Chapter 37
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Black Lord, Shadow of Destruction Keres
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Keres withdrew the hand she had placed on Lee Ru-ri's head.
She took a few slow steps back, then sharply sliced through the empty air with the edge of her hand.
At that moment, an immense light flooded into the gate's interior.
Her vision blurred by the brilliance, she blinked repeatedly for a long while to clear it.
Soon enough, what filled her eyes was a vivid blood-red lake.
Piled atop the crimson waters like a mountain of all sorts of corpses, the two of them stood facing each other at the very peak.
"Is that your true form?"
―Yes.
Lee Ru-ri reached out toward Keres.
[SS - Shadow of Destruction Keres: Current Favorability <540,003>]
"Your name's changed."
―This is my true name.
The first time they'd met, she couldn't even make out Keres's form.
The two subsequent encounters had been with a lingering afterimage: a lithe figure as slender as Kalikan's, clad in black armor and a crude helmet adorned with red feathers.
But the true form of Keres she now beheld atop this blood-red lake was like a mass of black shadow over her entire body.
Though no wind blew, Keres's long cloak billowed dramatically.
Where eyes should have been, a red glow smoldered fiercely.
Keres stared silently at Lee Ru-ri.
"But what's all this under our feet...?"
―The end of the surpluses.
"So, what exactly are these 'surpluses'?"
―I cannot tell you that. What matters is that we chose you.
"Chose? If 'we' means there's someone besides you?"
―Defeat me. That will be your true beginning.
"You want me to kill you?"
―Hahaha! If you can kill me, then do so. If not, breaking my will is enough.
Keres assumed an attack stance.
Two swords that looked impressive at a glance flew from the air into Keres's hands.
'So she wields swords. That's how she severed Han Seung-woo's leg and my organs... It all makes sense now.'
As she briefly recalled their first encounter, Keres launched her assault.
Shing.
The sound of slicing air pierced her ears precisely as Keres charged.
'She's using longswords, so my dagger can't block those blades.'
Keres swung her blades relentlessly as she rushed in, and blocking every attack with a dagger was practically impossible.
Scratches began appearing all over her body.
'Is she not really trying to stab me, or am I dodging well? Hard to judge.'
They were just scratches, but sword cuts nonetheless—her limbs were steadily staining with blood.
'Ah, the skill from Kalikan... But will it really extract my bones? Surely not.'
As she hesitated, pondering the skill from Kalikan, Keres sensed it and attacked even more fiercely.
'Regenerating Bone, please give me something useful.'
The moment she recalled the skill, the afterimage of the long, sharp bone Kalikan had used in his final attack appeared before her eyes.
Instinctively grasping it, Ru-ri's black mana infused the bone, shaping it into a proper sword.
"I've never done swordsmanship before, but here goes."
Lee Ru-ri charged at Keres with a spirited shout.
The gate filled solely with the clashing sounds of Keres's twin blades against her regenerating bone.
Clang!
Kiiing-clang!
Clang—clang!
―That's not how you use that mana.
Keres strained her glowing red eyes.
In that instant, Lee Ru-ri's black mana scattered.
"Giving it and taking it back? No way."
She gripped her mana tightly in response.
Black mana slowly welled up again.
Desperate not to lose it once more, she poured mana even more boldly into Kalikan's bone.
'I'm immune to all status ailments, and I'm no swordsman—if I fight only with swords, I'll definitely lose. What do I do?'
Sensing her dilemma, Keres laughed heartily.
―Hahaha! Looks like your head isn't turning. Then you can't beat me. I'll kill you as you wished.
The attacks intensified.
Lee Ru-ri gritted her teeth and parried Keres's blades.
'When Kalikan attacked rocks with black mana, the sword shattered. Pushing back like that might work—how did he do it...?'
She recalled blocking Kalikan's attack with a rock.
'Gathered mana like this.'
She abruptly changed her mana flow.
Keres's sword, aimed at her abdomen, bounced off Kalikan's bone before even making contact.
―Not bad.
"Oh, so that's how. Got it—again!"
She shouted boldly.
Keres swung her sword down hard.
Once more, her blade repelled by Lee Ru-ri's mana, and without missing the opening, Lee Ru-ri hurled a massively enlarged Extinction.
Keres scoffed, bisecting Extinction and charging at Lee Ru-ri.
"Let's see if you can cut rocks too."
―If you wish.
She repeatedly hurled rocks infused with black mana at Keres, then summoned her Divided Selves.
She suddenly wondered what would happen if she used black mana with petal rain.
The instant she recalled the skill, a wind like the black aura that had first enveloped her body rippled forth, and afterimages of charred black petals rained sharply down on Keres.
Regrettably, Keres showed no disturbance.
The Divided Selves vanished with even a mere graze from Keres's sword aura.
Yet she persisted, ceaselessly summoning Divided Selves to create an opening in Keres.
Clearly, Keres could crush her effortlessly.
The overwhelming gap in power pressed down heavily.
Yet for some reason, Keres seemed not to deliver a finishing blow, almost as if waiting for something.
"Hey, what if I just gave up right now? What would you do?"
Lee Ru-ri shouted loudly at Keres.
Keres halted abruptly mid-swing, having just slashed away a Divided Self with her sword.
"Lament Spear."
Seizing the moment, she drove a Spear of Lament brimming with black mana into Keres's chest.
The massive spear pierced with a flash of light, shaving off 1 percent of Keres's health.
She had only whittled it down to nearly 88 percent over quite some time, but it plummeted straight to 87 percent.
Lee Ru-ri immediately raised Kalikan's bone high and charged at Keres.
Keres steadied her stance, ready to counter.
Clang!
Clang-clang!
―Even if you try every option available to you, you cannot defeat me. How about it—will you give up?
"As if. Saving me and Han Seung-woo—was that one of your 'every option' too?"
―No.
"See? There is no 'every option.' It's just that one in the moment. That's why I won't give up. That's the one thing I can do right now!"
Keres's red eyes narrowed as she listened to Lee Ru-ri.
―So this is what conversing with a human is like.
Keres put some distance between herself and the charging Lee Ru-ri, then slowly withdrew her sword into the air.
―Even if that one thing you can do means dying right now, will you still choose it?
"No, I won't die."
―Hahahahaha!
Keres laughed loudly.
―Now you're sounding like other humans. But your reason for not dying must differ from theirs.
"Of course. If I die, who'll stop monsters like you? Only I can do this."
―Even if the surpluses' end is sealed, you'll go anyway.
"You really won't tell me what surpluses are?"
―You'll know when the time comes. That 'one thing' you spoke of... it sounds like something we should say.
Keres spoke in a subdued tone, markedly different from before.
Just as when they had arrived, she slashed the air with her hand, restoring the gate's interior to its original state.
―I shall give you my will. You've heard from my subordinate. This is a world where the nameless coexist with the willful named, and lords who wield them for a purpose.
As Keres reverted Lee Ru-ri's black mana to its original form, she continued.
―Lords have clear purposes. But we cannot voice them. We desire that you understand our purposes.
Though full of questions, she held her tongue and listened intently to Keres.
Like with the Drayger, black whirlwinds rose from Lee Ru-ri's hands, soon growing strong enough to shake the gate's interior.
―I am the twelfth servant of the absolute who governs death. All shadows born from cruel destruction belong to me. From the shadows of the destroyed, just one. I shall serve your shadow as my master. Offering my will is also recompense for you stealing death's repose from me.
"Master? Keres, what embarrassing nonsense is this? I don't need any recompense."
Lee Ru-ri waved her hands dismissively, trying to stop Keres.
Undeterred, Keres ignited the red glow around her eyes even brighter.
She then instantly flipped Lee Ru-ri's restored mana back to black in a flash.
Before, it would revert after a set time of disuse.
But thanks to Keres, the flickering black aura now stabilized into pitch-black mana, persisting steadily.
"This is..."
A moment later, the alert chimed.
♪ Ring~♪
[Shadow of Destruction Keres's favorability has increased by 1,000,000.]
[Cumulative target favorability: 1,000,000.]
[(S) Hidden Skill Activated (Success): All conditions fulfilled.]
[(SS) Hidden Skill Activated (Success): All conditions fulfilled.]
Han Seung-woo asked Choi Si-jin in return.
"A guild actually succeeded in entering an Inex Gate?"
"Yes. But some guild members entered successfully—only they didn't come out."
"Didn't come out means..."
"They're all presumed dead."
"How did they enter?"
"That's the mystery. No survivors, so no one knows how they got in."
"Where?"
"America."
"When does Chairman Han return?"
"In three days, but this incident might delay it."
"No word from Ru-ri yet?"
"Still no contact. No clear signal from that last D-rank gate she entered."
"She's not one to miss an Inex Gate raid, and no support requests?"
"None. Shall we go check?"
Han Seung-woo fell into thought.
The new gate they'd entered together.
Taking this long meant she'd undoubtedly re-entered it.
The one who'd dispatched an SS-rank beast in seconds with terrifying skill during the gate break—no need to worry.
Yet a vague anxiety bubbled up regardless.
"Seung-woo!"
"Professor Yang, you're here."
"Heard about the Inex Gate?"
"Just from Si-jin."
"That Han Gyeol went in and didn't come out?"
"What?"