episode_0008

The cloaked silhouettes there said nothing. I, too, didn’t expect an answer, and examined their armaments hidden beneath their robes.

Three in total.

One Musketeer who’d already blown a hole through the auctioneer’s head, one Swordsman, and finally, though not certain, one who appeared to be a Mage.

It was then.

Bang!

The Musketeer swiftly aimed their gun and pulled the trigger. Without any unnecessary words. They simply pulled the trigger without hesitation.

But the bullet never reached me. Its trajectory warped on its own, twisting its intended path and losing its way.

The constantly active .

“Why did you pull the trigger?”

“—.”

“Did you expect that action to have meaning?”

So I asked.

The cloaked group continued to remain silent. They probably knew it better than anyone. That it was meaningless. Yet they did it anyway. It must mean they were cornered to that extent.

“Answer my question.”

I said, unconcerned.

“That is, here, your only chance for your actions to have meaning.”

“—Shut up, you monster.”

Only then did the man in the robe finally speak. Not hesitating to call me a monster. He re-gripped his hilt and closed the distance.

A sweeping flash as he charged and swung. Judging by the swinging blade, it was a piece of equipment of a considerably high grade.

When I realized, the Musketeer also kicked off the ground behind them, pulling the triggers of the magic muskets held in both hands.

Meanwhile, the man who appeared to be a Mage simply remained silent, taking no action on his own.

‘ and .’

What the two of them unleashed were physical-type techniques corresponding to magic, commonly known as . Furthermore, they were top-tier skills obtainable only at level 70 or higher.

Although there were slight differences depending on the series, both were techniques capable of defeating even final bosses without much difficulty.

The sword tip danced, flashing like lightning, and bullets rained down.

Crash!

Every time the sword tip swung and sword energy scattered, the surrounding terrain and structures were sliced, shattered, and crumbled.

The magic muskets also unleashed a barrage of fire, making a deafening roar as if firing cannonballs, not mere bullets.

Yet, before it all, I didn’t even flinch. There was no need to move.

It wasn’t me that moved. It was the world.

The labyrinth’s structure spontaneously changed, creating walls, or automatically widening distances that should have narrowed, or erecting barriers to block the barrage.

“!”

At that moment, the Swordsman desperately closed the distance within the world that widened like a living creature, and finally reached me.

When he swung his sword, thinking he had finally reached me, that single strike was blocked by an invisible barrier protecting me, unable to even leave a scratch.

At the same time, the distance he had barely managed to close widened again, and we were once again facing each other over ten meters apart.

The Labyrinth of Infinite Corridors.

Within this barrier, I could freely manipulate the structure and form of the world according to my will.

Only something of this caliber could be called an ultimate-tier barrier magic. A barrier isn’t just about putting up a good fence.

“Still don’t understand?”

This wasn’t a fight. From the beginning, there was no awareness of it being a fight. Since it wasn’t a fight, concepts like victory or defeat didn’t even exist.

Just as no one torments ants and calls it a victory.

Therefore, I did nothing. I simply enlightened them.

I extended my arm. A black current of air flickered at my fingertips, condensing into a spherical form and shooting out.

It was just a Fireball.

The lowest-grade offensive magic granted immediately upon changing to the Mage class.

“—Ah.”

“Louis!”

A pitch-black Fireball, devoid of any flames or redness, pierced through the Swordsman.

Only then did the Musketeer reveal an undeniable tremor of emotion from the shadows beneath their hood.

The unique characteristics of the class.

The “Sure-Hit” characteristic, which ensures projectile attack magic never misses, and “Black Flame,” which merges the curse attribute with the fire attribute.

Furthermore, among the representative effects of the curse attribute is ‘instant death with a certain probability.’ Just like now.

“I will ask one last time.”

I said.

“Why did you impersonate our names?”

Towards the two who were not yet dead.

Their goal wasn’t money or fame. It wasn’t that the opponent in front of them was wrong, but with their level of skill, they could easily acquire both and more.

Above all, those who seek fame wouldn’t try to hide themselves like that.

Money? The cost of their swords and magic muskets alone would be enough to buy several grand mansions in the Empire.

Neither wealth nor glory.

Finally, among the reasons people live, after discarding wealth and glory, only one remains.

—Conviction.

The reason for living, and paradoxically, the reason for not fearing death.

“Tell me your reason. Then I promise to let you live.”

“As if I would tell you!”

It was as expected.

The Musketeer re-gripped their two guns and hardened their resolve. A power incomparable to before surged around them, condensing into the barrels of the two magic muskets.

I didn’t bother to stop them, just watched.

.

A Musketeer’s buff skill that maximizes weapon output to enhance the power of the next attack.

They brought forth maximum output, and the muzzles of both guns pointed towards me.

Pillars of light spewed forth.

‘!’

Before that technique—I silently held my breath.

It wasn’t because I felt danger from its unexpectedly overwhelming power, or because I was moved by the resolve he displayed.

It was the answer itself.

.

A unique technique that only one advanced class of Musketeer could use.

When I realized, the surging storm of light had already swallowed me. No, it tried to swallow me.

But it couldn’t.

After the light faded and the storm subsided, when I reappeared without a single scratch.

What would the Musketeer think seeing that? I couldn’t know. There was no way to know.

Because when he unleashed that single strike by drawing upon his last ounce of strength, the price was his life.

Leaving the Musketeer’s corpse fallen on the ground behind me, I finally began to walk.

No longer moving the world around me, but with my own two feet.

Towards the man who remained silent until the very end, even as the Swordsman and Musketeer died after their final desperate struggles.

“Why are you silent?”

I asked him.

“Because… it’s useless anyway.” The man replied with a hollow laugh. His voice was mixed with a sense of resignation.

“Because nothing I do will work against you.”

The face beneath the hood was trembling with fear.

“Are you afraid of dying?”

“…Of course, I am.”

“Then why did you do something that would lead to your death?”

I asked again.

“—Answer me. Then I promise to let you live unharmed.”

“I, I can’t.”

Nevertheless, the man shook his head. Even while trembling in fear of death.

“E-even if death is terrifying and frightening… it was something I had to do.”

The man before me was a coward.

“Because I believe that what I’m doing is—absolutely not meaningless.”

It was the desperate courage squeezed out by a coward.

He didn’t want to die. He knew it would come to this from the start. Yet, he was prepared.

“….”

I didn’t answer. Nothing would change.

Moreover, there was no need to hear the answer from his own words.

Because I had already heard it.

I simply extended my arm without a word and took his life. After taking it, I stood up.

The separate domain was dispelled, and the interior of the auction house reappeared.

To the place where the Empire’s wealthiest and most powerful individuals were trapped within the barrier, unable to escape.

“You, you scoundrels! Do you dare know who I am?!”

Right there, a pot-bellied man ripped off his pig mask and shouted.

“I, I am none other than of the Brettona Imperial Council’s…!”

Gulp!

Before the pot-bellied man could continue speaking, the shadow beneath his feet swallowed him whole.

“Ah, Commander! I waited! I thought I’d die of boredom waiting!”

Alice approached, smiling brightly. I silently watched the pot-bellied man being devoured behind her.

Of course, there was no reason for that man to die. It was the auction house staff who impersonated the Serpent to commit the deed, not them.

At the same time, there doesn’t necessarily need to be a reason for someone to die at the hands of a villain.

I didn’t intend to kill all the guests here, but I had to kill enough for the world to hear of our infamy and tremble.

Those here, the most powerful and wealthy, and “corrupt and depraved” rulers of the Empire.

“W-who do you think I am!”

“W-what are you doing! Protect me right now! Like this, the Imperial Family’s—”

“I am the one who serves His Majesty—!”

Fighting poison with poison. That is, subduing poison with poison.

That was their objective.

So, for now, I decided to play along.

The top-tier Art, Helios Shot, that only one class in the Era of Heroes could wield.

A unique class obtainable by completing a special Imperial quest as a Musketeer, and a class that NPCs of the Brettona Imperial Secret Intelligence Division inherently possessed.

Also known as the .

A bitter smile escaped me after thinking about it.

That patriotism, sacrificing their lives for their country.

I was curious about the expressions on their faces when they realized what their conviction, which didn’t even hesitate to use the name of the 《Black Serpent》 for their cause, had ultimately brought upon their homeland.