Beyond the Eternity

Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt!

The empty space rippled and cracked as it was torn apart by pulsating waves of golden energy, and an array of weapons materialized behind Angelica.

Among them were spears, longswords, shortswords, greatswords, massive blades, and even oddly shaped weapons that defied all conventional logic and reasoning.

"!"

The soldiers halted their battle and gazed in bewildered silence at the strange phenomenon. Meanwhile, the party members stood in shock with their mouths agape.

My eyes slowly widened.

It wasn't an illusion. Those weapons were holy relics wielded by several historical figures throughout history. Unlike the ones kept in the reward room, those Relics were the real deal.

How was this possible? Was she capable of this all along? Why is she only using it now? Such questions were currently crossing my mind uncontrollably.

In the first place, how was she able to use the holy relcis of past mythical figures. Something like that should have been impossible.

Finally, my mind recalled a distant memory.

I had forgotten since that person was not involved in the story, but there was definitely a character that can use the relics of all past heroes. In fact, a variety of the heroic relics were kept inside his treasury.

Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

Naturally, this was a big shock to me. In the novel, Gilgamesh did not appear until the latter half of the story. And even then, he only chose to watch the performance of the players.

Shake! Shake! Shake!

The materialized weapons quivered incessantly in the air as though growing impatient.

Angelica looked at the battlefield and stretched a hand forward.

"Die!"

It was a cold voice that seemed foreign from the one I know. Was that person even Angelica?

The array of weapons streaked one by one towards the battlefield with speed surpassing that of a bullet.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

The cries of collapsing soldiers rang out like drum bells.

It was a merciless slaughter with no chance of resistance. Some of the enemy soldiers tried fleeing but it was futile in the end. The attack was comparable to a torrent of gushing water. That's wrong. It was more befitting to describe it as receiving a royal bombardment from all directions.

I was witnessing the power of a god, the power of the legendary King of Heroes. Although the weapons that appeared were only third rate artifacts, their destructive power was still formidable.

Only 15 seconds had passed and the entire battlefield was reduced to a wasteland.

The torn bodies of the Athenian soldiers were littered around. As if serving their purpose, the array of weaponry instantly dissipated into gold particles as if they were an illusion.

[The constellation 'King of Heroes' has entered the world channel.]

[The constellation 'King of Heroes' is looking at a certain someone.]

This arrogant king, was he Angelica's star contractor this entire time?

When did he enter this world channel and when did he choose Angelica? No, why did he choose someone like Angelica to be his Incarnation.

I was a reader but there were things that I did not know.

[The constellation 'King of Heroes' scoffs with annoyance.]

This bastard. If you didn't like the performance then go away and go somewhere else.

As I fell deeper into my reverie, cries of victory erupted in the battlefield. Those cries belonged to the spartian soldiers who survived the great war. Simply, they have won.

Unfortunately for us, we didn't have time to celebrate.

The system announced the end of the story scenario.

[The sixth 'Conclusion' has been reached.]

[Participants: Kim Jakga, Angelica, Jung Yunhee and Lee Suhye]

[Main contributor: Angelica Thompson]

[A special reward will be given to the main contributer.]

[500 coins has been given as a clearance reward.]

It was a shame that I didn't receive the special reward. But after that incredible performance Angelica just displayed, she truly deserves to receive the special reward instead of me.

The background slowly changed and we returned to the interior of the library dungeon.

Angelica's breathing became rough and her body staggered. I rushed and held her body before she could fail.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just need to catch my breath."

The Rain of Babylon was an extremely powerful authority that can summon all the heroic relics in the king's treasury. For such a skill, there was an extremely mana consumption. But it was something that could overwhelm both Soo Jinyoung and Kang Jaewon. A hidden trump card.

We climbed the stairway to the next floor. We prepared for a confrontation but there was no enemy in sight.

"Huh?"

I swept my gaze around but I didn't see anyone. Has Kang Jaewon already moved to the next floor? Damnit, maybe were too late.

Lee Suhye noticed something in the background and opened her mouth.

"Hey, there's something over there."

"Where?"

Lee Suhye pointed towards a corner. At first, there was nothing. But upon closer inspection, I noticed the surrounding space was vibrating.

Something was coming.

Zzzt!

Suddenly, the vacant space rippled akin to a glitch in a video game, accompanied by a distinct sound, and a human figure materialized.

It was a tall, muscular man dressed in mostly all black clothing and leather boots. Two metres tall, shaggy black hair, dark eyes and extremely good looking features. He looked like those protagonists you could only find in a fantasy manhwa but nobody will mind since the old world was already coming to an end. He was a terrible person that placed all his redeeming qualities into his appearance.

His name was Song Jaewon. It was the same bastard that was the responsible for all our misfortunes in this place.

I noticed the sword attached to his waist and clicked my tongue once.

That bastard must have taken one of the swords from the reward room. There were other artifacts such the Sky Boots and Escape Earrings in his possession. He has really been busy since I last saw him.

The moment the party members saw him, they were prepared to jump out and give him a piece of their mind. In particular, Lee Suhye seemed more excited.

"That bastard, he must have been eating well while we were suffering. Let's go and greet him."

"No, let's not do that."

"What? Are you saying we should let him go after all he has done?"

"That's not what I'm saying. If possible, I would like to punch the back of his head."

"See! Then let's get him. We have the number advantage."

"Damnit, use your head. Why did we come to this dungeon? Was it because of him or Soo Jinyoung?"

"T-That..."

"I understand how you feel, but this is not the time for a fight."

Even if we engaged in combat, the odds of victory remained slim. If Lee Jongho or Kim Hyunwoo were present, perhaps our chances would have improved, but they were absent. Additionally, Angelica seems unable to harness the full potential of her stigma due to severe mana depletion.

Jung Yunhee opened her mouth from the side.

"You do realise we have to pass him somehow to get to Soo Jinyoung. How are we going to pass him without fighting?"

"That's true. However, there's a way we can defeat him without using physical violence."

"What are you mean?"

"Nothing complex. Have you forgotten where we currently are?"

I silently approached a bookshelf and pulled out the books from their positions. It was okay if I didn't open them and read their contents. However, I was free to read their topics.

None of the books I pulled out fit the theme I was searching for—none were about the subject I had in mind. Most focused on defense, rescue missions, or exterminating monsters.

I needed something that would keep Song Jaewon occupied for a long time.

Ah, I found it.

I smiled and pulled a book from the shelf. Maybe this will work.

I adjusted my body position, calculated the right angle and threw the book with all might.

Swoosh!

The book crossed the air with a piercing sound as if screaming for freedom.

Song Jaewon immediately shifted his head and avoided the book.

Of course, he would dodge. It would be strange he didn't dodge such a simple attack.

I pulled out the revolver and swiftly pulled the trigger with strength. The gun wasn't aimed at the regressor but the book that just flew past him.

Bang—

The book exploded and pieces of paper scattered around.

"!"

Song Jaewon, upon realizing the situation, attempted to escape. However, the short distance between him and the book resulted in him pulled into the story.

Then, I thought I heard something strange.

"You bastard... When I come out, I'll definitely find you."

My body shivered. I hoped that I just imagined it. The resentment of the regressor was the most dangerous thing in this world. In the end, I thought I misheard what he said.

When we approached the spot where Song Jaewon was previously standing, Lee Suhye asked as if it was absurd.

"Wait, you mean you can touch the books without being sucked into the story?"

"Yeah, it seems that way."

"That's not exactly reassuring."

"I guess I've been lucky so far."

"Alright, so which story did you end up sending him into?"

"A very troublesome story. We won't have to worry about him for a while."

The story's theme centered on monster slaying, but with a unique twist: battling a fire-breathing sea serpent aboard a cruise ship. The goal was to protect the cruise ship from destruction.

Considering Song Jaewon's personality, he would sacrifice everyone that he deems useless and try to pass the trial on his own. But even if he did or not, the story was impossible to pass from the beginning.

He is going to receive a penalty when he fails but he deserved it for giving us a hard time.

We moved and reached the ninth floor. It was a strange floor. Unlike the other floors, there was nothing on the ninth floor. There was only a huge red circle positioned in the middle.

Lee Suhye looked around in confusion and frowned.

"There's nothing here."

"I can see that."

"You jerk. How do we get to next floor if there's no stairway?"

"That's strange. There's supposed to be something here. Wait, what is that?"

I pointed at something laying infront of the red circle. We moved closer to inspect the foreign object.

Apparently, it was not a foreign object but something that resembled a human body. It was something wearing a red suit and a broken mask. There were several torns on its body as if someone furiously slashed at it with a sword. Strangely enough, there was no blood.

Something that could not bleed? That would mean that it had to be something that could not be alive. Was this a puppet?

Sweeping my gaze around, I noticed there were several burn masks on the floor and the walls.

Soo Jinyoung passed here. That thought subconsciously emerged from my mind.

Only someone on Soo Jinyoung's level could cause this level of destruction. More importantly, if there were burn marks here then she must have used that skill.

But why did she use that skill? Was this puppet that strong? To begin with, was there a puppet like that in this dungeon?

While I was lost in my reverie, the group members looked at the body with curiousity.

"What is this?"

"Basically, it is a puppet. It must have been put here by the dungeon owner to welcome visitors. When I say welcome, I don't mean it in a good way. Since it was destroyed in this manner, it must have ran into a terrible guest. Regardless, it was probably guarding that circle, which I assume is the entrance to the next floor."

"Then let's enter quickly."

Lee Suhye was the first to move. Was she moving so she could meet Soo Jinyoung or did she want to bed this journey quickly? Maybe it is a mix of both.

I entered the circle and then others entered as well. The moment we entered, a small system panel appeared infront of me.

[Do you wish to challenge the tenth floor?]

There was no trial on the ninth floor since the boss was already defeated.

I opened my mouth and answered.

"Yes."

[New participants has been sensed.]

[You will be teleported to the tenth floor.]

The circle glowed crimson and the scenery began to change slowly. Once the teleportation was complete, we opened our eyes and noticed the new stage.

As if welcoming the new visitors, an eerie sensation immediately crossed my body. From the beginning, I knew this was going to be difficult.

[You have arrived at the Tenth floor.]

"Ahhh!"

Someone screamed. Maybe it was Angelica or Lee Suhye. It didn't matter. I was focused on the unbelievable sight before me.

The first thing that appeared infront of us was the grisly scene of Soo Jinyoung's body sprawled on the floor.

We arrived too late. The protagonist 'Soo Jinyoung' was already ruined by the dungeon owner.

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