Ch.335Changed Raid NPC (1)

In the end, it was Princess Ragni who kissed the Chancellor. Something about taking responsibility as the official wife(?) Hmm. I never said I’d decide such things, but since I don’t want to force Ira to do something she dislikes, I decided to let her misunderstand.

After all, I do actually intend to marry her!

“Ugh… why did I have to kiss a middle-aged woman instead of Jack…”

“Tch!! Assistant, this happened entirely because of your rampage. And I’m quite shocked that my first kiss was with a woman, so take it easy.”

So now I’ve become the imperial family’s son-in-law, and this son-in-law has three(?) more women on the side, with my mother-in-law being the Chancellor—what an absurd situation. Haha! Saying it out loud makes me realize I’ve gone mad too. But did you say first kiss? Chancellor, is that true?

“Well, shall we experiment now?”

“…Huh? Experiment?”

“Yes. It was merely my prediction, and there’s a possibility it won’t work in practice.”

…Shit. Wait. Couldn’t we have first confirmed whether it works with Ragni and me kissing, and then proceeded with everyone else? If this fails, I’ll just be some incestuous lunatic who randomly kissed women in front of his little sister and even kissed her!

I didn’t blurt out my thoughts exactly as they came, but when I asked the Chancellor as gently as possible, she clicked her tongue at my limited insight and shook her head.

“The opponent may be stupid enough to use demons, but they’re not fools. If a being that freely passes through defensive magic suddenly appears and disappears, they’ll naturally realize they’ve been breached. Consider this method a one-time opportunity, even if successful.”

If demons or imperial or church forces are waiting inside, we’ll be ambushed from the start. After saying this, the Chancellor stood before the defensive magic barrier. We quickly took our positions beside her.

“Well then, let’s go in.”

We followed the Chancellor’s lead and passed through the barrier.

*

“That’s a relief, it worked on the first try.”

In the online game, the imperial capital was naturally a bustling metropolis with many players wandering around and NPCs praising the queen, creating at least a superficially bright atmosphere.

After the main story raid [Queen Ragni Bluemoon Ottoman] ended, the NPCs’ dialogue changed to lamenting their situation or worrying about the empire’s future. Some areas became inaccessible wastelands due to her railgun-like artillery attacks, but people hadn’t completely disappeared. However, the reality was…

“What is this? There’s no one here?”

“Brother. This place is like a ghost town.”

“Gor.”

“…There’s no one. Not a single person. Not even an insect is detected.”

The scene before us—though it’s too quiet and empty to call it a scene—makes even Ira, who wouldn’t bat an eye if I cut her wrist with a knife, clutch my clothes in fear. As expected, it was the Chancellor who answered our reactions.

“The magical energy is incredibly dense. That defensive magic not only completely sealed off the inside from the outside but also turned this area into a magic-saturated zone. No wonder ordinary humans couldn’t survive here.”

“Magic-saturated zone? What’s that?”

“Brother! Me! Me! I know! I learned it at the Academy! It’s an area where magic energy condenses and can’t flow or disperse properly! When magic oversaturation becomes severe, the stagnant magic causes anomalies in the surroundings! If it gets worse, magic saturation occurs, and people with low magic resistance can collapse from magic poisoning!”

“Hmm, a perfect answer. You truly are my disciple.”

“Oh.”

I find myself applauding Ira’s explanation. Our Ira can now explain difficult concepts that her foolish brother can barely understand? How smart our little sister has become, I’m so proud!

But what does that have to do with the absence of people? Even if they collapsed, shouldn’t there be corpses or at least some traces?

“As my disciple explained, most citizens couldn’t have survived in this oversaturated environment. In fact, I can detect separate barriers around that clock tower, the large church to the east, and that unnecessarily large imperial palace.”

“So the citizens might have taken refuge there?”

“…Or they were gathered under the pretext of evacuation and kidnapped.”

In response to Ray’s optimistic question, Ragni gritted her teeth and immediately drew her gun, striding forward. Her destination was the imperial palace. She didn’t even glance at the church or clock tower. As she marched ahead, looking ready to shoot at the barrier at any moment, we began following her. A few minutes later…

“…Three knights. All above level 300.”

[Holy Church High Templar: Level 362]

[Holy Church High Templar: Level 331]

[Holy Church High Templar: Level 355]

-Tat!!

Gor spoke, and status windows immediately appeared before my eyes. About two seconds later, knights in pure white armor descended in front of us and began pointing their weapons at us as if it were the most natural thing. A halberd, a mace bigger than my head, and a longsword. Hmm. Classic battle clerics.

“Where have you been?”

“The evacuation centers are the church, clock tower, and imperial palace.”

“Did you not hear the orders?”

Despite pointing weapons at us, they’re asking why we haven’t evacuated. I shrug lightly and step forward. Let me handle this confrontation alone.

“Ahaha. Well, no one in our family can read, so we missed the evacuation order. Sorry, but could you guide us there?”

“…Come here. We’ll guide you.”

“Wow, how kind of you… Ah!”

I approached as told, but immediately a mace came flying at my head. I dodged it by just tilting my head, then without a moment to breathe, a halberd fell to split my skull, forcing me to twist my body away. Before I could regain my stance, a longsword thrust toward my heart.

Of course, I have no obligation to get stabbed, so I slapped the flat of the blade with my palm to push it away. The attackers stepped back slightly, seemingly surprised. Well, when they’re radiating such killing intent, it’s not hard to dodge. But their coordination is impressive.

“Tch.”

“He’s skilled. Use holy power.”

Their surprise at failing to kill me in the first combination was brief. As if determined not to underestimate me further, their bodies began to glow golden. Oh, holy power enhancement. So it is possible for those above level 300?

-Whoosh!! CRASH!!!

The mace that came at me in the opening move created a crater in the ground with a swing that could have been an Arirang Ball. As I stepped back to widen the gap, the sword and halberd also flew at me with speed incomparable to before. Wow. Their coordination is perfectly synchronized.

-Clang! Tang!!

“Your coordination is so perfectly timed that it’s easy to counter.”

In rhythm game terms, the opening would be Easy level, and the follow-up would be Normal. With their machine-like rhythm, my hands move instinctively.

For the halberd wielder who keeps aiming at my head, I jump and deliver a knee strike to his skull. For the longsword user who keeps jabbing from behind, I give him a manly lawyer punch, sending both flying. The mace wielder, who hesitated after seeing his companions sent flying, gets a rock I grabbed from the ground smashed into his solar plexus to show him what a real fastball is… oops, it went right through him.

After finishing this warm-up battle, I casually roll my shoulders and turn back toward my companions.

“So that’s the level of a 300.”

“Foolish boy.”

“Jack, don’t let your guard down.”

“Huh?”

-CRACKLE!! BANG!!!

“What?!”

The mace-wielding cleric with a hole in his stomach tried to strike me from behind, but his head exploded from Ragni’s bullet. The other two who had faced my knee strike and lawyer punch, despite their heads being bent at unnatural angles, were charging at me when they were roasted by the Chancellor’s lightning.

“…Their HP definitely reached 0 once.”

“The moment Jack thought he killed them, demonic energy erupted from all three.”

“Yeah! They all got up at once.”

“…Well. Thank you, Chancellor. Thanks, Ragni.”

[-Occupation: Ira’s Brother- Level: 343 Name: Jack. Age: 21.]

This isn’t good. I don’t enjoy gaining experience from killing people, but I killed all three and my level didn’t increase at all. This means these guys are all…

“Fragments of Greed animating corpses.”

“How annoying. We’re facing demons right as we enter?”

“Ugh, I hate Greed. Even a high-ranking demon once bit and ate my sword.”

“It’s okay! I’ll make them go boom with my skills!!”

It’s certain that fragments of Greed that the Chancellor missed are in this capital. But something bothers me. These guys seemed to be fighting with their own will. Can undead animated by fragments now fight with their own will? That never happened in the game…

“Let’s head to the imperial palace. The clock tower and church can wait.”

“Hmm. We can’t save everyone. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices.”

“Urgh. At least let me go to the church or clock tower…!”

“Ray, while your skills would probably handle enemies like these, don’t forget. You and Greed are extremely incompatible. Let’s prioritize the enemy leader for now.”

Ragni firmly begins moving, excluding the church and clock tower, and Ray follows behind her, gritting her teeth in frustration.

Enemies who don’t give experience when killed and rise again. It would be simple to conclude that demon fragments are responsible, but something keeps bothering me.

‘…I told Ragni about my past life, but she’s not saying anything, so it’s probably just my paranoia.’

I properly told Ragni about Greed. And I shared everything I knew about the Holy Church, our current enemy. If she’s not saying anything, then this must be right.

After confirming that Gor absorbed the bodies defeated by the Chancellor and Ragni with slime fluid, in case fragments might come to reclaim them, we began following Ragni and Ray.

The fallen heart of the empire lies before our eyes.