Chapter 92: Rats and Vetitas (3)

"Not really..." Genius replied.

Around him, more spectral swords began to appear, five, ten, fifteen floating.

"Haru, she’s extremely strong..."

"Nah, you’re just scared." Haru smiled, his gray eyes gleaming slightly.

"Two against one. With coordination, constant pressure. Don’t let her breathe... we’ll get out of this."

"Genius, you go with reach. I’ll go with brute force."

"Maybe it’ll work..." said Genius, looking at his still trembling hand.

Seline advanced, an explosive dash like a white beam, at absurd speed.

Haru didn’t wait, he advanced too, already attacking, Vorath descending in a horizontal arc.

**CLANG.**

Spear and sword clashed, sparks and mana exploding on impact.

Haru’s horizontal attack. Seline had defended like nothing. Haru pressed harder and harder. "Damn, she’s strong..."

Haru smiled slightly, pressing even harder. "IGNITION!"

Vorath caught fire, Valtherion flames filling the entire blade.

Haru pressed harder, his strength doubling with the intense heat.

Seline spun her feet instantly, a perfect technique, letting Haru pass.

From the pressure he applied, he was thrown forward, momentarily losing his balance.

Seline took advantage of this brief moment of imbalance. She teleported, in white light, appearing behind Haru, her spear raised to execute him...

"Damn, I have to move now!" Haru thought in that short time.

But before she could...

Genius appeared in the air, a sword descending to cut her.

She disappeared again by teleportation, reappearing in the corner of the courtyard.

Her spear blazing intensely, preparing a full attack.

As soon as Haru regained his balance, she advanced.

Genius faced off this time, Haru followed soon after, and they exchanged rapid blows across the entire courtyard:

Haru and Genius vs. Seline.

All that could be heard was the sound of metal clashing, dust, and blurs of speed too fast for the normal eye to follow.

Seline dodged their blows effortlessly, with minimal movement, maximum efficiency, never wasting energy.

Haru and Genius were unable to dodge, only able to defend by blocking with their swords.

Genius fought with more than one sword, three floating around him, mentally controlled, attacking from different angles.

"Spectral Manifestation..." Seline thought, recognizing it. "A spirit that allows the use of multiple swords through mental control. Coordinated attacks."

She analyzed it while fighting.

"Useful. But his style is predictable... but even so, he’s dangerous."

"This other one... is different." Seline observed. "It doesn’t follow a common pattern... it’s like I’m dealing with several, not to mention his sword must weigh a lot. He’s chaotic but intentional."

Seline blocked Haru’s blow, which came with absurd force, almost making her recoil.

"I can feel his mana becoming unstable..."

They continued exchanging blows, they were getting faster and more chaotic, twenty, fifty, seventy blows.

No one gaining a clear advantage.

Until...

Genius took steps back, creating distance. He stretched his sword forward, and hundreds of spectral swords appeared behind him, floating in formation, glowing ghostly blue.

``

[Genius] We need to get out of here now! We don’t have time for this!"

[Haru] Right! One more attack!"

```

Haru advanced alone now against Seline.

"I have to concentrate... 100 swords, one mind, one target," Genius thought, his eyes gleaming gold.

Genius’s swords shot off, quick as machine guns, hundreds of them heading towards Seline.

A rain of spectral blades.

Seline knew the truth about these swords: "They’re not tangible in defense. They’re almost impossible to block. If I defend, they pass through me and pierce me."

She had played the game before, she knew this power, and when she came to Aethelgard she had sought this ability but never found it.

"So it’s him who has Kimyo’s1 spirit."

Seline had to dodge Haru’s unpredictable sword strikes and the swords that came like bullets, hundreds of them.

Haru wasn’t worried, he continued attacking harder and harder, pressing relentlessly, his right eye already turning black.

Seline seemed increasingly cornered, space shrinking, options running out.

And then when Haru got close enough...

Seline almost impaled his face with the spear

"STOP!" Haru shouted.

His voice came out differently, echoing with power, mana concentrated in his vocal cords.

```

[SKILL ACTIVATED: Mind Whisper]

```

Seline felt it as a profound suggestion, like an external will trying to control her body and mind, hesitating for a fraction of a second.

She almost stopped her attack.

And that was enough time for Haru, who swept her away with Vorath in a massive horizontal arc of flames.

"TOTAL IGNITION!"

A massive explosion, absurd heat, and a wave of pressure expanded, red flames engulfing everything.

It violently launched Seline; Vorath missed her by a hair’s breadth, but the wave of heat and pressure hurled her against the buildings of the women’s wing.

...

Dust rose throughout the wing, the Valtherion heat covering the area.

"Valtherion, huh?" Seline thought, rising, her body glowing with a magical barrier she had activated at the last second...

When she emerged from the dust, only she remained.

Haru and Genius had vanished.

"Those gamers..." she murmured, looking at the moon. "Interesting."

On the other side...

Haru and Genius ran among other Gamers, ignoring the total chaos, battles raging everywhere.

"RUN! RUN! RUN!" Genius shouted.

"SHIT!" Haru replied.

They entered the cathedral, an explosion echoed behind them, Custodians chasing someone.

"That elf is INSANE!" Genius shouted, running. "We only survived because she was alone!"

"And because I have talent!" Haru retorted.

"TALENT!? You almost DIED!"

"But I didn’t die!"

They descended the stairs to the basement with a bunch of Gamers they found there, also in a hurry.

Explosions echoed above.

"We’re almost there!" Genius pointed.

They arrived in a spacious corridor, high ceiling, ancient stone walls, magical torches illuminating it.

A giant door at the end, black metal engraved with protective runes.

And twenty Guardians blocking the way, silver masks, black armor and golden cloaks, holy weapons gleaming.

All the Gamers stopped.

Tense silence, ten Gamers in the corridor, all looking at the Guardians, heavy breathing, adrenaline at its peak.

"We’re going to BLOW EVERYTHING UP AND RUN!" A Gamer shouted from the front.

Everyone shouted in agreement, pure adrenaline, desperation, determination:

"YEAH!"

"FUCK IT!"

"We’re going to get this artifact one way or another!"

"LONG LIVE the Safe Zone! Fucking NPCs!"

"We’re going to BEAT Aethelgard whether we like it or NOT!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

They advanced together, a chaotic mass of Gamers charging attacks.

Each one prepared their attack: fireballs, ice spears, magic swords, summons, elemental explosions.

The Guardians advanced as well, perfect formation, silver masks gleaming, holy magic charging in unison.

The war truly began.

Gamers unleashed everything they had, without strategy, just pure brute force: FIREBALL! ICE LANCE! LIGHTNING STRIKE! SHADOW BLADE!

A corridor exploding in light and sound, absurd heat, cutting cold, crackling electricity.

The Guardians responded, creating a holy barrier, blocking most of the attacks.

Then they counter-attacked, spears of light piercing, sacred chains binding, divine judgment falling.

That guerrilla warfare there was absolute chaos.

Haru fought against a Guardian, with Vorath in flames.

There was blood, screams, bodies falling.

Genius, wielding ten swords, assisted the other Gamers.

But the Custodians were trained, absolute elite, with perfect coordination.

In small groups, the Custodians focused on one Gamer until they had killed him.

"CONTINUE!" Another Gamer shouted.

They advanced further, stepping on bodies, ignoring the wounded, focusing only on the door.

There was a massive explosion because a Gamer with suicidal fire magic had blown himself up, taking three Custodians with him. Walls cracked, stones fell.

Ten Custodians remained. Seven Gamers stood.

"ALMOST THERE!" Genius shouted.

The door opened.

...

A golden and imperial room, crystal chandeliers, expensive tapestries, a long mahogany table.

The Emperor, an almost old man, with gray hair, a trimmed beard, tired but sharp eyes, dined with his family: wife, children, grandchildren.

"SIR! SIR!" The butler came running, clearly desperate, forgetting protocol.

He entered without knocking.

The family looked on, surprised and uncomfortable.

The butler realized the mistake he had made, interrupting the imperial dinner, and stopped, frozen.

The Emperor sighed, not from anger, just exhaustion.

He waved his hand in a gesture of ’Come and tell me.’

The butler approached trembling, whispering in his ear:

"The Cathedral is now facing more than 100 Gamers... it could be destroyed before dawn... reinforcements!?"

The Emperor sighed again, more heavily.

He spoke aloud, ignoring that this could be confidential information, as if it were normal:

"Father Elias told me earlier today that this would happen. However, he stressed that he doesn’t need help. He will handle it alone."

"But sir..." the butler tried to protest, "...I mean, Your Highness... we’re talking about the Cathedral!"

"Eugin!" he called, ignoring the butler.

A young man sitting in the corner, eating quietly, his expression too calm, raised his head.

"My grandson... go."

Eugin, a man of about twenty-five, with a few goatee on his chin, a calm but empty gaze, a presence that made the air heavy, stood up.

"As you wish, Grandfather."

He took his leave with a slight bow and departed.

The butler fell silent, remaining there staring at the gravity of the situation.

"He moved the entire guard general..." he thought, astonished. "Eugin... the incarnation of the God of War!"

"Whatever is happening there..." the Emperor said, resuming his meal, "...will be over soon."

The family continued their dinner as if nothing had happened.

...

Upon arriving at his room, undecorated, with only weapons and armor on the walls.

Eugin touched the golden armor hanging there, gleaming slightly, engraved with the Empire’s symbol on the breastplate.

He put on piece by piece: shoulders, breastplate, bracelets, greaves.

He picked up the Imperial Guard General’s helmet, also golden, with a crest on top that caught fire when activated. He placed it.

Blue flames ignited on the crest, burning steadily, never extinguishing.

He walked to the balcony, enormous windows offering a complete view of the Capital.

He saw the Cathedral in the distance, explosions illuminating it, smoke rising, chaos visible even from that distance.

The system appeared before him.

```

[CRITICAL WARNING]

◊ Compilation to form IMAGO DEI: 7% complete

◊ Abrupt use of mana may affect stability

◊ Recommendation: Avoid full combat until 100%

◊ Estimated time to completion: ??? days

```

Eugin read.

He smiled, not a cheerful smile, but the smile of someone who doesn’t care.

"Fuck it..." he muttered.

He looked at the burning Cathedral. "Gamers... think they’re special. That they came from another world, that they have systems, that they see numbers floating. That this makes them superior."

He paused.

"But we always forget that the NPCs... are the ones that really matter in a game."

He walked to the edge of the balcony, looked at his own hand, golden from the armor.

He smiled slightly.

"You’re tourists, and tourists..." he turned to Catedral, "...eventually leave."

He jumped off the balcony.

[IMAGO DEI: Unstable]

[Recommendation ignored]

[Partial activation: ALLOWED]

[Consequences: UNKNOWN]

"Bunch of gamers..." he murmured, going to Catedral, "...playing at being gods in a world they don’t understand."

Mana began to leak pure gold, absurd pressure, air distorting around.

[Want to know who Kimyo is? Read Afro-Swordsman, Chapter 26]