Chapter 170
Chapter 170: Who Are You? (2)
Gyaaaaaargh-!!!
A massive force that engulfed the Imperial Army.
It was nature, the wrath of the sun lording over the heavens.
The intense red heat that rose above the capital of the Solar Holy Kingdom began to blanket the world.
“Your Highness!”
Second Prince Fellian, his brow thoroughly furrowed, gazed at the sun above the Holy City.
“Madmen.”
The scorching flames swept through the Imperial Army.
But they were doing even more damage to the Solar Holy City.
At this rate, civilian casualties would clearly reach hundreds of thousands.
Rrrrumble!!!
A giant fireball that rose above the Sun Palace of the Holy Kingdom.
Its power began to burn everything, the Empire and Holy Kingdom alike.
It looked as if hell's fire had descended upon the mortal world.
“Dreadful.”
Watching the scene, Verdi Reinhardt, First Seat of the Allied Nations, brushed back her gray hair.
She stood atop a sand dune from which the Solar Holy City was visible.
“Head of the Round Table, your skin may be scorched.”
Swish-.
Beside the woman nearing old age stood her third husband.
A muscular knight whose thick frame stood out.
A huge shadow shaded Verdi's face.
He asked:
“Do you truly intend to help the Empire in this war?”
“Though my looks are aging, passion still boils in my heart. And my strength is still intact. Do not worry.”
She stroked her third husband's cheek.
Then another husband approached from behind Verdi.
“From accepting the Twelfth Seat of the Round Table to your present conduct, as your husband I simply cannot fathom my wife's will, and I am only frustrated.”
Verdi smiled and turned around.
Her chief of staff and first husband.
He adjusted his round glasses and was looking at Verdi.
He was the aide and chief of staff who had devoted his whole life to building the Allied Nations together with Verdi.
“Hwin, you worry a lot. Isn't it what our Allied Nations' prodigy, the Guild Master, wants?”
“A being who won't even reveal her own name……. I still don't understand why you care so much about her, Madam.”
Verdi smiled with her eyes.
Though her wrinkles were deep, they were still bewitching eyes that could captivate people.
“You haven't changed, Madam. When you smile like that, what am I to do?”
In the end, the chief of staff bowed his head without resolving his doubts.
The reason the head of the Allied Nations meant to interfere in this war was a plea from Gilma Noona, the Twelfth Seat of the Round Table.
She said the world will be at peace only if the Empire wins?
When the Empire that had destroyed Lu-Solace attacked the Garcian Kingdom, they were to help it and bring about a friendly and humane annexation.
Verdi recalled Gilma noona's counsel.
It was advice with a clear direction, just like Hwin's words.
Verdi turned her head and looked at her first husband, Hwin.
He was staring at the sky, lost in various thoughts.
“Hwin, you have much on your mind.”
“Madam, I am curious what choice the Empire will make.”
The intense heat tried to burn the surroundings, and the Imperial Army stood at a crossroads of choice.
Will they retreat while the Northern Archduke and the Prince hold off the heat?
Behind his round glasses, Hwin's eyes grew wide.
While the Northern Archduke's power held back the heat, the Imperial Army did not prepare to retreat.
Rather, they formed an advancing formation.
“Hwin, that is the Empire.”
Watching the sight, Verdi raised both hands high toward the sky.
“Unlike us, split into twelve, they move like a single colony. Doesn't the Imperial Army's movement look like a single living creature?”
Slither-.
Above the Holy Kingdom's fireball, the real sun of the heavens shone fiercely.
Yet a giant shadow formed over that sun.
Its shape resembled a dragon's.
“I will show these Imperial bastards a real dragon.”
The Empire wielded the power of the moon.
The Solar Holy Kingdom wielded the power of the sun.
And the Allied Nations wielded the power of ten dragons.
The power of a genuine dragon, beyond comparison with the drakes the Empire hunted.
“Dragon Lord-.”
All those around her bowed their heads.
Verdi Reinhardt, standing in the middle of the desert.
The First Seat of the Allied Nations, who had subdued every dragon of the Ten Kingdoms and been reborn as the true master of dragons.
At her command, a giant dragon appeared on the ground.
Rooooar―.
The shadow of the sun descended toward the ground bit by bit.
It was a dragon.
Its size was larger than an ordinary domain.
Crunch.
The blue-glowing dragon moved at dizzying speed despite its enormous body.
The dragon's claws, which came down to the ground in a flash, snatched the fireball floating above the Holy City.
Then it soared high into the sky in an instant.
“Thank you.”
Verdi bowed her head, looking at the sky.
As if answering, the dragon burst the fireball it had been gripping.
Boooom―!!!
A meteor shower made of flames fell between the Solar Holy Kingdom and the Imperial Army's lines.
The sun's meteor shower falling in broad daylight was truly beautiful, but-.
“The Allied Nations have intervened on this battlefield. And they have even sided with us?”
For the Second Prince watching it, it was a matter worth tilting one's head over.
“Your Highness, what shall we do?”
“We destroy Lu-Solace just as planned.”
***
Floor 25 had a vast field comparable to a nation's.
Erik's destination, the Trial Corridor, was at the very far edge of the floor.
“Boss! You're here? Seeing how quickly you came, it must have gone well.”
“The Saintess was more obedient than I expected.”
Erik had left the Floor Masters to the Saintess and caught up with Jang Du-sik and Jackson, whom he had sent ahead.
“Man, I think I get why the folks who explore the Labyrinth are called Adventurers.”
Jang Du-sik, welcoming Erik as well, recited what he had felt.
“To be an Adventurer you need plenty of guts!”
“I agree. I never thought a world this dreadful actually existed.”
Floor 25 now looked quite different from its original form.
It does feel like going on an adventure, but…….
It was a bit of a problem that the adventure was a trip through hell.
Perhaps because there were as many as five who had descended as Floor Masters, the whole map was overflowing with dreadful things.
Every sort of bug was a given, and where the instant-kill beams had swept past, pale gray flames rippled.
All the monsters seemed to have burned to death, with not even a trace to be seen.
Walking through that hellish gap, their destination appeared.
“That alien-looking building is the Trial Corridor.”
A pure white building surrounded by the Floor Masters' [Instant Death] power, the pale gray flames.
Erik gazed at the building of overwhelming scale.
A pure white, round dome.
Unlike in the game, its size was truly vast.
“Man, you could actually let Floor Masters have a duel in there.”
Jang Du-sik approached the huge dome and gripped his club tightly.
The club creaked in protest.
“But Brother, is it really all right for me to beat myself to death?”
Jang Du-sik blinked.
Thinking about actually fighting his own clone, he felt a subtle tension.
“Overcome yourself and prove you've grown stronger. Isn't that what a trial is?”
“Boss, aren't you afraid?”
Jackson was worried as well.
Having to kill himself was one thing, but the fact that Erik would become two and fight was the bigger problem.
Two Bosses?
It was hard even to imagine.
Erik, who actually looked composed, was full of worries inside.
The problem is how far my clone can copy the Status Window.
What if he met a clone whose [Status Window] was implemented at the same level as his own?
He might have to wage an enormous war of attrition until tens of billions of Gold ran out.
On top of that, there was the [Faith Management] window and the power to summon the [Divine Temple]-.
“T-then what happens?”
When Erik told him his worry, Jackson asked, horrified.
“If so, it's a disaster, and if it can't imitate the Status Window, it'll end easily.”
A clone without a [Status Window] could be crushed in an instant.
Just by charging Divine Power to Max.
Or buying a new Skill.
“Let's confirm it first.”
That required a test.
Jang Du-sik and Jackson were Erik's true allies and loyal subordinates.
And so.
“Man, just leave it to me!”
“Brother Du-sik, let's make it a yield this time.”
The two stepped forward at the same time.
Jang Du-sik and Jackson glared at each other, locked in a contest of wills.
“Don't fight.”
Erik thought for a moment.
Afterward, he sent Jang Du-sik to the trial first.
“Jackson, you have a Status Window, so you're up next.”
His intent was to first confirm how the trial applied to a local like Jang Du-sik.
Grrrnd-.
As Jang Du-sik approached, the pure white wall of the Corridor split open.
“I'm off! Don't worry and just leave it to me!”
Jang Du-sik smiled brightly and vanished.
The Corridor's wall closed, returning to a flawless hemisphere.
“A perfectly isolated space?”
Even with the boisterous Jang Du-sik inside, the Corridor was silent.
As if nothing at all were happening within.
Clang―!!!
On a hunch, Erik struck the Corridor with the Sword of Creation.
Then only sparks flickered three times before every sword strike bounced away.
“Same as the real walls of the Labyrinth.”
That Corridor was something that could never be destroyed.
Is waiting here the best option?
At the very moment he was thinking that.
-Hey, can ya hear me?
Jang Du-sik's voice came over [Guild Voice].
Erik raised his eyebrows and looked at Jackson.
“I hear it too.”
That meant it was possible to receive the help of the [Guild System] inside the Corridor.
And it was a local, Jang Du-sik, no less.
-Hey, shut it, you! Where d'ya get off talkin' to Brother like that!!!
Then, another voice of Jang Du-sik came through.
-Hey! I'm Jang Du-sik!
-Tryin' to deceive Brother!!!
“Heh. Brother Du-sik is a riot wherever he goes…….”
Jackson let out a laugh without thinking, then saw Erik's grave gaze and promptly stiffened his face.
“Boss, is something wrong?”
Erik's head throbbed.
“Du-sik's clone is imitating Guild Voice too, so what do you think it'll be like for me?”
***
Jang Du-sik face Jang Du-sik.
An appearance 100% identical to his own.
“Hey! Quit being petty and contacting Brother, fight like a man!!!”
“Hey! Bring it on!”
The two Jang Du-siks looked at each other, wagging their clubs.
The real Jang Du-sik's scalp twisted.
The Labyrinth is a harsh place-.
His plan to take the trial on a free ride with Brother's advice had gone up in smoke.
That crafty clone did nearly the same things he did.
Whoom-. Crack!
The clubs clashed in midair.
In an instant, an echo of mana rippled, and a light of divinity bloomed between them.
“Hellfire!!”
Both Jang Du-siks spammed Hellfire at each other.
Whoosh-.
The area-expanded flames covered the Corridor's interior in an instant.
The flames set both Jang Du-siks' bodies ablaze, but they paid it no mind.
Fsssss.
As fast as they burned, new flesh grew back.
The two Jang Du-siks had identical specs.
Didn't I hear I can give up at any time?
Gazing at his own monstrous body, Jang Du-sik recalled the Corridor's rules.
A challenger can quit the Corridor just by shouting “Give up.”
And as long as they did not leave Floor 25, they would be given a chance to challenge again at any time.
A man can't do that.
Jang Du-sik readjusted his grip on his club.
Then the clone, wagging his club, asked.
“Hey! Scared?”
“Like hell!”
Jang Du-sik flared up and charged in.
In an instant, a War Mage's offense and defense went back and forth.
The Mana Body and the World Tree's club ransacked the vast interior of the Corridor.
Everything flashed.
“Hey!”
Jang Du-sik realized there would be no end to this.
So a change was needed.
I'll stake my life.
Jang Du-sik had guarded his head and heart ironclad up to now.
The revival of locals was unproven.
Hadn't only Erica achieved resurrection?
Jang Du-sik believed his own resurrection was possible, but he had never actually tested it.
But-.
If I die, Brother will bring me back.
Jang Du-sik's faith was real.
So he resolved to wager the head and heart he had ironclad-guarded and face his own clone.
They say you have to break the person you've been until now to overcome your past self, so-.
Whoom-crack!
Crunch!!!
The club struck bare flesh for the first time.
“Y-you, your head-.”
“Hey! I'm the real Jang Du-sik.”
Jang Du-sik smiled brightly.
Unlike the fake, the real Jang Du-sik did not protect his head.
Thanks to that, he could use both hands, while the clone Jang Du-sik, who had guarded his head, ended up allowing a single blow.
That small difference led the real Jang Du-sik to victory.
“Hey, Brother! I beat myself to death!”
Jang Du-sik, who had come out of the Corridor, smiled brightly at Erik.
“……Du-sik, you really are a monster.”
With a shocked face, Erik used Divine Healing on Jang Du-sik.
Holy Divine Power caressed Jang Du-sik's caved-in skull.
He's drenched in blood and his head is half crushed, so how is he alive in that state?
Even with his head half crushed, he was the same as ever.
Seeing Jang Du-sik like that, Jackson's fighting spirit flared.
“Boss, I will finish faster.”
Leaving the blood-soaked Jang Du-sik behind, Jackson vanished into the Corridor.
“Man, Lackey brat. There's nothing you can do that I can't!”
Erik looked at Jang Du-sik, who was wagging his club.
What on earth is Du-sik?
However trustworthy a subordinate he might be, but…….
“Du-sik, you are human, right?”
“Hey, what's with the weird question?”
Should someone who survived with half his head smashed in even be considered human?
Erik thought.
Du-sik's caved-in skull was still regenerating.
Anyway, even so, Jang Du-sik kept on boasting.
“-So the real Jang Du-sik's skull was harder than that fake punk's! That's what I'm sayin', right?”
Not even five minutes had passed from Jang Du-sik coming out of the Corridor to his recovery.
And yet-.
Grrrrrnd.
The Corridor's door opened.
“Boss, it was easy.”
Jackson had come out.
It was about ten times faster than Jang Du-sik.
“Brother Du-sik died a lot too.”
“L-Lackey brat, h-how did you?”
“Yes, Jackson. Explain yourself.”
Erik was equally astonished.
Jackson was a [Guardian Knight] class.
Naturally, it should have taken at least double the time.
He was curious about the secret, but…….
“He just offered up his neck.”
“You mean your clone offered you his own neck to cut?”
“Yes, Boss.”
Erik wondered what kind of madness that was and asked for details.
Then-.
“He said, you are me and I am you, grow stronger for the Boss, and stuck out his neck.”
Erik was truly amazed.
Jackson had always been loyal, but he could not even have imagined that a clone appearing as an enemy would hold such sublime loyalty.
Seeing Jackson like that, a strange sense of anticipation rose in Erik.
Maybe it's more doable than I thought.
The Trial Corridor.
A place where oneself appears as the trial.
What had been learned from Jackson's case.
The clone of oneself that appeared was not necessarily an enemy.
“Jackson, you always work hard.”
Erik praised Jackson and prepared to take on the trial himself.
And so he stepped through the split wall of the Corridor.
Then.
Grrrnd-boom.
The split wall closed and a pure white space appeared.
And Erik found someone out of place.
A giant, radiant Holy Knight should have appeared, but-.
“Good to see you.”
A man with deep black hair and deep-set eyes looked at Erik with a cold smile.
Erik tilted his head and asked.
“Who are you?”