Chapter 55: Lord of Death (1)
by fnovelpia
Somewhere in Rudera…
“OCIL…”
Akuyuham, the arc lich, flew swiftly, his entire body transformed into darkness. He was in the middle of a journey, searching for someone of his own kind—Zhang.
“Where are you, Zhang?”
Though they had never spoken, and it was only a hunch that they were alike, Zhang had become an obsession for Akuyuham.
Ding!
- Disciplinary action for abusive behavior is in progress.
- Please check the community notice for more details.
Suddenly, a system message appeared in front of Akuyuham’s eyes.
“…What?”
Abuse?
Disciplinary action?
What was this nonsense?
Could it be that the GM had noticed that he’d manipulated his subordinate’s status panel and entered them into the competition?
He thought his skill was flawless, undetectable even by the gods, yet the GM had noticed.
A punishment directly from the gods…
That was somewhat frightening.
Woong.
At that moment, a pitch-black circle unfolded beneath his feet.
A strong force pulled Akuyuham into the circle.
“W-wait a second!”
Akuyuham tried to float upwards, his body still darkened, but the pull from below was too strong.
“Nooooooo!”
He plunged into a deep, dark pit, falling for hours, maybe days.
After what felt like an eternity, Akuyuham realized the fall had finally stopped.
“The bottom?”
It seemed he had reached the very base of the pit.
Ding!
- For deceiving the Lord and committing heinous abuse, an eternal punishment would be too merciful. However, out of the Lord’s grace, you are being given a chance. Prove yourself worthy.
“…?”
This message was different from the usual system windows.
It felt as if someone had written it with free will.
Akuyuham felt uneasy.
‘Is this a message from one of the GM’s servants?’
Of course, he had no way of knowing that the artificial intelligence, the Guide, who had written the message, had its own personal intentions.
Ding!
- You are on the 7th floor of the Tower of the Labyrinth, in the rogue-like dimension. Complete the quests faithfully.
- The logout function is disabled until you clear the quest.
Flash!
The moment Akuyuham finished reading the system window, a bright light blinded his hollow eyes.
Ding!
- Quest: Reach the Sanctuary of the Divine.
- Rogue-like specification: Abilities are limited.
As his vision returned, Akuyuham realized he was standing in the middle of a vast plain, surrounded by countless graves.
“A quest…?”
Akuyuham checked his system functions and the state of his body.
As the system had indicated, he could not leave Rudera, and his powers had weakened significantly.
“Then how about death?”
In Rudera, dying would log him out of the game, albeit with a penalty that would prevent him from re-entering for a certain period.
Fwoosh!
Akuyuham set himself ablaze, hoping to escape Rudera by utilizing the death penalty.
His entire body burned in black flames until he perished.
Ding!
- You have died.
- Returning to the starting point.
But all that awaited him was waking up in the exact same place.
“Am I trapped?”
As a lich in the real world, there was no need to eat or drink, so being stuck in the game didn’t present any immediate problems.
“Still, I don’t enjoy being controlled by anyone.”
Akuyuham felt a wave of disgust.
He had gone so far as to break a taboo that his master had strongly warned him against, all in order to avoid being manipulated by anyone, even the gods.
And yet now, they wanted to use him as a pawn?
Woong.
Black magic circles formed above his hand.
Snap.
But the dark magic didn’t respond to his will.
He couldn’t recover his lost power or escape this world.
“…Is there no other choice?”
For now, it seemed he had no option but to follow the GM’s instructions.
Akuyuham began walking toward a distant village, hoping to find a clue about the Sanctuary of the Divine.
In the village square…
A crowd had gathered around a young girl tied to a large cross-shaped structure atop an urn.
Akuyuham turned himself invisible and slipped into the crowd.
“Oh great Divine One! We offer this unholy child as a sacrifice to you!”
A man wearing a grotesque mask made of insects drew a whip embedded with sharp spikes.
“Into the urn! Into the urn!”
The crowd, driven mad with zeal, shouted and waved their fists in the air.
The man lashed the whip toward the girl.
“Ugh!”
The girl’s eyes reddened, her face contorted with pain as blood splattered from her torn back. Bloody tears streamed from her eyes.
“…This is repulsive.”
Akuyuham’s skeletal face twisted with disgust as he observed from the shadows.
“What did I do to deserve this!?”
“Don’t question it. You were born for this. Don’t be so bitter.”
“Nooo! Please, show mercy!”
The scene brought back unpleasant memories from Akuyuham’s childhood.
“When you’re reborn, may you be pure.”
Just as the priest brought the whip down again—
Thwack.
Akuyuham’s black hand caught the whip mid-air.
“This is repulsive.”
Fwoosh!
Black flames erupted from Akuyuham’s grip, reducing the whip to ashes.
“Wh-what are you?”
The priest dropped the charred remains of the whip and staggered back in shock.
“I only need one of you to answer my questions.”
Dark power gathered in Akuyuham’s hand.
In the next moment, shadowy spikes erupted from the ground, impaling the priest and the surrounding villagers. Blood splattered, and the once chaotic square fell into eerie silence.
Ding!
- You have cleared the village of Ronni, the village of the Urn Potters.
- Rewards will be granted.
System messages popped up, but Akuyuham dismissed them all.
“Half of my power remains,” he muttered, realizing that after slaughtering the entire village, his power had only been restored to half of its full strength.
Swoosh.
The ropes binding the unconscious girl to the cross loosened and fell away. Her body sagged, but she floated in mid-air.
“She’s in no condition to answer questions.”
Akuyuham’s dark magic enveloped the girl, healing her torn skin little by little.
“……”
Akuyuham stood silently, watching the girl.
A pitch-black blanket materialized in the air and gently draped itself over her.
Time passed.
Crackle, crackle.
The sound of a crackling fire filled the air as the girl slowly opened her eyes.
She sat up and looked around, noticing the fire and the figure cloaked in black robes sitting across from her.
“You’re awake,” a deep voice rumbled from beneath the robe.
“……”
The girl’s body tensed with fear at the aura of death and terror surrounding her.
Ding!
The energy within her surged and enveloped her, restoring her condition to normal.
“Hoh.”
She wasn’t just an ordinary child, it seemed.
Akuyuham began to understand why the villagers had tried to use her as a sacrifice.
He stood up slowly, his large form looming over her.
“I have something to ask.”
What was it again?
“The Sanctuary of the Divine. Tell me how to get there.”
The girl’s eyes widened at his words.
“The Sanctuary of the Divine…!?”
“…?”
She looked resolute as she spoke.
“I’ll tell you the way… but you have to take me with you.”
“…What?”
“I need to go there. I’ll show you the way, so take me with you.”
Was she headed there as well?
That was unexpected.
He had assumed she was just a helpless child, perhaps a kidnapped orphan looking for her mother.
“Fine.”
It didn’t matter.
If she knew the way, there was no need to find another guide.
“I’ll take you with me.”
Akuyuham extinguished the fire with a wave of his hand.
“I am Akuyuham, Lord of Death. Nice to meet you.”
“…Mari.”
Woong.
A dark mist swirled as Akuyuham’s skeletal steed appeared.
“Get on.”
With Akuyuham’s help, Mari climbed onto the horse.
“Let’s go.”
There was no time to waste.
And so, the adventure of the undead archmage and the young girl began.
At that time, Akuyuham had no idea.
He didn’t know that this girl would become the most precious existence to him.
“How’s everything going…?”
Snap.
Albus, who had entrusted Leighton’s education to the Guide, snapped his fingers and brought up Akuyuham’s viewpoint.
Like Leighton, Akuyuham was a cheat user who had committed abuse.
As the first abusive player in the game, Albus had pondered what punishment would be suitable for him.
In the end, he decided to use Akuyuham as a test subject for the newly opened rogue-like content on the 7th floor.
This rogue-like was Albus’s ingenious solution to the problem of the game’s development pace not keeping up with the players.
It was based on both his and the players’ memories, creating rogue-like layers for players to navigate.
When a player reached the final objective of a layer, that layer would be officially incorporated into the Tower of the Labyrinth.
In this way, all players could enjoy the Tower of the Labyrinth simultaneously.
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