CHAPTER 57: HANGED MAN

Xenos opened his eyes.

The world he materialized into was red.

The sky bled, the clouds wept blood, and the light passing through it looked... sick.

He blinked once and then let out a tiny whistle.

"...damn."

Around him stretched what looked like a graveyard that had eaten a city.

Many half-crumbled towers buried under fields and fields of tombstones.

No doubt, this "spawnpoint" was his Calamity at work again.

Unlucky bastard woke up in the worst place in this dungeon.

Though at least it wasn’t too bad, for he could see the center.

There, in that ruined horizon, stood a tree.

It was massive, its bark black as tar, branches spreading like veins across the sky, sagging under the weight of thousands of nooses, where some swayed empty, but most... didn’t.

And under it, a shadow hung, watching him.

This was where they had come to die.

Where they had ended themselves.

And before he even had time to process it—

"Head to Death and face its hanged wielder."

Someone’s voice resounded, and then the system chimed with a ding!

—

╔════════╗

║NEW QUEST!║

╚════════╝

[Objective: Reach the Hanged Man’s Tree and face Death.]

—

’’Face Death,’ huh?’

Xenos cracked his neck.

’At least it didn’t say win.’

’You shouldn’t joke about that.’

Eris’s voice came weary.

’This place is soaked in Blood... be careful.’

’Careful’s not really my playstyle, you know that.’

’Unfortunately, I do.’

Xenos looked down, a smile making its way onto his face.

He was told to stand before Death, not defeat it.

Simply standing before it would be enough.

Just how strong was it?

And where in Tartaros did they send them?

But before he could even dive into those questions, he was interrupted once more.

This time it wasn’t only a sound, but...

’Movement.’

The earth beneath him shivered.

From between the cracked tombstones slithered something that hissed.

A Lamia... many tens of them.

At least they used to be.

Now, their expected beauty was long gone, their skin grey, and their eyes hollow.

The serpentine bodies twitched with rot; their scales peeled and their ribs exposed.

Their movements were jerky, like puppets tugged by something malicious, perhaps that death figure, while their unhinged jaws swung from side to side as they rushed at him.

’Guess I’m the fresh meat.’

Xenos equipped his sword.

"Alright then. Line up!"

***

"Oh, it seems Disciple Xenos is the first to face monsters!"

Outside the dungeon, back in the Colosseum, Lothar floated in the air before a set of eight massive projections that faced the entire crowd, all eight now focusing on Xenos as he had the more entertaining ’spawnpoint.’

"Will today be the day we finally see him in action?!"

Lothar acted the part of the commentator, speaking with pizzazz.

"Or will we see another tragic death?"

He spoke of death so casually, it almost sounded insane.

"I can’t wait to find out!"

But the crowd ate it all up, loudly cheering.

***

The Lamias didn’t hesitate, and the first of them lunged, its speed shocking for a half-melted monster.

Clang!

His sword caught its strike midair.

Sparks burst, and [Wise Fool] flared.

The moment steel met scale, its chest split open, and the creature folded in two, black ichor spilling over the cracked stones.

"Crit~."

Another lunged from the side, and he pivoted, his blade flashing.

"Crit."

Its head was gone.

Three came next, hissing in unison.

He ducked under one strike, kicked another in the stomach, and used the recoil to spin through the third, his sword a wide arc that left nothing but monster chunks.

’You’re surrounded.’

Eris’s warning came to deaf ears.

’Good.’

Xenos wanted just that.

He met the horde as it erupted from the fog.

Dozens of Lamias, sliding and leaping, their claws swinging at him.

It turned into chaos, the very kind he loved to thrive in.

He weaved through them, every other slash of his sword triggering [Wise Fool].

The crits were instant, easily cutting through even bone.

But it wasn’t clean.

There were too many.

Every time one fell, three more replaced it.

Claws swiped at his cloak, and fangs nearly grazed him at every turn.

He was cutting it close each time until suddenly, one tail whipped across his back, knocking him down while slashing across his back.

Xenos hit the dirt hard, only to then roll with it, laughing.

"Ahahah! This is fun~!"

’Fun? You’re bleeding—’

He stabbed upward through a Lamia’s skull, unintentionally shutting Her up.

’You worry too much.’

’You almost die too much.’

...fair point.

Something that he wasn’t going to admit.

Xenos spun the sword once, flinging off blood, then sprinted again.

He sliced, ducked, and countered, laughing the whole way through.

When any one of them screamed, another exploded into gore.

His gray eyes’ glow started to fade as [Wise Fool] nearly used up what he had.

’Your Divinity is thinning.’

Understanding Eris’s words, Xenos slowed down the spam.

He began to flex his creativity, wasting as little Divinity as possible.

"Hup!"

Impaling one Lamia, he twisted the blade and used her body as a shield against the acid spit of another. Then, without missing a beat, he yanked the sword free, kicked the corpse aside, and sent a horizontal arc that carved three more in half.

Yes, he’d used [Wise Fool] at the end there, but only for a moment.

He couldn’t not use it when the opportunity presented itself.

It wasn’t long before their numbers had lessened, and he was able to see all that was left.

And soon after that, there weren’t any left to see, at least not any alive ones.

Save for his heavy breathing, the realm had turned quiet again.

Blood, both black and red, pooled at his boots.

His blade was the same, blood dripping steadily.

Xenos exhaled slowly.

"And that’s a wrap."

He stood there for a moment, waiting for something to interrupt him.

Once he was sure that he was safe, he relaxed his stance.

’It is ’a wrap.’ Good job, now get going.’

Eris’s fond pushing came through, and he nodded.

’Thanks.’

Wiping blood from his cheek, he began to move.

Though seconds after he did, the Hanged Man’s Tree loomed unnaturally higher.

He could now see its base through the mist, the ground littered with skulls and broken swords.

But that wasn’t what he focused on, as above, swaying lazily from one of the nooses...

’Already?’

There was a new body hanging there.

Xenos took a step closer and narrowed his eyes.

The corpse turned slightly with the wind.

Yeah, it was one of the Disciples.

"...oh."

Eris didn’t say anything to that.

For the first time since arriving, even Xenos felt a little off.

’Hanged Man... huh?’