Season 2: Chapter 184: The Final Floor (3)
Red, blue, yellow, black, and white. The sanctuary emitted all these colors of light.
“…?”
Almond looked at that sanctuary right in front of him.
“What, what is this?”
“How did this suddenly happen?”
Many people appeared around him. They all stood encircling the sanctuary in a circle. The notification said only one contractor had survived. Almond couldn’t understand what was going on.
‘... Perhaps.’
An ominous premonition passed through his head. One surviving contractor sounded ominous. Such an expression was strange because there weren’t supposed to be any contractors here.
A contractor contracted with an avatar and about half of them were deities. Such a person…
[Winner: Swift]
Swift was right there. His face could be seen beyond the sanctuary.
Almond and Swift stood the farthest apart in the circle.
Although he wasn’t quite a deity, Swift had used a skill and didn't die.He sneered at Almond.
“It's already over. Don't make such a scary face.”
Almond already knew this side of Swift, but the other party members were shocked at the sight of him.
“Sw… Swift? What do you mean it’s over?”
“You’re the winner, huh! How did this happen? Do we all live too!?”
Due to the rules of the stem layer, most party members were situated the farthest away and unaware of the situation.
“Everyone lives. Since I won, you see.”
Almond didn’t understand. What exactly did he win?
“While you guys were messing around, I took care of the last remaining contractor,” Swift said while cackling.
“In this abyss, we just need to kill all the contractors. And only the contractors wo—”
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud boom caused everyone to sway. Giant wings descended above the sanctuary.
Even Swift, who had been carefree, stepped back with a pallid face.
“Enough with the small talk.”
[Enough with the small talk!]
The voice boomed and resounded twice.
‘This voice is…’
It was the voice that bestowed the rules. This entity had been creating the rules. Despite the sanctuary’s blinding light, Almond looked straight up at him.
He was a bird-human and talked like a human. The bird-human walked on two legs, but had a bird’s face and beak. His upper body was definitely that of a human male and his legs were those of a giant hawk with three talons.
His wings were…
‘Blades?’
They weren’t just wings. It was a massive weapon made of iron feathers forged into blades.
The bird-man spoke again, “There is only one winner, but there are many by-products. Are all of you Swift's comrades?”
“...”
Silence followed for a moment. Everyone was unsure of how to answer.
“If you're not comrades of Swift, then you must die here since the winner is Swift.”
“...?”
Everyone was startled and looked around. No one here dared to oppose this bird. However, who could easily accept that Swift was the winner and everyone else but his comrades had to die?
“Co-Comrade!”
It was Luna. She quickly raised her hand and shouted.
— WTF, haha.
— The confrontation with Swift is crazy~
— This wasn't an abyss but an F1 race.
— LOL, what a quick line change.
If Luna reacted this quickly, it definitely seemed like a dangerous situation. Almond also contemplated simply agreeing for a moment.
A message passed through his head.
‘Don't trust the birds.’
Didn’t the tattoo say not to trust the bird? Then, was the bird lying to them? It didn’t make sense.
Almond asked the bird, “Hey. Why is Swift the winner? There are so many people left here.”
A moment of silence passed. It was difficult to breathe when the bird's eyeballs rolled toward Almond.
— The atmosphere is like asking a question right before the semester ends.
— Wow... So intense...
— Lol, I feel like I'm going to die!!
“Gulp.”
Luna gulped nervously beside him. She had her hand on her hilt as if ready to fight at any moment, but her hand was shaking too much.
The bird opened its mouth, “Only one can win this competition.”
The human bird spread its wings threateningly.
"Contractors! Only one person can win. There is only one remaining contractor here, so the victory belongs to you. If there are no other contractors left, only one uncontracted person will win. Their companions will not be considered."
Murmurs followed. Almond and the others exchanged strange glances as if discussing something among themselves. It was still incomprehensible. No, it was difficult to accept that Swift was the only contractor here.
— What is this? Are we minions?
— No, but isn't Almond also a contractor? Even though he's being possessed.
— Oh... so we’re minions?
— No, we are ordinary people without contracts.
— They stabbed us in the back. It was their own league, after all.
"So I ask again. Are you all companions of the chosen contractor of this castle? If you all are, you can win together. If not... you die here."
The bird turned to Swift, urging for an answer. No one knew if he would ask again. They just had to avoid death.
Almond nodded reluctantly. The rest did the same.
"Are they all companions?"
The bird turned its head to Swift.
"Is that correct?"
Almond didn’t expect the human bird to ask Swift again. Swift had the power to decide their life and death right here.
— Wow.
— Whoa.
— What if he excludes Luna and Almond?
— Holy shit.
A few couldn't be considered Swift's companions even if they wanted to be.
Swift unexpectedly answered, "Yes. They are all my companions."
“Phew.”
Sighs of relief could be heard everywhere. At least for now, they were safe.
‘What is he thinking?’
Why did Swift pass up the opportunity to eliminate his enemies so easily?
The bird's question didn't end there.
"Alright, chosen contractor."
Zoom!
The castle shimmered with a strong light.
"Now it's your turn to choose."
Three choices appeared before Swift like when opening a rune box.
[1. Divine Contract]
[2. Castle Ownership]
[3. Castle Recharge]
The bird began to explain each one.
"Divine Contract. With the power present in this castle, you may make a contract with a deity. With the current power, you may contract with a third tier deity of the heavenly realm."
Option one was straightforward, but wasn’t Swift already a contractor? Then what was this about?
"Currently, you have a contract with a measly first tier deity, but you will gain a completely different power if you contract with a third tier deity of the heavenly realm."
A measly deity and a third tier deity? If that was the case, Swift had contracted with a very low quality deity.
The bird continued.
"However, all the power of this castle will disappear. The abyss will also cease to exist and your companions will leave with you. They won't be able to become contractors like you, but they shouldn't have any problems making a living if they make good use of their experience surviving in the abyss."
They could leave? So easily like this?
Almond was dumbfounded.
'Wait... is he…?’'
If it was this easy to escape the abyss with Swift's choice...
'I knew it. That guy was the cause of everything.'
Almond looked at Swift in disbelief. For now, he decided to hear the next option. However, it seemed futile to stay here any longer.
Luna, in particular, was angrily glaring at Swift and tightly clenched her fists.
"The next option is Castle Ownership."
The bird announced the next choice.
"Since you have been chosen by this castle, you may claim ownership of it. However, once ownership of the castle is taken beyond the heavenly realm, a contract cannot be made. If you take this castle to your world, you can gain vast wealth and honor. You may also share it with your companions. Perhaps everyone will be happy in that way."
Both of the first two options were paths everyone could take. The second option could make everyone happy.
Nevertheless, Swift just smiled without choosing and kept smirking.
"The last option is Castle Recharge. It literally means charging the castle with power."
What good would recharging the castle with power do?
— Whoa.
— What is that about?
— Oh... it's already ominous.
— Swift, you bastard. Swift, you bastard. Swift, you bastard.
— Damn it.
Judging from Swift's gaze, he seemed to be considering the third option already.
Whether he would choose it or not, the bird continued.
"If the castle gains more power, you will be able to summon higher tier deities when you contract in the future and you will receive more value when you own it later. However, there is no guarantee that you will make that contract or come to own it again."
The bird looked around at the other companions.
"The method of recharging the castle requires the experience points of all your companions here."
All their experience points…
‘Are our memories the experience points?’
Almond didn't realize it because the term was used too often in games. It literally meant turning their experience into points and experience was closely related to memories. No, these two were inseparable.
Recharging this castle with their experience points wasn't simply about returning to level one. It meant that memories of what happened here would disappear.
Swift kept choosing this option.
"And this abyss will start over from the beginning. You may never reach this castle again. Other contractors might appear and contract with the castle you diligently filled."
Despite the other two options above and the high risk of this option, he continued to choose this option to contract with the highest tier deity possible.
— Did this crazy guy choose this option all this time???
— Wow, he's insane.
— It's such a tragedy not being a contractor.
— So the abyss was originally a competition among contractors.
— Look at his greed, damn it.
Curses at Swift flooded the chat.
[GangnamNoona has donated 10,000 won.]
[So Swift has been dropping out of Swift University and kept transferring to Seoul National University?]
— Hahaha, for real.
— Nth year student showdown.
— He was a swindler.
— This was an experience for parents of students retaking the college entrance exam.
— This is hilarious, lol.
That accurately summed up the sentiment toward Swift. However, it was at the expense of others being greatly sacrificed due to his greed.
"Now, choose, contractor."
Everyone looked at Swift. Ironically, they all had bright faces. They didn't even think for a moment that Swift would choose the third option.
"This… this means we can be all winners, right?! Swift! We hit the jackpot!"
"Yeah! Let's not make a contract like you said and take the castle with us!"
They seemed to believe that what Swift said by the campfire was real.
"Swift. You said you weren't interested in becoming a contractor, right? So it’s option two?"
Swift said he wasn't interested in becoming a contractor. He told them that his goal was to escape, share the money, and live happily ever after. It seemed like he would obviously choose option two, which no one would reject.
Of course, that wasn't the real Swift. He had just been pretending. The real Swift wasn't like that at all.
'It won't work.'
Almond made up his mind.
"I choose option three—"
Pang!
A blue arrow flew out. Its trajectory gently avoided the castle and—
Whooosh!
It instantly pierced through Swift’s tongue.
"Ku... gurg...!"
Swift didn't even imagine that the arrow would fly back toward the castle. He just kept babbling and covering his tongue.
Almond pulled his bowstring again.
At that moment, a blonde head flashed by.
Swish—
"This..."
It was Luna.
"Mother fucker!"
Thud!
It seemed like an incredible leap. Her eyes passed over the castle and spat fire.
"Dieeeee!!!"
Fwrrrrrr!
Blue flames enveloped the tip of her sword.
[Blade Strengthening]
She used a skill that she had never been shown before and saved solely for this moment to kill Swift.
— Whoa, Luna is using Blade Strengthening!!
— Wow, blade strengthening is Flashy Blade’s skill.
— Holy…
— Damn.