Unknown memories.
I hurriedly urged the guide to strengthen the magic to see if those memories would return, but the answer that I got was disappointing.
- I only activated the already engraved spell, so it’s not something I can control. No, more than that, why are you fine...?
Shit.
I clicked my tongue and scratched my head.
Memories that have now completely disappeared only linger in my mind, with only fleeting moments remaining sparsely.
What was it?
It differed from the déjà vu memories I experienced last time in Actipol.
I knew it instinctively. It must have been the memories related to the original owner of this body.
It was regrettable that the memories ended there.
There’s no reason to know this body’s past. But anyway, it’s a body that I possessed, so I have no choice but to be curious.
I was immersed in my thoughts as I recalled the fragments of the faint memories that remained, and then I looked up.
- Was there something wrong with the magic? There’s no way that could be the case… But it makes little sense to resist with pure mental power…
“Hey.”
I asked the guide, who was circling above me and behaving frantically.
“Is this the end of the ordeal?”
- ...
The guy grunted and groaned and eventually answered reluctantly.
- Yes... You have passed the ordeal. It’s the first time I’ve seen such an absurd case.
It ended very simply.
Since I had the [Soul of the King], I already expected this result from the very beginning.
I turned my gaze to look at the collapsed Asher.
I passed, but it would take a while for her to overcome the ordeal and wake up. It was like that in the game.
It took a whole day and a half.
When she challenged the trials in the game, she was at a lower level than now.
The higher the level, the easier it would be to pass through the ordeal. The situation wouldn’t be worse than what it was in the game.
All that’s left now was to wait patiently.
I moved closer to Asher.
I turned her over and laid her upright, then moved to the wall at the corner and sat down with my back leaning against it.
The guide, who was looking at the scene curiously, asked me.
- A really strange person came in. Is there anything else you want to ask about the ordeal? Your colleague is probably going crazy inside her mind.
He probably thought that my carefree attitude was strange.
He probably initially just thought of me as an adventurer who stumbled into the ruins by accident.
I asked the other.
“Since I passed the ordeal, would I receive a reward?”
- Uhm, yes. But if you leave this place alone, the ordeal would be void.
Of course, there was no way I would leave Asher alone and go out on my own.
Rather, I should prepare just in case she did not pass the ordeal...
"Will leaving this space lift the effect of the hallucination magic?”
- Yes.
“Then, is it against the rules if I forcefully take out a colleague who has not passed yet?
- Of course it’s a violation! Once you challenge the ordeal, no one can interfere. If such a case happened, I will punish you myself.
The guide shouted resolutely.
I stroked my chin and looked at his level.
[Lv. 83]
Fairly high level.
It could be called a spiritual body, but it was not a mere soul, since I could see his form clearly.
Judging from the aura I felt, it was mixed with magic power... It must have been the magic of a great sage.
The source of power was not the energy of nature, but magic power. I wondered if it was like that of a spirit.
If Asher failed the ordeal and he prevented us from escaping outside, then we would have to fight.
It would be difficult to spread a shield, so if a battle broke out, was it best to annihilate the other with a surprise attack?
As if he knew what I was thinking, the guide had his arms crossed with a solemn expression.
I spoke to the guy again.
“I’m bored. Let’s talk.”
- Talk? Hmm, good.
He appeared uninterested, but he couldn’t hide his excitement.
Like the initial reaction earlier, he must have been stuck here alone for a very long time.
If I tried to become close to the other like this, he might let his guard down and then it would be easier to do a surprise attack later when needed.
Of course, there was the fact that he was the only one I could talk to here. It could at least ease my boredom.
- The last group of challenger came here over 100 years ago. There were five people, and they challenged the ordeal of force.
- I don’t know how it is in this era, but the great Cabolissa was the greatest sage of her day...
I quickly tired of his nonstop chatter and just kept my mouth shut.
I tried to dig up some information about the ancient times, but there was no useful information I could get from him.
Time passed that way.
I ate the food I had brought little by little and looked at Asher’s condition.
I knew by now what she was going through in the illusion that she’s experiencing.
It would be painful, but in the end, in order to grow, she had no choice but to face and overcome everything.
***
A night of storms and thunderstorms.
There was a woman who was running on a mountain road through heavy rain.
Asher held onto her sister’s hand and swung her sword. She cut down the monsters that attacked from all sides.
In that desperate escape, the destination was always the same.
Asher, who stopped at the edge of the cliff, looked down at the river that was raging because of the heavy rain. She was panting.
She looked back.
A monster holding a spear was slowly walking toward them.
“...Aaaaaaa!”
How many times was this already?
Asher screamed and tried to run towards him. But it was just futile.
Tuuk.
As always, the body did not listen, and only the bitter smile of the younger sister who pushed her down the cliff was the last thing she saw.
Spash!
Asher sank below the surface. She no longer had the strength to struggle.
She knew about this situation that was repeating several times, dozens of times, and hundreds of times. Like a terrible nightmare.
She stood at the scene of the massacre again. She felt her heart slowly crumbling in terrible agony.
“...Run away, Asher! Don’t look back!”
Father cried as he held her dead mother in his arms.
Asher ran away with her sister again.
She fled while the assailants slaughtered her father and tribesmen. Once again, she was driven to the edge of a cliff.
Falling down the cliff again. Again, the cold spear’s edge pierced his sister’s chest.
Again, again, again.
“...”
Asher realized at some point that this was all an illusion.
She just recalled that the Seventh Lord, and she found a certain ruin... and then she followed the other to challenge some kind of ordeal without really knowing why she should.
Was this the ordeal?
Then what was the ordeal for?
What had passed cannot be undone. She couldn’t change anything in reality, the same could be said for this illusion.
That fact made her so miserable that Asher burst into tears.
She saw the Spear Saint walking towards them with heartless eyes.
The younger sister, who was holding her hand, looked back at her. She looked bewildered after seeing her sobbing.
“Sister, what’s wrong? This isn’t the time to be like this. Come on...”
Yeah, nothing would change in the end.
Even if she returned to reality, the only thing she could do was revenge. Neither the dead family nor the dead tribe members would come back alive.
Maybe she was really the only one left in the world.
Whatever it was, your choice was not wrong.
It was only after her heart was driven to the brink of collapse that Asher could finally admit everything.
An irresistible sadness came over her, but she was no longer confused.
Asher grabbed her sister’s hand as the other tried to push her away.
She grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. Then she hugged her tightly.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry...”
“...”
“So... stop it now.”
The younger sister, who was embarrassed and tried to get out of her arms, halted.
Asher held her for a long while before slowly pulling away.
Her younger sister was smiling.
It was a smile that was a little less sad than before, and a little less bitter.
Squeak.
Her younger sister’s body scattered like a mirage and disappeared.
Asher wiped the tears from her face and looked ahead. The Spear Saint was standing there.
The surrounding scenery had changed. From the cliff, into the endless darkness of nothing.
She injected power into the hand holding the sword. Asher ran towards him.
And the very next moment, the blade of the spear blew Asher’s neck off.
Darkness raged, and time went backwards.
Asher, who had died in an instant, stood face to face with the Spear Saint again.
She pounced again, and this time she couldn't hold out even three times, and he pierced her heart with his spear.
“Argh...!”
Strong.
It was a strength that could not even be compared to when he fought her at the banquet in Earth Hill before.
She too had grown significantly since that day’s duel, but the gap was still far away.
This was the Spear Saint’s strength, and it must be the true gap between him and herself.
However, this place was only an illusion, only in one’s memory, but what on earth was its existence based on?
Consciousness? Imagination?
A small question arose, but whatever it was, it didn’t really matter.
Asher stared at the Spear Saint in front of her with emotionless eyes, then attacked again.
Dozens of duels, and well, hundreds of attacks came and went.
Asher also died and resurrected just as much.
There was no reason to worry about one’s life in this fantasy, where death would not be the end.
She gradually got used to it. She lowered her fighting spirit and emotions to a minimum and contemplated calmly.
Even while fighting, she looked at the battle between the two as if she was seeing it through a third person’s eye.
She examined every movement and imprinted it on her head. She jumped back and recreated the action.
In the endless repetition, she finally understood and accepted them one by one until she broke down the wall.
3056th death.
Asher’s body split in half and regenerated again.
There were faint bloodstains on the Spear Saint’s arms as well. It was a wound from her sword.
It’s not enough...
She didn’t know how close she had to be to his level or to what level she had to reach to end this ordeal.
But Asher hoped it wouldn’t end that soon.
Even in this fantasy, she hoped she could continue to wield her sword until she overcome him.
***
About half a day passed, and for the first time, a change appeared in Asher.
She was still lying like a dead log, but the level floating above her head changed.
[Lv. 86]
One level up.
Looking at the scene, I felt some relief.
That her level had risen meant that she was safely passing through the ordeal without collapsing in the illusion.
A little more time passed and her level went up one more level, reaching level 87.
It was an abnormal speed, but after stopping there, it did not rise for a long time.
And maybe half a day or so had passed.
“...?”
I, who had been staring at the ceiling while lying in a daze, jumped up.
It was because Asher’s body, which could not move until now, trembled weakly.
And...
[Lv. 90]
...She leaped three levels from 87 all at once and finally broke the 80 wall and reached level 90.
It was the same level she had reached in the game after overcoming the ordeal.
- Ohh...
The guide’s low exclamation rang out.
Soon Asher’s eyes slowly opened.
Standing up, she looked around with calm eyes and met my eyes.
I hadn’t decided what to say, but I involuntarily asked, reflexively.
“Have you overcome everything?”
She stared blankly at me for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“...Yes.”
Sadness and joy, emptiness and sense of accomplishment, and regret and relief.
With a smile as if all conflicting emotions were mixed, she said;
“It seems to be the case.”
