Chapter 153

Sssst!

Luka vanished after saying only three things:

That Theme 5 and Theme 6 would proceed simultaneously.

That it wouldn’t take long.

That it would be hard to endure.

“Shit.”

Vladimir muttered.

“If that guy’s saying that, it must be really serious, right?”

“I know, right? Everyone, get ready! I think something’s about to happen!”

“Alright, let’s think positive. ‘It won’t take long’ means this is the last thing we have to get through, right?”

“Hey, look over there!”

Drrrrr!

As the space distorted, Olena pointed at the air.

[Theme 5 will now begin.]

[Reconfiguring the space.]

Kugugung!

The ground split apart.

Magma churned between the cracks.

“Are you crazy?”

“Lava again?”

“We did this to death back in Theme 3!”

“Don’t tell me those arrow-shooting machines are going to show up again, too?!”

At Olena’s cry, Vladimir frowned.

“Hey, watch your mouth. If you say that, they might actually—”

Tudududu!

At that moment, familiar mechanical devices poured down from the sky like rain.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

They piled up all around us, one after another, stacking into a wall.

“What the, fuck?”

Vladimir spat out a curse.

“For real? That bastard Olena!”

“Uwaaaah… we have to do this again? For God’s sake…”

That wasn’t all.

Pshhhhhhh!

Green smoke began spewing out from between the devices.

I frowned.

‘That’s poison.’

I’d be fine. I’d reached a level in Poison Art where no one could match me.

But my comrades weren’t.

I had devoured the Toxin Mist—a trial they should’ve faced—by myself.

“Hoo.”

I took a deep breath.

Hey, Toxin Mist.

With that much poison, you can absorb it all and make it yours, right?

Smeaaar.

A green mist crawled out from my body.

My proposal had tempted it.

To be clear, the Toxin Mist isn’t my subordinate.

It simply sees me as a convenient sanctuary. If a better body appeared, it would jump ship without hesitation.

Sssssst!

The Toxin Mist spread outward and collided with the poison from the machines.

They mixed, clashed, and neutralized each other, swirling back and forth.

[The space has been reconfigured.]

[Theme 5 is the ‘Arena of Combined Trials,’ where the difficulty has been maximized by combining all the trials you have experienced so far.]

“…Arena of Combined Trials?”

“Combined Trials, my ass. They made it so it’s not actually clearable, right? The way they set the difficulty so far has been ridiculous.”

Shush! Shushung!

Arrows began to fly.

Drrrrrk!

The floor started tilting up, down, left, and right.

Just like Theme 3, we had to keep our balance while dodging arrows.

[There are a total of 5 stages.]

[Survive for 1 hour to pass Stage 1.]

[Survive for 2 hours to pass Stage 2.]

[Survive for 3 hours to pass Stage 3.]

[Survive for 4 hours to pass Stage 4.]

[Survive for 5 hours to pass Stage 5.]

[Passing Stage 5 is a perfect pass.]

Ah.

Just how brutal was this if five hours was the end?

Of course, five hours wasn’t short.

But compared to everything we’d gone through, it felt strangely brief.

[The moment you pass or are eliminated.]

[You will be able to encounter the creator of the trials, Dungeon Maker Delilah.]

“Hah.”

Judgement Spear shook his head.

“It seems meeting Delilah is Theme 6.”

Now I understood why Luka said it wouldn’t take long.

If we endured five hours, it would be over.

“Even if we can’t endure, we can still meet Delilah. That takes some of the pressure off.”

Zhang Wei tightened his grip on his spear shaft.

The muscles on his forearm bulged like they could represent a continent.

“My comrades.”

“…”

Judgement Spear called everyone—including me—his comrades.

“As they say, everything has a beginning and an end. The end is truly near. Just as we have endured well until now, no matter what trial comes, endure until the very end…!”

The team members moved.

Sweat and blood.

Torn skin and muscle.

Fatigue piled upon fatigue.

People who had run this far without proper rest faced the final gate with resolve.

“Alright.”

“Those are good words.”

Capu and Myoi Hana wiped their sweat and nodded.

“Let’s look forward to the day we can gather for a beer after this is over and reminisce about this moment!”

Vladimir Rodygin, as cheerful as ever.

“Kuh, just hearing that makes my mouth water.”

Olena, grinning brightly.

“Germany is famous for its beer. I’ll invite you all over sometime. Paired with centuries-old traditional sausage—k-heuhh! It makes the beer taste absolutely incredible.”

Even Maximilian, a middle-aged man from the same country as Thunderstrike Floa, smiled.

“…”

But I said nothing.

Something felt off.

Theme 5, the ‘Arena of Combined Trials,’ was just poison, arrows, and a shifting floor?

Then what about the Dragon Tooth Soldiers?

What about the masters of ambush—the Shadow Shepherds?

No, forget that.

With the difficulty so far, this didn’t add up.

There had to be more.

“Everyone, stay on your toes!”

Before the chill in my chest could even fade—

[Tiring!]

[During ‘Theme 1,’ you gathered Trial Points by finding food.]

[You also had to be able to discern poison through your sense of taste to survive.]

[Taste is an important sense.]

[It not only allows you to feel flavor, but it also plays a role in detecting danger. From now on, your sense of taste will disappear.]

“…!”

The salty taste on my tongue vanished completely.

The lingering tang of blood in my mouth, the sweetness—none of it registered.

“What is this!”

“I knew it. There was more, right?”

“Of course! I was expecting it.”

“But why taste? What happens if our sense of taste is gone?”

Before anyone could even fully panic, more messages appeared.

[Tiring!]

[During ‘Theme 2,’ you gathered Trial Points by finding Treasure.]

[While it was training to foster teamwork, the importance of smell is just as crucial for exploration.]

[Sometimes, it can detect danger over a much wider range than taste. From now on, your sense of smell will disappear.]

With taste and smell both gone, my face felt unfamiliar.

‘Still.’

So far, it wasn’t a huge problem.

But my spine kept turning colder.

‘Don’t tell me…’

[Tiring!]

[During ‘Theme 3,’ you trained your evasion skills and increased your reaction speed.]

[Reaction speed is closely related to the sense of touch.]

[It protects you from direct danger by transmitting pain such as pressure, ache, cold, and heat. From now on, your sense of touch will disappear.]

“Ugh, uwaaack!”

“W-Wait! This feels weird. I can’t feel anything, and I can’t smell anything!”

“Hmm. This certainly feels ominous.”

The moment touch was taken, the reactions were immediate.

The sensation of leaping.

The sensation of landing.

Air brushing their skin with every movement.

Breathing.

As familiar things disappeared, discomfort flooded in.

“…”

I frowned, too.

Because I already understood what Theme 5 was.

Not just me—everyone had probably realized it by now.

‘They’re restricting our five senses.’

Taste, smell, touch.

Next was Theme 4—the Shadow Shepherds.

So what would come next?

[Tiring!]

[During ‘Theme 4,’ you met a shadow race called the Shadow Shepherds.]

[The techniques of the shadow race are closely related to sight.]

[Furthermore, the state of ‘Silence’ that the Shadow Shepherds pursue is closely related to hearing.]

[From now on, your sense of sight will disappear.]

[From now on, your sense of hearing will disappear.]

‘Just as I thought.’

I frowned.

But I couldn’t even feel myself frowning.

Even the messages vanished completely.

‘Indeed.’

Delilah’s trials were vicious.

To strip a person of every sense, then tell them to survive in this hell for five hours?

Was that even possible?

“…!”

“…!”

I wanted to check on my teammates.

But I couldn’t hear anything.

I couldn’t see.

I couldn’t smell, taste, or feel.

Nothing.

There was literally nothing.

If a speck of dust floating in space had feelings, would it feel like this?

It wasn’t just my comrades.

I couldn’t tell if I’d fallen into lava.

If I’d been struck by an arrow.

If I’d collapsed.

If I was bleeding.

I couldn’t sense any of it.

‘This is…’

No.

This didn’t make sense.

A new kind of terror began eating into my mind.

‘I can guarantee it.’

Every ranker who faced this trial before had to have failed to endure even Stage 1.

There was no way anyone could clear something like this.

Then why would Delilah include it?

To push the difficulty to the extreme and weed out anyone who might pass?

Or…

To preach the importance of the senses?

To show us a piece of the universe?

To show us how powerless we are?

‘I don’t know.’

That wasn’t what mattered right now.

I had to do something.

And there was only one thing I could do.

‘The Wish-Granting Scroll.’

It was the only answer that came to mind.

[Item: Wish-Granting Scroll]

[Grade: S]

[Type: Scroll]

[Description: Use it in a moment of crisis. The one thing you need most will appear.]

[Effect 1: In a moment of crisis. Ancient Magic will help you.]

If this wasn’t a moment of crisis, then what was?

I’d planned to use the last one before the trial ended anyway.

‘Let’s do it.’

But it wasn’t that simple.

Even if I had it, how was I supposed to tear it?

I needed my senses just to take it out and rip it.

“…”

In the void, I let my imagination run wild.

I pictured my body.

I pictured the scroll tucked in my pocket.

Then I pictured pulling it out.

And, riiip!

I pictured tearing it.

I had no way of knowing whether I actually moved that way.

Right now, I couldn’t feel anything at all.

But—

‘Please.’

I kept imagining it.

I kept trying to tear the scroll.

Maybe I’d already fallen into lava.

Maybe I’d fumbled and dropped it while trying to rip it.

But it was the only thing I could do.

I didn’t want to give up.

‘I won’t lose.’

Even if I lose, if I try until the very end—

That isn’t losing. That’s winning.

‘The moment you think you’ve lost and give up, that’s when you truly lose.’

So I would move as much as I could.

I would try as hard as I could.

‘Hyaaaap!’

With a mental shout, I tore the scroll clean in half again.

I ripped and tore at it desperately, over and over.

And then—

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Grade) barely connects its mind with the ‘Caster’.]

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Grade) grumbles that this is a troublesome situation.]

…It worked!

I cheered inwardly.