10. A Curse To Someone (3)

I pushed myself upright, breathing in the Altar of Lamentation's familiar stale air.

I'd fled this place swearing I'd never return, yet here I was again—and instead of anger, all I felt was a hollow emptiness.

"…."

I stared blankly at the tiny motes of dust drifting through the light, and Erin drifted unbidden into my thoughts.

She'd been devoured by the monster called guilt, and become a monster herself.

The life she'd had in the first playthrough—ruined because of me—had been ruined all over again in the second, because of me.

"Erin…."

I'd managed to escape her successfully enough, but the look in her eyes as she watched me kill myself still lingered at the edge of my vision.

That expression—like she wanted me, of all people, to forgive her for what she'd done….

"…Don't think about it."

Whatever the case, my goal right now wasn't Erin or anything else. It was Ferd's Fang.

If I was going to survive the NPCs who'd eventually come looking for revenge, I needed at least one means of protecting myself.

I shook the thoughts loose and hauled myself to my feet, then left the Altar and started making my way toward the Rift Labyrinth, where Ferd's Fang waited.

Unlike before—when I'd sprinted blindly forward with nothing but the terror of Carmen at my heels—I moved now with a clear destination in mind.

A vague unease nagged at me, the worry that I might run into Erin or Carmen, but I kept telling myself nothing would happen and walked on.

*…I should find some shoes, too.*

The soles of my feet were a ruin of scrapes and blisters from stones and tree roots, and somewhere along the way I'd lost every toenail except the big ones.

I gritted my teeth against the searing pain with every step, and somehow that grim focus carried me to the entrance of the Rift Labyrinth faster than I'd expected.

《 Checkpoint designated ▶ Rift Labyrinth 》

"Good…."

The moment that window appeared, the tension I'd been holding finally broke, and I felt a smile pull at my lips despite everything.

No reason to go back to the Altar of Lamentation now—which meant no reason to ever cross paths with Erin again, wherever she was lurking nearby.

The relief was real, but it did nothing to stop the cold sweat forming as I looked up at the towering stone walls rising so high their tops were lost from sight.

The Rift Labyrinth—built, according to its lore, to contain the corrupted beasts that defiled the world's order.

…Somewhere inside those walls, which had stood since before the Melting, was the Ferd's Fang I needed.

"Ugh…."

I braced myself and tried to take a step forward—and that was when my ravaged soles finally gave out. A wave of scorching agony hit me and I lost my balance, crashing to the ground.

*Thud!!*

My head struck the hard stone floor. My vision went white, and the world spun.

I'd hit the back of my skull, but somehow the sharp pain was radiating from my nose. I touched it with a finger and found a thin, half-translucent liquid seeping out, faintly tinged with blood.

"Ngh…!"

I left it alone and let it flow, and within moments a pain like a massive needle being driven through my brain took hold.

Apparently hitting the back of my head that hard had done some damage up there.

…Come to think of it, I was about due for a death anyway.

My feet were completely shredded from the walking, and my stamina had hit its limit—there was no way I could push through the Rift Labyrinth in this state.

I spread myself flat on the ground, accepted the death coming for me, and stared up at a sky that was offensively, unpleasantly blue.

How many times had I died now?