Chapter 300: Evil Spirit (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 300: Evil Spirit (4)
I was suddenly reminded of my first day in this world.
"An evil spirit resided in the soul of Oreum, son of Kadua."
That day, the tribe's chief decapitated the player standing next to me with a terrifying axe, and my struggle to survive began. Of course, at the time, I didn't know what I knew now. Because this whole world was my enemy, I had to be wary of everyone I came across.
"I thought you were an NPC. I never would have done all that if I had known."
Just like Jencia, who regarded everyone as an NPC, I didn't have room in my heart to sympathize with their hatred.
Squeeze.
But I got it now.
"So, it was you..."
The emotion in the chieftain's eyes as he looked at Oreum, son of Kadua, had been sadness.
"Isn't it disgusting that these evil spirits are among us, pretending to be people?"
The anger burning in the citizens gathered in the plaza to watch the execution of evil spirits had been born of anxiety. Of course it was. Imagine if one day, suddenly, an evil spirit took over the body of one of your loved ones and they became a completely different person. Could there be anything more terrifying than that? It was only natural to hate them. Even for me, if an evil spirit entered the body of Missha, Raven, Mr. Bear, Erwen, or Ainar, I would feel devastated too.
"Bjorn, it's almost time."
"...So it's already that time. Okay." I slowly got up from my spot in the corner. The feeling that there was a stone weighing down my heart remained unchanged.
Don't be foolish now. This changes nothing. Feelings are fleeting. I need to finish my job as soon as possible and get out of here.
When the time came, the stone door that wouldn't budge earlier opened up and we were able to continue exploring the Rift. White-Armored Guards, Green-Armored Vanguards, Silver Prophets—new types of monsters appeared in each room, and experience points continued to accumulate. Essences also dropped occasionally, but it seemed Amelia hadn't been able to memorize all the hundred or so essences that could be obtained in the Hundred-Color Temple.
"Do you know what kind of ability this essence holds?" Every time an essence dropped, Carlton and his team asked us for advice.
Surprisingly, Amelia kindly explained what she knew. "It's the essence of the Judge of Blue-White Palace. From what I can remember, it's one of the rare bow and projectile-related essences that have high Strength."
"Hmm, so she says. Eimbern, what will you do?"
"Strength, huh? I actually wanted to increase my bow's tension, so this works out. I like the skill it comes with too. I think I can make good use of this. I'll take it."
Eimbern took one this time, and Carlton and Jarku each took one earlier. They had already picked up three rank-six essences just by following behind us, but I wasn't necessarily upset about it.
"Haha! Thank you! This has been easy thanks to you guys!"
"...No need to thank us."
Not only were they useless items to us, but this wasn't nearly enough compensation to make things up to him, anyway. It also didn't change the fact that he would one day die in the labyrinth.
"Anyway, I think we're gradually nearing the end."
After continuing to carry out our raid for a long while, we eventually reached the boss room. Seeing as the jewel in the statue's hand wasn't lit up, it seemed we had arrived first.
"But how do you open this door?"
"Step aside." Amelia destroyed the statue in one blow. Rather than a random act, this was one of the quickest ways to progress. If you did this, the door opened, and an angry voice rang out.
Who did she come here with to know all this?
While I once again grew curious about Amelia's past, an imposing voice resounded from beyond the stone gate. "This is the resting place of the noble sacrifice. Intruders will pay for their sins with blood."
What did you say, Mr. Rank Five?
I'd seen this intro several times during the game so I just listened disinterestedly while chewing on jerky as the stone door began to open.
"C-Can I go in?"
"Someone just spoke! I-Is it not a monster?" The trio was greatly intimidated by the voice just now and showed clear signs of nervousness.
Well, it wasn't like I didn't get it. The guardian of the Hundred-Color Temple was a rank-five high-rank mutant who even had a random monster's essence. Since there were almost no high-rank mutants below the third floor, it was unlikely they'd ever run into a monster that could speak like a human.
"Bjon, how long are you going to stand there like that?"
"Oh, I was distracted for a second."
To be precise, I was remembering the Bloody Citadel. The Vampire I encountered back then was also a rank-five high-rank mutant bastard, but that had been a time I'd had no essences. Of course, the boss here was still much stronger than that Vampire. We had just fought through an entire labyrinth to reach it and even got cursed along the way, while this boss would be equipped with all kinds of buffs.
Anyway, I wonder which essence we're dealing with here.
When we stepped beyond the stone door, it closed with a bang.
Boom!
"A forest...?"
Unlike the previous rooms, which were stone chambers made of marble, the ground here was covered in bushes, and the trees scattered around bore fruit. That was not to say the landscape beyond the door was the outside world. No, it was a large dome-shaped interior decorated with an artificial garden. There were a total of five doors on the circular outer wall including the one we just entered. If we ended up losing the fight, one of those doors would probably open for another team to take on the challenge. Well, I was sure that wouldn't happen, though.
"You guys stay back."
"This is a guardian, will you two be okay on your own...?"
"We'll call you if we need you."
"...All right."
Okay, that settled that problem. Now that the passengers on the bus were all seated, Amelia and I made our way to the cabin located in the center of the forest. I guessed that triggered the alarm.
Boom!
A knight in gray armor and on horseback fell from the sky and blocked our path. His name: Knight of the End. Although he was on horseback, he wasn't classified as a large monster. His height was about 5'9", and he had the proportions of an ordinary human. He was much smaller in size than the Colossus we met earlier, but this wasn't a monster to be underestimated. In most games, the smaller enemies were the more intimidating ones.
Whip.
Soon, the knight on horseback swung a weapon that looked like a cross between a spear and greatsword in the air, acting tough. "Wild dogs of the empire, seized by greed. I will punish you today."
"But how do you open this door?"
"Step aside." Amelia destroyed the statue in one blow. Rather than a random act, this was one of the quickest ways to progress. If you did this, the door opened, and an angry voice rang out.
Who did she come here with to know all this?
While I once again grew curious about Amelia's past, an imposing voice resounded from beyond the stone gate. "This is the resting place of the noble sacrifice. Intruders will pay for their sins with blood."
What did you say, Mr. Rank Five?
I'd seen this intro several times during the game so I just listened disinterestedly while chewing on jerky as the stone door began to open.
"C-Can I go in?"
"Someone just spoke! I-Is it not a monster?" The trio was greatly intimidated by the voice just now and showed clear signs of nervousness.
Well, it wasn't like I didn't get it. The guardian of the Hundred-Color Temple was a rank-five high-rank mutant who even had a random monster's essence. Since there were almost no high-rank mutants below the third floor, it was unlikely they'd ever run into a monster that could speak like a human.
"Bjon, how long are you going to stand there like that?"
"Oh, I was distracted for a second."
To be precise, I was remembering the Bloody Citadel. The Vampire I encountered back then was also a rank-five high-rank mutant bastard, but that had been a time I'd had no essences. Of course, the boss here was still much stronger than that Vampire. We had just fought through an entire labyrinth to reach it and even got cursed along the way, while this boss would be equipped with all kinds of buffs.
Anyway, I wonder which essence we're dealing with here.
When we stepped beyond the stone door, it closed with a bang.
Boom!
"A forest...?"
Unlike the previous rooms, which were stone chambers made of marble, the ground here was covered in bushes, and the trees scattered around bore fruit. That was not to say the landscape beyond the door was the outside world. No, it was a large dome-shaped interior decorated with an artificial garden. There were a total of five doors on the circular outer wall including the one we just entered. If we ended up losing the fight, one of those doors would probably open for another team to take on the challenge. Well, I was sure that wouldn't happen, though.
"You guys stay back."
"This is a guardian, will you two be okay on your own...?"
"We'll call you if we need you."
"...All right."
Okay, that settled that problem. Now that the passengers on the bus were all seated, Amelia and I made our way to the cabin located in the center of the forest. I guessed that triggered the alarm.
Boom!
A knight in gray armor and on horseback fell from the sky and blocked our path. His name: Knight of the End. Although he was on horseback, he wasn't classified as a large monster. His height was about 5'9", and he had the proportions of an ordinary human. He was much smaller in size than the Colossus we met earlier, but this wasn't a monster to be underestimated. In most games, the smaller enemies were the more intimidating ones.
Whip.
Soon, the knight on horseback swung a weapon that looked like a cross between a spear and greatsword in the air, acting tough. "Wild dogs of the empire, seized by greed. I will punish you today."
Still saying gibberish, huh?
"Emily, do you know what that means?"
"I don't know, either."
Is that true?
Step.
I first used Giantization to match his weight class before taking a step forward. Right at that moment, the Spirit Horse, the rank-seven beast-type monster that the Knight of the End was riding on, huffed and charged at us.
Neigh!
Well, a Spirit Horse is usually a trash monster that can be taken down with just one Swing... but its stats are inflated here.
The Spirit Horse in the boss room was given the Knight of the End's stats. Put simply, it wasn't a monster that could be killed with one or two hits.
Ah, and I can't even use Swing right now.
I'd received various curses on the way here, and Swing ended up getting sealed. Of course, this was a minor issue. We had a damager who was much more efficient than me, so why would I need to attack?
Boom!
Determination fueling me as I lifted my shield, I blocked the knight's attempt at stabbing us from atop the horse. It was quite a heavy hit. I was starting to see why the cavalry was considered the best soldiers in the Middle Ages. There were no superhumans with Giantization back then, right?
"Doable." Having not conceded an inch of ground to this guy, I cried out, "Emi—!"
Ah, she's already in the air.
Slice!
Before I could even finish speaking, a shimmering aura sliced off the horse's neck, and that was all.
An aura is definitely a cheat.
The Spirit Horse helplessly turned into specks of light and vanished.
Slump!
It was time to start Phase Two.
The Knight of the End fight was divided into three phases. In Phase One, he ran rampant on the Spirit Horse he'd summoned with the active skill Servant. Then, after the Spirit Horse was released, a ground battle unfolded. Starting at Phase Two, the Knight of the End used the skill of a random essence under rank five.
...But why isn't this bastard using his skill?
No matter how long we waited, he didn't whip out the skill from his extra essence. So we just continued the boss fight like normal and moved on to Phase Three once Amelia shoved a knife in his throat.
"Immortality is a choice and a promise." The Knight of the End was resurrected with a cringey line. This was the effect of the passive skill Chivalry, a high-risk skill that destroyed all equipment you were wearing at the time you took lethal damage and restored your HP in proportion to the amount of time the equipment was worn.
At first, I wondered what kind of useless skill this was.
Left with no equipment, the Knight of the End was weaker than usual at the start of Phase Three, but the same usually went for the player, too. If their specs were on par, their MP likely also bottomed out around Phase Three after taking all sorts of damage. During my first attempt at clearing this Rift, we continued to attack each other with regular blows in what ended up being a long dogfight, and my team eventually got wiped out.
Well, with our specs now, this will be a piece of cake.
"I cannot lose."
Uh, what?
Still saying gibberish, huh?
"Emily, do you know what that means?"
"I don't know, either."
Is that true?
Step.
I first used Giantization to match his weight class before taking a step forward. Right at that moment, the Spirit Horse, the rank-seven beast-type monster that the Knight of the End was riding on, huffed and charged at us.
Neigh!
Well, a Spirit Horse is usually a trash monster that can be taken down with just one Swing... but its stats are inflated here.
The Spirit Horse in the boss room was given the Knight of the End's stats. Put simply, it wasn't a monster that could be killed with one or two hits.
Ah, and I can't even use Swing right now.
I'd received various curses on the way here, and Swing ended up getting sealed. Of course, this was a minor issue. We had a damager who was much more efficient than me, so why would I need to attack?
Boom!
Determination fueling me as I lifted my shield, I blocked the knight's attempt at stabbing us from atop the horse. It was quite a heavy hit. I was starting to see why the cavalry was considered the best soldiers in the Middle Ages. There were no superhumans with Giantization back then, right?
"Doable." Having not conceded an inch of ground to this guy, I cried out, "Emi—!"
Ah, she's already in the air.
Slice!
Before I could even finish speaking, a shimmering aura sliced off the horse's neck, and that was all.
An aura is definitely a cheat.
The Spirit Horse helplessly turned into specks of light and vanished.
Slump!
It was time to start Phase Two.
The Knight of the End fight was divided into three phases. In Phase One, he ran rampant on the Spirit Horse he'd summoned with the active skill Servant. Then, after the Spirit Horse was released, a ground battle unfolded. Starting at Phase Two, the Knight of the End used the skill of a random essence under rank five.
...But why isn't this bastard using his skill?
No matter how long we waited, he didn't whip out the skill from his extra essence. So we just continued the boss fight like normal and moved on to Phase Three once Amelia shoved a knife in his throat.
"Immortality is a choice and a promise." The Knight of the End was resurrected with a cringey line. This was the effect of the passive skill Chivalry, a high-risk skill that destroyed all equipment you were wearing at the time you took lethal damage and restored your HP in proportion to the amount of time the equipment was worn.
At first, I wondered what kind of useless skill this was.
Left with no equipment, the Knight of the End was weaker than usual at the start of Phase Three, but the same usually went for the player, too. If their specs were on par, their MP likely also bottomed out around Phase Three after taking all sorts of damage. During my first attempt at clearing this Rift, we continued to attack each other with regular blows in what ended up being a long dogfight, and my team eventually got wiped out.
Well, with our specs now, this will be a piece of cake.
"I cannot lose."
Uh, what?
Just then, the Knight of the End suddenly grew in size. I was a bit stunned.
To think it would be Giantization.
I never imagined the high-rank mutant essence he had would be the essence of an Orc Hero.
No wonder he didn't use it earlier.
Only then did it click for me why this guy hadn't used his skill in the previous phases. Giantization was not an ability you could typically use while wearing equipment. The stat boost it gave you was huge, though.
"I cannot lose...!" Using Giantization, the guy started attacking me in a mad frenzy. Of course, that wasn't going to work.
What is growing bigger going to do for you? Your stats and size are still inferior to mine.
Squeeze.
After grabbing his fist, I pulled him in and grappled him down.
Stab.
Amelia's dagger dealt the finishing blow.
Shaaaaaa!
Then the guy turned into particles of light and fluttered away without so much as a parting line. It was always like this, but this was the tensest moment for me every time. I stared straight ahead without blinking.
Please, something come out.
Despite my hopes, there was no floating essence.
Plop.
No Rift Stone fell to the ground with a thud, either. Instead, a piece of equipment came into view.
"A numbered item..." After confirming that the equipment on the ground was a hammer, I froze.
Wait, what is this? ...Holy, this showed up here?
Flinching for a moment, I rushed over and picked up the hammer. I wasn't sure about the grip, but looking at its masculine color and rugged design, I was certain. This was No. 87: Kraul's Demon Grinder.
This was an expensive double-digit Numbered Item you couldn't even hope to get a glimpse of outside the Sky Auction House in the imperial capital. Not to mention, it was the final weapon I had decided on for myself after I took the ogre's essence. And this thing decided to appear on the third-floor Rift? 'Jackpot' wasn't even a strong enough word to describe it.
God damn it.
If only this weren't twenty years in the past. As an efficiency freak, I was disappointed, but this was still a good thing, my first stroke of luck in a long time. Yes, that was indisputable. Except, as soon as I grabbed the hammer, my brain started to buzz with loud thoughts.
Ha... how do I take this with me? If I dig a hole in the ground where no one will find it, will it still be fine twenty years in the future? Wait, what if someone takes it? Then I'm just screwed. Hmm, should I just sell it? Yeah, I can just sell it and use that money to buy an expensive essence or something at the auction house before I leave. That's the reason why I was gathering all that equipment in the first place...
While these thoughts ran through my mind in a continual loop, Carlton came up and congratulated me. "Congratulations. It's a pity it wasn't an essence that came out, but that must be our greed talking. Actually, this makes me feel a lot better! I'm glad you guys got something out of all this, too!"
Uh, this item is too valuable to call just "something."
It would be best not to say that, though. From the looks of it, even Amelia didn't suspect I was holding a double-digit Numbered Item. I decided to worry about that later, though. The portal had just opened, too.
Whooom!
Carlton glanced at the portal that had appeared in front of the cabin in the center of the forest and asked, "So what are you guys going to do now?"
"We're going to leave after a bit. We want to look around for the remaining time." To be precise, there were a few things we wanted to take with us.
But did he catch my drift from that alone? "I guess you're going to look for the Achievement of Gabrielius, then."
"Yes."
"Then what about the white fruit on the tree over there? It clearly looks out of the ordinary."
Oh, that... He was right about it being a hidden feature, but it was more like a joke item. How could I say this in a way that he wouldn't try to eat it?
While I was pondering this, Amelia explained in my stead. "It's a white fruit. When consumed, it takes the stats of an essence in the person's possession and randomly changes them."
Her explanation was short but not wrong. White fruit changed the nature of an essence upon consumption. The skills remained the same, but the base stats attached to the essence changed to a random value that matched its rank. It wasn't an item anyone in their right mind would consume because of thousands of tiny, intricate stats in this game. There was a significant chance that good stats, such as Strength and Agility, would become almost useless or get switched out with low-value stats like Greed or Obsession.
"So, what will you guys do?"
"We're going to head straight out. I'm sure our comrades who got left behind will be waiting outside."
"I see."
After saying goodbye to Carlton, the elven archer approached me. "First, let me say thank you. We undoubtedly couldn't have gotten all the way here on our own. We would have suffered a great deal more."
"You guys just got lucky."
"Luck, huh? Well, it's definitely extremely difficult to meet adventurers like you in a Rift. Please excuse our initial wariness. We've experienced a run of bad luck lately."
"Bad luck?"
"It's hard to explain. It's not that anyone's done anything wrong, but no matter what we do, our bad luck keeps getting in the way and turning things into a mess."
Hmm, really? There's only one possibility that comes to mind.
I debated whether to say this before biting the bullet and opening my mouth. "You said there's a guy named Hans on your team."
"I did."
"Take him out. You will have some better luck that way."
The elven archer looked momentarily dazed, then let out an awkward laugh. "Haha, that's a funny joke."
Nope, I'm being 100 percent sincere right now.
Just then, the Knight of the End suddenly grew in size. I was a bit stunned.
To think it would be Giantization.
I never imagined the high-rank mutant essence he had would be the essence of an Orc Hero.
No wonder he didn't use it earlier.
Only then did it click for me why this guy hadn't used his skill in the previous phases. Giantization was not an ability you could typically use while wearing equipment. The stat boost it gave you was huge, though.
"I cannot lose...!" Using Giantization, the guy started attacking me in a mad frenzy. Of course, that wasn't going to work.
What is growing bigger going to do for you? Your stats and size are still inferior to mine.
Squeeze.
After grabbing his fist, I pulled him in and grappled him down.
Stab.
Amelia's dagger dealt the finishing blow.
Shaaaaaa!
Then the guy turned into particles of light and fluttered away without so much as a parting line. It was always like this, but this was the tensest moment for me every time. I stared straight ahead without blinking.
Please, something come out.
Despite my hopes, there was no floating essence.
Plop.
No Rift Stone fell to the ground with a thud, either. Instead, a piece of equipment came into view.
"A numbered item..." After confirming that the equipment on the ground was a hammer, I froze.
Wait, what is this? ...Holy, this showed up here?
Flinching for a moment, I rushed over and picked up the hammer. I wasn't sure about the grip, but looking at its masculine color and rugged design, I was certain. This was No. 87: Kraul's Demon Grinder.
This was an expensive double-digit Numbered Item you couldn't even hope to get a glimpse of outside the Sky Auction House in the imperial capital. Not to mention, it was the final weapon I had decided on for myself after I took the ogre's essence. And this thing decided to appear on the third-floor Rift? 'Jackpot' wasn't even a strong enough word to describe it.
God damn it.
If only this weren't twenty years in the past. As an efficiency freak, I was disappointed, but this was still a good thing, my first stroke of luck in a long time. Yes, that was indisputable. Except, as soon as I grabbed the hammer, my brain started to buzz with loud thoughts.
Ha... how do I take this with me? If I dig a hole in the ground where no one will find it, will it still be fine twenty years in the future? Wait, what if someone takes it? Then I'm just screwed. Hmm, should I just sell it? Yeah, I can just sell it and use that money to buy an expensive essence or something at the auction house before I leave. That's the reason why I was gathering all that equipment in the first place...
While these thoughts ran through my mind in a continual loop, Carlton came up and congratulated me. "Congratulations. It's a pity it wasn't an essence that came out, but that must be our greed talking. Actually, this makes me feel a lot better! I'm glad you guys got something out of all this, too!"
Uh, this item is too valuable to call just "something."
It would be best not to say that, though. From the looks of it, even Amelia didn't suspect I was holding a double-digit Numbered Item. I decided to worry about that later, though. The portal had just opened, too.
Whooom!
Carlton glanced at the portal that had appeared in front of the cabin in the center of the forest and asked, "So what are you guys going to do now?"
"We're going to leave after a bit. We want to look around for the remaining time." To be precise, there were a few things we wanted to take with us.
But did he catch my drift from that alone? "I guess you're going to look for the Achievement of Gabrielius, then."
"Yes."
"Then what about the white fruit on the tree over there? It clearly looks out of the ordinary."
Oh, that... He was right about it being a hidden feature, but it was more like a joke item. How could I say this in a way that he wouldn't try to eat it?
While I was pondering this, Amelia explained in my stead. "It's a white fruit. When consumed, it takes the stats of an essence in the person's possession and randomly changes them."
Her explanation was short but not wrong. White fruit changed the nature of an essence upon consumption. The skills remained the same, but the base stats attached to the essence changed to a random value that matched its rank. It wasn't an item anyone in their right mind would consume because of thousands of tiny, intricate stats in this game. There was a significant chance that good stats, such as Strength and Agility, would become almost useless or get switched out with low-value stats like Greed or Obsession.
"So, what will you guys do?"
"We're going to head straight out. I'm sure our comrades who got left behind will be waiting outside."
"I see."
After saying goodbye to Carlton, the elven archer approached me. "First, let me say thank you. We undoubtedly couldn't have gotten all the way here on our own. We would have suffered a great deal more."
"You guys just got lucky."
"Luck, huh? Well, it's definitely extremely difficult to meet adventurers like you in a Rift. Please excuse our initial wariness. We've experienced a run of bad luck lately."
"Bad luck?"
"It's hard to explain. It's not that anyone's done anything wrong, but no matter what we do, our bad luck keeps getting in the way and turning things into a mess."
Hmm, really? There's only one possibility that comes to mind.
I debated whether to say this before biting the bullet and opening my mouth. "You said there's a guy named Hans on your team."
"I did."
"Take him out. You will have some better luck that way."
The elven archer looked momentarily dazed, then let out an awkward laugh. "Haha, that's a funny joke."
Nope, I'm being 100 percent sincere right now.