Chapter 75: Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel

Torches flickered to life, illuminating the corridor.

’Huh...?’

Spinning around, Peace gulped as all he saw was a solid white wall.

’T-this is not good.’

Judging by the pale faces of his party members, they knew just how screwed they were, too. None of them even had the will to speak.

Except Volkar...

Who walked up to the wall and pressed his hand to it.

"Hmm... Who closed the door?"

Ralph began to tremble, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his sword and the handle of his shield. Disregarding Diver common sense, he shouted:

"What asshole did this?!"

The words echoed off the wall, answered only by the howling wails of something lurking deeper within.

They should be safe where they were, but Ralph knew better.

Unperturbed, Volkar cocked his head to the side.

"What’s wrong, friend?"

Taking a step toward Volkar, Ralph screamed:

"Everything! Do you have the faintest idea how FUCKED we are?!"

Volkar’s expression dropped flat.

Maura pulled Ralph away from Volkar.

"C-calm down, Ralph."

’Even she’s lost her composure.’

Ralph shook.

"Calm down...? The only thing that will calm me down is finding the assholes who ignored Guild protocol!"

Ralph kicked the wall as if trying to break it down, to no avail.

Kicking again, he said:

"Nobody reported they were going to attempt synthesis!"

As much as Ralph seemed to be overreacting, his fear was entirely justified.

’We had the means to survive the Light Temple...’

But that depended on one crucial factor...

Being able to leave whenever they wanted.

They’d planned to hunt monsters near an exit, somewhere they could flee if things went wrong. Without that guarantee, the monsters inside might prove too strong.

Ralph slammed his sword into the wall.

"They could have at least done it sooner! Or waited until right before!"

As for what Ralph was talking about...

In the game, there was something called the Shield of Light. An item obtainable from the Light Temple with a 100% drop rate. It sat on the lowest floor, resting upon an altar in the middle of a rather ominous room.

The problem was that the Light Temple was a temple of doom...

Picking up the shield caused every entrance to be sealed off.

Yulis stammered:

"W-we will find a way out. If we can find them, maybe we can convince them to give it up."

Volkar, having adopted a serious expression, asked:

"Give what up? Can someone explain?"

Ralph bit his tongue, casting his gaze at the floor.

"The trial. The trial to awaken the Shield of Light."

’Otherwise known as synthesis...’

Slumping against the wall, Ralph slid to the floor.

When one picked up the shield, it was dormant. Completely useless. The only way to activate its power was to kill the Worshiper of Light while wielding it.

’My luck... is simply awful.’

As Ralph had alluded to, any party attempting this quest had to notify the Divers Guild seven days in advance so they could warn weaker Divers against entering the temple.

A practice Peace had learned from Alexandra.

Peace had also been receiving updates from the Divers Guild through Alexandra regarding anything happening on the first floor. And he hadn’t heard a word about anyone attempting synthesis.

’Now we’re stuck with them.’

The Worshiper of Light always spawned on the top floor, right under the disc, a short distance inside the temple. Ordinarily, it would climb out through the hole at the very top then wander.

But, like the rest of the exits, that hole had been sealed off.

A mechanism designed to force the Worshiper of Light to confront those attempting to steal the Shield of Light.

The worst part was that it didn’t simply target those who picked up the shield...

It behaved as it normally would, attacking anyone who entered its line of sight.

Now that it was trapped inside, it would simply wander the halls until it found them or they found it.

Meaning...

’There’s a high chance it could run into us first...’

’A very high chance.’

After all, the shield was on the lowest floor, and whoever had taken it was unlikely to leave that area. They’d probably wait for the Worshiper of Light in the altar room, where no monsters spawned and there was plenty of space to fight.

’If we want to hide behind them or ask them to let us go, we have to go to them.’

Which also meant passing through several spawning zones they simply weren’t capable of handling.

Volkar tilted his head to the side.

"I still don’t know what that is."

Ralph dropped his sword and waved his hand dismissively.

"Forget it..."

Peace closed his eyes and took a deep breath...

When he opened them again, a quiet sheen glimmered in his irises.

Turning, he began to walk down the corridor toward the junction where it split left and right.

In a defeated tone, Ralph asked:

"Pariah, where are you going?"

With nails poking out from under the felt of his gauntlets, Peace stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Down... You’re free to follow if you wish, but I’m not allowed to die here."

"Ah..."

Peace waited, watching as Yulis looked from Peace to Ralph, then back to Peace. Swallowing hard, Yulis began to follow.

Next was Maura. Her eyes pleaded with Ralph to follow, but he simply avoided her gaze.

Volkar, donning a stern expression, stood over Ralph.

"Brother, don’t be a coward. I don’t know what’s happening... but living is an honor. It is a person’s duty to fight to hold that honor. To give up is the worst offense."

Ralph didn’t respond.

"..."

Extending his hand, Volkar demanded in a low tone:

"Stand tall. Like you did that day."

Ralph stared at Volkar for a few seconds. Long seconds of utter silence. Then, he sighed.

"Ah, damn it... I was at least lookin’ to die on my own terms."

Ralph pulled a small canister filled with green liquid from his glove and threw it to the ground, smashing it with the bottom of his fist.

Finally, he took Volkar’s gigantic hand in his, letting himself be dragged to his feet. After picking up his weapon, the two followed after Peace.