The stone steps leading out of the Dungeon felt different beneath Raizer's boots. For thirty days, he had breathed the stagnant, metallic air of the Labyrinth; now, as he emerged into the evening light of Orario, the scent of blooming flowers and street food felt almost alien.
He walked through the North Main Street, a silent shadow in dark leather and clinking chainmail. His beard had grown out into a rugged stubble, and his eyes—sharpened by a month of Absolute Control—seemed to pierce through the very soul of the city. People moved aside instinctively.
Feeling slight hunger, he walked to the only diner he knew.
He pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the Hostess of Fertility.
The tavern was as rowdy as ever, but a sudden silence rippled through the room as Raizer stepped in. Mia Grand stopped wiping a glass, her eyes widening. Ryuu's hand moved toward her hidden wooden sword before she realized who it was.
"A month," Syr Flova whispered, rushing over with a tray. "Everyone thought you were dead, Raizer! Or... gone back to wherever you came from."
"Was the hospital looking for me?" Raizer said, his voice a low, smooth baritone. He sat at the bar.
"Huh?"
'By her reaction, it seems that they forgot my pending fees. Heh, foolish medieval ages.'
"Nothing."
He nonchalantly skipped over the topic. The last month had been a great vacation. No sign of humans anywhere. He rarely met a few traveling adventurers on the way. And saved a few from their eminent death.
Sadly, he had to return to civilization again. Right now, the first thing on his mind was completing the mission and returning back to Marvel. He missed his phone and television.
Before he could plan his next moves, Syr leaned in, her expression urgent.
"Raizer, the Apollo Familia has challenged the Hestia Familia to a War Game! Lord Apollo wants Bell... he wants to take him away. They're being bullied, and they're all alone." She grabbed his hand, her eyes pleading. "Please. Bell admires you so much. If you helped them..."
Raizer leaned back, 'Bell? Wasn't that the name of Danmachi's MC?'
[Yes, his name is Bell Cranel. The main character of Danmachi. His gra-]
'Yeah, no need for the entire backstory. So, as the main character, he's destined to fight various high leveled adventurers, right? Especially those who enter and say 'You're courting death!' and disappear with a kick?'
[You have been reading too much Chinese novels, host! But that is indeed the gist of it.]
'Moreover, even after fighting that level 4, wouldn't the Main Character deal with the aftermath? I mean, I don't mind the chaos but cleaning up afterwards can be a bit troublesome.'
The incident with the guild made Raizer understand how troublesome the 'clean-up' could get. Thankfully, he didn't handle it, Finn did.
Having made-up his mind to dump his troubles on the main character, Raizer had resolved to become the irresponsible adult he always was.
"I suppose I do owe you for that free meal from before," Raizer lied smoothly, maintaining his cold, professional facade while inwardly relishing the chaos. "It's bad to leave a debt unpaid. I'll go see the boy."
[If it's bad to leave a debt unpaid, why not pay the hospital?]
'System, even if you sell everything you have, you can't pay the hospital fees. That's what it means to be American.'
[... Aren't you too biased?]
'Shut up!'
Having another free meal, Raizer picked his teeth with a toothpick and left the tavern. Syr looked at his back with a strange look while Ryuu stepped next to her.
"You don't need to worry about Bell anymore."
"Huh?"
Syr looked at the tsundere elf, who began cleaning the plates.
"I almost thought a monster entered the tavern when he entered," Ryuu's subtle whispers were heard only by the wind. Her body was still in a strange tension.
.
.
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The setting sun cast long, distorted shadows across the cracked flagstones of the abandoned church. Inside the damp basement, the air was thick with the scent of cheap incense and the nervous energy of a Goddess and her sole follower facing an impossible ultimatum.
"I'm telling you, Bell! We need allies! We need a miracle!" Hestia's voice wavered as she clutched the boy's sleeve.
"I know, Goddess, but-"
- Thud. Thud.
The heavy footsteps didn't sound like a man walking; they sounded like the steady, rhythmic beat of a drum. The basement door, already hanging by a hinge, creaked open. Raizer stepped into the dim light, his silhouette framed by the rising moon.
He was a walking contradiction: caked in the dust of a thousand monsters, yet his posture was as straight as a high-rise executive's. The air in the room suddenly felt pressurized.
Hestia let out a startled "Hestia-pyon!" and scrambled behind Bell. Bell, however, stood frozen. He had heard the rumors. Everyone had. The 'King' who had cleared a floor-wide blockade without a God. The man who had made the Captain of the Loki Familia sweat.
Perhaps because of Finn's influence, everybody had begun to call him 'King'. Ignoring the Level 7 adventurer of Danmachi.
"Yo, I'm Raizer Haze," the man announced, his voice a low, vibrating baritone.
"The... the King?" Bell whispered, his eyes wide. He looked at the handsome face, the dark armor, and the blades. Up close, the 'King' didn't look like a hero from a storybook. He looked like a force of nature that had decided to take human form.
"I heard you're in need of help. Syr sent me to help," Raizer said, his gaze sweeping over the meager room. "Apollo is trying to seize you for his own Familia forcefully. Is that it?"
Hestia's eyes practically turned into Valis coins. "You're... you're here to help us?! For real?! Oh, thank the Heavens! We're saved! We have King on our side!" She began to do a victory dance, but stopped when she noticed Bell hadn't moved.
Bell was staring at the floor, his fists clenched so hard they shook. He thought of the rumors; how Raizer fought alone, how he didn't bow to the Gods. He thought of his own dream to stand on the same stage as the greats.
"Thank you, Mr. Raizer," Bell said, his voice small but gaining strength. "But... please, don't help us."
Hestia's jaw hit the floor. "Bell! Have you lost your mind?! That's a powerhouse standing in our kitchen! When he says he is helping, accept it with grace!!"
"If you fight for me because you feel sorry for us," Bell continued, looking Raizer in the eye, "then I'm just a charity case. If I take your hand now, I'll never be able to look at you as an equal. I'll always be the kid you saved."
Raizer's 'King's Resolve (EX)' allowed him to remain perfectly stoic, but inwardly, he was irked. The boy had the stubborn pride of a man who actually wanted to earn his crown. But what good would that do? Use the cheat code, idiot.
"An equal, huh?" Raizer's lips curled into a dry, dangerous smile. "That's a heavy price to pay for your pride, kid. But I've already promised a friend I'd return a favor. My word is a contract, and I don't break contracts."
Raizer stepped forward, the floorboards groaning under the weight of his presence. He still needed to follow the main character until he fought some, random Level-4 and let the MC handle the aftermath.
"I won't be your soldier and I won't be your Captain either, Bell Cranel. But I will be on that battlefield."
He leaned down, his eyes glowing with a cold, dark intensity.
"Listen well. When the War Game begins, I will start at the edge of the field. I will not run. I will not rush. I will not chase down the stragglers. I will simply walk in a straight line toward the heart of Apollo's castle. One step after another. Nothing will stop my gait."
Raizer turned toward the exit, his cape snapping in the wind.
"If you want to be my equal, then you'd better win that war before I reach the center. Because if I reach their gates before you do, I won't be leaving anything for you to finish. Consider it a race. Don't let the 'King' do your job for you."
As Raizer disappeared into the night, the basement felt suddenly empty and cold. Bell stood there, the pressure of the man's words still weighing on his chest.
"A race..." Bell whispered, a fierce fire igniting in his eyes. "I won't let you reach them first, Mr. Raizer. I promise!"
[Man, that was cool! Awesome! King-like!]
'Heh! Of course, I still fall short of King-level bluffs.'
[Obviously, King isn't a bluffer. He is a monster who single-handedly destroys an entire army!]
Raizer rolled his eyes and smirked at the system. With this, he had a connection with the MC. Now, he simply had to wait until trouble came, which usually did knock on the door.
.
.
.
The news of the King's involvement was kept under a tight seal. To the public, the Hestia Familia was a group of four desperate underdogs. While Bell spent his days being battered into shape by Ais Wallenstein on the walls of Orario, Raizer remained a shadow, his presence a ghost story whispered in the back alleys.
On the day of the War Game, the atmosphere at the designated battlefield was electric. Bell, Welf, Mikoto, and Lili arrived at the starting line, their faces set in grim determination. But as they crested the final hill, they stopped dead.
Standing at the very edge of the starting boundary was Raizer.
He stood perfectly upright, his arms crossed over his armored chest. He didn't look like he was preparing for a war; he looked like he was waiting for a bus. Yet, the air around him was so thick with tension that the grass seemed to wilt. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and rhythmic.
"He's really here," Welf whispered, adjusting the strap of his magic sword. "I can't even look at him without my hair standing up."
"Don't lose focus," Lili hissed, though her own ears were twitching in fear. "Lord Bell is still the one we fight for. It doesn't matter who is standing with us."
Mikoto stepped forward towards 'King', bowing her back at 90-degree angle, "Thank you for saving us the last time. I can't repay that debt in my entire life, Lord King."
Raizer ignored her, wondering what this crazy woman was talking about.
[Ah! I remember her! We saved her and her friends while you were testing if 'Winged Blade' could be used without a blade.]
'Yeah, she helped me realize how inefficient that magic becomes at a distance.'
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In the hall of Gods, Apollo stepped out, his face contorted in a mask of divine fury the moment his eyes landed on the man in dark armor.
"HESTIA!" Apollo shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at Raizer. "What is the meaning of this?! You bring this... this glitch, this 'King' into our sacred game?! This is cheating! It is a violation of the spirit of the War!"
He began throwing a fit as soon as he saw the wild card called 'King'. Even if he didn't know the exact strength of Raizer, he realized that his entire Familia would be uprooted overnight if Raizer wished to do so.
Because of Hermes' power, everybody in town could see the scene on the battlefield. The Gods gathered in this hall were all there to enjoy this War Game. Even the ordinary citizens could enjoy it.
Hestia, who had been nervously biting her nails, suddenly found her confidence when she saw Raizer. She stuck her tongue out and pulled her eyelid down in a classic taunt. "Oh? Are you scared, Apollo-pyon? The rules say we can recruit allies. Raizer isn't a God, so he's perfectly legal! Or are you admitting your entire sun-bright Familia is afraid of one lone adventurer?"
"YOU—!"
"Enough."
Loki and Hephaestus stepped forward, their presence cooling the heated air. Loki looked at Raizer, her narrow eyes trying to find a crack in his stoic facade. She still believed he was a man on his deathbed, using a forbidden technique, and she had no desire to push a 'dying king' into an early grave.
"The rules are clear, Apollo," Hephaestus said, her voice like cold steel. "The man is unaffiliated. He has no Falna. If he wishes to fight for Hestia, he can. We will not interfere."
Hephaestus was a friend of Hestia. It was only natural she would take her side. But Apollo didn't expect Loki to not help him.
"Hmph! Fine!" Apollo screamed. "But there are conditions! If Bell Cranel is defeated, the Hestia Familia loses immediately, regardless of where that 'King' is!"
Raizer finally opened his eyes, looking up at the sky. The cold glint in them tore through the screen and made Apollo flinch. It was as if he was looking directly into the soul of the God.
'Hm, is that where the camera is? Let's make sure they film my better side.'
Honestly, Raizer only looked because his senses warned him of an onlooker. It simply turned out to be Hermes' power, which allowed the God to display the War Game in the town.
Apollo scared by his gaze, stepped back. The same moment Raizer looked away, making all the Gods gulp.
'Did that guy just see through us... from that far?'
'My, my, you seem to have found a strong helper, Hestia.'
Hermes was secretly terrified, wondering how the hell that guy even noticed his Divine Power. It was called 'Divine' for a reason.
Well, compared to the senses brought by 'Absolute Control', it wasn't worth mentioning.
.
.
.
After the Gods calmed down, the War Game began.
The horn sounded, a blast that echoed across the plains. Bell, Welf, and the others took off like shots from a bow, darting into the woods to execute their guerrilla tactics.
Raizer did not move.
He waited three seconds. Then, he uncrossed his arms and took his first step.
- THUMP.
His boot hit the soil with the weight of a falling star. He didn't look left or right. He didn't look at the Apollo archers gathering on the ridge. He simply stared at the distant spires of the castle and began his march.
He walked slowly. Deliberately. Each step was timed to perfection, as if measured with a tape. To the Apollo Familia members watching from the walls, it looked like a mountain was slowly drifting toward them.
"He's... he's just walking," one archer stammered, his arrow shaking on the string. "Should we shoot?"
"Wait for the command!" the captain yelled, though his own voice was cracked with terror.
Raizer ignored them all. He was the King, and the world was simply a floor he hadn't finished pacing yet.