episode_0016

There is no tension.

Since finishing the dungeon, I have fought with many beings, but I have never felt threatened.

Even if Richter had shown his final defiance, I would have thought it was just a sting.

The other enemies were all opponents who were no match for me.

People may call me arrogant, but they don’t know my past, where I had to do dangerous things to survive.

In my youth, I did risky things to avoid starving to death.

Luckily, I met the strongest swordsman of the time, Master Geomje, and became his disciple. His training was so intense that even adult men found it difficult to endure.

But with the determination not to return to the back alleys, I pushed through all the training.

Combining my natural talent for the sword and relentless effort, I became known as Sword Saint.

Not content with that, I traveled the world to push myself to the limit.

Traveling the world was thrilling and satisfying.

The adrenaline of fighting for my life against strong opponents in every corner of the world.

I survived dangerous battles with the single-minded goal of staying alive.

Each time, I gained new insights and honed my swordsmanship to perfection.

The pain of not being able to kill me made me stronger.

But I realized that there were limits to my growth.

After completing my journey around the world, I no longer felt the tension of battle.

Succeeding in a tightrope walk where failure meant death makes all tightrope walks feel easy afterward.

No fight was stimulating enough, and reaching a new level became difficult.

I wanted to become much stronger.

I wanted to feel that intense and exhilarating sensation of being in a life-threatening situation again.

Unfortunately, there were hardly any opponents who could satisfy me, and those few were either unwilling to fight or unreachable for some reason.

That’s why I started the dungeon.

Hoping that in 8 years, I would have worthy opponents to challenge me.

“Hah…! I trusted you, but seeing you now, I realize the current demon level is below my expectations.”

“You not only broke my precious magic stone but now you’re mocking me and my kind?”

“If you’re so confident, then come at me with all your might.”

“Fine! I’ll do as you wish!”

Crack!

As Fabian snapped his fingers, a spatial rift appeared behind him.

At the same time, the cries of many beasts could be heard from beyond the rift.

“I expected a pack of Drakes, but you truly are a beast tamer.”

“Yes. I am a renowned beast tamer who can face an army alone! So if you at least bow your head in apology before me now, I will send you off without any pain.”

“You’re delusional. If you want to prolong your life even a little, it’s best to unleash all the beasts you have.”

“You’re so arrogantly confident. I’ll give you a death that suits you!”

Countless beasts began to reveal themselves from the rift.

There was a wide variety of them, from tigers with fur as sharp as swords to lizards with potent acid, and even the legendary gorilla beast that could destroy mountains on its own.

Fabian had summoned these beasts, knowing each one and their names.

But there was no need to remember.

Because every single one of them was destined to die by my hand.

I plunged into the midst of the beasts as if willingly entering hell.

Grabbing the tiger’s face with my bare hands, I tore its head off completely.

Immediately after, I grabbed the lizard next to it by the neck and twisted its spine.

Looking at the limp lizard as if its strings were cut, I inserted my hand into its venom sac.

Sizzle!

The sound of flesh burning from the acidic venom filled the air, but my hand remained unscathed.

If it was supposed to be ineffective acidic venom, then that was not the case.

I swung the hand covered in acidic venom and manifested a blade.

The blade, imbued with the venom’s power, sliced through the bodies of the demons one by one.

“Quite effective, I must say.”

I completely tore the venom sac from the lizard demon.

Without hesitation, I squeezed the cleanly extracted venom sac in my hand, causing the acidic venom to flow down my arm, creating numerous fumes.

This time, I swung my arm and unleashed a larger blade towards the demons rushing towards me, even those emerging from the cracks.

They all became prey to the blade, their bodies burning in agony as they died.

“Is there anything else you want to show me?”

“If it goes like this…!”

“Oh, is this your last resort?”

From his embrace, Fabian pulled out another stone that looked exactly like the one I had shattered.

Wasn’t it a stone imbued with the power of the former Demon King?

The era was completely different, so I couldn’t know how strong the former Demon King was.

But if he became the first ruler in the cutthroat world of the demon realm, he must have been powerful.

I didn’t know how much of the Demon King’s power was contained in the stone, but if I absorbed it, it could be dangerous.

That’s why I kept a close eye on Fabian.

“Prepare yourself. I am very different from what I was before!”

Fabian demonstrated the act of putting a whole stone into his mouth.

He crushed it with his teeth and even swallowed it.

Watching a normal person chew and swallow a stone made my teeth ache.

But Fabian seemed to be experiencing more exhilaration from the rising power than pain, as he grinned wickedly.

“Haha! Is it that good?”

“Good? Forget about being good, it’s amazing! Just by eating one, such a vast power is surging within me…!”

It seems that there are not just one but several stones of the former Demon King.

Interesting, could I become stronger if I chewed and swallowed that stone too?

But the teachings of my mentor, who said that consuming power that doesn’t suit you is poison, made me give up.

If I were to use the stone…

“Do you have another stone? If there’s a way to become stronger, do it now.”

“How much more do you have to mock me?”

“Mock you? You seem to take offense quickly. I said it with the intention of giving it your all even if you end up dead. Why? You know the saying, ‘Die fighting’?”

“In the end, aren’t you looking down on me?”

“Exactly!”

As he answered with a bright smile, Fabian’s face turned red and he began to tremble.

It was a somewhat unfair reaction from my perspective.

Shouldn’t I call weaker beings strong rather than weak?

That’s why those who were mediocrely strong were the problem.

They always underestimated the difference in strength and had an arrogant thought of ‘I’m good enough.’

“So you don’t like it?”

“I’m very grateful…! Since you are overflowing with confidence, please consider me as the first test subject to experience my enhanced power!”

Taking out the second stone from his embrace and consuming it, Fabian finished absorbing it.

Clap!

He clapped his hands after absorbing the second stone.

“This time, it won’t be so easy…!”

“Is it a summoning this time?”

The crack that was spewing demons disappeared, and in its place, a giant gate appeared.

If the crack only calls forth the monsters I’ve tamed, then the main gate calls forth all the monsters in the world.

Strictly speaking, it was not a tamer but a summoner.

“The being I will summon is not a monster, but a divine being!”

“Oh, not a monster but a divine being….”

“Come forth! Cerberus!”

Roar!

A huge three-headed dog burst out, banging against the tightly closed main gate.

“Krrrrrrr!”

With the appearance of Cerberus, the interior of the cramped mine forcibly expanded, showing signs of collapse.

And soon after, the head of Cerberus in the middle roared.

The roar turned into shockwaves, starting to blow away everything in the surrounding area.

I quickly shielded two miners, taking the shockwave with my whole body.

“Haha… This is it! This is the power of a divine being!”

As the roar subsided, Fabian’s laughter echoed heavily.

The power of a divine being that completely destroyed the cramped mine and turned the surrounding area into a flat plain.

He seemed to be intoxicated with the power of the divine being he had summoned.

“Well then! What do you think? Do I look down on you now?”

“Cerberus, indeed, an unexpected one has come out.”

“Cerberus is the gatekeeper guarding the gate leading to the Hellheim, said to exist at the southern end. A legendary divine being known to have never let anyone pass through!”

“I see.”

“Hahaha! Where did your arrogant attitude from earlier go? Are you afraid? Well, it’s a natural reaction, as strong as a human may be, in front of Cerberus, they are nothing but insects!”

“Would you like to comment on the state of Cerberus you summoned?”

“What do you mean? Oh…!”

All three heads of the three-headed dog were glaring at me with twisted expressions.

Cerberus threatened me, as if it wanted to tear me apart right away.

With such a fierce look, if it had been an ordinary person, they might have died just from its gaze.

But to me, Cerberus’s threat was rather amusing.

After all, its tail was wedged between its legs, unlike its heads.

“Uh, what’s going on here?”

“What’s going on is that you’re scared of me.”

I knew why Cerberus was reacting like this right now.

“Is Cerberus afraid of you? No, that’s impossible! The undefeated divine being wouldn’t be afraid of a human, right?”

“Who said it’s undefeated?”

“What?”

“Oh, right. Strictly speaking, this Cerberus is indeed undefeated.”

“What kind of sophistry is that?”

“In short, the Cerberus you know is likely not the same as this Cerberus.”

I had traveled around the world and had been to the southern end.

Naturally, I had encountered Cerberus there and, as always, fought and won risking my life.

So why do I have a dead Cerberus here?

Because the Cerberus Fabian summoned is the offspring of the Cerberus I killed.

“Arrrrr!”

“The one who killed its mother must be hated to the core.”

“Grrr…! Grrr…! Grrr…!”

“On one hand, it must be terrifying to be the one who killed its mother.”

“Grrrr…!”

“You will hesitate. You might end up dying like its mother.”

But I couldn’t run away without even trying to fight back.

I had met an interesting opponent after a long time, and if it ended in vain, who would guarantee my pleasure?

Therefore, I decided to teach Cerberus the spell of courage that would lead to victory.

“Hey, your mom was fierce.”

“Krrrrrr!!”

My head, which had only been on guard, passively whimpered and threatened, and openly feared me.

But with a word from me, it became braver than a warrior and rushed towards me.

“Did I put too much courage into it….”

It’s good that it showed willingness to fight, but the problem was that anger had taken over reason.

A reckless charge without any plans.

I could only look at this bitterly.

“It seems there’s no child who can surpass their parents.”

Just before Cerberus’ front paw reached me.

I smoothly dodged the charge by moving my body to the right.

At the same time, I extended my left arm to the side, and Cerberus was cut off as it approached my arm.

It was a bold move to come and die just by bringing a sword.

With its torso cut in half, Cerberus met a futile death.

“This… this can’t be….”

Fabian, who had collapsed to the ground after Cerberus’ death.

The divine being who had been boasting and laughing until his mouth tore seemed helpless and desolate after failing to do anything.

Approaching him, I crouched down and met his eye level.

At that, fear filled Fabian’s eyes.

“Now you’re looking at me properly?”

“W-who are you exactly?”

“Who am I? Go to Helldaim and ask Cerberus directly.”

“Ah…!”

[Me! Charge!]

Drawing my sword, I effortlessly pierced Fabian’s heart.

Although I gained strength, in the end, I achieved nothing and couldn’t even figure out my identity.

Fabian’s regret will now honor the spirits of those he had killed.

Believing that, I slowly brought a dreadful end to Fabian.

“This is the end.”

[The best!]

“Yes, if you only look at the results, it’s the best. No one died, and I eliminated the Drake gang and their leader. However….”

This time, the tension I had longed for was missing.

The result was the best, but personally, it was the worst fight.

Still, if there is hope, I didn’t even know that the Demon Lord’s Magic Stone existed until eight years ago.

But there was still much knowledge I didn’t know, and the world is vast.

If I travel the world again, perhaps a strong opponent who will satisfy me will appear someday.

Of course, before that, I will definitely deal with Maxwell.

[Owner! Question!]

“What is it?”

[Divine being, mom! Eat?]

“….What?”

[Owner! Praise! Genius! Amazing!]

“When did I ever say I’m a genius! At that time, I was so hungry that I would have died if I didn’t eat even Cerberus, so I actually roasted and ate it and evaluated it like that.”

[Suspicion…!]

“It’s true!”

I vowed to choose my words more carefully from now on.