The Regressed Blood Knight’s Strategy

Chapter 173

The "Stairway of the Gods" was located at the center of the continent.

It was very close to Rehinar.

Positioned at the northwestern edge of the Demon Forest.

"Is this really the Stairway of the Gods?" Kane asked, looking around.

The area was teeming with mutated monsters.

Compared to other places, the number of monsters around them was significantly higher.

"This is the place the quest points to," Ray confirmed.

For Kane, it was his first time seeing the Stairway of the Gods as well.

He had always assumed the Demon Forest was close to the underworld, but he never expected it to serve as a passage to the Celestial realm.

He had thought the region where the Meyer family resided would lead to the Celestial realm instead.

But contrary to his assumptions, the Demon Forest was the true pathway to the Celestial realm.

"We’ve come all this way, but there’s no follow-up quest?"

Ray paced back and forth.

The mutated monsters only observed the two cautiously, but they refrained from attacking outright.

The reason for this behavior wasn’t immediately clear.

"Hey, you dare bare your teeth in front of me? I’ll chew you up without hesitation."

Blata growled, baring his small but sharp fangs.

The mutated monsters tucked their tails and crouched low in submission.

Blata was brimming with energy—combining Blood energy, demonic energy, and Divine Energy (TL/N: Prolly from eating all that Oblivion energy, I guess that’s what they’re calling divine OR maybe it’s some other more holy kind of energy), all in a harmonious balance.

Though he claimed only two-thirds of his power had returned.

Kane believed that most of his strength had already been restored.

This was evident because Kane could clearly sense the overwhelming aura radiating from Blata.

"How fascinating. A Ferocious Species radiating Celestial realm’s energy..."

The "Ferocious species" were mystical creatures associated with dark demonic mana.

Unlike Celestial realm beasts, they weren’t supposed to possess Divine energy.

Yet Blata displayed a unique combination of energies that exceeded imagination.

"He truly is on a different level compared to other Ferocious Species," Kane thought, assessing Blata.

Meanwhile, Ray continued searching for the entrance to the Stairway of the Gods.

"Hey Kane, are you sure this is the place? I can’t see any entrance."

"Let me look," Kane replied.

Closing his eyes, Kane spread his mana across the area.

He detected various energies—

the killing intent of the mutated monsters,

the dark mana of the Demon Forest,

and even the nature energy surrounding them.

Yet, the entrance to the Stairway of the Gods eluded him.

Could it be that the entrance didn’t exist here after all?

At that moment, Blata’s voice rang out.

"Look harder. It’s right in front of you. What are you even looking at?"

Blata scratched his ear with his hind leg, wearing a look of exasperation.

He seemed to be silently watching to see how long it would take for them to figure things out.

Kane had his doubts.

"Blata, do you actually know where the Stairway of the Gods is?" Kane asked.

"Of course I do."

"You’re not saying it’s there, are you?" Kane pointed to an ordinary tree.

"That’s exactly where it is."

"Seriously? That tree is the entrance?"

"Yup. The Stairway of the Gods isn’t as grand as you’d think," Blata replied nonchalantly.

Kane walked toward the ordinary-looking tree.

He used his mana perception to scan it, but he didn’t sense anything unusual.

It was just a regular tree, with nothing special about it.

"Try using the Blood Pact," Blata suggested.

Kane decided to follow Blata’s instructions.

Buzz.

He infused the tree with the fifth form of his Blood Rune, activating the Blood Pact.

Suddenly, the tree transformed. Its bark disappeared, revealing a doorway in its place.

"If humans could sense the Stairway of the Gods, the Celestial Realm would have been invaded countless times by now," Blata remarked.

"That’s a fair point," Kane agreed.

He opened the door.

"A staircase leading downward?"

"Don’t assume the Celestial Realm is always above you," Blata said with a smirk.

Logically, people thought of the Celestial Realm as being in the sky.

Who would ever imagine that a god could reside beneath their feet?

Kane and Ray began descending the staircase.

The space around them was pitch black.

They could only rely on their senses to move forward.

After a long descent, they emerged into a stark white space.

Sitting in the middle of it was a woman, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

* * *

"Did you really find the Stairway of the Gods?"

The woman’s name was Lami.

[Tl/N: Bownjorno gOrLami.]

[PR/N: Si… Correcto. Margharitiii]

She was the guardian who protected the entrance to the Celestial Realm.

She was a Mid-tier god, a being far superior to the lower-tier gods.

With a mere flick of her finger, an ordinary human life would be extinguished without a trace.

Her immense power marked her as a formidable gatekeeper.

She had been watching Kane and Ray\'s movements on a white screen.

"You’re not from the continent, this is fascinating," she remarked.

She stood up and walked toward them.

In that instant, the two of them appeared in the white space.

It was Kane and Ray, just as they had appeared on the screen.

"Welcome. Special humans."

"Do you know us?" Kane asked, and Lami smiled in response.

"That was a casual tone. You’re in a world you don’t know. An unknown world. Which means, you can’t rely solely on your strength and act recklessly."

Her eyes glowed brightly.

The white space that had surrounded them quickly shifted, and they were now floating above the clouds.

Kane and Ray were momentarily stunned.

They had clearly descended moments before, but now they were high in the sky.

It was nothing short of amazing.

Unlike anything they had experienced before.

This was the true presence of a god before them.

At that moment, a message appeared on their holographic display.

[You have completed your visit to the Stairway of the Gods.]

[You are not yet eligible for rewards. Please complete all linked quests.]

[A linked quest has arrived.]

Kane and Ray checked the quest details.

[Main Quest - Celestial realm Trials]

Tier: UR

Description: You have been chosen by the gods for their amusement. Overcome all trials and strike a blow against the gods.

Success Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: Death

"The reward has been transferred," Kane remarked.

"Is it because of the gods\' amusement that we were brought here?" Ray asked, his face twisting in frustration.

As the quest description had stated, their involvement in this game was indeed the result of the gods’ play.

"To find out what kind of game it is, you’ll have to ask the gods directly."

Kane looked at the woman before him.

After all, wasn’t she a god as well?

Kane had thought she would give them an answer.

But she shook her head.

"I\'m only an Mid-tier god. The answers you\'re seeking will come from the King once you pass all the trials."

Kane nodded in understanding.

\'This part of the story is written in the development notes. I’m not entirely sure, but this is exactly the kind of story they said would be implemented, and it’s coming together as planned.\'

That was something he already knew.

After all, only experienced players or developers would have access to those notes.

And as expected, Ray seemed oblivious to it.

"Why is this happening to us? Can’t we just take the easy route?"

"Don’t get worked up."

"Aren’t you angry that we got stuck in this world because of the gods’ game?"

"This is the final chapter. Calm down and focus on passing the trials. We need to get back to reality."

Kane was calm and collected.

This really was the endgame.

Getting worked up wouldn\'t help anything.

He waited for Ray to calm down before speaking again.

"Shall we start?" Lami asked.

When Kane and Ray nodded, several mirrors appeared in front of them.

"The trials are divided into four: the past, the present, the future, and death. The order doesn’t matter, so choose which trial you wish to face first."

Without hesitation, Ray chose the future.

Kane took a while to think.

After some contemplation, he made his decision.

"I’ll choose the present."

Lami sincerely wished them luck.

"I wish you the best of luck. I hope we meet again, alive and well."

Kane and Ray were both summoned to the world of Teverland by the gods, they were unwilling participants.

Lami genuinely hoped they would return safely to their original world.

It would be troublesome if they died and cursed the gods.

Snap!

With a snap of her fingers, two doors appeared—one leading to the future, the other to the present.

Ray opened the door to the future.

"Hurry up and let’s go out."

"Be safe," Kane replied.

He opened the door and stepped into the room of the present.

* * *

The dark space brightened.

"...Where is this?"

It was a familiar place.

It was the very room where he had lived.

A shabby one-room apartment with nothing but a small bed.

On the bed lay his treasure.

It was the VR headset.

With this, he had played "War of the Gods: Infinite Defense."

"What’s the trial supposed to be?"

He pulled out his smartphone and checked the date.

[2024.8.21]

"This is before I was sucked inside in the game ‘War of the Gods’."

But then, a disaster notification sounded on his phone.

[Monstrous creatures spotted at Han River\'s Sevit Island!!! Urgent evacuation advised!]

It was a disaster alert.

"The real world wasn’t a safe place either."

At some point, grotesque creatures started to appear.

Gates opened, and from them, the monsters emerged.

It caused catastrophic damage.

People were killed in their sleep.

On their way to work or while commuting.

In the middle of shopping or on a trip, many had perished.

"So what does this have to do with my trial?"

Just as he was about to lose himself in thoughts, his eyes widened.

"Wait a minute!"

He checked the date on his phone again.

[24.08.21]

"My grandmother fell into a coma at this time!"

It was due to the monsters.

Hunters who hunted the monsters appeared and managed to save her life, but she was exposed to magic and fell into a coma.

"No! I have to stop this!"

Kane rushed out of the room.

He stepped outside and flagged down a taxi.

"Take me to Seoul Express Bus Terminal!"

He said urgently, but the taxi driver refused the ride.

"There\'s a monster in Gangnam, so the traffic’s blocked. You’ll have to find another car."

"My grandmother\'s coming from the countryside! I need to pick her up!"

He pleaded, but was turned away.

He got out of the taxi and tried again with another one, but the situation remained the same.

\'This is the trial!\'

Once again, his grandmother was falling into a coma.

And he was unable to reach her in time.

In the real world, he wasn’t a monster-hunting hunter.

He was just an ordinary office worker.

A gamer who spent his time in his room.

He had no strength to run fast like a hunter.

And he couldn’t fly in the air like Kane either.

"F*ck."

The curse slipped out naturally.

"Goddamn it!"

He stamped his foot.

Then—

Thud!

The ground cracked open like a spider\'s web, and the earth crumbled.

"Mana... I have mana!?"

He hadn’t realized it before, but now he could sense it.

To have mana, he should have a Mana Heart, shouldn’t he?

His heart didn’t have one.

"What’s going on? Are my abilities still active?"

He activated the Blood pact.

The nearby trees lost moisture as the breath drew it in.

But for some reason, the mana vanished immediately.

He tried again, but this time, there was no response at all.

"I need to figure this out quickly, or the same thing will keep happening."

Kane was desperate.

He longed for his powers to return to him in this world.

But his abilities remained elusive.

Then, suddenly, the words of Duke Carl ame to mind.

Even without mana inside, you can still use your strength.