The Thief King’s Labyrinth #4

 

Adrenaline spread through my body and my heart pounded wildly.

It was clear what had to be done.

The act of cutting people.

It’s what Rodrigo does best. It’s much easier to understand than the tedious stuff of labyrinth exploration and criminal tracking.

If I kill Dread, this whole nightmare will end.

“어딨냐, 이 개새끼야.”

Strangely enough, I felt good.

Is it because there are fewer things to worry about and only one simple, clear task remains?

With this sword full of vengeance, I’ll just cut open the dreadnought’s belly and kill him.

At some point, Rodri began to chuckle. White foam flowed from the corners of his mouth.

“Found it.”

At the end of one hallway, I found traces of Dread.

I knew it by the smell. The foul smell of sweat, the smell of dried semen. The smell of a Dread child.

His entire body was hyper-sensitive. Rodri now felt like a killing machine, specialized for killing people.

Rodri stepped into the dark hallway, feeling a strange sense of elation.

The smell was getting closer.

“Where are you running around so busily, huh?”

Dredd was startled when Rodrigo appeared.

The boy’s eyes flickered anxiously. His gaze lingered once on Rodri’s ominous face, then on the knife in his hand.

“⋯Why are you like this? Do you have any feelings for me?”

“You call that talking, you murderous bastard.”

“A murderer? Me? What the hell are you talking about, I was tracking you too! The bastard who killed the priest!”

“You would say that.”

Rodrigo didn’t listen to Dredd’s words.

The excuses of a cornered ghost. The repertoire is obvious. I won’t be fooled any longer.

Rodrigo raised his sword. Dread’s face turned pale.

“Are you really going to do it?”

“Come on, Akyassa.”

“You’ve completely gone crazy.”

Dread put his hand into the pocket of his green cloak.

Shush—

The cloak fluttered and the dark flag flew through the air.

‘You’ve shown your true colors, you punk!’

They attacked first. Rodri truly believed so.

Kakang!

The dark energy was scattered in all directions by the swift sword swing of Rodri.

Rodri lowered his upper body and ran quickly.

Dread’s pupils narrowed to dots.

Dread fumbled under his cloak again, just as he was about to pull out another dirty weapon.

rustle—

Dredd’s hand was severed without ever leaving his cloak. Blood splattered the floor, and the severed hand rolled across it.

“Ahhhh! You son of a bitch!”

Dredd’s screams echoed loudly inside the low-ceilinged cave.

Dread ran away, clutching his severed wrist.

“Stella! Stella! It’s him! Rodri, this guy is Windy-!”

What are you talking about? Aren’t you the murderer?

Anger welled up in Rodri. This shameless, phantom bastard. Does he intend to continue acting until the very end?

Dredd couldn’t continue his story. He couldn’t even run away.

Rodrigo pounced on Dredd as he ran like a wolf.

Crunch, crunch—!

Rodrigo slashed Dread’s back in an X shape.

Dread fell to the floor, his good arm outstretched. He twitched like an insect, then stopped breathing.

‘Is this the end?’

Rodri gasped. He stared blankly at Dredd’s corpse, his blood-dripping sword hanging limp.

I thought the disguise would disappear when I died. But Dread’s corpse didn’t revert to its original Akasha form.

Doubts arose in Rodri’s mind.

‘Why is his body still there?’

Questions filled my head, but I found it difficult to find answers on my own.

My thoughts drifted and scattered like a boat on the waves.

I wish someone would answer for Rodri, but no one would.

‘Anyway, I survived.’

Dredd may have been innocent, but so what? He would have tried to take Rodri’s life at some point.

Ultimately, it was a matter of time. It was a fight to see who would kill first, and Rodri won the fight.

Rodri had the right to survive.

***

‘Is this really the end?’

Rodri asked himself this question over and over again.

‘No way.’

The answer was obvious.

The memories are still hazy, and the crisis is not over.

Rodri’s sword still craved blood. Fresher, redder blood.

‘There’s still someone left to bear.’

Rodri walked through the cave, his footsteps muffled.

In the darkness, only his eyes glowed faintly.

‘I have to kill Stella.’

Everyone but yourself is your enemy. So the conclusion is obvious.

If I want to live, I have to kill everyone else.

Whether the others are Akasha or not doesn’t really matter anymore. If you kill them all, one of them will be Akasha.

I can’t believe I couldn’t think of this simple answer until now.

Rodrigo stopped dead in his tracks.

In front of me, I saw Stella reading the letters carved on the wall.

It seemed like he hadn’t noticed Rodri’s approach yet.

‘That’s good.’

This simplifies the story. There’s no need to hide your true feelings and wait for an opportunity.

You can finish it now. Right now.

Rodri slowly crept behind Stella, holding his breath so he wouldn’t hear her breathing.

“If it weren’t for Windy and Dread, it would be you. Stella, it would be you. You would be Akasha.”

One step, another step.

Rodrigo’s heart was pounding so hard he was worried he might hear it.

A little closer⋯

If Stella notices and turns around before then, then you should immediately take out your sword.

Phew— Phew—

A hissing breath escaped between tightly clenched molars.

Now one step⋯.

Bassuk.

The stones that had fallen on the floor flew up.

In Rodri’s eyes, the scene of Stella looking back appeared in slow motion.

“Eww-!”

Rodrigo screamed and grabbed Stella’s neck with both hands.

A 195cm tall man strangled the girl with all his might.

“Die, die!”

Stella’s body was lifted into the air like a rag doll, her feet swaying helplessly in the air.

Boom—

One of the shoes came off and fell on Rodri’s foot.

Only then did Rodri release the strength from his hands.

dump.

Stella collapsed to the floor without even a single scream. Rodri’s red handprint was clearly visible on her pure white neck.

“It’s over. This is it… the end. Heh, heh.”

Rodrigo smiled weakly.

Windy, Dread, Stella.

He eliminated everything that threatened him.

Now Rodri was safe. After all, ghosts were no match for Rodri⋯.

But why is Rodri still anxious and nervous?

Rodri squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. He roughly washed his face.

‘It’s not time to rest yet.’

He realized.

Akasha’s ghost still wanders within the labyrinth.

Rodri picked up his sword again. Stella’s freshly dead body no longer held his attention.

Rodri’s eyes were already looking beyond Stella, somewhere in the darkness.

“Do you think I’ll get hit? Don’t make me laugh… I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you before you get hit.”

Rodri felt eyes on him in the darkness.

As if enjoying, as if laughing⋯.

Sometimes it seemed like there was just one person, and sometimes it seemed like there were countless people.

Rodri nodded like a broken doll and slowly walked into the labyrinth.

**

Ugh, ugh—

Rodri’s body, lying down, trembled incessantly.

It means that we have reached the climax of the nightmare.

I lifted Rodri’s eyelids. His white, rolled-back eyes were twitching wildly from side to side.

“Isn’t it time yet?”

He sighed and placed a cold wet towel on Rodri’s forehead.

Beside Rodri, Dread and Windy lie equally unconscious.

The Curse of Akasha, “The Illusion of Doubt”.

I expected that even S-rank adventurers wouldn’t have an easy time escaping, and it was as expected.

‘It was the same in the game.’

The worst trap event that can wipe out the party if you make a single mistake.

There have been more than a few instances where a party member who had worked hard fell into a permanent unconsciousness due to this curse.

A life-threatening situation looms ever closer. Amidst the fear that Akasha’s ghost is among the party, only the right conclusion can escape this reverie.

The conclusion is that the ghost’s true identity is none other than oneself.

The target that needs to be killed is not another party member, but oneself.

A hint was given. Written in ancient language at the entrance to the dungeon was: “You can only escape by dying.”

Of course, even if you think carefully about its meaning, it is by no means easy to reach the right conclusion⋯.

Even I, who knew the contents of the curse in advance, am not in a position to show off.

I too have made the wrong conclusion more than five times that I can remember, and wandered through the curse.

Thanks to Lich’s “immortality” trait, which allows him to be resurrected even after death, he was able to attempt suicide earlier than others.

“It wasn’t easy.”

I let out a long sigh again.

It may take a lot of luck to wake up and escape from a dream where your memories have been manipulated.

If you’re not careful, your life could end in a permanent reverie. That’s the curse.

“Cheer up, everyone. You’ve got a chance, so you’ll be able to escape.”

I looked down at the faces of the party members.

They were lucky.

Because there was a country that knew the strategy of the curse.

In their dreams, including Rodri, there is Stella, or Estelle, who gives cool hints without being swept up in the situation.

Of course, even if there is a guide, it won’t be easy to get out, and you might have to repeat the illusion thousands or tens of thousands of times.

Still, I believed that I would escape someday.

I stood up from my seat.

Even if the party members are left alone for a while, they won’t be in immediate danger of dying.

It may be very painful in your dreams, but your physical body is not dying in reality.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll have to go and get my reward.

This is the lowest level of the labyrinth.

The golden gate before my eyes shone with a radiant light. It was the gate that had captured my attention for some time.

The final room where Akasha’s secret awaits.

I pushed the door open with both hands.