Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 603

“Aura isn’t supposed to be used like that.”

With those arrogant words, the Village Chief swung his sword, demonstrating that his statement was no exaggeration. It wasn’t a display of essence power. He simply cut with highly trained skill and a single sword, targeting his opponent with unmatched precision.

“Tsk, I didn’t kill him.”

When the pure white aura faded, the Archbishop was surprisingly still alive. His body was cleaved in half along the sword’s path, but the severed surfaces’ wriggling tentacles reached for each other, as if trying to reattach.

“What will you do?” It was a disgusting sight, but the Village Chief didn’t even flinch, asking me matter-of-factly. ‘Well, is my job done here?’

“If you delay any longer, you won’t be able to leave through the portal.”

I had to make a quick decision. If the Village Chief had completely failed, I would have jumped into the portal without looking back, but the current situation was ambiguous. Thud, thud. I walked past the Village Chief and approached the Archbishop. Then, I forcefully pulled apart the already half-rejoined body and tore a scroll with a high-level fire magic spell, setting it ablaze.

“You don’t hesitate at all.”

“……”

“Come to think of it, you had a run-in with the Archbishop before, didn’t you?”

The Village Chief seemed to have misunderstood something. It wasn’t because I hated the Archbishop that I didn’t try to save him. It was just because I thought it was useless anyway. ‘Maybe it’ll be hard to come back no matter what I do.’ No matter how many times I thought about it, the conclusion was the same. The Archbishop was a talent who could be prevented from becoming a Karui priest [a corrupted priest]. Once you become a Karui priest, you can’t return to being a normal priest. But, such a big event is just forcibly fixed the moment you enter a rift? ‘No way.’ [Dungeon & Stone], as I know it, wasn’t like that. When you know nothing, the game seems truly unreasonable, but the more you play, the more you realize. The fact that it felt unreasonable was simply because I was ignorant. Whirr-! Watching the Archbishop’s body begin to burn fiercely, I looked back at the events that had happened so far for the last time. ‘I made a mistake.’ It could be packaged as ignorance, but it was a clear mistake. When I saw the Village Chief and the Archbishop were fine when I was mentally corrupted, I felt doubt but didn’t delve into it deeply. In fact, I wasn’t in my right mind from that point on. ‘…That flower too.’ There was a flower in this field that lowered mental corruption levels. But when was it? At first, the Archbishop ate it well, but now he even yielded to us, saying he could endure it. Looking at it now, that was a sign. ‘If I had given all the flowers to the Archbishop and proceeded with maximum care, what would have happened?’ Well, it’s a meaningless delusion now. Unless I enter this rift again later, I’ll never know. ‘Well, at least I gained some knowledge.’ If it were me from when I was playing the game, I would add this information about the first basement floor rift. When entering as a priest, it is possible to change to a Karui priest. Instead of sacrificing a companion character, most skills are already unlocked from the start. I’ll have to think about how to use it later—.

“Well, is everything you needed to confirm done?”

“…Not yet.”

I glanced at the portal that was shrinking in real-time, then looked down at the Archbishop again. The movements of the tentacles, which had been wriggling fervently even amidst the crimson flames, were now gradually ceasing.

“Are you thinking that something might happen if the Archbishop dies?”

“Yes.”

The Village Chief let out a hollow laugh at my honest answer.

“It’s a bit strange for me to say this, but you’re really not in your right mind either.”

“Should I take that as a compliment?”

“Well, the interpretation is up to you…”

The Village Chief, who had been nonchalantly accepting my words, suddenly shut his mouth. There was no need to ask why.

「You have defeated a priest who succumbed to temptation.」

Finally, the burning Archbishop stopped moving. And…

「Special Condition – The Third Record is fulfilled.」

The Archbishop’s body turned into a shower of light and scattered.

「No.???? The Circlet of Anguish is created.」

An item of unknown use fell. “It really turned out as you said.”

It was a circlet to wear on the head. The colors of the flowers were black and white. They weren’t divided in half, but rather arranged alternately, one by one… “Do you happen to know what this is?”

“I don’t know either.”

At first, I thought it was a Numbers item [a unique, powerful item], but I can guarantee that there was no circlet of this shape among the Numbers items. Then, what could this be? ‘…Investigate later.’ First, I picked up the circlet and checked the portal. Fortunately, there was still time left. The red portal hadn’t shrunk at all, and the blue portal was now less than a third of its original size.

“If I were to give you advice, choose the blue portal. From now on, I’m as good as gone.”

“Gone?”

“I’ll explain briefly since there’s no time. The mana manipulation of the aura I used a little while ago is very different from the original owner of this body. And because of that discrepancy, my body is now completely broken.”

…It wasn’t unconditional power after all. I felt a little relieved, but also a bit chilled. That meant that if I took the time to adjust, I could show that kind of power anytime. ‘Anyway, this isn’t the problem to think about now…’ To summarize the Village Chief’s words, it’s simple. It’s possible to go through the red portal, but then I would have to overcome all the trials alone. ‘Is that even possible?’ I made a cold judgment. The priest who possessed infinite divine power had fallen and had to be killed, and the mage was incapacitated and sent out first. The knight, who was stronger than anyone, had lost his power. Whooo-oong-! Somehow, I managed to open the portal, but that was just luck. No matter how you look at it, it was far from a textbook strategy. Now I had to admit it. It’s not surprising since it was the first rift I challenged, but… “I’m leaving this place.” I failed to conquer the first basement floor rift.

***

Just a brief moment, enough time to close and open my eyes, was enough. When I opened my eyes, I was already back. Not in the middle of the devastated Great Demon Territory with its sticky air, but in that place full of guardian statues. “Yandel!” “Bjorn!” “…Commander!” As soon as I came out of the portal, everyone called out to me with their own titles and approached me. “I appreciate you thinking of me, but let’s talk later.” I knew they were happy to see me, but there were things I needed to check first. “Mister! How can you throw someone like that!” First of all, Erwen was fine. Her shrunken height had also returned to normal. “How’s Gahwin?” “The priests are treating him.” Fortunately, Gahwin seemed to be safe too. I don’t know how badly he was hurt, but it was just a physical injury, wasn’t it? It shouldn’t be so bad that multiple priests couldn’t save him—.

“Baron!” Then someone asked me. “Where is the Commander? Where is the Commander?” Jillen Evost. The younger brother of Baron Evost and the knight who held the position of vice-commander of our exploration team. “Why hasn’t he come out yet—.” I interrupted the vice-commander and told him why the Village Chief hadn’t come out yet. “Count Saintred is dead.” For reference, it was his own will. He said that he didn’t think there would be a better opportunity to exit more naturally than this? [It’s better this way. Actually, I was thinking of going to the city soon, but I need a plausible reason, don’t I?] I was dumbfounded when I first heard those words, but when I thought about it, it was an important issue for the Village Chief. He couldn’t just suddenly commit suicide. It’s also difficult to die from a monster. Not only would it be hard for everyone to accept, but even if they did, it would remain as a disgraceful stain. The Village Chief had no intention of abandoning the life that the identity of ‘Jerome Saintred’ had built up. That meant. “The opponent was a Karui priest armed with powerful authority, enough to easily defeat a floor lord. He was killed while buying us time to escape.”

From the Village Chief’s perspective, it was best to die honorably while fighting a powerful enemy that everyone could accept. “A Karui priest. Is that related to why Archbishop Hestia hasn’t come out?” “I’ll talk about the details later. More than that, there’s something I’m curious about…” I said, looking at not only the vice-commander but also all the members gathered around. “How much time has passed?” “It’s exactly 30 days today.” “A month…” No wonder it felt like more than just a day or two had passed, it was as if they had completely settled down here. ‘Still, this isn’t bad.’ A month is a long enough time. Considering that time continues to flow on the first basement floor unlike the surface floors, it feels even longer. But still, I avoided the worst. ‘Except for me and Erwen, they said they stayed there for more than half a year.’ If you think about it differently, you could say I saved five months. Ah, of course, it was a complete loss for me. The time I spent in the rift was at most about a week. “Then, please tell us now. What on earth happened inside—.” Hey, why is this guy so impatient? “Let’s check things first before that.” I pointed to one place with my index finger. It had been pushed back in order of importance, but it was something I had been curious about since the moment I opened my eyes. “Has that stone door been closed all this time?” “Yes. As soon as the five of you went in a month ago, the portal disappeared and the stone door closed as well.” The place where I woke up was in the middle of this stone chamber. The portal that opened like a side door spat me out and then immediately disappeared. ‘…It’s definitely a judgment that I came out after defeating the guardian, but why isn’t the exit opening?’ It was like a bolt from the blue for me, who firmly believed that a way out of this stone chamber would open if I broke through the rift. ‘What is it? Is it because I didn’t choose the red portal? Then, does that mean I have to start all over again from the guardian statue?’ As if representing my complicated feelings, numerous hypotheses floated up and confused my mind. Then. Creak— As if mocking my impatience, the firmly closed stone door slowly began to open.

***

Beyond the opened stone door was a secret chamber. Three statues, about the size of large figurines, were placed on the floor, and in the center, a portal was floating radiantly. ‘The portal seems to be an exit to the outside…’ Indeed, the eyes of the mage who followed me in, and the eyes of all the members peeking from behind, were full of anticipation and desire. Well, they’ve been staying here for over a month, so is it natural that they’re sick of it? “Raven! I’ll give you the authority, so lead the mages and investigate this place. What is the nature of that portal, what are these statues, and if there’s anything else hidden.” “……Yes?” “Ah, and vice-commander! You gather all the leaders. I’ll tell you what happened inside.” It was an act of overstepping authority that was too natural, but no one objected to my actions. Only a few who were politically quick-witted showed slightly worried looks. Of course, Raven was among them. ‘Are you sure it’s okay?’ ‘Don’t worry, just do your job well.’ After a brief silent exchange with my eyes, I left the stone chamber. And while the vice-commander was preparing for the leadership meeting, I reunited with my companions. Ah, for reference, I didn’t talk about the rift during that process. “Why are you hiding it…?” “I’m not hiding it, it’s just annoying to say it twice. I’m planning to have you guys come to the meeting and listen together anyway.” “Is it… okay to do that as you please?” Amelia was pointing out the fact that I was only the temporary leader of the 4th squad. But… “You’ll see. So, how was it here? Was there anything unusual?” While listening to their stories and spending the remaining time, the preparations were soon completed, and we moved to the conference hall. A large military tent with a capacity of 30 people. “Ah, Baron, you’ve arrived. But those people…” The vice-commander, who was sitting in his usual seat, trailed off as he looked at my companions. “I brought them to listen together, is there a problem?” “…No. It’s fine. The purpose of this meeting is to hear what happened inside. But please understand that we can’t provide you with seats.” Is it because even without a title, a noble is still a noble? He’s saying he’ll kick me out when the real meeting starts in such a roundabout way. “That’s fine. What’s so hard about standing? You guys are okay with that too, right?” “……” “They’re okay with it.” With those words, we entered the tent, and the empty seats became even more noticeable. There were two empty seats. Thud. One was the commander’s seat, which was the head seat. And the other was my designated seat, located opposite the vice-commander. Thud- It was too obvious, but. The seat I would sit in today was decided. “……!” “……!” Thump. As soon as I sat down, the gazes of the officers rippled. This was no different for the vice-commander. “Can you explain what this… means? Baron?” He asked me, trying hard to maintain his composure. “What do you mean?” I smiled and answered his question. “You already know, don’t you, vice-commander.” “……?” “What this means.” “……!” It was time to unleash the (True) Barbarian Legion Commander mode.