Chapter 294: Treason If We Fail, Revolution If We Succeed (8)

Malfite, the guardian of the Terra Ring, could not believe what he was seeing.

—A mere short-lived creature is enduring this?

He was so shocked that his thoughts spilled out as words.

—In eight hundred eighty-seven years, eight mortals have challenged this trial. Not one of them lasted more than five seconds!

Those who challenged the trial to obtain the Terra Ring were not only humans—there were beastfolk, elves, dwarves, and more. From them, the ones renowned for their strength had challenged the trial, but every one of them failed and died. Among them was even a descendant of the giant race, though only half-blooded.

—

A trial that even a descendant of the giant race failed... and some lowly little human dares...!

Malfite was shocked. Under normal circumstances, Keter would have taunted him endlessly, but now he was silent, as he had no room to speak. He didn’t even have spare focus to think of anything else. In Keter’s mind remained only two commands: push and endure. Even blinking or breathing felt like a waste of muscle.

Crack!

Riiip!

A series of cracks and rips sounded from across Keter’s body. His entire body and legs trembled violently. Under the overwhelming pressure, all his blood vessels burst, and blood streamed down his skin. Even so, Keter did not collapse. He did not close his eyes. He did not lower his arms. He simply endured, like someone born solely to support this colossal mountain.

Malfite felt fear. He had told Keter that the trial would end if he could take the Terra Ring, but the truth was different. This trial ended only if one endured the weight for one full minute. And now, forty seconds had already passed. Malfite grew anxious.

—The Five Element Relics are the sacred relics of us giants, the primordial race. You short-lived creatures are by-products, scraps, livestock! At best, you are pets. I cannot hand a divine relic to someone like you!

Driven by the fear that Keter might truly succeed, Malfite violently shook his giant body. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in his actions, showing that this wasn’t the first time he had done it. Six hundred seventy-seven years ago, he had killed a dwarf the same way, by disrupting his balance until he fell and was crushed under the ring. The same fate awaited Keter.

And indeed, Keter fell. Who would have imagined that the guardian itself would sabotage the challenger? But Keter adapted.

W-what?!

Falling backward, Keter braced his back against the ground and caught the Terra Ring with the soles of his feet.

Splatter!!

A horrible tearing sound erupted from Keter’s thighs as his flesh burst open and blood poured out, but he did not die. Keter didn’t even bother cursing at Malfite for interfering despite being the guardian. He simply extended both hands and pushed the colossal Terra Ring upward. Using his entire body to brace himself, Keter found that he could endure far more steadily than he had with just his hands.

—T... This is impossible. Unacceptable!!

Rumble...! Rumble!!!!

Malfite shook himself wildly. He could not directly touch the challenger, so this was the extent of the interference allowed to a guardian, but even this did nothing. Keter was pressed flat against the ground, so no amount of shaking would topple him now.

Fifty-two seconds... Fifty-three seconds...

As the one-minute mark approached, Malfite became frantic.

—Keter, give up! All you’re doing is enduring the ring; you cannot possibly take it. I shall grant you mercy here. If you say you forfeit now, I will lift the ring away and reward you with mountains of gold and treasure!

Keter had no idea that lasting one minute was enough to win, so Malfite hoped to deceive him. But someone who grew up in a Lawless City would never fall for such a cheap trick. Keter ignored him completely and focused on enduring. And then, the promised time passed.

—No!!!!

Malfite’s scream shook the world. Beasts fled, birds took to the skies. That was Malfite’s last words. His enormous body began to be sucked into the Terra Ring. It took no more than a blink of an eye for Malfite to disappear.

Keter, who had been on top of Malfite, fell to the ground. He didn’t move, as if he was unconscious.

Boom!!

He crashed from dozens of meters above, unprotected. His eyes remained open, but unfocused. He didn’t even twitch, and a pool of blood far too large to have come from a single human spread beneath him.

It was clear: Keter had died.

* * *

Keter was covered in blood. The wounds didn’t look especially severe from the outside, but the inside was different. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say an explosion had gone off within his body. It was natural, as he had been supporting a mountain weighing millions of tons. When millions of tons of pressure crush a human body, how could anyone survive? The fact that he still retained a human shape at all was already miraculous.

And that wasn’t the end of it. Keter had opened Heavenly Strength. Not only that, he had unleashed Heavenly Prison—level seven of Heavenly Strength—without the help of aura or mana, drawn purely from the explosive release of human potential.

But a technique capable of granting such power was not without risk. Everything—his body, his mind—had been shaved away and torn apart. It had been ground down to nothing. For there to even be a corpse left could be considered merciful.

It was then...

—Heh... hehehe... I’ve been waiting for this moment.

Squelch!

Amaranth, who had been lying motionless like it was dead, suddenly revealed its presence. In an instant, Keter’s right arm was swallowed by its black light. From his arm to his shoulder, and from his shoulder across his torso, Amaranth began to seize control of Keter’s corpse.

—A human daring to challenge the Five Element Relics, a trial meant for the giants? Your body and abilities were truly impressive. And now, they’re all mine. Hehehe...

Amaranth had already taken over Keter’s entire body except for his head. Just as it was about to consume his head as well, the Terra Ring, having completely absorbed Malfite, was suddenly and effortlessly drawn into Keter’s index finger in the blink of an eye.

Voong...

A warm brown light flowed out from the ring and gently enveloped Keter. At the same time, his wounds began to heal incredibly quickly.

—What is this? There’s no point in healing a corpse! Stop it!

Amaranth fired Demon Arrows to interfere with the Terra Ring, but it was hopeless. The ring casually deflected the attacks and began pushing Amaranth out of Keter’s body.

—Stop! What meaning is there in protecting someone who’s already dead?! Just leave him alone!!

Amaranth had endured and held back despite being used by Keter to the fullest, all for the sake of this very moment. But when the Terra Ring interfered, a scream tore out of it instinctively.

Even as Amaranth thrashed in desperation, the Terra Ring healed all of Keter’s injuries and went on to block Amaranth’s corruption. Then, at last, it touched Keter’s forehead and gently dissolved away.

And at that moment, the corpse opened its eyes. Having died and come back to life, Keter’s lips twitched.

“That was close.”

At that infuriating remark, Amaranth felt like it might actually lose its mind.

* * *

Having died and come back to life, Keter could now be certain of one thing.

So my death isn’t the trigger for regression.

Of course, he hadn’t gambled his life just to confirm that single detail.

“Since it’s called a divine artifact, I figured it would have at least some kind of protective function for its wearer...” Keter muttered while still lying flat on the ground.

It was not because it was comfortable, but because the only part of his body he could move was his lips.

“Dying isn’t exactly new to me, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”

This was already the third time. He had practically dipped himself into the river of the underworld and chatted with the Grim Reaper, only to be forcibly dragged back again. Franken saved him the first time, and regression had saved him the second time.

“The Reaper must be furious. Kekeke.”

Keter was joking around, but truthfully, he really thought he was going to die this time. He had planned to rely on the Terra Ring’s power to save him, but it was just to heal his severe injuries, not to be revived by it.

“Amaranth, I’m a little disappointed. I was dying, and you didn’t even pretend to try saving me?”

Amaranth said nothing. Of course it wouldn’t.

“Stay silent forever. I’ve got someone new to talk to anyway. Hey, Malfite, you’re in there, aren’t you?”

Wearing the Terra Ring, Keter could sense Malfite’s presence and called upon him.

—...Do not speak to me, human.

“Do you think I want to talk to you? Tell me about the Terra Ring’s abilities.”

—Hmph... Ignorant fool. You have become the master of terra itself. Do you truly not grasp how tremendous a power that is?

“You complain so much, but you keep answering me. It seems like you’re forced to answer. How befitting for a divine artifact. Good customer service.”

—Keter, I’ll offer you a deal: find the giant race and return the Terra Ring to them. In exchange, I shall grant you a treasure equal in value to the ring

“Shut up, Malfite.”

—...

As Keter guessed, Malfite had become a bound servant who had no choice but to obey him. And of course, Keter had no intention of letting that advantage go to waste.

“Tell me where that treasure you mentioned is.”

—I can only reveal that once you accept my proposal.

“

Tsk,

so your obedience has limits? That’s a bit disappointing.”

Keter fiddled with his toes. Feeling the strength slowly return to his body, he managed to sit up.

“It doesn’t even feel like my own body.”

In a good sense, it was the effect of the Survival of the Fittest and of wearing the Terra Ring. In a bad sense, the backlash of Heavenly Prison and the aftereffects of his recovery coexisted inside Keter.

Just standing up made his body feel a hundred times heavier. He wanted to lie back down immediately—no, he felt so exhausted that he could sleep for an entire week. His eyelids grew unbearably heavy, but Keter forced himself upright, like a newborn deer struggling to stand.

“This is only the beginning. No resting now.”

By trying to be cautious, something completely against his nature, he had only made the problem worse. And to clean up that mess, Keter couldn’t possibly be satisfied with obtaining just one of the Five Element Relics.

“Phew...”

Keter resisted the urge to smoke and replaced it with a deep breath. The sun was already setting, darkness creeping in. However, the time couldn’t be an excuse for Keter, and he immediately headed for his next destination.

Even though his weakened body slowed him down, and even though his condition was the worst it had ever been, Keter still ran.

* * *

There was snow piled up to his waist and ice that looked as hard as steel. Having arrived in the northern region of the Lillian Kingdom, Keter scooped up a handful of snow, shoved it into his mouth, and chewed.

“I'm going to starve to death.”

Crunch, crack!

While dulling his hunger with snow and ice, Keter closed his eyes for a moment and thought.

The Named Monster Green Wind. It appeared in the Baen Kingdom, but they said it originally came down from the northern region of the Lillian Kingdom.

Keter’s second goal after obtaining the Terra Ring of the Five Element Relics was the Named Monster Green Wind. Green Wind drew public attention not only because it possessed the authority to manipulate wind, but even more because it was a goblin.

Even when fully grown, goblins were only about the height of a dwarf, and their physical strength was comparable to that of a human boy. They were intelligent enough to form villages and craft weapons and armor, yet remained classified as monsters due to their lack of social organization. They were one of the biggest nuisances in the world, second only to orcs, thanks to their innate aggressiveness, sly nature, and explosive reproduction rate.

In particular, goblins had the habit of digging burrows and living inside them throughout the winter. No matter how sharp Keter’s vision was, it was useless if the creatures weren’t above ground, and even his refined sense for detecting presences couldn’t reach into burrows tightly sealed at the entrance. And in this vast northern region, there would be too many goblins for him to single out Green Wind.

However, Keter already had a plan.

“Alright, Terra Ring, time to earn your keep.”

There was no need to search for the goblins’ hideouts or dig up the entire snowy plain to find their tunnels. Keter could take a process that would take at least half a year, even with dedicated scouting, to one second.

Keter placed both hands on the frozen ground. Immediately, the Terra Ring began to glow naturally.

“Malfite, detect every goblin in this northern region.”

—...You’re using one of the Five Element Relics to hunt goblins? Disgusting!

“Yeah, yeah. Just tell me the number.”

—...There are millions of lowly beings like goblins.

“I know that already, but I only need to find one: the goblin that possesses divine power. Where is it?”

—A lowly being possessing divine power is impossib... It exists.

Even without Malfite explaining, a map-like image formed naturally in Keter’s mind. He could clearly sense the location of Green Wind, the goblin he was seeking.