Chapter 21: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

  Chronos made sure I’d remember our meeting with Dolos and the deal he agreed to on my behalf.

  When I pointed out that if everything he said about Dolos was true, we couldn’t trust him to hold up his end of the deal, Chronos explained that their handshake was a godly pact. And that Dolos had to honor it, or there would be consequences.

  When I argued that Goren might not even listen to Dolos and could keep killing me, Chronos replied that there was no doubt in his mind that Goren would comply, that he wouldn’t be able to refuse Dolos’ request.

  When I confessed there was no way in hell I could catch up to Goren in just fifty runs - that I was already a goner – Chronos simply said I needed to find a way, that we couldn’t afford another failure.

  Another? It felt like he was referring to something that happened before me.

  When I asked what he meant by that, and about his history with Dolos, Chronos just snapped his fingers and sent me back to reality.

  ***

  [Déjà vu System: Level 6]

  [Loop Count: 15]

  [Experience Points (XP): 936 / 2000]

  .

  .

  .

  “Hey, Spellsword.” I heard from behind me as I waited for Yana to return from her conversation with Lady Mikaela.

  Chronos couldn’t let me remember his face - that would count as intervening, which was against the vague rules he and Dolos had set up - but I knew it was Goren. The ways he had murdered me escaped my memory, leaving only the knowledge that he’d killed me eight times.

  The dark aura around him was enough to put me on edge, my hand instinctively reaching for Nightfall.

  “Whoa, whoa, relax.” He said, laughing at my reaction. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  “What do you want?” I hissed.

  “Looks like you remember me this time. Interesting.” He said, sounding thoughtful. “Anyway, I’m here to say my goodbyes - for now.”

  I couldn’t believe my ears. What was he up to?

  “Goodbyes?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded, sounding almost disappointed. “As much as I enjoyed killing you and leveling up, Dolos forbade me from doing it again - for the time being, anyway. Apparently, I’m not to supposed to intervene with your attempts to level up. So, I figured I might as well join a different team altogether, so our paths won’t even cross until they need to.”

  “Different team?” I asked, confused.

  He looked surprised at first, then chuckled. “Looks like you still don’t remember everything.” He paused, turning away and giving me a wave. “Level up and get strong, Spellsword. I wonder how much XP I’ll get from killing you once we finally face off. For one last time.”

  ***

  We split into teams and entered the tomb.

  I was on team four. Goren was not.

  “You can't do that.” Jax told the Rogue in our team once he realized the man’s name didn’t match the one he was given. “You can’t just decide to switch teams because your guild member asked you to. The guild masters put great consideration into – “

  “Shut up.” The level 65 Rogue, Dalton, a short, middle-aged man with messy brown hair, interrupted, rolling his eyes. “We’ll do whatever we want.”

  Jax was taken aback but quickly regained his composure. “Do you even know who you’re speaking to? I can disqualify your entire guild from this quest with one word to Master Lorren.”

  Dalton chuckled, gesturing toward the corridor leading to the main antechamber. “Then, do it.”

  “You think I won’t?” Jax raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m sure you won’t.” Dalton replied. “I’ve read the official papers regarding this quest. The one-hundred-adventurer quota is mandatory for it to proceed. Disqualify my guild, and you’re left with ninety-two and no Rogues. Maybe then you can march up to your ‘Master Lorren’ and explain that you were the reason the quest fell apart.” He placed a hand on Jax’s shoulder condescendingly, smirking. “Now, let’s get going, eh, leader?”

  Seeing how obnoxious Jax was, everyone but Henry and Dina reacted with a smile.

  ***

  Dalton wasn’t a man of action – or rather, he didn’t actively participate in the clearing of the chambers. He simply followed us from behind, issuing warnings, pointers, and strategic advice. All of it came in a measured tone, like that of a teacher genuinely concerned about everyone’s progress.

  And despite being a Rogue - a class that usually evoked dread and contempt - the party seemed to gravitate toward his guidance. Well, everyone except Jax and me. But while Jax refused to play along because he had effectively lost his position as party leader – even young Henry, Jax’s apprentice, seemed to follow Dalton – I couldn’t bring myself to trust him, no matter what he said or did.

  He was from the same guild as Goren. And I’d be damned if I ever trusted a guild member of the man who had already murdered me eight times.

  Knowing that time was of the essence for me, I often broke away from our formation, rolling on my own to land as many kills as I could on the Undead Warriors while practicing my air magic in the process. Eventually, I gained a total of 510 XP from this section of the tomb.

  Fifty runs might sound like a lot, but if Goren was strong enough to warrant Chronos’ intervention, it meant I needed to gain as much XP as possible. Not just to defeat Erebus and escape this time loop, but to actually stay alive. To do that, I had to be bold. Bold, but not stupid. There was no point in fighting impossible enemies if I was still under leveled, but slaying these undead, for example, was a piece of cake. Even though each only gave a measly 34 XP, it would eventually add up to something significant.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  We had just finished clearing the last chamber and were about to return when Dalton called out to me. “You’ve got a reckless fighting style, son. There are no consequences when the enemies are as weak as those undead, but don’t make a habit of it, okay?”

  I glanced at him, then around us. I wasn’t comfortable with staying one-on-one with him. Goren might’ve sent him to kill me – a loophole in our agreement with Dolos. The rest of our party had already exited this chamber, so I decided to ignore him and walk away.

  “Did I say something wrong?” he called after me, but I kept moving, unwilling to respond.

  “Wait,” he called again, quickening his pace behind me, unrelenting. “Oh, for the love of God, can you wait for a moment? I want to ask you something.”

  For reasons I couldn’t explain, I decided to stop and hear him out.

  “What?”

  “I wanted to ask you something about Goren.” Dalton said.

  “Ask me about Goren?” I echoed, confused. “Isn’t he from your guild?”

  “He is.” Dalton nodded, a weak smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “He’s a good lad.”

  A good lad? The person who murdered me eight times for fun and levels is a good lad?

  Dalton must have noticed my expression because he quickly added. “I see you don’t share the sentiment.”

  “I don’t.” I replied sharply, already turning to leave.

  “Please, wait.” Dalton said, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know how you two know each other or what Goren did to earn your hate, but believe me when I say you’ve likely just misunderstood him.”

  “Misunderstood him?” I repeated, raising both eyebrows. “That guy – “ I stopped myself before saying something I shouldn’t.

  “He’s just terrible at conveying his thoughts and emotions.” Dalton explained, sounding completely oblivious to the reality of the situation. “I’ve known him for a few years now. Everything he’s done for our guild was to make enough money to pay for his mother’s medical bills and to look after his younger brother. A person like that can’t be bad, can they?”

  I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to listen to this nonsense.

  “If you want to ask something, then do it already.” I said impatiently.

  “Well, I sort of already got the answer.” Dalton rubbed the back of his head, a disappointed expression on his face.

  “What?”

  “You see, I don’t think I ever saw Goren with a friend. He’s a lone wolf. But when he came up to me this morning and asked me to switch teams with him and to watch over an Aidan, I was pleasantly surprised.” Dalton paused, his tone softening. “Not only did he have a friend, but he was worried about him - despite their differences – and asked me to look out for him.”

  Dalton sighed heavily before continuing. “I guess what I’m trying to say is…try to forgive him and understand where he’s coming from. He’s had a difficult life, but he clearly values you as a friend.”

  I couldn’t help it - a small chuckle escaped me, quickly growing into laughter. “Oh, that’s rich.”

  Dalton stared at me, confused and bewildered. It was only then that I realized he was likely serious – that this wasn’t some act Goren had set him up for - which somehow made me laugh even harder.

  “Did I say something funny?” Dalton asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

  I wiped a tear from my eye, still chuckling, before turning to leave. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  ***

  Sealed inside by Gaelith.

  The Wolves attacked – [+318 XP]

  The Moles attacked – We escaped.

  Checkpoint was wasted.

  Killed some more Undead on our way – [+238 XP] – Leveled Up.

  [Déjà vu System: Level 7]

  [Loop Count: 15]

  [Experience Points (XP): 2 / 2500]

  Before choosing a skill and a stat to level up, I tricked Yana, sending her down the right corridor at an intersection to escort Melissa and Lena.

  When Checkpoint was wasted, it felt like the weight of the world crashed down on me. I was going to face Goren in fifty runs, with my entire existence on the line - whatever that entailed - and here I was, wasting my strongest skill on nothing.

  This failure, coupled with seeing the mark I’d left for myself, was enough to make me refuse to follow Yana and seek my own solutions. Of course, she never wanted to leave my side, which made tricking her necessary.

  I glanced at the Déjà vu System’s skills. Each of them had a single point, and now I had to decide which one to prioritize – where my attention should go early on. I couldn’t repeat the same mistake I made with my Intelligence stat in the Core System - the way I had ignored it, believing I would become a legendary hero...

  Checkpoint was the strongest and most useful skill, obviously. But judging by my current run, I was likely wasting it too often, setting the anchor but failing to use it. If I wanted to improve my decision-making and retain at least some clues from my previous runs, there was only one choice: Déjà vu.

  [Skill Upgraded: Déjà vu lvl.2]

  [Next Level: lvl.3: Increases the frequency and clarity of Déjà vu even more]

  Good…I think.

  For the stat, I decided to allocate the additional point to Endurance, bringing it to a total of 8. My main thought was simple: increase my stamina to compliment my Agility.

  I turned toward the left corridor to explore the continuation of the mural when I suddenly froze. My heart began racing, and my gaze instinctively dropped to the ground as if danger was lurking there – Déjà vu level 2 at work.

  I decided to activate Afterimage, hoping to see what Déjà vu was trying to warn me about.

  The ghostly version of myself walked forward and then…it fell. It was as if the ground swallowed me.

  A trap!

  From a distance, I carefully scanned the ground where my afterimage had stepped before plummeting into the unknown, taking care not to enter the corridor myself. It looked perfectly normal – nothing out of place.

  Realizing the trap’s mechanism must be well-hidden, I rifled through my inventory and selected a Trap Detection Kit. I hadn’t used one in ages, but its description had stuck with me: A single-use tool, disposable but invaluable when walking into the unknown.

  The kit materialized in my hand – a small, circular device made of metal, fitting perfectly into my palm. Its surface was covered with faintly glowing magical runes.

  Following the instructions I remembered, I set the kit down just at the edge of the corridor and activated it. The runes brightened, and a soft hum filled the air as blue lights spread out of the device, sweeping slowly across the floor, walls, and ceiling inside the corridor.

  Then, the lights stopped, locking onto three distinct spots with beams of red light. The main one targeted a plate on the ground – stepping on it would likely collapse the floor. The other two beams, one on each wall, revealed slits housing hidden crossbows, likely designed to fire at anything moving while the trap reset.

  “Lovely.” I muttered, watching as the device dimmed and crumbled, just like it was advertised.

  I drew Nightfall, and used Luminous Slash, sending two crescents at the hidden crossbows, shattering them both, hoping I hadn’t made too much noise.

  With that taken care of, I stepped inside, moving around the pressure plate on the floor. The floor crackled under my steps, but nothing happened.

  I turned to the wall, examining the continuation of the mural, but most of it was faded or chipped away. I wanted to equip my torch to see it better, but then a low, guttural sound stopped me – a faint grunt, coming from the far end of the corridor.

  My grip on Nightfall tightened instinctively.

  At first, all I could make out was a shadowed figure stepping out from the darkness. I thought it might be an adventurer – another survivor of the Grave Moles’ slaughter who had somehow made it this far. But as the figure moved closer, I realized how wrong I was.

  It was clad in medium-weight armor, but nothing like the standard fare of knights I’d seen before. The armor was blackened and twisted, with spikes jutting from its pauldrons and helmet. An engraving of an X glowed with a sickly green hue on its breastplate. In its hand was a glaive, matching the same eerie green, its end resting on the ground.

  But it wasn’t just the armor that unsettled me – it was the man inside. His flesh pale and rotting. His eyes milky white.

  He reminded me of the Undead Warriors we stumbled upon so far. Yet, he was different as well.

  Above his head, a name and level showed: Undead General Kaelstrife – Level 75.

  Wait a minute…THE General Kaelstrife?? The one from the history books?

  As I stared, he lowered his helmet’s visor, revealing a skull that sent shivers down my spine.

  I barely had time to react as his glaive sliced through the air, coming straight at me.