Chapter 365
Chapter 365
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 365
>Chapter Title: All Paths Converge
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Kang Seol stared blankly at the message that had popped up.
The notification that his ability had been strengthened felt like someone finally acknowledging the results of his months-long dedication. And not just any ability—it was an ultimate technique.
‘…Did I just create a new ultimate technique?’
The Night Raven, which he’d acquired quite early with Mirei’s help.
But everything after that had been ultimate techniques from his summons.
A long time had passed.
After an eternity of waiting, Kang Seol had finally obtained a new weapon worthy of being his mainstay.
“Darkling…”
Kang Seol gazed at the Darkling, which was clad head to toe in the progenitor’s leather for protection, and smiled contentedly.
It was his.
Not borrowed from anywhere—this was something he’d devoted himself to body and soul for months and internalized.
No one in the world knew this being better than Kang Seol.
He examined the details of this new ability. The basic description was simple: summon a Darkling by consuming darkness. But there had to be more to its characteristics.
[Ultimate Technique: Darkling]
- Consume darkness to summon a Darkling. The Darkling has an extremely fast learning speed and exerts power proportional to the summoner’s stats.
‘Learning speed?’
Kang Seol pondered the phrase that particularly caught his eye.
‘Yeah… that’s right.’
The Darkling evolved.
It not only performed in proportion to its summoner Kang Seol’s abilities but also grew far faster than expected.
When first summoned, it flailed punches wildly like kids brawling. Now, it could even use joint techniques.
‘It’s adapted the progenitor’s blood, bones, and even leather.’
Though it had formed the necessary organs in its body, being able to master them all with just a few adjustments was an extraordinary learning speed.
‘I need to remember this.’
[The inherited bloodline grants the target Foresight Eye.]
[You can make the Darkling use Foresight Eye.]
This was an additional effect tied to Kang Seol’s bloodline.
He could make any target that inherited his bloodline use Foresight Eye and even check their vision directly.
‘Now… time to test it again.’
Kang Seol caught up on some overdue rest while waiting for nightfall.
Kroooaaar…
The cry of a night beast echoed through the forest.
It was time.
Thud…
Thud…
Kang Seol had already summoned the Darkling and positioned it on standby. He took a shallow breath and patted its body.
“You can do it, right?”
- When you go to school, just study and don’t fight with the other kids, okay? Got it?
- But I’m going to fight…
- Then make sure you become the boss!
Clap—!
As Kang Seol clapped, the Darkling sprang forward.
Kang Seol observed its movements using Foresight Eye.
He planned to keep it active only in the vicinity today, so he sent a signal not to stray too far.
Grrrrowl…
Soon, it encountered a rabbit.
Whack—!
It kicked the thing, and its form burst apart, vanishing back into the labyrinth’s darkness without time for absorption.
‘Need to work on power control…’
Kang Seol’s progress had ultimately hinged on darkness. Without the ability to absorb it, he’d have stagnated without clear advancement.
Darkness had to be the top priority, accumulated steadily no matter what.
‘Tone it down.’
The moment Kang Seol sent the signal, a night beast of similar size lunged at the Darkling from the front.
A wolf.
‘Ugh… of all things…’
He didn’t know how sensitive the Darkling’s senses were, but its response to this ambush was a tad slow.
The wolf’s fist and the Darkling’s fist crossed, but the wolf’s landed first on the Darkling’s body.
Whoooosh…
Whoooosh…
Claaaaang—!
‘…!’
The wolf’s fist caved in the Darkling’s chest but achieved nothing more.
Crunch—crackle—!
In the end, the Darkling’s follow-up fist pierced straight through the wolf’s chest.
‘…Good.’
The Darkling had turned the tables on the ambushing wolf in one shot.
Kang Seol smiled in satisfaction.
‘Keep testing like this today.’
Until it encountered a formidable foe and revealed another improvement point, he had the Darkling patrol a fixed area repeatedly.
Three hours later.
Surprisingly, the Darkling survived.
In that time, it had taken down three wolves and over ten rabbits.
Kang Seol had deliberately severed the vision link earlier.
Viewing the world through another’s eyes was incredibly taxing, and maintaining it for over ten minutes strained his own eyes severely.
It was an issue for continuous vision sharing, but checking in short bursts didn’t hinder much.
Finally, after six hours.
‘…Already over halfway.’
Night beasts appeared for 11 to 12 hours.
It had endured half that time.
‘No way… can it last the whole night like this?’
Kang Seol swallowed hard at the thought that his long-held hope might come true.
But…
His wish was dashed by an unexpected setback around the Darkling.
Kang Seol quickly checked its status via Foresight Eye.
‘…What’s that?’
The Darkling was staring at a burrow leading underground. Having discovered an unknown location, it sent a stimulus signal to Kang Seol.
After a moment’s hesitation, Kang Seol made his decision.
‘Come back.’
The night stroll ended here.
There was no need to push further after already devastating a set area.
Kang Seol had never seen a burrow that size during his night hunts before.
Of course, he’d only cleared around his temporary shelter, but this one existed there as if it were the most natural thing.
Kang Seol combed through the memories of all three.
Shinlip, Shinhyeon, and Shingang.
‘…No, no such burrow.’
He couldn’t be sure of the memories’ accuracy, but at least the notable ones were the large wolf-like specimens he thought of as tigers. They were insanely strong and tough, but no major differences from others.
‘I need to investigate.’
Maybe there were stories from Shinlip and Shinhyeon he hadn’t heard yet.
* * *
“…A burrow?”
“Yes, we found a massive burrow during the hunt. How could something like that….”
Be left intact in the forest without anyone noticing until now.
“Oh, that? Heh heh… it’s that guy’s doing.”
“That guy? You mean Shinyu?”
“No matter how monstrous Shinyu is, he’s not a real monster. The real monster is something else.”
Shinhyeon spoke to Shinlip.
“Brother, it seems Kang Seol spotted it…”
“Hmm… guess it’s time to tell him. That thing’s awakened too.”
Shinlip turned to Kang Seol and said,
“In past years, a great anomaly occurred in the labyrinth.”
“…An anomaly, you say?”
“Yes. Do you remember the doors you saw when entering this place?”
“Doors… oh, the doors!”
Five doors.
Each symbolizing blood, light, darkness, storm, and dream.
“The labyrinth’s paths divide according to those doors. Normally, those who take different paths wouldn’t meet until escaping the labyrinth. We’ve never reached the end ourselves, so I can’t explain precisely. Anyway…”
Wrong.
‘The labyrinth’s final gateway connects them all. Like the Labyrinth of Penance.’
The Labyrinth of Penance also led to the final gateway through multiple doors. The Black Labyrinth was the same.
‘Wait… come to think of it, that was weird too.’
Clearly, eldest brother Shinlip took the Door of Blood, second Shinhyeon the Door of Light, and third Shingang the Door of Darkness.
Because of that, Shingang couldn’t check on his brothers while stuck in the Black Labyrinth.
The other two hadn’t reached the final gateway.
‘But that doesn’t add up? Shinlip and Shinhyeon are together now?’
There was another oddity.
Shinlip and Shinhyeon were now tremendous powerhouses. It didn’t make sense that they hadn’t reached the labyrinth’s end.
“You two haven’t been to the end of the labyrinth? Why…?”
Shinlip shook his head slowly.
“We tried. To leave the labyrinth.”
Kang Seol sensed a strange emotion from Shinlip’s calm words.
Shinhyeon answered with a laugh instead.
“Heh heh heh… the final gateway doesn’t permit the dead. We’ve become part of the labyrinth. Even after growing this strong.”
“No way…”
Meaning they could never leave the labyrinth for life—eternally bound here.
Or else…
‘Choose death themselves.’
Either way, a tragic end.
He could guess why Shinyu wandered and chose to remain in the labyrinth forever.
“More importantly, let’s talk about the labyrinth. Its balance has collapsed.”
“The balance has collapsed?”
“I don’t know the details. But it keeps differing from the labyrinth we knew. That burrow you saw is one result.”
“…Please continue.”
“The boundaries between paths have crumbled, allowing intrusions. Darkness floods everywhere, light blinds the eyes, blood soaks, storms rage, and nightmares groan.”
“……”
Stunned, Kang Seol gaped speechlessly.
- What kind of chuunibyou nonsense is this?
- Heh heh… I, Shinlip, supreme swordsman. Pfft pfft!
- Quiet! Quiet! Listen to the end! Think how hard it was to say that!
Kang Seol asked quietly.
“So… the path I’m on isn’t the path of darkness anymore?”
“Correct. If we must assign meaning…”
Shinhyeon laughed under Shinlip’s gaze.
“It’s the path of all things.”
“…The path of all things.”
“Don’t you get it? The five paths have already merged into one.”
The shocks kept coming.
“No… how could…”
“It’s better now, relatively. Early on, serious issues arose. Especially the battle that happened here…”
“A battle?”
Kang Seol asked, though a certain being sprang to mind.
‘No way…’
Shinhyeon said nonchalantly.
“You wouldn’t know, but each door had vicious magical beasts nesting there. Monsters that threw tantrums over their shrinking territories. Imagine five of them crammed together—what happens?”
Each door had easter eggs or gatekeeper-like entities.
Shingang hadn’t touched them, unrelated to clearing the labyrinth, but they were definitely dangerous.
“They kept fighting. In the end, a darkness magical beast claimed this place, and the dream one fled.”
“Then the rest…”
“All dead. Some died in the fights, and we finished off those that retreated wounded.”
“……”
Shinlip and Shinhyeon’s prowess had surpassed them before they knew it.
‘Ah, so that burrow must be…’
Shinlip shook his head.
“The wounded shadow magical beast ultimately died.”
“Yes? Then whose doing is the burrow?”
“The beast died, but its traces remain. That’s why night beast numbers keep increasing. We don’t know the conditions, but they have a tendency to revert to their original forms. Smaller ones get devoured by larger ones, growing massive again. Underground, the largest one nests.”
In other words, left alone, another darkness magical beast might be born, and a massive night beast closest to it lurked below.
Now he understood why the Shin brothers hunted night beasts diligently every night.
Not for convenience, but survival.
The path of all things, formed by the merger of five paths. Those who entered the labyrinth had ended up sharing warmth in one place by chance.
Aside from the masked Sacred Relic Society sisters, whom he hadn’t encountered.
‘Well, none of my business… the magical beasts neither…’
Harsh words, but the labyrinth’s changes and plight had little to do with him.
He’d come to conquer it, not live in it.
So it was others’ affairs.
“Heh heh… wonder if it’s the right time to bring this up?”
“He’s heard plenty already. No need to hold back more?”
“Fine. I’ll tell all.”
As Kang Seol puzzled over Shinhyeon’s hesitation, words poured from his mouth nonstop.
“To exit the labyrinth, you must pass through the door to the next gateway. A very unpleasant place guarded by the dream magical beast.”
“Hmm…”
Dream magical beast.
He didn’t know details, but magical beasts with unique attributes were generally tricky.
“The dream one’s not too ferocious, so not much danger there… the problem is the night beast underground in the forest.”
“…Pardon? If it’s hiding underground, just avoid it—no issue, right?”
Shinhyeon laughed.
“Heh heh heh… that’s… hard to avoid. You will encounter it.”
“…Pardon?”
His words threw Kang Seol into confusion.
“Where do you think the gateway door is?”
“……”
“Underground.”
“No way…”
The reason challenging the labyrinth meant inevitably facing that dangerous thing.
“It’s blocking the door.”
No longer others’ business.
Now it was his.