Mushoku Tensei: The Fool Magician

In the end, Elena decided to bid farewell to her father. She explained the agreement she had made with that esteemed individual, and upon hearing it, her father simply urged her to take good care of herself before resigning to stay alone in the small house.

Though Elena said nothing, her worried expression along the way gave away her thoughts, and Roy could easily guess the rest.

Seeing Elena's unease about her father, Roy reassured her with a smile, "Don't worry. I'll take care of your father's situation. This place isn't safe anyway. I'll arrange a small house for him in town. The security there is much better."

Only then did Elena's expression relax.

Compared to the Elena of the past, the current Elena seemed to have changed significantly.

It was evident that this ordeal had taken a heavy toll on her. After all, even though she had gained strength, she had still narrowly escaped death.

Once her father's matters were settled, the next day Roy brought Elena to Philip and explained the situation. At the end of the explanation, he added, "By the way, she's with me. Can you arrange a room for her?"

Philip's expression remained unchanged, but a subtle smile played on his lips as he regarded Roy. Roy understood that Philip was angling for something. While Paul's influence could resolve her father's matter, this request depended on how much sincerity Roy was willing to show. After a moment's thought, Roy said, "Of course, I'll diligently train Miss Eris during my tenure."

Philip shook his head and replied, "You know that's your responsibility, not a favor. And it's not what I want."

After a moment of consideration, Roy offered, "Then, I promise to help you complete one task to the best of my ability. However, this favor isn't extensive—you're only granting me a small convenience. Please keep your request reasonable. If it becomes too demanding, I won't hesitate to go back on my word."

Philip finally seemed satisfied. After arranging a decent room for Elena, he patted Roy's shoulder and offered his thanks.

To be honest, Roy didn't particularly like dealing with people like Philip. The man always gave off a sinister vibe, as though constantly scheming.

After ensuring Elena was settled, Roy provided her with clean clothes and began planning her training. He intended to teach her for six months before assigning her tasks.

When Rudeus saw the white-haired girl, his eyes lit up immediately.

It was clear that Rudeus had a weakness for beautiful girls, with zero resistance against them.

Apparently, his preference for white hair and red eyes was quite broad.

Once the white-haired little girl was settled, life resumed its usual calm.

Daily activities included teaching Eris arithmetic and magic, followed by swordsmanship lessons with Ghislaine.

In his free time, Roy would train the white-haired girl. Since she was officially under his care, it wasn't appropriate to have her train with Ghislaine. Moreover, as Eris' private tutor, he couldn't justify placing the two girls in the same sessions.

The white-haired girl was noticeably more intelligent than Eris. If he grouped them together, unnecessary conflicts might arise.

Thus, Roy decided to train them separately.

For some reason, he often felt that his little sister figure had strong opinions about the white-haired girl he had picked up. She would occasionally insert herself into situations, trying to assert her presence, leaving Roy exasperated.

Roy often wanted to remind Rudeus, "You already have a wife. You can't afford to be so greedy." But recalling his own situation with Asuna in this otherworld, he felt unqualified to say such things.

Thankfully, the white-haired girl remained unwaveringly loyal to Roy, ignoring Rudeus entirely, which brought Roy some relief.

Rudeus, however, wasn't ready to give up and kept pestering Roy for the position of her tutor. His reasoning was quite convincing.

"Nii-san, you must be exhausted from teaching Miss Eris every day. Let me take over Miss Elena's training for you," he said with an earnest smile and a playful wink.

Roy found it nauseating and, unable to endure the nagging, finally warned him, "Elena's temperament isn't as easygoing as you think. Be careful."

After that, he ignored Rudeus.

Elated, Rudeus soon learned the meaning of the phrase "picked the wrong fight."

The next day, Roy saw Rudeus with a swollen, bruised face and could only shake his head in silence.

Naturally, the task of teaching Elena fell back to Roy.

Time flowed like water, days turning into months. Nearly a year had passed before they knew it, as life went on uneventfully.

Routine life had become the norm, with not much room for dramatic displays.

And so, the world of SAO was finally coming to an end.

In this historic moment, Roy logged in personally and struck down the final Boss on the 90th floor. It was a towering, ferocious dragon. As it collapsed to the ground and its HP dropped to zero, a wave of jubilant cheers erupted among the players.

After four grueling years, had they finally made it?

Joy lit up everyone's faces as they celebrated their progress.

Even Roy had joined Kayaba Akihiko's raid party in the end. His reasoning was straightforward: with his speed, high attack power, and unique skills, was it really unfair to aim for the last hit?

After all, his unique sword skill and combined with his berserk mode, created explosive bursts of damage in team battles. Roy had claimed quite a few final blows with this approach.

As for hogging the loot? He always redistributed the spoils after the fight. Of course, if he came across something truly valuable, he might keep it for himself—justifiably so, given his contribution.

At that moment, Roy stood calmly before the fallen dragon, his gaze fixed on the system messages displayed on his interface:

[You have successfully defeated the 90th Floor Boss.]

[Your passive skill, Soul Devour, has activated.]

[Special Mission: Completed. Rewards will be distributed upon return.]

[Achievement: Defeated Ninety Floor Guardians.]

[Reward: Word of Power Awakening, Perfect Dragon's Blood x1.]

[You have earned significant Temporal Power for clearing the 90th Floor Boss.]

[Note: By drastically altering the storyline, your earned Temporal Power has increased by 20%.]

[Clearing SAO entirely will lock its coordinates in the system. You will gain a one-time opportunity to adjust the flow of time between this world and the main world using Temporal Power.]

The flood of system notifications didn't distract Roy. Instead, he directed his attention to Heathcliff, who stood at the forefront with his usual composed expression.

Roy's voice was cold as he spoke: "Still pretending, are we? What should I call you? Heathcliff? Or Kayaba Akihiko?"

His words caused a stir, and nearly everyone turned to look at him, confused and shocked.

But Roy was unfazed. For once, he had enough confidence to challenge the man he'd long suspected.

Why? Because of his current stats:

[Roy]

[Level: 100]

[Strength: A+]

[Agility: A]

[Stamina: A++]

[Intelligence: A+]

[Luck: C]

[Sword Skills: Sword God Style—Quick-Draw, Berserk, Holy Sword.]

[Unique Sword Skill: Quick-Draw (Max)]

[Sword Ruler (Level 3): Consume stamina to perceive opponent's movements.]

Heathcliff turned his gaze to Roy, his expression strange as if feigning confusion. He looked directly at Roy and said plainly, "What do you mean by that?"

Roy spoke again, "I've always thought there was something off about you. You're actually Kayaba Akihiko, aren't you?"

Roy's words were like a powder keg, setting off a massive uproar among the crowd. People glanced at both Roy and Heathcliff with perplexed expressions, though most of them were scrutinizing Roy.

Soon, however, voices of skepticism arose within the group. Some shouted, "Roy, what makes you say that Captain Heathcliff is Kayaba Akihiko? And why bring it up now, right when we're so close to reaching the final boss? Maybe you're the one sent by Kayaba Akihiko to divide us!"

Hearing these accusations, Roy's mouth twitched. He realized he had no real way to refute them.

He wanted to confront Heathcliff head-on, mainly to avoid a chaotic group battle, but also because of a system quest.

By now, Roy had everything he needed. Even if he died, there was no longer much to worry about.

Heathcliff, however, chuckled warmly. "I don't know how you figured it out," he said, smiling. "Or is my disguise really that easy to see through? Either way, it doesn't matter anymore. Since you've seen through me, let's begin."

With that, Heathcliff shifted his gaze back to Roy, his fingers calling up the system menu and tapping on it.

Roy didn't want to give Heathcliff the time to summon GM privileges. Drawing his sword without hesitation, he attacked. The sword in his hand wasn't ordinary—it was a custom-forged blade he had named Evilblade. Its only characteristic: sharpness.

Extreme sharpness, capable of piercing dragon scales effortlessly and shattering any warrior's shield with ease.

In Roy's hands, Evilblade became a terrifying weapon.

The blade flashed like a streak of light, moving so fast that no one present could see how Roy drew it. The strike landed on Heathcliff, but strangely, accompanied by a crisp clang, a violet barrier shimmered in front of Heathcliff.

"This is...!?"

Roy instantly recognized the phenomenon—it was the system's protective mechanism.

Heathcliff was being shielded by the system.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you something," Heathcliff's voice rang in Roy's ears.

"I'm always under system protection. Any attack that would bring my HP into the yellow zone is automatically nullified."

This explained why Heathcliff's HP had never dipped into the yellow zone.

Roy frowned. What now?

"Let's bring the final act forward," Heathcliff said coldly.

In that moment, Roy's level 3 Sword Ruler skill enabled him to predict Heathcliff's actions with perfect clarity. Time seemed to stretch infinitely.

If he struck now, his attack would undoubtedly land. But so what?

Roy knew he was no match for Heathcliff. Clicking his tongue, he muttered inwardly, System privileges really are troublesome.

Heathcliff's finger hovered over the menu, and a blue light engulfed Roy.

Roy's eyes narrowed sharply. What does he intend to do with teleportation?

Asuna rushed toward Roy, and Kirito followed suit. But everything happened too quickly. Before Asuna could reach him, Roy's body dissolved into blue particles and vanished.

When Roy opened his eyes again, he was no longer on the ground floor of Aincrad. Instead, he found himself on the 100th floor.

It was a crimson palace. Compared to the boss room on the ground floor, this one felt far more mundane. But here, Roy would face the most formidable opponent of his life.

The privileged cheater—no, the false god Kayaba Akihiko!

The floor was paved with tiles as red as blood, surrounded by towering columns that supported an impossibly high ceiling. The atmosphere was grand, perhaps, but also imbued with an overwhelming sense of malice. The entire palace was drenched in blood-red hues, radiating an aura of death and destruction.

This was the lair of the floor 100 boss—the Ruby Palace.

Facing Kayaba, Roy couldn't help but feel a mix of resignation and frustration. How could a mere mortal stand against a god?

He wasn't a certain girl who blessed with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. This fight was likely a lost cause.

Roy instinctively tightened his grip on Evilblade's hilt. The blade, slender and violet, seemed to radiate lightning when drawn.

Looking straight at Heathcliff, Roy sneered. "So, Kayaba Akihiko, you didn't bring me here just to casually defeat me with GM privileges, did you?"

Roy was right. If Heathcliff relied solely on system hacks to maintain invincibility, there would be no point in strategizing.

Heathcliff—no, Kayaba Akihiko—smiled. "Don't get me wrong. I never intended to use such underhanded tricks. Although I am the GM and did use administrator privileges to acquire the Holy Sword skill, it's within the reasonable bounds for a final boss. As for the skill's mastery, I earned that through my own effort, bit by bit. I never tampered with it. My levels, equipment, and items were all acquired through legitimate means—every single one of them."

Roy scoffed. "Just admit whether you're cheating or not!"

***

Bonus Chapter:

100 Power Stones = 1 BC

300 Power Stones = 2 BC

500 Power Stones = 3 BC

700 Power Stones = 4 BC

1000 Power Stones = 5 BC

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