Chapter 406

[The Curse Pillar is destroyed.]

[Completed the special quest ‘The Cursed Pillar of the North’.]

[Reward obtained.]

[Level Up!]

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[Level Up!]

[Obtained Bartsach’s Token Fragment C.]

[Completed the prerequisite quest ‘The Cursed Pillar of the North’.]

[Special Quest ‘The Cursed Pillar of the East, and Evil’ has been activated.]

[You are near the Sacred Pillar.]

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[Damage taken from enemies is reduced by 20% for 10 minutes.]

“…Hm?”

Myeong-hu, who had been watching the pillar shatter and reading the message, couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion. The reason Myeong-hu tilted his head was precisely because of the name of the quest that had just activated.

‘And Evil?’

Something felt off. Unlike the quests he’d received before, this newly activated quest had an extra word tacked onto the end. Myeong-hu opened the quest window. He confirmed the quest: ‘The Cursed Pillar of the East, and Evil’.

The cursed castle of Bartash. You have destroyed the cursed pillars embedded in the south, west, and north, greatly weakening the curse upon the castle. Now, the cursed pillar you must destroy lies in the east. Go east with Haran and destroy the cursed pillar.

Quest Difficulty: SSS

Quest Reward: ???

Quest Cannot Be Cancelled

“…What is this?”

After checking the quest, he frowned. He had expected the quest description to be different since the quest name was different, but it was no different from the quests he had received before. This quest description also only stated to destroy the pillar.

-Good work.

Still puzzled by the quest, Myeong-hu closed the quest window and looked at Haran when her voice reached his ears.

-The curse on the castle has greatly weakened. Thank you so much.

Haran bowed her head in gratitude.

“Don’t mention it.”

It was Haran’s gratitude, heard each time a pillar was destroyed. Myeonghu quickly responded to the thanks and continued.

“So if we destroy the cursed pillar in the east now, we can proceed to the center?”

Before entering this place, Haran had said that destroying just a few cursed pillars would allow access to the center. And judging by the quest flow, it seemed that dealing with this eastern cursed pillar alone would indeed open the way to the center.

“Yes. If you destroy only the cursed pillar in the east, you should be able to proceed to the center.”

Haran nodded in response to Myeonghu’s question. Destroying only the eastern cursed pillar would allow passage to the center.

“Then let’s go right away.”

Minghu smiled upon hearing Haran’s answer.

-Wait a moment. I have something to say before we go.

“…?”

But Myeonghu couldn’t help but tilt his head at Haran’s next words. Something to say before we go? This was a reaction he hadn’t seen before.

‘Could it possibly be related to that?’

Myeong-hu wondered if Haran’s changed reaction might be connected to the word ‘and evil’ attached to the newly activated quest.

-The eastern region you’re heading to now is different from the south, west, and north.

Whether aware of Myeong-hu’s thoughts or not, Haran continued.

-There are no traitors in the eastern region.

‘No traitors?’

Myeong-hu was slightly taken aback. No traitors?

‘Then how do we get the key?’

To destroy the pillar of the curse, you must use the key of the curse. And to use the key of the curse, you must obtain the fragments of the curse from the traitors.

But no traitors? That meant we couldn’t obtain the cursed shards, couldn’t use the cursed key, and couldn’t destroy the cursed pillar.

‘Is there another way?’

Of course, there must be a way to destroy the pillar of curses. If it couldn’t be destroyed, there wouldn’t be a quest. The method might be different, but there must be a way.

-Instead, in the eastern region, monsters roam under the command of the entity guarding the Eastern Curse Pillar.

‘So they aren’t completely absent after all.’

Haran’s statement that there were no renegades led Myeonghu to believe there were no monsters in the eastern region at all. However, upon hearing Haran’s explanation, it seemed other monsters had taken the place of the renegades.

-Of course, with your strength, Myung-hoo, those monsters wouldn’t be a problem. The problem is their leader, the being guarding the Eastern Curse Pillar. To face that being, inner strength is needed more than external strength.

Finishing his words, Haran looked at Myeonghu.

“Inner strength, you say…”

Myeonghu trailed off under Haran’s gaze. Then Haran continued.

-The being guarding the Eastern Curse Pillar attacks the mind. Its mental assault is so powerful that even I, blessed by Lord Bartash, cannot afford to be careless.

“I see.”

After Haran finished speaking, Myeonghu nodded as if understanding and thought to himself.

‘A mental attack. That should be easy to handle.’

Myeonghu felt no fear at the prospect of a mental attack. And for good reason—he possessed the item ‘Necklace of the Undying,’ which granted immunity to all status effects for one minute every 20 hours.

‘One minute should be plenty to take it down.’

A mental attack wouldn’t come with high HP or defense. One minute would be more than enough to take it down.

* * * *

Halt!

Atakshah, who had returned to his temple through the gate, couldn’t help but pause at the sight that immediately caught his eye upon his return.

“Elgab?”

The being that made Atakshya pause was none other than Elgab. Seeing Elgab staring at him, Atakshya thought.

‘Why are you here?’

Why was Elgab here? This was not Elgab’s temple. It was Atakshah’s own temple.

‘Does that even matter?’

But Atakshar shook her head at the thought that immediately followed. She had intended to seek out Elgab anyway. She didn’t know why Elgab was here, but it was actually for the best.

“Atakshah! I missed you! Hehe.”

Elgab said with a goofy grin.

“You went to the Middle Realm and came back, right?”

Smiling, Elgab approached Atakshah. Atakshah couldn’t manage a smile like the one Elgab wore as he came toward her. The situation was far too serious for smiles.

“…What’s wrong?”

Sensing Atakshah’s mood, Elgab wiped the smile from his face, tilted his head in puzzlement, and asked.

“Could it be… things didn’t go well?”

Atakshah, who had remained silent until now, spoke in response to Elgab’s question.

“We’re in big trouble.”

“…A big problem?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of trouble?”

Elgab, who had been puzzled, began to engage in the conversation with a serious expression, prompted by Atakshah’s expression and words.

“An intruder has entered the castle of Bartash.”

And at Atakshah’s next words, Elgab couldn’t help but be utterly shocked.

“…!”

He was too stunned to speak.

“My avatar has already been destroyed?”

Seeing Elgab’s shocked expression, Atakshya continued.

“By now, Hiragos’ avatar should also have been destroyed.”

The one guarding the third pillar was none other than Hiragos’ avatar. Yet Atakshya was certain Hiragos’ avatar too had vanished.

“And the intruder in the castle is a human you know.”

“…What?”

Elgab, who had been listening silently, could not help but question Atakshah’s words.

“A human I know?”

Elgab was utterly flustered by Atakshah’s claim that it was a human he knew.

“Yes.”

Atakshya nodded in response. As soon as Elgab heard Atakshya’s answer, he immediately asked,

“Who is this human?”

“The human who killed my child and destroyed Agranecto.”

“…!”

The moment Elgab heard Atakshya’s words, he could picture one man in his mind. Elgab knew the man who had killed Atakshya’s child, known as the Kraken in the Middle Realm, and annihilated Agranecto, the Demon King of the Seven Demon Realms.

‘I thought he was special…’

He had taken interest when Atakshah’s child was killed, and when Agranecto was destroyed, he had thought this human was special.

‘Even so, to attack Bartsach’s castle…’

But even if he was special, he was still just a human. He never imagined that someone would invade the Castle of Vartash, which he believed would sink forever without change.

Moreover, even though he heard it directly from Atakshya himself, he couldn’t believe that Atakshya’s avatar had been destroyed. Even if it was an avatar, it was a god’s avatar. An avatar wasn’t weak enough to be destroyed by mere humans.

“What shall we do?”

Atakshya asked when Elgab remained silent.

“Hmm…”

Lost in thought, Elgab snapped out of his reverie at Atakshah’s question, exhaled sharply, and considered his options. After a moment, he opened his mouth and spoke…

“Was it just that one human who invaded the castle?”

“That is not certain. But if there were other humans, my children and I would have sensed them. It is likely only that one human who entered.”

An intruder had entered the castle, but how many there were remained unknown. Yet, if others had been present, they would have sensed it. Atakshya was certain the intruder was alone.

“I see…”

Hearing Atakshya’s words, Elgab trailed off and sank back into thought.

‘There’s no way to lift the curse. Even if Atakshya’s avatar was destroyed, the one at the center…’

Elgab didn’t believe the intruder who had entered the castle could break the curse. To break the curse, the pillar of the curse at the center must be destroyed, and that was absolutely impossible with human strength alone.

‘Though the prophecy is a concern…’

Of course, he wasn’t entirely without worry. Prophecy—Elgab frowned, recalling the prophecy of the Second Great God, Bartash.

‘Still, he’s only human.’

But that thought was fleeting. Remembering the fate of Bartash, who had made the prophecy, Elgab dismissed the prophecy from his mind. After all, he was only human.

‘The problem is when he just comes back out…’

What worried him now was when Myeonghu gave up on breaking the curse and left the castle.

“Then that should work.”

Elgab murmured after finishing his thoughts. Hearing Elgab’s mutter, Atakshya focused on his words.

“I’ll be back shortly. I’m going to the temple.”

Elgab said to Atakshah, who was focused on him.

“The temple, you say?”

“Yeah, I thought of a good way.”

Elgab smiled broadly as he answered Atakshah.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Elgab told Atakshah and turned around. He began walking out of the temple.

Thud!

“Ah, right!”

But after walking only a short distance, Elgab remembered something. He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked back at Atakshah.

“Atakshah, I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor? What kind of favor?”

“Gather all your children from the lake and bring them to the castle entrance.”

Elgab’s request was to gather every Kraken in the lake at the entrance to Bartsach Castle.

“…Can my children not kill that human?”

Atakshah spoke after hearing Elgab’s request. Even if all the children in Lake Belkan were gathered, Atakshah believed she could not kill the human who had invaded the castle, Myeonghu. No, the children might die, but Myeonghu would not.

“I know.”

But Elgab knew that too.

“What I want isn’t to kill that man.”

What Elgab wanted was not to kill Myeonghu.

“It would be nice if we could kill him, but I just want you to buy time. Make him return as late as possible.”

Time. What Elgab wanted was to buy time. Killing him would be ideal, but buying time was sufficient. Atakshah replied to Elgab’s words.

“Then I shall go myself and kill that man. I came here to inform you of this matter anyway.”

Atakshah had returned to the temple in the first place to report the intruder. Having delivered that message, he could return now. No, he would return. Atakshah had merely suppressed his anger for a moment.

‘Wait.’

Recalling Myeonghu, Ataksa’s eyes flashed.

============================ Afterword ============================

November 24th. Yesterday was my birthday.

So the hiatus… Sorry about that. Hehe;

Wishing you a Tuesday filled with good fortune.