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If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.
~Montesquieu
....
Carl was serious.
Kyo was serious too.
Every gacha pool character present had fully realized that.
Yet they still hesitated to speak their true thoughts. Or rather, they did not dare to.
Thus...
"If we don't have a match with Lord Kyo today, we really won't be able to leave."
As the captain of the Holy Nation's Vanguard Knight Order, Griff, the standard five-star Annihilation character, finally stepped forward and spoke.
"Thanks."
Kyo actually smiled at that mont.
The reason Kyo thanked him was likely because Griff was willing to step forward and be a worthy opponent.
"I know I can't beat you in my current state. It's a pity... I originally wanted to save this for when my special form is released in the future."
After Griff removed his heavy armor and shouldered his greatsword, he activated a state called "Overload."
His entire body was covered in pitch-black fur, and his form transford into that of a werewolf, though he still held that greatsword in his hand.
"Watch out!"
Griff let out a low roar and lunged at Kyo.
The ground was left with a cracked indentation from Griff's charge. The lycanthropized Griff moved so fast that, logically, most Saviors would not even be able to react.
But...
Kyo drew his sword and kept up with Griff's movents. Not only that, he even parried the greatsword Griff swung.
No.
It would be more accurate to say he used exquisite technique to deflect every one of Griff's greatsword strikes.
Damn it!
Griff had long known that he was no match for Kyo, but during the exchange, he clearly felt as though he were only a hair's breadth away from touching him.
Yet the result was always Kyo seizing an opening to counterattack, while Griff could only perform futile blocks with his greatsword.
Just as the wounds on Griff's body multiplied, a pitch-black magic circle suddenly lit up beneath Kyo's feet. More accurately, it spread across the entire area.
This was the Saintess's ability.
She had constructed a binding magic circle in this zone and successfully restrained Kyo.
"Lady Saintess!"
Griff stopped swinging his sword, montarily unsure whether to continue attacking.
"What are you dazing around for, Griff! Haven't you realized yet? Lord Savior is the type who enjoys a challenge. He said he wanted to challenge all of us. This isn't against the rules."
After hesitating for a long ti, the Saintess finally made this decision.
Mainly, she really did not want to be interrogated by Carl any longer.
After receiving the order, Griff said, "Pardon !" to Kyo, then imdiately lunged again like a cannonball, greatsword in hand, toward the bound Kyo.
Kyo could not dodge this strike.
Even if Griff traded injury for injury, a single downward slash from the greatsword would bring Kyo's health points to zero.
Not to ntion, the other gacha pool characters from the Holy Nation had already locked onto Kyo with their magic and skills.
It was over.
Griff raised his greatsword high and slashed down toward Kyo's head.
However, he felt no sensation of cutting through flesh.
Wh... wh... what?!
Griff's eyes widened as he stared at the figure that had suddenly appeared in front of Kyo.
Clad in heavy armor and wielding a greatsword, this figure was none other than himself.
Or rather... it was the standard five-star Annihilation character, "Griff," that Kyo had raised.
"I actually quite like greatsword-type characters, so I leveled you to the max."
Instead, Kyo asked Griff with a hint of curiosity.
"What are you so surprised about? You should understand that putting the characters we pulled into a party to fight alongside us is the most basic ability of us players, isn't it?"
Griff leapt backward and looked at the version of himself now controlled by Kyo.
This "Griff" included in the party was equivalent to a clone. He could naturally control this clone with his main consciousness.
But...
"I am currently in my Overload state, and my strength is several tis greater than when I'm in the standard gacha pool! Do you really think the past can withstand the current ?"
Griff let out a low growl, seemingly feeling slighted by Kyo.
"How will we know without trying?" Kyo asked calmly.
Griff did not hesitate and pounced at his double, but to his shock.
Kyo's "Griff" erupted with a power that even the original could not comprehend.
"Why?!"
"Because my thods are a bit rough?"
As Kyo spoke, he commanded his "Griff" to charge at the original.
At that mont, bone-crushing cracks echoed from all over Kyo's "Griff," making one's teeth ache.
And "Griff's" health points were also steadily declining.
After Griff used all his strength to clash with the version of himself controlled by Kyo several more tis, he realized that in terms of combat technique alone, he was completely no match for the "Griff" manipulated by Kyo.
"Also... I actually pulled the Saintess too," Kyo ntioned casually, as if it were a trivial matter.
"Oh no!"
By the ti Griff realized it, it was already too late.
Kyo's "Saintess" had quietly risen into the sky at so point, her wand condensing terrifying magic particles.
Normally, the Saintess's signature "Light Cannon" required a few seconds to charge, but Kyo used this skill, which should have been a massive laser beam, as a series of small, concentrated bursts.
The miniature beams ford by the condensed magic particles possessed staggering piercing power.
By the ti the original Griff and Saintess reacted, it was too late. The first shot pierced the Saintess's shoulder, forcing her to deactivate the binding magic circle.
He then followed up with a binding magic circle of his own, pinning her face-down to the ground, unable to move.
The second shot pierced Griff's ankle, robbing him of his mobility.
"Losing to yourself in the end isn't funny at all."
Griff collapsed to his knees, watching the "Griff" and "Saintess" controlled by Kyo walk toward him with vacant expressions.
The original Griff summoned every ounce of strength remaining in his body and lunged at Kyo.
This drew a soft sigh from Kyo. He had intended to stop there, but if they insisted on fighting to the end.
"Slash, Griff," Kyo commanded his "Griff."
At this order, Kyo's "Griff" transford into a dark blur, his muscles straining to the point of tearing as his power enhancent was pushed to the absolute limit. He raised his greatsword high and struck his original self.
The two greatswords collided in midair, and the shockwave whipped up the surrounding leaves, scattering them everywhere.
The sound of a blade severing bone rang out.
Half of a greatsword spun into the air before eventually landing beside the original Griff.
"That's why... I didn't want to be his enemy."
After uttering these words, half of Griff's body slumped to the ground blood gushing like a fountain.
"Lord Griff!"
The other gacha pool characters from the Holy Nation tried to rush forward, but several magic circles unfolded in the sky.
The "Saintess" controlled by Kyo had already prepared the massive area-of-effect ultimate, "Final Purification," and aid it right at them.
At that mont, Carl walked to the edge of the battlefield, stopping beside the half-bodied Griff.
"Can't this be fixed?"
Carl muttered with so exasperation, picking up the two halves of Griff's body and fitting them together.
Then a dical miracle occurred. Griff was fully restored.
However, he was completely traumatized by Kyo. Realizing he was no longer an opponent, he sat on the ground and resigned himself to Carl's judgnt.
"Are you willing to answer now? Tell the true answer in your hearts!"
After saying that, Carl turned his gaze to the remaining gacha pool characters.
"What is the most important thing for a ga character?"
Faced with Carl's relentless questioning, Freya finally snapped. She shouted at Carl in a nearly broken state.
"Obeying the player's orders and pleasing them! Isn't that the answer you want to hear? Are we ga characters nothing more than the players' playthings?!"
In response to Freya's desperate outburst, Carl let out a long sigh.
"This is just an answer born from giving up on thinking and choosing to escape, just like how you willingly beca accomplices to the ga developers! Peacefully enjoying and exploiting the players' feelings for you."
"If players truly only wanted you to follow orders, then why did Kyo smile when Griff accepted the challenge? Even if Griff was defeated, it would only have increased the players' appreciation for him."
As Carl spoke, he glanced at Kyo and Griff, who was sitting on the ground.
At that mont, Kyo was patting Griff on the shoulder and comforting him, saying sothing like, "I've fought for tens of thousands of hours on the battlefield. It's normal that you can't beat . Next ti, I'll teach you a move or two."
This also verified Carl's claim.
Players definitely did not want so gaphone that only knew how to obey orders.
"So, I still haven't heard the true answer from your hearts."
Carl's questioning struck the hearts of every gacha pool character like a death knell.
"There is definitely a correct answer in your hearts. You just don't want to say it!"
"It seems... only by using so extraordinary ans can I get you to tell the truth!" Carl said.
Extraordinary ans?
What extraordinary ans?
The Saintess struggled. After undoing the binding magic circle from "herself," she clutched the wound on her shoulder, which, for so reason, had not healed.
Glancing at the characters from the Holy Nation, she quickly realized that everyone present combined could not defeat Kyo.
Nor could they defeat those in Kyo's party, even the characters who were her own clones.
The Saintess had no choice but to start calling for help from other players.
This was a space that was impossible to escape from without killing Carl.
Either Kyo gave up on this main quest, or Carl was taken out.
With the assistance of other players, taking out Carl would be a breeze.
But the key was, would Kyo agree to let other players join his great world?
No... he definitely would.
After finding reinforcents, the Saintess asked Kyo.
"Lord Kyo, you... probably don't want to be bored because you can't find an opponent, right?"
This was the Saintess's most common use of reverse psychology.
But Kyo's reply saw right through the Saintess's little sche.
"You still don't understand that my current fun doesn't lie in defeating you, but rather in being curious about where the Shopkeeper, aning Carl, will lead the final ending."
As Kyo spoke, he turned his gaze toward Carl.
"So, should I let those 'reinforcent' players of the Saintess join my great world? It might develop into PVP on the scale of several large guilds," Kyo asked.
"That is exactly the result I want. Don't worry, we still have quite a few allies."
This was the result Carl wanted, and the best opportunity for the Elysium assessnt task, "See how many players will choose to support you."
At the sa ti, it could achieve one of Carl's most important ultimate goals.
That was to draw the Oath officials into the fray.
Carl did not know whether this mass PVP between two player factions would be ignored by the Oath officials, lead to forced server maintenance, or prompt the Oath officials to intervene and diate.
In the first two cases, as long as Carl completed the Elysium assessnt, he would accept it.
If the Oath officials could not hold back and personally stepped in, then... the fun would really begin.
Because the one Carl truly wanted to interrogate in front of thousands of players was the Oath officials themselves.
So, Carl accepted letting Kyo allow in all those players who requested to join his great world and wanted to test their skills against him.
Kyo did a simple screening, first selecting a group of old rivals he knew well from past gas and letting them in.
Although the players entering Kyo's great world knew each other, this ti, they had accepted the Saintess's commission to crusade against Kyo and Carl.
"What a farce."
The president of Do Alliance, currently ranked third in Extre Abyss, was a player with the ga ID Vengeful Blood.
He was the first to accept the Saintess's commission, and after entering Kyo's great world, he said this.
"The reinforcents are finally here!"
After seeing the arrival of this powerhouse, whose strength was not inferior to Kyo's, the Saintess happily hurried over and led all the mbers of the Holy Nation to the side of the players acting as "invaders."
anwhile, Hasumi was standing among the crowd of gacha pool characters.
After going from the much-anticipated launch limited character to becoming a background character for over ten days, she seed to have realized sothing and chose the opposite direction.
This knight princess faced the gradually gathering player crusade army.
She bypassed the other gacha pool characters heading toward the tide of invaders and walked straight in the opposite direction until she reached Kyo's side, standing by him to express her stance.
"Knight of the Empire... did she choose such a risky move just to best ?"
The Saintess probably thought Hasumi was doing this to win Kyo's favor.
"Hasumi! What are you doing!"
The gacha pool characters from the Empire's side also questioned Hasumi. Such a decision to stand on the side of the villain instead of the general players would have a huge impact on Hasumi's character reputation.
Instead, Hasumi strangely questioned her compatriots, the others who were also gacha pool characters.
"The strange ones are you! How can you stand so comfortably on the side of the Savior's enemies?!"
Hasumi's question stunned all the gacha pool characters present.
Then, Hasumi turned her gaze toward Carl and said.
"This also answers Sir Carl's question. I believe our most important duty is to make all the Saviors who co to this world happy!"
Hasumi's words were equivalent to saying, "The most important thing for a ga character is to make all the players experiencing this ga happy!"
"So now I think if I am willing to stand by my Savior and support him, he will definitely be happy!"
Hasumi said this while still maintaining that extrely self-centered tone.
However, to avoid being misunderstood by the visiting players, Hasumi quickly added.
"In this worldline, I'm doing this because I'm Lord Kyo's knight!"
"Of course, in other worldlines, I've sworn to make all Saviors captivated by my charm. So if you want to kill Carl in your own worlds, I will likewise support you and provide feedback. This is my resolve as a knight."
As Hasumi said this, her tone suddenly beca extrely low, mixed with self-reproach and pain.
"Unfortunately, not all Saviors can encounter . It's not that they don't want to see or have , but... they have bad luck and lack the financial ans."
"So, Sir Carl, I'm actually not qualified to say 'I want to make all Saviors happy,' because... when those Saviors can't pull from the gacha pool because of luck, I can't even offer them comfort."
"And I can't change anything, so... I am a derelict knight, a derelict ga character. Is this the answer you wanted, Sir Carl?"
Carl could understand Hasumi's pain. It was like being designed by a ga designer from the very beginning as a character full of love.
Yet all of her love required players to pay expensive sums of money to obtain.
This character herself would probably be angry enough to want to fight the ga planner.
"No."
Carl shook his head and said directly.
"Remove that last sentence. The problem isn't with you. But regardless, it's enough that you can speak all this so frankly. Thank you for your answer."
Hasumi had said all that. What else could Carl do?
Naturally, it was, "You pass!"
"Hasumi has given her answer, but I still haven't heard yours, nor the answer from the person who should be answering this question the most!"
Carl's gaze swept across the other gacha pool characters, including the Saintess, then looked up at the sky.
This interrogation continued.
Not just of these gacha pool characters acting as accomplices, but also of the true masterminds behind the scenes.
(To be continued.)
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◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)
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