Chapter 13. Majesty From Another World (2)
Jooheon leaped into the sky.
He threw Gungnir.
But the triumphal arch didn't even move.
The reason was simple.
[Blocked by a Majesty Trait.]
[Awakening as Majesty is required on this side as well.]
Awakening?
At the same time...
New writing appeared inside the Mini Rulebook.
[Narrative of World B-187487]
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First: Curse of Babel (Language) manifested. (Resolved)
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Second: Curse of Vishvakarma (Tools) manifested. (Resolved)
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Third: Curse of the Nile (Records) manifested. (Resolved)
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Fourth: Curse of Fuxi (Future) manifested. (Ended)
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Fifth: Inter-World Gate Opened / Triumphal Arch Invasion Begins. (NEW)
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Sixth: [LOCKED]
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Words were engraved on the surface of the triumphal arch.
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Great War. Proof of Victory.
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Total dead: 230,000.
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Conquest completed.
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The records appeared and vanished repeatedly across its surface.
Then...
BOOOOM!
The Artifact released power toward the center of the city like a gigantic meteor.
A tremendous pressure wave erupted.
Then...
“Ah, ah.”
An unfamiliar man's voice echoed from the Artifact.
“Declaration of conquest.”
“Ah, ah.”
“Declaration of conquest.”
The voice continued.
“From this moment onward, this world will be incorporated into the territory ruled by Majesty Mars O'Connell.”
Jooheon flinched.
Majesty Jaeha spoke.
“Rulebook probably mentioned it before.”
He looked toward Jooheon.
“This is a Majesty War.”
Sure enough...
A status window appeared.
[Majesty of Conquest has declared a Majesty War.]
[A Majesty from another dimension has used one of his <Special Privileges>.]
[Special Privilege: 'Remove All Status Effects' activated.]
[Target: Entire World.]
The frozen air suddenly began moving.
Light flowed again.
The flock of pigeons frozen in the air resumed flying.
Signs hanging from high-rise buildings began shaking.
Time itself returned.
Ilya's Time Stop was being canceled.
And that wasn't all.
[From this moment onward, this world will be conquered as a 'Historical Narrative.']
The atmosphere surrounding the world changed.
Citizens froze.
Then began speaking in completely different tones.
“Long live His Imperial Majesty!”
“The Imperial Army has won another victory today!”
“Rebel spotted! I must report him!”
“Foreigners may not enter without permission from the priesthooood~”
Everyone began moving like scripted NPCs.
Their eyes looked normal.
But their actions repeated in fixed patterns.
No one spoke freely.
Notifications appeared one after another.
[Citizens are transforming into NPCs.]
[They will repeat designated actions.]
[The 'Conquest Artifact' is overwriting the rules of the world.]
[All citizens will begin locating and plundering Artifacts according to 'Imperial Orders.']
“...Ha.”
Jooheon clicked his tongue.
Apparently, the Triumphal Arch of Victory could transform the world itself in order to ensure victory.
But that wasn't the immediate problem.
[The stopped time is resuming.]
Julian hurriedly mounted Ilya's summoned creature and flew high into the sky.
He shouted toward the triumphal arch.
“Can you hear me?!”
“Time cannot be released yet!”
“If it resumes right now, there could be massive airplane collisions!”
That warning was aimed at the invading Majesty.
But...
“Really?”
Mars O'Connell sounded amused.
“Even better.”
“...What?”
“If people die, their Bound Artifact contracts will be released.”
His voice turned greedy.
“That means I can collect plenty of Bound Artifacts too.”
That crazy bastard!
This was bad.
People are going to die.
They had to stop that first.
Originally, while time was frozen, they had planned to duplicate and distribute translation Artifacts.
But the only man capable of doing that...
Yoo Jaeha...
Had become cup ramen.
What do we do?
Jooheon suddenly looked toward Majesty Yoo Jaeha.
“You.”
Jaeha looked over.
“You can create Artifacts, can't you?”
Majesty Jaeha's eyes turned cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“My ability is counterfeiting and replication—”
“Bullshit.”
Jooheon cut him off.
“You have creation abilities.”
Jaeha's expression changed.
“You stopped Gungnir with another Gungnir.”
“You made that entire execution-stage set.”
“You even changed Yoo Jaeha's heart into the Heart of Majesty.”
Jooheon's eyes narrowed.
“You expect me to believe all that came from simple replication?”
Majesty Jaeha looked away and sighed.
“...For an unawakened Majesty, you notice too much.”
“Stop making excuses.”
Jooheon glared.
“Answer.”
Majesty Jaeha finally sighed in resignation.
“Fine.”
“You're right.”
“My true ability is 'Artifact Creation.'”
He raised a finger.
“But I can only create things within story structures I already know.”
“There are limits.”
“Still, I can create almost anything.”
He stared at Jooheon.
“So?”
“What do you want?”
“Create the Artifact I tell you to.”
“Is this a negotiation between Majesties?”
Jaeha smiled.
“What's the payment?”
Jooheon twisted one corner of his mouth upward.
“Aren't you just another Majesty who came to steal Artifacts from my world?”
Jaeha frowned.
“So you're threatening me into making it if I don't want to die?”
“Why do you think that?”
Jooheon's smile became vicious.
“Because you specifically sacrificed Yoo Jaeha.”
Majesty Jaeha's eyes narrowed.
“He's my restoration specialist.”
“Without him, eventually I won't be able to properly use my Artifacts.”
