107
Chapter 107
The interior of the old castle had an antiquated atmosphere.
The more I looked around, the more I found myself admiring it.
'I suppose the Empire really is the Empire.'
It was definitely thrilling to see this scenery in person, having only ever viewed it through a monitor before.
But what surprised me even more were the corpses scattered all over the place.
Normally, the moment you walked in here, you'd be swarmed by annoyingly strong mobs with difficult attack patterns.
To make matters worse, this was the Corpse Lord raid—where if a party member was killed, they would immediately turn into a subordinate of the Boss.
To prevent that, the standard strategy was to form a party with only a handful of elite powerhouses.
Yet here were corpses scattered all over, having lost their master and their power. The sword marks carved into them were all completely different.
Not a single one of the corpses looked like they belonged to the Imperial Army.
That could only mean one thing.
The Imperial Army had cleared this place in a straightforward group battle. They didn't even bother making contingencies for the Corpse Lord's gimmicks.
Well, they never even needed to make such contingencies in the first place.
If a fallen comrade would just become an enemy subordinate, then the simple solution was to just not let anyone get hit in the first place.
You could call it a brute force approach.
But looking at it differently, you could also call it the luxury that only the strong could afford.
While the weak must rely on all sorts of elaborate plans and schemes to barely stand a chance, the strong can simply crush their opponents with overwhelming power alone.
It was truly overwhelming brute force.
Seeing this, I could instantly understand just how they had managed to sweep through this entire Demonic Realm.
'Especially since plans and strategies aren't exclusive to the weak.'
If guys with this kind of power were also armed with elaborate strategies and sharp commanding skills, there wouldn't be a single nation out there capable of standing against them.
They were absolutely not an enemy to be taken lightly.
I entertained such thoughts with a serious expression... before quickly brushing them off.
Well, I had known the Empire was powerful from the very beginning. It didn't change what I needed to do now.
"I think I found something. Can you guys come over here?"
Since I had no idea what might happen next, I just had to keep doing what I'd been doing—growing stronger, expanding my forces, and preparing for the worst.
I called out to Ciel and Rien.
The Imperial Army had probably cleared out all the enemies, but there was always a chance that traps were left behind.
Hans was currently waiting outside.
Following my orders, the two girls had been searching the castle and now approached me.
A massive picture frame sat right in front of me.
Originally, if you recited a specific Spell Formula in front of this spot, a hidden room would reveal itself.
Of course, this world wasn't a game anymore.
I couldn't exactly press an interaction key, nor could I memorize a bizarre incantation with a single click of a keyboard.
But just as there were methods exclusive to games, there were bound to be methods exclusive to a reality that used to be a game.
"Are you ready, Rien? When I count to three, we'll..."
-Kaboom!
A massive roar echoed through the air.
I was still in the middle of explaining. Maybe she mistook it for a countdown, because Rien slammed her fist into the frame with all her might.
But it didn't really matter.
Actually, it was almost a relief.
The old castle's secret door hadn't just been destroyed; the entire structure was shaking.
If I had joined in trying to break the door down, I might have ended up buried alive.
The picture frame was shattered to pieces.
Behind it, a passageway leading to a hidden room came into view. At the same time, an alarm blared out, loud enough to hurt my ears.
'Looks like they even took care of this for us.'
No arrows came flying at us. The vanguard had already taken the fall for every single trap.
Normally, the moment you touched this place, you'd have to survive an endless army charging at you and arrows flying at you like bullets, all empowered by various spell formulas.
Thankfully, the Empire had already taken care of all of that.
Not only did they clear the whole place, but they even left without claiming the rewards. You couldn't ask for a better carry than this.
With that, we safely and comfortably walked through the revealed passageway.
A dark path.
But the further we went, the brighter our surroundings became.
A golden shimmer.
A room overflowing with gold and treasure spread out before us.
"Wooow......."
Rien let out a gasp of admiration.
I mean, even though we had made quite a bit of money, we didn't pile gold coins up like mountains in our warehouse.
How often did one get to experience a sight like that?
"Still, this stuff was in the Demonic Realm. Don't touch it carelessly. It might have a curse or something on it...."
She seemed a bit too excited, so I tried to give her a warning... but soon gave up.
The gold coins here were all taken by the Corpse Lord from the adventurers who had challenged this place. Their lingering grudges might be embedded within them.
'I don't think something like that would work on Rien or Ciel, though.'
Both of them were bizarrely specialized in this sort of thing. I was certain they wouldn't be affected by the lingering grudges of people who had simply died challenging this place.
One of them used Demonic Energy instead of Mana, and the other was a girl who had almost become a Demon King.
If a novice adventurer's curse actually worked on them, that would be far weirder.
'And I don't even need to mention myself.'
Thanks to my trait, I wasn't just resistant to those kinds of curses; I was completely immune to them.
We leisurely began rummaging through the room.
Treasures so precious that they made the sparkling gold coins look like nothing. As I carefully selected useful equipment and Elixirs, a smile soon formed on my lips.
A box with a familiar design, intertwining gold and black. It was so rare that I had actually worried the protagonist of the previous game had already looted it.
It seemed it had just been buried beneath a pile of gold coins.
In this current situation.
There was only one thing left for me to do.
I clasped my hands together in a short prayer, and then opened it.
And what greeted me was...
"......?"
A piece of paper.
A single, fluttering piece of paper.
A single-use Scroll.
There was no Rune Stone containing a Boss trait, nor even a single Artifact in sight. I ransacked the room for a long time, as if trying to deny reality.
But no other boxes could be found. Considering there was only supposed to be one to begin with, that was only natural.
So, to sum it all up...
It seemed I had completely bombed the gacha.
*****
The human heart is truly a fickle thing.
I had swooped in and stolen the rewards of a Boss that someone else had killed.
I had obtained all sorts of treasures and Elixirs without putting in any effort, so I should definitely be happy about it.
But my mind kept wandering back to the Artifact and Rune Stone that could have been inside that box.
I let out a heavy sigh as I stared at the Scroll I had just acquired.
'This definitely isn't a total dud, either.'
A Scroll that allowed anyone to randomly use one of the skills previously used by a Boss, just by tearing it.
If you asked me whether this was good or not, it was definitely good. It was good, but...
I couldn't help but feel a bit unsatisfied.
Just one.
There was one skill that was so blatantly overpowered it would completely ruin the game's balance.
Gluttony.
It was a skill the Corpse Lord used in his final phase, absorbing the traits of all the Subordinates he controlled.
When activated as a Scroll, the effect changed slightly, granting a buff that allowed the user to acquire a trait from one defeated monster, limited to a single use.
With this, you could acquire traits that were normally impossible to obtain and play in an unconventional way.
But the problem was...
'There's no way that would have dropped.'
He has over a hundred different skills. What are the odds that specific one would actually appear?
I've played too many gacha games to trust a one-percent chance. So, logically, I should give up on hoping for that and just use it for offense.
But most of his skills are useless unless you have summons or subordinates.
Essentially, it was as if I'd gotten nothing from the box at all.
Knowing that the drop rate for Rune Stones was actually quite high, I felt incredibly cheated...
I let out a sigh, trying to push the frustration aside.
'Well, it can't be helped.'
Staring at it wouldn't change the contents of the box.
Besides, there were still a few other places left to loot. It was too early to be this disappointed.
As we walked, the entrance to the old castle soon came into view.
Hans was standing there, waiting for us.
I called out to him, telling him we should move on to the next location.
...Or rather, I tried to.
"Ah, you've arrived. I've been waiting for you."
Hans spoke with a kind smile on his face.
But something was off. His unnervingly calm tone and the way he stood—everything felt unnatural.
I reached out, stopping Rien and Ciel just as they were about to approach him.
"I wondered if I could make use of him. A pity it didn't work out."
A strange voice echoed from nearby.
At that moment, like a puppet with its strings cut,
Hans... no, Hans's corpse collapsed limply.
A blond man looked down at the body with a look of disgust and clenched his fist.
With that single gesture, the corpse twisted and compressed grotesquely.
The man I had been chatting with just a while ago was reduced to a mere puddle of blood.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I never needed luck in the first place."
He approached me with a nonchalant expression, as if he hadn't just committed a murder.
Hair as brilliant and golden as the sun.
Deep blue eyes.
In other words, the hallmarks of a Royal.
I knew exactly who he was.
I couldn't not know.
"Right here, right now, I will put an end to your insolence."
The First Prince of the Empire stood before us.