Around the time Wilhelm was heading over to meet Millie .

Shins party was inspecting the interior of Palmirack, as they were looking for a certain room .

This one is closed too .

They were looking for Cains Palmiracks master room .

Cain was extremely fond of gimmicks, a passion reflected by the great number of hidden doors, passageways, and armories throughout Palmirack that would normally go by unnoticed .

Among them was a hidden passageway that led to the room housing Palmiracks core . It was located in Cains room, the room with the most dangerous gimmicks in all of Palmirack, as proof of its special status .

But as long as they found the room, Shins party would have broken through . Once inside the room they would fully activate Palmiracks core and take back control of Palmirack: Millies location would then be crystal clear .

Thus they kept searching for Cains room, but the sheer number of closed partitions was making their search a difficult one .

If they could find the passageway, they would have already entered the room and activated the core .

Being a room of top importance, its probably designed to not let anyone inside .

It could be . Im also concerned that Wilhelms not answering our messageslets look one more time . If we dont find anything, were breaking through .

Shin nodded at Schnees words and decided their next course of action .

They didnt do so from the beginning because most of Palmiracks walls and partitions were made of chimeradite, a material with incredible properties .

It wouldnt be too hard for Shins party to simply break through, but destroying a 20-cemel thick chimeradite wall without anyone noticing would be impossible .

An attack of considerable strength would be required, and the resulting sound and vibrations could alert the surroundings .

If only a few people were present in the Church, it was possible for nothing to happen, but, unfortunately, many resided within Palmiracks walls, especially figures of high rank; like the pope and cardinals, priests in training and the senior priests instructing them . In addition, there were many knights stationed to protect the church .

The priests in training were also in charge of cooking and cleaning, thus always on the move throughout the building . If loud sounds or vibrations occurred, they would learn of it immediately .

Its not here either .

Shins party had moved past a hallway blocked by a dead-end, returning to the previous doorway, but found their progress once again opposed by a partition .

Nothing else to do, they decided . We must break through .

At first they sensed the surrounding presence, waiting for as many people as possible to be far from their location . At the same time Schnee activated Silent Domain, a skill disrupting the surrounding sounds . The probability of anyone noticing sounds caused by them thus dropped significantly .

Shin confirmed the skills activation, pulled out a card from the item box and materialized it . From Shins hands then appeared one katana .

Resting within a candid sheath decorated with red petals was Hakuramaru, a katana of Ancient grade .

Shin calculated the timing when the least people were in their surroundings and prepared to unsheathHakuramaru .

As the skill activated Hakuramarus hilt became a blur and three silver streaks ran across the walls surface .

The katana martial skill Iai Hiengasane (Iai Flock of Swallows) accelerated the slashes which drew an imperfect triangle on the wall .

Without relaxing his guard, Shin placed Hakuramaru in its sheath and pushed the wall with his right hand, causing part of the slashed partition to fall on the side opposite to Shins party .

The falling metal caused a large vibration upon hitting the ground .

However, thanks to Silent Domain the rumbling sound was not heard by anyone .

Also because of the distance, the people present near Shins party did notice the vibrations but did not make a ruckus about it .

Lets go .

Yes .

Shin and Schnee passed through the opening in the wall and stepped into Palmiracks inner quarters .

In the off-chance someone passed nearby, they put back part of the fallen partition where it originally was . After returning the wall to its former state, all light penetrating from outside was shut out, making it hard to see anything .

Shin and Schnee both activated their detection skills to their maximum capabilities and proceeded quickly along the dark corridors . What they were wary of the most were the traps set around Cains room .

If Shin was registered as Cains comrade there would be no obstacles, but if that had been revoked it would mean stepping foot in Palmiracks most dangerous trap zone .

Shin, partly involved in the creation of the traps, absolutely did not want to fall victim to their effects .

. no traps, apparently .

Yes, I do not perceive any danger either .

Shin and Schnee proceed onwards, with the utmost care possible . No matter how much they advanced through Palmirack, no traps seem to activate .

Taking advantage of such an opportunity, they quicken their steps towards Cains quarters .

Even though the map function was unusable, he had visited that place many times in the past . Shin proceeded with confidence and stopped before a certain door shortly after .

Confirming the absence of any traps, Shin was preparing the keys, when a rattling sound reached his ears .

The lock opened?

Probably .

Schnee nodded to Shins question .

Putting strength in the hand holding the knob was enough for the door to open without any resistance . It appears that the lock had been disabled simply by Shins presence .

My registration is still active, then .

Shin still remembered that function . If someone registered in the system simply touched the knob, the door would open automatically .

The room was as Shin remembered it: a round table and chairs, cupboards, kitchen and other furniture, in the same arrangement he was used to, lying quietly in the darkness .

One difference was the dust piled on all of them . The rooms environment control system was not active .

Not only Shin, but any visitor could have understood that the room had not been in use for a long time .

lets go . The secret passageway is in the back .

. yes .

After a brief pause in the silent room, Shin walked towards the back . Schnee followed after softly replying to him .

The room in the back was only about 30 square feet: dust completely covered the desk and chairs within .

Shin drew closer to the bookshelves and pushed on the 4th book from the left of the 4th shelf from below . This caused the shelves to quietly slide to the left, showing a type of door that opened left and right from the center .

That door too opened automatically as Shin went closer . It concealed a so-called elevator .

The doors closed on their own after Shin and Schnee stepped past them; the elevator then started descending .

After roughly 10 seconds of that floating sensation, the elevator stopped and its doors opened to a dimly lit hallway .

One minute later, Shin and Schnee had already reached Palmiracks center, the room housing the core .

The room was shaped as a cube, with each side measuring 10 mels . At its center floated a black sphere of 50 cemels of diameter .

Innumerable geometric symbols were engraved on its surface, while streams of light ran periodically through the thin canals etched on the object .

Those lights, however, were extremely faint .

Whats this?

Shin, after checking once again for the presence of the traps, walked towards the center of the room and the core .

Is there anything wrong?

The core looks different from what I remember . The lights running on its surface used to be brighter and even though my data should still be registered, it wont respond to my presence .

Originally, the interior control menu was supposed to be displayed in midair whenever a member of the Rokuten approached . However, this was not the case this time around .

Shin, there are traces of miasma in this room!

Miasma!?

As Shin walked forward for a closer examination, Schnee raised her voice suddenly, looking shocked .

Surprised, Shin focused on his surroundings and felt the unmistakable nauseating presence of miasma .

Are you serious? I hadnt noticed .

I suppose your resistance is too strong, thus its effects were nullified without you noticing . I do not possess a resistance as strong as yours, thats why I could notice, I think . Nevertheless, what could this mean?

Shin was now extremely resistant to all types of abnormal status effects . The miasma in the room was just enough to cause an ordinary person to feel sick, so it did not have any effect on Shin .

Schnees resistance, also because of her races characteristics, was greatly inferior to Shins, thus she could notice the miasmas presence .

It doesnt look like its penetrating from outside .

A possibility is that the miasma mixed within the atmosphere accumulated over time, I suppose .

Miasma is present wherever living beings are . In a place like the kingdoms capital, a mass of all sorts of entangled emotions, it was possible for miasma to accumulate without anyone knowing .

Of course, even if such a thing had been done deliberately, it was not possible for it to accumulate enough to cause something serious . The quantity in that room was that small .

Palmirack operated its interior by absorbing the surrounding magical power . Thus, while gathering magical power it had also absorbed the miasma mixed within it, or so Schnee thought .

Could be . Its too little to be caused by a Demon .

Shin could not deny the possibility that after 500 years, some effect would be expected . He nodded while purifying the miasma .

After the miasma disappeared, the lights streaking over the core regained their brightness . At the same time, the Palmirack control menu appeared before Shins eyes .

Without wasting a second, Shin searched all individuals present within Palmirack . Narrowing down targets using categories such as level, race and gender, he found only one applicable result .

Underground, huh . There are 4 other responses nearby?

He found a response in one of the rooms underground . It was a relatively large one .

Together with the response thought to be Millie, there were 2 others in front and 2 behind her .

. !? This is!!

Shin operated the menu to display the room in question . The screen shifted to show Millie running, a black blade in her hand .

Before her, Wilhelm was clashing against a man with a red great sword . Millie was running towards Wilhelm, but her facial expression seemed to lack focus .

Schnee, were jumping!

Yes!

This is bad .

Shin felt it instinctively . He operated the menu at high-speed and activated the short-distance teleportation function within Palmirack .

Shin and Schnee had been transported just in front of the room where Millie and the others were . Thinking it troublesome to open it, Shin let his strength take control and punched the door open .

The doors opened in a V-shape and flew with a booming sound towards the man with the red sword

Shin had found the location of the people inside the building with the menu and his detection abilities, while seeing the red sword was enough to let him understand that the man facing against Wilhelm was Eline .

Shin flew into the room right after the door did .

There, he found Wilhelm kneeling on the floor, with the knife protruding from his back, and Millie staring blankly at her bloody hand .

To Shins eyes as player, Millies status was clearly shown as Submission .

The visual seen in the core room and this status window were enough to let Shin know what had happened in the short time they employed to teleport .

Wgwah!!

With the same skill-powered fists that had broken the door in two, Shin pounded mercilessly on Elines face .

Leaving the sensation of broken bones on Shins hands, Eline spun in midair . After flying for several mel he crashed on a wall and slumped down on the floor .

He would not die; the skill was used to prevent it .

There were things Shin needed to ask: and no matter how enraged he was, he would never kill someone on the spot .

It was a completely different question if being left alive would be pleasant for Eline, though .

I made it just in timeor was I too late?

Looking at Wilhelm clenching his teeth and Millies still vacant expression, Shin realized his voice was still imbued with anger . He grabbed Exvaine with the hand that had sent Eline flying .

Schnee, heal Wilhelm . Ill take care of Millie .

Understood . What shall we do about that?

Our first priority is this . I paralyzed him, so he cant use teleportation .

The skill Shin had used on his fists was the bare-handed martial skill Nonfatal Fist .

A common element of RPGs and battle-focused VR games, this technique leaves the opponent with at least 1 HP .

This technique also had the effect of paralyzing the opponent and preventing the usage of skills for a set time . Among similar skills there are Willow Throw and Nonfatal Blade, previously used against Barlux .

Shin saw clearly from Elines HP gauge that he barely had any left . Shins attack had landed cleanly . If it wasnt for Nonfatal Fist, Eline would be mincemeat by now .

After confirming that he had been inflicted with paralysis, Shin decided that they could ignore him for a while .

Schnee nodded at Shins words and cast healing magic on Wilhelm .

Shin made sure Wilhelms HP gauge was increasing and turned over to Millie .

.

Even with Shin standing before her, Millie didnt show any response . She simply stared blankly into space, hollow reflections filling her eyes . As the displayed Submission status clearly showed, she had to be equipped with a submission item .

Shin focused on observing Millie and noticed a kind of black mist emanating from her right arm .

Let me roll up your sleeves a little .

Rolling up Millies right sleeve exposed a round item with the same golden characters present on Hermies collar .

Submission items were generally shaped like collars, but this allowed them to be equipped on the arms or legs of children like Millie .

Even during the game, believing in stereotypes like collars are always equipped on necks caused players to be caught by surprise from time to time .

Not knowing that the item would be effective even if equipped on someones arms, Hermie and the others did not consider the possibility that Millie could have been manipulated too .

Im going to release you now .

Probably thanks to his ability as Liberator, Shin knew how to destroy the item .

Shin focused magic power on his left arm and grabbed the bracelet . The focused magic power scattered the black mist away and the loud noise of something cracking could be heard .

As Shin released his grip, the bracelet, now reduced to bits, vanished in a puff of smoke .

As the Submission status display vanished along with the bracelet, strength left Millies unconscious body . Shin caught her as she slumped to the floor, then faced towards Hermie .

. . I will remove the collar . Please come closer .

Please .

Hermie was slightly wary of the man who had abruptly appeared in her quarters, but relaxed after witnessing how he punched Eline, healed Wilhelm, and freed Millie .

Hermie came closer and Shin stretched his magic-powered hand, just as he had done with Millie . The collar visibly cracked at Shins touch, dissolving in the exact same way as Millies bracelet did .

Its really disappearing

Unlike Millie, Hermie did not lose consciousness; She touched her neck where the collar used to be, as to make sure it was really gone .

My name is Shin, the woman tending to Wilhelms wounds is Yuki . Lilishila requested our help . You are a Holy Woman, is that correct?

Yes, I am . So you are the allies Lilishila talked aboutmy name is Hermie Schultz . I am deeply grateful for your help .

We had our own reasons to do this, so please dont worry about it . Could I ask you to take care of Millie? Im afraid things will turn quite bloody from now on, thus, it would be truly helpful if you headed with Yuki to where Lilishila is, milady .

Shin spoke to her because he didnt think what would likely happen next was something for women to witness .

While saying those words, Shin emanated a completely different aura than when he asked Hermie to take care of Millie . His expression and tone of voice were calm and collected, yet Hermie felt a chill so severe that her whole body trembled .

. Understood . I leave the rest to you .

Shin nodded and entrusted Millies still unconscious body to Hermie .

When he faced towards Schnee again she had finished healing Wilhelm, who had stood up and was recovering Beinot .

Youre feeling alright?

Yeah, you saved me .

If Millie hadnt been manipulated, victory would have been yours . Id have appreciated being contacted though .

Shins words turned Wilhelms expression sour .

Yeah, I messed up there . I wasnt focused enough on reporting the situation closely .

Hearing Wilhelms words made Shin think that this worlds Chosen Ones had abilities so great that it caused them to act without thinking too deeply at times .

Well, Im sure you wont repeat the same mistake twice . Be careful in the future .

After saying this, Shin turned towards Eline, still knocked out cold on the floor .

Its time to have a little chat . What are you going to do, Wilhelm?

Youre the one who dealt the final blow . Its all up to you .

Wilhelm left everything up to Shin without hesitation because, from Elines standpoint, that would be the worst outcome .

Wilhelm and Shin had been talking casually, but as soon as the latter turned his eyes on Eline, they displayed such an intense rage that you could almost see it around him .

Hermie, who had moved close to Schnee, felt her own body tremble because of that pressure .

The guide too almost jumped to protect Hermie after feeling the fierce aura Shin projected .

You two should come this way . With them in that state, I think it is best to not stay here much longer .

Y-yes . We are in your debt .

Schnee exited the room with Hermie and the guide, judging it wiser for them to leave after noticing the change in Shins atmosphere . She contacted Shibaid and they headed to the room where Lilishila was waiting .

After confirming that the group of 3 left the room, Shin and Wilhelm walked closer to Eline .

gh . .

Before Shin could do anything to Eline, they heard him emit a weak grunt . It appears that the upper class chosen ones recovery ability Eline possessed had allowed him to regain consciousness .

Hey there, are we feeling alright?

Shin spoke to Eline in an extremely casual tone .

It would have looked like a conversation between close friends, had Elines face not been completely rearranged .

Despite being spoken to, Eline dripping blood from his nose and mouth was just trying to slowly stand back up, without saying a word .

Shin waited for Eline to close his wounds with medicine before talking again .

Theres a lot of things I need to ask you . Youre going to answer me honestly, yeah?

How dare you use an underhanded trick like a surprise attackand to someone like me!

Ignoring Shins question, Eline let out a voice filled with anger .

He seemed to think that he received an unexpected amount of damage just because he had been caught by surprise .

Underhanded? I didnt expect to hear that from the man who had Millie do that ambush

I am a chosen existence . My actions are justly performed in Gods name!

. I see, talking will get us nowhere . Works for me .

Elines words were those of a fanatic . Words of a man who believed himself to be just, without a shred of a doubt .

For that very reason, Shin lost any scruples he might have had .

If we cant resolve things peacefully through conversation, the only thing to do is let our fists talk, am I right?

Such words might suggest that Shin was thinking of finding a solution via dialogue, but of course that was not the case .

The very moment he saw Eline, he had discarded all possibilities except physical language .

Here you go .

Shin raised the Exvaine he was still holding and threw it at Eline .

Eline grabbed the weapon as it was flying towards him . Confusion was clearly present in his expression .

Youre giving me back my weapon? Are you looking down on me!?

Wrong word choice! Im not giving it back, just lending it to you for a while . Its not even yours to begin with .

Shins words started becoming rougher . He was different from the time with Girard: it was possible to sense his tone showed traces of cold cruelty .

Come at me already . If youre even able to handle that weapon, that is

Damn youuuuu!!!

Shins utter arrogance pushed Eline to charge at him while raising an angry shout .

His physical damage was far from recovered, but even so his speed was enough that it would be hard to react in time for anyone not an upper class chosen one like him .

Shin simply raised his left arm against the coming blade, slicing the air in his direction .

It is not hard to imagine why Eline smiled at such a sight .

Exvaines sharpness, Elines own armpower, the weapons own mass . It was normally unthinkable for a mere arm to do something against a blow resulting from the combination of these three factors .

However, the crimson gauntlet equipped on Shins arm squarely blocked Exvaines blade, which had cleaved through so many weapons .

Thiscant be .

Shin did not budge an inch even after receiving the full brunt of Elines blow . His arm did not move, nor did he show any expression of pain . He simply looked on at Eline, unfazed .

Sparks had scattered from the gauntlet, but its surface didnt show the slightest mark . It was unscathed, much like its master .

A full power blow blocked by a single arm . A reality that made Eline emit a raucous whisper .

. . next .

What?

Eline voiced his doubts at Shin, who looked as if he was waiting for his next move .

That wasnt all your power, was it? Im waiting . Show me your full strength already .

W-what!! You, you!

Elines fury had almost vanished, but Shins look now mixed with pity stoked its flames high again .

DONT LOOK DOWN ON MEEEEE!!

After instantly increasing the distance from Shin, Eline healed his damage with a skill, which he could finally use again . Without a moment of delay, he delivered another blow reinforced by an offensive skill .

It was the sword and flame combination skill Clear Bite .

A diagonal downward slash by a sword wrapped in white-hot flames and a diagonal upward slash with a blade of pure fire attacked Shin from above and below .

No, thats my line .

Even before a strike charged with all the strength Eline could muster, Shin did not draw . He crushed the blade of fire coming from below with a kick through his leg guards and blocked the blade coming from above with his gauntlet, once again .

H-heh, this is nothgwaaah!

Even if the blade had stopped, the flames engulfing it did not .

Eline was confident Shin would have been damaged after blocking the blade the same way as he had done before, but was instead burned by the flames of his own blade, reflected back at him .

Wwhat isgoing on

What, do you think Im going to tell you?

With these words, Shin pressed closer to Eline, without a sound .

Shins right arm shot towards Eline, as if with a roar .

Aah!!

Eline barely managed to shield himself with Exvaine . The shock of parrying Shins blow however, blew the great sword out of his hands .

As I thought, youre not fit to handle itI will face you from the front, fair and square . When you feel like talking, just give the signal .

Elines expression was distorted because of the dull pain in his hands . Without a care for the mans state, Shin stepped right in front of him .

An uppercut right into the solar plexus . Without a moment to react, Eline is thrown in the air .

!?!

Eline flies away, spitting blood, and crashed against the same wall he had been blown to before . The wall, built with special materials, sustains the impact of Elines body and repels it back .

Eline falls towards the ground, powerless .

Before he can reach the floor, however, he is stopped by a crimson gauntlet .

Gwooh!?

Another fist crashes into him .

A flurry of fists and their afterimages do not allow Elines body the solace of reaching the ground .

Face, stomach, right shoulder, face, left body, right chest, face again .

A series of blows which would have knocked out cold any average man, but that an upper level chosen one like Eline could sustain .

Or rather, was made to sustain .

Oh yeah . Ill heal before you die, so rest easy, ok?

After indirectly informing Eline that he will not be allowed to die easily, Shin continues his attack .

The reason why Eline did not die even after such an amount of blows is simply Nonfatal Fist .

Thanks to the skill enveloping Shins fists, even heart-rending blows or head-splitting attacks see their impact vanish right before it could prove fatal .

Bones are shattered, organs are crushed, but death does not come . It is not possible to die due to shock either .

What increased Elines misfortune even more was that Shin had a great quantity of recovery items with him . During the continuous attacks, a small bottle was thrown at Eline, who was in such a pitiful condition that it was almost a mystery how he could be still alive . The small bottle shattered as it made contact with Eline, its liquid contents spilling all over him .

The next moment, Elines battered body recovered almost instantly: it looked like someone had pressed the rewind button of a video player .

That was not something to rejoice about, though .

A physical recovery also meant that the sensation of pain, paralyzed by the massive damage, returned as well .

The recovery took a mere 2 seconds . Eline, still floating in midair, was again on the receiving end of a storm of fists .

Bwaagh!

The words Eline was about to utter died in his throat . A cycle of destruction and recovery repeating again and again, truly an endless hell .

Shins face as he repeated his attacks was completely void of emotion .

He had overcome his anger, now no emotion could be perceived from his expression towards Eline .

It was only a matter of time until Elines heart collapsed under this machine-like cycle of actions .

Ghaah, sdob, sdop

The flurry of fists stopped for a moment . Eline, slumped on floor, desperately tried to move his powerless body away from Shin .

There was no trace of the earlier arrogance or anger in him anymore . As Shin moved but one step forward, Elines body shook in an almost comical fashion .

Lets hear what you have to say then . Oh, any lies and Im going to kick it up a notch, ok?

Looking at his own blood dripping from Shins fists, Eline nodded energetically . He had received the first completely one-sided beating of his life, which had pulverized any and all thoughts of rebellion .

Number one . What did you plan to do by kidnapping Millie?

Eline answered Shins questions honestly .

Bulks objective was to bring Hermie and Millie to the location of a certain ritual and offer them as sacrifices . He planned to solidify his position in the organization that way .

Eline confessed to not know the location of the ritual and that Exvaine had been given to him by Bulk .

Concerning the manipulation item, it could control not only the actions but also the memories of the wearer . It cannot, however, alter existing memories, but only delete them .

I see .

Eline was speaking the truth .

Even if his spirit had been broken, there was no guarantee he wouldnt lie . But when he blew Eline away with his fists, Shin had already used a spiritual interference-type skill .

The skill caused Eline to not feel any desire to hide the truth or any sense or danger in saying everything he knew .

.

Wilhelm was standing behind Shin, silently listening to Eline answering Shins questions . Wilhelm expected this kind of outcome, that is why he left everything to Shin without a word .

Wilhelm knew Shin was a High Human . Thus he also thought that he would likely know a spiritual interference skill, perfect for interrogations .

He did not know if the skill had been used this time, but as Eline was coughing up the requested information, it did not matter if the reason was the skill or the beating he received .

Wilhelm also realized that, considering Shins personality, he would not have used a spiritual interference skill unless absolutely necessary .

The current situation made it undoubtedly necessary .

Shins rush of punches made Wilhelm wonder if the man was still alive . Seeing Shin use healing medicine, however, cast away all unneeded worries .

W-what will you do with me?

Hmm? Well, we got the information we needed . Nextyou know, dont you?

We did what we had to, so you know whats coming, right? Shins expression towards Eline told a clear message .

L-lord Bulk has probably already captured Lilishila by now . If anything happens to me, who knows what they will do!! Not only to Lilishila, but also the Holy Woman who left earlier!!

Eline suddenly raised his voice towards Shin . Talking about Bulk made him remember something he had forgotten .

Hes going to Lilishila, you say?

Eline grinned at Shins question .

They have chosen ones the same level as me with them! If you want to help them, do not lay another finger on me!!

Apparently Eline was planning to use the hostages as a shield to escape the current situation . If they could take Hermie and Millie hostage, he was sure it would be more difficult for Shins party to move as they wanted .

Elines tough act was extremely ridiculous to Shin and Wilhelms eyes .

Yeah, I surely hope for you theyve taken hostages .

Shin cast words filled with pity to Eline .

Elines smile stiffened when faced with Shins nonchalant attitude .

W-what are you saying . The Elf Tamer is going to the inn this very moment . The elf that was with you cant stand a chance against Konigs close combat prowess either . Will you act so tough even after they are captured?

I think theres a big misunderstanding here

Shin looked at Eline coldly and delivered a verbal coup the grace .

. when have I ever said that my comrades are not with Lilishila right now?