Chapter 60

“As expected,「Mark of Death」works fine. I suppose this means that ‘Death Magic’ doesn’t exist?”

While Jae muttered to himself, Wrath was writing on the floor, bounded by black chains and yelling in agony.

“AAGGGHHHHH...!!! FUCK, JAE--kahk!”

“Oh, shut up. It’s bad enough just having you whine in my head like a child all the time.”

Alright, now that he’s subdued, should I head back after getting Bailey? We don’t really need to spend any more time here than is necessary. I’ll acquire max-level「Wrath」and then...

It was impossible for Jae to plan for what they will do after he and Bailey exit the Dungeon since they didn’t know whether they would still be in the Southern Continent or somewhere else entirely.

Oh, right, aside from figuring out whatever that Pride notification meant, I also need to choose a Class when I leave...

When he reminded himself of it, there were more than just a few things he needed to sort out after he exited the Dungeon. The mere thought of it all tired him out.

Anyway, it’s been such a long time since I fought while relying solely on skills and my own fists. Thankfully, I wasn’t too rusty. Though Wrath certainly seemed crude at fighting; perhaps it’s been far too long for him, or maybe it’s just his personality.

The number of skills acquired through「Gluttony」reached into an amount that was much larger than any ordinary human could possibly come by in a lifetime. It wasn’t quite hundreds, but it went beyond dozens at the very least. Thus, his rather short skirmish with Wrath was not nearly enough of an opportunity to use most of them.

I even had a skill once acquired from a Salamander called「Fire Eating」, but I didn’t use it since it’s only [Lv.1] and I was unsure of its effectiveness against Soulfire. I wasn’t able to use things like「Lash Out」or「Faking」, which were acquired from the Mimics of the Sloth Dungeon, either.

However, even without them, it was more than enough to win against Wrath, who wasn’t nearly as big a threat as Jae anticipated.

“Right. Wrath, how come you’re so weak, huh?”

He turned to the guy and asked, but all he got in reply was a distorted cry.

“GAAAAAHHH~!!”

“Having the power of Causality Interference... It sounds absurdly powerful, but all you did with it was make me trip a few times? Hell, even without magic and Unique Skills I can beat you.”

Jae peered down at Wrath writhing around on the floor, bounded by chains.「Mark of Death」drained HP and MP proportional to Jae’s Magic stat value, but it didn’t require any magic or mana itself to be used, so it was still effective even in this place of [Spatial Magic Interference].

The only thing is, there was a limited amount of time left before he would die, and so Jae needed the information quickly. Although Wrath would most definitely return in the future, he didn’t know how long it might take.

“Ugghhhh... You fucker... I thought it’d be... the perfect weapon... against you, but... son of a bitch, it didn’t work!”

“Hm? What didn’t work?”

He’s actually going to tell me? This stubborn idiot?

“Causality...... Heh, you’re gonna figure it out once you leave here anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t tell you now... Jae--Ehkahahkahaghk! Kuhuh!”

Wrath began to cough roughly with an eerie grin plastered on his face as he laughed.

His sneering expression, which seemed to be mocking Jae, was the most disturbing thing he had seen in a long while.

“Jae, besides that there’s somethin’ you oughta know...”

“What?”

“You... You’re not ready for it yet... That guy... He’ll take away everything if it means his win...”

He stared at Wrath with a bewildered, clearly unhappy look, “What the hell are you talking about? Who’s gonna take what now?”

“Heh. He can’t see us now because of the magic interference, so I’m free to tell you... Currently, you’re weak.”

“...I thought it was going to be something serious but it turns out to be nothing. Isn’t calling me weak ironic coming from you?”

“Heh... You’ve got no idea. If only you weren’t such a cheating bastard, I’d have won the moment you entered my sight.”

“Is that right?”

“It is. With the causality, all your wounds are supposed to never heal. It includes old ones that have already healed; they get reopened. That’s not even including the cause and effect, but with that alone, the more battles my opponent has gone through, the easier it is to defeat them.”

“And you’re saying it didn’t work on me?”

“Yes, you fucker. I thought it would be especially effective on you since you’re a dirty rat who already died over a dozen times, but it did nothing. All I had was the cause and effect, but I can’t even use it properly...”

“...I see.”

I dodged a big fucking bullet there, huh......

“Anyway, you’re far, FAR too weak at the moment for that guy.”

“Who?”

“No, I can’t. He may not know about this conversation, but it’ll all be over if I say his name.”

With that Wrath’s forehead hit the floor. Jae couldn’t see his face because of it, but he could sense a strange feeling he never thought Wrath could express. As he stared at the back of his head, he gulped, both curious and slightly afraid, waiting for him to continue.

“...That... thing... is more than simply monstrous. Remember my words, or we’ll all die, and if we do... There won’t be any coming back.”

“‘All’? Wait, what do you mean?”

Still on the ground, Wrath’s head rhythmically moved side-to-side, indicating that he couldn’t give an answer. Looking closely, Jae noticed his trembling, but he was unsure if its origins were fear, or his lifeforce being slowly drained away by the black chains.

“...”

He finally realised that Wrath was being sincere. It was unsettling, but it only meant that the matter was this serious.

“Wrath. What do you suggest I do then?”

“......Break the limits. Achieve [Ex.], or everything you’ve worked for will be gone in a flash. Even then, whether it’ll be enough...”

“Limits... Then, what is ‘[Ex.]’, and how do I achieve it?”

It doesn’t have anything to do with the skill,「Limit Break」, right? No, it can’t; this definitely seems to be something different.

“I only heard this through Greed, but... Apparently, there’s an ancient myth about a level above the limit. And that is, [Ex.].”

Above [Lv.MAX]? Sure, I know there were similar things in fiction and games on Earth, like the concept of reaching prestige in a game, but I never imagined it’d exist in a real-life System like the one in this world... If it’s even the same thing.

“Right, but how do I get that? And, unless it’s you guys, I don’t really have any skills that’d be useful, even if I [Ex.]’d them. But is that possible?”

“...It’s relevant to us, too. We couldn’t say it before, but when the Dungeons are cleared―all seven of them―there’s a bonus. I dunno what it is though.”

“Really? Well, I expected something like that, but how come you can all of a sudden tell me all this? And, wait, you were just trying to kill me, right? Why would I trust you?”

“Huh...? N-No, wa-wait, wait! We’ve known each other for years! I’m gonna be stuck with you for the rest of my life, so I thought to make it as comfortable as I can...!”

“...Sure."

Well, it doesn't hurt to listen at least. He's not smart enough to trick me.

"Anyway, how can you tell me this now? You weren’t telling me so much stuff which would be useful to know before.”

“Oh. Like I said, we’re not being watched in this place because of the zone I installed. Gods use magic to observe humans, so--”

“Gods?”

“...”

“When were Gods ever mentioned?”

“...No, it was my mistake--”

“Hold on. The guy you’re talking about... Is it that God?”

“...It is.”

Jae let loose a hefty sigh. With that one piece of information, he felt many things click into place like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. His mind, cleared of distraction, felt sharper.

The image of a black mist in the shape of a friendly human appeared in his head.

Sinful God... Reius, huh? It was obvious that he’s a bad guy since all the real Gods despise him and he’s suspicious as all hell, but... He’s been so helpful. No, well, I guess that’s only because he wants to get me on his side. Revenge on the Gods is his goal, but why would I lose everything because of him? I’m not on the Gods’ side, and Reius has no power right now anyway.

Glancing at Wrath, Jae guessed he knew something deeper.

“You know that he’s a World Traveller, right?”

“Yes. We’ve seen his... true form. It’s not something a human, or any mortal being for that matter, could resist... I know you don’t fully trust him, which is good, but even that little amount of trust can be exploited. No, it definitely will. It’s better to believe you know nothing than to believe in misinformation and lies.”

“Hm? What has he said that I believe that isn’t true?”

“I dunno, I can't detect lies. Probably a lot. But, what’s most important is his power. What do you think happens to a Dungeon after it collapses? The Dungeons were only made possible through his power, so of course, when they collapse, a portion of his power is returned to him.”

“Ah... Wait. I’m sure he created the Dungeons and distributed power among the seven of you before he was fully sealed as a shittier God. Doing it this way, he can ensure that he retains his full power even after getting his status reduced, while also making me stronger in the process. If it was him, I wouldn't be surprised if it even made him stronger.”

“Huh? I don’t know how it works, you bastard.”

“It must be. It’s the only way he can regain his power without the Gods’ knowledge. The Gods―although they can interfere with the System, it’s only to a certain extent. Otherwise, wouldn’t they make their Seraphim the most powerful races so that they can control everything? Even without that, there's a bunch of Gods, so it's not like only one would be able to control everything.”

“Uh... Maybe?”

“It must be like that. I don’t know how the System was created or how it’s managed, but as a God, Reius was able to gain access to it. Since he’s getting his power back through the system, there’s nothing the Gods can do about it. No, it’s possible they aren’t even aware of it. It may be undetectable depending on how it's managed.”

“Sure...?”

“On the flip side, his power isn’t the only thing he gets from it―with my trust, he gets a powerful ally, too. I see what he’s doing now. He's trying to make me powerful and get me on his side at the same time in order to use me in a fight against the Gods. To be honest, it's not that surprising. So...”

“...”

Until now, the length of Wrath’s sentences decreased because he couldn’t understand what Jae was saying. Now, he decided that simply saying nothing was easier.

“I need to kill him, huh... Since he’s technically a God, it’ll be difficult.”

However, he couldn’t just stay silent now.

“What...? No, I said it before, you idiot! He’s a fucking monster!”

“Obviously, I’ve got a plan. Well, aside from not knowing whether「Mark of Death」will work or not, there are not too many variables I need to worry about. Most likely, he won’t try and have me killed before he gets his revenge on the Gods. I don’t think that’s even possible anyway though since I can’t die.”

No, the resurrection ability is something given to me by the Sinful God. I may be wrong about this since it’s part of the System, but there’s a high chance that other God’s apostles will have skills that counter mine... Probably, the Seraphim will have a few like that. Hm. That makes it more difficult.

Aside from that, Jae had a lot of thoughts. For one, he didn’t expect to bring any allies into the fight. After all, the enemy was on the level of the divine, so it’d most likely be even more perilous than fighting multiple Aphy-level Dragons. He couldn’t bring Nazar either, because of the risk that his eyes wouldn’t work.

No, the fact that he’s classified as a God means the Evil Eyes will almost definitely not work against him. They’re only Unique Skills, after all, and they didn't even work against the Scylla.

“By the time I clear all seven Dungeons, I’ll be far, far stronger than now, right? It may even be more than expected. My best bet is if I gain the status of a God myself.”

“...Is that even possible? Even with the Level Limit expansion, you can only go so far... As you are now, you couldn’t beat Pride by himself, let alone a God. Jae, you moron, are you even using your brain?”

“Keep going on like that and those chains’ll kill you.”

“Fuck you.”

“Anyway, you said it yourself―break through the limits and achieve [Ex.]-level skills. It should be possible since I’m a World Traveller and can level up skills quickly. I don’t know if「Gluttony」would help with that, but even without it, Reius himself is proof that it’s possible.”

“Huh? How?”

“Well, he was never originally a God, was he? He gained the status from the Gods themselves, so I should be able to do the same thing. He wants to kill them, and they want to get rid of him, so if I help them kill him, they’ll make me a God to achieve that, right?”

Although, if that were to be my plan, then killing any Virtue holders would be bad... But, looking at what happened with Ariel, I don’t think they’ll leave me alone. Considering that, maybe the whole idea of getting the Gods’ help is just trash, to begin with.

“Uh... Dunno. Never seen ‘em, so who knows what they’re like.”

“Right... Let’s scrap that plan. Gods who only see me as an「Apostle of Sin」and nothing else won’t listen to my words and will only see me as an enemy. Negotiating is something they’ve probably never done and since I’m his ‘apostle’, they wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

Of course, this was not certain, but to Jae, it was the most likely outcome. Therefore, if it was going to be like this, he would have to do it without the Gods’ assistance.

Oh, no, wait, there may be something... Yeah. Yeah, no, there is a way I can use them without it being too risky... It might work.

“I guess. Kaghk! Kuhuh...! Ugh, hey, can’t you get rid of these chains? I’m seriously boutta die here.”

“Hm? Well, I’ve never tried deactivating「Mark of Death」, but I don’t need to, do I? You’ll still be alive inside my head, and the magic interference zone won’t disappear until I leave the Dungeon, right? There’s no reason for me to save you. On the contrary, you might just attack me again, so it’s better to keep you like this.”

“You bastard...”

“I need to kill you to clear the Dungeon anyway.”

“Fucking... Asshole.”

Ignoring Wrath, Jae knew he didn’t have much time left to live. With the remaining time, he sorted out his thoughts and future plans. By the time he was finished...

“Aaaarrghhhh...!!”

Wrath let out a final, agonised scream before collapsing to the ground.

Target eliminated Targets remaining - 0 / 6 Skill「Mark of Death [Upgraded]」cannot be used for 48 hours

The obsidian mist chains previously binding his body slowly vanished along with the black glove on Jae’s hand.

You have defeated the boss of the『Wrath Dungeon』 Dungeon exit has opened

Jae turned his head the instant the notifications appeared.

Just above the rubble of the prison where Wrath first came from, the wild and fiery orange portal appeared. He wondered if Bailey had also received the notifications for a second but that thought was quickly swept away when he sensed a group of people approaching.

As they came from the direction of the village, Jae simply waited for them. As expected, they were those from the Aram. His sharp hearing picked up on mutterings and murmurs coming from the group just behind the man.

“Hey, that person on the ground...!”

“It-it’s the Forsaken Devil!”

“Is it really!? Then, that guy is the one that took him down? No, what, he’s unscathed?”

“Fuck, he did it by himself...? Who is this guy?”

The man at the head of the group then raised his voice as they drew closer.

“Woaaah! Jae! You... Are you alright!?”

In response, a light smile appeared on his face and he waved. Asik was the one to call out, and he was the only person Jae had really spoken to since coming here, so he was glad to have at least built some kind of friendship, however small or brief it may be.

They really are good people. Nazar... should be proud.

At that moment, two kids entered his sight. One of them was the person he came with.

“Bailey.”

At his beckoning, Bailey trotted over. The Aram boy beside him followed, looking at Jae with a curious gaze. Jae, who noticed him, turned to Bailey with a smirk.

“I see you’ve made a friend?”

“Ah! Well. We’re the same age. But, Master, this person...”

Predicting his thoughts, Jae asked in a serious voice.

“Did you want to bring him with us?”

Frozen stiff, Bailey barely managed to shake his head.

“...No... It would be irresponsible...”

Jae gently placed a hand on his head and crouched down. He seemed satisfied with the boy’s answer.

“It’s important that you can recognise that. Keep this experience in mind for future reference, okay?”

This time, it might be okay though...

“Yes... Oh, yeah, there’s something else too!”

“What is it?”

Bailey then turned to the boy.

“Hey, can you say your name?”

Examining him again, Jae thought he looked familiar. Despite being very young, he could recognise his extraordinarily beautiful features.

Sharp jaw, long and spiky, amber-coloured hair, orange eyes like a flame...

Looking warily at Jae, the boy hesitantly introduced himself.

“Ni-nice to meet you. My name is Nazar.”

Oh, my god...

A few months ago, there was chaos in the Demon Queen’s castle.

The root cause of it was her youngest daughter―Rena Illujhin was complaining about her mother’s ‘outrageous’ remarks.

To put it bluntly, she was informed of Jae’s passing away.

Of course, Rena rejected even the slightest notion of the idea and refused to leave her room so long as the Queen, Leila, kept talking to her about ‘getting over it’.

Ultimately, she gave up and decided to do a proper search. Eventually, the results were that the individual was indeed alive.

It was thanks to the claims of a famous seafarer/merchant who frequently travelled to and from the Southern Continent. His name was Altair, and he confirmed that Jae was alive through differences in the time of his meeting with Jae and the time the death notification appeared for Reon Midas.

Thanks to that, Rena calmed down and warned her mother not to speak of such matters again.

“I told you Daddy would never die!”, she said boldly.

Anyway, that’s how the incident was settled. However, Rena was not the only one in the Queen’s castle to have freaked out at the news of Jae’s death, and that’s because Ryan’s party had also arrived just over a week after the fact.

It took almost a month for the truth that he wasn’t dead to surface, so they all sat dejectedly in the castle for more than just a couple of weeks. Fortunately, they didn’t leave immediately as they didn’t know where to go with no destination.

After talking with Leila, they all decided to wait until Jae returned from the Southern Continent. In the meantime, they would help out with the Demons’ conquest of the Land of Beasts―not only was it their part of the deal, but it would also allow them to grow stronger... and not be bored.

There was another condition for them while they were fighting in the Land of Beasts, however, and it was to bring Rena along with them.

If she were honest, Leila had a hard time making this decision. It was something that Rena herself wanted―to fight and grow―but Leila was not fond of the idea due to the perilous dangers involved.

In the end, she admitted that merely staying cooped up in the castle would only have a negative influence on her and allowed her to go. Putting her together with Ryan’s adventurer party was the only choice she had, too, and it was because of the connections built while they stayed in the castle.

Specifically, Rena thought that Nicolas was funny and that both Amelia and Kaitlyn were kind. She was intimidated by Ryan, but intuitively sensed the difference between him and Jae. Noticing that they were stronger than average, she wanted to go with them.

Of course, none of them knew that Rena considered Jae to be her father, as she never spoke of his name. Leila also never once mentioned it, to maintain secrecy.

Like that, the five of them set out for the Land of Beasts. It took them roughly a month and a half to arrive at the front lines from the castle, and the group looked over the place called Land of Beasts for the first time.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...It’s a shithole.”

The ground, the sky, and everything in between was dark. As if the end of the world was upon them, the black clouds in the sky made it feel like night, and the sooty earth beneath their feet was a mix of hard, slate-like rock and tiny granules.

The only life around consisted of Demon soldiers walking back and forth between campsites and further onwards into this vast, ominous land.

It wasn’t quite to the level of being a tundra, but the desolateness of the place felt similar.

“No, I can see some trees over there...”, Kaitlyn sarcastically pointed with her finger towards a small gathering of bone-white trees with minimal branches and a grand total of zero leaves.

“...You’re shittin’ me? ...Whatever, so long as the monsters’re strong.”

Ryan stepped forward with his hands in the pockets of his ash-grey robe. His piercing eyes darted around the place, looking for any monsters. If one was skilled, they could tell that he was using magic enhancement on his eyes to sharpen his vision.

“Ah, Mister! You can use magic too?”, Rena easily noticed and called out in curiosity.

On the way here, none of them had needed to use any magic, so although she could sense they were above average, she had no idea what exactly they were capable of. Instead of Ryan, Kaitlyn replied to her in a boastful tone.

“That’s right, we can all use magic to a certain degree, but Ryan and Amelia are without a doubt the best out of all of us. In fact, I have yet to witness magic greater than what our leader Ryan can cast--”

“Oi, shuddup. If you’ve got time to babble, get searchin’ for monsters.”

“Ri~ght.”, she half-assedly replied before winking at Rena and whispering.

“Anyway, don’t mind that guy too much, he’s grouchy. I’m sure you’ll get to see it when we find some monsters.”

“Hm...”

Rena stared at her with an uncharacteristic expression of distrust. Apparently, Kaitlyn noticed this and asked.

“Wha-what’s wrong?”

“...Miss. You said Mister is good at magic, but why is he just standing on the floor and looking for monsters?”

They stood atop a hill, so it’s not like it was impossible to see the surroundings, but since the terrain around them was all quite bumpy and contained many obstructions, it wasn’t easy to search for monsters.

“? This is the best spot we can get at the moment to look around, is it not? Should we just go to the mountains over there...?”

Rena ignored her and stepped away. Then, she cast a spell.

“「Earth Rise」.”

With a deep rumbling sound shaking the earth, the ground below Rena grew to over twenty meters upwards. The group, completely taken aback, stared mindlessly up at the small girl who stood fearlessly upon her creation.

After a while of silence, the gigantic pillar of earth lowered back into the ground and Rena descended. Having spotted a monster in the distance, she knew where to go and began to happily lead the party.

“Near the mountain over there.”, she pointed energetically, ”I saw a big wolf!”

Of course, since this was the Land of Beasts, what Rena saw was most definitely not an ordinary wolf. They vaguely knew what to expect before they arrived. Nonetheless, she confidently continued on her way in the direction she pointed.

Before the rest of the party was left behind, they quickly hastened their steps. On the way, Rena was both praised and asked some questions.

“I knew Demons specialised in magic, but every time I see it in person, I really feel the difference...”

“That was impressive! I never thought such a low-tier magic like「Earth Rise」could be used for something like that. What level is yours?”

“Level 8...”, Rena replied in an unusually sad tone, “I haven’t used it that much so it’s not that good...”

“What? No! It was really amazing, especially for your age! I don’t think I could do that even if I trained for a long time.”

At Nicolas’ attempt to cheer Rena up, she smiled.

“Yes, Mister, you don’t have much magic ability.”

“Uh......”

“Pft~!”

To her statement, Kaitlyn and Amelia both burst into laughter, and even Ryan seemed to hold back a chuckle. In the midst of that, Rena returned to a sombre expression and spoke.

“This kind of magic... is nothing to Daddy.”

“Hm?”

Amelia noticed her mutter and asked.

“Rena, you’ve talked about your dad quite a lot, but we never met him in the castle. What is he like?”

A glint appeared to shine in her eyes.

“Daddy’s awesome! He doesn’t need to chant to use magic and has lots of really cool magic!”

“Doesn’t chant...?”

How is that possible? You need to chant a spell’s name to use the magic because it’s part of the activation sequence. I haven’t been here for long and even I know that. It’s basic knowledge. I’ve never heard of a skill that can do it either?

“Did he tell you how he can do that?”

“Umm...”

Now, everyone was listening. Ryan was especially interested in a method to use magic without chanting, as it would give an unimaginable advantage in combat. For example, he could chant the name of one spell but actually use another, or he could cast multiple spells at once.

As everyone strained their ears, Rena opened her mouth.

“―Daddy said it was because of his training. But, when I did the training, it wasn’t possible for me no matter what I did, so I think there is something else.”

They were disappointed that she didn’t know, but it should’ve been expected. If it were something so simple, they would’ve already known about it.

“But, Daddy is really talented at everything! His food tastes amazing and he made my clothes!”

“He made your clothes? Like, from scratch?”

“Mhm!”

Rena’s snow-white clothes were created from the fur, scales and leather of a Wyvern. His「Clothier」and「Tailoring」skills, which had both hit the maximum level, were at the pinnacle of humankind. Thus, Rena’s clothes both acted as a sturdy armour that protected her, and premium casualwear that drew the eyes of onlookers.

Nicolas whistled as he heard the story.

“Your dad’s amazing, huh?”

“Yeah!”

She smiled brightly, proud to be able to call such a man her father. Waiting patiently for his return, Rena focused on growing stronger by defeating the monsters in the Land of Beasts.

When Daddy comes back, I’ll show him my magic!