Chapter 261: Ragnarok (7)

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Fragmented memories began to flow in.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but even then, Ragnarok had been underway.

They had entered this place on the side of the human faction, together with the heroes…

‘Heroes?’

Carl’s eyes narrowed.

The long-forgotten existence of the heroes resurfaced once again.

These were names widely known across the continent since ancient times.

Considering their weight and presence, it would have been stranger if they hadn’t participated in Ragnarok.

“Were they trapped in the dimensional rift, unable to return to their original world? To not find rest even in death—how pitiful.”

Gallon, true to his former priestly self, wore a sympathetic expression and softly recited a prayer.

In contrast, Six kept unraveling the Heavenly Silk as he moved his fingers.

“Master, I’ve detected several spots where the energy wave is trembling. They seem to belong to another faction.”

“There’s no need to clash with them from the start. Let’s avoid that side.”

Unless it was the Empire or the Holy Church, they couldn’t risk making reckless contact without knowing the faction.

Especially when the entire Demon Realm faction was in collusion.

If a battle broke out with one side, all the other factions could rush in and surround them.

Unlike the first gate, where only a few participated at once, this time many had entered simultaneously, so it was best for NOX to avoid getting disadvantaged.

Srrk.

Carl pulled back his hand and retrieved the bet, falling into thought with a vague expression.

‘It’s now certain that the ancient heroes participated in Ragnarok. But why is there not a single record of it?’

The ancient texts only contained a brief mention of the final battle in which all factions clashed.

Neither in the legacy of the ancient heroes hidden beneath the Imperial Palace, nor in the scattered ancient ruins across the continent, was there any mention of such a thing.

One could infer that some kind of Forbidden Seal had been placed, making it impossible to even mention it, but if that were the case, hadn’t the Apostles of the Prometheus Cult or someone like Kylos spoken about it far too freely?

It didn’t make sense that only the heroes had been specifically bound by such a seal…

“Wait.”

At Carl’s call, Gallon and Six turned their eyes to him.

“Have either of you ever heard which faction won the previous Ragnarok?”

“I haven’t.”

“I don’t think I have either. I see. That was the blind spot. I assumed there would be someone, but I never considered who it might be.”

It wasn’t Kylos, nor Prometheus, nor the goddess of the Holy Church.

Then who exactly had ascended to full divinity?

Carl turned his gaze inward.

But Kylos, who lay beyond his unconscious, remained hidden without emitting the slightest presence, as if he had vanished.

‘So he doesn’t want to talk.’

Carl frowned.

He had already suspected that the bastard was hiding something.

That was precisely why he would drop critical information or hints every time Carl was in danger.

No doubt, when Carl reached the core of Ragnarok, he would attempt to seize control of this body.

Of course, Carl had no intention of allowing that.

“For now, let’s move. Focus on securing Orbs.”

Regardless, in order to earn points, they had to defeat enemies roaming the labyrinth and secure Orbs.

Separate from uncovering the truth behind Ragnarok, they needed to solidify first place to prevent others from ascending to divinity.

Screeech─!

Carl, along with Gallon and Six, continued rampaging through the labyrinth, slaying monsters scattered throughout.

Some, like before, were former participants who had failed to escape Ragnarok in previous rounds and had become monsters—but since there was nothing more to learn, they granted them rest by ending their lives.

“How many have we collected?”

“Three red, and seventeen blue. Points are accumulating slower than expected.”

Red Orbs were worth 5 points, blue Orbs 1 point each—so they had earned a total of 32 points.

It was the result of an almost hour-long effort without rest, but Carl wasn’t satisfied.

“In this kind of point-based exam, it usually comes down to whether high-value items are present or not.”

Only three red Orbs had been collected.

They hadn’t even found the gold Orb, which awarded the highest 10 points.

Even with a seemingly solid point lead, if someone collected seven red Orbs and four or more gold Orbs, they could overtake them instantly.

“If the Demon Realm faction pools their Orbs into one person, the gap could widen in no time. We’ll have to consider that strategy ourselves.”

“Agreed. We’ll need to consult with the Empire and the Church.”

The problem was deciding who would receive the Orbs.

The Empire would likely yield them to NOX without issue, but the Church was the problem.

If the goddess of the Holy Church was indeed a demigod aiming for ascension through Ragnarok, she would never give up the Orbs.

But right now, the NOX faction had the highest chance of taking first place.

By observing the Church’s response then, Carl might be able to gauge what they were hiding.

“Move out again.”

Pop!

No matter what, steadily collecting Orbs, even if only for small points, was important.

To avoid clashing with other factions, they immediately rerouted upon detecting opposing presences, and crushed any encountered enemies without hesitation to obtain Orbs.

‘Fighting with other factions is a last resort.’

Only by reaching the end of the labyrinth could one defeat other factions, snatch their Orbs, and make a quick escape.

If they started doing that in the middle of the exam, it would lead to drawn-out pursuits.

It would become a messy situation that might end up helping other factions indirectly.

“…Ah!”

Just then, in the distance, a group from another faction came into view.

Carl immediately tried to change direction, but a knight in armor raised his hand and shouted.

“Sir Carl! Over here!”

He was one of Crown Prince Yulian’s subordinates.

Carl vaguely remembered his name being Noel.

It looked like they had just come out of a skirmish—both knights and mages bore various wounds.

As Carl quickly joined them, he looked at the knight and asked.

“Were you attacked?”

“We clashed with the Demon Realm faction. We almost defeated them all, but unfortunately, another faction appeared and ambushed us, so we had no choice but to retreat.”

The knight wiped the blood off his cheek and grinned.

“Still, it’s fortunate that we met you, Sir Carl.”

The other knights and mages behind him also nodded.

Having accompanied him several times already, they were well aware of Carl’s strength.

Within Ragnarok, he felt like the most reliable support one could ask for.

Even Crown Prince Yulian considered him a hero, so it was no surprise that the knights and mages under his command felt similarly.

“Ah, right. Looking at the rules of the test, it seems advantageous to pool Orbs into one person. The Demon Realm faction is surely concentrating theirs too.”

“How many Orbs have you gathered?”

“We only managed to collect 17 points. We didn’t have time because of the fight with the Demon Realm faction…”

The knight scratched his head awkwardly.

‘If they have 17 after expending themselves in a fight, then the average should be somewhere in the mid-20s?’

If they had 17 due to combat losses, then other factions could very well have mid-20s, or even 30 like NOX.

They would have to search the labyrinth more aggressively for Orbs.

“We’ve got 37 points on this side, so together that makes over 50.”

“I’ll hand them all over. Since NOX is in first place, pooling them will prevent anyone from climbing up from below.”

The knight rummaged through his belongings and pulled out three red Orbs and two blue ones.

Just as he was about to offer them to Carl—

Slice.

A strand of Heavenly Silk grazed the knight’s neck.

The knight, smiling as he handed over the Orbs to Carl, froze in place.

A fine line of blood appeared across his neck, and a moment later, his head dropped to the ground.

“…Noel!!!”

“What are you doing…?!”

The companions behind him screamed in horror.

At the same time, Carl and Gallon moved, quickly dispatching the remaining two.

Carl’s hand pierced through another knight’s heart, while Gallon’s fist snapped the mage’s neck.

All of it happened in an instant.

Carl and Gallon looked up at Six.

“Did you spot something?”

Though cutting Noel’s throat with Heavenly Silk hadn’t been a coordinated move, Carl and Gallon had responded instinctively and eliminated the others without hesitation.

Their mutual trust was so deep that their bodies reacted before their minds could process it.

Six calmly nodded and pointed to the Orbs Noel had been holding.

“First off, those aren’t Orbs.”

“They’re not Orbs?”

Six stepped back, distancing Carl and Gallon, and carefully picked up one of the red Orbs.

Then he hurled it far into the distance, and as it hit the wall…

─KABOOOOOM!!!

A massive explosion swept through the surroundings.

BOOM! KABOOM!

As Six threw the remaining Orbs, they too exploded in succession.

Smoke billowed like after a bombing, but the labyrinth walls remained perfectly intact, as if nothing had happened.

“…They disguised bombs as Orbs? Why would they do that?”

“They didn’t detect our Orbs. I realized it too late, but these people were being controlled. Quite a skilled Puppeteer. They erased all traces of themselves, making it hard to notice.”

“Controlled?”

Carl wore a puzzled expression.

They had clearly been alive before dying.

They had will, awareness—how could they have been controlled?

But his face hardened when he saw the thin thread Six pulled from the crown of one of their heads.

“This is my first time seeing it as well. After you gave me the Heavenly Silk, I researched related martial arts while training, and found a very famous puppeteering technique. It doesn’t kill the target—it turns them into puppets while they’re still alive and controls them.”

“You mean the puppeteering technique of Anesis?”

“Yes. I got lucky and came across it during a mission and looked into it.”

This was an area even Carl hadn’t known.

By now, Six likely had better mastery over Heavenly Silk than he did.

“Wait, then doesn’t that mean they now know how many points we have?”

Gallon grimaced and said.

“That was probably the aim. They’d need to know our score to plan a response. And if they could do damage with those Orb bombs, even better.”

“Tsk.”

Carl clicked his tongue.

Despite being on high alert, he hadn’t noticed something so off.

‘I need to keep a sharper mind.’

Maybe the remnants of the ancient heroes or the nature of this exam had made him careless.

Normally, he would have noticed even the slightest discrepancy.

“Now that the Empire’s side is wiped out, that just leaves the Church. But they won’t go down so easily. Maybe not the best on offense, but their defense is solid.”

“With things like this, we change strategies.”

If the Demon Realm faction had already begun forming alliances, they had to move quickly too.

“We take care of the Prometheus Cult and join forces with the Holy Church.”

If they eliminated third parties poised to gain through inaction, then even confronting the Demon Realm faction wouldn’t pose a problem.

Tap!

Without hesitation, they leapt deeper into the labyrinth, leaving the corpses of the Imperial knights behind.

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