Chapter 17
Rewinding time a little, back to the moment I pulled Lebernin’s corpse out of the swamp.
I couldn’t help but be surprised by the single line of text that appeared before my eyes.
[‘Blood Trace’ target detected!]
‘What the… Even in this state, I can use <Blood Trace> on the corpse?’
<Blood Trace> was one of the new skills I learned by investing 5,000 BP.
Its function was simple.
Reading the memories contained within blood.
However, it could not be used on the blood of living beings. It only worked on the blood of the dead.
There were also restrictions, such as only being able to read memories from up to one year before death, but I had learned it anyway because it seemed like an excellent skill for gathering information.
However……
‘…The corpse is rotting and melted from the poison. How can this possibly be a valid target for <Blood Trace>?’
As expected, Lebernin’s body was far from intact.
It had been left to steep in poison for a long time, causing the skin to rot and melt away completely.
To use <Blood Trace>, I needed the corpse’s blood, but in this condition…
“Hm?”
As I frowned and scanned the corpse, I suddenly noticed something.
Black spots blooming like mold across the rotten body.
I didn’t know the exact details, but these spots were stains formed when blood that had stopped circulating hardened inside the body.
I think they were called ‘livor mortis’… anyway, that wasn’t important.
‘Can congealed blood still count as blood?’
Tilting my head, I carefully inserted my finger into one of the spotted areas.
Because the basic condition for activating <Blood Trace> was ‘contact’ with blood.
And then.
[Reading the target’s memories through ‘Blood Trace’!]
Scenes that were not my own memories unfolded in my mind like a panorama.
It wasn’t just visual. I could hear sounds and even smell odors as if I were personally present at the scene.
The memories played from Lebernin’s first-person perspective.
The first scene I saw through Lebernin’s eyes was……
—Kuaaaaaaaaagh!
—S-Save me, save me…… glurk……
—We have to get out of here…… That crazy human is going to kill us all!
It was hell.
The <Nuraduke Crater> before it had been filled with poison fog and covered in deadly swamps.
Countless deadly parasitic insects were emitting lethal poison and massacring the Lava tribe.
‘…So this is a memory from the day the Poison Demon polluted the crater.’
The stench of deadly poison, endless screams coming from all directions.
Lebernin’s vision was blurry like an unfocused camera and shook violently.
He was crying.
Even while crying, he kept moving his legs desperately, running around to save his kin.
Splurch—!!
But the deadly parasitic insects killed his people far faster than he could reach them.
In the midst of this hopeless slaughter, Lebernin eventually fell to his knees.
—Kk, kkuhuk……
He clutched the hand of a dead young tribesman whose eyes were still open and sobbed.
—It’s… it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t brought that human into the crater……
The Poison Demon had pretended to be a shipwrecked girl and succeeded in entering the crater with the help of a Lava tribesman.
‘So that tribesman was Lebernin.’
—I’m sorry……
He muttered in a voice full of guilt as he looked around.
His lifelong home was being polluted.
The crater that should have flowed with sacred flames was now thick with deadly poison gas, turning into a hell where no life could survive.
The deadly parasitic insects devoured the corpses of his kin, and the bodily fluids they secreted turned the ground into a sticky swamp.
—The only way to atone for this sin is to offer my own life……
Lebernin’s voice carried not resignation, but a resolute determination as firm as steel.
He closed his eyes gently and began reciting a chant.
—Per, Kanapo, Eratoe……
Hwaruk.
The moment he finished the chant, a candle-flame-sized spark quietly ignited in his palm.
Lebernin stared at the beautifully burning spark that glowed like a diamond, then without the slightest hesitation, pressed it against his own left chest.
—With this, I can at least atone a little……
—The chant ends with ‘Eratoe’… So it’s the Lava tribe’s secret art that sacrifices life to perform a purification spell? I remember seeing it in the documents.
—……!
A sinister, snake-like voice.
The moment Lebernin hurriedly tried to turn around,
Stab!
—Kuhuk……
A deadly poison scorpion that had burst up from the ground pierced Lebernin’s throat with the sharp stinger on its tail.
Beyond his flickering red vision, the Poison Demon approached with the clicking sound of high heels.
-You wanted to sacrifice your own life at the last moment to save your homeland? What a truly noble spirit. But what a shame?
-……
-That spell doesn’t activate unless you destroy the heart engraved with the runes, right? Ahahaha.
Lebernin’s right hand, which had created the spark, trembled violently like a leaf in the wind.
He tried desperately to move his hand and destroy his own heart.
But the paralyzing poison had already spread throughout his body, making it impossible to move even his little finger.
The Poison Demon whispered mockingly into the ear of the immobilized Lebernin.
-If only you had obediently handed over the Lava Pond when I asked for it, none of this would have happened. Foolish stubbornness always brings about ruin, as it always does. Take that as your final lesson before you die.
-……
In the end.
Along with his collapsing vision, darkness descended.
Lebernin continued to let out sobbing-like sounds until the very moment his breath stopped completely.
And with that, the memories <Blood Trace> showed me came to an end.
Feeling heavy-hearted, I once again offered a silent prayer for Lebernin’s soul. Then I recalled the words the Poison Demon had casually uttered in the memory.
“A spell that sacrifices life force to perform purification magic…”
It seemed Lebernin had intended to purify at least the polluted crater by sacrificing himself.
……I had no idea such a setting existed.
Of course, no other character had a skill to read memories.
‘In the game, there was never a scenario where the crater was restored to its original state.’
Even after defeating the Poison Demon’s avatar and completing the Lava tribe quest, the <Nuraduke Crater> remained a deadly hell filled with extreme poison.
Unable to return to the crater, the tribe would continue barely surviving in their current hideout.
Slowly draining the vitality of the forest.
‘Eventually the Chieftain would die from exhaustion, and the remaining tribespeople would become cursed monsters corrupted by the enraged forest.’
What kind of half-assed story was this?
My answer was simple — the game itself was already shit, so why bother?
‘It was such a headache when I later encountered the Lava tribe that had fallen into monsters.’
It was easy to underestimate them because they were miserably defeated by the Poison Demon alone, but among the various demi-human races, the Lava tribe ranked among the strongest.
If left like this, they would eventually turn into monsters.
Since I would have to wander across the continent in the future, there was no guarantee I wouldn’t encounter them again someday.
However.
‘If I use the purification magic that Lebernin couldn’t activate and purify the crater, that future won’t come.’
He said the magic would activate once the heart engraved with runes was destroyed.
It didn’t feel right for me to do it myself, so I would take the corpse out of the crater later and ask the Chieftain.
That way, I could prevent one dangerous future variable in advance.
……Well, that was the cold, calculated reasoning.
—I’m sorry……
“……”
Emotionally, I simply wanted to return their homeland to them.
Only when Lebernin could close his eyes in peace would my own heart feel a little lighter.
***
“…Is that story true?”
“I’m not a lunatic like the Poison Demon. What reason would I have to make such a horrifying joke here?”
“Well… that’s true.”
I explained the whole situation to the Chieftain, who looked like he was ready to rip out my heart instead of his son’s.
Of course, my explanation had been a bit lacking earlier.
I also honestly told him that I had learned about the secret art by reading the memories. There was no need to hide it.
“Kuh, uuu……”
Even after hearing the full story from beginning to end, the Chieftain couldn’t bring himself to move.
I understood. All kinds of emotions must be swirling inside him right now.
Sadness, rage, helplessness, trust, distrust… Amid those crashing waves of emotion, the Chieftain groaned and agonized over and over.
And eventually.
“I cannot doubt you now. If I doubt my benefactor’s words… I must not miss this chance to reclaim our lost homeland.”
Stab!
With a face as if he were vomiting blood, he thrust the tip of his sword diagonally into Lebernin’s chest and sliced it open.
A heart, blackened like coal, was revealed.
A dead heart that had long stopped beating.
And within it.
Hwaruk—!
Brilliantly glowing Rune characters formed a ring and revolved around the heart.
The purification magic that Lebernin had tried to activate by sacrificing his own life.
Even after so much time had passed, the Rune characters engraved with the spell’s formula code remained alive, refusing to let the spark extinguish.
Just like Lebernin’s will.
“Ah……!”
The Chieftain burst into tears and let out a deep sigh.
Realizing that everything I had said was true, he slowly reached into his son’s torn chest and grasped the heart.
“Lebernin! My son!”
The father holding his son wailed like that.
“Why did you feel such guilt that you tried to make this sacrifice…? You only showed kindness, so what sin did you have to atone for that you couldn’t even close your eyes until now!”
The Chieftain’s cries echoed throughout the crater.
Just like before, I didn’t rush him and waited silently until he could compose himself.
However, this time it seemed too much for him to bear. With a face stained with tears, the Chieftain turned to me and said,
“You do it.”
“…Pardon?”
“You… destroy my son’s heart and activate the spell. I… I can’t do it.”
“But—”
“Besides, if it weren’t for your ability, Lebernin’s will and honor would have been forever sunk in this swamp. Therefore, it is you who must carry on my son’s wish.”
“……”
Strictly speaking, it didn’t matter who did it, but I had thought the Chieftain should be the one to destroy the heart.
Still, if he was pleading so desperately, I had no choice.
I nodded silently and accepted the heart from the Chieftain.
“……”
Magic manifested by sacrificing life force carries the will and desire of the caster who offered their life.
Even if it meant purifying this entire vast crater, as long as these Rune characters wrapped around the heart properly carried Lebernin’s wish…
That prayer would surely come true.
‘Rest in peace.’
I lifted the heart, still wrapped in the red ring of Runes, high into the air.
Crunch—!!
I crushed it.
The Rune characters that had been rotating around the heart scattered in all directions like free birds soaring across the sky.
At that moment.
“……”
“Ah, aah……”
Just as the dawn light on the horizon drives away darkness, the Rune characters erased the thick poison fog and deadly toxins.
To Ruth, it looked like billions of fireflies flying all at once and illuminating the night sky.
To the Chieftain, it was a sight so sacred and unbelievable that no metaphor could do it justice…
It was a miracle that would never happen again in his lifetime.
Their long-lost homeland was beginning to regain its original form.
***
“N-Nuraduke…!”
“Dear gods, am I dreaming right now…?”
“It’s not a dream. It’s real… This is actually happening!”
The tribespeople in the hideout, who were watching the same scene through the crystal orb, turned to each other and murmured noisily.
The moment Ruth suddenly crushed Lebernin’s heart, a dazzling radiance burst forth and rapidly erased the poison fog and swamps that had consumed the crater.
If there was ever a sight that truly deserved to be called ‘magic,’ this was it.
“……”
“……”
Questions flew everywhere — what was happening, was this really not a dream, how was this possible?
But at one point, as if by agreement, the noisy tribespeople suddenly fell silent.
The moment the flames of the crater, which had been extinguished by the pollutants, began burning powerfully like the dawn,
And magma started flowing again across the ground instead of the deadly swamp,
The tribespeople finally set aside their doubts and realized.
They could finally return home.
The entire group instantly turned into a sea of tears, with sobbing sounds breaking out everywhere.
“Ruth……”
Ismin also shed tears as she quietly repeated the name of the man who had become a hero for her tribe.
***
As soon as the purification was complete, the Lava tribe members who had been in the hideout returned to the crater.
They stepped onto their homeland, now restored to its original form, and shed tears of deep emotion.
Since they had already witnessed everything through the crystal orb, the tribespeople approached not the Chieftain, but me. They held my hands and expressed their gratitude.
And as for the Chieftain…
“T-This is your father, Ismin! The father you love! Why are you doing this!”
“I clearly warned you that if you came back, I’d beat you whether you’re my father or not!”
He was beaten by his daughter.
Well, to be honest, even I admitted the Chieftain had done something crazy.
How much more must his own daughter have felt?
Ismin slapped her father’s back with her palm for a while, then soon burst into tears, hugged him tightly, and told him never to do something like that again.
I watched the scene from a distance and let out a small chuckle.
Hwaruk—.
A few hours later.
Lebernin’s funeral was held.
The man who had offered his entire life until the very last moment to save his homeland.
The tribespeople who met him again held a solemn funeral, paying the highest respects in a dignified atmosphere.
“……”
I stared at the flames rising like a signal fire atop the dry branches and fell into deep thought.
‘Thanks to entering the <Lava Pond of Evolution>, the penalty that felt like shackles has disappeared, and I’ve gained an unexpected new power.’
For someone whose only goal had been to remove the blood ki supply penalty, this was far beyond what I had imagined.
But.
I still couldn’t feel at ease.
‘I need to become stronger. This is not enough.’
This was what I had keenly realized while fighting the Poison Demon’s avatar.
It wasn’t even her main body — just an avatar — yet I had nearly died several times.
Even though I had predicted the avatar would appear, I still had to overcome multiple brushes with death.
‘Even with veteran knowledge, it doesn’t unconditionally guarantee my survival. The only thing I can truly rely on is becoming stronger myself.’
To survive in this damn world, I needed even greater power.
To defeat the Seven Great Evils of the continent, survive against the ‘Four Divine Beasts’ I would inevitably encounter, and ultimately defeat the Demon Emperor who would descend through the <Inferno Gate>.
I could not rest even for a moment. I had to constantly pursue growth while looking toward higher realms.
‘The blood ki supply penalty is gone. I’ve secured the minimum breathing room. Then, the next thing I need to do is…….’
A weapon.
I needed a weapon that could protect me from the countless threats that sought my life.
The strongest weapon that could sever the necks of those who wanted to kill me — and those I needed to kill — in a single stroke.
Although I had the <Blood Weapon> skill, I couldn’t keep relying solely on it.
‘Weapons created with the skill excel in convenience, but their power inevitably falls far short compared to truly powerful weapons.’
Now, the question was who would create the ‘strongest weapon’ I desired.
In truth, the answer was already decided.
‘Jackson Steel & Anvil.’
The grandfather of the girl ‘Nora Steel & Anvil’ whom I had saved in the temple on the first day of my possession.
He was a master craftsman whose skills in metallurgy were considered the best on the continent.
Jackson Steel & Anvil was desperately searching for the successor of the <Black Radiance Divine Sword> due to certain circumstances.
And that successor was me.
‘…To be precise, Nora Steel & Anvil mistakenly thought I was the successor and connected me with Jackson.’
Regardless, it was a fact that I could use the <Black Radiance Divine Sword> through the <Blood Link> system.
Jackson Steel & Anvil would surely be able to create the strongest weapon for me.
I already knew the location of his workshop from what Nora had told me that day, so I just needed to go there.
‘But before that…….’
To create the ‘strongest weapon,’
I would need the ‘strongest materials.’
My next destination was decided.
It was then.
“To think we are holding such a somber funeral among ourselves after inviting the hero of our tribe. I feel truly ashamed.”
The Chieftain, Ismin, and several other tribespeople approached me.
“You looked deep in thought. Did we interrupt you?”
“Not at all. What brings you here?”
“We wanted to thank you once again. The grace you have bestowed upon us is so immense that even if we offered you countless fortunes, it would not be enough to repay you…”
As the Chieftain trailed off, Ismin stepped forward and carefully took something out.
It was neatly folded red fabric… no, clothing.
“Still, we wish to show you the greatest sincerity we can offer. Will you accept it?”
“…What is this?”
“It is a sacred treasure passed down through our tribe for generations. Thanks to the crater being purified, we were able to retrieve it from the storage. This is for you.”
“……!”
I couldn’t help but be shocked by those words.
A sacred treasure.
Just like in other games, items in 《Soden》 had grades.
Sacred treasures belonged to the highest grade among them.
Sacred treasures were not items that could be easily created artificially.
Only items imbued with boundless history and the souls of the most exalted beings could become sacred treasures.
Yet the Chieftain was willingly offering me such a priceless object. It was natural for me to be stunned.
“Accept it. This is <Scorching>, the heavenly armor that only the hero of our tribe is qualified to wear.”
As Ismin respectfully handed me the red garment, I could clearly see the appearance of the sacred treasure.
This was not mere clothing. It was living flame itself.
Like the sun given the form of clothing, fierce yet warm crimson flames surged without pause.
Overwhelmed by its majestic presence, I swallowed dryly and attempted to appraise the item.
And then.
‘T-This……’
After reading the system description, I felt like asking the Chieftain:
Aren’t you repaying the favor far too generously?