Chapter 773

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 773: Inheritance Trial (3)

「If you can fill your empty hands with valor, leap forth. Glory shall surely await the worthy.」

The trial of Yugui Moga, where those without a token must without fail prove their valor.

The descending passage, likely its very beginning, was far longer and deeper than anticipated.

Chwaaaaah!

“Just how much further do we have to go down? We’re descending far deeper than the distance we climbed up!”

As Yeongwoo gaped, watching sparks fly from the surface of his armor where it rubbed against the walls of the passage, his wife’s voice boomed from high above.

『Are you not there yet either?』

“Not yet! I still can't even see the end!”

By this point, it was practically certain.

Yugui Moga's legacy was buried somewhere beneath the mountain range of the Colossi.

“By the way, just when and how did they build such an enormous passage? Going this far just to hide a single legacy……?”

At that, Obstruction of Justice raised its index finger.

× They said she was a great being, didn't they. Carving out a passage like this wouldn't have been a problem at all.

However, at the spectacle that followed shortly after, even Obstruction of Justice had no choice but to shut its mouth.

Hwaaaaah!

Just as it felt like the air inside the passage was finally changing, its very end came into view.

“Finally.”

As Yeongwoo muttered shortly and turned his gaze beneath his feet, an unimaginably vast space unfolded before his eyes.

Hwaat!

× What in the world is this……?

The very first to show a startled reaction was none other than Obstruction of Justice.

It was because the space provided at the end of the passage was far wider than its expectations.

After all, it had enough area to cram an entire decent-sized town inside.

Moreover, the distance from the passage to the floor spanned several hundred meters, leaving one unable to even guess how on earth such a gargantuan underground space had been secured.

Seuaaat!

Soon, sliding out beyond the passage, Yeongwoo plummeted toward the floor of the underground space.

Sswaaaaaah!

A fierce sound of wind brushed violently past his ears, and right after, the Mark of the Ghost Ship Yorma shone brightly.

Piiing!

A clear signaling chime spread in all directions from the mark.

Then, bluish lights flickered on throughout the pitch-black underground space, faintly illuminating Yeongwoo’s landing point.

“…Gasp?”

Namely, the central section of the underground space, where all manner of corpses were piled like a mountain.

Peo-eok!

Soon, as Yeongwoo touched down upon the peak of the mountain of corpses, the heap of bodies beneath his feet shattered to pieces and collapsed.

“U-Uwaaagh!”

From half-rotted ratmen to the cyclopes seen earlier above, and the dead who had turned completely into white bones, making it difficult to discern their species.

Tumbling to the ground alongside all kinds of corpses, Yeongwoo realized that the Bandits of Pareshik weren't the only ones who had visited this place over time.

This was a historic ruin and a place of challenge with a considerably long history, and as a result, countless challengers had been left behind here as corpses.

‘Then, just what did they challenge that resulted in this mess?’

The answer to Yeongwoo’s question was unexpectedly offered by the anti-government pistol.

× Most of their legs are broken. Or their waists are snapped.

“What?”

× Look at these bones. These are simply deaths from falling. The descent section was ridiculously long, wasn't it? It was meant to weed out the weak.

At these words from Obstruction of Justice, Yeongwoo belatedly looked above his head once more.

“Ah.”

Indeed.

Just as the crazy pistol had said, an acceleration zone spanning several hundred meters, no, easily exceeding a thousand meters if including that long passage, lay above this underground space.

Hence, unless one was considerably tough, their waist or legs were bound to snap the moment they arrived here.

『Uh-uh-uh……!』

Next, a clamorous scream let out by Parina, the Princess of the Sun, shook this pitch-black underground space.

She, too, had finally exited the passage and discovered this bizarre space.

“Parina!”

At this, Yeongwoo hastily called out his wife’s name, but soon realized.

The fact that there was no way a Stellar Candidate who had undergone three thousand years of martial arts training couldn't withstand a mere high-altitude fall.

Kwaaaaaang!

Next, Parina crashed into the dead center of the mountain of corpses, making a sound like a bomb, and by this time, Yeongwoo realized there were other beings inside the underground.

Pa-pat, pat!

It was because the moment Parina appeared underground, red dots blinked in a row ahead.

“……?”

As Yeongwoo tilted his head at this, the red dots in question simultaneously surged upward by about 3 meters.

“Uh.”

He could sense multiple presences.

So, when Yeongwoo raised the token held in his hand up to head height, the bluish lights of the underground space grew a level brighter in response.

Hwaat.

And Yeongwoo’s pupils also dilated far larger than before.

It was because he noticed that what he had thought to be red dots earlier were, in reality, the pupils of pitch-black stone statues.

A grand avenue stretched out ahead of the point where Yeongwoo and Parina had fallen, and towering stone statues lined both the left and right sides of this road.

“Don't tell me, those are.”

Every stone statue bore the form of a knight clad in thick armor, each holding a different weapon in hand.

Some held swords, others spears, and yet others axes.

And above all, it caught his eye that ancient corpses were piled up profusely at their feet as well.

Those who had successfully landed without becoming part of the corpse pile had been killed by that troop of stone statues.

“Are they a device to test the valor of those who came empty-handed?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

As Yeongwoo muttered this, having intuitively grasped the purpose of the stone statues, Obstruction of Justice spoke while aiming its index finger forward.

× They aren't machines.

“What?”

× Those guys, they aren't machines. If they really were machines, I would've known. Though, that doesn't seem to mean they are living creatures either, however.

“If they're neither machines nor living creatures, then what on earth are they?”

When Yeongwoo asked back like this, for the first time, the stone statues opened their mouths.

「We are the ‘Commandments’ of the Great One, Yugui Moga.」

「Prove your qualification through valor. The unpermitted cannot linger in this place.」

Then, the ‘Commandments’ standing on the left and right sides of the grand avenue facing each other simultaneously turned their bodies toward Yeongwoo.

And then they began to advance.

Thump, ba-thump!

Toward none other than the place where Yeongwoo and Parina stood.

“What do you think you're doing? I have the token right here. So halt, I am the worthy heir!”

Yeongwoo shouted loudly enough for the Commandments to hear clearly, but as expected, there was no sign of the bastards halting their advance.

“These bastards… what are they?”

At that, Parina, who had stood tall behind Yeongwoo before anyone noticed, wrinkled her nose.

『It's not because of you. Those guys are coming to test my valor.』

With that, she slowly raised both fists, taking a combat stance.

『They wouldn't deliberately touch the one who possesses the token. So go. There is an immense energy across on the other side.』

Along with these words, what Parina pointed to was the opposite side of the grand avenue guarded by the Commandments.

To be precise, she was pointing at a heavy iron gate embedded in the wall over there.

“…Yugui Moga's legacy.”

『Yes. The legacy you are looking for is probably inside there.』

At these words, Yeongwoo, who was about to take a step, soon looked back again.

“What about you, then?”

『What about me?』

“You said you shouldn't use your stellar power yet. But can you handle those guys alone without your stellar power?”

At that, Parina smirked.

『Do you think I would suffer humiliation at the hands of crude objects like that? You're worrying beyond your station.』

Yet Parina also knew to some extent.

That there had to be a reason why corpses littered the grand avenue those bastards were guarding.

Therefore, her plan had been to inevitably use her stellar power in an emergency, but.

Tap.

『Hm?』

Before she knew it, the Mark of the Ghost Ship Yorma was placed atop her palm.

Yeongwoo had abruptly grabbed Parina’s hand and pressed the mark into it.

『What are you doing all of a sudden?』

“Just seeing that you managed to follow me down here tells me roughly that you're valorous. So save your strength in preparation for when we fight the stars later.”

Koo-oong!

In the meantime, the Commandments had truly approached right under their noses, and seeing this, Parina stared at Yeongwoo as if she couldn't understand.

『Didn't you come here to find the legacy? What's the point of giving the key to me?』

At that, Yeongwoo drew Bastard from his waist and pointed with the tip of his chin toward the iron gate on the far side.

“You can just open the door. Either way, all we have to do is find the legacy and get out.”

And then he promptly added his true motive.

“And even without a token, it said glory shall await the worthy, right? I want to know just what level of ‘worthiness’ Yugui Moga had in mind.”

Amidst all this, the curiosity of a cosmic nutjob had been triggered.

“Now go! I'll test my valor right here!”

As Yeongwoo spoke like this and pointed toward the iron gate once more, Parina shook her head from side to side and took a step forward.

Then, sure enough, the gazes of the Commandments, which had been watching Parina until just moments ago, could be seen shifting to Yeongwoo.

Even the light radiating from their eyes shifted from red to blue.

『The standard universe… is truly a bizarre place.』

Presently, as Parina shot out like a spring between the Commandments, the Commandments looking past her aimed their respective weapons toward Yeongwoo with deep blue gazes.

「Heir, you are valorous indeed. The token has not gone in vain, so the legacy shall shine even brighter.」

“…What?”

At this unexpected line of dialogue, Yeongwoo looked with wide eyes at Parina, who had already sprinted all the way over to the other side.

It was because the token, namely the Mark of Yorma, had clearly been transferred over to that side.

Yet the one the Commandments were staring at while calling him the heir possessing the token was Yeongwoo himself.

“You bastards, what are you talking about right now?”

Around this time, Parina could be seen arriving before the iron gate on the far side, and soon, after examining the iron gate this way and that, she slotted the Mark of Yorma into somewhere.

Clack!

The moment the mark was fitted, the sound of some kind of mechanism operating echoed from inside the thick walls of the underground space.

And hearing this, the Commandments focused their gazes back on Yeongwoo.

「The path to the legacy has opened. Therefore, choose.」

“Choose what?”

「Will you covet the legacy as you are? Or will you take glory as well.」

“…Take glory? I don't know how to speak all grandly, so explain it a bit more simply.”

As Yeongwoo picked at his ear and requested an elaboration, an indecipherable mark appeared above the heads of the Commandments.

「If you defeat ten of us, the remaining ten shall escort you in person.」

“Ah, a sort of honor guard protocol? Come to think of it, there are twenty of you.”

However, Yeongwoo had little interest in things like honor guards.

“Is that all glory amounts to? I have no need for an escort. I already brought along a Stellar Candidate as a bodyguard.”

When Yeongwoo gestured with his eyes toward his spouse, Parina, the Commandments turned around in unison, then looked back toward Yeongwoo.

「Our escort shall endure until the end of the universe arrives.」

“…What? Then what happens when I die?”

「At that time, your legacy shall receive our protection.」

“Ah.”

At the Commandments’ answer, Yeongwoo could understand immediately.

“Yugui Moga had set up a hidden reward, huh.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]