novelbin Chapter 149: Ancient Legend
Chapter 149: Ancient Legend
The real world was far crueler than the game ever had been.
The fire ignited.
But this time...
It was not a small flame
A colossal pillar of fire erupted toward Ashvarn’s artificial sky, tearing apart the crimson darkness above them. The flames rose wildly, fiercer than any bonfire they had ignited before, to the point that even the distant monsters retreated in fear from its light.
And at that exact same moment...
Far away.
Beyond Old Ashvarn.
Inside the temple that housed the Mother Flame, where the Elders and Hunters had waited silently for months...
Something finally happened.
Something that had not occurred since the very beginning of the catastrophe.
The Mother Flame trembled.
Then exploded violently.
The message...
Had finally begun to reach them.
The Mother Flame had finally ignited.
It was no longer merely a quiet flame resting within the distant temple outside. It had become a storm of fire dancing violently inside the gigantic stone vessel that had contained it for centuries.
The Elders standing around it stared silently while the blazing flames reflected upon their rigid faces, and within their eyes appeared something that had not existed since the catastrophe first began.
Hope.
The Hunters trapped within Old Ashvarn were still alive.
And more than that...
They had successfully ignited enough bonfires to make the Mother Flame finally respond.
The message had begun to arrive.
And at that exact same moment, deep within the cursed city, the Hunters continued fighting amidst a sea of blood and shattered steel, completely unaware that the outside world had finally begun hearing their cries.
The battles never stopped.
Instead, they became even more insane than before.
The closer they approached the Cathedral, the stranger and more organized the monsters became, as though the curse itself had gradually begun revealing its true nature.
Ethan noticed it first.
Ever since the appearance of the Black Knights, every monster had started adopting a similar nature. Warriors. Armor. Swords. Military formations. Even the other creatures had begun resembling soldiers more than random nightmares.
The curse was responding to its ruler...
Shaping itself in his image.
And that was precisely why the Black Knights had appeared.
"The curse doesn’t summon things like these without reason..."
Ethan spoke quietly while standing atop one of the high stone rooftops, staring toward the distant Cathedral that pierced the crimson sky like a gigantic black spear.
"Everything we’re facing here is connected to the Golden Knight."
Cold wind passed through his black hair while his crimson eyes glowed faintly.
"That means..."
"There’s something else waiting for us inside."
Beside him, Jackson sat atop the edge of the massive structure, holding a large chunk of metal in one hand while crushing it absentmindedly between his fingers.
"Something else?"
The giant laughed roughly.
"Of course there is."
"Did you seriously think the Iron Demon was the strongest thing this city possessed?"
Ethan did not answer immediately.
He had already been thinking about it for a long time.
The curse was not entirely random. The closer they drew toward the Cathedral, the stronger the monsters became, and more creatures carrying obvious "knightly" traits started appearing.
Black Knights.
Armored giants.
Monsters wielding spears and shields.
Even some spellcasters who used magic disturbingly similar to the Hunters themselves.
It was almost as though the city was building an army.
"I think there’s another knight inside," Ethan finally said. "A terrifying knight strong enough to serve as the final guard before reaching him."
Jackson smiled slightly.
"And perhaps..."
"He’s as strong as the Iron Demon."
Then his grin widened further.
"Or worse."
Silence settled between them for several moments while the distant sounds of battle continued echoing from the lower streets, where the remaining Hunters were cleansing the area surrounding a newly ignited bonfire.
Ethan’s eyes drifted back toward the Cathedral once more.
That gigantic structure seemed closer every single day.
And yet...
The sense of danger radiating from it had never decreased.
It had only grown stronger.
"Who exactly was the Golden Knight?"
The question finally escaped Ethan after remaining inside his thoughts for days.
Jackson remained silent for a while before releasing a rare sigh.
"He was a Hunter."
"But not just any Hunter..."
"He was a true monster without equal."
Jackson’s gaze also shifted toward the distant Cathedral.
"The Golden Knight was cursed exactly like you."
Ethan’s eyes narrowed immediately.
"He carried a Mark Curse as well."
"But unlike you, he didn’t possess the Fifth Successor."
"He possessed the Fourth."
Jackson paused briefly before continuing.
"The Curse of the Complete Eclipse."
The moment Ethan heard the name, an unpleasant sensation stirred inside him.
Even the name itself felt unbearably heavy.
"What kind of curse did he possess?"
"No one knows entirely."
"That man rarely spoke about himself."
Jackson scratched the back of his neck slightly before continuing.
"But everyone knew he possessed an absurdly powerful blessing related to weapons."
"He could create them from nothing."
Ethan frowned.
"Using mana alone."
"Swords. Spears. Arrows. Even armor."
"He could shape them instantly and launch them from great distances at terrifying speeds."
Jackson smiled mockingly afterward.
"As for his golden armor..."
"It was crafted by his own hands."
"That armor can withstand a direct punch from me."
Jackson said it calmly.
Yet the weight behind those words was terrifyingly heavy.
Ethan had witnessed Jackson’s strength as a King with his own eyes. He had seen what the giant’s fists did to Saint-level monsters, and he had watched him nearly crush the Iron Demon through sheer physical power alone.
And yet...
That armor could withstand his blows without the Golden Knight even needing to do anything.
"He was that strong?"
"Even stronger."
Jackson answered without hesitation.
"The Golden Knight reached the High King rank."
"And many believed he would eventually surpass even that."
"But..."
He looked toward the cursed city surrounding them.
"...he became trapped here inside Old Ashvarn."
His voice grew quieter afterward.
"He became the ruler of this city."
"And in the end..."
"The entire world believed he died long ago."
"He became nothing more than an ancient legend. I doubt many people from your generation even remember him anymore."
The wind passed between them once again.
Ethan remained silent as he processed everything he had just heard.
A High King.
And perhaps something even beyond that.
An enemy like that...
Was not something the current Hunters could possibly face.
Jackson finally rose to his feet, his enormous body casting a massive shadow across the stone rooftop.
"To be honest with you..."
"I don’t think the man all of you are relying on will be able to do anything against him."
Ethan lifted his gaze toward him.
"Asterion?"
"Yes."
Jackson laughed faintly.
"No Hunter in the past was capable of matching the Golden Knight."
"And I see no reason for that to change now."
"Even if that man is this Asterion you all rely on so much..."
Ethan continued staring toward the Cathedral silently.
Then he smiled.
A faint smile barely appeared on his face.
"If it’s him..."
He spoke in an extremely calm voice.
"...then we’ll have a real chance of winning."
Jackson stared at him for several seconds before laughing roughly.
"You trust him quite a lot."
"No."
Ethan answered immediately.
"I simply know the kind of people who carry titles like that."
He himself had once been a player.
And he understood very well what it meant for someone to become a legend in a world like Ordeal.
Weak people did not obtain names that survived throughout history.
Nor titles that caused the entire world to speak about them.
Asterion...
Was not merely a powerful Hunter.
He was one of the monsters who forged their era with their own hands.
And suddenly...
While the two were speaking far away from the rest of the Hunters—
Everything froze.
The wind stopped.
The distant flames stopped burning.
Even sound itself vanished entirely.
Jackson remained standing in place, unable to move.
Like a stone statue.
Ethan’s eyes widened slightly.
’Again...’
He recognized this feeling immediately.
It was as though time itself had stopped.
He slowly stood atop the rooftop, looking around with tension as he immediately realized what was happening.
And only a few seconds later—
He heard footsteps behind him.
Quiet metallic footsteps.
He did not even need to turn around to recognize the owner.
"It seems you’ve come quite far."
That deep, cold voice reached Ethan’s ears once again.
Ethan slowly turned around.
And there...
The Golden Knight stood before him once more.
His long crimson cloak moved slowly within the frozen world while the distant firelight reflected across his golden armor like a cursed sun walking through the darkness.
And behind his helmet...
Two crimson eyes glowed with terrifying calmness.
"You again..."
Ethan spoke cautiously while standing face to face before the Golden Knight who had appeared before him once more.
"My successor..."
"The cursed Hunter."
The Golden Knight spoke while slowly approaching him one step at a time.
"Your time..."
"...is beginning to run out."