Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: The Third Rune - 2
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Nix halted in place, his black eyes turning toward me. It was a gaze utterly devoid of the shifty, gloomy glances he usually darted around at everyone else.
It was murky. A storm of tangled emotions churned within those pitch-black pupils, now clouded beyond recognition. They locked onto mine before I could even voice my confusion.
"You know, don't you?"
"What?"
Nix clamped his mouth shut after those words. From the sound of it closing, it didn't seem voluntary this time either. Which meant this statement was also bound by some kind of restriction, much like a gag order.
I replayed his words in my mind. He'd shredded the already long-dead centipede corpse to pieces and claimed I knew the reason?
Nothing specific came to mind—
*Oh.*
Hold on.
One possibility flickered into my thoughts. It was a faint one, but if true, it would upend this entire world from its roots—an utterly absurd notion.
A chill ran through me as I looked down at Nix. His black eyes, fixed on me, remained as murky as ever.
The possibility I'd considered was the backstory of *Brightest Darkness 3*.
Unlike the protagonist of *BD4*, who never died or failed once in the story and accomplished every feat, the hero of *BD3* was an immortal who revived endlessly, no matter how many times he perished.
All because of a creature called the "Immortal Centipede" that dwelled in his body.
A human taken over by an Immortal Centipede as its host became an undying immortal upon death, but in exchange, their reason was devoured by the centipede, reducing them to little more than beasts.
The *BD3* protagonist was one of the rare immortals who retained his human intellect and reason even after being possessed.
Because of this setup, most bosses in *BD3* were hosts to Immortal Centipedes. You had to drain their health completely, then use special weaponry to deal with the centipede itself to fully clear the fight.
The process was translated as "exorcism" in Korean—a defining feature that set *BD3* apart from the rest of the series.
Given this lore, there were only two ways to kill a lifeform harboring an Immortal Centipede: pierce the body with the aforementioned special weapon to burn it out, or...
*Rip the centipede out by force and tear it to shreds without leaving a trace behind.*
Just as Nix had done.
*...Is that really the reason?*
I'd always been too busy with *BD4* to have much time for anything else, so I'd only sunk a little over 200 hours into *BD3* at best.
I couldn't be certain, but it was the only centipede I knew of.
*It was the only one, but...*
The problem was that it came from *Brightest Darkness 3*'s lore.
*BD4* wasn't connected to the previous series' world—it was a completely standalone setting. The NPC that served as Nix's template was a *BD4* character.
*Brightest Darkness 1* through *3* shared the same world with some time gaps, but *BD4* didn't even have that.
So, Nix referencing that lore should have been impossible.
It *should* have been.
"...No way, right?"
I packed a lot into that question as I directed it at Nix. He stared at me with eyes that seemed even murkier than before, then abruptly reverted to his usual timid gaze.
"Uh, huh?"
A bewildered voice escaped his lips. Nix blinked, looking back and forth between himself and me, then started fidgeting with his fingers in front of his chest while sneaking glances at me.
"Heh, heh... Did I mess up or something? Your face looks kinda scary..."
He was using polite speech now.
Instead of answering my question, he'd just switched personalities. How convenient.
I sighed, tempted to let it slide, but then remembered that the personalities shared memories.
"Didn't hear what the rude-speaking side just said?"
"Nope, I didn't. Heh heh. The sharing cut off right after I heard your question..."
But he'd prepared for that too, apparently.
The memory link severed the moment the rude Nix received the question. Meaning, rude Nix had deliberately broken the connection to give that answer.
I couldn't hide my unease as I mulled over why he'd said it, while polite Nix stood beside me, chuckling darkly under his breath but looking visibly anxious on the surface.
After agonizing over it, I let out a small click of my tongue. Nix flinched at the sound, his shoulders hunching more and more.
"Sorry. It's not you. It's the rude Nix. My head's just a mess from thinking about it."
"...Okay."
"Just in case, do you know why Nix shredded that centipede—"
Before I could finish, Nix's mouth sealed shut again. His eyes widened in confusion, suggesting it wasn't his choice.
I gave up on pressing him cleanly. If some restriction was in place here too, there was nothing I could uncover.
*Maybe ask the Pope later?*
This was a world where gods genuinely existed. Divine power was proof. The Pope might even communicate with them directly.
I wasn't sure if I qualified, but if I asked the Popes, they'd figure something out.
If Floretta and Luna lacked the credentials, they'd probably forge them just to grant my request. It felt a bit like exploiting their feelings toward me, but my curiosity was overwhelming.
Quietly, I added a visit to the Holy Kingdom to my mental itinerary.
"Got it for now. Let's keep moving."
Nix glanced at me warily before sidling up again. I didn't push him away. After all, the one complicating my head was the rude version, not this polite one.
From her first appearance to now, she was a woman shrouded entirely in secrets.
"Here we are."
We stopped in front of a wall. It was absurdly thin, cracked in places that revealed the interior clearly. A faint green light seeped through the fissures.
Nix turned his head after spotting the rune stele visible through the cracks.
"That's the rune, right?"
"Yeah."
The rude personality was still nowhere to be found. According to polite Nix, holing up inside like that left no way to drag the other out except by force.
I told him to leave it be. Whether he was hiding it on purpose or forbidden from sharing, there was no point wasting effort prying without a way to break that restriction.
"What do we do with this? Smash it? Heh heh. I'm really good at that. I've done great so far."
"No, can't do that."
It looked fragile enough to shatter at a glance, and since a similar wall appeared early in this dungeon, it was easy to think smashing it would work.
And it did—in a way. Any weapon strike would demolish it in three hits guaranteed, even bare fists in five or six.
Along with the rune stele inside.
The moment the wall crumbled, the stele shattered too. To get this rune then, you'd have to wait for the next playthrough.
A trap worthy of this dungeon's infamous reputation, right up to the end.
"Then the stele breaks too. Can't smash it."
"Oh... Sorry. I didn't know."
Nix apologized dejectedly and sincerely. I patted his head.
"No need to apologize. There's normally a puzzle midway with a warning, but we skipped it all, so it's understandable."
They didn't just spring a vicious trap like this without warning. True to the *Brightest Darkness* series motto, it was challenging but fair.
After breaking the wall to enter the rune dungeon, it warned multiple times not to do it again, or something irreversible would happen.
Of course, it didn't help much.
Who, after smashing a wall and seeing a "don't do it again" sign, thinks, *Oh, warned now—better not*? Nah, they smash right through.
The 10th anniversary stats showed over 80% of players destroyed the rune on their first run.
"So how do we get it?"
Nix tilted his head at me. If breaking the wall breaks the rune too, how was the question.
"Like this."
I circled to the wall's side and found a haphazardly stacked pile of crates. Plopping them in the heart of a deep rune dungeon was basically handing out a hint.
They were cleverly obscured from the front wall view, only visible after a slight detour.
I swung Wingless Nightmare at the crates. With low durability from the start, they collapsed with a crash at the blade's touch.
Beyond the pile of wooden debris, a path emerged.
"Through here."
"Okay, heh heh."
Nix grinned vacantly and scurried after me. Two corners later, the back of the rune stele came into view. The passage formed a U-shape, like the Korean character 'ㄷ'.
From peeking through the wall cracks, the angle made it look sealed off—impossible to notice without sharp eyes.
I reached for the rune stele right in front of me. I focused the strange sensation from before—the one flowing into my body—onto the back of my left hand. Experience made it easier than last time.
Seconds later, a new tattoo stroke etched itself opposite the Mana Enhancement Rune tattoo. Fourth in acquisition order, but third in true count.
The "Vampiric Impulse," a pillar of the BD mod melee character's final build.
I fiddled with my hand. The tattoo was growing larger. Once I got the fourth rune, would my entire hand be covered?
*Yeah, after getting the fourth one, that is.*
The Abyss Rest rune from capturing Lucia had vanished long ago.
*Surely there's no playthrough reset mechanic.*
Abyss Rest didn't bind to the player. Meaning, each cycle, you'd reacquire it.
That forced you to traverse that hellish terrain every time to catch Lucia.
Lore-wise, it was the rune dissolving from bearing a forsaken creation's overwhelming power. To players, it was just developer excuses.
It vanished even if you skipped the creation boss and advanced cycles. *Overwhelming power* my ass.
"Nix. Remember that black magic I mentioned before?"
I clenched and unclenched my left hand as I asked. With Vampiric Impulse secured, I could mimic the final build—even if imperfectly.
"Yeah? Oh, right. The one you wanted me to teach? Heh heh."
"Think now's the time."
"Got it."
Nix nodded and approached.
In-game, you just picked from a dedicated UI. How would he teach it? But the moment he gently took my hand, knowledge flooded my mind.
Learning was instantaneous. Nix released after mere seconds, and I instantly grasped the desired spell.
"Now we head back to the city?"
"Yeah. But first—"
Before I finished, a thunderous rumble shook the entire dungeon like an earthquake. I continued flatly.
"Let's test what I just got."