Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 18
Someone's voice reached Se-yeon's ears as she was about to charge at the Vampire Bat King once more, driven by her blood instincts.
"Looks like you've already had quite a bout?"
"……!"
Se-yeon turned her attention to the unidentified person who had intruded into the boss room.
A man wearing a white robe.
Beyond his flowing hair, eyes that glittered with a strange light caught her attention.
'Who is it?'
Someone entering a deserted dungeon at this dawn hour. Too coincidental to be mere chance.
Then perhaps.
'A pursuer?'
"Kuk."
Se-yeon gritted her teeth and showed hostility toward the man.
If he had chased her all the way here, he must surely be a pursuer connected to the orphanage.
To think there was still someone following her trail.
Her heart sank and fear that felt like her blood was drying up assaulted her.
Se-yeon raised her trembling fists and took a fighting stance as if ready to battle at any moment.
But the man showed no particular reaction, just stared at her blankly and grumbled.
"No matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem right... There's no possibility that this kid would side with that bastard."
The man muttered incomprehensible words while stroking his chin.
He soon pointed to the red eyes glowing in the darkness beyond.
"Kid. Can I catch that thing?"
What he pointed at was the Vampire Bat King.
'He's going to catch that?'
Suddenly?
The tension released, Se-yeon frowned at the man's words.
Was he another awakened one who had entered Bat Cave, not a pursuer?
That aside, to suddenly intrude and try to steal the boss she had painstakingly whittled down with her blood.
She hadn't come here intending to catch it from the start, but thinking of having her hard work stolen by someone else somehow felt unfair.
'Even if I die, I'll catch that thing before I die.'
Se-yeon scowled and spoke curtly.
"My prey."
"Looks like you're about to die from that prey though?"
The man smirked while looking at the blood-covered Se-yeon.
Se-yeon's face reddened with shame and anger as she gritted her teeth.
"Shut up."
"Whatever, I'm catching that thing. If you don't like it... you know?"
"……?"
SWOOSH-
While Se-yeon was tilting her head in confusion, the man disappeared from her sight in an instant.
As if he had teleported, he slid across the ground at incredible speed and reached the Vampire Bat King in the darkness in no time.
KIEEE-!
The Vampire Bat King was startled by the man's sudden approach and fled into the air.
Simultaneously, the vampire bats around protected their leader by rushing at the man all at once.
KIEEEEE-!
In the blink of an eye, the man was surrounded by bats.
Se-yeon clenched her fists watching the scene.
When surrounded by a swarm of bats, they attack from all directions, draining blood and quickly depleting stamina.
So when facing them, you need to secure space to evade and defeat them one by one.
However,
THWACK THWACK-
Contrary to Se-yeon's worries, rather than being overwhelmed by the bat swarm, the man began to strike them down in reverse.
CRACK- THUD-
Every time his hands and feet moved, bats exploded with bone-crushing sounds.
The bats had their heads smashed and turned into chunks of meat from his single strikes.
Se-yeon's eyes widened as she watched his movements and combat style.
'A martial artist?'
Those movements were definitely those of a martial artist profession.
Though she hadn't climbed the Tower, having stayed on the 2nd floor for a long time, she could distinguish at least that much.
But there was one thing that bothered her. It was the man's muscle formation and physique.
Particularly, the calluses on his hands that she glimpsed didn't look like a martial artist's hands at all.
Se-yeon, who had trained at the orphanage for years, immediately noticed the strangeness.
'That man is definitely a martial arts beginner.'
He might be skilled in combat, but he's definitely a beginner at techniques that directly use the body.
But he seemed to have something else special about him.
Se-yeon stared blankly at the man beating down bats, then came to her senses and bit her lip.
'Strange guy.'
Appearing out of nowhere and trying to steal her prey.
She couldn't let such a strange guy steal her prey.
The moment she decided to fight, clenching her fist strongly.
WHOOSH-
Her arm, which had been dangling as if it would fall off at any moment, began to slowly stick back together.
Se-yeon rushed at the Vampire Bat King without even noticing that her wounds had healed on their own.
***
[You have successfully defeated the Vampire Bat King.]
[Final blow: Lee Seo-jin]
[You have cleared Bat Cave dungeon.]
[Achievement, Bat Slayer has been achieved.]
"Whew."
Seo-jin, who had crushed the Vampire Bat King's head, caught his breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Haa. Haa."
And beside him, a girl panting and glaring daggers at Seo-jin.
She looked very frustrated and resentful, probably because Seo-jin had stolen the final blow.
Seo-jin looked at Se-yeon like that and chuckled inwardly.
'Still young.'
Sword Demon Kim Se-yeon.
Later called a walking disaster because she would leave not a single living thing behind wherever she passed, but now there was no trace of such an appearance.
It was natural.
He had gone back 10 years from then.
Her current age would be at most high school level. Her face was young and she was mentally immature.
Moreover,
'If the future her was a wooden doll mad with blood, now she looks like an injured wolf pup.'
Hidden away due to childhood emotional wounds, but various emotions still remained within her.
The emotions that had withered away in his previous life were now carefully hidden.
It seemed she hadn't stayed in the Tower for very long.
'If I hadn't interfered, she would have realized her talent here and caught the Vampire Bat King herself.'
And that would have been the catalyst for her to climb the Tower alone.
Carrying her past on her shoulders, climbing the Tower silently without borrowing anyone's help.
That way, she would follow the same path as before.
A monster who received no one's understanding and sought no one's understanding.
She would become the blood-mad Sword Demon Kim Se-yeon.
From the standpoint of shared suffering living with madness, Seo-jin didn't want to leave her to meet the same end as before.
'If she finds a proper master, she probably won't go astray to that extent.'
But he couldn't take her along either.
He was busy in many ways, and he was also clumsy at taking care of children.
It was then that Seo-jin was pondering.
"Name."
The girl who had been glaring at him boldly asked for his name.
"What's your name?"
"Lee Seo-jin."
Seo-jin gave his name and stared down at Se-yeon.
There was silent pressure to reveal her name since he had given his.
"……."
Perhaps reading Seo-jin's intention, she who had been quiet carefully opened her mouth.
"Kim Se-yeon."
"Kim Se-yeon. I'll remember that."
After the introduction, Se-yeon pointed to the Vampire Bat King's corpse behind Seo-jin.
"You're not planning to take everything, are you?"
It was a question Se-yeon asked with a glimmer of hope, but Seo-jin gave a cold, ruthless answer.
"Of course. Don't you know that whoever gets the final blow owns it? Any Tower climber would know that."
"……."
Se-yeon bit her lip in frustration.
Her original purpose for entering this Bat Cave... she couldn't even achieve death.
Moreover, even after fighting to the death, she gained nothing.
Even though she had used this power obtained through everyone's sacrifice.
What on earth had she come here for? And what had she fought to death for?
"Get stronger if you don't like it."
CLENCH-
Se-yeon clenched her fist and burned with hostility, but Seo-jin calmly waved his hand.
"Give it up. With your current skills, you can't beat me. And."
Seo-jin pointed to Se-yeon's blood-covered body.
"Check your body condition before fighting. You're standing fine now because you're excited, but you'll soon collapse from anemia, right? I don't care if you die."
At those words saying he didn't care if she died, Se-yeon turned her head away to avoid his gaze.
"……I don't particularly want to live anyway."
She had come to this place alone to die in the first place, so what was the point now...
There was no meaning or purpose to life.
Rather, that man who had interfered with her death...
SMACK-
"Agh!"
While she was grumbling to herself, she suddenly felt intense pain in her head.
Se-yeon looked at the man, feeling pain that made her vision flash white.
He who had hit Se-yeon's head was glaring with his fist slightly clenched.
"Don't want to live, my ass. Stop talking nonsense and go rest."
"Rest?"
"Yeah. You know the Land of Beginning? There's a Blue Cluster Inn there. If you mention my name, you should be able to stay for a few days."
He had applied for long-term lodging without knowing better, but was only staying two days before going to the upper floors, so some time remained.
Since meals were provided regularly, her condition would improve if she ate and rested.
At Seo-jin's kindness, Se-yeon looked at him with wary eyes and asked back.
"……Why?"
Anyone would be wary of sudden kindness.
Seo-jin sighed and answered appropriately.
"A kid like you entering the Tower alone means there's a tragic story. I'm not curious about the detailed circumstances, but as an adult, I can show some kindness."
"Kindness."
At the word kindness, Se-yeon looked at the Vampire Bat King's corpse and sent Seo-jin a sharp glare.
"Ah, that's separate. It's not bad to learn the bitter taste of society in advance."
"……."
Seo-jin dismantled the Vampire Bat King's corpse in front of Se-yeon and put it in his inventory.
Not only the profitable magic stone, but also claws, eyes, teeth, gallstones, and wing membranes - he swept everything up without leaving anything behind.
Even pigs wouldn't devour something so thoroughly without leaving a bone fragment.
Whether he knew Se-yeon's thoughts or not, Seo-jin, who had gathered everything he could stood up and turned around sharply.
"I'll be going now. If you want to meet me later, look for the 'False Sage' in the Black Forest on the 3rd floor. I'll distribute the Vampire Bat King's spoils then."
"Black Forest? Sage?"
When Se-yeon was tilting her head at the incomprehensible words.
He grasped the red stone he had found from the Vampire Bat King's corpse.
FLASH-
With a bright light, he disappeared before her eyes.
The cave was soon enveloped in silence after the man disappeared.
The noisy moment from just before felt like an illusion.
Se-yeon stared blankly at where he had disappeared, then dropped her head low.
A sharp stone visible at her feet.
Se-yeon silently picked up the sharp stone and stared at it.
This would be very simple. Human skin is fragile and easily wounded.
Just like when she had pierced the director's throat, her own throat would be the same.
Pain is momentary, and death is instantaneous.
As Se-yeon was staring blankly at the sharp stone with dark thoughts.
GRUMBLE-
A loud sound came from her stomach.
"……."
THUD-
Se-yeon threw away the stone she was holding and sighed.
When she opened her status window, an alarm appeared before her eyes.
[You have cleared the dungeon. Would you like to exit?]
"Yes."
Se-yeon was instantly transported outside the dungeon.
Unlike when she entered, bright sunlight was shining down on her.
Se-yeon squinted her eyes, covering them from the dazzling light.
Now what should she do, and where should she go?
She had come to Bat Cave to give up on life from the beginning, so she hadn't planned anything to do afterward.
Se-yeon, who had stood briefly in front of the Bat Cave entrance, soon made her decision.
'Blue Cluster Inn, was it?'
She didn't really want to go, but she had no choice. That was the only place she had to go.
Se-yeon silently headed toward the Land of Beginning.