Chapter 4: The Ashen Warrior
Speaking was a struggle, so I simply conveyed my confusion with a glance. Felber, who had been looking down at me with a grave expression, shook his head and spoke.
“You collapsed suddenly at the end of the funeral. Your body was so shattered, you were practically a corpse. Time couldn’t be reversed, and even Lucia’s divine power barely worked. It seems you survived thanks to the dragon’s regenerative abilities…”
”…Cough, so what?”
“In short, by normal human standards, you died and came back to life about fifty times.”
Chieftain Tarum chimed in, echoing Felber’s words.
His speech was a bit more sluggish than usual, suggesting he was quite shaken by the events.
[A trespasser in the realm, full of strange occurrences. Mentioning the Well of Reversal suggests it wasn’t even from this timeline… Anyway, I borrowed your heart for a moment. You were bound to die even if you won the fight.]
“I won, you say?”
[Indeed, you did. Eighty percent of the damage to your body was self-inflicted. I should be asking you—did you really intend to burn your own life away to withstand that final blow?]
’…’
[Well… it was an impressive feat, I’ll give you that. Your opponent didn’t even leave behind a trace of bone dust.]
The voice in my mind muttered with a hint of reproach. The situation was starting to make sense.
The battle in the realm was my victory.
I wasn’t sure exactly how I won, but I survived the final clash, so the outcome was clear.
The problem was that the aftermath of that clash, combined with the recoil from my final strike, had a devastating impact on my physical body.
In hindsight, it wasn’t all that surprising.
The foundation of that final strike was a memory of the first time I drew upon the realm’s power—a punch that had once torn apart a grandmaster’s body without any special skills.
Even back then, it had left my own body in ruins.
‘I didn’t expect to nearly die from it, though.’
Back then, the recoil had only shattered an arm and caused some internal damage.
To an ordinary person, it might have seemed like a near-death experience, but it wasn’t as catastrophic as this time.
’…Well, I did see a mountain peak get blown away at the last moment.’
With that level of destruction, it was a miracle my body held together at all.
Without the dragon’s regenerative power and the intervention of its original owner, I might have been in the afterlife by now.
In any case, according to the voice, my victory was certain. Now it was time to reclaim my strength and ask the questions that had been plaguing me…
”…Wait. The body… the body?”
“The body? If you mean the funeral, that’s long over…”
A sudden thought struck me, and I turned my head to where the ashen body had lain.
And at the moment my gaze landed on the spot where the Ashen Warrior had delivered his final blow, a notification appeared.
[You have recovered the body of the Ashen Warrior. Inheriting abilities.]
[Inheritance Reward: Strength +4, Dexterity +3, Stamina +2, Perception +3, Intelligence +1, Magic +2, Unique Skill: Ashen Projection]
A cascade of notifications scrolled down, and a wave of light particles surged over me.
The light, several times more intense than usual, seeped into my entire body, and a tremendous power welled up from deep within.
Crack…!
My muscles rearranged themselves at the fiber level.
All my senses flipped and then realigned.
The magic boiling in my dragon-infused veins, and the strange omnipotence tingling from my fingertips.
The unknown power coursing through me filled the void left by exhaustion, overwhelming my senses and making my breath ragged.
Lucia, alarmed by the sudden change, hastily summoned her divine power, her sacred tattoos glowing.
“Dalen, are you okay…?”
“Wait. Leave him be.”
The first to notice the anomaly was none other than Felber.
The old man stopped Lucia, chuckling softly as he watched me with interest.
“I don’t know exactly what’s happening, but it seems he’s gained a new insight.”
A new insight.
There was no better way to describe it.
As my body transformed with the surge in abilities, the knowledge of a unique skill achieved by a martial artist at the peak of their craft flowed into my mind.
The recovery of my body, which had been pushed to the brink of death, was instantaneous.
But before I could even adjust to my revived state, a resolute will seized my consciousness, forcibly turning my gaze inward.
Rumble…
The sky was filled with dark crimson clouds, and dozens of peaks rose as if to pierce them, forming the landscape of the realm.
Only two of the peaks had their tops blown off, as if struck by a hammer.
The battlefield where Dalen and the Ashen Warrior had clashed lay between those two peaks.
As soon as I focused on the ground, marked by the scars of destruction, the essence of the Ashen Warrior’s mindscape began to unfold before me.
Crackle…
It seeped in.
Like paint spilled from a jar, the ashen hue spread rapidly across the land and sky.
As the vast area was dyed in shades of ash, a dramatic change occurred in my mind.
’…’
Fleeting scenes flashed by.
The cabin in the snowy mountains where I first opened my eyes.
A decade of mercenary life.
Years spent training in the mountains, living among high orcs, and eventually being accepted as one of their own.
The happiness I felt as I pursued the pinnacle of martial arts, to the point where wealth and fame seemed trivial.
Until the day a massive army of an evil god invaded the mountains, shattering that peaceful life.
‘Kraaagh!’
‘Friend Dalen! Take care of my tribe… Ugh!’
Warriors who were like family fell one by one.
’…Dalen. It seems this is the end for me.’
Even my mentor and closest friend, the chieftain Suthump, knelt in defeat.
Watching the chieftain’s heart stop in the secret stone tomb behind the sanctuary, I was overwhelmed by a sense of loss I had never felt before.
I was powerless.
And I was furious.
Burning all those emotions as fuel, I launched a final strike at the demonic army pouring into the valley.
The punch, thrown at the cost of my life, tore through hundreds of monsters and a dozen demons.
The space shattered, the valley collapsed, and even the towering mountain peaks evaporated.
Yet, it failed to reach the evil god.
The attack, erased by a single swing of Suthump’s sword, only managed to dent the god’s armor slightly.
‘Do you understand me now?’
As I emerged from the warrior’s life flashing before my eyes, a faint voice echoed under the ashen sky.
It was the lingering thought left by the Ashen Warrior.
The emotions that had exploded before death had scattered, leaving the warrior’s voice dry and detached.
I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head heavily.
‘No, I won’t understand.’
“What did you say?”
The voice was tinged with curiosity.
Though it was merely a lingering thought without form or substance, I answered sincerely.
“I will cut down Suthump.”
’…Heh, I see.’
A long-delayed response. A faint emotion layered over the dry tone.
Soon, the ashen land and sky began to blend with the snowy mountain landscape.
”…”
It seeped in.
The pinnacle of martial arts built over decades in the mountains.
The emotions contained in the final strike that crushed the demonic army.
The ashen realm nestled in a corner of the snowy mountains became one with my existing realm under my will.
It was the legacy of a martial artist who had twisted and traversed the concept of distance, ultimately shattering space itself.
‘I will entrust it to you…’
The voice, as if spent, echoed faintly across the ashen sky and land.
The whisper, echoing emptily between the two peaks with their tops blown off, slowly faded away.
As I quietly gazed at the ashen land where the voice had vanished, the dragon perched on the cliff lifted its head.
[Was it a special existence to you?]
I tilted my head.
Special, was it? Perhaps.
It was a beloved creation, a character I had watched over from behind a screen.
Yet, the inexplicable turmoil of emotions I felt might have been due to the warrior’s memories that had flashed by like a life review.
Decades of memories, a life beginning and ending, that couldn’t be captured in the dozens of hours of gameplay on a 32-inch screen.
[It seemed you had questions for that warrior.]
’…I did.’
What is this world? Why have I been cast into it?
Why had he been able to reclaim the powers of so many characters? Where did they originally come from?
These questions, along with countless unconfirmed speculations, continued to swirl in his mind.
Dalen had recovered dozens of bodies, yet not a single one had faded from his memory.
The ashen moments of death, though their colors had faded, still vividly conveyed the emotions of that time.
This wasn’t just the fake death of a game character.
It was the final scene of a person who had lived and breathed in a real world.
Ever since he realized that the game he played for fun was someone else’s life, the questions that seeped into the corners of his mind had never truly disappeared.
But.
“It doesn’t matter. At least not right now.”
Dalen chuckled, shaking off his stray thoughts.
He had gained new powers and possibilities, along with invaluable experiences.
Hearing the whispers echoing under the ashen sky, now tinged with peace, was enough for the moment.
Soon, there would be another chance to recover the bodies of transcendent beings like the Gray Warriors.
The unresolved mysteries could wait until then.
“Characters who achieved great domains… I must seek out their remains.”
He gathered his thoughts and withdrew his inner gaze.
As he returned from his domain to reality, he felt more than a dozen worried eyes on him.
The chieftain, Tarum, approached with a firm stride and extended his hand. He spoke.
“Are you alright, friend?”
“As you can see, perfectly fine.”
“I’ve heard that once every thousand years, a High Orc gains enlightenment from the tomb of the Great Ancestor.”
The Great Ancestor, huh. Wasn’t he a High Orc himself?
Dalen chuckled as he took Tarum’s hand and stood up, understanding what was on his mind.
”…Dalen, are you perhaps a High Orc in disguise?”
“No, don’t worry. And while I did gain some insight, it has nothing to do with your Great Ancestor.”
“That’s a relief.”
A low sigh of relief escaped Tarum, who was not accustomed to hiding his emotions.
The position of High Orc chieftain was traditionally held by the strongest warrior of the tribe.
Dalen’s significant contributions in the recent civil war might have made Tarum worry that his position could be threatened if Dalen were chosen by the Great Ancestor.
“You are the chieftain of the High Orcs. You’ll do well.”
“Th-thank you.”
Dalen wasn’t particularly bothered. In fact, he was rather pleased that the future chieftain had a desire for power.
Most High Orcs were too consumed with food and fighting to think of anything else.
To lead a tribe of fierce warriors who were also thick-headed, one needed at least enough vision to understand the concept of power.
The survival of the High Orcs wasn’t just their own concern.
In the great war that was soon to come, their tribe would be a formidable force.
“The Great Ancestor is a mighty High Orc! His axe and sword still protect us!”
Perhaps buoyed by Dalen’s encouragement, Tarum clenched his fist and shouted before the other chieftains, while Dalen turned away with a quiet laugh.
And then he saw it.
Beside the stone tomb of the Great Ancestor, a faint silhouette.
”…”
The figure was human, about the same height as Dalen.
Roughly two meters tall, with a similar build.
The man held a large axe in one hand and a longsword in the other.
He was neither a physical being nor a spirit.
It wasn’t a mystery or an illusion. The man’s presence was faint yet unmistakably clear.
“Old man, what is that…?”
As Dalen tried to keep his eyes on the man and asked Felber, the dark eyes of the figure met his.
And in the next moment, he vanished without a trace.
“Hmm? Did you say something?”
”…No.”
Dalen furrowed his brow slightly. Chieftain Tarum’s lengthy speech was drawing to a close.
There had been much talk and many complications, but with this, the funeral was over.
It was time to return.