Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 201



Only Krnovel

201

– It’s Quattro Manus! It’s crazy! It’s really big! Jinsang, Jinsang!

-Be careful. If it seems dangerous, avoid it first.

[Grim Seeker] Vivi, who had confirmed her route, was working on the main scenario of the Castle of the Dead.

The boss monster, Quattro Manus, is the protagonist of a rather impressive production.

In terms of setting, it is an entity that is openly called the ‘strongest warrior’ and was created by the Apostle Luke to prevent his own death.

It is also a particularly dangerous factor if contamination occurs even by a small amount.

Even though it is a [Grim Seeker] route and not a raid-style route, the occurrence of contamination will not be determined by the route.

‘Now that I know that the is that kind of person… … I can’t let my guard down anymore.’

Even the was revealed to be a being that surpassed Jinseong’s own imagination.

That was the reason why Jinseong’s expression was still somewhat dark, so he quickly tried to give instructions to Vivi so that she would not be in danger.

-No, no! Quattro Manus is far away! I don’t think he’s fighting right now.

-Ah, that’s right. There’s a part where he appears for a moment and then disappears like an earthquake. Next time, we’ll fight the real Quattro Manus. Then, probably-.

But that wasn’t why she was so excited.

– This is crazy! Just how many parts were used? The prototype looks much more impressive than the Quattro Manus Mk-II that came out in the raid? And it doesn’t even look like it’s been painted, but the metal texture is subtly different, a little reddish… … .

If it was a mechanical device, her tendency to turn her eyes would not have changed.

Jinseong could not help but know what her eyes would be like as she looked at the back of the giant soldier, a collection of Apostle Luke’s creations that surpassed even the technology of the heavens and whose size was impossible to estimate.

Letting out a small sigh, Jinseong recited the setting of Quattro Manus, which suddenly came to mind.

-What… … After hearing that, I also thought about it, but it probably isn’t made of regular iron. Was it the ? It was something like gathering sunlight, starlight, and moonlight and having Luke strike it with the crown hammer to create something… … I think it was something like that, but I don’t remember exactly.

Because I just remembered.

Since Jinseong’s mind was so complicated right now, he muttered something to lighten things up, but it seems like his words irritated Chili Shrimp a little.

She scolded Jinseong.

-Mr. Jinseong, I think you’re the problem. You respond to each and every one of them.

-Huh!? Isn’t that the material that you use to exchange items? If Unnie Chili has that, she can probably use it too.

-… Our Vivi says pretty things like this. But is there any material I can use? If it’s something I need to change my items, is it something like ?

-That’s right, something like that!

No, I was trying to scold him.

But what a change of attitude he had when he heard that the mere presence of the setting was actually an in-game material and a necessary exchange item for future equipment items.

‘Yeah, I feel better having these two people around.’

Jinseong ended up bursting into laughter at the collaboration between the chili shrimp that changed its attitude like turning over a palm and Vivi who ran to the chili shrimp again and kept nagging him about how good it was.

‘… … In some ways, it could be more difficult than dealing with Hilda.’

A being who may have powers greater than that of Apostle Hilda.

A being that can freely move between dimensions and has no distinction between past, present, and future.

Jinseong can’t even imagine what kind of abilities it would take to be able to do something like that.

As far as Jinseong knows, there is only one person with such an absurd ability, Nemer.

‘A being that can freely cross timelines – at any rate, only Nemer has been revealed in the settings. Ah, well, I had a vague idea that there would be something awesome since Nemer couldn’t find the himself.’

I thought it would be a real Nemer-level being or a being that could display abilities similar to Nemer.

-Isn’t that Gae Bolg? If you think about it, it’s like the Celestials made Gae Bolg to attack Bakal! Couldn’t Luke have just picked a few Quattro Manus and defeated Hilda and Cain? Wasn’t that impossible?! What do you think, Jin Sang? Oh, or was it because there wasn’t enough material or time?

Apostle Luke, whose nickname is the Builder.

After Bakal lost his position as an apostle, he became the new 9th apostle and was given the nickname of the Builder, but his talents were not limited to the ‘Castle of the Dead’ or Quattro Manus, which condensed all of Heblon’s science and technology.

-No, that wouldn’t have been a problem. Rather, it’s because Quattro Manus was so strong. It would have been enough for Luke.

-Huh? How can you guarantee that?

Jinseong answered Vivi’s question.

Why did they only build one Quattro Manus, even though they had the ability to build one that would have had destructive power greater than that of Gae Bolg?

Also, why is Luke more famous than just being called by nicknames like The Builder?

-Luke is a prophet. He has seen his own death over and over again… …and has tried to avoid that death, that prophecy. As far as I know, he hasn’t dreamed of his own death since he created Quattro Manus. Maybe Luke didn’t mass-produce Quattro Manus because he gained that satisfaction, which may just be a consolation for his mind.

Because he is a prophet.

Even though he lost his memory and consciousness for a long time due to Hilda’s scheme, the reason he had to continue to act ‘silently, touching the dirt’ even after regaining consciousness by chance.

Also, the reason why he built a castle for the dead that even Hilda could not find.

It was all based on Luke’s own prophecy.

In order not to die.

‘More specifically… … so as not to fall for Hilda’s scheme and become a sacrificial lamb necessary for the realization of the plan.’

Unlike the main scenarios of other apostles, the fact that Luke has the option of ‘persuading without fighting’ in the [Grim Seeker] route is probably because Luke was already aware of Hilda’s scheme through Scirocco’s thoughts before hearing Hilda’s plan.

The chili shrimp, who had been listening quietly, also said that it seemed interesting.

-Hmm, this is an interesting story. It’s completely different from Lotus, Diregie, and Anton.

-That’s right. It would be too long to explain everything, so I’ll condense it a bit, but in the first place, Hilda was only with Luke-.

Kukugugugu──────────… … .

-Huh? Sound?!

-Huh?! Mr. Jinsang! Vibration!

-What is it? What kind of vibration? I haven’t felt it yet?

Suddenly, vibrations and noises echoed throughout the castle of the dead.

Jinseong ran out of the tent and assessed the situation.

– Vivi! What’s changed around you? Current location! Surrounding monsters! NPC status report!

If Jinseong himself was in the camp, he must have felt it.

Still, the chili shrimp doesn’t know what happened? If so, then the problem that caused this vibration and noise must have occurred somewhere in the flow of Vivi’s main scenario.

However, contrary to Jinseong’s thoughts, there was nothing unusual around Vivi.

-Oh, nothing yet! Still on my way to deal with Quattro Manus! Van Balstedt is next to me, but that’s just how it is, right?

There is confusion, but no wavering.

Jinseong looked around. Hunter Pon and Meryl Pioneer of the Adventurer’s Guild, Neville Jurgen of the Joint Investigation Team, and even the hunting dog Cyrus, all eyes were turned to the Castle of the Dead.

As expected, there was a vibration in the castle.

It was something that everyone on the outside felt for sure.

“The smoke……”

“I guess something happened in the upper part of the Castle of the Dead. No, not the upper part – it’s upside down, so maybe I should call it the lower part?”

The castle of the dead is a shape that protrudes from the underworld toward the heavenly world.

However, due to the different worlds converging, the direction of gravity has become reversed. In other words, the smoke was coming from a place that, to the celestials, looked like the ‘upper part’ of the Castle of the Dead, but to those who had actually entered the ‘Castle of the Dead’, it seemed like it was somewhere on the ‘lowest level’!

‘Is it near Luke Labs? Is it literally Luke’s residence?’

Different from other people.

Jinseong knows roughly where that point is.

At that location, something similar to contamination occurred, unrelated to Vivi?

‘… … It means that it is different from the user’s event… … I have to check.’

Jinseong, who was about to run to the castle of the dead, quickly returned to the tent.

You go up to the point where gravity is reversed on a hoverboard, then you enter the castle of the dead and walk down, down? All the way there?

There’s no time for that. It’ll be too late once the situation is over.

“Wheww… It really is a blessing in disguise.”

Fortunately, Jinseong had already entered the ‘Castle of the Dead’.

When I moved to the Helix Labs with Giselle, I thought a lot of things had gone wrong, but I never thought it would be recycled like this.

“Heukgu, just in case, lend me your strength anytime.”

[Kekeke, good. I can’t believe that a quiet old man said something like a prophecy or something… … but I’m also interested.]

In the equipment and

Changed to equipment of and .

“Haaaaaah…….”

Only after Jinseong had prepared to immediately use his power beyond the standard when something happened did he concentrate his power.

As expected, the energy that flowed from his blackened arm traveled through his body, to his face, to his eyes… … until his clear eyes turned red.

Jinseong drew his sword in the air with slow, yet sure movements.

There was no sound.

That was why it was an even stranger sight. The empty space in front of Jinseong’s eyes was torn apart and turned purple for a moment, and then that part became a space that didn’t match the surroundings at all.

It’s not like we’re going to the dimensional rift where we met the Time Lord.

Literally like a portal, going to the place you want to go.

For Jinseong, who had begun to fully manifest the power of the Dark Knight, it meant that activating a portal near a location he had already visited or known would no longer be a big problem.

Jinseong shook his head as he looked beyond the swaying ‘beyond’.

[Keep on, keep on, is it fully bloomed now, Jinseong… … .]

“It’s not perfect. If you do this once, you’ll feel sleepy as if you’ve stayed up for two nights. Anyway, focus, Heukgu. Let’s go.”

As soon as Yeok-an’s eyes returned to their original light, Jin-seong threw his body.

The dimensional gap that had opened soon closed.

At that moment, Jinseong was already inside the castle of the dead.

* * *

‘It’s half a success if it’s not the Dark Altar.’

I could tell the moment I looked around.

As I told Heukgu, it is not yet possible to freely manifest powers like [Portal].

Even though he didn’t arrive at the ‘accident location’ that he had wanted to, he could at least say that he was now free from the condition of ‘only being able to go to areas he had been to before’, like the ‘teleport potion’.

“The direction is-.”

[It’s over there.]

“-Yeah, I feel it. There’s something… there.”

However, as I said to Heukgu before entering the portal, for Jinseong, who has not yet achieved true awakening, that is, has not yet reached the same level as the Time Lord, this is something that requires a lot of energy.

But it was not the time to express regret.

Jinseong started moving along with Heukgu, finding a direction.

‘It seems to be near Luke’s lab… … It seems like they haven’t fully entered the lab?’

Dungeon Area: The area corresponding to Luke’s Laboratory does not have the same atmosphere as the ‘Sanctuary of Birth’ and ‘Sanctuary of Destruction’.

It is not even close to the same atmosphere as the ‘Altar of Darkness’ that Jinseong himself had reached last time.

The fact that it still feels somewhat rough can be interpreted as meaning that this place is not inside Luke’s laboratory, that is, not the actual residence that Luke has prepared.

‘I was briefly worried that maybe the Luke Raid had suddenly started. If it’s not the Sanctuary map, then it doesn’t seem to be related to the raid-… … Then what was that vibration just now? It was so destructive that it shook the entire Castle of the Dead… … A loud noise… … Is there an event that could produce something like that… … Right?!’

Jinseong’s eyes widened as he was organizing his thoughts.

At the same time, the voice of Heukgu rang out.

[True! Something is-.]

Coming!

Wind or sound.

What feels faster than that is the sound!

Kwaaaa …

Another explosion was heard, presumably near Luke’s laboratory.