Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 34



Only Noblemtl

034

Jinseong hid, dragging the two corpses that had fallen to the ground.

What was visible through the GBL mask was Lenny falling to the floor, Fiona supporting Lenny, and Dan.

When he saw the expression on the face of the ‘current’ female archer user flinch for a moment, Jinseong was able to be certain.

Now, the quest screen for Lotus’ Welcome will have ended for that user, and all he will see will be Lenny’s fallen form, and Fiona and Dan standing beside him.

“Lenny! Lenny!”

Dan looked at the Archer user while Fiona was calling Lenny frantically.

“Are you…in your right mind?”

The user, of course, did not respond at all.

Fiona said.

“The adventurer suddenly ran out… The others went to stop Lotus. It was our job to stop you-.”

“eww…….”

“Lenny? Are you okay?”

Fiona asked.

I also saw the real thing.

It was also a scene I had never seen before while playing the game Dungeon & Fighter.

‘She’s crying. Fiona… … In the in-game screen, it’s a sight that couldn’t be seen in the illustration changes.’

The sight of Fiona shedding tears and Lenny trembling helplessly with only his head barely supported by her.

The single stream of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth was also something that could not be seen from the perspective of a user enjoying the game.

“Really, I… didn’t like adventurers from the start… ”

Lenny’s neck just fell off, as if he no longer had the strength to support his head.

The corners of her mouth twitched.

What was Lenny trying to say?

She couldn’t get a single word out.

Only after taking her last breath did she finally utter her last mumble, exhaling life.

“……mom…….”

“Lenny! Lenny!”

Lenny, a low-ranking knight of the Iron Wolf Order, was so filial that he even said he wanted to show his mother when he was wandering around Jinseong and Hendonmare.

‘Lenny… … .’

A single teardrop flowed down Jinseong’s cheek.

But I couldn’t cry forever.

───────────… … !!!!

Because the light emanating from the female archer user’s arm was like another signal.

“What’s with that bracelet? Well, that’s not important anyway… Don’t just stand there. When you come to your senses, go help people.”

Jinseong knew.

is an item that can temporarily block the Apostle Lotus’s psychic ability.

Isn’t that the effect of the item that Iris Fortune Singer told the female archer user just before she climbed Behemoth again?

‘But the timing of activation was late. At that time, I thought it was just a miscalculation, but when I think about Iris at this point, it could have been done on purpose. Anyway, that’s not the important thing. The user will leave now.’

Fiona continued speaking, looking at the hesitating user.

“The reason you came to your senses now…is because Lenny called you so earnestly. Go, it wasn’t you who killed Lenny, it was Lotus.”

Users who are freed from the illusion of the Apostle Lotus will join Ban and Aganjo, who are already fighting against the Lotus, and defeat him.

And Jinseong himself will have to follow suit.

‘… … Welcome. The brainwashed high priests of the GBL Church-. It was clearly an illusion that made me see ‘the NPCs and users of future quests’. And at this point, there is only one being that can make me see hallucinations.’

The 8th Apostle, the long-legged Lotus.

An apostle who exchanged information through transactions with Jinseong himself.

Was it really necessary for him to show hallucinations to himself?

It wouldn’t be easy to just deal with Ban and Aganjo while losing all of his strength outside of the water, so why would Jinseong waste his strength on himself?

‘No. I can tell because there is no reason for it to be like that. I don’t know if it was like that from the time you talked to me or after!’

The Apostle Lotus would have been .

If we consider that this is also the reason why no contaminated cards have been released yet?!

“You have to go and stop Lotus…then…Lenny’s sacrifice will not have been in vain.”

Fiona said.

The user immediately started running out.

Jinseong quietly watched the user. He knew that there was no need to chase after him right away.

Jinseong hid himself a little more.

Den said.

“But where did Jinseong go? I haven’t seen him since a while ago.”

“…So. The person that Lenny wanted to see last, the person that Lenny’s lips moved for the last time, was actually… ”

Fiona muttered as she collected Lenny’s body.

The last word Lenny couldn’t utter before calling his mother, one breath too short.

What kind of sound would it have been if breathing had been added to the pronunciation made with only the lips moving?

Fiona trailed off with annoyance in her voice.

But Jinseong couldn’t have not known.

Because Lenny had tried to call Jinseong for the last time, and because he knew the pain of having to watch Lenny die, Jinseong was trying to move diligently.

‘… … It’s exactly as Miss Fiona said. In order to make sure that Mr. Lenny’s death wasn’t in vain… … .’

Pollution must be prevented.

There was only one thing that had to be done right now.

Rustle, rustle.

Jinseong stripped the clothes off the body of the high-ranking GBL priest he had brought in.

Then Jinseong searched through his [inventory] and took something out.

* * *

The path to Behemoth’s second spine was nothing to Jinseong.

Above all, it is because Lotus’ power is seriously weakening and no brainwashed monsters have appeared to block Jinseong’s path.

‘The user would have arrived earlier than me. And if it’s Lotus in the scenario quest, it would be a piece of cake for the user to deal with. Even though she’s a buffer Muse, it would be quick.’

Jinseong progressed quickly, but never in a hurry.

Even if he arrived quickly, Jinseong himself could not just enter where Lotus was. Jinseong was watching.

Near a place where a large altar can be seen in the distance, the Iron Wolf Knights are standing guard in a defensive formation.

“Thank you for your kindness, Vice-Captain Harts.”

“You may currently be working for the duchy, but didn’t you say you were once a knight of the empire? There’s no need to say you’re indebted to me while fighting a common enemy.”

“……Thank you.”

The sight of Robato, a knight of the Duchy of Bel Myer, being treated by the Iron Wolf Knights’ Vice-Captain Harts was a familiar scene to Jinseong, even though he had never actually seen it before.

‘It’s also in the script. Robato, Ban, and Aganzo first confronted Lotus and were injured, and Hearts and the Iron Wolf Knights are only in charge of treating Robato and dealing with Lotus’s follow-up. In other words, the three people currently fighting Lotus are Ban, Aganzo, and User.’

We should still consider Lotus to be alive.

Of course, as Jinseong had predicted from the beginning, Lotus wouldn’t be able to survive for long.

“Ugh- My head suddenly feels…….”

“……What is this?”

Immediately after Robato and Hartz sensed something strange, the members of the Iron Wolf Knights also frowned.

“Where is this…?”

“Mom? Are you mom? Are you mom?”

Their mutterings sound like they are looking at something lost.

As soon as he confirmed it, Jinseong walked out.

It was a movement without even the slightest worry that they would recognize him.

‘What happens when the user realizes that he has killed the Lotus trapped in the altar… … Lotus’s final struggle.’

Not only the users, but even Ban and Aganzo are subject to Lotus’s mind control.

In that welcome, the user fights and wins the final battle with Lotus, who has emerged from the altar and revealed her original power, thus ending this quest.

“And when the battle was over and everyone came to their senses, no one remembered anything. Not even Ban and Aganzo. So of course Hatsuna Robato couldn’t stand it!”

Blame, blame, blame, blame, blame-!

Jinseong started running at a faster pace.

The first thing you see is a female archer user standing still.

And beside him, there is Ban and Aganzo, looking confused.

“Emily… Emily, no!”

“This memory… I can’t forget- who on earth-.”

Doesn’t this mean that Lotus’s final attempt at extinguishing the spark of life through psychic power was so powerful that even those who had been holding on with psychic power until now were unable to endure it?

‘Yes, it should have ended. If it had been like this… … In fact, the main body was already dead! Lotus should have bet everything on the spiritual world as if it was a last-ditch effort, but that would have been normal-.’

Jinseong saw it.

The GBL Church’s collapsed altar, and giant tentacles hanging out of the altar.

The tentacles, covered in dust from the collapsed altar, had lost their original red color and turned into an ashen color.

If things were as they were, there would be no more movement. The final battle with the Apostle Lotus would take place in the spirit world, which is the original main scenario flow!

“-He wouldn’t be dead! He’s contaminated!”

Not now.

The moment when one of the tentacles that had been hanging down suddenly sharpens its tip and shoots at the user!

Jinseong raised his beam saber and rushed forward.

“!”

At a speed that even Jinseong himself could not control.

As expected, it is a skill that can be acquired at level 25 and can be said to be the main movement skill of the Dark Knight class. Jinseong glared at the distance that was closing in an instant and struck down Lotus’ tentacle.

Kaaaaaaaang───────!

There was a loud noise, like iron clashing with iron.

It was a defense so precarious that it sent shivers down Jinseong’s spine as he stood in front of the Archer user with his sword in hand, but it wasn’t Jinseong who was more flustered.

“……You……How……!?”

Lotus’ voice rang out.

Jinseong said, pouring out something from his inventory.

“This is it.”

Jinseong’s search for Hendonmeyer with Lenny was not simply a final act of mercy, knowing that she would die.

The items I bought at Kanna’s general store, , , , and even that I bought just in case.

“What is that-…….”

“So to speak…is it a gift I bought with Mr. Lenny?”

The first plan was to create a that Iris would give to users, but since he couldn’t rely on that alone, Jinseong had to consider Plan B.

Although we may not be able to completely free ourselves from the mind control of the Apostle Lotus, what can we do to resist and restore it, even if only temporarily?

‘I don’t know what percentage of effect the has, but I know the effects. Stunned, confused, asleep. At least three of them were definitely there.’

In fact, the option attached to the item , ‘Reduces the duration of stun, confusion, and sleep by 15%’ has been replaced with a potion!

Jinseong shouted at Lotus, who was still confused.

“That’s not the point! Lotus! Are you aware that you’ve been contaminated?”

“Contamination? Do you think I have the symptoms you mentioned?”

A rough voice rang out, as if it was scratching Lotus’ vocal cords.

It was a confident voice, but Jinseong could rather be confident.

“Indeed… … Even if an entity has sufficient intelligence, it is unaware of contamination.”

“What?”

Jinseong grabbed the sword.

There was only one thing to do.

“You don’t need to know, Octopus. If it’s contaminated, just catch it. With the help of tongs.”