Chapter 33: The Scarlet Sword (3)

It rained.

When an inferno tried to burn up an entire plain, it started from a handful of sparks. A deluge that could drown the world began from a few water drops. I couldn’t say that I was an inferno or a deluge, but I had a fistful of sparks and a cup of water in me.

A senior gentleman stood boldly under the rain. He inclined his head to me. “Let’s fight together, young man.”

The Sword Star, the Rank 1 Hunter and the imperial knight commander, now joined my side.

Someone splashed through the puddles—the only thing Demon King’s laser had left in its path—bringing laughter with him.

“...Hahahaha! I’m sorry I’m late! I would have come a little sooner, but it isn’t easy to move an army!”

The reflections in the puddles showed me that the laughter belonged to a one-armed priest.

“Thank you, Mr. Kim. You’ve bought us time. Now it’s my turn.” The Inquisitor adjusted his hat with his only hand.

It was foggy behind the Inquisitor, but I could hear footfalls in the rain. Thousands of the empire’s soldiers were dodging around the debris and jumping over pits and puddles.

People who weren’t soldiers also stood with them. Some weren’t even wearing armor. Many of them didn’t even have helmets. They were basically wearing nothing to protect themselves, but they marched forward nonetheless.

“Everyone, I order you as the Grand General...” The Inquisitor grinned. Thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of citizens roared in reply. “Butcher those sons of bitches who dared bare their teeth against the empire!”

The Inquisitor, the Rank 4 Hunter and leader of the Pantheon, joined the battle.

“For the empire!”

It rained, the droplets gathering into a river. The Demon King’s endless waves of monsters stopped. High tide had come and gone, and the waters started to flow away from the ruins of the gates. The tide of battle had turned.

“The goddess is with us!”

It rained.

“Glory to the Aegim Empire!”

And it rained.

Ah.

I didn’t know when I ended up running at the front. I was the first drop of this tsunami.

On my left was a refugee from a small, remote country wielding a spear. A farmer, who once worked the lands of a destroyed village in the empire, stood on my right side, swinging a pickaxe. When I looked behind me, a Hunter brandished a sword, her equipment no better than mine.

All of them kept talking, but I couldn’t understand them. Perhaps it was the rain. Or it was the people’s yelling. Could it be the monsters’ screaming? Maybe it was because my time was slowed down. Or was it because I was wielding my sword? It could be because I, a water drop, was flowing with them.

Further and further. I had to go further until the inferno burned everything across the land and the deluge reached every corner.

“...Hey.”

Among tens of thousands of voices and hundreds of millions of drops, one touched my shoulder and talked to me. He was wearing an eyepatch.

“Good job. Sorry I’m late. I should have come sooner.

Tsk!

I had to bring my guild members with the Imperial Guards. But don’t worry, I’ll show you why my guild is called the OJP Se—”

The man stopped talking. Why did he stop? He just looked at me with his one eye.

“You aren’t listening. Is it trance? Haha. You’re really something else, aren’t you? I like you, kid.” He laughed quietly.

“Hey, my name is Rao Fan. You probably can’t hear me, but it doesn’t matter... You saved my life earlier in the audience chamber. As the OJP Sect’s leader, I can’t leave my debt unpaid. Keep going forward. Don’t look back—I’ll take the enemies on your left.”

He picked up a sword.

“Remember, this is premium service. No one who stood by my right side ever died.”

It rained and rained.

“Go, Rising Star. I have your back.”

My sword rode the swelling tide.

“I’m sorry I’m late! I was busy looking for the emperor. I did find him, but he already killed himself with poison. I don’t think using the emperor to bring together an army is an option. I’m really sorry. I have no excuse.”

“It’s okay. We won’t need any more manpower. You can just join us and fight, Miss Paladin.”

“Of course. Hmm? What’s wrong with Mr. Kim Gong-Ja...?”

“Don’t interrupt him. He’s enjoying a golden moment.”

The rain continued.

—Pitiful ones. Just because you have time, do you really think it belongs to you? Yes, the goddess has been looking after you, but her power dwindles. There is no more god in the empire. What will you rely on then? Yourselves? Can you prove yourselves?

The Demon King’s sneer blended with the rain.

— Fine. Show me.

I saw a red light, but many things stood in my way.

“Hey, Witch! Pull up your mirrors!”

“I know. I missed the first time, but I’m not letting it happen again!”

“Old man! Once she scatters the laser beam, let’s cut it down!”

“I can do it on my own.”

“It’s coming, people!”

The rain continued.

“...Scatter.”

Six mirrors flashed as the red beam hit them. The first, second, and third mirrors were destroyed. However, the fourth mirror held out and deflected the entire red laser beam.

“Sword Star! Viper!”

I heard a gasp and an exhale. In between, both the sky and the red laser beam were split like Moses parting the Red Sea.

Five distinct voices continued to chatter.

“See? See! My prime is far from over!”

“You could throw a little more weight into it instead of messing around.”

“Now is your chance!” one of them whispered in my ears. “I’ll teleport you straight to the Demon King. Everyone, hold onto me!”

“Hurry! All of this is for nothing if the Demon King summons more monsters again!”

The five voices overlapped and became one. Someone reached out to me.

“Hunter Kim Gong-Ja!”

Rain was dripping down her face.

“Grab it!”

“We don’t have much time. Come on!”

The eternity came to an end. I could see the people making the noise. Where I was, why I was here... Every memory came back to me.

I was in the center of a battlefield. The empire’s soldiers and citizens were pushing back the line of monsters. More Hunters poured out of the breach; they’d finally figured out what was happening on the twelfth floor.

“Hunter Kim Gong-Ja!”

The High Rankers and I stood at the front line, in front of an innumerable mass of humans. The Demon King’s red laser beam had also obliterated monsters, so it was an empty highway from where we stood all the way to the Demon King. More monsters would come to fill up the pathway, but they weren’t there yet.

“Come on!”

The High Rankers were all gathered in the same spot. It was a bit ridiculous in a way. The Inquisitor was piggybacking on the Viper, who was holding the Sword Star’s arm with a grimace. The old man put his hand on the Paladin’s shoulder with an even uglier expression. The Paladin indifferently grabbed the Black Witch’s left hand.

...If I took a photo and uploaded it online it would instantly go viral,

I whimsically thought as soon as I saw it. It certainly wasn’t an everyday occasion.

While I was lost in a silly thought, the Black Witch yelled, “I’m going to leave you here on your own if you don’t take my hand right now!

She was holding out her right hand.

Ahh.

I realized that what I was watching was going to disappear soon.

When the Sword Star and I had a sharp quarrel, he had sheathed his sword only after the Paladin’s earnest persuasion. He had bowed to me to express his apology, but the Inquisitor had brutally murdered three Hunters later.

We had fought against each other, stopped fighting, and now were fighting together.

Everything will disappear.

All of them were going to fade away like the rain.

They won’t remember anything.

However, that was okay.

—What are you doing, Partner? We have to go take down the boss monster.

Even if they couldn’t remember any of what happened, it didn’t mean that any of it was meaningless. I had my sword. And, on this floor, there was a man who had died on the first floor and another man who died on the ninety-ninth floor. No one remembered their deaths, but we were here nonetheless.

“...Okay.”

Once I regressed, all of the problems would be unsolved. The Sword Star would be suspicious of me. When it was time to choose our rewards, the Hunters would turn on each other again.

“Let’s go.”

However, I was a little stronger. I wasn’t going to let innocent people die. Nor was I going to let the Countess get killed and sever the Tower’s connection to the outside world. I now had an idea of who the traitor was, so I was confident that I could do a little better.

“Good!” The Black Witch grabbed my hand tightly. “

Teleport!

”

We crossed the battlefield and dived through the air. Five of us landed simultaneously in front of the Demon King, who stood proud with a sword in hand.

—How amusing. The goddess’s heroes are here.

The Demon King was dark. It was like a shadow taking the form of a human. It had a head but not a face; arms and legs, but not hands and feet. The Demon King didn’t seem to be standing on the ground—it looked precariously planted, as if collapsing where it stood.

The Demon King was actually collapsing—its skin dripped like that sewer sludge. However, new sludge emerged from within the Demon King as it dripped away.

The master of nightmares. The moving and eternally rotting shadow. This was the Demon King.

—Heroes, do you know that you have a traitor among you? I’m sure you do. Yet you try to weave your shattered trust and make it into your armor. Do you really think it will work?

I really didn’t see the reason to listen to the Demon King. I grabbed my sword and leaped forward.

“Mr. Kim!” the Paladin shouted, shocked. “No! Wait! You can’t go on your own! We need to work together—”

I’m sorry. See you in the next life. You won’t remember what happened today.

—Are you here to kill me, Hero?

The Demon King looked at me charge forward on my own and laughed.

Its laughter was bizarre. Since it didn’t have eyes or a mouth, the laughter seemed to originate in its skin. Whenever a streak of shadow dripped down its mass, a burst of laughter emerged.

—You’re a fool.

The Demon King swung its sword.

It was impossible for me to stop the attack at my current level, so I didn’t even bother holding up my holy sword and pretending to block it. Instead, I politely raised my middle finger right before the blade sliced through my neck.

“No, I came here to get killed by you, fucker. See you in the next life too.”

It was short, but I didn’t miss the Demon King’s laughter coming to an abrupt halt.

“...!.. Wa—!”

Soon, I couldn’t hear anything. My vision, the pain...my senses began to fade as I lost consciousness. However, I could feel the rain dripping on my face until the very end.

[You have died.]

[It has been determined that your death met the requirement for the Skill’s activation.]

[Duplicating Monster: Demon King of Autumn Rain’s Skills at random.]

[Creating Skill Cards.]

It was time for round two.