Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Shrine Keeper

Deep in the mountains, atop a ridge where the clouds hung low, there was a small shrine forgotten by people.

It was a place that no longer had a name, now simply called the mountain shrine.

But in ancient records, it remained clearly written.

At the shrine touching one of the axes that supported the world, a guardian deity dwelled to protect that place.

“Haam.”

The guardian deity’s daily routine was simple.

She sat atop the torii and watched the clouds drift by, or lay down and listened to the chirping of birds.

As time passed, those who visited disappeared, and those who remembered vanished as well, but she did not mind.

Because the guardian deity loved this quiet peace.

Then one day, a warrior walked up to the shrine.

Normally, she would have pretended not to notice and left him be.

But she could not.

Even from quite a distance away, the thick scent of blood drifted from him.

Before the warrior could cross the torii, the guardian deity revealed herself.

“Could you stop there?”

The warrior, who possessed sharp instincts, also realized what had blocked his path.

So instead of drawing his sword, he shrugged.

“I thought this was an abandoned shrine, but I suppose it was not. It cannot be helped. I cannot enter a house with an owner while drenched in blood.”

The warrior turned away at once, as if he had no intention of persuading her.

The guardian deity watched him for a moment, then opened her mouth.

“I will let you stay in front of the torii, at least. You should be able to avoid the wind and rain there.”

It was not sympathy or pity.

How should she put it? It was simply a small whim.

A thought that perhaps she might have a conversation for the first time in a long while.

“I offer my thanks.”

The warrior gave a light bow, then leaned against one of the torii pillars.

That was how the strange companionship between the guardian deity and the warrior began.

Except for the hours when they slept, the guardian deity and the warrior spent the entire day talking.

“I have no name to tell you. I have never had one. Though I did hear people call me the Thousand-Blade Killer from time to time.”

The Nameless Warrior’s life could be defined in a few words.

War and slaughter.

From a young age, the warrior had been called to the battlefield and had swung his sword.

It had been a series of horrifying battlefields where he should have lost his life.

But the warrior cut down every enemy and survived.

On that battlefield, on the next battlefield, and on the battlefield after that.

“I grew tired of it all.”

That was the reason the warrior had come to the shrine.

To that, the guardian deity said,

“Then you found exactly the right place. Just do not tell me later that you are bored to death.”

“That will not happen.”

Exactly the right place.

Perhaps those words, spoken without much thought, returned as the world’s curse.

At some point, beings from another world began seeping in.

Before they reached the shrine, the guardian deity said to the Nameless Warrior,

“You should leave now. This place will become the sea of blood you grew so tired of.”

Even after her warning, the Nameless Warrior did not leave the shrine.

Instead, he smiled and answered.

“Good. I was just starting to miss it.”

And so it began.

The battle of the Nameless Warrior, who had been called the Thousand-Blade Killer all his life, but who died in his final moments under the name Shrine Keeper, the one who protected the shrine.

---

Jingle.

Amid the clear ringing of the bell.

A grotesque clattering sound rang out, and the being that had protected the shrine alongside the guardian deity for countless years revealed itself.

Ryu Jin furrowed his brow.

A skeleton warrior without a neck or one shoulder.

It was not merely bleached bones. It looked as if it had been reduced to rags.

“My liege-du. I feel like I am going to faint-du.”

“Do not. You might never open your eyes again.”

It was not a joke.

The Evil Eye was sending warnings without pause.

It was telling me that the thing before my eyes was more dangerous than anything I had encountered until now.

“Boss. We have not fought yet, so may I cautiously offer an opinion?”

“You want to run away?”

“Exactly!”

“Where?”

I glanced behind us.

The escape route that had been neatly erased thanks to the Area-Cleanup Sphere.

Aris followed my gaze and scratched her head.

“You are right. In that case, the only thing left is the reverse-summoning ending. You have worked hard all this time, Boss. See you in hell.”

I wanted to smack her forehead, but I decided to save my strength.

It might be reverse summoning for Aris, but for me, it would truly be the end.

‘I really want to beat the Labyrinth to death.’

I could accept the Monster Tide from earlier.

It had suddenly changed into Maximum Difficulty and made something absurd appear before, after all.

But that thing in front of us felt like a foul play.

Damn, what is that thing?! Its face is insane!

I have never seen something like that before!

Do you not camp out on the 41st floor every day? And even you are saying it is your first time?

If something like that had existed, I would have been too scared to camp here!

You always acted like a 41st-floor expert, but you were a coward all along.

What?! Do you want to get slapped?!

Following the chat saying they had never seen the Nameless Warrior before, a System message appeared.

[The 41st floor is one of the floors the Labyrinth does not wish to lose!]

[The Labyrinth has judged that simply raising the difficulty will not be enough!]

[The 41st floor is a floor where a unique exception clause exists! The Labyrinth has activated that clause and awakened a sleeping being!]

[It is a being that had been captured for the purpose of being reused someday!]

[What kind of being he was in life does not matter! Right now, he will do everything in his power solely to protect the Labyrinth!]

Ding!

Finally, blood-red letters were engraved before me.

[The exception clause is a nightmare-like existence for players! However, this is also a high-risk choice for the Labyrinth! If you overcome the nightmare and destroy the Labyrinth, you will be able to obtain far more!]

A nightmare.

It was a word that made me shudder just by looking at it.

Still, I found myself curious all over again.

How good did the reward have to be for the System to lay down this much bait?

‘Good. I can get a lot of rewards too.’

In truth, it was not good. It was not good at all, but I decided to think positively.

There was no escape route anyway.

The only option I could choose was to break through head-on.

Fortunately amid misfortune, that warrior’s condition was not intact.

Even with the Evil Eye alone, I could see that he was missing one arm, so his balance had collapsed quite a bit.

On top of that, the warrior had no head right now.

He had no sight, hearing, or smell, and since he had no brain, he should not be able to think or make judgments either.

Shing.

I drew the Clear Stream Blade and stepped forward.

The bell bracelet fastened around the warrior’s wrist.

It was the same as the one Tsumugi had.

Before going any farther, I looked at Tsumugi.

Even though I had not asked anything, Tsumugi slowly nodded.

“Please grant my friend rest.”

“Okay. Hurry and go.”

The Hidden Quest still had not been completed.

In other words, Tsumugi still had farther to go.

There was no need to necessarily defeat the Nameless Warrior before us.

Once the quest was complete, the Labyrinth would be destroyed on its own, and once the Labyrinth was destroyed, that thing the System had awakened as a “nightmare” would also return to nothing.

“Poporu, take Aris and Tsumugi and go. As fast as you can. If you are late, I die.”

Poporu grasped the current situation and formed a solemn expression.

“I will fly-du! Hey, steamed bun-du! Take good care of Tsumugi-du! We depart-du!”

The three of them ran in a wide arc around the Nameless Warrior.

At that moment, the motionless warrior moved.

His sword swung toward my running friends.

I kicked off the ground and blocked it.

CLAAAAANG!!

Even though I blocked it properly, my body was pushed backward.

All he had left was one bony arm, so why was it this heavy?

If there was one fortunate thing, it was that it was lighter than Jin Hwayeon’s wooden sword when she used to beat me.

Of course, separate from that.

SWIIIIISH!!

It was terrifying as hell.

What was coming at me was not a wooden sword swung while taking my situation into consideration.

It was a real sword filled with killing intent, one that was truly trying to take my head off.

KAGAGAGAK!!

I infused the Clear Stream Blade with mana.

If I did not, I would keep getting pushed back.

CLANG! CLANG! CRACK!

The longer our exchange continued, the wetter my back grew.

The Nameless Warrior could neither see nor hear.

And yet he reacted to every single attack I poured out using only the instincts of his body.

‘What is with this insane reaction speed?’

The warrior stayed perfectly still, then only reacted once the Clear Stream Blade entered a certain range.

But he was never late.

That was how disgustingly fast he was.

“Suuuuuuck.”

After bringing my sword down heavily, I stepped back.

I needed to regulate my breathing a little……

?!

The Evil Eye detected a strange flow.

The Nameless Warrior’s power, which had been evenly spread throughout his body until moments ago, began pouring into both of his legs.

At the same time, his sword rose to eye level and became horizontal.

RUMBLE……!

The power condensed to the extreme in his legs was pulled up in an instant and transmitted into his sword.

Rustle.

With a cold light, the sword scattered a slash.

“!!!”

The speed was absurd.

Even the Evil Eye’s Motion Detection barely followed it.

PAANG!!

A short bursting sound rang out, and the slash split into three.

Because I had the Evil Eye, I realized it immediately.

It was impossible to dodge all of them.

I barely dodged and blocked two of the slashes, then stared straight at the last one.

CLAAAAANG!

[Last Breath activates and nullifies the attack!]

[24 hours remain until the next reuse!]

I silently stared at the message that appeared.

Even my MAX Luck could not let me dodge a slash that was guaranteed to hit me.

In other words, if the same thing flew at me again, I would truly die.

‘The slash flew the moment I created distance.’

It was a technique with large movements.

If I stayed close within a certain range like before, it probably would not fly.

But even if I stayed close, could I expect a different ending?

Even though I wrapped myself in mana and attacked with everything I had, the warrior reacted to everything without much effort.

In the end, that meant I would be the one to collapse first.

To make matters worse, my mana was also hanging by a thread.

There was a high chance I would be cut in half before the Hidden Quest was cleared.

‘It cannot be helped.’

Let’s bet on this while I still had even a little mana left.

SHHHK!

I stopped approaching and stepped back.

As if he had been waiting, the Nameless Warrior took his stance again.

Just like before, his dispersed power began condensing into both of his legs.

‘Not yet.’

From the previous slash, I had memorized the order and timing through Motion Analysis.

‘Just a little more.’

When the condensation in both legs reached its peak.

I also focused mana into one leg.

Then I stomped the ground.

[Stomping Strike]

RUUUUUUMBLE!!!

Because of the vibration driven into the ground, the Nameless Warrior’s feet lifted off the floor.

His balance, already poor to begin with, collapsed completely.

The condensed power also lost its destination and began rampaging in all directions.

[First Blossom Step]

I did not miss that opening and leaped forward.

Then, after pouring every last bit of mana into the Clear Stream Blade.

I drew a long stroke from top to bottom.

[Falling Plum Blossom Form]

SLAAAAAAASH!!!!