Chapter 27

"No need to be surprised. There's no rule that says teachers and students have to get along."

Irurin turned away from Ratan's blazing corpse and spoke to Woojin.

"True, but... I thought you came to find your teacher?"

"I did. So I could kill him if he was still alive."

"Aha."

"A year after my teacher disappeared, monsters completely destroyed the Red Tower. That was when a secret laboratory was discovered underground."

"A laboratory?"

"It was used to research dark magic. Much like this place. My teacher probably built this one too."

Apparently, anatomy lessons weren't the only reason she hadn't been shocked.

"I saw them there. Students of the Red Tower, reduced to empty husks."

"... What?"

"They were all third-grade mages or higher."

Her words left everyone speechless.

"That's right."

Irurin kindly spelled out exactly what Ratan had done for them.

"He experimented on his students."

"What a fucking lunatic."

'In the game, some of those students could be players.'

Surely nothing as horrific as players becoming sacrificial guinea pigs would happen later... right?

'That would make him a full-blown field boss.'

Even in the midst of all this, he found himself wondering what the rewards would be. Woojin let out a hollow laugh, appalled at himself.

"Anyway, I knew this wouldn't be enough to kill him."

["Grrkh... Grrkh..."]

Ratan writhed in agony within the flames, stubbornly clinging on.

"It's the highest-grade fire spell I could learn from the spellbooks left in the Red Tower..."

Fire was certainly effective against the undead, but it couldn't compare to a priest's holy power.

"Purification could do it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. With this."

Woojin took out the [Pilgrim’s Cross].

"Do we... have to wait a day?"

"No need. It's a separate effect from Remove Curse."

"That's a relief. I didn't bring earplugs. I wasn't sure I could spend a whole day listening to him howl."

She accepted the cross.

"Will you be all right?"

"Yes. I want to finish this myself."

Irurin nodded and walked up to Ratan.

"Goodbye, Teacher."

She held the cross out before the burning Ratan.

HUMMMM...!!

A soft silver light began to flow from the cross.

[Purification activates.]

That was the sort of log that would have appeared in the game, but...

HISSS...!!!

["K-kyaaaaagh!!!!!!!"]

As Irurin pressed the silver cross hard against Ratan's forehead, a scream erupted instead of a log.

'... What is it?'

Woojin watched Ratan thrash.

Why did he feel this inexplicable unease?

It wasn't that he didn't trust Irurin. She was a far more levelheaded, tough adventurer than he'd thought.

It was just...

'It bothers me that he's no ordinary corpse.'

This wasn't an ordinary undead creature. It was the corpse of an archmage risen as one.

Of course, Ratan's purification was proceeding smoothly. Starting with his head where the cross touched it, his body, arms, and legs were gradually turning to ash and crumbling, unlike when he'd merely been burning.

"It's over."

Was this really the end? This easily?

Even at Goun's murmur, Woojin couldn't hide his lingering unease.

According to Kahira, nine out of ten newly formed areas were dungeons.

And if this place was a dungeon...

'Ratan is its boss.'

There was something that always came with fighting a dungeon boss rather than an ordinary monster.

A twitch.

At that moment, the Verdure's corpse behind Ratan stirred.

SHHHH!!!!

At the same time, light began spilling from Ratan's charred body.

"Watch out! Phase two is starting!!"

Everyone hurriedly looked up at Woojin's shout.

["Y-you...!! You fucking... bi... tch...!!!"]

"...!!"

Ratan, who had been merrily burning away, reached through the flames with his remaining arm and seized Irurin's wrist.

"Aaaah!!!"

The brutal force sent Irurin crashing to the floor. Though still in tatters, Ratan moved with monstrous agility, climbing on top of her fallen body.

["Die...! Die...!!"]

He lunged to tear into her neck with his teeth.

WHOOSH!!

At that instant, light came flying in.

BOOM! BOOM!!

KRA-KA-KA-BOOM!!!

The impact sent Ratan hurtling backward.

The power was tremendous.

Woojin looked back in astonishment.

'My God.'

As Ruen drew her bowstring, a silver arrow formed in the darkness.

WHOOSH!!!

The arrow split into dozens in flight and rained down once more on the fallen Ratan.

'Arcane Arrow?'

It was the master skill at the very end of the archer skill tree, available only at level 99.

"Cough."

His amazement at the arrows' power was short-lived. When she coughed up blood, Woojin hurriedly tossed her a potion.

"Don't push yourself."

Despite his words, part of him honestly wished she would push herself a little further.

A level-99 arcane archer was an incredible asset in their current situation.

["Grrkh...! Grrrrkh...!!"]

Yet, astonishingly, even after Ruen's tremendous assault, Ratan was still alive, awkwardly crawling out.

"Can we... even kill that thing?"

The words slipped out of Goun's mouth, instantly crushing the party beneath a weight of fear.

'... We shouldn't have come here.'

The thought struck him without warning.

It was that familiar situation: blundering into a high-level dungeon as a lowbie.

In a game, the worst-case scenario was a party wipe. They could simply revive and leave the dungeon.

But here, a wipe was forever.

SMACK!!

Woojin slapped himself across the face as hard as he could. Everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Get a grip. We can't do anything if we're scared stiff."

He was speaking as much to himself as to them.

Fortunately, their eyes changed, as though his words had eased the oppressive fear a little.

CRUNCH...

CRUNCH...!!

That was when Ratan began greedily devouring the corpses strewn around him.

GULP. GULP.

GURGLE, GURRRGL...!!

His body began to swell like a balloon.

["Grrrrkh..."]

One glance was enough to know something was wrong.

"Run!!!"

KABOOOOOM!!!!!!

With a deafening roar, Ratan's swollen body burst.

* * *

"Cough... Cough..."

Thrown against the laboratory wall by Ratan's explosion, Woojin opened his eyes, struggling for breath.

["Grrkh... Grrrrkh..."]

With a gaping hole in the middle of his belly, Ratan was once again devouring corpses.

"What a complete monster..."

With each corpse he ate, his wounds began to fill in a little more.

"A-are you all right?!"

Woojin turned at Goun's cry.

"Hah... Hah..."

Ruen lay beside him, her breathing growing labored.

Was it because of Ratan's attack just now? Or the damage from forcing herself to use that skill?

'No. Both, probably.'

She lay curled up like a shrimp on the floor, clutching her chest in pain.

["GRAAAAAAH!!!"]

Just then, Ratan stopped devouring corpses, raised both arms, and let out a monstrous shriek.

The corpses lying on the floor began to twitch and stir.

"This is fucking insane..."

Woojin muttered as he watched dozens of corpses slowly rise.

["Khh... Keh-heh..."]

Ratan cackled through his shattered head as if mocking him.

"Run... away."

Unable even to lift her head, Ruen spoke to the party between ragged breaths.

"... We can't win."

She must have known it too. Despite her illness, she was the strongest among them.

She had put every ounce of her strength into that attack. Its failure meant they had no options left.

'Is this the end?'

At her words, Woojin gritted his teeth and stared at Ratan.

The creature had even turned his back on them and begun ravenously devouring corpses, as though they no longer concerned him.

"... Huh?"

At that moment, he noticed something strange.

'Why isn't he eating that one?'

Ratan had been torn to shreds by Irurin's and Ruen's attacks before even blowing himself up.

He had to be eating corpses to restore his body, yet he wasn't touching the finest meal right in front of him.

Camilla's corpse.

'Come to think of it...'

Camilla's corpse had twitched earlier.

Woojin's eyes widened as he remembered that Ratan's body had recovered at the very same time.

"It can't be..."

Woojin stared at the Verdure's corpse lying on the examination table.

THUMP.

"...!!!!"

Woojin's eyes grew wide.

'It moved?'

The Verdure's ribs were unmistakably trembling, ever so faintly and with great effort.

"... Still alive."

Then it made sense.

Ratan hadn't eaten Camilla because Camilla wasn't a corpse.

"That changes things."

He downed the one potion that had luckily survived intact inside his battered pouch.

The pain eased a little. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be broken.

'I can just about move.'

With a strained groan, he pushed himself upright.

"You're not thinking of fighting, are you?"

Irurin asked anxiously.

"How the hell would I kill that monster?"

He looked at Ruen.

"Not me. You. You're the only one who can take down Ratan right now."

"Wait! Can't you see Her Majesty's condition?! She can't take any more!"

Goun stepped in front of Ruen, shouting at his words.

"Which is why we need to cure her."

"... What?"

"Look closely. Out of all those corpses, Camilla's is the only one Ratan won't eat. Why do you think that is? Because the Verdure is still alive."

"I-is that really true?"

"Wait... If it's blood from a living Camilla rather than a corpse... she could recover completely on the spot!!"

Irurin cried out at his explanation.

"Irurin. You handle those corpses. Protect Ruen and clear a path to Camilla."

"But... what about my teacher?"

"I'll handle him."

"What?"

"I'll act as bait and lure him into the passage. You cure Ruen while I do. Understood?"

"You can't do it alone!"

Everyone tried to stop him. This was a monster that had survived even Ruen's attack.

"Of course I can't do it alone."

But then Woojin gave an odd smile and took something out from inside his clothes.

"Believe it or not, I've got something to fall back on."

The small stone in his hand was the Philosopher’s Stone.