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“What? Are you kidding me?” Miki blurted out. “That Level 9999 is rampaging around the capital?”
“Judging by that, you know something about him,” I said.
I was standing in front of Miki’s cell after setting up an appointment at the last minute to see her, and I’d brought Mei and Iceheat along as my bodyguards. As a small courtesy to her, we would normally bring Miki out of her cell and conduct these interrogations in another location, but I obviously didn’t have time for that, so we were speaking through the iron grille in the top part of the cell door, with Miki showing her face through the opening.
“Who woulda thought that self-centered prince would get desperate enough to unleash that thing?” Miki muttered to herself. “I guess that means they must’ve wiped the floor with Goh. And Doc for that matter too.” She hummed in admiration. “So they really beat up that absolute powerhouse, Goh. Miki must’ve really underestimated them. Guess I should start putting this bunch on a higher pedestal.”
Miki was speaking as if she didn’t care that we were listening in on her train of thoughts, and once she was done, she faced us through the bars again, a cloying smile plastered across her face.
“So we’re talking about a Level 9999 dude that’s wreaking havoc right now? Miki knows all about him!”
“Oh, so you do know him, do you?” I said. “Are we dealing with a Master? And why didn’t you bother to mention him to us before?” I took this opportunity to remind her of what she had told me during the first round of interrogations. “You said there were eleven Masters in total that you knew about. Or ten if you don’t count Daigo. Is this Level 9999 guy who’s currently tearing up the Demonkin Nation castle another Master that somehow slipped your mind?”
“No, that’s not quite right, Light,” Miki corrected me. “You’re acting like Miki told you a lie, when all Miki did was be vague and misleading. But whatevs. I’ll tell you what you’re dealing with free of charge since you look like you’re in a hurry. And besides, it’s a super funny story when viewed from my angle.”
Miki’s cloying smile morphed into a taunting one. “Yes, Miki did say there were eleven Masters, but I also said there might be another one if he gets revived.”
“Wait, so this Level 9999 guy is that revived Master?” I asked, stunned. Miki giggled sardonically.
“It’s more accurate to call this dude the ‘fake C,’” Miki said finally. “It’s some cadaver the Demonkin Nation has been keeping around since forever, thinking he was the real almighty C.”
“A fake C?” I said incredulously. Miki laughed again like she was watching a comedy routine.
“Remember how I’m a Beemancer who can summon any kind of bee I want?” she pointed out. “And if Miki has that kind of power, you’d better know she’ll use it to make sure that her hosts are on the up-and-up. So anyway, I used my bees to secretly scour every corner of the palace, and that’s when I discovered a Master sealed away in this weird coffin.”
“And you’re only telling me about this sealed Master now?” I said, unimpressed.
“Oops, did Miki forget to mention it?” she said, faking innocence. “But I’m in a good mood, so I’ll spill the beans. There are two types of Masters, you see. I’ve already told you about the first type who lived different lives before and have retained memories of those past lives. Well, the other type runs the whole gamut, but they’re basically people who were sealed away during the ancient civilization but who later got revived in the current era. Those are the only kinds of Masters you get.”
I was familiar with Masters who had lived previous lives, but the idea that there were Masters out there harking back to the lost civilization that had somehow survived all this time was entirely new to me.
So when she mentioned a Master that could be ‘revived,’ she was talking about one who originated in the ancient civilization? I mused.
“Yeah, so after one of my bees found this coffin in something that looked like an underground lab, I came over all curious and snuck in to take a look for myself,” Miki said, clearly pleased with herself. “And that’s when Miki discovered the guy in the casket was Level 9999 and had buggy stats—”
Miki paused, then corrected herself. “I mean, he had stats you couldn’t read fully. All I could make out were the words ‘god’ and ‘fomenter.’ I guess that’s why the demonkin thought the guy in the coffin was C and were doing everything they could to resuscitate him and bring him under their control. I thought it was hilarious. Sure, the dude was max level, but he wasn’t the almighty C.”
Miki laughed at the notion before continuing. “If anything, all that Master was gonna do was bring about disaster. That was obvious if you just stopped to think about what those readable words might mean. Not to mention the guy was sealed in a coffin for a reason. But those demons tried to unseal the coffin anyway, as some kind of insurance against us Masters. Isn’t that hysterical?”
So it seemed Miki was basically echoing what Ellie had already surmised: that this rampager was some kind of “god of calamity.” The extra wrinkle was that the demonkin had been trying to unlock the sealed Master under the illusion that he was actually C. Well, they had finally awakened the fake C after learning we had defeated their remaining Masters, but instead of providing them with protection, the fake C had gone berserk and destroyed the palace. And judging by what Miki was saying, the demons had only opened the casket recently, meaning this Master wasn’t the one who’d destroyed my village three years ago.
I rubbed my temple. “I thought the Demonkin Nation had laid a trap for us, but I didn’t count on it being the ultimate act of self-destruction. Yes, I can sympathize with wanting to respond to an imminent threat with your ace in the hole, but why would you play a card that was so obviously risky? What were the Demonkin Nation leaders even thinking?”
“Miki can guess what they’re thinking,” she said sarcastically. “If you want a hint, it’s all down to a certain someone who’s too prideful to function. Plus, he loves saving his own hide.”
I continued to rub my temple. Miki’s posse of Masters might have been working with the Demonkin Nation, but it didn’t mean both sides got along. “Is there a way to reseal this rampaging Master?” I asked.
“Oh, c’mon now. Miki would hardly know that, would she?” she protested. “I wasn’t that curious to know more about the dude in any case, and any Master who ends up being sealed like that will be a hopeless train wreck, which is how they got themselves sealed in the first place. They’re mostly too crazed to spout anything but gibberish, but they’re too powerful to be left out in the wild, so the ancients were forced to seal those Masters. Of course, there were exceptions to that rule.”
“Okay...” I began. “So if we can’t reseal this Master, we have no choice but to remove him permanently.” The crazed Master would end up harming all the human slaves still stuck in the Demonkin Nation’s capital if we did nothing, and there was also a good chance he might cross the border into the Human Kingdom. No, I wasn’t about to leave that berserker all alone to hurt innocent humans, especially since myself and my inner circle were likely the only people in the world who could take on this Level 9999 Master.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll be sure to repay you later.”
“It’s cool. You don’t have to,” Miki said. “I didn’t make myself clear last time anyway, and it was a blast chatting with you too.”
“No, I believe in repaying a favor with a favor, and kindness with kindness,” I said. “You were purposely being too vague the first time around, that’s for sure, but you’ve more than made up for it with this valuable intel, so I promise to do what I can to pay you back.”
“Gawd, for such a cute kid, you’re a real rigid little boy scout, ain’tcha?” Miki gushed. “But, Miki does like this side of you. My heart naturally belongs to my sweet Suzu, but you’re definitely Miki’s type too, and I wouldn’t mind spending a night with you.”
Mei and Iceheat had been standing behind me throughout our conversation without making so much as a peep, but as soon as Miki made a pass at me, they silently filled the whole jail block with dark, murderous energy. But even as their furious auras pressed against her, Miki grinned playfully, almost as if she were enjoying the whole experience.
I shrugged disarmingly. “Sorry, I’ll pass. But I’ll find a way to pay you back somehow.”
To repeat, the only reason I wanted to pay her back was because she had given us some useful intel. Well, okay, that wasn’t the only reason. If I don’t pay her back fast, she’s sure to leverage the debt to demand who knows what insanity, I reasoned. I could already picture Miki requesting yet another repulsive quid pro quo that would reduce Suzu to tears, so it was best for all of us if I just owned this obligation personally and took it out of the equation altogether.
Miki shrugged right back at me. “That’s too bad. Still, if you’re ever in the mood, look me up. And about that favor...” She paused. “I wasn’t really looking for a reward in the first place, so it’ll just be weird if you come back with something big.” But then, all of a sudden, an invisible light bulb switched on above Miki’s head. “Ah, I know! You can just tell me what my sweet Suzu’s hobbies are, plus her favorite foods and snacks. Since Miki is a maiden in love, she has to know everything her crush likes!”
“Sure,” I said. “Though I’ll have to ask Suzu for permission before I tell you. If she says no, we’ll have to think of something else.”
“Thanks, Light,” Miki said sweetly, before winking at me. “I’ll be waiting for you!”
This last gesture only ticked off Mei and Iceheat even more. I grinned sheepishly before quickly making my way out of the cell block. As I walked through the entrance to the jail, I immediately started brainstorming the lineup I would need in order to take on this psycho Master who was tearing up the Demonkin Nation’s royal palace. As soon as I got to my office, I called in my best fighters to discuss battle plans, but out of nowhere, someone completely unexpected stopped me partway through.
“Master, I beseech you to give the order to me,” Aoyuki implored. Yup, in other words, my ultraquiet, ultraobedient Genius Monster Tamer had decided to volunteer for a mission for the first time ever, and it was to battle a Level 9999 bad guy, no less. Even Mei and Nazuna looked at Aoyuki wide-eyed in shock.