Chapter 204
Chapter 204
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: ACT.38 Those Who Uphold All Evil (4)
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[I am an immortal being! It was impossible for you to kill me in the first place… Keuk!?]
Was it around here?
*Stab!*
I thrust my hand into the area between Dahaka’s neck and chest.
When I felt something like a hard crystal, I gripped it tightly and pulled it out.
‘The Heart of Evil… that’s it.’
It was only called a heart; it wasn’t an actual one.
If it were a real heart, even I would have been too squeamish to just pull it out and hold it in my hand so easily.
Killing it was a guaranteed drop, but it was possible to obtain it this way without killing it.
“What are you doing? Not going to destroy it?”
“Why would I destroy it? Did you even watch the strategy videos properly?”
“You think I could watch thousands of hours of videos in that short amount of time!?”
“You just had to watch the relatively recent ones… Ah. Then again, the recent ones didn't even have titles, just the date and time.”
I realized my mistake as soon as I said it.
To a third party, the playtime for a single run grew to tens of hours in the more recent videos, so they wouldn’t even know which video to start with.
Worse, I didn’t even cut the videos when one run ended and the next began.
Jun Bo-ra grumbled.
“The video I happened to pick started from the very beginning, but the world changed while I was watching it on double speed, so there was a lot I didn't fully understand, and I don't know what comes after.”
“…So it was the same for Hwang Chan-jin.”
The strange things I’d heard from Hwang Chan-jin were suddenly explained.
What if Hwang Chan-jin had also watched my live stream that day and happened to watch a relatively recent video on fast-forward?
That would explain why his knowledge of the intermediate steps was so vague.
‘He said only one could survive.’
Then the video Hwang Chan-jin watched must have been my 98th or 99th ending.
I changed my playstyle after that, so it made sense he would take a different route from me.
“It’s actually more beneficial to keep it alive like this.”
Azi Dahaka also possessed the trait of immortality.
However, it came with a condition.
That sacrifices must be continuously offered.
Not simple fleshly sacrifices, but offerings where the very existence is annihilated, so offering the living was defined as a grave evil.
‘But it doesn't matter if they’re undead.’
Suppress it to the point where it can’t rampage, and offer just enough undead as sacrifices to barely keep it alive.
It was a way to deal with troublesome undead by turning them against each other.
“Dahaka consumes energy just by manifesting here. In a near-death state like that, if it can't recover through proper sacrifices, it's just an ornamental creature that can talk.”
[Are you mocking me, human…!]
“Then try moving. You’re not even budging because you don’t want to waste what little energy you have left, right? Even talking must be a waste of energy for you.”
[Kngh…]
As I pointed out the facts one by one, Dahaka groaned and fell silent.
Its massive eyes glared at me as if to devour me, but knowing the truth, I could only scoff.
All that was left was to weaken the disaster’s power as much as possible.
Destroying all the ritual-related objects was the most certain way.
“If you see any suspicious objects or paintings, just smash them. That should weaken the disaster.”
“Ah, so that’s what that was for?”
With a grin, saying she was confident when it came to breaking things, Jun Bo-ra kicked over the various pots and candlesticks scattered around.
Some objects possessed power in and of themselves, while others were powerless but gained magical properties through a specific arrangement.
So, simply destroying them was an easy way to counter both possibilities.
‘The Book of the Dead… isn’t here.’
Did they already move it?
Getting rid of that would at least prevent dead allies from being resurrected as enemies.
If they’d intentionally hidden it somewhere, there was nothing I could do.
On top of that, I couldn’t see the ‘Priestess’ either.
The shrines Tarwi had built throughout Incheon should have all been destroyed with this being the last one.
Since there was no word from Hwang Chan-jin about finding the Priestess, it meant she was somewhere else entirely.
“Hee, heehee.”
Having regained consciousness at some point, Eida let out a low laugh.
“I knew from the start you wouldn’t just focus on the eastern residential area. Did you think we wouldn’t have prepared for this? The east was just a means to buy time to speed things up here, or at the very least, an attempt to divide your forces.”
“I know.”
I answered casually as if receiving a greeting, which seemed to fluster her.
I wondered what great secret she was about to reveal.
I still needed to get information out of Eida.
She had undoubtedly made arrangements with other parties.
“The Order must have interfered on this side too.”
I bought an item from the shop and buried it a short distance away as I asked.
“Did the Order help with the Priestess?”
“Hmph. As if I’d tell you.”
Eida, who had been pulling down her lower eyelids and sticking her tongue out, flinched and looked down at her hands.
Watching her, I lightly kicked the cross-shaped tombstone buried in the ground to activate it.
“Well, if you don’t feel like talking, I’ll just have to make you feel like it.”
A whitish energy flowed from the tombstone along the ground, and from a distance, the gurgling sound characteristic of the undead could be heard.
This item, called the ‘Cradle of the Dead,’ drew in all undead-type monsters within a wide range from the moment it was activated.
Normally, it was an item used simply to draw aggro elsewhere, but…
“They’re already gathering.”
From those with so few wounds they were indistinguishable from the living, to those that were complete skeletons.
Since this was a ritual site, there must have been many nearby, as dozens had already swarmed in.
“Whoops.”
“Huh? W-wait. What are you trying to do?”
“Feeding time?”
“What!?”
I picked Eida up and threw her toward the undead.
The attention of the undead, who had been shuffling along as if drawn by something, focused on Eida.
*Hic,* Eida let out a cute yelp and shook her head frantically.
“They’re different from zombies, so you won’t turn into one if you get bitten, but getting eaten alive is the same.”
“Hey, you bastard!! I was going to tell you one or two things since you healed my arm! I was!!!”
Eida screamed and tried to get up.
Escape was difficult due to the ability-sealing cuffs, and fighting back was impossible with her arms bound.
Moreover, because the ground had melted about two meters deep due to Dahaka, she had to climb up to get away from the undead, which was also a struggle.
Eida kept jumping, desperately trying to climb up, but gripping the slippery ground with her cuffed hands was no easy task.
“This isn't right! This isn't right! This isn't right!!”
“That’s why you should have just talked from the beginning.”
I glanced at the undeads’ positions.
At this distance, it should be possible soon.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!! Kyaaak!?”
A withered undead arm reached within inches of Eida.
Just before the arm could grab her shoulder…
*Fsssh…*
The undead that tried to grab Eida turned to black ash and disappeared.
At the same time, Dahaka’s booming laughter echoed.
[You fool! You bring disaster upon yourself!]
The undead that had entered a certain range all turned to ash and vanished.
The gray smoke that rose from the ashes flew toward Dahaka and was absorbed.
“Ah, ahh…”
Eida’s legs gave out, and she collapsed on the spot.
That should be enough to scare her.
I went down, slung Eida over my shoulder, and climbed back up.
[I will make you regret allowing me to recover my immortal power…!?]
Dahaka’s cheerful laughter, from absorbing energy from the undead, was cut short.
[You, you bastard. What have you done to my body!?]
“Did you think I did this without a plan?”
Dahaka’s body was already being encroached upon by countless shadows.
It was a power that blocked all healing effects, rendering them useless.
No matter how many undead it absorbed, it could barely sustain itself; regaining the power it so desired was impossible.
[Just kill me, you cowardly human!!]
“You’ll have to endure that humiliation.”
I moved right in front of Dahaka’s eyes and spoke with the most vile smile I could muster.
“You’ll want to survive at all costs to help your master when he resurrects, won’t you? So stay alive, even if it’s pathetic.”
[You…!!]
A wave of malice momentarily erupted, making it hard to breathe, but it was quickly suppressed.
Instead, words filled with tightly controlled fury followed.
[I want to tear you to shreds this instant, but I will endure it, for you speak the truth. When my master awakens, I will show you true hell.]
“I look forward to it.”
With a smirk, I moved away from Dahaka.
Having broken everything in sight, Jun Bo-ra approached and gestured toward Dahaka with her eyes.
“What’s the scheme with that one?”
“As long as that thing is alive, the Disaster of Defiance will try to share its power, which in turn reduces its own. It’s a way to induce a sort of debuff. Not that it matters how much power is shared, since Encroachment will nullify it all.”
It wouldn't work if it were a simple power boost, but ‘strengthening vitality’ was the problem.
The system judged it based on the current HP ratio, meaning an increase in max HP would result in a certain amount of health recovery.
At that moment, Encroachment would activate, reducing the effectiveness of the entire buff.
Jun Bo-ra let out a disbelieving laugh.
“…You really use everything you can, don’t you?”
“You have to. To survive.”
The duration of Encroachment wasn’t infinite.
Therefore, its duration was also the time limit.
At most, it would be four or five hours.
I set Eida, who was slung over my shoulder, down on the ground.
Her half-dazed expression finally returned to normal.
As I drew closer, Eida flinched and let out a small scream.
“Eek…!”
“Talk now. What kind of cooperation did you have with the Order? Where did the Priestess and the Book of the Dead go?”
“That is…”
*Ah-aah-*
The moment Eida opened her mouth, a singing voice, unfitting for the time and place, spread through the air.
Though it seemed to come from far away, the volume was just right.
A clean, beautiful, and clear tone.
Which made the song feel all the more eerie.
“The Song of the Dead…!”
Recognizing the song’s identity, Jun Bo-ra’s face hardened.
“Looks like it’s started. We’re already too… Ack!?”
“Stop stalling and spit it out! If you stall one more time, I’m throwing you in there!”
As Jun Bo-ra grabbed her by the collar and shook her, cursing, Eida’s face turned pale.
“The Order! The Order provided separate buildings! The rituals are proceeding there too…! The Priestess will be at the point closest to the west coast!”
“I think she’s lying again. Should I just throw her? I think she’d be better off dying and coming back once. Yeah. The more I think about it, the better that sounds. Let’s do that.”
“I-It’s true! I swear! So please, stop her!!”
Can being resurrected as an undead even be called coming back to life?
Jun Bo-ra was so serious that Eida began to cling to me, pleading. I let out a small sigh, took out my phone, and opened the map.
“Point them out. Where are they?”
Terrified, Eida quickly marked five points.
Connecting the dots formed an inverted pentagram.
She really told me everything.
Using that method would increase the Disaster of Defiance’s stats by about 10%.
“Jun Bo-ra. Let’s move now. We have to at least subdue the Priestess and stop the Song of the Dead.”
“What about her?”
“We’ll have to throw her in a temporary prison.”
“Kyaaaa!?”
I opened a shadow beneath Eida’s feet, and she fell into it.
“N-No! Let me out! It’s scary!! Sa-!!!”
The noisy screams vanished in an instant.
Jun Bo-ra gave me a look that asked what that was.
“She won’t die. But according to someone who’s experienced it, it makes you wonder if you’re already dead. It seems to be quite painful inside.”
“Nice. Good job.”