ACT 6Dark Piece

What are you doing? Miners! Dedric, Deimos, quickly bring the miners!

Ark shouted at the lifeless raccoon soldiers. Popos health was rapidly decreasing.

Popo lifted his trembling hands.

Ah, Ark-hyung.

Ark shouted as he grasped Popos hands.

Yes, Im here. Hold on and wait. This wound will heal quickly enough.

Hyungdid we fail? Eventually..to stop the plans of evil people.isnt it possible?

Its not over yet!

Master, Ive brought the engineers.

Then Dedric and Deimos appeared, dragging one behind them.

When the engineer poured a potion, Popos health was instantly restored. But the symptom where his health constantly decreased didnt improve. No, instead it seemed to be accelerating.

The confused engineer poured a detoxification potion to try and cleanse it out but the result was the same.

MumDad.Sobbing. Subarutalp is.

Popo was in a delirious mental state and burst into tears.

Damn, what is happening to you?

He had thought everything was resolved just a few moments ago.

But in a short time, the situation immediately became worse. The raccoon troops fell into a state of panic and lost their souls and the seal destruction was still continuing. And now Popo who he thought of as a little brother was dying. There are so many things happening at once that it wasnt possible to contain them all.

Lets try to save Popo.

Surprisingly, the thing that Ark chose was Popo.

And of course, it was not the result of logical judgement.

He knew that it was only a NPC. And once the seal was broken it would be difficult for Ark and the raccoon troops to survive as well as Popo. If he used a rational judgement, he would have decided to move the raccoon troops and figure out a way to stop the seal from being destroyed.

But..he couldnt let Popo die in front of him.

It was an emotional judgment, not a logical one.

.That is a human.

There was nobody that would sacrifice their life for world peace.

But there were a lot of people who would sacrifice their life for a person they held affection for.

Even if he was good at simple maths, it was one that was full of contradiction. But affection wasnt a matter that could be calculated using pros and cons.

Popo, stay with me. Youre not going to die. I will not let you do so.

Ark grabbed Popos hand and used his nursing skill.

At that moment, a phenomenon he was unable to understand took place in the vicinity of Ark. The shared time was stopped. The shaking ground and trembling raccoons, even the dust floating in the air..everything went perfectly still.

What, what the?

Flash-!

Ark turned around as the green light emanating from Popos eyes became more intense. And on one side of the wall, a picture was drawn like a projector screen. It was an image that was stuck in places like the noise in old film.

An image of Yggdrasil, holding u the ceiling of the underground world with its giant trees showed.

In the vicinity of the town, smoke rose and showed raccoon families living peacefully. It was showing a comforting image from the mind. In the video, Popo was visibly laughing while holding the hands of his parents.

At that moment, a close up appearance shed light.

Author.Red Man?

The face was masked but he was recognizable at a glance.

The man had red eyes, red hair and a red aura. He wielded a red sword and made the raccoon village a sea of blood. Overwhelmed raccoons fell one after another. Among those, Popos parents barely hid Popo. The Red Man had killed all the raccoon families and came to the interior of Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil used all its strength but was not able to resist him. The Red Man proposed something to Yggdrasil. However, Yggdrasil refused and the Red Man aimed at Yggdrasil with his sword.

Then, one raccoon attacked the Red Man from the side. It was Popo who had to hide and watch his parents deaths. For vengeance, he had grabbed a dagger and ran after the Red Man. However, Popo collapsed bleeding with one blow.

Yggdrasil was protecting its own spirit was a defense boundary. However, the death of his clan had disturbed the defense enchantment.

The Red Man did not miss the opening.

He allowed Popo to chase him for the sake of this moment! The Red Man squeezed the Heartsoul Bead and tore through the enchantment. And the Heartsoul Bead had powerful magic that was swallowed by Yggdrasil.

A humiliating defeat!

However, even in that desperate moment Yggdrasil didnt give up. Using the last of its strength, Popo was warped to a safe place.

This was an arrangement to protect the ancient vow.

..The video ended there.

At the same time, the brilliance in Popos eyes disappeared and the time that had stopped restarted again.

Suddenly, Ark heard Popos voice in his ear.

Ark-hyung.

Popo.what is it?

I think its all over now.

There was a light of conviction in Popos eyes.

I already died then.

Died?

Because a part of my living body came from Yggdrasil.

!

Yggdrasil already knew then. It couldnt stop the Red Man with its powers. Before being hit with the magic, a part of its spirit moved to me. In order to find the saviour that would stop that guys ambitions..it knows now.

Popo looked at Ark with new eyes.

Yggdrasils awaited saviour was the descendant of Hero Maban..it was Ark-hyung. Then he told me to bring him here to Yggdrasil. Now it is my turn.

Your turn.?

Ark asked with a worried voice.

Popo nodded with a pale smile.

You know. The power of Yggdrasil is necessary to protect the seal. Now, Ill give back the power that Yggdrasil gave me. It should be enough to prevent the resurrection of Ndhggur.

Popo pushed Ark and slowly raised his body.

And he approached the place where the seal was located with weak steps.

Ark looked at his form and tried to talk many times, but only closed his mouth. He would like to ask but was afraid of the answer. Popo lowered his head to the seal for a while and murmured in a low voice.

I wanted to live a little bit more.

..!

I met hyung and discovered the outside world.I would like to hear more things. This world..and hyungwhat adventures hyung hadhow he livedI wanted to know. And if possible..If it is possible to say..

Tears fell from Popos eyes.

Now, wait a minute! Wait, there has to be another way!

When Ark raised his voice, it surprised him.

His partner was a NPC. The NPC would clear up the situation.

Normally, it would be welcomed with open arms. But it wasnt possible to do that.

He didnt see any other way. But..this was different. He didnt want it settled in such a way. It was a NPC but he didnt want the NPC to disappear forever.

However, Popo shook his head.

Im sorry. HyungThe promise to go to the outside world together.I cant keep it.

Flash-!

An enormous light emerged from Popos body. Like a metal of metal put into a flame, it was red before it started turning white.

-The current rate of seal destruction: 99%, 98%, 97%..

The number that had continuously ascended started going down.

Once it spontaneously recovered, the magic was drawn down to a huge circle on the ground.

Popo..!

The devastated Ark looked at Popo with blurry eyes. That was when almost all the cracks returned to its original state.

Suddenly a deafening cry came from the ground as flames emerged. Popos health was reduced to 50%.

Ugh!

Giggling, impertinent raccoon child! This body is an emperor of Niflheim. At best you will just be sealing me again!

It sounded like a voice was coming out from hell!

It was Ndhggur.

After Ndhggur attacked Popo with the flames of hell, the seals destruction rate started climbing again.

The hundreds of years. If you though Ive would leave politely after being sealed for hundreds of years then you miscalculated. Before Yggdrasil fuses with you, you will die without a trace from the fires of hell.

No.I stopIm.IUnderground World and Ark-hyung.Im going to save you!

Impertinent!

Ah ah ah ah ack!

When the fire became stronger, Popos health decreased even more. However, clenched his teeth lightly and endured.

IIm going to..I am from a clan of raccoon warriors.support..Ill do!

Kukuku, you dare defy me?

Once again, the explosive flames became stronger!

Yes, Popo. You can do it.

M-Master!

Ark plunged into the flames.

At the same time, he felt a shock as he immediately lost some health. Ark only felt a degree of the impact, as an NPC Popo would truly feel the pain as the flames burned him. Even so, Popo had not given up.

He was a little boy who had stomached such pain.

If so, it was time to show the will of Ark who was a user!

Ark took off his mantle and used it to block the hole where the flame was emerging. And he closed the lid with his own body.

The mantle which had 50% fire resistance properties, the Veil of Fire. When he switched to a Dark Walker, he gained a 50% resistance to the dark. Fortunately fire and darkness, with the two properties the damage of the fire in the darkness fell by 50%. And 50% of it was all Ark.

Ah, Ark-hyung..!

Popo flinched and stiffened as he watched Ark.

As he looked at Ark, tears flowed down his face.

Popo, do it. Please do! Discard that dragon and throw it back into hell! You can do it! No, it is only possible if it is you. Remember when we first met and you said you wanted to live like a hot foreigner? No, the foreigners arent so hot, youre a few times hotter. This situation is too hot. Damn, do you understand? Popo, when you try youre a guy that can do anything. And.if possible, live. Youre going to live. Become the hero that seals that worm in hell and live.

Ark continuously used his nursing skill.

He had no choice but to scream out all his feelings.

At the moment, Ark saw a mysterious light pour out.

The light seemed to dance in the darkness around Popos body before descending. Popos mental power went down to the bottom of the flames before ascending.

Goodbye, Hyung.

A smile formed around Popos mouth.

However, in a short moment Popo was enveloped by an even stronger light. At the same time, the destruction rate of the seal went down at an incredible rate. Until finally!

-The current rate of seal destruction: 0%

The seal was fully recovered.

Chwarararak, crunch, double bang!

Suddenly huge thick branches stretched out. The branches intertwined together into several layers and formed a ball and chain on the seal.

Then the crack disappeared and a magic circle finished appearing.

Kuaaak, this, unbelievable! No!

Ndhggurs voice faded as he was sealed. And ..Popo changed into light and scattered.

[The Miracle Nursing was successful.True nursing is careful exchanges with your partner.Caregivers are not therapists. Although you can heal the patients wounds, you cant stop death. However, if it was what they truly wanted.You can infuse courage and understanding into them.

You understood Popos behaviour, who had the courage to sacrifice himself. And you learnt about the sacrifices courage by yourself. You understood your partners true sacrifice and respected his intentions. You didnt want to lose Popo, but you did your best to respect his intentions and fulfil his wish.

The true sacrifice of Popo and your sacrifice for each other formed a great rapport that moved Yggdrasil.

Yggdrasil will shed everything about Popo and he will be born again into a new existence. If you want to meet Popo again, grow as you meet the millions of foreigners.

* Due to the success of miracle nursing, all stats increase by 1.

* Affection increases by 10.

* Fame increases by 50.

* Increased the alignment to good by 50.]