Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

Episode 603 Third Record (6)

When the guardian is defeated, the rift is cleared and a portal opens. And if you take that portal, you can return to the location you originally entered.

Well at least that’s generally the case so far.

“There are two portals…”

Even the colors are red and blue.

This isn’t a pill or anything.

“If I choose the wrong thing, will I end up in a strange place…?”

I have a lot to think about in unexpected situations.

For some reason, nothing was going on normally on this basement level.

Should I really say that everything is shrouded in mystery?

‘This essence is also like that…’

Because the crack is cleared and the opened portal does not disappear over time.

Well, I’m not sure if this rule applies here.

Anyway, I took my attention off the portal for a moment and checked the essence.

“It really is a mysterious color…”

The village chief’s eyes were still full of curiosity.

In fact, since I am from a time when there were no hierarchical monarchs or cracks, it must be my first time seeing rainbow-colored essence.

“Baron, can you explain what kind of essence it is?”

“I do not know.”

“Ah, I guess this was the first monster you saw, Baron?”

“No, that’s not true…”

I sighed in frustration and continued.

“Soul Eaters do not spit out their original essence.”

It’s not just that I haven’t tried it yet.

Because Soul Eater is a monster that gives a large amount of experience. Even if I skipped all the other monsters, I always hunted this guy every time I raised a new character.

However, there was never a single instance of essence being dropped.

The same thing happened even if I increased the essence drop rate to the maximum and hunted with Beginner’s Luck, Melton’s Soul Clover, etc.

So I thought this guy doesn’t spit out essence…

‘I didn’t know there was a way to learn it like this.’

So what is the effect of Soul Eater essence?

First of all, it seems that one of the active skills includes summoning ‘Soul Cavalry’… but I think I’ll have to experiment after eating it to find out more details.

Oh, of course I don’t plan on eating it myself.

“Gahyun! “Get up!”

I lowered Gahyun, who was carrying it on my shoulder, to the floor and gently slapped him on the cheek. Since the essence was dropped, there was no time to leisurely wait.

Purified water must be placed in a test tube within 30 minutes.

“Gahyun! Gahyun! Gahyun!”

Therefore, gradually increase the intensity of your slap.

I don’t feel comfortable doing this to someone who has collapsed in pain, but…

isn’t purity more important than people?

“Ugh… “

Fortunately, Gahyun came to her senses by the time her cheeks began to swell.

“M… Jak? “Here… ”

Gahyun speaks as if she is dizzy, as if the shock from the fall has not subsided.

I kept it short and to the point.

Because the way to deal with wizards is similar.

“While you were unconscious, Soul Eater appeared as a guardian, and when you caught it, the guardian essence came out.”

“What what…?!”

As expected, Gahyun’s eyes immediately changed and she jumped up. So how can a wizard tolerate the essence of a new kind of guardian?

“Ugh… I can’t get up.”

“of course. Both legs are bent like that. Even a barbarian can’t move with those legs—.”

“…Hehehe!!”

Only then did Gahyun check her leg and let out a strange sound.

However, did he think that the water purification was more important than the harpooned leg?

“Move me to the front… Please move me to the front. “I can ‘t walk.”

Soon, as requested, he brought Gahyun in front of Jeongsu and even found a test tube as instructed and placed it in her hand.

And how long has it been?

“Phew… it’s over.”

The collection of purified water ended with the purified water pouring into the test tube and Gahun carefully placing the test tube into the test tube storage box.

“But… what are those portals…? Why are there two portals… .”

“Oh, that? I have to think about that from now on.

“We don’t know yet.”

“So…”

“So what is your opinion?”

“If you ask me how it is—”

“Anything is fine, so tell me what comes to mind.”

“Hmm… First of all, I think one of the two will definitely lead to where we were originally…”

Gahyun, who had been casually expressing her opinion as I requested, suddenly trailed off.

And then he made a somewhat stupid expression for a moment.

“Blue portal…!”

He shouts out with conviction, as if he has realized something.

“If we take the blue portal, we can return to where we came from!”

Just looking at it, it seemed like the ‘intuition’ that had been sealed when entering the Great Demon Realm was activated again. “

Then what about the red portal? Do you know what it’s like here?”

“Well… I’m not sure about this. It’s ambiguous. “It feels dangerous, but… it doesn’t feel like such a bad option.”

“It’s dangerous, but it’s a portal where you can definitely get a reward…”

“Uh… can you interpret it that way?”

Am I played [Dungeons & Stones] for several years.

If you pretend, you pretend.

***

Thanks to Gaheun, the options were narrowed down to two.

…Actually, if you think about it, there were two options from the beginning.

Take the blue portal and exit safely.

Take the red portal to get additional rewards.

You are given information to make an informed decision before making a choice.

Now, which one is better to choose?

‘Considering that conquering the first basement floor is the top priority, it’s not a bad idea to just get out of here…’ You

should never forget just because you entered the crack.

Our goal is to escape from the first basement floor, and the crack is just a stepping. stone to that end.

And the rift has already been cleared.

But…

‘Even just drinking Soul Eater’s essence and going back leaves some steam…’

I wasn’t here even for a week, but the scale of the rift was so large that three people, including the village chief, were trapped in this rift for over half a year.

But is this all there is to compensation?

I don’t know what the performance of the Soul Eater Essence is, but I can’t even see where the Archbishop disappeared after changing to a Karui priest?

“It is time for decision. You decide.“I will follow you wherever you go.”

“me too.”

The village chief and Erwen handed over the decision-making power to me, and Gahyun urgently tried to persuade me.

“Baron, give up your greed. It would be excessive to go any further now that we have lost the archbishop. “Maybe there’s something out there?”

What Gahyun said also had a point.

But I’m not doing this just because of my personal greed.

Additional rewards beyond that portal?

good night. Whatever it is, it will be helpful.

But even if you don’t have it, it doesn’t really matter.

What I’m expecting from that red portal is something completely different.

‘If you go over there…’

Maybe you can get one step closer to the secrets of this labyrinth.

It might help you escape from the first basement level.

Also, last but not least, this is the most important…

‘It’s too easy.’

Even if the difficulty level is low, it is too low.

Well, we lost the archbishop in the process… but even taking that into account, should we say that it doesn’t make sense?

‘…I feel uncomfortable as expected.’

In my experience, these situations are often fraught with pitfalls.

Thus.

“For now, the decision is on hold.”

“On hold… What do you mean?”

“If things continue like this, we still don’t know what will happen to the Archbishop.”

“That’s right….”

Gahyun trails off.

It was like nodding my head when I said, ‘I don’t know yet,’ but in fact, I and Gahyun knew.

If things go on like this, there’s a good chance that’ll be the end.

“But it can’t be helped. Everything involves sacrifice. In fact, several people have already lost their lives after coming down to the first basement level… If we die here, even those sacrifices will be worthless.”

It was an opinion that was logically flawed.

Well, that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel a small-minded mentality that prioritized one’s own safety in that line.

In fact, I am also a small person.

“Irrespective of the life or death of the Archbishop, I think we should look around and investigate before entering the portal. “There must have been something we missed on our way here.”

Four canyons.

A field debuffs that affects the mind.

The Lord of Calm and the Priest of Karui.

A boss battle that ended so vainly.

I happened to clear the crack and open the portal, but there were so many things I missed. And if you leave now, you may never be able to figure out those parts.

“…is it really necessary? “I can’t even move properly right now.”

“Don’t worry. “I will carry you well and protect you.”

“Haa….”

Having seen countless sighs, I could immediately tell that Gahyun’s sigh meant approval.

Okay, then the persuasion is over…

“Now, let’s leave.”

After memorizing the location of the portal once more, we started moving with the village chief leading the way.

“Isn’t this… the direction the monster was from earlier?”

“Right.”

The place where Siliot, the Lord of Silence, was buried.

I was thinking of going there again before going on a full-scale search.

That’s because Gahyun is there now.

“That ‘intuition’ is still working well, right?”

“For now… for now, yes.”

“You can’t have a conversation if you go nearby, so do your best research. “You can’t even move, so don’t be too scared.”

“That’s right… ”

Gahyun seemed to want to go back and dive beyond the blue portal right away, but there was no way a guy who couldn’t even walk properly would be able to escape from my shoulder.

So, before I knew it, I had entered its territory.

「The character has entered the range of [Unspoken Spirit].」

「All essence skills are sealed.」

I saw that the sound was erased, so fortunately, it seemed that he was still alive and not dead.

In fact, it wasn’t long before the Lord of Silence, buried in the rubble, emerged.

“….”

“….”

The guy still looked at me with helpless eyes, so I took long strides and bent down to my waist so that Gahyun could see clearly.

“…!”

Gahun’s hands were shaking at first, but after realizing that it was not dangerous, he reached out and touched the skin.

And how much time passed like that?

Tuk-tuk.

Gahyun taps my shoulder and signals for me to leave.

“How was it?”

The story I heard after quickly leaving the area was simple.

“…First of all, he definitely isn’t our enemy. “The moment we made eye contact, an alarm bell went off in my head telling me I should never kill him.”

…Hmm.

“This is my prediction… Maybe the reason the Guardian was weak was all because of the Baron’s actions.”

“Because of my actions?”

“I could have killed you, but I didn’t just pass by. That seems to me to be the cause.”

To put it simply, if I had killed him, I might have had a much harder boss battle.

‘If that’s true, it would explain why the boss fight was easy…’

Then what is the Archbishop?

Suddenly, my eyes widened and I changed jobs to become a priest of Karui.

Is this an original event?

Or a situation that could have been prevented if we had handled it better?

For some reason, I think it’s the latter.

The former is so unreasonable—.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

At that moment, an explosion suddenly occurred in the distance and the ground shook.

The source of the explosion was in the direction where the Lord of Calm was.

“Siliot the Blocker has died.”

What on earth is going on?

The answer to that question came from the mouth of Gahyun, who was on my shoulder.

“The Lord of Silence is dead….”

Siliot, Lord of Silence, has died.

And….

“We have to run away!” “This is not the time to worry about whether you missed anything during your exploration!”

“Calm down for a moment and explain properly—.”

“The portal will close soon!”

“What?”

There was no need to ask how he found out.

That intuition must have been used this time too.

“…Run!”

Just thinking about it as you go will be enough.

First, I sprinted in the direction of the portal with all my might.

“mister! behind! “The archbishop is following behind!”

As expected, it appears that it was the Archbishop who killed the Lord of Silence.

“What is the speed?”

“Just like us… Joe, be careful!”

What do you mean be careful?

I don’t know, but I twisted my body slightly.

And that moment.

Phew!

Something sharp digs into my left shoulder.

The wound wasn’t that deep.

That’s because he was carrying Gahun with his injured shoulder.

“…Kahahah!”

The blood that Gahyun vomited stains my upper body.

“Uh… huh… huh…”

Gahyun couldn’t breathe properly, as if she was going to run out of breath at any moment, but there was no major problem.

Fortunately, the portal was right around the corner.

As long as you get out of here, you will be able to survive with intensive treatment from numerous priests.

Okay, so…

Tuk.

As soon as you arrive in front of the portal, put Gahyun’s body into it.

Whoa!

The portal is about half smaller than before, but fortunately it works properly.

“Erwen, you go in too.”

“Mister! “You’re—!”

Erwen was also quickly thrown into the portal before it became smaller.

“What about you? “Why don’t you move on?”

“Even just thinking about cancer, I don’t think this is the answer.”

As soon as I look back, I see the village chief frowning and the archbishop approaching from beyond.

The archbishop, whose spine was strangely bent, was floating in the air, buried in tentacles.

A hideous sight that gives you goosebumps just by looking at it.

“Are you really planning on taking another portal?”

“Before that, let’s check one thing first.”

“You are so consistent in this situation. “So what should I check?”

“I remember you said earlier that you could kill the archbishop if you did your best. Is that still possible?”

The village chief took a moment before opening his mouth.

“Well…”

That’s what he said, but his eyes didn’t show any concern.

“No one will see it except you. No matter how damaged your body is, you will be fine once you die…”

“Just the point.”

“What is it? “I don’t think I can do it.”

The village chief shrugged his shoulders and asked me a question.

“But why did you suddenly think that way? “If we continue like this, it will be easier for both of us.”

“I told you, right? I have something to check. “So are you going to do it?”

“…Be sure to keep your promise.”

With those words, an aura bloomed over the village chief’s sword.

Huuuuuung-!

A pure white Auror that was also the trademark of Count St. Red.

However, the village chief’s Auror was slightly different from the body’s original owner.

‘What is that?’

The aura surrounding the sword continues to grow.

As if there were no limits.

Huuuuuuung-!

Even the Archbishop, who seemed to have lost his mind and was rushing towards the Aura that was emitting force like a mountain, stopped moving for a moment.

And…

“How did you do it…? “Can you really use the abilities you had when you were alive?”

A muttering to myself without even realizing it.

“Well, if it’s the ability you had when you were alive, you could say it’s an ability.”

The village chief chuckles and continues speaking.

“The knights of this era are of a terrible standard.”

“…?”

“That’s not how Aurors use it.”

With that said, finally.

——————!

The light flashed.

***

「Special condition – the third record is met.」