Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 18

Zieg Hart had fallen.

“No more… upward…”

His collapsed body regenerated once again.

Although Jinseong already knew this would happen, those directly facing Zieg Hart had no way of anticipating it.

“What the—he’s getting up again?”

“Is there no way to stop him? We should retreat—.”

Van and Aganzo were startled and stepped back.

However, Seria and Sharan reacted differently.

“No, look! His restoration isn’t complete!”

“It must be the residual magic power within him. The additional magic supply is definitely cut off.”

Because these two had thoroughly managed the flow of magic, they knew that even if Zieg Hart had revived, they would eventually defeat him again.

This meant that Jinseong now faced his final opportunity.

‘There’s no way this is just going to end with a lame twist like “Oh, it wasn’t really contamination after all,” right?’

It was only natural that doubts began to creep into his mind, questioning if perhaps he had misunderstood something.

Even though he believed he had a solid grasp on the main scenario quest, when it came to the crucial moment, his confidence in himself inevitably wavered.

‘What if… What if Lenny following me to the Moonlight Tavern was the correct flow? What if that wasn’t the strange part?’

Where was Lenny now, and what was he doing?

Jinseong had initially judged that the female fighter’s scenario was contaminated because it diverged from the standard Dungeon & Fighter main scenario. This assumption was based on Lenny’s unexpected appearance at the Moonlight Tavern.

But he had anticipated that Lenny would interfere again after that.

‘This scenario quest is almost at its end. Lenny appeared briefly when they ascended Sky Castle, and that’s it? From the player’s perspective, there wouldn’t have been any dialogue scripts, so Lenny might not have even been visible.’

So, does that mean that Zieg Hart, who’s dying before my eyes, isn’t contaminated either?

That there’s no contaminated card?

‘No, no. I’m certain. Lenny’s main role isn’t here. In Sky Castle, his name is just briefly mentioned, and he only makes a brief appearance.’

Jinseong shook his head, trying to believe in his own judgment, but it wasn’t easy to maintain that confidence.

It would be unsettling if no card dropped after Zieg Hart’s defeat, but what if one did?

‘…That would be another problem.’

This was different from the situation with Ghoul Guishi.

Back then, the player had claimed to be experiencing ‘lag,’ which prevented them from seeing everything clearly, and Seria had been unconscious.

There was no one around to witness Jinseong’s actions.

But now?

It wasn’t just Seria and the female fighter player.

Even if G.S.D. and Sharan supported Jinseong, that wouldn’t be enough.

‘…Van and Aganzo.’

There were two of the continent’s most skilled warriors—members of the so-called “Four Weapon Masters.”

Could Jinseong manage to pick up a card near Zieg Hart’s corpse without being noticed by them?

‘That’s crazy. Absolutely impossible. Unless the others lose interest in the loot and just walk away.’

But that was highly unlikely.

Now that everyone had realized the connection between Zieg Hart, Sky Castle, and Bakal, they wouldn’t take any items found on his corpse lightly.

“I can’t… disappear like this… without fulfilling Lord Bakal’s command…”

As Jinseong grew more restless, Zieg Hart was finally defeated.

Jinseong’s eyes widened as he looked on.

There was nothing left in the spot where the final boss of Sky Castle had vanished.

‘…Nothing. There’s nothing at all.’

At this point, one thing had become clear.

Zieg Hart was not contaminated.

Just as Jinseong began to feel a creeping sense of unease, Van, Aganzo, G.S.D., and Sharan were all sharing a moment of relief and joy.

“…Did we really take him down?”

“He’s not regenerating anymore.”

“You all did well.”

“Great job, everyone.”

Even as he watched them, Jinseong struggled to regain his composure.

It wasn’t until Seria’s subsequent words that he finally managed to regain some clarity.

“Finally, we can go up. We can check the grand magic circle! You all did a great job!”

“I’m worried there might be something wrong with the grand magic circle. Even if there is, I’m not sure I’m qualified to lay hands on Grand Magician Meyer’s magic circle…”

Hearing Sharan’s concerns, Jinseong’s eyes began to change.

‘…Right. Defeating Zieg Hart doesn’t mean it’s over. There’s still one last thing to do in Sky Castle.’

There was still one final chance to confirm that his choice had been correct.

As the adventurers started climbing the stairs outside Sky Castle, Jinseong hurriedly followed them.

And when they reached the top, they saw it.

“It feels like… something serious has happened here.”

“Just a small part of it, but there’s something wrong with the grand magic circle. If we leave it like this, it’ll spread beyond our control.”

The enormous magic circle drawn on the floor, corrupted and flickering ominously.

“Guildmaster, shouldn’t you do something about it?”

“Whatever route it took, the corruption has already penetrated the grand magic circle… At this point, there may be no way…”

Van muttered pessimistically, but Sharan immediately shook her head.

Jinseong focused on her words.

‘The corruption has already penetrated. Yeah, come to think of it, the term “corruption” is extremely limited in Dungeon & Fighter.’

When was the term “corruption” primarily used?

Jinseong needed to expand his thinking at this point.

‘I assumed that since the first card I got was from Ghoul Guishi, it was always a living creature, but maybe that’s not the case. If the grand magic circle itself is corrupted and something has gone wrong because of it, then maybe after the purification, a card might appear?’

If it wasn’t necessarily a living creature that was corrupted?

This led to another question.

‘But as , isn’t it my job to handle that? If Seria purifies it as usual—’

What would happen?

Jinseong was about to find out.

Seria stepped forward, speaking as she approached the group.

“I’ll… try to purify it.”

“Hey, this seems like a problem on a completely different scale than those small crystals.”

“Lady Shusia taught me. You’ve all come this far, and I’ll do what I can too.”

Despite Van’s sharp comments, Seria responded seriously.

“Seria, the corruption is at a level where… anything could happen. It’s dangerous.”

“It’s okay. This is about protecting the forest, about protecting everyone.”

Despite Sharan’s attempts to dissuade her, Seria didn’t stop and stepped forward.

Around that time, Jinseong’s body began to twitch.

‘Whatever comes out, it’ll happen now.’

If there was a chance that a card like [Grand Magic Circle (Corrupted)] existed, this might be Jinseong’s last chance to dive in and grab such a card.

Jinseong watched the scene, his heart racing as if about to start a race.

───────────……!!!!

And just like in Granfloris, Seria succeeded in purifying the grand magic circle, emitting a bright light.

‘A card—where’s the card?!’

Even in the blinding light, Jinseong strained to find a card, but to no avail.

All he saw was Seria collapsed, being supported by the ‘adventurer,’ the player, and the surprised reactions of Aganzo, Sharan, and the others, marveling at how Seria had managed to purify the grand magic circle.

‘…No? Again, no?’

First with Zieg Hart, and now with the purification of the grand magic circle.

Jinseong was at a loss, the flow of events deviating so drastically from his expectations.

“…Wait. So if we’ve come this far, does that mean the area above this is Celestia?”

Amidst the confusion, Van began to move.

Despite the others’ suggestions to turn back, given that they didn’t know what awaited them in Celestia and whether it would be hostile, Van began to dash forward!

“Van!”

Not toward the top floor, but toward the literal ‘top’ of the castle, Van started sprinting upward, and everyone followed.

Jinseong did the same.

Zieg Hart’s scenario hadn’t been disrupted.

The corruption of the grand magic circle wasn’t what Jinseong had anticipated.

‘What’s going on here? I shouldn’t have anything left to do now.’

As he frantically climbed the stairs, trying to maintain a safe distance from the player, Jinseong kept thinking.

What had gone wrong with this scenario?

What role did Jinseong have left as ?

Jinseong halted his steps when he heard the commotion.

He was a few floors below the group, including the player and the NPCs.

“Bakal’s magic circle… If we hadn’t come up here, it would’ve been hard to spot, hidden by the grand magic circle.”

“Can’t we do something about it? Like how Zieg Hart was stopped earlier.”

“Unless Bakal himself reappears or we have something equivalent to his power… it’s impossible to tamper with the magic circle itself.”

Sharan explained firmly to Van, who was speaking like a child throwing a tantrum.

As he listened to her voice, Jinseong recalled this part of the quest.

‘Right, this flow is exactly as I remember.

All we do is observe Bakal’s magic circle and then descend again… Oh!?’

At that moment, Jinseong realized something.

From the perspective of Dungeon Area: Sky Castle, there was nothing left for the player to do.

However, just because there was nothing to do didn’t mean the scenario quest had ended!

As Jinseong came to this realization, G.S.D. spoke up.

“Wait. There’s a disturbance in the air… Something enormous is approaching rapidly.”

From his lower vantage point, Jinseong could see it.

‘…Behemoth.’

A gigantic whale-like creature gliding majestically through the sky.

It was Behemoth.

* * *

A creature swimming in the sea of the Middle Ocean, high above the Arad Continent.

But now wasn’t the time for Jinseong to marvel at the newly appeared Behemoth.

‘The quests in Sky Castle might be over, but the main scenario, the flow of the story, continues, and that is—’

A small dot broke away from the Behemoth, catching Jinseong’s eye.

Just by looking at it, he could tell it was a bad situation.

That dot was trailing smoke like a tail as it rapidly approached Sky Castle.

It was an airship.

‘Yes, that’s it! The real, real, real final part of the Sky Castle scenario!’

An airship crashing toward Sky Castle.

And the person on board that airship would trigger the next dungeon area and main scenario quest!

According to the scenario quest, the airship would crash near the adventurer’s party, close to the player.

G.S.D. would quickly sense the disturbance and warn everyone to duck just before the airship collided.

Fortunately, the person aboard would narrowly survive, and the adventurer party would rescue and heal them, continuing the scenario.

However, the problem was that Jinseong couldn’t see this usual sequence playing out in front of him.

‘But the direction… No way.’

Just from the direction of the airship’s descent, trailing smoke as it fell toward Sky Castle, Jinseong could tell.

It was steep.

It wasn’t crashing toward the top floor where Seria, the player, and the NPCs were.

‘It’s a few floors below. A few floors lower than where I am right now?’

Though the airship had lost some of its power and was falling, it wasn’t in a full freefall.

If it were, the person aboard wouldn’t survive. The scenario flow involved the airship losing speed and descending more gradually, allowing it to crash with less impact.

‘Uh oh!?’

Jinseong couldn’t hide his urgency.

The estimated crash site of the falling airship?

‘A few floors below where I am… Ah!’

Jinseong saw someone climbing the spiral staircase from the outside.

“Huh? What’s that?”

The person climbing also finally noticed the falling airship and stopped in their tracks.

More precisely, Lenny was staring at the falling airship.

At that moment, Jinseong instinctively knew.

Lenny’s position. The trajectory of the falling airship.

The two aligned perfectly.

As that information registered in his mind, Jinseong couldn’t help but realize.

“Damn it! So this is it!”

What he had to do as .

A massive object, maintaining its terrifying speed, was plummeting toward Lenny.

Changing the trajectory of the ‘contaminated’ airship Dornier.