Chapter 284
Buzz. Buzz.
The sound of flapping wings was deafening as all of the purebreds that ruled the Green Field of the Deep Sea were gathered in one spot. They recalled the memories of Baron Orca’s death several times. The baron had an enormous fear toward the guy, and everyone there could clearly feel it. That was why they were flapping their wings faster than usual.
Duke Amon wasn’t there as he was locked up in a sealed territory and dealing with the counterattacks from the greedy armies of other G.o.ds. When the tribes such as the Declans and Baclans created an alliance to attack a different dimension, the Old One[1] from the invaded dimension often intervened. The power of Amon that sealed the territory also came from there. It wasn’t a problem because sacrifices were bound to happen in a war.
However, issues arose when there was no gain from the sacrifices as it had become meaningless, or when there was a treasure that must be kept like now. This was especially true when it was something that should be hidden from Doom Entegasto and the Barba Corps. The purebreds came to the conclusion that Duke Amon wouldn’t be able to stop the human being. It wasn’t just Grand Duke Amon. No one would be able to do much even if they were in the same position as Amon. The male human had become stronger than ever.
The purebreds were the only ones who could access the forbidden memory warehouse, and it was filled with such memories. Unless the greatest G.o.d, Doom Kaos, blessed them and Doom Insectum’s incarnation descended, their entire clan was now exposed to a human attack. Their meeting had lasted for a long time, and they had no choice but to conclude that Duke Amon would die and that the humans would soon have Doom Entegasto’s Life Vessel.
In fact, they had never believed that things could get horrible enough to this extent. Invading was natural to them. The vitality that the dimension possessed was enticing, and there were all kinds of souls and dead land to be dedicated to multiple G.o.ds. In addition, there was a way to take a higher position than Doom Insectum and Doom Entegasto once they reached the next war.
Nevertheless, things had started to go awry. At the center of this mess, there was the human being, the monster created by the Old One in his dimension. Because of him, everything was messed up. The monster grew and expanded the Old One’s army while freely going into sacred places, and he was the only obstacle to the clan. But he was a big problem. Such a monster would soon get his hands on Doom Entegasto’s Life Vessel, and no one could stop him. Once that happened, he would become more powerful.
So…
“Seal… We should seal him forever if we can’t get rid of him. To the end of the deep sea where he can’t reach anything. Doom Kaos will allow us to do so.”
No one could go against that suggestion. This ritual would be different from the one in the past. Since the great Doom Kaos was paying lots of attention to the human, a sacrifice equal to his value would be demanded in return.
All the purebreds decided to give up the bodies that they had preserved since ancient times, dedicate the precious treasures of the family, and offer up their souls, however much as Doom Kaos required. It was a n.o.ble but painful agreement as the clan would end up regressing if they could seal him…
Finally, a ritual where the purebreds tore themselves apart began. Then, Doom Kaos responded from the distance.
***
The object that Tetsuya acquired from Duke Amon’s bedroom and the secret structure were both things he couldn’t bear. Inside the Valkyries’ s.h.i.+eld wall, his arms had drooped down and there were no other movements. Then, a black marble fell out of the object. When he picked it up, there was a pain that radiated from his fingers to his brain.
Hmm?
Even I was close to losing strength in my legs for a moment, so it was obvious that Tetsuya would pa.s.s out.
[Unidentified Marble (Item)
It hasn’t been completed yet.
Item Level: ?
Item Cla.s.s: ?]
[Until the completion: 0.01%]
[Until the completion: 0.02%]
The level of completion increased only when someone held the marble, and if someone let it go, the process restarted from the beginning once it was picked up again. At the same time, it was not much different from the time I had gone through the Light Pillar Privilege because the pain got more intense as time pa.s.sed by. In other words, there would be a final quest to complete Doom Entegasto’s Life Vessel even though it wasn’t specified in a message. No one had ever reached this point. Even if there was, no one would have been able to stand this.
When I pointed to Tetsuya with my chin, one of the Valkyries carried him on her shoulder.
When I got out of the secret structure, the first thing I saw was Amon’s dead body. Although Orca, whose spirit was dead, had also appeared in the final match, I couldn’t even see him as he had been buried in all kinds of bodies.
Anyway, I couldn’t just pa.s.s by after seeing that half of Amon’s head was gone. I had wandered around the dungeon for a long time because Amon had avoided an all-out war against me. He kept changing the complex dungeon structure and recreated monsters like Orca to kill all of us here.
Crack!
I crushed his head as soon as I stepped on it as I had put all my rage into my foot. I moved only after smas.h.i.+ng Amon’s remaining head as if I was putting out a gruesome cigarette. Tetsuya finally came to his senses, but at this time, he was on my shoulders instead of the Valkyries as they were gone.
He woke up with a scream as if he had been struggling with a long nightmare.
“Argh!”
I clenched my teeth and spoke to him, “It’s all over.”
[Until the completion: 27.29%]
The pain that the black marble caused was testing me if I would still hold it no matter how painful it was, but that was ridiculous. One of the words that I couldn’t admit was that pain and pleasure were collinear, but it was somehow different now. This was Doom Entegasto’s Life Vessel, where an immortal secret was held. Nothing was comparable to this even though I would bring every hidden reward from the Day of Advent. That was why the stronger the pain, the more thrilled I became.
“Keuk, keuk.”
“I can walk,” Tetsuya said sheepishly.
The parasitic tentacles that had lived in his body had fallen off after Amon died. He looked down at his body as if it made him emotional. His naked body was smooth without any disgusting, foreign appendages attached to it.
However, his face darkened as we searched for an exit with the Maruka clan’s corpses as milestones. He was thinking about when I would kill him because he realized he was now useless as we had achieved the purpose.
Sure enough, his eyes trembled as soon as he made eye contact with me.
I simply said, “Go and find Lee Tae-Han as soon as you get out of here.”
It was intolerable that he had violated the a.s.sociation’s rule, but there was no need to cut his throat since he had been punished enough. His agony and terrible experience in the Maruka clan’s A-cla.s.s dungeon at his poor level would have been soul-searing. Therefore, I decided to leave him as a core member of the j.a.panese group. In addition, the amount of XP that had been distributed to him while he was my party member was significant.
He had just entered the diamond section and was at Level 321. The j.a.panese group desperately needed one more person like him. Tetsuya didn’t understand what I meant. He was clearly wondering if I was going to spare his life or officially punish him at the a.s.sociation.
“Always avoid Kwon Seong-Il. He will try to kill you as soon as he sees you. Keuk,” I elaborated.
My laughter at the end was intertwined with pain and pleasure this time again. Only then did he burst into tears. We had been in the dungeon for so long that he would have forgotten the social niceties of human society, but he bowed to apologize on the ground while trembling. New energy infused his voice as he shouted as he stood up, “I… I’ll take the lead!”
[Until the completion: 91.32%]
My trait Pa.s.sion had already deactivated, and the Man Who Overcomes Adversity hadn’t been activated during the boss fight. The only thing that could suppress the pain was my steel mentality, so I might have come off as dangerous to Tetsuya. He anxiously looked back at me multiple times, with the timing between frequencies decreasing with each pa.s.sing one.
“Aaaaaah!”
I ended up screaming as I couldn’t stand it anymore, and my voice was so loud that it exploded my eardrum. When I blinked, my vision was slightly tilted.
He shouted, “I’ll bring people right away! Please wait a bit here!”
Shortly after his voice faded away, the sound of his footsteps running toward the exit had faintly disappeared.
[Until the completion: 99.98%]
The pain had reached its peak, and I couldn’t see anything except the red and black waves that flashed on the black background. However, this was nothing compared to the pain I had shared with my mother at my birth. I couldn’t let Doom Entegasto’s Life Vessel go because I would have to restart everything again later!
[Until the completion: 99.99%]
I hollered, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…”
I tasted mud and then it happened suddenly.
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity has been activated.]
The messages about my enhanced capabilities immediately followed the first one. All the pain that suffocated me was gone, and I felt like the world had cleared up. However, I now felt the pressure that suppressed my entire body. Because of that, all the Man Who Overcomes Adversity could do was make the organs inside me vibrate, raising my heart rate like crazy.
Thump. Thump.
[Unidentified Marble has been completed. (Doom Entegasto’s Lost Weapon)]
[Please choose one of the following.]
[1. Upgrade the linked quest ‘The Birth of Doom Man’ to ‘The Birth of Doom Man, the Great Usurper.’]
[2. Upgrade ‘Doom Entegasto’s Lost Weapon’ to ‘Life Vessel.’]
I recalled the explorer reward I had seen before.
[If someone put the pieces of the vessel back together, it would greatly help that person to confront powerful beings.]
Doom Entegasto’s weapon must be the Life Vessel.
There were two options, but I had already made up my mind the moment I saw the choices.
[‘Doom Entegasto’s Lost Weapon’ has been upgraded to ‘Life Vessel.’]
The pressure that almost crushed my body still remained, which meant there would be more messages popping up.
[This is amazing! A privilege, ‘Immortality,’ will be carried out.]
[Please select a subject to use the Life Vessel on.
* It is not limited to objects, animals or summonses.
* The user cannot reverse their choice.]
This was something I had won myself, not from a box! The items handled by Doom Entegasto were different from the items the System provided to Awakened. They were incomparable. The joy that exploded deep in my heart was unbelievably strong, and it broke through the mysterious pressure that was squeezing my whole body.
I’m immortal from now on!
I gasped as the invisible vice had squeezed again, “...Keuk.”
There was no reason to hold back.
“Hahahaha!”
It was then I felt something had approached me that gave chills down my spine.
[* Warning: Your Power Resistance is significantly low.]
[Explorer has been activated.]
[About the sealing ceremony of the Maruka clan…]
The message cut off halfway. As soon as I looked back, a huge eye filled my view, and that was my last memory.
1. Author doesn’t specify who or what this is. Could be the System or some kind of unknown G.o.d. ☜