Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 103 - Guild War — Dawn (4)

Chapter 103 — Guild War — Dawn (4)

 

“Well? What do you think of my disguise? Isn’t it absolutely flawless?”

When I casually asked, Morudan stroked his beard and glared at me.

“…To think that two out of the four were fakes. I hate to admit it, but that’s certainly an astonishing transformation. What Mystery is it? [Transformation]?”

As expected, the Mystery of Okail, the chief god of the Evil God faction, was somewhat well known, so experienced explorers recognized it immediately.

“It is.”

“Was [Transformation] really such an outstanding Mystery? I heard Okail has at most only around a thousand followers.”

Indeed, [Transformation] wasn’t actually that great a Mystery.

Without [Dark Cloud Rumble], the sense of incongruity was difficult to hide, so one’s identity would quickly be exposed.

But… Things were different inside [Battlefield of Sun and Moon].

Since everyone’s level had been equalized, even a high-level explorer like Morudan couldn’t easily realize that his companion had been replaced by the adorable cultist Karr.

Fwoooosh!

The flames greedily devoured every nearby tree, growing larger and larger.

The forest was burning to the ground.

“Now then. I’ll begin fighting seriously.”

Without hesitation, I opened my mouth and swallowed the blazing fire before me.

A throat and stomach burning with scorching heat.

[Through the effect of [Sin: Gluttony], your body has taken on the same properties as the sinister flames of Lriria!]

“…You swallowed fire?”

Morudan, who looked ready to charge at me at any moment, involuntarily flinched.

Why was he reacting like that?

Fire swallowing was a common circus trick, wasn’t it?

“Aren’t you coming?”

I leisurely walked straight through the flames, blocking my vision.

“Then I’ll come to you.”

“…”

The dwarf’s eyes widened as he watched a vampire calmly strolling through raging fire.

“Um, see you! Until next time.”

The Nunun Bear Love Guild explorers who had been watching for an opening… 

Ranger Rael and Infiltrator Tilda Ires… quickly fled.

A very wise decision.

“Vice Guild Master.”

The pink-haired Berserker of the Great Warrior Guild spat on the ground and grabbed Vice Guild Master Bron’s arm.

“Let’s go too.”

“…”

Bron nodded and turned to leave alongside his guildmate.

Stab.

“…Urgh?”

Before they could, Yallen, now free of paralysis, secretly approached and stabbed the Tonfa Berserker in the neck with a dagger.

As befitted a Schemer, it was undoubtedly coated with potent poison.

Thud.

The Great Warrior Guild Berserker collapsed face-first.

After instantly eliminating one explorer, Yallen said to me,

“I’ll keep Mr. Bron occupied. So please leave Mr. Morudan to you!”

“Understood.”

The instant I answered, I launched a surprise burst of fire.

Fwoooosh—!

A torrent of flames surged forward with overwhelming power.

At Tier 5, [Sin: Gluttony] doubled both efficiency and destructive power when manipulating something it had consumed.

As a result, the might of the [Death · Flame · Transformation]  composing my body had been amplified.

“…I underestimated you inwardly. But you’re quite a formidable explorer.”

Morudan walked out from the blazing inferno after taking [Death · Flame · Transformation] head-on.

Three miniature hammers he had personally crafted floated around him, pushing the flames away.

“I won’t let my guard down anymore.”

Morudan pulled an enormous hammer from subspace.

A masterpiece-grade tool that looked unimaginably heavy…

[Angry Heavyweight].

A weapon capable of extinguishing fire, the shared weakness of both vampires and ghouls.

“Golden Crow Karr. This is as far as your rise as a promising newcomer goes.”

Fwoooosh!

I unleashed flames again.

“Hup…!”

Morudan split the fire apart with [Majestic Presence], then charged toward me and swung his hammer.

BOOM!

“…What?”

The blow, carrying overwhelming physical strength, failed to inflict significant damage.

The brown aura surrounding my face had blocked the impact.

Ignoring that, the dwarf continued swinging his hammer while frowning.

“That’s… Aura? How does a cultist possess it?”

“I’m a cultist with many secrets.”

[Avatar of Earth].

The innate Mystery of Earth Elves, which greatly strengthened the body whenever its Tier increased.

Outside this labyrinth, it remained only Tier 1 because its promotion requirements were troublesome, but inside this dungeon, it was Tier 5.

And beginning at Tier 4, [Avatar of Earth] gained an additional effect beyond merely increasing Strength.

Hummm.

A brown aura gathered around both my arms.

Aura.

Power overflowing with the essence of earth.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The hammer strikes continued relentlessly. Simple overhead smashes.

The shared Tier 6 Mystery [Driving the Great Tree].

Support from steel-arm tools protruding from both sides of his waist.

I precisely wrapped Aura only around the points of impact, blocking every attack.

Knowing every one of Morudan’s attack patterns, combined with the dungeon gimmick lowering his physical abilities, made such an ironclad defense possible.

“Huh… You’re blocking every one of my trump-card combinations…?”

While unleashing his relentless assault, Morudan muttered blankly.

The weakest cultist displaying divine-level defense clearly left him bewildered.

I suddenly blasted crimson flames, sending the dwarf flying backward before speaking.

“Citizens of District 3, are you watching? I, a humble cultist, am completely blocking the attacks of the famous explorer Morudan. It’s all because my faith in the great deity has always been unwavering–”

Morudan split both my words and my flames with his hammer before charging again.

CRACK! CRUNCH!

Even though Aura blocked it, the heavy hammer delivered a tremendous shock to my neck and shoulder.

Ignoring it, I continued speaking.

“…Indeed. Thanks to the wicked knowledge bestowed upon me by Lord Lidni, I’ve been performing so magnificently. If anyone is interested in Twisted Truth, please consult this cultist, Karr.”

“Don’t advertise your religion during the Guild War!”

Unable to endure any longer, Morudan shouted.

The instant he tightened his grip, flames burst from the snake tattoo that had moved onto my shoulder.

Fwoooooosh!

[Death · Flame · Transformation] roasted Morudan’s head.

Nor did it stop there… it flowed downward, burning the rest of his body.

“Graaagh!”

While the miniature hammers flying around extinguished the fire, a blind crow suddenly flew out, folded its wings, and dove.

Crunch!

Its beak struck perfectly between Morudan’s eyebrows.

To think I’d witness a real-life Brave Bird.

“…Everyone, listen carefully.”

He probably could have endured longer, but Morudan wasn’t the type to cling stubbornly.

He calmly raised a communication device to his mouth.

“‘Golden Crow’ Karr can use [Transformation] with absolutely no sense of incongruity. Be careful.”

I politely waited without interrupting.

There was no reason to hide the existence of [Transformation].

In fact, I intended to spread that information as widely as possible.

‘Good.’

The groundwork for countering the Conspirator’s scheme was steadily falling into place.

“Morudan…?”

Born of the Great Warrior Guild, who had been playing tag with the constantly splitting Yallen, flinched.

Apparently, he had never expected a mere cultist to defeat a veteran like Morudan.

“You can’t let your guard down!”

Yallen instantly exploited the opening, slashing Born’s thigh with his dagger.

The powerful poison coating it immediately took effect, and Born dropped to one knee.

“…If that’s how it is… I’ll at least take one of you with me!”

Shoving Yallen away with his shoulder, Born rushed toward me and threw a punch wrapped in blue Aura.

[Heaven-Piercing Gale Strike].

A Mystery that ignored Aura, armor, barriers, and other forms of defense.

CRUNCH!

The martial artist’s merciless fist smashed my head apart.

“Yes!”

Joy filled Born’s face… only to transform into horror moments later.

“…Impossible.”

“Oof. That one hurt quite a bit.”

Even with over half my head blown apart, I didn’t die.

I simply remained standing.

“But… Everyone’s physical abilities should be identical in this dungeon…?”

“They are.”

But once Mysteries entered the equation, that was another story.

The curse Fertilizer Sprout, which stole away Strength and Agility, continued raising my Vitality stat inside this labyrinth as well, thanks to [Dark Clouds Rumble] and [Copying Mirror].

And… While the dungeon’s physical equalization was a debuff to veterans like Morudan, to me, it was an extraordinary buff.

“Mr. Born. What do you think?”

While stroking my rapidly regenerating head, I wore the sinister smile befitting a cultist.

“…of my durability and regeneration, which have reached the realm of transcendence within this labyrinth?”

[Battlefield of Sun and Moon] was a place where one could imperfectly experience the future of the Immortal Cultist build.

 

***

 

Yallen sat down on the ground and sighed.

“Whew… That was really close.”

This wasn’t Western Continent dwarf speech this time.

Morudan of the White Jade Hand Guild. Born of the Great Warrior Guild.

Both were tremendously powerful opponents.

Had this been another labyrinth, they would’ve folded a cultist like me in half before long.

“Mr. Karr bravely endured all those attacks. Thanks to that, I barely managed to hold on. You’re amazing!”

[Translation: We won thanks to you, but you really do fight like an idiot. Still… you’re amazing!]

He still viewed me through a somewhat crooked lens, but at least it was favorable, so that was good enough.

After growing accustomed from childhood to hostile gazes that looked at me like I was some alien lifeform, this level of treatment felt almost as gentle as how one would treat a newborn baby.

“…Raenis of the Fire Turtle Guild. Heavyclaw of the Great Warrior Guild.”

Then, wearing an unusually serious expression, Yallen whispered,

“It seems Mr. Morudan really was himself. So now only those two remain as spy candidates.”

Yallen had also narrowed down the Conspirator candidates.

More precisely, he had reached that conclusion based on the investigation results of Dilmo, the gnome Vice Guild Master serving as Guild War announcer.

“One of those two really is the spy, right?”

“Most likely. But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find either of them. They’re probably in the Moon Battlefield. We’ll have to expose the spy in the Inner Sanctum.”

There was no need to rush yet.

The Conspirator’s plan centered around what would happen inside the Inner Sanctum.

“Anyway… We have five Primordial Fragments now.”

Yallen gathered the gems scattered across the ground.

“I only need four more to make six. How about you, Mr. Karr?”

“I also just happen to need one more. Then I’ll have twelve.”

“Twelve?”

“Oh… The Hidden Piece?”

Yallen scratched his cheek after handing me one Primordial Fragment.

“You’re really going after that useless Hidden Piece?”

This labyrinth contained a Hidden Piece that activated only after gathering twelve Primordial Fragments.

That information had already become public knowledge.

Because the Guild War had existed for many years, [Battlefield of Sun and Moon] had been thoroughly researched, to the point where almost nothing remained undiscovered.

“As far as I know, that Hidden Piece isn’t very useful.”

“By that… do you mean, ‘Why waste your time doing something pointless?'”

Yallen quietly stared at me with innocent eyes.

Curiously, simply meeting his gaze made his true thoughts perfectly visible.

I placed a hand over my chest.

“Mr. Yallen. Lidni knows everything. During this Guild War… an unprecedented catastrophe will occur.”

“…”

Yallen continued staring into my eyes.

Then he slipped the Primordial Fragment into his pocket, raised both hands, and bounced happily in place.

“Waaah! I’m really looking forward to it!”

His reaction looked completely innocent.

Feeling cheerful, I also began hopping up and down.

Then the bouncing Vice Guild Master suddenly froze.

Did his legs start hurting?

“Mr. Yallen. Activating the Hidden Piece will take a little while. So please go ahead first.”

“…Alright. I’ll head over and reunite with the others.”

For some reason, Yallen hurried toward the golden tower at the center of the forest.

Without wasting any time, I immediately took every Primordial Fragment from my subspace and carefully arranged them on a sunny patch of ground.

The first shape to create… was a circle.

Not an oval.

A perfectly round circle.

[Warning: A ghoul is approaching from that ↖ direction!]

Partway through, a Slaughter Ghoul interrupted by attacking me, but I quickly burned it to death and resumed my work.

I absolutely couldn’t do this carelessly.

If the shape was distorted even slightly, it would fail.

‘Now finally…’

I placed the last remaining Primordial Fragment directly in the center.

Finished.

A single dot within a circle.

The astronomical symbol representing the Sun.

Shhhhhh—!

No longer mere tiny gemstones, the fragments had become a single symbol, radiating a faint light.

Now, I simply had to remain here, basking in sunlight for ten full minutes.

[Warning again: A ghoul is approaching from that ↑ direction!]

Even afterward, I calmly dealt with the occasional ghoul that tried to interfere, carefully protecting the astronomical symbol from being disturbed.

[Ten minutes have passed!]

Finally.

The time had come.

Shhhhaaaaaa—!

The Primordial Fragments emitted brilliance incomparable to before.

But it wasn’t over yet.

There remained one final step.

Fwoooosh!

I extended my left hand and unleashed flames at maximum power.

The astronomical symbol representing the Sun ignited.

[Death · Flame · Transformation] blazed unusually fiercely, towering upward.

Wriggle…

Just as the snake tattoo on my already-withdrawn left hand retreated even farther beneath my sleeve… 

From within the burning crimson flames, a horse slowly emerged.

A sacred beast with a mane shining like the sun.

A divine creature regarded as the symbol of the Sun Church, even in reality.

 

[Divine Beast — Skinfaxi]

[The divine beast that pulls the chariot ridden by the Sun Deity Solmiran, illuminating the daytime. Undead weak to fire melt merely by approaching it.]

 

Skinfaxi. Solmiran’s divine steed.

Prrrr!

The divine beast descended upon the labyrinth.