Chapter 69: Unexpected Ending

[Congratulations! You have cleared the 8th tribulation dungeon!]

[Calculating total number of monsters killed...]

[A total of 180,000 monsters have been defeated.]

[Rewards are being calculated...]

[Congratulations! You can reveal the position of up to 18 doppelgangers!]

"Phew..."

Raive took a deep breath, relieved that the waves of insects would no longer come to bother him.

And to his surprise, it actually rewarded him with exactly what he needed.

A way to tell the fakes from the real ones!

"With this, we can finally identify who the impostors are!" Raive cheered, holding a crystal with the number 18 sealed inside it.

He had no idea how to use it yet, but he’d figure that out later.

First, he needed to get out of the dungeon.

He’d been stuck inside for twelve hours already. Adding the roughly one hour they’d spent before, there should be about eleven hours left on the trial’s timer. He couldn’t afford to stay idle much longer.

"Guess it’s nighttime outside by now." Raive muttered, sighing. "Hope the others are doing alright..."

This trial was complicated, multi-faceted, and demanded both leadership and teamwork. Raive had already given up on clearing it in one try; for now, he just wanted enough information to make the next run more "perfect."

But as soon as he stepped out of the dungeon—

WHOOSH!

"...!"

A spear flew straight at his face.

Not just one. Dozens.

His reflexes let him dodge with ease, and even gave him time to take in what was happening.

Looking around, he found soldiers surrounding the portal—a few dozen of them, the ones who could fit into a tight formation lined up front, stabbing at him the moment he emerged.

He’d expected some kind of blowback for what he’d done, but this felt a bit much.

With a swing of his sword, he cut every spear in half and landed on his feet, watching the soldiers scramble back in fright.

"M-Monster...!" One of them roared.

Having just casually overpowered dozens of them, Raive couldn’t really argue.

He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though.

"You guys... What are you doing here, wasting time?" He asked, eyes narrowed. "What about the monsters attacking the walls? Gone already? I highly doubt it."

"S-Shut up, you demon!"

"We have orders to bring you to the king, dead or alive!"

"For the kingdom!"

Nobody answered his actual question. They just shouted over each other, tossing out nonsense that meant nothing to him.

If the soldiers were out here waiting for him instead of fighting the monsters, then...

’I’m worried about the others.’

He’d trained them, given them stats high enough that soldiers like these shouldn’t be a problem. Still, unease crept inside his heart.

"I’m heading to the surface." Raive scoffed, sword leveled forward. "Make way, or I’ll carve a path through you all."

Again, they acted like he hadn’t said a word.

A man who looked like a commander raised his sword and shouted, "ATTACK!"

Spears and arrows came flying at him in the next instant.

Raive watched it happen and decided quickly—these men were too bothersome to leave alone. They had no intention of fighting the monsters anyway, so losing them wouldn’t cost anything considering the big picture.

Instead of running away, he took a bold step forward, waving the sword in his hand.

One swing, and he cut down the incoming weapons.

A second, and the hands holding them followed.

A third, and their legs said goodbye to their torso.

He kept swinging, carving straight through the wall of soldiers in front of him. Not one of them could even slow him down, let alone stop him.

Within a minute, Raive had reached the top of the stairs leaving nothing but pools of blood and harrowing cries of pain down below.

He just stood there under the light of a red moon.

It was already nighttime, just as he’d expected, but it was brighter than he originally thought.

Looking around, flames flickered here and there across the city. But the brightest glow came from the plaza in front of the castle, almost like a giant bonfire was burning there.

"..."

Raive wasn’t distracted by any of that.

He sharpened his senses, reading the state of things.

About 200 players remained.

He expected a decrease in number, but this felt too drastic.

The monsters seemed to have stopped attacking—he couldn’t detect a single one.

But more than that...

"Where... is everyone?"

He couldn’t sense Shymine, Hazel, Hershey, or anyone else.

A cold feeling swept through him, like a premonition. His head snapped toward the glow at the plaza, eyes widening in fear and shock.

"No... way..."

Raive ran.

He kicked off the ground hard enough to crack it, like a meteor had fallen from the sky.

He shot forward like a bullet, destroying a few rooftops as he went, never slowing. In under five seconds, he was there.

And he saw it.

A large bonfire burned at the center, crosses raised scattered in the middle of it. Dozens of them, at least.

Soldiers gathered below, cheering in a frenzy.

"Kill the invaders!"

"Burn the witches!"

"Long live the King!"

Their voices blended into one deafening roar, ringing in Raive’s ears.

Scanning the crosses, he noticed something worse.

At each intersection, a body hung nailed to it, like a witch mid-trial by fire. Every single cross were the same.

That wasn’t what silenced him, though.

"This has to be a lie..." Raive gasped, staring at the figures on the crosses.

Their bodies were burned past recognition, even their hair gone. But the shape of them, the lingering presence, the strange familiarity—all of it told him exactly who they were.

Shymine.

Hazel, beside her.

Hershey, further off.

Reinhardt and Sheila. Kenny and Patricia.

Every single member of Raive’s party. Dead. Burned at the stake.

Something ignited in his chest.

He wanted to scream, to let the rage out. But part of his mind stayed cold, clear. He couldn’t afford to waste this loop letting emotion take over.

He had to do what needed to be done first.

He looked down at the crystal in his hand, and—

CRACK!

—crushed it.

The moment he did, a handful of red beams of light fell across the city.

A few scattered players lit up under the light.

Raive watched, and nodded.

"So that’s how it works. I see..." He said. "Now that I’ve confirmed it... there’s nothing left to check."

He drew his sword and jumped down from the rooftop.

The instant he landed with a heavy thud, every soldier turned toward him.

"Now..."

His gaze was cold. Empty. But his sword burned hot.

"Time to vent my anger."