The Lone SF Transmigrator in the Otherworld Forum-Chapter 167: The Alliance (1)

After Karlstein left, DimensionalMercenary and RulerofDawn, who were having a serious conversation, ended up sighing.

“I suppose… there’s no way avoiding it.”

“…How could we stop that monster?”

“Haah… How did it come to this?”

As the pair sighed deeply, the old man who was still lying down and looking at the sky suddenly chuckled.

“Well, it’s a good thing. Don’t you two also know? Not all Guardians are the same.”

“…”

“The Galactic Empire, was it? Trying to involve them in a scheme was wrong from the start.”

“…”

“As I said, those little schemers have already crossed the line, and by far. They’ll all be slaughtered by that monster’s hands.”

“But still…”

“They have already begun to be entangled in fate. It cannot be avoided. They thought too lightly of fate.”

“Isn’t that… the same for us?”

“Indeed… I tried everything to get away from him, and yet…”

The wrinkled skin of the old man who was lying down blankly suddenly smoothed out and started to glow.

Fwrsh-

As a blue light gently enveloped the old man’s body, his hunched back straightened, and his aged body completed its rebirth.

The woman who was watching this process with mixed feelings began to speak.

“Elder Myodong, if you had acted in your true form then maybe—“

“No. You’re wrong about that.”

He cut her off firmly.

The old man… was no more. Myodong had transformed into a handsome youth. He gave the other two a deep, meaningful glance.

“He didn’t use his full power either. His strength is real. He’s not an opponent that providence works on.”

“So even you couldn’t do anything, Elder…”

“That’s right. Now that things have turned out this way, it’s right for us to do our best to deviate from fate.”

“The end of existence…”

“Now even that is just a fate of the past. I also do not know what will happen from here on.”

The pressure and aura felt from Myodong were incomparable to when he was fighting Karlstein. Nevertheless, Myodong judged that he could not win against him.

So it has come to this in the end.

How much blood will flow? Or will it end unexpectedly easily? Or will a fate where no one can win arrive?

Myodong did not know either, but one thing was certain—pure avoidance was no longer an option. They had to surrender themselves to the raging current.

“Order the Guardians to be summoned and tell them to do their best in preparing for war.”

“Yes.”

“Then what about Mighty Corp…?”

“Need I say anything? Don’t worry about them from now on. If they tried to pull something… that’s their karma.”

“…Understood.”

***

“Lord Karlstein…”

Virdel, who was following Karlstein as he strode along, carefully called out to him.

“What is it?”

“Well…”

Virdel seemed to have something to say, her lips parting and closing in hesitation.

“Please trust Maxien… my master.”

“Trust…”

Contrary to his outward appearance, Karlstein did not feel anger or resentment toward Maxien, who oversaw Aria’s arrest. He was simply puzzled. No, worried perhaps?

Maxien… she did overdo it in the last subjugation.

Maxien’s contribution was significant in ensuring that Kameira’s subjugation ended quickly without major damage. It was hard to say that her divine punishment did not have as great an influence.

“I’ll see for myself.”

Indeed, he did trust her. He did not think Maxien had betrayed him or abandoned loyalty.

But to an absolute ruler, trust is not a necessary virtue. Trust is a virtue of subordinates.

Karlstein, thinking of Maxien, left the palace without hesitation and headed somewhere.

After speaking up, Virdel did not interrupt Karlstein anymore as he seemed to be deep in thought.

He headed to the place where Aria’s detention and trial were taking place.

“Ugh.”

“Huh?!”

“Y-Your Majesty?”

Karlstein kicked open the door of the courtroom without restraining his aura at all.

Bang-

“Who is it!”

“Who dares to interrupt the sacred trial…!”

“Ah! Your Majesty!”

“It’s Emperor Karlstein! Put away your weapons!”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Passing through the screeching door, Karlstein surveyed the room.

Most of the courtroom was obscured in darkness except for the center area below, which was easily visible due to concentrated lighting.

Aria was unconscious with her eyes closed inside a white cylinder. The tall seats around it were filled with people.

Karlstein recalled that the cylinder, resembling a capsule, was a restraint used only for Class 1 criminals or above.

“The state of affairs in my absence is quite a sight.”

Karlstein’s heavy voice echoed through the courtroom.

“Was your faith in me lacking?”

Step.

Aria’s detained body was merely a terminal, similar to an avatar. But as someone who always lacked flexibility in such matters, she seemed to be enduring the situation as is.

He sighed.

Crack-

Karlstein went down to the restraint, also called a sealing chamber, and flicked his finger.

Crunch- Crack-

The sealing chamber, made using various rare metals, boasted durability comparable to a Named Kaiju, yet it tore apart like paper.

Not a word was spoken in the courtroom while Karlstein destroyed it.

Silence.

Was it because Karlstein’s aura was so fierce?

Karlstein levitated the silver-haired woman and turned his head, his eyes meeting with Maxien’s. She was standing in a place higher than the judges among the seats around the court. Her gaze was cold, devoid of expression.

He could not help but throw a question.

“What happened?”

Everyone except Karlstein and Maxien held their breath, not even making the sound of an ant crawling.

“I was merely following the laws of the Galactic Empire.”

There was a strangeness to her chilling voice. She had lost emotion and become unfeeling, even though the pendant with a half-broken vacuum tube was still hanging around her neck.

“…Maxien.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Seeing Maxien’s unwavering eyes, Karlstein sighed and decided to move.

“The Chancellor will focus on recovering before returning to duty. The trial is suspended. Is there anyone who objects?”

Sensing the emotion in his subdued voice, the high officials and nobles lowered their gaze while trembling.

“I ask for the last time. Anyone who has an objection, come forward now.”

Of course, no one would. This was just the final word to wrap up the current situation.

“And Maxien.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“…I’ll have a separate talk with you later, Grand Duchess.”

Karlstein left the courtroom.

***

Forbiddles was the chairman of Mighty Corp, a massive corporate alliance with free-market ideology not affiliated with the Galactic Empire.

Forbiddles, wearing a mink coat over his suit, lit a cigar and leisurely looked across at his counterpart.

“It’s too late to back out now.”

“…Damn it!”

Across him sat Tytana, the leader of Sparrow, an alliance of pirates from lawless zones.

The leaders of two of the three major forces that had divided humanity in the past were secretly meeting to discuss future matters.

Tytana, a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and sunglasses, gritted his teeth.

“Did you deceive me?”

“Haha, of course not.”

“Then what are you thinking? Are you saying you have a way to deal with that monster?”

“Heheh.”

Tytana felt especially wronged, as he had joined Forbiddles based on his active proposal.

Tss-

Forbiddles took two puffs of the cigar, a luxury item comparable to a battleship, then extinguished it without hesitation and flashed an indecipherable smile at Tytana.

“Even the Emperor won’t have an easy time. After all, we’ve borrowed the power of a Single Number.”

“…”

“He wouldn’t even dream that we’ve hunted No.10, don’t you agree?”

“That’s…”

While Tytana took small comfort in those words, he could not hide his inner anxiety.

True, they had slain No.10 Märchen while avoiding the eyes of the Galactic Empire. However… not only did they fail to completely subjugate it, but the attack on Märchen was not carried out solely by the collaboration of Mighty Corp and Sparrow.

“What did they say? Do you think they’re reliable fellows who will cooperate until the end?”

In fact, if Tytana had known things would turn out like this, he would not have stepped forward.

It was only half successful, but who could have known they would really succeed in the subjugation?

Sparrow had actually only intended to take advantage of the situation if Mighty Corp failed. It was like an unexpected bolt from the blue.

In particular, the outside forces Mighty Corp had brought as collaborators possessed earth-shattering might, which increased his anxiety even more.

“Hoo… Alright. Since we started this, I guess we have to see it through.”

Nevertheless, it would do Tytana no good to reveal his feelings. For now, as Sparrow was nominally cooperating with Mighty Corp, he outwardly showed the appearance of an ally.

“Good. I trust Sparrow.”

Yet Forbiddles merely gave Tytana a chilling smile.

“Hoo. But you know that if we can’t do anything about the Emperor in the end, we’re just buying time, right?”

“Haha, of course.”

“Right. I trust you.”

“Don’t worry too much. You’ll think differently once you meet them too.”

But as they were exchanging opinions and planning for the future…

Beep- Beep- Beep-

An urgent communication came in for Forbiddles, the chairman of Mighty Corp.

***

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