Chapter 150 : The Final Banquet (Part 3)

And so, they quickened their pace as time went on.

Rei ran at the front to keep the enemy at bay with Hiba and the others were behind him.

Raven and Gilbert were standing on the back to keep Alicia safe.

They ran together inside the hallway again where they were surrounded with the same abandoned furniture at the entrance.

The path was like a maze for them, so it's hard to discern which path was more suitable for them to continue.

But with Alicia, their luck on finding the right path had increased.

And they eventually found a spiral stairway that would lead them to another floor above them.

They finally reached the third floor. When they arrived, there was a single door just like on the second floor.

But without hesitation...

*BAM*

Rei kicked the door open and ran ahead.

The room brightened up as well as the torches on the walls around them revealed what kind of room they went into.

They seemed to be in the dining hall, a much bigger room than the path that they passed through earlier.

And just as they expected, several monsters awaited them.

This time it was several armored knights standing in front of them, holding swords and spears.

"It's [Living Armor]!" Rei shouted the name of the monsters in front of them.

[Living Armor], was an undead type monster, where a ghost monster possessed abandoned armor as their vessel.

"There's 5 of them and..."

Then a [Death Knight] emerged from behind, wearing full body armor that also revealed its skeletal face while holding both shield and sword together.

Just like before, the Death Knight stood behind them and acted as a final defense.

They were wary of the presence of the high-ranked undead just like the Lich that they met a few minutes ago.

But...

It didn't stop Rei from moving, and instead...

He didn't hesitate to rush towards them.

"The same formation as before!" Rei shouted at them to get into the same position.

Rei jumped towards the enemies, "With this wide room....I don't have to be careful using this!!"

He pulled out his giant black battle axe, [Behemoth] from his [Inventory].

*CLANK*

He raised his axe then swung it horizontally.

*BAM*

Then cut through three living armors in half in a straight line.

After the monsters fell, the Death Knight decided to run towards him, after knowing it's in a bad situation.

But Rei didn't stop at that and spun his body to make a full swing of his axe towards the Death Knight.

*BAM*

The Death Knight used its shield to block his axe, but it managed to hold on its foothold despite Rei brute-forcing his way against three living armors not a minute ago

Raven and Gilbert, who were busy with the rest of two living armors, were surprised to see his axe was stopped by a simple shield from a Death Knight.

'It stopped him! Is that Death Knight much stronger than him?!' Raven was taken aback after seeing such a sight.

'Dammit, I should help him out—' But before he could run towards Rei's side…

They didn't expect something like this to happen.

And of course it was the same for the Death Knight.

*?????*

Despite its shield making contact with his axe, the Death Knight felt that there's no pushing force from his axe as if it was deliberately stopped the moment it was about to reach the shield.

Then it looked over at its shield and saw a hand grabbing it.

*....???!*

After that, its shield was pushed aside by him. Rei, who's just a human, used his brute strength to do it.

And on top of that, he already lifted up his axe and...

*SWOOSH*

Swung it down, leaving only its sword that could protect it.

But...

*CRACK*

The sword couldn't even protect him and broke apart.

*BAM*

And the poor death knight was unable to show even a little attempt of struggle because it got cut in half by his axe that Rei swung with full force.

The Death Knight then fell along with the rest of the Living armors that had been taken care of by Gilbert and Raven.

Gilbert who saw what happened couldn't believe his eyes again, 'To think he would use brute strength to push the shield aside and strike down the enemy with just a simple method.'

Raven also shared similar thoughts, 'It might be simple...but Death Knight was known for having a strength two times stronger than that of a Warrior.'

'Yet he just simply pushed it away....the more I see him, the more monstrous he is...' Raven gulped.

Hiba snickered while looking nervous, 'Now I wonder...who is the monster here...'

Rei put aside his axe into inventory, "Let's move."

And not slowing the pace again.

******

This time, they arrived at the fourth floor, which looked like a wide ballroom.

And what awaited this time was several humanoid looking golem.

"This time a [Golem] huh...this place is becoming weirder and weirder." Hiba commented.

The reason for his comment was because the enemies that they had been facing from second to the third floor were nothing but just a bunch of undead.

But now, a golem? That was quite weird for them indeed.

In front of them was a giant golem, no—rather than a golem, it was a monster with wings and claws made out of stone.

A monster that they know full well, especially Rei who came from the modern era.

'It's a [Gargoyle] huh.' Rei spoke.

As that Gargoyle flapped its wings above those golems underneath.

[Gargoyle], was a monster made out of stone, it's the same type as golem and it could hide their presence by pretending as a statue.

"A [Gargoyle], with 7 Golems at front....this could be risky." Raven muttered.

"What do you think we should—"

But without saying anything, Rei took out his axe from his [inventory] again, and then...

*SWOOSH*

Threw it at full speed.

*GRRR???*

The Gargoyle was taken aback when an axe was flying towards its head, and...

*BAM*

It hit right through its head and struck down the [Gargoyle] that was flying above them. Its body crumbled down immediately just like the Lich they met before.

"Huh???"

They were shocked by the sudden action, even the Golem unable to react to it.

Rei then finally noticed something, "Did you say something?"

They couldn't be more surprised by his words.

"...or you could just do that." Raven finished his sentence as he couldn't believe that he did something as outrageous as this again.

"Come on, we don't have much time. Phase Two is about to start." Rei didn't hesitate to jump towards the enemy again.

And again, it was a one sided fight. Rei just punched through the Golem's chest and pulled out their core from their body.

Then destroyed their core and made them crumble into a pile of rocks.

They managed to clear this floor quickly and it didn't even take another minute before they could proceed to the next floor.

The fifth floor this time led them to a big hall and a large door up ahead with two giant statues holding spears in its hands while standing beside the door.

They stopped their movement, as they found this strange because no monsters were around.

"There's nothing here."

And again, Rei just took out his axe from his [Inventory].

"Huh? Crimson, what are you—"

He did the same thing as before and threw his axe towards one of the statues standing beside the door.

His axe crushed down its head and the statue crumbled down afterwards.

"W-what are you—?!"

Then Rei pointed out that the statue beside it was moving its head and looking towards the other statue that was now reduced to nothing but rubble.

They noticed its movement.

"It just moved..."

The rest of his party members looked confused about what just happened, including the giant statue.

Initially, the statue planned to ambush them together with the other statue

But this guy...

This young man just went ahead and pulled the reverse uno card at it.

And without further ado, Rei jumped towards it, taking full advantage of its confusion.

"Just stay still." Rei muttered before he punched through its face and crushed its head off. It didn't take long before another statue crumbled down again.

It's not even a fight this time, because this guy just went ahead and did whatever he wanted.

After that, just like before, Rei took back his axe and put it back on his [Inventory].

*BAM*

*CREAKKKK*

The door began to open by itself.

As they began to approach Rei, he stopped moving.

"....??"

Rei wasn't even looking at them as he looked at something in front of him.

But after a few seconds, he looked behind him when he noticed that they had grouped together.

"Ah, sorry about that, I was lost in thought." Rei spoke as if he was thinking of something before.

"Alright, I thought there was something that I didn't pick up on." Hiba replied.

"We should get going, we don't know where this ends." Raven spoke.

But Rei shook his head, "No, I don't think we don't have to...since this is already the end of the path."

"Huh? What do you mean, Crimson-san?" Alicia asked, somewhat curious.

"Because...this is where the Boss room is located." Rei spoke while looking forward.

Gilbert widened his eyes in surprise, "This way leads to The Boss room?!"

Raven folded his hands to his chest, looking a bit skeptical, "And how did you know that?"

But Rei didn't answer him.

Raven sighed, "Just as I expected, you cannot answer me."

Gilbert looked at them back and forth, "?? What's happening here?"

Raven turned to Gilbert and spoke, "Young master, let's head back. Our mission is over."

"Huh?? Wait—aren't we going to fight the boss monster together?!" Gilbert looked taken aback at his suggestion.

Even Hiba and Alicia looked as confused as he was.

Raven sighed again, glancing towards Rei, "You sure are giving us a headache, you've been planning this the whole time, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rei spoke nonchalantly as he started walking ahead.

"Wait—where are you going, Crimson-san!" Alicia called him but Raven stopped her before she could reach him.

Rei stepped into the door, and then...

The door slowly began to move as it closed the way

*CREAKKK*

"Crimson-san!" Alicia called out to him as she desperately struggled from Raven's grip and eventually freed herself from him.

"Alicia, I apologize, this is where we part ways." Rei spoke towards her and before she could reach him…

*BAM*

The door finally slammed shut.

Alicia opened her mouth in shock by his words and immediately slammed her fist towards the door.

"Open it!" She screamed in anger.

It left Hiba and Gilbert in disbelief of what just happened

"Did...did Crimson-san just leave us?" Gilbert muttered.

Hina grabbed Raven by his arms and looked visibly angry "What the hell is happening, old man!"

But Raven just looked at him in mild annoyance, "Why are you angry at me?"

"B-because...I…shit, I don't even understand what happened here!" Hiba released him and held his head in frustration.

Raven shook his head and sighed quietly, "You still don't get it, do you?"

"Then explain to us. Why did Crimson-san abandon us here?" Gilbert demanded as he approached him.

Raven looked away as he couldn't help but to feel nervous because of their stares, "Do you guys even listen to the briefing before?"

"Of course we do, we were told to volunteer to accompany Crimson-san on this mission." Gilbert answered.

"Yes that is correct, but...did your father ever tell you to fight the boss monster?" Raven replied carefully.

"Of course that is...—huh?" Before Gilbert could answer him, he was stunned, no, he was surprised when he just realized something.

The others were the same, especially Alicia who looked even more shocked than the other two.

"So...does that mean, we were..." Alicia muttered.

But Raven continued her words, "Yes, our mission was to escort sir Crimson towards the Boss room."

"He never once spoke anything about the boss room because the information he had was for himself and for himself to fight it alone." Raven explained.

"But that's suicide!" Hiba yelled.

"That is true, but knowing his strength...can you still doubt that he would lose?" Raven argued.

But just like he said, they were reminded that the reason why they could pass through this mission with ease was because of his strength.

They couldn't refute his words, but...

Alicia had a really bad feeling about this and she couldn't help but look worried.

"Then, what are we supposed to do?" Hiba asked defeatedly

"I don't know, maybe lounge around? The monsters have been defeated anyway." Raven spoke nonchalantly as he somehow looked relaxed in this situation.

The rest of them looked too disturbed to relax. There's a bad feeling in their heart that worsened by the second. As if…

They just did something wrong.

*******

In the meantime, Rei walked the path that was given to him towards the boss room.

Rei sighed, "I feel bad for leaving them like that. Maybe I'll buy them something delicious after this fight is over."

"So my apologies Alicia, the moment I entered the boss room, the 2nd phase will be stopped."

"And the Final phase can proceed with ease." Rei spoke.

'Yes, this was my plan from the start, there were three phases before going to the boss room.'

'The First phase was where we did a defensive siege war against invading monsters, it was the utmost and important phase because if you failed the monsters would raze the whole city and destroy it within a day.'

'The second phase is this one. Where we invade the source of the monster, which is this castle that I never thought would pop out of nowhere.'

'Of course, the phase consists of fighting against an army of monsters in front of the castle and finally entering it.'

'It sounds easy but nothing is more dangerous than a well coordinated army of monsters that are waiting to devour us any time.'

'So instead of going through a risky plan in the second phase, I choose to infiltrate this place before it could even start.'

'If I could get inside the boss room, the phase wouldn't have started and unnecessary death could have been avoided.'

Rei looked proud of himself, 'Such a genius plan of mine!'

'But...that being said, I can't help but worry about the possibility of an unexpected variable, especially…'

[Notification]

Rei saw a familiar hologram board after so long.

[You acquired a quest]

=======================================

[Notice!]

[Quest : "Curse of the Ice Land"]

[Ongoing]

The player is now in front of the source of all evil, where the one who cursed this land into an unending blizzard that froze everything for many years. The last one of the [The Three Great Evil], the one who holds the title of most evil being and its power rivaling that of the [King of Dragons] herself. Subjugate it and free this land from its curse!

[Requirements]

Target : [???????] [0/1]

[Reward]

[??????????]

=======================================

"A quest? Now? That never happened before." Rei looked towards the quest board that appeared in front of him as he walked.

He read the quest's explanation, then he began to ground his teeth. Looking somewhat angry, "Tsk..."

Rei narrowed his eyes towards a single word within the description, the [evil] part.

But why?

He was an outsider stranded here because The King of Dragon gave him a quest to acquire the [Fire Essence of The Fire Dragon King].

He didn't even have any relation to this quest.

But the expression he made during the [Trial of Life] and the [Trial of Death].

Everytime he faced the boss enemy, and during their death…

Rei looked down as if he was mourning them.

Is it out of respect?

No.

'The reason why I know about their stories...and their titles in the past which have been forgotten…'

'Is because 1 year ago...Master had given me a quest.'

'A difficult quest that could change this whole place.'

'It is one of the requirements to prove myself worthy of her trust so she could give me [The Fire Essence of The Fire Dragon King].'

'But before I started this journey...she gave me something.'

'Yes, this is something that had been forgotten by the world and the only one who had it was the King of Dragon herself.'

Soon Rei was standing in front of a giant door.

'The thing that was given to me...was...'

*BAM*

*CREAKK*

'A piece of [memory] of her past time.'

Then the door opened.

'It is a piece of her [memory] that contained her journey during 300 years ago, a journey with the one she called [friends].'

'Yes, she wasn't alone, and I can still remember it clearly....because she planted her memory inside of me.'

'Of course I am grateful that I could use this memory to train myself, but...her memories and feelings had assimilated with mine.'

Rei reminisced the memory of a group of people.

'There was [The Ice Sage, Hamel].' He looked more like a human with white hair and a monocole, wearing a blue robe.

In that scene he was arguing with someone.

The one who tried to stop them was a big man that he recognized.

'[The Immortal Paladin, Arrangias].' A man with a bald head and wearing full plate shiny silver armor.

'And...the two other people.'

And in that scene, their faces were glitched out, the first one was a male and also the one arguing with Hamel.

The second one was a female wearing a white robe and holding a staff. She was standing beside them and laughing nervously at the sight of their argument.

'The four of them looked happy and my heart sank as if I felt nostalgic after seeing them.'

Rei glanced his eyes towards the female who was standing beside them, 'I can guess that she was either the healer or support in the party.'

'And for the male...I can guess what that person's job is.'

After that, Rei took a step forward to enter the boss room.

And just like the previous places he had gone through, he was now at the throne room.

A wide and spacious room with a throne etched on the wall in front of him.

And there's someone sitting on it.

'I have been wondering, why did the story always say that he was an adventurer?'

'No matter how many times you hear it, there's something wrong with the story in it.'

'Why? Because the action of this Adventurer is somewhat different than what other adventurers do.'

'Instead saving people for money, he saved them without asking for anything in return.'

'A self-righteous adventurer who won't abandon others for the sake of justice.'

'That title doesn't fit adventurers who generally don't have such a noble motive.'

'Because...those actions and beliefs match a single title that everyone would always call during their desperation.'

When Rei looked forwards, he could see a person wearing full plated black armor sitting on the throne with a sword on the side.

It sat there arrogantly, facing the intruder who walked into this room.

'A person who fought evil and vanquished them for the peace of the world.'

'Fighting for the sake of the people and protecting them from all kinds of evil.'

'Yes, that person is a former comrade of the [King of Dragons], [Ice Sage], [Paladin], along with a girl who supported them.'

'Seriously...how can I not recognize it until now.'

'He is...'

Then blue torches lit up the room, revealing the title that had been floating above the person's head in front of him.

[The Former Hero, ?????]

'He is the hero from 300 years ago.'

Then the slit of the helmet of this so-called former hero lightened up, revealing that it had awakened from its slumber.

"Welcome…to my final Banquet, young warrior."

To be continued...