Became the Weapon Monopolist of the Gods-Chapter 94: Black Tower (2)

The pure protection dispels the trauma.

My Moonlight Seal shone, and the trauma created by the Nightmare began to fade away.

The Nightmare’s ability, based on enchantment, didn’t work on me as I was Artemis’s Apostle.

But even though the trauma was gone, the dream didn’t end.

—The Nightmare's trauma unfolds.

A woman appeared in the background of a temple shrouded in night.

She had snow-white hair and blood-red eyes, as if she had been drinking blood.

The woman appeared exceedingly ordinary.

Like others, she filled her stomach with bread and soup, cleaned the temple by day, and after sunset, she would sew old clothes under candlelight before falling asleep in her bedding.

What set her apart from others was the fact that the woman suffered from albinism.

Albinism.

Another word for it was Albino.

It was a congenital disease where the skin, eyes, and hair lacked pigment.

The woman, born without pigmentation, could not go out under the “sunlight.”

If she were exposed to sunlight, her skin would burn easily, causing burns, so she could only move at night, and in an era where medicine wasn’t developed, it was considered not just an illness but a curse.

Not being able to go out in the sunlight was seen as proof that she had committed a sin.

The woman, under the pretext of repenting for her sins, spent her whole life locked in the temple.

Then, one day, a man came to the temple where the woman stayed.

The man, who came to pray to the gods, was the first to look at her as an equal, as a human.

After that, the man came to the temple every week, and the woman began to eagerly wait for his visits.

As their feelings deepened, the woman became distressed by her difference.

The woman’s eyes reflected in the moonlit tea cup were as red as blood.

The man accepted even the woman's differences.

But one day, the man who had promised to stay with her forever stopped visiting the temple.

Instead, people in white robes came and hung the woman on a witch’s execution scaffold.

It was a witch trial.

Whoosh—

Even as she burned to ash, the woman continued to wait for the man who no longer came.

Even as a soul, she waited endlessly.

And just as her waiting was forgotten, as it no longer was waiting, people in black clothes came to her, and the dream came to an end.

—The trauma ends.

“...”

When I opened my eyes, the dark night spread before me.

I recalled the dream I had just seen.

It was easy to guess who the woman in the dream was.

‘Nightmare.’

I had heard the voice before the dream began, saying that Nightmare’s trauma was unfolding.

As I repelled the power of enchantment, Nightmare’s trauma had flowed into me.

‘Was she the victim of a witch trial?’

It was an unimaginable thought now, but until a few centuries ago, people were still being falsely accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake in Europe.

If I hadn’t saved Jeanne, she too would have been burned at the stake, falsely accused of witchcraft.

Considering the era, it made sense that Nightmare, who had albinism, would be accused of witchcraft.

People with albinism were considered the embodiment of demons in medieval Europe.

The man would have found it difficult to save Nightmare.

If he wasn't careful, he might have been accused of being an accomplice to witchcraft, and he probably didn’t want to risk that.

It was just an ordinary story of misfortune.

The problem was that the Mines used this to turn the woman into Nightmare.

The people in black who appeared at the end of the woman’s life were demon worshippers.

By the way...

“Another fall.”

I couldn’t see Vanesha or Jeanne.

It seemed that whenever I moved between floors, the space shifted randomly.

“Cancel summoning.”

—Summoning cannot be canceled while in trauma.

“Hmm.”

I furrowed my brow.

I had feared that Vanesha and Jeanne might be exposed to trauma, but my forced summoning cancelation didn’t work.

At this point, I had to find them as quickly as possible.

I hurriedly started moving.

The world inside the tower was a maze made of shrubs taller than people.

I tried to jump over them, but as I jumped, the height of the fence increased.

For a moment, I caught a glimpse of what was beyond the fence, and it was a maze tangled in confusion.

“What a troublesome space.”

The maze was already complicated, but I couldn’t tell what was inside. freewebnoveℓ.com

There was a high chance that a monster was lurking or traps were set, so I couldn’t just move blindly.

But I didn’t hesitate and raised Artemis’s bow.

If this was a world created by Nightmare, then the maze must also be an illusion made of dreams.

Whoosh—

Artemis’s bow shone softly, and an arrow made of moonlight was nocked.

I drew the bowstring, aimed at the maze, and released it.

Fiiiing—

The moonlight arrow flew straight and cleanly.

Swoosh...

As if the illusion vanished, all the fences in the path of the arrow collapsed.

In an instant, a straight and clear path appeared.

I followed the path created by the arrow and quickly left the maze.

“Ahhh!”

“Help me!”

“Don’t come!”

“This monster’s nothing!”

“Go away!”

As I passed by, I saw Hunters scattered throughout the maze, either tormented by nightmares or battling monsters.

Just as I expected, the maze was filled with traps and monsters.

“If I tried to pass through normally, it would’ve taken a long time.”

Shaking my head at the chaotic scene, I quickly exited the maze.

As I made my way out, I kept glancing around, but I couldn’t find Vanesha or Jeanne.

“...Did they get separated?”

I was starting to panic.

Since Jeanne’s bracelet wasn’t ringing, it seemed that they had moved to a different floor.

—Who are you!?

Just then, a knight in white armor, standing at the end of the maze, charged toward me.

With clothing that didn’t fit the time period, I didn’t hesitate and shot my bow.

Swoosh...

The moonlight arrow pierced the knight’s abdomen, and the knight dissolved like a dream.

Stepping over the dissolving knight, I exited the maze and was greeted by a familiar space.

It was the medieval village where Nightmare had lived in the dream.

Beyond the village, bright red flames were rising into the air.

Whoooosh—

The flames that seemed to burn the world originated from the temple where Nightmare had been trapped.

Gathered around the unextinguishable flames were about ten Hunters who had overcome the trauma.

They were all dressed in black high-neck coats.

‘Samdocheon.’

One of the three major guilds of Korea and the guild I had once belonged to.

They weren’t even thinking about going into the flames, just standing and watching.

The flames surrounding the temple were so hot that I could feel their heat even from a distance.

It was the most real fire I had ever seen, more real than any illusion I had encountered.

That was because the fire was based on reality.

Nightmare, who had been falsely accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake, knew the pain of the fire better than anyone else.

Among the Hunters, a short girl wearing a large witch hat stood out.

It was Baek Seo-rin, the leader of Samdocheon.

What was strange was that she was leaning against a guild member, flailing her short limbs as if struggling.

“Ugh, ugh!”

Seeing her gasping for breath as ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) if she had fallen into water, something came to mind.

‘Baek Seo-rin was a beer bottle.’

Not just any beer bottle, but a serious one.

Whenever she entered the water, her body would sink as if cursed.

That was Baek Seo-rin.

It was because of this that she couldn’t challenge the Myeongnyang Gate.

It was Baek Seo-rin’s chronic weakness.

It seemed that this weakness had manifested again, as Baek Seo-rin was struggling in the trauma.

I had wondered why Samdocheon couldn’t tackle the Black Tower, and now I understood the hidden reason.

I knew that Baek Seo-rin would never overcome her beer bottle weakness.

Unfortunately, none of Samdocheon’s guild members, aside from Baek Seo-rin, had the ability to eliminate Nightmare’s flames.

“Grrr.”

“Guild leader, breathe! Breathe!”

As the Hunters rushed to pat Baek Seo-rin’s back, I moved toward the flames.

“Ah! It’s dangerous!”

“That fire...!”

Shocked voices followed me, but I didn’t hesitate.

Whooooosh—

My vision turned red.

I could barely breathe, and the air was hot.

The bright red flames writhed like a serpent’s tongue, closing in.

For a moment, the Artemis bow in my hand emitted a soft moonlight.

Then, strangely enough, the flames that had been approaching stopped.

Step— Step—

The flames parted as I walked.

Even though the fire seemed more real than any truth, it was still an illusion created by Nightmare.

And beyond the flames, inside the temple, I could face Nightmare.

The woman with snow-white hair and blood-red eyes.

The woman who had been falsely accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake in the dream was there.

[Jeanne d'Arc’s trauma unfolds.]

—It’s Jeanne d'Arc! It’s Jeanne d'Arc!

—This wicked witch! She deceived us!

—Filthy witch!

—Ughhh!

The people of France, gathered on the street, threw stones at Jeanne d'Arc as she was dragged to the heretic trial.