Clang!
A greatsword as tall as a man clashed against a long katana.
‘What strength for an old man…!’
The clash of their blades, a blend of feints and genuine strikes, had already reached its fifth exchange.
Dante held the advantage in speed, yet Lucius was by no means lagging behind.
Moreover, the disparity in power between the two was starkly evident.
“Even an old lion is still a lion, it seems?”
Lucius, wreathed in azure flames and radiating a murderous aura, was truly the king of beasts personified.
With each exchange of blades, destructive power erupted from his massive greatsword, accompanied by the searing heat of the blue flames.
Furthermore, the balance of feints and genuine strikes, born from countless experiences, made him arguably the strongest opponent Dante had ever faced.
In the center of the arena, the old lion stood proudly, his greatsword held aloft.
Having completed the evacuation of the spectators, the knight order slowly tightened their encirclement.
Though it was truly a moment of desperate crisis, a smile never left Dante’s lips.
Such crises, he knew, only amplified the dramatic effect.
It was time to unveil the power he had recently acquired.
“Ah, I hadn’t wanted to use it in a place like this.”
It was a lie.
In truth, for a full week before the operation, Dante had pondered endlessly on how best to showcase this power with maximum flair.
“Watch closely.”
This, however, was genuine.
Dante sincerely wished for Lucius and the knights gathered here to witness his cool demeanor.
“And don’t tell anyone!”
This was a lie too.
He fervently hoped that everyone present would spread word of this spectacle across the entire world.
“Here I come!”
****
The Dandelion.
It was the Leonhart family’s heirloom and a holy relic steeped in ancient history.
Mentioned only in passing in the original story, it was said to be the symbol of the Leonhart patriarch.
Once a year, the Dandelion was displayed to the public during the closing ceremony of the Golden Festival.
The champions of each event would place their hands over their hearts, envisioning their futures.
Then, the Leonhart patriarch would illuminate the Dandelion, blessing the futures they envisioned.
This was a long-standing tradition of the Golden Festival, passed down through generations.
Furthermore, it was said that on the day of the closing ceremony, before its commencement, the Dandelion was transported to the arena’s underground.
Maria had wondered why such a crucial artifact wasn’t kept in the mansion or by the patriarch himself, but it made sense considering the arena was where the most personnel were deployed during the Golden Festival.
Moreover, with the patriarch spending the entire day at the arena during the ceremony, few would even conceive of stealing the Dandelion.
However, the Journey was no ordinary organization.
It wasn’t just some group that incidentally claimed the role of main villain and mastermind behind the story.
Naturally, Dante, a high-ranking member, and even ordinary members like Maria, were all far from commonplace individuals.
The fact that they could breach the arena’s security and access the Dandelion simply meant their opponents were formidable, not that the Leonhart family was incompetent.
“So far, everything’s according to plan.”
V had been the one to first propose this operation.
Having personally witnessed Maria’s duel with U last year, V reportedly conceived a plan centered around Maria and Dante almost immediately.
Maria hadn’t truly expected such a simple diversionary tactic to succeed, but what could they do?
Dante’s aggro (TL Note: A gaming term for drawing enemy attention) had been far more effective than anticipated, and Bokja was, in Maria’s eyes, unnecessarily competent.
‘Zzzzzzing….’
‘No, I take back “unnecessarily”.’
‘Since Bokja could share thoughts with Maria, Maria had to be careful with every single word.’
‘Maria had once spent three days diligently appeasing Bokja after they had gotten severely sulky.’
“Yes, our Bokja.
Bokja is always competent.”
‘Zzzzzzing!’
While appeasing Bokja and searching for the Dandelion, they arrived at a massive iron door.
Though not as grand as the iron door to Won’s audience chamber, this door was also of considerable size.
“Stand aside. I’ll open it.”
As Maria halted before the iron door, B, who had been walking behind, approached the door, flexing their muscles.
While B’s muscles were certainly impressive by ordinary standards, Maria couldn’t help but wonder if they were truly worth showing off, especially after witnessing U’s physique last year.
B flung open the heavy-looking iron door and struck a pose to display their strength, but to Maria, it merely seemed like an act of bravado, as U would likely have simply smashed such a door.
“There are no magical traps. I’m not sure about physical ones, though.”
Ignoring B’s boastful pose, V entered the room and used magic to detect their surroundings.
All members of the Journey wore masks, so their exact appearance or gender was unknown.
However, seeing V’s chest (TL Note: A slang term, ‘mideu,’ referring to a woman’s breasts, often used in a suggestive way) assert its presence with every step, Maria was certain V was female.
B, whose head kept turning towards V’s chest, was likely male, just as his physique suggested.
Of course, there was a possibility that B was a woman as serious about muscle-bound machismo as U, but if such a maniac truly existed more than once in this world, it would simply be a sign of the world’s impending doom.
Besides, unlike U, B’s voice exuded a deep macho scent from the start, making it clear he was male.
If this world had been a game made by a Western developer, there might have been a twist, like B being transgender or a third gender, but fortunately, the world Maria had fallen into was a ‘weeb game’ (TL Note: A Korean slang term, ‘ssibeodeok geim,’ referring to a game primarily aimed at otaku or anime/manga fans) made in Korea, not a Western one.
A macho man and a glamorous woman, huh?
It was almost like seeing U’s ‘before’ and ‘after’ forms gathered in one place.
Though U’s appearance was even more macho, the overall vibe was similar, so it wasn’t an inaccurate comparison.
“Hm? Why are you both staring at me like that? Is there something you need?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Yes, truly nothing at all.”
‘Damn, had Maria stared too obviously?’
‘But Maria couldn’t help it…’
‘Every time Maria saw a woman with such a good figure, Maria couldn’t help but imagine them as a maid…’
****
‘Destiny’ was an SRPG.
It was a game where everything except battles progressed through illustrations and text alone.
The story unfolded via text, and naturally, when exploring such labyrinths, only background CGs were displayed.
Even with knowledge from the original story, a few background images would hardly be helpful for exploration.
Nevertheless, perhaps because it was a place where people’s footsteps hadn’t ceased until recently, they reached the Dandelion’s chamber surprisingly quickly.
It was a vast, empty room, so desolate that the word “cavernous” seemed fitting.
And at its very center, carefully enshrined, lay a holy greatsword of gleaming gold.
The sight instantly brought to mind a boss room from a game.
It was probably a boss room.
While the Dandelion was never stolen in the original story, Won wouldn’t have asked them to retrieve it without a good reason.
There must have been a clear reason for needing the Dandelion, and in the original story, Won would have likely attempted to seize it at some point.
Perhaps this room was where the Journey, acting on Won’s orders, would have fought fiercely to steal the Dandelion.
However, the timeline had significantly diverged from the original, and there was no one to play the role of the boss.
Therefore, from this moment on, Maria would have to become the boss.
As B dashed towards the Dandelion, Maria subtly glanced back, checking the entrance they had used.
Peeking out from behind the wide-open door was a wisp of black hair.
It was Noir.
‘As expected, there was a shortcut to get here.’
‘Unlike them, who had wandered aimlessly to reach this place, Noir could have caught up by taking a shortcut.’
Noir was quietly observing their situation, hidden behind the door.
Maria had Bokja conceal Noir with shadows to prevent the other two from noticing, but the moment Noir moved, they would immediately realize.
‘That wouldn’t do.’
‘The boss who falls to the heroine, Noir, must be Maria alone.’
‘Only one of the three could become a Nine.’
‘Even if Maria attacked the two and monopolized the Dandelion here, it wouldn’t be considered strange from the perspective of the Journey, an organization known for its strong individualism.’
‘After defeating the two and obtaining the Dandelion, Maria would then confront Noir as the boss monster.’
‘However, Maria’s abilities were specialized for assassination.’
‘They were not efficient in direct combat.’
‘Having already expended considerable energy evading the knights and eliminating two other Journey members, Maria would ultimately fall to Noir’s attack.’
‘Oh, Maria had thought of it on the fly, but it was quite a natural scenario.’
‘Time to execute it immediately.’
‘Maria would become the boss…!’
Having finalized the plan, Maria called Bokja back and moved towards the two others.
‘A two-on-one fight would put Maria at a disadvantage.’
‘Maria would swiftly eliminate one of them with the fastest possible movements!’
“Gah! V, you… why…!”
“Oh, B. Did you truly believe we were comrades? Your brain must be as full of muscles as the rest of you.”
“Damn it…! Could it be, from the very beginning…!”
“Hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha! Only I shall become a Nine!”
“Huh?”
‘Why is that b*tch saying my lines?’
“Now, M. It’s your turn!”
“Huh?”
****
The sword aura unleashed by Alexandros sliced through the arena’s spectator stands.
Parts of the arena’s pillars collapsed, and the evacuating people screamed.
“Hmph!”
-Crash!
Yet, the pillars did not crush anyone.
This was thanks to Noir, who, wielding a greatsword as massive as herself, had moved with swiftness.
The white flames imbued in her greatsword safely protected the spectators from the falling rocks.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“Lady Noir. Truly, thank you so very much!”
Without a moment to savor the gratitude of the people, Noir swiftly rushed towards other spectators.
The terrorist, identified as Alexandros, was escalating his sword rampage.
While Lucius had initially responded calmly to prevent damage to the spectator stands, he now had no leisure to attend to them either.
Prioritizing the protection of the people, Noir watched the increasingly fierce struggle between the two men.
Each time Alexandros swung his sword, three dragons burst forth, sweeping through the area with his sword strikes.
It was neither mystical magic, nor a renowned sword imbued with special power, nor a holy relic invoking divine miracles.
It was the supreme realm, a state achieved only through the harmony of mind, body, and spirit, and manifested by intense yearning.
‘It was ‘Omnipotence’ (TL Note: A profound state of power or skill, literally ‘all-nothingness’ or ‘absence of everything,’ but in this context implies a unique, ultimate power).’
‘Why would a master of such caliber…!’
Following his sword rampage, three dragons wreaked havoc.
The arena was already half-destroyed, and the knights who had surrounded him dared not even consider intervening amidst those dragons.
In response, Lucius donned azure flame armor reminiscent of a lion, but it was insufficient to block the dragons.
‘Was he a madman reveling in destruction and chaos?’
‘Or a political rival aiming to diminish the Leonhart family’s prestige?’
Noir simply could not discern the man’s objective.
“Lady Noir! All spectators have been evacuated safely! You must go to a safe place now, too!”
“Wait, just a moment…”
‘She must have missed something.’
‘There had to be a reason why that man was doing all this.’
“Wait, who is in the underground right now?”
“The underground, you say? Most of the knights who were on standby there have already come out…”
“Ah…”
Hearing the knight’s words, Noir climbed onto the spectator stands and surveyed the entire arena.
As the knight had said, most of the knights were outside, protecting the people.
As soon as the evacuation was complete, many also rushed into the arena to assist Lucius.
Even if Alexandros was a swordsman of immense power, Lucius was by no means an easy opponent.
Even maintaining an advantage, one could not sustain that state indefinitely.
Gradually, his sword rampage and the dragons’ movements were slowing down.
Most likely, with the current situation, the mere arrival of the knights would resolve the arena’s predicament.
But if most of the knight order truly were outside right now, who was guarding the underground?
“Could it be…!”
As Noir took in the overall situation of the arena, the worst possible scenario flashed through her mind.
‘The act of terrorism itself wasn’t the objective.’
‘The terror was merely a diversion!’
‘It was just a conjecture that had sprung to her mind.’
But Noir’s intuition screamed that this was no mere guess.
“Grandfathe—!”
‘She couldn’t let this drag on.’
Noir hastily wanted to call out to Lucius, but seeing him reel back after taking a hit from the katana, she had no choice but to bite her tongue.
As time wore on, Lucius too was becoming fatigued and his concentration wavered.
If she were to speak to Lucius now, it might only put him in greater danger.
“Balot.”
“Yes, Lady.”
Having made up her mind, Noir called the knight who had been watching her.
In Balot’s eyes, as he approached at her summons, Noir’s gaze held an intensity unlike her usual demeanor.
“From now on, I will head to the underground. Balot, gather some of the knights who have finished evacuating the spectators and meet me at the Dandelion’s chamber.”
“Understood.”
Normally, Balot would have tried to dissuade Noir for her safety, but in the face of her uncharacteristic gaze, he dared not stop her.
It was the look of a noble aristocrat, one he had observed beside Lucius for over twenty years.
Faintly, yet unmistakably, Noir’s eyes held the same resolute glint as Lucius’s.
