Chapter 29: The Master of the Corrupted Corridor (3)
A player affiliated with the Black Crow Guild.
It was Park Hajin.
“No, that’s impossible.”
Park Hajin’s voice trembled violently.
“To meet here, what a fate. So, what brings you to this distant place?”
Jinhyuk smiled faintly and swiftly grasped Park Hajin’s neck like lightning.
“Chk! Ack! That… obviously…!”
“Did you come here to raid the ruins?”
“Th-that’s right.”
“You’re spouting nonsense.”
Jinhyuk applied more force with his hand.
“Ugh, let’s talk after you let me go, please. I can’t… breathe…”
“I’ll make it quick, so answer with yes or no. The ones who killed the sentries and woke the Guardian. That was you, right?”
“What are you talking… about?”
Crack!
“Aaaagh!”
Park Hajin twisted his body violently.
Pressing his thumb against the collarbone, terrible pain ensued.
“Yes! Yes, it was!”
As expected.
He had been certain when he saw the wounds on the backs of the sentries.
Such injuries were the work of an assassin.
And an assassin’s presence in this raid meant only one thing.
Park Hajin.
Yes, it had to be him.
“Your purpose here is obviously to kill me.”
“That’s, that’s not it!”
Park Hajin’s pupils shook violently.
Denying it would not make the other party believe him.
But admitting it would mean death.
“You’re slow to answer.”
Jinhyuk’s eyebrows furrowed.
At the same time, his fingers, infused with magical power, dug into Park Hajin’s shoulder.
Crack! Crunch!
The horrifying sound of a collarbone shattering.
“Ah! Stop, stop! I’ll talk. Just stop!”
Park Hajin’s body twisted even more violently than before.
“Wait, just a moment. It was… Yes! Our guild leader made me do it. I said no, but he threatened me, so I had no choice!”
If it was the guild leader of the Black Crow Guild…
“Are you talking about Shin Geonsoo?”
He had seen him on TV.
It was during some program about “emerging guilds” or something like that.
His appearance, in a high-end suit and black sunglasses, was not easily forgotten.
“Yes! Shin Geonsoo! That bastard ordered me to do it. Please believe me.”
“…Alright. I’ll believe you.”
Jinhyuk relaxed his grip.
“Huff.”
Park Hajin sighed deeply.
“Don’t be relieved. I have no intention of sparing your life.”
Swoosh!
A dagger plunged into his flesh.
“Keugh?”
Park Hajin looked down at his chest in a daze.
It was right where his heart was.
“I don’t normally let those who target my life go easily, but thanks to you, it’s been easier to plan. You should be thankful.”
With cold words, Jinhyuk removed the ring from Park Hajin’s finger.
[Braham’s Ring] Acquisition Difficulty: A
Magic Resistance: +10
Movement Speed: +5%
Unique Ability Suppression: +20
Too precious an item for a dead man to possess.
Jinhyuk slipped the ring onto his finger.
Swoosh!
And mercilessly slashed the remaining assassins of the Black Crow Guild.
Due to the effect of [Ruthless Heart], there was not a trace of mercy in Jinhyuk’s movements. Moreover, he wasn’t foolish enough to show humanity to those who had targeted his life.
In the bloody scene,
Jinhyuk turned to look at Elise.
“Does this prove that I’m a mine, as you think?”
He had killed the vampires’ most dreaded adversary, Theresa, and even the hostages they had captured.
An act that couldn’t be undertaken if one were to consider the consequences.
“Using ‘Sympathy’ to lower the other’s guard helped move Elise’s heart, even if just a little.”
“Fine. Assuming I trust you,”
Elise stood up.
Her long silver hair flowed down her shoulders.
“How do you plan to grant us freedom?”
…Good.
Jinhyuk calmed his racing heart.
Stay calm.
Don’t get excited, just calmly…
“I’ve prepared a seventh-tier spell. If we seal Elise’s soul in an item, we can momentarily deceive the ruins’ barrier.”
“Seal my soul? That’s a new one.”
Of course.
This method wouldn’t be discovered until the 40th floor of the tower.
“Honestly, it was partly due to luck. It wasn’t easy to find the correct amount of magical power to supply to each circuit to form the basic framework.”
Jinhyuk gathered magical power at his fingertips.
Whoom!
A blue light formed at his fingertip.
Like writing letters in the air, his finger moved through the void.
A word.
[Signaculum] And another.
[Immortalitas] [Sanctuarium] …
He drew a hexagram with six words.
Injecting different amounts of magical power into each word, the blue light began to burn more fiercely.
Whoosh!
The hexagram emitted an ominous energy.
“Ooh.”
Elise showed a slightly surprised expression.
“…This is.”
“Such usage is also possible,” remarked the observing vampires, their mouths agape.
Overwhelmed by the sight they had never seen before, their lips quivered.
Meanwhile, Jinhyuk placed ‘Braham’s Ring’ in the center of the hexagram.
[The level condition (1 level) of the caster ‘Kang Jinhyuk’ has been met.] [The chanting of the seventh-tier ‘Soul Transfer’ spell is activated!] [If the target’s consent is obtained, the spell will be complete.] [Only one soul can be taken at a time.] [The cooldown of the chant is 365 days.]
Only one person could leave the ruins.
The next chance would not come until a year later.
For vampires blessed with immortality, time was not an issue…
‘Accepting an unfamiliar spell so readily is not exactly appealing.’
Elise’s elegant eyes twitched.
However, it was only for a moment.
A smile crept back onto her lips.
She had found a flaw in the chanting.
‘If I destroy the hexagram that forms the foundation of the spell, I can dismantle the entire formula.’
Even if he had plotted something, with the vampires including Belus around, they could always kill the human and break the seal.
This provided a safety measure.
The uneasy feeling remained, but…
‘I can’t pass up this opportunity just because it’s dubious.’
She had been trapped for far too long.
Thus, the temptation to gain freedom was too strong to resist.
If not now…
She might never escape this underground palace.
The decision didn’t take long.
“I understand. I accept.”
Elise nodded.
At that moment,
[Braham’s Ring absorbs the soul of ‘Elise’.]
A dazzling light wrapped around Elise’s entire body.
＊＊＊
“Ha.”
Jinhyuk retrieved the ring from the hexagram.
Thump! Thump!
His heart pounded wildly.
…Success!
The feeling of being rewarded for all the hardships.
Had even one thing gone wrong, it would have been impossible to seal Elise inside.
In fact, he had failed more than dozens of times in the past.
‘Thanks to the variable called Theresa, things went much more smoothly.’
[Hmm. Not bad at all. I thought it would be suffocating, but it’s surprisingly cozy.]
Elise’s voice emanated from the ring resting in his palm.
It seemed she quite liked the interior.
Fortunate, indeed.
For her new home to be to her liking.
Just then,
“Ugh…”
A weak moan emerged from Theresa, who had been lying on the ground.
“How can this woman!”
“I thought she was dead?”
The vampires widened their eyes in disbelief.
They had confirmed her breathing had stopped.
Even checked for magical reactions, but found none.
It was a certain death.
Yet,
“Ah… I forgot to mention. This friend here, she can revive even after dying.”
‘The Blessing of the Stars.’
As long as she wasn’t instantly killed, she could come back to life.
Jinhyuk exclaimed in admiration as he watched Theresa stand up.
Wow. Really.
The more he saw it, the more valuable the ability seemed.
No wonder they say she’s like a pest of the stars.
[You! Dare you mock me!]
Elise roared, naturally angry upon realizing she had been deceived.
On the other hand, Theresa, having regained her senses, murmured with a complicated expression.
“So… it was all planned.”
Despite her heart stopping, the ‘Blessing of the Stars’ allowed her to witness everything.
The cunning rhetoric that cooked the supreme ruler and eventually sealed her away. All of it.
So this was why he insisted on absolute trust…
“I have many questions, but now’s not the time, is it?”
“We don’t have the luxury to chat right now.”
Indeed.
Conversations were for later.
Not everything was over yet.
[Theresa activates Lv4 ‘Holy Name’.]
Theresa’s sword moved left and right.
Snip! Snip!
The gags and blindfolds restraining people were removed.
“Gasps…”
“Heugh!”
Those deprived of their senses gasped for air.
“We’re alive. We’re alive!”
“Wow!”
Cheers erupted here and there.
Thought to be facing certain death, they were tasting freedom once more.
“You’ve come.”
Song Chunhwa briefly nodded towards Theresa.
“It’s good you weren’t late.”
Theresa helped Song Chunhwa stand.
“How many in the rescue team?”
At least three main attack squads from a large guild were expected.
At the very least, that much firepower was necessary.
However,
“Excluding me, there’s only one.”
The words from Theresa’s mouth completely crushed Song Chunhwa’s expectations.
＊＊＊
“If only he had pretended to be a mine, he might have spared his life.”
“Stupid humans…”
The vampires bared their fangs.
Ready to eliminate all humans upon attempting any trickery, the command had been given.
No more mercy was needed.
Swoosh!
Various magical attacks composed of blood began to encroach on the surroundings.
Droplets of blood congregated into a massive wave.
The wave, seemingly capable of swallowing the entire palace, grew taller.
A chillingly powerful magical force.
“We’re done for.”
“Thought I barely survived… but now…”
“I don’t want to die!”
They had once been utterly defeated by this skill.
Tankers who could stand against large monsters were torn apart like paper.
Various attackers’ magic was erased by superior spells.
It was a nightmarish memory.
The issue was that this horror was repeating itself before their wounds had even healed.
Song Chunhwa bit her lip in frustration.
“…Is this the end?”
Even with Theresa’s arrival, it was futile.
There were eleven more vampires than before.
The difference in strength hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
At that moment,
[Lv13 ‘Blood Wave’ is activated!]
The blood wave surged forward.
Unstoppable.
Unavoidable.
“…”
Song Chunhwa closed her eyes.
Others lowered their heads or covered their heads with their hands.
Awaiting the imminent death.
However,
“…?”
The expected impact of the wave never came.
Nor was there any pain.
Song Chunhwa cautiously opened her eyes.
There stood a man wearing a strange mask.
Whoosh!
A massive wall of fire blocked the wave.
Not just blocking it tepidly.
The water evaporated, and the blood droplets gradually disappeared.
As if demonstrating which side wielded denser magical power.
Who is he?
‘No ranker known for using a dagger and wearing a mask comes to mind.’
This was definitely a first encounter.
But could that make sense?
That a player capable of wielding such powerful fire magic was unknown?
Even seeing it, it was hard to believe.
Thus, the question had to be asked.
“Who, who is that person?”
At Song Chunhwa’s question, a gentle smile formed on Theresa’s lips.
“Someone you must trust.”