Old People Don’t Hold Hands - Chapter 170



Only Krnovel

Episode 170, Flame Labyrinth (4)

His question made me stop moving naturally.

……root.

Even I, who have been playing EndWorld for 11 years, still don’t really know.

An unfamiliar object whose name I’m hearing for the first time.

however…….

When I started EndWorld.

Or, it is something that only the people of the world line that existed before that time know about.

For example, the leader of the frozen fortress that I first encountered when I started EndWorld.

Or the Frost Queen.

Or the great wizard of disaster before your eyes who seems to have lived even longer than that.

… … No, like Libero Armas.

When did you first learn about roots?

It was when I first encountered the Frost Queen in her coffin.

Even back then, the Frost Queen clearly looked at me and said this.

How can you, a mere human, have roots?

And now.

The person in front of me, who introduced himself as Libero Armas, was also speaking like this.

… … How can you, a mere human, have roots?

And the guy is looking at me intently and asking me this.

It was me, and none of us else.

Instead of reacting to what he said right away, I swallowed my saliva.

My heart began to pound secretly as I faced him.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud thud, thud thud thud, thud thud thud, thud thud thud thud, thud.

It’s much bigger than me and probably quite strong.

… … Unlike the monsters in the labyrinths of the typical EndWorld, this monster suddenly regained its sense of self.

I will hear stories about things I never knew about before.

Because I thought it was a golden opportunity.

I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart.

I looked straight at the guy.

The guy frowned as if he found something strange.

He kept tilting his head while looking at me.

“That’s strange… … .”

There was no particular malice in the gaze of the man who kept muttering.

So, you might be able to ask him what it is that he wants you to sprinkle on him.

If you do that, you’ll be a servant.

The reason is simple.

The guy seemed to have a fundamental pride in his own existence and power.

Coincidentally, his name is the same as that of Revel, who was a ‘god’ in EndWorld.

It seemed that ‘Riverlo’ also knew.

In addition, among the gods that are widespread in EndWorld, there is Revalo, who is called one of the ancient elemental gods and the god of flame.

Because he was only expressed as ‘a god of flames’.

… … Even if he shows no hostility towards me.

Unlike the Frost Queen, I asked her properly what the root was.

There was a high chance that he would laugh at me and not speak properly.

So what I have to do now is.

“… … Just a human? How disingenuous. We are a species with roots you speak of.”

“… … .”

It was about pretending to know and secretly asking him for the story I wanted to find out.

Let’s talk naturally about the guy who was looking at me with a puzzled look.

He still acts suspicious.

He looked at me, stroking his chin with one hand.

“That’s sophistry. Humans are a species that was designed to be weak.”

“… … .”

“But just because you have roots doesn’t mean you’re a strong human.”

……okay.

Anyway, I don’t think he’ll agree with what I say, but given the mood so far.

I could tell just this one thing.

Whatever your thoughts are about me.

Even if he looks down on me because I am human.

I have no doubt that I have roots and that I know something about the thing.

So the guy still frowned as if something was bothering him.

He touched his chin.

Eventually, I had no choice but to ask myself this again.

“I ask again, human. How do you have roots?”

… … I couldn’t hide my interest in the thing called the root that I had.

The Frost Queen too.

Even just hearing his story, he seemed like a being of a higher rank than Rebel.

Why do only influential people seem to notice and take interest in this?

I don’t know what it is, but it seems certain that the roots I have are something great.

This should be enough to get him to the negotiating table.

At least at the negotiating table where both sides can get the information they want.

I looked straight at the guy who was looking down at me.

“I don’t know if I should call it a coincidence.”

“… … You got the roots by chance? That can’t be.”

“Of course, there were those who tried to take what was mine. For example, Kirche and… … .”

Actually, when I encountered Kirche’s clone by chance in the Red Thorn Swamp of EndWorld.

He looked me straight in the eye and said this.

Why do you have roots, like the Frost Queen or the Rebel Armas before your eyes?

… … and that it was originally supposed to be his.

The chances that the Kirche I encountered back then was the work of another man were slim.

If he’s the kind of guy who would do something so outrageous.

You probably wouldn’t even know about roots.

In this regard, I have once said something to that guy.

The guy frowned at my words for a moment, and then not long afterwards.

“… … Hahaha! This is funny, this is funny.”

He burst out laughing by himself and muttered this.

Just from that reaction, you can tell what he’s thinking.

It wasn’t easy to read.

He looked down at me with a subtle expression that wasn’t easy to read.

“Are the offshoots that were not passed down ultimately considered failures?”

… … he said this.

I couldn’t quite understand what he meant though.

It seems like he completely believed what I said.

… … Is this also because I have roots?

I have something so great that it’s weird to think of it like that.

The guy was laughing heartily at me mentioning Kirche’s name.

Judging from the way you call Kirche a copycat or your current reaction.

It seemed like he didn’t like Kirche very much.

I looked at the guy who was still muttering with a smile on his face, and waited for an opportunity.

“… … I have something to ask you too.”

“What is it?”

“I just said this. Humans are a species designed to be weak.”

“It definitely was.”

“You also look like a human, so you don’t seem that different… … What do you mean humans were designed to be weak?”

“… … .”

As soon as he heard me, he stopped laughing.

He changed his gaze for a moment and looked down at me.

… … That is, with a gaze that is different from before, subtly mixed with hostility.

No, more like hostility.

It felt more like the strange curiosity he had about me had suddenly disappeared.

He just looked down at me with that gaze.

“That’s funny.”

… … He just laughed at me, saying things like this.

“… … You think it’s funny?”

I tried to remain calm in response to the bastard’s reaction.

It seems like they’ve already figured out that there’s no point in acting relaxed.

The guy just smiled and said this.

“I mean, you, a mere human, are ridiculous. You, don’t you even know the true power of the roots?”

“… … .”

Let’s not answer his words hastily.

The guy just turned his head away from me.

“Even though you have all that stuff, you can’t even use your strength properly. Aren’t humans really funny creatures?”

“… … That’s what I want to know. About this thing called roots.”

Despite my pleas, the bastard seemed uninterested and just wandered around the boss room for a while, carrying his luggage on his back.

“If you can truly embrace the power of your roots, everything will come naturally to you.”

“… … If you find out, what?”

“The root is the power that started from everything. If you can just possess it, you can inherit everything… … .”

After that, the guy who wanted to talk about roots for a while.

Suddenly he stopped talking about roots.

He started to groan, holding his head.

“… … !”

Above the body of the guy holding my head.

… … A pure white hand appeared.

Let’s take a moment to prepare ourselves for the sudden reaction and appearance of his hand.

“Keuuu, keuuuugh, Lee, Pulo, yes, you… … !”

Finally, as soon as you call out Rebel’s name.

A huge flame rose up again over the bastard’s body.

Just like the flames that covered the magic circle.

Immediately after the flames that had covered him disappeared.

… … , … , … … , … … !

Again an unintelligible roar was heard.

The guy was hunched over again, as if he had lost his wits.

Also, the face, hands, and feet that were barely visible were dyed black.

The robe covering the bastard’s body was old and torn in many places.

“Revalo Armas, let me ask you! What on earth are roots?”

I wonder if I have completely lost my mind yet.

Even after returning to his original form as a boss, he continued to shout at the guy who was holding his head with both hands.

What on earth is this thing called a root?

And that awesome looking thing.

Why on earth do I have it?

I, who was not originally from EndWorld.

But I don’t know if you can’t hear me or if you don’t understand.

That guy.

… … , … , … , … !

It kept letting out an unknown roar.

He reached out a hand to me.

“Tell me, Rebel. What on earth is the root of… …!”

“Decklen, get out of here!”

Instead of answering me, he reached out his hand.

As I asked while still standing in front of him, a red fire pit slowly gathered above his hand.

He shot it straight at me.

I was able to quickly escape the fire pit thanks to Nowen who caught me.

… … Still holding on to a thin thread of hope, I could only watch the thing still letting out an unknown roar.

The bastard seemed to have completely lost his wits, and now he didn’t even roar.

Soon, he completely lost his mind and started shooting fireballs at us without thinking.

… … That is, as expected of the boss of EndWorld.

“Mr. Declen!”

Kwaaaaang―!!

Let’s dodge the fire pit that is quickly flying towards me again.

Before I knew it, the inside of the boss room was covered in flames and had become a half-hellscape.

The fire that he shot without thinking stuck to the floor.

This was because about half of the boss room was on fire.

Literally the guy is laughing at the current Libero.

It was just as he said, he was a real disaster.

… … Perhaps, if this guy returns to Kargon through erosion in the future.

The ground we must occupy will also change like this.

I look at that figure, Libero Armas.

… … No, the boss of the 4th floor flame labyrinth.

I readjusted my grip on my sword as I faced the Archmage of Calamity.

And then I locked eyes with Nowen.

Together with Nowen, I rushed at the bastard at the same time.

… … I don’t know what happened, but I had to catch that guy.

If that guy became the boss of the labyrinth in EndWorld.

It’s only natural for me to become an adventurer in EndWorld.

You have to catch that guy to survive.