Chapter 161 – LV.? Goddess of Beauty – [Two]

When Oh Haengun fell bleeding to the ground, Kim Yongseong, a warrior from Happy Village who witnessed that death, felt a despair that froze his heart.

‘Ah…’

Of course, it was regrettable that the young mage had died. However, the reason he felt despair, beyond mere pity, was more practical than that.

In this situation, that Level 13 Mage died?

‘Thanks to that guy, it felt like we were barely holding on.’

He gritted his teeth and looked ahead.

He saw the magical constructs Oh Haengun had been controlling, the Golems and Gargoyles. They stood there like stone statues, frozen in unnecessarily dynamic poses.

The Golem with its fist raised high looked as if it would bring that rock fist down any moment…

They had stopped moving because the spellcaster had died. Considering how many Skeletons those stone constructs had smashed until now, it was a terrible thing.

“Fuck!”

Skeletons were charging from ahead. The bullets they fired made his vision dizzying.

At the same time, a siren blared deafeningly loud from behind.

It was the retreat signal. They originally thought they could hold out a bit longer, but it seemed the enemy had deployed more elite troops than expected.

Just as Kim Yongseong was about to flee with the others, a heavy thud sounded from ahead.

Kim Yongseong turned his head and blinked.

Dust rose from the Golem’s fist that had struck the ground. The Skeleton Mage that must have been passing by beside it was crushed under that rock fist.

Following that, two Gargoyles shot up into the sky and, holding enchanted submachine guns, began spraying bullets at the Skeletons in all directions.

The stone statues that had stopped moving were moving. The Skeletons, who had been running ignoring those constructs until a moment ago, all focused their gaze there at once.

Kim Yongseong didn’t understand the situation. So, unable to be properly surprised, he thought blankly. What on earth is going on?

He turned his head and looked down at Oh Haengun’s corpse.

The already dead mage, of course, didn’t even twitch. Only a few bugs were buzzing around those empty eyes.

“I’ll go in first, so cast a Light Spell on me. Then I’ll go in…”

Han Siwoo opened the door. Behind him, Seo Yun recited a spell.

A burning light illuminated the underground space spread out beyond. Feeling the three girls following, Han Siwoo began walking down the dark passage.

Not long after, the passage gradually turned purple, and soon was engulfed by a fog like a world within mist.

It was a phenomenon bizarre beyond dreamlike, but Han Siwoo only flinched and wasn’t greatly surprised. He had read about this place in the Gamebook beforehand.

‘The prison created by the Goddess of Beauty… to permanently imprison one angel who deceived her…’

As they continued walking, the dungeon’s gatekeeper appeared.

The surrounding purple fog gathered, forming the shape of an unnecessarily handsome male Naga. It was a kind of illusion.

Just as Han Siwoo was frowning, the Naga illusion spoke.

「Do you know where this is?」

Seo Yun took over the conversation.

“Isn’t it the Goddess’s place of exile?”

「You know well. Then you must also know that not just anyone can come and go here. Leave at once.」

The existence of that illusion was also written in the Gamebook.

According to what was written there, one could pass by defeating the illusion through combat at this point, or by choosing other dialogue options. And according to the Gamebook, that illusion didn’t give Experience Points. It was a magical something that could only have its form temporarily destroyed, not truly eliminated.

Han Siwoo turned around and said.

“The Gamebook said that characters with a Charm stat of 8 or higher could pass here without combat.”

“Yeah, it probably said that if such a character enters, the illusion would roughly say ‘You must be a Priest of Beauty. Have you come following the Goddess’s command?’ and just let them pass, right?”

Seo Yun removed the winter mask covering her face. As her face with a Charm score of 10 was revealed, the Naga illusion focused its gaze there.

「Ah…」

The Naga’s eyes began to shake violently. A trembling psychic wave flowed from its mouth.

「Was it you?」

“Was it me?”

「The Goddess lurking in darkness, the purple that tempts from beyond death… the mistress of Hell」

Anyone could roughly guess which Goddess it was talking about. The illusion finished its words.

「…The Goddess of Beauty. Is it you?」

Han Siwoo finally realized what this situation was. In the dungeon they entered last time, some Vampire monster mistook this girl’s face for the Goddess of Beauty, and it seemed this guy was the same.

Seo Yun didn’t bother to correct that misunderstanding. Soon, the Naga illusion scattered into fog and disappeared.

“Is that it?”

“Seems like it’s over.”

They weren’t attacked in the end. They just continued advancing into the fog.

It was truly smooth dungeon progress, but even this didn’t seem to satisfy Gaeulbi.

“What is this? Really…”

It was understandable what she was so dissatisfied with. This meant the time for farewell was approaching even faster.

If things continued like this, soon one girl would leave everyone’s side and disappear forever. An eternal farewell with no promise of meeting again.

Amidst this, Seo Yun was walking briskly without any sign of wanting to delay. Her seemingly indifferent appearance was almost callous.

The party, who had been walking non-stop, stopped after walking for about thirty more minutes.

Seo Rayeon’s Pouch glowed.

When Seo Rayeon opened the pouch, the Communication Orb placed inside was emitting light. Seo Rayeon said.

“A communication came from the Troll.”

They had originally given the Communication Orb Seo Yun had to the Troll. It was to periodically hear about the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, and he remembered that with each communication, Seo Yun’s expression would harden. During the journey, there was almost never good news to hear.

And of course, this time too, the Troll delivered bad news.

The words, which began with the shocking statement that Oh Haengun had died in battle, ended like this.

「…As I said, the front lines have been pushed back and back. Four days ago, they reached Happy Village. The battle has been ongoing for four days now.」

Seo Yun closed and opened her eyes, then asked.

“I see. Is that the end of the new news?”

「And… with the defeat of Happy Village’s desperate resistance, the village next to it was swept up in the Skeleton’s advance.」

“Again?”

「Yes, again. And this time…」

The Troll was saying that Seo Rayeon’s village had been utterly devastated this time.”How many survived?”

Seo Rayeon asked, but no answer came from beyond the communication orb. Seo Rayeon muttered.

“Alright. I get the gist.”

Then the light of the communication orb faded.

Han Siwoo cautiously glanced at Seo Rayeon. Her pallid face came into view.

He didn’t ask, ‘Are you okay?’ Because she couldn’t be.

“Rayeon, do you want to go back?”

At Seo Yun’s question, Seo Rayeon asked back in a dazed voice.

“Why would I go back?”

“To take care of the survivors… According to the gamebook, progressing through this dungeon will likely take a considerable amount of time. You’ve leveled up quite a bit now too, right? So…”

“No, just go.”

Seo Rayeon got up from her seat. Silence fell over the group. It was a damp, gloomy silence.

They were walking again, with Han Siwoo leading the way.

From within the purple mist, a voice was heard.

「Not that way. From there, to the left… Yes, come in this direction. Oh, Goddess」

It was a woman’s voice heard somewhere before. Seo Yun called out to her.

“Prophet Angel.”

「Yes, it is me」

According to the gamebook, the prisoner trapped in this space was none other than the Prophet Angel herself. The illusions here were not only gatekeepers to drive out outsiders but also guards watching over her, preventing her from escaping.

She would be waiting at the end of the dungeon.

Horrifyingly, the Prophet Angel’s words were once again correct.

In the end, the legion of the dead descended upon Happy Village on the appointed date. Countless skeletons and evil spirits surrounded Happy Village’s fortress walls, unleashing relentless artillery fire.

Even now, the roar of cannons echoed.

From Seong Juri’s perspective, they wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

Previously, Oh Haengun had left, leading the Happy Village warriors, without leaving many Players behind in the village. Only long-retired Players and teenage Players were left to defend the village.

At the same time, he had asked the trolls to create a dimensional gate in the village, a passage prepared so the villagers could evacuate to other regions. Through that dimensional gate, most non-Players had evacuated long ago.

On the other hand, Players including Seong Juri did not evacuate immediately. Sir William the Paladin insisted that they should rely on the fortress walls, hold out and fight, and only evacuate when completely overrun. That way, they could reduce the enemy numbers even a little, allowing everyone in this land to survive longer, or so he claimed.

However, it soon became clear that the decision to stay and fight a little instead of leaving immediately was a mistake.

With a thunderous sound, an artillery shell fell in the center of the village, and the explosion destroyed the dimensional gate shimmering there. The escape route was gone. Now, to get out of here, they either had to kill all the skeletons surrounding the fortress walls and leave, or die and leave the Mortal Realm.

By all appearances, the latter seemed far more likely.

Breaking through the siege and escaping with a desperate resolve was impossible. The undead skeletons do not tire. Their pursuit cannot be shaken off. A fact proven by the battles of the past month.

“Where the hell did Seo Yun go? As far as I know, she didn’t leave with Uncle Haengun…”

In response to Jeon Sangguk’s question, Park Taeyang answered.

“I heard she left separately on some mission like the Vannes expedition party. Something like Frodo…”

“Frodo?”

Cutting off their idle talk, Lee Jongho snapped irritably.

“If you have the energy to talk, fight, you idiots! Can’t you see the fight isn’t over yet!”

As he said, on the fortress walls, NPC paladins were fighting, spewing golden rays from their heavy weapons. So far, they had fought non-stop for over three days. And the Happy Village Players who remained in the village also continued to fight, though their Health and Mental Stats weren’t as high as the paladins’.

But the number of skeletons far exceeded the stockpiled ammunition in the village.

Even Seong Juri, utterly exhausted, somehow kept firing her crossbow until she finally ran out of stones to shoot. An hour later, even the paladins’ ammunition ran out completely.

The small suns floating around the fortress walls had long been destroyed. Skeletons began crawling up the fortress walls. Their numbers were far too many to smash them all by wielding cold weapons.

Happy Village Players shouted from here and there.

“Retreat to the underground parking lot!” “Get into the underground parking lot!”

Seong Juri raised an eyebrow. Go to the underground parking lot?

It was a place used as Happy Village’s air-raid shelter. But it was merely a refuge to barely avoid artillery fire. Even if they went in, the skeletons would soon follow…

Thinking that, Seong Juri still followed the instruction along with everyone else. Even if it didn’t seem like a good plan, what else could they do? Shouldn’t they try to live a little longer?

It was after everyone had entered the underground parking lot and even closed and locked the door.

It was an iron door, but it didn’t hold out for long. Outside, the sound of bones creaking echoed a few times, and with an ominous spell, the firmly locked iron door violently vibrated and then exploded.

Thus, as light poured in and the figures of skeletons were revealed, Jeon Sangguk screamed. But perhaps too exhausted, even his scream was weak and breathless.

Meanwhile, Seong Juri, despite her exhaustion, stood up from her spot, sword and shield in hand. Lee Jongho also gripped his spear, seemingly ready to fight alongside her.

The wall near the stairs of the underground parking lot writhed. For a moment, it seemed like light suddenly seeped in and shadows flickered, but that wasn’t it.

The concrete wall of the underground parking lot moved like clay, blocking the entrance the skeletons were trying to enter through.

“Huh?”

As everyone was bewildered, the entrance above was blocked by fluid concrete.

A short while later, the concrete seemed to harden and stopped moving, preventing any more light or skeletons from entering.

Now, not even the cannon roars from outside could be heard. Only a single mosquito that seemed to have mixed in with everyone buzzed.

“What is this?”

Seong Juri struggled to comprehend this situation.

She knew from having seen a spell firsthand that could cause such a phenomenon…