I Became a Ruined Character in a Dark Fantasy-Chapter 463

He had used the spell Bedrock Protrusion.

Originally, it was just a prerequisite spell for Diastrophism, meant merely to pierce enemies or send them flying. But now, amplified by his chaos power, it manifested as what looked like a giant rock pillar shooting diagonally up the slope.

It has to hold, Ian thought, even as the sheer force pushed him back slightly. He poured more magic into it. This was a desperate, last-resort measure, chosen because he lacked time for more conventional defensive spells.

Low tier defensive magic wouldn't withstand that monstrous landslide even for a moment, and mid tier or higher defensive spells, even if he could successfully cast them, would take far too long to complete.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Feeling the rapidly approaching, earth-shattering tremor, Ian scrambled to his feet.

"Ian!" Diana's scream ripped through the air from behind.

Ian whipped around instantly. The sight that greeted him was Diana, arms outstretched, throwing herself bodily toward him.

This looks... oddly familiar.

He met the desperate, terrified look in her eyes behind the mask. Ian reflexively snatched her out-flung wrist and pulled her hard toward him. Diana crashed face-first into Ian's breastplate and immediately wrapped her arms around his waist, clinging to him like he was her last lifeline.

Thud—

Pushed back by momentum, Ian's back slammed hard against the rock pillar he had just created. Grimacing from the heavy, jarring impact, Ian wrapped his arms around Diana, shielding her back.

Crash—

Almost instantly, a black tidal wave of rocks, earth, and debris began sweeping violently past either side of the pillar. The ground beneath them vibrated so intensely that it shook their entire bodies.

Crack... Crackle...

An ominous cracking sound echoed from deep within the slanted rock pillar. Ian's brow furrowed slightly, and a golden light flared to life in his left hand.

Vmmmm—

The Platinum Barrier sprang forth, instantly forming a protective shield over Diana's head and back. She didn't even dare to lift her head, keeping her masked face buried in Ian's breastplate, her arms clinging to his waist even more desperately than before.

This is damn uncomfortable.

Ian clicked his tongue inwardly and immediately began preparing his next spell.

Simultaneously, he focused inward, trying to sense his familiar, Moro. Thankfully, he could still faintly sense Moro's consciousness. It grew fainter, moving further away, the beast was definitely still running without stopping.

That should be enough. They won’t get caught in it.

Sighing in relief, he opened his right hand wide and thrust it forward. The completed spell radiated out instantly. Ian clenched his outstretched right hand into a tight fist.

Whoosh! Rumble, rumble, rumble—

A section of the black debris wave, rushing past the sides of their rocky pillar, suddenly curved inward and was violently pulled toward Ian. The earth and gravel swirling around them surged together, instantly binding and hardening into place. freeweɓnovel~cѳm

It was Sand Prison—a low tier brown magic spell. It was a small shield, but it was better than nothing.

Crack, crackle! Thud!

The ominous rumbling from the rock pillar crawled up Ian’s spine, but he kept his fist tightly clenched, refusing to relax.

Whoosh! Rumble!

The vibrations and roars, which had seemed like they would go on forever, finally receded into the distance. Ian, who had been holding out without letting his guard down for even a second until it completely subsided, relaxed his right hand.

Shwaaaa—

The dome of earth and gravel surrounding him scattered like dust caught in a gale.

Yet Ian’s view remained largely unchanged. Thick black dust billowed through the air like fog, curling and swirling in every direction. It looked as though a barrage of artillery had just torn through the area.

A quest completion window popped up in front of Ian almost the moment the dust settled.

[Valuable Lesson.]

Of course, it was for a quest he’d never accepted.

Lesson, my ass. So what—the lesson was that a dungeon might hold a trap instead of a reward?

Grinding his teeth, Ian closed the window, only to realize immediately that it wasn’t the only completed quest.

Proof of Qualification?

This, too, was a quest he had never accepted. And as usual, aside from the name, there was no way to check any further details or see the rewards.

What qualification did I prove?

Muttering under his breath, he closed the window again. This time, another quest window followed.

[Knowledge Engraved in Blood.]

The explanation was brief: now that he had proven himself worthy, it was time to awaken shattered and forgotten memories. The reward was three skill points and two items represented by question marks.

Is this... what I think it is?

Ian's eyes narrowed. It was a quest he had no memory of ever seeing mentioned in any of the game strategy guides, but he had a strong feeling he knew what it meant.

Qualification, huh?

Now that he thought about it, he had at least one high tier spell from every attribute.

Yeah. That’s probably something that’d be impossible in the actual game.

Not just because raising such a ruined character this far would’ve been near-impossible, but also because earning this many skill points simply wasn’t feasible. All the strategy guides explicitly said that if one learned mid tier magic from two or more different attributes, one should just delete the character and start over from scratch.

"Is it... over?" It was then that Diana’s quiet voice reached him.

Ian, snapping out of his thoughts, closed the quest window. "Probably."

"Ha... Phew... Shit." Diana’s arms went limp, and her body slid from his grasp, flopping sideways onto the ground. One side of her mask was pressed into the dirt, but she didn’t move. She just lay there, gasping for breath like all the strength had been wrung out of her.

Ian shoved her slumped body aside like a bundle of cargo and leaned the back of his head against the stone pillar.

A ragged sigh escaped his lips automatically.

Belatedly, a sharp pain, like an awl stabbing into his temples, lanced through his head, accompanied by a rising wave of nausea. They were the early symptoms of ㅡㅁ햧 exhaustion.

Just then, an ominous crack echoed nearby, reaching his ears.

Frowning, Ian leaned forward slightly. He didn't throw himself aside because, unlike the alarming sound, his Intuition wasn't sending any particular warnings this time. Only Diana, still sprawled on the floor, rolled away without even knowing why.

Crack, Thud— Thump—

The rock pillar they had been leaning on was starting to give way. A jagged web of cracks spread across its surface, and its rear side looked like it had been ground down to a paper-thin shell. Chunks of stone fell in rapid succession, thickening the already dusty air.

"I'm so... I'm so sick and tired of this." Diana, who had rolled over to the side some distance away, murmured, looking up at the collapsing pillar. Then, she let her head drop to the ground with a soft thump.

Ian, straightening up again, didn’t reply. He merely pressed a hand to his temple.

Undeterred, Diana's voice continued. "You know what I regret most right now, Ian Hope?"

Pressing his temple, Ian closed his eyes and muttered, “What?”

"Not running away much, much faster the very first time I met you."

A faint, wry smile twitched at Ian's lips. "You would have died at the hands of those wanderers then."

“...True. Okay, then—how about not getting injured in that first fight with the skeletons? If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have dragged me onto the front lines.”

“That was the Count’s order. Not mine.”

“He made that decision for your sake.”

“Well, maybe.” Ian shrugged, nodding faintly. Truth be told, it wasn’t something he’d ever cared enough to think about.

“I’ll keep your secret for the rest of my life, Ian Hope... even if there’s more to it, I don’t want to know. So please—when we get back, let me go. I’ll live like I’m already dead, I swear...”

Does she really think I’m trying to keep her chained to me?

Ian glanced down at Diana, sprawled on the ground beside him.

Diana, still lying on the ground, turned her head just enough to look at him and added in a pleading voice, “You’re going to go after another archdemon, aren’t you? You might survive, but I—I really think I’ll die next time. I don’t want to die.”

Ian let out a breathless laugh, almost a scoff. It was the most honest he’d ever seen her.

He slowly removed his hand from his temple and added calmly, “Don’t you still have questions?”

“No. I don’t care. I don’t want to know anymore...”

She's completely serious, Ian’s smile deepened.

The smile on his lips deepened slightly. “Don’t worry. Once we reach the next base, I’ll let you go. Just don’t leave the base for a while after that. Sooner or later, the walls will come down.”

"No. Don't give me false hope like that again—"

“Even if I fail, it’s going to happen. The Platinum Dragon is already preparing for it.”

Diana’s breath caught. For someone who had just been begging for her life, her eyes behind the mask widened in silent shock.

Ian added calmly, “Now that its agent is gone, it’ll be moving faster. I don’t know how much time is left, but it won’t be long.”

“Then why are you still—no, never mind...” She trailed off, then slowly shook her head and let out a deep sigh. “Fine... I’ll keep it to myself...”

“Then hang in there a little longer—just until we reach the next outpost.” Ian, having finally managed to calm the wave of nausea while catching his breath, turned his gaze to scan their surroundings. "Because it looks like we're going to need a guide."

The dust was still thick in the air, limiting visibility. But oddly enough, the area around them, which had been swept clean by the landslide, was quite clear. Behind them, the jagged remains of the crumbled rock pillar were the only large chunks of debris left.

That was likely because the landslide consisted solely of earth and rock, without a single tree to break it up. It was enough of a clue for Ian to infer that this entire area was extremely barren and desolate, and so dry that the thick dust stirred up by the collapse wouldn't settle easily.

How far out did we end up?

Ian swallowed an inward sigh as he looked up at the sky.

Above the haze of swirling dust, the sky of the Demonic Realm stretched out. All sorts of colors were ominously mixed together, churning and shifting, but after being buried underground, even that warped sky was a welcome sight.

"...But, where's Lucifer?" Diana's subdued voice broke the silence just then. She was looking at him, having only managed to lift her head.

Took her long enough to ask, Ian thought with a touch of dry amusement, then shrugged. "She'll be fine. Probably."

"Then... let's just rest here a little longer," Diana added, letting her head fall back to the ground.

As Ian looked over at her, she continued in a drained voice, “There won’t be any monsters around here. For a while, this might be the safest place in the area.”

"That's convincing enough." Ian nodded.

Any monsters that had been here would have undoubtedly fled by now. Besides, it would be much easier for Lucia and Moro to find them and return if they stayed put.

Clank—

Leaning back against what remained of the rock pillar, Ian stretched out his left hand and pulled the metal storage box from his pocket dimension. He opened it slowly, letting the thick dust settle into his view, and took out a bottle of the potato wine. There was nothing better than hard liquor to settle a stomach that turned sour.

After taking a deep swig himself, Ian offered the bottle to Diana. "Want a sip?"

“...Can I have a cigarette too?”

A faint smile touched Ian’s lips. "That, you cannot."

Clicking her tongue in mild frustration, Diana slowly pushed herself upright and crawled over to sit beside him.

She took the bottle from his hand and pulled her mask down. “I feel like I could just fall asleep forever like this...”

Her haggard, pale face was revealed. She was completely caked with dust, making her skin look even paler in comparison.

"Then drink up and get some sleep," Ian added as she weakly gulped down the liquor.

Diana shook her head and handed the bottle back. "Not here. Absolutely not sleeping here."

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on leaving you behind."

“...That wasn’t the part I was worried about.”

They passed the bottle back and forth in silence, waiting for the heavy dust in the air to settle.

Eventually, the haze began to thin, and visibility gradually returned. Below the slope where they sat, the landscape was a wreck—unlike the relatively intact area around them.

It looked as if someone had dumped a massive basin of soil, gravel, and stone down the hillside and scattered it with a careless sweep. Ian didn’t bother checking the ridge above. He didn’t really want to see it.

"...Huh." A few seconds later, a faint smile spread across Ian's lips as he scanned the area beyond.

Through the slowly clearing haze, a darkish, barren wasteland was becoming visible. And racing across its center, he spotted a familiar purple trajectory.

Ian swayed slightly as he rose to his feet.

“What the...” Diana murmured. Unlike Ian, her brow was furrowed in disbelief.

“No way... This place... don’t tell me...” As she mumbled, movement appeared on Moro’s back as the beast galloped toward them.

"Sir Ian— Are you alright?" Lucia, standing tall in the stirrups, was waving one arm frantically and shouting at the top of her lungs.

Instead of shouting back, Ian simply raised his right arm and waved it back and forth. He didn't know if she could see it clearly from that distance, but it was a signal to let her know he was okay. Thankfully, Lucia seemed to spot his movement.

"Wait there! We'll be right there!" Lucia’s shout reached them clearly, and the smile on Ian's lips widened a little more.

"This doesn't exactly seem like the time for such a relaxed smile, Ian Hope..." Diana's subdued, weary voice said from beside him just then.

Ian turned his head and looked down at her. She let out a sigh so heavy it seemed to weigh down the air around her.

“If my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me...” she muttered, “we’re in a desert.”

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