Chapter 236
After escaping from the Lota Kingdom, Otto immediately entered the sanctuary within the Kuntachi House.
"Aah!"
"Your Majesty!"
The knights guarding the sanctuary were surprised to see Otto.
"Shhh."
Otto held up a finger to cover his lips, not wanting to be discovered by Conrad.
"It's a secret, understood?"
For Otto, who already has enough stress on his mind, being caught by Conrad would only add to it.
About the future of the family and so on.
‘I must see my descendants as soon as possible.'‘You must raise the status of the Kuntachi family.'
And on and on and on.
Whenever Conrad saw Otto, he would ramble on about such matters and repeat the same things all day long.
Of course, Otto was not oblivious to Conrad's intentions.
Conrad was now old and planned to retire soon, passing on the family head position and the Duchy's reign to Otto.
Moreover, Otto was Conrad's only blood relative.
Given this, it was somewhat natural for Conrad to hold onto Otto and endlessly pester and nag him.
However, for Otto, who had to endure this, it was quite a torment.
"I'm here to gain power from the Sanctuary, so please keep it a secret."
The knights then knelt on one knee and responded.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
With that, Otto walked past the knights and entered the Sanctuary.
Then he stood before the statue of the jester, one of the five statues.
[Here one moment, there the next].
[Controlling the world at will].
A stone statue of a jester, whose face is full of mischief.
The power sealed behind it was the most versatile of the five abilities of the Invincible Emperor.
‘Let's go.'
Without hesitation, Otto passed by the statue of the jester and entered the dungeon.
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The dungeon located behind the jester's statue was an empty space of nothingness.
A pure white floor.
A pure white background.
A world that was completely white.
As a result, spatial awareness and perspective were completely nullified, making it impossible to distinguish up from down or left from right.
The jester stood alone in that void of nothingness, waiting for Otto.
"Oh."
When the jester saw Otto, it smiled.
"Who are you?"
"Otto de Scuderia."
Otto replied.
"Otto de Scuderia?"
"Just call me Otto."
"I see!"
The jester did a quick somersault in the air and nodded.
"So you're not just an ordinary person? You managed to get all the way in here. Did you know? You're the first being to ever enter this place."
"I guess so."
Only those who have reached the level of a Divine Being can gain power in this sanctuary.
Since Otto was the first person to reach the Divine Level after the sanctuary was established, it was not wrong to say that he was the first being to enter the dungeon.
"Did you come here to play with me?"
The jester whispered in Otto's ear.
"……!"
Otto flinched in surprise.
‘When did?'
The jester’s movements were so fast that Otto couldn’t even tell when it had approached him.
"Isn’t that right? You came here to play with me, didn’t you?"
"….."
"How are you going to entertain me?"
This time, the jester appeared right in front of Otto and asked.
Once again, Otto was unable to keep up with the jester's movements.
"But can you really play with me if you're that slow?"
"……."
"If you're that slow…"
In the next moment.
*Swish!*
The jester strikes Otto on the bridge of his nose with the point of his hand.
"Ack!"
Otto let out a scream.
Blood began to flow profusely from Otto's nose.
"You are going to get your nose cut while your eyes are open?"¹
"Aaargh!"
"It's a shame if that handsome face of yours doesn't have a nose, Hehehe!"
"You bastard."
Otto drew his sword and snarled at the jester.
"Are you angry?"
The jester, who had appeared behind Otto without him noticing, grinned and made a playful gesture.
"Don’t be mad. I’m just trying to play with you. Hehe."
"…."
"You're not really angry, are you?"
Instantly.
"You're not really angry, are you?"
"You're not really angry, are you?"
"You're not really angry, are you?"
"You're not really angry, are you?"
"You're not really angry, are you?"
"You're not really angry, are you?"
Dozens of jesters simultaneously asked Otto.
Otto was unable to compose himself.
The jester was so incredibly fast that it was impossible to keep up with its movements.
On top of that, there was also the use of clones.
"From now on, we’re going to play tag."
"From now on, we’re going to play tag."
"From now on, we’re going to play tag."
The Jester pulled out a club and pointed it at Otto.
"Run as fast as you can, or you'll get thoroughly beaten up!
"Run as fast as you can, or you'll get thoroughly beaten up!
"Run as fast as you can, or you'll get thoroughly beaten up!
With that, the jesters started brandishing their clubs at Otto.
Otto wasn't going to be intimidated.
At least, the method to counter the jester's cloning technique was very clear and straightforward.
*Flash*
Otto's eyes glowed green.
‘I see it.'
Otto was able to precisely identify the original among the countless jesters.
The ability to see through illusions was a highly effective means to counter the jester's cloning technique.
*Slash!*
Otto swung his sword at the original among the dozens of jesters.
The result.
"Ack!"
The original was knocked down.
*Pop!* *Pop!* *Pop!**Pop!* *Pop!* *Pop!*
The remaining fake jesters exploded with a popping sound.
"Grrrr!"
The jester, bleeding profusely, gnashed its teeth at Otto.
"Calypso always keeps an eye on me. Ugh. You have Calypso’s eyes too, don’t you?"
"Of course."
"Then there's no helping it. I can't call any of my friends."
The "friends" the jester referred to were actually his own clones.
That meant the jester would no longer use the cloning technique on Otto, as it was ineffective.
"Doesn’t matter. Hmph."
The jester, who had appeared behind Otto without him noticing, grinned.
"Because I can play with you instead."
"…..!"
"Ya!"
The jester swung the club and struck Otto on the top of his head.
*Smack!*
Otto was unable to avoid the jester’s attack.
The jester’s movements were of an utterly mysterious speed, beyond mere description of being fast.
In fact, it was hard to even perceive that the jester was moving directly.
The jester didn’t actually run on its feet, it merely teleported to the desired location.
In other words, it wasn't that the jester's movement speed was fast, it was teleporting without any need for casting.
As a result, Otto couldn't keep up with the jester's movements.
‘Patience.'
Otto decided to be patient.
Since the jester's breathless teleportation had a clear strategy, there was no need to be impatient.
He just had to wait for the right moment.
"You're wide again?"
At the moment the jester appeared next to Otto and aimed for his head again.
*Flash!*
A gray flash of light shone from Otto's eyes.
"…..!"
The jester's eyes widened in shock.
*Zap!*
*Crack!*
The jester exposed to the petrification gaze could no longer perform breathless teleportation and was frozen in place.
‘Now!'
Otto capitalized on the opportunity.
*Slash!* *Swipe!* *Swoosh!* *Slash!*
Otto swung his sword at the jester.
*Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!*
The jester was split into four pieces.
No blood flowed.
It was as if a toy doll had been broken into four pieces.
"…You."
The jester spoke with a voice full of fear.
"You're really a frightening person, aren’t you?"
The next moment.
The jester, having reassembled its body, began to flee into the distance.
"I'm sorry! Please don't be angry! It was my mistake! Forgive me!"
Otto immediately pursued the jester.
‘This is the last phase.'
From experience, the jester would flee at an incredible speed once its breathless teleportation and cloning techniques were countered. Defeating such a jester was the condition to clear this dungeon.
The problem was that the jester was incredibly fast.
Even without the breathless teleportation, the fleeing jester's speed easily seemed to exceed 200 kilometers per hour.
Even for Otto, it was impossible to catch up with such speed.
The problem was that even Otto didn’t know the strategy for dealing with the current situation.
‘Shouldn't there be a pattern?'
When played as a game, the jester's escape had patterns in its direction and route, so timing it right was all that was needed.
But it was different in reality.
The fleeing jester doesn't follow a pattern.
Moreover, its speed was erratic and unpredictable, making it seem like it was teasing Otto by almost getting caught but then slipping away.
Sometimes it was incredibly fast.
When it slowed down, the distance closed, making it seem like he could almost catch it.
‘What should I do?'
Otto was at his wit's end, unable to think of a way to catch the jester.
Despite trying every possible method, Otto ultimately failed to catch up with the jester.
This went on for a full three days.
"Huff, Puff!"
Otto collapsed to the floor exhausted.
He had chased the jester for three days straight, but still couldn't catch it.
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"Hehe! Stop chasing me! You can’t catch me! Hehe!"
The jester taunted Otto from a distance.
"Give up already! No matter what, you’ll never catch me!"
"……."
"Hehe! Hehehe! Try to catch me! Hehehehe!"
The jester continuously taunted and provoked Otto.
"Just know that if I ever catch you, you're going to die."
Otto growled at the jester .
But for the past three days, he hadn't caught even the shadow of the jester, and his stamina continued to dwindle.
‘Should I give up and withdraw?'
Otto even considered postponing the attack on the jester until he could figure out a strategy.
He felt that there was no answer in sight and that continuing like this would only waste time.
‘No, there's bound to be a way around this.'
However, a dungeon that can't be solved doesn't exist in the first place.
There has to be a clue that he hasn't noticed yet.
It was just that he couldn't recognize it yet.
‘I wonder what it is.'
Otto completely ignored the taunting jester, who kept shouting, "Try to catch me!"
‘I need to think about this. Think.'
Realizing that he couldn’t catch the jester just by forceful attempts, his mind began to calm down.
‘Calypso's eyes are the counter to the cloning technique and teleportation. But the Barbarian's Roar doesn’t work, and the Book of Carnage can't be used due to lack of soul energy.'
He didn't want to use the Book of Carnage anyway.
‘There must be a hint somewhere. What could it be?'
Otto thought this and carefully surveyed his surroundings.
However, nothing in particular caught his eye.
There was nothing but pure white space.
It was a place where sky, ground, and all directions were indistinguishable.
‘What am I supposed to do? There are no landmarks or objects around. If I can’t find a hint in the field… wait a minute.'
A thought flashed through his mind.
‘Could it be that the entire space itself is the hint?'
He began to think that it might be possible.
‘How large is this space? Is it infinite, or is it finite? Or if not….'
As various thoughts came and went.
‘Could it be that it’s not about running fast, but rather manipulating the space, expanding and contracting it at will?'
If that's true.
‘Shrink.'
Otto concentrated, envisioning the size of this empty space shrinking.
The result.
"Eeehh?!"
The jester exclaimed in surprise.
Before long, Otto found himself right in front of the jester.
** ** **
TL/N:
1. The phrase “눈뜨고 코 베인다” is a Korean idiom that means being caught off guard or being taken advantage of despite being aware of the situation. (Good thing I recall this saying in the other novel am translating which revolves about a world suddenly having an apocalypse setting with the MC having an army of Bees **it's on my ko-fi page: ko-fi.com/tscatthed you can read Ch 0 to 108 for $3 only *cough blatant advertisement cough*)