novelraw Chapter 291: Engagement - Automatic Selection
Chapter 291: Engagement - Automatic Selection
290. Engagement - Automatic Selection
- Clang!
The blade that Rera drove into Malhas skidded off his densely packed steel feathers. Ray quickly released one hand from the sword he was clinging to and supported Rera’s back to prevent her from falling.
“Step on my shoulder and stab where the wound is!”
Ray offered his left shoulder, but Rera placed her foot on his right shoulder instead. Being left-footed, her stance was the opposite.
With the two of them precariously balanced on Malhas’s cliff-like back, bristling with bladed feathers, they struggled to find their footing. Rera stabilized herself by placing her right foot on Ray’s shoulder and her left foot on Malhas’s nape, but a frustrated voice cut through the air.
“Stop dicking around and kill the damn bastard, you crazy lovebirds! Damn it! I’m an idiot for trusting you!”
It was Arpen.
Hanging on the wing covered in sharp feathers, he cursed them furiously.
He yelled that Ray should have let himself smash into the ground and die, that they should just kill the damn bird instead of playing around, and that they were all going to die because the engaged couple was too busy deferring credit to each other. Ray and Rera, however, paid no attention to his words.Rera crouched down, grasping her sword once more. It wasn’t the kind of situation where she could swing or thrust it normally, so she followed Arpen’s example and gripped the blade with her bare hands. After a moment of aiming on Malhas’s trembling back, she stabbed the sword deep into the wound.
Malhas had been watching the whole time.
But given his massive size, a needle-thin sword was of no concern, so he ignored it, focusing on his ascent into the sky. It was a grave mistake.
Rera’s sword, A’ bota, dug into the wound that Ray had opened. The blade, stained white with Lachar’s blood, shone brilliantly, and Malhas screamed as he soared.
- Caaaaaaaw!!
- Boom!
Malhas, who had just burst through the hall’s ceiling and into the sky above the palace, lost control. Like a dragonfly with one torn wing, he spun wildly, as A’ bota consumed him.
The blood of Lachar flowed from the sword embedded in his nape, turning his veins white as they swelled. Malhas saw a vision.
= You arrogant crow, you’ve returned. Do you miss my shoulder?
- L-Lachar...
The massive form of the god, a deity of battle and honor, wielding a sword and shield on his shoulders, glared down at him. Lachar crossed his arms and spoke.
= Since when did the wind belong to you? And all that sparkles, yours as well? I warned you. Your greed would eventually bring great disaster. Even after being punished by Azura, you couldn’t rid yourself of your vile nature. Goodbye.
Lachar raised a thunderous fist. Like a mountain, his colossal punch slammed into Malhas, though it was all just an illusion. With every vein in his body turned white, Malhas lost his wings’ rhythm and began to fall.
[Quest: Guardian, 2/4 - Barbatos MalHas]
Meanwhile, Ray felt his stomach lurChapter Glancing downward, his vision turned dark.
They were plummeting from 650 feet (about 200 meters) above ground. When Malhas had lost his balance and spun wildly, Rera had slipped off Ray’s shoulder, leaving her trousers barely grasped in his hand.
Ray clung to the sword buried in Malhas’s neck with his left hand and held on to Rera’s clothes with his right, falling together with Malhas. As the acceleration increased, his face went as pale as a sheet.
There was no way to survive.
Height could only be reduced gradually with effort, but once you start falling, height translates into velocity. Suspended in midair, Ray was trapped by the unyielding laws of physics. The best he could do was hold onto Rera to keep her from being flung away.
If only they could fall peacefully.
Malhas descended slowly, spinning. Ray worried that his sword might be wrenched free from Malhas’s neck, and he was terrified by the impending death rushing toward them. No, what frightened him more was the life of Rera, clinging to his trousers and screaming “Aaaah!” as she spun wildly, flailing helplessly.
It was dizzying.
As they fell back through the breached hall, the surrounding galleries spun around them. Up and down blurred together.
At that moment, Ray realized there was a way to survive. They needed to leap over to the gallery before they gained more speed.
But they were already dropping from the height of the third floor, with no way to find footing. Ray’s hands were full, holding both his sword and Rera.
What should he do? In a split second, Ray made a decision and shouted.
“Arpen!! Catch her! Jump and catch her!”
“W-what...? What the—ugh!”
Ray hurled Rera towards Arpen. His chest muscles bulged, and he forced out all his strength. His left wrist, still clutching the sword, cracked and broke.
Rera, oblivious, screamed, “Kyaaah!” as she flew into the soft embrace of Arpen’s belly, reminiscent of a deformed cushion. Arpen caught her, kicking against the bladed wings.
“Ugh!”
Arpen, landing on the gallery on the twelfth floor, groaned as Ray continued to plummet. Through the broken ceiling, sunlight poured down. Ray looked up at the bright sky and let out a bitter laugh.
Just as I thought.
No matter what I do, I can’t catch both rabbits. In fact, even catching the one was only possible thanks to Rera. Without her, I would have failed entirely.
The fall felt excruciatingly long. If only it were shorter. Rera leaned over the railing and shouted.
“Ray!! Ray! No!!”
“...Rera.”
Ray remembered when she had mourned the loss of Dehor. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her to be happy.
- “What am I supposed to do if you die like this... How am I supposed to live? You terrible, terrible people…”
She would never be happy. She had pushed everyone around her—her father, Dehor—to their deaths in her pursuit. For her mother’s resurrection, she had acted more selfishly than ever.
But this would be the last time.
Ray reached out towards Rera, etching her face into his mind. Sorry, he thought, just as—thud! With a resounding impact, his vision went black.
[Ray has died.]
[You have died. 6/6 – The player shares life with Ray.]
[Achievement: Sixth Death – The player’s assimilation rate with Ray slows.]
[Thank you for playing Raising Lena.]
The hall receded swiftly.
Through the shattered ceiling, the view soared upwards, revealing the blood-soaked floor and the surrounding galleries. As the scene passed by, it briefly caught Rera, poised to jump from the railing, and Arpen holding her back. The two struggled, and darkness fell. Minseo, now a floating orb, could only sigh.
As expected, it didn’t go well.
Since the moment the round had progressed without the necklace, Minseo had sensed that things would turn out this way, and now he was filled with regret. He watched the direction where Rera had been crying in the darkness, then turned his gaze to the ending credits.
As always, the text appeared in a dry, emotionless fashion.
[Rera Ainar Albacete]
[Final Occupation: Count of Albacete]
[Marriage Partner: Unmarried]
[Ray Dexter]
[Final Occupation: Unemployed]
[Marriage Partner: Engaged to Rera]
[Engagement Ending: Hero’s Tale]
[True Ending]
- Rera Ainar, born in the castle of Avril... (snipped)... After losing her father, Dehor, her fiancé Ray, and Noel Dexter during an encounter with Malpas, Rera vowed revenge. She trained in swordsmanship under Baron Arpen Albacete and, with Ray’s help, managed to defeat Malhas in the Kingdom of Aster. For her valor, Rera, along with Arpen, was hailed as a hero who vanquished the dark gods, but she struggled to find a reason to live. It was only when she realized she was pregnant that she regained her purpose. Rera gave birth at the Albacete manor, and years later, she journeyed to the Ice Island at the northernmost end with her young son. After countless hunts of dark beasts, she was summoned back by Count Arpen Albacete to become his successor. With the full support of King Arnulf de Klaus, Rera became a Countess of the unified Aslan Kingdom. After her son came of age, she handed over the title and disappeared quietly, never to return. Only countless legends and tales of heroism are left to trace the path of Rera Ainar Albacete. -
- Ray Dexter, born in the capital of Barnaul... (snipped)... He is remembered only as the lover of Rera Ainar Albacete, who died fighting Malhas alongside her. -
[The Childhood Friends Scenario Ending has been altered.]
...
[The Beggar Siblings Scenario Ending has been altered.]
...
The ending credits were long, but only one picture appeared.
The Childhood Friends and Beggar Siblings scenarios were reverted to their previous state before being changed by Astroth, with nothing new. Minseo stared blankly at the picture.
The photo showed a middle-aged Rera sitting alone by a campfire. She held A’ bota, the greatsword as tall as she was, over her shoulder, and yet it didn’t make her look small. Instead, with several symbols carved into her face from the curses of various Ashin, Rera overwhelmed even the mysterious presence of A’ bota.
Minseo wondered what kind of life she must have led after that, gazing at the image with mixed feelings when—
Whoosh—Rera’s eyes shifted.
Countess Rera Ainar Albacete stared at the person spying on her and snorted, “Hmph!” before speaking.
[Namer, don’t mess around.]
The light of the picture faded, and Rera returned to her initial pose, warming herself by the fire. Minseo, frozen in shock, suddenly felt a pang of sadness.
Namer.
The way she casually addressed Namer, one of the four avatars of the main god known for patience and devotion, gave Minseo a glimpse into the life she must have lived. She had also graciously revealed something that Minseo had long suspected—the entity who had designed this game was not the main god but Namer.
This revelation explained why Astroth could break into the space where the ending credits appeared last time, resolving a long-standing question for Minseo. It also clarified why some of the game’s systems seemed flawed and why the messaging sometimes felt inconsistent.
Most recently, when the true ending of the Engagement Scenario had appeared, the game had displayed:
[Thank you for playing Raising Lena. You have cleared all scenarios. The player may now exit the game.]
Yet immediately after, it contradicted itself with:
[The Guardian Quest is unlocked. You cannot exit the game until the Guardian Quest is completed. Would you like to re-enter? Yes / No]
There were too many incomplete elements for something supposedly created by the perfect main god.
For instance, there were achievements for killing ten soldiers, one knight, and ten thugs, but never anything for priests or holy knights. Minseo had thought this was unfair, but it likely wasn’t just a design flaw; since priests and holy knights received divine power from the main god through the saint, Namer probably couldn’t touch their souls.
Still, Minseo couldn’t attribute the entire looping system to Namer alone.
Namer, though imperfect, was still an avatar of the main god—a personified form of divine will. Even among renowned theologians, there would be little dispute that Namer’s intentions reflected the main god’s own.
‘Anyway... if Namer is running this system, it makes sense why the text is so emotionless. Unlike the nagging Vinar, or the approachable Boar and Lachar, Namer is known to be distant... Wait! This isn’t the time to be thinking about this!’
Minseo snapped back to reality.
He had to review the current round before the credits disappeared and decide how to approach the next one.
Without time to dwell on thoughts like, "Ray did manage to defeat Malhas, he must feel guilty for what happened," Minseo quickly plunged into planning. Fortunately, the ending for the Beggar Siblings Scenario was long enough that Minseo managed to finish his deliberation before the text vanished.
He decided to choose the Beggar Siblings round next.
‘I need to fix the necklace first, but it seems the only way to do that is through the true ending selection reward. If this round’s reward fixes the necklace, I’ll pick Childhood Friends; if not, I’ll choose Beggar Siblings, which I haven’t fully cleared yet, and go for its true ending.’
This was Minseo’s plan. However, the next message that appeared crushed his expectations.
[You have cleared Raising Lena. Please select the scenario you wish to play.]
[Childhood Friends – True Ending]
[Engagement – True Ending]
[Beggar Siblings – Cleared]
‘...?’
Minseo waited, but the text didn’t change, leaving him confused. Unable to hold back, he shouted in frustration.
‘Where’s the round reward? Even if it’s not the true ending reward, shouldn’t I at least get something for completing this round?!’
Minseo refused to let it go. Hours passed as he yelled into the darkness, determined not to leave empty-handed. Finally, a message popped up. Expecting an answer from Namer, Minseo’s excitement quickly turned to disappointment.
[Due to player inactivity, a scenario will be automatically selected.]
There was no response.