Chapter 288: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 288: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (End)
Well, honestly, it felt like I’d been hit over the head with a hammer.
From the start, I’d essentially earmarked the Nectar here for the sole purpose of saving my Master. The thought that I could use it to solve my own problems had never even crossed my mind.
Certainly, if I used the Nectar, I could change my very constitution. I could strengthen my “vessel,” which had reached its limit and could no longer grow.
Alternatively, it wouldn’t be impossible to suppress the growth of my Innate True Qi, or make my body naturally discharge it once it accumulated past a certain point.
Literally, as long as the power of the Nectar allowed it, I would be able to mold my body into whatever I desired.
It would make for a decent temporary fix.
Well, not that I had any intention of using it myself.
“I got this for you from the beginning, Master.”
“…Disciple, is there perhaps another way to obtain Nectar outside of this place?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll go find some for myself after we settle your situation first, so don’t worry.”
“Liar.”
…No, seriously, how do these people always know exactly when I’m lying?
Well, it was a lie.
Throughout the entire 1st Timeline, I’d only seen a treasure like Nectar twice. Aside from the one here, I’d only laid eyes on the other; I never actually managed to obtain it.
It was held by a monstrous woman—someone even the “bomb-like” version of me back then wouldn’t have dared to challenge. As much as I coveted it, there was no way to take it.
Master’s expression wasn’t relaxed or playful like usual.
She simply met my eyes with a calm, steady gaze.
So many emotions were swirling in those eyes that it was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking.
However, guessing from the perspective of her only disciple, whatever she was thinking, it probably wasn’t a positive hesitation.
She was fundamentally someone who didn’t believe in harboring hesitation, and when she did, it was almost always over something she deemed utterly trivial.
One who wanted to give, and one who refused to receive.
A strange tension began to flow between the two of us, and while everyone else grew tense along with it…
Fortunately, there was one person among us who was completely incapable of reading the room.
“…Look, I’m really sorry to say this at a time like this, but can we finish this conversation after we actually escape the dungeon?”
It was that con artist bastard.
…Right. I suppose from his perspective, not knowing the circumstances, it just looked like two people doing something weird by trying to push a treasure onto each other.
I should probably be impressed that he didn’t say something like, “If you’re not going to use it, why not give it to me?”
“Right. Let’s get out first. Let’s just go.”
I’d have to figure out how to convince her once we were outside.
— No.
…Huh?
Just as we were about to leave the dungeon, the Nectar in my hand suddenly began to speak.
No, to be precise, it was the voice of something inscribed within the Nectar.
An ominous purple mist began to rise from the bottle, taking shape.
…What? This didn’t happen last time.
— Nectar is a treasure of the gods that humans can never reach of their own will. Humans should always fight over Nectar in the most hideous of ways…!
— Just as we did, you must steal from each other, fight, and eventually be discovered by the gods to pay the price for your sins! That is how it should be…!
I wondered what had upset it so much that it was acting up now when it hadn’t even shown itself in the 1st Timeline.
It seemed they were merely the ghosts of those who had failed to obtain the Nectar until now.
Though they were called ghosts, perhaps because so much time had passed, they were a toxic, jumbled mess of various grudges.
The surging curse was a collection of human resentment, boasting a toxicity no less potent than demonic energy. The hand I used to hold the Nectar bottle began to slowly rot away.
— You lot…! You who would even think of giving it to another…! You have no right to possess this Nectar…! Things that aren’t desperate like us…! You are not worthy of even touching it…!
At the scream of the wraith, which exerted more power than any entity that had appeared in this dungeon so far, my companions began to be pushed back.
“Cadet Kang So-hyun…! Let go of that bottle for now…!”
“He’s right! So-hyun, it’s dangerous…!”
The Chairperson and Aisha were also being pushed back, seemingly unable to withstand the pressure.
However, Baek Seol remained calm. She placed several holy-attribute artifacts on the ground to create a safe zone and immediately looked toward me.
She was telling me to drop the bottle and join them.
“No! Don’t you dare let go! It’s Nectar! Nectar…! That Nectar is more important than your arm!”
Ignoring the con artist bastard who was currently being bitten by the wolf for talking nonsense, I turned my gaze toward Master one last time.
Deep within the eyes that watched me with concern, I felt a small but distinct emotion.
It looked like a sense of relief.
Why would she feel that in this situation?
‘Of course, things couldn’t possibly be that simple.’
Ah, I see.
You’re afraid.
You, who took up the sword just to survive, haven’t found a new path yet. You were afraid of your problems being solved so suddenly. You couldn’t understand the fact that someone else was solving a problem you couldn’t fix no matter how much you struggled.
Well, it wasn’t an incomprehensible feeling.
Sudden salvation—a helping hand—can often feel more frightening than one might think.
To someone who has lived in despair their entire life, until that despair becomes natural and familiar, salvation is something unknown.
It is a terrifying existence they have never experienced, and at the same time, it is something that approaches regardless of their will.
That’s why they hesitate.
They wonder if it’s really okay to take it, if it’s just a mirage that will vanish the moment they reach out, or if they’ll just fall back into the pit of despair after gathering the courage to try.
It was a feeling I had felt countless times in the past, and every time, I regretted not believing.
You always smiled and threw yourself into danger for others, so I thought you feared nothing. But instead, you were afraid of hope.
The past of my Master, who had shouted with a smile that she would become hope because there was none in the world, overlapped with the woman—no, the girl—who was now trembling as she looked at me.
— Let go…! To those more desperate than you…! To those more filled with desire than you…! This Nectar must return to them…!
…I’m not desperate?
Blackened blood flowed from my arm, which was rotting from the curse, and a pain that was hard to ignore flared up.
The curse continued to crawl up my arm, expanding its reach as if to swallow my entire body. I heard the voices of those around me worrying.
“So-hyun!”
And of all times, Master chose this moment to call me by my name.
“I’m fine. Just let it go…!”
Ah, I know. I get it. I know that’s not self-deprecation or anything; I know you truly mean it.
I know you’re just subconsciously rejecting it a little, and that you’re actually worried about me.
But still.
Even so, this isn’t right.
If the existence of an unfamiliar salvation is so terrifying to you, then I will show you that salvation is nothing to be afraid of.
— If you truly cannot let go, then drink it yourself! Otherwise, you shall die and join us…!
So, you lot, just shut up. Please. You’re being noisy.
As if out of spite, I gripped the bottle of Nectar even tighter.
“Who do you think you are? Telling me what to do.”
— …What?
Who the hell are you to judge my desperation?
The desperation, the despair, the curse, and the regret I felt as I faced their deaths in the past—by what right do you judge that?
You’re just scraps who became wraiths in a place like this because of your own greed.
Thanks to you, a memory I wanted to forget surfaced in my mind again.
That day, looking at the woman who had become a massive lump of mana stone, I slowly reached out my hand.
Because I had to carry out her very last request.
— So-hyun, when I’m completely hardened, take me before the plum blossoms fully wither.
I wanted to scream at her to stop talking nonsense and get up.
— Then I’ll have borne you as my fruit. And you, in turn, must make new plum blossoms bloom.
Perhaps because my surging emotions were shaking the brainwashing, tears fell, but my expression remained unchanged.
Only then did I realize that I had held you much dearer than I thought.
— If I have one small wish, it’s that the flowers you bloom someday look a little like me.
— Then, So-hyun, you’ll think of me every time you see a plum blossom, right? Is that a bit creepy?
With trembling hands, I touched the massive mana stone that contained a person’s entire life.
Recalling how she had smiled and thanked me when I nodded…
— Hehe, thank you. I knew I could count on my disciple. But, you know, So-hyun. I know I shouldn’t say this, but I just can’t hold it back. Actually. Actually.
Remembering how even her falling tears became mana stones, hitting the ground with a clatter.
— I don’t want to die yet…
Age shouldn’t matter when it comes to death, but even so, she was still too young to die.
No matter how much she had prepared, it was only natural that she couldn’t bear it.
She had pretended to be stoic to avoid causing worry, but in the end, she couldn’t hold back her tears. I despaired at the end of the woman who had hardened while weeping.
The more power I took, the more the familiar scent of plum blossoms faded, turning into a mere lump of energy. Yet, I struggled not to spill a single drop.
I continued until the mana stone, having lost all its power and become mere rock, crumbled and vanished.
— Let go…! Let go! To someone like you…!
That is why this was my regret—the regret of a fool who couldn’t treat a final wish as a final wish, who used brainwashing as an excuse to run from the pain, and who kicked away the chance to open his eyes. And at the same time, it was my obsession.
I drew upon the Innate True Qi in my body and converted it into Divine Power, but while it stopped the encroachment of the foul energy, it wasn’t enough to completely erase the thing.
I needed a greater power—a brilliant light that could blow away this god-awful forced misfortune and show others that hope truly exists.
Even if I had to steal what I didn’t have.
I decided to release the power I had avoided using out of distaste and accept the help of the Will of the Saint.
From the dungeon that pulsed like a living creature, I seized what I lacked—the price I couldn’t pay right now—and used it.
As I began to seize the dungeon’s mana and convert it into Divine Power, the flesh that had rotted from the curse began to restore itself, and the increasingly intense light incinerated the wraiths of the Nectar.
— What is this…! This…! You are…! You…!
“You’re just a piece of scrap that wasn’t even in the plan.”
The wraiths, burning away into nothingness in the brilliant radiance, ironically couldn’t take their eyes off that light.
Even more, even more intense light.
Strong enough to convey hope to anyone who saw it.
Fierce enough that I could erase my own past despair.
The light that burst forth continued to shine for a while, even after erasing the wraiths until not a trace remained.
“I won. You piece of shit.”
When I turned my head, everyone was staring at me blankly.
I wondered if I’d overdone it a bit, but that wasn’t what was important right now.
With a smile, I approached Master, holding the Nectar which no longer felt tainted by any sinister energy.
“Are you going to refuse it this time, too?”
Master looked back and forth between the bottle I held out and me. There was conflict in her eyes, but in the end, she chose to take the Nectar I offered.
She must have decided to believe in the Nectar—no, in me.
But then, a question occurred to me after handing it over.
“By the way, Master, how did you know about my physical condition?”
I had never told anyone about my state, so how on earth did she know?
“Huh? Well, the professors and your friends…”
Master seemed about to say something quite ominous, but unfortunately, I was no longer able to listen.
— Insufficient mana to maintain the dungeon.
…Huh?
— Dungeon collapse will begin shortly.
“Ah. Uh. Hmm.”
…Did I drain too much?
It seemed I’d caused a bit of a major accident.
“E-Everyone, out…! Get out now…!”
Starting with Aisha’s scream, the dungeon began to collapse in earnest.