REAPER SCANS
Surviving as a Broken Hero
[Author – Farlight]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Chapter 120 - Shadows (1)
⟬New Quest!⟭
⟬Kill the Demon King in time.⟭
⟬Sharing Location...⟭
‘What the hell...?’
It looked like we wouldn’t be allowed even a moment’s rest. Just after saving a Central City, we were supposed to track down the Demon King himself?
With how close Londo had been to falling, where else had the demons attacked? With each passing moment, they were growing bolder.
“What the hell have you two gotten yourself into this time?” Rhil asked as I stared at the Second System window, which only I could see.
‘I feel some sort of connection...’
Sure enough, a slight tug at my mind gave me an urge to head somewhere farther into the forest.
‘That’s probably where the Demon King is.’
The Second System just warned me to kill the Demon King in time without indicating what exactly that meant. Did I have time to regroup with the others? As strong as I’d become, there was no way I could face the Demon King and all of his minions alone.
While I looked at the Second System window and thought to myself, Rhil and Koise spoke to each other outside of my field of focus.
‘Now, as for the Second System upgrades...’
I would have to choose carefully since I had no way of knowing if I’d receive another chance to level up before heading to the Demon King.
‘Damn, I really wish I could see how the other cities are doing right now. Just how much of a hurry should I be in? Earthborn, Dustborn, or Stoneborn...’
Any of them would increase my survivability, but it wasn’t just about surviving. I would also need to increase my offensive abilities.
My fight against Gregor had made it painfully apparent that I needed a more efficient way of fighting or a true trump card, so what would synergize best with the abilities I had so far?
While dust sounded interesting, it didn’t sound very offensive in nature.
‘That rules that one out.’
As for earth and stone... merging with earth could be useful in certain scenarios, but Stoneborn had the best mixture of offense and defense. I already formed small spikes of earth and stone to enhance my strikes, so it would be a straight upgrade.
On top of that, it sounded like I could increase my defensive coverage.
‘Stoneborn it is.’
I selected the option on the Second System window.
Power surged through me, circling through my veins and giving me an innate understanding of nearby stone.
‘We’re already in a stone castle, aren’t we?’
I had plenty of material to test my new ability on as well.
Just then, a scream echoed down the hallways of the castle from a side door exiting the throne room. From the sounds of it, it was a woman.
Rhil, Koise, and I all looked at each other in a moment of confusion. Who could have survived so long in the castle?
Grimacing, Koise said, “Damn it, never a moment to catch our breath, huh?” He reached into his pouch and pulled out a glowstone, handing it to me as I passed.
“You sure you’re good to continue?” I asked. “Rhil and I could check it out.”
“Haven’t you ever watched a horror movie?” Koise asked in return. “Never split up, especially in a damned castle like this.”
Though quite some years had passed, people wouldn’t forget the classics so easily.
I took the glowstone from him and headed down the corridor, Koise and Rhil following close behind, ready for whatever was lurking ahead in the darkness.
Thanks to «Echo Sight», I didn’t need the glowstone to actually see, but it wasn’t like I could teach the other two how to use it in such a short time.
Parting the thick veil of shadows, we headed toward the continued screaming.
Step by step, the echoes of our footsteps bounced around the narrow corridor. If anything were to charge at us from the dark, it at least would have to go through me first.
While Rhil, as I had seen, could also handle herself in close quarters, she probably was still low on mana after her fight with Gregor. We were all a bit worse for wear, but I was still confident I could take the most damage.
Clenching my fist in preparation for our possible foes, I relaxed a bit as we approached and the crying screams lessened and grew clearer.
Shut doorways lined the corridor at regular intervals, but one doorway, in particular, caught our interest—the door hung open, showing a grisly scene within.
Inside what looked to have once been guest quarters, the bed was stained with blood, and a dagger lay at the center of the ruined sheets.
Against the bed itself lay the half-vaporized remains of a skeleton. Since not nearly enough time could have passed for such decay, whatever had hit the person had likely reduced his skin and organs to dust, leaving just partial bones behind.
Other than the dagger, the skeleton, and the blood, there wasn’t much to see. Each giving the other an affirming glance, we headed onward toward the crying.
Finally, a few more doors down, another door lay open. Inside we heard more sobs and mumbled speech.
Taking a breath, I stepped into the doorway to get a look.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Author – Farlight]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
A young woman knelt in a room almost identical to the previous one, save for the odd ritual circle taking up a large part of the floor and the old man in the center of it.
The woman continued to cry, holding the man in her arms.
“Why...?” she mumbled, burying her face in the man’s shirt, her tears streaking the fabric.
“Shh...” The man, dressed in fine silk, ran his hand over the woman’s hair. “It’s okay now. Look at you...”
He pulled himself away and stared into her eyes. “So full of life... after years asleep on that damned bed. My own life is a small price to pay for yours.”
She continued to sob as he looked over her shoulder and spotted us. His eyebrows furrowed, and more wrinkles formed in his skin with each passing minute.
He was dying—rapidly.
“Aizen...” I replied, hesitating. “And you are...?”
Grimacing, he hugged the woman again. “Henry. The dungeon closed. Was that you?”
“It was...” I wasn’t sure what else to say. Clearly, the man was dying before our eyes. Why, though?
I looked down at the ritual circle on the ground.
“Ah... Please. Don’t try to stop it,” Henry said. “Everything has its price.”
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
“Henry... What’s going on?” Rhil asked as she slowly approached him and the woman. “Who is this?”
“My daughter... I’ll have to leave her in your hands. If you took down Gregor, you can’t be any worse.”
His voice growing weaker by the moment, Henry pulled back and looked his daughter in the eyes one more time. “I know you’ll make the right choices, and I wouldn’t have it be anyone but you.”
He clicked the air a few times and gave his daughter a resigned look.
“No, Dad...” the woman sobbed. “Please. Just yesterday, we were planning our trip to see Mom. Don’t leave already.”
Shaking his head, Henry wiped the tears from his daughter’s cheek and said, “What’s been a day for you has been many long years for me. Every day, I hoped to see your eyes open again. Now, that wish has come true.”
Finally, Henry embraced his daughter one last time and went still. The woman continued to cry while I stood in confused silence with Rhil and Koise. We gave each other a silent look and went out into the hallway to give the woman time to mourn.
“What the hell was that?” Rhil whispered once we cleared the doorway and could still hear sobs meandering down the hallway. “One second we close the dungeon, the next we find the city lord dying in his daughter’s arms? Now what?”
“The girl clearly isn’t an Awakened,” Koise said. “Yet what he did at the end there... Henry was the city lord before. I don’t know how Gregor took the position from him, but since we killed the city lord and didn’t gain the title ourselves, it probably went back to him. Since we still don’t have it...”
“You think he gave her the title?” I asked. “Has an Unawakened ever run a city before? Is that even possible? I thought you needed to Awaken to even interact with the system.”
“The city system is independent of the Awakener system, so maybe...? How could he expect her to run a city when she has no clue where she even is?” Rhil asked. “Maybe we can just persuade her to hand the title over.”
Something about the suggestion felt wrong to me. It was the man’s dying wish that his daughter have the title, after all. Couldn’t we see what she would do with it, at least?
“Maybe she has skills we’re unaware of,” I suggested. “We can always discuss it with her later. I doubt she’ll be getting anywhere faster than we can. Let’s just keep an eye on her and let her mourn.”
“If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a demon invasion,” Rhil snapped back. “Time is the last thing we have right now.”
Koise nodded. “She’s right. The man was dying and clearly not in his right mind.”
“Who else would we give the title to, then? At least we know she isn’t with the demons.”
Perhaps those words were more of a reassurance than anything else. The demons were our biggest threat, and we wouldn’t want the city to fall again.
The two thought it over for a moment.
“Alright,” Rhil relented, “but I still say we should keep an eye on her.”
* * *
Meanwhile...
As Eve and Bernard entered Londo, Eve felt a call coming from her emperor and ducked into an alleyway.
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