Chapter 64: Trust

  I know I might be wrong. Many adults look vastly different from how they did as children, but this boy…he wasn’t Kelltins. Also, he looked completely different from the child I had seen in the Vestige – the one who had been abandoned in the tomb by his father and had mind-controlled the monsters to make his way back to the surface.

  So before Kelltins was Noctyra, there had been another one a thousand years ago. One that was the last child of the forefather of Axul - the one they called Father Spurius. And Lysandra had been there as well – younger, not yet the High Priestess. She had practically held the boy hostage. She had even killed his mother…

  But Noctyra had refused to be one of them or take part in their plans, which made the priestesses’ story make a lot more sense. Lysandra had been the only one allowed to leave the temple – preparing everything for Noctyra – because she was searching for him after his escape as a child – thanks to the wolf he had created with his magic.

  A sudden thought crossed my mind. Could the Pack Leader be the same wolf? Other than the size, they sure looked similar. In the memory, it had seemed to be on its deathbed, but in the tomb, it had the milky-white eyes of the Undead. Could it be that Lysandra reanimated it to guard this place, just as she had turned all those priestesses from the Vestiges into Undead as well?

  I knew I was making a lot of assumptions here, but somehow, everything seemed to fall into place and make perfect sense.

  But did Lysandra ever find Noctyra? She must have failed – Erebus never descended a thousand years ago, likely because he lacked his promised vessel. And now, a millennium later, he had decided to “settle” for the second-best option – a powerful knight, betrayed and executed by his kingdom, eventually sent to rot inside this godforsaken place before turning into a vengeful wraith in death.

  I couldn’t help but feel bad for Gaelith. After everything he had endured before he was unjustly executed, even in death, he couldn’t find peace.

  Something else bothered me as well. Lysandra had mentioned that Noctyra’s father – the first Axul – had faked his own death, only to conceive Noctyra in his old age. But why? What had really happened back then? Did all the Axul know about this? The priestesses certainly hadn’t mentioned anything, but then again, I had never asked...

  My thoughts were interrupted by a faint sound behind me. By the time I turned around, it was already too late.

  A searing surge of magic struck me head-on, unleashed by an Undead woman wearing a helm adorned with stag horns – Priestess of Axul, level 98.

  As I attempted to roll away, another surge of magic blasted me from the right.

  Looks like the First Circle Priestess had found me. And they didn’t take kindly to intruders snooping around their chambers. Even when they were already dead.

  I activated Wind Fortification, and the protecting air around me erupted in a powerful explosion, pushing back their magic and raising dust and debris.

  Using the diversion, I activated Wind Rush, then followed up with Enhanced Blade Rush toward the priestess in front of me. But as I swung Silverfang, the glaive passed through her like air – she vanished, chuckling while at it.

  A sudden surge of magic came flying at me from behind – I could only detect it by sound.

  I had no choice, so I activated Apex Reflex.

  Time slowed down from my perspective, giving me enough time to roll away. The moment I regained my footing, I launched into Enhanced Blade Rush toward the other priestess. But again, Silverfang failed to connect.

  Then, the first priestess rematerialized from thin air and struck me with another blast of magic. I barely managed to dodge with Enhanced Dash Step, swapping to Lightning Claw mid-dodge with a new plan in mind.

  This time, I channeled Stormpierce, locking onto one of them. I had hoped the guaranteed hit effect would ensure I land something, but I was wrong.

  I blinked forward, lightnings flashing, dagger already driven in. But the priestess body just dispersed once again – taking no damage.

  Okay, this is bad. I can’t hit them, and they hurt like crazy.

  I needed to get out of here fast.

  Without a second thought, I rushed out of the chamber, escaping before they could kill me.

  ***

  I had been running from the priestesses for quite some time – and across quite a few levels.

  They had been chasing me relentlessly until I finally managed to shake them off.

  Now, I was crouched behind a stone platform I found in one of the chambers, catching my breath.

  I glanced at the Déjà vu System status menu.

  [Déjà vu System: Level 51]

  [Loop Count: 55]

  [Experience Points (XP): 58,666 / 74,000]

  Just about fifteen thousand XP, and I’d be one level away from maxing out the System entirely.

  It was a satisfying thought – until I reminded myself that despite that, I was still far from defeating Erebus.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Nice, Aidan. Great way to ruin the moment…

  “Who are we hiding from, Spellsword?” Goren’s unmistakable voice came to my right, nearly making me jump.

  I turned sharply – there he was, sitting beside me as if he had always been there.

  Damn Rogues and their unique skills…

  I exhaled heavily, forcing myself to calm down. “Why are you here again?”

  He met my gaze. “Well, I was waiting for you down in the Void, but you duped me. You never showed.”

  I nodded, keeping my expression neutral. “Yeah, because the snake wasn’t there anymore.”

  Goren narrowed his eyes. “That’s true, but how would you know that?”

  “Because I killed it.” I replied. “The days of you tricking me and abusing your advantages over me are over, Goren. Now, get the hell away from me before we end up fighting now instead of later.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “I deserve this.” He muttered. Then, reaching to his inventory, he added. “Here.”

  At first, I tensed, expecting a weapon. But what he pulled out was something completely different.

  In his right hand, he held a small shard of grey stone. “You were looking for this, I believe.”

  The third shard of the Darknessbound Core.

  It had been in his possession all this time?!

  Figures…The Echo revealed he had spoken to Kelltins. He likely took the shard from him back then as well. I should've thought of that...

  Instinctively, I reached for it, but he pulled back and stood up.

  “Give it. Now.” I said firmly, ready to fight him for it if the need arose.

  He raised his hands in a calming gesture. “Hey, hey, chill, Spellsword. I’m planning to give it to you – as a token of our friendship.”

  “We’re not friends.” I shot back quickly. “Now, hand it over.”

  For a moment, Goren watched me. There was something in his expression – almost like he was hurt. Genuinely hurt.

  “I’ll give it to you.” He finally said. “But only after you hear me out first.”

  I studied him in silence.

  There had to be a catch with this guy. Him and his lying god. But sure – I’d listen. If that was all he asked for.

  “You have one minute.” I said.

  Goren’s lips curled into a smirk. “My, my, one minute more than I deserve. Sure.”

  He cleared his throat. “I always tell you this, and I will say it again: I am not your enemy, Spellsword. I did terrible things. To you. To a lot of other adventurers who joined us here today. At some point, my mind discarded the value of human life because…when the world resets every time I die, how could I treat human lives like they have any value?”

  His voice was steady, but there was something raw about it – something heartfelt.

  “I wasn’t just in the wrong. I was what’s wrong. And I’m sorry for that.” He finished.

  I watched him, unimpressed.

  In my eyes, actions always spoke louder than words. And Goren’s actions had already proven he couldn’t be trusted.

  “Is that it?” I asked flatly, making sure he knew he was getting nowhere with me.

  He rolled his eyes. “Wait, wait, wait, I still have around thirty seconds left, right?”

  “Less.”

  “Okay, okay.” He started pacing the chamber. “Dolos. That bastard. At first, I thought that despite his flaws and rotten personality, he at least wanted to save our world. But that’s not the case at all, Spellsword! He just wants to kill your god!”

  His words sent a shiver down my spine. I stopped counting the seconds down.

  I had known Dolos wanted to thwart Chronos – make him suffer. But kill him? Could he do it? Was it possible to kill a god?

  “Kill him?” I asked.

  “Yes!” Goren exclaimed. “He despises him. He said Chronos had manipulated him before. That he now manipulates you. That everything he does and says are tricks to get you doing whatever he wants." Goren shook his head, as if recalling more. "He said something about Erebus’ blight. How it will consume your god, and how he’ll do everything to make sure it does."

  Chronos was manipulating me...purposefully? I wanted to deny it outright, but...suddenly things started to make sense. Our first talks. His anger toward my smallest mistakes. What happened to Yana...everything I did was somehow by his design.

  An unexplainable anger washed over me and suddenly it hit me - Chronos was gaslighting me from the beginning of this entire battle. I always thought he did, but refused to look at the facts for what they were, thinking he had a deeper motive or that I was misunderstanding.

  Goren's voice suddenly turned firmer, cutting through my thoughts. "But I don’t care about that – I don’t care about some random gods who appeared out of nowhere and will disappear back to nowhere once we end Erebus. I care about our world. About my family living in it.”

  His voice wavered lightly – his eyes seemingly sincere.

  “And seeing how Dolos discarded all of that, marking it as secondary, I can’t follow him anymore. I mean, I don’t have a choice. But know that I don’t want to.”

  He reached his hand toward me, offering the shard.

  “Take it.” He said, his voice filled with conviction. “Take it, and know that I’ll support you, even if you don’t want me to. Even if Dolos threatens to kill me over and over for disobeying his whims. I’ll support you because I don’t want us to erase each other from existence. I’ll support you because I want us to save the world first and foremost.”

  I stared at him, Chronos’ warnings echoing in my mind.

  Chronos had warned me about Goren and Dolos since the beginning. Even in our last conversation, he told me not to trust Goren – that he would eventually betray me because Dolos would promise him something he couldn’t refuse.

  But could I trust Chronos? What if he was truly just manipulating me toward completing his cause without having my best interests in mind?

  More importantly - could I trust Goren? It was a question I found even harder to answer.

  On one hand, all my knowledge told me no – take the shard and send him away.

  But on the other…something deeper told me he was being genuine.

  I still had nine runs before I had to face him, before our existences were on the line – something I desperately wanted to avoid. And here he was – handing me exactly what I was missing. Offering a way out before we had to kill each other.

  Should I trust him?

  I sighed deeply, torn between instinct and knowledge.

  “I’ll hand you the shard regardless of your answer.” Goren said. “I’ve never had my eight-time murderer ask me to be allies before. I get why it’s hard for you to trust me. Hell, I wouldn’t even trust myself in your place!”

  He took a deep breath.

  “But I promise you – I will prove your trust is well-placed. Just let me. Please. Don’t deny me again.”

  "Goren, you're - "

  "Marked by Erebus. I know." he cut me off. "But the way I understood it from Dolos, it would only affect you if we actually did something significant in the run. If this significant turns out to be defeating Erebus - then who cares. We won. And if not, I'll drag all the attention to myself to let you escape. And if the dungeon adjust to us because of me, then I'll buy you all the time you need, so you could progress on your own."

  Yeah...it wasn't too different from what Chronos told me. And I also had the Sword of Radiance which supposedly kept me hidden from Erebus and was likely the reason I was yet to be marked, despite making so much progress.

  I wanted to trust Goren – to believe in him. But it was so hard.

  How could I trust someone who had murdered me eight times?

  So what if he had listened to me earlier and killed me at my request? That didn’t change much.

  And yet…there was something about him.

  Something in the way he spoke about his family – his love for them. It hit home.

  It made me think of Yana – the only person I had left in this world. The person I was fighting for. The person who probably hated me right now because of how cold and detached I had been in this run’s morning.

  I suddenly saw Goren differently. Not as a murderer. Not as some crazy psychopath who killed me for fun and XP.

  But as a human being.

  Lost. Misguided. Trapped under the god who embodied deception itself.

  Chronos would disagree with me, but Chronos doesn’t understand humans at all. If he did, he would’ve known how Dolos felt. And maybe then, he could have prevented this entire situation.

  I suddenly recalled something Christian told me long ago.

  'When in doubt, trust your instincts.'

  Thank you, guild master.

  This was going to be tough and risky, but I could use an ally.

  I sighed, locking eyes with Goren.

  “I don’t trust you.” My tone was firm. “You’ve made far too many mistakes for that.”

  His expression darkened, but he nodded. “I understand...”

  “But,” I added, reaching out my hand. “I’m willing to try trusting you.”

  Goren’s eyes widened. For a moment, pure shock crossed his face – then, something else. Excitement.

  “Spellsword…” he whispered, reaching for my hand.

  We shook hands, sealing our agreement, leaving me hopeful I wouldn’t regret it.

  first time they actually shake hands!