Chapter 74
[Lowering the Health, Dexterity, and Sense stats due to excessive skill usage.]
[The Dawn of the Fairies seeps into you, removing all debuffs.]
[Dungeon Quest: Fairy Queen’s Knight, cleared.]
[10,000,000 Karma obtained.]
[Stat cube (A) obtained.]
[Purification merit rank: 2]
[Additional 5,000,000 Karma obtained.]
[Item cube (A) obtained.]
[You dealt a decisive blow to an enemy with a significantly higher caliber.]
[All stats were used beyond their limit.]
[Eternally recording this feat in the Akasha.]
[Heightening the caliber of Destiny Force.]
[Heightening the caliber of Magic.]
...
Seong-Hwi could tell from the countless Akasha Messages that he had hit the dungeon jackpot. However, he did not look happy, possibly because the skin of his left face had been ripped off. His eyes were fixed on Dryas, who was slowly floating to the ground.
“Dryas! W-what have you done?! You’re in no condition to...” Gilder trailed off.
The Dawn of the Fairies dimmed, and Dryas’s hair turned white.
“Knight Gilder... and Knight Seong-Hwi. Thank you both for helping me free myself of the thorn in my heart.”
She had felt guilty for letting her negative emotions bring forth Meliades and letting her turn Larayu Cradle into a nest of Chaos Mana. Her heart had been freed of that weight at last.
“That doesn’t matter right now! You’re okay, right? Tell me you’ll be okay!” Gilder shouted.
Dryas smiled and nodded. “I’m fine. I still have enough time to say my farewells.”
“Farewells?” Gilder mumbled in disbelief, his eyes lifeless. “No. No. I-I said I would protect you.”
Seong-Hwi said, “Pull yourself together, Gilder Roy. She’s about to say her farewells. You should listen to her.”
“What?” Gilder grimaced and grabbed Seong-Hwi’s collar. “Cheon Seong-Hwi! You bastard! You should have just stabbed the os! Why did you give Dryas the wings?!”
“I wasn’t sure if I could destroy her os. It was our last chance, and I chose the most surefire option.”
“Y-you son of a bitch! Come to think of it, the Shadow Fairy Queen never should have been able to find this place. Don’t tell me you—”
“That’s right. I lured her here,” Seong-Hwi affirmed.
“Motherfucker!” Gilder punched Seong-Hwi in the face, sending him tumbling across the ground. “Why?! That wasn’t part of the plan!”
“Plan? What plan? Are you talking about that passive plan for one of us to protect Dryas while the other kills the Chaos one by one?”
“What did you say?!”
Seong-Hwi struggled to stand up and continued, “You’re on the verge of becoming an escaper. You would have become weaker over time! You could never have even attempted this in two or three years and would have just died with Dryas. Is that what you wanted? An honorable death?”
Gilder gritted his teeth but couldn’t talk back because nothing Seong-Hwi said was false.
“You could have at least told me!” he shouted.
“What if I did? Would you have agreed to it? No, you would’ve tried to stop me because you’re the knight in shining armor, drunk on the desire to protect.”
“I’ve had it with your bullshit, you fucker!”
As Seong-Hwi and Gilder were about to charge at each other, Dryas shouted, “Please stop! Knight Gilder and Knight Seong-Hwi, you’re both in the right. Gilder is the shield that protects me, and Seong-Hwi is the sword that defeats my foes using any means necessary. Ahhh, if only I had met you two sooner.”
Dryas slowly began to turn into golden light particles and scatter.
“NO! DRYAS!”
“I will leave this with you, Knight Gilder. You told me the fairies are being oppressed in your world, right?”
Dryas removed her silver crown and gave it to Gilder.
“This is...”
[Queen’s Crown (Artifact)
Rank: —
Description: The crown of the Fairy Queen, created by melting a box that once held the Harmony Stone. It holds the power of the Harmony Stone. The succession begins once granted to a worthy fairy, revealing its hidden powers.]
“I grant my first knight, Gilder Roy, the right to select the next Fairy Queen.”
Dryas kissed Gilder’s forehead. A rainbow shield appeared on his forehead and disappeared.
[Engraving the mark of the Fairy Queen’s First Knight.]
[You are granted the privileges of the Agent of Succession.]
[Favor can be earned from the fairies.]
“I grant my second knight, Cheon Seong-Hwi, my wings, as promised.”
Dryas kissed Seong-Hwi’s forehead this time. A rainbow sword appeared on his forehead and disappeared.
[Engraving the mark of the Fairy Queen’s Second Knight.]
[You are granted the right to use the wings of the Ancient Fairy Queen Dryas.]
[Favor can be earned from the fairies.]
The twelve pairs of beautiful wings were detached from Dryas and attached to Seong-Hwi’s back. The wings shone brightly, containing every color imaginable. Only one maintained its light, and the other twenty-three turned transparent.
[Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings (Artifact)
Rank: F(54)
Description: Twelve pairs of wings holding the power of the Harmony Stone. They are the wings of the Ancient Fairy Queen Dryas, who lived for a millennium. They harmoniously embrace various qualities. They have currently lost most of their power.]
This is the artifact Lina Ahn told me about—the immunosuppressant!
Seong-Hwi had acquired the foothold toward the Ten Lords and Fiends at last.
“They have lost much of their power, but... please make good use of them,” Dryas pleaded.
“I promise I will repay this debt to the fairies,” Seong-Hwi replied.
The translucent Dryas smiled.
Gilder, eyes bloodshot, gritted his teeth and mumbled, “I... failed again. I couldn’t... protect you.”
“That’s not true, Gilder. I would have given up on life long ago if it weren’t for you.”
The wingless Dryas slowly walked toward Gilder and stared at him for the last time. The human looked rough with his robust body, but possessed kind brown eyes.
She continued, “You protected my heart. Thanks to you, I strived for the future without breaking down.”
Dryas hugged Gilder. She got on her tiptoes but only reached his chest. Gilder wanted to hug Dryas tightly, but the Prosthetic Arm of Sin only creaked, unable to move.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart. In my millennium of life, you were my first lo...”
Dryas turned into golden light particles and scattered. They flew toward the hundred remaining cradles and seeped into them. The cradles shook slightly as if finishing her sentence.
“Ah... Ahhh!”
Gilder fell to his knees and stared at his unmoving right arm. The last golden light particle seeped into it like an evaporating morning dew. Seong-Hwi stared at Gilder, shedding tears in silence, and turned to the cradles.
Dryas said fairies are born from a single dew droplet mixed with the energies of the sky and earth, Seong-Hwi recalled.
Now that the Chaos Mana filling the dungeon was gone, new fairies would be born from the cradles over time.
“Since winter has passed, it’s time to wait for spring,” Seong-Hwi muttered.
However, it was only the beginning of winter for Gilder.
***
Heart, my heart, oh, be not shaken,
And still calmly bear thy pain!
For the spring will bring again
What a dreary winter's taken.
Heinrich Heine, The Homeward Journey
***
“Gurgh! Damn goblins, I could swallow them whole! Kurgh!”
“Stop groaning, Tigrinus. Where’s that tiger spirit you always boast about?”
“Growl! Muka! How could you say that to a comrade who was tortured for half a month?” said Tigrinus, covered in wounds after a trip to solitary confinement and the torture chamber, to Muka. He turned to Thumper and continued, “You too, Thumper! How could you tell that human information about the dungeon? That’s the most valuable information we have!”
“Keep your voice down, Tigrinus. It was already done and over fifteen days ago. We have no choice but to trust Friend Seong-Hwi now,” Thumper replied.
“Growl! How do you expect me to trust a human?! The only human I trust is Park Tae-Jin!” Tigrinus irritatedly slammed his tail on the ground, the noise echoing throughout the hall. “There’s been no word from that human for over half a month, right? He must’ve run away!”
“That’s impossible. If Seong-Hwi betrayed us, he would have taken the brunt of the quest penalty at the cost of my life. I’m still alive, so it’s proof he hasn’t betrayed us.”
“Grrr! Dammit, rabbit! Why would you just risk your life like that?! We all promised to escape together!” Tigrinus shouted frustratedly.
However, he also knew they had no other choice but to trust the human Cheon Seong-Hwi.
“That aside, how are things lately?” Thumper asked.
“The Tin Can is at its breaking point. They could clash at any second,” Chlor answered from across Thumper’s cell.
The goblins of the Tin Can were walking on eggshells lately because the conflict between the weakened Tutobure and the rising Homaruba was reaching its tipping point. Chanagita, the head of the defense and maintenance unit, had joined Homaruba while Mitasra, the head of the collection unit, adhered to neutrality.
They were waiting for the hunting and securing unit, which was in the middle of capturing prey, to return to the Tin Can. They were the elites of Clan Trophy, hence, the scale would tip toward who they sided with. It all depended on whether they would side with their original leader, Tutobure, or appoint Homaruba as their new leader.
“Friend Seong-Hwi... hurry. We don’t have much time,” Thumper mumbled impatiently.
Their escape would become much harder if the hunting and securing unit returned. Seong-Hwi had to earn enough Karma in the dungeon and corrode the cells by then.
Since he said his rust skill was in the low D-rank, he has to raise it to at least above the mid-C-rank. Meaning he needs to earn at least five to six hundred thousand Karma, Thumper calculated.
Thumper was worried whether Seong-Hwi could earn that much Karma in such a short time.
***
[Cheon Seong-Hwi
Health: F(80) Strength: E(23)
Dexterity: E(44) Sense: E(51)
Magic: D(27) Destiny Force E(18)
Karma: 15,000,205
Coins: 37,775
Destiny Weapon: Tarot Deck of Destiny C(9)
Skills (3) Traits (4) Items (6) Cubes (2)]
[Common Skills: Rust of Ruin D(13)]
[Unique Skills: Symbol Embodiment, Borrowing Destiny]
[Item Skills: Myriad Faces]
[Traits: Natural Enemy of Chaos E(99), Hundred-Man Killer E(99), Underdog F(0), Scorn for the Weak F(0)]
[Items: Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings F(54), Silver Bracelets of Queen Consort Muryeong D(14), Myriad Cheoyong Mask E(99), Barbed Snake Brigandine F(0), Tom’s Leather Boots F(0), Ackher Ring Dagger F(0)]
[Cubes: Stat cube (A), Item cube (A)]
Seong-Hwi examined his status window thoroughly. The first thing he noticed was his lowered stats. There were two reasons they were lowered. The first was because of his forceful awakening through the Fruit of Life, White Snake of Equivalent Exchange, and Catastrophic Thunder. The second was because his caliber had heightened thanks to his meaningful contribution to defeating the Shadow Fairy Queen.
His Health stat had suffered the most, falling to F-rank. His Magic stat had fallen from C to D-rank, and his other stats had fallen to E-rank.
At least the debuffs are gone, Seong-Hwi thought.
The debuffs that would have lasted over a month were removed thanks to Dryas’s skill, Dawn of the Fairies. It was a relief since Seong-Hwi had to leave the dungeon and help Thumper and the others escape as soon as possible.
I can raise the fallen stats with the Karma I obtained.
[Karma: 15,000,205]
He expected to obtain a lot of Karma from clearing the Fairy Queen’s Knight quest since it was A-rank, but he had not expected to earn fifteen million. However, considering his contributions, it was understandable.
He had lured the Shadow Fairy Queen to Larayu Cradle and severed her wings. On top of that, he blew up the dry leaf cradles in the Shadow Fairy Queen’s base and obtained astronomical purification merits.
[Cubes: Stat cube (A), Item cube (A)]
Thanks to that, I have two A-rank cubes!
Seong-Hwi had hit the dungeon jackpot, which all Mirror World residents dreamed of. He also obtained a trait that he had been too frantic to check at the time.
[Scorn for the Weak (Trait)
Rank: F(0)
Description: The aura of the powerful who scorns the weak. The holder can overpower the souls of those with a lower caliber than oneself and restrain their movements.]
It sounds like it’ll go well with Hundred-Man Killer.
The trait seemed more suited for one-versus-many situations than for hunting Chaos. Since traits did not consume mana, the more the better.
But this is the best harvest of them all!
Seong-Hwi closed his eyes and focused as if searching for a new mana pattern. His back felt itchy. The wings felt like they had been part of his body from the start. Like instinctively knowing how to move one’s arms, he knew how to pull out the wings.
A single multicolored wing sprouted from his back. A canoe-shaped, pointed oval wing loomed over his right shoulder lonesomely.
Is this what Dryas meant when she said they have lost much of their power?
The artifact should have possessed S-rank potential and stat. The stat could be raised with Karma, but Seong-Hwi worried that the artifact’s maximum potential had fallen.
I guess I’ll find out once I raise its stat.
Just then, he heard footsteps from the direction of the cradles. It was Gilder. They stared at each other in silence for a while and simultaneously opened their mouths.
“Let’s talk.”
“Say something.”