The Operation Surprise Party was a scheme designed to deceive Black Night and steal information from her.
There were seven participants in the operation.
First, Ash.
His role was to engage with Black Night, the enemy commander, and lead her into the trap as planned.
He had to entertain her, escort her, and even seduce her if necessary.
It was arguably the most dangerous and difficult role, but Ash, the architect of the plan, took on this risk himself. If he didn’t take on this role, the operation wouldn’t work in the first place.
And then, the five members of the Gamble Club.
Mind Reader Orange.
Clairvoyant Lime.
Puppeteer Cobalt.
Illusionist Violet.
And Card Sharp Scarlet.
They were placed as waiters in the banquet hall. Each was assigned a role that suited their abilities, and they were deployed as needed, using various means to target Black Night.
Finally, Serenade.
Since Ash had to deal with Black Night directly, he couldn’t direct the overall situation of the operation. So, Serenade was to assist in directing the operation from the situation room.
She had a better grasp of the banquet hall’s structure than anyone else, was accustomed to handling multiple people at once, and was even good at improvising.
Also, she had a thorough understanding of the purpose of this operation.
***
The operation began the moment Black Night entered the banquet hall.
First, Mind Reader Orange naturally served drinks.
Originally, her ability was to read the thoughts of anyone who drank the orange tea she brewed herself.
And after reaching level 50 and awakening, her ability evolved… she could now apply the same effect to any drink her hand touched, not just her own tea. Without leaving any magical traces.
It was a trivial effect that was of no help in combat situations. But because it was trivial, it was not detected by the enemy.
In espionage situations, this was an incredibly powerful skill. Ash was pleased, feeling that it was worth the effort to awaken the Gamble Club.
So, Orange calmly served the drinks—Ash received two glasses and offered one to Black Night. Black Night drank it without sensing anything unusual.
Situation room.
Serenade, having confirmed that the drink had disappeared into Black Night’s mouth, manipulated the communication artifact in her ear.
“Orange. Report the situation.”
「She’s drinking it down smoothly… Okay. I’m starting to read her thoughts.」
“From now on, communicate with His Majesty on a private channel. Report all of Black Night’s inner thoughts to His Majesty.”
Thus, from the very beginning of the party, Black Night was completely exposed to Ash.
After securing this insurance, Serenade communicated with the next member.
“Lime. What’s the situation?”
Clairvoyant Lime circled around Ash and Black Night from a distance, glancing at Black Night.
「Search has begun.」
“Can you see well?”
「Yes. There’s no problem with my vision at all. However, it might take some time to find the hidden location…」
“His Majesty will buy you time. Please find it calmly, Lime.”
Serenade spoke the core objective of this operation.
“The location of the ‘talisman’.”
All the Jiangshi [a type of Chinese hopping vampire or zombie] need a talisman, a kind of programming command, to move their corpse bodies.
Therefore, in a combat situation with a Jiangshi, the top priority target for destruction is this talisman.
Black Night is the caster of Jiangshi magic, so she is relatively free from this restriction, but since her body is a Jiangshi, there must be a talisman somewhere on her body.
Ash gave the order with conviction, and Lime began to thoroughly search Black Night’s bare skin under her clothes with his clairvoyance.
Originally, his clairvoyance was only good for reading the cards on the back of a deck, but after awakening, it had evolved to the point where he could easily see through someone’s clothes from a distance.
But he couldn’t see anything. Time passed relentlessly, and Serenade had to take measures to enable clairvoyance from various angles.
“…Instruct the orchestra. Have them play a waltz.”
Serenade didn’t like the idea of Ash dancing with another woman, but this operation was more important. Serenade instructed.
“Let’s have them dance. If they spin around, it might be easier to see.”
Thus, music was played, and Ash danced a waltz with Black Night, spinning around and around.
As the nerve-wracking time passed, Lime finally called in.
「…I’ve found it. However, the location is a bit… awkward.」
“Where is it?” Serenade asked urgently.
There had been a pre-simulation of all possible locations for Black Night’s talisman.
But the actual location was in a much more difficult place than expected.
「It’s on her palate. I caught a glimpse of it while she was talking, and when I focused, I saw it was stuck there. It’s also very small.」
“…Oh my god.”
Serenade, holding her aching forehead, contacted the third member.
“Scarlet.”
「I’m listening.」
The waiter girl with a red scarf around her neck, Card Sharp Scarlet, answered the call.
Serenade sighed and said,
“The talisman is on her palate, they say.”
「…Wow.」
“How about it, can you show us your skills?”
If it were on another part of the body, they could somehow manage, but inside the mouth?
How could they touch a talisman stuck in such a place? Scarlet shook her head.
「That’s impossible. Besides, I’m a card sharp, miss. Not a pickpocket…」
“The principles of the job are roughly the same, aren’t they? With your nimble hands, without being noticed.”
「…」
“So, can you do it? Or not?”
Scarlet is an N-rank hero.
She has almost no magical power, and her specs are practically no different from an ordinary person.
With such specs, she forcibly reached a level of awakening that she would not have been able to reach normally, and as a result.
Her sleight of hand… was at a level where she could deceive even a god.
「How can I back out now? I have to go all the way, even if I fail.」
Scarlet let out a small sigh, then threw off the apron she had been wearing while serving and said briefly.
「Set the stage. I’ll give it a try.」
“Okay.”
Serenade was lost in thought. How to set the stage?
“…We need to physically open her mouth. And have it open towards Scarlet.”
Serenade, who had been deep in thought with a bright glint in her eyes, snapped her fingers.
“Let’s say we’re performing a blood oath. An oath where we share and drink blood and flesh. And it’s customary for the initiate to be fed the flesh by the person performing the oath. Let’s aim for that moment. Scarlet, is it possible?”
Scarlet’s voice was flustered.
「…It’s not just switching it with my hands, but switching it while using utensils? And the talisman is stuck to that monster’s palate?」
“Scarlet.”
Serenade asked again, softly but sternly.
“Just tell me if you can do it or not.”
「…Please tell His Majesty.」
Scarlet, adjusting her scarf, approached Black Night and Ash.
「If I succeed in this ridiculous feat, I want a bonus of double my annual salary this year.」
“I’ll give you five times. Go.”
「This is an amount worth risking my life for…」
While Scarlet approached with a motivated swing of her arm, Serenade also contacted Ash.
“Your Majesty. Under the pretext of performing a blood oath, please guide Black Night to the inner private room.”
After explaining the plan, Serenade apologized.
“…I’m sorry. For trying to use Your Majesty’s blood and flesh so carelessly.”
At Serenade’s apology, Ash, who was spinning with Black Night, glanced at the situation room for a moment and winked.
“…!”
Serenade, forcing a smile, continued to give instructions.
“Set up a wine bottle, glasses, and a knife in the private room, and Violet! Stand by in the room next to the private room.”
And the blood oath was performed.
When they shared the blood-mixed wine and ate the pieces of flesh.
Scarlet succeeded in switching the talisman that was stuck to Black Night’s palate with another talisman that had been prepared in advance—at a speed that was invisible to the eye.
Her skill was so exquisite that Black Night didn’t notice at all. Not even that her body was stiffening…
Ash and Black Night clinked their glasses a few more times, and before long.
Thud!
Black Night collapsed as if she had fainted.
“Lily!”
Serenade ordered Lily, who was waiting nearby.
“Activate the magic amplifier!”
“Understood! Magic amplifier, activating!”
A one-time artifact that amplifies the target’s magical power, the magic amplifier.
The target was… Illusionist Violet, who was waiting in the room next to the private room.
“Violet, now!”
「Waaaaah-!」
Violet, who had jumped into the private room, grabbed Black Night’s head and deployed her illusionary domain with all her might.
「Whew! Whew! Single-target illusionary domain, deployment complete! It worked!」
The ultimate skill Violet gained after awakening was the ability to trap a single target in a perfect illusion.
She couldn’t cast illusions over a wide area like a basic skill, but she could cast much more elaborate illusions on a single target. Violet let out a sigh of relief after succeeding.
「From now on, I will show illusions as His Majesty instructs.」
“Orange, go to the scene immediately and read the enemy commander’s dream. We need to extract as much information as possible.”
After sending Orange to the private room, Serenade quickly gave further instructions.
“Scarlet, you need to come out because we have to go into the next operation. Lime! Cobalt! Get ready.”
While Ash, Violet, and Orange were showing Black Night illusions and extracting information.
Lime identified where the talismans were attached to the bodies of the remaining Jiangshi liches, Scarlet switched them with other talismans that had been prepared in advance, and the last member, Puppeteer Cobalt, succeeded in taking control of the 10 fallen liches with his ability.
After awakening, Cobalt was able to arbitrarily take control of summoned creatures and artificial life forms and use them as his puppets. It was an application of that.
All operations were successfully completed. Letting out a sigh of relief, Serenade wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
“Operation successful. The party is over.”
Serenade turned on the broadcast throughout the banquet hall and shouted.
“Alright! Everyone who was having fun, please come to your senses and prepare for Plan B!”
Once the illusion shown to Black Night ended and she regained her senses, a situation where they might have to use force could arise.
Then, all the heroes who had been enjoying the party suddenly became cold-faced, as if they had been lying.
The heroes, who had stopped dancing and greeted each other, entered the warehouses and rooms located throughout the party hall in an orderly fashion.
All of their equipment was hidden in various places.
The heroes, who had taken off their suits and dresses and put on their armor, began to gather again in the banquet hall, raising their respective weapons.
Their appearance was so reliable that Serenade smiled without realizing it.
***
“From the moment you accepted the invitation to this party… you were caught in a scheme, sucker.”
In the private room of the banquet hall.
Ash spoke coldly to the dumbfounded Black Night.
“You always betrayed us like this in the game.”
《…》
“And when we accepted you as an ally, your power would become too great by the second half of the third year… and it would become too difficult to eliminate you at that time.”
《…》
“So, to eliminate you, now, right before we form an alliance, is the best time.”
Black Night didn’t understand everything Ash was saying, but she instinctively knew.
This was checkmate.
There was no way out.
So, she couldn’t understand it at all. Above all, there were too many prerequisites for her to fall into this trap.
From not noticing all the minor magical manipulations that had been inflicted on her, the Great Magic Emperor, everything was full of questions.
《…The talisman.》
Among them, the most incomprehensible thing.
《The formula and principle used in my talisman… is something only Eastern sorcerers know. You switched it? And stopped my body with that? It doesn’t make sense, how did you know the talisman’s creation formula…》
Black Night stopped talking and made a foolish sound.
《Huh?》
Ash chuckled.
“You’re late to realize it.”
《Im…possible?》
“Yes. The one who told us the formula for this talisman is another you.”
Black Night let out a scream-like voice.
《No way! That guy is alive?! But the Magic Tower was clearly!》
“It collapsed. By itself.”
《What nonsense is that…? You’re saying that even collapsing the Magic Tower… was all part of the plan?!》
Ash shrugged his shoulders with a sly smile.
Black Night shook her head.
《That can’t be! That guy gained eternal life in the cyber world! And that cyber world was built inside the Magic Tower’s system!》
“…”
《To kill me, he gave up eternal life and killed himself?! No, that can’t be! The other me is not the kind of guy who would participate in such a crazy plan!》
More than anything, self-preservation was important.
That was the principle of action for the undead lich, Black Night, who desired eternal life. That’s why Black Night couldn’t believe Ash’s words.
“Well, I wonder…”
But Ash smiled and said,
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
He reached out towards the inside of the private room.
Then,
Tap. Tap.
With the clear sound of heels, someone emerged from the darkness in one corner of the room.
《…?!》
And the face of Black Night, who looked at that side… was filled with clear shock and fear.