The Game of the Greatest Black Mage
Chapter 174

Chapter 174

'How did she find me?'

No, before that, he couldn't even understand how she was alive.

The Overlord's presence he had felt from afar had certainly been faint.

Hadn't he come in person precisely because he'd felt it?

It had been a long time since he'd sensed the aura of an Overlord, and as someone who had a connection to the title, his plan had been to make the new one feel the difference in their status and perhaps bestow something upon him.

But what was this?

Helena? Of all people?

He had tried to flee, but he'd been caught again.

'Could it be... real?'

He shook his head internally at the thought.

The king—no, Nyao—looked at Helena, completely unable to comprehend the situation.

This wasn't the Helena of the past.

It must be an aftereffect of her rebirth, meaning she couldn't use even a fraction of her original power.

But she knew he was here and found him?

He had confirmed the Overlord's power was faint before coming.

There's no way those two should have been able to find him. It made no sense.

Then, his eyes fell upon the familiar skull next to Helena.

That thing was...

"Ah. So you must be Nyao-nim."

"..."

At those words, Nyao glared at Seonghyun, who was walking out from behind Helena.

The new Overlord. In other words, Helena's successor.

'It must be a skill that man used.'

Which means...

"...Is it the Scent of Death?"

"Yes, I used it just in case you were an assassin..."

Seonghyun also wore an awkward expression, looking a bit sheepish. He had no choice, really.

From what Helena had told him, Nyao was the master of Ninyaru—in other words, the King.

And he had just used a skill on him.

Thinking this, Seonghyun felt it was a relief, all things considered.

『Scent of Death』

→《Legendary》

→[Lv Max][Complete Form]

[Persistent Effect][Active]

[Cooldown: 1 hour]

That scent, invisible yet ever-present, is the final invitation that grants mortals silence and eternity.

→ Overlord exclusive skill.

→ Summons a skull that can track a desired target.

→ The skull will pursue the target until death, using any means necessary.

→ The pursued target will repeatedly see illusions as long as the skull is attached.

→ The skull is maintained until the target is on the verge of death.

'I'm glad Scent of Death isn't an attack skill.'

Scent of Death was a skill that combined pursuit and debuffs.

It repeatedly made the target see illusions, but...

[『Scent of Death』 creates an illusion for the 『One Whose Status Cannot Be Gauged』.]

[It is ineffective.]

[Under the circumstances, this is not treated as a preemptive attack.]

'One Whose Status Cannot Be Gauged.'

That meant there was at least a 200-level difference between them.

He couldn't even imagine what would have happened if he had recklessly used an attack skill.

It was a huge relief that the system didn't treat it as a preemptive attack under the circumstances.

In times like these, the system was remarkably fair.

Seonghyun let out a sigh of relief and looked at Nyao.

Nyao looked at Helena, shuddered, then whipped his head away, puckering his lips as he spoke.

"It's n-not Nyao."

He even altered his voice, trying his best to deny it.

One would think he would have given up by now, but his continued denial and feigned ignorance showed he hadn't.

Then again, he was the king now.

It was understandable.

He knew all too well what would happen if he acknowledged Helena, so he was trying his best to pretend he didn't know her.

Seonghyun glanced at Helena, wondering if this act would work on her.

But of course, it had no effect on Helena whatsoever.

Ignoring his denial, Helena's eyes curved slightly. With a playful expression, she said.

"Nyao, coochie-coo."

Whip!

As Helena spoke those words and held out her hand, Nyao unconsciously, immediately, placed his chin in her hand.

"Coochie-coo, it is Nyao."

"A-Ah!"

Even after several hundred years, the memories engraved in his body remained.

The look on Nyao's face when he found himself rubbing his chin against her hand was a world away from the solemn, majestic figure he had been just moments before.

He looked a little choked up, his eyes even welling with tears.

Seonghyun did his best to pretend he didn't see it, looking up at the sky. His other familiars did the same.

Only Fiora, who was a little slow on the uptake, tilted her head in confusion.

At that moment, Helena and Nyao both sensed someone approaching, and their eyes sharpened.

Was it an enemy?

No, that wasn't it.

Shashak!

Helena moved faster than she had at any point since her rebirth, and Nyao moved just as quickly, striking a dignified pose.

Seonghyun, noticing this, also quickly lowered his head slightly.

He felt the approaching presence hesitate as it saw them.

And then, a voice was heard.

"Y-Your Majesty!?!?"

"Ahem."

The approaching presence was none other than the commander of the Black Knights, Felix.

The interrogation had just ended, and he had come across this place while looking for Seonghyun.

The moment he spotted Nyao—no, the King—he was startled and quickly dropped to one knee, bowing his head in a display of loyalty.

He didn't even stop to think why the king had suddenly appeared here, even if it was His Majesty's first outing in decades.

His only thought was to show his loyalty to the king before him.

"I-I greet Your Majesty."

"Ahem-hem!"

For some reason, the king seemed quite uncomfortable and different from his usual self, but Felix was too flustered to notice.

The king, Nyao, cleared his throat and nodded at Felix.

"Well done. I came here in person because this outsider is the disciple... of my acqua... uhm...! of an acquaintance."

"Ah! Ahh!!!"

Felix let out a cry of admiration, as if he finally understood.

"So Your Majesty knew him as well? I thought he was incredible, and it turns out he's the disciple of an acquaintance of Your Majesty."

Indeed, if he was the disciple personally raised by an acquaintance of the king, then his incredible strength was understandable, even for an outsider.

He had thought something was strange.

There was a limit to how strong an outsider could be, after all.

Felix nodded his head repeatedly as if he had realized some great truth.

In any case, the king, Nyao, looked at Felix and asked.

"Well, were there any results?"

"Yes!!!"

Felix answered the king's question with a booming voice, and Nyao nodded as if satisfied.

Seeing this, Helena looked at him with an expression that seemed to say, 'Our Nyao is all grown up~.'

Becoming a little embarrassed, Nyao put his hands behind his back and pretended not to notice as he turned his head away.

Anyway, noticing that Felix had come to tell Seonghyun the results of the interrogation, Nyao looked at Seonghyun with narrowed eyes.

The power and presence he felt were faint, but it was definitely the aura of an Overlord.

And...

'He's stronger than I thought. That must be how he caught the spy.'

He keenly assessed the situation.

Of course, in terms of raw strength, Seonghyun was no match for him. He could kill Seonghyun like a bug right this instant.

However, he was far stronger than a typical person of his level.

If they were equals, it would be extremely rare for anyone to be able to defeat Seonghyun.

No, it would be safe to say it was impossible.

That must be how he caught the spy so easily.

Thinking this, Nyao stroked his beard with a solemn expression.

'In that case, I suppose I can entrust some things to him.'

This was becoming a bother, anyway.

This turned out well.

So they succeeded in extracting information from the spy.

Nyao asked Felix again.

"You heard all about the passage and the scheme the fiends used, I presume?"

"Yes, we have completed our identification of the passage, Your Majesty. However, it seems the fiend was not aware of any future schemes."

"Hmm, so that's how it is. Those slippery snakes. It seems we won't be able to get any more information."

It appeared that, in preparation for the spy's capture, even Sibren had not been told of their future plans.

Even as this important conversation went on, Seonghyun didn't interject and remained quiet. That was the correct choice.

'Hmm. They seem to be in a tough spot.'

Well, they had caught the spy but couldn't find out about the enemy's next move.

It was natural to be in a difficult position.

Now that a spy had infiltrated the city, things could get very difficult from here on out.

As Seonghyun was thinking, he suddenly remembered something.

Perhaps...

"Uhm, Your... Majes... ty."

He tried to address him with a title befitting his rank, but the image of Nyao, who had been getting the "coochie-coo" treatment from Helena just moments ago, came to mind, making him hesitate.

Was it for the same reason that Nyao, too...

"Uh, oh? Ahem-hem, yes, outsider. Speak."

...answered so awkwardly.

As the two of them conversed with some difficulty, Helena was grinning from ear to ear, looking extremely pleased.

It seemed she was thoroughly enjoying the situation.

At that moment, Seonghyun spoke to Nyao.

"There might be a way to find out about those future schemes."

"Hmm?"

"Hah!? S-Sir Seonghyun, is that true!?"

Forgetting even the king's safety, Felix asked back in shock.

As the king, Nyao, also tilted his head in surprise, Seonghyun began to explain his idea step-by-step.

Upon hearing it, Felix's complexion grew pale with shock, and the king's reaction was similar.

'Could that really be possible? Even with the power of the Helena of the past, that method seems difficult...'

Seeing Nyao's hesitation, Helena smiled brightly and said,

"If it's my master, Seonghyun, it's more than possible, of course."

At those words, Nyao felt a sense of trust.

Although Helena was playful and mischievous, she was by no means the type to lie about such matters.

And so, Nyao believed her and nodded his head.

"We will proceed according to that plan."

"B-But, Your Majesty. Th-That method is far too dangerous."

"Otherwise, we are in a situation where we must all simply wait for the enemy to come to us. Or do you have a better method?"

At the king's question, Felix shook his head as if to say he had none.

He knew Seonghyun was incredible, but he was filled with doubt about whether this was truly possible.

However, if the king said so...

"I will obey Your Majesty's command."

Following the king's opinion.

He couldn't think of any other way.

And so, with Seonghyun's method chosen, he spoke carefully.

"It is possible this could fail, but the probability of success is quite high. Please wait just a little while."

With those words, Seonghyun headed for the interrogation room.

For the new plan.

And text appeared before Seonghyun's eyes.

[You have shown resourcefulness through improvisation.]

[The Hidden Chain Quest, 『The Shield of Ninyaru, the Black Knights』, is changing.]

[The Hidden Chain Quest, 『Basilica and Ninyaru』, has been generated.]

[The master of Ninyaru, City of the Upper Labyrinth, gazes upon you with interest.]

3.

In a space far from Ninyaru, City of the Upper Labyrinth...

In a vast land that the residents called the Crevice of the Labyrinth, a few figures were waiting for something.

Two of them sat quietly before a campfire, both with hoods pulled down deep over their faces.

However, even with the hoods, some of their features were visible.

One of them had arms like membranous wings, while the other had eight glowing eyes and a writhing back that suggested multiple arms.

They were all residents of Basilica.

And among them, members of the espionage and assassination unit.

"When is Sibren coming out?"

"It's about time for his return. Just wait."

"Hmm, even so, he's taking a while."

In response to the words from the bat-like fiend, the spider-like one nodded in agreement.

The two of them here were Sibren's colleagues.

They had received the same mission and come this far, but their skills were inferior to Sibren's, so they had been left here on standby.

However, Sibren, who usually returned even earlier than his scheduled time, was still nowhere to be seen, which made them wonder.

'Surely he wasn't caught, right?'

Just as they were thinking that...

...the sound of faint footsteps was heard, and someone appeared.

"Have you been waiting?"

"Sibren, you took a while."

"That you did. Surely you weren't caught, were you?"

"..."

Sibren said nothing and simply stared at the bat-like fiend.

But seeing that dry, emotionless gaze, completely devoid of any feeling, the bat-like fiend had no choice but to acknowledge him.

"It's Sibren, alright."

"Then it's settled. Let's return to Basilica."

With just that, needing no further confirmation, they both rose from their seats.

Sibren nodded as well and took the lead.

A faint, turquoise aura flowed from his mouth.

The bat and the spider.

Because Sibren was standing in front of them, they did not see the turquoise aura.

"Let's hurry to Basilica."