Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 110 - Guild War — Sunlight (3)

Chapter 110 — Guild War — Sunlight (3)

 

KROOOOOAR!

The Eclipse Wyvern’s roar, mixed with golden and silver light, shook the entirety of the Inner Depths.

The resisting explorers and ghouls scattered in every direction.

The explorers regrouped with their respective guilds, while the ghouls dispersed individually.

“…This is a complete mess.”

Inside a ruined building in the eastern section of the ruins, the Great Warrior Guild Master, the bear beastman Heavyclaw, was taking a brief rest.

“There is no way to win anymore.”

The Great Warrior Guild’s martial artist, the Wise Ogre Kukus, shook his head.

Heavyclaw had no rebuttal, so he simply ruffled his hair roughly.

‘…There really isn’t any answer.’

For some unknown reason, the empowered wyvern had become far too strong.

Too powerful for explorers who had all been reduced to Level 5.

Even with the ghouls cooperating, all they’d managed to do was cut off its tail.

KROOOO!

In truth, even that wasn’t much of an accomplishment.

If anything, it had only enraged the beast, making it rampage even more violently.

“Kukus. At this rate, nobody will win.”

“That’s right. If no one obtains Lumerlan’s Orb, then the guild with the last surviving explorer wins. From now on, we focus solely on survival.”

It was an outcome that rarely occurred, but this Guild War seemed destined to end with such a dishonorable victory.

Honestly, he didn’t like it.

But there was no alternative.

‘Isn’t there some better way…?’

The fierce-looking bear beastman, contrary to his appearance, was seriously contemplating the problem.

Then…

—Found you!

A tiny water spirit appeared, giggling cheerfully.

‘…A Naiad. Rai’s spirit?’

CRASH!

The instant Heavyclaw stood up, the ceiling collapsed, and a gigantic gray orc dropped through it.

“Greetings.”

“…Targon.”

Rolling his shoulders, Targon spoke.

“Heavyclaw. Fight me.”

“I want to fight you too, but now isn’t the time. We should join forces and kill the wyvern.”

If even the Ash Wolf Guild joined them, they might actually be able to defeat that half-and-half wyvern.

It was the greatest threat, but circumstances left them no choice.

“…Hmm.”

Had Targon seen through that weakness?

He slowly shook his head.

“I’m disappointed. I never thought you’d avoid a fight. Are you afraid?”

“…”

Come to think of it… Maybe they could just fight after all.

“Kukus. We’re killing Targon together.”

“Then what about winning the Guild War…?”

“Who cares?!”

Guild War or not, right now, all Heavyclaw wanted was to beat Targon into the ground.

“Come at me, Targon!”

“Yes. That’s more like it.”

Targon smiled in satisfaction and clenched both fists.

The only reason he was choosing to fight now was that he was honoring Karr’s request.

‘Guild Master, please defeat the scattered explorers and ghouls one by one.’

So he did exactly that.

He had already eliminated the White Jade Hand Guild’s bard and three Slaughter Ghouls.

‘But… How are we supposed to beat the wyvern like this?’

He didn’t know.

Nor did he particularly care.

“Don’t disappoint me, Heavyclaw.”

Targon briefly knelt, placed a hand upon the ground, then rose while gripping an enormous halberd.

“I’ll even draw my weapon for you.”

It was time for a perfectly legal beating.

 

***

 

“…Phew.”

The Conspirator’s face twisted into a deep frown.

Ignoring that, I applauded while speaking.

“Using not only explorers’ skins but even Slaughter Ghouls’ skins. A brilliant strategy. As expected of a ninja, you can change disguises in an instant. That allows you to avoid fighting both explorers and ghouls.”

The Conspirator absently stroked the ghoul skin he was wearing, then rubbed his face with one hand.

“…How did you figure it out this time?”

“What an obvious question.”

I spread my arms.

“Lord Lidni knows everything.”

“…”

The Conspirator glared at me, then immediately dashed toward the basement exit.

BANG!

As he leaped forward, he slammed into empty air.

An invisible barrier had been erected near the basement entrance.

“You didn’t seriously think I’d just let you run away, did you?”

The sheep beastman monk Dran, who had accompanied us, opened and closed both fists.

A sword symbol floated in one eye, a shield in the other.

Battlefield of Teramea.

A Mystery that created a barrier around a designated area, preventing anyone inside from leaving until the caster died.

“…Then I’ll just kill that one first!”

Monks devoted to Teramea were notoriously sturdy opponents, but inside the Battlefield of Sun and Moon, everyone’s physical abilities were limited.

He must have judged he could bring Dran down quickly enough.

He reached for Supreme Assassin… when suddenly, someone grabbed his wrist.

“Falling for the same trick again?”

Brunelda. Using Scattering Night, the Non-Attribute Mystery contained within the artifact Nightfall, the North Continent savage warrior revealed himself from empty space.

“You’ve really lost your composure. Or are the side effects of that ‘leave a log behind and escape’ Mystery really that severe?”

“…”

The ghoul-faced Conspirator’s form suddenly blurred and vanished.

The next instant, he appeared above Dran, driving his dagger downward.

CRUNCH!

The dagger pierced cleanly.

“That hurt quite a bit.”

It had pierced… my arm, which I’d extended above Dran’s head.

“Lady Teramea!”

Not missing the opening, Dran threw a punch.

BOOM!

The Conspirator’s solar plexus caved inward.

Hit head-on, he flew backward, then regained his balance.

Immediately afterward, he ducked beneath Brunelda’s slash and retreated into a corner.

Against multiple opponents, he must have judged that position more favorable.

“Even if all of you attack me at once, I–”

‘Cough.’

Halfway through speaking, the Conspirator spat blood.

The spot on his chest where Dran had struck him was slowly burning.

“A vampire really ought to be more careful.”

At my words, the Conspirator looked toward Dran’s hand.

Mounted atop the thick glove was a small ornament shaped like a sword.

Nothing special… merely a common symbol of Teramea, the deity of War and Peace.

One of a vampire’s many weaknesses.

“Sir Conspirator. Allow me to offer a bit of valuable advice.”

I extended my left hand.

“While the side effects of your Mystery remain, don’t fight other explorers. Hide as much as possible.”

“I was trying to! You keep finding me!!”

FWOOOSH!

Crimson flames engulfed the furious ninja wearing a ghoul’s appearance.

“That exhausts all of your extra lives. Then we can finally eliminate this spy!”

We were almost there.

“You know where he’ll appear next too, right?”

“Of course.”

Nodding casually, I picked up the small pouch the Conspirator had dropped as he disappeared.

Though it had weathered countless years, its surface was merely dirty.

It wasn’t torn anywhere.

“What’s that?”

“You could call it the priests of Lumerlan’s secret weapon. A Hidden Piece that hasn’t yet been discovered.”

“…I can understand how ‘you’ knew. But how did the Conspirator know?”

“Hmm. For now, please just assume the Conspirator and his companions are exceptionally knowledgeable.”

“I will. I wasn’t all that interested in the details anyway.”

Perhaps it had merely been idle curiosity.

Truthfully, given Brunelda’s personality, he couldn’t care less where the Conspirator’s knowledge came from.

The North Continent savage vice guild master was interested in only one thing.

“Let’s go beat him up again.”

The murderer of Rigobert.

The Conspirator now had only a single real life remaining.

However, he would soon be able to fight at full strength.

Defeating him would no longer be as easy as before.

‘This is where it truly begins.’

Originally, according to the story, District 3 was supposed to fall into the hands of the Six Apostles, marking the point where Pletica descended into genuine chaos.

Preventing the Conspirator from winning the Guild War was high-difficulty content meant for veteran players who had long since graduated from being beginners.

Even after somehow stripping away all his extra lives, the desperate final struggle of one of the Six Apostles… a master ninja… was anything but easy to overcome.

“Chief. Your role ends here.”

Even Brunelda couldn’t guarantee victory.

Neither could I.

Which was why I intended to leave it to the proper person.

KROOOOOOOAR!

As we emerged from the basement, the Eclipse Wyvern unleashed another breath attack.

This time, it annihilated the western sector.

Only the east remained.

‘Its breath attacks are finally finished.’

But even without them, the monster remained extraordinarily difficult.

If anyone interfered during the hunt, even I couldn’t confidently promise victory.

So… I simply needed to eliminate everyone first.

“For now, let’s move.”

Brunelda, Dran, and I

headed toward the most conspicuous location in the ruins.

As we hurried along, a pair of explorers blocked our path.

“…Greetings.”

Fire Turtle Guild Master Luprite and the Fire Turtle Guild’s human tracker.

Both were utterly battered.

“What? Move.”

“I refuse.”

Despite looking terrible, Luprite smiled gently.

“I’ve no choice but to aim for a dishonorable victory. There are only three of you. I believe that’s manageable.”

“Do you really think so?”

Grinning broadly, Brunelda draped an arm over Dran’s shoulder and stepped forward.

“Tribe member Kar. We’ll handle this. You go do what you need to.”

So this was what it felt like to actually experience “Leave this to me and keep moving!”

I bowed deeply and immediately stepped aside without hesitation.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

The tracker tried to fire an arrow, but Dran blocked his path.

Taking advantage of the opening, I sprinted toward my destination.

The very center of the Inner Depths.

A huge cave pierced through a towering rocky mountain that rose abruptly from the ground.

[Wyvern’s Nest. The inside is much larger than it appears.]

I stepped inside.

[Warning: Roll sideways.]

The moment the message appeared, I obediently did exactly that.

BOOM!

An explosion tore through the place where I’d been standing only an instant earlier.

“You dodged that well.”

An explorer calmly approached from the devastated western district. White Jade Hand Guild Master, Eradra. The dragon-blooded craftsman, covered from head to toe in terrifying artillery devices, adjusted his glasses.

Just in case, I asked,

“Even if I return Mind Usurper to you, it won’t change anything, right? You still intend to fight?”

“Yep.”

Eradra extended both hands toward me.

“I still haven’t forgotten everything you did while pretending to be Tilda Ires.”

“I mostly just talked.”

“That’s exactly the problem. You talked far too much. It was infuriating.”

Was this karma?

After all, people only respected those who spoke gracefully.

“Die.”

BZZZZZZZ!

With an intense mechanical whine, pseudo-lasers and bombs rained down upon me.

Just before the bombardment struck, children’s laughter echoed.

—Heehee!

—Haha!

The Naiads.

The tiny water spirits gathered together, forming a curtain of water before me.

“You arrived right on time.”

The contractor of the Naiads, the Sea-Origin Elf Rai, descended from the sky, water bow in hand.

“Go inside. I’ll handle things here.”

Before following his instructions, I whispered one important request into Rai’s ear.

“Understood. Hurry.”

“Thank you.”

Giving Rye a thumbs-up, I immediately entered the cave.

After traveling through the dark tunnel for some time, I arrived at a spacious chamber filled with comforting warmth.

A remarkably large cavern.

“Sir Conspirator?”

I wandered around the chamber, calling longingly for my vanished beloved.

The heartless ninja offered no reply.

“You’re really not coming out?”

In that case… I’d simply drag him out myself.

“You’re quite the troublesome ninja.”

I walked lightly toward a point slightly away from the center of the left cave wall.

Then I raised my left hand.

FWOOSH!

The instant I hurled flames, part of the rock wall burned away, revealing the ninja hidden behind it.

Silver hair tied tightly behind his head.

Pale skin that looked as though touching it would instantly cause frostbite.

And above all… a beauty no one would ever mistake for human.

“…”

The Conspirator glared at me, then let out a sigh.

“Golden Crow Karr. You truly are a tiresome man. Do you really intend to see this through against me?”

“No. I’ve actually been chasing you because I admire you. Please marry me.”

“…Nonsense!”

If you were just going to yell, why ask?

“This is fate.”

I drew Full Moon Executioner.

“Don’t you think so? Sir Kyras Selune. A half-elf born from a Half-Moon Elf and a human.”

“…So that was it.”

The Conspirator… the half-elf Kyras… let out a dry laugh.

“Golden Crow Kar. Are you perhaps… a half-elf born from a Sun Elf and a human?”

A Sun Elf.

I, the cultist Kar, carried the bloodline of the race created by Solmiran.