The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 254

Irehgue nodded with satisfaction at the more polite appearance of Mio and Rwen.

Irehgue, after adjusting his voice to be slightly more profound to match his current state, looked straight into their eyes and opened his mouth.

Although there was a difference in species between human and dragon, Irehgue's current appearance was exactly like Lee Shin's, who used to lead conversations and guide situations as he wished.

-The reason you two thought you should abandon this place and run away is because a situation where you could be in danger and shed blood could arise. Is my statement accurate?

"Uh... yeah, that's right, Master."

"Yes, that's right."

Mio and Rwen, unable to adapt to Irehgue's suddenly changed atmosphere, answered with stammering voices and nodded.

-Good, then I will command you two.

Irehgue raised the corners of his mouth slightly and opened his mouth again.

-Tell me the good things and the bad things you have experienced in your lives so far.

"...Things I like or dislike?"

"Why all of a sudden?"

The two muttered with bewildered expressions at Irehgue's sudden command.

However, there was no change in Irehgue's expression.

-It can be trivial or grand. Do not mind the obstacle called the world and speak honestly of the desires you have.

At Irehgue's words, the two hesitated for a moment, then carefully opened their mouths.

"...There was a time when I was annoyed by the delinquent guys who coveted our house and broke in while we were walking down the street."

"...There was a time when I wanted to beat up the restaurant owner who shouted at us to get lost while we were looking for food in the trash."

What came out of their mouths were the complaints and laments they had in the village before meeting Lee Shin and Irehgue.

It wasn't a happy event, but an unhappy one that came out first, but thinking about it, it wasn't particularly strange.

Because their lives were a deep black painted with misfortune, and in it, the happy and good memories were so faint that they were hard to find.

-Is that all?

At those words, the clock of memory in their minds turned back a little further.

"I wanted to punch the researchers who treated us like objects and laughed while conducting strange experiments on us every day."

"I wanted to lock up the nobles who laughed at us when we were sick and exhausted from the experiments and torment them more severely than we were."

-Is that all?

Irehgue asked once more, and the two answered once more.

The question and answer continued, and their clocks turned back further and further.

Thus, Mio and Rwen, using Irehgue's question as a compass, slowly traced their past and, in the end.

Grit-

"I want to tell the family who deceived and sold us, saying they would fill our stomachs, how we lived and make them experience the same things we did."

"I want to break the whole bodies of the villagers who did nothing even when they saw us being sold off, so that they can't move."

The two had reached the origin point in their memories.

-Is that all?

At that, Irehgue smiled with satisfaction and asked the same question once more.

At that question, Mio and Rwen closed their mouths.

It wasn't because they couldn't think of anything.

On the contrary, it was because there were so many things they disliked that they couldn't bring themselves to speak.

They didn't like the nobles who had experimented on them, they didn't like the villagers who had looked down on and ignored them, and they didn't like the vagrants who had lived with them in the back alleys and targeted them.

Squeeze-

Except for the one person next to them, they didn't even like their own family.

Therefore, the answer of the two, who had closed their mouths and remained silent, naturally came to one conclusion.

"I just don't like this world itself."

"I just don't like this world itself."

Their answers sounded like the childish delusions peculiar to children, and also like the ramblings of an old man who had lived through the world.

Grin-

-Hoh, then what would you like the world to become?

"Hmm, I wish the sky would just collapse."

"I just wish the world would end right now."

-Hoh, is that so?

Irehgue, who felt that their words were sincere through the faint line connected to their hearts, smiled with satisfaction at having brought out the desires in their hearts.

-Then, as your master, I will tell you how you can mess up this world you dislike.

Irehgue pointed at the sky with his claw and said.

-Destroy the organization at the very top of the world. Then what you want will be automatically achieved.

"Won't nothing change even if we defeat the organization at the top? Won't the second-in-command just take the place of the first-in-command?"

-No.

Irehgue shook his head and denied Mio's words.

-When the ceiling collapses and the jewels on it fall down, everything in the world rises to pick them up. Then, naturally, a fight will break out in the midst of it.

Having said that, Irehgue lightly swung the claw that had been pointing upwards.

-That is the moment you just spoke of, when the sky collapses and the world ends.

At Irehgue's words, the two nodded slightly.

Irehgue lowered his head a little more, bringing it closer to Mio and Rwen, and said.

This action was not imitating Lee Shin, but imitating a scene he had seen in an animation before.

-A life lived simply because you are alive is the same as the life you have lived so far. Was it not to escape from such a life that you became my subordinates?

At Irehgue's words, the two nodded.

Seeing that, amusement seeped into Irehgue's voice.

-Also, was it not to fulfill the wishes of the only family next to you that you became my subordinates?

The two nodded once more.

And then, they moved their hands slightly and held each other's hands.

-Then, for each other and for yourselves, fulfill what you just said.

Having said that, Irehgue straightened his bent body, showing off his figure, and said.

-If you are my subordinates, you should not succumb to the situation, but you should know how to make the situation in front of you succumb.

Poof-!

Having finished his words, Irehgue, with a small flourish, returned to his original small, dog-sized form.

"Haa..."

"Heo..."

Mio and Rwen, who had heard Irehgue's words, let out something that was either a sigh or a chuckle and said.

"So... you're saying we should join forces with the guys in this village and give the Church's paladins a good punch, Master?"

"It would certainly be amazing if it's possible, but... isn't it too dangerous a thing to recommend to your only two subordinates? If we do it wrong, no, we'll almost certainly die."

-Hmph, I have no intention of raising you as foolish subordinates who can't even grasp what they want.

At Rwen's words, Irehgue snorted and replied.

-And you will absolutely not die, so there is no need to worry.

"Five units of the Church's paladin order will be coming."

"And you're saying it's not dangerous?"

-Of course.

Irehgue said that and raised the corners of his mouth, smiling at the two.

-You are my subordinates. Therefore, not only what you have, but even you yourselves are mine.

That smile was supremely fierce and arrogant.

-And I am not so foolish as to let others destroy what has come into my hands.

Irehgue's words were absurdly outrageous, even for the still young two to hear.

Grin-

But strangely, Irehgue's words seeped into them and became a great strength.

"Alright, then we just have to trust you, Master?"

"We'll be in your care, Master-nim."

The two who said that raised the corners of their mouths and smiled.

It was a smile that looked playful like a mischievous child before their first prank, and at the same time, looked greedy like a dragon before a treasure.

That smile was surprisingly similar to Irehgue's smile, but...

-Therefore, from now on, in place of Lee Shin, I will train you harshly.

"Eh?"

"Yes?"

Unfortunately, it did not last that long.

◎ ◎ ◎

Hooooo-

The two finished operating their cultivation methods and exhaled at once.

-How is it?

At Irehgue's words, the two nodded and said.

"Hmm, it's certainly become a little more natural to operate the cultivation method as you said, Master."

"It's the same for me, Master-nim."

The two were amazed at their sudden change, but in Irehgue's eyes, it was just a natural change.

The [White Flame Dragon God Art] and the [White Lightning Dragon God Art] were cultivation methods derived from the [Flame Lightning Tree God Art], with the dragon replacing the tree (樹).

It meant that they were cultivation methods made to suit the two, but it also meant that they were cultivation methods modeled after a dragon.

Martial arts is the process of creating a single will contained within a cultivation method within oneself, and the two, through their conversation with Irehgue a little while ago, had been able to escape from the mindset of their alley days.

In other words, these two had just raised their understanding of the cultivation method by one level by understanding a little about the life form called a dragon.

'Now, is it the fourth stage of achievement... at this rate, it should be possible somehow. It seems he was planning to tell them later, but well, it shouldn't matter.'

Having come to that conclusion, Irehgue nodded and spoke to the two.

-You two, from now on, perform one form each.

"Yeah, got it, Master."

"Yes, Master-nim."

The two answered Irehgue's words and then went out to the yard and took their basic stances.

If he could, he would have wanted to have them take their stances in some quiet mountain, not in a place like this where everyone could watch openly, but it was impossible.

Although the distance he could be away from Lee Shin had increased dramatically while reconstructing his body, there was a limit to that.

"Then, shall I begin?"

-Yes.

At Irehgue's permission, Mio swung both her hands in the air.

Fwoosh-

Mio's two fists, wreathed in brilliant flames, cut through the air and drew a red line.

What was contained in the fingertips of Mio, who was drawing a red picture, was the principle of illusion and change.

Crackle-

As Mio finished performing her form, Rwen moved as if to take over.

Rwen's two feet, clad in intense lightning, tore through the air and created a golden line.

What was contained in the tips of Rwen's feet, which were carving a golden wound, was the principle of speed and strength.

-At this rate, it should be fine to teach them.

Irehgue, who had seen the forms the two had performed, nodded with satisfaction and descended.

"How was it, Master-nim?"

-It was fine. Perhaps because you have continuously used the forms in actual combat, you seem to have a firm understanding of why the forms exist and how to use them.

At Irehgue's words, the two looked at each other with proud expressions and smiled.

-Therefore, I will now teach you a new technique.

"A new technique?"

Irehgue floated in the air, approached the two, and then held out three short fingers.

-The first is a buff-type technique that can raise your physical abilities by several levels. I was going to teach you after you had learned more forms so that you wouldn't be swept away by the suddenly increased power, but since the situation is what it is, it can't be helped.

Grin-

-On top of that, seeing you perform your martial arts a little while ago, I judged that it would be fine.

"Of course. Even after fighting, the master kept making us practice the forms, saying it had to seep into our bodies."

"It was incredibly tough, and my body's recovery was so good that I couldn't even rest properly."

Even as they said that, the two were smiling slightly, as if they didn't dislike Irehgue's praise.

-The second is a technique that can surely cut off the opponent's breath in a 'what if' situation. It is a technique commonly called a finishing move.

At the words 'finishing move', a light of interest flickered in Mio and Rwen's eyes.

-The last is a combination move where you match your forms and use them as one.

Mio and Rwen could match their breathing and use a joint attack formation, but they didn't know how to combine their powers and use their forms in that state.

Irehgue, who had at some point folded all three fingers, looked at the two and smiled.

-For the past week, you have focused on growing your individual powers. And thanks to that, you have been able to grow to a level incomparable to a week ago.

To be precise, it was the end of LV. 3. A level where they could go up to the next stage at any time.

-For the next ten days, if you can perform these three techniques, you will be able to run wild in this fight.

Irehgue's voice, as he said that, was filled with the conviction that it was possible.

(End of Chapter)