Paris has changed so terribly.
Around the Place de la Concorde, the smell of rotten gardens filled the nostrils.
Caw. Caw.
Did the crow come?
No, it was a mistake.
The Eiffel Tower covered in red sunset.
The ones hovering around there were gargoyles that had turned into zombies.
Even the crow, a symbol of death, could not present its name card in front of Barnaul.
“Everyone, cheer up.”
Lydia, standing next to the World Tree, saw us off.
Although she was anxious about her younger brother’s life or death, the words of wisdom had an effect.
“Let’s go.”
The square was large, and there were many enemies to deal with.
The Paladins and Gigant Riders of Pax FC, as well as the Awakened Ones of Prague.
We chewed on the crisp leaves of the World Tree and passed through the portal fully prepared, wearing Lydia’s buffs.
Woof woof!
Hundreds of thousands of troops passed through the portal like an angry mob, but Paris was already filled with the beings of death.
Click!
Widely!
Skeletons dragging their chalky ankles across the black asphalt.
With their horned skulls and whip-like wing bones hanging down, they were clearly the demons of Permegon.
They had been ruling Europe only a few days ago, but now they had all become servants of Barnaul.
When they turned their bright blue eyes on us,
“To the location!”
The knights surrounded me.
Grrrrrrrr!
Taang!
With the cries of the undead, a large-scale melee began.
An undead that boasts considerable toughness because it inherited the hierarchy of Permegon.
We set up shields on both sides, swung hammers and spears, and gradually secured our way toward the prisoner of war camp whose location we had identified in advance.
In everyone’s hand was a ‘sacred hammer.’
I tore down skeletons engulfed in purple-black magic, and there were times when I swept them away like a broom with heavy weapons like the H-Beam…
Tsk tsk tsk…
The spirit that returned without dying quickly repaired the broken bone fragments.
“Is this what Ellie was talking about?”
Less noise!
An immortal army that resurrects infinitely.
Divine power was certainly a valid offensive tool, but more was needed to fight the undead.
Dozens of ‘Demon Predators’ were immediately shipped to various locations.
Wheaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Cadd!
Crushed the skulls of horned demons.
The ‘predator’ stole their souls and leisurely returned to the subspace.
Thanks to…
Dalgrarak!
The demons’ corpses were scattered across the floor like broken bowls, and no more could be revived.
‘I have to finish it no matter what.’
Naturally, each person was assigned a role.
While the party’s divine hammer incapacitates the enemies,
I use the ‘Predator’ to take the last breath.
Kwaaang!
Chae-Ang!
The knights of Camelot did not stay still either.
They are granted various attribute-enhancing stones.
Under Lancelot’s command, Bedivere swung his fists, and Lionel swung his electric whip, effectively restraining the undead.
But…
“Are you okay?”
My eyes could not be fooled.
Because the knights’ gestures were gradually becoming heavier.
Sreung!
Lancelot swung his sword again, trying to drive away my worries.
“…It’s okay, my lord.”
Could the aura of black magic have affected the knights as well?
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
As Permegon’s bones piled up like a mountain and the ‘Demon Devourer’ calmly collected their souls and drew closer to the prison camp, the real cause of the knights’ troubles was discovered.
Glance.
The knights of Camelot raised their empty eyes, seemingly anxious.
I could tell just by looking at their gaze.
Beyond that, there was an unidentifiable, slanted, circular, disc-shaped building.
“Could that be…?”
“Yes…”
Lancelot also seemed to acknowledge it.
He lowered his head for a moment, then finally opened his mouth.
“…It’s Sisyphus.”
I had already heard the story once.
There is a facility in Barnaul that turns prisoners into vengeful spirits, and they use this facility to make items by binding vengeful spirits to objects.
That was Barnaul’s fucking ‘business item,’ and its representative item was none other than ‘Camelot.’
Pushy-
Purple clouds rising in clumps toward the sky.
The spinning wheel of Sisyphus spun around, emitting thick vapor.
And…
Lancelot’s wrist, holding the sword, began to tremble.
‘…Is it some kind of trauma?’
It wasn’t something I couldn’t understand.
Knights who were turned into ghosts of Camelot by Barnaul.
Naturally, these people must have also experienced ‘Sisyphus.’
“Lancelot.”
Maybe it would be better to put them in subspace.
The knights of Camelot begged to join the fight against their arch-enemy, Barnaul.
I also wanted to respect that will, but if things continued this way, it would only end up rekindling past wounds.
But…
It’s already too late.
He began to tell stories from his past.
“…We made our last stand at Camelot. We tried hundreds of times…but we could not stop the forces of Barnaul. No matter what we tried, they would sneak into the castle. It was as if Camelot had become their playground.”
Sreung!
Lancelot cut off the skeletal imp’s ankle with a single swing of his sword.
But when he actually looked away, he felt like he had been thrown into the middle of the past.
“I found out that there were hidden troops in the mountain range facing the East Gate. I concentrated my troops, but… As if it were a lie, the enemies rushed towards the main gate. Not a single ant was visible in the mountain range.”
Phew!
A purple aura of black magic moved along the tip of his sword, the subtle energy drawing a map in the air.
“The captain of the guard was a spy from Barnaul. I started by killing him… Then the treasurer opened the lock on the north gate. Skeletons came rushing in and covered Camelot.”
His memory was completely distorted.
A battle that has been repeated hundreds of times.
Because all of that was just an illusion granted by Sisyphus.
“No, that wasn’t it. The real problem was the cannons on the walls. The gunpowder from the armory wasn’t being delivered properly. I placed the ammunition and adjusted the trajectory of the shells, but… ”
I could have said it a hundred more times.
All of this was the reality he had experienced harshly.
In the midst of the purple smoke rising in thick clouds, the knights fought and fought again.
But…
“…In the end, I couldn’t protect Arthur.”
Sisyphus would not leave them alone.
A wish designed to never come true.
After hundreds of fierce battles, when you realize that it was all just a hellish dream.
“…When I came to my senses, I found myself a ghost possessed by Camelot.”
They were ghosts soaked in blood and tears.
Wedge!
Chae-Ang!
Lancelot struck down the arrow flying at me with one stroke of his sword.
Before I knew it, his blue gaze had turned back to me.
“Arthur was a young knight who appeared like a comet. He united Avalon, which had been exhausted by civil war for hundreds of years, through peace and persuasion. With the appearance of the Chamber of Commerce, Avalon was once again swept by war… But I thought that if I could protect Arthur, there would be hope.”
As expected, he was a different person from the knight king I had met.
Arthur was the king of Avalon, who grew up with the knights, and was their master and friend.
Kaaaaaaah!
The attacks targeting me were gradually increasing.
It seems that the undead have also realized that I am the master of the ‘Demon Predator.’
Because of this, the knights who protected me also had no choice but to become busier.
“But I couldn’t protect him. Arthur hanging from a pole, Arthur with his waist cut in two, Arthur holding his own throat after drinking poison… Even though it was a dream, reality came flying at me like fate.”
I could read Lancelot’s complex expression.
In the end, what they wanted to protect was not the castle of Camelot, but the person named Arthur.
And the wish that was frustrated through Sisyphus is now being extended by some means.
A new place called subspace.
And a new figure who will unite the world.
Of course, I was not Arthur, and the knights’ loyalty also began with the curse of Camelot…
‘Are you still dreaming?’
They were still living in the tragedy of Avalon.
What woke them from their dream was another misfortune that appeared like a mirror.
“Wait a minute, that’s…”
To be exact, a skeleton produced by Barnaul.
Those who used demons to produce undead have finally reached out to humans.
“…They used prisoners as material.”
“These kids…”
Kirik.
Creak.
Dozens of skeletons pulled out a heavy cart.
What rests on top of it is an unusual ancient Greek-style statue.
It was a group of painfully naked men hanging from a tree with their arms tied to each other.
Is this some kind of metaphorical figure?
The statue’s true identity was an ‘item’ possessed by hundreds of vengeful spirits.
And like ‘Camelot,’ the statues also had special effects.
-Ugh!
The statue twisted its body with a painful expression…
Dalgrak!
A skeleton that had regained its former abilities rushed toward us.
A horde of skeletons that breathe fire, display incredible strength, and threaten the defenses of the Paladins.
“Stop it!”
Phew!
It came crashing down under the hammers swung by the knights, but…
Tsk tsk tsk…
Dalgrak!
The blue light from the statue resurrected the skeleton, and the battle devolved into a mud fight once again.
“Why did you stop attacking!? Don’t let it get through there!”
“But…! That…”
The awakened people of Prague were agitated.
Maybe among these skeletons were their families.
“If we break the statues, all the skeletons will lose their powers. But…”
Meanwhile, Lancelot suggested a way to defeat the Awakened Skeleton, but…
“The spirits will also disappear together.”
He also couldn’t bring himself to tell me to break the statue.
Not long ago, the knights of Camelot were in the same position as them.
They too must have gone through Sisyphus.
Whether it be salvation or survival, each of us must have faced our own desperate wish.
And when that wish slipped away dozens or hundreds of times, you would find yourself turned into a vengeful spirit.
It was terrifying to realize that we had to end their lives with our own hands…
“…Even if we hold a funeral, we must do it with our own hands.”
Even so, the monument that Barnaul had erected in mockery could not be left as it was.
And playing around with the spirits that reside there.
“Shipment.”
Wheaaaaaaaaa!
The holy spear that emerged from the portal quickly flew towards the statue.
Chaang! Taaang!
The holy spear penetrated several layers of defense made of black magic…
Break!
He blew off both arms of the statue that were tied to the sky.
Clattering…
A pile of stones falling from a cart.
At the same time, hundreds of skeletons that had been running wild while displaying their awakening abilities also collapsed on the spot.
And…
Tiring!
[754/1,000] I was able to verify.
The ‘Demon Predator’ successfully absorbed the souls of the humans who were possessed by the statues.
Their suffering, which had been swayed by Barnaul, would have disappeared along with them, unable to die even if they died.
I asked Lancelot again about Sisyphus.
“…This is repeated hundreds of times, right?”
It is literally a torture of hope.
A horrific torture device that repeats an impossible wish until death.
“Then…”
Shouldn’t I go to Barnaul myself and see it for myself?
Suddenly, I wondered what kind of screams they would let out.
LUNA-CAVE
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