Ch 94 – A Terrifying Thought

Standing in front of the cave entrance, Honda takes a deep breath and looks back at the army Lute managed to build in a single night. Each adventurer being veterans in their field from years of being in this job made them easily accustomed to wielding a gun, especially the rangers. Nodding his head, he glances towards Lute, Kira, Silvy, and Bella as this may or may not be their final loop in this dungeon and finally end this once and for all.

"Kira!" Lute shouted as Kira nods his head. He then pushes his right hand forward and a thin white thread shot out in a straight line into the very depths of the cave which confused many of the adventurers around. But his next move made their eyes widen as Kira muttered, "Enlarge."

Instantly, the previously thin line inflated into a gigantic pillar with a hollow inside that seemingly stretch to the very end of this tunnel. It was also large enough for many adventurers to march side to side which made them all feel safe with others being beside them.

"CHARGE!" Lute shouts, his charisma flaring to life as morale went to an all-time high, and everyone went to jump to the pillar that felt slippery, allowing each adventurer to take a smooth slide down to the cavern that holds all shadows.

Jumping along with the other four beside him, both Silvy and Bella cheered at how exhilarating it felt sliding down the tunnel Kira made easily. But Honda was more shocked at Kira's capabilities wielding this white stuff, from making guns to constructing a tunnel such as the one they were currently sliding on. Honda even wonders how much of a valuable asset Kira is for a kingdom.

But he shakes his head and focused on the task at hand which is to deal with Yami and get the fuck out of this dungeon.

Each passing second, they felt the area around them getting colder showing they were getting lower and lower down to the ground. And everyone currently sliding down the tunnel prepared for the fierce war they were about to enter.

And so, one by one, many gunshots were heard from the front indicating many had already reached the cavern. And finally, it was their turn as they all saw a magnificent scene of bloodbath and bullets raging on a fierce battlefield between man and Shadows.

The dark cavern coupled with the blood splattering everywhere from the fallen adventurers lowered their morale but one shout from Lute instantly reinvigorated them, "Men! Victory is at hand! We only need one final push and finally kill that damned Scarlet-Eyed Shadow!"

Roaring, the adventurers rush into the fray while the five went away from the others and rapidly shot at the Shadows rushing towards them. But Kira was different as he fought the Shadows fiercely in close combat by covering his whole body in a white skin-tight suit that showed his toned body. Even his eerie black eyes turned a haunting ghastly white that seemed to peer directly into Honda's soul after making eye contact with them.

'We might actually win this!' Honda thought while shooting a bullet at a nearby Shadow, accurately hitting its shadow as the threat of death hastily developed his gun-wielding skills to a veteran's. And from the distinct lack of the scent of gunpowder in the air, Honda can only wonder how the guns the others wielded work without using gunpowder.

'Can I also make one?' Honda thought as he uses a trace of his mana and casted a spell silently, "[Structural Analysis]"

And so, a white light envelops the whole gun as a ton of information flooded into his mind making his eyes widen in shock. He instinctively knew he can replicate a gun by using Impurities but kept it a secret, for it's another trump card he can use.

"Honda-san!" Lute's voice entered his ears as a bullet suddenly whizzes past his neck and he followed the bullet to see a Shadow almost killing him as its blade arm was almost touching his back. But quickly, it puffed and exploded into a cloud of black smoke as he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks!" Honda shouts while shooting more Shadows down as more and more of the Shadows got reduced with the power of their guns. Their victory already felt assured as the Shadows' numbers got reduced each passing second while the adventurers on the human side remained safe using their guns to stay far away from any Shadow.

"We can do this!"

"Curse those damn Shadows!"

"What use is there for absurd physical strength when they can't even touch us!"

Many adventurers shouted arrogantly, but it seems like they jinxed themselves as Yami slowly stood up from his throne made of stone and opened his glaring scarlet eyes.

"Kukuku, I'm truly intrigued by you, Lute-san. But it seems like I won't be able to extract anything from you with a certain meddling Looper being your ally," Yami muttered as he waved his hand in the air and a black scythe manifested out of nowhere.

"Crap!" the five shouted as they rushed towards Yami with desperation welling in their hearts, but it was hopeless once more as Yami swung his scythe in a large arc and they all saw a crescent beam of shadows encapsulating most of the adventurers around them, instantly killing them in one strike. Not only that, when the crescent of shadows receded, what remained where all the adventurers have become new Shadows added to Yami's army.

"Tsk," Honda clicked his tongue, especially when all the adventurers around them including Silvy felt their hearts drop upon this despairing moment they were in. One move from Yami alone turned the tide of the battle fully, now, their advantage was mostly gone especially when the Shadows around them suddenly manifested their own guns from their bodies, causing a bloodbath to form on the human side.

Glaring at Yami, the instigator of this whole war, Honda felt his mana gushing outwards and connecting with the river of time.

"Oh river of time, push me forward with all your might, [Time Acceleration]," Casting his spell, Honda's perception of reality around him slowed down as he prepared for a tedious fight once more against this overpowered monster which was immune to magic, have A Rank strength, insane regeneration, and many more hidden abilities lying in store for them to experience.

"[Haste], [Strength], [Reinforcement], [Aegis Shield], [Accelerated Perception]!" Instantly, Lute casted five spells in an instant as the five main forces of their group prepared for a fight against the Boss of this dungeon once more, Yami.

"COME!" Yami shouted as he swung his scythe in a large arc, casting a large crescent wave of darkness to shoot toward them.

In an instant, Kira waves his hand forwards to construct a giant wall made of an unknown white material and manages to block the attack while receiving a few cracks here and there. Hastily, the other four went to their respective positions as both Honda and Kira arrive instantly at Yami.

"[Sword of Time: Sword Severing Time]" Using his art, Honda's sword blitzed past Yami's projected body and cut it into half while Kira stabbed his white sword to the ground, but this time, it expanded to a large pillar that would leave no time to Yami to react. Along with that, Lute, Bella, and Silvy shot their bullets simultaneously toward the shadow of Yami.

"HA!" Grunting, Yami shouted just before all the attacks reaches his true body and an explosion of darkness pushed back all five, disrupting their attacks while Yami appeared far away from them once more with a malicious grin forming on his face.

"You got me good there, I must say. But this fight is far from over," Yami chuckled as suddenly, all the Shadows around them rushed towards Yami's shadow, and one by one, the shadows fused with Yami as his projected body and true shadow became larger and larger. The aura he gave off became stronger but the five didn't wait for Yami to finish powering up.

"[Sword of Time: Skip Cut]" Honda crouched down to the ground and felt time coming to a halt for a split second, he rush forwards at a ridiculously fast pace, and he swings his sword through Yami and towards his shadow on the ground hastily but he felt his mana reserve rapidly depleting.

As time resumed once more, Yami's previously malicious grin contorted into one of pain as a large cut running from his chest down to his stomach formed while Honda appeared behind him profusely sweating. But the others didn't let go of this final chance and went to attack hastily.

As Kira rushes forward leaving behind a boom from the sheer speed he was running, he instantly appeared in front of Yami and prepared to destroy his projected boy.

"Just kidding," Out of nowhere, a red gem suddenly pop out of Yami's chest as a strong pressure exploded out of nowhere with him as the epicenter. The pressure caused Kira and Honda to be pushed back and tumble to the ground as Yami's strength skyrocketed.

"Souls?" Kira muttered as everyone heard his voice echoing throughout the whole dungeon while Yami chuckled upon hearing Kira.

"Indeed, the souls of the damned if you will, all of them gathered to empower me!" Yami shouted as he crouches down to the ground and the muscles on his legs bulge outwards, showing the amount of strength harnessed in them.

"DODGE!" Kira shouts, specifically towards Honda as he instinctively rolled to the left and felt the wind brushing past his face as a strong kick targeted his stomach, causing him to be launched to the cavern's wall and puke out blood from his mouth.

Instantly, Yami appeared in front of Honda and grab him by the neck and lift him up to the air against the wall. Choking, Honda desperately grabs Yami's arm while secretly grinning inside his mind.

'NOW!' Honda thought, activating his Impurity Manipulation, and… Nothing happened. His eyes widened in shock, bewildered at why nothing happened while Kira rushes toward Yami to save him.

'Fuck! I know! It's because I don't have any impurities in my soul! I have a Pure White soul!' Honda thought, cursing that he didn't try to experiment with it earlier and now his mistake caused this loop to fail.

But his eyes soon widens along with Yami's when Kira who was rushing towards them suddenly have his limbs be covered in a black substance while his right eye turned pitch black. Instantly, his speed increased many times compared to before, and appear behind Yami instantly, swinging his sword down to the ground where Yami's shadow resides.

"Impossible!" Yami shouted as Honda clearly felt the black substance enveloping Kira's arms and legs being Impurities, and tracing it back, he was met with a horrifying sight that made his eyes further widen in shock. With Impurity Manipulation, he can clearly sense the impurities within souls, not the souls directly, but the impurities stored within them. And inside Kira, Honda and Yami felt an absurd amount of stored impurities condense into a small sphere as his physical strength could even threaten Yami empowered by the red gem on his chest.

"Fuck this!" Yami shouted, and in the next instance, he turned his right arm that holds Honda by the neck and swing him towards the ground where Kira's sword that has turned pitch black was heading.

Feeling his imminent death, Honda couldn't help but instead feel exhilarated as Kira's chest slowly pierced through his forehead as he was getting killed by Kira, the man whose abilities remained a mystery to him. Each passing day, he was shown a new ability Kira can do. So what if he gets killed by him, and he gets to receive an ability directly from Kira? Maybe even the ability to wield that white thing he always uses.

But when he was killed, Honda opened his eyes to find himself… Back at the entrance of the cave on Day 1.

'Huh?' There was no Gacha of Death, there was no new ability, there was nothing he gained from being killed by Kira. And that notion made a chill crawl up his spine as he looked at Kira who silently stood beside them with dilating eyes, because this either meant he wasn't killed by Kira for unknown reasons, or his cheat failed, or more simply, he was somehow killed by something else just before he got stabbed by Kira. But the worst possibility was that Kira knew he can copy abilities from his killer and Kira avoided killing him at the very last second to avoid revealing any of his abilities and preventing Honda from gaining them either.

AN: This is 2144 words, you're welcome.

Mystery, am I right?

Writing takes a lot of time and effort, so it would be much appreciative if you were to send me power stones.

(July 19, 2022 – 237th day of writing)