Chapter 211: Noble Ladies Only Listen After a Beating
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 211: Noble Ladies Only Listen After a Beating
Retreat was never an option to begin with.
I had stepped inside with the sole intention of seeing this through to the end.
I placed my hand on the stone door and pushed with all my might.
The door, which I thought would be stubborn, swung open more easily than expected—almost as if it were granting me permission to enter.
The moment it opened, an endless darkness stretched out before my eyes. It was the kind of void where a single wrong step would leave you lost forever, never to find your way back.
I had heard of a place like this before. Helena’s stories about the 8th floor flickered through my mind.
The Abyss.
What lay before me was an infinite abyss.
Don't tell me Lady Leah was dragged into this?
Skitter, skitter.
The sound of Iron Beetles echoed from behind. I knew I couldn't afford to stand still, but the sound only amplified my growing sense of urgency.
At Helena’s question, I nodded and stepped forward. I had to head toward the edge of a darkness that even Night Vision couldn't pierce.
*
Leah had a brief dream.
In her dream, Sion was drenched in blood, cradling someone in his arms. A massive tree she had never seen before was being consumed by pitch-black flames.
It was a future she was destined to experience. It was the death that awaited her.
The fragmented scenes shown to her by the King of the Sewers shook Leah to her core. To change this predetermined fate, she had to break the seal of malice.
Before she knew it, she was reaching out toward the ruined altar, grasping the book resting upon it.
[The first seal has been broken.]
The Saintess’s Notebook fell into Leah’s hands. Simultaneously, one of the chains binding the King of the Sewers shattered.
[Now, continue. Change the coming tragedy with your own hands.]
The whispers grew louder. Leah’s mind was no longer her own.
Soon, with pupils slightly dilated, Leah reached for the second object. It was a very old set of prayer beads.
The Saintess’s Rosary was placed around her neck. Another shackle tightening around the King of the Sewers fell away.
[Wonderful. Now, the last one. Quickly, give me my freedom.]
Leah’s body trembled. Her ego screamed within her.
She had to stop now. It would be better for her future self to die. The monster before her was a catastrophe that would destroy everything in the present.
But Leah couldn't stop. Her hands were no longer moving according to her will.
The King of the Sewers grabbed Leah’s wrist and guided her hand toward the third relic.
[Now, take hold of it.]
The third relic was the Saintess’s Staff.
The moment she grasped it, the King of the Sewers would be unleashed. And the moment he was freed on the 6th floor, this place would become an insurmountable wall for humanity.
The Authority of the Roas, crawling up from the abyss, was truly formidable. The adventurers of this era had no way to stop such a calamity.
Please. Please stop.
Leah desperately resisted the King’s pressure. But she couldn't stop herself, and eventually, her hand reached out for the Saintess’s Staff.
[It is done. Perfect.]
The final holy relic was now in Leah’s possession.
The Saintess’s Notebook, the Rosary, and the Staff. Naturally, these holy relics did not function properly in the hands of a woman who was not a Saintess. The altar, stripped of its divine power, cracked and shattered into pieces.
With this, even the handcuffs binding the King of the Sewers were gone.
The seal was broken.
Blue Ghost Fire erupted throughout the entire Necropolis. Furthermore, the Gravekeepers, now empowered, began to incinerate the intruders who had barged in.
[An interloper has entered.]
Having completed his takeover of the Necropolis, the King of the Sewers sank his venomous fangs into the shoulder of the dazed Leah, turning her into a puppet that would follow his every command.
[Go and kill him. Twist his limbs, rip out his entrails, and defile him.]
Injected with the command, Leah headed toward Sion, who had entered the sealing ground. After sending her to face him, the King of the Sewers walked out of the area.
Once outside, he slammed the stone door shut and locked it.
He left behind only Sion, who had come to save Leah, and Leah, who was now intent on killing Sion under the King’s delusion.
[Filthy things have grown here.]
The King of the Sewers clicked his tongue as he looked at the flesh zones that had sprouted on the 6th floor. It seemed he needed to clean this place up before ascending further.
After all, the 6th floor was his most important stronghold.
*
I have no idea how long I’ve been wandering in this darkness.
Three hours already?
If Helena and Freya hadn't been here, I probably would have lost my mind. I can't see anything, I can't hear anything, there’s no smell—just wandering endlessly through pitch-black darkness. It’s maddening.
I’m only staying sane because the two of them keep talking to me.
A Warding Array is a type of barrier. It’s designed to twist the path so that specific targets or external enemies can't reach their goal.
“You said I need to find the 'void' to get out, right?”
They told me to find a gap in the array, but honestly, after wandering for three hours, I still have no clue what that looks like.
And what happened to Lady Leah? I don't understand why this place exists or who created such a bizarre space. Since I have no information, I have no choice but to keep grinding.
“Hmm?”
Just as I was questioning if I was even heading in the right direction, I felt a presence in the distance. After three hours in this insane place, I was finally encountering something.
“I think so! Leah! Lady Leah!”
As the figure drew closer, I could see clearly. It was definitely the Lady Leah I had seen before we were separated. She was walking toward me with heavy steps, as if she were also trapped in this space.
What a relief. I was worried she might be dead, but she was alive.
“My Lady! Over here!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
She was right. Something was definitely strange. Was that a staff in her hand? Why was Lady Leah carrying a staff?
Before I could even process Freya’s doubt, Lady Leah spotted me and began charging toward us like a madwoman.
But it was really, really strange. Normally, she would have run to me with joy. Instead, her face was expressionless. No, it was as if she were radiating pure murderous intent.
“Damn it...”
She was alive, but had her mind been broken?
Lady Leah lunged at me, unleashing her techniques. The Silver Threads extending from her hands twisted in erratic directions, attempting to entwine me.
If I got caught, I’d have to give up an arm or a leg. I forced my body to twist, narrowly dodging her attack.
“My Lady! Holy shit!”
She’s completely out of it. Is this even the Lady Leah I know? Or maybe something has taken over her body.
“My Lady! If you don't stop, I won't have a choice!”
As expected, my words didn't reach her. She didn't stop her assault. My arm was grazed, and I felt her pressure intensifying.
If I just keep taking this, there will be no end to it. I have to subdue her by force. I don't want to leave a single scratch on my dear Lady Leah’s body, but I can't just stand here and get beaten.
“My Lady, I’m going to have to hit you a bit.”
It’s true that Lady Leah has grown stronger, but honestly, I’m stronger.
After dodging all the flying Silver Threads, I closed the distance and swung my fist, catching her right on the chin. The fastest and easiest way to subdue someone is a clean hit to the jaw to knock them out.
No matter how deluded or out of it she was, she shouldn't be able to stay standing after a hit like that.
“What the—!”
After taking the hit to the jaw, she staggered as if she were about to fall, but then she immediately stood back up and attacked again. Her Silver Threads wrapped around my left wrist, nearly slicing it off.
She’s still fighting perfectly after a hit to the jaw?
“Are you kidding me?!”
If I had been a second slower, my wrist would have been gone. I must have let my guard down. I definitely landed a solid hit on her chin; why is she fine?
I tried to knock her out as painlessly as possible, but that’s not going to work. She’s tougher than I thought. I have no choice but to keep hitting her until she actually goes down.
“I am truly sorry!”
With an apology, I began a relentless assault. Before her Silver Threads could wrap around and sever my limbs, I dove inside her guard, landing a flurry of blows to her abdomen and collarbone. Then, I kicked her knee as if stomping on it, snapping it backward.
“Ugh, damn it. My Lady, just stop already!”
That had to hurt like hell, yet she still tried to stand. What kind of obsession is this?
Following Helena’s advice, I kicked the staggering Lady Leah down again, got behind her, and locked my arm around her neck.
“Gah...!!!”
“My Lady! Please just pass out already!!!”
I cut off her airway and wrapped my legs around her struggling body to pin her down. Soon, her movements subsided.
“Pant... pant. My Lady?”
She wasn't even twitching. She seemed to be breathing, though.
‘For now...’
I pulled a chain out of my subspace pocket and bound her body. Then, I took out sealing restraints and placed them on her hands so she couldn't move her fingers.
“Freya, give her some healing.”
“I mean, you beat her into a bloody pulp...”
Freya began healing the battered Lady Leah. Even I thought I might have gone a bit overboard, but if I hadn't, things would have gotten dangerous.
“But no matter how I look at these, they seem like holy relics.”
“What? Which ones?”
“The rosary around Leah’s neck, the notebook she had... even this broken staff.”
“No way.”
“They’re the real deal.”
“What?”
Freya, who was healing Leah, fluttered over and handed me the notebook and rosary she had taken from Leah’s person. She even claimed the staff Leah had been swinging was the staff of the Saintess from two generations ago.
“Why would Lady Leah have holy relics?”
Just as the questions were piling up, Lady Leah opened her eyes.
“Ugh... it hurts...”
“My Lady!”
“Hieek...! Sion!”
The moment she saw me, she flinched violently and scrambled to put distance between us. Did she have vivid memories of the beating I gave her?
“My Lady...”
“I-I’m sorry. It’s just... it’s a bit scary. Let’s keep a bit of distance...”
“Right...”
As I backed away dejectedly, she seemed to calm down a bit. She looked around and finally spoke.
“F-First of all... the situation has become very strange.”
“Strange? Do you know something? Can you tell me everything? Where we are, and why you had the holy relics of the previous Saintess?”
“Well...”
After organizing her thoughts, the Lady began her story. As her tale unfolded, my companions and I were left in a state of utter shock.