Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 585: Original (2)
Long ago in the past.
It’s a matter of time now long enough that it’s no longer unreasonable to speak of it as such, yet the memories remain vivid.
The first time I opened my eyes in the body of a Barbarian and stepped into the first floor’s crack — the Blood-Red Fortress.
There, I met Raven and Hikurod.
The desperate battle against Cambermier, the Vampire Duke, a Grade 5 monster and guardian of that crack, even though I had no essence left in my body...
Of course, I still remember the conversation we had then.
“Myoha-gun, truly mysterious...”
Even back then, that guy said something similar while looking at us.
Well, the lines that followed were quite different, though.
“When I look at you, murderous intent boils up and I simply cannot contain it. Do you know why?”
He possessed intelligence and could speak.
That was no strange thing.
Many of the higher mutants could talk.
Though it was the first time I’d heard Cambermier say something like that...
“At the time, I just let it slide.”
Back then, the Blood-Red Fortress was the first crack.
Also, capturing Cambermier was my first time.
So I didn’t ponder the matter deeply.
But...
“I cannot lose. I must not lose...!”
The Knight of the End I met at the White Temple hut.
He was more desperate than any monster I had faced.
“If it’s a lie no one knows... how different can it be from the truth?”
The doppelganger, guardian of the 4th floor crack.
At the end, he muttered with deep regret.
“Truly astonishing. To grasp even vaguely the laws of the world.”
The mysterious being I encountered in the reward chamber after clearing Dreadpier also uttered meaningful words.
“You must not open the Abyssal Gate.”
No need to say more about the Witch of the Land, Elise Groundia.
As the number of floors I could explore increased, I met more entities, and my questions only grew bigger.
What exactly is the Labyrinth?
What are guardians and tiered lords?
What lies beyond the Abyssal Gate?
“...Maybe.”
Today, that answer might finally come.
That intuition struck my mind the moment I met that vampire.
“Hmm, do you not understand what I’m saying?”
His voice sounded more curious than wary.
Before that curiosity faded, I ended my thoughts and spoke.
“As you said, we have met before. At the Blood-Red Fortress.”
“The Blood-Red Fortress...”
The vampire quietly repeated the name, then looked at me again and muttered.
“So you have no memory, it seems. By then, I was already like this.”
That answer gave me goosebumps for some reason.
My suspicion grew — yet here we were having a normal conversation.
“No sudden signs of snapping out of it either.”
But since I didn’t know how long this state would last, I hurried to continue the conversation.
“What do you mean by ‘like this’?”
“You can see it for yourself. This monstrous body.”
It seemed he simply meant his vampire form. I had hoped for something like being trapped in the Labyrinth or brought by a witch.
“Hmm, so this guy was originally human too?”
I wanted to clarify this, but unfortunately the vampire was quicker with his question.
“So... where is this place? Why am I here?”
Honestly, I had no clue what to answer.
“Surely our Cambermier Duchy was burning under the assault of the Tri-God Church...”
There was an inexplicable barrier between his words and mine.
It felt like past and future humans meeting by chance, speaking without understanding each other’s situation.
“...This is the Labyrinth. I was exploring it when I met you.”
“The Labyrinth... what is that?”
Our understanding clashed, so the conversation barely advanced.
So I cautiously asked,
“Before I explain... can you tell me your story first?”
“My story...?”
“Anything is fine. I just want to know your last memories.”
“Hmm...”
The vampire seemed to ponder for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“The Tri-God Church’s army came to exterminate me. I lost in that battle, prayed for rest, and closed my eyes. And now, I have awakened.”
“...”
“The moment I opened my eyes, I saw you... and memories came to me, as if I’d met you somewhere before. Oh, and by the way, the madness that tormented me so badly hasn’t flared up. It’s been ages since my mind was this clear...”
“...I see.”
“Well then, will you tell me? Where exactly is this place — this Labyrinth you speak of?”
“May I gather my thoughts before answering?”
“Take your time.”
With the vampire’s permission, I quickly assembled the clues I had.
Not just what he said, but everything I had known originally.
[The Dark Continent is real.]
Information spat by the jester who left the castle walls at the Round Table.
[The Tri-God Church’s army came to exterminate me.]
The Tri-God Church still exists in our world and remains powerful...
It didn’t take long to reach a rough conclusion.
Though it was only my guess, after all.
The Labyrinth is based on actual events and place names.
And...
“Cambermier, don’t be shocked, listen.”
“I’m listening.”
“First, one thing is certain: thousands of years have passed since your death.”
“...What does that mean? I am clearly alive now!”
From here on, everything was my speculation.
“No, you are already dead. And this current you... is likely a being created by someone.”
“...I can’t understand this at all.”
For the first time, hostility flared in the vampire’s eyes.
It was a reaction I had expected.
After all, who ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) would welcome a stranger suddenly telling them they’re dead?
“...Still, this method is difficult.”
There was an easier path.
Ignoring the truth, deceiving him by telling what he wanted to hear, making it easier to extract information.
But even knowing that, I told my guess honestly.
In a way, it was very Barbarian of me.
Because I didn’t want to do otherwise.
It was time to graduate from such ways.
If I wanted to be someone who could righteously get angry when wronged.
“Cambermier, calm down and listen. I will explain why I think this way.”
Sometimes you have to take the hard path.
Afterward, I spent a long time explaining to the vampire what the Labyrinth is.
What the current city is like, how the world has changed.
What I have seen and experienced while exploring the Labyrinth.
And finally... the circumstances of our first meeting.
Explaining all that took far more time and effort than I imagined.
The vampire struggled to grasp the vast gap in common sense across thousands of years, sometimes even denying my words in anger.
But...
“...Enough. I understand now why you said those things.”
Eventually, the vampire surrendered.
Though he still had one question.
“But there is something I do not understand.”
“...What? Speak. I will explain it as many times as you need until you understand—”
“Why do you tell me all this so earnestly? According to you, I am merely a created being. Perhaps even today’s events will be wiped from memory, just as I forgot meeting you that day.”
That was not the question I expected, but again I answered honestly.
“If I were you, I would want to know the truth anyway.”
“...”
“That’s why I said it. If I’m honest first, maybe I can get your help.”
“I see...”
The vampire thought deeply for a long while, then spoke.
“Then tell me. How do you want me to help you?”
The line I’d been waiting for.
I took a breath and opened my mouth.
“Cambermier, I want to know about you.”
“About me...?”
“Yes. How you lived, what your world was like, what happened to bring you here. Just as I told you everything about myself. Everything.”
The vampire looked surprised, but then nodded gravely.
“I will. Though it is awkward to tell a stranger about my life, if you’re right, I’m nothing more than a puppet. Better to be remembered by someone, at least.”
“...”
“It still feels strange to be suddenly asked about my life. Well, where shall I start... Ah, yes, from there.”
“...”
“I had a daughter.”
So began his story.
Presumably before the witch’s curse engulfed the world.
“It was a turbulent time. The witch’s followers and the Empire’s army fought all day long, shedding blood.”
The story of witches opposing humans was familiar to me.
But what he said next mattered a great deal.
Because ancient records were nearly lost and rare.
“Our Cambermier family, a ducal house of a border state, was relatively unaffected by the war. We stayed neutral to both witches and the Empire, quietly waiting for the war to end.”
Then one day...
“My only daughter fell ill.”
A terrible disease that neither potions nor the sacred power of high priests could cure.
Day by day, the daughter’s life flame dimmed, and the duke couldn’t stand to watch.
“She was worth sacrificing my very soul.”
The duke searched everywhere and finally reached the witches’ followers. They proposed a way to save his daughter.
“I learned later that they were not really witches’ followers. They worshipped the evil god Karui and sought to throw the world into chaos.”
Unaware of this, the duke accepted their offer. The Empire had built many evils, and he had heard stories of people who gained salvation by becoming witches’ followers.
The duke was neutral toward witches.
“That was the beginning of all misfortune.”
Karui’s priests treated the daughter in a bizarre way. Every day, screams echoed from her room.
Once, the daughter begged them to stop treatment, but the duke ignored it for her sake.
And so time passed...
“My daughter got up from her sickbed.”
She recovered, and the priests of the evil god left.
The duke was initially happy to have regained normal life, but that happiness did not last long.
He calmly said,
“She began to swell.”
Literally, she swelled.
Slowly, as if her whole body filled with pus.
“When wounds opened and bled, everything around corroded and melted. She lost reason and became violent.”
The duke locked her in an underground prison.
There was no choice.
If news of the daughter’s transformation spread, neither the Cambermier family nor the daughter would survive.
He planned to hide her and find a cure.
“But the problem was she wouldn’t eat.”
No matter what delicious food was offered, even forced down her throat, the changed daughter refused.
“Day by day I felt her dying. She was too weak to even open her eyes properly. Her pulse showed her heart was dying.”
The duke could do nothing.
One day, while a knight was bringing food to her, the daughter attacked and killed him.
“...Only then... did she eat.”
There was no need to ask what she ate.
“The child who used to raise hell at even a single fly now ate. Very ravenously.”
The duke fainted at the sight, but the daughter regained strength from that day on.
Needing time to find a way, the duke began bringing criminals to feed her.
But as she ate more, she grew bigger.
The underground prison couldn’t hold her anymore, so she was moved to a water reservoir.
Her food intake increased so much that criminals alone couldn’t supply it, so innocent people were framed and brought in.
“If I were still myself, I would never have made such a foolish choice. But... the evil god’s followers had done something to me.”
The duke could not think rationally then.
Violence surged, guilt faded.
Occasional madness attacks happened.
The changes affected both mind and body.
His fangs grew.
His sense of smell sharpened.
When he smelled blood, saliva dripped from his mouth.
He learned black magic he never studied, and used his changed body as naturally as a butterfly flapping its wings.
It became easier to find food for the daughter.
Disappearances increased, and when his retainers began to leave one by one under the duke’s brutal hand, his hometown came to be called the Blood-Red Fortress.
Naturally, the news reached the Empire, the witches at war, and even the Tri-God Church.
“After that, it was as I told you. The army came, and I was defeated.”
The duke’s cruel nature led him to a secret place deep under the fortress for his sinister hobby.
There, a paladin’s sword pierced his heart.
“It’s ridiculous, but I prayed.”
Facing death, he prayed.
Knowing the Tri-God Church gods would not forgive him.
“I begged the goddess who was called the enemy of mankind, the witch, to save my daughter, even if not me. And when I opened my eyes, I was here.”
Looking back, that incident was like it had just happened from the duke’s perspective.
How could he speak so calmly?
When I asked cautiously, he shrugged and said he didn’t know.
“I don’t know, but it feels like an incredibly long time has passed. If what you say is true, many years have really passed...”
I had nothing to say, so I just listened until he asked me.
“Do you know? What you told me today was a cruel truth.”
I understood well enough.
I thought so, but didn’t say it aloud.
I couldn’t truly understand it yet. Hearing his story only deepened those thoughts.
“But...”
The vampire said.
“Still, thank you. For speaking honestly.”
“...”
“Thanks to you, I won’t have to dream vain dreams anymore.”
It was a very strange feeling.
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