Chapter 98 : Chapter 98
Chapter 98. The Fate of Death
Just when he wondered if the effect for when a ‘special item’ was created would be realized here…
He didn’t expect it to appear so blatantly like a game effect.
Kuru-reung—!
A blue lightning bolt struck down from the sky once more, revealing the effect of a ‘special item’ being created in all its glory.
The ‘Harpy Queen’s Heart’ he had entrusted to Gracia.
It seemed ‘that item’ made from it as a material had been completed.
“That direction… isn’t that the shaman’s residence?”
Thump—!
Following Van and Conrad who were running towards the tent in a fluster, Hyunwoo slowly made his way.
* * *
Murmur murmur—
The High Orcs were murmuring, surrounding the torn tent.
No High Orc dared to enter Gracia’s tent recklessly.
A thunderbolt from a clear sky.
No, there was no sky visible inside the cave, but they couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding from the lightning that fell from the air.
“Make way—!”
Conrad raised his voice and pushed his way forward through the crowded High Orcs.
Hyunwoo and Van followed behind him.
“Shaman!
Are you alright?”
As Conrad raised his voice and moved through the crowd, the tent flap flew open.
From within, Gracia appeared.
As he appeared, the murmuring High Orcs simultaneously fell silent.
His gaze was subtle.
With an unreadable expression, he opened his mouth.
“I am fine, so disperse the children.”
“But…”
“Conrad.
It was nothing serious, so don’t make a fuss.
And……”
With a light gesture, he waved away Conrad who was standing in front and looked at Hyunwoo.
“Sir Guide, please come inside.”
“Is the item completed?”
He who had turned and was heading into the tent first, paused.
“…Please check for yourself.
It was a thing too dreadful for my lips to utter.”
Leaving those words behind, he entered the tent.
He would just have to check for himself as he said.
Hyunwoo nodded and followed him into the tent.
Flap—
Gracia, who had entered first, was pacing around inside the tent.
“My, my… such an ominous object……”
He was fidgeting anxiously, which was uncharacteristic of him.
He was the ‘shaman’ of the High Orc tribe.
He used curses and performed rituals, but his greater role was to ‘foresee’ the future.
In simple terms, a being who told fortunes.
However, all he could do was peek at the future’s destiny and slightly twist it.
Anything more was not permitted.
‘Destiny control.’
It was close to a taboo for one who communicated with the gods and read the secrets of heaven.
If the item Hyunwoo had anticipated was completed, he could understand the reason for his current anxiety.
Thump—
Gracia stood still.
“Do you happen to know?”
“What is it…?”
“The ‘destiny’ of this world.
It is said that when an object that can change its great flow is created, a blue lightning bolt descends from the sky.”
“……”
Hyunwoo nodded instead of answering.
It seemed the effect when a ‘special item’ appeared was perceived that way here.
“The creation of such an object is also… Sir Guide’s ‘destiny’, I suppose.
Moreover, such a great power is surely a ‘necessity’ ordained by the heavens.
I considered destroying it, but I thought it was not a matter for this old man to interfere with.”
“…Yes.
So where is the item that was made?”
For a moment, the words, ‘Why would you destroy it, you crazy bastard!’ almost slipped out, but he managed to swallow them down with his saliva.
Thump—
Gracia went to the spot where he always sat and collapsed into it.
“It is here.
Come and see for yourself.”
He took out a small box from behind him.
Hyunwoo approached him with a pounding heart.
‘Finally……’
The Kormur Dungeon to solve Jude’s calamity.
A ‘special item’ that would be extremely useful not only there but also in the future.
Click—
The box in Gracia’s hand opened, and a small ‘compass’ revealed itself from within.
Hyunwoo carefully received the small box from Gracia.
Inside the open box, the ‘Compass of Destiny’ lay quietly.
Unlike a real compass with a needle pointing in both directions, a needle with only one pointed end was situated within it.
“The precious object I made…… no, the monstrous object.
This is an item that should not exist in this world.”
“Do you know how to use this item?”
“I have a rough idea.
An item that allows one to see the owner’s destiny just by possessing it.
For an item to directly see destiny, something that even I can only guess at through phenomena… it is an item that twists the principles of the world.
How can such a thing exist……”
Gracia, as a capable High Orc shaman, accurately recognized the value of the ‘Compass of Destiny’.
‘That’s why it’s good.’
An item so powerful that it was as serious as he feared.
Hyunwoo looked at the compass and recalled its ability.
⌜Compass of Destiny
A compass that tells the owner's fortune.
It shows the destiny that the direction it points to signifies in three stages: Yellow , Red , and Black .⌟
If he moved while holding the compass, he could know the danger ahead in advance.
The Yellow stage, where the compass needle turns yellow, was a light warning,
Red signified danger,
And Black , completely stained black, indicated the fate of death.
And the needle only moved when facing danger.
‘With this, I can deal with most dangers in advance.’
Hyunwoo nodded and took the compass out of the box, placing it on his palm.
The danger level was also related to distance.
No matter how great the threat, as long as it wasn’t happening right in front of him, it wouldn’t turn black all at once…….
In that moment.
Piiiing—!
The compass needle began to spin wildly.
‘…Huh?
This reaction is….’
A situation where danger lurks in all directions.
It was a phenomenon that appeared when there was no way out.
Moreover, the color of the spinning needle began to turn black.
A perfect black.
Black .
It meant that the fate of ‘death’ was lurking nearby.
A situation that was no different from a death sentence, with no direction to escape, and no way to escape.
A chill instantly ran down Hyunwoo’s spine.
‘Suddenly, what in the world……’
Bewilderment came before a sense of crisis.
Why all of a sudden?
A danger great enough to turn the needle of the ‘Compass of Destiny’ black was a rare occurrence even in the Demon World.
Just then.
Fwoosh—!
“……!”
A red glow from Gracia’s eyes erupted, filling the inside of the tent.
He immediately closed his eyes, but the red glow pierced through his eyelids and shone brightly.
The awakening where the power of the ancestral spirits resides in the body of a High Orc.
It was a phenomenon where a power greater than that was being emitted from him.
In other words, a ‘precognition’ or ‘revelation’ that could glimpse future events.
Such a phenomenon had suddenly come upon him.
A short while later, when the red light that had been pouring from his eyes subsided.
“Heop……!”
Gracia’s eyes flew open, and he took a sharp breath.
“How could this be……”
He let out a groan and exhaled thinly.
When the ‘Compass of Destiny’ turned black, a revelation had come to Gracia.
Was it a simple coincidence?
Looking at Gracia’s hardened expression, Hyunwoo felt a sense of anxiety.
“What is it?”
“How could it be like this… is there any way to save even one child of the tribe……”
As if still in communion with the ancestral spirits, Gracia muttered to himself with a vacant gaze.
“There is no way… I cannot see a path.”
“Please tell me what you saw as well.”
“Annihilation.
Extinction.
The light that signifies the future of the tribe… has disappeared.”
“……”
It seemed the ‘death’ pointed to by the ‘Compass of Destiny’ did not just apply to him.
The ‘death’ of everyone here.
An unavoidable aura of destruction was approaching them.
“The ‘wicked sword’ that cuts through everything.”
“A wicked sword?”
“In the revelation shown by the ancestral spirits, that ominous sword was glimpsed.
A huge sword cut down the light of our tribe.”
“A wicked and ominous sword, you say……”
Connecting the two clues, the ‘death’ of the compass and the ‘sword’ from the revelation that would annihilate the High Orc tribe.
Suddenly, the face of one person came to mind.
‘Don’t tell me…’
The Star of Chaos.
The Sword Fiend, Argas.
After thinking of him, it was a wonder why he hadn’t thought of him right away.
The ‘wicked sword’ that cuts through everything.
There was no more fitting phrase to describe him in one sentence.
The attribute of the swordsmanship he used was Chaos .
It was the strongest attribute against which no defense was effective.
The chill down his spine went beyond cold and became eerie.
If he was indeed the culprit of this situation…….
Then, the signal from the ‘Compass of Destiny’ made sense.
‘There is no way to escape.’
Just as humans cannot escape a sudden natural disaster, there was no way to stop his advance.
The current him was a living ‘natural disaster’ itself.
A crazy bastard with whom conversation was impossible.
He showed a fanatical obsession with ‘swords’ and ‘swordsmanship’, and when it came to swords, he was blind to everything else.
The problem was.
‘The crazy bastard is also ridiculously strong.’
Only someone on the level of the Demon King's illegitimate son, ‘Jude Basterion’, would be able to stand against him.
‘Why so soon…?’
He knew he would target the ‘Harpy Queen’, but in the flow of the game, that was an event much later.
He didn't know for what reason he had moved so quickly, but….
This was inside ‘Masal’.
A world where, due to its dog-like difficulty, one could not predict even one step ahead.
Grind—
Hyunwoo gritted his teeth and began to think of a way to survive him.
“It seems Sir Guide has also sensed something.”
“Ah……”
He belatedly remembered that he was still in the middle of a conversation with Gracia.
Hyunwoo met Gracia’s eyes.
“The future of the tribe.
I see no path.
Oh Guide, I implore you to show me the way.”
“……”
Gracia bowed his head to him.
Although he had treated him politely until now, this had never happened before.
What in the world did he see in the vision from the revelation?
He was completely different from his usual self.
But.
Looking at the top of his bowed head, a method came to mind.
“Raise your head.”
“The path our tribe must take…… whatever trials there may be, we are prepared.”
“I will show you the way.”
“Have you really… found a path?”
Gracia’s eyes lit up as he raised his head.
Hyunwoo’s eyes also sparkled.
“Yes.
I see a path.
Can you follow my words?”
“Of course.
The Guide has already proven his ability.”
At Hyunwoo’s question, Gracia nodded without hesitation.
It seemed that the successful hunt of the ‘Harpy Queen’ had helped his judgment.
The only way to survive ‘Argas’.
It was the moment he thought of that method and was about to convey something to Gracia.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
Kuru-reung—!
A series of huge explosions were heard from outside the tent.
It seemed.
“First… let’s talk as we go out.”
The Star of Chaos, Argas.
It seemed he had already arrived.