Chapter 286
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 286
Chapter Title: Reunion (1)
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A light beyond description.
It was a color no human tongue could name.
Just gazing upon it filled one with utter emptiness and void, as if facing an endless purgatory.
Staring too long felt like being dragged into some inescapable abyss.
And beyond it...
A gaze lingered.
No one could meet that gaze head-on.
Save one.
Only Eleanor, who had sensed it once before, stared it down squarely.
The moment the battle with the lich ended, as she drew ragged breaths...
Eleanor calmly locked eyes with the gaze fixed unmistakably upon her.
The gaze she had hidden from behind her eyepatch, fleeing her whole life.
But now, there was nowhere left to run.
Having come this far, Eleanor accepted it.
The time had come to confront its existence fully.
"......"
As before, impatience radiated from it.
A fierce will to descend upon this world and claim its body.
Yet why was that?
Beyond it shimmered an emotion like longing.
What could haunt it so—the embodiment of death, the god presiding over it?
Soon, the light devoured Merdaine's world, and Eleanor's vision faded into the light of death, that scene her last.
It was a clamor.
Or more precisely, the city assaulted Jun's ears with sounds brimming with terror and chaos.
"......"
The instant the God of Death descended from the heavens, its aura engulfing all of Merdaine...
Jun opened his eyes in some stone building.
Not the ruins he'd seen ceaselessly these past days.
Traces of human life abounded; instead of the stench of corpses, the lively market scents brushed his nose.
Unlike Merdaine's murky, blood-soaked skies, warm sunlight beamed down on a clear day.
Kyaaah—!
S-save me! Help!
It's Dimension Reverse! The catastrophe's begun!!
Were it not for the screams echoing from outside even now, he might have mistaken it for peaceful times.
But this wasn't reality.
Or more accurately... a recollection, perhaps.
"Well then... shall I get moving?"
Rising, Jun peered out the window.
The last sight he'd beheld was Merdaine's horizon choked with undead, humans flailing desperately to survive.
Here, humans outnumbered undead.
No—there were no undead at all. Only people screaming skyward.
"Looks like it's proceeding properly."
Despite the abrupt turn, Jun showed no panic as he stepped outside.
Gazing at the sky the crowds pointed to, shrieking, he saw cracks spiderwebbing it like shattered glass.
"Dimension Reverse."
A phenomenon common in the game's mid-to-late stages, even in the Empire proper.
Some even claimed the Blackout was safer than the surface, ravaged so brutally by these rifts.
After eyeing the sky briefly, Jun rolled his neck, gathering mana in his throat.
Jun's voice boomed through the chaos.
Naturally, all eyes turned to him.
Not just from the grandeur of his voice, but the soul of a 7th-circle mage pulsing within.
"Th-that man..."
"An Imperial mage! From the Imperial Family!"
"The Imperial mage is here!"
"Please, save us!"
What about Jun made them call him an Imperial mage?
He grasped it easily.
'Feels strange seeing it for real.'
These folk were akin to NPCs.
In their eyes, he appeared not as himself, but as someone else.
The form those in Merdaine had most desperately wished for as death's light fell.
[So, we've been forcibly dragged into an illusory world conjured by the God of Death?]
[Yeah. It's a byproduct of the Dimension Reverse and the god's emergence.]
[Haa... That explains it. The captain pulled back too easily in the lich fight. Because of this?]
[Exactly. We needed to preserve as many external forces as possible.]
Via the World Tree's essence, Jun briefed the party on their situation.
Scattered upon entry to this illusory realm, thankfully the essence functioned normally.
Aiden's voice followed.
[Then, Senior, what exactly are we supposed to do?]
[Before that, a quick rundown on this phenomenon.]
This was one of the contents players dubbed "Story Dungeons."
A similar case: the Witch's Forest, source of the "Tayya's Tear" golem-summoning medium Jun often used.
[Scholars say these arise when mana infuses the memories of ancient folk.]
[Now it's the God of Death wielding the influence instead of mana? But how's that tied to the lich's death?]
[The lich's soul and the souls in its Life Vessel were sacrifices to manifest the God of Death.]
But the lich fell to the Sun Church centered on the saintess, its Life Vessel shattered, souls spilling free.
[Now the god's seized those souls forcibly, weaving this illusory world from their memories.]
Ultimately, what the god craved: intact absorption of tens of millions of souls.
[Just hearing it pisses me off.]
In essence, defiling the dead once more.
[Right. But conversely, it means we have a way to fight back.]
[Those folks mistaking us for Imperial troops?]
[Sharp as ever. Yes. They're the souls sacrificed in Merdaine. They perceive us as the Imperial army—the saviors they yearned for in death. Our role: save as many as possible and escort them out of Merdaine.]
Thus, souls return whence they belong; the god loses its feast.
[Ah... a massive jailbreak, huh.]
[Saving the dead...]
[So, Leader. What threatens them?]
[Obviously...]
The god's minions.
In other words...
Like old Merdaine, rescue citizens from hordes of undead.
"Where is the beacon?!"
At Jun's mana-infused shout, citizens pointed uniformly toward the beacon.
He flew there at once, igniting it.
Soon, flames soared sky-high.
'This spot's secure enough.'
Now, real-world survivors would spot it and come.
Sure enough, figures seeking Jun appeared.
"White Whale Mercenary Captain! You?"
"That's me."
"Oh, damn Sun God! Thank you!"
"Where are the others?"
"No clue! Woke up alone in this freakish place. Folks keep calling me an Imperial soldier..."
"No time for long explanations. From now on, we escort these residents out of Merdaine alive."
"What're you on about?"
"Once enough gather, I'll explain. Priority: round up real-world survivors."
Jun bellowed to the citizens again.
"Listen up! To counter the Dimension Reverse that struck Merdaine, we must reclaim my army! Spread word: at sight of Imperial troops, direct them here!"
"Understood!"
"We'll carry out the mission!"
The survivor mercenary gaped at Jun.
"Wh-what are those people? Ghosts?"
"Close enough."
"Ghosts obey orders like that...?"
"They want something."
Brushing it off, Jun glanced skyward again.
The rift had grown vaster since he awoke here.
Better to muster forces than go solo.
Once the crisis truly hit, one man couldn't shield the whole city.
"Wh-whoa! Where are we?! Who are you?!"
"Welcome, heroes! Your marshal awaits yonder!"
"M-marshal? No...! Jun! What're you doing here?!"
Real-world survivors trickled in, soon numbering hundreds.
Having scouted the city, they bombarded Jun upon reunion.
"In summary..."
He repeated his party briefing.
Save dubbing the God of Death "Death's Image."
"So we're saving all those people and busting them out?"
"How do we handle that many...?"
"Wait—ghosts, you said? Do they eat?"
"Sleep?"
"Luckily, no."
All here were dead souls. No hunger, no sleep, no fatigue.
Logistics solved.
"Th-this... But escape Merdaine and we're saved, right? Do we really need to herd all them?"
Jun didn't rebuke the selfish voice.
It was natural.
Who'd risk life for dead souls?
Especially these—mere hours ago, helplessly watching comrades die to undead hordes.
Themselves barely escaping death.
By now, Death's Image or not, survival trumped all.
"Go solo if you want. But can you survive the Dimension Reverse hitting Merdaine alone?"
"That's..."
The mercenary scanned others.
They craved survival too, yet balked at splitting from Jun.
They'd seen it.
Survival against ten million undead? Thanks to Jun.
Parting from such a mage? No easy choice.
Yet following him chafed too.
Then, amid them, an irate voice cut in.
"You morons. Where's that fire from heading to Melen Castle? Weren't you set on reclaiming Merdaine and striking it rich?"
Ballam Mercenary Corps Captain Freg.
Nearby, he roared at the survivors.
"The mage says it plain! Weather this crisis, we live—and Merdaine revives! You gonna kick that chance at the goal? Idiots?"
"That's..."
Freg lagged White Whale but was a level 7 swordsman.
Occasional gripes, but no backing out once decided.
"And don't those souls tug at you? Trying to slay the slain again. Blind?"
"Fuck..."
"When were you so pure..."
Some grumbled, but trembling gazes betrayed them.
Citizens' desperate stares, long averted, now confronted thanks to Freg.
Soon, they decided.
"Hoo..."
"Fine, we follow."
"Quitting here? The dead'd mock us."
Jun smirked, rising.
"Seems everyone's chosen."
Distant beacons smoked from dozens of spots.