100
100 ― The Little Dwarf
Vision blurring. Within it, forgotten memories of the past surfaced.
Countless Orcs lay fallen.
The fall of Urgan, the Orc kingdom that had unified the entire continent.
Urgan's warriors were strong. There was no one to stop them as they roamed the continent, and the land they trod became entirely theirs.
Warriors who could no longer find worthy opponents on this planet.
However, even they were helpless against the dragons that appeared by tearing open the sky.
Thunder and lightning fell from the sky while lava surged from the ground. In the split earth, the warriors died helplessly with nowhere to set foot.
The sight of the kingdom burning.
His respected father and master, the maid who had cared for him when he was young. The innocent people. Everyone died. They were devoured by the ferocious dragons and reduced to their meal.
'Pain.'
So he wished.
'The pain we have, to them as well.'
So that those hateful dragons could feel this agony too.
So they could experience this anguish.
It was merely rambling. That was all he could do as he lay dying.
But then an answer came.
[ Can you pay the price? ]
It was a heavy voice. And a loud voice.
It pierced into his head like an iron hammer falling from the sky. Even though his dying body should have been beyond feeling pain, he felt unbearable agony.
Even so, he nodded.
[ In return, your soul will be wounded. ]
Thus, he was reborn as a new being.
***
Jin-woo's sword dug into Bertus's neck. It didn't simply end with the neck being cut. That sword was cutting through even his flames.
Bertus tried to quickly pull back his body, but he couldn't escape Jin-woo's sword. Blood spurted as the light began rapidly fading from his eyes.
'This, kind of...'
Dying in a place like this? When he hadn't even achieved everything he desired!
Resentment and indignation filled his dimming eyes instead of light.
He had gained power. The power to take revenge by contracting with a higher-dimensional spirit.
In exchange for becoming its slave and being used, but it didn't matter. If he could just avenge his kingdom and fellow countrymen, what would being used for a thousand or two thousand years matter?
But to have his life cut short here without even achieving that?
'Still... Still the wounds of my kingdom remain in my soul...'
The power he had gained from the spirit was to transfer others' wounds to his own soul. And to inject them into the desired targets when he wished.
The wounds of his kingdom, torn apart by those creatures, still dwelt in his soul. He had never released them under any circumstances, saving them for the time of revenge.
Could he kill the man before him if he used that?
His soul writhed.
"Don't even think about playing tricks."
But it settled down again at the man's gaze.
His eyes were looking at him, yet not looking at him. As if seeing through to his inner self, it felt like his entire soul was being read thoroughly.
Deep despair. A powerlessness similar to what he had felt when the dragons tore apart his kingdom.
Even if he opened the wounds of his kingdom that he had saved, it didn't seem like he could kill this man.
"Quite an unusual flame."
It wasn't just a premonition—the man's sword was actually cutting through his soul.
And his soul, the wounds of his kingdom that he had saved, were being completely absorbed into that sword.
"Ah."
Bertus let out a single sigh.
He had lost.
No matter what he did, he couldn't win.
As an Orc who served in a struggle, this was the most perfect defeat he could feel.
His flesh was stopping, and his soul had already been captured by his opponent. Then at least words. His final words.
"The, sword is..."
"Hm?"
Fortunately, his opponent listened. Relieved by this, he died.
"The sword of the black horn... Dragon..."
He could leave only three words at most.
Watching Bertus die after saying this, Jin-woo made a puzzled expression. The dragon of the black horn?
"What the hell is he talking about?"
What about the dragon of the black horn? He didn't know what Bertus hoped for by leaving such words.
Anyway, the battle was over. With Bertus, the greatest threat, dead, the rest were just Orcs with numbers.
"Kuk..."
Only then did his wounds throb, making him grimace in pain. Though he had protected his heart, the pain of having his chest pierced was not to be taken lightly.
'Can't I heal somehow with the soul I took from Bertus?'
Such a thought occurred to him, but no healing ability manifested.
Bertus's soul remained intact within him. That rather peculiar soul didn't mix well with other souls, unlike others.
He could forcibly mix them if he put his mind to it, but he didn't. There must be a reason why it wouldn't mix.
If he tried to force it before knowing that reason, there was no telling what side effects might occur.
'More than that.'
The barrier wavered. Simultaneously, Jin-woo was bounced out of the barrier and returned to the original cliff.
With Bertus, who had been holding him there, dead, he could no longer be held.
The returned Jin-woo was able to reunite with Kalesian. However.
"Jin-woo! Where did you go... No, first let's get out of here!"
He looked extremely urgent about something. Kalesian, who had been flying on Mahiri, urged Jin-woo while hastily flapping his wings.
Bewildered, Jin-woo also ran along and asked.
"What's wrong?"
"Above! Look above!"
Jin-woo raised his head to look at the sky.
The sky visible through the small gap between the two cliffs. Something long was falling from that sky.
Falling like the blade of a guillotine, it was the sword that had once split the Moonlit Forest.
"Crazy."
He understood why Kalesian was so urgent.
Where they were was a narrow path between cliffs. Though narrow, it was as wide as a decent main road, but it was far too narrow to avoid that sword.
In other words, to escape, they had to reach the entrance of the cliff before the sword fell.
Pressure as if the air was pressing down. Feeling intense intimidation, Jin-woo and Kalesian ran urgently.
Fortunately, there was no interference. If Bertus had been alive and grabbed their ankles even once, it would have been terrible.
But he was dead, and there was no one to block Jin-woo and Kalesian's path. Thanks to this, the two barely managed to escape from the cliff.
"Euak!"
"Kalesian!"
Right after the two jumped out, the sword fell between the cliffs.
Kwaaaaaaagwang―!
The cliff that couldn't be cut no matter how much it was slashed, that didn't even break under Kalesian's breath, simply crumbled.
Even though the sword didn't directly touch but struck between the cliffs, the cliffs on both sides came tumbling down from the aftermath.
Jin-woo, Kalesian, and Mahiri hid their bodies below the hill and let the aftermath flow past. Wind swirled violently above their heads as fragments of the shattered cliff brushed past.
"Huuu..."
Eventually, the wind calmed, and Kalesian let out a sigh of relief.
However, Jin-woo's stern expression had not yet relaxed.
"Kalesian. Over there."
"Why? Is there still something left?"
Kalesian looked where Jin-woo was pointing. Then he grimaced deeply.
Had a hole been torn in the sky?
There was a massive crack.
Probably the broken gate where the God of War had extended his arm to swing his sword.
All kinds of monsters were pouring out from there like rain. They weren't limited to Orcs and Ogres like those seen within the barrier. There were dragon-like monsters flapping their wings and rough-scaled serpents running on the ground.
And people were visible too.
Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Beastmen, and other races who had lost their reason after being consumed by Erosion.
They were all troops of the God of War.
"...What are we going to do?"
"Well."
Jin-woo and Kalesian discussed what to do with frowning faces.
Bertus was dead. He was probably guarding the divine artifact, so they just needed to retrieve it and reduce the God of War's influence. That would make the barrier spread across this entire 3rd floor disappear, too.
That wasn't going well. Breaking through that horde of monsters to get the divine artifact was no easy task.
Most of all, that arm might appear again to swing its sword if things went badly.
They had somehow avoided it twice, but there was no guarantee they could avoid a third time.
"Should we run away?"
At Jin-woo's question, Kalesian made a ‘Keueung’ sound, then soon nodded.
"Let's retreat for now. But I haven't given up. The more divine artifacts there are, the more clues to the Spirit Realm there will be."
Kalesian had no intention of missing this opportunity that had finally come.
He was someone who sought divine artifacts for different reasons than the God of War. He wanted to obtain the divine artifacts released by the lords to find a path to ascend to the Spirit Realm.
Because of this, he had such intense greed that he would recklessly attack the Temple of Sky, so he had no thought of giving up over this level of difficulty.
The two moved away temporarily and positioned themselves on a hill where the crack was clearly visible. It was such a large crack that it was clearly visible from any reasonable distance anyway.
[ I'm bringing my monsters. ]
The first to speak was the God of Light, who had been quiet until now.
"What do you mean?"
At Kalesian's urging, he explained. The moment he discovered the cliff and confirmed that this place was the Temple of War, he had given orders to the castle. To complete battle preparations and move to this location.
[ I also gave similar trial content to the people who were gathered, so those with ideas will come. Though they might not come. ]
"What kind of trial?"
At Jin-woo's question, he blinked his light once. Then a message from the Gate arrived for Jin-woo.
[ The God of Light has expectations for you all. ]
[ Bring down the Red Cliff, the Temple of War, and bring the divine artifact. Light sweeter and more ecstatic than any other shall descend. ]
It was a message in a format similar to when receiving trials in the 3rd floor. Its content was to defeat the Temple of War.
He didn't know how many would gather with this message, but at minimum, they would come with interest. After that, they would either participate in battle or give up after seeing those monsters.
'Can't expect much from that, though.'
Actually, it was hard to expect much. Probably a hundred out of a hundred would turn around after seeing that force.
The only hope was that Rona or April might see this message and come to help him.
"Kalesian. What do you think? Can the monsters the God of Light gathered also defeat that force?"
"Well, I don't know how many he gathered, but it would be impossible. The opponent is the God of War."
Kalesian was pessimistic. If it was the God of War, he would be able to deploy tremendous power when it came to this kind of warfare.
The God of Light probably had some means, too, but he would be at a disadvantage in many ways. It was better not to think about winning completely.
However.
"At least there will be gaps. Even more so if it turns into a chaotic battle."
"That's it."
At Jin-woo's words, Kalesian smiled deeply.
They didn't necessarily need to win the battle of forces. After all, this war was about whether to steal or protect the divine artifact.
If the monsters gathered by the God of Light distracted the enemy's attention, there would be a way for them to infiltrate through that gap.
The problem would be...
"That sword and arm. Do you have a countermeasure?"
The sword of the God of War that had smashed the red cliff that neither Jin-woo nor Kalesian could even scratch. And the arm that wielded the sword.
Even Kalesian had no countermeasure for that. It wasn't because he was a hatchling who hadn't molted. Even if he had properly molted and possessed an adult's body, it didn't seem like he could withstand that sword.
"..."
Jin-woo closed his eyes. The enlightenment he had realized before flashed through his mind.
The sword marks left on the cliff and the swordsmanship he had traced back through them. The arm he had seen when the Moonlit Forest was split.
It belonged to a giant. If it wasn't just the arm that was unusually large, the body would probably be similarly massive.
On this land, just by standing up, its head would probably touch the sky.
[ Fragments of a past life surface. ]
What appeared to Jin-woo with closed eyes was the figure of a little Dwarf who loved playing war games.