Barbarian in a Failed Game

Chapter 024: Darkin Subjugation (4)

“It doesn’t seem like there’s anything here? And it feels pretty bleak.”

“Just follow along.”

After heading down the left path, Khan’s strides were unabated. It was natural, considering there were no enemies to block their way, and their destination had been decided in advance.

“I thought undead would swarm us non-stop since it’s said to be a necromancer’s workshop. Surprisingly, that’s not the case.”

“Must’ve thought it useless. Or maybe they’re planning to attack us all at once.”

Of course, either way, it didn’t matter to Khan. His task remained unchanged: to cleave Darkin in two.

Thud- Thud-

What lay at the end of the empty corridor was a hollow about half the size of a school playground.

To the left of the hollow, there were stone steps leading up to the surface, on the right, another path, and in the center…

“Sniff. Sniff.”

A dog was scratching its neck with its paw. Described this way, it might seem like an endearing scene, but reality was far from it.

“Damn. It’s disgustingly huge.”

The dog before them was bigger than a tiger, with a snake-like tail that seemed to move with a mind of its own. Most notably, it had two heads.

“That… That monster…! Why is it here?”

Ron showed a troubled reaction, but Khan knew the reason without needing to hear it. It was obvious.

“Is that creature the demon from the depths that came down from the mountain?”

“…I’m sure we beheaded it and drove it away.”

“Look closely. There’s a mark on the neck of the right head where it has been reattached. Must be Darkin’s handiwork.”

Ron sighed. His hand holding the hammer trembled as if he might be suffering from PTSD.

‘I heard that over a hundred people died to the demon from the depths but never heard it was killed. Now that I think about it.’

It wasn’t hard to piece together the story.

Darkin had likely picked up the severely injured creature, after having been informed by his minions that it had fled, and healed it for his own use.

“Kroong?”

The demon, belatedly noticing Khan and Ron’s presence, turned its two heads. The black and gray heads reacted differently.

‘The gray side, which was reattached, seems a bit slower.’

“You just watch from the side.”

“Y-You can’t be serious about facing that monster alone? Even hundreds of men couldn’t kill it!”

‘Of course, that makes sense.’

Hundreds of mercenaries from different affiliations. Without proper coordination, greed got the better of them, and casualties quickly mounted.

It was a common occurrence, an error in teamwork. People think more numbers make things easier when that’s not always the case.

‘It gets harder, especially with trolls around.’

“Kkrrung!”

Initially, the creature, having appeared from the inside, wasn’t smart enough to immediately recognize Khan and Ron as enemies, and tilted its two heads in confusion.

Then, seemingly reacting to the hostility from Ron, it bared its long, person-sized fangs and started to snarl.

‘Maybe it didn’t hear the ceiling collapse. Seems slow to react. Might be a side effect of having its head cut off.’

“Kwooooo─!”

‘Damn, that scared me. What kind of dog howls like an ogre.’

Khan drew his hand axe, feigning surprise.

“This is madness. That monster, even the Great Warrior of the Black Flame couldn’t defeat it!”

“What are you talking about? We came here to take it down in the first place.”

“What…!”

Choosing the right path would likely lead them to Darkin.

Yet, they opted for the left, intending to eliminate any potential hindrances from behind.

In Act 5, at some point, Darkin always stationed a gatekeeper at the entrance to his workshop.

And he always chose the strongest among his named subordinates for the task.

Overcoming the gatekeeper was a feat, but then the demon manipulated disguises, changing the map in 18 different patterns.

Navigating through the maze, destroying the demon’s medium, and pushing back the endless waves of minions to reach Darkin was the player’s mission.

‘Even if turning the underground workshop into a maze like before isn’t possible, the basic algorithm is likely the same. Placing a powerful gatekeeper at the entrance.’

Based on this prediction, Khan concluded to take the left route.

To eliminate the strongest named on behalf of Arius and his group, who would follow later.

But Ron’s worries were unfounded.

‘The Great Warrior of the Black Flame, huh.’

Because.

“Kwoooooook─!!”

“Aside from being a mere vassal of a duke, I am stronger.”

As the beast’s roar filled the underground, the monster that had massacred over a hundred mercenaries in Nördic clashed with the warrior from the frozen tundra.

*The boy sat upon his throne of bones, gazing down at the battlefield.

The barbarian, who had broken through the ceiling of the morgue to enter, had made a poor decision by choosing the opposite path, and the paladin who arrived as reinforcements found her feet bound by the army of corpses.

‘Things are going smoothly.’

The path chosen by the barbarian was linked to the entrance of the workshop, where a monster he had put great effort into brainwashing was stationed as the gatekeeper.

The barbarian’s transcendent strength was certainly an unpredictable factor, but the deep-seated beast he had brainwashed was also a monster, enhanced by various modifications. The odds were not in its favor.

‘Even if, by some chance, it dies at the hands of the barbarian… then it would be too drained to continue the fight. What’s more, having chosen the opposite path, it would be impossible to join forces with the paladin woman in time.’

Typical of an ignorant barbarian. All brawn and no brains… The boy redirected his focus from the barbarian, who had entered combat with the beast from the depths, towards the ‘eye’ where the paladin was.

There were variables to consider there too.

‘I didn’t expect Norman’s failure to come back like this.’

Kidnapping the paladin who had been tracking him for a long time using ‘the Pit of Aecharis’ had, in fact, been his plan all along, since the moment he confirmed the death of the disciples who had raided the paladin’s manor.

‘I thought that Norman and Nero, having accepted my modifications, could easily do it.’

Was the problem that the barbarian’s strength far exceeded his expectations? Or perhaps, the mistake was made the moment Eliya chose the barbarian as a target.

‘What’s more, the trash from the Mage Tower stepping in was the most unexpected.’

The paladin woman was accompanying two mages, presumed to be from the Gray Tower by the spells they used – a mage and his apprentice, no less.

‘It seems like the master of the mage whose body was taken by Eliya…’.

A master’s revenge for his disciple… He dismissed that possibility. A mage, especially a magus, wouldn’t waste his energy on such trivial matters. Not unless he was insane…

The party comprising the paladin, the mage, and his apprentice was dominating against his chimeras and the undead mercenaries.

‘Well, that figures.’

It was a formidable force.

The boy was neither greatly panicked nor anxious. He was merely a bit surprised by the unexpected variables.

It was a calmness only the truly powerful possessed.

It wasn’t as if the Grandmaster of the paladins or the Master of the Mage Tower had come themselves.

So why should I fear? What’s the big deal with variables? Whether it’s the barbarian or the mage, at least within this underground workshop, I am invincible.

A carefree smile spread across the boy’s smooth lips.

Those fools might think that the exposure of the workshop’s location means that defeating me is only a matter of time…

‘They’re the ones who’ve fallen into a trap.’

“Is everything ready?”

“Almost done.”

The boy got up from his bone throne as he finished synching with the ‘eye.’

“Is the offering for the egg sufficient?”

“It’s a bit short of the plan. We couldn’t extract the holy power from the priests Norman was supposed to commandeer…”

“That’s fine. If it’s lacking, we can fill it with something else. Once the fusion is successful, that will be the easy part.”

“It’s bound to succeed. It’s your magic, after all.”

The flattering words from his disciple felt particularly pleasant today.

Perhaps it was because the end of his grand scheme was in sight. Or perhaps it was the absurdity of his disciple wagging his tail, not knowing his own fate.

‘Fool.’

Thunk. Thunk.

He moved to the back of the bone throne.

Feeling the high-quality blood envelop his bare feet was a pleasant sensation as he lifted his head.

There lay the egg.

“Then… let’s begin the ritual.”

Gazing at the cradle that would elevate him to an even higher realm, the boy…

Darkin Perayas, the master of necromancy and an expert in human modification, declared.

“Beware of mercenaries: they are a devious and faithless lot. As if a dead mercenary is something to fear. Look.”

A ripple of unseen force unleashed by Jerome obliterated a dozen undead in an instant. With a low incantation, a chimera lunging at Jerome’s exposed flank had its head and torso twisted off in opposite directions.

“You are perfectly capable of this too. If only you could rid yourself of your needless fear.”

“How is that supposed to be easy!”

“I have told you time and again, a mage is a being of cold reason and logic.”

“Mages are human too! Human!”

Fool. Jerome clicked his tongue in disapproval and turned his attention to where Aries was fighting at the forefront.

With a single gesture from a girl who seemed barely in her twenties, the front line dramatically advanced—an electrifying sight to behold.

“Indeed. It appears the rumors were half true.”

Though he didn’t say it out loud, Jerome had long since learned of the girl paladin’s name. A genius beloved by the Commander of the Paladin Order. Wasn’t it said that even the deities of the Pantheon showed deep interest in her?

At the very least, that part seemed true. Her physical robustness and divine power were exceptional even among paladins he had seen, not to mention her display of a dark magic tracking skill presumed to be a divine gift.

“I can’t fathom why such a talent would be in the Argon Kingdom instead of the Empire. Well, the proposal sent to me through the temple was extraordinary to begin with….”

Jerome snapped out of his contemplation at the sound of the last chimera being split in two.

Worry after the work is done is not too late. The end seemed near for the flesh-shields sent by Darkin, that despicable dark mage.

“Good work. Your divine power is commendable.”

“…Healing?”

“No need. I’ve used some mana, but it’s not worth wasting divine energy on.”

“I, I need some…. Do you have any divine magic that aids in mental and spiritual stability?”

Unfortunately, Jan’s pleas went unheard, and the group pressed forward through the long hallway after having routed the enemy forces.

“Darkin’s resistance seemed minimal. It almost feels like he’s stalling for time. Any guesses?”

“…Not exactly. Just something about using sacrifices he’s gathered over time for some purpose.”

“Well, that’s to be expected. What else can you expect from riff-raff who couldn’t even learn proper magic? At best, they can perform vile necromancy with blood and flesh.”

[Who’s calling whom riff-raff? Garbage of the Mage Tower.]

Jerome halted momentarily. Aries’s face turned stone-cold, and Jan’s already timid face filled with fear.

Then…

[Come forth. Lackeys of prestige and trash of the Mage Tower. I have finished all preparations and am ready to welcome you.]

The voice resounding directly in their heads left no need to question its origin. The one worthy of receiving guests in this underground forge.

“Darkin. Perayas.”

[Yes, paladin girl. I have been watching you for a long time. For years, you have tenaciously tracked my trail. Oblivious to the futility.]

Gritting her teeth so fiercely it seemed they might break, Aries strode forward with determination.

“Wait, Paladin! Please, wait!”

Ignoring Jan’s pleas, she pressed on. Nothing stood in Aries’s path; Darkin truly intended to confront the intruders personally.

What could this mean?

“Tch. Quite displeasing.”

Even Jerome, casting a disdainful look at his naive apprentice, followed Aries, thinking it wise to at least save his strength for an escape.

“Master! Are you really going?! Masteeer!”

Jan, left behind, reluctantly followed them as well.

[Yes, come. That’s right…]

Passing through several rooms and corridors, Darkin’s laughter grew clearer and more distinct. They were getting closer.

Swallowing hard with tension, Jan could now sense a mighty presence at the end of the hallway with his own senses.

The moment of encounter with this chilling voice’s owner was inevitably near.

[Well done for coming, foolish intruders….]

And then, at the end of what felt like an eternity, they entered a vast cavern.

[You are granted the honor of witnessing my evolution first.]

There he was.

[Consider it an honor.]

“Consider it an honor.”

With huge bony wings and a tail, and his skin densely covered in golden scales, lips red as blood, and eyes gleaming gold like his scales—there stood Darkin Perayas, in a form of a Dragonkin, a sight none of the cycles before had ever witnessed.