Chapter 29

Chapter 029

“Ugh…… Uh……?”

A hand had burst through Pellon’s chest.

After letting out a dazed sound, he flailed for a moment before collapsing.

CRUNCH- CRACK-

A chilling sound of flesh being torn apart followed.

Two arms pushed through the twitching body and planted themselves on the floor, and from there, a man drenched in blood revealed himself.

What was this, a snuff film?

The sight was so grotesque that I nearly felt nauseated.

“Haa…… How did you know?”

The unidentified man turned toward us and spoke.

“I never thought you would even know about the Trigger.”

“I studied a bit.”

In a situation where those two were suspicious, a Divinity-type condition had activated in a party that had no Priest.

That meant someone was hiding a Divinity user, and the moment I realized that, I noticed that the culprit was the Tank.

I knew what Skill that bastard had used.

“That is the 「Ambush」 Skill, right?”

A 4-star curse-type Skill that designated a host, left a mark on them, and teleported the user to that location by activating the mark.

In exchange for necessarily sacrificing the host, it had the decent effect of restoring 100% of Health and Mana during the transfer.

However, it also had weak points. First, since the mark engraved on the host was treated the same as a character, it took up one party slot, and Triggers with Divinity as a condition would also activate.

The reason rare species had popped out was also due to that characteristic of the Ambush Skill.

“Because of the Skill’s characteristics, the host has to be alive. In that case, a Tank is far more suitable than an Archer. The survival rate is higher.”

“…….”

And that Skill could not cross floors or move into special areas.

The reason the bastard had only appeared now was because a Boss Room where the boss had been summoned was classified as a special area, making intrusion impossible.

On top of that, due to the “softening” penalty, damage received increased by 300% for three minutes.

It was a Skill that was exactly at the 4-star level.

“It was you, was it? The one going around harming the apprentices on the first floor.”

“Ha ha…… Did you catch me?”

The man wiped away the blood and laughed hollowly.

He had murky gray hair, and half his face was covered in burns.

Standing with his weight on one leg, he let out a sigh.

“You have quite the sharp eye, do you?”

“Have you never considered that your acting was just terrible……?”

“Really? Then it was because of this useless bastard!”

He kicked the dead Tank several times, then even spat on him.

There was not even a speck of respect for the dead.

At that moment, while our gazes were drawn away, Serien fled toward the man.

“I-I did as promised! I have nothing to do with this anymore, right?”

She showed not even the slightest concern for the dead Pellon.

Since she had been traveling with Pellon, I thought they were close, but had that not been the case?

The man turned toward Serien, clicked his tongue, and spoke.

“No? Those guys are not dead yet, are they?”

“Y-You said it would be over if I drove them into the Guardian’s Room!”

Serien stepped backward, her face deathly pale.

“I-I am leaving……!”

As she turned around and ran, the man pointed a finger at her, and without warning, Serien collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Seeing that she was still breathing, he had not killed her. It seemed he had knocked her unconscious through some method.

“You are not killing her?”

“Ah~ She still has her uses. I will kill her when the time comes, so do not worry. I have to recover the money I gave her anyway.”

Did he give her money and make her infiltrate our side? I could understand that.

Well, I did not particularly feel any sympathy.

The moment she sided with that bastard, she became our enemy, and from the city’s perspective, a criminal as well.

As I calmly observed him, Bernard pulled me and Persica back.

“……This has become a truly serious problem.”

His face crumpled hard, and his dismay was obvious.

He pointed to the symbol engraved on the bastard’s clothes.

“That man is a Priest of the Downfall Order.”

“The Downfall Order……?”

At the voice that seemed to know him, the man grinned.

“I am Jakol Dman. A lamb who serves the great Downfall.”

“…….”

I do not care about your name.

More than that, I was a little flustered because an organization I knew had suddenly appeared.

If it was the Downfall Order, then they were bastards who had appeared in the game as well.

Insane bastards who worshiped the Downfall rather than the Golden Rule.

They were fanatics whose supreme task was the complete destruction of the Golden Rule, and while wandering through the dungeon, one could encounter them with a low probability.

‘Why are they appearing here?’

The Downfall Order was something one should have encountered only at least in the latter half of the second floor.

I had never met them on the first floor before…… so what kind of situation was this?

While I was lost in thought, Persica stepped forward.

“What is your business here? We should not have any particular point of contact with the Downfall Order.”

At her questioning tone, Jakol scratched his head.

“Ah, that? It is such a bother to me, too. Even if I mess with apprentice chicks, it only makes things troublesome, and it is not particularly fun. If it were not for the ‘prophecy,’ I would not be doing this either.”

“Prophecy……?”

“Yeah. Around this time, ‘that one’ is supposed to pass through the Selection Grounds. My mission is to find and kill ‘that one’ who is mixed in among the apprentices.”

The bastard, who had spouted words I could not understand, slowly looked around at us.

“So, is that one among you two? ‘That one,’ I mean.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, was I being too unfriendly? Then I will call him this.”

The bastard grinned and continued.

“‘Sunan.’”

For a moment, I almost flinched without realizing it.

Again.

Again…… I had heard my name through someone else.

“Hmm…… Judging by your reactions, did I miss? This is ambiguous.”

“…….”

Sunan. My name.

Those bastards had known the time when I would come here, and they had been waiting to kill me.

Judging by his reaction, it seemed he only knew the name and did not know that it was me.

After asking Persica for understanding, I stepped forward.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“What is a bastard who is about to die asking─”

“The one who made that prophecy…… Was it perhaps a ‘Possessor’?”

At those words, the bastard burst out laughing.

“I wondered what you were going to ask. Is that not obvious? There is no one who does not know that our cult leader is a Possessor.”

“……?”

Famous……?

As I tilted my head, Persica whispered an explanation to me.

“The one who founded the Downfall Order was a Possessor.”

“…….”

……That could not be.

The Downfall Order was an organization that had existed even in the game.

There had not been a single element called Possessors in the game, yet the one who created the real Downfall Order was a Possessor?

‘What is going on?’

At this point, I could not help but feel doubts welling up inside me.

Along with the traces of my name that kept appearing, now even the Downfall Order had been added to it.

What exactly was the game…… Ethrana Exodus?

Had the game copied the Downfall Order created by a Possessor? Or had a Possessor imitated something that existed in the game?

It was a question like which came first, the chicken or the egg, and there was no way to know the answer.

But one thing was certain.

‘Among the Possessors, there is also someone trying to stop me from going down.’

I did not know the reason. But the circumstances were clear.

If Enlil was on the side helping me go to the Deep Floors, this side was trying to stop it.

Why on earth were they doing this to me?

What value could there possibly be in a single person like me……

‘……Worrying about it now will not change anything.’

First, dealing with the bastard in front of me came before anything else.

I raised my sword and looked around.

Since the boss had already been defeated, we could leave if we ran to the entrance as we were.

The problem was that the bastard would not simply watch us do that.

“Wow, are you going to fight? The others were all terrified and begged me to spare them.”

“It is not as though you would let us go just because we were afraid, is it?”

“That is true.”

The bastard chuckled. What a psychopath.

I swallowed dryly and faced him.

‘His level is roughly around 4-star to 5-star.’

I was not sure whether we could win, but it seemed we would at least be able to fight him.

For some reason, I felt as though I knew the Skill set he had.

‘As for the mage bastard…… Fortunately, he is not running away.’

Of course, he looked as though he wanted to run away at any moment.

However, since there was no way that bastard would leave witnesses alive, he must have decided that it was better to help us here.

“……It would be better for you to stop here.”

Persica attempted one final negotiation.

This was something we had discussed through writing, using her status to negotiate.

Since escaping without fighting was the wisest option, it was a method we had discussed, but……

“If you know who I am─”

“Persica Ortanis. The precious darling of House Ortanis, are you not? The daughter of Hildegard Ortanis, who acted recklessly on the seventh floor and died.”

“…….”

“Did you think I would not be able to kill you just because you are an Ortanis? Me, a Priest of the Downfall Order? Mother and daughter are both a pair of idiots.”

Killing intent filled Persica’s eyes.

Jakol smiled unpleasantly as he looked at Persica.

“Anyway, you are the leader here, right? Your command ability was quite impressive.”

A crimson energy condensed in his hand, and a single great scythe was summoned.

“You die first.”

A crimson slash shot out.

Persica, shocked, hurriedly raised her sword, but she was one beat too slow.

Before the crimson slash could reach her, I, who had been prepared in advance, struck the slash away.

CLAAANG!!

“Ugh……!”

Because I did not even have time to use Parrying, an enormous impact ran through my arm.

I did block it, but my palm tore, and I dropped my sword.

“Oh? You blocked that?”

“Tsk…….”

I had blocked it, but perhaps because I had blocked it awkwardly, blood dripped heavily from my hand.

Judging by the look of it, was that 「Blood Moon Slash」?

There was a Skill that inflicted bleeding damage for three seconds after a hit, and it seemed to be that.

As I looked at my hand trembling from the impact, Persica’s face turned pale.

“Isran, your hand……”

“I am fine.”

It hurt enough to kill me, but it was bearable.

I moved Persica behind me.

“Follow the plan. Do not waver.”

“……Understood.”

There was no time to argue.

Persica stood behind me, and the mage bastard stood at the very rear.

“Oh my, how noble and self-sacrificing. What are you going to do without even a sword? Become a meat shield?”

“…….”

“Why not just give up? As long as you do not make this troublesome, I will kill you in one blow.”

The bastard chuckled, then clicked his tongue when I kept my mouth firmly shut.

“You have spirit for an apprentice.”

The bastard took his stance.

A crimson energy settled over the great scythe he raised.

“Let us see if you are the same after your limbs are cut off!”

Jakol’s body shot forward like a bullet.

I calmly took in the sight of him with my eyes.

That bastard probably thought we were putting up a futile struggle, but in reality, this was a tactical formation Persica and I had devised. 

I was the Tank, Persica was the melee damage dealer, and the mage bastard was the ranged damage dealer.

Among them, the reason I took the Tank position was simple.

‘Because Parrying can deflect attacks without taking damage.’

Assuming I could parry every attack, I was the only one who could face that bastard head-on.

CLANG!!

At just that moment, the sword flying through the air landed in my hand, and I immediately activated Parrying to deflect the bastard’s strike.

“What─”

The bastard’s eyes widened when he saw the sword that had flown over on its own.

Well, it was not exactly an ability one could see easily.

Even Gordon had been surprised when he first saw this.

CLANG!!

The bastard’s scythe was violently deflected once again, and I drove a strike into his wide-open chest.

“Keuk!”

It did not pierce through, but befitting a blow enhanced by 「Counterattack」, the impact was considerable.

At the pushed-back Jakol, Persica’s Rapier flashed forward like lightning.

“Hah!”

The powerful thrust clearly dug into the bastard’s chest.

The instant a critical hit erupted and a flash of light gleamed, I kicked the Knockbacked bastard with all my strength and sent him flying.

“Dodge!”

The mage bastard’s prepared Fire Spear struck the retreating Jakol.

An explosion burst, and a wave of hot air rushed toward us, but the bastard walked out of the black smoke completely unharmed.

“Wow…… The sword flies around on its own? There is no way an apprentice is using Sword Control…… How fascinating.”

Jakol ignored Persica and the mage bastard, his gaze fixed only on me.

As though he had found something amusing.

“But that just now…… was Parrying, was it? You learned Mysticism?”

“…….”

“Parrying…… Parrying, is it……”

I had hoped he would be confused because it was a rare technique, but it seemed that was too much to ask.

As though he had realized that my silence was an affirmation, Jakol smiled chillingly and murmured.

“It is you, is it not?”