#197

The Curse of Nellos.

The only kind of being who would use a curse that fits this perfectly is a ‘player.’

‘…Even if the Emergency Rescue Device is active, players can still move freely.’

It was my oversight not to consider other players.

What should I do? Should I negotiate?

Tell them to lift the Curse of Nellos immediately?

‘No, in a situation where I lack information like this, initiating negotiations first is likely to put me at a disadvantage.’

The moment they realize how desperate we are, the opponent will try to blackmail us using the Talisman of Nellos.

For now, I signaled Callister and Pandemonium to stop what they were doing and gather around.

After hearing the explanation, Pandemonium showed his typical lack of thought.

“Can’t we just find the bastard who used the talisman and crush them?”

“…And how are you going to find them?”

“I’ll have to think about that starting now.”

For fuck’s sake, think before you speak.

Don’t speak and then think later.

“With your hand in that state, I highly doubt you can fight properly.”

“I can just use Telekinesis.”

The sword rattled on its own and floated into the air.

“Look at this. Sword Flying Art!”

“…It looks exactly like it’s hanging from an invisible fishing line.”

I doubt there’s much power behind that.

When I gave the floating sword a light flick, it swayed like a pendulum.

It would be more effective to just throw stones with an invisible string.

Of course, that would require immense skill to hit the desired target.

“Treat your arm first.”

Earlier, all the maggots Callister controlled were used to create ‘speakers,’ so Pandemonium’s treatment had been skipped.

Pandemonium himself had strongly insisted that treatment could be postponed since he could recover with the ‘restoration’ trait once the Heavenly Punishments were all canceled.

‘But now that it’s clear there’s an enemy, he must recover immediately.’

“Ugh… it’s so gross I feel like throwing up.”

“Close your eyes.”

“But I can feel the sensation!”

“So what? I’ve been through it too. It’s bearable.”

Of course, I received mine while unconscious.

Just as I was about to check if there were any additional changes in my Status Window.

[O Great Fabio!]

[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme,’ ‘Prayers’ are provided as text.]

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest at the sudden notification window.

‘What the fuck.’

Who is it?

Who is praying?

It’s not my Vassal.

‘…How do they know my name?’

[Lord Fabio, can you hear me? Lord Fabio, who bestowed Blessings upon the maggots. Where are you? I wish to speak with you.]

‘The God of Maggots?’

My mind raced.

Did they find out by accessing the Status Window of those ‘maggot speakers’?

Since ‘Fabio’ is listed next to the Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme Blessing.

‘Then they only know my name.’

[If you teach me the correct way to serve you, I shall perform sacrifices for you, Lord Fabio. Do you have any intention of cooperating with me?]

‘As if.’

Cooperate? After throwing a curse at me?

‘…It shouldn’t be a big deal just because my name was leaked, right?’

If it were possible to cast a curse with just a name, the well-known gods would have been fucked a long time ago.

[Everything your Vassal possesses belongs to you. Including the ‘System User’!]

‘What is this now.’

Before I could ask the System, a chat window popped up.

[Nyapoleon has sent a message to your Vassal, ‘Pandemonium.’]

But it wasn’t my chat window.

‘…Nyapoleon?’

[Nyapoleon: Hey]

[Nyapoleon: Hey, you alive?]

‘I can see not only Pandemonium’s Status Window but all other system windows too?’

I shifted my eyes slightly to observe Pandemonium’s face.

Pandemonium’s brow was slightly furrowed, likely having checked Nyapoleon’s message.

It seemed Pandemonium didn’t get a notification that I could see it.

‘Can I send messages from my end too?’

Since an input box was visible, it seemed possible.

Then the opponent would perceive it as Pandemonium’s chat, right?

From Pandemonium’s perspective, a message he never typed would suddenly be sent.

If he experienced that without knowing, he’d probably be terrified, thinking he’d been hacked.

Wait, hacked?

‘I feel like I’m remembering something…’

[Nyapoleon: Do you know who ‘Fabio’ is?]

Pandemonium froze visibly.

I waited in silence, curious to see if Pandemonium would keep it a secret from me.

“…Hyung. Bonaparte sent a message.”

“I know. I can see it too.”

“…You can see it? Wait. All the previous messages too?”

“No, only the ones you received after becoming my Vassal.”

A look of relief crossed Pandemonium’s face.

What is it?

What did they talk about when I wasn’t around?

‘Is he afraid of being embarrassed because he was caught guessing wrong, like saying Insanity is Qwerasdf?’

“From now on, send whatever I say in your speaking style. Don’t answer first.”

[Nyapoleon: I think ‘Fabio’ is trying to do something with Ledea’s contaminated holy body, so I blocked it for now.]

[Nyapoleon: If you know anything, tell me. Let’s exchange information.]

“…Did you usually exchange information with Bonaparte?”

“No? I blocked him because I thought he’d screw me over. Wait, how did he bypass the block?”

“Ask him.”

[Pandemonium: I definitely blocked you?]

[Nyapoleon: I bought an item from the shop that bypasses blocks]

‘…It’s ridiculous enough that convenience features are paid elements, but they sell items to break them in the shop too?’

This is a total trash game.

Moreover, the points used to buy currency aren’t even distributed fairly.

Doesn’t that mean someone like Mother God, who has overflowing points, can harass others by breaking through any number of defenses?

The management is truly a disaster.

‘I guess they just run the business with arrogance because players don’t leave the game even if they’re dissatisfied.’

[Nyapoleon: I was saving it to use when I absolutely needed it]

[Nyapoleon: Anyway, it’s a clue about a new player, right?]

[Nyapoleon: Aren’t you curious?]

‘…First, I need to check how much information the opponent has on us.’

“Tell him to say what he knows first.”

[Pandemonium: You first]

[Nyapoleon: OK, first, what I’ve found out is…]

‘It probably won’t be much.’

If they knew a lot, they wouldn’t have stepped forward to ‘exchange information.’

[Nyapoleon: 1. By process of elimination, ‘Fabio’ is a Happy God Player.]

‘…Did they find all the other players except me? That’s impressive too.’

[Nyapoleon: 2. ‘Fabio’ is a former serf from the frontier village where Ansberto, the former Cardinal and adoptive father of Knight Commander Casimir, is serving as a bell ringer.]

“Hyung, is that true?”

“……”

I remained silent.

This isn’t information you can find just by collecting data after arriving at the Capital Church.

Whose head did they rip open?

Don’t tell me Casimir…

‘…No, it must be information obtained from Nasir.’

Since Nasir was the one who came to pick me up from the frontier village.

Moreover, the Nasir I saw before even had cat ears.

That means he encountered Nyapoleon after dropping me off.

He must have been hit with a suggestion like, ‘Tell me about the information regarding the most recent mission you performed.’

Nyapoleon likely linked the name ‘Fabio’ he learned then with the name he found in the Status Window today.

Since there wasn’t enough evidence to be certain, he’s testing the waters.

‘I should have chosen a god’s name that was completely random and made it impossible to guess my identity.’

If only I had listened to Andrea’s advice beforehand!

But if those two pieces of information are all…

[Nyapoleon: 3. ‘Fabio’ has a way to avoid condemnation by the apostles. No, it’s more than that. ‘Fabio’ is protected by the apostles. To the extent that he stays in the Apostle’s Hall while the Council is held. I don’t know how that’s possible, though.]

How did they know that too?

Did they see me staying in the Apostle’s Hall?

[Nyapoleon: 4. The identity of the Chanter who suddenly confessed to ‘Marcello Teres’ is probably this ‘Fabio’, right?]

“Fuck.”

Pandemonium cursed.

I resisted the urge to sneer and ask why he drew that kind of aggro without thinking about the consequences.

Now was not the time to assign blame.

[Nyapoleon: 6. Therefore, ‘Fabio’ is Qwerasdf’s alt account. At least, that’s what you believe.]

‘…What kind of logic jump is that?’

How did the conversation go there?

Did Pandemonium go around bragging that he’d attack Qwerasdf with a marriage proposal if he met him?

‘No, he might just be throwing it out there to dig for information based on the reaction.’

[Nyapoleon: 7. And Marcello Teres. You are with ‘Fabio’ right now, aren’t you?]

[Nyapoleon: How about this much? Is there any additional information to add?]

[Nyapoleon: Now, I’d like you to answer as much as I’ve given.]

“Hyung…”

“I’m thinking, so wait.”

Why is this bastard Nyapoleon flaunting this information?

It would be more advantageous for him to make us believe he knows nothing.

I was able to reach a conclusion quickly.

‘The other side is also unsure.’

Let’s say you found the enemy’s camp.

If the place where the enemies stay is a flimsy tent, you’d immediately launch a surprise attack, throw bombs, or set fire to cause great damage.

But what if it’s the location of an aircraft carrier?

What can you do just by knowing that?

‘Right now, Nyapoleon doesn’t have any Units capable of defeating Pandemonium by force.’

That’s natural.

To use an analogy, everyone else is barely firing arrows, while the War God alone spent an enormous amount of cost to produce exactly one tank.

Of course, that single tank is finished the moment it’s lured into a trap and isolated, so it’s not a very wise choice.

‘But in a situation like this, it’s damn useful.’

The more Nyapoleon knows about Pandemonium, the more he will absolutely try to avoid him.

Unless he sets a trap that affects the mind, like the Distorted One did…

‘But that’s blocked now, isn’t it?’

Asking if he’s with Fabio now is close to asking if he also received the ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme’ Blessing.

‘Since he probably doesn’t know that Pandemonium is in a critical state with tons of debuffs from stacked Heavenly Punishments, he’ll want to approach cautiously.’

“Tell him yes.”

“What? Who knows what those bastards will do…”

“If they really intended to do something, they wouldn’t even bother confirming it with us.”

[Pandemonium: Yeah, he’s next to me]

[Nyapoleon: I want to ask ‘Fabio’. What was the purpose of creating these ‘arms’ that were shouting the Name of Oblivion? Can you tell me?]

“No.”

[Pandemonium: -]

[Nyapoleon: I provided so much information? Isn’t the scale too unbalanced?]

“Nonsense. We just ‘confirmed’ things we already knew, so conversely, we provided more information.”

[Pandemonium: Value of my ‘yeah’ > everything you blabbered, OK?]

[Nyapoleon: …So you’re saying it’s meaningless because it’s information you already knew? I get it. Then I’ll pay the change. Ask whatever you’re curious about.]

‘…What question should I ask?’

“Ask why he contacted us. What his real purpose is.”

[Pandemonium: Stop with the useless riddles. What do you want?]

[Nyapoleon: Just as expected of the War God’s Contractor. I simply want to cooperate with you. There’s something I want from you.]

[Nyapoleon: I want your trait. Indomitable Spirit, that ‘restoration’ trait.]

“…Just to be sure, can you actually just give away traits?”

“No. If that were possible, I wouldn’t have told you to believe in the War God back then.”

‘Right.’

To take a trait granted by the War God, one must either make that person a Vassal like I did to borrow the Divine Power itself, or cut off a piece of the body to make it a Sacred Relic.

‘…Since it regenerates with restoration anyway, is he asking to have a part of the body cut off?’

Considering the condition that over 60% must be consumed to collect biological information, giving away a finger wouldn’t allow the extraction of a trait.

But that’s the story in the game.

I narrowed my eyes.

“Refuse. Who knows what will happen if we give it? He’s not just any player, but a player of Mother God.”

[Pandemonium: No way. I feel like you’d just grind your teeth in regret afterward.]

[Nyapoleon: No way! There’s a way to take the trait without causing you any harm. Mother has given me a new protection.]

“A new protection? Hyung, do you know what that is?”

“……”

[Nyapoleon: You just have to mate with me once. :)]