Raided The God’S Warehouse [EN]: Chapter 388

The black liquid spurted from the crack in the hard ground where Durandal was embedded.

Its distinctive viscosity and the way it wriggled around like slime as soon as it surfaced, exploring its surroundings, made it instantly recognizable.

It was a typical Outer; identification wasn’t even necessary.

“Ruin!”

– Grrr!

Ruin immediately rushed forward, baring his fangs, but the Outer didn’t just stand there and take it.

Even without using its power of destruction, it seemed to recognize Se-un as the primary threat and immediately targeted the nearest host: Arcana.

Reaching out towards her.

“It’s disgusting, even seeing it again,” Arcana said with a grimace.

Five massive cards materialized, lined up perfectly in front of her, forming an impenetrable defense.

While the Outer hesitated, stymied by the flawless barrier, Se-un set down Durandal and retrieved his staff from the All-Purpose Box.

– According to the mysteries of the Black Tower, the power of ‘Inferno’ is enhanced.

The power of destruction was channeled into the staff, and the flames that erupted from it carried that destructive energy.

The Outer writhed in agony as soon as the flames touched it.

It curled up, trying to protect itself, but when the flames showed no sign of abating, it resigned itself to losing a part of its body and ejected some of it outwards. But then–

– Kroong!

Crunch.

Ruin, who had been patiently waiting, immediately clamped his jaws shut around the ejected piece of the Outer, swallowing it whole.

“Is it over?”

“We need to check.”

Se-un grabbed Durandal again and twisted the handle forcefully.

The sound of scraping against the unyielding ground echoed, and the gap widened slightly.

He fully expected the Outer to spew out again, but unexpectedly, nothing happened.

“Ruin, check it out.”

– Sniff sniff. Sniff…….

Ruin put his nose to the gap, but soon frowned and shook his head.

It seemed that the Outer that had emerged earlier was all there was. Or perhaps he hadn’t dug deep enough yet.

Even though the ground was so hard that only a third of Durandal’s blade could penetrate it with a stab, it wasn’t impossible to dig further.

Just as he was about to resume digging.

Thud!

A roar like something collapsing came from behind, and a cloud of dust billowed up.

He turned his head and saw the Bone Dragon lying on the floor, battered and broken.

Even though the battle was clearly over, the Bone Dragon was desperately trying to repair its body and stand, gathering the scattered bone fragments around it.

– Player Seo-a Yoo uses ‘Tarantula’s Fang’.

Thwack!

Seo-a Yoo gracefully navigated through the ribs of the Bone Dragon, which had been shattered by Kang Han-cheol’s fist, and swung her twin swords.

Her target was the Bone Dragon’s weakness that Harry had identified: the Dark Orb.

It was located in the same position as the Dragon Heart, but it didn’t possess the same power; it was merely a core that allowed the dragon to maintain its undead form.

Even though it was a weakness, it couldn’t be easily destroyed by physical attacks.

But Seo-a Yoo’s attack was far from a simple physical strike.

The extreme poison of Baal, flowing through the blades, devoured the Dark Orb.

Not long after.

“Kha-ra-ra-rack-”

The Bone Dragon let out a bizarre, rattling roar, and the bones of its entire body began to decompose and collapse.

The battle ended much sooner than Se-un had anticipated.

He knew that the individual members were strong, but the power of the Diablo Guild, united under Seo-a Yoo’s command, was far beyond his expectations.

As expected, when the boss monster fell.

– You have successfully defeated the ‘Bone Dragon’ that rose from the Crucible of Death.

– Contribution points are calculated in total on a guild basis.

– Calculating contribution points…….

The ordeal was showing signs of concluding.

As always, the last floor before a rest area would naturally transition to the next rest area as soon as the ordeal was over.

He wanted to explore this place a little more, but there was no time.

“If you’re going to come back up from Lilac, I can help you,” Arcana offered, seemingly reading his mind, but Se-un shook his head.

‘What’s here is likely just a trace or a fragment of something larger.’

Looking back on the trials so far, that possibility seemed increasingly likely.

The siege of the 10th floor was connected to Skabe, the next rest area; the ice lake of the 20th floor was connected to the Ice Fortress, the next rest area; and the meteor collision of the 30th floor was connected to the underground bunker, the next rest area.

The subsequent trials followed the same pattern.

In other words, the Outer, which was presumed to be sleeping underground now, was also likely to be slumbering in the basement of the seventh rest area.

“Ruin, remember the smell.”

– I understand, My Lord.

Ruin put his nose to the gap where the Outer had emerged, and frowned, but clearly committed the scent to memory.

“Oh my, isn’t that the game I used to play?” Arcana asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“That’s right.”

Smell memory and subsequent detection. This was one of the games Arcana and Ruin used to play in the rest area.

She had once played a game where she would give Ruin a trace of an extremely faint smell, then hide the target and have Ruin find it.

Se-un had thought of this method, recalling that game.

And not long after.

– Total accumulated contribution points: 280,000 points

– Congratulations! You have passed the ordeal on the 60th floor, ranking 2nd.

– You have acquired 50,000 points as a reward.

The ordeal on the 60th floor was over.

The result was unfortunately 2nd place.

He had thought he would easily take 1st place because the boss monster was captured earlier than expected, but it was a slightly disappointing outcome.

Well, in this battle, Se-un had only slightly moved the Bone Dragon out of the way.

Arcana had also just been watching Se-un from behind.

It was amazing that they had achieved 2nd place in a raid where the guild leader didn’t actively participate.

However.

“……Se-un, I’m sorry. I could have finished it a little earlier,” Seo-a Yoo said, her expression apologetic.

“I’m sorry, Master,” Harry echoed.

Some of the Diablo Guild didn’t seem to share his sentiment.

They approached him as if they had committed a sin and bowed their heads, making Se-un feel sorry for them.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. It turned out like this because I was preoccupied with other things and couldn’t help.”

“But…….”

“It’s okay. And thank you all for your hard work.”

They would soon be moving to the next rest area.

The guild members nodded at Se-un’s words and began to prepare to leave for the next ordeal.

Even if it was just helping Go Chang-seok or the twin sisters pack the Bone Dragon’s bones, saying, ‘We have to take this!’

By the time everyone had helped and packed all the bones of the huge Bone Dragon.

– Moving to the seventh rest area, the Silent City ‘Death Hill’.

Everyone’s vision blurred, and they were transported to the seventh rest area, Death Hill.

* * *

The Diablo Guild overcame the ordeal on the 60th floor and arrived at the seventh rest area.

What immediately caught everyone’s eyes was.

“Ugh, you scared me!”

“Why are you so surprised? We’ve been climbing up from the 51st floor, looking at living skeletons.”

“I thought it would be a little better here!”

Hundreds of tombs.

The sight of tombstones without names filling the field of vision was like a scene from a horror movie.

Death Hill.

Also known as the City of Silence, this place was called ‘a place to commemorate the dead’ and contained a vast number of tombs.

‘There was a rumor that when a player dies, they are buried here.’

At first, he had thought it was just a rumor, but Se-un had seriously considered the possibility of it being true.

Before his regression, he had spent a long time in Death Hill performing various quests, so he happened to witness an important event in the tower.

It was the day when new players entered the tower once a year.

The tutorial began, and the most players died in a short period of time.

At that time, Se-un was able to notice something.

Hundreds of unnamed tombstones were being erected on the outskirts of Death Hill.

Of course, it could have just been a coincidence, and he couldn’t be sure that they were the tombstones of the players who died in the tutorial.

Well, it wouldn’t change anything whether that was true or not.

“Is this really a rest area? It looks like the undead will crawl out of there any minute. Ugh…….”

“Oh, that would be great. If we can get test subjects from so many tombs, we can experiment without worry while we’re in the rest area!”

“Baek-hyeon oppa, I’m scared…….”

“Yes? Haha…….”

“More than that, where should we go? It’s a rest area, so there must be a place to rest, right? I think our residence would be better than this feeling.”

Everyone was expressing their feelings and taking in the sights of Death Hill.

Even if they didn’t voice it, they must have been tired from capturing the Bone Dragon, so just as they were about to move towards the city center to find accommodation.

He felt a presence nearby, near the entrance of the tomb area.

The Diablo Guild’s attention was naturally drawn to that side because the presence was so obvious.

“Ah, hello. Welcome to Death Hill. You all look very strong. Are you hurt?”

Black clothes that seemed to blend in with the surrounding darkness and neatly tied hair. Her face was not clearly visible because she was speaking with her hood pulled down.

She seemed very timid as she fidgeted with her hands, but she somehow managed to continue speaking. She looked quite tired.

Seo-a Yoo was the first to step forward from the Diablo Guild.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, I didn’t introduce myself. I, I am guiding people who have arrived at Death Hill for the first time.”

“Are you like a guide?”

“Rather than a guide, please think of me as a, as a volunteer. Are you all, are you hungry?”

“I’m hungry!”

“Me too!”

“I wonder what kind of food they have here?”

“The fish dishes in Jeheton were really delicious!”

“……The convenience food in the fortress was also delicious.”

“Ew, Han-cheol oppa is weird. I was really forcing myself to eat that.”

“You all seem to be very hungry. W, would you like to follow me? I’ll guide you to a famous restaurant in Death Hill.”

Everyone looked expectant, but Seo-a Yoo did not let her guard down.

It seemed that she was acting cautiously because of her experience of almost being scammed in Jeheton.

And that was the right approach.

“Get lost.”

“Yes, yes?”

“We have no intention of setting foot in the Black Cross, so get lost.”

The black clothes she was wearing were the typical robes worn by members of the Black Cross [a religious order]. No, a follower of the Black Cross.

In other words, she was sent by Pelches and appeared here.

‘Even if the Black Cross values proselytizing [converting someone to their faith], they can’t be waiting at every starting point.’

When you pass the ordeal on the 60th floor, you are randomly moved to one of the many points in Death Hill.

No matter how big the Black Cross’s power is in Death Hill, they can’t monitor all of those places.

But was it a coincidence that she appeared now?

‘It can’t be a coincidence.’

There was a reason that was expected.

Leaving aside the events of the previous life, Se-un had entered the auction house in Lilac and taken away the ‘Hero’s Leap’ that Pelches was trying to win.

Even though he took it away, he legitimately won it with the help of Arcana and overwhelming wealth.

Besides, he was openly ignored by Arcana as he left the auction house.

Pelches, as Se-un knew him, would not let this go.

‘He’s the type to trample on you if he can’t bring you under his control.’

Perhaps from the moment he left the auction house, Pelches had been investigating the whereabouts of Arcana and the Diablo Guild.

From the moment Arcana joined the Diablo Guild and the Diablo Guild challenged the ordeal, he would have placed followers at all the starting points in Death Hill.

“Well, I think you’re misunderstanding something. Our Black Cross…….”

Thud!!

“Eek!”

“Didn’t I tell you to get lost?”

Kang Han-cheol came up and swung his fist, perhaps frustrated by her uncooperative attitude.

He had blown away the tombstone next to her as a threat, and his fist was so strong that the hood was about to come off due to the wind pressure.

“Go and tell your guild leader. If you mess with us, we will never let it go.”

It seemed that he would not be able to avoid his bad relationship with Pelches in this life either.