Chapter 89.2: Ruins of Cabolissa (3)

A night of storms and thunderstorms.

There was a woman who was running on a mountain road through heavy rain.

Asher held onto her sister’s hand and swung her sword. She cut down the monsters that attacked from all sides.

In that desperate escape, the destination was always the same.

Asher, who stopped at the edge of the cliff, looked down at the river that was raging because of the heavy rain. She was panting.

She looked back.

A monster holding a spear was slowly walking toward them.

“…Aaaaaaa!”

How many times was this already?

Asher screamed and tried to run towards him. But it was just futile.

Tuuk.

As always, the body did not listen, and only the bitter smile of the younger sister who pushed her down the cliff was the last thing she saw.

Spash!

Asher sank below the surface. She no longer had the strength to struggle.

She knew about this situation that was repeating several times, dozens of times, and hundreds of times. Like a terrible nightmare.

She stood at the scene of the massacre again. She felt her heart slowly crumbling in terrible agony.

“…Run away, Asher! Don’t look back!”

Father cried as he held her dead mother in his arms.

Asher ran away with her sister again.

She fled while the assailants slaughtered her father and tribesmen. Once again, she was driven to the edge of a cliff.

Falling down the cliff again. Again, the cold spear’s edge pierced his sister’s chest.

Again, again, again.

“…”

Asher realized at some point that this was all an illusion.

She just recalled that the Seventh Lord, and she found a certain ruin… and then she followed the other to challenge some kind of ordeal without really knowing why she should.

Was this the ordeal?

Then what was the ordeal for?

What had passed cannot be undone. She couldn’t change anything in reality, the same could be said for this illusion.

That fact made her so miserable that Asher burst into tears.

She saw the General walking towards them with heartless eyes.

The younger sister, who was holding her hand, looked back at her. She looked bewildered after seeing her sobbing.

“Sister, what’s wrong? This isn’t the time to be like this. Come on…”

Yeah, nothing would change in the end.

Even if she returned to reality, the only thing she could do was revenge. Neither the dead family nor the dead tribe members would come back alive.

Maybe she was really the only one left in the world.

Whatever it was, your choice was not wrong.

It was only after her heart was driven to the brink of collapse that Asher could finally admit everything.

An irresistible sadness came over her, but she was no longer confused.

Asher grabbed her sister’s hand as the other tried to push her away.

She grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. Then she hugged her tightly.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”

“…”

“So… stop it now.”

The younger sister, who was embarrassed and tried to get out of her arms, halted.

Asher held her for a long while before slowly pulling away.

Her younger sister was smiling.

It was a smile that was a little less sad than before, and a little less bitter.

Squeak.

Her younger sister’s body scattered like a mirage and disappeared.

Asher wiped the tears from her face and looked ahead. The General was standing there.

The surrounding scenery had changed. From the cliff, into the endless darkness of nothing.

She injected power into the hand holding the sword. Asher ran towards him.

And the very next moment, the blade of the spear blew Asher’s neck off.

Darkness raged, and time went backwards.

Asher, who had died in an instant, stood face to face with the General again.

She pounced again, and this time she couldn’t hold out even three times, and he pierced her heart with his spear.

“Argh…!”

Strong.

It was a strength that could not even be compared to when he fought her at the banquet in Earth Hill before.

She too had grown significantly since that day’s duel, but the gap was still far away.

This was the General’s strength, and it must be the true gap between him and herself.

However, this place was only an illusion, only in one’s memory, but what on earth was its existence based on?

Consciousness? Imagination?

A small question arose, but whatever it was, it didn’t really matter.

Asher stared at the General in front of her with emotionless eyes, then attacked again.

Dozens of duels, and well, hundreds of attacks came and went.

Asher also died and resurrected just as much.

There was no reason to worry about one’s life in this fantasy, where death would not be the end.

She gradually got used to it. She lowered her fighting spirit and emotions to a minimum and contemplated calmly.

Even while fighting, she looked at the battle between the two as if she was seeing it through a third person’s eye.

She examined every movement and imprinted it on her head. She jumped back and recreated the action.

In the endless repetition, she finally understood and accepted them one by one until she broke down the wall.

3056th death.

Asher’s body split in half and regenerated again.

There were faint bloodstains on the General’s arms as well. It was a wound from her sword.

It’s not enough…

She didn’t know how close she had to be to his level or to what level she had to reach to end this ordeal.

But Asher hoped it wouldn’t end that soon.

Even in this fantasy, she hoped she could continue to wield her sword until she overcome him.

***

About half a day passed, and for the first time, a change appeared in Asher.

She was still lying like a dead log, but the level floating above her head changed.

【Lv. 86]

One level up.

Looking at the scene, I felt some relief.

That her level had risen meant that she was safely passing through the ordeal without collapsing in the illusion.

A little more time passed and her level went up one more level, reaching level 87.

It was an abnormal speed, but after stopping there, it did not rise for a long time.

And maybe half a day or so had passed.

“…?”

I, who had been staring at the ceiling while lying in a daze, jumped up.

It was because Asher’s body, which could not move until now, trembled weakly.

And…

【Lv. 90]

…She leaped three levels from 87 all at once and finally broke the 80 wall and reached level 90.

It was the same level she had reached in the game after overcoming the ordeal.

– Ohh…

The guide’s low exclamation rang out.

Soon Asher’s eyes slowly opened.

Standing up, she looked around with calm eyes and met my eyes.

I hadn’t decided what to say, but I involuntarily asked, reflexively.

“Have you overcome everything?”

She stared blankly at me for a moment, then slowly nodded.

“…Yes.”

Sadness and joy, emptiness and sense of accomplishment, and regret and relief.

With a smile as if all conflicting emotions were mixed, she said;

“It seems to be the case.”