Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders

Chapter 83: Phantom Stage?

Chapter 83 - Phantom Stage?

Seven trees touched. Seven vases spawned. Seven tokens stolen. Seven vases smashed. Seven items dropped. Seven beacons of light faded as I claimed them all.

The haul: three turkey set meals, two roasted pigs, one massive jar of musou wine, and—best of all—a horse token.

I kissed the horse token like a newborn child. I felt so blessed I almost wanted to praise every deity and prophet from my old world. THANK YOU... Ahem, no caps intended.

Downside of spawning too much food? I had no way to transport it without ruining it. By the time I dragged one meal back to the dorm, it would be cold.

So my gaze shifted to the horse token. I prayed.

"Please spawn something nice. A soul-bound warhorse, an SSR warhorse, or a legendary. Anything’s fine. Please!"

Channeling water and fire musou energy into the token, it brightened, answering my call. The token expanded, reshaping into a creature.

An ostrich. A massive, mutated ostrich.

This bird stood four meters tall. Its long neck was covered in snake-like scales. Its legs ended in claws sharp enough to shred flesh with a single swipe. Black feathers trailed flames, and its crooked beak, sharp teeth, and dark eyes screamed nightmare fuel.

Man... an R-graded mount. Worse, it was imported from a collaboration DLC based from another fantasy game of the same company.

"God damn Choc**o."

Not that exact bird, but close. Its real name, Nightmare Ostrich was a rare-grade DLC mount. It was faster than regular warhorses, rivaling rare-graded racehorses. It could attack enemies or cast spells to aid its rider.

Unfortunately, its stats were inferior to Lia’s Qingfeng Dragon Horse. It couldn’t tank many hits and had a reputation for betraying its rider when hungry.

Still, it had one perk superior to other mounts.

I reached out. The ostrich leaned forward, letting me pat it.

Nice.

While I was patting the ostrich, the forest turned dark. The mount dissolved into smoke and vanished. The sky shifted, glowing orange.

A voice echoed in my mind:

"O, lost child of dimensions. The path you walk goes against fate. The weight of your causality has reached a threshold that cannot be ignored. Karma threads once thin now braid into chains."

"...What?"

I stood frozen for several seconds before coming back to my senses. This felt familiar... like those special events that only triggered in New Game Plus runs.

In the game, these events appeared whenever a player tried to alter historical events or prevent the predetermined deaths of main characters. Time would stop, and a karmic trial would begin.

That explained it, but I hadn’t killed any main characters yet... or had I?

Right. I was trying to kill Minz, who was destined to betray Invidia, selling the kingdom to Avaritia and cutting off Louis Zen’s supply lines. If Minz died early, Avaritia wouldn’t stand a chance in the coming campaign.

The world had noticed.

So I played along, pretending to be the wanderer.

"I am the master of my fate. Whatever I do, wherever I go, I shall not be bound by someone else’s plan!"

The voice returned.

"An arrogant answer for one who stumbled across universes and timelines. Your greed and ambition spark a fire that may rise as salvation’s torch or descend into hellfire of ruin. For every life you save, another shall be taken. For every victory, destruction follows. The pendulum of karma swings both ways."

"...And what do you want with me?" I asked.

"A forked road lies ahead. Abandon ambition, and your karma shall be cleansed. Life will be easy, free, unfettered. Resist fate, and burdens shall curse you. You will never achieve your goals until causality ends."

I almost rebuked, wanting a third option. However, these events never allowed creativity. Following the rules was the only way to unlock perks and system features. Going against it would only raise this game world’s difficulty level.

Give me a break. I don’t want to fight level-99 Louis Zen. No extra legendary drop chance is worth the effort.

"I choose the second option!" I declared.

"Then, overcome the phantoms of your former enemies."

The ground shook. The forest warped into a wasteland. A thousand ghostly silhouettes rose—bandits, Invidia militia, Avaritia soldiers, and three knights. Dark mist cloaked them, white flames burning in their eye sockets.

They formed ranks, surrounding me. The three horsemen stood at the center.

I turned to one knight phantom. Its silhouette was familiar.

Troturre.

Looking the other way, I saw more faces that should have been gone.

Aki.

Rock Norg.

This looked bad.

As despair crept in, the voice reminded me.

"The pendulum of karma swings both ways."

Giant vases, jars, and crates materialized across the battlefield. There were nine in total, but each was located at the map’s edge. One sat behind Troturre’s troops.

Crimson walls rose, forming a cube around the field. No escape.

The voice commanded.

"Cleanse your karma. Prove your resolve. You only have one chance."

Oh, hell no.

The wasteland trembled as the phantom army closed in. Bandits and militias roared and charged at me.

I gripped my halberd. "Well, hell. I guess this is my first custom character’s story stage. To hell with it."

The first wave charged. I swung wide, and halberd cut through the mist army. Ten phantoms dissolved instantly while a dozen others faltered.

KO Count: 10.

The counter appeared in the sky. My grin widened.

Thank you for something system-like or game-like. At least, I had something to brag about.

Another wave pressed in. I ducked low, spat a gasoline‑fueled fireball, and watched it explode across their ranks.

KO Count: 27.

I sprinted forward, spinning my halberd like a cyclone. Phantoms scattered like leaves in a storm.

KO Count: 52.

I found myself in the middle of a packed area. The thousand phantoms shrank the encirclement, collapsing the formation on me.

This was my golden opportunity. I slammed the halberd into the ground. Flames and gasoline spiraled outward. In front of me, a hellfire tornado spun horizontally, devouring the phantoms in front of me.

Musou Attack!

KO Count: 173.

Not enough!

I span and releasing all my musou energy.

Musou ULT!

"HAH!"

A shockwave burst. Everything within 100 meters erupted in flame.

KO Count: 440.

Half of the field was cleared. I got room to breathe.

The battlefield shifted. Aki’s phantom stepped forward with her water blades glowing. Rock Norg’s silhouette stayed behind, crossing his arms and sitting on horseback. Troturre’s phantom rode at the center. His halberd gleamed in blue, the same weapon I used. However, he was still far away from my position.