"Are you perhaps… going to hunt that centipede?"
Rio Xing's eyes widened.
Suho suddenly heard the scream of a sand centipede and smacked his lips.
Anyone could feel the spirit of the hunter looking for prey from his expression.
"Suho, are u really going?"
"I think it would be possible if it was inside this place."
That was how the conversation between Esil and Suho went.
Suho has already made up his mind.
"Wait a minute! Dealing with centipedes is more dangerous than fighting the Scavenger Guild!"
Rio Xing urgently stopped Suho.
Hunter's death always comes from brazenness.
He had seen a lot of hunters who have excellent qualities like Suho who died in vain while showing off.
"How about this? After a few hours of rest, our healers will recover their mana. After which, join forces with us to deal with the Scavenger Guild."
"I don't have time for that."
Suho firmly rejected his offer.
He looked up at the ceiling where debris was falling.
"We don't know when the pyramid will suddenly collapse."
Suho suggested something to the Asura Guild.
"You'd better escape now. Leave this place to me."
"That can't be. I can't go back empty-handed."
Rio Xing followed Suho and got up.
He stumbled.
"Ack."
The shock from Randolph earlier still had an effect on him.
Seeing that, Beru clicked his tongue.
[You are a weak worm. How could you kill a hunter?]
Rio Xing's face flashed red.
He couldn't understand Beru's words, but he could feel the meaning behind his gaze as if Beru was staring at something insignificant.
To receive such stares from mere summoned beasts was a humiliation for him, who had been highly looked up to as a promising hunter.
"You guys just stay here and rest. We'll go first."
"I'm ashamed."
Rio Xing finally sat down on the floor and took a deep sigh.
He was stubborn but eventually gave in.
Not only himself, but all of the Asura Guild members were currently injured and were unable to move.
Recalling Randolph, the culprit behind this incident, Rio gritted his teeth.
'Let's see. This revenge must be… !'
He looked at Suho, burning with vengeance.
"Can I ask you one favor?"
"What?"
"If you run into a Scavenger Guild member on the way, can you give him a shot?"
"Two would be possible."
"That's good."
Rio Xing put on a satisfied expression at Suho's answer.
Then he took out a ring from his pocket.
"I'll give you this."
"…?"
A strange light appeared in Suho's eyes as he accepted it.
[Item: Ring of Horus]
Difficulty to obtain: Grade B
Type: Accessories
Intellect Stat +10
-Effect 'Wisdom of Horus': Increases mana recovery speed by 30%
"It's an artifact I got while moving around this labyrinth, I don't know if it'll be useful."
Rio Xing wasn't able to check the information on the item, and didn't seem to know how great the item he was handing over was.
'This item is exactly what I need right now.'
While fighting the sand centipedes, Suho desperately felt what he lacked.
Mana.
Suho was able to gain strong power as a result of allocating all remaining stats into his strength stats, but as the importance of other skills has increased, he felt the need for intellect stats.
The Ring of Horus was a great treasure that increased his intellect stat by a whopping 10.
'Besides, as the intellect stat goes up, the number of shadow soldiers also increases.'
In order to catch the sand centipede, increased offensive power was the answer.
The opponents were hard to defeat just by simply increasing the number of shadow soldiers, but with the Ring of Horus, the odds would go up even more.
"Thanks. I will use it well."
Suho hurriedly took the ring from Rio Xing's hand before he changed his mind.
'Status window!'
He immediately checked the status window.
[Status Window]
Name: Sung Suho
Level: 26
Occupation: None
Title: Wolf Slayer
HP : 6,350/6,350
MP : 1,235/1,235
[Stats]
Body Strength: 54
Muscle Strength: 35
Agility: 35
Intellect: 35 (+10)
Senses: 35 (+5)
(Divisive Ability Points: 0)
'Woah.'
Suho's eyes widened.
His mana power, which was 635, had risen to 1,235.
That was at least twice as much.
This would double the casting time of the Giant's Armor.
Moreover…
[Number of shadows that can be released: 1/20]
'I think it's really worth a try now.'
Suho flashed a smile on his lips and immediately turned his gaze to the place where he felt the presence of a sand centipede.
"Let's go right away."
[I can feel the presence of other demons on the way.]
Beru guided Suho by flicking his short antennae.
From the point of view of having to increase the number of soldiers anyway, the more mage beasts they encountered on the way, the better.
Suho parted ways with the Asura Guild and moved into the labyrinth.
* * *
Meanwhile, the Scavenger Guild members, who jumped into the depths of the labyrinth to avoid the sand centipede, were struggling.
"Stop! Mummies are rising from the coffins again!"
The demonic beasts that appeared were in the shape of mummies.
At first, the guild members took the situation lightly as the mummies slowly approached.
However, when they actually bumped into them, those mummies were by no means easy ones.
Swoosh!
"Randolph! No matter how many times I kill these guys, they rise again!"
"Break their limbs so that they will never rise again!"
"Yeah, but… Keugh!"
"…!"
Randolph was startled.
One by one, his subordinates dealing with the mummies turned white and began to collapse.
"Poison?!"
As he hit the mummy's body, rotten poison seeped out from within the bandage.
'What happened?'
Randolph has experienced various monsters while working in Scavenger Guild, but this kind of monster was the first one.
'A monster that resurrects endlessly! These guys usually have a summoner behind them, right?'
Randolph had been looking for the summoner since a while ago, but he couldn't find even a trace of him.
"Look for him! We have to find the summoner somehow! If he controls these guys, he must be hiding somewhere around here!"
Randolph was desperate.
Right behind them, they could hear the sound of sand centipedes approaching close, and in front of them, mummies were surrounding them.
"Healer! You still haven't recovered your mana?!"
"I'm sorry. If you wait a little longer…"
"Useless!"
Kwak!
Seeing Randolph indignantly kicking the mummy in the stomach, the healers were horrified.
Fretting won't refill their exhausted mana quickly.
"This won't work! Ignore everything and rush forward unconditionally!"
"Randolph! What about the poison?"
"Just stop breathing and run, you bastards!"
Blag!
The bodies of the mummies bounced like bowling pins at Randolph's unstoppable charge.
"There is no time to waste on these little puppies! Run, no matter what!"
Besides, those mummies would be eaten by the sand centipedes that followed.
It would be perfect if the mummies' poison killed the sand centipede as well.
Scavenger Guild members started running with their teeth clenched to escape from the mummies surrounding them.
* * *
[Rotten Mummy]
[Rotten Mummy]
Suho and Esil, who jumped into the labyrinth, were also surrounded by countless mummies.
Esil immediately figured out the problem while attacking the mummies with her spear.
"Suho! They have no weaknesses! No matter how many times I kill them, they won't die!"
[Because they are already dead bodies in the first place.]
Beru, who was floating in the air watching the battle, smirked leisurely.
"On top of that, they even excrete poison!"
[That's because they are rotten corpses.]
Beru explaining so casually looked so mean.
He was flying back and forth among the mummies with an expression of great interest.
[Young Master, these guys are not normal monsters.]
"Then what?"
[They are artificially created by someone with witchcraft.]
"Incantation?"
There was a name that came to his mind at the word witchcraft.
The great spellcaster, Kandiaru.
[There are not many people who can create monsters of this level. A soldier that doesn't die even after getting killed. Doesn't it look like he imitated the shadow soldiers?]
Beru scratched his chin, remembering the architect who created the level-up system.
[Kandiaru was a great spellcaster who dreamed of immortality. Perhaps this was his laboratory. However, it failed in the end, and it seems that he had unfinished business.]
Suho nodded at Beru's words and looked at the mummies.
[Shadow release is possible on this target.]
[Shadow release is possible on this target.]
[Shadow release is possible on this target.]
…
Those messages appeared as soon as Suho got close.
The mummies existed as dead after all.
Moreover, the power of the Shadow Monarch was to rule over the dead by controlling death.
Suho smiled and reached out his hand toward the mummies flocking towards him.
"Arise."
A black shadow began to move beneath the feet of the mummies who were walking.
The shadows wrapped around their white bandage and dyed it black.
Swoosh!
[Shadow release succeeded.]
[Shadow release succeeded.]
[Shadow release succeeded.]
…
The mummies were now wrapped in black bandages.
A new name tag was engraved on their head.
[Shadow Mummy Lv.1]
General Class
"Woah."
Seeing the scene, Esil's face instantly showed a dejected expression.
All of the battles she had fought so hard for up until now had become futile.
Compatibility.
Regardless of anything, everything was a matter of compatibility.
"Arise."
Suho stretched out his hand as he slowly walked among the mummies that continued to attack him.
[Shadow release succeeded.]
"Arise."
[Shadow release succeeded.]
[Kiyaaaaaa!]
The mummies clad in black bandages began screaming in awe at Suho, who had given them a new 'life'.
As their number increased, their screams became like the hymns of a magnificent choir.
Seeing that wonderful sight, Beru smiled sinisterly.
[A life born from death… I really like that prophecy.]