Luck Vs Doom (1)

“Hahahahaha. Dogs of the gods, how foolish you are. If you intended to face me, you should have at least brought Doom. Are you ready to die, drowning in nightmares?”

―A roar from Terrigena, the tyrant of the western desert and prime beast, the wicked dragon Terrigena.

Watching Violentia from afar laugh like a madwoman while smashing the Amor temple, I found myself laughing.

‘So that’s all you were?’

She was the kind of strength that had made my whole body tremble from the first time I met her in my previous life.

A powerful one whose detailed information couldn’t be confirmed with ‘Check.’

The only representative who could stand against Martial Star, said to possess a class-above strength.

A slayer who crushed over a hundred representatives with a single spell.

But now the gap between her and me has inverted as much as the height difference between the inn roof where I stand and the ground where she stands.

Her magic chaining and excellent ritual combinations are remarkable.

However, the mindlessly overwhelming strength of pouring massive divine power like in my previous life, or anything remotely overpowering, is nowhere to be seen.

‘Perhaps because of this?’

I glanced at the Black Dragon Heart in my inventory, which absorbs light like a dark night sky, then looked down at the rampaging Violentia.

Only two years in now. I know it’s not time to be arrogant, but I’m sure this gap will widen even more.

A position from which I can look down on the Evil Star Violentia. I’ve come this far.

Relishing the pride, I looked around.

Naruan seems to have entered the temple, and Arun, panting, does not stop occasionally supporting Violentia’s magic with transformation spells.

Lee Hyo-ju and Hazel are motionless in a cul-de-sac.

‘So far, perfect.’

Stealth is already active. I push off the inn roof and fly into the temple.

The temple is already nearly empty, so I quickly reach the place I wanted to see without any interference.

A space utterly motionless amidst the shaking temple building.

A place that feels all the more eerie for being utterly still amid the pandemonium.

A spot that felt ominous and unsettling even from more than ten paces away—there it was before me.

“Dance of the Dice.”

A little divine power stirred, and a die materialized in midair—a cube-shaped die.

Its shape was otherwise ordinary, but the six faces bore the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10, and it emitted a strange, pale, moonlight-like glow.

As a result of the morning’s preliminary tests against other legion members and mages, 0 and 1 appeared more often than expected, and the highest number was surprisingly 3—Arun was the only one to roll it.

I thought Naruan, with the highest luck, would roll high, but Naruan…

‘It was 0. Only me and Lee Hyo-ju got it.’

Then the thought struck me: maybe the vaguely defined stat called luck shines more in crisis situations?

For some reason it just popped into my head.

So I dismissed everyone’s expectations, recalled the die, and waited until now.

One step.

Even moving just one step closer to that room sent a chill through the back of my head.

Another step.

Goosebumps rose along my spine, and my mouth went dry without me realizing it.

One more step.

When did I clench my fist this tight? My palm is slick with sweat.

Step by step.

The stench seeping from behind the closed door is severe for an archbishop’s office.

And the moment I put my hand on the doorknob, the pungent stench hit my nose and the sense of dread peaked.

Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it. Don’t open it.

I only placed my hand on the handle, but like an auditory hallucination, warnings from every direction urged me not to open the door.

My heart pounded, warning me not to enter. My instincts—and even the Argus’s Eye—warned me.

Clack—!

The sound of the knob turning rolled like thunder…

Screeeeeech—

The creak of the door opening was so chilling it felt as if I had accidentally opened the gates of hell.

But inside was cleaner than expected, just a little dust here and there.

Yet the sight of Mae Young-ryeong lying on the floor in the center of the room was more horrid than I expected.

Above all, her emaciated body from lack of food, shoe prints here and there, and filth clinging under her skirt.

Concerned for the severely thin Mae Young-ryeong, I stepped into the room,

Screeeee—!

A creepy sensation brushed the back of my neck.

There was definitely nothing there, but it felt as if something had touched me and then let go.

The more I dwelled on the uneasy feeling, the more a creeping anxiety intensified.

I clicked my tongue lightly, steadied myself by looking at the die still hovering at chest height glowing faintly, and approached Mae Young-ryeong.

Lifting Mae Young-ryeong’s upper body, I took out an ‘Exceptional Sanitas Potion’ from my pouch and poured it into her mouth.

Mae Young-ryeong, who had been motionless like a corpse, shuddered the moment the potion entered.

“…Ye…”

A hoarse sound came out.

From my inventory I mixed ‘Nourishing Juice’ and ‘Top-grade Recovery Potion’ in suitable amounts and poured it into her mouth again.

Endless, unintelligible voices echoed.

But to pay attention to that would be difficult—her condition was, as I said, abnormal.

After giving her the potions and juice, I stepped back and watched the situation.

Yet the nagging sensation—like a constant migraine or oil smeared on my glasses—didn’t go away.

I slowly scanned the surroundings for anything odd and even methodically checked my divine power, but found nothing unusual.

A normal office. For a high priest of Amor full of vanity and greed, it was surprisingly frugal.

Just as I was about to turn away, feeling nothing out of the ordinary,

Screeeeeee—!! Eerie—!

That same nasty feeling swept over me, and I suddenly had the illusion that my vision darkened a bit.

I clicked my tongue irritably and turned my head to Mae Young-ryeong lying on the floor.

“Huh?”

She’s gone. Mae Young-ryeong, who had been lying on the floor, had vanished.

Then,

“Kill me…”

A chilling voice came from beneath my feet, and something grabbed my ankle from behind, making me shiver.

I forced my reluctant head down and looked.

When had she come back? Mae Young-ryeong, holding my ankle from behind, came into view.

Face down on the floor with her belly against the ground, Mae Young-ryeong lifted her head up unnaturally, making her face and pupils look even more grotesque.

“Kill me… please…”

Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“What the hell, really.”

Thinking of my past life, it’s embarrassingly ridiculous. I’m not a grade-schooler at a haunted house—what is this sight?

Only after the laugh leaked out did my stiff muscles relax, and I could look Mae Young-ryeong squarely in the face.

“I wanted to kill you too. If I hadn’t seen you in this state, I might have actually killed you later… You’re pathetic. Why are you suddenly confessing? Let’s go.”

But Mae Young-ryeong didn’t move.

The head Mae Young-ryeong had raised while prone slowly sank down.

“…Are you… in it too? Th…is…?”

Mae Young-ryeong’s voice changed suddenly.

It’s different from before. It’s not the hoarse plea to be killed—it’s a voice like metal scraping.

Even through the broken words, I could feel that emotion clearly.

Hatred. A hatred that seems it wouldn’t be eased even if torn apart dozens of times.

“You’re interested in this body too? Is that it?!”

Mae Young-ryeong’s head snapped up. Her face tilted at an unnatural angle as if her neck might break, and her eyes emitted a ghastly glow.

“Prayer of Recovery.”

I tried activating ‘Prayer of Recovery Lv. 31 [A]’ just in case, but her eyes still glowed ominously.

“What do we do…?”

Right now, movement is impossible.

In this state, setting aside attracting everyone’s attention, I couldn’t guarantee what danger might befall the legion members.

“Then… you die too!!”

As I pondered methods, a thick darkness erupted centered on Mae Young-ryeong.

Like an abyss that seemed to consume even light.

A black-hole-like darkness that swallowed everything gradually expanded its domain.

“Huh? This is… Terrigena?”

‘Check.’