Chapter 418

“Hmph.”

Stepping into the open space, Ekalim let out a low hum as he continued walking, only stopping once he reached the center of the clearing where Myeonghu stood.

Thud

Ekalim stopped, thrusting the greatsword he held into the ground. He then sat down beside it and looked around. Seeing Ekalim’s expression, Myeonghu thought.

‘Is he waiting for someone?’

Judging by Ekalim’s current expression and demeanor, he seemed to be waiting for someone. And shortly after, Myeonghu realized his guess was correct.

“You’re here.”

Ekalim, who had been sitting and surveying the area, murmured as he rose from his spot. As if waiting for that signal, several figures began appearing from the opposite direction of where Ekalim had emerged.

‘Huh? Those guys…’

The figures newly appearing in the clearing, like Ekalim, were people Myeonghu knew well.

‘Ekalik, Atakshah, Hiragos, Elgab…’

Ekalik, who guarded the first pillar; Atakshah, who guarded the second pillar; Hiragos, who guarded the third pillar; Elgab, who guarded the fourth pillar. These four had appeared in the clearing.

“What? You’re here? I thought you’d be the last to arrive.”

“I never imagined you’d be here.”

“The fact you’re here first means Ekalim was a little nervous too.”

“Ekalim! I’m here!”

The four who appeared in the clearing approached Ekalim and spoke one after another. After they finished, Ekalim chuckled.

Swoosh

And in that instant, the surroundings darkened again. Myeong-hu couldn’t help but be puzzled by the sudden situation.

[5 seconds remaining until loading.]

But that confusion was short-lived. The message that appeared soon after made Myeong-hu realize the darkness wasn’t a bug or error.

Swoosh

Five seconds later, just like before, the dark surroundings began to change.

‘This place…’

After surveying his surroundings, Myeong-hu recognized where he was.

‘Bartsach Castle…’

In the distance, Bartaš Castle was visible.

‘Seeing no water, it must be before it sank.’

No water was visible. That clearly meant it hadn’t sunk yet.

‘Anyway, there sure are a lot of them…’

A truly diverse array of races had gathered before the castle. Ogres, trolls, orcs, giant squids, skeletons—the variety was immense. And that wasn’t all. Scattered among them were creatures like twin-headed ogres, balrogs, and kraken—beings that could be called disasters even if only one existed. Myeonghu turned his gaze away from them and looked at those around him, thinking.

‘Are these guys his minions?’

Monsters weren’t the only ones here. In the most crucial central area where Myeonghu stood, there were Elgab, Atakshah, and the humans Ekalim, Ekalik, and Hiragos.

“Finally, we can settle the score with that bastard!”

Ekalim, the only one seated, gazing at the castle, spoke.

“I’d love to face him myself, but since you want it, I’ll let you have him! Heh heh.”

Ekalik, standing beside him, responded to Ekalim’s words. Who exactly were they referring to as “that guy” in their conversation?

“Ho ho ho, Ekalik, your sense of humor has really grown, hasn’t it?”

Just then, Elgab, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke up.

“…What does that mean?”

Ecalik, who had been smiling and chatting with Ecalim, frowned at Elgab’s words and asked.

“Bartsash is the God-King! The pinnacle of the gods! It’s ridiculous that you talk like you could defeat him, not even Ekalim. Hahaha!”

Elgab stared straight at Ekalik’s frowning expression as he answered, then laughed aloud once more. Hearing Elgab’s laughter, Ekalik frowned even deeper and said.

“Do you want to die?”

“Oh my, you want to kill me?”

“Yes.”

“I wouldn’t die for anyone but Ekalim? Hehe.”

The atmosphere between the two grew increasingly tense. However, they had never gotten along well, and situations like this had happened many times before. Ekalim shook his head as he watched them, Atakshya looked on with an amused expression, and Hiragos, standing right beside them, stepped between the two and said.

“This is a crucial time. It’s not the moment for us to fight amongst ourselves. If you’re going to fight, do it after it’s over.”

“…”

“…”

At Hiragos’ words, Elgab and Ekalim silently glared at each other. Then, as if by mutual agreement, they turned their heads away.

Whoosh

And right then, light began to burst forth from Bartsach Castle. Seeing it, Ekalim rose from his seat and said.

“Well then, it seems it’s about to begin. I’ll go first. Let’s all meet again alive.”

With that, Ekalim vanished from his seat.

Swoosh

And once more, the surroundings darkened. Was it because it was the second time? Even though the area grew dark, Myeonghu no longer panicked.

[5 seconds remaining until loading.]

The message appeared soon, and Myeong-hu thought as he read it.

‘Where could it be this time?’

The first time was an empty field, the second time was near the castle of Bartash just before the war. He was genuinely curious where it would be this time. As Myeong-hu pondered, the 5 seconds passed.

Whoosh

The dark surroundings transformed into a new scene. Myeong-hu could see massive castle walls standing firmly in place.

‘Right in front of the castle.’

The massive castle wall before his eyes made it clear to Myeong-hu that this place he was standing in was the castle wall itself.

Swish

Myeong-hu looked around.

-Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Bang! Bang!

-Gwaaah!

A fierce battle was raging before the castle. Monsters charged relentlessly, attacking the castle without pause, while the humans defending it unleashed merciless attacks upon the monsters from atop the castle walls.

‘I thought it was mainly about Ekalim, but maybe not?’

A fierce war between humans and monsters. Yet Ekalim was nowhere to be seen. Through his two previous observations of the past, Myeonghu had assumed he was viewing the past primarily through Ekalim’s perspective, but that seemed not to be the case.

Swoosh

Soon after, the surroundings darkened again.

[5 seconds remaining until loading.]

Whoosh

A message appeared, and after 5 seconds, a new scene unfolded. This time, it was inside the castle of Bartash.

-CRASH!

“Eeek!”

“Kyaaaah!”

The castle interior was pure chaos. Monsters had breached the walls and swarmed inside, smashing buildings indiscriminately and slaughtering humans. Myeonghu frowned, hearing the incessant roars of monsters and the screams of humans. Seeing fellow humans being massacred made him feel anything but good.

It was right then.

Wooong. Wooong. Wooong.

Just as Myeonghu frowned and watched the monsters roar and slaughter humans, a strange pattern appeared on the floor.

The pattern wasn’t confined to where Myeong-hu stood. Judging by how far it stretched into the distance, it seemed to cover the entire castle. Myeong-hu looked at the pattern filling the floor and thought.

‘A magic circle?’

It was definitely a magic circle. And a massive one, encompassing the entire castle.

Whoosh

Bright light erupted from the magic circle, filling the castle interior with brilliant radiance.

-Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

-Kwaaah!

-Gwaaah!

And the monsters inside the castle, engulfed by that light, began to burn away and vanish, accompanied by agonized screams. But that wasn’t all.

‘What? It’s even repairing the buildings?’

The buildings destroyed by the monsters were being restored. Of course, not everything returned to the way it was before.

‘Guess there’s nothing we can do about the dead humans…’

Unfortunately, unlike the buildings, humans killed by the monsters did not come back to life.

Swoosh

Just as Myeong-hu felt this regret, the surroundings darkened again. Myeong-hu waited silently, wondering what past time he would see this time, until a new scene appeared.

Swish

After a while, the darkness faded and a new scene appeared. This time, Myeong-hu found himself in front of the pillar in the Central Divine Temple where he had been until recently.

“…Huh?”

Several people stood before the pillar of the Central Divine City. And Myeong-hu couldn’t help but be slightly startled when he saw the face of a little child standing at the very front among them.

‘Repurem?’

Repurem, the little child standing at the very front, was clearly the Repurem he had seen before. Repurem was staring at the young man standing before the pillar with an extremely serious expression.

No, not just Repurem—those standing behind him were also looking at the young man with expressions full of concern. Seeing the gaze of the group, including Repurem, Myeonghu looked at the young man and thought.

‘Who is he? He seems special…’

Who exactly was this young man? Who was he to warrant such gazes from so many people, including Repurem? Myeonghu’s question was answered shortly thereafter by Repurem.

“Bartsach, you must flee.”

Repurem, who had been staring at the young man with a serious expression, opened his mouth and spoke.

‘Bartas? So it was Bartas?’

Upon hearing Repurem’s words, Myeonghu realized the young man was Bartasch, the lord of this castle and the Second Lord.

“Where am I supposed to flee to?”

Bartsach replied to Repurem’s words.

“…”

Repurem was momentarily speechless at Bartash’s words. Seeing Repurem like that, Bartash continued.

“Even if I escape from here, they’ll chase me to the very end. If that happens, the world will be ruined even more.”

Escaping wouldn’t end it. Even if he fled from here, they would pursue him relentlessly to the end, and if that happened, the world would be ruined even more. Bartas knew this all too well.

“I’ll just have to see it through to the end here with them.”

“But…”

Repurem opened his mouth at Bartas’ words about seeing it through to the end. But Bartas cut him off the moment Repurem spoke.

“Quiet. It’s my decision.”

“…Then I’ll assist you.”

Repurem hesitated briefly at Bartash’s firm response before speaking. And the moment Repurem finished, those standing behind him also began to speak.

“We will also assist Lord Bartas.”

“Punish those bastards!”

“I too wish to stand with Lord Bartas.”

At Repurem and the others’ words, Bartasch smiled and opened his mouth.

“I appreciate the offer, but…”

Bartash trailed off.

“…?”

“…?”

Repurem and the others looked puzzled at Bartas’ words and the atmosphere. Then Bartas continued.

“I cannot let you rest in eternal sleep here. I’m sorry.”

If you stay here, you will perish—that is, cease to exist.

“Bartsash!”

Repurem, having grasped the meaning of Bartash’s words, called out to him.

“Repurem, if everyone gathered here now, including you, were to fall into eternal sleep… the world would be utterly ruined. Even if those creatures became gods. I do not want that.”

Finishing his words, Bartas turned his head to look east. Then, with a gaze filled with tension, excitement, and various other emotions, he opened his mouth and murmured.

“They’ve come.”

Swoosh

With that final murmur, darkness enveloped the surroundings once more. As the darkness fell, Myeonghu waited for the next flashback, pondering.

‘So this is why Repurem gave the quest to kill Atakshya’s krakens?’

Repurem’s quest to kill the Kraken. The Kraken was Atakshya’s child. At first, it didn’t make sense that Repurem would give such a quest. But now, having seen the past, he thought he understood why Repurem had given that quest.

Swoosh

As Myeonghu pondered this, the darkness vanished, revealing a new scene. Myeonghu set aside his thoughts about Repurem and looked around.

‘Is this the last one?’

After checking his surroundings, Myeonghu thought this past might be the final one.

“Long time no see, Bartash!”

“Hmm. You’ve grown stronger. Ekalim.”

Before Myeong-hu’s eyes. Two young men stood there.

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

It’s 2015 now.

Wishing you a year filled with health, happiness, joy, and warmth in your heart!