Chapter 40. His Time (1)
Chapter 40. His Time (1)
1
It did not age.
It was young in every season, all year round.
-Estelle.
It grew more beautiful by the day. The scent of a freshly picked apple lingered at its fingertips. The fragrance of grapes was thick upon the tops of its feet. When it walked, people were enraptured as if drunk on wine. Its hair was a field of golden wheat ripened to the depths of hell, and when it blew in the wind, the village was bewitched by the scent of autumn.
-Estelle, the Saintess of the borderlands.
At some point, people began to say that.
-Saintess.
A woman worn down by poverty came carrying a sick newborn. She said she had chased the rumors from afar, chasing and chasing again.
-Please, I beg of you. The child has fallen ill. Please, bestow your blessing upon this poor little one.......
-Do you know the rules?
-Y-yes, yes. I know them......!
Estelle nodded.
-Leave the child here. Come back when dawn breaks tomorrow.
The woman bowed her head to the ground and left.
Where the mother had departed, a small child remained. A worn but soft swaddling cloth. The woman had picked out only the softest rags she owned, patched them together, and wrapped the child in them. The old swaddling cloth, a wrapping cloth fresh with the scent of milk... Estelle buried the tip of its nose in it for a moment.
How fragrant.
Humans are so desperate in their love.
-Gah-oo?
The child reached out and stroked Estelle's hair.
Estelle smiled. Even wrapped in rags, life was radiant. Estelle considered it happiness that such an overwhelming miracle existed in the world.
-It's all right.
Estelle's shadow writhed.
-You won't hurt anymore now.
-Gah-ah.......
The shadow's maw split open wide.
-Poor thing.
Estelle quietly swallowed the newborn whole.
The child's death was gentle. It did not even struggle. It simply sank powerlessly into the shadow.
As the newborn's flesh and bones dissolved, memories flowed into Estelle. Memories that had clung to the child's flesh and bones. The pain of birth, the sensation of a swollen uvula, the mother's smile.......
-Yes.
Memories as short as the life itself. After sweeping through that fleeting existence, Estelle gestured toward its shadow. The shadow bubbled and seethed.
-Live a little longer.
In that instant, the shadow shrank into the form of the baby. The black shade took on the color of flesh. The flesh-colored thing wriggled, small and squirming. Smiling innocently like a young beast.
-Kyaa!
Estelle smiled.
-Poor thing.
The mother came the next day as soon as the sun rose. Had she stayed up all night? The mother's complexion was haggard. Estelle, who had been standing by the door waiting for dawn, handed the swaddled baby to the mother.
-The child should be healthy now.
-Ah.......
-The child won't fall prey to even minor illnesses. Just as you have loved the child until now, please continue to cherish it.
The mother's face crumpled.
-Thank you.......
The rumors began to spread from the edge of the continent.
-Saintess.......
The rumors from the borderlands gnawed away at the small kingdoms.
-Thank you, Saintess.......
The small kingdoms of the frontier were the first to stir.
-Estelle.
The great kingdom that ruled over the small kingdoms stirred next.
-Estelle Saintess.
The other small kingdoms, which had endured by using the great kingdom as their fortress wall, were thrown into clamorous upheaval. The continent was vast. And as vast as it was, unhappy humans overflowed everywhere.
Those seized by terrible disease, their flesh rotting away.
Those who limped and lamented.
Those crippled from birth.
Those who had gone blind.
-Saintess of salvation!
The eyes that had gone dark to this world, the crippled arms, the limping legs, the rotting flesh—all of it gathered toward Estelle, little by little. Each time, Estelle's shadow grew a little larger.
-The one who will save us!
The wider Estelle's shadow grew, the more the domain of humans shrank. In villages abandoned by their people, officials could not govern. In cities deserted by their subjects, kings could not reign.
-Salvation of all the sick!
Estelle.
The kings realized that this was a plague with a new name.
And the kings knew very well.
The one thing necessary to eradicate a disease.
-Burn it!
Fire.
-Burn the witch's nest to ashes!
Estelle heard the screams.
A fire demon was burning people.
No.
That was not it.
-Show no mercy. They are all monsters under a curse! Do not let a single one escape!
People were burning people.
2
-You who do not see people as people.
It resembled a groan.
Heard a certain way, it was close to a scream.
The groans gathered and became a shadow, and the screams clotted and became a blade.
-Be devoured by your own malice!
The Demon King swung his sword.
The sword trembled as if weeping black groans.
"Kim Gong-ja!"
The witch shouted.
"I'm fine!"
I was facing the Demon King. Fwooosh! The air churned like a raging current. A red beam seemed about to erupt from the Demon King's sword at any moment.
'Right?'
I focused aura into the soles of my feet.
'Or is it left?'
A one-in-two chance.
The Demon King's sword screamed.
A sword redder than blood and hotter than fire came down upon me.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
'So it was left.'
I die.
When I die, I return to 24 hours earlier.
[6 days, 23 hours, 53 minutes, 27 seconds remaining until Hundred Ghost Summoning can be used again.]
The skill description of 'Regressor's Clockwork Watch' states that the user retains 'memories and stats.'
Skills were included among those retained stats.
[You have died.]
[5 days, 23 hours, 51 minutes, 42 seconds remaining until Hundred Ghost Summoning can be used again.]
And as could be seen from the fact that the Sword Emperor's guardian spirit shared the memories of my regressions, skills carried over exactly as they had been at the moment of death.
Abilities, power, causality, memories.
And of course, even cooldowns.
[You have died.]
A day turns.
[4 days, 23 hours, 49 minutes, 33 seconds remaining until Hundred Ghost Summoning can be used again.]
I clear the 11th floor.
No one dies.
I climb to the 12th floor and cross swords with the Demon King.
The Black Dragon Witch helps me.
The enraged Demon King summons the hundred ghosts.
I charge at the Demon King and die.
[You have died.]
[3 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes, 15 seconds remaining until Hundred Ghost Summoning can be used again.]
I die.
[You have died.]
[2 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes, 28 seconds remaining until Hundred Ghost Summoning can be used again.......]
I die.
[You have died.]
[1 day, 23 hours, 43 minutes, 13 seconds remaining until Hundred Ghost Summoning can be used again.......]
A day turns.
[You have died.]
[23 hours, 41 minutes, 53 seconds remaining until Hundred Ghost Summoning can be used again.......]
And then.
That day comes again.
[Hundred Ghost Summoning can now be used again.]
For every seven sword battles repeated.
I could wage one decisive battle.
"...Kim Gong-ja!"
The witch shouted.
I nodded.
"I'm fine."
In this life, I jumped to the right without even looking at the beam.
Shwaaak!
The red beam pierced empty space in vain. Dozens of skeletons were caught in the beam and died screaming. But ten times as many goblins and orcs went up in flames.
-You bastard!
The Demon King's voice crumpled with rage.
-A mere mortal! Do you possess the eyes of prophecy?!
"Something like that."
Except the price of that prophecy is a week of my life.
-That's brutal.
The guardian spirit clicked his tongue.
-He really is a brutal bastard.
The guardian spirit endlessly demonstrated before my eyes where to swing the sword and how to move my feet.
-But this is a total steal. Hey, zombie! Later, test whether you can do overlapping summons. Go hide somewhere, wait a week, and then summon again.
I frowned.
'Let's talk about that later! Please!'
-I think the earlier summon would probably be canceled and only the later one recognized, but who knows? Maybe a miracle bargain time will unfold where 4,000 becomes 8,000 and 8,000 becomes 80,000. Kyaa! Then you'd be promoted from zombie to Zombie King! Zombie King Kim Gong-ja! How cool is that!
'Ah, I said stop talking! It's so distracting I can't focus.......'
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
'Son of a bitch!'
-Your body dies and dies, mended a thousand times over. Whether a zombie becomes a skeleton and has a soul or not. The pitifulness toward Kim Zombie—how could it ever fade?
'I died because of you! I have to repeat another whole week!'
-That's because you're a weakling. Not my fault. Definitely not.
The guardian spirit cackled.
'I swear, one day I will absolutely screw you over!'
-Oho. But I'm already dead? How are you going to screw over a dead ghost? Nyah. Our zombie's all worked up, peekaboo.
'This son of a.......'
-As long as you're worked up, hurry up and catch the Demon King. I broke through the 20th floor all by myself without a cheat skill like yours. Oho, how pathetic. Kim Zombie.
'Damn it!'
We talked like that, but we steadily pressed the Demon King.
The skeletons held back the Demon King's forces. The Sword Saint slaughtered any monster that approached us. I died for a week at a time to prophesy the Demon King's attacks, and receiving those prophecies, the witch landed effective hits on the Demon King to her heart's content.
"Black Dragon Master! Next is the right!"
"Got it!"
The witch scattered ink-dark aura. Mirrors reflected the aura. Once, twice, three times, four times—each time the aura was reflected by a mirror, it doubled in power. Shwaaak! In an instant, an ink-colored strike amplified dozens of times over tore into the Demon King's waist.
-Kraaaaaah!
In the middle of the frozen world. The Demon King's scream tore through the sky.
"Hahahaha! Ma'am, nice shot!"
I laughed. I laughed as I swung my sword.
"Who are you calling ma'am! I'm not married yet!"
"What have you been doing all this time if you're not married at your age!"
"I'm still, very much, young!"
"Yeah right, you're young thanks to some elixir of immortality! I know all about it."
"You... catch the Demon King first, then come see me for a moment."
We crossed countless lines of death.
Sometimes the witch was caught in the red beam. The Sword Saint was swept up too. One second. Another second. We staked our lives and fought desperately. The Demon King's strikes were fatal, so even a single second of carelessness was deadly.
[You have died.]
But it doesn't matter.
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
My certain death is stronger than the Demon King's certain kill.
-You bastards.......
Twelve times.
-How dare you... my grudges......!
The witch's aura pierced the Demon King's body twelve times. Only then did the Demon King's movements slow slightly. Black filth sizzled at the spots where he had been struck.
'Huh?'
Was it my imagination?
For an instant, before the filth boiled up... it seemed like skin the color of flesh, not black, had flickered into view. It truly lasted no more than a split second. By the time I turned my eyes to check again, the Demon King's body was already covered in filth.
-Kugh!
The Demon King withdrew his sword.
Even though his face bore no expression, I could feel that he was glaring at us.
[The Demon King of Fall Rain resolves to retreat.]
What?
[Demon King of Fall Rain retreats to the 13th floor!]
That's total bullshit!
Heat surged from my heart to the top of my head.
"Wait! What kind of boss runs away when we've almost got him?!"
-Do not delude yourself! I shall come again!
"You see this bastard?"
I swung my sword. But before that, the Demon King's body crumbled. As if an invisible drainpipe had opened in the ground, the black filth rapidly flowed down into it.
"Hey! You black-bean-shake-looking bastard!"
It wasn't just the Demon King. The monsters born from the Demon King's shadow also collapsed, foaming and bubbling. Blurrrgh! It was like water flushing down a toilet. The monsters became a dark torrent and vanished beneath the hole in the ground.
"Wow."
In an instant, only me, the witch, the Sword Saint, and thousands of skull-headed skeletons were left in the field.
"What the......."
I was standing there dumbfounded, wondering if all my countless deaths had just turned into pointless deaths in a single moment.
[The Tower acknowledges your choice.]
A voice rang in my head.
[Hidden quest created.]
[The 12th floor quest has been revised!]
"...Huh?"
And then, one after another.
[The 13th floor quest has been revised!]
[The 14th floor quest has been revised!]
[The 15th floor quest has been revised!]
[The 16th floor quest has been revised!]
[The 17th floor quest has been revised!]
[The 18th floor quest has been revised!]
[The 19th floor quest has been revised!]
I was speechless at a phenomenon I had never experienced before.
Quests could be revised?
"......."
As I stood there with my mouth open, letters floated up before my eyes.
Letters meant for me.
+
[Hero of the Frozen World]
Difficulty: Unknown
Objective: You have resolved. You will not permit a single casualty.
To expect no reward from those you save is called justice. To expect no recognition from those you save is called devotion. One who devotes themselves to justice is called a hero.
O hero!
The humans of the continent will not know your justice. They will not realize your devotion. But still, justice remains justice, and devotion remains devotion. Will you continue to choose to be a hero, even in a frozen world?
The Demon King has fled, wounded. He has not yet gone far. If you only wish it, you can pursue the Demon King as much as you please.
Now only your choice remains.
+
A quest solely for me.
"......."
The voice resounded.
[Will you accept the quest?]
My heart pounded.
It was a question that didn't even require hesitation.
"Yes."
The voice answered me.
[Hidden quest activated!]
[Quest name: Hero of the Frozen World.]
[May fortune be with you all.]
White light enveloped me.