The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 236

As he stepped with the speed gained from the Lightning Flash Steps, his foot, wrapped in golden electric current, was swung.

Kwaaaang--!!!

The wall blocking Irehgue's path couldn't withstand the single blow and was half-destroyed.

"Wh-What was that!"

"Kyaaaaak!!!"

At the sudden explosion of the wall, the flustered voice of a man and the scream of a woman who appeared to be a maid were heard from inside the room.

Entering the room, Irehgue lightly stepped on the Flame Leaf Return Steps, creating a flame that blew away the dust smoke around him.

-It's a bit broken, but it's a room full of luxurious-looking furniture and even has an unnecessarily large bed...

Lee Shin, who had come out in Irehgue's form, looked around and said with a wide, smiling face.

-It seems we hit the jackpot from the start, don't you think?

'It seems so.'

Irehgue said, looking at the fat man on the bed who was in a posture of harassing the maid.

"To think we'd enter the lord's room from the very beginning."

-I know, right? You're lucky today.

Irehgue walked leisurely towards the lord.

"Y-You bastard! Do you have any idea who I am to commit such an act!"

"Hiiik!"

Seeing Irehgue approaching him step by step, the lord's legs seemed to give out as he collapsed onto the bed, unable to stand, and the woman who looked like a maid trembled without even thinking of adjusting her clothes.

Grin-

'How amusing.'

Seeing the two of them, Irehgue smiled.

Irehgue was fundamentally arrogant and had a personality that liked to show off.

Therefore, whether it was admiration, surprise, or fear, he enjoyed being the center of attention.

Until now, this personality hadn't shown itself much because his only conversation partner was Lee Shin, but in situations like this, facing complete strangers, it would occasionally pop out.

"Hiiik!"

When Irehgue briefly paused his steps, the maid, who had been watching for an opportunity, quickly escaped the room as if running away.

"All forces, arm yourselves immediately!"

"Where is it! What is all this commotion!"

"It's the lord's room! A sound was heard near the lord's room!"

Beyond the door that the maid had left open as she ran out, the sound of soldiers' hurried footsteps and the clashing of weapons and armor could be heard.

The knights inside the castle were not as incompetent as the soldiers who had been guarding outside, as the sound of footsteps heading this way grew louder and louder.

Hearing the sound, Mio, who hadn't fully recovered from the earlier shock, somehow clenched her fist with a hand that lacked strength and hit Irehgue's side.

Though, it was just a small tap.

"Hey! What is this all of a sudden without any proper explanation! And if you come in so loudly, everyone else will find out!"

"I believe I told you two that I would enter through the front, did I not?"

"This goes far beyond the scope of 'entering through the front'!"

Although she wasn't saying anything, Rwen, who was quietly calming her startled heart, nodded her head vigorously as if agreeing with Mio's thoughts.

"Thanks to you, all the forces in the lord's castle are about to rush in! What are we going to do now..."

Thump-

"Ouch!"

"Use honorifics. I'm sure I told you what to call me, did I not?"

"Ugh, Master-nim..."

Mio reflexively muttered, shedding a tear from the pain of being lightly hit on the head by Irehgue's fist.

It was proof that her education was going well, so Irehgue's expression became satisfied.

-You really like hitting heads, don't you?

'I learned from watching you.'

Irehgue gave Lee Shin, who was annoyingly throwing in a word here and there, a slight glare before speaking to the two.

"Do you understand? The reason the castle's forces are gathering here is because I wished for it."

"What does that mean... sir."

At Mio's words, Irehgue smiled arrogantly.

"It means that I intended to gather all the people in this domain from the very beginning."

Having said that, Irehgue moved Rwen, whom he was holding in his right hand, to his back, telling her to hold on tight, and then approached the lord who was still screaming his head off.

"Ha! You foolish fools! It's obvious this is the work of some stupid and poor commoners trying to steal a few pennies! How dare you touch a noble under God's protection?! You will now be dealt with by my knights..."

The lord, having heard the footsteps of the knights from outside, started to berate Irehgue, waving his fingers around.

"How noisy."

-Still, since he's rambling on his own, it's easy to get information.

Irehgue frowned at the lord's screeching voice, while Lee Shin's lips curled up as he sneered at the lord.

-By the way, it seems the class disparity in this world is ridiculously severe, isn't it? Is it because the church and God are backing the nobles?

Having said that, Lee Shin playfully flew through the air and looked at Irehgue.

-Well, this is a world where the story of the divine punishment that drove out the great and mighty dragons at once is still being told, so it's no wonder that insignificant people are scared.

'...Do not say such things in my form. If you do it again, even if it's you, I will not let it slide.'

Irehgue retorted with annoyance and raised his empty right hand.

SLAP-!

He slapped the lord's cheek.

He hit him so hard that the lord, who was on the bed, rolled several times and fell to the floor.

"You, how dare you! How dare a lowly commoner like you hit this noble body, a Baronet!"

"I said, be quiet."

When Irehgue raised his hand again, the lord shrieked and scrambled backward.

"If I didn't need to hear things from your mouth, I would have hit you hard enough to knock out a few teeth with that one blow."

Having said that, Irehgue, as if he didn't even want to reply, poked the lord's chubby body with a pressure point strike to seal his movements.

"Wh-What is this!"

As his limbs suddenly went limp and wouldn't move, the lord screamed in terror.

Ignoring him, Irehgue grabbed the lord by the scruff of his neck and said to Mio and Rwen.

"Hold on tight so you don't fall."

At those words, Mio and Rwen, feeling an anxiety born from watching Irehgue's actions so far, used all their strength to grab onto Irehgue's arm and neck respectively.

"There he is!"

"There's an intruder here!"

"You bastard! Let go of the Lord-nim at once!"

Simultaneously with Irehgue grabbing the lord's scruff, soldiers and what appeared to be knights burst in through the door.

Thud-

As if their words weren't even worth listening to, Irehgue ignored them and threw himself once more through the large hole created by his own kick.

"Damn it! He escaped!"

"The training ground! He went to the training ground."

"After him! Protect the Lord-nim!"

The soldiers moved quickly with the sole intention of preventing Irehgue, who had thrown himself into the training ground, from escaping.

"Gweeeek!"

However, Irehgue, who had landed in the training ground, seemed to have no intention of escaping as he threw the lord he was holding in his right hand.

"What, are you running away... sir?"

Mio, having gotten off Irehgue's body, asked with an anxious expression.

"Because there is no need to run."

Irehgue answered simply and looked at the lord, who was gasping in pain from rolling on the ground.

"Now then, you two will interrogate that man here."

"What... sir?"

"...Here?"

At Irehgue's words, Mio and Rwen looked at him with bewildered expressions.

The command to interrogate the lord was too sudden, and they couldn't understand why they were being told to conduct an interrogation in the lord's castle, and in such a wide-open training ground at that.

At that, Irehgue nodded lightly.

"Were my words too abstract? Simply put, it means to use any means necessary, whether it's hitting him or persuading him with words, to find out if he is connected to what you have experienced."

"If he is related... sir?"

An unidentifiable tremor was contained in Mio's voice as she asked.

At that, Irehgue said lightly.

"Do as you please."

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

As if Irehgue's words were unexpected, the two's eyes widened as they looked at him.

At that, Irehgue smiled.

The kind of eyes Irehgue liked were filling the two's eyes.

"That man is my gift to you. You may carry out your revenge right here and now, or you may extract information. Do as your emotions command. It doesn't matter if you hit him simply because he is a noble, without the certainty that he is related to you."

Finally understanding Irehgue's words, Mio and Rwen wore dazed expressions and brought their hands to their chests.

It was the first kindness they had ever received from someone, and it felt like a tickle deep inside their hearts.

"Why here of all places... sir? We could have done it in a quiet place..."

"I do not know in detail what emotions you have harbored until now. But I know one thing for certain: the chasm of those emotions is very deep."

Irehgue said so and placed his hands on the two's heads with a smiling face.

"The deeper such an emotional chasm is, the louder you must shout to get rid of it. Loudly, so that everyone in the world can know how much you have suffered."

Grin-

"Otherwise, the world will not listen to your grievances, and your grievances will not be properly resolved. Therefore, you should only focus on releasing your own emotions."

Thump-thump-thump-!

"I have prepared plenty of an audience to listen to your words."

Hearing those words, the two realized why Irehgue had descended into the wide-open training ground, and why he hadn't attacked a single person when he arrived at the previous location, and their eyes widened.

"B-But in such a wide-open place, the soldiers will attack..."

"You still doubt your master."

The moment Irehgue answered Mio like that.

Swoosh-!

Countless arrows were shot, aiming for Irehgue.

At that, Irehgue lightly waved his hand.

On the surface, it was an endlessly half-hearted gesture, but within it was contained the subtlety of the Flame Lightning God Spear.

Fwoosh-

Countless flames that bloomed from Irehgue's fingertips decorated the sky, and the arrows that collided with those flames changed their trajectory and fell to the ground.

The sight of the numerous flames blooming under the night sky and fluttering was beautiful and overwhelming.

Amidst it all, Irehgue looked at the two and said.

"This is the first command I am giving. You two are to use all your strength to confirm whether that man is included in the targets of your revenge."

Having said that, Irehgue paused as if thinking about something for a moment, then grinned.

"I will forgive you for being momentarily captivated by my appearance."

Irehgue said so and turned his back to face the soldiers filling the training ground.

-What, that was cool.

'I am always cool.'

Irehgue answered Lee Shin's voice with a smiling face and stirred the internal energy within his dantian.

At that moment, the numerous soldiers and knights who had come down to the training ground with the thought of protecting the lord stopped in their tracks without realizing it, due to the pressure emanating from Irehgue alone.

Their entire bodies began to tremble as if a giant being was looking down on them with arrogant eyes.

"I am in a good mood today."

Irehgue said so, took out the [Yagong] that was in the [Black Room], held it, and swung it lightly.

Scraaaape-!

A rough line was drawn on the ground in front of the soldiers who had stopped in their tracks.

"Therefore, if you do not cross that line, I promise you will not die."

It was a declaration so arrogant it was unbelievable to be said while facing the numerous knights surrounding him.

Gulp-

But no one could laugh at or disregard what Irehgue had said.

The weight of each word in Irehgue's statement was pressing down on them.

But that too was only for a moment.

Thwack-! Thwack-! Thwack-!

As Mio and Rwen, having made up their minds, began to beat the immobilized lord, a sense of urgency began to appear on the knights' faces.

"Protect me! Protect me, you useless things!"

At that moment, the lord screamed, spitting blood.

Although they were children, they were not ordinary children, so their fists were more punishing than those of most adults.

"Do you know what will happen if you fail to protect me?! All of you will be charged with a crime by the church and executed!"

"Shut up!"

"Die!"

The lord screamed loudly even as his entire body was being pummeled by fists.

The lord's eyes, as he spoke, were filled with venom, and it was directed entirely at Irehgue.

"You bastard! Seeing as you used that strange technique just now, you must be a transmigrator who knows nothing of the world, but you are finished!"

At the lord's chilling words, the two's fists momentarily faltered.

"How dare you touch me, who was appointed a noble under the church?! All the churches will move to kill you! I'm telling you, you are finished!"

At the cold blade of reality the lord presented, the two who were hitting him inadvertently stopped their hands and looked at Irehgue.

The Irehgue they had seen so far was strong beyond common sense.

But now, in the eyes of the two looking at Irehgue, there was an underlying thought that even Irehgue could not stand against the church.

Grin-

"That's what I was hoping for."

So Irehgue smiled arrogantly and said to everyone present.

With that single phrase, the blade of reality the lord had presented was shattered, and at the same time, the two's worries disappeared.

But Irehgue's words were not finished.

"Even if you hadn't said that, I was planning to make the church that rules the world, the foolish dragon above such a church, and even the god who made such a dragon his child, all kneel beneath me."

However, at Irehgue's following words, the two, the lord, and the soldiers couldn't help but be shocked together.

-Well, I plan to enjoy everything I can before that, though.

In that heavy silence, the only ones smiling were Irehgue, who was smiling arrogantly, and Lee Shin, who was flapping his wings with an amused, wide smile.