Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: To the Things that Eat Death
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On the third descent, she couldn't kill even a single undead Join.
All she accomplished was confirming that the weapons she'd seized from the pilgrims were still lying there beneath it. She watched the horde of undead Joins clustered around the ice mass, clutching shattered shields and swords, only to get struck from behind by something and die. She couldn't verify if it was a Join, but it was undoubtedly undead.
And that made sense, because when she took the blow to the head and died, she saw that the enemy's weapon piercing her forehead was a bone.
That was when Elis realized it. There was no rule saying the undead in this place were limited to Joins.
Hadn't Iveldra said as much? This place, where she was endlessly repeating death after death, was the final bastion holding back the undead coming from the north.
"This memory..."
Only after the third descent ended and she returned did fragments of her previous life start coming back to her.
"I died without even realizing it."
A memory of something black swallowing her whole. It was the instant right before death. Elis immediately grabbed the spear from the last of the three pilgrims and asked Iveldra.
"Could you tell me about before I died... I'mean, when I was alive?"
Iveldra smeared black tears on her again and replied.
"There's nothing I can'tell you. I'm merely aiding your complete resurrection for the one I serve. Ah, but there is one thing I can whisper."
Amid the falling white snowflakes, black lips brushed against Elis's ear.
"Originally, your sword took the form of a spear."
Elis smiled for the first time at those words.
It looked like it might snap at any moment, but if it was the same form as the weapon she normally wielded, then she could kill at least one more undead Join.
"Then I'll go again."
With that, Elis began her fourth descent. Leaving the altar with Rahav behind, she went down the stairs, followed the mountainside through the white mist, and reached the spot where the ice waterfall had collapsed. Looking down, she could spot three. Excluding the two that had probably scattered nearby, the remaining five or so would come into view once she descended.
Jumping down now to face just those three would be impossible to win. But like on the third descent, she might run into other enemies while circling around below.
"In that case..."
First, she set the spear on the ground and rolled a nearby rock down. With a heavy thud, something exploded-maybe the version of herself who'd died there before, or perhaps an undead Join that had come to devour it. Drawn by the noise and the scent of blood, other undead Joins began gathering.
"Good."
Elis didn't bother rolling another pointless rock. It wouldn't deal any real damage anyway. Instead, she gripped the spear and leaped down.
"Hah!"
Pfsh!
The spear pierced straight through the head of an undead Join that had lifted its head, embedding in its neck. This pitiful creature would now be led to eternal death, and the other undead Joins would surely wound themselves tearing into its corpse.
That alone was impressive enough, but Elis didn't stop. The spear was unusable now anyway, so she crouched low, snatched up some random bone, and dashed between the ice and the undead Joins. One immediately shrieked and chased her, but the others were too busy devouring the corpse. Ahead, two more undead Joins were visible.
"Haaa!"
Elis hurled the bone like a spear. She confirmed it lodging in the head of the nearer one up front, then veered sharply left and tumbled.
"Kuh!"
The undead Joins pursuing her from behind and front collided with the one that had a bone in its face and began ripping into each other. Elis caught her breath and gathered her thoughts. If she could pull this off a few more times this descent, wiping out the undead Joins and escaping this area would be a breeze.
But sure enough, a shadow crept up behind her. The same shadow from the third attempt. She'd been caught the moment she sensed it last time. So this time, she dodged right away.
"Hup."
She rolled left again and finally spotted the thing that had killed her. It wasn't an undead Join-it was a pus-filled mass of tangled, undead Joins.
"You're the boss, huh?"
It was frozen solid like the surrounding ice, but formed from clumped white Join bones and rotting flesh. She couldn't fight it now. And there was no reason to. This was the only path down the peak, and as long as she didn't head toward the ice waterfall, there was no need to come this way.
"Better to leave you down there!"
Elis ran again. The farther she got from the waterfall, the better. But that cliff visible now was probably the farthest she could go. Still, that was fine. If she made it there, the next descent wouldn't be hindered by the pus mass.
"Haa."
But piercing the mist-shrouded frozen peak, the cliff she encountered gave her an eerie sense of déjà vu.
"What the hell is all this?"
It looked like an army of Joins had smashed into the cliff and died-countless bloodstains smeared across it. She couldn't make sense of it, but if the pus mass came here, the blood might lure it and keep it occupied longer. Good, she tried to think.
But no more thoughts came. Down at the base of the cliff were clearly "herselves." Some decayed, some melted away, but she knew they were her because of the swords, spears, and broken shields they held.
They were unmistakably the pilgrims' weapons from beside Rahav.
Grrrrrr.
Soon, as if telling her to stop thinking or even trying to, the frozen pus mass had already caught up behind her. Normally, she'd plan to die right here.
"Tch."
But she'd changed her mind. Seeing this cliff where her past selves had died-despite not understanding it-convinced her she had to eliminate the pus mass.
She didn't have time to put the reason into words, but if she had to phrase the doubt, wasn't it possible there was a hidden rule: dying to that pus mass meant losing the memories from previous descents?
"Hah!"
In that case, she couldn't die here. No, at least not to that pus mass. Elis dashed to the cliff base and grabbed a random sword. All her swirling thoughts and nagging questions instantly cleared.
"Plenty of weapons."
She would fight.
Swords, spears, and shields strewn everywhere. Her back to the cliff, an enormous pus mass ahead. She had to discard every other thought. Only then would the sword tip stay steady.
"Here I go!"
Elis charged the frozen pus mass. Her single swing shattered the sword, but it clearly wounded the pus part, not the bones. Dodging the massive, crude wing-bone or spine it swung was easy enough.
"Haaa!"
She snatched a spear from the ground and impaled one of the heads atop the pus mass. But it wouldn't die from that, so she instantly retreated to create distance. She grabbed another spear, threw it, dodged incoming bones. She blocked globs of pus the mass hurled with a shield.
"Die!"
The endless exchange continued. Spears, swords, and shields shattered as enemy flesh flew and bones twisted. Frozen debris piled up near the pus. Her death-rattled breaths grew ragged. How much time passed?
Thinking it was her last, Elis spun fully and hurled the spear. The recoil threw off her stance, but the spear tore through pus and shattered sharp bones alike.
Thus, the being woven from countless deaths finally collapsed.
"Haa, haa."
In the end, Elis had won. She hadn't thought ahead after this point, so she didn't know what to do next, but there was nothing more to see in the pus mass's remains. She decided to hurry. Grabbing three spears, she headed back toward where the Joins had been, at the collapsed ice waterfall.
"Huh?"
And there, only Join corpses remained-no movement in sight.
Had killing the pus mass affected them somehow? For now, everything was unclear.
"Then..."
This might be a chance.
The perfect opportunity to learn what came next and prepare for death. Knowing what lay ahead versus not was worlds apart. Dragging her weary steps, Elis pressed on from the waterfall collapse toward the descending path below.
How long had she walked? Another cliff appeared. It had a cave. That passage probably led down the peak into the valley. Elis gripped her spear and entered. It was dark without light, but the ice inside-some kind of barrier?-glowed faintly.
Following that pale, ghostly light deep into the cave, Elis saw more of "herselves." Innumerable deaths, weapons scattered everywhere, but unlike the pus mass site, the corpses weren't rotting. Elis addressed whatever had created those corpses.
"What are you?"
In the center, amid the sprawl of pale and dark selves, was another her.
"Back again? Another me carrying madness. But your question's wrong. You shouldn't ask what I am-you should ask what we are."
Elis aimed her sword at her other self and said.
"We are merely the things that eat death."