by Road Warrior
“Te-e-e-e-e-e!!!”
After applying the styptic, the homunculus began to hurriedly crawl into the darkness with its two arms.
“I must… I must repay Miss Mimi for giving us life… I must…”
More grumbling could be heard from the restless homunculus that faded into the darkness. Sungchul left the scene.
In front of the dungeon, there were countless avian corpses lying in wait. These hollowed creatures from an ancient time had no thoughts and no fear as they had their souls plundered through some sinister dark magic. They only knew to exterminate anyone that dared to intrude upon the tomb of their king.
There is no end to them.
He could fight them all day, but a lot of time was wasting away. He decided to change his method. Sungchul pulled out Fal Garaz from the Soul Storage. He held Cassandra, the demonic weapon, on the right and Fal Garaz on the left.
WHAM!
The hammer didn’t strike the avians, but the stone wall. The wall crumbled to open a path which allowed countless more avians to lunge towards him.
FWICK!
Cassandra, the demonic weapon, split the air with an earsplitting noise. Dozens of corpses were torn apart in the air as they were struck by the whip’s oppressive strength.
WHAM!
When one mob fell, he broke down another wall. Another mob of avians appeared, and Cassandra shrieked to disassemble his enemies once again. Sungchul repeated this process ad nauseam. Finally, he came across what appeared to be the end to this seemingly never-ending process. A square room rigged with a destructive magic appeared before him. He made quick work of all the avian corpses rushing toward him and stood before this room. A message of bright letters appeared before him.
[The Tomb of the Immortal King.]
[Spill the hot blood of the Nahak]
[Do so and the King shall respond to your call]
Sungchul’s pupils shook. It was because the tomb of the king was asking for the impossible. The Nahak were already extinct. There were no living Nahak left.
Chapter 6– The Last King
“…”
It was utterly hopeless. Sungchul looked around his surroundings to see countless bodies of Nahak strewn about on the floor, but none of them had hot blood flowing through their veins. However, it would be a waste of too much time and effort to give up now.
Sungchul circled around the area of the burial chamber looking for even the smallest of gaps in the construction, but it couldn’t be found. Forcing it open with his strength would cause an explosion that might cause the entire dungeon to collapse.
Is there any other way…
He knew of only one person that might know something: Mimi Azrael. He needed her. Sungchul immediately took action. He turned back toward the path of rubble that he had created and sought out the young woman with five… no, now four homunculi. He soon found a clue. It was the charred remains of a homunculus. There were similarly charred corpses of a pair of Sword Adepts beside it.
“This woman. They managed to get on her trail,” Bertelgia said as she saw the remains. Sungchul observed the scattered footprints on the ground. Mimi had fled north, and at least ten people were following behind her. Sungchul followed them quickly toward the dungeon filled with emerald light.
It didn’t take long before he discovered another two soldiers resting on the floor. They were part of the suicide unit. They didn’t even have enough energy left to speak and simply nodded toward Sungchul when they saw him passing by.
Soon, he discovered another homunculus corpse. It had been torn apart and scattered beyond recognition. Sungchul discovered another homunculus in a similar state before he found their owner.
“Ughhh…”
What he discovered was a woman in such a pitiful state that her continued survival was a form of punishment itself. Both her hands were nailed to the wall with swords instead of stakes and blood dripped from her body that gathered in a pool beneath her like water from a well. Three Sword Adepts were gathered around her snickering as they swapped stories.
“…”
Sungchul walked up to her.
“Who goes there?!” The three Sword Adepts discovered his presence and pulled out their swords.
Sungchul’s response to their question was Fal Garaz.
WHAM! BLAM! BAM!
He ignored the three corpses with their skulls bashed in and approached Mimi.
“My God… how could anyone do such a thing,” said Bertelgia who hid behind Sungchul’s back as though she couldn’t bear to watch.
Sungchul pulled out a healing potion and fed it to Mimi.
“Uu… Uh…” It would not have been surprising for anyone else to have died already, but Mimi's resilience was incredible.
“O-one more…!” She bit down on the bottle’s opening like a hungry baby onto a nipple and struggled to get every last drop. Sungchul gave her another potion as she asked, “T-thank you… but who are you?”
Sungchul then realized. Eyes that should have been sparkling from between her disheveled hair had been stabbed and had already lost their light.
Darkness leads to fear. Truly a despicable method. I don’t know who’s done it, but it isn’t their first time.
Sungchul contemplated this as he revealed his identity. “I’m Number 34.”
“Ah… it’s you… I thought as much. Hold on a moment.”
She had attempted to stand up and walk, but she collapsed before she could fully extend her knees. There was an injury behind her ankle where a knife was used to gouge out a portion of her leg.
“It looks as though your Achilles tendon was removed. That can’t be healed with potions. You’ll have to get it healed by a high priest personally.”
“Shit… shit… those bastards…”
Mimi was collapsed onto the floor while muttering profanities under her breath. Sungchul waited for her to calm down before speaking.
“Who did this? Willie Gilford? Or Mikhael?”
“It was neither. Mikhael does not know more than how to slap someone in the face. It was the butler that he carries around. Who knew that such a quiet old man would know such diabolical torture methods.”
The nightmarish moments flashed by her eyes once again causing her to shudder in fear. “…we have to hurry. They know everything!”
“About what?” asked Sungchul.
“About how to find the tomb of the Nahak King. Everything happened in a flash.”
“To open the tomb of the Nahak King, you need the blood of a living Nahak. Can that problem be solved?”
“I gave them the location of a living Nahak. They are most likely headed that direction,” Mimi replied.
Sungchul eyes lit up and he further inquired, “Just where is that exactly?”
Mimi wiped the blood dripping off of her forehead with her sleeve as she spoke. “Take me with you. I’ll lead the way.”
Sungchul slung her across his back. “Can you hang on?”
“I am strong enough for that at the very least.”
Soon, Mimi revealed everything she knew to Sungchul. The location of the last remaining Nahaks. Sungchul’s eyes shook when he heard it.
“They are at the dwelling of the Cave Elves?”
It was difficult to swallow, but even if it was hard to believe, he had no choice but to listen to Mimi. Sungchul stood before the small opening on the entrance to the fourth floor. It looked as though a typhoon had passed through it. There were frightening amounts of Cave Elf corpses strewn about the floor.
Sungchul followed a trail of blood in the direction the human expedition had traveled which led to a massive cavern beyond a dark cave. In this space of utter darkness where not even a single strand of light broke through, there were an uncountable number of huts made of feathers, bones, and the hides of insects and reptiles. It was the city of the Cave Elves.
Mimi spoke as they entered the city. “There is a breeding farm over to the Southeast.”
“A breeding farm?”
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It sounded jarring.
“An enemy!” Bertelgia shouted. As expected, a mass of Cave Elf warriors stood before Sungchul. Sungchul struck the ground with the demonic weapon Cassandra. Its unique cry resonated in the air causing the Cave Elves to lose their will to fight and flee. They had already acknowledged that this human was not an opponent on their level.
After passing through countless waves of Cave Elf warriors in a similar manner, they ran over to the breeding farm in question. The rancid smell of feces filled their noses, and they could hear something similar to the cry of a bird. They headed over to the massive tent made of bones and feathers where they finally spotted them.
“Buckaw!” The beings that inhabited this massive bone cage had the beak and wings of a bird and the body of a human. They were the Nahak.
However, the beings of legend were trapped in a small cramped chicken cage, making bestial noises.
“Bawk… Bawk…”
It wasn’t just the one. The Nahak trapped in the hundreds of cages within this tent were no longer the Nahak of legends that ruled the skies and land; they were lowly livestock. Sungchul could see decapitated Nahak corpses dangling from a corner of the tent designated as the butchery.
Mimi who was being piggy-backed smelled a sharp stench of bird droppings and said, “After the Nahak kingdom collapsed… the Cave Elves grabbed the children of the Nahaks and raised them as cattle. Here, the Nahaks are immediately thrown into these coops at birth, treated like animals for their eggs, then butchered when they come of age.”
“In some ways, this might have been the ultimate revenge,” Sungchul spoke as he recalled countless corpses of Cave Elves that had been buried alive within the walls he had broken through.
“Where did you find the clues that lead here?” Sungchul asked as he looked around his surroundings.
“I focused on the weapons that a few of the Cave Elves were using. They seemed to have been adorned with feathers and beaks.”
“That does seem to be the case.”
The Cave Elf that had appeared before to warn Sungchul was similarly decorated.
“But where would there be a bird in a dungeon this deep? Even if the Cave Elves wandered outside, they would never be able to catch any flying birds with their blindness. This line of questioning led to the correct hypothesis.”
“Impressive.” Suddenly, a thought entered Sungchul’s mind. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you fail then?”
“It took far too long until we learned of this truth.”
“I see.”
Sungchul grabbed one of the Nahak within the coop.
“Bawk, Bawk!” It was still a young beast, and like the other Nahaks, it showed no signs of intelligence.
Bertelgia looked around the area surrounding that Nahak with curiosity and spoke. “Hmmm. These are the Nahak of legends? Looking like this, they aren’t any different from chicken in a poultry farm.”
“Bawk Bawk!”
Suddenly, the young Nahak made a fuss and began to peck at Bertelgia.
“Hey, hey! It hurts, you birdbrain!”
Sungchul looked at the scene and spoke in a firm voice. “Bertelgia. Get inside my pocket.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re going to move at full speed.”
Bertelgia didn’t say anything more and stuffed herself into his pocket. Sungchul took a deep breath and propelled himself forward with the godlike strength in his body. The caves elves could sense, even though they could not see, that a being they could not hope to win against was crossing their lands at an unbelievable speed.
Sungchul who had returned to the dungeon through the opening stopped his steps and reassessed his directions.
Mimi, who had been on his back, opened her mouth to speak. “Excuse me.”
Sungchul didn’t bother looking before replying. “What is it?”
“You. You’re really strong. I can feel it. Even though I can’t see it.”
Sungchul could feel a sigh spilling out of her onto his back.
“If it’s small talk you’re after, I’ll have to refuse.”
“What’s the color of the feather of the Nahak you just caught?” she then asked in a different tone.
“White,” replied Sungchul.
“Ah, I see.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I was suddenly curious. Last time, we grabbed some blue ones and some white ones.”
“…”
Sungchul didn’t feel a need to respond. Mimi already had another question. “Could I ask a favor?”
“This is the last one. We don’t have time for small talk.”
“Did you perhaps see my homunculus? Not the dead ones, but ones that are still alive.”
“I only saw three dead corpses.”
“I see. That means there’s still one living. No, is it two?”
Mimi suddenly let go of Sungchul’s neck.
THUD.
Her body fell beside his feet.
“What are you doing?” asked Sungchul as he looked down at her fallen form.
“I’ll remain here. I don’t want to meet the people that did this to me.”
“They are not on my level.”
“Even if you say that, the fear that has been carved into my body is difficult to erase.”
The blind and lame Mimi looked around as she screamed with a pitiful voice. “Ujicha! Ujicha! Where are you! Ujicha!”
“…”
Sungchul left her behind and moved toward the tomb of the Nahak. As he followed the path that he had created, a square-shaped burial chamber revealed itself. However, there were some unwelcome guests in front of the chamber. They were the soldiers of the Ancient Kingdom. Mikhael Gilford and the man named Odrias stood in the center of them.
“Now, spread the blood of this chick on the altar.”
There was a baby avian fluttering in Odrias’s bloodied hands. It was also white like the one Sungchul had brought.
Odrias slit its throat without hesitation.
“Bawk BAWK-!!”
Crimson blood spilled from the avian. Odrias held the avian’s bleeding corpse on top of the altar. The concave space on top became filled with blood.
Was I a step too late? Sungchul observed the situation from a short distance. A geometric pattern formed on the surface of the obsidian burial chamber. It was a magical formation… no, something similar to one.
It’s a magical formation I’m not familiar with. Is it some magic technique of the Nahaks?
The surface began to tremble. Something was about to happen. It was the burial chamber. The blackened square burial chamber split perfectly in half and revealed what lay within. Mikhael clenched both his fists as he looked at the black burial chamber with a face swelling with pride.
“Finally. I did it! I finally did it!” He approached Odrias while still holding the avian corpse and shouted, his voice filled with happiness, “Old man Odrias! We did it! We really did it!”
“Not quite. It’s not yet the time to lower your guard. Didn’t I say so before? You can only climb up if you do everything right to the very end.”
“Yes. You did say that.” Mikhael laughed awkwardly before returning to his tense expression. The rumbling finally stopped. The burial chamber opened. Everyone held their breath as they approached the newly opened chamber. Sungchul quietly moved closer to them.
There were two sarcophagi within the burial chamber.
“Two sarcophagi? Are there two Kings of the Avians?” Mikhael scratched his head as he spoke. It was unexpected, but he continued optimistically, “It’s better with two sarcophagi. More for us to take.”
As his words left his mouth, the two sarcophagi began to open. The swordsmen of the Ancient Kingdom held their breath as they watched the sarcophagi open before them. Uncertainty rose in the hearts of all present. The corpses within the two sarcophagi wore extravagant garments with equipment adorned with ge
ms indicating their prestigious heritage, but everyone could see a single critical error. The ones within the sarcophagi were not avians. They were without beaks or wings. They were Cave Elves.
***
The Cave Elves were almost identical in appearance, but the weapons that they were wielding were different. One held a sword, while the other held a staff. They also had one critical difference from the other Cave Elves: their eyes. They possessed artificially inserted eyes that shined like brilliant rubies.
“Who was it?” The Cave Elf wielding a sword spoke as his eyes flashed a deep crimson. The voice was both dreary and authoritative. The humans surrounding him felt pressured from just hearing his voice.
“Young Master.” Odrias leaned in toward Mikhael’s ears. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Mikhael had recognized that there was something strange about the way things were going, but he hadn’t thought of retreating. “No. I don’t think so.”
Mikhael didn’t want to err by throwing away this opportunity that had taken great efforts to achieve. His only thoughts were on how he could return the spoils of victory to his father as quickly as possible.
Victory is within my grasp! Did you think I would back off when I am this close to my goal?
The shameful days in which he was criticized and scorned for being average passed through his eyes like a film.
“Are you both the Kings of the Avians?” Mikhael broadened his shoulders as he shouted with foolhardy confidence, and the two Cave Elves with shining eyes stopped their movements and turned to look at Mikhael.
“I have revived you two, so I demand a suitable reward. A being with the title of 'King' must keep its word, no?”
He stared them down without flinching. The Cave Elves returned his gaze and made no further actions. Meanwhile, Mikhael felt as though his heart would explode in this moment of silence. Hurry up. Bring me my reward quickly. The Crown of the Nahak which will prove my worth to all!
The sword-wielding Cave Elf pointed his finger toward Mikhael. Delight and heightened expectation brightened up Mikhael’s eyes, but only for a moment as the Elf spoke.
“We are not the king. We are but his most faithful servants.”
