Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Ameris's Salvation
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The surrounding scenery, the swamp—everything had vanished.
All that remained were barren walls and a door leading to the next dungeon.
"How did this happen?"
"We cleared it."
Dungeon cleared.
There were two possible explanations.
Either Ameris had satisfied the dungeon's clear condition herself.
Or Lee Seong-hyeon had reached Ameris's true body.
It might even be a signal that her heart—the source of her power—had been taken.
Since the dungeon itself hadn't fully disappeared yet, Ameris was still alive.
"What now, Kim Si-woo?"
Baek A-rin's words made me turn toward the door leading to the next dungeon.
"That door... it looks familiar."
At my words, Baek A-rin and Erina looked at the door and gasped in surprise.
"That's the cathedral where Seluna and Selus lived!"
"Yeah. Looks like it."
Not an illusion, but the real thing.
The true location of that cathedral was right there.
I could feel it. Ameris's true body was inside that cathedral.
"Shit-woo!"
Erina and Baek A-rin stared at me.
I met their gazes and nodded.
"Gotta snap her real body out of it too."
From our earlier conversation, I'd sensed it.
For some reason, Ameris seemed to like me.
If I could just deal with Lee Seong-hyeon, I was confident I could persuade her.
'If I can just deal with Lee Seong-hyeon.'
I couldn't tell the exact time, but it felt like about five or six hours had passed. Considering the novel's descriptions, it was more than enough time for Lee Seong-hyeon to reach Ameris.
In other words, Lee Seong-hyeon was definitely waiting up ahead right now.
Who would've thought it'd play out in the trickiest scenario possible.
'But if I fail, I die anyway. What choice do I have?'
I turned to Erina and asked.
"Erina, how many more times can you use Heavenly Blessing from here on?"
"Even if I push myself, just once."
"Good. That's enough. What about you, Baek A-rin?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
[Snow Mountain], a technique that drained immense focus and mana. Because she'd used its essence, Baek A-rin was still in no condition to fight.
"Don't worry. I'll handle it somehow."
"That's real reassuring."
I checked the blades of the daggers in both hands and declared.
"Alright, I'm taking point!"
With that, we stepped into the entrance of the cathedral where Ameris awaited.
The moment my foot crossed the threshold, the dark entrance—which must have looked pitch black from outside—suddenly lit up as if my eyes had flown open.
It should have been a ruined interior.
After Seluna died, it had burned to the ground—or so it seemed.
But now it looked restored, just like before the fire, back to the days when Selus and Seluna had lived together.
And there was one familiar face.
And one unwelcome face.
Ameris and Lee Seong-hyeon stood there.
The lack of companions suggested he'd abandoned predation and gone solo, as expected.
"How the hell did trash like you get here?"
Lee Seong-hyeon asked with genuine bewilderment.
Calm down, Kim Si-woo.
The Lee Seong-hyeon of the 5th round didn't yet know the value of Ameris's heart.
As I was thinking that,
Lee Seong-hyeon moved before I could even react.
Chain of Judgment
Ameris's body bound by unbreakable chains
Ameris cried out to Lee Seong-hyeon.
"Yes! Kill me! Kill me and take my heart. You'll get what you want!"
Damn, that spoiled brat.
She'd already pitched the value of her own heart to Lee Seong-hyeon.
Like it was some damn home shopping product.
She'd gotten him to use [Chain of Judgment] without a second thought—clearly she had the chops for sales.
Or maybe Lee Seong-hyeon was just that sharp to recognize its worth at a glance.
As I drew my daggers, Lee Seong-hyeon's skill aura enveloped the area.
Damn. Hot as hell.
Lee Seong-hyeon fixed his glowing golden eyes on me.
"I'm at the moment of claiming something crucial. I don't want interruptions, so get lost. Take one more step, and you're dead first."
He spoke like he knew he had to obtain the heart, his eyes brimming with killing intent.
'Even in training, he's a psychopath who could kill me depending on the situation. Especially here—it'd be easy to frame me.'
One mistake, and I'm dead.
Just one shot at this.
Ameris shouted at Lee Seong-hyeon.
"Go on, take my heart!"
"I'd take it whether you said it or not. Shut up."
I spoke to Ameris.
"Selus. Drop the act."
Ameris turned her head, looking displeased at my words.
"What?"
I addressed her with even more confidence.
"Ha! Stop pretending you want to die when you don't."
Lee Seong-hyeon roared at me in fury.
"You worm, who the hell do you think you are?! If you wanna die that bad, I'll kill you right now!"
Oh shit.
Did I push too hard?
No, that wasn't over the line. Just one word, right?
At that moment, Ameris's eyes glowed red.
"Wait. Let me hear him out."
With that, Lee Seong-hyeon's body froze in place.
"You... fucking bitch...!"
"Shut it. You're just a mongrel who happened to inherit the power to kill this body from somewhere. Without that, I'd never even glance at trash like you."
[Chain of Judgment], a skill that remained half-unresolved even in the original work.
Ameris's body, denied permission to die.
She could be killed if Lee Seong-hyeon used his absolute power [Chain of Judgment].
Ameris must have pierced right through that.
"Grrgh! If this loosens... you barking bitch..."
Lee Seong-hyeon gnashed his teeth, unable to move under Ameris's influence.
Was Ameris's power incredible for halting him even while bound by [Chain of Judgment]? Or was Lee Seong-hyeon impressive for spewing curses at a millennia-old vampire?
"Speak, stranger. What do you mean I don't want to die?"
"I realized it talking to you. Someone who truly wants to die begs 'kill me' or 'I must die,' but never says outright 'I want to die myself.' Not once."
Ameris turned away as if my words weren't worth hearing.
"You're spouting sophistry."
"Call it catching subconscious intent."
"Nonsense..."
This was where it got real.
I had to convince her, no matter what.
"Seluna's dying words."
"What?"
Ameris didn't hide her displeasure at my words.
"Selus's dying words. Hear them or not—your choice."
"Foolish drivel from one who's merely glimpsed fragments of this body..."
I cut her off.
"You said it yourself. It's made from your memories and traces left in this land."
"Indeed, this body is but repeated scenes I've witnessed countless times. I fled! Thus, I know nothing of Seluna's dying words. And you cannot inform this body of what it does not know."
At that moment, I pulled Selus's necklace from my inner pocket.
"You... that's..."
"Right. Your necklace. And originally Seluna's."
The night Ameris awakened.
It was the necklace Selus had lost there.
"The moment you took this necklace, the dungeon you created changed from what you remember."
"Impossible! A mere trinket altering the dungeon this body manifests...?"
I held up the necklace for her to see.
"This isn't just any necklace. It holds Seluna's lingering thoughts and soul."
Ameris narrowed her eyes at my words.
"Don't spout lies. Nothing emanates from it."
She's right. It doesn't have any such power.
But was it truly that important to Selus?
"Then listen for yourself."
Now's the moment.
Phantasm: Auditory Hallucination
Echoing hallucination voice
-Selus. Selus...
Seluna's voice echoed through.
Ameris startled in panic and cried out.
"Impossible! Seluna, come to take me? Seluna! Seluna!"
"There. Now for Seluna's dying words I heard. Wanna listen?"
Ameris's pupils dilated at my words.
But.
"It changes nothing. Seluna awaits me too. Unless I atone for that day..."
"It was all Seluna wanted."
"What?"
Ameris recoiled in shock at my words.
I'd realized it in the previous dungeon.
It wasn't just replaying memories.
Ameris couldn't remember everything perfectly either.
So the gaps in missing information were filled from the individual's own memories.
For example, I'd unknowingly projected my little sister's appearance onto Selus.
But it was different from the real Ameris now.
The village paths too.
They'd seemed oddly easy to memorize.
They matched the layout of a rural village I'd visited before perfectly.
Erina and Baek A-rin had barely reacted to Seluna's final words, which was strange.
Because those were memories Selus didn't have.
I'd assumed Seluna saved Selus, so my brain had filled in the gap with logical inference.
'Ameris doesn't seem to know this fact.'
So whether the dying words I'd "heard" from Seluna were real or not was unknown.
But did that even matter?
I stared into Ameris's eyes and shouted.
"Seluna used her power to implant a suggestion in you. 'Flee without looking back.' You wouldn't remember. But thanks to wearing this necklace, I saw it clearly. And Seluna said."
Ameris, bound in chains, shouted excitedly.
"What? What did she say?!"
"She wants you to live. So please, live on. Live by your own name, just as you gave me mine."