Purgatory (4)

A long spear flew towards and stuck at the base of his feet.

Outside the gate, in front of him, stood a gigantic castle.

'…What is this?'

In front of the fallen castle gates, without any explanation from Buga.

The surrounding atmosphere was almost repulsive.

A completely undesirable, rotten landscape.

From the iron pipes protruding below the stone castle walls, foul greenish water leaked, and the bizarre mudflow with its odd substance made him almost vomit.

In the steel castle, where not a single piece of wood was used, there was certainly a lurking presence felt, but visually, it seemed to be an utterly desolate environment impossible for humans to live in.

What needed to be done in this trial?

Suddenly, the looming question disappeared with the threat that had begun without warning.

-Flash!

A long spear pierced his thigh.

"...!"

The rusted blade sliced through muscle, widening the wound.

An intense wave of pain flooded in.

"Ugh, aaaaaah!"

Before he knew it, he was screaming.

Despite having experienced and endured countless pains before, the pain he felt was unprecedented… even more painful than before.

Sweat ran down his spine. His hands shook violently.

Unable to do anything with the snapped tendon, he trembled and eventually fell to his knees, taking time to breathe.

"Ha, hoo… huff. Hee."

His vision turned red.

A warm liquid flowed below his eyelids. Relaxing even a bit, he felt like he would lose consciousness.

Hold on. Let's endure it.

Hadn't he endured worse than this several times before?

After mentally repeating this thought dozens of times, he finally managed to turn his gaze towards his thigh.

-Drip, drip.

Blood spurted from the wound. With trembling hands, he grabbed the spear and slowly pulled it out.

He wanted to pull it out immediately, but his strength failed him.

After stopping several times, he finally managed to pull the spear blade past the lower part of his thigh. He took a deep breath.

Feeling the pain of the blade cutting through his flesh, he slowly pulled out the blade.

-Psst.

A short sound of air escaping his wound. Simultaneously, he took out a potion from his belt.

-Tick. Due to his weakened state, the first potion slipped from his hand and rolled helplessly into a puddle of blood. He tore off the lid of the second potion with his teeth and poured it over the wound.

The pain gradually subsided.

"Ha, ha, hoo."

Images of Cheondo flashed in his mind.

"..."

With the healing power of the potion, he stood up from the pool of blood.

He reattached the dropped potion to his belt and drank the remaining half of the potion to get rid of it.

-Gulp, gulp.

He threw the empty potion on the ground and wiped his chin with the back of his hand.

"...This."

It wasn't easy.

He shook off the blood on his body and wiped his face.

The blood-soaked protective clothing had become worthless.

He considered turning back. That thought crossed his mind, but he soon steadied his heart and corrected his disheveled stance.

"Shoo."

Regaining his breath, he took in the castle once again.

It didn't matter if he was alone, but those women's lives were at stake.

There could be no giving up; he must not back out no matter what happened.

He took a step forward.

-Flash!

A flash of light. The swift throw of the spear, undetectable even by the combat-form body.

Relying solely on his intuition, he threw himself to the side.

A spear that brushed past the shoulder stabbed into the ground behind.

-ssssss.

A merciless attack without any warning. The thought of what would have happened if it had hit a vital spot sent shivers down my whole body. I picked myself up from the dirt-covered ground and moved forward again.

That was when the strange sound occurred.

-geek, geekeek.

It rang sharply in my ears. A discordant harmony, like the sound of gears grinding against each other incorrectly. A spear was thrown from an unknown place, followed by a strange voice. The certainty that there was something inside the fortress made me move forward.

-geeeeeeek.

-laugh.

-geeeek.

The laughter mixed in with the sounds of the air. Just thinking about it made my skin crawl, but it naturally translated into words in my head.

[ Foolish Child of the World Tree. ]

[ Do you claim to be a rotten stump after receiving the king's wisdom? ]

Flash!

Another spear came down, and I turned my head to dodge it. This time, I was able to react at my own pace.

[ Are you trying to put on airs at the base of a tree? ]

"Who are you?"

[ Go back. ]

There was no response to my words, and it responded in a mechanical voice.

"What are the restrictions?"

I had every intention of turning back if only it would lift the restrictions. Ever since I heard Cheondo's words, I was only thinking of saving those women's lives, not of my own skill.

[ .... ]

But it remained silent. That was as good as an answer.

-jebok.

With determination, I took a step forward. A cutting gust of wind suddenly rose and swept over my body.

-hooiiiiiiing!

Even as the wind pushed me back, I stretched out my foot again. Blood oozed from between my clenched teeth.

I reached out my hand and swung diagonally once.

Drawing upon magic, I reversed the flow of the wind, changing the trajectory of the falling spear.

-huduk, tududuk!

A few spears stabbed into the ground, and I clutched my head in pain. I had only interfered slightly, yet my magic was already running out. If the difficulty of the ordeal changes with the weight of the restrictions, then having given my word to Cheondo, the obstacle before me would surely be close to impossible.

I took out a condensed magic pill and chewed it. It wasn't ideal, but I had made the maximum preparation I could long ago.

-fsss.

In front of me, several ents rose from the ground.

-geek, geekeek geek.

Their long, torn legs made up of roots and branches, and their rotten tree-like trunks were entirely different from the ents I had seen before.

If the ents I had met before had burned with the sensation of life, these ones just felt like empty scarecrows.

'Mistletoe.'

Seeing the parasitic plants sprouting from their necks, it was clear that they had lost their autonomy.

'That's what happens if you lose to them.'

Anger boiled inside me. There was more I wanted to understand, but unfortunately, I couldn't.

'Damn it.'

-Identification!

The figures of the disappearing ones flashed in my mind. I cut off my thoughts and gathered magic in both hands.

I turned my body to dodge the fist of the ent that had aimed for my solar plexus.

"Kigig!"

My stance becomes disarrayed due to the sudden attack. I grabbed the opponent's elbow and tried to turn it around, but I quickly stepped back due to its unexpectedly high hardness. The stalk was quite robust.

Paang! Paang!

The roots of the trees whipped through the air, tenaciously aiming at me. Barely dodging, I took distance and slowly assessed its skills.

'I can't win this.'

The ents in front of me had a distinctly different sense and strength than the ones I had faced before.

On the other hand, my strength hadn't developed much since that time. Insufficient muscle and magic power. I realized this and clicked my tongue.

I took out a capsule-shaped medicine and put it in my mouth.

The ent, as if it couldn't even afford to let that small act slide, came at me in an instant and swung its fist.

Kwaang!

I crossed my arms to block the attack, and shock coursed through my whole body. The small thorns sprouting from its branches pierced through my skin and disrupted the flow of my magic power.

Chwahak!

A gratuitous spill of blood.

The attacks started to become predictable, but even so, victory was not in sight.

Monsters didn't give you time to catch your breath.

In a moment, it felt like it would crush my neck, so I kicked off the ground, twisted my legs, and aimed for its neck.

"Kig."

My target was the mistletoe. The kick, filled with a load of magic power, hits the back of its neck.

Paang!

Tree bark flew everywhere, and a strange scream rang out in the sky.

"Kiiiiiiiik!!"

The ent twisted and turned its body wildly. Soon, it melted down like fertilizer and disappeared from its spot.

I found its weakness.

But-

"Kiiiiik!"

The short-lived joy ended when another ent grabbed my upper body.

The thick hand of the tree spanned from my solar plexus to the back of my spine. It, as if taking revenge for the dead mistletoe, slammed me into the ground with all its might.

Kwaang!

Pain made my mind dizzy.

A giant crater formed, and I was buried in the soil. Long nails pierced through my abdomen, and blood flowed out from the wound.

"Cough!"

My lungs constricted for a moment and then released. An unknown ringing sound revolved around my ears.

Just as I glimpsed death, I barely put my hands on the ground and activated magic.

Kugugugugu!

A pillar of fire rose from the ground. It blocked the ent's view and created a wind, allowing me to escape from its grasp.

I threw my buoyant body as far away as possible.

Degururur.

In a near-death state, I rolled across the field for a while and then got up while coughing.

"Cough, cough…"

I might have injured my innards as bright red blood flowed down from my mouth. I couldn't even properly chew the capsule-type medicine in this situation. I rummaged through my belt, sprinkled a few potions on my body, and healed the wound with divine power.

"Ha… Hoo."

My skin gradually started to heal.

Only then did my breathing start to calm down.

Shivering, I looked down at my blood-soaked body and smirked.

I recalled my master's face.

"…One more time."

I didn't have thoughts of dying yet.

The protective suit was a rag, the belt was broken, and the whole body, soaked with blood, hung limply. My eyes lost focus.

Purposeless trials left nothing but unsightly scars.

"It's going to be tough."

Now, I understood Cheondo's bitter words. There were indeed things you couldn't understand until you experienced them.

"...sigh."

On top of the corpses of the ents, I sat down and breathed in the chilly night air, the scent of blood reaching my nose.

[Go back. There are no trials here.]

Sentences translated directly into my mind. I was healing my half-cut arm with my powers, feeling dizzy every time I saw the dripping blood.

There were no potions. The potions Cheondo had given me had already been used up long ago. The artifacts had also been damaged or destroyed during the brutal battle.

"Ha."

A bitter sigh.

All I felt today was powerlessness.

What was the problem? Was it a lack of effort? Or was I lazy in using my brain?

No matter how much I thought about it, the reason was unknown, and it probably would never be answered.

"Let's go back."

I went into the shelter where Cheondo was waiting.

I stepped over the corpses and came down to the ground, limping several times towards the gate where the scrap fortress was.

In the end, I never even stepped on the threshold of that scrap fortress. Would I ever reach there? I forcibly swallowed my weak thoughts.

I fell several times but finally reached the gate. Turning around to take in the fortress, I filled the gate with magic.

Day 1.

No accomplishments.

-Woong woong!

My view turned upside down.

As soon as I arrived at the shelter, I fell to my knees like a falling tree, feeling as if the thread of consciousness I was holding onto had snapped.

"Master… where are you?"

"I am here. Since the time you left, I haven't taken a single step."

"I'm sorry, master. But I can't see very well right now."

"It seems so. Your pupils are all white. Were you poisoned?"

There were Ents that used poison.

I chuckled and soon felt the warmth of a palm on my cheek. The silhouette of a woman in my blurry vision gradually became clearer.

"How clumsy. To be affected by such poison."

Cheondo was still smiling.

"Come here."

"Master, about my accomplishments…"

"No need to talk. I am happy just to see you back."

At those heartwarming words, I let go of the tension and relaxed, and Cheondo caught me in her big chest, my face buried in it.

"You've lost a lot of blood."

"...Yes."

"You did well. Growth happens that way."

Perhaps it was because I lost too much blood during the last fight that my head felt light. Cheondo's warm hand stroking my head felt good.