I Save The World In A Doomsday Text Game

Chapter 220-1: Fierce Battle With Karasu Tengu, Strange Mist (1)

[You gently closed the old clan head’s eyes and stepped onto the stairs descending underground…]

[The passage was narrow and long, but not choked with dust, as though someone cleaned it regularly.]

[Bright candlelight lined both walls. You recognized these candles, they were Shark Wax, which had only become popular in the city last year. Not only did they burn brilliantly, they never went out, but they were expensive. You’d even kept two of them in your dojo.]

[You walked for quite some time before reaching the end of the stairs.]

[Golden light appeared before you…]

[A vast, arched barrier occupied the entire underground space. Unlike ordinary barriers, which were invisible and colorless, this one glimmered all over with pale golden light. Dense blood-red script pulsed across its surface.]

[No pillars supported the subterranean hall. The unbreakable arch of the barrier itself held up the space.]

[Even standing at the top of the stairs, you felt a tremendous pressure, as if you were gazing up at a mountain ten thousand fathoms high, the dread of being crushed by an infinite force rising from within.]

[You knew this must be the Absolute Barrier of the Ten Directions!]

[Through the vast golden radiance, you saw a figure lying inside, sound asleep.][Compared to the enormous expanse of the barrier, that tiny figure looked no bigger than an ant. But you knew, no matter how mighty the seal, it existed solely to contain that being.]

[Narrowing your eyes, you studied it more closely: its entire body was crimson, its hair disheveled. Even in its sleep, its face was twisted in a vicious expression, with an enormous nose especially conspicuous.]

[The creature growled nastily in its dreams, then rolled over, revealing black wings sprouting from its back…]

[You have discovered the Origin-Tracing Karasu Tengu!]

“Origin-Tracing? So this Karasu Tengu is technically a monster from the same faction?”

Lin Xun remained completely alert and did not relax just because it was marked as the same faction.

After all, in the previous chapter, he’d joined the Oath of Omniscient True Knowledge, yet still had to fight the Knowledge-Seeking monsters.

[You drew out the Refined Copper Sand Maraca and gently shook it…]

[The Battle Angel – Valkyrie walked out of the void.]

[She carried a dazzling longbow on her back and wore armor styled like feathered wings. She stopped by your side.]

[The Valkyrie sharply turned her gaze on the sleeping figure within the barrier, drew her bow and nocked an arrow, ready to engage at any moment.]

“Looks like this boss is pretty strong.”

Lin Xun thought for a while, then decided to try using the Little Dragonkin shell first.

Although in its untransformed state, the Little Dragonkin was weaker overall than the President or the Giant, this shell had a special identity, maybe it would trigger some special event.

[You possessed the Knowledge-Seeking Primordial Hermit shell!]

[Holding the Absolute Barrier Token, you could pass into the Absolute Barrier of the Ten Directions unimpeded!]

[You felt yourself slipping through a veil of water. Along with the Valkyrie, you crossed the barrier and set foot on the floor of the underground chamber.]

[The figure in the distance still slept, occasionally letting out feral snores.]

[Will you use the Absolute Barrier Token to break the seal, or approach and wake the Karasu Tengu?]

“Hard to say whether it’s friend or foe, better try the second option first.”

To be safe, Lin Xun equipped the Valkyrie with the Abyss Lantern, then advanced alone.

If the Karasu Tengu turned hostile, it would attack the Valkyrie first…

[You gripped both chain blades and walked forward slowly…]

[The Origin-Tracing Karasu Tengu was snoring thunderously. Just as you reached its side…]

[The snoring stopped. The crimson figure suddenly sat bolt upright, its bizarre eyes fixing on you.]

[When it saw your appearance clearly, the Karasu Tengu’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Descendant of the Dragon God!”]

[It scrambled to your feet, bowing its head to the ground again and again.]

[When it spotted the token in your hand, it was overjoyed and began to speak…]

[It said it had once been a carefree little yokai devoted to the Dragon God.]

[Because it didn’t wish to be embroiled in mortal conflict, it lived alone in the wilderness, far from any human settlement.]

[But one day, a woman came into the forest to gather herbs…and so began a fateful entanglement.]

[The Karasu Tengu fell deeply in love with her. Later, it learned she was of the noble Otaki lineage.]

[To stay with her forever, the Karasu Tengu agreed to serve the Otaki family in secret for ten years.]

[In that time, it changed from a naive little yokai into a bloodstained demon.]

[But on the night of their wedding, when the decade had ended, not only did the Otaki clan break their promise, they also summoned a powerful onmyoji. While the Tengu was drunk and unconscious, they sealed it away here.]

[Within the barrier, it learned that the one who proposed imprisoning it was none other than the woman it loved most…]

[At this point in its story, the Karasu Tengu was sobbing uncontrollably. It begged you to break the seal.]

[It wanted revenge, to slaughter every last drop of Otaki blood and erase the family from existence.]

[The Karasu Tengu knelt before you, refusing to rise for a long time…]

[Will you break the seal?]

“Tch…Why do I feel like something isn’t right?”

Lin Xun did not press the ‘Yes’ option.

The Karasu Tengu had told him an incredibly melodramatic tale, and he couldn’t spot any obvious holes in it.

The Otaki clan were all worshippers of the Ancient Heavenly Enma, so using and discarding the Tengu like a chess piece was perfectly plausible.

But Lin Xun couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

[Seeing you still hadn’t responded, the Karasu Tengu lifted its tearful eyes.]

[You frowned and asked why the Otaki clan hadn’t simply killed it, instead of taking the risk of sealing it here.]

[At your question, the Karasu Tengu looked a little embarrassed, stammering for a while before finally admitting the truth…]

[It turned out that the woman he loved had actually been the onmyoji’s apprentice. During all these years of imprisonment, she would secretly visit him in the barrier.]

[He’d originally intended to kill her but couldn’t bring himself to do it. In the end, he agreed to help her cultivate forbidden onmyoji arts.]

[Those techniques were incredibly sinister, each time they performed dual cultivation, she would siphon a little of his power.]

[At first, the Karasu Tengu didn’t realize. But after so many years, when he finally noticed, he was no longer her match…]

[Now that woman had long since turned to dust, and he, sealed here, was left without a single person to care.]

[As he spoke, the Karasu Tengu’s face filled with remorse.]

[He again begged you to break the seal. Do you agree?]

“So basically…the Karasu Tengu was just a pathetic simp…”

Lin Xun’s face twitched, and he pressed an option.

But it wasn’t the option to break the seal, instead, he selected to switch shells and attack.