Chapter 946 - Masterful question (Patreon)

POV Bodyguard Ulrik of Frontier

The guild master of the Primordial Knights enters the room with his vice guild master and the man called Talon by his side.

I stand guard behind our guild master, who has Sophie Martinez by his side. It draws my attention that this pretty, black haired woman gives a sigh and rolls her eyes upon spotting what is well known to be her tutorial group member.

That causes me to look at Nathaniel Gwyn again and pay more attention to him. I have seen him previously, and there is a very specific kind of attitude that most people in Beyond have towards him.

Simply put: Do not fuck with that lunatic.

But unlike previously, he has a different vibe to him. His steps are more energetic, and his slim body somehow seems more muscular, or it might just be because of the way he carries himself right now. Then, there is, as always, no mana leaking out of him at all, to the point that most mana perceptive types can not use their mana based senses to detect him. He might even seem like an unawakened human to them.

And most of all, shockingly, there is a smile on his face. A wide grin spreads as he looks over everyone in the room.

I do not even know how to react to this unusual sight and look to my guild master for guidance, but he seems to feel the same. He even briefly whispers something to Sophie Martinez, and then both of them look towards Tess Hansen, who stands behind the guild master of Silent Veil as his guard.

They both look as if they are looking for help, and the blonde with an eyepatch over her eye just gives a wink and a quick flash of a smile before turning her face back to serious.

“Motherfucker…” I hear Sophie Martinez mutter quietly.

The guildmaster of Bloodline, a half-demon, stands up first to greet the guild master of Primordial Knights, who shakes his hand and energetically pats the half-demon's shoulders.

As Nathaniel Gwyn sits in his chair, he puts his hands on the table and addresses the room, “Before we start, does anyone here want to fight?”

That question makes all the conversation cut off. There are guild masters with two aides each, seven guilds participating in this meeting, all within the top 10. Yet, all of them, just like me, likely cannot help but feel nervous at that question. Everyone here has a file on that man. We have plenty of information, and we have heard the rumors.

What is his angle? Is he trying to bait out a hidden alliance?

And he pushes even further.

“I promise to use melee combat only,” guild master Gwyn complains, throwing his hands up. “No mana disruption, no explosions or ranged attacks. We can fight like men, not all that projectile slinging bullshit. Big T, tell them I'm not joking, and I will keep the promise! I also won't kill anyone!”

You could hear a pin drop in the silence.

Yes, he is a nuisance, unpredictable, and while he is alive, the Primordial Knights have free rein in Beyond. But even with this obvious provocation, no one dares to accept the challenge.

I watch the scene unfold, straining my brain and thinking about it, only to realize just how masterful that question is. To the untrained eye, it is just a boast. But actually, he is deliberately baiting out any secret alliances. He is giving the people who might think of challenging him a golden opportunity, an impossible handicap, knowing they will still back down. He is using their own survival instincts to show them their lack of determination, breaking their spirits to further solidify the already powerful position of his guild.

It is a ruthless, flawless political execution.

The man called Talon steps ahead, keeping a serious face through the entirety of this scene, and with his hands behind his back, he gives a serious nod.

“Guildmaster Gwyn is telling the truth. The beatings will be purely physical,” he says simply, not explaining anything at all or making further effort to make people more certain.

It does not reassure anyone at all. Yet, his guild master keeps nodding, completely satisfied with his subordinate's statement.

I watch as, one after another, all the guild masters politely refuse the offer, forced to say it out loud to make these words feel even more real to them. All guilds present are so simply, so quickly declaring their submission to the Primordial Knights through such a simple maneuver. A simple question really: Do you guys want to fight?

The mood might be a bit sour because of that, but even before the meeting properly starts, Guildmaster Gwyn starts trashing all the Handlers, asking the others if they think that there are some willing to fight him.

And he brags. He brags a lot.

He keeps saying he is the most powerful out of all the Thaniels, whatever secretive group that might be. He gets into an initially hesitant conversation with the guildmaster of Bloodline, where they talk about the satisfaction of straight-up punching someone.

That conversation turns friendlier after a while as they warm up to each other. It especially warms up as Guildmaster Gwyn says he plans to kill all the Champions on the 5th floor and promises to sell him a key at a good price. Without much hesitation, he then leaks extremely valuable information about what he has seen on the 6th floor and speaks about the fight against Nyssa Volare that he apparently actually won, since Nyssa cheated or something in that spirit.

The guildmaster of Silent Veil asks about his Handler, the Ruler of Greed, which makes him complain about her a while longer. Then, he asks the guildmasters how they would wrestle the ant, and punching what part of its body would feel like a gut punch.

During that time, the drinks keep flooding in. They are ordered by Talon, who is always ready to listen and excitedly shout at Guildmaster Gwyn's stories.

Guildmaster Gwyn speaks of his fight with 'Oh Fuck It's Morwag, Run' like it is some sort of precious memory, calling him a proper demon. And though it feels like bragging once again, he speaks of the Games that people want to hear about more. So he also talks about the return of a godking he will beat up one day, about the Last Elf whose ass he will kick one day, about Melek, whom he regrets not punching more, and about the Ruler of Temperance, whom he wants to fight as well for some reason.

Of course, most of it must be an exaggeration, as the fights he describes are nearly impossible to imagine.

But during that time, he begins to seem more and more approachable. It is almost as if when the pecking order has been set, he has no reason to fight, threaten people, or be unpredictable, and almost everyone here accepts it.

He is an arrogant, violent asshole. But in a room full of politicians, backstabbers, and schemers, there is a strange gravitas to him. He has the unyielding honor of the strongest, a man too powerful to ever need to lie, who will look you in the eye and tell you exactly how he plans to beat you to a pulp. Almost everyone here finds themselves pulled in by that twisted, primal honesty.

Still, once in a while, his eyes give off that feeling, the sort that makes your insides almost freeze. The one where you know that if you overstep a line, all of it is gone. And then, without any hesitation or emotion holding him back, he colors the walls with your insides.

So this is the man who tamed a guild full of demons. A man more demon than any of them, to the point that so many of them follow him willingly. Him, a human.

POV Nathaniel

Suddenly I find myself back in control of my body, likely due to the memory ending. It might be because of the way I replayed it, or maybe the memory was partially corrupted, but the last thing I remember is the Demigod sneaking towards the mansion, and that is all.

But before I can dwell on it longer, I am forced to acknowledge the fact that I am being carried on the back of Big T through the streets of Megacity, though he seems to be using the less populated ones.

There is a high chance I was poisoned, and he is dragging me somewhere for my enemies to kill me. Probably for some really nice payment, not realizing the cliché of bad guys killing witnesses exists for a reason.

These bad guys would then likely get erased, and what's probably worse, looted by the saddened group 4. I bet that some of them would cry while others would attempt to make my death sound as cool and heroic as possible.

Oh, then there is Vic too. Yeah, these bad guys would be fucked, and Big T as well, even if he instantly escaped to his tutorial and waited for his tutorial to end. Poor guy.

So, what have I been poisoned with? The striking pain in my head, my drowsiness, and an almost primal need to throw up are truly annoying. But I endure that and concentrate as I go over memories of what happened in the past few hours.

Talon, meanwhile, continues to walk. He wobbles from side to side, sometimes even hiccups, and drunkenly sings under his breath. Most likely as an act for people who might spot him.

It does not take me longer than a few seconds to catch up as I use thought acceleration, though it takes multiple attempts because of my current state. And I find out I am simply drunk. I’m almost saddened by my fantasy breaking apart.

I guess that fancy wine affecting even high stat people like me was served there. Though... there are two options. Either I had too little mana to endure it, or too little constitution.

Due to my current state, the terrible illness I was born with, and that I continue to suffer from even with a healer of Lily's caliber on my side, I have an option that I strongly suspect.

Still, there is something weird about the memory I have watched, so I notify Mapthaniel and send him to examine my body and mind to see if there is any problem with either of them.

I also think of a way to hide awkward memories of the meeting from myself, and let Big T carry me back to the guild headquarters.

It is a few days later when I return to the 12th floor.

I said goodbye to Birch, and I spoke with Calvorn. I even said goodbye to the three mora and got our project from them. Yes, the Chestplate is mostly ready, and only one thing remains to do. To awaken it with the submind I have been working on. Well, more of an imprint of it, as I do not think it is so easy to share your consciousness with an item. It would need to be way more special, akin to Calvorn or through some other fuckery that is currently beyond me.

But I have the right materials that will aid me, I have the blueprints, and I did my due diligence. And honestly, I think Eldrin, Isolde, and Silverweave all did a good job. Probably a great one, even.

I was probably still a bit drunk, and I even gifted them a little bit of talnium, some of my blood purified by Lily so they cannot clone me or something, and a few smaller gifts like that. I am well aware they combined spent thousands of hours on what I am very, very confident will end up being a mid-pristine item, which I also took with me to the 12th floor. Plus some other materials that Ruby recommended.

Still, my Handler did not seem that happy with me rejecting the Beyond quest she had in mind for me.

But even here, I have a good reason.

Kindness told me to reject it, while shortly possessing the mini Kindness that Lily left with me to guard while she was on her Beyond quest. The Ruler's advice was simple: not to accept the quest. All said to me without any further explanation.

This makes it clear that the Rulers either have separate plans, or they are taking different approaches to the same one. Yet, this time I decided to listen to my gut and reject the quest, much to Ruby's surprise and much to my own sadness. It is a 10,000-year quest, after all. Even then, I have decided to accept it later.

With Group 4, we spent a few days preparing near the place where Tariel the Undying died. Though mostly it is them doing stuff, and me once in a while giving them some ideas and filling mana batteries for them. I have gotten better at modifying it so it feels like their mana and is more efficient to use, though being the perfectionist I am, yup, I said that, I am still not satisfied. Lissandra would be proud of that spirit and likely praise me a lot.

And then, simply like that, our group splits into two groups, set to meet up once in a while, but staying mostly separated for three or so months.

Me, Lily, and mini Kindness set out to find the Demigod's body, attempt to forcefully evolve my traits, complete the cursed item that is my chestplate, and delve into secrets in the clone of Kindness so Lily can become the petite, black haired, eldritch monster she was always meant to be.

And the rest of Group 4 set out to find and hunt the rest of the kaijukakalulu to level up, become stronger, and improve their rewards for this floor, also set to call in Lily once in a while so she can do the same.

Next Chapter

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Author Note: Sooo, some time ago I mentioned something about a week-long vacation with my family, and these trolls found a nice city they wanted to see, but it's very "last minute."

I don't like not giving you enough heads-up so you can pause your subs and such, so I am really sorry about that. But as always, you can ask for a refund. Just be aware that I will look into refunds after I get back from my trip, so please don't take my silence as me trying to ignore you! And please, ask for them once my vacation stats, lol.

As for the schedule, well, we will get up to chapter 950 and then I will take a week-long break to focus on the vacation and my family. I also think I just need to rest a little bit.

That's it! As always, thank you all for your support, and sorry again for the "last minute" warning!