Make Dark Fantasy Great Again

Chapter 124 [Another Tale] [This is another story] *** Your busily moving feet have stopped. How delightful this is. All the people you've been looking for have gathered here. Hero candidate Belen, chosen by the Hero's fifth Sacred Sword. An ambitious young man. He believed without doubt that he was the protagonist of the world. (E/N: in previous chapter it was probably translated as "five out of the six" but now I'm thinking it was "the fifth") And why wouldn't he, when he who had been an ordinary country bumpkin was chosen by the Sacred Sword and gained Devilan as his tremendous sponsor. The Nobles' etiquette that had once felt awkward and uncomfortable now fit his body perfectly. So much so that his old self who knew nothing of formality felt ignorant. His overflowing confidence was his greatest weapon. Some dismissed it as youthful folly or recklessness. How unfair that was. To disparage a young man's leap to transcend his origins. Of course Belen didn't care! His overflowing confidence was his greatest weapon! He thoroughly ignored those who doubted him. Furthermore, he mocked them! He never stopped and kept moving forward. And so, he arrived here. Belen. He gives you a smile filled with confidence. Then his expression gradually changes, and next the vice captain of the Devilan Knights' Special Forces, Mangnus, welcomes you. He's a mature warrior who perfectly fits the description of a master. The wrinkles and scars accumulated from the front lines are not shame but pride and proof symbolizing his experience. He taught you that mastery and Magical Power are not everything when it comes to the sword. What if the place where you crossed swords with him had been a battlefield instead of a sparring match? I understand. It's something you don't even want to imagine. In that sense, it could be called regrettable. Because he's here now. Who's next? Oh my. You feel your body trembling. Because the situation you feared most has occurred. Devilan's Special Forces Captain and Devilan's proud Young Lady, Tua Ye Devilan. She was also in this place. The Special Forces Captain welcomes you with a bright smile. She's famous for having divinity despite reaching the 7th Rank at an early age, but even more famous for her blunt personality that never reveals private emotions to others. (E/N: 'Divinity' was the equivalent of 'Holy Power'. Risir has some too) To see her bright smile! Are you lucky? Or unlucky? What's certain is that you know she's not the type of person to make such an expression. No matter how joyful or how welcome the situation might be. And so you finished your greeting with the Special Forces Captain. Now you know that the end is slowly approaching. Was the Special Forces Captain the last? Or- Ah. That's right. You couldn't leave her out. As you vaguely noticed, she was the beginning of all this. Brien. The wandering Swordsman looks at you meaningfully with her characteristic rebellious attitude. "I owe you a great debt." She suddenly expresses gratitude to you. You thought you were already experiencing the worst feeling. What an unpleasant miscalculation. Brien. No. The Face Thief covered their face with their palm. When they removed their palm, an all too familiar figure appeared there. It was you. Now you know why the Face Thief expressed gratitude to you. The reason the Special Forces members had their faces stolen so helplessly is the same. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to steal their faces so easily. I express my gratitude for that." At the Face Thief's words, you fall into anguish. Where did it all go wrong? The Face Thief impersonated you and sowed discord between you and the Special Forces members. You cleared up that misunderstanding and earned the Special Forces members' trust. Even then, you couldn't have imagined it. That it would drive everyone into the worst situation. As the saying goes that the ground hardens after rain, the trust between you and the Special Forces deepened after clearing up the misunderstanding. The Face Thief gladly exploited that. Approaching them while impersonating you and making them defenseless was surprisingly simple. That's right. The gratitude the Face Thief expresses to you comes from the depths of their heart, making it sincere. If you hadn't tried to mend your relationship with the Special Forces, could they have survived? Perhaps they could have. But then, you wouldn't have been able to face him like this now. A small comfort is given to you. It seems like it has no intention of running away from you. It seems that thinking is as similar as the faces resemble each other. The battle begins. [Mission: Reclaim the Stolen Face] [Current Number of Survivors: 2] ▶Fate 74: Face Thief *** [Title: Wow, the Face Thief Fate Quest is incredibly kind] Content: In case I didn't understand, it's gritting its teeth and emphasizing 'you killed them' for real; Yeah, I killed them, the Special Forces bastards, I just completely screwed them all over -: Yeah, the Special Forces guys think so too -[Author]: Ah, shit -[Author]: No, I only saw the story but I already don't want to do it When this quest comes up, it'll be hard to resist force-quitting, but isn't there any way to save the Special Forces? Can't we stop the Face Thief's sabotage? -: Not easy -: To begin with, assassins are a profession specialized in infiltration and sabotage And on top of that, they consumed the Faceless One's Fluid? Yeah;; not easy -[Author]: But still, shit, even if they made them let their guard down by stealing faces Does it make sense for this bastard to single-handedly annihilate the Special Forces? The vice captain and captain's levels alone add up to over 125 -: Wow, Level 125, world's first 20th Rank -: Level 68 Face Thief is outmatched, yeah -: Level 68 is 7th Rank upper tier, yeah Even in a head-on fight it's tough, but being caught off guard due to impersonation and then ambushed on top of that, there's really no answer -: That bastard even causes hell with poison, not just swords -: Even though he was kicked out of the Assassin Guild, he never lost his roots... a bastard who always carries his hometown in his heart... -: + The Faceless One's Fluid is really fucking overpowered, that bastard's difficulty rivals most Level 70 bosses -[Author]: No, shit, why does something like that appear as a random event in all regions -[Author]: Then we absolutely can't stop this bastard's sabotage? -: If your character specs are so insane that the Face Thief can't keep up, it might be possible? -[Author]: What's the standard for 'insane'? -: What? Use cheats -: The Face Thief only appears when your level is 70 or below Below Level 70, no matter what you do, you get your face stolen, yeah Someone organized it on the information board, and like they said, it seems impossible unless you really use cheats -[Author]: Then share the cheats please -: [File attached] -[Author]: Ah, shit, what's this uninstall file -: It's the most beneficial cheat in this game *** Having completely cast off suspicion through the Special Forces' misunderstanding that wasn't really a misunderstanding, Risir fell into contemplation. 'Should I reveal it now? That I actually know how to handle a sword-' An out-of-spec existence called the Face Thief was targeting them. Information sharing was essential and unavoidable to prevent its infiltration in advance and deal with unexpected situations. 'But if I reveal this, won't the situation get complicated again?' In a situation where the Special Forces had concluded 'He used Swordsmanship so it's not Risir!', to reveal 'Huh? I can handle Swordsmanship too?' It was like scratching a wound unnecessarily. "Risir. Let us withdraw for now. Face Thief. Since it's clear that by targeting Mangnus, he's targeting our Special Forces." Then Special Forces Captain Tua spoke. The content of those words. Risir asked back in surprise. "Pardon? Wasn't it the Special Forces who were targeting him? He's the one running away-" "If he had been determined to hide his tracks, it would have taken us much longer to pursue him. But he didn't do that and deliberately left traces to induce our pursuit. Probably, when he attacked the Hero candidate, he was already considering our Special Forces' pursuit. His plan starts with the Hero candidate and ends with our Special Forces." "If the Special Forces deploy additional forces, then he can just run away... In other words, he's thrown down a challenge to the Special Forces. The Special Forces, accepting that challenge, are playing a game of tag called pursuit with him." "Exactly." Tua continued while looking at Mangnus. "Mangnus. That's what happened, right. He stole your sword." "Yes. It happened during the course of battle." "To steal a master's sword in the middle of battle. No matter how I think about it, it's a disgustingly unreasonable ability." Tua shook her head and muttered as if spitting out the words, then continued. "It seems like his imitation ability exceeds our expectations." "Captain Tua. He stole my sword in that brief moment. So, stealing my appearance during that time would have been nothing." "Right. As everyone knows, this Mangnus incident is the first contact between our Special Forces and him. He succeeded in stealing Mangnus's face, but that's all. According to known information, his imitation technique is near perfect, but it's not perfect. Deceiving those in close relationships is nearly impossible." Therefore. Tua emphasized the words that would follow. "If he infiltrates among us, he won't be wearing our faces. He'll be wearing the face of an outsider who can approach us closely." Dray. Macy. Palag. These were the names first mentioned from Tua's mouth. "Here, Lord Palag is currently away on personal business. According to Dray, he won't be returning to the Mansion for at least three days. So the remaining two people excluding Lord Palag-... No, that's not right." Tua's gaze turns toward me as she speaks. "We plan to keep a close watch on the remaining three people." "Three people... surely, I'm not included among them?" "Don't you have a friendship with Dray? You're one of the very few people currently allowed to have direct contact with us in the Mansion." "Hah..." Tua's words contained complete trust and faith. In the current situation where a moment's wrong judgment could lead to the worst results. Risir newly realized the weight of his friendship with the Great Noble named Dray. "If the Face Thief impersonates you and approaches us, it would be difficult for us to handle. Furthermore, in the worst case-" Tua said while looking at Risir with a serious face. "We might end up being hostile toward you, unable to distinguish between the real and fake." "You mean... the Face Thief might act as the real Risir and make you hostile toward me? In the true sense, to steal the person called Risir?" "That's right." "Then... we should decide on an action that can prove to you that I'm real. How about a password or something like that?" Tua shook her head. "He's a former Master of Assassin Guild. A master of infiltration and special operations. Passwords likely won't work against him. Perhaps he might even use those passwords to throw us into confusion." "...By any chance, can he imitate Magic with that ability? If not, I could use Magic every time I meet you-" "Much more limited than Swordsmanship, but yes. It's certainly possible." "No, what kind of ability is that!?" Risir shouted in disbelief. -... -... He deliberately ignored the gazes felt from the Inner World. "Then what should we do? When we contact each other, how do I prove that I'm real?" Risir's face scrunched up. The faces of Tua and the Special Forces scrunched up. And so, as they put their heads together trying to come up with a reasonable answer, that's when it happened. -Tua. Dray's voice was heard from outside the door. -I'm with Macy. I'm coming in. No matter how skilled the Face Thief was, acting as two people at once was impossible. The Special Forces lowered their guard and let Dray in. "I heard from Macy. The Face Thief stole Risir's face? What happened?" Dray first checked Risir's complexion, then asked Tua about the whole story. Tua immediately shared the current situation with Dray. "A way for Risir to prove that he's the real Risir?" Dray had almost burst out laughing while hearing the story intermittently. After hearing the entire story, he finally let out a chuckle. As if wondering why they were worrying about something so simple. "...Dray, it seems you have some clever idea." "Of course I do. Risir?" Dray. With a meaningful smile, he began talking with Risir. "...Dray, you rascal, even in a situation like this-" Tua, who was listening to the conversation from the side, expressed displeasure. The content of those words. She thought Dray was unmistakably making jokes right now. "..." However, Tua's expression gradually became colored with bewilderment. Because the two's attitude was far too serious to be considered nonsensical talk. "-...How about it, Risir. In that way, would it be possible? Won't it put any particular strain on your body?" The conversation that eventually came to an end. Dray asked for Risir's opinion. "..." Tua and the Special Forces members looked at Risir with serious faces. Worried that the word 'possible' might come out of that mouth. "Yes, I think it's possible." "W-wait...!" In the end, the Special Forces captain lost her composure. She rarely showed pure bewilderment as she questioned Risir and Dray. She pointed out their unrealistic plan. "Why is this unrealistic? Risir?" "Yes." But then followed Risir and Dray's demonstration(?). "..." "..." "... The Special Forces were left speechless at the scene unfolding before their eyes. "Well then. Now it's time to make a plan to lure him out?" When Dray brought up the topic, Risir raised his hand. "Oh, Risir. Do you have a good idea?" "Face Thief. The reason he keeps getting involved with the Special Forces is to steal Special Forces Captain Tua's face- that is, her Swordsmanship. Isn't that right?" "..." Tua nodded in response even though she hadn't yet regained her composure due to what had just happened before her eyes. "Then how about this? We create a situation where he has no choice but to reveal himself as 'Risir' before us. If we maintain that situation, an opportunity will surely come." Risir explained the plan he had thought of to them. "No..." Tua muttered unconsciously. Risir's plan was too dangerous and reckless. It was like setting up a stage for the Face Thief to steal Tua's face. "What's wrong with it? Anyway, if he pretends to be Risir, we'll be able to notice right away." "No-" "No what? Didn't you just see? Could he really imitate that and pretend to be Risir?" "No..." Nevertheless, Tua couldn't ultimately reject their opinion. "Alright, then we're going with this? No objections?" A flimsy and strange plan that relied entirely on 'Risir' from start to finish was approved. It was something that would never have been allowed under the existing Special Forces policy. "No..." Tua was uncertain. Would such a plan actually function properly? *** "...You want me to bring out a Spirit before Swordsmanship training...? Sir Tua. I don't understand what you mean all of a sudden- As Sir Tua well knows, I'm not a spirit mage. Just because I handle both sword and Magic doesn't mean I can handle Spirits as well." It functioned properly. "...Then you want me to become 7th Rank? That, if I may be so bold, is this some kind of riddle?" It had been five days since that groundless strategy meeting. Now. Standing before Tua was 'Risir' who had fallen for the plan. Not long after that. Another Risir arrived, making two Risirs in total. In that state, a brief conversation took place. Soon after, 'Risir' shouted in frustration. "I clearly confirmed it with these two eyes!!! You definitely ate the food I made!!! You must have been poisoned by my poison!!! But how are you here-" "What is that Spirit!!! There shouldn't have been Spirit Magic among the Magic you handle!!!" "Ma-Magical Power suddenly increased...!?" "..." Tua, who had been watching the series of scenes from the side, rubbed her brow with a tired expression. Why was that? At this moment, Tua felt more pity for the Face Thief than joy that the plan had worked and achieved its purpose.