67. Difference in Class
67. Difference in Class
—Smack!!
The spear shaft swung on reflex, intercepting the incoming strike.
I'd left my guard to the Ego Weapon's judgment and let the spear blade fly, but Gorgon ignored his body being carved open and simply swung his sword again.
Sure, he was scrawny as hell, but losing bits of his body didn't matter to him.
For an undead, flesh was nothing more than a vessel to contain the ego and power awakened by lingering regret.
"Uheuheu, hahahahahaha! Splendid! Truly splendid!!"
A relentless assault that burned through his own body.
His form regenerated in real time each time the spear cut him, and with every swing, the longsword's momentum only grew fiercer.
So he pressed on, seizing every opening, biding his time for the moment he could drain my vitality.
"Kahak!"
Midway through that exchange, Gorgon's hand suddenly regenerated and shot out, seizing my throat.
The spear buried in his body tried to trigger its magic, but as if even that irritated him, Gorgon twisted the shaft and brutally suppressed the Ego Weapon's mana.
The moment my only means of countering the foe was neutralized in a direct contest of strength.
The hand gripping my throat moved to drain my vitality in that opening, but for some reason, unlike before, it wasn't going smoothly.
"...Hoh, this."
The reason was simple.
Because the curse that forms the foundation of necromancy begins by submerging the target's mental fortitude.
The stronger the will to resist, the harder it is for a curse to easily take hold of a body.
"Indeed, remarkable mental strength. I can see why that deposed friend covets you so. Hahahahaha!"
Conversely, a being with such mental fortitude is one who dies clutching a fierce aspiration that transcends the mere 'survival instinct' all living things inevitably possess.
Whether it be a grudge, a cherished desire, love...
Whatever it is, it would be a powerful lingering regret that craves what was left unfulfilled in this life.
"A spirit unbroken by any hunger will surely become the path that allows you to endlessly pursue what you seek."
The moment he confronted that, a strange light began to shimmer in Gorgon's hollow eyes.
Yes, this man was an uncut gem beyond compare to mere Heroes.
So he wanted to make him his own here.
He wanted to seize this moment to dye that yet-unbloomed potential in his own colors.
"So blossom that desire into infinite inquiry! Drift through this world with me for eternity, and devote your strength to learning all there is!!!"
Vertigo crashed over me as the curse's power intensified with his shout, and the decay phenomenon spread outward from the hand gripping my throat.
In a matter of seconds, this body would turn into rotted rags, transformed into a dead man barely clinging to his sense of self.
—Kwaang!!
But in that instant, a slash unleashed by a being that had forced its way into the space pulverized Gorgon's body.
As his form, taking the brunt of the impact, scattered into dust, my body—barely freed from the force choking my throat—sprawled to the floor, my breathing finally bursting open.
"Cough, haaah..."
A moment of miraculous survival, one step away from joining the dead.
But I couldn't exactly feel relieved—it was impossible to ignore the presence of the one who had just barged in.
A being who could turn one of the Four Horsemen serving the Corpse Lord into dust in a single instant, in a place beyond humanity's domain. How could I possibly let myself relax?
"......Gorgon Zola. Further independent action is prohibited."
A being possessing such power strode into the space's center, dragging the heavy metal adorning their body with a clank, clank...
The heavily armored female knight, gripping a blood-soaked set of plate and a greatsword, exuded an aura that seemed to symbolize 'War' itself.
"Follow quietly to the dungeon's deepest floor."
"Keuheuheu, my, my, to interrupt without so much as a word. How cruel."
Even before such a mighty being, Gorgon remained leisurely, fitting his regenerated joints back together.
Then, having straightened his twisted neck, he turned his hollow eyes toward her and asked:
"War's Red Knight, why do you interfere with me?"
Revealing that the one who had intruded was a loyal retainer serving the same liege, a knight standing on equal footing with himself.
"You, too, are an existence who lives madly on lingering regret. Surely you understand my aspiration, which even death could not break."
"Because that aspiration, too, is merely a tool for Mother."
War's Red Knight answered the question flatly, once again leveling the crimson greatsword in her hand toward him.
"Gorgon Zola. The reason Mother sent us into this dungeon is to investigate it and harvest what is necessary."
The red light seeping from beneath her helmet was surely the gleam of her eyes reacting to her ominous magic.
A fighting spirit to prove her loyalty as a creation molded by her mother's hands.
And fury toward the fool who, despite being a fellow creation, defied that will at every turn and indulged his whims at every single matter.
"You wretch. Sustaining your life through Mother's power, and yet you intend to disobey Mother's orders?"
"...Keuheuheu, indeed. I suppose it's best to end the deviation here."
She was right. Their original objective was to conquer this dungeon in the first place.
Humans could be killed and their bodies and minds stolen at any time, but being interrupted while doing important work was something to be avoided whenever possible.
If humanity's attention on them heightened needlessly, that annoyance risked disrupting their plans.
"A pity. With just a little more, quite an entertaining talent would have been born."
Seureuk. Gorgon's gaze shifted toward the talent he coveted.
The sight of me tensing under his stare, gripping the spear shaft tightly.
I was probably being desperate in my own way, but to transcendent beings like them, it would only look as adorable as a mouse's feeble struggling.
For now, at least.
"O living one with an infinitely steadfast will. On the day we meet again, I shall look forward to the moment the seed I have planted within you sprouts."
But a crop's true worth is revealed not when it is planted, but when the harvest season comes.
Hoping earnestly that this present anticipation would lead to a resolution for his lingering regret, Gorgon began to move toward the passageway, leading the undead under his command.
"Uueo, eoeoeo..."
"I doan' wanna... I'm g'na dieee..."
With drawn-out voices, my former comrades departed, vanishing into the darkness soon after.
The War Knight, who had been watching their departure impassively, likewise gestured to the surrounding undead and began to follow suit behind them.
Right. That was a friction that should have ended there.
"Wait!"
Only then did I shout, releasing my frozen breath.
The War Knight, having briefly paused, quietly turned only her head and looked back at the man aiming his spear tip toward her.
"...Why?"
A mere human man, holding an Ego Weapon.
Besides being from another world, an insignificant existence no different from all those they had turned into undead until now.
"Why... are you sparing us."
The reason such a man had called out to stop a calamity that was war itself incarnate wasn't because he thought he could defeat her.
Because I couldn't understand.
With my party annihilated by a disaster that had suddenly appeared, and the risk that something even worse could happen, I felt I had to clearly know the reason they were retreating for now.
"Aren't you guys humanity's enemies!? So why aren't you killing us and are just letting us go! What the hell else are you plotting after this...!"
"Is your life worth more than Mother's command?"
But the other party had neither the inclination nor the obligation to humor such desperation.
Whatever the reason, it merely displeased her immensely that a worthless creature like a human had detained her.
"...What?"
"Do not delude yourself, human. Know that you survived this place not because you are an existence of any worth."
A rough, fierce voice resounded from beneath the rusted iron helmet.
Along with it, the sword in her hand was gripped fiercely, but even so, its tip was not pointed at him.
"The reason I do not kill you is to teach that imbecile that Mother's command is more important than the likes of you. Unlike you humans, who can be swept away at any time if you become a nuisance, that fellow is a necessary piece in Mother's plan."
Yes. A handful of humans were existences not even worth swinging a sword at.
If they annoyed her, she could just cut them down, but this one happened to be an existence Gorgon had taken an interest in, for some reason.
Killing him here could cause troublesome matters, so she merely sought to focus on completing the mission after stopping Gorgon.
"That... kind of reason..."
A reason as trivial as that.
That even though we had fought desperately, ready to die, even that desperate struggle was so beneath their notice that I was nothing but a worthless being.
"Well then, can you fight?"
The moment I felt rage boiling up at such contempt, a red light flowed forth.
The red glow emanating from the cracks in the armor and the greatsword in her hand told of countless humans who had interfered with her and been slaughtered before she came here.
As if flaunting that she herself symbolized war.
"Can you burn that trifling life of yours and muster the courage to stop one who threatens you humanity, even if only for a few seconds?"
Such an existence used this moment to speak to him.
To make each feel the other's dignity—and if he understood his place, not to set foot into a meaningless fight from the start.
"If you cannot even muster reckless bravado right now, then quietly get lost."
"There will be plenty of chances to slaughter small fry like you later anyway."
Leaving only those words behind, the Red Knight turned on her heel and vanished from the spot.
The man who had been the target of those words stood frozen in that very posture, vacantly watching her retreating figure.
The silence was broken only a considerable time after the oppressive weight crushing the surroundings had vanished.
"W-We..."
Yi Ga-ram, the Failed Hero who had been watching the entire situation while frozen stiff, slowly released her heavy breath and slumped down onto the spot.
"A-Are, we alive...?"
It was unbelievable.
To manage to preserve our lives before an enemy that had driven her party to annihilation in the blink of an eye.
For a moment, I wondered if this was a flashback panning before my eyes after death, but my heart, pounding loudly even now, was proof that I was alive.
"Um..."
"I..."
Despite that.
The man who had miraculously survived this moment could not bring himself to consider this survival a stroke of luck.
Lacking even the nerve to snap and charge at the insult of being called 'small fry.'
"Why... am I not a Hero."
Because even if he could muster the will to stand against the calamities standing at the apex of this world,
facing a reality where he was inevitably tossed about by a single word from them, he felt a bitter disillusionment.
****
Yeah, it's the same this time, too.
We survived. Survival was everything.
In a world where people die like garbage, was it excessive greed to be unsatisfied with this undeserved reward I'd grasped after facing two calamities?
—Tadak, tadak.
Late at night, while searching for the dungeon's exit, thoughts like that began to surface vaguely around the time I lit a campfire using the camping gear I'd barely recovered.
There was enough composure in the immediate moment for such thoughts to surface vaguely.
Even if conquering the dungeon could no longer continue due to four out of six members being dead, we had managed to secure the necessary tools and rations for escape.
Using my experience as a Scout, I could disarm traps, and if monsters within the dungeon attacked, we could somehow respond using Ga-ram's ability.
Following the roughly sketched map, we could escape the dungeon by tomorrow, and once we delivered the reports I'd written up until now to the Guild, this mission could effectively be considered over.
Of course, the undead had practically occupied this dungeon, so the reports would likely become meaningless, but... Wait, since the undead's objective was to conquer this dungeon, they probably wouldn't bother trying to capture escaping people.
"Um, here, please eat."
Just as I was poking at the campfire with kindling, Ga-ram quietly held out a cup of stew toward me.
The face of the party's sole survivor was much more gaunt compared to when we'd entered the dungeon.
It was probably from failing to relax due to anxiety over the immediate situation, rather than depression or overexertion.
"...Thanks."
I gave a word of thanks for the stew offered by the girl and spent a moment silently drinking its contents.
A preserved food consisting entirely of water mixed with a starch-based powder. But since it was packed with the nutrients needed for activity, we'd have to gratefully wolf down even this to survive.
"Um, hey..."
While I was eating the stew, the girl sitting across from me stared at me intently and parted her small lips to ask a question.
"You're the Hero Killer, right?"
"......"
"Back then, at the tavern, the one who met me..."
Had I been so flustered that I forgot to put my mask back on?
In the end, I realized I'd screwed up, but on the other hand, it also felt somewhat relieving.
Because I felt that now I didn't have to hide it, and I could frankly tell this kid everything I was feeling.
"...It's Woo Hyosung."
"Huh?"
"Woo Hyosung. My name."
"Ah, yes. That was it."
To that end, I introduced myself while facing her directly. Ga-ram, staring at me blankly, kept her head lowered and repeatedly sipped from the cup of stew.
A reply came back around the time we'd both emptied the contents.
"Oppa..."
What finally came out at the end of it was an emotion far from resentment or fear toward me.
"In the future... is it okay if I keep calling you Oppa?"
Rather, the small girl spoke to me, revealing a cautiousness that worried she might be committing a discourtesy.
That attitude, passive unlike that of ordinary Heroes, was surely because this girl, too, had realized something through today's events.
That in a place beyond humanity's territory, both Heroes and Foreign Workers—even grudges and hatred toward each other—had to be set aside for the time being.
"...Suit yourself."
Yeah, to survive, we have to stick together.
The darkness stretching across this world was far too vast and cold to rely solely on the light and warmth cast by a single campfire.