Raven, rendered powerless, slowly descended beneath the collapsed audience chamber.

Sweet rushed forward to catch Raven and checked her condition.

How’s she doing? Is the necromancer’s spirit still lingering? Is she seriously hurt?

A whirlwind of thoughts spun in my mind, making me feel like a fool.

I didn’t even notice that the other party members had vanished.

The disappearance of the party meant we had entered a story cutscene.

The story cutscene marked the end of the long, drawn-out Elder Lich Raid.

“Raven.”

Sweet called out to Raven, shaking off his unease and anxiety.

Raven, nestled in his arms, lifted her head slightly and looked up at him.

“You kept your promise.”

“Yeah. It was really tough.”

Raven’s pale, delicate hand reached to touch Sweet’s cheek.

“I’m so glad to see you again.”

“Me too. Thank you for hanging in there all this time.”

Enduring relentless torture and endless nightmares.

It was too harsh for a single woman to bear.

Yet, even after experiencing such harshness and being consumed by the ancient necromancer’s spirit,

Raven held on and didn’t give up, and that willpower led to a joyful reunion.

“I want to hear about your journey, but there’s no time.”

“No time? What do you mean by that?”

With that utterance from her, the atmosphere turned serious.

As Raven stared at Sweet, who suddenly wore a grave expression, she burst into laughter.

“I’m just kidding.”

“Sigh…”

Sweet let out a sigh of relief.

Would she still want to joke around in this situation?

But she was pretty, cute, and lovable, so it was forgiven.

“Still… the sleepiness crashing down right now is unavoidable.”

“Is it okay? Just in case, I could ask the priest for a heal…”

As Sweet was about to ask Suzuka for healing, he finally realized that they were alone, just him and Raven.

“Hold my hand.”

“Got it.”

Without asking why, he immediately took her hand.

“I’ll dream happy dreams, not those annoying nightmares.”

With those words, Raven closed her eyes.

“…She’s asleep.”

Her breathing and pulse were normal.

From her steady breathing, it didn’t seem like she was having nightmares.

“But why isn’t the cutscene ending yet?”

According to the flow, the timing for the cutscene to end had already passed.

Just then, a system message appeared.

[Elder Lich Epilogue – Proof]

The Elder Lich epilogue began without any warning.

As Sweet surveyed his surroundings, he turned his head toward the entrance.

Beyond the entrance of the audience chamber, he sensed a multitude of presences.

Trudge, trudge—

The sound of several people walking in unison.

Having served in the military, Sweet quickly deduced the source of the presences.

“The Blackmane Knights.”

The Blackmane Knights who entered the audience chamber surrounded them.

Knight Commander Jasper stepped forward in front of Sweet.

“You have successfully defeated the Elder Lich.”

“That’s true, but…”

Sweet scanned the knights surrounding him.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Do you know the truth behind the downfall of the Raven Kingdom?”

What sudden nonsense is this?

As Sweet gazed at him with that meaning in his eyes, Jasper continued, as though he anticipated that look.

“She testified to His Majesty that the Raven Kingdom fell due to the resurrection of the Elder Lich. To prove the credibility of that testimony, we dispatched a 7th-circle wizard who can see the memories of the place. And the revealed truth differed from her testimony.”

Jasper drew his sword.

“The Elder Lich was merely a facade from the beginning.”

A murderous intent flickered in his gaze.

“The reason why every person in the Raven Kingdom died simultaneously that day.”

The sword of the Knight Commander of the Blackmane Knights pointed at the sleeping Raven.

“The resurrection ceremony of the object of destruction and the true purpose of the Salvation Church.”

The sacrifices for the ceremony were the lives of every person in the kingdom.

There were two total objects of destruction that could be resurrected through the ceremony.

“The goal is to resurrect all destruction objects, intertwine them as one, and give birth to the god of destruction.”

The resurrected ancient necromancer had usurped the body of the Elder Lich.

So where had the other one gone?

“Raven is the vessel of the god of destruction created by the Salvation Church, having caused the second-greatest number of casualties after the heart of the demonic realm.”

An extraordinary being that can control and handle human negative emotions.

“The Witch of Sorrow.”

The surrounding knights raised their swords simultaneously.

Sweet grimaced at the flood of murderous intent encircling him.

“That ‘thing’ is already a vessel mixed with two objects. It must be destroyed for the sake of humanity.”

Jasper no longer regarded Raven as human.

He viewed her as a threat to humanity, an object of destruction that must be annihilated.

Looking back, there were many odd things about this situation.

First of all, Raven’s growth speed was suspiciously rapid.

An NPC, yet showing growth rates similar to that of a player?

Just that alone proved she was no ordinary NPC.

Furthermore, the ancient necromancer was obsessively fixated on Raven’s body.

The reason the necromancer lusted after the body of Raven, who only had a talent for swordsmanship.

Also, the fact that he had reverse-engineered the summoning magic circle of the Elder Lich and could sacrifice himself.

If, as Jasper said, Raven was one of the objects of destruction—the Witch of Sorrow—everything made sense.

Sweet fell into despair.

Did that mean Raven had to die?

In a moment, he nearly got consumed by rage.

But he maintained his composure and tried to calm his heart as much as possible.

Persuasion seemed nearly impossible, and appealing to emotions didn’t seem to hold any weight.

In the end, there was only one option left. The only way was to fight.

What was the power difference with the enemies?

The opponents were the elite among elites of the empire—the Blackmane Knights.

In contrast, Sweet was alone now. And he had to protect Raven.

No matter how he looked at it, there seemed to be no chance of winning. Did that mean he had to give up like this?

“No.”

He couldn’t give up. The journey of the past month was solely to save Raven.

His contemplation ended.

Finding a solution, Sweet stared directly at Jasper in front of him.

“I’m weaker than you.”

“…So?”

“Even if I resist, I’d be suppressed instantly.”

“I don’t want to see unnecessary blood. You are someone favored by His Majesty.”

Jasper’s words could also be interpreted as “I can spill blood whenever I want.”

“The enemy of humanity, a being feared even by the empire, an object of destruction. Two of such beings are mixed in this ‘vessel,’ yet I survived.”

“…”

Jasper, at a loss for words, turned his gaze to Sweet.

“Moreover, I subdued them without killing them.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Finally, Sweet’s desired words came out of Jasper’s mouth.

“Raven is not an object of destruction. To be precise, she has not been possessed by the object of destruction.”

“Why’s that?”

“Under the assumption that she was controlled by the object of destruction, several contradictions arise.”

Raven had indeed met and had a private audience with the Emperor.

If Raven were truly the Witch of Sorrow, she would have killed the Emperor at that moment.

The Emperor’s death would lead to great chaos, which was precisely the situation the Salvation Church desired.

“Also, the fact that the Salvation Church, which would be watching this situation, is leaving the vessel, Raven, unattended is itself a contradiction.”

They had sacrificed an entire kingdom to resurrect two objects of destruction with great difficulty.

There was no way those who could just watch such a thing happen would remain still.

“…”

Was Jasper somewhat swayed by Sweet’s passionate argument?

He started to ponder, and to that Jasper, Sweet drove the final nail.

“With the power of an object of destruction, it is possible to prevent the resurrection of another object of destruction.”

Using foreign tactics against foreigners.

“Please, give me the opportunity to prove it.”

With Sweet’s last words, Jasper, having resolved his torment, sheathed his sword and raised his hand.

“Everyone, lower your killing intent.”

“Commander!”

“I will take full responsibility.”

Sweet, having successfully persuaded Jasper, let out a sigh of relief.

***

I could only be astonished as I watched Sweet’s broadcast.

What I expected was for him to clash with Jasper and get beaten up, then be taken away along with the deeply sleeping Raven to the imperial underground prison.

But Sweet, within that short amount of time, uncovered the contradictions and successfully persuaded Jasper.

Typically, the route was designed for a collision with Jasper, who would become uncomfortable, leading to a postponement regarding Raven’s fate.

‘The rest went just as predicted, though.’

Master Kim had fought the Blackmane Knights and got schooled.

Pagu, bold as ever, tried to parry Jasper’s strike but ended up breaking his own sword and shield.

Lastly, Suzuka appealed to emotions, but Jasper wasn’t the type to be swayed by feelings.

‘Is this the power of love?’

What even is love?

I would like to research it separately, but having never experienced a romantic relationship related to reason, I didn’t even know how to start.

“Now the real beginning starts.”

The Elder Lich Raid marked the true start of Akare.

The things that were to come included new classes, new regions, and the Second Awakening.

Just with the already updated contents, it would take about a year of steady play to even get through it all.

‘The major corporation party has all turned off their broadcasts, huh?’

[Indie Minor Game Gallery]

It was a habitual scroll through the in-game gallery, and I went straight to the concept article page like always.

“Huh?”

I had imagined a scene filled with threads related to the Elder Lich epilogue but—

―――

Moving to the gallery – check link in the body [145]

Your gallery is dead! [31]

Finally, I’ve returned to my small in-game gallery [24]

―――

Completely unexpected threads greeted me.

“They dug up the Akashic Record Gallery separately, huh…”

Well, it had been strange all along that the in-game gallery was rolling out theories related to the Akashic Records.

The name of the in-game gallery itself was ‘Indie Minor Game Gallery’ after all.

The Akashic Records were no longer indie or minor games.

I entered the link provided in the thread’s body and moved to the new gathering place.

And after scrolling to the very bottom of the thread page, I confirmed the monumental first thread of the Akashic Gallery.

―――

[Title] If you look like a dog, you’ll get a dog vote, lol.

(Aurora cosplay blue pill pic)

If it’s an epic game director, downvote.

If it’s unbelievably lovable, count views.

If you want to date, comment.

Upvotes 8150 Downvotes 8150

―――

[Comment 3500]

PandralChoo

ㄴBehold the Land of Fire roaring!

ㄴAkaman these crazy bastards

ㄴThe first thread being about praising the director, huh.

Views, comments, lol.

ㄴHow can I date Aurora-noona?

ㄴThis is a secret comment.

ㄴㄴI just told you.

―――

“Sigh…”

The gallery is dead.

 

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