Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 821

Lifeline 5

[Where should I begin…?]

The moment the man started his story like that, I cut him off and gave him the obvious answer.

[From the very beginning.You can keep it a bit brief if you like, but tell me about your life.]

Of course, it was not a normal request, but given the strange circumstances, with me practically interrogating him, it was believable enough.

[The Imperial Western Front. That is where I was born and raised.]

Zephyros belonged to the generation born during the height of the war against the Witch. In other words, he was born near the end of the world.

[My mother served as a nurse officer, and my father was an ordinary soldier.]

Battles broke out almost every day, and each one took someone from him. His parents were no exception.

[When I was orphaned at eleven, I immediately volunteered for the army. It wasn’t because I hated the monsters or felt any grand sense of patriotism. It was simply the only thing I could do, and the only thing I knew how to do.]

Fortunately, Zephyros had a natural talent for war. He began as a foot soldier, then became a squad leader, then a centurion. With each battle he survived, his achievements piled up, and he rose through the ranks at a remarkable pace.

[Well, it wasn’t because I accomplished anything especially great. The people above me just kept dying one after another, and I happened to be there to fill the empty positions.]

That was how he described it, but to me, it sounded more like humility. Strange as it might be to say, surviving that long was proof of strength in itself.

[As you know, the situation outside is terrible. The western front, where I grew up, was pushed back until we could no longer hold the line. In the end, we were absorbed into the central forces.]

Even in that new environment, Zephyros did everything he could to survive, and he continued to grow stronger.

[Thankfully, there were many paths open to me. Since the world was ending, there were no extra ranks or qualifications left to worry about. The martial arts of ancient and historical dukedoms, magic, even crafting techniques passed down within certain units… All of them became things that any common soldier could learn.]

As time passed, Zephyros began to make a name for himself. Just when his superiors were starting to recognize him, he heard a rumor.

[They said an expedition force was being formed. Naturally, I volunteered. Was it because I hated the monsters? I won’t deny that was part of it. If I could, I would have torn that Witch apart myself and created a world where those monsters never existed. But…]

The real reason Zephyros joined the expedition force came down to one sentence.

[They said that if the expedition succeeded, the war would finally end. That was enough for me. I was tired of it. Tired of a life filled with nothing but death. Besides, there weren’t any other choices. The world was already on the verge of destruction. We had to try something.]

And so, Zephyros joined the expedition force and set out, carrying the hope of saving the world.

[The expedition force’s first destination was the cave where everything began. There, we defeated the First Lord of the Witch’s army.]

[The First Lord?] I asked

[Dreadfear. That murderous monster. A creature born from some inexplicable mutation after consuming that transformative drug… The one even the Witch herself could not save.]

Enhancement drugs.

Even the Witch couldn’t save him…

I did not know enough to understand everything he was saying, but there was one thing I recognized.

Dreadfear.

The Lord of the First Floor, known by the title of Terror.

There were several things I wanted to ask Zephyros, but I held myself back and continued listening to his story.

[But why are you asking about that? You speak as though this is your first time hearing about the First Lord…]

If I asked something I should clearly already know, he would start doubting who I really was. One wrong question could ruin this entire conversation.

[It’s nothing. Keep going] I said, urging him on while he hesitated.

[Well… all right.]

After that, Zephyros continued his story.

[After we defeated the First Lord, our next objective was the Second Lord. To do that, we divided the expedition force into four groups and sent each group to a different region.]

The Rock Desert. The Goblin Forest. The Den of Beasts. The Land of the Dead.

The expedition force headed to those four places, fought brutal battles, and eventually managed to defeat the Lord of Regret.

[Afterward, we reached the Witch’s Hut. There, just as planned, we managed to deceive the Third Lord and summon him as well.]

At that point, I no longer needed to guide him with questions. I still did not understand how the two were connected, but the route the expedition had taken was the exact order of the labyrinth’s levels.

[The battle itself wasn’t difficult. We defeated the Third Lord as planned. Then we set out to deal with the Fourth Lord. The Sky Tower. That was the name those cursed pilgrims gave it, the ones who treated the earth and sky as if they were the same thing. They claimed it was built to praise the Witch, even though the structure actually led underground. What most people do not know is that the empire built that tower. They dug deep into the earth to seal the Evil God away and placed a gatekeeper there to watch over the seal. But in the end, the Witch and her pilgrims took over the territory and renamed it. Anyway, the Fourth Lord was an extremely difficult enemy.]

Zephyros trembled, as though the mere memory of the Fourth Lord still frightened him. Even so, his story continued, and the expedition force eventually defeated the Lord of the Sky.

[After that, we reached our final destination, the Great Demon Realm.]

It was only then that I learned the expedition’s true purpose.

[We went there to kill the Fifth Lord, Siliut, who had betrayed the empire and sided with the Witch. After that, we were supposed to seal the Evil God again, and then kill the Witch herself.]

However, they never achieved that goal. After entering the Great Demon Realm, Zephyros and his group became separated from the rest of the expedition force in the ensuing battle.

More of his companions died afterwards.

Eventually, they settled there and spent countless years waiting for a rescue party that never arrived.

[That is my story. Even I do not think it was very interesting.]

[I have a few questions] I said once he finished.

[Ask whatever you like. It seems our lives are now in your hands.]

[Why did you assume the world had ended? From what you’ve told me, you were merely separated from the expedition.]

[Because that expedition was humanity’s last hope.]

[And if it had succeeded, the sea of flames surrounding this house would have disappeared.]

[The expedition failed.]

To conclude that the world’s destruction was inevitable simply because the expedition failed…

That alone revealed how desperate the situation had been and how thoroughly the Empire had indoctrinated its soldiers.

[Was I wrong?]

Zephyros looked at me expectantly.

I gave him a bitter smile.

Well…

The expedition probably failed in the end.

But…

Not here in the Great Demon Realm.

First Floor.

Second Floor.

Third Floor.

Fourth Floor.

Fifth Floor.

If my theory about the expedition’s route matching the Labyrinth’s progression was correct, then the expedition must have continued beyond this point.

Beyond the Great Demon Realm, they would have crossed the open ocean, passed the Dark Continent, and defeated the one called a Lord in Ice Rock. From there, they would have gone through the Land of Dawn and the Tomb of Stars, perhaps even reaching the Abyss.

So what exactly had happened?

In the end, I could only feel disappointed. Zephyros had been left behind on the fifth floor, which meant I would not be able to hear those stories from him.

[Tell me… Did the expedition fail?]

[You’ll find out once you leave this place.]

[Now, my second question.]

[Go ahead.]

[What exactly are these Lords?]

It was something that had bothered me while I listened to his story. What were the beings called Lords? I waited for his answer with interest.

[How does that question help prove I won’t be a threat to Raphdonia?]

[Uh…]

He had a point.

But still…

I squared my shoulders and glared down at him, using my size to pressure him.

[Are you questioning me?]

[No… I’m not refusing. I just don’t understand what the purpose of that question is.] Zephyros squeaked, shrinking back a little more.

[You don’t need to understand. You only need to answer.]

[Is this… some kind of test?]

A test, huh?

That was not a bad guess.

I simply held my ground and stared him down. Unable to withstand the pressure, Zephyros eventually spoke first.

[I don’t know what this is about, but I’ll tell you everything I know. Lords are ‘pilgrims’ born through the Witch’s authority. They possess power beyond normal standards, enough to ignore the rules of this world. However, no one is certain exactly how they are born. Take the First Lord, for example. He was a prisoner, and the Imperial Army fed him a drug meant to collapse the mind and body, then remake him into a new biological weapon. But for some reason… he went berserk, and the first Lord was born. They do not leave their respective regions. Since they rule over those places like kings, they came to be called the Witch Army’s Lords. Some, like the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Lords, obey the Witch absolutely. Others, like the First and Third Lords, are insane murderers who attack both friend and foe. Some people even proposed that the birth of the Lords was never something the Witch intended. Their theory was that the Witch couldn’t properly control the power she possessed. That is everything I know.]

[I see…]

His explanation was scattered and difficult to follow, but it did not seem like he had a clear understanding of the Lords either.

[Third question. Why did the expedition force target the Lords and the Evil God?]

[Isn’t that obvious? The Lords exist to protect the Witch, and the Evil God is her ally. But from the way you asked that… is there something I don’t know?]

I clicked my tongue.

This man kept answering my questions with questions of his own.

Fine. I would just ignore him.

[Final question. Are you alone here?]

Zephyros immediately closed his mouth, and wariness appeared on his face.

So he’s still doubting me, even after all this…

Well, I understood why. Even if he had chosen to trust me, he could not make that decision on behalf of the others. He was hesitating because he feared making a reckless choice and putting his companions in danger.

After a long silence, Zephyros finally began to answer.

[I—]

Just as Zephyros opened his mouth..

[He is not alone]

The man looked to be in his mid-thirties and stood over six feet tall. He had a messy beard and sharp features that made him look even more imposing. I did not recognize him, but for some reason, I felt a strange sense of connection to him.

Zephyros is standing in front of me. Tarvian is a woman. And since this man clearly isn’t a baby…

By process of elimination, there was only one person he could be.

[Forgive me. I listened to your entire conversation from upstairs.]

He was the author of the diary.

[Greetings. My name is Ormi Noark.]

…Huh?

My thoughts briefly stopped at the combination of those two familiar names, but they restarted almost immediately.

The Ormi Revolutionary Corps.

Noark.

[For your reference, I am the person from Raphdonia that he mentioned.]

And Raphdonia too?

This was becoming very interesting.

There was no such thing as coincidence.

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