Chapter 189: Noble Sacrifice (2)
When the heck do I use this thing?
I looked through the draft plan, but there was no item like this.
I also haven’t found a place to use it yet. That was the case even though I defeated Demon Lord Heros.
But I’m sure that there has to be a use for it.
The area then started to shake as if there was an earthquake. A large portal of darkness appeared at the center of the area.
I could see so information as I looked at the portal.
[The Resting Place of the Dead]
Only the dead can go through here.
All who enter through here will stand on equal footing.
I knew it. I knew it seed too easy.
Demon Lord Heros had not died. He had just gotten rid of his shell in this world and returned to his true self.
He also returned to his territory as well.
‘Only the dead can go through here.’
I think I finally understand why the Soul of the Dead is necessary to go into Heros’s territory.
That ant that I was the only person who could enter the Resting Place of the Dead while alive.
I ended up fighting Heros alone in the ga and it looks like the sa situation will happen here.
‘It ended up being a bit more roundabout way, but it still ended up in the sa place.’
“What is going on? Is it not over yet?”
It was Goonto’s voice.
It was nice to hear. The battles had been so fierce until we got here that I couldn’t even tell who was still alive and who was dead.
Goonto was still alive, as expected of a warrior who had reached the level of One with the Sword.
“Wait here. I’ll be back after putting an end to it.”
“You’re going alone?”
“I have no choice. You can’t enter through here while alive.”
Even Goonto could see the information about The Resting Place of the Dead. But he still seed confused.
“Then what about you?”
I showed him the Soul of the Dead.
Goonto then nodded his head.
“It’s dangerous on your own!”
I heard another welcod voice. It was Jonnan.
“Senior, you’re still safe.”
It was not just Jonnan. Batoon, Goultan, Jul Goo, and Eruni were all still alive. It seed that they had listened to my orders to stay in the back and support others instead of joining the battle directly.
“I will go in with you.”
“Thank you for your thoughts, but it is impossible. I only have one Soul of the Dead.”
“I’m sure we can find a way.”
It was possible.
But they probably won’t. That was how I was feeling.
I guess it was best to say goodbye now. There was this odd sense of wariness that kept making my shoulders cold.
I had this strange feeling that I wouldn’t be able to et Jonnan and the others anymore once I go through here.
I grabbed Jonnan’s hand first. He was the person who would always take first place if I had to pick soone in Royal Roader who was like family.
“Thank you for everything until now. I couldn’t express it well until now, but senior, you are like my father.”
“I feel the sa way. You feel like my own son.”
He didn’t seem to be lying. I guess we really do have a connection.
Having soone like him by my side made it feel as if my life in Royal Roader was not worthless.
I said goodbye to Batoom and Goultan as well. It wasn’t as much as Jonnan, but there was sothing that tugged at when I shook hands with them as well.
Next was Jul Goo.
I subconsciously patted his shoulders hard.
“You’re reliable now. You’re pretty much a general!”
“My lord!”
“Hey punk, you should be cheering on, not crying.”
Jul Goo quickly turned his head away as if he was trying to hide his tears.
Next was Eruni……
‘Aigoo!’
Eruni quickly hugged as if she had been waiting for her turn.
Eruni was almost thirty now. It was about ti for her to get married.
But she didn’t seem interested in getting married at all. She was close to level 400 now as well, so she was skilled enough to be respected wherever she went, but she kept living as if she was my slave.
I knew a bit about how Eruni felt. How she felt about that is.
But she has never shown how she feels.
It’s probably because of Kaldera. She probably feels that Kaldera is much more suitable for than herself.
That was why I felt even worse.
But she should be able to find her own life now. As they say, out of sight, out of mind.
She might be lost for a bit after I disappear, but she will snap out of it.
But why am I thinking like this? I sound like soone who is headed for his death.
No. I will return alive.
I feel sorry for Eruni, but I will show my face in front of her again. Then I’ll find a decent young man and force her to get married if I have to do so.
I need to make sure to co back alive in order to be able to do that.
“Just wait a bit. I’ll be back soon.”
Eruni nodded her head while still hugging .
“But don’t wait too long. Return to Titan Valley first if you don’t hear anything for a few days.”
Eruni shook her head this ti.
And she was still not letting go. She seed to want to prevent from going.
I lightly pushed Eruni away.
She finally let go.
“Why are you all acting like this? You look like people sending soone away for good. Smile and don’t cry. I’ll be back soon.”
I talked to them as energetically as possible.
But the atmosphere was still bleak. Even Goonto had turned his away to hide his emotions.
This wasn’t good. I would need over a day to say goodbye like this.
“I’ll be back.”
That was all I said before I jumped into the black portal.
I got a glimpse of their surprised expressions.
But my sight soon beca dark.
And then it beca bright.
Well, it was more that my sight returned than that it suddenly turned bright. Inside a Demon Cave is a pitch-black world without a single source of light.
It was thanks to my Owl’s Eyes.
“Human! You must have no fear!”
I heard a loud voice echo around . This must be a large cave.
I’m sure that that must be Demon Lord Heros’s voice. Based on his thick voice, he is probably the size of an elephant.
But I turned my head to see that Heros’s size was normal. He was pretty close to in height.
It seed as if Demon Lord Heros has returned to regular human Heros.
“Haha, did you not see that this place is called the Resting Place of the Dead? You cannot defeat here. You are just a fake deceased while I am a true deceased.”
I had no reason to talk to him. It wasn’t like Heros was going to give any useful information. In fact, he would probably just try to make confused. He would try to lower my confidence.
Quickly finishing the battle was the best solution.
It’s disappointing. I would have saved so Guard Points and Intelli Points if I knew it would be like this.
I invested everything already thinking that that was the final battle. That was why I could only use Spirit Energy right now.
And there was only about 700 left.
But I guess that’s still nice to have.
‘Put all Spirit Energy into Strength!’
I picked up Goonto’s Twin Blades and charged toward Heros.
Demon Lord Heros did not say anything else. He was holding twin blades like and moved seriously but quickly to defend my attack.
But it was a bit unexpected.
A Demon Lord should be an extrely skilled. He should be so strong that I wouldn’t be able to compare no matter how strong I was.
But I felt like we were pretty even in strength. He wasn’t weaker than , but he didn’t seem to be stronger than either.
‘It’s doable!’
I pushed a little harder. I guess you could say I beca a little more courageous? Or maybe a little more violent?
I used 120% of my abilities to pressure Heros.
Heros took a step back. He was not attacking and mainly focusing on defense in order to block my attacks.
‘Just a little more. A little more.’
It felt possible.
But I always lacked that final sothing. I failed every ti I felt like I could slash through Heros’s body.
At first I thought it was because I wasn’t lucky enough. Then I felt like I couldn’t utilize my chances.
But sothing felt weird after that continued for over 30 minutes. It felt like I was being tricked or sothing.
I heard Demon Lord Heros’s voice again at that mont.
“Haha, did you finally realize it? Do you know the reason you cannot defeat here?”
That should an that his actions were all calculated.
What could I have missed?
I then suddenly thought of sothing. The na of this place.
‘The Resting Place of the Dead!’
Heros did not seem tired at all. His breathing wasn’t even ssed up. On the other hand, I was really tired and breathing heavily.
Of course, it made sense that I would be more tired since I was attacking while he was defending.
But it was more than that. Heros had moved a lot as well, but he didn’t get tired at all.
Heros revealed the reason for it himself.
“I do not get tired here. You are bound to tire yourself out and fall.”
So that’s how it was.
Only true decreased like him could find rest here. That ant that they would have never-ending stamina.
On the other hand, I couldn’t use that benefit since I only ca here thanks to the Soul of the Dead.
That ant that I was only cutting away at my own life the more I moved.
I guess I need to pay attention to my stamina as I fight from here. I felt like it was a bit late, but I had no other options.
But did Heros read my mind? He laughed again.
“Hoho. You want to rest? Do you think I would let you do that?”
Heros then started to attack.
They were not very strong attacks.
But I couldn’t look down on them either. He seed to have all the sa abilities as I did.
Was it a unique nature of the Resting Place of the Dead?
Now that I thought about it, it did ntion sothing like that.
[All who enter through here will stand on equal footing.]
It was not just talking about the dead. Everybody would be on equal footing. In other words, we would have the sa abilities.
That was why Heros had focused on defense in the beginning. He didn’t want to accidentally make a mistake. He wanted to drain my stamina at the sa ti.
‘Now what do I do?’
Heros’s attacks were not very fierce.
His goal was not to kill with a single attack. He wanted to make keep moving so that he could drain my stamina.
But he also made sure to pay attention to defense. He seed to be prepared for any sudden counterattacks from .
He had been that way from the beginning. I kept launching surprise attacks while thinking that I just needed one more hit to get him, but Heros dodged all of them as if he had been preparing for them.
And then he pressured over and over.
My mind beca chaotic. I didn’t know what to do.
The only thing I could do right now was to focus on defense and save my stamina.
But that wasn’t a solution. No matter how hard I tried to save my stamina, I couldn’t help but lose stamina as Heros continued to bombard with attacks.
On the other hand, Heros wasn’t getting tired at all even with all these movents.
“Hoho, I wonder how long you can last.”
I was worried about that as well.
But I can only give it my all.
Huff. Huff.
My breathing was extrely heavy. My chest felt like it would burst.
I also felt like I didn’t have enough oxygen. No matter how heavily I breathed, I couldn’t cool this frustration inside of .
‘I’m too tired!’
A whole day passed like that.
I was amazed that I could move so long without getting any rest.
I guess it is so superpower that soone on the brink of death could show.
Or maybe it was because Demon Lord Heros was not overdoing it. He was carefully pressuring as if he wouldn’t allow himself to make even a single mistake.
That was how I was able to last this long.
But that was over now. My arms and legs were shaking. I even felt like I wanted to give up and rest.
Heros seed to have noticed that.
“I guess it is ti to finish this! Do you have any last words?”
I didn’t even have the strength to talk. I would block one more attack if I had the strength to talk.
“Haha, what a pity. You don’t have any family nor friends to leave any last words. Then goodbye now.”
Family or friends…
I suddenly thought about my family in the real world. My mother and my sister.
Why was I also thinking about Lee Man Bok’s family as well right now? And Han Sul Yi too.
Was I really going to die like this? Would my life in the real world end too if I die here?
I wasn’t sad nor worried about dying, but my heart felt like it would rip thinking about my mother who would be devastated at my death.
I can’t die like this.
But that wasn’t up to .
Demon Lord Heros attacked more fiercely as if he knew this was the end.
“Die now.”
Demon Lord Heros swung his twin blades. The attack seed very strong.
I raised a blade to defend but I didn’t think I could block this strong attack.
I subconsciously closed my eyes.
Clang!
That’s odd. I didn’t feel anything. My hand holding the blade didn’t feel anything at all.
But I heard sothing clashing above my head.
‘What is it?’
I heard Demon Lord Heros’s shocked voice at that mont.
“W, who are you? How did you get in here?”
Did soone else co in here? That’s impossible. There’s no way soone else had a Soul of the Dead.
But who could it be?
I opened my closed eyes.
I heard a welcod voice at the sa ti.
“Hurry up and get up!”
Translator: Miraclerifle
Proofreader: Borderline Masochist
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