I Became a Prisoner in the Game After Defeating the Final Boss

Chapter 171 : Negotiation

My visit was so out of the blue and sudden that even Yuliana, who did not show agitation at most things, could not help but reveal her emotions.

"……Why is Vell Blackwood here?"

"I don't know that."

Yuliana also already knew the fact that I had been dispatched to the Eastern Union as the person in charge of the Supreme King assassination operation carried out independently at the Winter Castle.

In these present times where there are rumors that the Supreme King is dead, what on earth could it mean that I have come here alive and well.

"……Th, I'm saying this just in case, but surely the Supreme King's death isn't related to Vell Blackwood, right?"

Seeing her look somewhat embarrassed after actually saying it, Royer shook his head as if it were absurd.

"No matter how special Vell Blackwood is, that makes no sense. According to the information network, the Supreme King is at least a Level 8 or higher Demonic person. But didn't we also see Vell Blackwood's level?"

"That is true, but……."

Why was it.

Yuliana was instinctively feeling an unknown discomfort.

In Yuliana's memory, I was a player who had strange corners in many ways, and that strangeness sometimes looked like specialness.

No, just looking at the fact that Insight did not work at all, it would be insufficient to say I was special.

On top of that, if one included Cain's item that I possessed, Yuliana's thoughts might not be mere speculation.

If it were me, perhaps really…….

'……What.'

Yuliana soon shook her head.

Because she thought that no matter what, this was going too far.

Even assuming I was a person with a connection to Cain, was Cain a person who would move carelessly?

No, in a situation where it was questionable whether Cain was even in this world in the first place, that was a thought that went too far.

"……Let's meet him once for now. Then we will know."

"Let's do that."

Royer nodded as if agreeing.

And a silence flowed between the two for a moment.

"……What are you doing? Aren't you going? You have to go and call Vell Blackwood."

When Yuliana, unable to endure it, spoke first, only then did Royer nod.

"Ah. I have to go."

"……Just go quickly."

Where on earth to use that thing…….

For now, he was specially recruited because he was the only player affiliated with Bellerophon within the knights, but there was no waste like that waste.

"Mmm……."

Yuliana waited for Royer to return amidst an unknown nervousness.

And…….

Clack.

Not long after, the door opened again with a knock that was omitted once more, and a man revealed his appearance along with Royer.

It was me.

"It has been a long time, Vell Blackwood. What brings you to find the Griffin Knights all of a sudden?"

"Because I have something to say."

It was a short answer, but with that, Yuliana could know that my atmosphere had changed distinctly from before.

The Vell Blackwood she faced before did not give off an atmosphere like now, even though I was suspicious in many ways.

Although even Insight could not see through me, it was because essentially I was not that strong of a player.

But how was it now?

An infinitely dangerous atmosphere was flowing out from me, who was merely suspicious but not dangerous just a while ago.

To the extent that even Yuliana had to be tense.

Perhaps, really.

Could there be some connection between the Supreme King's disappearance and me?

"……I am curious, exactly what business brings you all the way here."

"Because it is an important story, I would like for just the two of us to talk."

At that, Yuliana glanced slightly toward Royer.

Of course, Royer stayed still.

"……Royer."

"Huh?"

"Go out for a moment."

"Why? I want to hear too."

"……Please, come on."

"So cheap. Alright."

Looking at Royer leaving the office slowly only then, I laughed strictly.

"Your subordinate is quite loyal."

"I am not in the mood to joke, as I feel like taking him somewhere and throwing him away."

In Yuliana's eyes, which had let out a complaint once, an unusual light shone.

"So, what is it?"

"I want to make a deal."

"A deal? What do you want?"

For what reason did I come all the way here.

Yuliana was curious about that.

"Fragment."

However, the moment she heard that answer, Yuliana doubted her own ears.

"……Pardon?"

"I want a Fragment."

Yuliana's expression was dyed with shock.

She had thought something was unusual from the moment I came all the way here, but she never dreamed I would bring up such business.

"What……. Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"That is a word I simply cannot overlook. I am the Commander of the Griffin Knights, but I am also a member of Bellerophon. Yet you dare to talk about Fragments in front of me?"

An unusual aura began to flow out from Yuliana.

Nevertheless, I spoke calmly without my complexion changing a bit.

"Rather, that is why I came to find you, Yuliana."

"……It has been bothering me since a little while ago, but your speech has become quite short?"

"It's my personality."

"You have become different from before."

"I'm on that side."

Rather, this was closer to my real personality, but there was no way Yuliana would know that fact.

"I cannot know exactly why you brought up the story about Fragments in front of me, but I cannot give you a Fragment."

"That means you do have one."

"Even if so, would there be anything that changes? You have clearly crossed the line now."

Despite Yuliana spewing out an intense aura incessantly, I did not budge.

How many people would be this fine after receiving her aura head-on.

Yuliana had no choice but to admit that curiosity was arising along with doubt.

"I understand that Bellerophon is a faction that worries about the danger of the Fragments. Is that right?"

"You know correctly. Yet you are demanding a Fragment from us?"

"I am."

"……You, are you serious?"

"I am serious."

She didn't know exactly what I was trusting to speak like this, but Yuliana decided to exercise patience and listen to my words for now.

"The danger of the Fragment probably refers to the Demonic energy the Fragment harbors after all, right?"

"You know well. Demonic energy is a dangerous power. As long as one is human, if exposed to that power, one eventually ends up losing oneself. Yet you dare to say you will take the Fragment? While going against Bellerophon's will?"

"I know that too."

"No. Seeing you now, it seems you do not know the true danger the Fragment possesses. What eventually happens to an existence that coveted power, and what kind of existence a Demonic person is."

Yuliana knew well about Demonic people.

When Bellerophon was not exclusive about Fragments like now in the beginning, even just back then, there was an opinion within Bellerophon asking if it wasn't right to take the Fragments anyway.

Because the Fragments harbored a huge secret, and eventually, one could approach the secret of this world only by solving that secret.

Like that, a kind of experiment began within Bellerophon.

To state the result first, the experiment was a failure.

Although there might be big and small differences for each person, those who took the Fragments without stopping all became Demonic people.

Those who became Demonic people possessed a certain level of reason at first, but gradually lost themselves to the Demonic energy and eventually became existences with only the instinct for Demonic energy remaining.

Bellerophon's goal, which said it would dig into the world's secrets at one time, changed completely from then.

Fragments are dangerous.

This power must not exist.

Yuliana, who had witnessed the danger possessed by Demonic people closer than anyone else, was also aggressively agreeing with that opinion.

"Vell Blackwood, I do not know why you came all the way here to demand a Fragment, but this is the last time. Go back. The favor I extend to you ends here."

If it were normal times, sending me back like this would be an impossible thing, but Yuliana still thought I was a figure related to Cain.

She judged that it was better to just send me back like this rather than poking a beehive clumsily for no reason.

"There must be some misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? What are you saying I am misunderstanding?"

"If the reason for being wary of the Fragment is due to the danger regarding Demonic energy, there is no need for that."

"What are you saying right now? Surely you aren't claiming that Demonic energy is not dangerous, right? I am sorry, but such a claim was discarded a long time ago. Demonic energy is dangerous. Therefore, Fragments are also dangerous."

"That is not what I mean."

"Then what is it?"

Because she became curious about what exactly I was trying to say, Yuliana decided to listen for now.

"I am not affected by Demonic energy. So it doesn't matter how many Fragments I take."

"You aren't affected by Demonic energy? Such nonsense……."

"Will you test it?"

Along with that, intense Demonic energy began to spew out from me.

It is ominous and ominous again.

Yuliana knew very well what that ominousness originated from.

"……You, you were a Demonic person!"

If it was this level, it was not a level of simply absorbing a Fragment moderately.

Demonic energy of a level that far surpassed the level to access the Level 5 Verification Board authority at the very least.

If it was this much, it was unreasonable to think I wasn't a Demonic person.

When Yuliana tested me before, I was not a Demonic person.

Then was the fact that my atmosphere changed also because I became a Demonic person?

Yuliana raised her sword amidst the bitterness she felt for some unknown reason.

The background of that bitterness was probably because she had expected something from me.

That expectation that perhaps, if it were me, something might be different.

But it was a delusion.

If a Demonic person revealed their true colors, punishing them is the providence. Yuliana intended to follow that providence.

"I am not a Demonic person."

"Do you not think it is too unpersuasive to claim that with such an appearance?"

"Does it look like I have lost my reason?"

The Demonic energy that had spewed from me subsided as if asking when it ever did.

An appearance that seemed to still possess reason at least.

"I also know what a Demonic person is. I have encountered them not a few times actually. I am not a Demonic person, and I won't be in the future either."

"……For now, it looks like that."

But Yuliana was negative.

"Just because you can endure better than others, that does not mean you are immune to the influence Demonic energy causes. You are just like that too."

Among the players who participated in Bellerophon's experiment, there were also those from the Punishment Order who possessed strong resistance to Demonic energy.

Those who inherently had very excellent resistance against the Demonic.

However, in the end, they all also became Demonic people.

Demonic energy is not a power that a human can dare to handle.

That was the conclusion Bellerophon and Yuliana reached over a long time.

"Stop coveting the Fragment even now. If it is at a level where you can still maintain reason, you can stop."

"You don't believe my words."

"You can believe yourself to be special. Many people were like that. But you aren't. There is no person that special in front of Demonic energy."

Yuliana could not know why she was soothing me, but she felt she had to do so for now.

"I will pretend the thing that happened today did not happen, so go back now."

"If I cannot do that?"

"Then I will have to drag you out by force."

"Amusing."

I rose from my seat.

"Try it once."

Yuliana's patience began to reveal its bottom.