Chapter 112
Susanoo was one of the “Three Precious Children” and a High-Ranker, ranked 57th. A powerful individual who had shaken the Tower a long time ago.
Rattle—
Someone like him had become a Half-Death Knight and stood in front of YuWon.
“There really aren’t many things known about Susanoo’s Dungeon. I’m stating the obvious here, but we don’t have a Ranker similar to the ‘Three Precious Children’ among us.”
In a sense, Susanoo’s Dungeon was an adventure. It was a dungeon that lacked information. There were only records of the start of the raid and the Rankers who succeeded in it, but the information about its interior was practically nonexistent.
‘Even then…’
YuWon looked at the Susanoo before him.
‘For him to actually make himself the boss of the dungeon…’
As Susanoo absorbed more of the spirits scattered around the 100th floor, his face started to take shape. At this point, about half of his face had regained flesh and was looking back at YuWon.
“What are you doing? All frozen in place and whatnot. I was looking forward to this quite a bit.”
His lip quivered. He was probably laughing, it was just hard to tell with half his face not existing.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to reach this place.”
Susanoo’s shoulders moved a little. The hand grabbing his sword shook, and the pitch of his voice changed every single time.
“So put on a good show. Don’t disappoint me.”
YuWon could tell even with these few words the reason this guy left a dungeon behind after dying.
Legacy and inheritance? No matter how strong his love for his fellow Precious Children, he didn’t look like someone who cared about the things that would happen after he died.
Did he want to leave evidence of his life? No. Susanoo wasn’t someone who strived for appearances either.
There was only one reason he created this dungeon.
He, no matter through what method, just wanted to fight more.
‘Creating a dungeon to gain the protection of the system to delay his death… He’s pretty smart.’
Only by becoming an Undead could you hold back death. However, after becoming an Undead, you were naturally subject to a necromancer’s control, and there were currently no known methods of transforming your own self into an Undead.
There were stories of some demons becoming lichs, but in the end, they were nothing more than specters clinging to their bodies.
Transforming yourself into a perfect Undead was currently known to be impossible.
‘But, as expected…’
“It’s unstable.”
Fwoosh—
YuWon’s eyes lit up red.
[Cinder Eyes reads the path.]
He could clearly see the unstable shaking of Susanoo’s soul. He could already tell by seeing that Susanoo only had half a face. This was probably different from his initial plan.
“Even if you’re under the protection of the system, there’s no way a masterless Undead can maintain itself forever.”
An Undead was an existence that required a master to bind its soul and constantly feed it mana.
However, all the Undead inside the dungeon were masterless, including Susanoo. They were barely being maintained with the power of Susanoo’s skills and the protection of the system.
“An unstable soul inhabiting a rotten body that died a long time ago. That is your current state.”
The skull, which was regaining its flesh little by little, had stopped its regeneration at some point.
Susanoo’s preparations were only to this point. In the end, he wasn’t the Susanoo that was ranked 57th in the Tower but just a boss in a dungeon.
“…You seem more interesting the more I look at you.”
YuWon heard a voice in his ear. Susanoo who was speaking in front of him had suddenly appeared a step to his right.
“How could a brat who has only passed the 20th Floor climb up here? And how do you have such comprehensive knowledge about necromancers, of which there are less than ten in the entire Tower…” he said in a calm voice.
Although he definitely could have made a sneak attack on YuWon in that instant, he didn’t seem to have that desire. Instead, he stared at YuWon, observing him more closely.
“Just what are you? Are you actually a Ranker? A half-baked Cinder Eyes and Gigantification, a fire of unknown origin… You are certainly something special.”
YuWon turned his head to the side, and as their eyes met, Susanoo’s lips formed a smile.
“Did you not react? Or were you not able to react?”
“You sure talk a lot.”
He gave a vague answer. However, that was enough for Susanoo.
“So you knew all along.”
Maybe he could have reacted to him.
YuWon had seen Susanoo’s feet with [Cinder Eyes,] and his perception was raised to the max with [Sensory Field.]
“I don’t know what it is about you, but I’ll find out after we fight.”
The tip of Susanoo’s sword moved.
The desire to fight that had been suppressed by his curiosity was starting to show itself.
It was then…
“I’m not a Ranker,” YuWon said. “Not now.”
“‘Not now’?”
Another vague answer. But it was the first clue to sate Susanoo’s curiosity.
Just what kind of existence was YuWon, where did he come from, was he a pureblood, and if so, from whose faction? How was he able to become so strong?
“Then are you saying you were a Ranker before?”
It was an impossible speculation. Once a player reached the top of the Tower, they definitely became a Ranker. Even if they were to climb back down, that wouldn’t change.
It was impossible for a player to have been a Ranker in the past unless they were somehow able to traverse backwards through time.
“Looks like you’re still curious.”
A smile appeared on YuWon’s lips.
Seeing that, Susanoo’s expression grew cold. He felt that YuWon was mocking him.
“You dare—”
“Before we fight, let’s set a condition.”
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Susanoo, who looked like he would bring out his killing intent as soon as he had a hold of his sword, reacted unexpectedly.
‘A condition…’
“The loser will have to answer anything the winner asks.”
“Anything?”
“Yes. Anything.”
Susanoo smiled widely. The displeased expression from before was nowhere to be seen.
“You don’t have to if you’re not confident.”
“‘Not confident’?” Susanoo said, then he nodded. “I’ll accept your condition.”
[‘Susanoo’s Bet’ has been established.]
[Upon victory, you can acquire an answer to one question.]
[The answer must be the truth.]
The system rang.
A bet with Susanoo, who was recognized not as a player but as a dungeon boss and who had become a part of the system.
In any case, YuWon could guarantee that the answer that would come out of Susanoo’s mouth would be the truth.
‘It’s a shame I can only ask one.’
If possible, YuWon wanted to learn a lot more about the “Three Precious Children.”
Step—
YuWon took a step back.
The distance was too close. Since he didn’t know all of Susanoo’s abilities, he needed to keep some distance as they fought.
Susanoo didn’t follow YuWon as he moved. He was thinking the same.
“That’s a relief.”
“Kihihihihi—”
“Kyahaha, hahahaha—!”
The thousands of doomed spirits all started laughing at once.
The spirits that had become Susanoo’s flesh and blood were now gathering around his sword.
“A guy like you has received my invitation.”
Shiver—
YuWon’s body grew numb, and a chill filled the air.
But the presence he felt wasn’t oppressive. Compared to what was expected of a High-Ranker ranked 57th, this was pathetic. However…
‘This killing intent is real.’
It was the killing intent of a murderer who had killed thousands of Rankers, millions of players, billions of people.
This was the karma tied to his soul—that even if his power dissolved after death, it would never disappear. Only that killing intent remained the same as when he was alive, and it was loudly revealing itself.
Bzzt, bzzt—
The atmosphere became tense, giving the illusion of the feeling of one’s skin being peeled away.
YuWon focused on Susanoo’s movements.
And just then…
Shnnk—
Susanoo pulled out his sword.
* * *
Clang, cla-clang—!
“Kuaaaah—!”
“Ahah, AAAAAAAH!”
The cries of the dead rang out every time their blades clashed, and they grew louder and louder.
Though the movement of his hands looked slow, the end of Susanoo’s blade was so fast it was hard to track with YuWon’s eyes.
Cr-crack—
The two blades glided off each other.
YuWon sharpened and empowered his senses.
Susanoo swung the sword covered in specters again.
Ting-ting-ting-ting—
Crack—!
His sword was swung over ten times in an instant.
YuWon had to take steps back as he took the force of the blade. He felt as if the energy imbued in the sword would crack his body in two.
“You block pretty well.”
Clang, cl-cl-clang—
Sweat had formed on YuWon’s forehead already. His focus was being pushed to the limit.
Susanoo’s sword was so fast that he needed to focus his all into just barely seeing the hundreds of slashes in a single moment.
Although he should have been a rotten and rusted corpse after being dead for so long…
‘So Susanoo is still Susanoo no matter how much time passes.’
Swordsmanship that was nigh supernatural. Odin’s praise wasn’t for nothing. It was true that he was a horrifying murderer, but it was also true that he was a genius in swordsmanship.
Clang—!
YuWon’s body was flung into the air.
Thanks to [Cinder Eyes] and [Sensory Field,] he was able to react to the speed, but he was being pushed back in strength.
Crack—
His right arm became enlarged.
[Your arm has been imbued with the power of a giant.]
He was overflowing with strength again and swung his sword as hard as he could.
Bang—!
A weird sound echoed out as the two swords clashed.
Thanks to using [Gigantification,] YuWon wasn’t pushed back in strength. However…
“That won’t be enough.”
Swoop—
Susanoo’s palm covered YuWon’s vision.
In the moment that the essence of the dead from the specters blocked his vision…
Flick—
YuWon moved his head to the side.
Crack—
Susanoo’s hand missed and grabbed his shoulder instead. YuWon felt a strong, evil energy flow through his shoulder, giving him a burning sensation.
Tshtshtsh—
The essence of the dead instantly corroded YuWon’s shoulder.
He tried to move his mana to protect himself, but it was no use. Even then, he didn’t have the strength to push Susanoo away.
“I got you.”
Susanoo smiled as he finally captured the eel-like YuWon who had dodged all his strikes.
However, this was what YuWon wanted.
Grab—
YuWon didn’t try to dodge or break free but rather grabbed Susanoo’s shoulder as well. And simultaneously…
Fwooosh—
A purple flame spread from Susanoo’s shoulder.
At the burning feeling, Susanoo’s expression darkened.
“It’s this flame again.”
Flicker—
The fire continued to spread over his body.
[Holy Fire] would never stop burning unless YuWon’s mana ran out. Rather than continue facing this new sensation, Susanoo chose to let go.
Thwap—
Distance was created instantly.
YuWon grasped his shoulder. He couldn’t feel anything from his arm which was corroded black, and he couldn’t put strength into it either.
The powers Susanoo wielded were definitely fatal.
However, that was also true for YuWon.
Fwooosh—
Rather than going out, the flames continued to burn hotter.
“…This is definitely dangerous.”
It was a sensation he had never felt in his life before.
Susanoo frowned after trying to pat out the flames YuWon had created. For some reason, the flames didn’t go out on his body. And also…
‘It’s not burning up more.’
The flames stuck to Susanoo’s body didn’t burn any more and stayed in the same condition.
‘So is he saying he’s not afraid of something like fire?’
[Holy Fire] was a flame that grew bigger by consuming the fear of the target. It was one of the most effective skills YuWon had as it would increase in power from the instinctive fear and repulsion of its target.
However, Susanoo didn’t fear the [Holy Fire] very much. This wasn’t because of the nature of [Holy Fire.] Rather, it was because the one who was wielding it, YuWon, was still lacking in skill.
‘Strength, speed, mana. I’m being pushed back in all aspects. The Holy Fire doesn’t work as well either…’
Although the battle wasn’t long, he could feel that the gap between their power couldn’t be closed easily.
YuWon looked down at 「Kyneē」 on his right hand as he held his sword.
‘It would be nice if things went according to plan.’
