I Became a Level -99 Vicious Lord

The strategy to defeat the jester was in fact to exploit this space of nothingness.

The jester wasn't actually just fast.

In reality, the jester was toying with Otto by freely expanding and contracting this empty space.

But now, the situation is different.

Once Otto discovered the secret of the empty space, the jester could no longer escape.

"Uh, how!"

The jester was stunned.

"Well."

Otto replied, suddenly appearing behind the jester's back.

"Uhh?!"

"Something just didn't feel right."

Otto smirked as he spoke.

"How can anyone be that fast? I thought about it and wondered if maybe it's just moving through space at will."

"Y-You're smart."

"The decisive clue."

Otto pointed to the bloodstains on the ground.

"I was definitely chasing after you, and yet my bloodstain is in the same spot?"

"Haha… Hahaha…."

"I ran for quite a while, but it was strange that my bloodstains remained in the same spot. That was the decisive clue."

"So you figured it out after all? Hahaha."

The jester laughed.

"Yes, that's right. The secret of the ‘Space Contraction' is manipulating space."

"Space Contraction?"

"The power to compress space. It's called Axial Contraction."

The jester, looking a bit overwhelmed, went on to explain.

"It's the power of will to compress space. By throwing your body into the compressed space, you can move more freely than anyone else."

"Mmm."

"Congratulations."

The jester congratulated Otto.

"You've discovered the secret of space contraction. Now you can go anywhere. You’ll be everywhere in the blink of an eye. The world will be at your feet. Of course, not right now."

"Yes, that’s right."

Otto agreed with the jester's assessment.

The Jester.

His real name is Trickster.

To fully utilize that power, Otto needed to grow even stronger.

Just like how Otto couldn't yet use the higher-level powers of Calypso's Eye or Barbarian's Roar.

"It's all up to you."

The Trickster advised Otto.

"This."

The Trickster said, tapping his fingers against his own head.

"This is important."

"Head?"

"Yes, the mind. Thought. The power of thinking. Willpower. The belief that you can do anything. The faith that you can go anywhere. Just remember that. Then you'll be able to move anywhere you want in the blink of an eye."

Otto honestly couldn't understand Trickster's words 100%.

But since he had a vague understanding of it, he nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"Hehehe."

The Trickster smiled and waved goodbye.

"Alright, then I’ll be…

"Wait a sec."

"…..!"

"Where are you trying to run off to?"

Otto grabbed the Trickster by the collar.

"W-Well, since you've gained enlightenment, I should be on my way now, right? Haha. Hahaha."

"Hmm, you can't."

Otto shook his head.

"If you've been beating people up for three days, you should pay for it, right?"

"Huh?!"

"You need to be punished."

"Kwueeh!"

Otto had no intention of letting Trickster go, not even a little.

After three days of chasing the trickster and getting himself all worked up, Otto wasn't about to let him go so easily.

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"That felt soooo refreshing~"

Otto left Trickster's dungeon, dusting off his hands.

A satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

With Trickster's power gained and his frustration vented, all the accumulated stress had flown away.

[Trickster's Hand].

One of the five powers of the Invincible Emperor.

The power of the god of mischief, Trickster, grows more powerful with the user's level.

– Manifestation (Available)

– Cloning Technique (Available)

– Space Manipulation (Available)

– Leap (unavailable)

The [Trickster's Hand] skill set allows the use of all three powers except for the final power, [Leap].

Of course, Otto didn't learn this by looking at the status panel.

The status window was still blurry, so even if he paid it some attention, he couldn't make out what it showed.

But Otto was certain about which skills he could use and which ones he couldn’t.

Even without the status window, he had become adept at understanding his own powers.

‘I need to get out of here quietly.'

Otto tried to sneak out of the sanctuary like a rat, not wanting to be caught by Conrad.

However,

"If he had come, you should have reported to me immediately! Why are you only now reporting?"

Conrad's furious voice came from outside.

"I…. I apologize."

"Lord Otto asked us to keep it a secret…."

It was clear that Conrad, who had only recently realized that Otto had arrived, was scolding the Knights.

"Shut up! It's already been three days since he entered the Sanctuary! What if something happens inside!

Conrad was extremely enraged, as if he was worried about Otto.

‘The Knights must have reported, because I haven't come out yet.'

Otto was able to understand the mess from the back-and-forth conversation he heard.

‘Tsk. I was trying to sneak away.'

Given the current state of things, he felt he had to show his face.

"I greet you, Grandfather."

Otto exited the sanctuary and paid his respects to Conrad.

"AAH!"

Seeing that Otto had exited the Sanctuary unharmed, Conrad jumped in surprise.

“You brat! Are you alright?!”

"Of course I'm fine."

“You scoundrel! If you’ve come, you should at least have paid your respects to this old man! How could you be so heartless?”

"I'm sorry."

Otto comforted Conrad, who was feeling upset.

"There were various circumstances, so I wasn’t able to visit you.”

"Even so! You brat! At least give me a little heads-up! Do you know how worried I was?"

“There were circumstances. It was a matter of urgency, with every second counting.”

"Well?"

“That’s what I mean.”

At that moment.

"You bastard!"

Conrad erupted in anger.

"Do you think this old man’s senses can be deceived so easily?"

"Eh?"

"You sneaky little bastard!"

As soon as Conrad finished speaking, Otto exploded with a poof.

In reality, the Otto who went outside the sanctuary to confront Conrad was not the real Otto, but a fake Otto created through a technique of creating duplicates

Indeed, Conrad.

True to his position as the Head of the Kuntachi Family, known for their mastery of swordsmanship and magic, he quickly discerned that the Otto in front of him was not the real one but a duplicate created through a technique.

But it was already too late.

"Hehehe."

The real Otto had already slipped around the corner, away from the Sanctuary.

He had sent a duplicate to Conrad and had himself slipped away completely.

‘Tsk. Still a bit lacking. It was too quick.

Although, considering the opponent…'

Otto clicked his tongue in disappointment, lamenting how quickly the duplicate had been exposed.

But it was okay.

For a first-time use, it was actually rather good.

‘It doesn’t matter. The more I grow, the more my duplicates will resemble the real thing. Eventually, I might even be confused about which is the duplicate and which is the real one.'

The duplication technique of the [Trickster’s Hand] was not an ordinary one.

The higher the user's level, the more powerful the duplication technique would become.

At the moment, it was merely in its infancy.

At that moment.

"Otto, you bastard!"

From a distance, he could see Conrad chasing after him.

"You don't even bother to say hello to this old man!"

"I… I'm kind of busy!"

Otto, not wanting to hear any more nagging, immediately used his Manifestation.

*Pop!*

Then, the scenery before his eyes changed.

Breathless Teleportation.¹

Being a movement technique that required no casting and had no cooldown, he had instantly moved outside the palace in the blink of an eye.

‘A.. Awesome'

Otto was amazed by the tremendous power of [Manifestation].

When he used it through the game, he just accepted it as it was, but experiencing it in reality left him with no words other than to describe it as truly amazing.

However, the mana consumption was quite severe.

Even after using it just once, he felt like half of his total mana had been drained.

But that was also fine.

Aside from the high mana consumption, the technique had no other drawbacks, so gradually increasing his mana would be enough to solve the issue.

‘What about Space Manipulation?'²

Since he had already left the palace, Otto decided to try out Space Manipulation as well.

"Oh?"

With each step Otto took, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly, and he marveled once again.

It felt like being on an incredibly fast moving walk, though he was walking slowly, Otto's speed was absolutely astounding.

Just as the Trickster had said, it almost felt like space itself was being compressed.

Moreover, the mana consumption was significantly lower than with Manifestation, making it possible to maintain for quite a long time.

"This is quite cool."

Otto pulled out a mana potion from his pocket, gulped it down, and continued using Shukuchi to move.

"Hehehe."

Conrad chuckled wryly as he saw Otto in the distance, using Shukuchi to move away.

"Not only using duplicates and Teleportation, but now he's even using Shukuchi. Hahaha!"

Conrad was not angry.

*Heh*

Instead, he smiled and watched Otto’s retreating figure with a satisfied expression.

From Conrad's perspective, Otto was his one and only direct descendant, so precious that even having him in his sight couldn't be a problem.

Although it was a bit irritating that Otto had slipped away without even a greeting, Conrad was not truly angry with him.

Conrad was delighted just to see Otto gaining new powers and using them.

The joy of watching his one and only direct descendant acquire the powers of the Invincible Emperor and grow stronger with each step was a pleasure that could not be compared to anything else.

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Upon his return to the Kingdom of Lota, Otto is greeted with an unhappy Archduke Wazir and more piles of paperwork.

“Don’t even think about coming out until you finish the work.”

"…Okay."

Archduke Wazir had barricaded Otto's office, even added a padlock.

"I’ll give you three meals a day and even some snacks, so don’t worry."

"……."

“If you run away even once more, I’ll glue your butt to the chair. Do you understand?

"…Yea."

In the end, Otto was trapped in his office and had to become a working machine, unable to move.

And no wonder, as there was an enormous amount of administrative work in the Lota Kingdom at the moment.

Having conquered Baltin, Slaine, and Loredin, and now absorbed the Cherokee Kingdom, it was natural that there would be more administrative work.

As a result, all administrative officials in the Lota Kingdom were accustomed to working late into the night.

In other words, Otto, too, had an overwhelming amount of work to handle as the King.

“Ugh, such is my fate.”

In the end, Otto was confined in his office, secured with iron bars, and had no choice but to handle the administrative work.

Even if Archduke Wazir could handle most of the state affairs, there were still many matters that Otto, as King, had to handle himself.

Thus, Otto spent most of the Fall buried in administrative duties.

Meanwhile, the Lota Kingdom's army focused on the restoration efforts in the Cherokee Kingdom, reorganizing the conquered territories and consolidating internal affairs.

One day.

"Your Majesty, The goblin merchant Ego requests an audience with you."

The goblin merchant Ego had come to see Otto.

"Your Majesty, this is not good."

Ego's expression, after a long time, was not very pleasant.

"What's going on?"

"The Kingdom of Erzebet has suspended trade with our Kingdom and blocked all distribution routes to our Kingdom."

"Oh."

Otto quickly grasped what was happening upon hearing Ego's words.

"Are you saying that the Erzebet Kingdom is trying to starve us to death?"

The Kingdom of Erzebet.

As a neighboring Kingdom to the Lota Kingdom and one of the major powers on the continent, Erzebet Kingdom held significant influence.

In other words, following the Cherokee Kingdom, now the Erzebet Kingdom had begun to keep the Lota Kingdom in check.

** ** **

TL/N:

1. Imagine being instantly transported from one location to another without feeling any sensation of movement or change. You “teleport” seamlessly, as if you took a breath and found yourself elsewhere.

2. Space Manipulation – may also sometimes use the "Shukuchi" Japanese-language term for various mythical techniques of rapid movement. The characters in the word can be rendered literally as "shrinking the earth," referring to how the technique reduces the spatial distance between two points to achieve its effect.