Episode 84. Death row lottery (4)
The Black Tower was completely engulfed in darkness. The Black Tower’s true form was revealed when Yorick died. With even Pkin’s magic gone, everything was pitch black.
At that moment, I felt a familiar darkness from the other side.
“… These damn kids!”
It was Killian. He was literally smashing the skeletons that were blocking his path. His movements, which were not typical of an assassin, gave away how excited he was.
Killian shouted as he soon finished massacring them.
“Huh? Kid, you’re not dead?”
“Yeah, as you can see.”
Rubin’s entire body was covered in battle scars. The cracked floor and ice shards, and the corpses of Sokin and Pkin lying in the middle.
“Oh, you had a blast too!”
“It’s not like it’s going to be a big deal.”
Killian smiled happily and took a sip of the Oakum.
“Anyway. It’s a real underground city now. Killian, are you hurt?”
“No way. It’s clean. If you hadn’t been chosen for death row, you would have killed Yorick more gently.”
Those words brought back to Rubin’s mind a fact he had forgotten.
The death row lottery. It wasn’t Killian, it was me. It was a complete departure from the future I knew.
Why?
“Why does Amret want to kill you? Why?”
Killian also didn’t understand. But Rubin couldn’t tell him the whole story either. So he just shrugged.
“well.”
Rubin quickly recalled his memories. Was there something in the conversation he had with Amret at the top of the White Tower earlier?
Amret asked which of the three death row candidates he would prefer.
He said that the first was ‘a death that won the hearts of the citizens’, and the second was ‘a death that prevented revenge on Amret himself’.
And the last third, ‘A death that will reassure the Emperor’. That day, Rubin had chosen the third death row inmate number. Amret laughed at my decision and said this.
“Yes, yes. Telmah will be quite satisfied if we kill this bastard this time.”
Then… does that mean Telmah is aware of me? It’s too early. There’s still a mountain of things to prepare.
“Ugh, those little rascals.”
Killian spat on the floor.
Sniff sniff? Sniff sniff?
They were death monsters. Some were completely skeletons, while others were half-rotted and gave off a terrible stench. They all sniffed around, chasing after anything that was alive. That was their instinct.
Pasha! Pasha!
Killian, who was crushing the heads of the death monsters blocking his way, looked back at Rubin. It meant what should he do now?
‘There are too many. There’s a limit to breaking through them one by one with ‘Shadow Roar’. In this case, it’s better to ignore them and attack quickly.’
Rubin was the first to unfold the ‘Shadow Rhyme’. Killian followed suit. The sniffing death monsters could only barely smell the aftertaste.
That’s how we arrived at Killian’s mansion.
‘As expected, they were surrounded.’
Sniff sniff? Sniff sniff! Kkww.
Hundreds of death monsters surrounded the mansion. Of course. Kuze would be waiting inside with the child. Death monsters smell the blood of the living best.
Knock knock!
Those who are trying to break down the mansion door. It is a sturdy door, but it won’t hold out forever. No matter how much Kuze protects it, if it breaks through like that, the child’s life will be in danger.
Rubin watched the death monsters blocking the entrance from a distance.
‘What should I do?’
Should I send a signal for Kuze to escape? Or should I attack them head on? However, I couldn’t ignore their numbers for a head-on attack.
At that moment, a thought crossed my mind.
“Killian.”
Gulp, gulp. Killian, who was sipping the Oakum, raised his eyebrows as if to say something.
“Where is it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean the secret passage.”
Killian narrowed his eyes.
“If you were going to kill Yorick, you would have prepared for this situation.”
“… Anyway, the rest of the hair. Over there.”
Killian was pointing to a small barn across the alley. It was also used as a pigsty.
Rubin immediately understood why the secret passage had been built there.
‘They say pig’s blood is effective for black magic.’
Those who were resurrected by the black magic of a necromancer loathed pigs. So disgusting that they were avoided.
It was the same case with the ghost rat, nicknamed ‘the smallest pursuer’. The reason why the ghost rat could not chase after you when you covered it in pig’s blood was because black magic was involved in the process of creating the ghost rat.
Killian entered the barn and herded the pigs away. A solid iron gate appeared beneath the rags.
“think.”
There was a loud squeak as the iron door was lifted, but neither of them paid it any attention. The dead were deaf anyway.
Rubin and Killian jumped down in one breath.
I came across an underground passage with pig blood painted all over the walls. I walked along the wet floor. After a while, I came across a study that Killian had never shown me before.
At the same time that darkness was felt, a presence was also detected. It seemed that they had noticed Rubin’s appearance from the other side. Finally, Kuze shouted happily. It seemed that he had been waiting.
“master!”
“Kuje. Did you know about this passage?”
“This little boy told me. He said that his drunken old man had given him a strong order. If the street suddenly gets dark in broad daylight, he should stay in his study.”
“What? That drunkard grandpa? That little brat.”
Killian snapped, but the child smiled playfully as if he was used to it.
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“So, were you telling the kid a fairy tale?”
“Oh, how did you know?”
“What? Really?”
Killian, who was looking back and forth between Kuze and the child, had a bewildered expression on his face. How could he be reciting a fairy tale in this situation?
The little boy opened his mouth shyly.
“… It’s a story about a slave child who was bitten by a queen spider and started producing spider webs from his body. With that ability, he defeated orcs and became the village’s guardian.”
“Is that a fairy tale? How horrible. That’s what happens when a low-level Roynenser makes up a story.”
Even though Killian glared at them, the two didn’t care. There was even a hint of friendliness in the eyes of the two people who exchanged glances.
Rubin stepped in and sorted out the situation.
“It’s not over yet. We have to decide how to move forward.”
Knock knock knock. Knock knock knock.
Grumble. Grumble.
Beyond the sound of the bonfire lit in the middle of the study, the cries of the death monsters could be heard. I had to get out of the black tower as soon as possible.
The first one to speak was Killian.
“Now this is a city of corpses. The Black Tower is finished.”
“This mansion won’t last long either. The sooner we move, the better.”
The dead have not yet broken down the mansion’s doors, but only for a short while. For today at most.
Even at this very moment, the blood of the living is provoking the monsters of death. The more this happens, the more violent they become.
Killian looked at Rubin and asked.
“What are you going to do?”
“We have to get out of the black tower first.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. Amret has targeted you for elimination. It would be dangerous to continue to stay in Philimond. Is there a good way out?”
“Killian, that’s a problem for later. First, we have to succeed in getting out of the black zone.”
Kuze was right. Even for Killian, getting out of the black zone wasn’t easy.
Not only are Philimond’s elite soldiers and golems on guard on the wall, but it is also engraved with Amret’s powerful defensive magic. And isn’t there a red mark floating above Rubin’s head?
“A pass is useless as long as it has the death row inmate mark on it.”
“I know.”
Rubin took two passes out of his pocket. They had Amret’s magical seal on them.
If things had gone as planned, this would have allowed free movement in and out of the black zone, but that didn’t apply to Rubin.
“Kuje. Go out first with this pass.”
“Yes? What about you, Young Master?”
“I’ll take care of it myself. And this too.”
The second pass was handed out again. Rubin pointed to the little boy sitting next to him.
“Take that kid home.”
“…yes?”
Kuze, who soon understood the meaning of the words, refuted them harshly.
“This is not a good idea, Master. I cannot leave you behind.”
Kuze shook his head with a stubborn attitude. But Rubin’s expression was relaxed.
“Trust me. There’s a way out.”
Rubin’s gaze turned to Killian.
“Killian. You will deliver Yorick’s skull to Amret yourself, right?”
Killian nodded.
The true target of Yorick’s assassination is the ‘Tears of Givenrat’ contained in the skull. Since Amret was betrayed by Yorick once, he will not trust anyone but Killian.
“A servant will come out to greet you, but I will probably carry the skull myself.”
“Okay. I have another question. The other death row inmates, you sent them up yourself, right? To the White Tower.”
“What are you curious about? Of course! Do you think my nickname is Beheading Captain for nothing? If I had just killed people, I would have been called a Baekjeong!”
Whether alive or dead, it was Killian’s job to carry out everything from beheading to transporting. As expected.
“okay.”
“What is it, kid? Did you find anything?”
A gentle smile appeared on Rubin’s face.
“I found a way out of the black zone. Everyone here.”
* * *
Philimond Square. This famous place was crowded with people today as well, trying to see the black zone.
Even on the terrace of the restaurant Rubin had visited the other day, there were no empty seats to be found due to the crowds trying to view the black zone.
A middle-aged woman sitting alone among several nobles looked out at the black zone with a displeased expression.
“Hey, when are these guys coming out?”
It’s been six days since Rubin and Kuze entered the black zone. Tina has to come to this restaurant every day and kill hours.
Every time she came, she transformed into a new appearance. The first day, a mature man, the second day, a pretty woman, the third day, a large man, etc. Now, even deciding what to transform into was a difficult task.
“Today was the day to select the death row inmate.”
I wondered why there were so many people today. It was snowing heavily from the sky. It was the ‘snow of atonement’ that only piled up in the black zone.
Tina raised her hand and called the restaurant owner.
“Did you call, ma’am?”
“Excuse me, does it really snow that much? It’s been snowing for two hours already.”
At those words, the restaurant owner narrowed his eyes and looked at the black area. It was a sight he had never seen before. It usually stopped in less than an hour.
“I see. That’s strange.”
“I guess something went wrong?”
“Well, I don’t know. The eyes will stop when the death row inmate dies, so just wait for now.”
Tina paid for the food right away and left. She walked briskly, unbecoming of a lady, towards the border of the black zone.
It was a real snowstorm. The legs of the criminals wandering around were sinking in. Tina started biting her fingernails.
“What the heck is going on… … .”
There had to be a reason why she didn’t go into the black zone like Rubin and Kuze.
The criminal serial number given upon entering the black zone is a high-dimensional marking magic. Therefore, no matter what you transform into, the serial number cannot be removed.
“uh?”
It was then that Tina felt a faint darkness beyond the barrier of the black zone. Someone was moving quickly somewhere.
Tina ran along the dark path without hesitation. The movement stopped at the western edge of the area.
“Oh, is it finally coming out?”
Tina waited quietly, biting her fingernails. Soon, with a thud, one side of the barrier seemed to shake, and a small gap appeared.
“Gasp, gasp.”
What popped out was a man carrying a large backpack. Snow had piled up a hand’s length above his shoulders and forehead. When the man shook his snow, a familiar face was revealed.
“Kuje!”
“It’s been a while, Tina. This time, it’s you, my lady.”
“Why are you so late!”
Before he could rejoice, Kuze turned around and gestured. Soon, a little boy wearing a white robe turned inside out followed him.
“Lou… Bin?”
The boy didn’t answer, but Tina, who had already thought of it, jumped for joy. If people passing by saw her, they would think she was a mad lady.
Regardless, Tina strode over and brushed the snow off the child’s head and shoulders.
“Why are you wearing such big clothes that you can’t even see through them? Hmm… … ?”
Tina hesitates. Was Rubin really this small?
As he slowly lifted the white robe, a familiar face was revealed underneath.
“You’re not Rubin, are you? Uh, you… … ?”
“Do you remember? It’s that kid, Tina.”
Tina’s eyes filled with joy as she belatedly realized the situation.
