“Oh? You’re remarkably well-informed for chicken feed. To recognize my unique skill, 『Rule of Law』, at a glance.” Bellows sounded surprised. In an age with thousands of unique skills and more Rare Skills and Common Skills than anyone could count, identifying a unique skill at a glance took extraordinary knowledge, even with a clue as distinctive as a statute book. But for Yu Na-gyeong, a former PAB agent, it was only natural. Which made her all the more bewildered.

[“How can you use 『Rule of Law』? That’s the Court Archduke’s unique skill!”]

“Is that a problem?”

[“Of course it is! Unless you’re the Court Archduke in disguise...”]

Na-gyeong stopped short.

A unique skill was a skill only one person possessed. That was an absolute truth of the Iron Age, and why players with unique skills were considered special. So if someone else had the very same unique skill? There was only one answer.

“What is there to be surprised about?” Bellows asked mockingly as Na-gyeong stood stunned by the answer she had reached. “It’s common knowledge that if the previous owner dies, another player can be granted their unique skill.”

He was right. If the owner of a unique skill died, another player could obtain the same skill. It was rare, but not unprecedented. After all, there would still be only one owner at a time, and it was the constellation the player had contracted with that granted the skill. There was nothing logically wrong with Bellows’s explanation. Except for one thing.

[“You’re saying the Court Archduke died?”]

“How else could I use 『Rule of Law』?”

[“That’s impossible! How could a woman who went toe-to-toe with the Summoning Monarch die?!”]

Na-gyeong demanded an explanation. Even allowing for a slight advantage, a player below level 100 fighting a Monarch to a draw was a legendary feat. That was why so few had worried about the Court Archduke’s safety even after she disappeared. It was hard for anyone to believe she had died without a soul knowing. But when Bellows spoke, Na-gyeong received an even greater shock.

“Feed her poison, cut off her limbs, and throw her to monsters, and even the Court Archduke dies.”

[“... What did you do?”]

“Didn’t you hear me? Or would you rather pretend you didn’t?”

His smile was cold, his tone mocking. That unmistakable confirmation chilled Na-gyeong to the bone.

[“You killed the Court Archduke?”]

“It was a most enjoyable assignment.”

[“And ‘Stern Judge of the Law,’ the Court Archduke’s constellation, gave 『Rule of Law』 straight to the person who killed its own contractor?”]

“More or less.”

[“That’s impossible!”]

“I see no reason why. It is the great constellation that decides who receives a unique skill.”

[“But that would mean... It would be as if...!”]

Na-gyeong could not bring herself to finish. Something had surfaced in her mind—so vague and indistinct, yet so terribly ominous and horrifying. She had no idea how to put it into words.

“Whether you think it’s possible or not, that isn’t for you to decide.” Bellows cared nothing for what Na-gyeong might say. A cold sneer settled on his face. “Just as your life is now entirely mine to decide.”

[“...!”]

Na-gyeong’s face fell as she saw his hand reach toward her. With Teleportation blocked, escape was impossible. And his murderous smile told her what he intended to do.

‘I knew I shouldn’t have gotten involved.’ Why had she done something so suicidal? Lamenting her own stupidity, Na-gyeong squeezed her eyes shut.

[“Team Leader, please make sure you delete my phone’s search history!”]

* * *

“W-w-w-w-wait!”

“What, are you rapping? Nice rhythm you’ve got there.”

“If you’re going to kill me, at least hear me out first! I’ll tell you a secret, an important secret!”

“Pathetic. You’ve died dozens of times already, and now you’d sell out a secret just to save this one miserable life?”

“I wouldn’t go this far if I could just die and be done with it! I’m doing this because you keep killing me so damn fast, comrade!”

Ryu Gang-cheol shouted with both hands raised. Perhaps because he died so easily, he had already assumed a pose of surrender before Limon even appeared this time. Limon paused his sword mid-swing at Ryu’s words.

“Fine. You’ve got exactly one minute. Spit it out.”

“What am I supposed to tell you in just one minute?!”

“Then die, asshole. Think I don’t know you’re trying to stall?”

Limon’s answer was as sharp as a sword cut. Ryu clicked his tongue, then looked over Limon’s white hair, the scar by his eye, and the sword in his hand.

“Aren’t you that guy? Simon Acapalla or whatever, the last Sword Master?”

“Limon Aspelder, asshole.”

“Weren’t you on bad terms with the Seven Dragons Society, comrade? That’s what the old textbooks said.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’re saying the textbooks were wrong?”

“Of course they were.” Limon snorted. “You think we’re merely on bad terms? That’s like calling mortal enemies childhood friends.”

He and the Seven Dragons Society had tried to kill each other well over a thousand times. Mere bad terms didn’t begin to cover it. Watching Limon proudly recount a grudge centuries in the making, Ryu stared at him in disbelief. “... Then why are you involved in this, comrade?”

“Because I feel like it.” His hatred of the Seven Dragons Society was no reason to let bastards like the Liberation Brigade run wild. Limon said so without hesitation, then fixed Ryu with an icy stare.

“Now that you’re done babbling, tell me this secret of yours. If it’s important, I’ll use the back of my blade on you next time.”

“That’s a double-edged sword! It doesn’t have a back! How are you supposed to hit me with it?”

“I meant I’d just kill you.”

“You call that a bargain?!”

“Sure. If all you’ve got is more bullshit, next time I won’t cut you down. I’ll beat you to death.”

Once Ryu had been beaten to death, he would understand how lucky he’d been to die cleanly from a single sword stroke. Limon smiled grimly. Ryu stared at that murderous smile, every bit as menacing as the Liberation Brigade’s killers, then recovered enough to sneer.

“Don’t be so cocky. This isn’t the time to celebrate toying with me, comrade.”

“What bullshit is this now?”

“By now, my comrade will be tearing Leviathan apart.”

As though venting his frustration at having dozens of clones cut down one after another without putting up a fight, Ryu grinned. “I’ll admit you’re strong, but it’s already too late for you to go back and stop it. If you want to blame someone, blame that stupid head of yours...”

CRACK!

In an instant, Limon swung his sword and slammed its flat against Ryu’s neck. Struck by a surface without an edge, Ryu’s head stayed attached, but his neck broke at an unnatural angle. Watching him cough up bloody foam, Limon spoke quietly. “Your minute’s up.”

“G-gh... I was... still talking...”

“Then you should’ve told me something important, asshole, instead of spouting that worthless bullshit.”

“Y-you’ll regret... it.”

Ryu struggled to sneer, but his broken neck only made him look ridiculous. Limon answered with a cold smile. “I doubt it. The moment you chose to target Leviathan, you lot were the ones destined for regret.”

“What... does that...”

THUD!

As if he could not be bothered with Ryu any longer, Limon kicked him in the head, twisting his already broken neck a full 360 degrees. He clicked his tongue. “Players. Every last one of them.”

Forget attacking one place to draw attention from another. They had schemed up all manner of tricks while neglecting the most basic rule: know your enemy and know yourself. How typical of players. If they hadn’t treated crime like a game—charging their enemies head-on as though playing one—and had properly investigated the Seven Dragons Society, they would never have devised such an idiotic plan.

“If you’re going to attack a place, at least find out who’s there, you morons.”

Who had set this entire affair in motion. And who their enemies were. Lamenting the fools who had rushed in so confidently without knowing even that much, Limon took three steps in pursuit of Ryu’s next clone.

* * *

BOOM!

[“... Huh?”]

Na-gyeong had braced for her second death and delivered what was, for all intents and purposes, her last request. Just as Bellows reached to seize her, his body smashed through a wall and flew to the far side of the inverted-pyramid-shaped corridor like someone hit by a truck and sent to another world. Of all places, he crashed into a shop specializing in scented oils. He was drenched by the contents of shattered bottles—and then a decorative candlestick toppled, setting him ablaze.

“There’s something I’m curious about.”

Na-gyeong blinked blankly at the oil shop where Bellows lay buried. It had gone up in flames before being engulfed by fire-suppression gas pouring from the ceiling. At the clear, bell-like voice, she turned her head with a creak.

“Why did you ask him to delete your search history?”

How long had she been there? The air had been empty a moment ago. Now, from a delicate hand that jutted out only as far as the elbow, a girl emerged as though drawing back a curtain of space. Na-gyeong’s beak fell open.

[“... Princess? Why are you popping out of there?”]

“Now, why might that be?”

The ebony-haired girl, Li Qingyu, smiled as she always did and lifted Na-gyeong together with the violin case. She settled Na-gyeong on her shoulder, then slowly ran her other hand over the case. “So this was what they were after.”

[“It was, but... how did you know?”]

“Because I saw it.”

[“What???”]

What kind of answer was that? It explained nothing. Na-gyeong stared at her, baffled.

CRASH!

“... That was quite a hit.” Bellows walked out, sending the remains of the half-collapsed oil shop tumbling down around him. Despite the tremendous blow and the flames that had engulfed him, he bore neither a wound nor a trace of soot. He brushed a little dust from his shoulder and asked, “Since when?”

Na-gyeong blinked at the abrupt question. Bellows looked past the flames at Li Qingyu, who was still smiling brightly, and asked again, his eyes cold. “I’ll ask you once more. Since when have you been following me?”

“Let me think.”

Even under his icy, murderous gaze, Qingyu showed no fear. She merely looked thoughtful for a moment before answering with a faint smile. “I couldn’t tell you the exact time, but perhaps since you crushed three or four of my clan’s warriors?”