Chapter 365: Cult of Specters (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 365: Cult of Specters (2)
[Blue Torch - Special item exclusive to the 20th floor.]
Durability: 1/1
Description: A torch that allows a 1-on-1 private audience with the leader of any faction. Once you designate a faction and raise the torch, its leader must agree to a private meeting. Absolute secrecy is guaranteed for this meeting. Additionally, using this torch will reveal the locations of all factions on the 20th floor for 5 minutes.
The Blue Torch.
It was a special item that would come in incredibly handy on the 20th floor.
To think this would pop out of the rewards.
'I expected something good, but this is completely off the charts.'
Jinhyuk swallowed a dry laugh.
One of the absolute best items obtainable on the 20th floor had just dropped.
'Not only does it let me meet a faction leader, but displaying everyone's location like a map hack is just broken.'
With this, the number of cards he could play would increase exponentially.
Jinhyuk carefully stored the Blue Torch in a corner of his subspace inventory.
In the meantime, Alice and Soul-Chasing Shadow, who had finished clearing out the hobgoblins, approached him.
"Just like you said, we killed all of them except for one."
"But will this really work?"
The two tilted their heads in doubt.
Indeed, they probably couldn't understand why, out of all the monsters, he had specifically chosen hobgoblins.
If he just wanted to send a warning, there were plenty of other options.
But hobgoblins were perfect for this particular task.
"Just trust me. I have a plan."
More importantly...
The key issue was where the Olympus raid team was currently located.
Jinhyuk's gaze drifted into the distance.
He needed information.
And as quickly as possible.
"Mr. Phesis."
"Yes, go ahead."
"Could you guide us to the nearest town from here?"
"Hmm. About two hours from here, there is a mid-sized base called 'Harun.' To be precise, it's more of a lawless zone than a town, but it's decent enough to pass as one."
Harun.
It was a town built by petty thieves and third-rate bandits.
Normally, to enter, one needed a pass made of human bone, which was only accepted among their kind.
However, with Phesis with them, they would be able to find a new route to bypass the heavy security and slip inside.
"Let's go."
After all, there was nowhere below the 41st floor that Phesis couldn't navigate.
* * *
They arrived at the town about an hour later.
Since time was of the essence, Jinhyuk had pushed their pace, allowing them to reach the town entrance much faster than expected.
"...Hey. You brought this as a pass?"
"Haha, look at this guy. He's not even part of 'Scar.' Where did this stray come from, daring to hand us a forged token?"
The bandits guarding the entrance had caught a vagrant trying to enter the town.
In his hand was a human bone resembling a finger bone.
"Eek!"
Having been exposed, the vagrant tried to run.
Of course,
Thud! Thwack!
that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
Red blood spurted from his head as it took a direct hit from a mace.
"Argh... ugh..."
The staggering vagrant collapsed sideways.
"It seems they have a way to verify the authenticity. If we aren't going to force our way through, we'll have to find a detour."
Cheon Yu-seong toyed with his hilt, waiting for a decision.
Given his personality, wiping them all out would suit him much better than taking a detour.
That didn't sound too bad, but they might waste all their time fighting these bandits.
There was also the risk of giving the Cult of Specters time to prepare.
"Mr. Phesis, where is the entrance?"
"This way. The path is a bit rough, so please follow me closely and step only where I step."
Phesis began walking along a swampy area leading into the town.
The mud was deep enough to reach their waists, and a single misstep felt like it would suck them into an endless mire.
It was such a treacherous path that no one would have ever imagined a road existed here if not for Phesis.
How long had they walked?
They finally saw the end of the swamp.
But then,
"Wait a moment."
Phesis, who was leading the way, suddenly froze.
Fluster was clearly written all over his face.
"Is something wrong?"
"Well... this shouldn't be... We can't... get inside."
Phesis ran his hands over various parts of the iron grate.
Opening this grate would allow them to enter the town's sewer system, but the grate itself was tightly sealed by something.
"It's just a piece of iron. Move aside."
Cheon Yu-seong immediately drew his sword.
His sword, imbued with Aura, struck the grate in a single blow.
Clang!
"W-what is this?"
It was Cheon Yu-seong who was surprised.
Despite being struck with full Aura, the grate didn't have a single scratch.
Instead, purple characters merely manifested in the air.
They were unfamiliar characters, neither any known language nor runic script.
"Interesting. I shall try breaking it."
The Dark Emperor stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.
"It's useless. That is the language of the Demon World. It's structured to only unlock when the keyword known only to the caster is spoken. No matter how strong you are, you cannot destroy it."
In short, they needed to input a password to enter.
'Ho.'
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
To think he'd encounter something sealed with the language of the Demon World here.
'This means someone knew we would take this path...'
A meticulousness that anticipated their movements and built up obstacles without missing a single detail.
An entity with the status to command 'Sloth,' the leader of the Cult.
There was only one being capable of that.
Guntaper.
The Demon King backing the 'Cult of Specters' had personally come here.
But there was one thing even he hadn't anticipated...
'It's not my first time disarming a trap like this.'
Jinhyuk had long since memorized the keywords Guntaper liked to use.
If he were to use one in a place like this, it would probably be...
"Tu'arat Pe Aramsur (The place where the inferior cannot reach)."
Jinhyuk muttered softly toward the empty air.
Then,
Creeeeak!
The iron grate rolled back to the sides, creating an opening just wide enough for a person to pass through.
"H-how does Player Kang Jinhyuk know the language of the Demon World? No, more than that, this requires knowing which demon uses what keyword. How on earth...?"
Phesis stammered, his eyes wide like a rabbit's.
He couldn't help but be bewildered.
This was a realm possible only if one deeply understood the habits and characteristics of demons.
"I studied abroad in various places back in the day."
"No, but even so, to the Demon World..."
"You can do anything if you work hard."
"T-that's not something you can achieve just by working hard..."
"Don't try to think within the bounds of common sense. If it's him, he could easily have been to the Demon World. In fact, most demons probably appointed him as a professor, begging him to teach them a thing or two."
Jinhyuk flared up at Cheon Yu-seong's words.
"Hey. What about me makes it look natural for me to have gone to the Demon World? This is ridiculous. Talking about a good person like me. Right, everyone?"
Jinhyuk looked around at everyone, seeking agreement.
Naturally, not a single person agreed.
From his master to the Spirit Tree, and even Goguma and Alice.
Everyone pretended to be busy, avoiding eye contact.
"Wow, look at that frog. Is it a swamp frog?"
"Indeed, My Lord. It looks exactly like a frog."
"Since it's so big, it might be a bullfrog."
"Undine loves water!"
"Mooo-giiii!"
There was truly no one to trust in this world.
Right then,
"My disciple."
The Dark Emperor approached with a warm smile.
As expected, only his master truly understood his disciple's heart.
"M-Master..."
"The demonic path is not necessarily evil."
"Pardon?"
"Did our Cult not also receive the teachings of the Heavenly Demon? An iron-blooded will that worships martial arts purely, without relying on empty formalities. That is the essence of the demonic. Hahaha! Indeed! The place where those demons live must surely be such a place. A paradise for the followers of the Heavenly Demon Cult."
"...I think it would have been better if you hadn't said anything at all."
Letting out a small sigh, Jinhyuk stepped through the grate.
* * *
Thud! Thwack! Bam!
"Die, die! Just die! Ptooey!"
"Bwahaha! That guy is actually dead!"
"Let's just dump the corpse on the riverbank. Oh! Wait, his shoes. They're a perfect fit for my feet. He won't need shoes in hell, so I'll put them to good use."
The town's interior was filled with shouting.
Drinking heavily everywhere was a given, and crimes like murder and robbery were so commonplace they were taken for granted.
Jinhyuk found a suitable abandoned house inside the town to set up base, then headed to the central plaza with only Cheon Yu-seong.
This was because moving in a large group would draw too much attention.
They arrived at a five-story wooden building.
"Up there is the contact point for the bandit guild."
"It's quite shabby. Well, bastards obsessed with booze and women wouldn't invest in an office. Do we really have to borrow the help of such scum?"
"Still, the guys here are well-informed. I'm sure they'll know where Teresa is."
"...Tch. Fine."
Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong, pulling their hoods down low, entered the building.
A sour body odor and the pungent smell of strong alcohol assaulted their noses.
Inside, several heavily intoxicated men were in the middle of a drinking party.
"What brings you here?"
A bald man, noticing the two a few beats too late, spoke up.
"Information."
"Information... Hmm? But you're unfamiliar faces. You're not from this floor, are you?"
"We just crossed over yesterday. That's why we need information."
"I see. Our prices are a bit steep. You okay with that?"
"As long as you sell proper information, I'm willing to pay plenty."
Jinhyuk pulled three red rubies from his pocket.
They were ones he had swiped from Alice's jewelry box before the Empire's ball.
The bald man's eyes instantly changed.
A strange gleam also flashed in the eyes of the others who were drinking.
"Oh my! You gentlemen are loaded. Forgive me for not recognizing you. So, what kind of information can I get for you? We know just about everything that goes on on the 20th floor."
"Some players arrived here not too long ago. Do you know about them?"
"Ah! Those folks from outside the Tower? Of course I remember. They tried to come here without a pass and got kicked out. But why them?"
"I want to know their location. Where they are right now. Well? Can you tell me?"
"Hmm. I do know, but that's high-grade information, so the price is a bit..."
The bald man scratched his head, playing dumb.
"Five more. I'll give you more."
Jinhyuk poured out additional rubies.
"If you walk east from here for two days, there's a large lake. They should be there. They said they were going to hunt the two-headed Fish Dragon living there because it drops pretty lucrative materials."
"A lake..."
"Yeah, a lake. They're there. If you leave quickly, you should be able to meet them by midnight tomorrow."
As if the deal was done, the bald man quickly swept up the rubies.
However,
"There's just one thing I don't understand."
Jinhyuk, who was walking back toward the entrance, suddenly locked the door.
Click!
The iron door was firmly locked.
So that no one could enter or leave.
"W-what do you mean?"
"If it's the lake where the two-headed Fish Dragon lives, that would be a week's journey to the west, not the east. How could players who only arrived on the 20th floor three days ago have made it all the way there? And that bounty poster your friends are passing around at the table... it definitely looks like the person I'm looking for."
On the yellowed paper on the table was a drawing of Teresa's face.
"...Y-you said you just arrived here today, so how do you...?"
The bald man swallowed hard.
At the same time,
Shring!
Shring!
The bandit guild members who had been drinking drew their swords.
"I already knew you guys wouldn't tell me easily. The only reason I put up with your clumsy acting was because it makes beating you up that much more satisfying."
Jinhyuk also drew his newly acquired dagger.
"It was a trap. Damn it. If you think we'll talk easily, you're sorely mistaken."
"Oh, really? What a loyal friend you are."
He sincerely hoped that loyalty wouldn't waver for as long as possible.
Truly.
A sinister smirk played on the corners of Jinhyuk's lips.