abcnovels
Chapter 85: Medusas Temple 1
Chapter 85: Medusas Temple 1
Chapter 85: Medusa's Temple 1
“Kyaaaak!”
As soon as the Avatar of Envy lost its eye and vanished, Kriemhild let out a cry of agony.
Woohyuk took advantage of that opening and stabbed her in the stomach.
Sshhluck!
Dark blood ran down Verserios’ blade and dripped onto the ground.
“Cough…”
Kriemhild’s eyes opened wide.
The pain of her body being split was reflected in them.
Verserios was ravenously eating the demonic energy within Kriemhild.
“Turn Sieg back to his original state already.”
“Why… Why should I do that?”
“Will you leave him to die like this?”
Woohyuk spoke in a reproachful tone.
He couldn’t forget Brynhild, but Sieg was still her husband.
There was no way he wasn’t precious to her.
“Yes. If his mind returns, he’ll start searching for Brynhild again, so I’ll leave him like that. Now that it’s come to this… we’ll just die together… Yes, together until the end…”
“You’re insane.”
Kriemhild smiled as if she had given up on everything. It seemed that reason wouldn’t return to her mind no matter what he did.
‘I’ll have to leave Tinia and Silvia in charge of the rest.’
Woohyuk sighed and sliced off her head.
Shluck!
Dark blood spurted out in the air like a fountain.
A death worthy of her title as the Witch of Envy.
She couldn’t forget her envy towards Brynhild even until her last breath.
Thump.
Kriemhild turned into a handful of ashes and vanished. The berserker that was resisting the blockade of undeads soon lost his strength and fell to the ground, as if he had been drained of the energy keeping him alive.
“Ra-rael!”
“Wait!”
Tinia dashed towards Sieg while Silvia followed her, trying to keep up.
“Ugh…”
Sieg regained consciousness and opened his eyes.
But as he was completely tattered and exhausted, he couldn’t move his body on his own.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come looking for you. Things wouldn’t have gotten this complicated if I hadn’t…”
Tinia spoke as tears rolled down her face.
Silvia was no different from her sister.
They couldn’t hold back their cries in front of Sieg’s death, a man they considered their father.
“No, it’s all my fault. I should’ve told you the truth before leaving you two behind…”
He was terrified.
He didn’t want the resentment of his descendants. He was afraid he’d be abandoned by them.
That may have been the reason why he left them and ran away, using the excuse that the group of fanatics called Pronoia would target the two siblings.
As Sieg was shedding tears of repentance, Tinia and Silvia tightly grabbed his hands.
“No, you haven’t done anything wrong, Rael. I actually wanted to thank you. When people were pointing fingers at us for being orphans, you stayed by our sides.”
“Tinia…”
“She’s right. Other people may think of you as the hero Sieg, but to us, you are Rael, the roaming mercenary. So we won’t blame you for not telling us some stories of the past.”
“Silvia…”
Sieg silently stared at the sisters.
These siblings were like angels that had descended from heaven.
He was content. The fact that two such angelic girls were remaining in this world left him satisfied.
‘I can finally see you again, Brynhild.’
Even the witch Kriemhild had said that she was unaware if the afterlife existed.
Despite that, he felt that he could meet his love again if he just silently closed his eyes right now.
“I’m sorry for interfering in such an emotional moment.”
Woohyuk walked towards them as Sieg began to wait for death with a peaceful expression.
A pink potion had appeared in his hand.
[Quest: The Mercenary who Disappeared with the Wind Completed.]
[Reward: You have gained a Love Potion.]
It was the reward he had gained from completing this quest.
With a single sip of it, one would fall in love with the very first person they would see immediately afterwards.
As he swiped away the system message that popped up before his eyes, Woohyuk continued speaking.
“If you could get another chance at life, would you take it?”
“...Are you talking about a contract?”
“Indeed. If you become my subject, you can live a happy life with these two girls.”
If he wanted, he could even strip some nobles of the Rhine Kingdom of their ranks.
Tinia and Silvia wouldn’t have to continue their strenuous lives as mercenaries anymore, and the Blue Hawk Mercenaries would be integrated into the kingdom’s army and get a good salary.
Sieg nodded at Woohyuk’s intriguing proposal.
“Alright. If I can receive a title to pass onto my descendants… If I can protect Tinia and Silvia and stay by their sides… I will do anything for that. It doesn’t matter if I leave a mark in history as a fallen hero anymore.”
He didn’t care about his reputation anymore, nor did he care about the fanatics and Pronoia.
They would come chasing after him once they learned of his identity as the hero Sieg, but he would not run away anymore.
And if they dared to lay their hands on Tinia or Silvia, he would use any means necessary to stop them.
Woohyuk nodded at Sieg’s resolute will.
“Then, let us begin the vow of allegiance.”
Woohyuk laid Verserios’ blade on Sieg’s shoulder and poured his demonic energy into him.
Afterwards, the brief procedure followed.
“Rael, are you okay now?”
“Does it hurt anywhere?”
Having found a new energy source for his life, Sieg stood up.
Then, he smiled softly at Tinia and Silvia.
“Yeah. Thanks to him, I’m feeling fine.”
He had recovered to a point where you couldn’t believe he was on death’s door a few moments ago.
While Sieg continued talking with the sisters, Woohyuk began reading his status window.
[The Fallen Hero Sieg]
- Class: Dragonslayer (humanoid)
- Abilities: Leadership (10,000), Dragon Armor (Cannot be injured by B-grade or lower weapons and beginner & intermediate magic spells), Indomitable Spirit (Enters an invulnerable state for 10 minutes after activation), Infinite Attacks (Creates an aura blade and uses an area-of-effect skill, recovers health each time an opponent is cut down), Hero’s Pride (Resistance to all status effects increased by 35%)
- Stats:
Strength 327
Vitality 342
Dexterity 314
Intelligence 245
Spirit 287
‘Incredible.’
Taking only the stats into account, he was a lot stronger than Woohyuk.
His abilities were also impressive.
His leadership could handle ten thousand people, and the dragon armor could show its true potential when facing many opponents alone.
Indomitable spirit and infinite attacks could also turn the tables during an unfavorable battle.
He truly was a legendary hero.
“Phew…”
After closing the status window, Woohyuk let out a sigh of relief.
The fatigue that had been piling up within him suddenly crashed down.
Woohyuk’s body began to sway and Tinia came over to support him.
“Are you alright?”
“Oh, I’m just a bit tired.”
Using the Demon God’s powers put a great burden on his body.
He had experienced a similar sensation after his battle with Volak, so he wasn’t very surprised it had happened again.
“You should head back and rest, brother-in-law. The sun is setting as well.”
“No, there’s something I need to do before that.”
Exploring Medusa’s Temple.
He couldn’t leave this forest before obtaining Medusa’s Bronze Mirror.
‘I should also search for Brynhild’s grave.’
She was buried along with the legendary ring, the Andvaranaut.
It could be a vital location for the quest to restore the Edda Chronicles.
Woohyuk took his time to catch his breath and stepped towards the monastery.
***
The abandoned monastery exuded a chilly but gloomy air.
Long ago, an ominous sign had appeared, and the priests and all the believers had left the forest.
Sieg then began to use the empty monastery as a hideout for 10 years.
‘There’s nothing inside.’
Woohyuk made a bitter expression as he walked down the galleries.
He had decided to check the area just in case there was a hidden scroll or something of a similar value. But it was to no avail.
“By the way Woohyuk, could you sell me the love potion you received earlier? I really need it for something…”
“No, I can’t.”
It was obvious why Tinia wanted to have the love potion.
She would definitely use it on some young men for her self-interest.
Once Woohyuk promptly refused her, Tinia wore a disappointed expression.
“Didn’t you say you were the king of the Rhine Kingdom? There must be a lot of women you can seduce, so why would you need it?”
“To have it just in case.”
Life was filled with unexpected circumstances that could appear at any moment.
Loyal subjects could assassinate their monarch, while wives could put poison in the food their husbands ate.
The love potion was an item that could control these kinds of irreversible events to a certain extent.
It didn’t always have to be used on someone’s crush.
Tinia was reluctantly convinced by Woohyuk’s explanation.
“Fine, I’ll believe you this time. You don’t seem like a man who would thoughtlessly lay his hands on a woman.”
He didn’t fall for her seduction even when she entered his room in the nude in the middle of the night. Either he was an honorable man… or a eunuch.
Tinia was praying that it wasn’t the latter, when someone spoke.
“Are you planning to take the Andvaranaut from Medusa’s Temple?”
Sieg was silently following Woohyuk before he spoke up.
He was worried Woohyuk would also receive Andvaranaut’s curse.
“I am.”
“You must be careful. Even if you have a hidden class bearing dark properties, you still cannot escape its curse.”
The Andvaranaut had even led the dragon Fafnir and the valkyrie Brynhild to their ruins, so how could a human resist its effects?
Woohyuk nodded at Sieg’s earnest request.
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“I apologize if it was presumptuous of me. I am now but a subject…”
“Don’t worry. I’m always open for advice.”
A wise monarch must always listen to the advice of his subjects.
No matter how much of an amazing ruler he may be, a human always has his limits.
Woohyuk needed the help of many people to be able to reach and sit on the Demon God’s throne, and Sieg was one of them.
“But could you tell me what your relationship with Tinia is? I heard Silvia call you brother-in-law…”
“It’s just an act. But that doesn’t mean we’re complete strangers either.”
It wasn’t as if Woohyuk held no affection towards Tinia.
A beautiful but tough woman with a cheerful personality.
She was devoted towards her family and was surprisingly good at housework.
Her only drawback was that, due to her life as a mercenary, she was quite aggressive, bold and somewhat rough when trying to seduce a man.
“I pray that things will go well between the two of you. Despite her appearance, she is quite vulnerable against loneliness.”
“Ra-rael. Stop with that nonsense.”
Tinia stabbed Sieg in the flank with her elbow, a bright blush on her face.
It was an unexpected reaction from her.
Watching her sister’s reaction, Silvia giggled.
“Hey, can I talk about it? About the two of you during the first night back at home…”
“Just what do you think you’re babbling…!?”
Tinia began panicking and blocked her sister’s mouth.
Watching the siblings making a fuss, Sieg whispered in Woohyuk’s ear.
“Wait, did you sleep with Tinia?”
“No, that’s a misunderstanding.”
Due to some complicated matters, they had kissed but hadn’t proceeded further than that, because he wasn’t in a situation where he could take responsibility for her.
Of course, that was also the case with the other women in his life.
“That’s a shame. It was a great opportunity for Tinia to rise in the social ranks…”
“...Just what are you thinking in that head of yours?”
At Woohyuk’s astonishment, Sieg looked at him with soft eyes.
“It’s nothing. I just hope Tinia and Silvia live a happy life in the Rhine Kingdom.”
“I see that you worry about them every second. Now that I think about it, don’t you have other descendants?”
He was certain he had heard Sieg say there was a daughter born from his marriage with Kriemhild.
Sieg shuddered at Woohyuk’s sharp and precise question.
“Yes. A daughter called Svanhild. However, she was sealed with Kriemhild during the War of Gods and Demons.”
Sieg would have to look after Svanhild when she would open her eyes in the future.
Woohyuk clicked his tongue after listening to Sieg’s concerns.
‘You’re a man with a difficult fate full of hardships.’
He was shouldering an extremely heavy burden on his own.
After trying to comfort Sieg, Woohyuk came to a stop.
They had found the stair that led beneath the monastery.
A dark and humid air flowed out.
“Let’s head downstairs.”
Woohyuk made some torches and handed them out. Then, he stood on the front.
After a while, footsteps resounded and large shadows fell upon the walls of the spiral staircase.