“Alright… then let’s have a serious talk.”
─……
“What are you hesitating about? Just speak like you did with ‘The Ruler.’”
─You crazies.
A new existence stood next to me at the table where only the Heavenly Horse and I were seated.
The Mountain’s Master, with arms crossed and dissatisfied eyes.
His legs appeared almost ghostly, as if they had turned to smoke, yet it’s said the Mountain’s Master has no special shape.
This form is also said to be created to confront the Heavenly Horse.
─You’re saying this after I’ve been made like this?
“It was self-defense, wasn’t it? Right?”
Having received the Heavenly Horse’s permission and in an urgent situation where we had to prevent the world’s end, I had only momentarily detained him for conversation.
However, the Mountain’s Master went on a rampage as if he wanted to kill me.
The energy within my body threatened to ruin my flesh.
I suppressed it with holiness…
“Right. Lily is correct.”
─Didn’t you hit me with a hammer!
“I only tapped you lightly. It shouldn’t have hurt.”
Since I touched him at the fourth state, he hadn’t been injured in particular.
I never intended to attack in the first place, so I adjusted my strength on purpose.
[LOL]
[Ah haha, just a light hit]
[Would be super pissed]
[Two crazy women…]
[Getting along well with the Heavenly Horse]
[Feeling dizzy?]
[Getting hit by Lily is a reward, you know;; You didn’t realize that]
[But couldn’t you just have a conversation? (Seriously don’t know)]
[For real haha]
The Heavenly Horse chuckled.
“Why do you act so high and mighty, Black Lotus? Just like you recognized me, Lily deserves to be recognized too.”
─Recognition isn’t something that comes so easily… and!
Crash!
The Mountain’s Master, Black Lotus’s thick hand slammed heavily on the table.
Since he has no shape, there was no sound, but…
─Haven’t I said my name isn’t Black Lotus numerous times!
“But you have no name, do you? ‘The Ruler’ simply gave you a name that suits you.”
─It doesn’t suit me.
“The master of the mountain where black lotuses bloom, Black Lotus Mountain’s owner, Black Lotus.”
Is there a better-suited name than this?
The Heavenly Horse chuckled and said that, and Black Lotus eventually sighed, unable to win.
Well, it does suit me somewhat.
[That’s true]
[LOL]
[Black Lotus sounds cool, doesn’t it?]
[What’s the relationship with the Heavenly Horse?]
[If the Heavenly Horse is the Deputy Guild Master, then is Black Lotus the Guild Master?]
“It suits you, doesn’t it?”
─You’ve… made your point. There’s no point in talking more. Do you want information about the chaotic world?
Do you want a reward?
“Yes.”
─Why? Do you have a reason to stop the chaos?
The reason I must stop the chaos.
─The Heavenly Horse chose this path to drive out the chaos and gain power and status. But you are not like that.
I haven’t even received a quest to stop the chaos, nor have I been promised a hefty reward by someone.
One of the advancement quests is to slay a supreme World Boss, but…
“Well, who knows.”
If such a quest didn’t exist, wouldn’t I still be trying to stop the Kraken?
When you think about it, I’m stepping into something where it’s unclear whether I’ll even gain anything.
─What is it that you are fighting for?
“…Because it’s fun?”
─What?
“I hope this place doesn’t collapse. Now and in the future.”
It already collapsed once, so collapsing again would be a bit much.
Not for me.
“But if everything collapses and everyone dies, then I won’t be able to have this fun. What can I say? I have to do it with all my might.”
─……
[Haha]
[Just Light]
[Hahahaha]
[Totally relevent]
[I’m killing the octopus that ruins my fun…]
[Tsundere]
[Ah lol, if I can’t catch it, I’ll have to kill 20 mid-level World Bosses]
[I have to clear the 4th quest lol]
[But the Hidden Job quest is seriously absurd]
[Slaying a supreme World Boss vs. killing 20 mid-level World Bosses, damn haha]
The suspicious gaze of Black Lotus softened slightly.
─…Fine. Tell me.
Sre…
Smoke begins to drift from Black Lotus’s thick hand.
The dark smoke creates a virtual sea in the air.
A foreboding ship’s horn echoes from beyond the sea level.
Whoooosh!!!
The sea trembles as something enormous rises to the surface.
Six violet lights illuminate the dark night sea.
Woooooh…!
Just looking at the lights causes the bracelet to react.
─As you can see, to kill the disaster of the sea, you must stop his ‘Disaster’s Gate.’ The sealable bracelet is held by you and the Deputy Guild Master.
“And the others? It seems like it’s one per person.”
─The place that touches the sky.
The highest place a regular creature can reach.
If special conditions are met there, you can obtain a bracelet.
─Only Outsiders can use the bracelet. Therefore, obtaining the bracelet is only possible for Outsiders.
“Is there no way to know its whereabouts? It seems like the Heavenly Horse didn’t just find me out of nowhere.”
Clearly, the Heavenly Horse knew I had the bracelet when he came looking for me.
However, the Heavenly Horse seems to have been focused solely on training and hasn’t been active for long.
It hasn’t been long since I started my activities.
Getting this bracelet wasn’t anything special, and since I don’t really watch broadcasts, it’s not like they found me through my streams or replays.
There must have been some means.
‘Something that can identify the owner of the bracelet.’
[Oh really?]
[?]
[How did the Heavenly Horse know?]
“That’s something I can explain, you see.”
“Lord Heavenly Horse?”
“When I finished my closed-door training and was recognized by Black Lotus, I received a quest.”
Years of effort, working dozens of hours a day, bore fruit.
The Heavenly Horse, who was just a name before, started laying the groundwork to become a true Heavenly Horse, and was given a trial task.
To repel the coming disaster and secure a “stake.”
“I had to choose one of the three disasters and obtain a stake of a certain percentage: 3%, 13%, or 66%. I chose 3% here to obtain the information and this bracelet.”
“Did you pick the hardest one?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Looking at the percentages, 66% belongs to Scorpio.
13% is held by the Demon Race caught by the Empire.
The final 3% would be the Kraken.
No matter how many stakes I needed, the latter two are beings that ordinary users wouldn’t even stand a chance against.
Just think back to the Sugarado incident.
The top rankers like Leoni, Yena, and Black were barely able to achieve a measly 3% after dying dozens of times.
In fact, even that 3% was only achieved because I made some concessions.
Besides, the Kraken is on a whole other level compared to Sugarado.
“Is there any reason to take the hard road?”
“It’s quite simple. Just by looking at the numbers, we can discard the 13%.”
“I get that.”
Though the fact that the Empire is holding the Demon Race is not yet widely known, most users are already aware that the Demon Race appears as a World Boss.
They’ve already shown it in a siege war.
In that situation, to take away a whopping 13% stake would require serious damage, which would be too much for the Heavenly Horse.
She’s strong, but not strong enough to deal a substantial blow to the Demon Race.
However, I don’t understand why they didn’t choose Scorpio.
While 66% may seem like a lot, compared to taking stakes from the Demon Race and the Kraken, it’s incredibly easy.
The level of power and ability is far below what Sugarado has become as a high-tier World Boss.
Now that everyone is stronger, the Heavenly Horse could have built a faction for herself and monopolized part of the stake to clear the quest.
If I had provided information on the Kraken, choosing Scorpio would’ve given equivalent information too.
“I must have given you the sight.”
“Next is 66%, but honestly, I think it suits me better. It’s much easier to face the weak than the hellishly strong.”
“Then why…”
“But I am the Heavenly Horse.”
The Heavenly Horse is one who can break and surpass the sky.
In comparison, Scorpio’s sky is nothing more than a crawling worm compared to Kraken’s sky.
To become a Heavenly Horse and call that a sky is simply unacceptable.
More than anything…
“If we’re going to fight, isn’t it only right to face the strongest guy?”
[Wow]
[For real, the Heavenly Horse]
[So they really broke the sky]
[That style, though]
[Great Heavenly Horse]
[Heavenly Horse lady…]
[Is Kraken really that strong?]
[Is that really all?]
[Land prices in the port city are about to crash again, haha]
[Isn’t the sea area going to be ruined at this rate?]
“Anyway, according to the information I’ve gathered, all but one of the ‘five’ are distributed among different users. I thought you would be the most communicative, so I came looking for you first.”
“And you don’t know the whereabouts of the remaining one?”
“I have no way of knowing until the owner is chosen. This bracelet originally belongs to the Mountain’s Masters. Until an owner is chosen, it’s just an accessory.”
“…Oh?”
So, the bracelet I received…
“It means Bluering chose me. It wasn’t just sheer luck.”
“You could say that.”
[Huh?]
[???]
[For real?]
Now that I think about it, it was kind of strange.
At that time, all the choices for rewards were packed with mythical and legendary items.
And out of nowhere, a random box, which is practically impossible to get a legend from, shows up?
And it’s a random box two tiers lower at the final stage?
Back then, I didn’t know much about Deoen’s system and items, so I chose on a whim, but now I understand for sure.
I subdued those who were gnawing at Bluering and captured the Spirit of Darkness.
Though Bluering couldn’t speak, it must have wanted to repay me for solving its problem in some way.
It was just that it fell short of giving me a ‘quest to stop the disaster,’ so conveying it like this was probably the best way.
Most people would have been blinded by mythical-grade items and snatched them up right away…
[What a bummer…]
I was not an ordinary person.
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