Chapter 86

In the western part of the Duel City, the Jando Grassland, [Holy Knight] Ray Stirling stood, gripping the letter containing secrets given to him by his mother.

"Well, well, the players are all in place, and the stage is set. Hehe."

Franklin couldn't hold back his laughter, as if something was truly amusing.

He was riding a floating platform-type monster in the air.

At Franklin's feet, Princess Elizaveta lay unconscious.

Moreover, the platform-type monster was enveloped in a visible barrier.

"Alright, Ray! Pay attention to that!"

Franklin pointed to a single point in the night sky.

There, a monster with a single eye and bat wings was floating.

"That's the [Broadcast Eye]. To put it simply, it's a monster for live broadcasting. The images and sounds it sees and hears are sent to a receiver monster, which then projects the images as 3D holograms in the air."

So, it's like a living camera.

"Right now, the images it's seeing are being broadcast as holograms throughout Gideon. If it's functioning properly, the scenes here should be projected in various places in Gideon, including the central arena and the capital."

"Why are you doing this?"

When I asked, Franklin grinned and raised one finger on his right hand.

"The first reason: to let everyone in the kingdom know how things are progressing. Without such a broadcast, they would only know the outcome of a loss, not the process. That would be a problem."

Franklin paused,

"Because I want to crush the heart of this country."

He laughed in a way that seemed extremely pleased.

"I need to show them that the people they rely on are helpless and that this Duel City is doomed. Do you understand? There's no fear if they die in their sleep. That's why I need to show them their necks being strangled while they're awake."

"...That's a logical point, but it's a disturbing thought."

Franklin laughed again at my response.

"Hehe. Well, I don't really need this reason, but here's the second one."

Franklin raised one finger on his left hand.

"To expose those who have been chasing me this far."

What?

"Hahaha, no, no, if everything had gone according to plan, no one would be here. But in the end, the Royal Guard is here, and so are you. You're such a nuisance, and Plan A is being delayed. So, I thought I'd expose the miserable defeat of these nuisances and make them a laughingstock throughout the kingdom."

"You really are a bad person. And the idea that no one would be a nuisance if we just passed through the west gate was a bit naive, wasn't it?"

Besides, even if everything had gone according to plan, there would have been someone to interfere with Franklin's plan.

"From that sign, Hugo only lets through the <Master>, right? If that's the case, even without me, Lilianna and the others would have been here, wouldn't they?"

"No, that's not true. If you weren't here, she wouldn't have been here."

When Franklin said this, his smile disappeared, and he gave me a piercing, sharp look. But it was only for a moment, and then his grin returned.

"Alright, let's begin. [RSK], the test is over."

With those words from Franklin, the monster that Lilianna and the others had been fighting turned to face me.

It was a truly unsettling monster.

Its size was comparable to Galdoranda, but its appearance was different from any monster I had fought before.

From a flesh-colored sphere covered in countless cracks, ten thick tentacles, reminiscent of bruised, blue-black skin, extended.

"The monster we fought yesterday was like a horror movie... but this one is more like a nightmare."

It had an ambiguous, yet terrifying and eerie presence.

"Indeed, I find it easier to deal with this than with the undead. But, Ray, do you understand?"

I understand.

I came here with enthusiasm, but the situation is quite dire.

"If we hadn't fought at the west gate, I could have aimed for the combo of [Counter Absorption] and [Vengeance is Mine]. But since that's not possible, I can only hope that this monster isn't as powerful as [Galdoranda] or [Gouzmaze]."

The [Inferno Flame] I used earlier didn't work.

Since there are Royal Guard members lying around, I can't use [Hell Miasma] either.

Lilianna and the others, who are [Holy Knights], are being pushed back, so my normal attacks won't have much effect... in fact, they won't have any effect at all.

I can't use "that" in this situation.

In this case, I can only aim to win with [Vengeance is Mine].

But...

"..."

"Is it really okay to use [Vengeance is Mine]?"

"Ray?"

It's just a hunch.

But it's the same feeling I've had in battles with many strong enemies.

From the [RSK] in front of me, I feel not only a visual eeriness but also an extraordinary chill.

It's similar to, yet different from, the worst enemy I've ever faced, [Gouzmaze].

If [Gouzmaze] hated all living beings, this monster in front of me seems to...

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

Franklin's voice cut through my thoughts.

He was facing the [Broadcast Eye], the monster he said was for live broadcasting.

"Viewers in the Duel City and the kingdom, hello again or nice to meet you! I'm [The Great Professor] Mr. Franklin. From now on, I will show you the climax of my game!"

Franklin took out a device from his pocket, something that looked like a smartphone from about thirty years ago.

"This is the switch for a certain device! This device is nothing but the monster release mechanism set up throughout the Duel City!"

"..."

"The switch has a timer function and will send a signal to release all the monsters in 652 seconds! ...Some of them have already been prematurely released due to the brainless attacks on the barrier by the arena."

652 seconds?

"Release all the monsters?! Wait, if that happens...!"

Lilianna, with a tense expression, faced Franklin, who smiled even more.

"Yes, about five hundred monsters of the sub-dragon class or higher will surge from five hundred devices. They will attack the Duel City all at once. I've set them to not attack anyone other than the <Master>, but they will attack the <Master> and buildings without hesitation. How much of this city will be destroyed, I wonder?"

This bastard...

His words and the situation here are being broadcast to Gideon.

By showing the countdown of the "time bomb placed next to them," Franklin is trying to instill fear.

"Now, about this switch... here."

Franklin said this and threw the switch to the [RSK] right next to him.

Immediately, the flesh-colored sphere of the [RSK] opened like a ctenophore's feeding scene, and the switch was taken inside.

"The switch will send a signal in about 600 seconds, but to stop the signal, you must defeat this [RSK]."

Franklin paused and pointed at Lilianna with an exaggerated gesture.

"The one who will challenge is the Deputy Commander of the Royal Guard, [Holy Knight] Lady Grandria! And the third-ranked [Holy Knight] of the Royal Guard, Sir Lindus!"

After pointing at the two,

"And! The only <Master> who managed to reach this place... [Holy Knight] Ray Stirling!"

He pointed at me as well.

"Will the three [Holy Knights] be able to protect the Duel City? Everything depends on these three!"

With the clear intention of making us a laughingstock, Franklin added an excessive performance to his words.

"Therefore..."

And he added one last word,

"---If the city is destroyed, blame these three, okay?"

He added this with a truly delighted laugh.

'This guy's personality is the worst!!'

I agree, but now is not the time to discuss it.

At the same time as Franklin's words, the flesh-colored monster began to move.

The countless cracks on the surface of the sphere opened like wounds being torn open, and a blinding light was emitted from inside.

It was like being continuously flashed by a camera, making it impossible to look directly at it.

"Blinding light!?"

"Ray! This light will be used as a cover for an attack!"

Before I could react to Lilianna's warning, [Silver] was already charging forward.

"Kuh!"

At the same time, something hit the ground where I had been standing and exploded.

It was a light projectile mixed in with the blinding light.

Its power was about three times stronger than the [White Lance] I had used several times with gems.

But it was just that.

I managed to avoid one, and the impact wasn't significant, and my HP only decreased by about 10%.

'If this is all...!'

"It's possible...!"

Yes, it's possible, it can be done.

If I keep receiving attacks, healing, and accumulating damage, I can use [Vengeance is Mine] to win.

I had been watching Lilianna's battle from a distance.

The opponent has a barrier that is always active against physical attacks and has very high resistance to holy and heat attacks.

But with [Vengeance is Mine], which deals double the accumulated damage as fixed damage, I can deal damage without any problem.

That's how it should be. That's how it should be, but...

"Why..."

Why can't I shake off this unease?

'In a tight spot, your intuition is usually right. That monster might have something. But...'

If the only option is to use [Vengeance is Mine], then I have to aim for a decisive victory with it.

"Yeah, right, the barrier of the one I'm riding is currently linked to the [RSK]. So, to save the princess, you have to defeat the [RSK].'

...Right, right.

'Is it that there's no other choice?'

"Yeah... I'm going!"

'Okay!'

I spurred [Silver] to charge at the [RSK].

I kept moving, dodging or taking the light projectiles, and counterattacked.

All the attacks I made with my greatsword were nullified by the barrier on the [RSK]'s surface.

The [Inferno Flame] was also ineffective.

Still, I continued to probe the unknown monster's power with feint attacks.

At the same time, I used healing magic skills and items to recover my HP.

With my current HP exceeding 5000 and my durability including [Holy Knight's Blessing], and the lack of firepower from the opponent, I was steadily accumulating damage.

Yes, it was going smoothly.

It was going smoothly, but there was still a sense of unease.

'...?'

"Nemesis?"

'The accumulated damage counter... What is it? No, it's definitely from that [RSK], but...'

"Nemesis"

'Ah, sorry. I just had a strange feeling.'

A strange feeling, probably about the accumulated damage.

When [Gouzmaze] was around, Nemesis had a sense of detecting damage received by the opponent.

'What kind of strange feeling?'

'It's definitely accumulating damage from that [RSK], but... it gives me the impression that it's "scattered".'

Scattered?

'If I use an analogy from your world, it's like "seeing an X-ray of cancer cells that have metastasized throughout the body."'

"...Throughout the body?"

But in the end, it still means that the [RSK] is accumulating damage, right?

'Yes, that's right...'

The telepathic message conveyed that Nemesis was feeling uneasy about the unknown sensation.

"...Let's try it once."

'It's still far from a fatal amount of damage.'

"That's why. Both my intuition and your sense are telling me that something is wrong with it. It's better to confirm it now rather than have something unexpected happen at the decisive moment.'

'...Understood!'

"Silver!"

As I kicked and pulled the reins, Silver responded and charged at the [RSK].

We dodged the rain of light projectiles and closed the distance to zero.

I swung the [Black Greatsword] with the intention of cutting off one of the tentacles.

And then, I used the trump card and the only decisive move that Ray and Nemesis had.

"---[Vengeance is Mine]!!"

[Vengeance is Mine] had defeated many enemies before.

The first enemy, [Demidragon Worm].

The three-faced demon of fire and poison, [Great Miasma Galdoranda].

The crystallization of death and malice, [Resentful Beast Gouzmaze].

It had defeated many strong enemies and was the skill we trusted the most.

This skill was now used against the unknown monster [RSK]---

'What...'

---"It didn't even leave a scratch."

The [Black Greatsword] slid off the surface of the [RSK] without causing any damage.

Immediately after, a light projectile from the cracks in the [RSK] hit us, who were in a vulnerable position.

Several shots hit, reducing my HP by more than 30%.

But that wasn't the important part.

"Why..."

[Vengeance is Mine] is a skill that doubles the damage received and ignores all defenses to counterattack.

It had never failed to work on an opponent who had accumulated damage.

But it didn't work on this [RSK] at all.

"---Ah, what a good face."

Such a voice, filled with ecstasy, reached my ears.

"Franklin...!"

The expression on Franklin's face as he looked down at us.

It was a smile, but not the pasted-on grin from before. It was a truly delighted laugh.

"Ahaha, you're stunned, aren't you? You must be confused. 'Why? How come? Our [Vengeance] is an infallible killing move, isn't it, Nemesis?' That's what you're thinking, right, Ray? You've become the glasses-wearing kid, haven't you?"

"...!"

You, that story...

"Yeah, you're surprised again. It's good, it's good."

The story about the glasses that Franklin mentioned was something I had only talked about with Nemesis after parting ways with Franklin, who called himself Flamingo.

The fact that he knew about it means...

"...You, you must have done something else with that drug besides making ears grow, didn't you?"

"You're right."

Franklin took a vial from his pocket.

It was the