Chapter 139 : Chapter 139

Chapter 139 : World of Recurrence (5)

The blood-red monument.

Just from the fact that the monument was floating in the air while emitting a malevolent energy, I could tell that it had already absorbed the life force of a great many beings.

“…….”

At the bizarre sight, my companions and I were all staring in a daze.

But soon, an even more surprising scene unfolded.

Kwa-gwa-gwang!

The monument split in two and then settled down as if it were being driven into the ground.

After the thick dust cleared, a single red thread was strung between the two monuments.

– This is the final gateway. Offer the life of one among you. If you do not, a calamity will appear.

The extremely thin thread connecting the two monuments vibrated and produced a voice.

It was a thread that looked like it would snap with a mere touch of a sword, but regardless of its thickness, the energy flowing from the thread was powerful.

Soon, red threads tangled on top of the monument, and words were engraved.

[Life], [Death].

– If only one life is offered, the rest will be able to survive.

The thread vibrated again and produced a voice.

It was a chilling voice, yet at the same time, it felt alluring.

It instilled a hope that truly, if only one person sacrificed themselves, nothing would happen after that.

But I knew that the words the red thread spewed were nothing more than simple deception.

When I played as Adjak, the red thread offered the same temptation.

Naturally, Adjak and his party did not fall for that temptation.

They courageously confronted the calamity.

Knowing that fact, I looked at my companions.

Fortunately, no one's gaze wavered.

“Do you trust me?”

I asked my companions.

No, it was a confirmation.

Because I already knew that my companions trusted me.

Everchen, Bea, Keldric. My companions firmly nodded.

“In that case, you must follow my words. No matter what that specter says, never make an arbitrary judgment. Even if that judgment is for the sake of your companions.”

– A specter, you say.

The red thread spoke as if sneering.

– I have heard your answer well.

The red thread vibrated more violently than before.

At the same time, an even more ominous energy spread.

It was a different type of energy from demonic energy, but it was certainly a terrible energy.

– Face the calamity.

From the gate with the word ‘Death’ written on it, a skeleton holding a giant scythe emerged.

A skeleton in a tattered black robe, floating in the air.

Yet it did not look shabby.

This was because the red energy shimmering between its empty eye sockets was unusual.

“If that's the calamity, it won't be difficult.”

Keldric clenched and unclenched his fist once and stepped forward.

“Polarin, you worked hard coming this far. Leave it to us now.”

It was just a moment ago that I had asked them to follow my words.

But I wasn't worried.

Following behind Keldric, Everchen stepped forward.

Beside them was Bea, riding Nihel.

The backs of my companions seen from behind were incredibly reassuring.

“Yes, I trust you.”

The ghost called a calamity raised its large scythe.

***

About 300 years ago, Adjak also stood before the red monument here with his own companions.

On the way here, Adjak and all his companions were very tired from fighting countless ghosts.

– This is the final gateway. Offer the life of one among you. If you do not, a calamity will appear.

However, Adjak also did not try to solve the situation by offering a companion's life.

Up to that point, his decision was the same as Polarin's, but Adjak's subsequent response was quite different from Polarin's.

“I will take the lead.”

Rather than trusting his companions, Adjak stood at the front and faced the ghost.

The skeleton's momentum was menacing, but it was a decision made because Adjak was even stronger than it.

Shuuuuu!

The skeleton swung its scythe at Adjak with great speed.

But Adjak managed to dodge the attack by moving his body just slightly.

A decision made by quickly judging the size of the scythe, the length of the skeleton's arm and the range he could move.

It was incredible judgment followed by incredible control.

Kwa-rreung!

With a sound like a thunderclap, Adjak released an electric current.

The rapidly flying current directly hit the ghost, but the ghost took no damage at all.

After that, Adjak fought by utilizing the various Tunes he possessed.

His companions didn't just watch the battle either.

Pieto's swift sword poured down on the skeleton, and Gawen's light arrows flew at the skeleton from time to time.

Ishulinus also fired a barrage of holy magic to restrict the skeleton's movements.

It was an unexpectedly chaotic battle.

No matter how many times they cut the ghost, it would not fall.

One by one, wounds began to appear on Adjak's body and his companions' bodies.

Where the scythe had grazed past, red threads shimmered and bloomed, and the threads constantly tempted them.

– If you give up, you will be at ease. It is because you do not know that death is not necessarily a bad thing.

Death slowly extended its shadow over their bodies.

Jjeo-jeo-jeok──!

However, Adjak and his companions finally defeated the skeleton.

Its giant scythe and ominous red gleam lost their light.

But the red threads that remained on their wounds still tempted Adjak and his companions.

– If only you sacrifice yourself, you can save the lives of the rest of your companions.

But they did not waver.

They were ones who had overcome numerous adversities to come this far.

They also had a clear goal of cutting off the Demon King's head and lifting the darkness that had fallen upon the world.

So they endured the temptation and glared at the monument, but…….

– To think you truly overcame the calamity. But nothing has changed because of it. There is only one way for you to escape this place.

By then, the ghosts that remained in the forest had swarmed behind Adjak and his companions like a swarm of bees.

– Offer the life of one person. Then I will give you my power.

They thought everything would be over if they just overcame the calamity, but the red thread once again forced a choice.

Adjak and his companions fought the ghosts without even having a moment to answer the red thread's words.

While resisting the voice that continued to tempt them.

Finally, when everyone's stamina was about to hit rock bottom, Pieto spoke to Adjak.

“Adjak, I'm going.”

Adjak couldn't answer Pieto's words at that time.

This was because he couldn't hear Pieto's words properly in the chaotic battle.

Pieto, who did not receive Adjak's reply, directly placed his hand on the monument with the word [Death] written on it.

Immediately after, the movements of all the ghosts stopped.

– Kuhahahaha!

Only the laughter of the monument filled the forest.

***

I opened my [Ghost Eye]. This was because I had made many mistakes when playing as Adjak.

When I looked at the world with [Ghost Eye], the colors of the world were very different from what I saw with the naked eye.

The unique ashen color of the ghosts shimmered.

But from the skeleton standing before me, I couldn't see any light.

Rather, only the giant scythe the skeleton was holding was glowing with an ashen light.

“The skeleton is not the main body, but the scythe it's holding. Focus all your attacks on the scythe.”

Swiiiish! Kwaang!

In response to my words, a light arrow flew and lodged itself in the scythe instead of a verbal answer.

Keldric also immediately flew in and threw an aura-infused fist at its scythe.

“Blessing of Divinity.”

Everchen chose buff instead of combat.

As soon as his chant ended, a faint holy power enveloped Keldric's and Bea's bodies and their movements became sharper than before.

From behind my companions, I was just watching their fight.

Thanks to that, I could clearly see the red thread connecting the two monuments writhing.

– …….

The red thread did not say a word, but it was writhing greatly.

It was noticeably flustered.

Kwaang! Kwaaang!

A few more loud noises were heard, and then the scythe held by the skeleton cracked.

And the skeleton soon collapsed.

It was an empty end for something with the grand name of a calamity.

My companions were not injured at all.

Thanks to that, there were no red threads blooming to tempt them.

It was possible because I knew the solution: that the scythe, not the ghost, was its main body.

I couldn't let my guard down. The trial it gave was not just the ghost with the scythe.

But when I saw my companions' faces, such worries soon disappeared.

“Good work.”

“It was nothing, really.”

“That's right. It was easy.”

Keldric and Bea spoke as if it were no big deal.

It seemed it was worth it to have rested and recovered their stamina and mana on the way to the monument instead of fighting.

The red thread was still in shock and kept its mouth shut.

A considerable number of ghosts had gathered around us. I thought about dealing with them too, but I decided not to waste my strength here.

After all, it was impossible to reduce their numbers.

“Sir Everchen, is your holy power sufficient?”

“Yes, it's sufficient. Besides, this body uses holy magic much more efficiently than I do…….”

“It's tough without Sir Everchen protecting us from the front. We'll be counting on you in the future as well. For now, could you stop those ghosts from coming?”

“I'll do that.”

Everchen immediately cast a spell. Then a curtain of light surrounded us.

The ghosts swarmed like a mountain, but they couldn't cross the curtain of light that Everchen had spread.

– You, what kind of trick are you using? How are you dealing with everything as if you know it all!

The red thread said, trembling.

I had no intention of answering its question.

– Do you know who I am! I am a god who has existed since the Mythic Era. A living god, completely different from those who were demoted to mere Tunes!

A god? Maybe it was, once upon a time.

But now, it was just a specter that deceived people.

The ancient gods who became Tunes were better than this one.

This one had maintained its life by harming thousands, no, tens of thousands of lives for its own ambition.

– Offer your life to me. Beings of your caliber could become gods with my help!

I ignored the red thread's words and completely turned my back on the monument.

My companions also turned their attention away from the red thread.

“Do you think the chief will come?”

“He will. His eyes were glistening with greed.”

Keldric and Everchen also conversed comfortably.

At first, Everchen was awkward about his changed appearance, but after fighting, he seemed to have gotten somewhat used to his changed body and it wasn't just Everchen.

Me, Keldric, and Bea had all completely changed in appearance, but we realized we were still companions who could trust and entrust our lives to each other.

The third trial wasn't over yet, but it felt like I had already received a reward.

Ghosts were piling up outside the wall of light, and the red monument was still spewing curses.

But we were relaxing and checking each other's conditions while recovering from the fatigue of battle.

As we were resting like that, I heard a familiar voice.

“Truly… amazing. To come this far without the token.”

A face I was not happy to see, but had to.

The chief had arrived.

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