novelraw Chapter 59 : So This Isn't Our First Meeting
Chapter 59 : So This Isn't Our First Meeting
So This Isn't Our First Meeting
I was utterly flustered when the message that the dungeon master had suddenly died appeared before my eyes.
There was no one here who could attack the current dungeon master, z-Avava.
Just who could have done this?
While harboring such doubts, I glanced around and saw a single "skeleton" clutching Z-Avava's core.
It was the work of a "Lich".
"At least the dungeon master was meek, I suppose."
As expected, the Lich was grinning. Even with a corpse's body, such a torn, grinning expression could convey emotion.
* 〈The God of Absorption and Transformation, Ji-a-bua, has lost his final follower.〉
* 〈Ji-a-bua has vanished from the world.〉
The end of a god who lost his last follower. Reading the message announcing this, I looked around anxiously.
The statue of Ji-a-bua was shattering, and the dungeon was collapsing.
I needed to find an exit, no matter what. That thought filled my mind.
"Brother!"
Just then, I heard Barkal's voice.
While kicking at the axe embedded in the Dullahan's body, Barkal pointed toward the path we had come from.
There, a portal was waiting to greet us.
Good job, Barkal!
Thinking this to myself, I moved toward the portal.
"You can't go."
But suddenly, I felt resistance around my ankles. When I looked down, two skeletons were clutching my legs.
"You're the one holding Mother's keepsake, aren't you? You'll have to stay behind."
Damn it, I said I don't want it!
I swung the "Blood-Colored Awl", chopping away at the skeletons locked on my ankles.
Yet, every time I did so, new skeletons crawled out to take their place.
"Brother!"
"Brother!"
Barkal and Serena seemed to realize I couldn't move; they tried to come closer, but I held up a hand to stop them.
Fragments were falling from the ceiling. The rate at which the dungeon was collapsing was rapidly increasing.
"I'll go first!"
I shouted for them to go ahead, but the two still hesitated.
Meanwhile, another portal appeared near the shattered statue of Ji-a-bua.
It was close. I could make it.
"I'll escape through that!"
Only then did the two nod, finally understanding.
Watching Barkal and Serena dash for the portal, I activated the "skeleton exoskeleton" tattoo engraved on my leg.
The exoskeleton formed, and the Lich's skeleton fell away from me. I thought I would be able to escape the dungeon just like that.
"Haven't I told you I'll stop you no matter what!"
But this time, it wasn't a skeleton— the Lich grabbed onto me directly.
Despite having his body smashed to bits by the effect of "Hardened Blood", he could still move like this.
Stop it!
If you keep this up, you'll die too!
Already dead, you say?
Even so, you can't do this, idiot!
"Give me Mother's keepsake!"
With a horrifying face, the Lich started rummaging through my clothing.
Keep your hands off!
Swearing internally, I once again struck at the Lich's neck with the "Blood-Colored Awl".
"Guh—"
He fell with a short gasp. Without even a moment to watch him drop, I rushed for the portal.
Just a bit more.
Three steps left to the portal. At that very moment, the collapsing dungeon ceiling fell over me.
* * *
Ow, my head.
As my consciousness, which had sunk beneath the surface, slowly rose, the first thing that struck me was an intense headache.
I instinctively pinched my brow to try and ease the pain, and then slowly opened my eyes.
A slightly foggy meadow greeted me.
Where am I? The question surfaced in my mind.
I slowly revisited my last memories. Oh, right— I was in the dungeon.
That damned Lich caught my ankle, leaving me trapped in the collapsing dungeon.
As soon as I recalled everything up to the moment I lost consciousness, a fleeting thought skittered past.
Am I alive?
The pain I was feeling suggested I was.
But the scenery around me seemed to whisper otherwise.
A wide meadow veiled in light mist.
Walk a little further, and it felt like the River of Three Crossings would appear before me.
No matter how I looked at it, I had to be dead.
With that thought, I let out a long sigh.
So... what now?
"Hm?"
Just as anxiety about my uncertain future made my vision swim, I spotted the wavering shadow of what looked like a person.
What's that? A person?
I neared the distant shadow to get a better look.
People in black robes came into view. The shadow was indeed a human.
All the robed people were moving in the same direction.
Their total lack of conversation made for a creepy sight, but what could I do, now that I'd come this far?
I might as well join the procession. It's not like I have anything better to do.
As I followed, the number of robed people steadily increased.
The farther I walked, the more curious I became about what was at the end of all this.
"Why is everyone heading in the same direction?"
I asked, but they only glanced at me briefly, giving no reply.
"Why is everybody going the same way?!"
When I came to, I had grabbed one of them by the collar and was shouting the question.
Was this the side effect of traveling with barbarians?
At least, I thought, I asked more politely than Barkal would have.
Even as I politely inquired about the way, I sensed a change in the atmosphere.
The countless people in the procession were all bowing their heads in prostration, facing the same direction.
I turned my gaze that way and saw an enormous tree standing tall.
So, this was just a parade of tree-lovers.
I passed by the kneeling people and walked toward the tree.
The closer I got, the more I smelled a sweet fragrance from the flowers around me.
However, as the shape of the tree became clearer, goosebumps prickled my skin.
Black, thick, and twisted.
Dozens of white burial shrouds hung from the old, corpse-like, sturdy branches.
Beneath those shrouds lay a woman collapsed on the ground.
The only thing covering her was something akin to one of those white shrouds hanging from the branches.
The meadow had just enough mist to make the air chilly. How could she be wearing just a thin cloth in this cold?
"You must be crazy, wanting to lose the use of your mouth in weather like this."
I started gathering up the white shrouds scattered around and approached the woman.
Normally, even if a person died, I'd be too busy looking after myself to care.
But today, for some reason, I felt like being capricious.
I approached her to cover her with the shrouds like a blanket.
Her face was as pale as a corpse. Surely, she was already beyond hope.
Still, I leaned closer, intent on covering her with the shrouds.
At that moment, her hand gripped my wrist.
Dad's not sleeping!
I jumped, startled as if I had heard those words.
The woman fixed her gaze on me.
In the depths of her crimson-black eyes, there was not a trace of emotion.
The cold wind ceased, the flapping noise of the shrouds went still.
In a silence as though time had stopped, only the woman's gaze pierced through me.
"You do not belong here."
A voice tangled with countless emotions.
I tried to ask what she meant, but suddenly felt the presence of many people behind me.
[She has risen.]
[Mother has heard our prayers!]
[All the rituals we've performed until now haven't been in vain!]
The procession— all who had knelt to the tree— rose to their feet at once and looked this way.
What... This is creepy.
But as long as they only looked, I could tolerate it.
[Perform more rituals!]
[Mother desires more death!]
Before I knew it, the crowd surged toward us.
Seeing the human wave crashing down like a tidal flood left me dumbfounded.
Damn bastards.
Just look with your eyes, please!
Frantically searching my clothes for something to defend myself, I realized the "Blood-Colored Awl" was nowhere to be found.
What now?
As I racked my brain for a solution, the woman who had been clutching my wrist swiftly yanked me toward the tree.
"You do not belong here."
With those words, she shoved me.
My body touched the tree, and in that instant, the tree began to consume me.
Meanwhile, the crowd rushed at the woman.
But instead of dragging her down, their whole bodies collapsed atop each other, forming a mountain to hold her up.
Just before I was completely swallowed by the tree, I saw it clearly.
A mountain of corpses.
And above it, a floating black crescent moon.
The god of death and corpses.
The symbol of Mortis.
* * *
Once more,
I felt my consciousness rise to the surface and pulled myself upright.
This time, the first thing I did was check myself all over.
Blood-Colored Awl?
Still here.
Right Eye of the Ascendant Maiden?
Got it.
And, most importantly—
Money pouch?
Okay, this is by far the most important.
* 〈Thrag cracks a hollow smile.〉
What are you laughing for?
I can survive without that weapon you gave me, but without money, how am I supposed to live in this harsh world?
Ignoring Thrag's hollow laughter, I checked the "Right Eye".
The jewel was exactly the same color as the woman's eyes I had just seen.
Just what happened?
Though I couldn't grasp all the details, there was only one thing I could be sure of.
Mortis had saved my life.
I had never heard of anyone surviving after being caught up in a dungeon collapse.
It's an unbreakable law. Every "Dungeon God" player knows it.
Nevertheless, I had survived. I could never have managed this unless Mortis helped me.
Why did she do it? I couldn't understand. Mortis is an evil god, a Goddess of necromancers.
Ah.
Maybe that's why? Because I'm a necromancer?
"I don't understand."
I muttered, looking at the "Right Eye".
So I don't understand— does that matter? I survived, and that's what counts.
Most important right now is to figure out where I am.
I stood up. I was in a cave somewhere, but couldn't pin down the location.
There's no information about where someone swept away by a collapsing dungeon ends up, so there's no way to know.
At least I could be relieved that I didn't sense any monsters nearby.
Which means, I might not be in the dungeon anymore. That would be good.
I wonder what happened to Barkal and Serena.
I worried a bit, but honestly, when I considered their combat skills, my worries faded.
If they just don't cause any trouble without me around, it'll be a blessing.
"Outside."
After walking awhile, I saw light ahead. Without hesitation, I made my way there.
"Ugh."
The first thing to greet me was blazing sunlight.
Extremely dry wind, and a suffocating heat.
As my vision, blurred by the brightness, gradually returned, I took in the surrounding scenery.
Sand. More sand.
Sand stretching past the horizon.
A landscape anyone would call a "desert" came into view, and I drew a shallow breath.
Shit.