Barbarian in a Failed Game

“Hey, how’d it go?”

Ron asked as Khan returned from his task of consecrating the demon’s consciousness.

“…Hard to say.”

Khan replied, his expression peculiarly complex. Considering he had faced a God, it wouldn’t be surprising if things hadn’t gone smoothly—Ron understood that much. Yet, the situation was actually far more intricate.

‘If you look at the results alone, it’s as if things turned out well…’

According to the Goddess of Justice, the Sorceress could potentially bring about the world’s collapse. The Goddess of Justice suspected Khan because she believed Khan might be unknowingly or willingly following Karyan’s or the Sorceress’s plans.

‘All I had to do was prove that’s not the case.’

Khan wasn’t someone to be manipulated by anyone’s schemes. His actions until now demonstrated that he compromised with no one. The problem was that nobody knew what the Sorceress’s true purpose was—not even the Goddess of Justice herself.

“So, here’s what we’re going to do.”

Khan had made a direct proposal to the Goddess of Justice. He would uncover the true motivations of the Sorceress. And if her goals proved detrimental to the world, he would be the one to crush them.

『Can you swear on the Warrior God’s name and your own?』

Just as Augrabes had been made to swear in the past, the Goddess of Justice demanded that Khan swear on the name of the Warrior God and his own, Khan swore on both Karyan’s and Gordi Khan’s names.

Of course, since he was neither a true follower of the Warrior God nor Gordi Khan, the oath held no actual power unless his secret identity as a transmigrator was revealed.

Unlike the foolish Augrabes, however, the Goddess of Justice set up a failsafe.

『I’ve decided on the compensation for consecrating Augrabes’ consciousness. Though the Warrior God recently engraved his mark on you, I had already imprinted mine before him. Usually, I wouldn’t intervene to balance divine power and magic, but since a demon lord now lies in my hands…』

What the Goddess of Justice showed next was an image Khan found hard to erase from his memories. Watching the hand of the Goddess of Justice descend through the clouds once more to disintegrate the consciousness of the demonic commander was…

『In your battle, he foolishly drew upon his authority. I will extract that authority and grant it to the vessel on your right chest. Furthermore, to balance the increased demonic energy, I will bestow more of my power.』

Augrabes let out a truly hellish roar, but the Goddess of Justice didn’t flinch. She continued to dissolve the demon’s consciousness into a mass of pure magic.

The fragments of divine authority, appearing as white light, merged with the “Mark of the Abyss” and the “Vessel of Greed” embedded in Khan’s right chest.

『Remember, young champion, if you ever stray down the wrong path, I will be there to punish you. Do not forget that I am now watching over you.』

With those final words, the Goddess of Justice withdrew the divine realm she had partially invoked using part of “Kereaktu’s” body. Back in reality, the first thing Khan did was to inspect the mark and vessel in his right chest.

『Mark of Courage』

『Heart of Predation』

The most noticeable changes were the names. The “Mark of the Abyss” had been replaced with “Mark of Courage,” and the “Vessel of Greed” had been completely renamed to “Heart of Predation”.

‘The shield is gone.’

Functionally, the “Sanctuary of Justice’s Protection”, which had become practically useless against recent formidable opponents, had disappeared. It was replaced with the “Scales of Courage”, a skill that had previously enhanced his agility stat when fighting the golden dragon Areolus. Additionally, his resistance to dark magic now had a “strong” prefix.

Moving to the “Heart of Predation”, the changes in its functionality were as dramatic as its name alteration.

‘It really has become like a heart…?’

Whether due to the demonic energy, his right chest now felt weighted, as if something substantial had taken residence there. There was also a new, strange sensation.

‘Is this… blood?’

The flow coursing through his entire body seemed tangible. Khan soon realized that this flow was blood, traversing his veins, and he felt a certain degree of control over it. The source of this sensation quickly became apparent.

‘It’s the effect from the original Blood Vessel!’

Originally, the item now known as the “Heart of Predation” was a degraded version of the “Blood Vessel” dropped by Darkin Perayas in Act V. When Khan first acquired it, he thought he could transform it back into the Blood Vessel under certain conditions.

It had started to morph into something related to ‘space’ due to Aecharis. But intriguingly, with the addition of demonic energy, its blood-related effects grew stronger again.

‘This will be incredibly useful.’

The “Blood Crystal” option, which allowed for blood storage, had previously seemed inconvenient because he had no way to store blood. With his newfound control over blood, this changed.

For instance, if Khan steadily stored his blood in the Blood Crystal, he could use it to replenish the blood consumed by the “Blood Art” of the vengeful spirit.

‘Am I turning into something completely different from a barbarian…?’

Mastering a cursed sword, controlling blood, and wielding demonic powers—anyone would be justified in suspecting him of being a demonic contractor. Yet, here he was, bearing divine marks as well. Even Khan wondered how such a hybrid came to be.

But if it proved useful, he was determined to make the most of it.

Regardless of appearances, he now had credentials he could openly flaunt. If anyone accused him of being a demon worshiper, he could invoke the names of the Goddess of Justice or the Emperor.

‘This might actually be a blessing in disguise.’

Although there was still the downside of having the voyeuristic gaze of the Goddess of Justice upon him, it also meant the Sorceress’s pursuit would face less interference.

“All that’s left is to assemble the team…”

“Are there more people to gather? Isn’t Miss Maya joining a bit later?”

Ron asked.

“There’s a bit of a complication.”

The Goddess of Justice had strongly recommended that he take along one of her potential apostles. In truth, it wasn’t so much a recommendation as a requirement; she needed an apostle to observe Khan, so he had to bring at least one.

‘Taking both isn’t feasible.’

With the current apostles trapped in the Arch-Demon’s Domain, the potential apostles were crucial to the church. Bringing both would help in the short term but not in the long run for Khan’s plans.

‘Aries would be the best choice in terms of combat strength.’

However, for the larger strategy, it was better for Aries to remain at the Holy See. Choosing Elena made the party’s composition tricky.

‘In that case…’

After mulling it over, Khan decided on a course of action when he recalled the presence of a woman who had come at his request.

“…I’ll have to talk to her.”

The next day, an imperial informant arrived at Khan’s residence.

Elves from Paradise had infiltrated the Empire’s territory and reportedly decimated an estate.

***

Thud-thud-thud—!

A carriage sped down the imperial highway. Despite the usual restrictions, where only pre-approved nobles or merchant guilds could use the road, no one dared question or stop this carriage.

“The imperial crest? Why would an imperial carriage head to the southwest…?”

The two-horse carriage, led by imperial breed horses, seemed to part the seas with its mere presence. Such a reaction was natural. While border kingdoms often saw royal power failing to extend to local lords, the Emperor’s influence dominated the vast expanse of the Empire.

The imperial intelligence had verified the elves’ movements. The elves, after decimating the estate, were suspected to be heading south. They made no attempts to conceal their path.

“Wait! Viscount Petrov wishes to see the imperial emissary!”

Occasionally, there were those who would stop the carriage bearing Khan’s party, even after seeing the imperial emblem. Most of them were victims caught in the chaotic movements of the elves.

“Those arrogant beings have completely lost their minds!”

Viscount Petrov, a vassal of the Electorate family and lord of a city, introduced himself as he descended from his carriage and vented his anger at Ron with gritted teeth.

“Surely, this imperial event is to capture those mad beings! If not, I shall personally petition my lord to condemn the imperial court!”

Whether it was because he believed in the backing of the Electorate or because he was too enraged to think straight, Viscount Petrov raged at Ron, who had identified himself as an imperial investigator.

Rumor had it that his eldest son had gone hunting in the forest near the city and had been swept up and killed during the elves’ escape. Due to the elves’ tendency to move through forests and mountains, the unlucky loss of an heir left the lord’s fury far from mere words.

“I’ll assign three senior knights and five junior knights. My hunters are already tracking them, so there’s no need to find a new direction! But, whom does your carriage carry? If it’s a Royal Battle Mage, that would be quite helpful…”

“Ahem. It’s a more formidable force, so you needn’t worry. However, you won’t be able to meet them. It’s an imperial secret weapon… something like that.”

“Oh. Is the imperial shadow I’ve only heard about in rumors mobilizing? In that case…”

Ron, who had barely finished dealing with the imperial noble, opened the carriage door with a sweaty face.

“Damn, do I really have to do this? Dealing with nobles makes my tongue feel like it’s going to cramp.”

“Shall we do it instead?”

Khan asked, glancing at the inside of the carriage. Ron sighed, knowing that he was the most suitable for the job.

“Let’s get moving again…”

Thus, the two-horse carriage bearing the imperial emblem was joined by eight fully armed knights.

However, chasing elves who had been on the run for quite some time, and were moving through mountains and forests instead of main roads, was no easy task.

Even well-bred warhorses did not have infinite stamina, and they had to bear the weight of a carriage carrying people and knights in armor. In contrast, the light footsteps of the elves were highly efficient, at least in the forest.

“Oh divine, give us light.”

It was Elena who stepped up. Now the youngest cardinal of the Pantheon Church, the twin-tailed girl scattered light that was on par with the holy magic of high priests. No, it was clear that it was even beyond that.

“As expected, the imperial court has thoroughly prepared.”

The knight commander, who immediately sensed that the young priest who performed the miracle outside the carriage was no ordinary person, was full of admiration. This was the moment when Khan’s decision to choose Elena over Aries for this journey proved effective.

“Stop! Stop…!”

Then, a frantic voice was heard from the vanguard of the knights spread out wide to escort the carriage.

‘Something feels off’, he thought.

His gut feeling was almost prophetic in a way. Especially in detecting threats, his instincts had an absolutely high accuracy rate, and this time was no different, indicating danger was imminent.

However, due to the knights forming the formation halting, they had no choice but to slow down, and soon they spotted knights crouched in front of corpses. The corpses were those of the trackers sent by Viscount Petrov.

These professional hunters, who made a living by hunting monsters, were experts in tracking and would naturally have been moving discreetly at a considerable distance. Despite this, they were all left in tattered ruins.

Arms, torsos, and heads were severed and scattered, displaying the viciousness of the elves’ handiwork. Ron couldn’t help but click his tongue at the horrific scene.

“Damnable wretches…”, someone among the knights spat out in fury.

“We can’t just leave their bodies here. Please, wait a moment.”

The knights gathered the defiled corpses, which were so badly mutilated they were nearly unrecognizable. Obviously, they intended to bury them to prevent the bodies from being eaten by wild animals or wandering goblins.

“Wait…!”

Just as the knights were about to dig the ground after gathering the corpses in one place, Ron, sensing something, urgently stopped them. At that moment, the dismembered corpses exploded.

It was a completely unexpected moment, catching them off guard before they could even activate their auras. The upper bodies of the knights caught in the explosion were so shredded that even their brothers wouldn’t recognize them.

‘A trap!’

How despicable. The horrifying tactic of hiding bombs within their comrades’ corpses and triggering them at a vulnerable moment was something no human could ever commit. And it was clear who was behind this.

“Elves…!”

“Look at that, the prey for our trap came on its own.”