Episode 64

The most terrifying aspect of traitors who harbored malice against fellow humans was that once they had resolved to hide, they would become indistinguishable from ordinary people.

Such fears were particularly evident in places isolated from society, like dungeons.

[After the first camp is set, if you look for a room with a library, a member of the Assassination Specialist Clan hiding within the party will commence their operation. They plan to take over the base camp that the Adventurers’ Guild intends to set up within the dungeon and eliminate all adventurers who come seeking it. It will be a dangerous operation.]

As Airi said, many adventurers besides our party were attempting to conquer this dungeon.

The larger the scale, the more important supply and resting places become, so if a suitable spot were found during exploration, many adventurers would attempt to establish a camp.

Since the overall structure of the dungeon didn’t change much, even though the details constantly shifted, the importance of establishing a camp became even greater at the beginning of the exploration.

[If such a base camp falls to the Assassination Specialist Clan, adventurers who enter the camp for rest will be brutally attacked without knowing anything, losing their lives and loot. And since heroes hinder the capture of such camps, some parties of heroes who entered the dungeon have an Assassination Specialist Clan member mixed in.]

[Even if she is a fallen hero, her power as a hero cannot be underestimated, so she too has become a target of the Assassination Specialist Clan. Afterward, her death will be the signal for the Assassination Specialist Clan members who returned to the camp to receive his signal and start their real action.]

After all, even if deemed fallen, she was still rightfully called a hero.

Having witnessed her power, they must strongly feel the need to eliminate her. However, since I also couldn’t gain the trust of my party members, they would not believe such circumstances.

“Sigh, I thought I had hidden it well, but where did you find out about my affiliation and name?”

So, explaining the situation should come after dealing with this guy here.

Having reached that conclusion and holding a spear, I confronted the assassin, who aimed a crossbow at me and asked.

“So, what’s your plan? You’ve openly revealed your identity and mine… Should I take it that one of us will leave here dead?”

“Do we really need to talk about it? If you’ve been sharpening your wits by always targeting heroes from behind, you should know well enough.”

“Kyah~ I thought you were the silent type, but you know how to mock too~ So, this is your true self, huh~”

The assassin was smirking arrogantly and insolently.

However, unlike his playful demeanor, the aimed crossbow was steady, and his eyes, which were meeting mine, flashed with murderous intent.

Although it was disconcerting to have my identity exposed, I accepted the situation and faced it coolly since it had already been revealed.

“Well, you must have your reasons for protecting that girl. If your goal was really to eliminate her, you would have waited until I had dealt with her and then backstabbed me to take the credit…”

Of course, he didn’t know the exact details about me.

He would have judged me based merely on my notorious reputation as a hero killer, assuming I was another murderer or a person from the underworld.

“Still, I’m curious. Have you grown attached to that girl? Or does it bother you that she’s been labeled a fallen hero?”

However, the question that followed carried a bitterness far removed from dealing with such a villain.

Wasn’t it strange?

According to Airi’s prophecy, the opponent was a notorious assassin from the Assassination Specialist Clan of the underworld, and he himself did not deny it, calmly accepting the situation.

So, he must be a scumbag who would show no mercy to his target, yet why did he show such emotional expression when speaking of affection towards someone?

“…Sigh, let’s just drop it.”

As I was thinking this, he relaxed his tensed body and lowered the crossbow in his hand to the ground.

Startled, I raised my spear, and he lifted his hands above his head, showing his defenselessness.

“…What’s your scheme?”

“It’s not a scheme. I just don’t feel like it. I was ordered by the organization to assassinate the hero in the same party at the right time, but even so, killing a child who hasn’t even had her coming-of-age ceremony doesn’t sit right with me.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that…?”

“I do this to make a living, but to be honest, I’m getting fed up with it. Doing dirty work for a day or two is one thing, but killing a young hero who is tormented by degenerate adventurers and isn’t a psychopath… it’s not something a human should do, right?”

She wasn’t a psychopath who could be killed without guilt, but a victim—a young girl with fear and nowhere to turn.

Mentioning something that anyone with a human heart would sympathize with, he lifted his hands higher and gave me a bitter smile.

“I thought it was somewhat okay to travel with you, didn’t you think so?”

As if appealing to the feelings he’d developed during our time together.

Certainly, we’d only been together for a day or two, but that was enough time to get a sense of someone’s character.

Although he was a scoundrel for having killed several people, it would be an exaggeration to say he was completely heartless, considering his behavior up until now.

Even when he made sarcastic jokes, he never crossed the line and didn’t join in when others spoke ill of the girl, occasionally muttering words of sympathy and empathy for the hero…

“…I’m going to restrain you for now, so it’d be best not to do anything foolish.”

“Thanks for trusting me, Brother.”

Paul Denian, satisfied with the trust I expressed, smiled contentedly.

While he still kept his arms raised, I narrowed the distance and conspicuously took out a multipurpose rope from my bosom, intending to restrain him.

In doing so, I earned his trust.

The moment the distance closed, I shifted my stance, planning to use my spear to stab at his legs.

Whoosh!

And in that moment, his raised hand began to descend towards me.

In his hand was a dagger that had sprung from his sleeve, ready to slice my throat.

Damn, his dagger was faster than my spear.

Should I just trust the durability of my armor and clash?

Clang!!

But before I could decide, my Ego Weapon reflexively struck the dagger.

The blade of the dagger shattered miserably against the toughness of mithril, causing the assassin to step back with a stiff smile as he looked at the fragments.

“…Brother, isn’t that too much? I even threw away my weapon and surrendered.”

“Trusting someone whose passive skill is deceiving others is foolish.”

I was momentarily swayed by his convincing act, but I absolutely trusted Airi’s prophecy.

And Airi had said in her note…

If this guy wasn’t ‘dealt with’ here, a massive slaughter of adventurers in this dungeon, including our party, would begin.

Boom!!

Of course, if he were someone who could be reasoned with, I wouldn’t have used the term ‘deal with’ in the first place.

With that certainty, I threw my spear to chase him as he tried to leave the library. The spear hit the wall of the corridor, exploding with force and collapsing part of the path he intended to take.

“Kyah, this is what it takes to be a Hero Killer, huh?”

“Stay right there, you bastard!!”

“Stopping here would be idiotic! Woohoo~”

The assassin, making odd interjections as if to mock me, ran away.

When I summoned the spear stuck in the wall, he had already moved beyond the range of my throw, preparing to turn a corner.

Pausing briefly at that spot, he taunted me with his characteristic smug laugh.

“Sorry, Brother! No hard feelings, but our line of work runs on credibility! I genuinely feel sorry for the hero, but I can’t betray a prior commitment!”

“Then I’ll be going first. Spear-wielding brother, you and the remaining party members try to get by without a scout! Hahaha!”

“Damn you, who said you could leave!?”

After briefly looking back at the path I had come from, I grasped my spear and began to run through the dungeon’s corridors, pursuing him.

Although chasing him would distance me from my companions, I realized this, too, was part of the prophecy’s flow.

[If you fail to subdue him when lured to the library, don’t rejoin the group, but drive him the other way. Many adventurers attempting to establish a base camp nearby will be there soon.]

[From him, start uncovering the assassins hidden among the adventurers, join forces with the hero to strengthen the base camp, and prepare for the upcoming attack. Just by assisting her, the dishonor of being a fallen hero will be somewhat restored, and this will lead to benefits and safety for Hyo-sung.]

According to the prophecy, the base camp wasn’t far from here.

First, I would drive him to the camp, then seek the campers’ cooperation to capture him, and finally, with their help, I would be able to convince the party members to see the situation favorably.

Yes, if everything goes as planned, it should all work out well.

“Hey, base camp!! Look over here!!!”

However, Airi could only see a predetermined future in detail and could only make rough predictions about a changing future.

This meant she couldn’t detect all the variables that could occur in the immediate situation.

“The Hero Killer is there! He tried to kill all our party members!!”

“That damn lunatic…!!”

As soon as I arrived at the intended base camp, the assassin boldly lied to the shadows gathered there.

Just being a bit late to intervene, I realized the situation was becoming messily complicated.

I was socially distrusted, but he wouldn’t be distinguished from a normal adventurer if his assassin status wasn’t revealed.

Given that there were a few assassins hidden within the base camp, if they deliberately incited the others, those unaware of the situation would inevitably be swayed.

“Everyone, look this way! Here, over here!”

Damn, what should I do?

Maybe I should put on a mask and try persuading them, too… Wait. Something about the atmosphere here feels off?

If this were a place being used as a base camp, wouldn’t they have lit lamps or a campfire kit by now? Why was there no one lighting up in this enclosed space?

“Hey, can’t you hear me!? Hey!”

But was he too focused on being chased to notice these anomalies?

The assassin confidently approached the shadowy crowd, and only after closing the distance with them did he seem to realize something and stiffen.

“Wait, what’s this?”

Groan…

Groan.

But they were far from the groans a normal human would make.

Low, ominous, and completely devoid of life…

As if coming from something other than a living person.

Groan, moan!

“AAAAHH!”

But by the time he realized it, he was already captured by them.

Dragged away by the shadows, his flesh was mercilessly torn by bony hands and weapons, blood bursting forth.

“Ahh, aaah! S-save me… kugh!!”

Squelch, tear!

A series of horrific noises, far from his previously ridiculous demeanor.

Realizing these were the sounds of a human body being butchered in real-time, the process wasn’t swift but rather painstakingly slow.

Starting from his skin, tohis flesh, and then indiscriminately digging through his organs, tearing pieces off to stuff into their mouths…

“S-save me…

The assassin managed to crawl out of the crowd, but by then, his face was horribly disfigured, with his skin peeled off.

Groan.

As if not even allowing that resistance, the undead grabbed his body again and began tearing it apart with their hands, greedily devouring him.

Some of them, leaving behind what was now no more than a tattered corpse, turned their madness-filled eyes towards me, their mouths gaping with gluttony.

Growl.

Groan, scream.

Yes, they were undead.

The people stationed at this base camp, for some reason, had been transformed into zombie-like creatures and had taken over the place.

“This is insane…”

It made no sense. Why were the adventurers in this dungeon turned into undead?

No matter how twisted space and time were in a dungeon, making it unpredictable, there was usually some consistency according to the environment.

Why, in a place where only creatures like gargoyles should appear, was a situation unfolding that wasn’t even mentioned in the prophecy?

[Before reading the note with the prophecy, please make sure to read this part first.]

The content written at the very beginning of Airi’s note came to mind.

The warning written before getting to the main point was sufficient to understand this inexplicable situation.

[Hyo-sung. While my prophecies usually fit most situations, they cannot be said to be absolutely perfect.]

The prophecy about the future was not perfect.

This confession would be very detrimental to trusting a prophet, but Airi had also written the reason why this would happen in her note.

[The reason is that there are a few beings in this world, known as ‘Transcendents,’ who can interfere with the future I foresee.]

Transcendents.

Beings who were in a state of transcending cognition, even beyond heroes, whose movements couldn’t be predicted even with her prophetic powers.

The reason I immediately accepted the existence of such beings was that I had encountered several such entities since coming to this world.

The vampire I met recently, Vivian who could blow away a building with just her finger, and Tacchia, whose exact identity was unknown but who considered Ego Weapons trivial, are also presumed to be such beings…

[So, if you believe that the prophecy and the situation differ, immediately destroy the notes I’ve given you and leave that place. Once a Transcendent has twisted the future, the future prophesied thereafter will also become twisted in a chain reaction.]

Yes, at some point, a Transcendent who could twist Airi’s prophesied future appeared in this dungeon and, before me, arrived at the base camp, slaughtering the adventurers and resurrecting them as undead.

And if the forces related to these undead were transcendent beings, there was only one such power in this world.

“Damn it… Why would a boss-level entity like the Four Knights appear in a dungeon meant for amateurs?”

The Corpse Lord.

One of the calamities that threatened humanity with the ideology of turning all living beings into animate corpses, forming armies of the dead.

One of the Four Knights that followed him had begun to extend its influence into this dungeon for some reason at this moment.