Engulfed in Flames

In the world of consciousness, Lynch felt as if he had returned once more to the red mist from before he transmigrated.

The only difference was that the blood-red moon that had accompanied him for countless millennia no longer hung above his head, leaving him with an empty feeling inside, as if he had lost something.

Countless twisted shadows roiled within the mist, rustling whispers drifting out from their depths. Everything was eerie beyond measure, sinking him into sheer terror before he even realized it.

Countless fragments of light and shadow flickered repeatedly through Lynch’s consciousness. It was as though billions of years of time were compressed into a single instant, or perhaps an indescribable pair of eyes that had seen through ten million years in a heartbeat.

Merely by existing, it carried a power potent enough to drive someone to madness and despair, continuously eroding Lynch’s willpower and submerging him in immense terror.

Every second, his consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse. Lynch felt he could black out at any moment. He could only fiercely defend his last shred of clarity, toughing it out second by second.

I must not pass out. Passing out means death.

Endure, endure just a bit longer, even a single second will do.

In a daze, the flickering fragments before Lynch’s eyes gradually cleared. He seemed to see this ruined city once again, see the war between the two races, see the dripping, blood-soaked sacrifice, see the leader being slain by a human, and see the swarms of terror claws scattering in panicked flight.

One second, two seconds... Lynch gritted his teeth and held on with all his might, like a lone skiff amidst a storm, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.

Just as despair threatened to overwhelm him, a crimson light suddenly flared before his eyes.

A red moon burst forth from the crimson mist, ascending into the sky. Its cool, clear moonlight shone down upon Lynch just as it had for thousands of millennia past.

At the same time, the gentle female voice chimed in his mind.

【Sacrificial ritual of the Ancient Flicker: eliminate the ritual’s executioner in the memory and disperse the creatures participating in the sacrifice away from the idol to interrupt the relic’s ancient memories.】

“Hooo——”

Clutching his head, Lynch abruptly sat up from the floor, gasping raggedly for breath.

Only then did he realize that his senses had returned. He was still inside the dilapidated mud hut, and the soul-deep dread had completely vanished.

Officer Natalie stood not far away. Her clothes were somewhat disheveled, and grime stained her face and hands, indicating she had fought through several battles. Yet she remained upright by the doorway, her bearing as calm and collected as ever.

“Did you fail? I'm sorry,” Officer Natalie said, letting out a regretful sigh.

“I...” Lynch forced a faint smile, holding his head as he murmured, “I succeeded.”

“It only took you forty-five minutes? Are you certain?” Shock was written plainly across Officer Natalie’s face. “It shouldn't be that fast. You actually pulled it off?”

“Heh, since I dared enter with you, I naturally had something to rely on. If I couldn't even help identify the conditions, what would be the point of coming in? It's just that the difficulty of this condition...”

Lynch let out a deep sigh. The whole thing felt like a dream, but he still relayed the conditions to her.

“Slaying the executioner priest and dispersing the participants. A very reasonable set of conditions.”

It is reasonable, but it's not something a normal person can pull off.

Lynch muttered inwardly. Having struggled all this way, he finally had to face a situation where no tricks would work—only pure strength. A sense of helplessness welled up, making him envy Officer Natalie’s heroic prowess all the more.

“Don't worry,” the lady officer consoled him. “Killing the executioner priest won't be difficult. The real problem is how to disperse these terror claws. With barely a dozen minutes left, it will be tough.”

“What about your...”

“Authority of Law? Even the strictest decree will have violators. To compel a mob of fanatical believers mid-sacrifice to step away from the idol would likely require a high-ranking Soul Severer of rank seven authority or above.”

“If their leader is killed, won't the monsters disperse on their own?”

“Not necessarily.” The lady officer frowned in thought. “These terror claws went extinct back in the Third Age. They only exist within the memories of Dreamlands relics, with scarcely any records left behind. No one knows how they'll react.”

“Is there anything they fear? Fire, for example?”

From his past gaming experience, Lynch's first instinct was: lots of fur means weak to fire.

“That's even harder to confirm, but most living creatures naturally fear fire.” The lady officer gestured around them, shaking her head. “The problem is that in a frigid environment like this, fuel is already a scarce resource. Look around—there isn't even wooden furniture, and we don't have time to scavenge for firewood. How about this: I'll go take out their leader first. If they scatter, great. If not, I'll cull as many as I can. Once their numbers thin enough, they'll break. I'm just worried we won't have enough time.”

“I actually have a way to start a fire, and it doesn't need fuel. Want to give it a shot? If I set a blaze first, it might make taking out the priest easier for you.”

“Can your body really handle it?”

Lynch pulled his shirt open. Root-like withered veins had already overrun his heart, leaving only a tiny spot of flesh color at the center, twitching with each heartbeat as if it could be swallowed whole at any second.

“I'm not sure either. I might collapse the second I step out the door. But I've always believed that one has to fight for their own life. When someone else is risking their neck for me, the least I can do is pitch in everything I've got. That way, I can sleep in peace later—or die in peace. Besides, if we don't try, we'll run out of time anyway. If we do, we might just live.”

“Alright.” The lady officer turned and patted Lynch on the shoulder, her eyes filled with praise. “I was still hesitating about what comes next, but for those words alone—let's go. We'll do it your way. We strike together.”

“Yeah. Just get me into the thick of the monsters first and keep the terror claws off me.”

“No problem.”

Outside, fierce clashes had evidently unfolded over multiple rounds. At least ten corpses lay scattered across the ground. The pack of monsters no longer dared draw close, instead gathering far off beside the statue. Over a hundred of them huddled tightly together, shielding both the leader presiding over the sacrifice and the idol in their midst.

From several dozen meters away, the colossal leader continued to brandish its razor claws, letting out provocative roars.

With an impassive flick of her long hair, Officer Natalie gripped her rapier and strode out of the mud hut.

“Are you ready, Lynch?”

“Yeah.”

Casting aside all hesitation, Lynch even forgot his own physical condition. He pulled the long-treasured ring box from his pocket, took out the ring, and gripped it tightly in his palm.

“Then let's move. May you survive this.”

“Don't forget the bet, Officer,” Lynch said with a smile.

“Hmph. Just watch. Authority, Judgment.”

With the lady officer's words, the image of the small gavel that had previously orbited the scale materialized behind her, flashing briefly before sinking into her body. Immediately, Lynch felt an indescribable majesty radiate from her, making it impossible to look directly at her.

“Follow in my footsteps; don't fall behind,” Officer Natalie said. She paused for a beat before adding softly, “Comrade.”

With that, Officer Natalie surged forward. Her speed mounted rapidly, forcing Lynch into a full sprint just to keep up.

As the distance to the terror claws closed, the lady officer dragged her rapier, her speed spiking violently as she slammed head-on into the foremost terror claw that was bracing for impact.

A dull thud rang out, accompanied by the crack of fracturing bone.

The massive terror claw’s chest caved in, pale-white ribs jutting outward. Unable to even utter a shriek, the three-meter-tall monster was launched into the air like a cannonball, hurtling into its fellows behind it and carving an indentation into the dense pack.

Riding the momentum forward two more strides, the lady officer rested her right hand on the hilt and stomped her left leg violently forward.

Boom! The earth shuddered underfoot, sending several nearby terror claws swaying, off balance.

Drawing power from the stomp, Officer Natalie’s rapier cleared its sheath with a crisp chime. A brilliant flash of light flared like lightning, dazzling even under the daylight.

As if the bodies of the terror claws were immaterial, the sword light flashed straight through them, leaving behind nothing more than a fine thread of red across their torsos.

When the radiance faded, the rapier was already sheathed. Officer Natalie ducked low, slipping between the frozen beasts while stomping her left foot against the ground once more.

Another silent shockwave rippled out, reaching deeper into the pack and sweeping through even more terror claws.

In particular, the few beasts previously grazed by the rapier suddenly spewed fountains of blood along those hairline cuts as the tremor hit. Their bodies slid apart along the incisions, sliced cleanly in two.

Having penetrated to the center of the horde in just a few strides, the lady officer halted. Twisting at the waist, she drew her rapier once more, carving a circle of sword light around herself.

Though a narrow rapier, its edge proved lethally sharp. As the blade whistled past, the surrounding terror claws either recoiled with blood spurting from their torsos or were sheared cleanly in half.

For some reason, a flicker of agony crossed the lady officer’s face, but it vanished in an instant, replaced by resolute determination as she barked, “Lynch, you're up!”

Lynch had kept his head down, trailing close behind the lady officer without sparing a single glance at the ferocious monsters they passed, his palm clamped tightly around the ring.

Hearing Officer Natalie’s call and looking down at the ring in his hand, hesitation crept in.

The closer the moment came, the more uneasy he felt.

Is this thing truly non-lethal, Travel Companion?

Are you really trustworthy? You wouldn't deceive me, would you?

Hesitating for only a second, Lynch gritted his teeth and slipped the ring onto his finger.

She was his only reliance in this world, and she had just helped him.

I trust you, Travel Companion.

【Mm. You have three minutes of safe usage time. Wishing you an enjoyable experience.】

That sounds a bit malicious...

The instant he put on the ring, the instructions for its use sprang into his mind. But before Lynch could process them, excruciating pain swept through his entire body.

Flames burst forth; fire engulfed his body.

Relentless searing heat consumed him. Every inch of skin suffered the licking of flames. Agony ravaged Lynch’s body in an all-encompassing torment from the inside out, as though his skin were being flayed, his muscles shredded again and again. Every second felt like suffering in the depths of hell.

Lynch wanted to scream, but even a scream proved an impossible luxury. Only then did he realize he no longer had a mouth.

To be precise, he had lost his physical body, transformed entirely into a flaming humanoid figure.

Yet the pain persisted. The torturous burning made him want to pull the ring off.

Though his body had turned to fire, the ring remarkably remained in place. He could pull it off with a reach of his hand, but his last remaining sliver of reason reined him in just in time.

Fuck, this experience is way too “enjoyable.”

Three minutes. What am I waiting for? You bastard terror claws, come on! Let's all have fun together!

Ferocity erupted within him. The blazing humanoid form, resembling a towering bonfire, sprang into motion, lunging straight toward the nearest terror claw.

Before the terror claw could react, the flaming figure clung tightly to it. Its thick pelt ignited instantly, its piercing shriek ringing across the square.

Engulfed in flames and carrying the fiery Lynch latched onto its back, the terror claw rampaged wildly. The blaze on its body ignited nearby beasts, sending the huddled pack scattering in panic.

“Roar, roar!”

Seeing the situation descend into chaos, the leader beside the idol bellowed loudly. Following the roar, aside from the one completely set ablaze by Lynch that continued to run amok, the other terror claws quickly calmed down.

Yet the second victim appeared almost immediately.

Lynch had already released his first target and charged toward another terror claw. The chosen victim swung its claws in terror, trying to tear the fiery humanoid to shreds.

Yet fire could not be torn apart.

Its claws swiped through the flaming figure several times without effect, unable to halt the blaze’s approach. Locked in the fiery Lynch’s embrace, it wailed as it became a second crazed, running source of fire.

“Roar!”

The leader could bear it no longer. Leaping forward, it appeared before the first victim. With a flash of its claws, it cleanly decapitated the burning terror claw, putting an end to its agony.

Lifting its kin’s head high overhead, the leader let out an even louder howl. As if cowed by the display, the panicked terror claws gradually settled down, their gazes locking onto the leader holding the severed head.

At that very moment, right before the eyes of every terror claw.

The lady in men's attire, clad in a trench coat and top hat, burst before the leader without warning.

“You've exposed yourself.”

Draw blade. Slash.