It became bigger.
A frog…yes. It knew that what it ate was a frog now. It knew a lot more than it used to. It knew about frogs, snakes, and eagles.
The happiness of touching rain when it was a frog.
The happiness when it slithered on the ground as a snake.
The happiness of leaving its body to the sky when it was an eagle.
It knew about the happiness of the sky and the ground.
-Krrrng.
And it became a lion and realized the happiness of killing.
The meat of a deer was delicious. Its scent was pleasant. The moment it dug its teeth into the deer's neck, ah, it could happily die like this.
-Ah…
If it hadn't…..
-Hik!
…..Met some noisy living being.
-Kyaaaa!
The living thing ran away, looking behind its shoulder.
Instinctively, it chased after the living thing.
-S, save me…! Dad! Dad! Save me!
The living being was loud and slow. It even landed itself on the ground.
What was it doing?
It didn't know about the concept of 'falling.' He wouldn't. Since it had flown in the sky and slithered on the ground. It was the first time it met a stupid being that fell on its own feet.
-I don't want to die! Dad! Help…
Before the noisy being became even louder, it dug its teeth in. Blood poured in between its teeth. When its mouth was filled with blood, it paused for a moment. It was shocked.
What a delicious scent!
What was this scent?!
It became addicted and drunk on the blood. It dug its teeth into the living thing and tried to swallow everything up. Blood…..skin….., bone! Even the intestines. Everything was pleasant. The deeper its teeth dug in, its back feet became shorter, and its front became longer.
Its back feet were legs, and its front feet became arms. The mane of the lion turned into hair.
It all happened in an instant. It calmly ate the remnants of the living thing. When it ate even the last pieces, the memories of the living being flowed in.
-······.
Human.
That was what the living thing said.
The human was born in a rural village. It grew while receiving the love of its family. It didn't lack any love. But it still lacked something. The human's health was strained.
Disease.
There wasn't a way to fix the child's illness in this rural village. Even if there was, they didn't have money. Humans died one by one in its family. And this young human refused to die lying in bed.
-I want to walk until I can't anymore!
-I want to breathe the outside air even if it's just a little bit.
It was a mistake.
The human had come too far. It had tested how far it could travel before it died.
And it had been greeted with death. In its stomach.
-Child! Estelle!
No.
-You were here!
It stopped being itself.
-I said not to leave by yourself! It's dangerous near the forest. You don't know when there might be a beast. Don't leave by your…but why are your clothes like that!
-······.
The little girl opened her mouth.
-Dad.
She smiled.
-I think I'm healthy now.
Estelle.
That was the first name the Devil King had.
A voice rang in my head.
[Your skill is being activated.]
The field began to be flipped.
The beginning of change was under my feet. Shadows. Shadows started to expand under me. My shadow covered the blackened field.
-Gwooooo…
Something soared out from the shadow.
-Gwoooo!
It was a bone.
A pure white bone from a person came stretching out from the shadow. It looked like a demon trying to escape from prison.
'Sword Emperor.'
Looking at the shadow around me, I spoke inwardly.
'You wanted to know why I chose the [Hundred Ghosts Summon], right?'
-Oh, yeah. I did.
'At first, I wanted another skill too.'
It was one that strengthened Aura.
The red trajectory of the Devil King was truly fearsome. How cool would it be if I could do that someday?
But after thinking about it some more, I changed my mind.
'Skill card open.'
+
[Hundred Ghosts Summon]
Rank: SS
Effects: What you killed will be summoned as monsters. The dead cannot use their abilities from when they were living. They can't remember it either. They'll be summoned as goblins, orcs, zombies, skeletons, etc.
※ However, you can only summon them once a week.
+
It was a shining gold card.
'Summoning those I killed myself into monsters…'
Looking at the card, I muttered to myself.
'There's a problem though. How many people do you think I killed?'
-Uh.
Bae Hu-ryeong furrowed his eyebrows.
-That Flame Plague and you. Isn't it 2 in total?
'Yeah. It would seem that way.'
I laughed.
'But why do you think the [Detective's Insight] that the Sword Saint has, says my kill count is 4000?'
-What?
'It's honestly pretty bad. And strange. I know suicide was a daily lifestyle for me, but did I kill someone random? Honestly, it was just me. But why is the kill count over 4000? It should logically be 2.'
-······.
'So, this is what that means.'
I looked in front of me.
'There's a certain way death is counted in this tower.'
At the field of shadows.
'Even if the same person is killed twice, it'll be considered [2] and not [1].'
The monsters that were coming from my shadow.
I saw a bunch of skeletons trying to escape from my prison.
'Okay. So let me ask you again.'
It was an army.
A bunch of monsters covered the field.
'How many deaths do you think I reached?'
Suicide for 4097 times. The first hunting of Yoo Soo-ha, and having to kill him again because I was killed by Sword Saint first.
So that meant it was 4099 deaths.
Traces of my death were clear on the large field.
"Dang…."
I nodded my head, looking satisfactorily at the island of death that I made.
"Wow, I died a lot."
It was then.
-Gwoooooo!
The bone army cried out.
-Kaaaaaa!
The skeletons bared their teeth. They all looked the same. Their bodies were similar to mine, and their heights were similar to mine as well. Wasn't it obvious? It was because they were monsters that proved my death.
'All even the weapon is the same.'
A dagger.
All the skeletons were holding the same dagger.
It was the weapon from when I took my own life, and when I killed Yoo Soo-ha.
"No way….!"
But I was the only person calmly watching the weapons of the skeletons. The Witch and Sword Saint were both looking around with shocked expressions.
"What's this? Kim Gong-ja. Is this your skill?"
"Yes."
"You're kidding me!?"
The Witch was taken aback.
"Goodness. A skill that summons thousands of monsters! I've never heard of it! So this is how you cleared the 10th floor by yourself!"
"Uh."
The Witch seemed to have misunderstood how I subjugated the 10th floor. Because I could correct her, she continued to be amazed.
"No, that's not it but…"
Mm.
Whatever.
"Well, I guess. Yes."
"I knew it!"
"Let's talk about it later."
There was no need to fix that misunderstanding now.
Talking in front of the Devil King should be done in moderation.
-You…how do you have the same skill as me…
The Devil King was also surprised.
He was frozen in place. He didn't have any expression, but from his voice, I could feel how surprised he was.
It was a shame.
If I could see his face, I would've been able to see him frown.
"Are you curious?"
I folded my thoughts and smirked.
"But what should we do? I don't want to tell you."
-······.
"You can continue being curious. Or should I tell you about the condition of your life? How's that?"
-I can't forgive you…! This can't be allowed!
The Devil King cried out like an injured lion.
-Just how long are you going to tease me! Goddess! My hate! My regret! You promised you would accept it all! How could…!
"Sword Saint-nim!
I didn't listen to what the Devil King was saying. He had his business, and I had my role. The Devil King was my enemy. If the enemy was preoccupied, it was an opportunity for me.
"Please fight with the skeletons! If you assist, we won't fall behind!"
"Hm."
The Sword Saint replied in an annoyed tone.
"Fine. Fighting alongside monsters is creepy but…it's better than helping you."
"Thank you! And Black Dragon Master, please help me! We can defeat the Devil King ourselves!"
"I know. Just don't pull me back!"
The Sword Saint swung his sword and the Witch exploded her Aura. The two seemed to have decided to follow my orders until the Devil King was defeated. I nodded my head and shouted towards my deaths.
"Hundred Ghosts!"
The bones growled.
"Show them what you're best at!"
I commanded.
"Kill, and be killed!"
The army obeyed my orders.
-Gwooooo!
The skeletons ran onto the battlefield. They were light because they only had bones. It landed on top of the orc and cut the orc's head with the dagger.
The skeleton crazily swung the dagger around. On the blade, the orc's eyes, mouth, and neck were ripped. The orc screamed and collapsed to the floor. Because of the impact, the skeleton's left arm was broken, but it didn't stop. It just headed straight for the next prey.
-Kieeek!
From somewhere else, a goblin screamed in pain. There was a skeleton that was so damaged that only its skull was left. It had used its teeth to rip off the goblin's arm.
-Gwoooo!
-Kiiii!
Around the goblin, there were other skeletons. They were all skeletons that were hurt somewhere.
A broken arm. A disappeared leg. A lost head.
But they all had daggers. Kiiik! The goblin squirmed, but it was useless. The skeletons gathered around the goblin and brought the dagger down.
Blood soared up.
-Wow, shit.
Bae Hu-ryeong clicked his tongue.
-Look at how much tenacity they have. I wonder who they're like. A monster army that's not scared of death. What the heck. That's super scary!
A massacre occurred all over the field.
The Devil King trembled with anger.
-You dare!
The Devil King's shadow was continuing to produce wastewater. If the wastewater was blood, I would've thought it was the Devil King's blood. The Devil King was in despair.
-You don't have the qualification!
His despair rang into the sky.
-Someone from another world.
He hit the ground.
-Someone who doesn't have any life, evil intent, or hate towards this world! How dare you stop me?!
It echoed on the sky and the ground.
"What does it matter where I'm from?"
I spoke in front of the echoes.
"I'm here right now. But if you still say that I'm not qualified…"
The echoes hadn't even settled down yet.
I heard a voice in my head.
[The tower is bestowing you a nickname.]
As if someone who had been watching me for a long time was blessing me. Like they were congratulating me after being freed from the prison of time.
[Your nickname is Death King.]
The voice echoed.
[Respects to the king who harvests death.]
Yes.
Someone was remembering me.
Even though I died again and again.
Someone knew about the reason why I was here.
That was enough.
"Don't interfere."
I lifted my sword and spoke.
"The Tower acknowledges my qualification."
Death King.
That was my second name.