Chapter 149 : The Final Banquet (Part 2)

The team, which consisted of elite chosen members, had already prepared themselves for the second phase that was about to start.

It was early in the morning, and the sky was still dark when all five of them were gathered in front of the gate.

Rei was wearing his usual armor and helmet while covering his entire body with a coat to keep him warm in this cold environment.

On the other side, there were Alicia and Hiba who wore similar coats, and behind those coats, Alicia was wearing her priest outfit while holding her staff.

Hiba was wearing a thick ranger outfit, with his bow and arrow strapped behind him, and several crossbows tucked on his right hand just to keep it handy.

After that, Gilbert and Raven walked towards them as they had already finished preparing their things.

Gilbert was wearing light armor that covered his chest and shoulder, with his sword—Grand, on his waist.

Raven, on the other hand, was wearing a simple black coat and just a chest armor. He decided to wear such a light outfit just to make himself flexible and not decrease his speed. And of course, he had his sword on his waist, too.

In these early times where everyone else was resting, the five of them were now gathered to start their mission.

But, before they started their mission, Rei approached them first and grouped them together.

"Before we go, I have something to say." Rei spoke to them.

"I shall give you all my first order."

Their attention immediately focused entirely towards him.

"Do not die." With that one sentence, silence befell them.

"Make sure to prioritize your safety and survival first, use any means to survive, even if it means running away from the battlefield."

As he continued to explain the details of his order, it made them feel restless.

"I am not that entirely strong, and I don't know if I am capable of saving anyone here because my plan was to get in a fight with the boss alone."

"Which is why I order you all to survive in this fight."

But somehow, they vaguely knew what he meant.

"I shall repeat, do not die."

He didn't want to see anyone die.

"It's okay to run away."

He didn't care if they all ran away as long as they were safe.

"Because sometimes…a defeat is what we need to get stronger."

They listened to his words. The two youngsters in this group would learn about this experience firsthand.

And so, the time had finally come.

"We are going to set out now."

With that order, they began to make their way towards the last location of the scouts that went missing overnight.

******

They traveled with their feet since using a carriage would be a hassle, and they didn't know when their enemy could suddenly ambush them.

Within three hours of journey, they arrived at the dark forest, which was known as…

"So this is the [Dangerous Zone]."

Rei muttered after taking a closer look from an outsider's perspective.

The forest was definitely dark despite it being a broad daylight for the others. It definitely felt different from other forests, which were damp and cold.

This one was cold, creepy, and at the same time...dangerous. Because it is filled with strong monsters.

"We are going in! Do not wander around and maintain the formation." Rei ordered them.

"Yes!" They answered him and finally...

They entered the [Dangerous Zone].

Rei entered first while looking around inside of the forest to make sure he sensed any monsters around while the others were following him from behind.

Since the daylight had started, they couldn't waste time any longer.

But the further they walked into the forest, the darker it got since the whole area was covered with thick trees, which made them increasingly wary of their surroundings.

In this situation, there could be any monster lying in wait.

But...

"....?"

Both Rei and Hiba looked around, and they felt there's something wrong in this forest... which is...

"There's no monster around." Hiba muttered.

"Yeah, I can't even sense their presence." Rei added.

Gilbert tilted his head, "Is it that bad if there's no monsters around?"

Hiba shook his head, "It could be either good or bad because monsters have their own habits and territory. They could be in hiding and hide their presence."

"But no matter how hard they tried to hide their presence, we could sense their killing intent before they could attack." Rei added.

"Because this forest usually has tons of monsters, that's why it's called [Dangerous Zone], unless you are a skillful adventurer, then you can venture into this area for a while."

"But now, it's hard to believe that we couldn't sense a single monster here." Hiba explained.

Gilbert nodded at his answer, "I see…"

Rei looked around again as they walked. After a few minutes, he suddenly raised his hand to stop them from continuing.

"....??"

They were confused from the sudden halt since they couldn't see what was in front of them because their vision was blocked by Rei's body.

When they walked to his side, their eyes widened immediately.

"....?!"

They found out that they've finally arrived at the spot where the incident happened.

"This is..."

Before them was the same forest that was densely populated with trees, but half of it had been destroyed, no—rather than being destroyed, they were pulverized into nothing.

The ground was covered in dark ashes. Despite the snow falling from above, it didn't cover the whole place as if it were left there to be seen on purpose.

The scale of this disaster was unimaginable. The forest ended exactly where they were standing.

"What is happening?...What kind of [thing] had caused this disaster."

Hiba couldn't help but shudder at what he saw. Even Raven, the Guild Master, was trembling as well.

"From my whole life as an adventurer, I have never seen such a disaster." Raven muttered, 'Is this where they went missing?' While thinking about the previous scouts that seemed to vanish overnight.

Rei lowered his hand, "We must proceed." He said, but they were still afraid.

"A-are you sure? We won't be attacked while we go there?" Gilbert asked warily.

Rei shook his head, "I think they won't."

"Why do you think they won't attack us?" Alicia asked him as well.

"Because...it's like trying to tell us that this place is dangerous and we won't be able to pass through it." Rei spoke.

"Then we shouldn't go in there!" Gilbert shouted.

"That is true, but from what I guess, this is just a warning sign."

Hiba slightly narrowed his brows at that, "A warning sign?"

"Yeah, like a bear clawing a tree to mark their territory, this is the same as that." Rei explained.

"But this scale is way bigger than a freaking bear!" Gilbert raised his voice a bit, looking even more nervous.

"But...the strange part is…how did it end up this way? I mean, why did this thing mark their own territory by destroying half of the forest?" Hiba asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Gilbert asked.

"I mean, this thing can just destroy the whole ground to mark their territory, right? But why does the forest have to be hitted as well?" Gilbert explained.

"Because the forest itself can be a good environment for the enemy to ambush us, so they shouldn't have to destroy half of the forest."

What Hiba explained made sense to all of them, why bother destroying a place that could be their advantage against their enemies.

Of course, they wouldn't know the answer.

But Rei had a different opinion, "Hmmm, I think this place was destroyed before the first phase had even started." Rei spoke.

"Huh? It does?" Hiba was confused by his answer.

"I mean, have you ever gone inside this forest before?" Rei asked him.

"Hmm?? Well, sometimes I scout here to keep the whole city safe because it's my duty as an S-class adventurer, " Hiba explained.

"Then do you remember something like this happening during your scouting?" Rei asked.

Hiba was surprised after realizing it, "No...."

"Then that's that. This happened before the first phase even started yet." Rei repeated, "I know because this place hasn't been covered by snow completely."

Rei pointed out the part where there's only a few layers of snow covering the whole area.

"Just like you said, the forest has been deemed as a [Dangerous Zone] because no one dares to go inside here unless they are skilled enough, right?" Rei spoke.

"Yeah, that's true." Hiba replied.

"But what if there's someone skilled enough trying to pass through this forest, and made contact with this thing and ended up destroying half of the forest as a warning." Rei explained.

They were surprised by his deduction. Raven had this complex look in this case, but Rei didn't bother to ask.

"So does that mean... someone tried to come here before us?" Hiba spoke.

"Yeah." Rei nodded while glancing his eyes at Raven, who tried not to question this.

"Who would try to do something stupid like this?"

"I don't know... either way, we know that there's something big and dangerous after we pass through that." Rei spoke and pointed at another part of this warning sign.

There's half of it that wasn't covered with snow and still completely black.

"Look, seeing the snow doesn't fall there means that there's a barrier that keeps them away, and that is where we should proceed." Rei explained.

"I see..." Alicia nodded and understood what he meant.

"I guess that's our pass line." Hiba spoke and sighed after hearing all this complex explanation.

While the others pondered about what's gonna happen when they pass this line.

Raven was standing behind them and looked at Rei differently, 'How does he know that much just from seeing this? Excluding the part that we sent a scout here, how did he know... that there is something that would stop them?'

'Does he have something he hides from us?' Raven thought, a bit suspicious, but

he shook off that thought. 'Let's stop thinking about that and focus on our work.'

Afterward, they continued their walk towards the designated point and passed through the line.

Finally, they were standing at a cliff after passing through that line, which revealed the scenery beyond this [Dangerous Zone] to them.

".....?!"

They're immediately stunned the moment their eyes lie upon a large dark castle standing right in front of them.

The sight of the castle was something that they didn't expect to see beyond the forest.

'In the past... the only thing we could see after passing through this forest was just a plain snowfield surrounded by a strong blizzard.' Raven thought.

'But...to think there's something this big had been hiding in our land for so long...and to top it off...' Hiba gulped as he sensed something.

"Yeah... I sensed a strong presence in that castle, and it doesn't bother to hide it either." Rei could tell what they were thinking.

The ominous feeling released by that castle felt as if it wanted to invite and intimidate them at the same time.

"We must move on. Before the 2nd phase starts, we must occupy the castle before our army comes here." Rei spoke to them.

"Also be fully alert because we are going inside the enemy's territory. Considering what we fought yesterday were the small fries…"

"Maybe, inside that castle, there will be a much stronger monster than before." Rei explained.

"Are we clear?!"

"Yes!" They answered in unison.

"Very well, then…let's go!"

And just like that, they jumped down from the cliff, following the path that was laid down towards that castle.

The path was nothing but white snow. There's no dirt to be seen but only this road that would lead them to the castle.

Upon arriving at the castle, they were greeted by a high dark wall stretched out around the castle as if it were protecting it from the outside world.

While walking there, they could see an old relic of the past, such as cannons, broken swords and spears laying, and stuck on the snowy ground.

And in front of them, there was a gate.

It was already opened, as if there's nothing that could close it because there's not a single sign of life in here.

So they passed through there and entered the first layout of the castle.

It was the same as outside. There's nothing but abandoned equipment, posts, and everything, as if it was deserted a long time ago based on how rusted the equipment was.

But what's even stranger was that they didn't find any single monsters around.

They looked around but still no presence of them, just like when they were in the forest

Meanwhile, the ominous feeling was still crawling across their skin.

After walking for a few more minutes, they arrived at a giant door in front of the castle, and this one would lead them inside.

*CREAK*

Rei took the initiative and opened the door for them while being cautious towards his surroundings. He looked around to see if there were monsters inside.

After checking the place thoroughly, he raised his hand to give them a sign that it's okay to get inside.

They nodded and walked in carefully while checking their surroundings and making sure their backs were covered.

The inside of the castle was pretty much abandoned as well. It didn't have any decorative luxuries, nor gave them any sign of being maintained.

It was pitch dark, so they couldn't see much of their path.

*SWOOSH*

Until the whole room brightened up due to the torches on the walls that started to light up the moment they're inside.

As if the castle responded to their presence and welcomed them inside, they still they sensed nothing.

'The more you look at it, the more it feels like walking straight into a Demon Lord's first stage.' That was the vibe that Rei's getting at.

Hiba looked around and held onto his bow to make sure he was ready if something had happened.

Raven and Gilbert were holding their swords as well, while Alicia was in the middle, this formation was done to keep their only support safe.

"There's no monster presence so far... we must keep going." Rei spoke to them as they continued to move forward.

They ran at normal speed and kept their stamina in check.

Currently they are in the hallway of the castle, but during their run, the path seemed to be unending, since all they saw was nothing but abandoned stuff such as knight statues, ruined canvases on the wall, and sculptures placed all over the place.

The hallway was the first floor of the castle, and it was nothing but an entrance.

When the path seemed unending like they initially thought, they found a staircase that could lead them to the second floor.

Without much planning, they decided to head upstairs and went towards the second floor.

And upon their arrival, they met a door in front of them.

"We must get through this. Do not be careless!" Rei warned before he opened it for them.

"....?!"

And that's where the danger started.

"Prepare for battle."

Rei spoke as what lay upon them were several skeleton warriors standing in the hall as if they were waiting for their arrival.

"There are 10 Skeletons Warriors in front, Alicia buff them! Hiba, hold your fire and wait for my command! Raven and Gilbert, assist me!" Rei immediately instructed them without missing a beat.

"The hell?! I couldn't sense anything before!" Hiba spoke while pulling the string of his bow.

The Skeletons began to march at them.

'With this narrow place, using an axe would be difficult.' Rei thought and put his axe inside his inventory.

*TING*

Rei clashed his two fists together, "[Shield Arts: Brawl Mode]."

With his newly improved gauntlet that he prepared for this situation.

=======================================

[The Skyscraper Gauntlet]

Grade: Epic

Type: Gauntlet

STRENGTH: +40

AGILITY: +40

Durability: 100%

A gauntlet with a claw shape on each of its fingers. It came from the sky beast that evolved through extreme conditions. It gave the user the power of its claw that could cut through the sky.

Skill:

[Wind Claw]

[Active Skill]

MP Cost : 50 MP

Using the power of the sky beast, it will cover the user's hand with a sharp whirlwind that could cut through any enemies. It also temporarily increases the user's AGILITY by 30

Duration : 60 sec.

Cooldown : 90 sec.

=======================================

'[Wind Claw].' Rei's fist suddenly surrounded with whirlwinds while his agility was raised by this ability.

Then, he began to jump towards the skeletons.

The skeletons that were marching towards them failed to react in time against the approaching enemy since Rei immediately appeared right in front of them at high speed.

Then Rei swung his fist towards them, "[Bash]!"

*BAM*

Rei crushed one skeleton, and the shockwave from his punch also destroyed two other skeletons standing behind it.

The skeletons were definitely confused about what happened, but that wasn't over yet.

*SWOOSH*

Gilbert and Raven immediately appeared on each of his sides after getting their weapons buffed with holy magic from Alicia.

They swung their swords towards their enemies.

"Huff—!!"

"Haa—!!"

*SWOOSH*

*BAM*

As their swords cut through two of each skeleton on their both sides.

And now there are only three skeletons left.

....Or so they thought.

"....?!"

They suddenly noticed a figure standing behind those three skeletons.

Yes, it was the same skeletons as them, but it was wearing a robe and staff on its hands.

"It's a Lich!" Gilbert shouted.

The Lich already prepared its spell since its hand was holding a fireball, as if it had been waiting and let the skeleton warriors buy it enough time to complete its spell.

'Dammit... that thing has already prepared its spell!' Raven slightly panicked in his head, 'Should I jump and protect the young master?!–' while thinking of sacrificing himself for Gilbert.

There's someone already anticipated this moment...

"Move it."

Without missing a beat, Rei grabbed his black axe from his inventory while pushing Raven and Gilbert away.

Then...

*SWOOSH*

He threw his axe towards the Lich.

*????*

The Lich couldn't react in time and...

*BAM*

His axe crashed right on its head, which automatically canceled its spell.

"...?!"

The Lich's body fell down after its head was crushed with his axe.

Raven was surprised by his action, but he still sensed more danger lurking.

"You should have aimed for the core! Lich can revive as long as its core exists!" Raven shouted at him as he immediately got into a stance, but Rei raised his hand to stop him.

Suddenly, the three remaining skeletons fell apart, and as for the Lich...

It began to be reduced into dust.

"Wha—?!" Raven was still surprised, while the others seemed okay with it.

After all, this is his first time witnessing this even after he saw the report and the record of his fight.

"With [Behemoth] ability, the Lich won't be revived, so it will be okay." Rei reassured him before he approached his axe that was stuck on the ground beside The Lich's remains.

The others sighed in relief after that. It was a close one.

Raven was more surprised after seeing him in action from up close.

'I know he used an axe in the report before... but to think he is this skilled using martial arts skill…' Raven thought while slowly gulping down his dry saliva. ''What a terrifying young man...'

Meanwhile, Rei grabbed his axe back to his inventory, 'To think the fight will be in a narrow place like this, and that could be dangerous...'

'And to think a Lich would use a stealth skill to hide behind those skeletons…'

"As if it was designed like that..." Rei muttered.

Alicia blinked, "Did you say something, Crimson-san?"

"Everyone listen. On our way, there will be monsters waiting for us."

"We know that the monsters around the castle haven't appeared yet. It's a sign that the second phase hasn't started."

"So I concluded that the monster that we face just now is a part of the defense mechanism that protects something ahead." Rei explained.

"So we don't know what kind of monsters are waiting for us in front." Rei ended the explanation.

"So, does that mean we're gonna fight a monster that is already in line?" Hiba spoke.

Rei looked at him, "Correct." As he turned his body around, 'It's just like a turn-based game with the position of each enemy being put in that order.'

'And each of them have stages, so I can use this typical cliche of a game mechanic where the enemies are like that.' Rei spoke.

'Since this world is based on a game...so there's nothing new.' Rei thought.

"Let's move on." Rei ordered and started walking ahead.

'Time is running out. We must continue before the second phase starts.'

After that, Rei continued to lead his team towards the next stage in this castle, which would lead them towards the owner of this castle.

To be continued...