My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! Volume 14 Chapter 13

 CHAPTER 13

But You're Still Alive, Aren't You? Are You Lying?

The Sage Van was in the audience chamber within the castle.

The final area of the Sky Castle Field, situated in a nation above the clouds, within a building near its center.

There were towns and such around the castle, but no one lived there. To begin with, there were no detailed settings for each field in Cavern Quest, and they were made casually, merely for the sake of game enjoyment.

If it were the final quest, it would need an impact. It would be interesting if there were a castle floating in the sky. With just such a level of conception, they created a large cloud, floated a bedrock within it, set up a natural environment such as forests and rivers, and placed a castle and a castle town.

Originally, it was conceived for a brawl between seven parties, so there was no such thing as the final boss sitting in the audience chamber, but now Van is sitting on the throne.

Cavern Quest has different final bosses each season, but if there is to be a true final boss spanning all seasons, it would probably be Sage Van, and Van felt a hint of irony in this.

"The idea of a developer being the final boss is too meta, and I don't really like it..."

But if it was the instruction of the Great Sage, there was no helping it. At the most, they should create a fight enjoyable for Mitsuki.

"Seems like someone is coming."

Someone had entered the castle.

If he checked, he would find out who it was, but Van decided to wait instead.

After a while, a man appeared in the audience chamber.

He was a middle-aged man with red hair, dressed casually, sporting an unkempt beard.

"Hey there. Are you a king or something?"

The man approached, and the two moved to the battle channel.

"No, I just happened to appear here and I've been sitting because it's convenient. Your outfit is interesting. Are you Japanese, like Takatou Yogiri?"

"You mean this outfit? I picked it up in a world I visited a while back. I liked it, and since then, I've kept this style."

There might not be any direct connection to Japan. Similar styles of clothing exist somewhere, after all.

"Well, my name is Kusaburo Suzuki, or something like that."

"Which is it?"

"Don't think it holds much meaning, really. After all, we're not even using the same language, and there are plenty of similar worlds."

They were conversing naturally, but if the worlds were different, so would be the language used. For a Sage, automatic translation of languages was a simple matter, and it was so naturally done that unless one paid close attention, it would be hard to tell which language the other party was actually speaking.

"Well then, Kusaburo-kun. I'm the administrator of this game. You have no chance of winning, but do you still want to challenge? It would be quicker if you surrendered."

"Hmm... What specifically do you mean? Just being told I have no chance... With just that, I might take a one in eight shot."

Van knew that an explanation of this degree wouldn't make him surrender, and anyone who came this far wouldn't be easily discouraged.

"That's fair. Simply put, I can manipulate this world freely. I can create a trap under your feet out of nowhere, remove the oxygen around you, or change the gravity to crush you. I can even teleport you to an entirely different place. Well, since this fight takes place in a dedicated battle channel, I won't do something like teleporting you out of the channel."

While I can't directly interfere with the players who are adventurers, I have complete control over changes to the environment.

"Given that much, I suppose I'd at least like to give it a try. But is there anything else?"

"I see. You're willing to take the risk. Well then, how about this? As long as I'm managing this game world I've created, I'm invincible. No attack can touch me."

"Ah, I've heard of that kind of thing before. But I've also heard of game masters forgetting to set their invincibility flag and getting killed."

"Unfortunately, it's not something that can be toggled on and off with a flag. As long as the game world exists, I'm invincible."

"Well, I understand the logic. You and the game are inseparable."

"Do you get it now?"

"I get it. So, shall we go?"

"I thought you might say that."

I had somewhat guessed from the moment I saw him. Regardless of how much I explained, I didn't think he would give up.

"The rules will be a deathmatch, if that's fine with you."

"That's fine. Of course, you're free to surrender at any time."

'Sage Van VS Suzuki Kusaburo FIGHT!!'

Words appeared in the air, and the battle began.

Van stayed seated on his throne, watching Kusaburo. He had no intention of setting up a trap to instantly kill him. He was interested in what Kusaburo planned to do.

Kusaburo was a nonchalant man, but he likely didn't ignore what Van said. Given that game master Van explained it, it should be credible, and he wouldn't just dismiss it as wishful thinking.

In other words, he understood Van's abilities and still believed he had a chance of winning.

That thought amused Van. He couldn't imagine himself losing, and he was curious about how Kusaburo planned to overcome his seemingly unbeatable abilities.

Of course, if he were defeated, he would lose and die. But Van was okay with that.

If Van were to lose, it would be an interesting result, and he thought Mitsuki would be satisfied.

Plus, even if he died, Mitsuki could reset the world and bring him back to life. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, ultimately, everything would work out.

"Ah, don't look at me with such hopeful eyes. I can't show you anything that interesting."

The floor just in front of Kusaburo faintly glowed.

Then, a sword hilt sprouted from it. It slowly extended, revealing its blade. When the hilt reached waist height, Kusaburo gripped it and drew it out all at once. It was a slender, long sword about the same height as Kusaburo.

"I've only drawn a weapon that a person dressed like me might use. It's not sheathed because there isn't one, so I store it this way, but that's not so unusual either."

That weapon was not from within the game. He must have brought it in from outside.

Since the opponent had drawn his weapon, Van was keen to gauge his strength a little. So, he initiated an attack.

He materialized a rock right above Kusaburo.

Obeying the game's gravity settings, the rock began to descend.

Kusaburo noticed the rock and hastily dodged it.

"Whoa! What the hell are you doing all of a sudden?"

"That rock is made from the bedrock material that constitutes this subterranean quest's terrain. It's not indestructible, but it's not meant to be destroyed, that's its strength. I thought it would be perfect to test your blade's sharpness."

"Well, if something falls, you dodge it. I didn't think of cutting it with my sword."

"That's fair. How about this then?"

Around Kusaburo, a glass wall materialized. Although it looked different, it was made from the same bedrock material.

It enclosed all four sides and the ceiling, making escape impossible without breaking it. There were no gaps, so if he did nothing, he would eventually suffocate.

"So, you really want to see my blade's sharpness, huh. Well, this is pretty much my only attack, so you're going to see it, whether you like it or not."

Kusaburo held his sword in the high position and swung it straight down.

Van could predict that Kusaburo's sword was a weapon of considerable sharpness.

It could probably slash through the bedrock material and perhaps, with the momentum, cut Van in half.

But that's all it could do.

Van's invincibility was guaranteed by its link to the world he had created.

In other words, as long as Cavern Quest exists, Van, the game master, can't die. It's pointless to cut Van's body. At the same time, he must destroy the entirety of Cavern Quest. Moreover, not just this channel, but all the channels must be destroyed.

So, Van was leisurely observing Kusaburo's movements.

His sword moved slightly, the glass ceiling made of bedrock material cracked. Then a line ran across the ceiling of the castle above it.

His sword swung down, cutting the front glass. The castle in the straight line of the sword's tip was simultaneously sliced apart.

The tip of the sword targeted Van, and the strike attacked.

Van's body was bisected from the top of the head.

Kusaburo completed his sword swing, and Van was slashed from the crown to the crotch, but that was all.

The cross-section of Van, now in two halves, was merely black. There was no blood flowing, no organs falling out. The current Van was nothing more than a game object, not an entity that could die from being slashed.

"Sure, you managed to cut me, but is this the end?"

Van, still split in half, opened his mouth.

"Ah, yes. It's the end."

"Will you surrender now that you know it's hopeless?"

"Why should I? I said it's the end."

Van tried to push his body back together with both hands.

But, his hands couldn't move. They were powerless.

His energy seemed to be draining out completely.

He felt nauseous, dizzy, and his consciousness began to blur. Van didn't immediately understand what was happening.

The world was shifting. Splitting in two.

He thought his vision was unstable, but he soon realized that this was indeed happening right before his eyes.

"As long as Cavern Quest exists, You're invincible. So, I tried to cut everything at once."

That statement wasn't a lie.

With a single stroke, all the channels of Cavern Quest had been bisected and were on the verge of collapsing.

"But you're still alive, aren't you? Are you lying?"

"...No lies... I just didn't explain enough... I'm the game master, and as long as the game world exists, I'm invincible..."

"Ah, makes sense. The game isn't just Cavern Quest, is it?"

When he was running the Sky Battle for Territory, he was preparing for Cavern Quest. After the Sky Kingdom collapsed and he put all his efforts into running Cavern Quest, naturally he was preparing for another game.

However, at this point, he was devoting ninety percent of his resources to Cavern Quest. Of course, the damage caused by the collapse of Cavern Quest was also substantial. Van was barely alive with the remaining ten percent of his power, in what could be best described as a near-death state.