Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Truth (2)
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The king of the giant dwarves laughed heartily as he looked down at everyone below.
"If it's to protect Helred, Sional will grant anything-diplomatic ties with Sonain or whatever. We dwarves aren't like you humans."
"Righteous king, we are truly grateful."
Sherpandnel, whom Rondnel had pegged as a boisterous type from his words, proved even greater than that. As Rondnel had said, he was one of this era's true Heroes who genuinely cherished Helred.
In response, the Hero's party all knelt and offered their heartfelt thanks.
But,
"One thing: a new myth? The myth isn't ours yet. I still don't see you as Heroes. Will you become Heroes even after knowing all the truths? If so, then come with me."
"All the truths...?"
The one who knew all the truths rose from his throne and shouted.
"As king of the dwarves who hold up the roof of the continent, by the oath we all swore a thousand years ago, I hereby impose a trial upon you!"
A sudden trial. The dwarf king still hadn't acknowledged Bulki as a Hero he could trust.
"Do you know the sinner who forged the sacred brazier of the primordial myth? Even knowing his sin, will you truly become Heroes of a new era? Will you truly carry on my will!"
The new myth hadn't even begun, and the primordial one hadn't ended. Sherpandnel flung open the massive iron door he'd sealed with his throne.
The door hiding the world's truth.
***
The primordial myth, the tale of gods and Mir. Heroes, princesses, and Demon Kings in every story.
What if the good and evil in that myth, as true as scripture, differed from what you knew? Could anyone who heard all those truths remain unchanged? Would they keep being Heroes? Or before a truth that denied everything before, what could they protect?
"Is this the entrance to the earthly prison?"
Bulki was climbing stairs along the lava vents of Haipoji Mountain. Then, the steps carved from naturally frosty stone abruptly turned into iron stairs forcibly extended to the summit.
The fork in the stairs before him and the Hero's party seemed to hint at something entirely different from what they'd known unfolding ahead.
"By the way, was he telling the truth?"
"Lord Sherpandnel... I can't imagine what he knows."
Sherpandnel had given the Hero's party a trial along with talk of the oath.
"Go to the sinner at the summit, past the lava path of Haipoji Mountain."
Bulki whispered quietly as he climbed the iron stairs. He didn't fully grasp the purpose or meaning, but Sherpandnel had said the truth they sought lay with that sinner.
He'd also warned them to beware the world's pus along the long lava path to the sinner.
"Pus-doesn't that mean immortals like corpse-eaters? I've never heard of such things on my Haipoji Mountain."
"Still, if it's pus, shouldn't we stay cautious? In a way, it's no different from these mossy stones."
"Stay humble, knight. From Sherpandnel's demeanor, this isn't an impossible task meant to stump us-it feels like a real test to gain something. No Mir, so let's keep moving first."
"Let me carry the luggage, Lady Shainelius!"
Following the enigmatic words of the massive dwarf king, the party ventured deeper into the mountain. The further they went, the more the trial born of that oath seemed to cloud their eyes like the frosty mists flowing through the mountain's innards.
"Everyone... isn't it getting... colder?"
Yet something strange happened. Deeper into the mountain, where they expected rising heat from the lava, the temperature dropped instead. The iron stairs' incline lessened until they reached flat ground, then a downhill slope.
"I knew Haipoji was huge, but is a cavern this vast inside even possible?"
"Gil, I know nothing of mountain riddles, but from here on, watch for ear-popping pressure. Loosen your jaw like this-it helps. Anyway, this layout feels like it's sucking us into a spiral down to the mountain's deepest bottom before we see the peak."
"Why say that while looking at me, half-dwarf?"
The party bantered and bickered, lightening the mood with small talk, but,
"It's getting too dark. And this smell."
Everyone, Elis included, could sense it. The pus of this world seeping in from afar.
Bulki turned to the group and said quietly.
"Everyone, battle ready."
Soon, an enormous cavern appeared-one so vast it beggared belief who could have built it inside a mountain. A dark, deep space propped up by stalactite pillars like a normal cave.
"This place..."
Later recorded as the Foreseers' Tomb.
"Hero, look over there."
"Those... corpses?"
About 500 corpses lay dead in black robes at the cavern's center, each with a jagged rock stake impaled in their own chest.
They huddled as if waiting for the rough, beast-thorn-like stalactites to pierce them, postures twisted in agony like hearts being wrung-yet up close, their faces were utterly serene.
"Humans?"
"Yes, Gil. Humans, dwarves, beastkin, even fairies... Those are the legendary Foreseers. The Foreseers of Tehom. Just as Lord Graveheim mentioned."
Even Rondnel, versed in dwarf history, couldn't grasp what this massive crypt signified. Only the clank of clashing plate armor and the teardrop patter of falling water echoed in the space.
"Hold-spread out, half-dwarf!"
At Shainelius's sharp cry, the party fanned out.
"Don't you see the demon marks on their faces? These are demons! All who came from Tehom in the western continent were demons!"
"No, aren't they the same races as us?"
Grrrraaah, ah, ah.
Suddenly, strange noises came from the corpses. Shainelius loosed an arrow at the source, felling one struck in the back.
"No time-explanations later! Form up! It's the pus!"
The fallen corpse twisted and rose again. Bones warped and tore from its arrow-pierced back, forming a massive demon face.
Then, over 500 corpses rose like a tidal wave, limbs snapping as they yanked out stakes, spilling black blood, and slowly advanced on the Hero's party.
"Pus is poison. Keep distance and focus on defense-don't let it touch you!"
At Shainelius's shout, Rondnel and Elis raised shields up front to block the corpses.
"I'll attack!"
"No! The cave could collapse. Gil, flames!"
Shainelius kept drawing her bow from the rear, while Gil and Bulki flanked and downed approaching pus sporadically.
Their combat power wasn't threatening if you avoided the poison, but the overwhelming numbers forced a rapid retreat.
"We can't hold like this! I'll manifest! Karachina, shield that blocks all!"
'Rampart enduring even savage waves'.
At Rondnel's urgent call, blue energy rippled, forming a crystal wall dividing the Hero's party from the pus.
"Our attacks pierce my rampart to skewer foes' hearts, but theirs can't cross to us! No time-attack now!"
"How did humans become immortals? Weren't they once human too? How could humans...?"
As Gil hesitated oddly, Bulki swung his sword.
[Judgment of Glory].
Boom!
"Gil! They're immortals now! Attack!"
Bulki swept away about ten pus in an instant, but their chunks reformed into new pus, making Gil's flames the most efficient.
"But... immortals are just rotten corpses infused with demon energy, soulless husks. As the young knight says, weren't they human like us!"
"Knight! Their serene faces mean they've atoned for their sins. They came here to die for it, and this form isn't what they wanted! The truth's at the summit-give them rest with your flames now!"
"Damn it!"
[Exploding Justice].
Flames like crashing waves burst from Gil's swung sword.
Boom!
The cavern heated fiercely under the firestorm. Roiling heat filled the space in moments, ashing half the corpses.
"They scream burning... Have I... failed to save them?"
"Not over yet!"
Elis, having slain the nearest pus, shouted as the remnants gathered. Torn and crumbling pus devoured each other like self-cannibalism.
Grinning faces mixed with demon ones into an indescribable black, repulsive mass before Bulki. He backed away, looking up.
"Oh no!"
Then the highest-hanging head wept black bloody tears and smiled purely. The pus mass meeting Bulki's eyes murmured.
"Forgive... our... sins..."
"They're... talking..."
Boom!