Change (2)
The place the return stone sent him back to was the very spot where he had been caught in the evil god’s spell.
Rain poured through the shattered ceiling, and countless broken stones littered the floor of the vast cavern.
Despite the battle with the demon leaving no wall or ceiling intact, the cavern miraculously held its ground, refusing to collapse.
Though how long it would last was anyone’s guess.
Splash.
”…Dalen?”
Sienna, standing alone on one side of the cavern, snapped her head up. Her lips were red and swollen, as if she’d been biting them.
“Dalen, is it really you?”
“It is. Am I late?”
“Oh my god. How did you… No, let’s get out of here first. I’ve been hearing ominous sounds from the cave; it feels like it’s about to collapse. The surviving special ops agents are waiting outside with Bjorn.”
Rumble…
No sooner had she finished speaking than a loud noise echoed from somewhere, and bits of stone began to fall from the ceiling.
If they’d been any later, they might have been buried alive. It seemed they had cut it closer than they realized.
The two hurried out of the cave. Everyone except Sienna had wisely waited outside, anticipating the worst.
It was a smart decision. The cave could collapse at any moment, and Dalen had been whisked away to hell by the evil god’s trap.
In a situation where he was as good as dead, it was almost strange that they hadn’t left and had waited all this time.
“Dalen! Man, what happened? Are you alright? Sienna said you fell into hell. Was that true?”
[Screech! Beep beep!]
…Fell into hell, huh? That sounds a bit off.
Bjorn, who had thrown aside his shotgun to greet him enthusiastically, and the baby dragon perched on his broad shoulder with shining eyes.
After exchanging brief greetings with them, Dalen approached the gathered special ops agents.
In the drizzling rain, the atmosphere around the special ops tent was somber.
It wasn’t hard to guess why. The headcount had visibly dwindled to nearly half.
Those missing were likely swallowed by the second phase of Kalkas, the Shadow of Hell.
“Dalen.”
Just as he noticed a familiar face missing, one of the agents approached him.
Dalen searched his memory. It was a face he knew by name.
“Censor Roman Barkov.”
”…You remember.”
“Weren’t you Sasha’s direct subordinate?”
There was a slight delay in his response. Roman’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“Yes. And the executor…”
“Didn’t make it out.”
”…Yes.”
It wasn’t surprising. The Shadow of Hell summoned by the demon.
It was a trial that was difficult for even superhumans to endure, let alone ordinary people.
Roman briefly recounted her final moments.
While Dalen, Sienna, and Bjorn fought Kalkas in the cavern, Executor Sasha and dozens of agents continued their battle.
Sasha managed to gather her subordinates within the Shadow of Hell, but was fatally wounded while protecting them from the relentless onslaught of hellhounds.
“And in her final moments, she threw herself into the midst of the hounds. She told us to go, that she’d buy us some time, clutching the grenades Bjorn made for her…”
He trailed off, but it wasn’t hard to imagine the rest.
Roman rubbed his face with both hands and continued.
”…If she hears the demon has been vanquished, I’m sure the executor would be pleased.”
“That’s a relief.”
The demon was vanquished. Its hell had crumbled.
It was the best possible outcome from this battle, an undeniable victory.
But could the weight of death behind that victory ever be lightened?
The lives on the scale weren’t just those of the three who fought the demon directly.
Had the demon’s defeat been delayed even slightly, had its power lingered longer, the number of surviving agents might have been halved, or worse.
“As of now, I will assume command of the special ops agents in place of the executor.”
Roman spoke with his head held high, a confident smile on his lips, though they still trembled slightly.
Swoosh—
Dalen watched Roman’s back as he returned to the remaining agents, rain pouring down on them.
[Behind the grand battles of transcendents and heroes, there are always the desperate struggles of those who never become heroes, stretching like shadows.]
The dragon spoke softly in his mind.
[It’s a reality no one has been able to escape since the dawn of history.]
”…Tsk.”
His mouth tasted bitter, likely from the rainwater that had found its way in.
Before long, the group left the third floor. As they ascended to the second floor, a sandworm greeted them.
“My god. This sandworm seems to have been waiting for you all this time.”
[Screech, screech.]
“Look, it’s nodding.”
”…It really does seem that way.”
Dalen was slightly taken aback. He’d never encountered such a situation, even in the game.
Without the relevant skills, transportation within the labyrinth was typically considered single-use.
Monsters subdued by force usually fled the moment you left them alone for a day or two.
The spear, which had become quite talkative since his return from hell, chimed in at the right moment with a calm explanation.
[You seem unaware of the power of a dragon’s blood, human. Dragons are beings that reign over all monsters. Even if you hide your presence with the power of the Azure Dragon, your essence doesn’t disappear.]
Though it sounded complicated, it seemed that the effect of subjugation lasted longer due to the dragon’s blood.
In any case, this would drastically reduce the time needed to pass through the second floor. The group boarded the sandworm, familiar with the process.
Bjorn, needing time to adjust his equipment after leaving the swamp, was given a separate compartment, while Dalen shared one with Sienna.
Rumble…
The massive creature began to swim through the underground desert.
Watching Dalen extend a web of electricity from his fingertips to guide its movements, Sienna found herself pondering a question she’d held for a long time.
‘What kind of person is this man, really?’
The battle with the demon in the cavern.
The events of that final moment were still vividly etched in her mind, even days later.
The transcendent power that flowed from his staff had obliterated the demon’s body, and in exchange, Dalen had vanished across dimensions.
She had hurriedly analyzed the remaining magic and discovered where Dalen had gone.
‘Kalkas’s Hell, the Chain Throne.’
Hell itself.
A place where the demon’s power was at its peak, teeming with countless minions.
Could any labyrinth, no matter how treacherous, compare to a hell ruled by a demon?
Especially if it was the hell of Kalkas, one of the nine favored minions of Enaxagus.
Dalen not only returned alive from such a place but also completely annihilated Kalkas and its hell.
‘Even the transcendents of the Diamond Palace, could they achieve such a feat alone?’
The masters of the twenty-six halls. It wasn’t strange to think of those transcendent beings.
Given Dalen’s accomplishments and his current state, it was hard to believe he was just an ordinary gold-rank mercenary.
He carried a baby dragon like a pet, had a demon enslaved in a pocket dimension by a corrupted relic.
He was the master of a holy sword and a superhuman warrior, and according to Bjorn, he wielded magic at the level of a high-ranking mage from the Magic Tower.
‘And now he’s even opened the gates of hell.’
Sienna found herself biting her lip out of habit. Dalen noticed and spoke up.
“Are you alright?”
“Oh? Oh, yes. Of course.”
She awkwardly waved her hand, feeling unlike her usual self as an information broker.
Sienna took a moment to steady her breath. She decided to be direct.
”…Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Are you a dark sorcerer?”
“Pfft.”
Well, that was unexpected. She’d been deep in thought, and he wondered what she was going to ask.
“Who knows.”
“You’re not denying it. That dagger, it’s a blood-red ceremonial dagger only used by high-ranking dark sorcerers, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“If you opened the gates of hell without borrowing a demon’s power, it means you must have charged the dagger with a significant sacrifice.”
“I found half-dead creatures in the swamp’s wraith nest. I used them as sacrifices to charge the dagger.”
Sienna seemed slightly taken aback by his straightforward answer. Dalen chuckled. What had she expected?
“Did you think I was a dark sorcerer who performed human sacrifices?”
“No, no. That’s not it…”
“That I offered people to demons for this power?”
“No, ha, it’s not like that. It’s just…”
“And then used that power to give the demon a good whack on the head?”
”…”
“Keep teasing like that, and you’re bound to get hit,” Dalen chuckled softly, then asked, “Alright, what is it?”
Sienna sighed, “It’s just… watching you brings back memories from my childhood.”
Her words were a jumble, released with a sigh, but Dalen, who knew Sienna’s past, understood the deeper meaning behind them.
She had been part of the Golden Palace since birth, until the day she was suddenly betrayed. The memories of her tumultuous childhood likely still lingered as a knot deep within her heart. It was only natural that part of that resentment was directed at the transcendent beings who remained silent, despite their close ties to her mother.
‘They probably didn’t want things to turn out this way, but intervening would have been difficult. Knowing the future comes with its own constraints,’ Dalen thought.
Of course, to those who were killed or exiled, any excuse would seem like a feeble justification. These beings possessed immense power, enough to face armies alone, yet turned their backs when they were needed most. Watching Dalen’s incredible growth, Sienna must have been reminded of those transcendent beings. And now, seeing him wield dark magic, her feelings must have become even more complicated.
‘Come to think of it, Everon mentioned something similar,’ Dalen recalled. Everon Lachtala, with his ever-changing face, was one of the transcendent beings of the Golden Palace. He had once told Dalen that he was reminded of his own companions when they met long ago.
“Whether you’re from the North or a dark mage, what does it matter? As long as we’re on the same side,” Sienna said, shaking her head as if organizing her thoughts.
“A dark mage who kills demons? It’s strange to think they wouldn’t be an ally,” she added.
“Ally sounds a bit formal. Didn’t we agree on ‘friend’ last time?” Dalen replied.
”…Alright, let’s go with friend.”
“Much better,” Dalen said, before turning his attention back to driving, his face relaxed and at ease.
A low hum filled the air as gravity reversed, and they felt themselves lift off the ground. The resonance of magic echoed in their ears, and the interior of the barrier tower appeared before them.
‘Finally, we’ve arrived,’ Dalen thought. It had taken over two weeks to reach the return point after entering the first floor of the labyrinth. The carapace wolf taxi they usually used was no longer an option after Dalen had decimated the tribe during his last expedition. There was another means of transportation, but it wasn’t feasible given their numbers. As a result, the time spent on the first floor ended up being as long as the combined time on the second and third floors—a result that would leave other explorers speechless.
‘Status window,’ Dalen thought as they exited the barrier tower. It was time to review their gains. His level had increased significantly, and the rewards from the corpses they had recovered were substantial. Most importantly, his stats had surpassed 30, granting him a new level of power and potential. With the war against the dark god now in full swing, it was crucial to take time to understand his own abilities.
“Stop!” a voice interrupted his thoughts.
Before Dalen could even begin to read the status window, a sword blocked his path.
“What is this?” Dalen asked, looking at the knight who had stopped them. The knight, bald and clad in gleaming plate armor, sat atop a sturdy warhorse.
“What did you just say?” the knight demanded, momentarily taken aback by Dalen’s bluntness.
“I asked what this is about. Why are you blocking our way with that thing?” Dalen replied, not bothering to hide his irritation.
The knight’s face flushed with anger as he shouted, “You insolent wretch! How dare a lowborn like you speak so arrogantly! I, Sir Angel of the Silver Order, will judge you for obstructing the official duties of the Golden Palace!”
What is this idiot on about?