CHAPTER SEVEN !
─── final test.

THE DIVINATION CIRCLE INSCRIBED ON THE FLOOR in the middle of the temple rose to a height of about two stairs and then ground to a halt.

"An altar......" Jinwoo was muttering to himself, but the other hunters were listening intently.

Altar?

He definitely just said "altar"......

The one who'd saved their lives twice earlier wasn't some high-rank, spiritually awakened being but Jinwoo, an E-rank hunter whom they usually looked down on.

If it wasn't for Sung, we would be...... Everyone felt the same way.

Jinwoo's words were their sole lifeline. Without realizing this, Jinwoo had let slip the word altar.

Kim caught on quickly. "I see, I see."

He unsheathed a sword from his waist. It was originally made for dealing with magic beasts but was now absolutely essential for a completely different reason.

"I may not be the smartest, but even I get what's going on here."

Others shifted uneasily when they saw the sharp blade of the weapon in Kim's grip.

"Hey, Kim! Why'd you draw your weapon?" "Let's talk it out, okay?"

Now that the highest-rank member of the party, the C-rank Song, was wounded, there was nobody who could rein in Kim, who was regarded as fairly strong among the D-rank hunters.

He pointed at the altar with his sword. "The last commandment is 'thou shall prove thy faith,' and an altar appeared in the middle of the room."

He looked at Jinwoo. "Doesn't this mean we have to sacrifice someone, Sung?"

Jinwoo nodded. He'd had the same thought. One of the six survivors was to become an offering.

That's probably what the last commandment means......

That was the conclusion Jinwoo had reached.

Sensing someone approaching, he looked up and noticed an unnerving look in Kim's eyes as the older man neared him. A bead of sweat slid down Jinwoo's face.

"Mr. Kim...... What—?"

"Shut up and stay still!" Kim yelled, pointing his sword at Song, who had crouched beside Jinwoo to inspect his injuries.

"Who dragged us in here? It was Song, right? Then shouldn't he take responsibility for this damn raid and see it through to the end?"

"Mr. Kim!" Enraged, Jinwoo tried to stand, but he was stopped by Hyeon's soft hand who is worried what will happen to them, to him and to Jinwoo. Jinwoo stopped moving and looked at Song.

"......" Song wordlessly shook his head. His eyes were pleading with Jinwoo to keep quiet. Jinwoo had a lot he wanted to say, but he forced himself to swallow his words.

Song heaved himself to his feet. "Kim is right. I need to take care of this."

"Looks like we're talking the same language now, old man." Kim gestured at the altar with the tip of his sword. "If you understand, let's get this over with. More than ten people are already dead because of you."

Kim's close friend, Park, had also lost his life. With his mind clouded by grief and rage, Kim had effectively forgotten that they'd all taken a vote before entering the double dungeon.

Song spoke to Kim. "I'll do this myself, so could you sheathe your weapon?"

Kim immediately refused. "Why should I trust you? Stop talking and keep walking."

Song sighed and started walking toward the altar. Kim followed him, keeping his weapon leveled at Song's back.

Jinwoo bit his lower lip as he watched them.

This isn't Mr. Song's fault.

It had been a course of action agreed on by everyone. Song didn't deserve the blame just because things had gone south.

But......

Jinwoo didn't have the strength to stop Kim. Kim was one of the strongest D rankers, and Jinwoo was the weakest among E rankers. The difference in their power levels was clear. To make things worse, Jinwoo was also now missing a leg. If he went against Kim, he'd endanger himself as well as Joohee, who was still committed to treating him.

And Hyeon, he didn't want him to cry for him.

"Dammit." Jinwoo squeezed his eyes shut. He'd never resented his own lack of power more than now.

"J-Jinwoo." Hyeon stutters while his hand is on Jinwoo's hand. Jinwoo weakly smiled at him, he sniffed. 'He is still damn adorable.'

"Can we survive r-right?" Hyeon asked Jinwoo, Jinwoo didn't reply at the moment. He nodded his head and smiled again.

"Of course, I will do everything so you can survive." Jinwoo said, making Hyeon tightly hold Jinwoo's hand and glared at him. He slightly bent on Jinwoo.

"We not just me, understand? You and I will survive this... remember we still have a dat–ahem I mean." Jinwoo slightly chuckles and his ears start turning to red.

"Ri-Right." Jinwoo said and Hyeon saw him blushing making his face also turn to red.

Going back, when Song already reached the altar.

Fwoosh!

A single red flame flared up on its side. Everyone watched nervously for what would come next.

However, nothing happened. The appearance of the flame was all that occurred.

"......?"

When nothing more transpired no matter how long they waited, Kim, who'd forced Song onto the altar, and the others were bewildered.

Kim looked back at Jinwoo. "Hey, Sung. Were we wrong?" Jinwoo shook his head.

"I'm not sure, either......"

They'd thought the third commandment would be fulfilled if they sacrificed someone on the altar.

Maybe it's not about offering a sacrifice?

This wasn't exactly bad news for them. If this wasn't about a sacrifice, that meant Song didn't have to die.

Jinwoo's face brightened. He tried to stand while sweating profusely from the effort, so Hyeon and the other hunter rushed to help him up.

"I'd like to take a look at the altar, so could you help me get up there?"

"Jinwoo, your wound is still......" Hyeon worriedly asked.

Joohee stood with him. She was deathly pale from using too much of her magic. Thanks to her efforts, she'd managed to keep his bleeding and pain to a minimum also with the help of Hyeon's potion.

I need to hurry.

Between Hyeon's safety, Joohee's condition, Kim's temper, Song's injury, and the other hunters' fear, Jinwoo was running out of time.

He reached the altar with the help of Hyeon and one hunter. "Let's get on."

Hyeon hesitated momentarily, but the two of them put their faith in Jinwoo and helped him up onto the altar. As they did, three more flames came to life.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Jinwoo's eyes flashed.

The number of flames and the number of people are the same.

Song, Jinwoo, Hyeon and the one hunter who supported him. Four flames for four people. The flames encircled the circumference of the altar.

Judging by the distance between these fires, the circle just needs two more.

It was looking like their remaining companions would have to join them on the altar in order for anything to happen.

Jinwoo asked Song, "Will other hunters come to rescue us if we wait here?"

Song shook his head. "It's been a week since the gate first opened. Those things will happen before any rescuers can get here."

"I guess the association ignored the gate for too long, since it's D rank."

"You know how it is with the association."

A gate would completely open after seven days. The main purpose of raids was to defeat the boss of the dungeon in order to close the gate before a week was up. Failure to do so meant the magic beasts imprisoned within could freely exit to the outside world.

Jinwoo looked behind him. The giant was still sitting on the throne, looking down at them with arrogant eyes.

If that thing gets out......

The damage it would cause was unimaginable. Of course, if that happened, the people in this chamber would be the first slaughtered by either the colossus or the smaller statues.

The only certainty was that they couldn't afford to wait while doing nothing.

Jinwoo called for Joohee, and Kim. "I need you both to come up as well." Joohee climbed onto the altar first. Kim reluctantly followed suit.

Two more flames lit up, and the circle was complete.

Fwoosh!

The hunters jumped in surprise. "Huh?"

"What's going on?"

Something was happening, just as Jinwoo had predicted.

It's starting.

Tiny blue flames ignited along the very edge of the altar, forming a circle. There were easily more than thirty of them, tightly arranged.

...Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six. Jinwoo quickly counted a total of thirty-six small blue fires.

Six red flames match the number of people, but thirty-six blue flames... What do they mean?

Just then...

THUD!

Without warning, the doors suddenly swung open. The hunters reflexively twitched.

"Hngh......!"

Every part of them screamed to run toward the exit, but having witnessed what had happened to the young hunter from the choir, they couldn't bring themselves to take even one step forward. There was no telling how they might be killed by trying to take the initiative.

Everyone looked at Jinwoo for a solution. However, he pressed his lips into a line.

"......" He didn't have any answers right now. He couldn't tell whether the open doors were a trap or if the third commandment had been fulfilled and they could get out of here.

While everyone's eyes were fixed on Jinwoo, a jarring noise resounded throughout the room.

Creeeeeeeak.

Creeeeeeeak.

The hunters urgently scanned the area.

"What now?!"

"Th-they're closing in!"

"Those bastards just moved!"

Their breathing quickened. The party had thought the stone statues moved only when someone approached, but they were now several steps closer.

In an instant, Jinwoo assessed the situation.

No, it's not the stone statues! It's the platforms under them that're moving.

The harsh sound that had hurt their ears was most likely from the platforms scratching the floor as they advanced.

"......Did they stop?" Kim wiped the sweat from his forehead.

While everyone was distracted by the statues, Jinwoo looked down to inspect the blue flames. They were extinguishing one by one. Three were already gone.

Creeeeeeeak.

Someone yelled, "Wh-what? Where's that coming from?"

Jinwoo glanced up. The noise had come from the direction he was facing. He realized the statues in front of him seemed to be a little closer than the others.

Why is it only the ones in front of me......?

Was it because he'd stopped paying attention to them?

Jinwoo closed his eyes to confirm. As soon as he did, the noise came again.

Creeeeeeeak.

The noise stopped when he opened his eyes. The figures had definitely gotten closer.

"What the fuck?!"

"Wh-what do we have to do?"

Jinwoo yelled, "Don't take your eyes off the statues!"

Come to think of it, the sentries had first started moving when everyone had turned to him.

Those things approach when we're not looking at them.

Jinwoo spotted another blue flame going out. Nothing had happened to his group, though; neither were there any changes in the stone statues.

Maybe......?

Jinwoo started counting carefully in his head while he kept an eye on the statues.

Like I thought.

One of the little fires went out every minute.

The blue flames are a timer.

The way to fulfill the third commandment was to endure on the altar until all thirty-six blue flames went out. This meant they were safe as long as they kept an eye on the stone statues. It was very likely they would all survive this final round.

Jinwoo looked down to inspect how many of the blue flames remained in order to calculate how long they had to last.

There are thirty left......

They just had to last thirty minutes!

But that was Jinwoo's fatal mistake. The statues near Jinwoo had approached the altar while he was counting the flames.

Creeeeeeeak.

"Hnnngh...... Aaaaargh!"

The hunter standing with his back to Jinwoo shrieked and bolted toward the doors. The constant grating noise coming from behind him had spooked him.

"Where are you going!" Hyeon shouted to the hunter but the hunter didn't look back at them. With that a red flame went out as soon as he jumped off the altar.

"No!" Jinwoo cried.

Defying all expectations, though, the hunter who had run away screaming his head off safely passed through the open doors.

"H-huh? What just happened, Sung? He got out!"

Jinwoo was faced away from the doors, so he hadn't been able to observe what had happened.

"Did anything change?"

"The......the doors closed a little."

"Are they still closing?"

"No, no. They closed a fraction when that guy left the altar, and then they stopped."

Jinwoo remembered that one of the red flames had gone out when the hunter left the altar.

Shit!

His heart sank. He'd finally figured out the answer to the question that had been bothering him the whole time he'd been standing on the altar.

How was this a way to prove their faith?

He had his answer. It was the absolute worst test for Jinwoo, since he needed someone else's help just to stay upright due to his leg injury.