“M-Master…”
“Feels like it’s forever since I slept so well. I forget how long it has been since I’ve actually gotten any…”
“Oh! Are you well again?”
“Master!”
“You’ve been through a lot. You’ve also worried a lot, Count Audu?”
“Sniffle…”
“It’s a relief to see that you’ve recovered. It really is most fortunate!”
Min-Cheol stood up, just like that.
He had recovered after eating the food given by that old woman, Gera.
The scroll merchant Gera and her granddaughter Karupedan…
While he wasn’t sure that if this only amounted up to a coincidence, they did provide assistance to Min-Cheol.
Hoping for his swift recovery, Dan and Audu were elated when their hopes came true.
The 5 clones that had continued to cast their healing spells now lined up with satisfied looks, as if waiting for Min-Cheol’s orders.
Min-Cheol patted the shoulder of Dan, who cried with his head lowered, and asked him a question.
“You’ve really been through a lot. It’s alright now.”
“I really thought that you wouldn’t be able to stand up ever again.”
“Thank you for your hard work. But let me ask, how many days since I’ve been out for the count?”
“Three days. But many things have changed since.”
“What of the remaining marquises…”
“Yes. Demon. No, the one that master calls Barub has taken all of them out.”
“So what I have worried about has come. Then the only one left is the castellan, Mithrael?”
“Yes… However…”
“Don’t worry about it. I won’t lose to someone I’ve lost to already.”
“Have you really recovered fully?”
“Yes. Both my body and mind have returned to normal.”
“I felt like I was grasping at straws. It’s really fortunate.”
While Min-Cheol had completely recovered and dusted himself off, the situation wasn’t that good.
Barub had already grown stronger than Min-Cheol by far, and the only way to overcome the gap was to defeat Mithrael after all.
However, Mithrael wasn’t an easy adversary.
He had slammed Min-Cheol in a single hit without moving at all.
And on top of that, he had caused Min-Cheol to be bed ridden for days in a row like a NEET.
But Min-Cheol spoke calmly, as if he had predicted all of this ahead of time.
“So what did you do? I really thought this was the end.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I’m asking how you’ve treated me. I don’t think I’ve gotten back up from the healing skills my clones were using.”
“Ah… Well. I just brought some food and fed you.”
“Hm?”
“Soup and bread.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes. Do you remember the old woman who we met at the skill scroll shop before?”
“I remember. The elder who gave me the cursed scroll, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. All I did was to feed you the food she made.”
“Hm…”
“I don’t think she’s a regular person. She knew you were defeated the moment that she saw me, and I feel as though she has some mysterious power.”
“Is that so. Seems I must give her thanks before returning.”
“More importantly, what will you do now?”
“What do you think? I need to close the gap and need to overcome Barub.”
“Then you’ll need a way to grow stronger. I’m asking who will be the target.”
“He’s right here.”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you a Protector yourself?”
“Eh?”
“No need to be shocked. It’s a joke. As I said, everything ends if I can defeat Mithrael. Then there is no way that Barub can overcome me.”
“…”
It was to be expected that Dan could not say anything but squirm.
Min-Cheol raised his body off the bed.
His body was the same state as before being defeated by Mithrael, and it wasn’t as if he had grown stronger since.
Since Min-Cheol, who had been defeated by the castellan in such a complete fashion, was so confident at facing him, Dan couldn’t help but wonder.
He had thought that Min-Cheol might be repeating the mistake he had made before.
However, Min-Cheol had always surprised Dan so far.
He did have faith that his confidence wasn’t just false hopes.
Fully standing up, Min-Cheol gave orders to his clones.
“Bring my armor and sword.”
“I shall go.”
“Yeah idiot, you go do it.”
The firstborn clone seemed so pleased with Min-Cheol waking back up that he brought the armor and sword with all smiles.
The clones had cleaned the bloodied, dirty equipment ahead of time.
Min-Cheol had received a massive amount of damage, but the armor looked new, without a single dent.
Receiving the armor, Min-Cheol stared at the where the Protector talisman was socketed.
And with his sword, pulled out the talisman.
“Master. Why are you suddenly removing the Protector talisman?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“What is it?”
“Remember that I’ve received something nice before? I didn’t expect that I’d have to use it though.”
“No way! The Flame Dragon’s Talisman?”
“Correct. Gotta catch a dragon with a dragon.”
Min-Cheol removed the talisman that protected the armor from destruction.
The reason why this armor was left unscathed without as much as a dent was because of this talisman.
Revealed was the Flame Dragon’s Talisman that he had received from defeating an elite monster, socketed backwards.
The armor that Dump crafted had two spots to socket talismans.
He had asked it to be prepared in advance just in case, but Dump had already crafted the armor that way before Min-Cheol had requested it.
Min-Cheol then pulled out the Flame Dragon’s talisman that had been socketed backwards as well.
Then he flipped it to the correct side and slotted it in.
-click.
In an instant, the armor glowed bright.
Only a single Protector’s talisman attached to the armor could be in effect at any given moment.
Even though you could make any socketable areas to put in talismans in the armor, it was pointless.
There was a reason why Min-Cheol had put the Flame Dragon’s Talisman backwards.
It was because he wanted the talisman that protected the armor from destruction to be in effect over any others.
However, the situation had changed.
Seeing that Mithrael’s real form was a dragon, he realized that he needed more power.
“That’s right… The old woman said that.”
“What did she say?”
“That the reason why master could not wake up was because of the ‘Dragon’s Scar.’”
“Dragon’s Scar? That old woman truly has quite the mysterious ability. Wonder how she knows that I’ve been defeated by a dragon.”
“Huh? Then the words you’ve been saying that sounded more like sleeptalking were…”
“I’m sure of it. Mithrael isn’t a human being. After I lost my consciousness from his strike, what I saw right after was a dragon.”
“A dragon…”
“A dragon that glowed bright blue. That is his true form and identity.”
“So you’re telling me that you’re going to use the power of the Flame Dragon’s talisman to defeat Mithrael?”
“That’s right. If the talisman had been socketed correctly, then I wouldn’t have lost so thoroughly to him a couple days ago in our fight.”
“So you’re sure of it?”
“Of course. With this, I will turn the tables again.”
“But you don’t know the conditions required to activate the Flame Dragon’s talisman.”
“It’s not clearly stated. But, don’t you get a sense of it?”
“What feeling are you talking about?”
“Mithrael’s true identity is that of a dragon. He did not receive the power of a dragon through a Protector’s talisman and is instead a real dragon.”
“So what are you saying?”
“It means that the answer will be made clear once I meet him. The catalyst that will activate the power of the talisman will be him after all.”
“Isn’t this too risky? Master?”
“Risky? I don’t have anywhere to back-peddle. Dying while resisting the castellan, or dying a week later after traveling to another dimension is the same thing.”
“True…”
Min-Cheol put on the armor that he socketed the new talisman into, and then twisted around to stretch his rigid body.
And then he laid on the bed again.
Flabbergasted by his behavior, Dan asked while sighing.
“Didn’t you say that you’re going to overtake Barub?”
“I did say that.”
“But is continuing to lay on the bed going to allow you to overtake Barub?”
“Yep.”
“Are you sure that you’re better now? Does your head hurt or…”
“Yep.”
“Whew… Take it easy with the jokes. Should someone who just came back after a near death experience act like this?”
“Dan. Right now, we have to hide and stay low.”
“Why?”
“Barub probably expects his victory and has hid somewhere, or probably consumed with trying to kill a strong Protector, right? Barub is already stronger than me, so there is no reason to try fighting against Mithrael after all.”
“That’s true…”
“But think about what would happen if I try to move to fight against Mithrael when there are still days left and I get discovered by Barub. Maybe it would be possible if I could activate the Flame Dragon’s talisman at will. If that’s not the case, then things would end before I could even get to the castellan.”
“So you plan to strike right before returning back?”
“That’s correct. Why didn’t you feed me the soup a couple days later? So I could sleep for a couple more days.”
“Hey now. That’s a really dark joke.”
“You must’ve been through a lot over the past few days because of me, so you should take a break as well. You don’t have to worry and can rest as well, Count Audu.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“And the rest of you, return back to me.”
With Min-Cheol’s command, the clones followed his command and disappeared.
While Min-Cheol did suggest rest, Dan, whose face wasn’t revealed to Barub, left to gather information once more.
And with that, Min-Cheol was able to take a brief respite after 90 days of arriving in Hell.
3 days ago, at dawn.
Barub had defeated all the remaining marquises in Larkenta.
On top of that, Barub took caution against the castellan’s movements while killing all the Protectors within the castle before going into hiding.
As Min-Cheol had expected, Barub had gone into hiding.
While Barub had no idea what happened to their enemy, Min-Cheol, they realized that Min-Cheol had stopped taking action at some point.
The remaining 3 marquises was what determined the victor from the defeated, but Barub had been able to absorb their strength without contest after all.
They had guessed that Min-Cheol had been done in by Castellan Mithrael.
Barub thought to themself that they had already taken an incontestable lead in their bet.
Min-Cheol, who had tried to grow stronger had disappeared.
Even if he was still alive, Barub had now power than Min-Cheol did.
The only biggest threat to their assured victory was Mithrael.
That’s why after obtaining all that power, Barub was hidden as far as possible from the castle.
They had hid themself far away from the unexplored hunting grounds as well.
After all, if they just hold out until the time to be summoned back the celestial plane came, then this long yet amusing bet would come to an end.
****
And with that, 6 days had passed.
During that time, Min-Cheol lived a life of a complete shut-in.
Because he had no need to even eat, he did not leave the inn for a total of 6 days.
All he did was to silently guard his spot on the inn’s bed the entire time.
Now, exactly 24 hours remained before the promised 100 days would pass.
Both Min-Cheol and Barub would be summoned back to the celestial plane.
And with both of them summoned, their final battle would unfold.
The loser would obviously lose their life, and the winner would receive unfathomable power.
After all, this was a bet with the seat of an absolute god as the reward.
Min-Cheol currently was at the most important part of the bet right now.
No. You could say that he was at a lifetime’s crossroad that would never come again.
This single fight would determine everything, and it would also greatly affect the future face off as well.
With a determined expression, he put on the armor and gripped onto his sword.
He planned to go to Mithrael’s castle.
Dan and Audu did not come along.
This would be Min-Cheol’s last fight, and there wasn’t any guarantees that he would win.
And he had already seen the face of Castellan Mithrael.
There was no way that Min-Cheol could forget the one that had completely stomped him.
“So we can see you again after the fight?”
“Of course. You and Count Audu. And I cannot forget to say goodbye Mr. Dump and Berlette as well. Ah! And I also need to do so for the elder at the scroll store.”
“Please come back safe. I won’t worry. I’ll just patiently wait for you.”
“Yeah. I’ll be back.”
With that, Min-Cheol shook hands with the two of them before tearing the scroll to head for the castle.
Comments