Chapter 25 - One Question

It all happened in an instant. Before the missile struck the luncheon room, Limon sensed the attack with his keen senses, snatched up President Han Jeong-guk, and escaped. A furious explosion followed on their heels. One step slower, and it would have caught them.

But once they were clear, Limon flung the president he had just rescued far away. At the same time, he pivoted on one foot, spun like a top, and swung his sword.

RATATATAT!

His sword's afterimages filled the air like drifting petals. Between them, a swarm of tiny butterflies made entirely of crystal was torn to shreds. Limon's sword looked merciless as it carved the beautiful, artwork-like creatures apart. But that was nothing compared to what happened where their fragments landed.

CRACK! KRRRACK!

Marble paving turned to transparent crystal. Pillars of quartz shot up from cracks in the ground. Even blades of grass became crystal shards. Like King Midas's hand, which turned all it touched to gold, the butterflies turned everything they brushed into crystal. It was a nightmare: beautiful on the surface, but in truth a cruel curse that twisted and destroyed the nature of everything it touched. What would happen if it touched a living person was too horrible to imagine.

Yet even against a swarm more than capable of turning thousands of people into lumps of crystal in an instant, Limon did not retreat a single step. He merely stood in place, swinging his sword to cut down each approaching butterfly. He moved so fast that, to everyone else, the crystal butterflies seemed to burst apart of their own accord as they neared him.

It was a clash between a storm and a tidal wave. A storm of blades that cut down everything that approached. A tidal wave of curses that turned anything into transparent stone. Calamities that could each have destroyed an army swirled together in a scene straight out of hell.

But the clash ended surprisingly quickly. Just as even a vast swarm of butterflies would be swept up and crushed by a storm, the tens of thousands of crystal butterflies rapidly vanished against a curtain of blades that cut down thousands every second.

“Fuck. You're not even supposed to bother a dog while it's eating...”

The man who had landed tens of thousands of precise strikes in a matter of seconds, without a single mistake, muttered with a bored expression, as if the feat were nothing special. Then Limon turned his head slightly, toward the direction opposite the one the crystal butterflies had come from. Behind President Han, who lay sprawled on the ground, stood a man with slicked-back hair and rimless glasses, his hands clasped behind his back. Limon asked him coldly:

“A Monarch, pulling a cheap sneak attack?”

“It was meant as a greeting. I didn't expect you to take it for a sneak attack.”

“Greet me twice and you'll kill somebody, asshole.”

Despite his words, Limon seemed unconcerned. He knew the man had not actually intended a sneak attack; that had merely been a greeting meant to free Han from Limon's grasp. Of course, using a curse capable of slaughtering thousands as a greeting was insane. But this man could afford to do so. He was Lee Cheon-gi, the Infinite Monarch, one of the ten absolute rulers of this Iron Age.

“Mr. Lee! You've finally come.”

“It looks as though you've had a rough time.”

“Oh, I wouldn't go that far. I held on because I trusted you would come to save me.”

Han had spent a moment lying dazed on the ground after being moved and thrown so abruptly. Now that he had recovered, he welcomed Lee with a radiant smile. The savior he had been waiting for had arrived to rescue him from the heinous traitor Limon.

Limon, however, looked at Han with contempt. “President, do you realize he just tried to kill you along with me?”

“Hah! What nonsense are you spouting? Mr. Lee would never do such a thing...”

Han turned to Lee with a scoff, then trailed off. The man he had expected to agree with him was looking at him coldly. “... Mr. Lee?”

Why wasn't he denying Limon's claim? Han's anxious gaze asked the question for him. Lee answered evenly. “Isn't it much easier to fight a hostage-taker without a hostage than one using his hostage as a shield?”

“So you tried to get rid of the hostage first? Even though he's the president?”

“We can elect another president. There's no shortage of people to fill the vacancy.”

“Then why leave him alive?”

“I wasn't the one who saved him. You were.”

“...!” The blood drained from Han's face. Only then did he realize that Lee's consideration had played no part in his surviving any of the attacks, from the missile to the crystal butterflies.

What if Limon had escaped without him? What if he hadn't thrown Han out of the way before the butterflies descended? By now, he would have been a charred remnant of a president—or a sculpture of one.

“Mr. Lee, you...!”

“Excuse me, but I'm busy at the moment.”

Han had been about to shout, furious at learning how close he had come to death, but he shut his mouth. Lee had kept his eyes fixed on Limon as though Han meant nothing to him. The instant he glanced Han's way, a chill ran down the president's spine.

“Would you mind giving us a moment?”

It sounded like a polite request. But Han knew it was an order, and that if he refused, Lee would dispose of him some other way. Lee looked at him as though he were a fly buzzing beside his ear.

“... Th-then I'll leave the rest to you, Mr. Lee.”

His face reddening with humiliation, Han turned and fled in a panic. For all that had happened, he was a high-level player, and he vanished as fast as a bullet. Watching him go, Limon spoke calmly.

“Aren't you being a little harsh on the president of a country?”

“That seems rather rich coming from the man who took him hostage.”

“Why would a traitor give a damn about that?”

“Nor do I.”

Whether Han held a grudge over this or not, nothing would change. Limon nodded at Lee's calm declaration.

“I suppose not.”

President or not, Han had no standing to challenge Lee. One ruled a country for a fixed term at most; the other was an absolute ruler of the age. The gulf between them was that vast. A Monarch could even have the president replaced tomorrow with a single word.

But Limon, the very man who had summoned him, showed not the slightest sign of intimidation. He simply adjusted his grip on his sword and asked, “No need for a long conversation, right?”

“That's a pity. There was much I wanted to ask you, humanity's guardian deity.”

“Don't give me that bullshit, asshole. Your empty flattery does nothing for me.”

“No. I mean it.”

Lee shook his head slightly at Limon, who was grinning despite his reply. His face grew cold. “If nothing else, I must ask you about the Black Dragon Princess.”

“Huh? Why ask me?” Limon blinked as though the question had come out of nowhere.

“There's no need to play dumb. I know you've already made contact with the Black Dragon Princess.”

“Oh, you do?” His little act so easily seen through, Limon frowned and took the opportunity to ask something that had been bothering him. “Why are you so interested in the Black Dragon Clan's princess? I've thought it over, and I still can't figure out why.”

“That is not something you need to know.”

“Asshole, you ask me to tell you about her, then say that?”

“Those are separate matters.”

'Oh, would you look at that?' Lee's resolve seemed firm enough to turn aside a blade, which only piqued Limon's interest.

He narrowed his eyes for a moment, then raised one corner of his mouth. “Hey, how about this?”

“How about what?”

“We trade one question each. I won't ask why you're after the Black Dragon Clan's princess.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. There's something I wanted to check before you and I settle this anyway.”

Lee fell silent as he watched Limon grin, but he did not deliberate for long. The bargain overwhelmingly favored him, and his 『Lie Detection』 skill confirmed that Limon was telling the truth.

“Very well. Ask your question first.”

“All right. Then I'll ask you just one thing.”

Pleased that Lee had given him the first question, apparently as a concession, Limon smiled. Then, in an instant, a voice cold as ice cut through the air.

HISSS.

“Was it your decision to force Na-gyeong to do that?”

It was as though his earlier smile had been an illusion. Faced with Limon's question and the eyes that now stared straight at him, dark as pitch, Lee quietly asked, “Who is Na-gyeong?”

“Never heard the name? She was on my team.”

“You can't expect me to know the name of every member of your team.”

Limon studied him for a moment, as though judging whether that was true. Even through the dark radiance that let him see through constellations, all he could make out was what looked like a stained-glass mirror in place of the pupil in one of Lee's eyes. In every other respect, Lee looked the same as always. Limon asked again.

“Then I'll change the question. Who did you put in charge of getting rid of me?”

“I left it to Chief Park.”

“What's the bastard's full name?”

“Chief Park's name...” Lee slipped a hand inside his jacket, pulled out several business cards, and flipped through them. He picked one out. “It says Park Hyeon-gun.”

“Right. That's enough.”

Limon no longer doubted him. Lee didn't even know Limon had only one team member; there was no way he knew anything about Yu Na-gyeong. More than anything, those business cards told Limon the truth. A man who couldn't be bothered to remember the name of a close subordinate would never investigate Limon's relationships, take hostages, and use Yu Na-gyeong against him. Lee would sooner come to deal with Limon personally, just as he had now, than scheme up anything so troublesome. That was how an absolute ruler operated.

“Then it's my turn.”

“Sure. What do you want to ask?”

“Where is the Black Dragon Princess right now?”

“Don't know.”

“...” Lee fell silent, apparently not having expected that answer. Limon chuckled.

“Come on, think about it. I've been here taking a hostage this whole time. How the hell would I know where she is right now? It's not like I put a tracker on her.”

“Then I'll change my question too. The last time you—”

“Nope. Can't do that.”

“... What did you say?”

“You can't change your question.”

They had agreed to exchange one question apiece, Limon pointed out without a trace of embarrassment. They hadn't agreed to change questions midway and ask and answer several each. Lee objected in a low voice.

“I answered your revised question.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the gift.”

“And you won't return the favor?”

“It's not a gift if you expect something in return, is it?”

“... Indeed. I can't say you're wrong.”

Lee studied Limon's shameless grin for a moment, then slowly nodded. He snapped his fingers, conjuring dozens of blazing fireballs in the air, and spoke softly. “Then let's see whether you can say the same thing after I've cut off your arms and legs.”