Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 296

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One-Strike Kill Swordmaster Episode 296

Episode 296. Creepy Creepy Rashutku (5)

* * *

The third night.

The ghost who had guided us to safety brought up the main topic.

[I have a request.]

“….”

[Please break the curse that has infested this Imperial Palace.]

The ghost’s voice sank low.

[Countless souls are bound here. We cannot depart for the afterlife and remain enslaved to this place.]

“….”

[By breaking that curse… please liberate us.]

This was the reason the ghost had spoken to Muwolcha on the second night.

Monks who follow the Great One. The sacred aura that could only be felt from them.

That had caught the ghost’s attention.

‘It must have approached Muwolcha because it judged her to be someone capable of pacifying souls bound by curses.’

…Of course, it immediately fled upon seeing her appearance.

“In that case.”

Swoosh-.

While I was having such thoughts, Muwolcha carefully opened her mouth.

“How can that curse be broken?”

The ghost fell silent for a moment.

Then.

[Find where water flows.]

“…Water?”

[Where filthy things are washed away. Deep in that place lies the answer.]

“…?”

[If you find that place….]

The ghost’s form began to grow increasingly faint.

[…I will acknowledge your qualifications. Then I shall tell you how to lift the curse of the Rashutku Ruins.]

Slowly-.

Having finished speaking, the ghost gradually vanished.

We could only stare blankly at the spot where it had disappeared without a trace for a while.

“No way.”

It was Muwolcha who broke the silence.

She muttered with an expression of disbelief.

“If you’re in a position to ask for pacification, why are you acting so high and mighty? Throwing riddles around and disappearing. Can’t you just tell us the exact location?”

Snicker-.

A laugh escaped me without realizing it.

“You’ve been playing Roel for a long time, so you should know.”

“…Huh?”

“This game has clear returns based on risk, doesn’t it.”

I continued while looking at the spot where the ghost had vanished.

“The fact that it’s showing off to that extent means the reward for breaking the curse is tremendously huge.”

“Well, that may be true, but….”

Muwolcha pouted her lips.

She still looked like she found my words hard to accept.

In fact, Muwolcha doesn’t know the true scale of rewards obtainable from this dungeon. She couldn’t endure the horror theme and would have kept skipping the Imperial Palace exploration.

‘Even in routes that completely skip the Imperial Palace, the rewards from the Rashutku Ruins are considerable.’

But what about the true ending route that properly breaks the Imperial Palace’s curse?

Those rewards were incomparably massive.

“Anyway.”

I lightly placed my hand on Muwolcha’s shoulder.

“Just trust me and follow along. I know all the strategies for conquering this Imperial Palace.”

“….”

Muwolcha hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.

“Alright.”

Conviction filled the eyes visible through the silver jelly.

“Ppakgyu, I’m counting on you.”

…That was what happened last night, but.

“The Protagonist?”

Swish-.

I turned my head at Adelia’s voice.

She was standing alongside Muwolcha, both looking at me.

Both had strange expressions.

Faces mixing bewilderment and doubt.

Adelia repeatedly opened and closed her lips, while Muwolcha shrugged her shoulders, looking eager to say something.

“…Wh-why exactly do we have to go inside a toilet?”

I answered calmly with my arms crossed.

“Don’t be surprised, Adelia. Since ancient times, toilet sewage pipes have been passages leading to various secret spaces.”

“Pardon?”

Adelia’s eyes widened.

Even the companions around us all turned to look at me at once. Jeungmu, Pean, Balhwan, and even the Expedition Members.

“Good heavens!”

Right then, a sudden outcry erupted.

It was Yakov, the Captain.

He was staring at me intently with sparkling eyes.

His face was excited as if he had made the discovery of the century.

“The ancient era!”

“…?”

“The people of the Rashutku Empire often used toilet bowls as secret passages!”

Yakov cried out enthusiastically, then turned his head toward Markus beside him.

“Write this down quickly, Markus!”

“I’m already writing it down, Director.”

Scratch scratch-.

Markus Koshate had already pulled out his notebook and was busily moving his pen. I could see him carefully writing down each letter with a serious expression.

“….”

Wait, hold on.

That’s not what I meant.

‘…I was just mentioning that Roel was paying homage to Harry Potter.’

* * *

It was quiet.

Though it was early afternoon, Ravenhil was shrouded in darkness deeper than night.

When wind brushed between tree branches, fallen leaves rustled, and owl hoots echoed from far away.

“….”

The Golem Knight walked silently through the desolate forest.

Thud, thud-.

Each step made a sound of crushing fallen leaves, but he paid no attention. Only his sharp gaze scanning the surroundings gleamed.

‘…Nothing.’

What he sought was only one thing.

Dorico Shiro.

This Ravenhil was the last place contact had been made.

‘That’s why I came all the way here, but….’

Even spreading his senses to their maximum and sweeping through the entire forest, he couldn’t feel even a trace of her presence.

Swoosh-.

The Golem Knight stopped walking and looked around again.

Various bodily senses appeared on the surface of the black sphere. Ears and nose drawn in red lines, even two eyes.

The damp smell of earth brushed past his nose. Water droplets dripped from the moss-covered tree surfaces. The faint sound of a stream flowing could be heard in the distance.

At that very moment.

Pause-.

The Golem Knight’s gaze fixed on one spot.

A yellow talisman attached to a tree trunk.

“….”

The Golem Knight’s eyes narrowed.

He slowly approached and examined the talisman. Intricately intertwined patterns, precisely carved incantations.

‘This is….’

An illusion formation.

And it was quite an advanced technique at that.

Swoosh-.

When he turned his head to look around again, something finally began to become visible. Talismans attached to each tree at regular intervals.

A web of formations spread as densely as a spider’s web.

「Cognitive Distortion」 contained within the talismans themselves. Because of that, even the Golem Knight had failed to notice their existence until now.

‘Strange.’

His brow furrowed involuntarily.

The reason Dorico Shiro had come to this place with Hodupayi was simple.

Namely, procuring materials for chimera creation.

If so, there was no need to set up such a large-scale illusion formation. It was completely unnecessary work for material procurement.

Then.

‘…Was she being wary of me?’

There was something many people misunderstood.

That Dorico Shiro was an idiot with nothing but flower fields in her head.

But that was a misconception.

Handling illusions, constructing complex formations. All of that was absolutely impossible without an excellent brain.

She was smart.

She just didn’t use that head unless it was truly necessary, simply because it was bothersome.

‘If so….’

The Golem Knight slowly gazed around.

‘…Is this scenery I’m looking at now real?’

Or was it an illusion created by Dorico Shiro’s magic?

If she had set up a formation of this scale, creating phantoms to deceive him would be child’s play.

‘I can’t be certain.’

It was a dilemma.

A situation where he couldn’t even determine whether he was trapped in an illusion or not.

Whoo-.

The Golem Knight let out a small sigh.

It couldn’t be helped. For now, he had no choice but to continue forward.

Thud, thud-.

He resumed walking.

After walking like that for quite a while, the Golem Knight had somehow entered deep into the forest.

Whoooosh-.

The sound of a waterfall could be heard.

A massive stream of water poured down from atop a cliff, creating a rough roar. Water spray scattered in all directions, and the air became even heavier.

And.

“….”

The Golem Knight’s footsteps stopped.

In front of the waterfall.

Something was collapsed on the rocks.

A massive form completely covered in iron and armor. Nothing could be seen through the gaps in the helmet. Only empty darkness filled the interior.

And beside it.

A massive greatsword, all too familiar, lay scattered about.

Swoosh-.

The Golem Knight slowly approached.

One step.

Another step.

Soon he stood before that being.

“….”

The aura felt from the armor.

Worn down by time, but still remaining traces of tremendous power.

And above all.

‘This is….’

It was familiar.

It was an all too familiar aura.

The Golem Knight knelt down and brushed the surface of the armor with his hand. Rust and dust scattered and fell between his fingers.

“…It’s been a long time.”

A long time.

It was proof that a very long time had passed.

‘…Dorico Shiro cannot create this being.’

He was certain.

Reproducing his old comrade through illusion was impossible.

Because.

‘She knows nothing about the ancient times.’

What this being was.

What kind of aura it possessed.

As long as she didn’t know all of that, there was no way to implement this through illusion.

In other words.

This scene he was looking at now was real.

“…I’m not trapped in an illusion.”

The Golem Knight slowly rose from his position.

His gaze turned toward beyond the waterfall.

Behind the stream of water.

The entrance to a dark cave could be seen.

And from there….

Buuuum-.

…a faint trembling could be felt.

The Golem Knight’s eyes narrowed.

‘This aura.’

Long ago.

It was the same as what he had felt very long ago.

The place he had served.

The era he had lived in.

The aura from when all of that still shone brilliantly.

The Rashutku Empire.

“….”

The Golem Knight stared at that entrance for a while.

Although no bodily organs appeared above the black sphere, somehow a complex state of mind seemed to be felt.

Thud-.

Soon he began to slowly move his steps.

Crossing the waterfall, into the cave.

Whoooosh-.

Only the sound of the waterfall saw off the Golem Knight’s retreating figure.

* * *

In the end, we stood in front of the toilet.

Me, Adelia, Muwolcha, and even the Girl in Black Robe.

“Really….”

Adelia muttered with a trembling voice.

“…do we have to go inside this?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded and flushed the toilet.

Gush gush gush-!

Water began swirling and getting sucked in. At the same time, a strong suction force was felt from inside the toilet.

Whoosh-!

My body was sucked right in.

The world spun round and round. I slid down along the narrow passage, down, down.

Thump-.

After a while, we landed on a hard floor.

“Ugh….”

Adelia and Muwolcha, who fell after me, let out groans.

Thud-.

The Girl in Black Robe also landed lightly and remained alert of the surroundings.

Swoosh-.

It was an underground waterway.

The ceiling was low. Low enough to reach if I stretched my hand above my head. The walls were damply wet, and moss was growing here and there.

Drip, drip-.

The sound of water droplets falling could be heard from somewhere. Shallow water had pooled at our feet, and unknown floating objects drifted on top of it.

The air was murky.

A mixture of mold and rotting smells stung our noses.

“Ugh….”

Muwolcha frowned.

“…The smell is terrible.”

Thud, thud-.

I took the lead and walked forward.

I slowly advanced along the waterway. The narrow passage wound around, and occasionally forks appeared, but I chose directions without hesitation.

‘Communication with above shouldn’t be a problem.’

The greatest advantage of Balhwan is having two bodies.

Even at this moment when the Girl in Black Robe is with us, the Boy in White Robe remains above.

In other words, whatever we experience here, we can communicate with the party in real time.

…This point will also be useful for conquering the Imperial Palace going forward.

Thud, thud-.

How long had we walked like that?

A faint light was felt from ahead.

“…Over there.”

Adelia muttered quietly.

The light gradually became clearer. A gentle radiance with a bluish tint.

And at the source of that light.

[You’ve come.]

A ghost was standing there.

A translucent form. It was the very ghost we had seen last night.

[I knew you would find this place.]

The ghost’s voice contained satisfaction.

As if he had been expecting us to reach this place as a matter of course.

“….”

I looked at him without saying anything.

The ghost slowly scanned our party.

Past me, past Adelia, past Muwolcha.

And then.

His gaze stopped on Balhwan.

[….]

The ghost’s expression changed subtly.

Neither surprise nor wariness, but complex emotions flickered across his face.

[Don’t tell me….]

The ghost, who had been staring at the Girl in Black Robe for a long time, slowly opened his mouth.

[…even the remnants of the Twin Emperors would come to find this place.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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