Chapter 207: Battle for Salvation

’What is the truth behind Renji’s actions and what are their implications.’

Everything else was relatively easy to understand… but Ishiki could not understand what was Renji thinking, or what was his immediate goal.

That bastard didn’t fit in with any piece… moreover, he was even more mysterious than an elephant.

Recalling what Ishiki knew… that guy stabbed the artificial sun, which was Mandecium’s heart and it had fused with one of the Orbs. So, essentially he was the one who killed the god Mandecium and he must now be in possession of that orb.

At surface, these were the actions of a hero. A savior who released the multiple souls being trapped in this place.

His actions even helped the players come back to reality. They had thought that this place as paradise and they had already thought that they would be living here forever. It was presented as a better option than the hell Earth had become.

That hadn’t changed actually. People still considered living here… just the reason had changed. Earlier they were eager to live here of their own free will… now their free will had died in front of power.

Absolute power could make even the devil bow down.

But Renji was not a hero, Ishiki understood that much with absolute certainty.

The man who could murder his own parents, real or not was nothing less than a beast. He had proven it again by killing Jules without a shred of humanity.

That man didn’t act out of compassion or righteousness.

So what was his goal?

’He has one of the orb with him. In what form is a mystery. Maybe it has already fused with his body, that is plausible considering that he absorbed some weird energy from the heart.’

But what did he plan to do with it?

The obvious answer was that he wanted to become Emperor and to claim the throne that required both Orbs to recognize a ruler.

Ishiki’s mind suddenly stopped. His eyes widened… the dragon has the second orb.

And now the dragon was siting on the throne, and Renji was his right hand man. It was obvious that the dragon had no idea that he was not yet the actual ruler and there was a second orb.

’Could it be that he is planning to kill the dragon and then take the orb for himself… becoming the true ruler of Aethelburg? ’

Except that theory had holes in it large enough to drive a truck through.

Why in the hell would he want to become the Emperor and die? It was not like he would become immortal or something after sitting on that throne… instead he would become the center of everyone’s rage.

Even that considered… What if Renji’s goal wasn’t to claim the throne but to prevent anyone else from claiming it? What if he’d taken one Orb specifically to ensure that the scenario could never be completed?

But that raised even more questions. Why would anyone want that? What benefit came from ensuring eternal stalemate?

’Or maybe he’s after something else entirely. Something I don’t have the context to understand.’

Ishiki’s hands clenched into fists, frustration boiling through him.

Renji had saved countless players by warning them away from false hope. He’d freed trapped souls from torment.

But he’d also killed people and he possessed an Orb of incomprehensible power with unknown intentions.

’I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t know what his immediate goal is. And that terrifies me more than anything else I’ve learned in this godforsaken place.’

Because everyone else—the Dragon, the Angel, even Mandecium had been driven towards some kind of goal.

But Renji? Renji was playing a game Ishiki couldn’t see the board for.

“Damn it,” Ishiki whispered to the empty chamber. “What are you really after, Renji?”

The darkness offered no answer.

With a frustrated exhale, Ishiki pushed himself to his feet. Standing here dwelling on mysteries he couldn’t solve wasn’t going to help. He needed to get out of this tomb.

His thoughts cut off as he summoned Sorrow’s Edge again, purple flames illuminating the chamber one final time.

There was work to do. Starting with figuring out how to escape tons of collapsed stone and make his way back to the surface where the real battle was undoubtedly already underway.

***

Secondary Ring – After the Gate Breach.

The Crimson moon had stopped burning and the cold… Silver moon hung in the void, like a solitary lamp in entirety of darkness.

The world below was drowning in death and despair being illuminated by the pale streaks of light.

BOOMMM!!!

A house was suddenly turned to dust as a figure flew out from the falling debris. Behind his flying form a grotesque tendril shot out and wrapped around his leg and pulled him behind.

The guy gritted his teeth… but he couldn’t do anything except get pulled in towards the withering beast. He had already pushed past his limits to use his skill… as only a level 11 he had no more hope.

He closed his eyes… savoring his last moments.

THUD!

Suddenly his back hit the ground hard. The man opened his eyes and found that he was on the ground and there was a sharp spike in front of him, he could not believe what just happened with him.

“I… I am saved?”

TAP! TAP!

The sound of footsteps came from besides him… the guy flinched and looked to the side, finding a man with messy burgundy hair.

Filch slowly stepped forward and then said in a slow voice. “Go on… run to the Inner Ring while you can.”

The man on the ground didn’t know what to say… he stumbled to his feet and ran towards the gates of the Inner Ring.

It had been almost 2 hours from the Initial breach and the Secondary Ring was already half teeming with Withering beasts.

But it was only thanks to the fact that there was only one entrance the the beasts were fighting amongst each other.

The corners of Filch’s mouth twitched as he launched himself forward. “Fuck this whole scenario!”

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