Labyrinth of Shadows (5)

Ghouls.

An endless sea of ghouls was what awaited me outside the town gate. 

I kept swinging my sword in a deadly arc, its edge cleaving through the ghoul's rotting flesh with a sickening squelch. 

Dark blood sprayed across the cobblestones as another ghoul lunged at me, jaws snapping. I pivoted, slashing downward with a grunt of exertion.

The blade sliced cleanly through the ghoul's decaying skull, cutting it in half and diverting my focus onto another one. 

It was a chaotic blur of shrieking ghouls and flashing steel. 

The creatures' shrieks echoed through the alleyways, but no matter how many I killed, the ranks of the undead seemed endless, emerging from the shadows with relentless fury.

Eventually, after consuming a stamina elixir, I decided it wasn't right to fight these things. 

I went back into the town and had the gates closed up. I killed the few that made their way inside, and then made my way towards the tavern. 

The townspeople were happy to see me. They sang praises and called me a hero. 

Everything felt like a preprogrammed game world with the exception of respawning. If I die, I will die for real. I had to be careful about that. 

I had a few hours' nap in the tavern and when I woke up, 36 hours remained until this trial was over.

It was night time right now and some possessed folks were gone to the altar and worshiping it. 

Since the ghoul situation did not work out, the altar was the only option that remained. 

I had to destroy it, then defend myself from these remnant souls and the ghouls that would attack. 

This could backfire pretty bad, and given my luck, it definitely would. 

I could do nothing and still clear the tutorial through this trial, but the lotus lady had said that I would not get this experience again or things that were this easy.

She said I wouldn't die. I did not have a Phoenix Feather again, but with how sharp this sword was, and how many potions and elixirs I had, I could make it.

Before going to the altar, I thought things through once again. 

What exactly might happen if I destroy it?

Outcome 1 — the possessed people get completely possessed and attack me. 

Outcome 2 — outcome 1 happens along with the ghouls invading the town.

Outcome 3 — outcome 2 happens along with the plague spreading and killing everybody. 

Outcome 4 — outcome 3 happens and everybody excluding me dies. I may die as well here. 

Outcome 5 — none of the other outcomes happen and I find an exit to the labyrinth.

The outcomes were troubling, but there was another thing. 

The altar was quite obvious, and since this was the case, anyone could find it easily within a few hours. Thus this makes me wonder, why was there a two day time limit?

Was it perhaps normal and it was just me who botched up everything? 

For instance, did my bad luck flare up and have the remnant souls attack me, then send me that message? Or did I actually do everything on time like the way it was supposed to be done?

Or…

If not any of the things above, was I perhaps supposed to reach here early and destroy that altar, then get transported to some other place in the labyrinth and clear it?

Fuck.

I was overthinking too much.

It could be anything and nothing of what I am thinking. 

At times like these, I really have no clue what I should be doing. 

My instincts were telling me that I would get attacked from all sides if I destroyed that altar. 

However, another part of me was thinking that what if there was something more to it after destroying the altar? What if the quest was longer and I had more things to clear?

This quest was not about combat, after all. This was more of a test of logic. They had clearly mentioned it. 

Logically thinking, destroying the altar was the only correct option for me. 

The ghouls were endless, I could never fully kill them. If I'm gone from this place, the townspeople would be tormented endlessly until they all die. 

If this altar was destroyed, and I was wrong, they would still be tormented, but this time at night too along with the day. Nothing would keep the ghouls out other than physical structures like that large gate of the town. 

This was a gamble. A big gamble that I had to take. 

The townsfolk were dying either which way, that was an absolute surety. 

Since such was the case, I decided to go and destroy the altar. It's a logic based trial, and logically this was the correct decision. 

I passed through the streets and reached the place of worship for those remnant souls. 

The possessed people started attacking when I entered their territory.

I tried to not kill the folks and made my way towards the altar. 

Some inevitably died and I had points deducted for killing the townsmen.

Though, I felt nothing from their death. If I didn't kill them, they would kill me. As simple as that.

Somehow I managed to reach close to the altar. The possessed figures did not come closer and I was relieved.

They watched me from a fixed distance, as if there was a barrier stopping them from nearing me, and had a lifeless expression that showed no threat or distress, only emptiness. 

I took some rest at the altar, and looked around, taking in everything. 

My vision was now at 480p and I knew I had to hurry. 

I was stupid to think that I should wait until only a few hours were left and destroy this altar. 

The souls would totally corrupt me and kill me until then. 

Once I felt well rested, I got up and used my Arcana Card Fireball to destroy the altar. 

A small explosion occurred at the place and destroyed the altar. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

The possessed townsfolk around me screamed while staring up at the sky. 

From the distance, I could hear a loud thumping sound. It was probably the ghouls trying to break into the town through the large door. 

I had thought that the possessed people would attack me, but they kept screaming and writhing in pain on the ground, not doing anything to me. 

The shadows around me slowly dispersed and I could hear their cryptic voices, stating:

"…thank… you…"

"…you've… freed us…"

Turns out, I was indeed overthinking stuff and made a mountain out of a molehill. 

I did not think of the possibility that destroying the altar would make the long standing ritual collapse and free these trapped souls.

Well, now they were gone, and could reincarnate again. 

I couldn't be relieved or happy about this as the ghouls came growling. 

I heard loud shouts of the townspeople and knew that I had to protect them from these ghouls.

Well, one way or the other, this was bound to happen.

Until the timer ran out, I would do my best to fight against these ghouls. 

Steeling my resolve and putting on my shounen protagonist persona, I clutched my sword and ran towards the gates to protect the town.