Chapter 711
Even though he had been gone for a week, only a little over an hour had passed in this dimension.
And yet, in that short time, the entire raid party had vanished.
“They already deciphered the book?”
“Looks like it. That woman, Jang Bo-kyung or whatever, said she found a clue.”
Alice planted a flag with her face drawn on it on top of the sandcastle.
As a finishing touch, she smiled proudly, declaring it complete.
With Takeshi of the Samurai Guild present, Gray, an EX-class ranker, and the high-rankers from each guild all gathered together, the raid party must have decided it was worth the gamble.
‘Forget combat power. Deciphering it that quickly should’ve been impossible.’
If they had just waited calmly, they could have made it halfway, at least.
Everyone was in too much of a hurry to be the one in the spotlight.
With a precious chance to get ahead of the other guilds dangling right in front of them, there was no way they’d choose safety alone.
I get it, but the price for that decision is going to be bitter.
“By the way, we haven’t seen Adel since the main ticket battle.”
Teresa muttered, sounding a little worried.
It was only natural. A Returnee as violent and cruel as him suddenly going quiet was unsettling.
“He’s probably after proper prey instead of those ragtag scraps.”
Chun Yoosung.
The Sword Demon had a primary target.
Since Chun Yoosung was also a sword-crazed stalker, in a way, they were the perfect match.
“If we want to catch up to the raid party, we need to go this way. I attached a doll, so we should be able to find them quickly. Mhm.”
Frey pointed in one direction.
“Good. Then shall we wrap this up?”
He had already secured most of what he needed.
Now all that remained was to finish the final boss fight and swallow up every last reward.
===
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash…!
Whoosh!
Skills crossed through the air in utter chaos.
The twenty-meter-tall mummy, its entire body wrapped tightly in bandages, was a walking calamity in itself.
“Kieeee!”
“Groooar!”
Hundreds of mid-sized crocodiles and carnivorous magical beasts came charging in.
Above them, thousands of man-eating locusts swarmed through the sky.
“Summons, magic-type abilities, and…”
Crash! Crash! Crash! Bang!
Three swordsmen who had rushed toward the boss were struck by a golden spear and split in two. It was not a mere swing, but an incredibly refined spear technique.
“…And it’s even proficient in close combat.”
Nkrumah of the Shuja Guild clicked his tongue.
Still, obtaining and deciphering the book had certainly helped.
[The ‘Book of Darkness’ activates the special ability ‘Path to Evade the 10 Curses’!]
Vwoooom!
White smoke billowed into the sky.
The movements of the locusts that had been swarming frantically began to slow noticeably.
[The speed of ‘Locusts that Cover the Sun’ decreases by 30%.]
On top of that, the curse of the blood-soaked river, which made large-scale melee even more troublesome, was also partially weakened.
[The ‘Curse of the Nile River’ is partially alleviated.]
The level of the red river, which heavily affected the mind, visibly dropped.
A field where all ten curses were fully activated was, quite literally, impregnable.
Finding even the smallest opening was impossible.
But by using the two books to partially reduce some of the curses, they had managed to create at least a sliver of a chance.
The problem was…
“The boss is absurdly strong.”
One of the main damage dealers swallowed dryly.
That much was true.
The remaining mass-produced monsters could be dealt with somehow, but no one had any idea how to handle that monstrous boss.
Without question, it was the strongest boss they had faced so far.
And the bigger problem was that the raid parties from each guild had absolutely no coordination.
“Don’t interfere. Move.”
“That’s what we should be saying!”
“Damn it. You’re in the way…!”
“What is even going on anymore?”
A bizarre labyrinth even among all the bizarre labyrinths that had appeared in the modern era.
Whoever resolved the worst tragedy and the countless deaths it had caused would undoubtedly become the focus of the world’s media and press.
If things went well, they could surpass every other guild and rise to a place above the heavens.
Even Gray, their greatest combat force, was conserving stamina and Mana so he could deliver the finishing blow himself.
Nkrumah’s lips flattened into a straight line.
‘This is bad.’
The already slim odds of victory were dropping even further.
And even if they somehow won, the damage they suffered would be catastrophic.
Right then,
[The Unique Ability ‘Blessing of the Stars’ activates!]
a variable appeared from the side, one capable of overturning the entire situation.
At the center of the red river, a golden cross rose, as if it could reach the heavens.
“I’ll take the lead.”
A clear voice with not a trace of personal greed in it.
What the Saintess wanted was neither fame, power, wealth, nor glory.
She only wanted to save as many people as possible and protect humanity’s future.
For that, everything else was trivial.
Vwoooom…
Craaash! Craaash! Craaash! Craaash! Craaash!
A golden wave surged outward.
As Teresa stood firm in the most dangerous place of all, a strange mood spread among the feuding raid parties.
“Teresa…”
“Taking the lead alone is too dangerous.”
“Doesn’t she care about herself?”
For those who always weighed profit and loss first, that kind of selfless sacrifice was bound to feel unfamiliar.
They had to unite.
Instead of competing over who would claim the greatest immediate achievement, they had to follow Teresa and stop further losses.
That shared thought spread like an epidemic.
The tide began to turn in an instant, but the hope lasted only a few seconds.
Whoosh!
A holy flame suddenly burst into existence.
“…Kgh!”
Teresa, struck head-on by the flame, staggered.
“Huhu. Disgusting. Is this how you bewitch people and plan to swallow everything in the end?”
They were Inquisitors, dressed in white robes marked with red crosses.
The Vatican’s hunting dogs, who had remained silent until now, targeted Teresa instead of the boss.
Whoosh!
Holy fire erupted once more.
A fireball flying at terrifying speed was split in half by a single spear thrust.
“This is not the time for us to fight each other!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Nkrumah shouted in frustration.
“Do you intend to interfere with our work?”
“Damn it! What you’re doing right now is interfering with all of humanity!”
A standoff formed between the Inquisitors and the Shuja Guild.
“Well, at least they’re not all complete idiots.”
Jinhyuk slowly approached.
The dagger in his hand glowed with an especially deep blue light.
“You’re Teresa’s comrade…”
“Right. I’m Kang Jinhyuk. You’re the President of the Shuja Guild’s raid party, correct?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Judging by your face, you seem a little different from the idiots obsessed with stuffing their own bellies and the fanatics drunk on faith. Want to help us? I know a way to bring that boss down quickly.”
“…Is that really possible?”
“If it’s me, it is.”
Jinhyuk nodded.
That answer, filled with utter certainty, made Nkrumah hesitate.
Under normal circumstances, it would not even be worth listening to.
An unaffiliated ghost who had remained outside every guild since the Tower of Trials first appeared. A man so ordinary he bordered on plain, the sort of extra who would not even be mentioned twice in a novel.
But why?
Nkrumah could not dismiss Jinhyuk’s words as nonsense.
A Player receiving the full backing of the Samurai Guild.
There had to be a reason for that.
“Then does that mean we’ll have to make an enemy of the Vatican?”
“Well, isn’t it true that you can’t have everything in this world?”
“Haha. That’s true too. Fine. We’ll cooperate. Chantra.”
“Yes.”
“Stop the Inquisitors. Help Teresa.”
“Are you serious? Then the aftermath…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take full responsibility.”
“…Understood.”
The Shuja Guild’s raid party moved to Teresa’s side.
That dealt with the fanatics for now.
But the true culprit who had arranged this whole situation still had not been identified.
‘Who the hell is it?’
An apostle of the Elder Gods was somewhere among them.
As long as he did not know what kind of trap they had laid or what their objective was, he could not let his guard down for even a moment.
Jinhyuk’s gaze swept rapidly across the battlefield.
With so many Players gathered here, there was no way to know who had accepted the Elder Gods’ temptation. The Inquisitors were the most suspicious, but even while watching them clash with the Shuja Guild, no one stood out in particular.
Then it happened.
Riiip…
Gurgle…!
Along with a bizarre sound, the ‘Book of Darkness’ and the ‘Book of Light’ reacted differently.
“W-what is this? Why is it doing this?”
The explorer hurriedly threw down the Book of Light he had been holding.
The book had torn in half, and red blood was gushing out of it.
At the same time, the Book of Darkness began devouring all the light around it.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Aaaah!”
The nearby Players were swept up immediately.
“…!?”
Jinhyuk’s pupils contracted sharply.
No matter how poor their interpretation skills were, they were not stupid enough to intentionally break the balance between darkness and light.
So they had not deliberately botched it.
Then what exactly had they been doing this whole time?
‘Looks like I’m getting an unexpected test right away.’
The new language he had acquired while exploring the Assembly of Arrogance with Beltor for a week.
The power to bind that language to space through a Barrier now shone at Jinhyuk’s fingertips.
[Ancient Barrier activates!]
[Lost Language – ‘Suture of Void’ activates!]
Rumble!
Purple letters were embroidered across the void.
Those alien yet magnificent characters now poured their true meaning into the canvas of the Barrier.
The violently rampaging cracks from the books froze in place.
It nullified the backlash from the failed interpretation with surprising ease.
As the curses abruptly stopped, both confusion and relief spread among the Players.
“The books… went back to normal?”
“No. Something is just blocking the curses.”
“Could it be… Teresa did it?”
“I don’t know how, but at least we can breathe for a second.”
They had barely managed to stop the worst from happening.
That was when it happened.
“You… It was you.”
A chilling voice reached Jinhyuk’s ears.
Tsu tsu tsu…
What emerged from the gray smoke was the boss monster that wielded the ten curses.
Despite enduring attacks from countless Rankers, it was now moving from its position for the first time.
To deal with the most troublesome existence here.
“Whoa. Was there really a handsome guy like this in White Oasis? If there was, I definitely would’ve noticed.”
Jinhyuk looked up at the mummy from below.
A horrific stench of rot stabbed into his nose.
The yellow light in its eyes radiated unbearable hostility toward the intruder.
“Do not… defile His resting place. Human.”
[‘Setan Mummy’ activates Unique Ability ‘Great Soul’!]
Ruuuumble!
Mana ran wild.
The cracks in the two books had been sealed, but the moment the Setan Mummy’s Unique Ability activated, the ten curses began changing into completely different forms.
Naturally, the Mana and aggression of the lesser monsters shifted as well.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Krrraaaraa!”
“Kieeee!”
It was essentially Phase 2.
Now that the Setan Mummy had stepped in directly, every difficulty level shot up.
‘Good. So the real game starts now?’
If I step in openly, I can deal with something like this in a few minutes.
But then I’d end up drawing all kinds of attention from everyone.
That won’t do.
After using the Fountain of Oblivion, I had no desire to taste that regret and bitterness again.
At least not yet.
Then…
Jinhyuk drew out an ability stored within the [Memory of the World].
[‘Ancient Barrier’, ‘Judgment of Anubis’, ‘Sanctuary of the Sun’, and ‘Final Genesis’ merge!]
Crackle…!
The four abilities resonated.