"Your father deserves to die for setting such a rule," Seunghyuk let those words fly out of his mouth without thought, and all of a sudden, his mind was flooded with anger again.
That anger, and that infuriation slowly built up, and like a small spark of flame sparkling up, giving out light so blinding that it shakes one out of thought and unconsciousness, a torch that inflames the dark night to bring forward the arrival of the sun.
"HURGH! Kang Joonseok!" Seunghyuk's eyes flung open and his whole upper body sprung upwards abruptly, littering his forehead with cold sweat as he shouted out the male demon's name intensely, but earned no reply from the supposed being living inside of him then Seunghyuk slowly thought of that as a mere dream and nothing else significant.
"Hyung! You're awake! Why were you shouting? You literally scared me awake..." Jisung gave his head a few good shakes before standing up and forcing Seunghyuk's weak body downwards to make him rest more, "Duke Travessle said that you have completed the first task so don't worry, it's just that I'm sure you will be in no condition to do the second task...given that the King would be absolutely ruthless..."
Seunghyuk sighed and let the tension flowing in his limbs disperse, then he looked up to the gold-plated ceiling with a hanging chandelier above him, the mind of his slowly drifting off again.
"Due to multiple usage of the skill Short-Fused Explosion, the skill has raised its mastery level to 2 out of 5 stars. Now being able to raise each stat by 7 when used."
"Due to numerous summonings and manipulations of the skill Snake of Ophiuchus, the skill has raised its mastery level to 3 out of 5 stars. Currently Whole Body Strengthening is possible."
Seunghyuk's drifted mind instantly knocked back into position as he stared at the gray System screen flashing right in front of his eyes. All seemed normal, except from Jisung's perspective, which looked like Seunghyuk saw a ghost and was looking all fascinated.
"Hyung! Are...Are you okay? What are you looking at?" Jisung asked curiously and Seunghyuk realised the stupidity in his sudden acts of disbelief which he immediately replied to Jisung's questions without hiding anything, because no matter how special Seunghyuk's System was, increasing of Skill Mastery was existent across all Conqueror Systems, "Nothing much. I was just shocked that my Skill Mastery has increased from the fight against the Mechataur earlier. Also, Jisung why are you here alone?"
Just as Jisung was about to open his mouth to reply, the opening of the door acted like a sharp knife cutting Jisung's words off. Jisung paused and turned his head to look behind while Seunghyuk just watched smiling as the not four, but five elder Nighthowlers walked into the uniquely unfamiliar infirmary room that Seunghyuk was in.
"I see that you've made your mind?" Seunghyuk asked with his eyes calmly shut as the question directly cut through the surrounding air like a sharp arrow with aerodynamic fletchings that landed right on the elder Nighthowler with the label "The Current King's Spy" floating above his head and that elder Nighthowler replied without even looking straight at Seunghyuk, "Ye...Yes, I have indeed thought about it for quite some time. Seeing how I was rendered useless just because I was being held at a precarious position. I have made up my mind to assist whenever possible, but I still am concerned about my partner's well-being since she is currently held hostage in the King's royal chamber, so I will be what you people refer to as a double agent."
Seunghyuk let his eyes slowly open as he turned to look at the five elder Nighthowlers standing at the door, his lips involuntarily bending upwards into a slight smile, an obvious sign that Seunghyuk was happy to see that outcome. However, Seunghyuk had not basked in that sunlight of happiness for very long as he received yet another message from the System screen which slapped the smile off his face.
"Due to numerous deciphers and understandings, the skill Ancient Language Comprehension has raised its mastery level to 2 out of 5 stars."
"Conqueror's Name: Choi Seunghyuk (Male) (Leader of Legendclad)
Conqueror's Level: 4
Strength: 17
Agility: 17
Defense: 17
MP: 17
Skills: Short-Fused Explosion (2 out of 5 stars)
Eye of Detection (2 out of 5 stars)
Heart of Cold Steel (2 out of 5 stars)
Ancient Language Comprehension (2 out of 5 stars)
Snake Of Ophiuchus (3 out of 5 stars)
Dancing With Fire (3 out of 5 stars)
Nighthowling (0 out of 5 stars)
Charm (0 out of 5 stars)"
Seunghyuk's mind raced with uncountable amounts of thoughts after seeing the gray System screen once more, then the locked chain wrapping tight around his brain suddenly unlocked and fell apart, revealing a huge realisation that caused Seunghyuk to question himself.
"So...So...That male demon Kang Joonseok really had a conversation with me? Is he in inside of me right now—" Seunghyuk's frightening thoughts were interrupted by Jisung's sudden thunderingly loud voice, causing Seunghyuk to recompose himself and think more calmly so as to temporarily put the situation aside and focus on the given situation first before worrying about whatever that comes after.
"Okay, Jisung I'm coming!" Seunghyuk said and carefully made his way down the sick bed, miraculously all the pain disappeared like it was never there before, not even leaving any traces of its existence— no scars, no cuts, no wounds and no burns— that it all seemed overly powerful to Seunghyuk.
It was a good thing, a pleasant situation and a positive outcome, so Seunghyuk merely appreciated it without trying to delve too deep into the reasonings and possibilities. All his mind was on at that current moment was to complete his second task, no matter how difficult the task given by the current King was.
"Oh, Mr Choi, we are certainly all glad to see you walk in fully recovered!" Duke Travessle's deep voice travelled into Seunghyuk's ears first before that round beer belly blocked nearly half of Seunghyuk's vision, it was like the total opposite of the sequence of lightning and thunder, "So as to make things clear, you have completed the first task, although not flawlessly, but impressive enough to earn many of our recognition. I am certain our King thinks so similarly."
As if.
That was the two words that ran past Seunghyuk's mind like two racecars gunning for the title of the final champion, so quickly yet so loudly that even the King himself could guess what Seunghyuk was thinking. However, of course, no matter how frustrated Kim Yangwon was deep down inside, as the King of Arkawarenia, he had to keep his fury flame in check.
"I congratulate Contestant Choi Seunghyuk for completing the first task of slaying the Mechataur without any...any usage of Conqueror Magic Enhancements," The King seemed to have shifted a huge boulder just to be able to make out those words and voice them out loud to everybody in House Travessle, "Now, I would give out the second task, and this task is to test on the contestant's leadership abilities. I am aware that I should avoid throwing the injured contestant into battles after battles, so this task would be extremely fitting. For the second task, Contestant Choi Seunghyuk need not and should not be allowed to participate in the battle, instead, the contestant will be tasked to lead and teach a provided group to withstand three of my Head Royal Guard's attacks. If at least one person in the group is left standing, the task would be considered complete, sounds simple enough?"
Seunghyuk shook his head intensely internally as he was still trying to tolerate the King's weird tone of trying to speak formally and seriously. On the surface Seinghyuk nodded and replied with a firm "yes". Everyone, including the five elder Nighthowlers and Jisung, watched as Seunghyuk was brought back to the same whitewashed battle space. One huge thing that was different was that all the broken floors and walls filled with spider-crawling cracks had all been fixed to an outrageous point that they seemed new. Even the burnt bits of the battle space disappeared which made Seunghyuk wonder how much have they done when he was unconscious.
"Contestant Choi Seunghyuk, you have two whole hours to prepare. Now, your second task will commence in three...two...one! Release the group!" Duke Travessle voiced out from the main to in House Travessle, motioning for the guards to pull open the huge metal gate at the side of the battle space.
One by one the people from inside shuffled out listlessly, with blank expressions on like they were coming here to sleep. Seunghyuk had expected all this, of course the King would not let him off easy just because he had been injured. The King was ruthlessly built like that, and hence the situation now.
"System: Eye of Detection," Seunghyuk requested and the System screen spewed out details like usual and Seunghyuk thought aloud saying, "Five useless ex-royal members...another five offenders of Arkawarenia, obviously not going to be very cooperative...then five young and unripened Nighthowlers that are clearly seen shaking in fear...and one last man...That one last man is the only person here that could even try to go against the King's Royal Guard."
Seunghyuk knew everything was already planned to make him fail from the very start, giving a group that strongly lacked cooperation, courage and skill. It was like the second task was impossible, scaling Mount Everest within one day, it just seemed like Seunghyuk was bound to fail.
"The King must be having the day of his life," Seunghyuk stated irritatedly and looked up at a random wall of the white battle space, indeed, though Seunghyuk could not see it, the King was smiling so devilishly that his face showed not only confidence, but also joy in seeing Seunghyuk suffer.