completely inactive. They will surely try to exploit any gap here by any means necessary.”
“Of course, they will. The borderlines are almost meaningless now, aren’t they?”
Outsiders from all corners of the continent are flocking to hunt the World Boss, and troops from other kingdoms are stationed in Letess territory.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that entry examinations are hardly taking place.
In this situation, if an Empire spy blended in, it wouldn’t be surprising at all.
‘Spy… spy…’
The strength of the Empire is extremely dangerous.
The reason they are able to hold back the conquest war until now might be due to Drak’s help, but also because the Empire itself hasn’t taken the war seriously.
Most of the Empire’s pride, the ‘Eight Swords,’ have not participated in the war, focusing on protecting their royal heritage and territories.
But now, it’s a monumental event that could decide the fate of the continent.
If the ‘Swords’ enter Talikal under the guise of solving the problem…
“I guess we have no choice but to trust,”
that Lily, who took the masterpiece, will block all threats.
■
“But are you sure about that?”
The knight, who had just reached the heights of the snowy mountains, turned back to ask.
Behind him, the mage was shaking off the blizzard with fire magic, gasping for breath.
“Of course. Named NPCs usually don’t lie.”
“But still, are they really giving us that much money and items?”
Just for setting this up?
The knight took out a silver cylinder from his inventory space.
A material that seemed unlikely to be seen in a fantasy world, resembling plastic.
But it wasn’t just any plastic; magical power was seeping out of it.
“They can’t move directly, so that’s why they offer this. Plus, 1,500 gold is practically pocket change.”
‘1,500 gold?’
Are they saying we received thirty million won as quest reward?
“Did you say you got that as a reward?”
As I watched from a hidden state alongside Sugarado, I tilted my head listening to the users’ conversation.
“Level range is about 50 to 70.”
Even though there were five of them, the gold worth three million was way too much for just making a fuss.
“That’s enough to do my request about seven times, and it’s more than most clear rewards for hidden dungeons done by rankers.”
“Who did you get it from?”
“High-ranking NPC.”
“A group that would treat about 1500 gold as pocket change.”
“At least at the kingdom level or above…”
“An empire?”
“By the way, what is the empire thinking by pulling this annoying stunt?”
“I know, right? Why not just crush it?”
As the knight and magic sword master grumbled, a female healer wearing glasses and gripping her staff behind them gave a strange smile.
“Uh, the empire isn’t that ignorant… from their perspective, it might not have been a bad… judgment.”
“Quit stuttering.”
“I always get chills when I see her. She’s the creepiest yet a light-attribute healer.”
The preceding users shook their heads, and the wizard beside them kicked them lightly, indicating not to provoke her.
The wizard tried to say something to the healer, but she just smiled.
“I can see it.”
“Huh?”
“Over there. It doesn’t seem to be in attack range yet.”
The archer, stationed at the back, lifted his head.
Through the eyes of the archer, he confirmed Sugarado’s presence and lowered his body.
Everything entering his view was divided into planes and lines, segregated by range.
How long did it take?
Beep.
“This is the limit.”
“If we take just three more steps from here, the preemptive attack will hit us. If we’re going to lay it down, we should do it right here.”
“The empire wanted to lay it down as close as possible.”
“With our specs, getting hit means instant death. Honestly, just getting here is a miracle.”
Enduring this brutal cold was thanks to the magician, who specialized in fire magic, and the creepy healer.
As the users glanced at the healer, she adjusted her glasses and offered a sheepish smile.
It’s been over a month since we joined, but I’m still not used to it.
“Let’s set it up.”
“Okay.”
Taking out an unknown cylinder, I buried it in the snow.
As I pressed the button in the center of the cylinder, a puffing sound resonated, and a magic circle was drawn in the plane.
One to two. Two to six.
Six to twenty-seven.
In an instant, the magic circle unfolded, pouring out dazzling light as it shot upwards, touching the seal covering the snowy mountain range.
The magic circle soon erupted in a dazzling light, reaching up and touching the seal that covered the snowy mountain.
Creeeek…!
“Eh?”
“It stopped.”
“That…”
To be precise, I intercepted it just before it could make contact.
Frowning, I obstructed the magical light with my spear.
‘A crack in the seal and manifestation. It feels like there’s something more than just expansion.’
Were they trying to summon something?
One thing’s for sure, the Empire was trying to do something here.
Whether it was to break the seal and summon something, I didn’t know.
But daring to break the seal was a significant problem.
Boom!
“Uh…”
“Lilyda!”
“Wow! Lady Lily!”
As I stood before the cylindrical altar, users greeted me warmly.
It might seem like a natural reaction, but it shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Right now, I had stopped a quest sent by the Empire, and I intended to thwart this altar as well.
It wasn’t that I had a massive grudge against the Empire.
I had business with them, but nothing confirmed yet; I didn’t need to be completely hostile unless they attacked first.
But everything changed the moment they attempted to break the seal.
For Sugarado, and for my own sake, I had plenty of reasons to stop this.
‘Am I being too naive?’
I’m the ‘enemy’ now.
“Illegal Max!”
“Yeah?”
“Stop it!”
Fwoooosh!
And unlike my companions, the healer, who was well aware of the situation, spoke as the mage, Illegal Max, conjured a massive fire.
Naturally, the fire didn’t harm me in the slightest.
In the meantime, the healer was gathering the cylindrical altar and backing away.
“What’s happening? Why are you attacking Lady Lily?”
“Right! You guys are crazy…”
“You’re all the crazier…”
The healer, looking at the swordsman duo with disdain, turned to me with a gloomy glare.
Something’s up.
‘That lady.’
“We, uh, came here on the Empire’s request… and Lady Lily is on the Kingdom’s side…”
“But! Won’t the quest interfere? Right, Lady Lily?”
“…”
“Lady Lily?”
Oh, come on.
Before I knew it, Illegal Max raised his staff in exasperation.
“Are you guys idiots? I just saw that the quest seemed to involve breaking the seal. Do you think Lady Lily would be okay with that?”
“Wh-what an idiot…”
“What did you say?”
“I won’t ask nicely. This is a fight, after all.”
After all, we all had our own circumstances.
No matter how skilled we might be, or who the opponent was.
‘I need to see what they’re trying to take and what they’re up to.’
That was my intention.
“Ugh. Hey, healer. First, buff us—”
“Yeeah.”
Kwah-jik!
“…Huh?”
The two knights vanished without a trace.
Specifically, they were obliterated by the healer’s excessive ‘buff.’
The vibrant blue energy seeped into the healer’s body, brightening her once gloomy smile even more.
“Hey, hey?”
“Th-these outsiders are amusing. Just look at them flaunting around without any prowess… Hehehe.”
“What… are you?”
Before the highest shout of illegal activity could even be questioned, the ‘buff’ descended again.
Pah-ah!
“…Why you?”
“I have something to ask.”
After brushing away the buff covering the mage, I yanked him back effortlessly.
The mage trembled, unlike any user.
Chiiiiiik…
Just a brush, yet a familiar sensation made my brow furrow involuntarily.
“W-wait, you didn’t look for the archer…?”
“But you’re a user. As long as we have one, it’s fine.”
If they were ordinary humans, I would have saved them, but there’s no real reason to save immortal users.
No matter what that lady is, this party has always had a hostile relationship with me.
The woman’s mouth curled into a smirk upon hearing my words.
“So, you’re quite the fun one… There’s a reason the duke pays you special attention…”
“Is the duke the duke of the Empire?”
“Hee.”
A buff was granted.
Although lightly brushed aside by the holy, the excessive power gnawed at my being.
As the spear shot toward the healer’s vicinity, her eyes lit up instantly.
“Ugh!”
“That’s…”
A tremendous radiance burst from her body, devouring the spear’s onslaught and blanketing part of the snowy mountain.
Having dodged the wave of light, I glanced back at the mage dangling by my side.
“What’s up with that woman?”
“She, she was a user… She was definitely a user…”
“……”
An abnormal state attack that pierced through the system’s protection.
Weak, but surely an attack affecting the soul, like techniques of the celestial race or ancient dragons.
And, the pure white light overflowing around the healer.
That name, so familiar, it bordered on endearing.
“The, the duke told me to just watch… Aah, this won’t do.”
Flutter.
The healer’s hair, uncovered as she shed her robe, shone an immaculate white.
Saintess.
“In the name of the God.”
The light filled the snowy mountain.
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