Whoosh—!
Frozen time began to flow again. Suho's mind returned to reality. To the middle of the dimensional gap where the shadow soldiers were sweeping away the gap demons. To the side of Seo Jiwoo, who was arguing with Harmakan. And at that moment…
Snap!
Suho's eyes flashed, and he disappeared from the spot. And when he reappeared, he was in the middle of the remaining gap demons.
Flare!
In an instant, 'Kamish's Wrath' emitted a black-red aura from his crossed hands.
'Advanced Dagger Mastery'
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash—!
The black-red energy filled his entire vision. The newly acquired skill expertly tore through the air.
Crackle!
And when Suho's feet, which were invisible to the eye, finally stopped…
[Gap Demon has been defeated.]
[Gap Demon has been defeated.]
[Gap Demon has been defeated.]
[Gap Demon has been defeated.]
[…]
All the demons along the path he passed were slaughtered on the spot without even being able to scream. The one whose eyes widened at that sight was none other than Beru.
[Kieeeeek?! Th-that is…!]
"…Hunter Sung Suho?!" Seo Jiwoo, who was behind him, also looked at the daggers in Suho's hands with a shocked expression.
"Where did those weapons suddenly come from…?"
From Seo Jiwoo's perspective, it was truly magic. It seemed to her that the demon horns suddenly appeared in Suho's hands and then instantly transformed into two daggers which exuded magic power at a glance.
[My liege! Where did you get these precious items?!] Suho chuckled and replied to Beru's question,
"My father gave them to me."
[…]
"…Father?" Seo Jiwoo tilted her head.
On the other hand, Beru's eyes glistened with a deeply moved expression. There was no way Beru wouldn't recognize Kamish's Wrath, which was once Sung Jinwoo's main weapon.
[My liege! Do you know what Kamish's Wrath is? These daggers, so to speak, are the weapons that Master used to defeat other Monarchs!] Beru began to passionately talk about his memories with Sung Jinwoo with a wistful expression.
Kamish was a dragon that ranked at the top among magical beasts, excluding the Monarchs. 'Kamish's Wrath,' made from the sharpest fang among his teeth, could cut the bodies of even Monarchs. Except for one…
[But Kamish's Wrath, which slit the necks of other Monarchs, was useless against the Dragon King.]
It had difficulties piercing his hard scales, and even if it did, it only left a small scratch on his skin. Kamish's Wrath couldn't inflict a fatal blow on the Dragon King. There was even a situation where one of them broke during the battle. But when Sung Jinwoo used the Cup of Reincarnation to turn back time, he sought out Kamish and created Kamish's Wrath once again because there was no better weapon for everyday use.
"Oh, as expected of the Explanation Bug."
[Ahem. I apologize. I am indeed a bug that's good at explaining.] As Suho gave him a thumbs up, Beru proudly puffed up his chest and continued his explanation.
[But after decades of war, the blades were damaged like this. Especially when fighting the Dragon King for the second time…]
Nod. Nod.
"Hmm. That's only natural." At Beru's words, a small lizard was nodding with its arms crossed.
Antares had a very satisfied expression on his face. He clearly remembered the moment when Sung Jinwoo dared to attack him without knowing his place and the blade broke.
"In the first place, it's impossible for a dagger made of a dragon's tooth to pierce this Dragon King's body. I am Antares, the strongest dragon, and…"
[That's why the King is currently using a dagger made of 'Antares' Fang'.]
"Wh-what?!" Antares' jaw dropped at Beru's words, and his eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. His small, protruding fangs that were visible in his open mouth felt strangely sore… Of course, it must be his imagination. But the clueless ant Beru gave the Dragon King a thumbs up and praised him.
[I've made weapons with many dragon fangs, but yours were by far the best.]
"…" Was this a compliment or an insult? Antares gritted his teeth with a very complicated feeling and growled lowly at Suho,
"…Stop chatting and get on with the purpose of coming here."
"I should." Suho turned his head at those words.
'Sea of The Afterlife'
The original purpose of coming to this dimensional gap with Seo Jiwoo was to find the way to the Sea of The Afterlife, wasn't it?
[I shall guide you!] Beru guided Suho in the direction where the 'purified demon souls' were headed.
The dimensional gap was full of cracks. The unknown place called the dimensional gap was a space where those cracks changed in real-time, constantly appearing and disappearing. In short, it wasn't easy to find a hole that directly connected to the Sea of The Afterlife even if they knew the direction. That's why they needed bait… That was the role of Seo Jiwoo that the Dragon King suggested.
"Kuhk…!" While moving along the flow of the purified demon souls, Seo Jiwoo suddenly turned pale and collapsed on the spot. Suho turned to her in surprise.
"Hunter Seo Jiwoo? What's wrong?"
"Gasp… gasp… I-I can't… breathe…"
Something was strange.
Extreme fear. Seo Jiwoo was overcome with worry that she would die if she went any further, to the point where she couldn't even breathe properly.
"Harmakan! Find the cause!" Suho immediately turned to Harmakan and gave the order.
The fact that an S-rank Hunter like Seo Jiwoo was suffering such mental damage meant that there might be guys like demonic spirit shamans hiding somewhere. But even after hearing Suho's order, Harmakan had a troubled expression.
[Master, I don't think this is someone's doing. I think this is…] At those words, Beru quickly scanned the surroundings with narrowed eyes and said,
[My liege, I think we've come to the right place.]
Since a while ago, their surroundings were filled with numerous cracks like shattered glass.
[Among these cracks, surely…]
"There will be the Sea of The Afterlife." Antares finished Beru's sentence and glanced at Seo Jiwoo, who was hyperventilating.
"The fear this human is currently feeling is an instinctive aversion that any living being would feel. In other words, it's a survival instinct. No matter how strong a human's magic power is, they're all equal in the face of death."
"What…? Then what about me?"
"…You are not equal." Antares gritted his teeth with a rotten expression at Suho's reply.
This was probably the first time since the dawn of history that the Dragon King, Antares, discussed the unfairness of bloodline. Unlike Seo Jiwoo, who looked like she was about to faint at any moment, Suho was completely fine.
"Anyway, you're saying we've come to the right place." Having grasped the situation, Suho immediately tried to have Seo Jiwoo retreat. But then…
Crack—!
"…!"
Suddenly, above Seo Jiwoo's head a crack appeared in the empty air, and a giant bud popped out.
[Nightmare Bud]
Stretch—!
The grotesque bud that suddenly appeared split into four parts and opened its crocodile-like mouth wide towards Seo Jiwoo, who was crouching below.
"…!"
She couldn't scream, couldn't even breathe and her face was filled with terror.
'This is it.' She instinctively realized…
That this bizarre plant was the one that devoured her soul and dragged her to the Sea of The Afterlife. And that it was still drooling over her with lingering attachment.
'It's going to devour me again…'
Kyaaa—!
The despair that came over Seo Jiwoo didn't become reality.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Slash—!
In an instant, Suho jumped up and cut off the stem of the thing that was about to swallow Seo Jiwoo whole in midair.
"Kyaaaak—!"
A bizarre scream that scratched the eardrums erupted from the creature as it rolled on the ground. But as the Dragon King said, the weeds that grew in Sea of The Afterlife were tenacious. Especially this one, the Nightmare Bud, was disgustingly tenacious.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Rustle—!
Even as its head rolled on the ground with the cut off, new stems, no, creepy roots grew rapidly from the severed end of the Nightmare Bud's stem.
Flash—!
And using those roots, it rushed towards Seo Jiwoo, crawling on the ground like a centipede with many legs.
'Ruler's Authority!'
Whoosh—!
At that moment, Kamish's Wrath flew from Suho's hand in a straight line.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
And this time, instead of the stem, it mercilessly slashed at the bud.
Flare!
"Kyaaaaa…"
In the end, the creature's petals, torn and tattered, burned.
[Nightmare Bud has been defeated.]
"Haa…" Seo Jiwoo finally felt like she could breathe again as she watched the creature turn to ashes and scatter before her eyes. An instinctive sense of relief washed over her as she saw the unknown being that had been constantly watching her disappear. Still sitting on the ground, she looked at Suho and asked with a weak smile,
"Did I… do a good job as bait?"
"Thanks for your hard work." Suho politely bowed and thanked Seo Jiwoo.
She shook her head.
"No. It was something I asked for."
Seo Jiwoo still felt indebted to her colleagues who were asleep with the Eternal Sleep Disease. Even at this moment, her friends were slowly dying, and the fact that she alone woke up and reawakened as an S-rank Hunter was incredibly remorseful and painful. But Seo Jiwoo's role ended here.
"Harmakan." Suho looked up, glared at the dimensional hole where the Nightmare Bud popped out, and ordered Harmakan,
"Fix the coordinates."
[Yes, Master.]
Flash—!
Immediately, a magic circle was created in Harmakan's hands.
The dimensional gap was highly volatile. Even if they found a passage connected to the Sea of The Afterlife like this, no one knew when the coordinates would suddenly distort and the connection would be cut off. But there was a being who could freely create passages connecting dimensions even in this volatile place…
It was Yogumunt King of Demonic spirits and the Monarch of Transfiguration. But the ability itself wasn't something only Yogumunt was allowed to do, just the level of skill differed. For example, The Great Spellcaster Kandiaru, who was the second-in-command of the magic world.
[Harmakan activates Instance Dungeon.]
The Instance Dungeon, Kandiaru's legacy, was a large-scale magic circle that created a 'reverse world'. This ability was to create a world beyond the dimensional gap by distorting it, but with a little modification, it was also possible to use it to create a simple 'door' instead of a reverse world.
Rustle—!
Chains woven with magic extended forward as Harmakan stretched out his hands. Those chains forcibly bound the irregularly broken cracks, widening the hole and fixing the coordinates. And as a result…
Flash—!
"…Oh my god." Seo Jiwoo's eyes widened in shock.
Before them, a giant Gate was created, emanating an ominous aura that felt suffocating just to look at.
Ding!
['Gate: Sea of The Afterlife' has been created.]