Episode 74. The Old Assassin (3)
The bar in the black area was at the end of the alley between the butcher’s shop and the craftsman’s house. This was also in the center, but it was strangely deserted.
Thud thud.
At the end of the muddy road, a man was seen lying face down. He seemed to be dead, but as Rubin and Kuze approached, he stood up with a rustling sound.
“Are you trying to go into a bar?”
He looked like an ordinary beggar, but his appearance was unusually gruesome even in this lawless area.
The place where the pupil should have been was dug up and left only a cavity, the nose was cut off carelessly, the left arm was completely lost, and the only thing that was left intact on the right arm was the index and middle fingers.
But his tone was gentle.
“I guess I’ll have to get a ticket?”
The gatekeeper held out his right hand, as if to indicate that he was to place the ticket between his index and middle fingers.
“Oh, wait a minute.”
As Rubin was about to put his ticket in, the gatekeeper asked for his understanding. Then he sniffed his severed nose and turned his head from side to side.
Squeak squeak squeak!
What the man caught with his two fingers was a rat that was wandering around nearby.
The man smiled happily and put it in his mouth in one gulp. He chewed the rat with a satisfied expression and his pupilless eyes were wide open.
“Would you mind putting the ticket back in?”
When the two tickets were stuck between his fingers, the man put them to his nose. Then he rubbed them against his cheek. It seemed to be his own way of judging without his eyes.
“These are the admission tickets I got from the construction worker.”
“that’s right.”
“Well, sure. I’ll open the door for you.”
The man grabbed the rope hanging next to his left shoulder with his right hand and pulled. Then, the door connected to the rope creaked open.
I tried to pass him and enter the building.
“Are you trying to enter the Black Tower?”
“Yeah. But?”
“There are quite a lot of applicants today… I recommend you come back tomorrow. There are ten of you.”
“Oh really? That’s good.”
Rubin and Kuze ignored the gatekeeper’s advice and walked in. As Rubin passed, the gatekeeper picked his teeth with his remaining finger and laughed indifferently.
There are ten applicants.
Rubin didn’t know what that meant either. Thanks to the engineer’s explanation, he knew how the entrance exam would change depending on the number of applicants.
‘I said it’s a brawl if there are more than ten people. That’s better.’
When the number is small, they said they would select one-on-one random tournaments. If you don’t want to fight Kuze, a brawl format would be better.
Whether it was a brawl or a one-on-one fight, you couldn’t just turn around and walk out of the bar if you lost. You could go in as you pleased, but you couldn’t leave. Defeat in a bar meant immediate death.
The interior of the tavern was quiet and eerie. There was no furniture or props. However, on the shelves all around, bottles containing various parts of various monsters were displayed. Orc eyeballs, troll claws, ogre tongues, etc.
“You were right about there being a golem.”
And in the middle of the room, a golem stood there. Kuze looked up at it and coughed as he added.
“It’s a bit of a strange golem, though.”
It wasn’t a properly assembled golem. Normally, golems operate using a mana stone that has been depleted of mana as its heart, but this golem looked bizarre.
Is it a problem with the mana stone, a problem with the skill of the wizard who assembled it, or is it the creator’s bad taste?
Half of the body was made of metal, and the other half was a mass of flesh of unknown origin. It looked like various parts of monsters had been haphazardly torn together.
It was amazing that it even worked like this.
Kururukkii… Kururukkii… … .
With a strange noise, the golem moved what was presumed to be an arm. Then, it hooked one finger on a thick ring that was sticking out from the floor.
Kuuuuuu.
As I lifted the ring, a staircase leading down to the basement appeared. A cool, dull wind howled up from the stairs.
“So the area below is the Black Tower?”
Rubin and Kuze walked down the stairs. The damp heat and the smell of blood vibrated. The sound of the huge machinery turning could be heard repeatedly, and the sound of metal clashing with metal could also be heard.
At the end of the stairs, where bright light was streaming in, a large plaza appeared. I had never imagined that such a large space would be hidden beneath that shabby bar.
‘Other applicants.’
A square with a sunken center like an amphitheater. It resembled a gladiatorial arena surrounded by seats for the audience.
In the middle of the stadium, in an open space, eight people were sitting far apart from each other.
“… … .”
The participants glanced at the two people walking down the vacant lot. Most of them were unfamiliar faces, but one of them looked familiar.
“There’s that guy I saw this morning.”
“Oh, the guy who threw the axe?”
It was the same man who had been hunting for new recruits. He recognized Rubin and smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.
It’s been three years since I entered the black zone.
Surviving this far meant that there was a good chance of surviving in the future, but the axe man was not satisfied with that. He couldn’t crawl around on the ground like a dog forever.
So today, I was finally going to enter the Black Tower. The man laughed, heh heh heh, as if he found it amusing.
“I guess I’m lucky.”
I saw two more pigeons in the black zone today. This is no ordinary luck.
“Where did you sell the pigeon clothes in the meantime?”
When Rubin ignored him, he became even more sarcastic.
“It was a good decision. I’m going to end up covered in blood anyway, so it’s better if I can at least use it as a rag.”
It was then that a sharp, sharp voice stopped the axe man.
“Shut up. Stop whining.”
The rough voice came from the person sitting across from Rubin.
The axe man chuckled. He pretended to be relaxed as he tossed the axe over his head and caught it several times.
“What are you? Why are you covering your face? Do you have a bump on your face?”
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
As the saying goes, he was wearing a lion’s head, but surprisingly, it wasn’t a model mask, but a real lion. It was like a helmet with the lion’s mouth wide open to secure only the field of vision.
“Where did the lion’s head come from? Anyone who sees it will think it’s real. I’m going crazy, really.”
“Well, in ten minutes my head will be cut off and I’ll be crawling on the floor anyway. Why are you so curious?”
Then the lion head rose from its seat. It moved its arms and head here and there, leisurely stretching its muscles.
Gulp gulp.
He picked up the water bottle he had on his waist and drank it as if he was pouring it into a lion’s mouth. After drinking for a long time, he slowly looked over the participants, not knowing whether it was water or alcohol.
The gaze stopped on Rubin. Along with the trim coming over his throat.
“Hehe. Hey, kid!”
“… … .”
“That axe bastard is mine, so don’t covet it.”
Rubin shrugged his shoulders at the lionhead’s curious declaration. It didn’t matter what happened. The lionhead would eventually die at the hands of Rubin or Kuze.
‘They said that when ten people applied, only two survived and entered the Black Tower.’
Those two people would be Rubin and Kuze.
Kukukukukung.
The ground where the applicants were shaking and moving. The circular floor began to rotate and slowly descended.
“Whew! It’s started.”
The axe man shouted in an exaggerated manner. The other applicants who had been seated rose from their seats one by one and grabbed their weapons.
Kuuuuu.
‘It has spiral columns and the floor is designed to go up and down. There’s also thick defensive magic installed there.’
Rubin looked up and saw the ground they had been on until just a moment ago. The circular floor was descending, and the explosive release of mana was enveloping it like a dome.
And at that moment.
“Wow wow wow wow!”
A huge cheer rang out.
The true face of the black tower was slowly revealed. Rubin slowly walked towards the railing. Kuze stood behind him, unable to hide his surprise.
“What, what is this… … .”
Although there was no sky, no clouds, and no sun, this place was no different from a huge city.
A vast city located underground. Hundreds of houses and alleys. And all kinds of animals. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a miniature version of Philimond on the surface.
No, in some ways it was better than Philimond. Compared to Philimond, which was all white, this place was full of colorful colors. It was a place that smelled like people living there.
‘There was a city like this underground? Why wasn’t it there nine years later?’
He had been active here for years. At least in the black zone, there was no place his information network had not reached. If there was, Rubin could not have been unaware of it.
‘Come to think of it, among the guys above, there wasn’t a single person whose face I recognized.’
Especially the butchers and the craftsmen. Nine years later, there were still people who played the same role, but they were definitely not the ones we saw today.
So, there is only one conclusion.
That means that within nine years from now, the city itself will be turned upside down. What on earth happened?
‘Did it collapse after Yorick and Amret died? And the ground was also completely cleaned up?’
It was a scene that was not easily imagined by the imagination of ordinary people. I had never thought that such a thing was possible. At that moment, the image of Telmah overlapped before my eyes.
‘If it’s Telmah… … .’
Kukukukukung.
The circular stage that had been descending while spinning reached the floor. All ten applicants raised their heads and looked around.
Before they knew it, they were in the middle of the amphitheater. The four tiers of stands surrounding them were filled to the brim.
“Wow!”
A cheer erupted in unison.
This place is literally the perfect city itself. The members of the black zone above ground were more than 90% male, but the black tower underground was different. There were as many women as men, so it seemed that society was intact.
“Does the mayor of Philimond know about this underground city?”
Rubin shook his head at Kuze’s question. Amret wouldn’t know. He couldn’t know.
‘If I had known there was such a world, I wouldn’t have sent you away.’
A city that will disappear from the world within 9 years. Seeing the residents laughing hysterically, not knowing what their future holds, it all felt like a lie.
“Your Majesty, look over there!”
“It’s Yorick.”
What Kuze was pointing to was one side of the upper level of the stands. There, a large old man was sitting on a throne made of a pile of bones, wearing a necklace made of woven skulls.
I have never met him, but I am certain that the old man is Yorick. He may not be comparable to Amret, who is known as the Seven-Star Telekinesis, but he is also a master of ‘negative mana’.
‘6 star necromancer.’
He was full of a spirit that could not be felt from the sickly Amret.
The image of the king leaning out over the railing where the brimstone fire blazed and waving to the city’s upper-class nobles.
After a while, he waved his hand and silenced the area.
“The long-awaited spectacle has finally been completed.”
Yorick’s amplified voice resonated throughout the arena.
“It’s been three months since I’ve seen a brawl. I’ve been getting sick of the little brawlers’ pranks.”
A loud voice rang in his ears. While everyone was focused on Yorick, Rubin turned his head around and looked around the audience.
‘Killian. Where are you?’
The assassin from the Black Zone must be here. Somewhere in the arena filled with a thousand people.
I felt a dark smoke. This was not the dark smoke that Rubin and Kuze were emitting.
A dark smoke that is more solid and powerful than that. It doesn’t contain any aggression, but if it contained it, it would be powerful enough to make even Rubin lose his balance.
Killian is clearly spreading darkness on purpose.
But it was impossible to keep track of where they were sitting. There were too many people, and the darkness was felt everywhere.
‘Is that it?’
Rubin noticed three men standing behind Yorick, as if assisting him.
The one at the very front. The Death Knight, the Death Knight created by Yorick, was visible. Since Killian hadn’t heard of the undead, it must have been one of the other two.
‘Who could it be?’
It was hard to see because it was covered in shadows. It had to be one of the two.
At that moment, suddenly the surroundings became quiet.
“…what?”
Yorick, who was continuing his long speech, suddenly stopped talking.
Only then did Rubin realize that Yorick’s cold gaze was directed at the applicants, not Rubin.
“What did you just say?”
Yorick’s question was directed at the lion’s head. When Yorick snapped his fingers, the lion’s head’s voice also grew louder.
“I said I had a suggestion!”
“Huh, you’re going to make an offer to Jim?”
The audience was speechless at the incomprehensible situation. The lion head, which took a few steps toward Yorick in the middle of the stadium, showed no hesitation. It simply poured a canteen filled with alcohol into the lion’s mouth.
In an unexpected turn of events, Rubin and Kuze locked eyes with each other.
‘What on earth are you doing?’
