Chapter 224 Part 1: Evil Vs Righteous Valiancy (1)
Lyra looked dumbfounded at this scene that happened in just a few seconds.
"Guek!" The punch came from down below instead, hitting him square in the jaw, sending him flying into the air.
He soared through the air, reaching so high that he could see the entire town.
'She was releasing so much killing intent but I could hardly notice it or her presence in the guild until she was right behind me.' This meant she was far above his level. He would've known this even if the system didn't already show him that she had already reached level cap.
'Her race is demigod.' Meaning their stats wouldn't be comparable to or near each other even if Arnold was also level cap, making her an infinitely more dangerous foe.
'She has High Valkyrie in her titles…' She's related to Kellene, Vatria and the current High Valkyrie. This makes her far above the level of a demigod, closer to a god in terms of pure strength.
He didn't know what to think about "Hero's Consort". Rather, what could he conclude on his own without asking the person if she was really the wife of the first Hero?
Is she the Guinevere from his world's many stories of her tale?
She must've been there to witness Promethius' final moments...
If only he had the latest version of this incompetent system then all of these questions could be answered without confronting this brute.
In any case, whether she's as powerful as Gederick, he didn't want to be here to find out.
This is so troublesome, he thought to himself.
But Arnold's mission was still the same. This is why:
"Hey, skeleton merchant!" Arnold shouted at the top of his lungs, "Your customer needs your services!"
"You called?" he appeared right behind Arnold almost instantly and cast a spell that helped Arnold stay afloat, "Oh dear, it seems you're found yourself up against a troublesome enemy."
After saying something in such a relaxed manner, he conjured hundreds of magic circles in an instant.
"I shall end this quickly, kukuku."
"—P-Please stop!!" the same woman who punched Arnold earlier let out a panicked voice.
"Eh?" startled by that shout, the merchant stopped his incantation.
Guinevere flew into the sky to meet them at eye level.
"Please do not hurt the people below." She bowed her upper body, "I know that you are capable of destroying this town just to get rid of me but please listen to me when I say that your spells will only harm innocent lives."
"Hoh, quite an arrogant woman." Mr. Merchant's magic circles vanished, "Fine. I shall take us far away."
It was right after he said that that they changed location instantly. They were standing on tall grass in the middle of a gigantic grassland. There was a forest nearby but no signs of civilization besides the town that was very far from here. A river flowed gently nearby with small critters staring at them curiously.
'This guy… Not even [Target Teleportation] can teleport more than one person…'
"Thank you for listening to my pleas to spare their lives." The woman bowed again.
"Why did you attack him?" the skeleton walked in front of Arnold and opened his hand as if he was ready to cast a spell again. With his incantation speed, this fight would be over in just ten seconds.
Not even Lufulur could end a fight this quickly without prior preparation and buffs.
"I sense a powerful evil influence within that girl's soul. It must be eradicated before it grows into an uncontrollable force. This must be what I felt prior to waking up after so long."
"Elaborate. Did you expect me to step aside from that explanation alone?"
The woman silently stared at Arnold. Well, he couldn't exactly see her eyes with her helmet in the way but he could feel her gaze.
"Those who consume a divine soul or even a portion of it is granted the full power of the duty said divine soul was given once granted godhood. Using that power allows them to gain an overwhelming influence on mortals."
"Which god's soul was consumed and how does that involve him?"
"…I do not know. I don't have access to the divine realm any longer to find out."
"Hmm…"
'That incompetent goddess is probably involved in this.'
No, it's wrong to blame Melis for this. She didn't have much influence on mortal lives once they're born. That said, surely, she could've prevented this unknown god's soul from being consumed? Who is even powerful enough to do such a thing? And how has the divine realm not done anything to fix things?
"Now that you know the reason for carrying out my duty, please step aside."
"…Are there others?" Arnold spoke for the first time, "Are there more people you've hunted down that are just like me—what was it, influenced by unknown evil?"
"No, you are the only vessel of this evil that I can detect."
'Which means whoever's behind this is obsessed with only me.'
"?"
Arnold gazed down and what the woman was holding in her hand without the gauntlet and noticed that she had been holding a hilt this whole time, one without a blade. Its grip was wrapped in finely aged leather, supple and worn in places, suggesting countless battles fought. Even without a blade (or more like the rest of it), the hilt exuded a sense of immense power and purpose.
Is this how she's going to kill him?
"I will ask you again to step aside—" Guinevere took one step before several barriers appeared around her. A sound similar to glass being scraped with a knife resounded as more and more barriers were stacked on top of each other and golden chains were wrapped around Guinevere.
Almost immediately after a giant hole was torn in the sky, revealing deep space.
Somewhere among the expanse of darkness and cold space was a black hole, evident by the star energy it was consuming, twisting violently as it consumed several stars and planets. The temperature immediately dropped to freezing levels when that hole appeared and Arnold could feel the air around him being sucked somewhere.
"Seventeenth-Rank – [Sleeping Black Hole], Sixteenth-Rank Magic – [Super Barrier], Layered-Technique- [Apply Multiplication]." A bigger barrier appeared around them, trapping the gaping hole in the sky.
Arnold was suddenly teleported outside this bigger barrier.
'What the hell… He's using a forbidden catastrophic spell right at the beginning of this fight!'
If the first spell was cast in the game, then the whole server would crash and log everyone out, implying that the world was destroyed. Of course, if the gaping hole in the sky was covered up with a powerful enough barrier, then everyone would be safe, provided they're outside the barrier.
The temperature went back to normal and the ground stopped rumbling but the bigger barrier pulsated violently. Arnold got chills when he looked up at the hole in the sky.
"That's really a black hole…"
"—Since you do not want these humans to lose their precious lives, I shall end this quickly by launching you into space. And do not worry about the humans. I will simply create a new atmosphere around the hole."
"Thank you for your consideration, however—" she said with an eerily calm voice before shattering the layered barriers holding her in place.
"Fool, those barriers were put in place to protect you from the pressure—"
He suddenly went silent when Guinevere calmly walked towards Arnold, albeit with much difficultly. It was like she was moving in slow-motion.
Her dress was pulled up by the violent pressure emitted by the black hole's gravitational pull, revealing her bare body underneath and her hair stood up straight but she still approached Arnold with powerful steps.
'What the… Why am I shaking…' Arnold took a few steps back when the woman pulled back her fist to break the barrier. He knew that she could do it. He knew she could easily destroy a barrier keeping the pressure and temperature of deep space under control.
But before she could, a magic arm appeared around her and threw her towards the hole in the sky. She disappeared into the abyss and a moment later the hole closed up.
"Goodness, I did not think anyone could survive the vacuum of space." If he had skin, he probably would've sweat buckets right now.
The barrier vanished the next moment and he casually walked over to Arnold.
"I have customers waiting for me so we should return soon."
"…"
"I hope you brought your teleportation artifact along." He came up to Arnold.
"…Yeah, I have it. Just hold on to me." It had been on his finger all this time.
"Ah, please wait a moment. I feel quite mana dizzy from casting that big spell earlier."
'How do skeletons even get dizzy… Maybe he's talking about his mana itself?'
Out of all the spells in Star Fantasy, [Sleeping Black Hole] had one of the highest mana requirements so Arnold could understand why his mana was exhausted. He also cast layered technique on [Super Barrier], which is many times the normal amount since the spell was multiplied.
Arnold sat on a nearby rock sticking out of the grass as he looked at the merchant who was stretching for some reason.
"Who are you really? You can travel across worlds like it's nothing even without the assistance of an artifact, you can revive dead people, you can swap souls from one body to the next, and you can cast a spell that not even the current Archmage should be capable of."
"I am merely a merchant, dear customer Arnold. I am not a magician with some great title fitting to stand on equal grounds to the Archmage." He replied back as he did a back stretch.
"That's complete bullshit. Why didn't you tell me before that you were this powerful? If you had been there in the dungeon… then…"
"It's better to ignore the what ifs as it will only bring back unpleasant feelings." He looked at Arnold and said with a deep voice, "You do not have the luxury of looking back right now, no?"
Arnold clicked his tongue and looked up at the sky.
'Huh?'
"Is the sky… opening?"
Immediately after a thunderous boom shook the surroundings and a powerful shockwave threw him off the rock he was sitting on.
As if there was a vacuum sucking up the atmosphere and clouds, another hole appeared in the sky. This time it was a golden light that came through that hole and not the darkness of space.
A figure with gigantic wings made from gold feathers flew out of that hole.
"…I was certain that nothing can survive the gravitational force of a black hole." Arnold heard a nervous cackle, "It seems I'll need to use far more potent magic—"
A thunderous voice suddenly sounded: ["I cast {Silence} on all magic casters using the power of {Spirit Suppression}"}
Dancing white lights appeared around the merchant, a sign of spirits listening to the above command.
"That's not good… I am unable to cast 80% of all my spells now while this silence skill is active." He looked at Arnold, "I would ask for your help to keep her busy while I recover my mana in order to cast chantless but she is clearly too much for you to handle in this state…"
"…"
What Guinevere just did is something that silences magicians so that they can't cast spells anymore. This is a skill that uses spirits to interrupt the mana signals sent out while chanting so the person can still say the chant but nothing will come out of it since no mana signals are sent out, effectively silencing them.
Does this woman have the same subclass as Lancelot (Elementalist)? Maybe her main class is just as powerful as Sun Knight (Lancelot's main class in the game later on).
Big spells often need chants, especially for magicians who are unable to cast magic chantless. Magicians capable of chantless magic aren't affected by this suppression.
"How many powerful spells do you have that don't require chants and won't use too much mana?" Arnold unsheathed his sword.
"Less than ten but seeing as how even a black hole couldn't kill that woman, I'd say I have nothing left at the moment. I need ten minutes to recover before I can cast something big."
"We don't need to kill her. Just immobilize her so that I can find Lyra to activate the gate to the martial world."
"Hmm, if that's the case then I'll cast [Super Barrier] and stack it multiple times to trap her. But you'll have to keep her busy until then, which I am afraid you are not capable of doing…"
Arnold looked up at Guinevere, who was still descending slowly, in silence.
She looked like an archangel sent down by the divine realm, her wingspan blocking out the sun and casting gigantic shadow on the lands.
If she could withstand the force of a black hole, what could he possibly do right now?
While the goal was to keep her busy, he knew that she was coming at him with the intent to kill so going easy on her would be the wrong move.
"—Allow me to hold her back while you escape." A voice came from behind Arnold.
"Hoh, you finally show yourself, Stalker." Mr. Merchant said to that person.
"Huh?" Arnold faced said person and was met with a tall woman—probably way taller than his true body—standing behind him. She had long black hair and wore a black mask to hide her face. Her entire body was draped in black and only her hands and chest were visible.
"Please allow me to explain everything later, uhm, what do I call you…?" she lowered her mask, revealing a perfect oval face with puffy lips and a tall nose. Her beautiful slanted sky-blue eyes looked at Arnold with uncertainty, "I go by 1B in the organization."
Which organization is that exactly?
Deciding that now wasn't the time for explanations, he nodded, "Call me Arnold. I might be inside a female body now but I'm not abandoning my identity completely."
Arnold secretly opened her status window.
· Codename: 1B
· Title: Cadre Elite Subordinate
· Level: 98
'Codename? This is new… Why not just give me her true name?'
A familiar "system updated" ding sounded in his head.
· Patch notes: 1B is a persona of hers that she hides from her family. Her appearance has been greatly altered for this purpose as well, thus data on her true identity can only be revealed with a system update that bypasses certain heavy code.
'Greatly altered huh…' Arnold stared at her sweaty chest that was on the verge of bursting out.
"She's coming." 1B stood in front of Arnold and took off her leather jacket, letting her breasts jiggle as they dropped. She was only wearing a white shirt underneath but what caught Arnold's attention wasn't her chest size but her muscular arms and toned abs.
"Please hold onto my jacket, Lord Arnold. It will only get in the way." Arnold took the leather jacket that she held out to him, "I apologize for the strong smell as I've been travelling through this dungeon in only these clothes."
The smell was indeed very strong. But as someone who had smelled all kinds of female scents throughout his debauchery days, the stink of female sweat only aroused him.
"Now then…" she turned to face Guinevere who descended onto the ground.
A white, transparent energy surrounded 1B's body.
The energy was quite heavy, even heavier than aura. Which means she's a Ki user just like Sebas. Her muscles swelled up and veins popped under her arms.
She placed her left foot in front of her and lifted her arms. A powerful rumble shook the surroundings when she got into this stance.
"Please go." 1B said in a cold voice, "I will be her opponent while Lord Arnold escapes."
"Thank you… 1B."
"The survival of those important to me does not warrant a thanks since I am not doing this out of kindness."
What a cold way to say "A thanks isn't necessary". But it can't be helped. It would've been nice if the system allowed him to read the minds of NPCs just like it does in the game but that is probably a feature that needs to be added through additional rewards in the future for quest completions.
"I shall assist you in a few minutes, Miss Stalker." Mr. Merchant said with a cackle.
"D-Don't call me that, please…"
Arnold looked at their backs for a few seconds then back at Guinevere who had descended onto the ground before teleporting away without a second thought of hesitation.
Two people were fighting to protect him but he knew neither of their intentions.
◊◊
"Get out of my way. I have a job to finish." Guinevere's voice was calm but the killing intent she was releasing was enough to almost make 1B kneel.
"I refuse." She said resolutely as she tightened her core and lowered her hips.
Now that her lord knew what he was up against, he'll definitely escape this dungeon instead of confronting this woman again. Until he leaves this world with that blue-skinned woman, she had to keep this woman off his trail.
"…." Guinevere took off her helmet and held it at her side, revealing a flawless beauty, "I beg you to stop protecting evil as you would an infant child. Such evil cannot be allowed to exist or grow. You have not seen what it can become and who it will kill to spread its influence." Tears streamed down her beautiful face.
"I do not want to hurt innocent people anymore—"
A powerful whack sound resounded when 1B's fist connected with Guinevere's face and the surroundings shook greatly.
'Kuh! It's as hard as dragonsteel ore!'
Is her skeleton itself made from dragonsteel?
1B quickly retreated, having now failed to use her enemy's dropped guard to her advantage. Meanwhile Guinevere wiped her tears and took a moment of silence as she put on her helmet.
That helmet… It looked like the kind imperial knights or similar high-profile knights would wear but it was on the verge of falling apart. The lower jaw was hanging loosely while the top half, where the top half of visor was located rested on Guinevere's delicate nose. If anything, the helmet looked too big for her so it might've belonged to someone else. From a glance, you could tell it had many repairs, one example being the big screws keeping the bottom half of the visor and the jaw and chin connected to the top half of the helmet.
Looking at the condition the helmet is in… It had probably been with her for quite a few years as least.
"…Why would you throw your life away for evil? Is it love? Admiration? Desire?"
"I am here on orders by my superior. I feel nothing for the one I'm protecting."
I'm doing this for my father and my precious daughter.
With that determination burning in her heart, she charged at Guinevere, this time with her magic daggers drawn.
This is not an enemy she could go easy on so she will release the full might of her clan.
Please make it out, Lord Arnold—