A sweet fragrance wafted past my nose.
It was so overwhelmingly sweet it made me feel nauseous.
It reminded me of the funeral of a southern noble I had attended long ago.
Back then, it was the same kind of sweet scent.
It was a potent fragrance used to mask the smell of death.
My grip tightened.
The knuckles of my sword-hand turned white.
Every cell in my body screamed at me to turn back.
But my footsteps couldn’t stop.
The scent was calling us.
Out of the darkness, the passage ended and a huge cavern appeared.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
“What is this…”
The entire floor was covered in tiny red flowers.
Like a carpet soaked in blood.
And on top of it…
Something shimmered in the darkness.
At first, I thought it was an ice crystal.
But then it moved.
A transparent-winged butterfly flickered faintly like a mirror reflection.
And then more insects began to appear.
Spiders, moths, scorpions, beetles, ants… There were at least ten different kinds visible.
‘It’s some kind of army…’
Hundreds of insect monstrosities.
But they didn’t attack us.
Like trained archers waiting for orders, they just stared down coldly at us.
And in the center of the cavern—
We saw it.
My heart felt like it would burst.
I couldn’t breathe.
Though identical to the small flowers on the floor, this one was as tall as my chest.
Its ruby-red petals shimmered, and its jet-black stem emitted a soft luster.
The long purple stamens moved like threads of silk in the air, and the black roots squirmed as if alive.
The flower from the rumors.
But this… This was too powerful.
The presence emanating from the flower overwhelmed all of us.
Like mice facing a dragon, we felt infinitely small.
That’s when Rowen’s breathing became ragged.
“I’ve found it…”
His voice carried a hint of madness.
All traces of noble pride and knightly honor were gone, replaced with sheer greed.
The flower lifted one of its roots and waved it slightly, as if greeting us.
But that simple movement sent shivers down our spines.
“Capture the flower! Kill the insects!”
Rowen’s shout echoed through the cavern.
It sounded like the ramblings of a madman.
Capture something this overwhelmingly powerful?
The same thought crossed the other knights’ faces.
But then—
A red aura burst forth from Rowen’s body.
Instantly, that energy enveloped all of us.
This is…!
My whole body grew hot.
It was like lava was coursing through my veins.
My vision turned red.
Fear disappeared.
Even terror became vague.
The insane urge to kill filled me completely.
I heard someone scream, but even that sounded distant.
My rational mind melted away, leaving only the will to kill.
Like being possessed by a malevolent spirit, my body acted of its own accord.
The flower began etching something with its roots.
《Hello!》
I saw the letters.
But my mind had already turned completely red.
All I could think about was killing.
That flower must die.
No, we must capture the flower.
We must kill those insects.
Yes, kill all the insects.
Rowen raised his sword.
The red aura enveloped his sword, transforming into a flaming sword energy.
“Charge!”
Without realizing it, my body moved.
I charged forward.
But the flame sword technique Rowen unleashed was completely absorbed by a single red butterfly resting on the flower petals.
Compared to its power, his attack was pathetically weak, like a tiny spark swallowed by a storm.
Something’s wrong.
Something is terribly wrong.
That thought crossed my mind, but my body wouldn’t stop.
My head was burning too much.
That’s when it happened.
An overwhelming pressure radiated from the flower.
I couldn’t breathe.
The pressure felt like all my bones were about to shatter.
Suddenly, my mind cleared.
The red aura around Rowen dissipated, bringing me back to my senses.
This was… Dark Magic.
Rowen was a follower of the Evil God.
“Gurggle!”
That was the moment.
A black root pierced through Rowen’s neck.
It happened in an instant.
Blood erupted like a fountain.
No, not a fountain—
The blood froze mid-air.
Turning into red mist that enveloped us.
And then the insects’ attack began.
The moths’ wing beats signaled the start.
When hundreds of wings moved at once, an icy gale swept through.
Whomever the icy powder touched instantly froze solid.
Someone’s arm shattered like an ice sculpture.
“Aaahhhh!”
“Help me!”
“Run!”
I heard my comrades’ screams through the red mist.
The shadows of the insects appeared in the distance.
Next were the spiders.
Shining threads were fired like arrows.
They pierced through armor and cut into flesh.
In an instant, the knights caught in the web were drenched in blood.
The struggling knights looked like trapped animals.
The hornets’ stingers were even more deadly.
Knights injected with the glowing blue toxin immediately began to turn into solid ice, starting from their toes and moving upward.
They froze completely, their faces forever locked in expressions of terror.
‘This is why… This is why Brother…’
I remembered my brother’s words then.
“Going straight isn’t always the best choice.”
Back then, I didn’t understand.
But now, facing this overwhelming power difference—
Beetles burrowed from the ground, attacking the knights’ ankles.
Their crystalline mandibles shredded armor like paper.
Knights who fell became prey to other insects immediately.
My legs trembled.
As my rational mind returned, fear came flooding back.
All thoughts of noble pride and knightly honor disappeared.
Only the primal instinct to survive remained.
That’s when the flower began releasing colorful powders.
When covered in yellow powder, my limbs stiffened.
The violet powder caused the armor to creak and melt away.
The black powder was the most horrifying.
It felt like my flesh was rotting away.
This wasn’t simple poison.
It was as if time had compressed, eroding away my body.
Pus oozed from the rotting flesh.
‘I have to escape…’
I raised my sword, creating a wind-based sword technique.
But against the insects’ perfectly coordinated attacks, it was useless.
The sword energy moved toward the insect swarm, but they deftly dodged like waves.
“Haah!”
I swung my sword desperately, but the insects’ movements were too precise.
Like royal guards forming an airtight formation, their attacks and defenses were perfectly coordinated.
I tried to evade but it was too late.
A grasshopper’s scythe-like limb grazed my shoulder.
Instantly, ice began spreading from that point.
I quickly shed my armor.
The discarded armor was immediately wrapped in spider silk and shattered into pieces.
‘How is this possible…’
Everything was overwhelming.
Not the strength of each individual insect, but their perfect harmony.
That was the true power.
We shouldn’t have come here.
We tried to fight an unbeatable foe.
But our greater mistake was…
Knowing it was wrong and still not stopping.
Knights fell one by one.
Some were torn apart by the insects.
Some froze from the poison.
Others rotted away in agony.
I must live.
I must escape.
That’s all I could think about now.
I used the last of my strength to create a wind-based sword technique.
Cutting through the red mist, I ran forward without looking back.
Simultaneously, all the pain hit me at once.
But I couldn’t stop.
The buzzing sound coming from behind.
The glowing blue eyes in the darkness.
Whether real or hallucination, I kept running toward the exit.
Someone’s footsteps followed behind me.
Another knight was running with me.
We ran for our lives.
As breath caught in our throats, we couldn’t stop.
Occasionally, something would flash in the darkness.
Spider eyes?
Grasshopper wings?
Each time my heart nearly stopped, but I didn’t have the courage to look back.
The passages seemed to stretch endlessly.
The palm of my hands brushing against the ice-covered walls grew numb.
My knees buckled and my lungs burned, but I couldn’t stop.
[…]
Finally, when we reached the upper level, we leaned against each other against the wall.
Kneeling down, we panted heavily.
Our whole bodies trembled.
It felt like a miracle to be alive.
“Haa… Haa…”
I heard heavy breathing beside me.
The knight who escaped with me was also kneeling, panting heavily.
The survivor was Klaus.
His pale face scanned our surroundings.
After panting for some time, he spoke with a trembling voice.
“Just now… that was the King of Insects.”
I nodded at his words.
Yes, the King of Insects.
That title fit perfectly.
A being that could control hundreds of insects so freely and possessed such overwhelming power.
My body still shook.
The events felt like they were just a dream.
The red mist, rotting agony, endless screams…
Surviving felt like a miracle.
“But the bigger problem is…”
Klaus’s voice grew even quieter.
“The Captain… The Captain was a follower of the Evil God…”
He looked around before continuing.
“That red energy… The feeling when our minds were controlled… It was definitely the Evil God’s power.”
I clenched my fists.
Given Rowen’s position and influence, he couldn’t have done this alone.
“There must be more nobles connected to him. We must disclose this fact carefully, only to those we can trust.”
Klaus nodded before furrowing his brow.
His armor was corroding.
“You should probably remove that…”
We helped each other remove the corroded armor.
Our numb limbs still wouldn’t move easily.
There was a deep wound on Klaus’s shoulder.
“This way, we’ll lose too much blood…”
“It’s fine. Fortunately, it missed any vital spots.”
He gave a bitter laugh.
“Knight Edgar, is it right for us to flee like this? What about the others…”
Though he didn’t finish his sentence, I understood his meaning.
I felt the same way.
The guilt of abandoning our comrades weighed heavily on my chest.
My brother’s face suddenly came to mind.
Did he have this expression on the day he left the family?
What was he thinking when he parted ways with our house?
Now, I could finally understand what he might have felt.
Choosing to avoid an unwinnable battle.
Sometimes, that decision requires even greater courage.
And perhaps true knighthood isn’t blind loyalty, but the courage to make the right decision.
“Our duty now is to survive and reveal the truth.”
At that moment, we heard something breaking from afar.
We both immediately stood up.
Our hearts felt like they would explode.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Supporting each other, we continued moving forward.
Every step was painful.
We had forgotten about our noble pride and knights honor.
All we could think about was escaping this hell.
Fortunately, we weren’t being pursued.
It seemed the King of Insects decided to let us go.
[…]
Finally, the entrance of the dungeon appeared.
Cold wind brushed against our faces.
“We… we survived.”
Klaus said with a trembling voice.
But our moment of relief was short-lived.
Jaaaaaaaaaaa!
A cold wind accompanied by a massive shadow blocked out the sky.
It was slowly descending from the mountain range outside the dungeon.
I instinctively raised my sword.
Then an overwhelming presence froze my whole body.
‘Stopper…?’
I immediately remembered all the countless stoppers I saw in the deep chamber.
From the smallest to the palm-sized creatures buzzing everywhere in the dungeon.
But this one… was completely different.
If the dungeon stoppers were grains of sand, this one was a mountain.
It was overwhelmingly larger and more intimidating than any stopper I had encountered before.
It felt like a natural disaster rather than a single creature.
The cold aura emanating from its massive body froze the surrounding air.
Every beat of its transparent wings created a white snowstorm.
The rocks around the entrance began to freeze due to that wind.
‘This is… beyond our ability to handle.’
I instinctively realized that.
Its gigantic stinger pulsed with a freezing aura.
The predator’s presence enveloped my entire body.
At that moment, the stopper’s red eyes locked onto us.
The gleam in those eyes showed its hunger.
I immediately turned to Klaus.
“Klaus, listen carefully.”
My voice was low and firm.
As things stand, we will both die if we stay.
“Go find Duke Crossby. He can still be trusted.”
“But…”
“We need to hurry. About this expedition…”
I infused my sword with the last bit of magic.
The wind-controlling sword technique I’ve been practicing my whole life – I hope it can buy us some time.
My brother’s face came to mind.
Now I finally understood what he said on the day he became an adventurer and left.
His final form suddenly flashed before my eyes.
Was I wrong again, like before?
But this time… I hope my choice is the right one.
“Run. I’ll buy you some time.”
The wind wrapped around my sword.
Like burning the last ember, I poured all my remaining power into it.
[End of Translation]
