Chapter 89: The Ritual of Sacrifice (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 89: The Ritual of Sacrifice (3)
Mana surged through his entire body.
His heart pounded rapidly with a pleasant sense of exhilaration.
Ah, yes. This is the feeling.
He felt like running wild right this second.
How had he managed to endure without this incredible feeling for the past few hours?
Jinhyuk clenched and unclenched his fists with satisfaction.
Perfect.
It was flawless.
Now that all his abilities were restored, he had absolutely nothing to fear.
Right then.
"Now it's your turn. I do hope you die spectacularly," the head jailer cackled at the players.
At that moment—
Rumble!
The gate separating life and death ground open.
* * *
Whoosh.
The metallic stench of blood mixed with sand assaulted his nose.
A total of seven Breakers stared at their new sacrifices.
"Kroooar!"
"Ooooh!"
They brandished massive, brutal weapons, whipped into a frenzy.
Heat still radiated from their blood-painted bodies.
"Grrr..."
And right in the center stood a massive magic beast, its back covered in black thorns.
It was a monster of an entirely different caliber than the Breakers, boasting an absurd, out-of-bounds scale.
A Predator.
The scavenger of the Tower, devouring massive quantities of prey.
From its dripping, drooling maw hung the half-eaten remains of a human.
"W-we have to run, right now!"
"Damn it! Run where? We're like rats trapped in a cage!"
"Sob... M-Mom..."
There was nowhere to run.
No matter how fast they ran, they were surrounded on all sides by walls over ten meters high.
Everyone scrambled backward, desperate to cling to life for even a few seconds longer.
In that moment of absolute despair—
Step.
Someone stepped forward, ahead of the crowd.
It was Jinhyuk.
"What's with that idiot?"
"Pfft, hahaha! He must be dying to get killed first."
"Cackle! Well, I suppose going to meet God early is better than shivering in fear at the back."
The cultists in the spectator stands showered him with mocking jeers.
To them, it was utterly absurd.
He was unarmed, completely bare-handed, and closing the distance in an incredibly defenseless manner.
But then...
"Huh?!"
"How...?"
Even though Jinhyuk had walked right up to the Breaker's nose, the monster didn't attack him.
In fact, it didn't even glance his way, as if completely unaware of his very existence.
As expected, it's a pretty useful skill.
Jinhyuk casually strolled right into the middle of the magic beasts.
'Faint Body Scent'—a skill that could be used three times a day.
Using it once would merely disrupt the opponent's senses.
But activating all three charges simultaneously completely erased his presence, reducing it to absolute zero.
Most players would be content using it one by one to save their lives three times.
But a veteran was different.
A veteran would use that single, perfect opportunity... to find a way to completely flip the board.
Just like he was doing right now.
Having reached the center, Jinhyuk tapped his foot against the ground.
Thud! Thud!
Two footsteps echoed.
And then—
[Red Elixir 'Flame' is activated!]
Ruuuumble!
Massive pillars of fire erupted from the ground.
Fireworks are best when they're spectacular.
He had activated the elixir after precisely calculating the location of the sewers and the flow rate of the water.
There was no room for error.
He had done this dozens of times before, after all.
"Aaaargh!"
"Screeech!"
The Breakers engulfed in flames shrieked.
Even if they were supposedly immortal, being burned alive was bound to be agonizing.
"Why are you making such a fuss?" Jinhyuk muttered.
Didn't you guys love burning things?
"P-please calm down! O emissaries of God!"
The head jailer desperately tried to extinguish the embers clinging to the Breakers.
However, approaching them with a bucket of water was a fatal mistake.
The agitated Breakers were completely blind with rage.
One of them swung its hammer horizontally.
Crack!
"Guh!"
With a single blow, the jailer's head shattered like a watermelon.
It was the natural consequence of doing something so foolish.
But then...
[You have contributed to the death of a wicked person.]
[You have acquired 0.1 Adaptive Stat points.]
[Current Adaptive Stats: 10.1]
An unexpected status window popped up.
Oh?
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
So I can get stats even if I don't kill them directly?
To think that merely contributing to a death indirectly by activating the Red Elixir would satisfy the condition.
This was quite intriguing.
Jinhyuk gave a small nod.
On the other hand, the cultists who witnessed this unbelievable sight gasped in sheer horror.
"W-what is that? Those pillars of fire!"
"Could... could he have used a skill?"
"Nonsense! God governs everything here! God's laws and decrees are the only rules that sustain this floor!"
Since unique abilities and skills were sealed, no one should have been able to use such wicked powers.
Surely, he must have used some sort of trick.
However, the anomalies didn't end there.
The truly shocking part was only just beginning.
"Sorry, but I only have ten minutes, so I'll make this quick."
To be precise, he had about eight minutes left.
Jinhyuk drew his Twin Dragon Sword.
As 'Grave of Swords' activated, a dark energy rippled along the blade.
A black crescent moon cast its shadow.
"Grrr?"
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, the Predator bristled all its thorns.
At that exact moment—
Slash!
A strike stripped of all unnecessary flourish, designed solely to kill, sliced through the air.
A single strike.
With just one swing of his sword, the mountain-like body of the Predator collapsed.
There wasn't even a scream.
Instead, a fountain of blood erupted into the air.
"I'm done running away."
No matter how powerful they were said to be here, that was only when everyone else's abilities were sealed.
In terms of raw strength, they were barely on par with the named monsters of the 1st floor.
If fought properly, they stood absolutely no chance.
As the magic beasts they relied on were completely incapacitated, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
"Eeeek!"
"H-he's a monster!"
"How can a human do that...!"
Their smugness and madness turned to sheer terror.
Those who had been watching the spectacle of death from above now had to flee to escape death themselves.
Of course, Jinhyuk had no intention of just letting them go.
"Unbelievable. So you value your own lives that much?"
With a cold chuckle, Jinhyuk pulled out his last elixir.
[You have used Black Elixir 'Darkness'.]
[A 'Black Barrier' is deployed within a 200m radius of the caster!]
A pitch-black dome completely enveloped the entire arena.
The place built to praise God...
...had instantly transformed into a death trap that would likely become their grave.
* * *
Hmm...
Jinhyuk stood in place, furrowing his brow.
All that was left now was to complete the hidden quest. But one thing bothered him.
It wasn't because he had any qualms about killing.
He might feel differently about innocent people, but he didn't consider those who cackled at the deaths of others to be human anyway.
It was just that...
If this massive crowd scattered and hid, it would take far too long to hunt them all down.
I need to use a more efficient method.
He had already confirmed through the head jailer that he didn't need to deliver the killing blow himself.
Merely contributing to their deaths was enough.
In that case...
"Hey, you guys," Jinhyuk called out to the players huddling against the outer wall of the arena.
"...Y-yes? Us?"
"Are you talking to us?"
"What are you all just sitting there for? Don't you want to go home?"
The magic beasts were already dead or incapacitated.
This meant they no longer had to worry about being eaten.
"C-can we really go home?"
"Really?"
"Of course. Everyone, get up."
Jinhyuk offered a bright smile.
At his words—
"Whoaaaa!"
"We're alive! We survived!"
A massive cheer erupted.
All the emotions they had bottled up instantly exploded.
But...
It was a bit too early to celebrate.
There was still a massive mountain left to cross before they could truly relax.
"But can you really just walk out like this? As long as the cultists remain on the 5th floor, who knows when or where you might run into them again?"
At Jinhyuk's words, the heated atmosphere cooled instantly.
"Ah!"
"T-that's..."
The harsh reality they wanted to forget stared them in the face.
At the thought of potentially running into those horrific people again, everyone's faces stiffened.
"Then... what should we do?"
What else?
"We eliminate any future trouble."
Jinhyuk ripped something off the carcass of the magic beast.
Crack...!
It was one of the sharp protrusions from its back.
A razor-sharp blade.
This would easily serve as a weapon.
"Up there are the people who locked you in here."
Jinhyuk pointed toward the spectator stands.
The cultists, who had been so arrogant relying on the magic beasts, were visible.
"Before you get captured and brought back to a place like this, return exactly what they did to you."
Kill, or be killed.
If those were the only two options...
The choice was obvious.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Kill those bastards!"
"I'm never getting locked up in this hellhole again!"
"I'll tear them to shreds!"
It was at that moment that the terrified sacrificial victims transformed into wild beasts.
Every single one of them grabbed a weapon and charged toward the spectator stands.
"W-wait a minute!"
"Stop!"
A few guards tried to block them, but they were vastly outnumbered.
The players ignored them and swarmed up the stands.
With weapons in hand, the situation would be resolved in no time.
Wipe them all out.
Not for anyone else's sake...
But for mine!
* * *
"Argh!"
"Screeeam!"
The underground arena was soon filled with desperate shrieks.
As if demanding compensation for the time they had spent living like flies, their revenge was brutally merciless.
Yet, why was it?
Even in the midst of this blood-soaked scene...
He didn't feel a single shred of sympathy.
In fact, it was deeply satisfying.
They were simply reaping what they sowed.
But what truly made his heart race was—
[You have contributed to the death of a wicked person.]
[You have acquired 0.1 Adaptive Stat points.]
[Current Points: 32.9]
[You have contributed to the death of...]
The fact that points kept piling up even while he stood perfectly still.
He had already gathered 33 points.
Who knew having loyal workers could be this great?
Smiling with satisfaction, Jinhyuk raised his head.
I should start moving before the crowd reaches the Cult Leader.
Although the Cult Leader was located deep within compared to other areas, it was only a matter of time.
He needed to take care of his most important target before it was too late.
Jinhyuk looked at a group of cultists off to the side.
Actually, they weren't cultists who followed the Cult Leader from the start.
They were players who had challenged the Tower to conquer it, only to be captured.
In the end, they were the ones who had killed their own comrades just to save their own skins.
Among them were those who had shared a room with Jinhyuk.
They had tried so hard to escape through the vents, but it seemed they hadn't made it very far.
The Black woman and the Asian woman are nowhere to be seen.
Only a white man and a white woman remained.
It was obvious what had happened to the other two.
"Disgusting," Jinhyuk spat.
The players flinched, trembling as they met his gaze.
"W-we... we only did what they told us to do!"
"Y-yes! We had no choice...!"
Some of them began to lash out in desperation.
"Damn it! Do you think we wanted to do this? If we didn't kill them, we would've died! It was an extreme situation!"
"Don't talk so easily like it's none of your business!"
They had only done what they were told.
They screamed wildly, claiming they had no other choice.
Of course, they might have killed because they wanted to, or they might have been forced to do so against their will.
"I understand what kind of situation you were in. And calling it an unavoidable circumstance isn't entirely wrong."
Could killing someone to save oneself in an emergency be forgiven?
Well.
Morally, who knew, but legally, there might be mitigating circumstances.
But at least here, arguing over right and wrong was utterly meaningless.
Everyone's standards were different.
And above all, this wasn't an ethics class.
"But I'm not the one who decides whether you live or die."
Along with his flat, emotionless voice—
Thud!
A hole was pierced straight through the heart of the player standing at the very front.
"G-gah...?"
[You have defeated a wicked person.]
[You have acquired 0.1 Adaptive Stat points.]
[Current Adaptive Stats: 33]
The system had defined them.
They, too, were wicked.
That was more than enough.
"It's nothing personal."
He meant it.
Crackle!
The Twin Dragon Sword began to blaze violently once more.