Season 2: Chapter 185: The Final Floor (4)

Luna leaped. No, it was more accurate to say she flew. It was an incredible leap.

"Dieeeee!!!"

Fwrrrrrr!

The mana from her burning anger was as fierce as the flames engulfing her sword. The flames headed toward Swift where her eyes were fixed.

"!"

Swift’s eyes widened. Despite his mouth being covered in blood from the arrow that hit him, he swung his sword.

Kaaang!

Luna and Swift's swords clashed. Sparks flew as he blocked Luna's attack.

Swift tightened his grip and shouted with bloody lips, "You damn bitch! Aren't you tired of this?!"

Fwoosh.

He kicked Luna’s abdomen and she staggered back.

"Oof...!"

"Just quietly become nourishment and give me all the experience points you've accumulated so far!"

Swish.

Swift swung his sword around and deflected something else.

Clang!

It was an arrow shot by Almond.

"What a nuisance."

The blue arrow disappeared like smoke, but two more followed.

Thunk!

Swift effortlessly deflected them again. His combat prowess was clearly different from before. How did he become so much stronger? Was it through runes and leveling up?

"I don't know when you learned this arrow trick, but Almond..."

Swift seemed to be talking about the curved shot.

"It's useless against me now!"

Zap!

[Flash]

He teleported to the sword he threw and appeared far away from Almond.

Swift shouted to the administrator, "Hey! Administrator! I choose option three! I choose option three!"

— ???

— Wtf.

— They were acting like they were going to fight.

— Dweeb Swift

— What a chicken.

— Tricks, lol.

Swift immediately chose option three. What would happen now?

As Almond pulled the bowstring, he couldn’t stop looking at the bird.

Its beak opened, "Option three is recharging the castle. Good—"

Whooosh!

An arrow pierced through its beak.

"!"

"!?"

Everyone became stunned. Swift, Luna, and even the bird had bewildered expressions.

Almond had attacked the bird? Such a thing couldn't happen.

The bird also seemed a bit puzzled for the first time. It suddenly turned into feathers and disappeared.

"What... what's this...?"

"It, it disappeared? Was it a fake?"

"This... is illusion magic."

The children mumbled as they looked at the spot where only feathers remained. The bird had disappeared. Whether it was an illusion or the real thing, the being that granted wishes had disappeared.

"Damn it! What is this!?"

Swift ran toward the castle in anger. He looked like a madman.

"No, no!! You can’t imagine how much I collected until now! If I just absorb Luna's piled-up memories, it would’ve been almost enough now...!"

His voice cracked and he seemed to have given up on attacking Almond and Luna.

— So that’s why he spared Luna?

— Wow...

— He knew Luna had memories and kept persisting.

— The god of persistence lol.

— Persisting with Luna inevitably leads to a grim end.

​​— Damn~

"You... you...!"

Swift glared at Almond and Luna. It was a taste of true bitterness.

"Damn... you. You all always act like this. I knew you guys would cause trouble at the end?! In the end!!!"

His sagging arms fell to his waist.

"... But the administrator will be back soon."

Shrug.

Swift drew another sword and glared at Almond.

"Until then, you all better behave."

Zzzt...!

Shivers ran through Almond’s body. It was a pressure he had never felt before. His blonde hair started to burn faintly.

"Swift."

Kiririk.

Almond pulled his bowstring and muttered, "The contractors I've seen aren't as talkative as you. They only talk when they're at an advantage."

"!?"

Bang!

Almond immediately shot an arrow, but missed. Swift had teleported away to avoid it.

"Wait!"

Instead of counterattacking, Swift tried to start a conversation again.

"Hey! You! Almond! Haven't you ever thought it was strange?"

"?"

— What the heck, haha.

— He was so confident a few seconds ago, haha.

— Hard Counter: Almond, haha.

— Wait a moment! Don’t kill me!

Almond wanted to shoot an arrow right away, but...

‘Maybe there's more to the story.’

He thought he could listen to what Swift had to say. Some of Swift’s words did make sense. Although Swift was ultimately the villain, many of his words were true.

"A pitiful man who believes in records as if they were his memory. I know quite a bit about you. I might know more about you than you do."

Luna's expression darkened at his words. Swift smiled victoriously and looked back at Luna. Then, he spoke to Almond again.

"Those things on your body. Did you really write them?"

"!"

Almond instantly felt stiff.

'He knows about this?'

He didn't think Swift knew about it.

'So this was it.'

The discomfort Almond had been feeling since earlier. His reluctance to act according to what was written on his body. That was its true nature. As long as the identity of who recorded this data remained unclear, he couldn't move forward.

"Here's the thing. There's a guy who's very good at deciphering such texts and records. He happens to be one of us, a former archaeologist. He guides our team."

"!"

"Have you ever thought it was too convenient? For Luna, I mean. Every task you do ultimately serves her... Have you ever thought about it?"

— Whoa.

— What the hell?

— Wow.

— Really???

— Unbelievable.

Without realizing it, Almond turned toward Luna.

'Is that really...?'

When their eyes met, Luna lowered her head with a troubled expression.

"No, it’s not true. It's not me. Really. I can’t do such things?!"

Was she not capable enough? That could be true. This technology was clearly a record technology passed down through generations in the owner's family. Not just anyone could do it.

'But Luna has something like this too.'

“Gulp.”

The rune characters engraved on Luna's body flashed through Almond's mind. Those rune characters were superior to what was on Almond. They were more permanent, more fundamental...

"Your expression is quite telling, isn't it?"

Swift sneered.

Almond closed his eyes tightly.

"Wait a moment. Still..."

Regardless of Luna's identity and who recorded this data... One thing didn’t change.

"You chose option three."

Bang!

Almond shot an arrow as soon as he spoke.

"First, you die."

This was the signal and all the children rushed toward Swift.

"Yeah, you trash!"

"Die!"

Boom!

After deflecting the arrows, Swift’s mana surged and his gaze changed.

"Okay. Screw this. This will all be over once I go back to the beginning."

Rumble!

Swift was showing a completely different demeanor from what he had shown so far, truly like that of a contractor.

Oooooooh...!

The light of the sanctuary shone brightly. It was probably because of that.

"Just die all of you!"

Sizzle!

[Flash]

Swift disappeared in his new form.

***

[Beginner Tip: Not much is known about the birds that manage the sanctuary. According to their claims, they are angels sent from heaven.]