Vol 5 Chapter 22

'It's the first time I've felt such passion for characters that don't actually exist.'

Although Kapros knew well that Lord Superior and the others before him were just characters in a game, he couldn't help but feel his fighting spirit ignite at the thought that his goal was here.

How long had they been walking into the castle, hearing only footsteps in the eerily quiet atmosphere? When he came to his senses as the footsteps stopped and properly looked ahead, scenes unfolded that he wouldn't have wanted to see if it weren't for the quest.

"It's not different from what we've seen so far, but..."

While the Shine Knight muttered, glancing around, the Electric Knight walked out without a word and began searching through the numerous corpses strewn about like piles in the incredibly grand and spacious castle hall. His expression, hardened as if unable to contain his worry and anger, overflowed with a fierce killing intent.

Lord Superior, who had been watching the Electric Knight desperately searching for something, suddenly narrowed his eyes and left the central hall. A door that would have originally been inconspicuously attached in a remote place was now open as if it had been ripped out. Superior's eyes sharpened as he looked at the narrow corridor inside.

"There."

At Superior's low voice, the Electric Knight's movement abruptly stopped.

"There's a path where the blood continues. Clearly, it's a trace of someone who escaped."

At that moment, something that could no longer be contained burst forth from the eyes of the Electric Knight as he lost control and rushed out.

"Wait!"

Superior followed, running after him and then lightly leaping as if using Blink to enter through the door, and the Shine Knight, looking flustered, frowned before quickly drawing his sword and jumping into the narrow corridor.

What followed was both as the old woman in Rezul had described in her legend and the beginning of Kapros's anguish.

"Hah... hah... hah...!"

The sound of running footsteps echoing endlessly off the stone floor reverberated again and again.

The Electric Knight's eyes already showed nothing but a gleaming light, but Superior and the Shine Knight following behind still maintained relatively calm composures.

The path was long and dark, to the point where even Kapros, whose view was just moving along, felt tired of it. Occasionally, when small bone fragments that had stained even the surrounding walls with blood were piled up like garbage, the group would stop, and the Electric Knight, silently dripping water from his glistening eyes and forehead, would briefly look at them before increasing his speed even more and running on.

In fact, Kapros didn't think he had ever noticed Un-o's attack speed or overall speed being noticeably faster than others when traveling with Un-o, who had the Electric Knight quest, but the Electric Knight's movements were truly exceptionally light and fast compared to others. It was clear at a glance that this was due to the difference in techniques ingrained in his body rather than just being lightweight.

As the Electric Knight, running faster and faster, gradually moved further away, the Shine Knight belatedly shouted.

"We shouldn't separate! Slow down!"

But there was no response. As the exhausted Superior exhaled, the Shine Knight asked indifferently.

"You seem very tired. Shall I carry you?"

"Is this the time for such words?"

Superior replied as if dumbfounded.

"You have an exceptional physique for a mage, but being this exhausted, you won't be able to use any magic properly at crucial moments. Think rationally."

Superior muttered a few curses under his breath and then began to follow the path where the Electric Knight had disappeared, albeit at a slow jog. It seemed he was indeed too tired to use Blink. The Shine Knight, erasing his seemingly devout smile, followed behind him.

Once again, countless children's bones, whose number was impossible to count, began to appear, their intervals gradually shortening. Finally, when something red that looked like minced meat rather than bones occasionally started to appear, Superior gritted his teeth and shouted.

"Damn it! Either carry me or chase after him right now!"

This time, it was clear that the Shine Knight was not in the mood for jokes either. Quickly lifting Superior in front of him, the Shine Knight, who had been following with slow, clanking armor sounds until now, deeply lowered his body and began to sprint as if an arrow had been shot. And the situation at the place where light finally appeared was utterly horrific.

"Uwaaaaagh!"

The Electric Knight screamed desperately as he drew his bowstring. A small ankle was grotesquely protruding from the mouth of the nearest monster sprawled in front, as if it had just been about to swallow it.

'Urgh...'

For a moment, Kapros felt as if he was watching a real grotesque murder scene rather than virtual reality, and he struggled to calm his churning stomach that felt like he might vomit.

Every time the Electric Knight drew his bowstring, surprisingly, red arrows flew from the empty string, tearing apart the enemies. It was a fast and accurate, even beautiful movement that looked as if three or four arrows were being shot at once.

Superior, who had been standing dazed for a moment, finally seemed to come to his senses and opened his mouth.

"Hold Person!"

In that instant, there was a feeling as if the air had frozen with a thud. The movements of all the enemies, numbering over dozens, stopped, stiffening in place.

At the same time, the hand of the Electric Knight, who had been superhuman in finding and shooting enemies, also stopped, trembling violently. The Shine Knight exchanged a quick glance with Superior, whose expression had hardened, and then approached with a frown, wrapping the Electric Knight from behind with his cape. Even this action, which at first glance seemed protective and comforting, didn't seem to be done out of genuine desire, much like the earlier Holy Transfer.

"Calm down. These are not high-level monsters that require you to use life-consuming light arrows."

"My, siblings,"

His shoulders were visibly convulsing, noticeable even through the cape that wrapped him.

"They said, they'd, wait, for me,"

"Yes."

"I..."

"Where did the lord's family of this place go? Have they already escaped through here?"

At that moment, the Electric Knight trembled as if facing the moment of death.

"They're dead..."

"Pardon?"

"When I arrived, they were already..."

"We were too late..."

At that moment, Superior's voice was heard as he approached the monsters and looked down at a spot on the ground.

"There are traces that suggest they tried to escape until the end, but all seven who seem to be the family are dead. ...They died too easily compared to their crimes."

There wasn't even the slightest hint of compassion in that voice. Rather, it was a cold voice that seemed almost regretful. And as if in agreement, the Electric Knight raised his head again. Tears were finally streaming down his face.

"Ugh, uuugh."

His voice contained all the heartbreaking sorrow that couldn't be put into words.

"No. This can't be. Ruin... Jairy... Veil..."

As he began to sob as if his breath would stop, calling the names of those he had lost, Superior and the Shine Knight stood with their heads bowed, as if in silent prayer for the dead, without saying a word. Kapros too felt as if the suffocating emotion was being transmitted to him.

"Father, Father Jis. You accepted even a half-breed like me as your son, but I couldn't even protect my siblings... In the end..."

As the Electric Knight, muttering as if his breath would be cut off, slowly sank to the floor hugging his bow, Superior's gaze, watching him, also shook mercilessly, as if recalling something he didn't want to remember.

The Shine Knight, who had been closely observing Superior's face, soon narrowed his eyes, looked around at the monsters that had been stopped by Hold Person, and held his blade up in front of his chest.

"As I exist as your sword and shield, I am here for the divine will that your hand wishes to bring down, so please, evidence of merciful power that is neither more nor less than the value of the sins of those who have defiled this land. Lyle Lugeria."

Fwoosh!

- Kyaaagh!

- Kiiiek!

The moment the prayer-like spell, which he had recited with his eyes closed as if it were nothing, ended, the bright light that burst forth as if it had been waiting was light seeping from the earth. All the monsters standing with their feet on the ground screamed and writhed as if their frozen mouths had burst open, but soon everything was torn apart and disappeared in the light.

After the remaining light gently enveloped the three heroes and disappeared, Superior, who had been watching the still-crying Electric Knight until then, slowly approached him, knelt down respectfully, and lightly embraced his shoulders.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help."

"..."

"It would be nonsense to say I understand how you feel, but instead, I can promise you one thing."

It was the moment when, for the first time, an unbreakable will appeared in Superior's red eyes.

"I'll fight my best to ensure that no more children meet such a regrettable death. The death of these children is not because of you, but because of the vile nobles and monsters. A world where the weak and kind are sacrificed and shed tears... is not a right world."

The moment he uttered those last words, the eyes of the Shine Knight, who had been looking elsewhere, the Electric Knight, who had been gritting his teeth and crying, and Lord Superior met each other's gaze.

And at that moment, startled by a small light that briefly tickled the corner of his vision, Kapros turned around and opened his eyes wide in shock.

'Two... Superiors?!'

In addition to the Superior he had been watching, there was now another Superior standing behind him with a slight smile. As Kapros looked back and forth between the two in confusion, the Superior who had appeared behind spoke directly to him.

[ Hello. So you are my successor who has waited 500 years. ]

And with that, all the dizzying world of memories he had been seeing shattered and sank away.