Corpse Exhibition (5)
"Haa, haa."
Adelia panted heavily.
Before her lay the collapsed form of a grotesque flesh golem.
It wore a filthy apron stained with blood, and a massive double-edged saw was still clutched in its hands.
The crude stitching running across its skin made it look like a patchwork doll.
...Brute the Flesh Dismantler.
That was the name of the golem Gaon had told her.
True to its role as the gatekeeper guarding the exit of the first room, the battle against it had been incredibly tricky.
Staring down at the gruesome corpse, Adelia tried to catch her breath and asked a question.
"Is it really over now?"
Gaon gave a quiet nod.
Only then did Adelia let out a sigh of relief and collapse to the floor.
"...Haa, thank goodness."
It had been an exhausting fight.
The chimeras were manageable, but the complex traps littered throughout the room were the real problem.
Indeed, the constant, life-threatening mechanisms had pushed her mental limits.
Especially when those hooks hanging from the ceiling aimed for my blind spots...
Adelia bit the inside of her lip.
Just imagining the urgency of those moments made her dizzy.
Shaking her head to dispel the lingering dread, she looked at Gaon and continued her train of thought.
If Sir Gaon hadn't been here, this battle would have been far more grueling.
Gaon had not participated in the combat directly.
He had merely stood a step back, issuing commands.
Yet, without a doubt, the one who contributed the most to this victory was him.
As always, every single one of his judgments was chillingly precise.
He predicted the movements of the complex traps installed in the room.
And even the next attack patterns of Brute the Flesh Dismantler.
Gaon had issued precise instructions at every turn, as if he could see through everything at a single glance.
Like a man who could see a future hidden from everyone else.
Is this also the influence of a revelation?
Whether that was true or not, it was astonishing either way.
Normally, revelations only foretold the macro-level flow of the world.
But for the great Elder to bestow such detailed revelations and prophecies, even predicting the minute movements of an enemy?
It meant Gaon enjoyed an extraordinary level of divine favor.
And even if it isn't a revelation, that in itself is mind-boggling.
For it would mean he resolved this entire situation perfectly through sheer personal ability.
Had Sikan Bauer realized this as well?
He, too, was staring at Gaon with renewed awe in his eyes.
Of course...
...there were still parts she couldn't comprehend.
For instance, the command he gave when dealing with Brute the Flesh Dismantler.
—Make sure the corpse isn't damaged. You must kill it while keeping it as intact as possible.
To not damage the corpse.
How much more complicated had the situation become because of that baffling condition?
If she could have swung her sword freely, the battle would have been several times easier.
She could have restricted the enemy's movements by severing its arms or legs.
But Sir Gaon forbade such methods.
All for the sake of keeping Brute the Flesh Dismantler's corpse as whole as possible.
Because of that, I had to struggle much harder just to target its vital points.
Even so, Adelia had followed his orders without a single complaint.
As always, there had to be a reason behind Gaon's eccentric demands.
"Phew..."
Finishing her thoughts, Adelia let out a sigh.
"...Do we have to face three more monsters like that in the future?"
According to Camilo's explanation, the Special Gallery consisted of four rooms in total.
This meant they would have to fight similar battles several more times.
To make matters worse, considering the mental torture like the Slaughterhouse Labyrinth that awaited them in between...
...Ugh.
Just imagining it made her feel hopeless. It wasn't just a physical burden; the mental pressure was starting to weigh on her.
"No."
Gaon calmly replied, looking up at the ceiling.
An endless network of intricately tangled hooks and rails hung above.
The transport system, covering the ceiling like a massive spiderweb, gleamed ominously in the darkness.
Staring up at it, Gaon's eyes sharpened.
"There's no rule saying we have to follow the path Camilo intended."
The Corpse Exhibition had brought despair to countless players.
Its brutal difficulty played a part, but for those who couldn't stand grotesque sights, the barrier to entry was simply too high.
Among them, Strawberry Latte was a friend who particularly couldn't tolerate gore.
It was a mystery why a guy like him had even started playing Lost Elder, the epitome of dark fantasy RPGs, but regardless...
At this point, a question might naturally arise.
Why go through the trouble of clearing the Corpse Exhibition while enduring such disgust?
They could have just spent that time enjoying other content in Lost Elder.
Well, the reason was actually very simple and clear...
...Because the item obtainable here could yield immense rewards depending on how it was utilized.
Which is also the reason why I came to the Corpse Exhibition now.
Like any other game, the Corpse Exhibition hid an easter egg.
This meant there was a trick to conquer this brutal dungeon much more easily and quickly.
Of course, to pull it off, one had to satisfy two difficult prerequisites.
First, break through the Slaughterhouse Labyrinth within 30 minutes.
And the second was...
...To defeat Brute the Flesh Dismantler with as little damage to the corpse as possible.
Naturally, Strawberry Latte didn't take my advice seriously.
He stubbornly chose the standard method.
As a result, it took him about two years before he finally cleared the Corpse Exhibition for the first time.
...He didn't listen even when I gave him a great tip. What a fool.
They say if the head is empty, the body suffers. That phrase fit this situation perfectly.
If he had used the method I told him, he could have cleared the dungeon much faster.
Anyway.
Brushing aside my old memories, I organized my thoughts and spoke.
"Hang Brute's corpse on that hook."
I pointed toward the ceiling.
A massive iron hook connected to the central rail came into view.
In the sturdy basket hanging beneath it lay corpses that were in far better condition than the others.
"We're going to ride that to the final room."
"...?"
"...?"
For a moment, Adelia wore a look of utter confusion.
"Sir Gaon? What do you mean by that..."
"Camilo's art uses corpses as materials. And this rail is a device designed to supply him with those materials."
I recited the information I had gathered from clearing the Corpse Exhibition multiple times.
"If that's the case, isn't the destination of that iron hook obvious?"
Pointing toward the ground, I looked at Adelia and Sikan Bauer as I finished speaking.
"The place where corpses are needed most."
"..."
"The lowest floor, where Camilo resides."
Rumble!
With a deafening roar, the hook began to descend.
The second and third rooms of the Corpse Exhibition flashed past in the blink of an eye, leaving only red streaks in our vision.
Using Brute the Flesh Dismantler's corpse as a foothold, we plunged deeper into the Special Gallery.
"T-This is unbelievable..."
Adelia muttered to herself in disbelief.
"...To think we could pass through like this."
Hearing this, I smirked and thought to myself.
It's a success.
This transport system was designed to deliver the materials Brute gathered directly to Camilo.
Once a certain weight threshold was met, the rail operated automatically.
It was essentially a logistics system connecting the first-floor slaughterhouse, where corpses were stored, to the lowest floor where Camilo's workshop was located.
However, being the artist he was, Camilo set strict standards.
He designed the mechanism to automatically filter out corpses if they had been left too long and rotted, or if they were excessively damaged.
That's why those two prerequisites were necessary.
If more than 30 minutes passed, the corpses in the basket would begin to rot.
Furthermore, Brute's corpse had to be loaded to meet the weight requirement for the rail to activate, but what if even that was excessively damaged?
It would simply be automatically discarded according to Camilo's fastidious standards.
Of course, we satisfied every single condition.
Thanks to that, the transport device proceeded toward the lowest floor exactly as expected.
Crash!
Before long, we arrived at the lowest floor with a sound like the ceiling collapsing.
A massive underground workshop illuminated by reddish magic lamps came into view.
Numerous blades and dissection tools hung on the walls, and ominous diagrams drawn in blood were engraved on the floor.
As thick dust blanketed the surroundings, I stepped off Brute the Flesh Dismantler's corpse, landing lightly on the floor, and looked at Camilo...
"What a truly pathetic gallery."
...And just like that, we faced the current situation.
"Y-You...!"
Whoosh!
A dense wave of killing intent flooded the area.
Along with it, Camilo's voice trembled with fury.
"How dare you... How dare you desecrate the art I painstakingly prepared in such a manner...!"
Camilo's rage-filled voice shook the entire exhibition hall.
"Every floor, every room, and every single device contained my artistic intent! You were supposed to follow the path I prepared and leisurely appreciate my work!"
For some reason, the expression he wore as he stared at me seemed thick with a sense of betrayal.
"And yet you... you...!"
Shring.
Watching Camilo wail in despair, I drew the Feather Sword from its sheath.
Then, I quietly lost myself in thought.
Camilo von Taribas.
He was a boss notorious enough to be counted among the top five in Lost Elder.
He had a whopping five phases.
Not only did players have to deal with the undead minions he created throughout the fight, but they also had to pass a "Trial" at the very end.
Killing an immortal lich who had lived for hundreds of years was just that difficult and grueling.
"Why did you do this! You were the only one who understood my art! The first comrade I've met in hundreds of years...!"
Rumble!
Camilo's anger materialized, the surrounding air pressing down heavily on all sides.
Adelia and Sikan Bauer were pinned in place, unable to budge under the pressure, but...
I paid it no mind and slowly walked forward.
"Why did you ignore my intentions?! Why on earth?!"
[System: Mental Strength 'MAX' resists the opponent's overwhelming pressure.]
Step, step.
With every step I took, I recalled Camilo's patterns.
Summoning an undead army, calling forth a corpse chimera.
Activating curses, magic circles, and all kinds of barriers while spamming instant-death skills...
Yeah.
Seriously, even thinking about it now, every single one of his attacks was a headache for players.
"Your intentions?"
But to the current me, none of that mattered at all.
"Why should I care about that?"
MP: 1/1
Click.
MP: 0/0
...As I said before, there was no rule saying we had to follow someone else's intentions.