Chapter 40: 40

Act 9

The mission on the 18th floor was pretty simple . Su-hyeun had to knock down a single object, a single monster .

The mission itself sounded the easiest and simplest . But as a result, the trial on the 18th floor was the most difficult one .

[Knock down an old Imoogi . ]

Although it was described as old, Su-hyeun was dumbfounded about this trial at first .

“Imoogi? Did it just say Imoogi?” he asked .

It was an unreasonable monster to come out on the 18th floor . Although it was a single monster, it was difficult to defeat . After fighting for more than half a day, Su-hyeun finally knocked down Imoogi . Without a second thought, he used transfiguration skills to defeat it .

As a result, Su-hyeun gained the power of the Imoogi, the mythical snaked that tried to become a dragon with divinity .

“Of course, it is not perfect yet,” he thought .

So far, he could not control the power of the Imoogi perfectly . Physically, Su-hyeun was not as powerful as the Imoogi . Because of this, Su-hyeun did not try to the traits of the Imoogi . Unless he was trying to improve his proficiency on purpose . However,

“If I do this…”

Crunch—

As he grasped his hands, he could feel the scales on the back of his hands . Without spreading his magic, he could feel the surroundings and energy vividly . It had been a long time since he felt this .

“Well, then…” he said .

Whip—!

Riiiip—

He tore the energy down that flew in front of him . His long, sharp nails were better than any other sword .

“Watch out! This brat—” one Richie shouted .

“It is too” —Su-hyeun said and grabbed the head of the Richie—”late to watch out . ”

Bam—!

Crack, crack—!

The hallway floor was shattered . Su-hyeun’s hand broke Richie’s head and the Life Stone came out .

Snatch—

Su-hyeun quickly grabbed the Life Stone . At the same time, he glanced at the other three remaining Richies .

“I don’t have much time . I have to finish it quickly,” he thought .

As his five senses extended, he could feel signs from outside of the castle . Soldiers were coming into the castle . Their signs quickly approached . Soon, they would arrive here . Then, it would be difficult for him to keep this state .

“Well…” he said .

Swish—

Su-hyeun’s new form disappeared, leaving afterimages . In an instant, he got closer to the monsters . Three Richies condensed their magic .

Whirl, whirl, whirl—

A solid dark sphere wrapped around Richies . Su-hyeun stroked the sphere with Gram .

Crack, crack—!

Whirl—

A curtain created by the three Richies magic didn’t stay long . It started to crack .

Crack—!

The crack had broken, and huge magic came out from it . Dozens of dark ashes began to embrace Su-hyeun .

Whoosh—!

At that moment, Su-hyeun made the Flame on the other hand . The red Flame quickly got bigger and started to cover the Richies .

“What the…?!” one Richie screamed .

The three Richies were surprised and moved away from Flame . In the middle of that, one Richie pushed another Richie’s back . The Flame pushed the darkness away and turned that Richie into ash . It was the kind of heat that would turn everything, even a Life Stone to ash .

“Now, there are two,” Su-hyeun said .

Slash—!

He swung the sword once more, successfully cutting off one Richie’s arm . He meant to cut the body in half, but only one arm flew away .

Crack—!

The curtain that the Richies made was pointless . They finally realized that and chose to avoid rather than to block .

“We have to get out of here…” one Richie said .

“We can’t win like this,” the other Richie realized when he was Su-hyeun was using the transfiguration skill . He should have figured that out sooner .

Crunch—!

A bird flew from somewhere bit off one Richie’s neck . That Richie’s movement stopped . Soon, his body began to burn .

Crunch—!

Caw, caw—!

A phoenix came and bit off the neck and separated the body and head of one Richie .

There was only one Richie left .

“Damn . No way…” he screamed .

“Yes way,” Su-hyeun said .

Swish—

Su-hyeun’s new form flew to Richie’s front . The surprised Richie stretched his arms quickly . Soon, he released his magic with all his strength .

Whoosh—!

Once again, Guide covered Su-hyeun’s body .

It was a hit .

Richie yelled for joy . Since he swept with the Guide, Su-hyeun would not be safe .

“Finally!” Richie thought .

But his pleasure didn’t last long . When he yelled for joy—

[Indomitable body . ]

Whoosh—!

—Su-hyeun stretched his arm and grabbed Richie’s neck . Richie grabbed Su-hyeun’s wrist with his bony hand as if he couldn’t believe what was happening .

“How could he…!” Richie screamed .

The Guide was the dark magic about space . It was supposed to trample space and the pressure was strong enough to break down quite a bit of steel . In such a space, an ordinary human couldn’t survive .

There were two facts that this Richie overlooked . First, Su-hyeun was not an ordinary human . Second, his body was now assimilated into the body of the Imoogi .

“If you answer my question, I won’t break your head,” Su-hyeun said .

With the threat of Su-hyeun, the magic on Richie’s hand disappeared . He was wanted to live, but he knew he could die if Su-hyeun made the Flame at that moment .

But as Su-hyeun said, if he could answer the question, he would survive . Because Richie’s power was not in the body; it was the Life Stone in his head .

“So, what do you think?” Su-hyeun asked .

Most of the Richies were born from refusing death too frequently . They could not give up their lives . Su-hyeun thought this Richie in front of him would not be much different . And his guess was correct .

“O…K,” Richie said .

Richie, who seemed to be worried for a while, soon accepted Su-hyeun’s proposal . Su-hyeun decided to use this Richie . He could just blow away the body, and there was no reason to keep the promise . There was nothing to worry about .

“First, what’s down here?” he asked .

“Under here…”

The moment Richie tried to open his mouth .

Shiver—

Su-hyeun got chills . He was surprised and released Richie’s neck . He activated the Indomitable body again and quickly fell from the spot .

Squish—

Stab—

Two black spears came out from under his feet . One of them pierced Richie from the bottom . The other rose where Su-hyeun was standing . He could be pierced if he didn’t move . Richie could not continue to speak and stayed still .

Slide—

Clink, clink—

The spears went back to the floor . Life Stone that was pierced fell from Richie’s head to the floor . Richie lost the Life Stone and his life .

“…Well . That is annoying . ” Su-hyeun mumbled .

Su-hyeun wanted to get the answer and tried to leave quickly .

“This way!

“He is here!”

Soldiers found Su-hyeun .

Among them, the man who was at the forefront was skilled . He had the most intense magic of anyone in the castle . He was Maxman .

“Everyone! Don’t approach . Cover me…” Maxman yelled .

When Maxman found Su-hyeun, he pulled his sword and watched him . He soon froze after he saw the area where Su-hyeun and the Richies fought . He found remains .

“What, what is all this?” he asked .

Only bones of the Richies’ remained . And Su-hyeun was standing in the middle . The sight made Maxman very confused .

“Well . Should I say it is good timing…?” Su-hyeun glanced down and said, “you are in charge here, right? Take your men out of the castle, right now . ”

“What are you talking about?” Maxman made an expression that showed his mixed feelings

It was their castle . He was the commander of this castle, and Su-hyeun was the one who had to get out .

But Su-hyeun looked very dignified as if it was his house . Maxman was a bit embarrassed about it, but first, he had to figure out the situation .

“Well, if you look around, you will figure it out . This is what happened,” Su-hyeun said .

“You mean…Richie?” Maxman asked .

“Yes . This is a den of Richies . If you stay here, you will die,” Su-hyeun said .

“Maybe it is you who brought Richies . Or maybe those skeletons were our soldiers . ”

Maxman couldn’t just step out of his protection just because they were Richies . He wasn’t even sure they were Richies . He couldn’t afford to blindly believe the words of an invader .

“Can you see this?” Su-hyeun said .

He lifted the hollow Life Stone on the floor .

“This is Richie’s Life Stone . Richies plant these in their heads and save their lives . ”

“…Prove to me that you didn’t bring these Richies,” Maxman said .

“Well . If I could bring this number of Richies, I wouldn’t make you guys come to the castle . If I was a real enemy, I probably would have just killed everyone already . ”

It was creepy, but it was true . Richie was a monster like a high-ranking wizard . If Richies teamed up with such a skilled swordsman, they would easily raze the castle to the ground .

In such a situation, Su-hyeun acted like this and killed all Richies? That would be nonsense .

“Then, really, Richies were here?” Maxman thought, “if that is true, should we escape the castle as this guy said?”

“Don’t you have to save your soldiers?” Su-hyeun pointed at his feet and said, “If you guys stay here… you all are going to die . ”

It sounded a bit extreme . Nothing was certain . But Su-hyeun’s believed it and fortunately, Maxman thought the same .

“I…” Maxman opened his mouth . When he almost finished his worrying—

-Don’t run away .

Whirl, whirl, whirl—

—they heard the voice ringing the whole castle . It was the voice of Maxman’s immediate superior, who descended from the kingdom .

“What…the…?” Maxman said .

-Don’t run away . Kill that man . Right now .

Whirl, whirl, whirl—

The voice rang the castle . Su-hyeun could tell whose voice it was .

“It is him,” he thought .

It was the Richie that he met the first time when he entered this place . He had the highest concentration of magic . It was that man’s voice .

I am ordering you, as your superior, Maxman .

“Did he just say superior?” Su-hyeun thought .

He looked at Maxman with surprise . Maxman was about to agree with Su-hyeun, but now he was restless .

“So… Richie was drawing feudal allowance . ” he thought .

It was a ridiculous situation . The man in front of Su-hyeun, Maxman, was a soldier . For soldiers, the command of the superior was like the command of a god . It was the absolute rule that had made men like Maxman serve for a lifetime . So, he had no choice but to fight . Even if he thought Su-hyeun was right…

“What should I do?” Maxman had no choice . He had to fight .