[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 67: Ancient Dungeon (3)
Click!
One of the locks on the door disengaged.
Four locks remained, the sa number as the people in the group.
'Were there locks here originally?'
It was strange that the number of locks matched the number of people in the group, but Hal decided to assu that it was simply how the chanism was designed.
Anyway, as Lena had demonstrated, the way to escape this room was simple: open the box, face the illusion, and overco it.
Despite this, no one readily stepped forward.
After a brief silence, soone took a step forward.
"Damn it."
Ono cursed under his breath with a frown.
"I think I know what it is, and I don't like it."
"...Is that it?"
"Probably."
Ono replied curtly to Hal's question and walked towards the box.
Hal then took out a mirror from his bag, seemingly having prepared it beforehand, and held it in his hand.
The next mont...
Clack!
Ono opened the box without hesitation.
As with Lena, thick fog filled the air.
Then, sothing erged from within.
Seeing this, Ono's expression confird his expectations.
But his voice, as he called out the na, was filled with anguish.
"Catherine."
The woman who had died and turned to wax in Heidern.
Ono's forr colleague.
Ono was speechless as he faced her.
Catherine, with a pain-distorted expression, called out to Ono.
"...Ono. Run."
"I..."
Ono gritted his teeth, unable to finish his sentence.
Just then, Catherine's body began to harden into wax.
Then, the figure of Speroculus appeared opposite Catherine.
A repeat of that painful day.
A mory of helplessness, a fragnt of despair.
There was no way to save her.
She was already dead.
Grit!
Ono gritted his teeth.
Nevertheless...
Thump!
Ono tightly gripped his talisman, his mace.
And with a rage-filled voice, he roared,
"Hal!!"
"Yes."
Hal imdiately threw the mirror he was holding.
The mirror with the night vision device he had brought from Heidern.
The mirror landed perfectly in Ono's outstretched hand.
Ono ran straight towards the demon.
"Keeek?!"
Speroculus hurriedly emitted light from its eyes.
But it was aningless.
Ono had already turned around and held up the mirror.
What Ono saw was the demon reflected in the mirror.
The petrification couldn't harm Ono.
Creak!
How tightly was he gripping it?
The leather strap wrapped around the mace tore from his grip, and blood trickled down.
Ono closed his eyes and turned his body.
With his whole body rotating, the mace, laden with his full weight, fell towards Speroculus's head.
"Die."
Ono swung the mace with a cold voice.
Crack!
The mace struck the demon's head precisely.
Then, it vanished into dust as if it had never existed.
"..."
Ono let the mace in his hand fall to the floor with a clang.
He turned and started walking.
Compared to when he was running towards Speroculus, his steps were infinitely slow and seed incredibly difficult.
But Ono didn't run away from his past.
He took a step forward, directly facing the helplessness of his past.
And at the end of it was Catherine, whom he couldn't save.
Ono stood before her.
After a brief silence, Ono slowly opened his mouth.
"I don't regret it. Running away was the only thing I could do back then."
"..."
Catherine, half-covered in wax, just stared at Ono without saying a word.
"I'm saying that even if the sa situation happened again, I would still run away."
Catherine's mouth seed to be sealed with wax, unable to open.
However, she blinked her eyes as if respecting Ono's decision.
Catherine began to disappear into dust, starting from her wax-covered legs.
Just then...
"But."
"...?"
Ono t Catherine's eyes directly.
Then, slowly bowing his head, he said,
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you."
"...!"
Catherine's eyes widened.
And...
Her eyes ford a gentle crescent shape, crinkling at the corners.
It was definitely a smile.
Seeing that, Ono flinched and his body trembled.
"...You."
Ono was speechless for a mont.
He gritted his teeth and nodded.
At the sa ti, Catherine's body completely disappeared into dust.
A quiet silence fell over the chamber, as if the commotion had never happened.
Ono abruptly lifted his head and turned around.
"It was nothing."
Ono returned to his place with an indifferent expression.
His eyes were red, but no one pointed it out.
***
"I'll go next."
Perhaps he felt sothing while watching Ono.
Daniel suddenly stepped forward.
He, too, seed to have made up his mind as he walked forward and opened the box in one go.
This ti, what appeared was...
A woman sitting with her hands folded demurely, engulfed in flas.
Daniel walked towards her and muttered,
"...Mother."
The sll of burning flesh stung his nose.
Just how much of this was an illusion, and how much was reality?
Daniel's fingertips trembled slightly.
He knew this kind of situation might appear.
That's why, even though he had prepared himself, his body wouldn't move easily.
Just like the mory of that day.
'...Don't co. Daniel, please.'
His mother's voice, which he had never heard before, echoed in his head.
In the distance, he heard the creaking sound of soone climbing the wooden stairs.
Was that stranger approaching?
He had to hurry.
But why...
Why wouldn't his body move?
Just then, Daniel saw soone standing at the edge of his trembling vision.
Hal Saint Gilmore.
The unique exorcist priest he t in Lengbaster.
Seeing him, Daniel felt the trembling in his body stop.
Right.
He had followed this man all the way here.
The sacrificial mark engraved on his mother's body, the one he had been searching for for so long.
The tragedy of his family was undoubtedly connected to those who had branded this mark.
It hadn't been an easy road to get here.
He had faced several near-death crises.
But the more he experienced, the more he felt it.
'I'm not a helpless child anymore.'
Daniel rembered the day he fought a special-grade demon with Hal.
The day he imrsed himself deep into the river of the underworld.
For so reason, the corners of his mouth lifted, and a smile spread across his face.
Compared to that ti, this was...
"Nothing."
Daniel adjusted his helt and took a step forward.
With the red plu on his helt fluttering, he walked straight towards his mother.
"There's sothing I couldn't tell you that day."
The flas engulfing his mother grew larger, as if warning him not to co any closer.
The intense heat pierced his lungs.
His eyes were dry and stinging, and his iron armor was as hot as a heated iron plate.
A stray spark landed on the plu of his helt.
Sizzle!
With each step he took, the sound of burning flesh echoed in his ears.
Despite this, Daniel continued walking without hesitation.
"...I've regretted it ever since."
And finally, he stood before his mother, who was burning in the flas.
Daniel knelt down and embraced his mother.
Then, calmly, but with a voice full of affection, he spoke.
"Thank you for everything."
"..."
Pat pat
The burning woman patted Daniel's back as he hugged her.
The next mont...
The woman vanished into dust.
Whoosh!
Simultaneously, the flas that had been scorching the surroundings disappeared.
Not a single scar remained on Daniel's body, which had been severely burned.
Daniel simply remained kneeling in the center of the chamber.
He slowly stood up.
He didn't know what that was just now.
Was it just an illusion, a trick of the eye?
Or was it the regret born from his own mories?
Or was it...
'No, Mother must be resting peacefully in the land of the gods by now.'
Daniel shook his head and stood up.
Despite everything, he felt a sense of relief.
***
"I'll be next..."
Despite his words, Rupert hesitated to approach the box.
He forced himself to take a step, but even after standing in front of the box, he hesitated for a long ti.
But no one rushed him.
Everyone just waited patiently.
That gave Rupert strength.
He was grateful for his companions who simply watched over him, believing he could do it.
Rupert slowly reached out and placed his hand on the box.
Smoke spread, and old mories resurfaced.
Thump thump!
A man erged from the fog.
Seeing him, Rupert froze.
He thought it would be different after all this ti, but it wasn't.
"Father."
"..."
He looked a little younger than the last ti he saw him, but his stern and solemn face was the sa.
One of the strongest in the Empire, a swordsman whose na was always ntioned when discussing the best of the best.
The Guardian of the North, the Swordmaster.
That was Ricard Glenvale.
Facing his sharp and disciplined gaze, Rupert couldn't help but shrink back.
Ricard, who had been staring intently at Rupert, slowly opened his mouth.
"...Aren't you going to say anything?"
His coldly uttered words were laced with anger for so reason.
"I'm sorry."
Rupert imdiately apologized, but the atmosphere only worsened.
Ricard glared at Rupert coldly and muttered, "It's not you should be apologizing to."
"Father, I..."
"What in the world... what have you been doing?"
Ricard closed his eyes and covered his face with his hand.
His father was a man who rarely showed any emotion.
That's why Rupert could tell how emotional he was now.
Sadness, anger, and... resentnt.
Rupert thought he would be fine once he opened the box.
But he wasn't.
All he could do was repeat the mories of the past.
Rupert repeatedly bowed his head and apologized like a child.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."
"You coward. I'd rather..."
Ricard stopped mid-sentence, as if sothing was caught in his throat.
‘Ah, that's it.’
The words that Rupert couldn't forget even in death.
The words that still haunted his nightmares.
Rupert knew what would co next.
'...We should have died together.'
Rupert squeezed his eyes shut, his face pale.
He wanted to cover his ears, but unable to do even that, he just silently waited for the next words.
Just then...
Thump!
Soone placed a hand on Rupert's shoulder.
Rupert turned his head, his gaze shaky as if he was about to collapse.
Hal was there.
He nodded towards Rupert.
As if saying, "Leave it to ."
"...Who are you?"
Ricard looked at Hal with contempt, as if he were looking at an insect.
The pressure was enough to make an ordinary person faint.
Despite this, Hal didn't even blink, calmly saying,
"You shouldn't say things you'll regret."
"...What?"
Ricard's expression was greatly distorted.
Then, with a montum that suggested he was about to draw his sword, he retorted,
"Don't you know when to interfere and when not to?"
"I don't know what happened. But..."
Hal raised his head and looked Ricard straight in the eye.
His unwavering gaze was full of conviction.
For so reason, Ricard hesitated and waited for Hal to continue.
"The words you were about to utter would beco lifelong shackles for Sir Rupert."
"...How do you know that?"
"The fact that you appeared here is proof."
Ricard was speechless at Hal's words.
But Hal wasn't finished.
"And furthermore, it will..."
Hal raised his hand and pointed at Ricard.
"Beco a burden that you will carry for the rest of your life."
"..."
Ricard glared at Hal silently, then clicked his tongue as if he had lost steam.
He glared at Rupert for a mont, then abruptly turned around.
At the sa ti, Ricard's body turned to dust and disappeared.
Rupert collapsed on the spot, gasping for breath.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes... yes."
Rupert slowly nodded at Hal's question.
Looking up, he saw Hal's outstretched hand.
He grabbed it, and his body was pulled up.
It was as if he had been pulled from the past back to reality, and he could breathe again.
'Ah.'
He was indebted to Hal once again.
Rupert wanted to be like Hal.
If he could just beco like him, then surely...
'Surely next ti, I won't tremble in front of my father.'
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
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