Chapter 33. Red Sword (3)
Chapter 33. Red Sword (3)
4
Rain fell.
Even if a blaze sweeps across a vast plain to burn it all, it must first catch from a single spark. Even if a flood rises to swallow the very base of the sky, it must first flow from a single drop of water.
I could not claim to be the blaze, but I had become that single spark. I could not claim to be the flood, but I had surely become that single drop.
"Hm."
Rain fell.
An old man stood in the middle of the flowing water.
The old man gave me a light nod.
"Let us fight together, young man."
Hunter Rank 1.
Sword Saint.
Imperial Knight Commander.
Joined the battle (合流).
"...Ahahaha!"
Rain fell.
"Hm! My apologies for being late!"
Splash. A laughing voice approached, stepping through the rain puddles.
"I could have arrived a bit sooner, but leading a unit here was not as simple as I'd hoped!"
The owner of the laughing voice reflected on the water's surface was one-armed. A street where a red beam had swept through and destroyed everything. Now, with nothing left but puddles, the one-armed priest stood tall.
"Thank you, Hunter Kim Gong-ja."
The Heretic Questioner adjusted his hat with his one remaining hand.
Rain fell.
From behind the Heretic Questioner, blurred by the rain, something came running. Something surged forward, cutting through the rainwater.
"The time you have bought us, we will now carry forward."
Thousands of soldiers.
Avoiding collapsed buildings, leaping over sunken pits, pushing through puddles, the Empire's soldiers charged in. No—there were even those who were not soldiers. Commoners without armor, citizens without helmets. They surged forward with bodies as good as bare.
"Orders from the Grand General, everyone."
The Heretic Questioner smiled softly.
Thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of citizens roared.
"Slaughter the sons of bitches who bared their fangs at the Empire."
Hunter Rank 4.
Pantheon Master, Heretic Questioner.
Imperial Grand General.
Joined the battle (加勢).
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Rain fell.
Drops became a current and flowed.
The monster horde that had surged in like a terrifying tidal wave had come to a halt. Like waves stopped at high tide, the monsters hesitated before the gate. Reversal. The tide of battle had turned, the flood had become an ebb, and at the collapsed gate, the current began to flow backward.
"God is with us!"
Rain fell.
"Long live the Aegim Empire!"
Rain fell.
'Ah.'
I could not tell when I had been swept up by the rainwater. Perhaps because time had slowed. Before I knew it, I had become the first drop of the overflowing current and was running.
A refugee from some frontier kingdom swung a spear on my left. A farmer who had tilled the fields of a now-destroyed Imperial village swung a pickaxe on my right. Looking back, a hunter who looked no different from me in appearance raised a sword.
They kept saying something,
"......"
"......!"
but I could not understand it.
Was it because of the rain? Because of the shouts the people were raising? Ah, because of the screams the monsters were howling? Or was it, after all, because time had slowed? Because I had already become a single drop of water and was simply being swept along with them?
Or was it because I was swinging my sword?
"......!"
Forward.
"......"
Further forward.
Until the blaze burns every plain and the flood overflows into every corner.
Just a little further forward.
"...Hey."
Tap.
Something touched me. It touched my shoulder. Cutting through the voices of tens of thousands and the sound of hundreds of millions of raindrops, that something spoke to me. It was one-eyed, and so it wore an eyepatch.
"Well done. I should have come a bit sooner. Tch! I was late because I had to bring not just the Imperial Guard but our own guild members too. But don't worry. From now on, I'll show you exactly why we're called the Heavenly Martial Sect (天武門)......"
He paused.
"......"
Suddenly, it stopped speaking. What was the matter? It stopped speaking and instead quietly studied my face with its single eye.
"Not listening, are you. In a trance? This bastard's a madman. I like him."
It laughed quietly.
"Hey, my name is Liao Fan. You probably can't hear me anyway, so it doesn't matter. ...Earlier, in the audience chamber, you saved my life. How could a Heavenly Martial Sect Master let such a debt go unpaid? You just run straight ahead. I'll take care of your left. That's an enormous privilege, you know."
It raised its sword.
"No one who has ever stood on my right has died. Not once."
Rain fell.
"Go, nova (新星)."
I swung my sword.
"I'll protect you."
The current grew fiercer.
It flowed fiercely.
"Sorry I'm late! I was busy searching for the Empire's emperor. I did find him in the end, but he had already drunk poison and killed himself. It seems difficult to rally the army using the emperor's authority. I'm ashamed."
"It's fine. There's no need to rally more forces here. More importantly, Lady Paladin, you should join the fight as well."
"Of course. Hm? Why is Hunter Kim Gong-ja......"
"Don't disturb him right now."
Rain fell.
"That bastard is savoring a golden moment."
Rain fell.
-Pitiful creatures.
-Did you think that because time was given to you, it would be your time?
-Even the power of the goddess who watches over you has waned. There is no god in the Empire now. What will you rely upon? Will you prove yourselves utterly on your own? If so, then good.
Mockery flowed along the rainwater.
-Show me.
Red light.
But there were things blocking my path.
There were very many of them.
"Hey, witch! Hurry up and raise your mirrors!"
"I know. I missed once, but I won't let it slide a second time."
"Old man! When the witch scatters the beam, you and I cut it down!"
"I alone am sufficient."
"It's coming soon, everyone!"
Rain fell.
"...Scatter."
Six strands of light flashed. It was the light of mirrors. The red beam struck the mirrors and slid. Crash! The first mirror shattered, the second mirror shattered, the third mirror shattered. But the fourth mirror did not break, and it deflected the red beam cleanly.
"Sword Saint! Viper!"
Something shouted.
"Hup."
There was the sound of drawing breath.
"Hyaaaaaah!"
There was the sound of releasing breath.
The sky split.
Between the two breaths, one drawn in and one let out, the sky split. Even the red beam was cleaved apart. It was as if a vast sea had parted to either side.
A wide-open waterway.
Five voices chattered, each in their own way.
"Look! Look! I'm still far from done for!"
"How shamelessly you prattle on."
"Now's our chance!"
One voice among them whispered.
"I'll teleport you all right in front of the Demon King in one go. Everyone stick close to me!"
"Hurry! If the Demon King summons more monsters, we'll have put the cart before the horse!"
The five voices overlapped one after another.
They gathered in one place.
And then.
"Kim Gong-ja!"
Someone reached out a hand.
Rainwater was streaming down that person's face.
"Grab on!"
"......"
"There's no time, hurry!"
In that instant.
The time that had felt like eternity unraveled.
I could see the people around me.
I could hear the sounds around me.
And that was not all. Where I was, how I had ended up here—everything flooded back into my memory at once.
I was in the middle of a battlefield.
The Empire's army and citizens were now clearly pushing the monsters back. Hunters poured endlessly from the collapsed gate. The latecomers. Hunters who had finally grasped the situation of the 12th-floor stage had thrown themselves into the battle.
"Hunter Kim Gong-ja!"
With countless people behind us, we were at the very front line.
The Demon King's red strike had surged through and ground up even the monsters, so from here to where the Demon King stood was empty in a straight line. The monsters would swarm in soon, but not yet.
"Hurry!"
There, the hunters had gathered in one place.
In a way, it was a little ridiculous.
The Heretic Questioner was being carried on Viper's back. Viper was scowling fiercely and gripping Sword Saint's forearm. Sword Saint, with an even deeper scowl, had his hand on Paladin's shoulder. Paladin was impassively holding the witch's left hand.
'...If I took a picture of this and posted it online, it'd go viral, wouldn't it?'
It was a spectacle so terrifying that such a thought came to me unbidden.
While I was lost in that absurd fantasy, the witch shouted.
"You! If you don't grab on right now, I'm leaving you here alone!"
The witch was holding out her right hand to me.
'Ah.'
And then I realized.
This scene would soon vanish.
The sharp exchange of words Sword Saint and I had shared.
The fact that Sword Saint had only barely withdrawn his sword thanks to Paladin's persuasion.
The fact that he had bowed his head to me, saying he was sorry.
The fact that the Heretic Questioner had cruelly murdered three hunters.
That we had fought each other.
That we had stopped fighting.
That we had fought together.
'It all vanishes.'
Everything.
Like rainwater flowing down and disappearing somewhere.
'Those people won't remember.'
But.
-What are you doing, partner?
That settled it.
-Time to go kill the boss mob, you little shit.
Even if it is not remembered, it does not disappear.
I have a sword.
Here, there is one human who died on the 1st floor. There is one ghost who died on the 99th floor. No one knows of their deaths. And yet the two of us have made it this far.
"...Understood."
When I go back, none of the problems will be solved.
Sword Saint will remain suspicious of me, and when the time comes to choose rewards again, the hunters will once more suspect or kill one another.
"Let's go."
But I have grown a little stronger.
I will not stand by and let innocent people die. I will not stand by and watch the Merchant Alliance Master, the Count, be killed and the connection between the outside world and the Tower be severed. I now have a rough sense of who the traitor is. I was certain.
I will do a little better.
"Good!"
The witch squeezed my hand tightly.
"Teleport!"
The next moment, we were falling from the air. All five of us landed at once. Before our eyes, having crossed the battlefield in an instant, stood the noble Demon King, sword in hand.
-How intriguing.
The Demon King was black.
It was as if a shadow had taken human form.
-Warriors of the goddess, are you?
It had a face, but no expression. It had arms, but no hands. It had legs, but no feet, so the Demon King did not seem to be standing on the ground so much as about to sink into it and submerge at any moment.
No, it actually was sinking. The Demon King's body kept flowing downward. Its skin was like murky slop, dripping down—plop, plop. But as much as it flowed away and vanished, new slop surged up from within the Demon King's body.
Master of nightmares.
A moving shadow.
An eternally flowing shade.
-Warriors. Do you know that there is a traitor among you? Surely you know. And yet, knowing, you desperately stitch together your trust, folding and patching tattered rags. Do you think those rags will become a suit of clothes to cover you?
Was there any need to listen further?
At least as far as I could see, there was not.
I gripped a single sword and charged.
"Kim Gong-ja!"
From behind me came the flustered voice of the female knight.
"No! Wait! You can't charge in alone! We all have to cooperate and attack together......"
I'm sorry.
See you in the next life.
Though you won't remember today.
-Ho-oh.
Watching me charge in alone, the Demon King let out a laugh.
-How foolish.
It was a strange laugh. Since the Demon King's face had no eyes or mouth, the laughter seemed to seep out from its skin. Each time the black shade, like slop, flowed down and surged up again, laughter burst forth.
-Have you come to kill me, warrior?
The Demon King swung its sword.
It was a strike that the current me could never block.
Just before the blade reached me and sent my head flying.
"No."
I did not bother to raise the holy sword in a pretense of blocking.
Because it was unnecessary.
Instead, I simply and politely raised my middle finger.
"I came to die to you, you piece of shit."
You and I will settle this in the next life too.
It was brief, but I clearly saw the Demon King's laughter freeze.
"......!"
"...Now, ......!"
Soon, I could hear nothing at all.
My consciousness faded.
Sight, hearing, pain, all manner of sensation blacked out in an instant.
Only the feeling of raindrops falling on my face remained until the very end.
And then.
[You have died.]
A voice spoke.
[Skill conditions are met through death.]
[Randomly copying a skill from the monster Demon King of Fall Rain.]
Now then.
[Forming a skill card.]
Round 2 begins.