Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 36

The only ones who had faced Apostle Lotus were the user, Van, and Aganzo.

Knights of the Duchy of Bell Meyer, including Robato, as well as Hartz from the Iron Wolf Knights of the Empire and the rest of their squad, were all keeping a certain distance from Lotus.

“Ah, um… this is—”

“Was it an illusion…?”

Nevertheless, all of them were affected by Lotus’s psychic influence to the point of experiencing hallucinations.

As they staggered and clutched their foreheads, Jinseong muttered beside them.

“What on earth just happened?”

With a brazen expression, as if he had been in the same hallucinatory state as the others.

Hartz glared at Jinseong.

“Hm? You—where are Fiona and Den? What about Lenny?”

Even though Jinseong had left with those three, seeing him return alone sparked a kind of unease in Hartz.

Since they had all seen the adventurers, or rather, the users, go to face Lotus, Hartz probably assumed that Lenny, Fiona, and Den had done their jobs well. But seeing Jinseong return alone and muttering like this was enough to make him feel something was off.

“I followed the adventurers… Fiona, Den, and Lenny were trying to stop them—then, when some brainwashed GBL Church followers tried to interfere, I held them off. After that… I’m not sure what happened.”

Of course, Jinseong knew exactly what had happened.

Jinseong showed Hartz his [cloak].

The garment was covered in gray dust and stone powder, evidence of fierce battle.

Though it wasn’t from fighting brainwashed followers, but from when Jinseong himself had confronted Apostle Lotus wearing that cloak. Naturally, Hartz had no way of knowing this.

“And… what about Lenny and the others?”

“Deputy Commander!”

Just as Hartz was about to question Jinseong further, Fiona’s voice rang out.

It was an urgent tone that not only Hartz but even Robato turned his head toward.

And soon, the two of them would know the reason.

“Hm? Fiona! Den! Le—… Ah?”

“…This is terrible.”

Fiona and Den were approaching, carrying something covered with cloth on a makeshift stretcher.

The one hidden under the cloth.

Hartz hastily asked.

“Fiona! Den! What happened? Lenny—don’t tell me Lenny—”

But he already knew the answer. He was merely seeking confirmation of what he had already guessed.

“…Lenny Blainscock, a lower knight of the glorious Iron Wolf Knights of the De Los Empire, completed her mission to awaken the adventurer who was under mind control… and has died a heroic death!”

Fiona shouted loudly enough for everyone around to hear.

She did not break into sobs, but she didn’t bother to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“…Damn.”

“No way… then…”

“Lenny’s dead? Lenny?”

“She was clumsy, but the most talented among the lower knights…”

“This can’t be…”

The Iron Wolf Knights were immediately engulfed in grief.

Even Hartz, unable to find words, could only stare at Lenny’s body, covered in cloth, with a slight tremble.

As he watched the deputy commander, Den cried out.

“Her last wish… was to see her mother. And—”

Den, who had his helmet pulled low, slightly lowered his head.

Fiona did the same.

Their gazes landed squarely on Jinseong.

Den seemed about to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to finish.

It was Fiona who cut him off instead.

“That’s all there is! Lenny gave her best effort as a proud member of the Iron Wolf Knights until the very end!”

“…Yes… she worked hard.”

Fiona had officially declared that Lenny, in her last moments, sought no one else but her mother.

And Jinseong understood why Fiona had made that choice.

Above all, Jinseong knew he had no right to be the one Lenny wished to see in her final moments, so he remained silent.

‘I knew Lenny would die, and yet I didn’t stop it. I could say there was no choice, but in the end, I—she was an NPC—’

As he watched the death of an NPC who had shown him affection, he corrected his thoughts.

‘No, she was a person. I can’t just call her an NPC. At least to me, Lenny was… a real person.’

Lenny’s smiling face, her startled expression, her wide eyes when surprised, and even her warm heart, wanting to share all her joyful experiences with her mother.

For Jinseong, “Plain: Arad” was reality, and Lenny, now dead before his eyes, was a person.

Jinseong didn’t cry.

But his lower lip turned white as he bit it hard, and a drop of blood slowly rolled down from his lips.

* * *

“The oppressive air is getting lighter. Does that mean Lotus is…”

While the empire’s forces were still steeped in sorrow, Robato spoke, trying to lift the mood.

And only then did the others near Lotus’s vicinity start walking out.

“It was close. It was lucky that the adventurer arrived just in time. Hm? But, adventurer, why the gloomy face? You defeated the Apostle and saved Arad from danger, but your expression is so dark.”

At the sound of Van’s lighthearted voice, Jinseong discreetly moved away.

He had to, at least until he was out of the user’s monitor view.

Hartz, too, no longer paid attention to Jinseong.

“I have to report… not all of our knights survived.”

Hartz needed to report the situation to Van.

Hartz, who had brought up the somber mood, was met with Van’s casual wave.

“Ah, well… it’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Nothing we can do about it?”

“Considering it ended this way, I’d say we were lucky. The adventurer is back to their senses, and Arad is safe. Isn’t that enough?”

Van shrugged.

Hartz grit his teeth at Van’s nonchalant demeanor, but that was all he could do.

“…I’ll go tend to my subordinates.”

After Hartz left, seething with quiet anger, Robato also turned toward Van.

Even though she belonged to the Duchy, which had its rivalry with the Empire, she was still a knight.

“I don’t mean to interfere, but don’t you feel sorry for the comrades who died?”

She couldn’t help but voice her frustration to the commander who spoke so lightly about the death of his subordinates.

But Van remained defiant.

“I don’t feel pity for knights who die in battle. Sympathy is a disgrace to knights who defend their honor.”

His voice was loud, almost as if he was speaking to all the members of the Iron Wolf Knights.

And Jinseong also heard him.

‘When I first saw those lines in-game, I thought Van was just a wreck of a character…’

In a way, Van seemed to be the one who had best adapted to the ruthless world of Arad.

Lenny was a knight. She was the key player in bringing the adventurer, who had nearly fallen under Lotus’s control, back to their senses.

Her sacrifice could be seen as saving Arad.

‘Van is certainly—though he may be my enemy someday—at least, his words are right.’

At the very least, Jinseong could admit that Van’s attitude wasn’t entirely wrong.

Despite the lingering heavy atmosphere, Van turned to leave.

Aganzo asked.

“Where are you going?”

“Before I leave, I want to check Lotus’s corpse one more time. After all, he is the one who killed my subordinate. If he’s pretending to be dead, I need to make sure it’s finished. You all go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

Aganzo nodded at Van’s reply.

“…We’ll go ahead. He may need to clear his thoughts. In the meantime, I’ll summon Magata.”

And with that, the Iron Wolf Knights, along with Robato from the Duchy, began preparations to leave Behemoth.

Jinseong naturally joined them, watching Van as he approached Lotus.

There was only one reason Van was going near Lotus’s corpse.

To absorb the remaining energy of Apostle Lotus.

‘Because of that absorbed power, he’ll… Well, it’s not like I need to stop him now.’

There was no need to interfere.

After all, it was part of the main storyline of the “Dungeon & Fighter” game.

Jinseong absentmindedly glanced at the small card in his pocket.

[8th Apostle, Long-legged Lotus (Corrupted)]

‘Well, at least the corruption is over. I’ve done everything I needed to do in this quest.’

A card had dropped by Lotus’s side right after Jinseong delivered the final blow.

Encountered uncorrupted, but fought in a corrupted state.

‘We still don’t know what—or who—caused the corruption. But the fact that it wielded power on par with an Apostle’s strength is clear.’

Despite being weakened significantly, it still managed to corrupt even Lotus.

And that wasn’t all.

‘Corrupted entities can exert more power than they could before.’

Lotus had read Jinseong’s thoughts.

He had only grasped the surface-level thoughts Jinseong had.

But the corrupted Lotus was different.

‘He extracted the quests I had experienced in “Dungeon & Fighter” and used that to try and overwhelm me. From his desperate struggle to survive, I can guess what kind of effect the “corruption” has… That’s why I’m even more worried.’

What Jinseong was concerned about was what came after.

Piiiuuu

uuuuuu—!

A signal flare was fired to call Magata.

As he watched the bright light shoot through the black sky, Jinseong reflected.

* * *

It was the moment when he delivered the final blow to Lotus.

“!”

Thanks to the item effects that increased his skill level by two, his attack power had grown stronger. Jinseong sliced through Lotus’s tentacles and body.

At the same time, golden light cascaded over Jinseong as the level-up effect triggered.

While Jinseong radiated life, Lotus’s body rapidly turned ashen.

“Ugh… Do you know… what consequences my death will bring?”

The once-proud ruler of all living things on his planet, now a corrupted Apostle, spoke as he neared death.

Jinseong sheathed his sword and answered.

“If you’re talking about the , well, I already know. And besides, I won’t become like that—”

“Ugh, ugh, good. If you know, there’s no need for more talk. Foolish human… do you even know who killed me? Kha… ha… ha…”

And with that, Lotus cut off Jinseong’s words.

“Hm? Ah?”

Just as Jinseong realized something, Lotus let out his final laugh and died.

After swiftly cleaning up Lotus’s corpse, which had taken on a pale color similar to his own, Jinseong had to get away from the scene.

* * *

That was right before he had started pretending to be brainwashed next to Hartz and Robato, and now, Jinseong was aboard Magata, leaving Behemoth.

He fiddled with the Lotus card in his pocket, the proof of the corruption.

‘In any case, the corruption is over. The card definitely dropped. The main scenario quest has progressed without issue.’

The adventurer would have believed Lotus was dead before falling into the hallucinatory state, and upon waking up, they would have found Lotus truly dead, thanks to Jinseong. So, there was nothing wrong with the flow of events involving the female archer user.

Yet, Jinseong still couldn’t shake a lingering feeling.

It was because of Lotus’s last words.

‘Lotus knew the general contents of the and Hilder’s plan. Meeting Shiroko’s will had already become “a past event” for him.’

According to the , who was supposed to defeat Apostle Lotus?

Who had Shiroko’s will warned Lotus to be wary of?

‘…The adventurer. The blade. According to the prophecy of the and Hilder’s plan, the one who would kill Lotus is…’

The one destined to kill Apostle Lotus was the adventurer.

The “Blade Forged” by Hilder.

In other words, it should have been the user.

But who had actually killed Lotus at this point?

Jinseong sighed.

At that moment, Kagon, who was piloting Magata, called out.

“Hey! We’ve arrived! Hurry up and get off!”

The corruption had been corrected.

The other users had obtained some rare items, including ones from the now-extinct GBL Church high priest and archbishop, which were otherwise impossible to get.

There were other rewards, too.

He had leveled up, confirmed the use of “invulnerability glitches,” and learned plenty.

He had gained a lot.

And there was still more to gain. The future profits Jinseong would obtain from his report to the Magician’s Guild and the reward from Sharan had yet to be counted.

But Lenny had died. And Jinseong had personally killed Apostle Lotus.

There were losses, and there were also things that had become unclear.

Jinseong let out a deep sigh.