Chapter 2: The Sacred War
He had pondered for a long time.
Ever since he first opened his eyes in this world and accepted the reality of it.
How could he overcome the inevitable apocalypse? What path must he take to see the end of a game he had never cleared before?
Simply surviving wasn’t enough. Even if he managed to live until the five evil gods turned the continent into a hellscape, the game’s ending credits wouldn’t roll.
That left only two possibilities.
“I’ll reach the end of the labyrinth, obtain the Stone of Wishes, and defeat all five evil gods.”
Sinking into the plush chair, Dalen reiterated his resolve.
“I don’t know how long it will take or what battles I’ll face along the way. But it’s something I must do.”
“You… really believe in those old legends, don’t you?”
With a clink, Felber set down his teacup.
“The Stone of Wishes is just one of many illusions created by the rulers of the labyrinth city. It’s part of a ploy to draw more adventurers by glorifying them as warriors defending humanity’s last bastion.”
As someone who led a mage tower, Felber’s words weren’t entirely off the mark.
The labyrinth city did indeed block the largest entrance to the labyrinth, preventing monsters from emerging. But that was the role of the barrier towers, not the adventurers who descended into the labyrinth to hunt.
The legend of the Stone of Wishes, however, was a bit different.
“But the Stone of Wishes does exist. The legend is obscured because the rulers exploit it.”
“Hmm… if you’re that certain…”
Despite the lack of evidence, Felber nodded reluctantly. He still believed Dalen was a time traveler, so he accepted the claim, no matter how implausible.
It wasn’t a lie, after all. The Stone of Wishes was prominently featured in the game’s promotional material. And from Dalen’s experience, it was the most challenging goal in this cursed game.
“But even if the legend is true… is it really possible to reach the end of the labyrinth?”
“It’s difficult. Extremely difficult.”
“The depths of the labyrinth, the Abyss, are said to be home to demons cast out from hell. It’s one of the most twisted places in the fantasy world.”
Lucia spoke quietly, and Dalen nodded.
“I’m not saying we’ll break through the labyrinth immediately. There are things we need to acquire first. But the journey will be as tough as this battle.”
Dalen paused before continuing.
“Fighting the avatars of the evil gods is a given… and we might even have to confront their true forms.”
”…”
He turned his head, buried deep in the chair, and slowly scanned the faces around the table.
Lucia Castachild, Felber Valentino, Bjorn Kaladrakum.
Akasha Riulak, and even Tommy and Farn.
Each of them had crossed paths with him, sharing the burden of survival. They were comrades who had faced death together multiple times.
They were the heroes he needed most to stand against the apocalypse. Or perhaps they were new possibilities he hadn’t discovered beyond the monitor.
To prepare for the end, he had placed burdens on each of their hearts. But now, those shared burdens weighed heavily on Dalen’s own heart.
‘The next destination I’ve chosen… is also where an avatar of an evil god will soon descend.’
And the battlefield against the evil god was a place where even the transcendent rulers of the northern continent had fallen.
There was no guarantee that any of them would survive the journey ahead.
He wasn’t afraid of his own death. Every battle he’d fought had been a life-or-death struggle.
But the lives of his comrades around the table were a different story.
If any of them were to fall on the battlefield, Dalen couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t collapse in despair.
They were no longer just polygons and data fragments; they were living, breathing people.
They were family and friends he had miraculously regained after realizing their worth only after losing them.
“Ha ha ha!”
Suddenly, a rough laugh erupted, drawing everyone’s attention to its source.
Bjorn, stroking his slightly shortened beard, chuckled. He spoke.
“You’re truly insane. I can’t fathom how you can be so bold. Even legendary heroes struggled to defeat a single great demon, yet you declare you’ll take down a horde of evil gods!”
”…”
“But Dalen, if you think you can scare us with such tales, you’re mistaken.”
The dwarf leaned forward, his small stature making him appear half-draped over the table despite sitting on a high chair.
“Do you know why we’ve followed you this far? If we were only concerned about our own skins, we would’ve left long ago.”
“Dalen, we’ve glimpsed fragments of the future.”
Felber picked up where the dwarf left off, his brown eyes twinkling with amusement.
“The inevitable end is approaching. We’ve simply chosen who we want to stand with at the last moment. I can guess what you’re thinking… but in this timeline, our decision is a weight we bear ourselves.”
Behind his gentle smile lay a resolute determination.
Born with explosive talent that allowed him to read the earth’s memories, Felber was the first to ascend to transcendence among them.
No matter what burdens Dalen had tried to place on their hearts, Felber’s declaration was clear: there was no room for him to interfere with their choices.
The assertion that one’s fate was solely their own was the best way to alleviate Dalen’s sense of debt, and Felber knew it.
As the mage finished speaking and lifted his teacup, the others around the table began to chime in.
“If it weren’t for you, Dalen, I would’ve ended up as a wizard’s experiment in the sewers or a meal for a frogman.”
A young wizard kidnapped to the sewers.
“Before I left the main group, the leader told me, ‘Farn, I was able to teach you because someone changed your fate. Never forget that debt.’”
A mercenary boy who was to be a witch’s sacrifice.
“Father, you’re a good father. In my eyes, your soul shines brighter by the day.”
Even the dragon that could’ve become a calamity burning the southern continent.
All were possibilities that wouldn’t have existed without Dalen. Yet the burden pressing on his heart felt lighter.
The same determination that had been in Felber’s eyes was reflected in theirs.
What could he say in response to those eyes? As he hesitated, unable to find the words, he felt a gentle warmth envelop his hand.
“Dalen, you said you couldn’t lose us a second time, right?”
It was Lucia. Her small, calloused hand, hardened from wielding a sword, rested atop his large, bear-like paw.
“I feel the same. I recently realized that the divine sword aimed at demons is forged to protect someone.”
”…”
“Our swords are aimed at the same target as yours, by our own choice.”
Her blue eyes smiled, and Dalen finally understood.
Those eyes weren’t demanding an answer from him.
Just then, the boy suddenly stood up.
“Wait. Someone’s approaching.”
“Hmm?”
Akasha, who had been squinting out the window, suddenly beamed with recognition.
“It’s a messenger from my second mother.”
“Second what…?”
Lucia’s hand, which had been about to ruffle the boy’s hair, paused.
Whoosh─!
A crow, faster than a bullet, swooped into their midst, passing through the window as if it were an illusion, and landed at the edge of the table.
Flap! Flap!
”…”
The sudden silence on the table was palpable. Dalen glanced at his left hand, which had instinctively moved to his waist.
If his hand axe hadn’t been broken, he would’ve thrown it. Only a spellcaster would pull such a stunt.
The crow, with its beady black eyes, surveyed the people around the table, then flinched back when it saw where Dalen’s hand was headed.
”…It took three days and nights to fly here from the center of the continent. Even for you, killing me on sight seems a bit much, don’t you think?”
The crow cawed, flapping its wings, and the voice that emerged was that of the labyrinth city’s top informant.
Dalen scratched his chin with the hand that had been at his waist. He spoke.
“You should’ve announced your arrival, Sienna.”
“That was my mistake. I was in a hurry.”
A crow let out a short, sharp caw and turned its head, its gaze briefly resting on the intertwined hands of Lucia and Dalen. It was only for a moment.
“One piece of good news, one ambiguous, and one really bad,” the crow announced. Dalen shrugged.
“Let’s start with the really bad news. Best to get the worst over with first.”
“I figured you’d say that… but really, who wants to get hit first? Where’s that saying from?”
“My hometown.”
“Of course.”
The crow hopped to the center of the table, spreading its wings and chest wide as it spoke.
“The Southern Empire and the Pantheon have declared a holy war on the neighboring countries.”
“Tsk, I always thought the Emperor and his cronies would pull something like this eventually.”
“The problem is, the target includes the Holy Knights…”
Boom!
A sudden explosion interrupted the crow’s words, a sound like metal plates being blown apart.
Dalen glanced sideways.
The Holy Knight’s left hand, though covering his own, was clenched with tension. Her other hand had formed a fist, embedding itself deeply into the iron table.
“Those damn imperial bastards… Who do they think they are, declaring war? I’ve tolerated them because they’re the Emperor, but now they think they can just walk all over us?”
With his right hand trapped, Dalen scratched his chin with his left, thinking to himself.
The foul-mouthed knight is back.
The night sky was slowly shifting.
Stars moved within the vast darkness, and the horizon-spanning waters reflected the celestial spectacle. It was a scene one might expect to see in the middle of the open sea, but a keen observer would notice something amiss.
In a typical celestial sphere, stars should move in one direction due to the planet’s rotation, yet here they drifted erratically across the night sky.
[The master of the Palace of Ruin has gone into seclusion.]
Amidst the twisted paths of stars, a being seated on a throne above the vast sea spoke.
The great demon, bowing before the throne, trembled slightly.
It was a grotesque creature, a mix of bird, lion, snake, and human.
“My lord, my hearts tremble. Your foresight is as precise as ever.”
[The actions of that battle-crazed fool are predictable even without foresight. Even if you’re a birdbrain, try to think a bit harder.]
”…”
[Tsk, in any case, that fool Sum is bound to meet his end alone in this timeline too. Some things never change.]
The bird-headed servant pondered before the lord who clicked his tongue.
Even if he sat atop the seventh divine rank, surpassing six others, he was still bound by the world’s timeline. Was it truly possible to discuss countless divergent timelines? The servant spun his eyes briefly but decided to stop worrying.
If the lord said so, it must be true. What could a birdbrain like him do about it?
Instead of dwelling on pointless questions, the servant decided to offer a suggestion that might aid his lord.
“My lord, following Sum, both Lapilem and Temomron are preparing to act. We mustn’t delay if we are to enrich your cauldron.”
[No interest. I didn’t spend millennia preparing just to join some petty competition to burn the mortal world.]
The lord waved his hands dismissively, all seventeen of them.
The servant, who had served the lord for a long time, knew that when more than ten hands moved, it was likely sincere. So, the servant replied tactfully.
“I bow my head to your wisdom. Your eyes, which see through the universe, are omniscient, and your hands, which weave fate, are omnipotent.”
[But if it seems like we’re doing nothing, suspicion will arise soon enough. Unlike the master of the Palace of Ruin, the others aren’t complete fools.]
Tap, tap.
Fingers drummed on the armrest of the throne.
The lord pondered briefly before continuing.
[Send Klakaros to Temomron. Tell him to offer a high seat in the Pantheon to the blood spirits. Since we’ve already declared a holy war, it would be wise to move together. After the long wait since the Blood Demon War, such a sweet offer will be hard to refuse.]
“Truly a divine strategy.”
[And you, come with me.]
”…Pardon?”
The great demon tilted its head. Didn’t he just say he wouldn’t move directly?
“Where… are we going?”
[I have a hunch about what the Well of Reversal is planning.]
”…Pardon?”
[You birdbrain fool. I’m saying I have an idea of what it means to gather possibilities.]
The bird head tilted further. It was still incomprehensible.
[We’re going to the Palace of Ruin. Now, while everyone’s eyes are on the mortal world, is the perfect opportunity.]
”…”
[If you can’t understand, just follow. I’ll show you that the heralds of the end don’t have to be just five.]
The massive figure rose from the throne and began walking across the sea. The bird-headed demon, still not understanding, instinctively hurried after him.
The movement of the divine being caused the waves reflecting the night sky to ripple gently.
In the span of three ripples, the traces of the two colossal beings vanished without a trace.