Adelia had witnessed it clearly.
The entire process by which that man passed the ancient god’s Trial.
KRAAAAAASH—!
The moment he crushed the crystal, ominous energy poured out like a tsunami.
It was a force powerful enough to shake the entire cave.
As it condensed, it began to press down upon the man’s entire body.
“......!”
Adelia’s eyes widened. Alarm bells began ringing in her mind.
This was dangerous.
If the Trial was that powerful, then even most formidable people were certain to meet their deaths.
But......
—That is enough. Such a crude illusion will not work on me.
......Contrary to her fears, the man passed the Trial as if it were nothing.
WHOOOOSH—!
The instant the man finished speaking, the ominous energy died down at once.
‘What?’
Watching from one step away, Adelia was utterly shocked.
‘Th-this is impossible......’
The pressure of the Trial had been menacing enough to make even Adelia freeze.
Yet the man had overcome it with absurd ease.
“......”
Even then, his expression was utterly tranquil.
It was hard to believe he was someone who had just passed such a terrifying Trial.
Before long, the man, who had been blankly staring up at the cave ceiling, opened his mouth.
“Our business here is finished. Let us leave now.”
Step, step—.
The man calmly retraced the path he had taken.
Watching his retreating back, Adelia could not hide her bewilderment.
‘Who in the world is that person......?’
Adelia’s pupils began to shake.
A Swordmaster.
A seeker who moved in accordance with the Elders’ will, and a genius who had realized the ultimate realm of the Sword.
She had known that they were beings on an entirely different level, but she had never imagined that they would possess such monstrous power.
......Unless that man in particular was exceptionally special.
Halt—.
At that very moment, the man walking ahead stopped.
He turned around and spoke in a flat voice.
“Why are you standing there instead of following me?”
“I-I am coming now......!”
Adelia suddenly came to her senses and hurried after the man.
***
Step—.
Once we had finished all our business, we walked out of the abandoned factory.
In the pitch-black night, a cool breeze began to blow.
I had never once thought the air of Dark City Dawnguard was pleasant, but after being in that damp underground space, stepping outside made my chest feel clear and open.
After briefly studying Adelia’s expression, I opened my mouth.
“Is it troubling you?”
“......Pardon?”
Adelia, who had been looking at the abandoned factory with a complicated expression, suddenly lifted her head.
After hearing from me about what had happened in the factory, she had been unable to shake her unease since then.
She must have felt pity for the children and spirits sacrificed in the experiments.
As expected of a good-aligned character, she was very attentive to things like this.
“If it troubles you that much, prepare a 「Requiem」.”
Adelia hesitated for a moment.
“May I? It will take some time......”
“That is fine.”
“......”
“The next part of our schedule is not particularly urgent anyway.”
Requiem.
A rite that soothed the souls of the dead.
It was a skill that only a chosen few characters, such as members of Sacred Families, could perform.
‘The vengeful spirits of the victims are still trapped inside the factory.’
Of course, now that we had passed the Trial, nothing in particular would happen even if we left this place as it was......
But I knew.
Adelia, who is good by nature, won’t be able to let go of this abandoned factory for days on end.
Rather than having her attention needlessly drawn to the past, it would be better to deal with it quickly and move on.
That way, Adelia could focus on the present as well.
‘More than anything......’
......there was something I wanted to confirm, even if it meant setting aside valuable time.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
At that moment, Adelia bowed deeply and expressed her gratitude to me.
She immediately began preparing a Requiem to honor the factory’s victims.
Hummm, hummm—.
FWOOOSH—!
Turquoise flames rising from Adelia’s body spread to the factory. Before long, the sacred Aura began to consume everything in sight.
Murmur, murmur—.
Closing her eyes, Adelia began to pray, whispering something under her breath.
Pale smoke rose above the abandoned factory, which burned with brilliant radiance. The wavering air high in the night sky looked as though the souls of the victims were scattering in the wind.
......No, it did not merely look as though the souls were ‘scattering in the wind.’
***[Thank you.]***
***[Thank you.]***
***[Thank you.]***
The widely spreading smoke began to take on the forms of children, one by one.
Ashen boys and girls drifting through the night sky looked down at us one after another, smiling warmly.
At the very next moment, new notifications began to appear before my eyes.
Ding—!
〔You have consoled the vengeful spirits trapped in the abandoned factory.〕
〔The vengeful spirits express their gratitude to you and your party.〕
FWOOSH, FWOOOSH—!
Turquoise flames covered every direction.
The factory, once the site of Dawnguard’s most horrific experiments, gradually began to drive away the darkness of oblivion.
It was a sight I had never seen even once throughout 200 playthroughs.
That was because, by the time an ordinary player arrived at Dark City Dawnguard, every member of the Sacred Families who could perform 「Requiem」 had already been wiped out.
To make matters worse, Adelia von Goldheart, the sole survivor, had long ago been expelled from her family and lost her sacred power.
That was why I had never once seen 「Requiem」 performed in 【Hidden Dungeon II】 of Dark City Dawnguard.
I felt sorry for the children who had been unjustly sacrificed, but there had been no way to console them.
***[......Thank you so much for consoling us instead of leaving us here.]***
But that was no longer the case.
The worldline had changed, and the ominous future that had been set in place would gradually begin to change as well.
‘I fell into the world of a game.’
Lost Elder, an open-world dark-fantasy RPG.
I knew this game extremely well.
I had memorized everything by heart: how to clear dungeons, monster patterns, and even the backstories of important NPCs.
‘But I must not blindly trust every piece of information I know.’
This world had already undergone a major change.
A player who should have died at the hands of Human Butcher Barba was now walking through Dark City Dawnguard unharmed, with a twelve-star mythical skill.
He had received the help of Lea de Karayan, an NPC whom he could never have met at this point under normal circumstances, and was under the protection of Adelia von Goldheart.
‘No one knows what kind of butterfly effect my actions may bring back upon me.’
It was only natural.
As I had said countless times, this was something I had never experienced even once throughout 200 playthroughs.
FWOOOOSH, FWOOSH—!
Perhaps the abandoned factory burning fiercely before my eyes was also part of that anomaly.
‘Of course......’
......an anomaly doesn’t always produce only negative results, as it had just now.
With a faint smile on my lips, I read the notification window floating before me.
Ding—!
〔The ‘Master of the Second Hand and the Moment’ thanks you for your good deed.〕
〔The reward has been enhanced.〕
〔The Authority Skill 【Ritardando: True】 has been unlocked.〕
I received a special reward.
The ‘True Form’ of 【Ritardando】, which no one had obtained throughout 200 playthroughs, had come into my hands.
......That was not all I had gained.
Resolve.
Watching the souls fly freely through the night sky, giggling brightly, a single resolve suddenly took root in my heart.
‘I will change everything with my own hands.’
An anomaly had occurred in the world I had observed throughout 200 playthroughs.
As the one responsible for that anomaly, I will set everything right.
So that this world doesn’t meet its goddamn Bad Ending.
And so that, at last...... it can reach the True Ending that no one had seen in the past twelve years.
***
At this point, I had finished everything there was to do in Dark City Dawnguard.
Now it was time to head for my next destination.
To a place where I could accomplish more and obtain more.
“Adelia.”
On the road leading out of Dark City Dawnguard, I asked Adelia as we walked side by side.
“My next destination is Free City Vertas.”
“......”
“It will be a long and tedious journey. Do you still intend to follow me?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Adelia nodded.
“Yes. As I said before, if I can gain insight, I am willing to do anything.”
Good.
That was exactly the answer I had wanted.
Having renewed my contract with the Bus Driver, I grinned to myself.
Perhaps it was only my imagination, but my steps felt lighter than before.
‘Well, that aside......’
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘......Undead.’
My originally fated future.
As a player, I had been destined to die at the hands of Human Butcher Barba, then be reborn as an Undead by a Necromancer.
In other words, that’s what would have happened if I hadn’t possessed 【Soul of the Swordmaster】.
‘But I made it out of the Underworld Arena alive.’
Then, now that the future had changed, what would the Necromancer do?
Would she simply leave the pit of corpses without doing anything?
Or would she create another Undead?
‘If someone I never could have anticipated were reborn as an Undead......’
......that would be a serious problem in its own right. An Undead was a threat to this world simply by existing.
The destruction of life and death inflicted great harm upon the balance of this world.
If an Undead were born, the end would draw even closer. It was also why I had clenched my teeth and sought to escape Human Butcher Barba alive.
‘I should prepare for it, just in case.’
An ability capable of opposing the Undead was hidden in Free City Vertas.
I should acquire it quickly. Then I could prepare for any potential danger.
To survive in this godforsaken world, I had to eliminate these minor risk factors one by one.
‘More than anything......’
......one day, I might encounter that crazy Swordmaster.
I had to obtain the ability hidden in Vertas.
***
“Hmm, hmm!”
Hop, hop—.
A hooded girl was hopping through the dark space, humming cheerfully.
All around her, discarded corpses, bones, and every kind of waste were piled up like mountains.
“Hm?”
Halt—.
Then it happened.
The girl stopped walking. Her face, which had worn a bright smile, became expressionless in an instant.
“Fate...... has changed......?”
Tsk—.
Losing interest in an instant, the girl clicked her tongue and kicked an innocent skull away.
CLACK—! CLATTER—.
The skull that flew forcefully through the air collided with a pile of corpses. The precariously stacked tower came tumbling down.
“......Huh?”
At that moment, a fresh piece of material appeared amid the collapsed pile of corpses.
At the sight of it, the girl’s eyes began gleaming again.
“Hmm...... Well, it seems there was still a usable toy left.”
The girl hopped over to the corpse. Soon, she gave it a few taps and grinned.
“Hey, what is your name?”
Hummm, hummm—!
New life began to sprout from the cleanly severed cross-section of the neck. Muscle, bone, and flesh wriggled as they began to form a new ‘head.’
After some time had passed, the body that had recovered its lost head slowly opened its mouth.
“Barba......”
His parched voice was badly cracked.
“......Human Butcher Barba.”
The girl asked once more.
“What do you want to do?”
Barba’s eyes flashed. His blood-red eyes burned with savage hostility. From the moment he received new life, there had been only one thing he wanted.
“Revenge.”
***
Ding—!
**〔Hidden Message: Twisted Causality has given birth to ‘Undead Barba’.〕**