The Support Ate it All

[Déjà Vu(S)] had an incredibly low activation rate and triggered whenever it felt like it, but lately its timing had been especially strange.

Like when it went off in PvP and let me flatten Mr. J and Mr. W into pancakes with the second stage of [Pulverize Zone].

Didn’t think it could hit [Invitation] too.

That made it even more unexpected, since I hadn’t even been sure it was possible in the first place.

Of course, I was only surprised for a moment before I started calculating again.

Nice. Let’s send him in one more time.

To do that, I needed to guide him into choosing Accept.

So I started improvising on the spot.

A strange gleam in my eyes, I said,

“Looks like today really is a lucky day. To think you failed, yet were granted another chance.”

“...Another chance?”

The Blood Cult Leader asked back, clearly suspicious.

From his perspective, he had just barely come out of some unknown place where he’d gotten beaten senseless by unknown masters, and now I was telling him there was more to come.

So I answered in an indifferent tone.

“It happens from time to time. There are those who prove themselves worthy of taking the test again.”

“...!”

“Of course, there’s always the option of leaving it for another day. If you’re afraid of facing the strong again.”

It was that eternally effective provocation technique.

What, scared?

At that point, the Cult Leader basically couldn’t back out.

Everyone here had heard what I said, and if he rejected the invitation now?

That would be no different from admitting he was afraid of the strong.

Soon, even with blood still running from the corner of his mouth, the Blood Cult Leader smiled boldly.

“I came all the way to this distant land for the sake of challenge from the start. To measure myself against the strong.”

“Right. That is how a martial artist should be.”

“I will pass this test, shatter the wall before me, and step into a still higher realm.”

That was basically a declaration that he would challenge it again, so the Protector Hall experts immediately began spreading their formation just like before.

The Cult Leader also closed his eyes again, seated cross-legged exactly as he had been moments earlier.

“......”

The time he spent inside my inner world was shorter than on the first attempt.

He’d already gotten thoroughly beaten once, and this time he went back in without even a moment to recover his condition.

Soon enough, his body started trembling violently, and then his eyes snapped open—

“GAAAAH—!”

And he vomited an enormous amount of blood.

So much that it made me wonder whether that much blood could really come out of a human body.

Then dark red spread across patches of his skin, and veins bulged up all over him.

The Chief Protector shouted in alarm.

“The Supreme One has gone into deviation! Escort him out at once!”

He had realized those were the early symptoms of deviation.

If they left him alone, his condition would only deteriorate faster, so every Blood Cult expert there rushed in at once.

Then they half-restrained the Cult Leader and sat him back into the four-man palanquin he had arrived in.

Facing me again, the Chief Protector asked,

“It seems the test was a failure.”

“As you can see.”

“What exactly happened in there?”

“Ask him later. Or experience it for yourself.”

Of course, I couldn’t use [Invitation] again for a while because of the cooldown, but I bluffed anyway to maintain the concept.

I was betting they wouldn’t dare step forward and demand the test themselves.

Right now their top priority was getting the Cult Leader out of here safely.

“......”

The Chief Protector glared at me with killing intent, but I returned a look that plainly said, So what?

In the end, he squeezed his eyes shut and said,

“...We will withdraw for today.”

“Do as you like.”

But just as the Blood Cult group started trudging away like a defeated army—

WOOOOOONG—

TICK— TOCK— TICK— TOCK—

A huge golden ring rose high into the sky, and black and white stained the space around us.

Even the lake began to churn more violently.

Naturally, the ones causing this change were the three guardians and dragons.

Seeing that, the Chief Protector’s face turned rigid.

“So you only watched until now, and the moment it ends, you interfere?”

Dark Dragon Lord and Sky-Healing Dragon Jupiter answered in turn.

“We watched only out of courtesy toward the Sovereign.”

“We refrained from interfering because he was an honored guest.”

“But now that the test is over, that no longer seems necessary.”

Grinding his teeth, the Chief Protector spat out,

“You lizard bastards... petty in a way that doesn’t suit your size.”

“What’s petty here is you humans, isn’t it?”

WOOOOONG—

Magic circles swelled at terrifying speed, filling the area, and the atmosphere grew heavier by the second.

In that state, Sky-Healing Dragon Jupiter continued.

“You stepped into Meteor Dragon’s territory with your filthy mud-caked feet. And with intentions that were anything but pure.”

“...!”

“And now that the situation has turned against you, you plan to simply pull back? You seem to be under the delusion that this place is your own backyard.”

A sense of crisis rose across the faces of the Chief Protector and the other masters.

Looks like they’d realized the dragons had a point.

And even if they didn’t, if the dragons decided to attack by sheer force, they’d have no choice but to fight.

And if they fight, that side loses. No question.

It would already be hard to guarantee victory when the Cult Leader was in perfect condition, and right now he was sprawled out inside the palanquin.

The Chief Protector let out a long, low groan, then looked at me like he had no other option left.

“Could you mediate so that our cult may leave this place?”

“And why should I?”

“Is this not the result of your test?”

“The one who accepted it was the Cult Leader. The responsibility lies with him as well.”

When I answered coldly, the Chief Protector’s complexion darkened further.

The Blood Cult masters looked the same.

Apparently they’d concluded they had no choice but to prepare for annihilation, because they gripped their weapons and burned with fighting spirit.

That’s enough. The mood is set.

I added one more line in passing.

“Of course, it would be inaccurate to say I bear no responsibility at all. And in the spirit of respect toward a martial artist, I could attempt mediation.”

“...Truly?”

“However, asking enemies to let you go is an extremely rude thing to do, no matter how honored a guest may be.”

At that point, the Chief Protector seemed to understand my intent.

“You want compensation.”

“Your Cult Leader showed desperation. You should show loyalty.”

Some people also called that showing sincerity.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then took out a small wooden case from his chest and threw it toward me.

I checked the item description with a lightning-fast side glance.

[Great Rejuvenation Pill(A)]

The Blood Cult really is a complete elixir warehouse.

I had no idea how they kept handing me such body-friendly gifts every single time we met.

I almost rubbed my hands together and bowed like Shin Byeongcheol.

But I forced myself to hold back.

Still not enough.

It was more than generous for a payment earned with a few words, but considering the other party was S-rank, it fell a little short of expectations.

Hadn’t the Ironblood War Demon Commander alone been carrying two A-rank elixirs?

So I turned a flat stare on him.

“......”

“......”

And apparently he once again caught the hidden meaning in my eyes.

—You’re severely lacking in loyalty.

—Is that really all your Cult Leader’s life is worth?

The dragons and the other blood-robed men were all watching him too, so the pressure had to be several times worse than usual.

Soon he dug through his inventory with a somewhat sour expression and handed me a complex mechanical device about the size of a soccer ball.

[Trait Extractor(S)]

The Blood Cult really is a full-blown treasure vault.

An item that could extract an item option and make it mine.

Just like [Thousand-Year Evergreen(S+)], which I’d received from the Cult Leader as the testing fee, this was something I’d been planning to go get on my own eventually.

Getting it this way saved me a lot of trouble.

So I put the extractor away into my inventory in an extremely satisfied mood.

Naturally, I didn’t give the Great Rejuvenation Pill back either.

“I’ll buy you a little time. It would be best for you to leave this place as quickly as possible.”

“...I can only be grateful for your leniency.”

“Withdraw the ones waiting in Hyeseong as well.”

“Of course.”

The Chief Protector nodded, then immediately sent instructions with a glance.

Soon the blood-robed men began retreating like an ebbing tide.

Watching them go, Dark Dragon Lord said,

“You really squeezed them dry.”

“Thanks to all of you playing your part.”

This had also been part of my plan.

When I spoke with the dragons earlier, I’d already tipped them off.

I told them to apply pressure when the Blood Cult tried to withdraw.

That way I could step in pretending to mediate and strip items off them.

Dark Dragon Lord nodded.

“Good cop, bad cop. A success.”

“Something like that.”

“That was a sick, absolutely cracked plan.”

But between squeezed them dry and absolutely cracked, what was with this vocabulary?

What kind of entertainment did he usually enjoy, exactly?

Meanwhile, Neptune was staring at the departing Blood Cult party with obvious disappointment in her eyes.

“That ended kinda flat! I thought I was finally gonna get to stretch my muscles for once.”

“It ending flat is precisely why it was fortunate. Do not become obsessed with battle.”

At Sky-Healing Dragon Jupiter’s rebuke, Neptune spoke again.

“Wouldn’t it have been cleaner to wipe out the rest of those humans too? Finish off the Cult Leader while we were at it.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

Eliminating future trouble had its merits.

Of course, we’d already discussed that thoroughly too.

Sky-Healing Dragon Jupiter answered in an even tone.

“They are by no means easy opponents. And humans often draw out even greater strength in battles where their lives are on the line.”

This battle would have happened under far better conditions than the future Meteor Dragon had seen through astrology, but even so, we still would have suffered significant damage.

And that would have pushed them toward entering their sleep cycles that much sooner.

Dark Dragon Lord chimed in, gesturing toward Hyeseong.

“The humans living in the city would’ve taken damage too.”

If the Cult Leader and the Protector Hall members had launched an all-out struggle for their lives, the forces lying in wait across the new city would have gone berserk too and started rampaging freely.

Even if the final result was certain and they all got subdued, the loss of life would have been significant.

Even judged purely on practical terms, the losses outweighed the gains.

Take the settlement method for the main quest, for example.

The extra reward I’d gain by completely sweeping away the Cult Leader and the Protector Hall would be smaller than what I’d lose from the dragons getting injured and casualties occurring on our side.

That was why we’d decided to cut things off here.

Of course, it’s true that a risk factor remains.

The two invitations had left the Blood Cult Leader with enormous mental damage, and on top of that, he had fallen into deviation.

Still, he wasn’t a complete ruin.

Once he returned and recuperated, he’d recover someday.

And when he does, he’ll come back even stronger.

One way or another, he had gotten his wish and fought desperate battles against the powerful figures in my inner world.

That meant the insights he’d gained from it had to be considerable as well.

Going in twice wouldn’t mean twice the insight, and the second time he’d even forced himself in with a damaged body.

Still, I figured he’d probably gained about 1.3 insights’ worth.

Anyway, the important thing is that we bought time.

To recover and sort through those insights, a month or two wouldn’t even come close to enough.

And since he led a giant organization called the Blood Cult, he’d also need time to replenish the masters he’d burned through and clean up his forces inside the academy.

While those bastards reorganized, we’d grow stronger too.

The optimal scenario is for us to reach EX-rank at the same time as him, or before him.

Then when the Blood Cult Leader came back, we could send him packing all over again.

I swore to myself once more that I’d have to work even harder from here on out.

Just then, the notification I’d been waiting for appeared in one corner of my vision.

Main Quest 5

▷Objective: Sweep away the dark clouds hanging over Hyeseong.

[Beginning settlement.]