The Dungeon's Crimson Spill

Dark crimson blood splattered across the dungeon floor.

Drip…

That was the sound of Seol Si-yun's blade grazing my left arm. I was clearly the stronger one in skill and power, so why couldn't I read his sword path? Was it innate talent? Or had I let my guard down? No, none of that mattered. What mattered most was that I was pissed off. No, I was really pissed off.

I couldn't afford to get hurt, and the place I least wanted injured was my left arm. I'd been fighting with only my right arm to protect it, and yet his blade had cut exactly where I was trying to guard.

That was the blessing Hana had cast for me before we entered Seoraksan. The words she'd written on my left arm with magic:

I'd planned to show her when I came back and tell her that thanks to her, I hadn't struggled at all. But this bastard Seol Si-yun had aimed right for that spot and cut it.

Crack…

A vein bulged on my forehead from the rage, and the moment it couldn't hold anymore, it burst.

"Hah… hah… hah… I've never been this angry… since I came back…"

"Hmm…? What are you saying?"

The anger was so great that my mind went cold instead. It was a cold fury, like eternal snow that never melted.

"Right… you said you wanted to fight, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Are you going to fight properly now?"

Of course he knew I wasn't fighting properly because I wasn't using my left arm.

"Hey… I'm just asking in case… did you… aim for this side on purpose?"

"Yeah. You weren't fighting with that side, just guarding it, so I figured."

"I knew it. Fine. If you want me to fight properly, I'll give it to you. Then let's see… how well you can hold your own."

Crack—!!

The ground beneath me split apart. An overwhelming pressure filled the dungeon, as if everything until now had been child's play.

Gugugugugung…

"Ugh…!"

A flicker of pain crossed his otherwise impassive face.

"If you love fighting so much… I'll beat you to death so you can't fight for a while, you bastard."

Black Moon was the only buff technique in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art — and the only one I couldn't fully handle. It amplified dark mana, but since I couldn't yet control it completely, it was like poison to my body. And right now, I was pushing it to its absolute limit.

Right. If you want to fight, I'll fight. Let's see who falls first.

Whoosh…

I teleported to a marked spot behind him. A pale white night gathered on my fist, and I drove it toward Seol Si-yun.

Dark mana snow, white as fresh powder, fell upon Seol Si-yun — a snow that denied everything and existed only for itself.

"Ugh!!"

He let out a groan of pain. Of course. For those who used mana, dark mana was poison, and this technique spread that poison.

But Snowy Moonlit Night did more than just spread dark mana.

"I'll disable just one spot. That arm of yours holding the sword — just that one."

A moonlit night falling with pale white snow might be beautiful to behold… but poisonous plants also bloom with beauty because they carry poison within.

Boom!!

My fist struck the empty air, and the pale white snow of Snowy Moonlit Night shot toward Seol Si-yun like a spear, accompanied by a sonic boom.

He thrust his sword down, wrapped in strong qi, to block the spear, but the dark mana had already infiltrated his unstable mana. He couldn't block all of it, and the spear of Snowy Moonlit Night pierced through his body.

But Seol Si-yun was no weakling who could be finished so easily.

The sword technique that had earned him the title of Sword God before my regression — Seol Si-yun's unique ability.

"I'll go all out now too."

"Bring it. The result won't change either way."

Whoosh

I teleported behind him again and drove my fist, wreathed in dark mana, into him.

"I've… already seen that."

Clang!!

His sword met my fist.

So the same trick doesn't work twice.

His talent was infuriating. Even though my teleportation was still unrefined and left traces of mana behind, he'd figured out where I'd move and attacked accordingly.

But…

So what?

Even if he knew, I just needed to land an attack he couldn't block.

My dark mana projectiles filling the sky met Seol Si-yun's slash that cut through the heavens. Like painting blue ink over black, his slash tore through my Heavenly Rain of Flowers.

The slash that had cut through my projectiles flew toward me with terrifying momentum, and the projectiles his slash hadn't managed to cut fell upon Seol Si-yun.

I couldn't teleport — there was no marked spot to teleport to. And using the Heavenly Demon Divine Art again to block would put too much strain on my body after all the fatigue I'd accumulated. I had to use something else.

I withdrew the dark mana from my body and drew out white mana, excellent for defense, casting Protect in five layers.

Tsutsujjeuk!!

Seol Si-yun's slash collided with my Protect.

Protect was holding the slash back, but its momentum wasn't fading easily. That's when a chilling coldness brushed past my back — behind me, where I was blocking the slash.

Behind me!

I didn't know how he'd gotten past my Heavenly Rain of Flowers and reached me, but right now, Seol Si-yun was behind my back.

Thud! — Seol Si-yun, who had approached by kicking off the ground, drew his sword.

I braced myself for the strain, withdrew the white mana from my body, released dark mana, and activated Black Night.

I took the slash I'd been blocking with my body.

It had already been weakened by my Heavenly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rain of Flowers and Protect, so I could withstand it — but I had to block the attack from behind.

The struggle began between Black Night's devouring darkness that crushed everything and Seol Si-yun's slash that cut through the sky.

If I lost, I lost.

If Black Night was pushed back in the struggle against Seol Si-yun's slash, I'd have to take both slashes — front and back — with my body.

I wouldn't die, but my defeat would be certain.

Crack!

There's no way. The only one who can beat me… is Beatrice. Just one person.

The only one who was allowed to defeat me after my regression was Beatrice — my beloved lover and master. I would never accept defeat to anyone else.

And I never fought assuming I would lose.

For me, defeat was only death. As long as my life wasn't cut short, I hadn't lost — and as long as my life wasn't cut short, I wouldn't stop. Just like when I killed Afinity.

Even after my regression, there was only this path. No other outcome existed.

So I increased the amount of dark mana I poured into Black Night.

My arm was being eroded black by the excessive dark mana, and pain surged through me, but pain was something I could endure.

So I didn't stop. I kept increasing the amount of dark mana I expelled.

Black Night grew larger with the overflowing dark mana, swallowing the slash and engulfing Seol Si-yun — and crack! my Protect, which had been blocking the front slash, shattered, and Seol Si-yun's slash cut into my back.

I concentrated dark mana on my back to push the slash away, but I'd already used too much dark mana earlier, and I couldn't block it completely.

But even though the slash had cut me, it hadn't finished me. I wasn't done.

"Haa… haa… haa… You crazy bastard. You took all that and still came at me?"

Seol Si-yun's figure, revealed as Black Night receded, was pitiful.

He hadn't blocked all of my Heavenly Rain of Flowers and attacked me — he'd only blocked the projectiles heading for vital spots and taken the rest on his body before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attacking me.

"And you blocked that too. Crazy bastard."

"You… are strong. Really strong."

"And you still have the strength to talk, I see."

Step… step… step…

I walked over to the completely collapsed boy, grabbed his thin neck, and lifted him up. He was small even among men, and I lifted him easily — his life and death now in my hands.

I wanted to snap his neck right there, tear his body to shreds, and burn the remains, but I had to hold back. He was a very precious person.

Squeeze!

I tightened my grip on his neck, cutting off his airway and oxygen, and his face turned blue.

"Kek… you… going to… kill me?"

His airway was blocked — he couldn't even breathe, let alone speak — yet he calmly asked if I was going to kill him. His attitude was incredibly irritating.

So I just threw him hard against the wall. Like discarding unpleasant trash.

Boom!! — His thrown body hit the wall and slid down it.

"Not… going to kill me?"

"Shut up. I'm not killing you, but I'm going to break one of your arms, just like I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said."

I wanted to kill him, but I had to hold back.

He was the one who would kill the Celestials in the future, and he was useful in other ways too — I couldn't kill him. Not yet, anyway.

"If he wasn't useful…"

Step… step… step…

I walked over to the boy lying on the ground, raised my foot toward his arm, and stomped down hard.

Like hammering a nail with a sledgehammer.

Crack! — Ugh!

The sound of bone crushing came out, along with a groan of pain from his mouth.

He only groaned from the pain of crushed bone — even the future's strongest was still young, it seemed.

"Now just disappear. You can barely walk, so wandering around this dungeon in that state would just be a dog's death."

I walked inside without listening to his reply, but the fact that he headed in the opposite direction — toward the dungeon entrance I'd come from — without saying a word was incredibly irritating.

"Ah… come to think of it, here, I'll give you this."

Whoosh! Thwack!

Something he threw hit my head. It wasn't thrown hard, and it didn't hurt, but it was incredibly irritating. For a moment, I considered just killing him, Celestial or not.

"That… I got it from the monster… that looked like the boss here. I'm leaving now, so I'll give it to you…"

What he'd thrown at me was a small black bead that radiated the same energy as the red core I'd gotten from the doppelganger's main body — but it was black.

He'd thrown it at me and was walking back toward the dungeon exit, and I cursed under my breath as I caught the black bead floating in the air.

That guy was still an irritating bastard I couldn't help but find annoying, even if I wanted to like him.

It was the first time.

The first time I'd lost to someone who looked my own age.

Every fight had ended before I could even get hurt, but this one ended with one arm broken and blood flowing from all over my body.

"Fun…"

A broken arm and blood flowing from all over my body didn't matter. I'd challenged him to a fight in the dungeon, and if it ended with just one arm broken, that was incredibly merciful.

In other words, I could have died — and that was too fun.

A wall I'd never felt before. The way he overwhelmed me with skill, the attacks that swallowed mine whole. Even the fear of approaching death.

Thrilling…

Every fight had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been so flat and boring, but this one was incredibly thrilling and fun.

So much so that all my previous fights felt like nothing.

What kind of person was he? I couldn't see him properly because of the mask, but the black eyes that glared at me through the eye slits — they were eyes that instilled fear, the kind you'd expect from someone who had survived dozens of near-death experiences. They weren't eyes someone my age should have, yet the voice that came through was clearly that of someone my own age.

But it couldn't have been someone who had undergone banrohwandong — he hadn't detected my first attack immediately.

So he definitely hadn't undergone banrohwandong, which meant he was probably around my age… Then maybe he was also going to the Academy? If he went to the Academy, could I fight him again?

If he really was going to the Academy, I couldn't wait for the day I enrolled.

He was definitely the only person I felt I could get along with, and I was incredibly excited.

So I thought I needed to get stronger, like that person, before enrolling in the Academy — and the thought of how much longer I could fight if I got stronger made me so excited that I didn't even feel the pain of my injuries.

"Maybe I'll train with my right hand for a while…"

Since his dominant arm was broken, Seol Si-yun said he'd train with the other hand for a while — and on his face, instead of his usual boredom, a look of joy bloomed.

Anticipating the moment he'd meet that person again, Seol Si-yun left the dungeon.

The wounds I'd sustained from my fight with Seol Si-yun were healed by the potions and recovery magic Beatrice had prepared for me, and I went back to dealing with the doppelgangers that had appeared again.

Swish… swish… swish…

"That makes three, I think."

Once I'd figured out the doppelgangers had a main body, the speed at which I could deal with them had noticeably increased.

What used to take an hour was now cut almost in half — good news, but…

"What on earth is this?"

What the doppelganger's main body was holding this time was a yellow core that reminded me of a lemon.

This wasn't some color game — different colors kept popping up.

The other doppelgangers had cores too, but they were all connected to this main body's core through mana, so the other cores were basically just stones. No, it would be more accurate to say that hundreds of doppelgangers were essentially a single entity — the main body.

But these cores were too ambiguous to definitively classify as anything. They contained mana, so they weren't quite mana stones — their shape was too round. And they weren't quite like Gogol's cores either — something was fundamentally different.

If I had to find something similar, there was one thing that came to mind.

"A key. Something like a key for somewhere."

Among the various dungeons, there were some that couldn't be passed by ordinary means.

Dungeons with special structures that only opened when certain conditions were met, or that revealed hidden passages.

Some required collecting a certain number of mana stones from the monsters inside before the door to the next area would open, and others required defeating a specific type of monster different from the rest before the path would open.

I'd killed countless doppelgangers, but in reality, I'd only killed two — the other one was killed by Seol Si-yun. If I killed a few more and got cores of different colors, I might be able to figure something out.

The problem was not knowing how many more I needed to kill… but I'd already been in the dungeon for nearly three hours, and the only time I'd taken to rest was that brief moment talking with Seol Si-yun.