Chapter 6 – Nightmare of Vestiare (2)

This was the unfathomably distant past . There was a time when humans had been massively summoned into the Other World . The irresponsible gods left the fate of the Other World in the hands of the insignificant humans . The humans were immature and primitive, but they were able to overcome the Other World’s tribulations after many sacrifices . There were seven heroes at the center of this . The Seven Heroes, as they had been called by the people, suddenly disappeared, with nothing but a legend stating that they would return when they were once again needed . This legend was fulfilled in the most ironic form possible .

[…The seven forgotten existences, who disappeared after trampling over the Devil’s demonic forces, will one day return for the sake of their promise . Along with them, blood and death, war and pestilence will follow . ]

The forgotten saviors of the past were now rewritten, as a calamity prophesying extinction within the minds of the people . However, no one could answer as to what kind of people these seven heroes actually were . It was one of the most heavily guarded secrets in this world, held only by the highest levels of authority . Sungchul was also counted amongst them .

‘Vestiare . She was definitely one of the mage heroes . A High Elf . She built a special penitentiary called Meari . ’

His blood had started boiling as soon he had heard the name Vestiare . Vestiare had reached the peak of all mages . She must have created this cave in order to pass on her techniques and skills to a worthy student .

‘It must have been from before they fell . Back when they still cared about humanity…’

Faith in humanity . The thought brought a bitter taste to his mouth, but it was almost over . He had already witnessed so much betrayal, change of heart, and corruption . He had seen enough evil to fill even the Devil with disgust . If it hadn’t been for his promise, he would have given up a long time ago . He might even have decided to give up all his strength and reincarnate back into the old world . It was the first and final promise he had made, back when he had still been an ordinary person .

“Whew…”

A sigh welling up from deep inside his chest spilled out . Sungchul’s eyes sharpened like the stars of the clear midnight sky, and he shook off the foggy memories of the past .

Another set of bright letters appeared before him .

[Be ready . The Eternal Nightmare is about to begin . ]

His surroundings turned a **** crimson, and the metallic stench of blood tickled his nose . Sungchul slowly moved forward . Within the blood mist, creatures that looked like a compressed brain came into view . They were cloaked in invisibility magic, but it couldn’t trick Sungchul’s eyes . They were dream demons, commonly known as succubus or incubus . These demonic creatures would use the suction cups beneath their brain-like bodies to drain their victim’s life force while injecting sweet dreams into their minds . It was similar to how mosquitoes also used anesthetics to drain blood .

A suction cup attached itself to Sungchul, but he continued, moving forward indifferently . The incubus began the sweet dreams through the suction cups into Sungchul’s mind . Sungchul however, did not react to it at all .

One by one, other dream demons began attaching themselves to him . The massive swarm of dream demons formed something similar to a grotesque helmet sitting on his head . These dream demons continued to inject the most euphoric dreams imaginable into his mind . The average person would never have wished to wake up from such sweet dreams, but Sungchul suddenly stopped moving .

“Let’s see… is that all of them?”

Sungchul’s hand lightly brushed across his head . Five dream demons were gripped by their suction cups .

“… . ”

Sungchul wildly swung them over his head using their suction cups .

Slam!

“Kyaaaak!”
“Kiiiiii!”

They struck the walls of the cave and disappeared in a **** mess . Sungchul brushed across his head again and grabbed some more .

“Kiiii!”

The dream demons began emitting threatening noises, but these were meaningless acts of defiance . Sungchul’s gave them a full swing and a few more disappeared in a similar mess . The dream demons began detaching themselves from his head, finally feeling a sense of terror . Some of the dream demons doubled down with even more euphoric dreams, while others even tried injecting paralyzing nightmares . All resistance was meaningless .

Squeak!

Another batch of dream demons were pitifully killed after being mercilessly smashed into the wall . After several more repetition, all of the dream demons were decimated . Sungchul grabbed the last remaining dream demon and brought it to his eyes . His emotionless eyes stared at the glowing eyes of the succubus .

“Watch carefully, you **** . I am your worst nightmare . ”

Sungchul crushed the last dream demon in his hands .

“Kiiiii!!!!”

The dream demon screamed in agony as it deformed all the while leaking brain fluid, before finally exploding .

Drip . Drip .

A mixture of blood and brain fluid was dripping from his hands . The reason he was able to overcome the dream demons was simple . Indomitable, the blessing that was able to overcome all forms of mental attack . The creatures who had died by his hands would not realize this truth even until the very end .

A ghostly doll lingered before Sungchul, who had handily cleaned up all of the dream demons . It emitted an unusual aura . He recognized it as a mana automaton .

‘A magician . ’

The ghostly doll slowly approached Sungchul and revealed its form . Blond hair that was flowing like moonlight, its sparkling eyes like fallen stars, pointy ears, it was a high elf woman .

“You have killed all of my demonic underlings . ”

The familiar woman spoke as though in a dream . Sungchul could surmise her identity from her appearance and her manner of speaking .

“You are Vestiare?”

The woman only faintly smiled . Sungchul realized then that he couldn’t feel a presence from this woman .

‘This isn’t Vestiare’s physical body . It must just be some vestige of her memory . ’

He might have called it a ‘vestige’, but it still contained a significant amount of magical power . Enough to make him feel some admiration towards Vestiare herself .

“I don’t think you can finish the trial at this rate? Only those that can overcome 33 euphoric dreams and 27 painful nightmares would be able to obtain the prepared rewards . And now you have removed all of the tools . ”

“Didn’t I win then? I’ve ‘overcome’ all those things that would inject the dreams . ”

Vestiare’s remnant laughed at Sungchul’s words .

“You are interesting . ”
“I suppose you have some level of consciousness, despite being just a remnant . Seeing as you have some ability to decide . ”
“Ah, you have noticed my identity?”

Sungchul feigned ignorance at Vestiare’s question by raising his shoulders . In one of his open hands, an oversized hammer appeared . Fal Garaz, the hammer rumored to have been forged within the skies by the Dwarven gods . The divine weapon that filled the arrogant devils of the demon world with terror had revealed its form inside this cave .

“Would I get a reward for removing you?”

Vestiare’s remnant looked shocked but then smiled approvingly at Sungchul’s blunt demand .

“If you can . ”

As soon as the words left her lips, Sungchul instantly tore across the floor towards Vestiare’s remnant . The remnant once again looked shocked, but still managed to cast a magical trap and blink away .

BLAAAAM!

Sungchul’s body, snared by the magical trap, was enveloped in blue flames and had his movement dulled . Vestiare’s remnant concentrated on continuing to blink away just enough to keep a distance from him . A massive blue flame began to roar above her head as it took the shape of a spear . When Sungchul tried to leap forward once again, several traps all triggered at once .

BOOOM!

The blue flame exploded . Sungchul had tripped the triggers . The result was the same, but the reason was different . He was intentionally triggering the traps with the tip of his toe as he ran by them .

BOOOM!

Dozens of traps began chaotically triggering at the same time . Vestiare’s remnant flew into the air with the explosions concealing her target . A large shadow loomed across her face through the geysers of blue flames and her flaming spear that she had conjured .

WHAM!

One-hit K . O .

Vestiare’s remnant was splayed upon the floor, and the flaming spear it had conjured above its head unraveled .

“… Stop exaggerating . I didn’t hurt you that badly . ”

Sungchul stood before her without a scratch . The remnant’s lashes trembled slightly .

“You are strong . Very strong . ”

Sungchul simply glared at the remnant icily and asked .

“Where are the seven heroes?”

An update on the Seven Heroes . This was the sole reason he had kept the remnant alive . Vestiare’s remnant briefly closed its eyes and spoke with a soft voice that was filled with respect .

“We will appear before you when the time is right . When the prophecy of destruction approaches . Even without anyone seeking us . ”

“I see . ”

Fal Garaz rose into the sky . Its shadow drew onto the remnant’s face . The remnant was laughing .

“You are the same as us . ”
“I am?”

Sungchul’s hammer shook slightly .

“I could feel it through the dream demons . You have the same… no, maybe much more disappointment and rage that is suppressed inside you . ”
“I won’t become like you . Seven Heroes . ”
“Will that be so? If the misplaced promise that sustains you ever goes awry… “
“Shut up . ”

The hammer abruptly fell . Vestiare’s remnant shattered like glass and scattered across the floor . The blood fog weakened, and the blood-dyed the surroundings, which eventually returned to its original colors . Sungchul quietly waited in silence, for his deserved reward .

[You have destroyed Vestiare’s Dream . ]
[You have achieved the mission ‘Destroyer of Dreams (Hidden – Epic)’]
Reward – 30x Palace Token
+10 Magic Power / Intuition / Magic Resistance
The Magical Staff ‘Moonlight’ (Rare)

“… . ”

Disappointment passed across his eyes . The rewards were pitifully lacking . ‘Missions’ were rated higher than quests . They were interchangeable with quests, but they were one-offs and unique to each mission . They were also much more difficult compared to quests, usually the rewards were also comparably great . This time, however, proved to be the exception .

‘Did they compensate for the fact that this was inside the Summoning Palace? I suppose Vestiare’s remnant could only be compared to a mid-rank magician . This staff also would be invaluable to a newbie . ’

The rewards also held a unique value to Sungchul . He was able to obtain 10 intuition, which was invaluable to him . Sungchul quickly opened his status window .

[Stats]
Strength 999+ Dexterity     853
Vitality    801   Magic Power  13
Intuition     1   Magic Resist 621
Resilience 501  Charisma       18
Luck           18

Intuition finally escaped the negative values . This meant that he would be able to accomplish his magician class by simply completing the common quests obtained from the homunculus . He also had more than enough Palace Tokens needed for the class change .

‘Should I slowly put an end to this act…’

He accomplished his goal . He just had to take it easy for the rest of the trials in the Palace . He started to turn back with these carefree thoughts when more words appeared .

[Seventh Hero acknowledges your existence . ]
[Seventh Hero has placed you in her sights . ]

“I didn’t really need this…”

Sungchul felt annoyed, but words kept appearing .

[Seventh Hero Vestiare is overjoyed by your achievements in the mission . ]
[Seventh Hero Vestiare granted you an additional reward for overcoming the mission . ]

Reward: Echo Mage’s Scroll

“Echo Mage…?!”

Sungchul recognized the class . Echo Mage . This was the Seventh Hero Lightning Echo Vestiare’s unique class . Regular mages could only cast magic once with each cast, but echo mage could copy unique echoes of each spell to repeatedly cast out their spell . This ability had allowed Vestiare to raise the firepower of a simple fireball to hellfire grade strength . This legendary ability was now within his grasp .

“… . ”

Sungchul silently touched the Echo Mage’s Scroll, and its information revealed itself .

[Echo Mage’s Scroll]
Grade: Legendary
Type: Class Transfer (Compact Form)
Effect: Legendary Class Echo Mage Acquisition
Note: On the final day of the Summoning Palace, open the scroll . Vestiare’s vision will reveal itself to you .
Restrction: 20 Magic Power / 20 Intuition / 20+ Magic Resist
Required: x50 Palace Token

“Shit . ”

It was still too early for him to take it easy .