Chapter 8

The robed silhouettes there said nothing. I don't expect an answer, either, and I examine their weapons hidden beneath their robes.

Three in total.

The magic musketeer who'd blown a hole in the auctioneer's head earlier, a swordsman, and finally a man who appeared to be a mage, though I couldn't be sure.

And then.

-BANG!

The musketeer quickly aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. Not a word was spoken, just a straightforward pull of the trigger.

However the bullet never reached me. As the trajectory of the bullet bends arbitrarily, the direction in which it should go becomes distorted.

Projectile Distortion Force Field, it's always active.

"Why did you pull the trigger?"

"─"

"Did you expect that action to have meaning?"

I asked.

The robed horde remained silent. Perhaps they knew better that it meant nothing, but they did it anyway. It must mean they were that cornered.

"Answer the question."

I said, unconcerned.

"That's the only chance you have here, the only chance your actions will mean anything."

"–Shut up, freak."

Only then did the man in the robes speak, not hesitating to call me a monster as he closed the distance, still holding the hilt of his sword.

There was a flurry of swipes and judging by the blade, it's a fairly high-grade weapon.

Seeing this, the magic musketeer also kicked the ground backwards and pulled the trigger of the magic gun he was holding in both hands.

Meanwhile, the man who appeared to be a mage remained silent, doing nothing.

'<Celestial Island> and <Bullet Hell Parade>'

What the two men are performing are the physical counterparts to magic, called Arts. They are also the most advanced techniques that can be obtained at level 70 and above.

Although there are slight differences between the Arts, it is not difficult to defeat the final boss with just one.

The tip of the blade flashes and dances while bullets rain down.

-Boom!

With each swipe of the blade and scattering of sword energy, the terrain in the area shattered, crumbled, and collapsed.

The gun, too, unleashed a saturated baptism of fire that sounded more like cannonballs than bullets.

But in front of it, I didn't even flinch. I didn't need to move.

It wasn't me moving. It was the world.

The structure of the labyrinth shifted of its own accord, creating walls, closing distances that should have been wide and erecting barriers against the bombardment.

"!"

At that time, in a world where the distance widened like a living creature, the swordsman desperately narrowed the distance and made contact.

When he swung his sword, thinking he had finally reached it, the blow was blocked by the intangible barrier protecting me and did not even make a scratch.

At the same time, the distance he had just closed widened again, and before he knew it, we were facing each other over ten meters away.

Within the Labyrinth of Infinite Corridors, I can freely manipulate the structure and form of the world according to my will.

"Don't you see?"

This wasn't a fight, and it didn't even feel like one. Because it wasn't a fight, there was no such thing as winning or losing.

No one would call beating an ant a victory so I don't do anything, I just let it know.

I stretched out my arm as black air curled around my fingertips, condensed into a sphere, and shot out.

It was just a fireball, the lowest-ranked offensive spell granted upon switching to the mage class.

"─Ah."

"Louis!"

A jet-black fireball with no flame or red color pierced through the sword.

Only then did the Magic Musketeer revealed an emotional agitation that could not be hidden from the shadows under his hood.

Unique to the <Warlock > class, projectile attack magic never misses, and Black Flame, which fuses the fire element with the curse element.

In addition, one of the signature effects of the Curse element is a "certain chance of instant death". Like right now.

"I'll ask you one last time."

I said.

"Why did you use our names?"

Toward the two men who weren't dead yet.

Their purpose is not money or fame because with their skills, they shouldn't have trouble getting both.

Those who seek fame above all else don't bother to conceal themselves like that.

Money? You could buy a few empire mansions with the price of their swords and guns.

It's not riches or fame.

Finally, there's one thing that's left: belief.

It's what keeps us alive and, paradoxically, what makes us immortal.

"Tell me your reason, and I promise to let you live."

"You think I'll tell you!"

As expected.

The musketeer holstered his two guns and steeled his resolve. An incomparable power surged through the air, condensing into the barrels of the two guns.

I watched without restraint as he used <Overdrive >, a buff technique used by the Magic Musketeers to increase the power of their weapons to an extreme level, enhancing the power of their next attack.

He cranked up the power to maximum and pointed the muzzles of his two guns in my direction as a pillar of light erupted.

'!'

In front of that skill– I wordlessly swallowed my breath.

It wasn't that I felt a sense of danger from the unexpected power, or that I was moved by his determination, it was because that was the answer.

<Helios Shot> was a unique skill that can only be used by those in the higher classes of magic musketeers.

By the time I realized it, a swirling storm of light had engulfed me. No, it tried to swallow me but I couldn't.

Then, when the light faded and the storm subsided, I emerged unscathed.

I wonder what the Musketeer thought when he saw that. I don't know. There was no way to know.

For when he summoned the last of his strength to strike and it cost him his life.

Leaving his body on the ground, I began to walk toward the man who had remained silent to the very end, even as the swordsman and the musketeer died in their final act.

"Why are you silent?"

I asked him.

"Because it's...useless anyway."

The man replied with a chuckle and his voice was tinged with desperation.

"Because no matter what I do, in front of you, it won't work."

The face under the hood trembled with fear.

"Are you afraid of dying?"

"...That, that scares me."

"Then why did you do something to get yourself killed?"

I asked.

"Answer me, and I promise to spare your life."

"Ha, I can't."

The man shook his head even though he was terrified and trembling with fear of death.

"Ah, no matter how scared and afraid I'm of dying...because it was something I had to do."

The man in front of me was a coward.

"Because I believe that what I'm doing–is never pointless."

That was the desperate courage of a coward.

He didn't want to die. He knew it was coming from the start, but he was ready for it.

"...."

I didn't reply since it wouldn't make a difference besides but I didn't need his words to know the answer.

Without a word, I reached out my arm and took his life. After I took it, I picked myself up.

The separate realm dissolved, revealing the interior of the auction house once more.

It was a place where the richest and most powerful people in the empire were trapped in a circle, unable to escape.

"Yes, you! Do you know who I am!?"

That's when the pot-bellied man shouted as he took off his pigskin.

"This, this body, is the Council of the Breton Empire...!"

-Boom!

Before the pot-bellied man could finish his sentence, the shadow beneath his feet swallowed him whole.

"Awww, Chief, I've been waiting for you, I thought I was going to die of boredom!"

Alice grinned broadly while I wordlessly stared at the pot-bellied man being devoured behind her.

Of course, he didn't deserve to die. It was the auction house that did the deed by impersonating us, not them.

At the same time, there doesn't have to be a reason to die at the hands of a villain.

We don't intend to kill every guest here, but we need to kill enough so that the world will hear of our infamy and fear us.

The most powerful, wealthy, and "unclean and corrupt" officials in the empire are here.

"Do you know who I am!?"

"What do you think you're doing, not protecting me first!? You're not protecting the Empire's-"

"I am the one who serves His Majesty-!"

Their purpose was to subdue poison with poison so for now I decided to ignore them.

Helios Shot was a superlative Art that can only be used by one class in Hero's Century.

A unique class that can be obtained through special quests in the Empire as a Magic Musketeer, and is the default class for NPCs in Bretona's Secret Service, aka <Queensman >.

I smiled bitterly as I thought about it.

The patriotism to sacrifice one's life for the country, the conviction to even dare to use the name of the Black Snake to do so, and the look on their faces when they realized what they had brought upon their country.