Ch.225The Final Choice (3)

# 225. The Final Choice (3)

“Ah, sister! This is!”

“My body…”

“Everyone, quiet. Check your physical condition.”

One mistake could be considered an accident. Especially since their bodies were in terrible condition after Futri’s so-called trial, even after taking a great rest, it was understandable that legs might give out.

But twice?

How could the best raid members—who had defeated evil spirits, cleared dungeons, and slaughtered demons—fall because they couldn’t carry one person?

– *You may leave now. However, you must leave behind everything you gained in the tower.*

“So that’s… what it meant…”

Recalling Futri’s words just before entering the portal, Subin gritted her teeth. She had interpreted it to mean they would lose the abilities gained in the tower after leaving, which seemed reasonable.

But that wasn’t it.

They hadn’t even fully descended yet, but their strength and mana were depleting. Not from use, but their maximum capacity seemed to be decreasing.

Normally, she would have considered various possibilities, but even she was pushed to her mental and physical limits.

“Everyone, report.”

“My body feels heavy… Damn, I wondered why that bastard Futri wasn’t playing tricks.”

“About 20 percent, I think?”

“It’s not just physical. My holy power is the same. Output has decreased too.”

“My spirits also feel… like there’s noise in our communication…”

It wasn’t just her imagination. And no one here was foolish enough not to analyze this phenomenon.

“…The further we descend, the more power we’ll lose.”

“But we can’t not go down.”

“We’re caught between a rock and a hard place.”

“What can we do? We’ll take turns carrying Suhyeok and keep going down. If it gets too difficult, don’t hold back—speak up immediately. No need to worry about equal time—switch the moment you need to.”

Subin’s orders were swift. Once they realized that resting again wouldn’t restore their condition, the only option was to descend quickly.

“Then I’ll carry him next.”

“I’m counting on you, Soyu. Same goes for everyone else. If anything feels wrong, stop immediately and report. Let’s go.”

With their hopes shattered, the raid team’s mood was heavy as stone.

With only one choice available.

Having to walk a path they knew was a trap, focusing all their attention on each step, their already heavy bodies began to wear down quickly…

“Huff-“

“Sister Soyu!”

“Switch!”

Shortly after carrying Suhyeok, Soyu nearly collapsed, but Subin, who was beside her, gritted her teeth and barely caught her.

‘I can feel significant changes every ten steps down. But it’s probably a continuous change. So far, no one has fallen behind… No, what am I thinking? Focus.’

They say it’s worse to give something and take it away than to never give it at all. As the power gained from the tower drained away, the feeling of helplessness was no joke.

‘If we could descend slowly, we might adapt to these changes.’

Like mountaineers climbing the Himalayas or divers in the ocean who ascend and descend gradually.

Still, the Veritas raid members were strong not only in skill but also in willpower and endurance. Though they wanted to sit down and lie flat, no one complained or groaned.

The moment one person complained.

The moment one person sighed.

The moment one person moaned.

Knowing it would instantly color the atmosphere.

The 6+1 members descended the stairs without even making small talk.

But how nice would it be if all problems in the world could be solved with willpower alone?

*Thud-*

“Huh?”

“Sister? Sister!”

“What’s wrong!”

“Sister Yehyun collapsed! No, she fainted!”

“What?”

“Quiet! Sister Soyu, check her please!”

“Got it!”

The nightmarish reality everyone had thought about but not spoken aloud.

Falling behind.

It was beginning to manifest.

“How is she?”

“It’s just fainting, so I could wake her, but in this situation, she wouldn’t last long even if I did. Plus, we need to save emergency measures, and considering the continuing decrease… hmm.”

“…Let’s carry her. Let’s go for now.”

“Right. We have no choice.”

But for Veritas, abandoning someone was unthinkable.

So 6+1 became 5+2. It wasn’t simply that one more person had fainted. The burden on the rest increased not just twofold, but even more.

*Thud-*

“Ah…”

“Arang!”

“You… guys…”

“Arang! Arang!”

“Wake up! Open your eyes! Arang! Tae-Arang!”

And the increasing burden caused another dropout, and again, abandoning them was not an option.

From 6+1 to 5+2, and then to 4+3.

Now only one person had no one on their back.

The speed of descent had slowed to less than half of what it was at the beginning.

And the slower pace was not good at all considering the energy consumption…

“Huff, huff, huff- Sister. Just, just a moment…”

Yuri, undisputedly the team’s physical powerhouse, had legs trembling like a newborn calf. Carrying Suhyeok on her back, she gasped for breath as she barely managed to speak.

“Ha, hack, I, I can’t go on. If I go further, I’ll die. Really.”

“…”

Without waiting for Subin’s response, Yuri put Suhyeok down on the floor and collapsed. As if that was a signal, Seyeon carrying Yehyun and Soyu carrying Arang also sat down where they stood.

They had reached their limit.

“…I’ll keep watch, everyone rest.”

“…For how long?”

“…For now, 30 minutes.”

“…”

The three who had been carrying the dropouts fell asleep instantly. And so Subin was left alone.

In the dark, silent, endless spiral staircase, feeling like she might fall into a bottomless abyss if she lost focus for even a moment, she kept thinking to stay conscious.

‘Strange. There wasn’t this change at first.’

‘No. It’s not strange. They just placed normal stairs at first to make us let our guard down.’

‘Let our guard down? No. Considering Futri’s personality, it’s probably to torture us with false hope. His bad taste.’

‘But is this all? If he wasn’t going to play tricks, that’s one thing, but if he was… this wouldn’t be the end.’

‘But what difference does it make if I figure it out now? We can barely handle this simple penalty and everyone’s about to drop out. Could we endure something worse?’

‘When will Suhyeok regain consciousness? Did they not just take his memories but turn him into a vegetable?’

‘What if we just lie down like this? How can we already be lying down…!’

Her thoughts chased each other, sinking into a swamp of negativity.

A situation with no answer no matter how much she thought.

A situation where she wanted to collapse and give up right away.

Subin struck her thigh hard with her staff to stay awake and escape the swamp of negativity.

At that moment, she caught a very small but unmistakable sound.

*Patter–*

“…Huh?”

*Patter patter patter—-*

A tiny pebble falling before her eyes.

As if it wasn’t coincidence, the strange, chilling sound came again.

Subin stood up abruptly, ignoring the pain throughout her body. Then she shouted.

“Everyone up! UP! WAKE UUUUP—–!!!!!”

“Ugh… What…?”

“Shut up and get up! Hurry!!!”

“S-Sister…?”

“The stairs are collapsing!!!”

**

The three who had fallen asleep in three seconds opened their eyes immediately. But quickly regaining consciousness and quickly moving their bodies were separate issues.

Finally, Subin closed her eyes tightly and shouted.

“Sister Soyu!”

“I got it…!”

Soyu’s holy power was the raid team’s last insurance.

The insurance they hadn’t used even when three people fainted was now being broken.

Hearing Subin’s order, Soyu drew up her holy power. A ball of light appeared in her hand, growing until it enveloped the entire party. Even as she forcibly healed them through holy power, the chilling sound of what seemed to be collapsing stairs continued.

“Not yet?”

“Soon!”

As the light Soyu created faded, the remaining three who had fainted opened their eyes.

**

‘Where am I…?’

An unfamiliar ceiling.

It was truly unfamiliar, so he blinked and rolled his eyes left and right, feeling like he was lying in a hospital.

‘Hospital? Me in a hospital? Why would I suddenly be in a… hospital?’

He might have been stressed because of his superior and junior, but he had been healthy. He hadn’t had any accidents either.

Though confused, he tried to get up and call someone.

‘Excuse me!’

But no voice came out. His body wouldn’t move either. Not just once, but multiple attempts yielded the same result.

“Still no improvement…?”

“Unfortunately, that’s correct.”

“If his body is normal and his brain is normal, how is he still not waking up?”

Through the curtain, he could hear a conversation. From the context, it seemed to be between a doctor and a guardian.

“It’s been six months, when will Suhyeok wake up? Huh? Doctor? Please…!”

Huh? Suhyeok?

Me?