Pilgrim (6)

Among the many detection-type abilities, there are some with a foresight concept.

A prime example is the [Needle of Regret].

A Rank 1 Essence Skill that can be looted from the ninth floor or above.

Its effect is simple.

In the game, once you acquire this skill, whenever a party member dies, the message “Memories of regret rewind time” appears, allowing you to restart from the branching point.

Hmm, maybe it’s not exactly ‘foresight’?

Anyway, this skill, being absolutely broken, also has some very clear drawbacks:

• It can only activate if the deceased companion is in a “bonded” state with you.
• It has a reuse cooldown of several months in city time.
• You can only use it up to three times in total.
• And if you are the one who dies, it doesn’t activate at all.

Therefore…

“So, it’s definitely not that skill.”

We’re not even bonded right now, and judging by our conversation earlier, it seemed she’d already used it at least twice. So it couldn’t be that skill.

“The most plausible one… must be…

I soon arrived at the candidate that made the most sense:

[Prophet of Misfortune].

A Level 6 passive skill that’s extremely difficult to acquire.

If you have it, it activates randomly, and you can receive bits of future information—like hints—through the system log.

Something along these lines:

[An ominous vision haunts the prophet’s eyes]

[In the near future, Bjorn Jandel is killed by the sword of Captain Dreadfear, Do not let your guard down just because he is out of sight. He will never give up on you]

And instead of a few lines of text, you’d experience those events firsthand with your own eyes.

“Huff… huff… ….”

“…Aynar, is it possible you saw me dying?”

“……”

Once again, she didn’t answer.

But that slight flinch of her body told me everything I needed to know.

“So that’s why she’s pushing himself so hard…”

I clamped my mouth shut.

No matter how I tried, I wouldn’t be able to persuade her.

This was all I could do right now.

“Go left.”

I guided her in the right direction.

And then—

Crunch.

I clenched my teeth tight.

“Bethel—raaahhhhh!!”

All I could do was cling powerlessly to Aynar’s back as she charged barehanded through the soldiers.

Thwack!

An arrow pierced my leg.

“Die!”

Their sharp spears slashed through her skin, leaving deep cuts.

That was all I could do—watch as it happened.

“Got her! Now, quickly…!”

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

“…What kind of strength is this!”

Aynar finally stopped after a long, desperate charge.

Not because we had reached our destination.

There was still a way to go to the cave entrance, but it was too much now.

To keep going while protecting me.

Thud.

As injuries piled up and her speed slowed, the pursuing soldiers began to close the distance, and Ainar had to end his reckless dash.

And…

“Don’t worry… not at all.”

With those words, she swung her weapon against the soldiers flooding in like a tide.

I could only sit by the wall, watching his back helplessly.

One, two, three, four, five, six…

Seven, when an axe embedded in Aynar’s forearm.

Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen…

Eighteen, when a spear pierced her collar area.

Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five…

Forty-six, when an arrow pierced her left eye.

Seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three.

As time passed, numerous bodies piled up.

A hundred.

A brief silence fell.

Despite arrows sticking out all over her body and blood pouring from her wounds, Aynar stood firm, and the soldiers hesitated to close in.

“…”

“…”

Of course, the moment was very brief.

“She’s tired too…! Don’t give in!”

The soldiers stepped over the piled bodies, swinging their weapons again.

One hundred and thirty.

Aynar apologised to me.

“Sorry…”

“…”

“My strength… is failing…”

Then Aynar collapsed on top of me.

Thwok, thwok, thwok!

Sounds that shouldn’t come from the body of a companion reached my ears.

Piiiiiiii-

It felt like a nightmare.

My head was numb, dizzy and I felt like vomiting.

Thud, thud, thud –

Piiiiiiii-!

Countless noises came in rapid succession.

And for what seemed like an eternity, it happened

Eventually, my body, which had been paralyzed and forced to watch helplessly—

…twitch.

—began to move.

[The character’s hp has reached 30%.]

[The status abnormality [Paralysis] is lifted.]

I reached out my hand, grabbing any weapon that came within reach.

Then, pushing Aynar’s body off, I stood up.

Whooosh!

I swung the weapon broadly.

The soldiers, startled, stepped back, creating a slight gap. Seizing it, I hoisted Aynar onto my back and began to run.

Just as Aynar had carried me before.

“Uaaaaaaaaah—!!”

I ran through the corridor filled with soldiers.

“Block them!”

Weapons flashed, aimed to cut me off.

With each step forward, more wounds accumulated on my body.

Even so, I neither blocked nor dodged.

As long as the blades weren’t aimed at Ainar, I took them head-on, relying on my tank-like endurance to keep charging.

I don’t know how long I ran like that—

[Character’s HP has fallen below15]

The body that had just recovered was once again ragged, but I managed to break through the encirclement.

“Huff… huff…”

Finally, there was a brief respite.

I kept running as I checked Aynar’s condition.

“Aynar! Are you okay? Wake up! Don’t fall asleep! Come on—!”

Just then, I heard a faint voice in my ear.

“…B–jorn…”

“……!”

So she was still alive.

“Th–thank goodness. Y–you’re tired, right? But hold on just a little longer! Ten minutes! No, maybe eight minutes is enough!”

Then we could get out of this cave.

I’m not sure if that’s the actual condition for clearing this place, but given how absurdly hard it is to escape, there’s a good chance we’ll find some means to recover in the next chapter.

“So—!”

Just keep trusting me a bit longer—

As I was about to continue, Ainar spoke in a low voice.

“…Let… go…”

What on earth was she talking about?

Her speech was slurred and quiet, making me wonder if I had misheard.

But then…

“Leave me… go…”

…I had heard right.

For some reason, I felt angry, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak harshly to someone in such bad shape.

So I decided to ignore it.

“You must’ve lost too much blood, and it’s messing with your head.”

“…”

“Just stay still then. That’s all you can do.”

Whether she chose to follow my advice or simply had no strength left, I couldn’t tell.

But Aynar didn’t speak again.

‘…She’s not dead, is she?’

I swallowed my anxiety with a dry gulp.

And I ran forward as if my heart would burst.

In the distance, I could see the dazzling cave opening.

“Aynar! Aynar! Get a grip! We’re almost outside!”

“…….”

“Say something!”

“……Be… care…ful.”

What is she talking about?

Anyway, at least she was alive. That was enough.

So let’s just get outside—

“……?”

I reached the cave entrance and came to a stop. Moving closer, I stretched out my hand toward the translucent barrier.

For some reason—

Thunk.

The way out of the cave was sealed off.

“…………Don’t fuck with me.”

If escaping isn’t the goal, then what is?

What? Make a boss that can’t be defeated and then also block the exit?

“Then what the hell… are we supposed to do to clear this…?”

I felt like some crucial support I’d been clinging to had just crumbled inside me.

“B–bjorn…”

But I just smiled.

“A- Aynar? Don’t worry! I’ll smash this stupid barrier in no time!”

If something stands in your way, you break through it—that’s the barbarian way.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I hammered my fists into the barrier with every ounce of strength.

“B–bjorn…”

Unfortunately, the barrier didn’t budge an inch.

But a barbarian also never knows the meaning of surrender.

“St–stop…”

Fists, feet, forehead…

I hurled myself at the barrier with every part of my body—shouldering it with my full weight—

Booom—!

What, did they slap some kind of “invulnerable” trait on this thing?

Okay, time for Plan B.

Changing strategies, I turned my attention to the wall beside the barrier.

No matter how sturdy the door is, the wall around it might not be.

Maybe there’s a way out that way.

So—

“Sto…p… already…”

Boom—!

“Just… go…”

“……”

“Before… he shows up…”

I couldn’t hold back any longer.

Boooom—!

I slammed my forehead against the immovable wall in frustration.

Far from feeling relieved, my chest still felt suffocating.

“There they are…!”

Soldiers appeared behind me.

Already? I didn’t even think about how they closed the distance so quickly. Instead, I felt relieved and immediately charged at them.

Crack!

I smashed the first one against the wall, crushed him, and snatched his weapon to begin a true slaughter.

“He’s a demon!”

“Don’t retreat!”

“For the empire…!”

One, two, three, four…

‘Five.’

Six, seven, eight…

‘…How many was it?’

I didn’t know, so I started counting again from the beginning. 

One, two, three…

Crack, crack, crack-!

By the time I came to my senses, the surroundings were eerily quiet.

Only corpses remained, and not even the faintest breath could be heard.

Realizing something belatedly, I turned around.

“…Aynar.”

I rushed over to check on her and thankfully, Aynar was still breathing.

Faintly and roughly, as if it could stop at any moment.

“Björn…”

Sensing my presence, Aynar lifted her eyelids shakily.

“…”

I couldn’t find the words.

It should be words like, it’s okay, don’t worry, or we’ll be out soon.

“Jandel’s, son… Björn.”

Staring down at her blankly, Aynar weakly curled the corners of her lips.

“My… precious… friend…”

It felt like a thick stake was driven through my heart.

Precious friend…

“You will be… a great… warrior…”

A painful truth or a sweet lie.

It’s obvious which one you should offer to someone on the brink of death.

But…

“A precious friend,” huh…

Even before I could make that simple judgment, my mouth opened of its own accord,

A confession and an apology all at once.

“I… I’m not… that person…”

There really is a Bjorn Jandel out there.

I’m just a evil spirit that stole his body.

Yes, the evil spirit you said you’d smash on the spot if you ever met it—

That spirit is me.

I kept mumbling these words to Aynar, who was staring at me with unfocused eyes.

At some point, I came back to myself.

“……”

Aynar was no longer breathing.

Her eyes, still open, were fixed on me, but there was no sense in denying the truth.

[The third pilgrim has died]

Aynar was gone. And with that—

[All stats of surviving pilgrims have increased by +400]

My stats rose once more. From that, I understood:

[You are the only survivor]

So this was how stats were gained…

And then—

[Special Condition – Perfect Bond has been fulfilled]

[All stats are multiplied by 3]

[Eliminate the Lord of Fear, Dread Fear]

That’s what the real strategy for this hidden phase had been all along.