Chapter 223
After counting all the silver coins that Orcus possessed, Rychlen was recognized by Orcus and received his patronage.
Needless to say, he promptly handed over the substantial amount of money he received from Orcus to his parents, thereby improving their household finances.
It’s said that the amount of money was so tremendous that Rychlen’s parents ended up being even wealthier than before his birth.
After that, under Orcus’s sponsorship, Rychlen enhanced his fame by repeatedly seeking out and defeating rumors about powerful monsters. Among the monsters he defeated, the most renowned was the immortal serpent.
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The immortal serpent.
A formidable monster, allegedly born from a snake that stole and consumed someone’s potion of immortality.
Its scales are said to be harder than finely crafted iron armor, and this massive snake heals all its wounds by shedding its skin once every week, reborn anew even if pierced.
The body of this snake was as thick as a century-old tree, and the venom hidden in its fangs was so potent that even a divine being would suffer from it.
The snake, feared even by the gods, was vanquished by Rychlen.
While its iron-like scales could withstand blade attacks, they couldn’t completely absorb the shock from a blunt weapon. No matter how menacing the venom, it posed no real threat unless bitten.
Rychlen pounded the immortal serpent with a sturdy club for three days and nights, and the serpent, realizing it couldn’t defeat him, fled in a disarray.
The snake fled far from Rychlen and entered a deep cave to shed its skin and recover.
That was precisely the moment Rychlen had been waiting for.
Creatures that shed their skin are at their most vulnerable immediately afterward. Even if the immortal serpent could heal all its wounds by shedding its skin, it could not avoid becoming weaker during the process.
At that moment, when its armor-like scales were shed and it weakened, Rychlen’s club struck the immortal serpent’s crown, bringing the immortal snake to its end.
Thus, Rychlen fashioned armor from the skin of the immortal serpent and extracted its venom for use in poison arrows.
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Rychlen’s fame for defeating the immortal serpent soared even higher, inevitably attracting jealousy from others.
Among those envious was the renowned Epona Cavalry Corps of the era.
The Epona Cavalry, who defended the Temple of Sirius and the Crown of Arcadia, sent Rychlen a letter as his fame ascended.
The letter served as both an invitation and a duel challenge.
What the commander of the Epona Cavalry was thinking when sending that letter is unclear, but as a result, the Epona Cavalry found themselves in a duel with Rychlen.
What began as a one-on-one duel between the Epona Cavalry Commander and Rychlen escalated into a full-scale battle involving the entire Epona Cavalry Corps.
It’s said that after an intense struggle, the duel ended with Rychlen as the winner.
Afterward, the Epona Cavalry set aside their jealousy and began to regard Rychlen as a true hero. They even declared that if Rychlen desired, the Epona Cavalry would stand by his side as allies.
Yet, Rychlen merely shook his head at their declaration.
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While flaunting his fame and defeating a multitude of monsters, Rychlen received new news.
However, this time, it wasn’t about a monster.
There was a report that the sacred beast of the flame god, who burns eternally in the desert, had escaped and began rampaging.
The giant lion, adorned with a fiery mane, rampaged outside the desert, but it was not easily dealt with due to its status as a cherished divine beast.
It was fortunate that the wizards of Procyon managed to prevent it from fleeing the desert altogether.
In this way, Rychlen approached the roaming lion without brandishing any weapons, not a club nor a bow, confronting the flaming lion with nothing but his bare hands.
The lion, with its blazing mane and claws that could shred stone, charged fearlessly at Rychlen, who valiantly met the challenge with his bare hands.
After twisting its arms, grabbing its waist, throwing it around, and choking its neck, the lion eventually succumbed and collapsed to the ground.
Thus, Rychlen’s fame grew even more for capturing the sacred beast treasured by the Flame God.
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“Captured a sacred beast? Surely, that’s an exaggeration?”
“I did it, actually. Well, not precisely a pet of the gods; just a lion that I had injected a little strength into for fun.”
I was left speechless by the words of the Dragon Priestess.
How could a human subdue a divine beast with bare hands? No, wait, was it even a divine beast? Was it merely an animal that had been infused with power?
“T-that can’t be…”
“Well, think of it as me saying he’s that strong. Now, moving on to the next topic.”
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With the capture of the divine beast and its return to the Flame God, Rychlen’s fame soared to unimaginable heights.
The enthusiasm for defeating monsters had become so overwhelming that the rumors of monsters coming through Orcus had dulled.
As Rychlen found himself with more free time,
“If there are no monsters to defeat, why not go explore some dangerous places?”
He thought to himself.
The first place he headed was the forbidden land managed by the Temple of Life.
This land, overseen by the pilgrims of the Temple of Life, was filled with the energy of death and deemed off-limits; however, Rychlen utilized his fame to gain the privilege to enter.
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“If it’s a land filled with the aura of death… the Dragon’s Grave?”
“Yes. At the time, it was simply referred to as the Forbidden Land.”
“You’re telling me the first to explore it was Rychlen?”
The dragon priestess nodded slightly.
“The first outsider to step foot in that land, notorious for the emergence of undead monsters, was Rychlen. Prior to that, only those affiliated with the Life Sect were allowed in.”
“That’s… a first for me to hear.”
“The Life Sect kept it a secret to prevent others from entering with intentions of becoming a second or third Rychlen, leading to an increase in corpses causing them trouble. Shortly after that, they did open the entrance though.”
“This… I believe this would garner significant attention if presented to the academic community.”
At my words, the dragon priestess chuckled faintly.
“That part can be disclosed.”
“Then what about Baal…?”
“Baal shouldn’t be mentioned. That’s not ready yet.”
The dragon priestess’s firm statement left me with no words.
What in the world does the name Baal involve?
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After exploring the forbidden land, Rychlen returned with the skull of a giant dragon.
The land was deemed uninhabitable for any life due to the aura of death emanating from the corpse of the deceased dragon. He placed the dragon skull as proof and trembled.
And thus, the forbidden land garnered the name “Dragon’s Grave.”
Afterward, Rychlen voyaged across the world, exploring and defeating monsters. Among notable locations he chose was… the palace of the deep sea, far across the ocean.
Deep beneath the stormy ocean. Beneath the colossal whirlpool that spun continuously. The palace of the deep sea created by the god of the sea.
The palace belonging to the queen revered by mermaids was one that even Rychlen could not enter without the assistance of a mermaid, and it was there that he encountered the mermaid queen.
The beautiful queen, sharing her name with the sea deity Thetis, praised the brave Rychlen for making his way to her deep-sea palace and gifted him a pearl orb the size of his fist. Rychlen boasted about the orb for several years before returning it to the mermaids.
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After traversing the forbidden land filled with death’s aura and the deep-sea palace reserved for mermaids, Rychlen resolved to undertake a new challenge.
That challenge was none other than the endless maze located in Minoa. It was about reaching the bottom of the Infinite Maze and returning.
The stories of the maze had begun in his childhood when he was taught by the king of Minoa.
Tales of a maze whose structure changed daily, continually delving deeper.
For Rychlen, it was only natural to aspire to conquer the maze that no one had claimed to have reached the end of.
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“The story of the Infinite Maze is quite well known.”
“Indeed. Only Rychlen and Asterios, who accompanied him, returned from the depths of the maze.”
I nodded in agreement with the dragon priestess’s statement.
Since it was an event confirmed through various cross-verifications, Rychlen’s conquest of the Infinite Maze was beyond reproach.
Moreover, he hadn’t done it alone; he achieved it alongside his mentor, King Asterios.
“Of course, at that time, Asterios was well past middle age; however, he was still a formidable warrior. To claim Asterios conquered it alone would be a bit much.”
“And yet, you two were the only ones to conquer the maze and return alone.”
The dragon priestess nodded slightly.
“Well, at that time, the total number of floors in the Infinite Maze was rumored to be around 100. When two historical heroes join forces, it’s certainly not impossible for them to achieve it.”
“100 floors…?”
That number of floors had never been clearly established; I wondered how the dragon priestess knew.
Furthermore, she spoke as if she had witnessed Rychlen’s feats firsthand… as if she was quite aware of which ambiguous events were factual or otherwise…
What on earth is the dragon priestess standing before me?
As a slight doubt surfaced, a chilling sensation crept up my spine.
It was as if my intuition warned me not to dig too deep into this matter.
If I dug deeper, the warning screamed that it wouldn’t just conclude cleanly.
“Well then, the final tale is… Of course, I can’t skip this one. Rychlen’s afterlife adventures.”
Unaware of my inner thoughts, the dragon priestess began recounting the most famous of Rychlen’s adventures.
The tale of a great hero who ventured into the afterlife and returned alive.
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