Resurrection Chapter 128 - He Didn’t Lie

‘It’s not your fault. Because sometimes, even I am tormented by that kind of fear. And it is enough for me alone to feel that way.’

Calmly admitting his own fear, he gave me his blessing. Then, letting go of my hand, he showed me a faint smile.

‘I will save people for your share. So you just think about your own life.’

The time allotted to me was up, and I could no longer stand in front of Heesoo hyung. I accepted the signed paper he gave me and stepped back, dazed. After that, I felt strange.

Heesoo hyung’s words didn’t wash away the guilt or fear I had been trying not to acknowledge. It just made me realize what kind of mindset Heesoo hyung lived with.

It wasn’t just my fear that he shouldered. He was trying to save others on behalf of everyone in the world.

To call him a hero, a man who took on a responsibility that ordinary people could not readily choose, was not enough. He was choosing to become a savior himself.

That feeling at that moment.

A feeling that could only be described as shock enveloped me. How on earth could that person be like that? Is a person that noble really the same as me?

The shock subsided into surprise, the surprise soon developed into respect, and the respect into wonder. He may have been born the same as me, but his soul was by no means like mine. It was nobler and stronger than anyone else’s. Perhaps he really was a messenger sent by a god to save humanity.

That thought was what made me choose him when I acquired Resurrection. I was certain that Heesoo hyung could endure the pain of resurrection and reach the max level. So I spoke to him of the world’s salvation, and he, a man befitting a savior, accepted the harsh fate of having to fight against death.

But strictly speaking, my wish was not that noble. I just hated a world where I had to kill others just to survive. I just hoped that I would never again cause someone’s death out of fear.

Perhaps I wanted to obtain a pardon by putting the salvation of the world first. I had hoped that Heesoo hyung would save not something else, but me.

I still haven’t told Heesoo hyung all of that. There was no need to tell someone like Heesoo hyung my pathetic story. The noble purpose of killing the Black King and saving the world was enough.

But if the reason he cannot easily overcome spirit possession is because of me, I wanted to tell him that saving the world is ultimately saving me. Because that might help Heesoo hyung clarify his purpose and steel his resolve.

I boosted my spirits by thinking of the day I would meet him again. Then, I urged my legs, which kept losing strength, and walked through the dark labyrinth.

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“Ugh, this can’t be right.”

Realizing that I had returned to my starting point, I muttered to myself in despair.

The pile of rubble from the collapse, the hole in the ceiling, and the passages stretching in all directions were familiar. After all the trouble in the maze, I thought I had finally found a way out somewhere, but in the end, I was back where I started.

The bigger problem was that there were still many passages I hadn’t entered yet. Only one of them would lead to the altar, and the thought of having to wander through countless mazes to find it was daunting. I couldn’t bring myself to go back in there, so I started to think of a shortcut.

Thinking I might as well try to break through the floor continuously, I lifted and moved a boulder with magic and began casting.

I drew a simple magic circle on the floor to amplify my magic power, then used Fire Explosion. This magic, an evolved version of Fireball, looked simple but was quite effective at breaking things.

Craaack! With a loud noise, the floor vibrated. The smooth, seamless stone floor broke apart, revealing the earth beneath.

Looking at the hollowed-out area, it seemed there was nothing underneath. If there was a space below, the floor should have collapsed just like the ceiling did when I broke through it.

I learned that the maze was a flat plane, not three-dimensional, but that was of little comfort. It meant that tricks like breaking through the ceiling or the floor wouldn’t work.

Sighing at the thought that I was stuck wandering through the maze, I raised my head. The sky above was dark, as if it were night. Unlike the night sky on Earth, I saw auroral lights shimmering, and the sight made me think I needed to get some fresh air for a moment, even if it meant going back into the maze.

“Blink.”

As I went back up to the surface and opened my eyes, a scene unfolded that was no different from what I remembered. The only things that were different were that it was night, and there was a structure in the middle of the wilderness that I hadn’t seen before.

Wondering if I was just not remembering it, I stared intently in that direction. But the perfectly rectangular stone slab was definitely not there before.

“Could it be…?”

I muttered to myself and walked toward it. The more I walked, the more certain I became. This was not the place I had seen. It must be a subspace overlapping the real space.

It was the sanctuary where the altar of Ulfheðinn was located.

‘How stupid! I just had to come out of the same hole I went in! This entire dungeon is Ulfheðinn’s sacred ground, so there was no need to search through the underground maze!’

I cursed my own foolishness, thinking about what would have happened if I had gone back into the maze. My walking pace quickened into a run, and I finally reached the altar. The top of the altar, paved with stone slabs, was smooth and bare. But I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to call the master of the sanctuary.

“O, Ulfheðinn.”

I called out formally, but there was no response. I called Ulfheðinn once more, but it was the same. I tilted my head and touched the stone slab with my hand. Wondering if I had to press something or offer something, my hand sank into the stone slab.

“Huh?”

In a moment of carelessness, I lost my balance and tumbled into the stone slab. Blood rushed to my head, and a strong wind hit my cheeks. I had instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, but when I opened them again, I was greatly surprised.

I was falling through the air.

The surroundings were engulfed in darkness, but the ground below was teeming with something. What was churning so much that the ground was not visible was none other than monsters. Monsters were tangled up with other monsters, fighting among themselves.

The mountains visible in the distance were colossal beasts I had never seen before. It was a terrifying sight, like looking at hell, but I had seen a place like this before. There was no doubt. But where had I seen it?

Racking my memory, I soon let out a small, “Ah!”

It was the very scene I had witnessed when Ulfheðinn gave his first revelation.

I couldn’t tell if this was the real sanctuary, another subspace, or Ulfheðinn’s world. I used the golden feathers to float my body so I wouldn’t fall into the midst of the monsters. Slowly descending, I looked around, not knowing where to go.

Then, I saw an altar buried among the monsters.

No sooner had I instinctively thought I had to go there than a flock of monstrous birds flew in with an ear-splitting screech.

Flap-flap-flap-flap—!

The fierce sound of flapping wings rushed in, and I teleported. However, I only moved about half the distance I had expected. Moreover, the magic consumption was huge. Realizing I’d be in big trouble if I recklessly spammed magic, I drew my magic sword. The moment I fell to the ground, I brought the sword’s blade to my forearm and made an Offering.

As Lævateinn awakened, strength flowed into the hand gripping the sword’s hilt. The moment I landed on the ground, I swept away the surrounding monsters. As the monsters fell back in a rush, revealing the ground beneath my feet, a chill ran down my spine. Just as I had seen in the revelation, the ground beneath my feet was entirely covered in the corpses of monsters.

I endured the squishy sensation under my feet and grit my teeth, swinging my sword. The swordsmanship imbued in Lævateinn made me dance like a man possessed.

As the limbs and flesh of monsters scattered around me, I cut a path and ran. Monsters that had noticed my presence began to swarm in like a tsunami from all directions. Even the colossal beasts in the distance flashed their eyes toward me.

With the thought that I would die if I didn’t reach the altar, I fought desperately. I cut down the monsters blocking my path again and again. My whole body was sticky with the black and blue blood of the monsters. I swallowed the horrible, bloody smell that seeped into my mouth and forged a path forward.

It was then. The Awakened system announced a level up.

「Congratulations! You have reached Lv.52.」

A most welcome light flickered above my head and various explanations were heard, but I couldn’t rejoice. Instead of savoring the sense of achievement, I slaughtered the monsters that were charging at me with all their might.

The altar was so close, yet so terribly far. It was incredibly difficult to break through to the altar because of the monsters swarming from all sides.

I fought like a madman with Lævateinn. I knew the magic sword’s power was rapidly depleting my physical strength, but I couldn’t stop. I killed and killed the monsters that came at me relentlessly like waves. I continued the slaughter as if I were a berserker.

「Congratulations! You have reached Lv.53.」

I had killed so many monsters that I leveled up again in a short time. On the other hand, the pain I felt throughout my body intensified. It felt like my body, pushed to its limit, would be torn to shreds if I didn’t reach the altar. I felt my strained limbs screaming as I struggled to forge a path to the altar.

How long did I fight like that?

When I finally thought I had reached a suitable distance, I used the very last of my magic, which I had saved until the end, to move onto the altar.

“Teleport!”