The Moment of Complete Resignation
The moment he resigned himself to everything.
"Ugh... am I still alive...?"
Karante forced himself up with difficulty. The fall had rattled him, but the hardy physique of a Dragonkin had kept his bones intact. He collected himself quickly and looked around.
Nothing but pitch-black darkness.
"Hah..."
The horn on his head flared with heat, throwing off a faint glow. Relying on that light, Karante surveyed his surroundings.
The place he'd fallen into was already sealed off by rubble. There was no climbing back up.
Only one path, then...
Karante started walking toward the only opening. Before long, a bluish light leaked through a crack in the stone.
"Hup!"
He raised his axe and smashed the gap. The rubble collapsed, and his field of view opened up. A little further on, a vast space revealed itself beyond.
"Th-this place..."
A high ceiling. Massive pillars. And standing tall in the center of the plaza, a headless statue of a goddess. Embedded in the statue's chest was a single sword, radiating an ominous aura that seemed to breathe on its own.
This is the fourth underground floor...?
This was the same chamber Karante had visited with his comrades once before. Back then, one look at the vicious energy pouring off that sword — and the swarm of skeletons writhing beneath it — had been enough. They'd slammed the door shut and retreated.
Damn it. Of all the places to fall...
And the situation was worse than last time. It wasn't just skeletons gathered in a circle around the statue.
Clank. Clank.
Death knights in heavy armor stood mixed among them. At a glance, there had to be dozens.
If they spot me, I'm done.
Fighting never even crossed his mind. There was no world in which he handled all of them alone. Fortunately, they seemed mesmerized by the sword's aura, merely circling the statue in a slow, mindless orbit.
Karante held his breath and crept toward the exit.
And then the old tile beneath his foot gave way under his weight, shattering with a sharp crack.
A grinding screech of bone on bone filled the chamber as dozens of heads around the statue all turned toward him at once.
"We're fucked."
Karante left that frank assessment hanging in the air and sprinted for the exit with everything he had. Explosive leg strength — the gift of the Dragonkin. It wasn't enough. The death knights and skeletons closed in instantly, and he was surrounded.
He swung his axe into the skeletons, trying to punch a hole through, but they drove him steadily toward the wall. Before he knew it his back was against the stone, and the encirclement tightened like a noose.
"Guh!"
A skeleton's spearhead sliced into his side. Then a death knight's kick slammed him into the wall with a force that drove the air from his lungs.
"Gahk!"
The impact knocked the axe from his grip. It clattered to the floor.
He couldn't expect backup. Minwoo had already risked more than enough to save Karante's precious comrades. There was no reason for him to come this far just to save Karante himself — and no time to spare for it either. Karante understood that perfectly well.
"So this is as far as I go..."
A massive greatsword was descending in front of his eyes. A trajectory he could neither dodge nor block. Karante squeezed his eyes shut and resigned himself.
And in that instant, instead of the pain of tearing flesh, a roar that split his eardrums hit him first. An intense light flared beyond his eyelids, crackling like lightning.
"Huh...?"
The shattered remains of a knight lay before him. And standing over that wreckage, sword in hand, was a muscular back he knew.
"Ch-Choi Minwoo...?"
Minwoo turned around slowly. Their eyes met, and the corner of his mouth curled up.
"What, you feeling moved, Karante?"
"H-how are you even...?"
Karante's voice trembled. The sight was so unbelievable the words caught in his throat.
"Karante, your horn's gone all red. Don't tell me you're popping a boner."
"Why... why did you come to save me...?"
"Wasn't planning on it, either..."
"Then...?"
At that moment an arrow came hissing out of the dark and blew the head clean off a skeleton charging toward us.
"Magical girl, appearing☆"
Rin winked as she stepped out of the darkness. Aria and Kiki followed behind her.
"Rin, you can't even use magic..."
"Then — Witch. Girl. Appearing~☆"
"Don't tell me... the Younger Sister Witch asked you to save me...?"
For the record, I had not had so much as a shred of intention to come save Karante. But Rin, of all people, had insisted we go get him. Her reason: it was too pitiful for a guy to die alone after saving every last one of his comrades. That, plus the fact that Karante had hauled Kiki up fast when he got hurt. Anyway, that's how I ended up getting dragged here to rescue this bastard.
Karante stared at us with his mouth hanging open. The way his eyes had gone moist was... grotesque, frankly. A face so fucking ugly it could show up in a nightmare.
"Hey, Horn-head! Focus on the fight!!"
"Yeah, Karante. Cut the drama and pick up your damn axe."
"Ahem. Understood."
Karante snatched up his axe. Kiki let out a pair of sharp clicks — Kerek! Kerek! — and charged onto the battlefield with his tower shield leading the way.
And so the five of us formed up and started engaging the incoming enemies. The situation, unfortunately, was not good.
"Oppa, there are too many of them! Coming here was a mistake!"
"You're the one who wanted to come!"
"Minwoo, the door's sealed with a barrier!"
I looked back at the door we'd come through. It shimmered faintly — exactly the look of a barrier.
So we have to kill all of them to get out?
No other choice. Wipe them out and leave.
We kept fighting. Then I saw them bunching up, trying to punch through our line in a concentrated push. Extremely dangerous. That much force in one spot and Kiki's barrier would get smashed through in a heartbeat.
I didn't hesitate. I threw my sword at the clustered enemies.
And then—
Elemental Burst
A roar of yellow light erupted, and several skeletons shattered into pieces in an instant. A lot of mana drained out of me, but thanks to that thing with Manager Yuna, I still had plenty of fight left.
I went to summon another sword.
Ah, right...
I remembered using Elemental Burst when I killed the slave trader Karvan. I'd purchased two weapons. One had exploded then. I'd just blown up the other.
"I don't have a fucking weapon!!!"
The fight had been so frantic I hadn't thought that far ahead.
So now what...?
Pick up a death knight's greatsword — one as tall as I am — and start swinging? Impossible. The swordsmanship I'd been drilling wasn't built for a slab like that.
Then something caught my eye.
Oh. There's something perfect right there.
The jet-black blade buried in the goddess statue's chest. The size was almost identical to the sword I'd been using. I sprinted toward the statue.
"Wait— that sword is too ominous—"
Karante shouted something, but this was not the time to be picky about loot.
"Item get!"
The instant I clamped my hand around the black sword's hilt, a bone-chilling jolt started in my palm, raced up my spine, and shot straight into my brain.
"Huh...?"
My vision flashed white, and my consciousness was forcibly sucked somewhere else.
The same chamber. And yet, entirely different.
What the hell...?
When I opened my eyes, I was in the same place. But it was definitely different. The noisy sounds of battle had vanished completely. No Aria. No Kiki. No Rin. No Karante. The swarming enemies were all gone too. And the goddess statue had its head properly attached.
Instead, four men stood before my eyes. One of them in front of the statue. The other three confronting him.
That sword...?
The blade in the hand of the man at the center of the three looked exactly like the pitch-black sword I'd just grabbed. And I knew it instinctively. This was a story from the past — something the sword's owner had lived through.
"Just... why would you make a choice like this...?"
The sword's owner spoke, his voice thick with betrayal and grief.
"Asrein. You, who have slaughtered so many lives — what right have you to rage at my choice?"
The man standing opposite replied in a voice emptied of all feeling. Beside the sword's owner stood another man with a tower shield. His visor was pulled down so low that only his jaw was visible.
"Sian! You can still take it back! Please, think this through again!"
Sian? Did he just say Sian?
The one the Blood Demon Isra had called her master. That Sian — the one who'd been insanely tall, radiating a strength that didn't make any sense — was this guy?
And that helmeted guy's jaw looks kinda familiar...
Who is he? Doesn't look like anyone I've seen at the Gathering Hall...
While I was thinking that, Sian spoke again.
"I am sorry, Eric. But it is already too late. I have no regrets."
"Sian!!! I will never forgive you!!!"
Even Asrein's cry didn't shake the look in Sian's eyes. Then Sian slowly raised his hand.
Space tore open behind Asrein's party, forming something like a black portal. A tremendous suction force erupted, pulling in everything around it.
"AAAAAH!! Sian!!!!"
"Sian!! No!!!"
The helmeted man called Eric and the remaining man screamed as they were sucked into the portal.
Asrein wrung out the last of his strength and hurled the sword in his hand at Sian. It screamed through the air — but Sian merely tilted his head and let it pass. The blade flew on and buried itself deep in the chest of the goddess statue behind him. The impact knocked the statue's head clean off, and the head was sucked into the portal along with everything else.
"Asrein. You will never have that chance."
"SIAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!"
Asrein left a desperate scream behind and vanished into the portal at last.
An empty chamber. Sian, left alone, looked at the embedded sword for a moment, then turned and disappeared somewhere.
"Hah!!"
My mind snapped back. The noisy sounds of battle crashed in again. Looking at the fight, no time had passed at all.
I need to fight. Now.
I put my strength into the sword and pulled it free.
Then—
Bind the Sword of Asrein?
"Bind it."
I didn't hesitate for a second. Some kind of pull made me say it before I even thought.
Bound to Choi Minwoo's soul.
An unknown energy wrapped around my entire body. And a killing intent so intense it felt like my mind would burn white soaked into me.
What even is this feeling? Rage? Bloodlust?
No.
This is the desire to destroy.
Yeah. Smash it all. And kill them all. That was the only thought.
"Heh heh heh...!"
For some reason, I couldn't stop laughing.
"KHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"