The Swamp's Demon King

I returned to the forest zone.

Even though the Shadow Orb had shattered into pieces, the darkness filling the passage hadn't vanished.

The one silver lining was that the trap hadn't activated.

Thanks to that, the way back was comfortable.

“Oho! This place pulses with powerful life force!”

“Keep your commentary to yourself, Goddess.”

“Hohoho, are you sulking because Yeo could not bestow her blessing upon you?”

“Yeah.”

I pouted.

I’d formed a contract with the Goddess of Night, Nyx, but it turned out to be all flash and no substance.

Maybe it was the aftereffect of just waking up.

Nyx couldn’t use any of her power.

If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just Devoured the essence sealed inside the Shadow Orb!

“Contractor, it seems you just had a rather disrespectful thought.”

A fist-sized clump of jet-black smoke clung to my face.

I waved both hands to disperse it, but the smoke quickly regrouped and blocked my vision again.

“Goddess, stop bothering me and just enjoy the scenery outside.”

“Since my contractor is throwing a tantrum, Yeo is simply returning the favor.”

The voice leaked out from the writhing smoke.

That smoke was Nyx.

Thanks to contracting with me, she had escaped her prison and could now come outside.

In exchange, in her smoke form she couldn’t exert any physical or spiritual power.

I let out a heavy sigh.

Feels like I’ve gained a really heavy piece of luggage.

“Do not worry too much. Once we reach the center of this island, Yeo will be able to awaken her power.”

“This is the third time I’ve heard that line, you know?”

The Old Gods had built the Tower of Babel in the domain of ‘darkness’ that Nyx presided over.

The core was located at the center of Rainbow Island.

Apparently it was inside a cavern beneath the lake.

Because I had stimulated the Shadow Orb, she was able to pinpoint its location.

Coincidentally, it was a place I already knew.

The dwelling of Ness, the Ruler of the Lake.

The strongest boss monster on Rainbow Island, known among players as the so-called ‘graduation assignment.’

If you defeated it, you could obtain a Unique-grade item from the cavern beneath the lake.

“If we go there, you’ll recover some of your strength, right?”

“Indeed. To fulfill the contract, we must go there without fail.”

I thought I’d gotten a favorable contract.

Turns out it was the opposite.

The words of the ancient sages were never wrong. This must be why they say you should read the fine print before stamping your seal.

“Stop pestering me. If I go to the lake right now, I’ll just become fish food.”

“Hmm. Contractor, Yeo thought you were quite strong in handling divine power, but you are weaker than expected.”

“Sorry for being weak.”

“Then when exactly do you plan to head to the place where Yeo’s power is sealed?”

“I need to get stronger first.”

“Did you not say we can only stay on this island for two weeks?”

“Yep.”

“Yeo is worried because the remaining time is short.”

“Don’t worry.”

I clenched my fist tightly.

I knew exactly how to get stronger.

[Your current location is the Swamp.]

[Swamp — Status ailment ‘Slow’ applied.]

The moment I stepped into the bubbling, greenish swamp, a squelching sensation wrapped around my feet.

“Ugh, this is exactly why I can’t stand swamps.”

The sticky feeling of slime clinging to my legs.

On top of that, the field’s unique effect activated.

A debuff that reduced Agility by 20%.

Upon entering the swamp zone, a yellow aura enveloped my entire body.

Twice the penalty compared to other terrains.

And that wasn’t all. Separate from the terrain debuff, the swamp’s unique viscosity restricted movement.

Both this place and the volcano are zones players avoid.

The volcanic region constantly shrouded in scorching heat.

And the swamp with its mobility-restricting penalty.

Unless you were competing for the top ranks in the tutorial strategy guides, these two areas were never recommended.

“This is truly a filthy place.”

“It is dirty.”

“You have become dirty as well.”

“Goddess, want to taste some mud?”

“I shall decline.”

When I reached into the swamp and scooped up a handful of mud, the smoke hurriedly backed away.

That goddess really had frighteningly sharp senses.

Squelch. Squelch.

I put strength into my legs and pushed deeper into the swamp.

Every step caused the mud to cling and pull.

If your strength was lacking, you could lose balance and sink right in.

My stats were high so that wouldn’t happen, but you could never be too careful.

“Eeeeee!”

A loud buzzing assaulted my ears.

Blood mosquitoes.

Creatures the size of an adult man’s forearm, with a proboscis as long as their own bodies.

Monsters that literally ‘sucked blood.’

They weren’t on the level of the boss monster Talon Flame, but their flight speed was still quite fast.

“Eeeeee!”

The blood mosquito flew in with a zigzag pattern.

Its proboscis pointed straight forward.

Once stabbed, you’d have to donate a considerable amount of blood.

This was the number one monster players hated in the tutorial, right?

It was a flying type with high speed.

If you allowed it to get close, it would suck your blood and make continuing the fight difficult.

It was hard to kill and gave no profitable byproducts.

No wonder players hated them.

Since I had even hunted Talon Flame, the blood mosquito’s speed wasn’t enough to bother me…

I crossed my arms and waited for the blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mosquito to approach. There was an easier way to hunt them.

“Eeeing!”

The blood mosquito that drew near thrust its proboscis forward.

Clang! The armor bounced the mosquito’s needle-like proboscis away.

Almost no durability was consumed.

Since the proboscis itself had low attack power, Thorn Armor was more than enough.

“Eeeeee?”

The blood mosquito shook left and right.

It couldn’t control its body, like a drunk person.

It seemed the shock from its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fully extended proboscis being repelled by the armor had been transmitted back to it.

“Oh, I didn’t expect that much.”

I didn’t even need to use the Blood Claw Technique.

I lightly swung my fist, and the blood mosquito’s body burst apart with a pop.

My Strength stat, including item bonuses, was in the 90s.

It was a value a typical close-combat player would only reach at level 50.

Even with bare hands, I could crush a fragile blood mosquito with a single finger.

“Didn’t you come here to become stronger?”

“That’s right.”

“Hunting mere insects does not seem like it would train your body.”

“Players gain experience when they defeat monsters.”

I shared my status window with Nyx as well.

“How fascinating. Yeo has no memory of such a system.”

Nyx let out a gasp of admiration.

Well, I also had the Devour ability, but I didn’t bother explaining that.

“Slurp, slurp.”

Bubbles rose to the surface of the swamp, and a creature resembling a Komodo dragon revealed itself.

It seemed to have heard the blood mosquito’s buzzing and realized prey had arrived.

Swamp lizard.

A monster that reached three meters in length.

“Its tongue flicking about looks truly vulgar.”

“You have to watch out for that tongue.”

Slow speed, powerful endurance, and poison.

Those were the swamp lizard’s traits.

If its flicking tongue touched you, paralyzing poison would spread through your body.

Its endurance was so high that ordinary long-range attacks barely did any damage.

It was a monster that required a team to hunt.

“Its tongue moves quite fast. Will you be alright?”

“Perfect timing. I was getting bored.”

I rolled my neck from side to side.

Fighting the blood mosquitoes had only warmed me up halfway.

“Shhhsssh!”

The swamp lizard began advancing.

Even while waddling, it moved its massive body surprisingly well.

[Energy Bolt has been charged to maximum.]

Thanks to the Cold Blood effect, the Energy Bolt charged in just four seconds.

A blue sphere twice as large as usual struck the swamp lizard’s body.

“Ssshhiiit?!”

The swamp lizard’s shoulder area was charred black.

“It’ll be hard for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you to regenerate that.”

I grinned.

The swamp lizard’s traits were Poison and Regeneration.

Just like how a lizard could regrow its tail, minor wounds would heal almost instantly if it submerged itself in the swamp.

But it probably couldn’t regenerate wounds inflicted by intense heat, right?

BOOM— The blue sphere shook the swamp lizard’s body once again.

If the poison on its tongue was dangerous…

“Then I just won’t let it touch me.”

“What a truly low-class method of combat.”

“Why? Does our Goddess prefer fair and honorable fights?”

“Hardly. The night embraces all things.”

“Good to know. You’ll be seeing a lot more of this in the future.”

I smirked.

The swamp lizard was slow.

At that speed, it would spend its entire life chasing after my back.

“As expected, free farming is the best.”

One minute later.

White steam rose in curls from the swamp lizard’s entire body.

I Devoured the essences from the corpses of the blood mosquito and the swamp lizard.

At this pace, I’d be able to fill both species’ essences to 100% in no time.

During the process of gathering essences, my level rose as well.

I immediately distributed my bonus stats.

“Easy, so easy.”

“To think one can become stronger this way. Yeo sees it with her own eyes yet still finds it hard to believe.”

“It’s a trick of the Old Gods.”

Forcibly raising the rank of the people living in this dimension.

It was all to accelerate synchronization with the Tower of Babel.

I’ll suck every last drop from the system you bastards created and repay you in full.

As I used Devour, the wounds I received from the Blood Mountain Lord were also slowly healing.

It was thanks to the synergy effect from the slime’s Dissolution that increased Devour efficiency.

“This is exactly why I can’t quit Devour.”

I let out a chuckle.

Aside from the unpleasant sensation every time I lifted my foot, the swamp was a perfect hunting ground.

The blood mosquitoes’ attacks didn’t work on me.

And the slow swamp lizards could be easily dodged even while under the debuff.

I swatted approaching blood mosquitoes like flies.

For swamp lizards at a distance, I gifted them overcharged Energy Bolts.

Occasionally some would hide inside the swamp, but—

Using Sixth Sense, the skill extracted from the Blood Mountain Lord’s essence, I could detect the hidden swamp lizards.

I didn’t need their exact location.

I had Ultrasonic Waves obtained from the Big Bat.

When used in the swamp, the ultrasonic waves spread through the water and immediately revealed the positions of the hidden swamp lizards.

No matter how hard the monsters living in the swamp tried, they couldn’t escape my eyes.

“Contractor, you have learned quite a variety of abilities.”

“It’s all thanks to my unique ability, Devour.”

I briefly explained Devour to her.

A unique ability that extracts essences and absorbs their powers.

After hearing my full explanation, Nyx ruffled the mist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left and right.

“That is not what Yeo meant.”

“Then what?”

“Yeo was speaking of your combat sense, contractor—how efficiently you handle multiple abilities.”

“Ah, that’s…”

I trailed off.

I couldn’t exactly say it was because I had regressed.

“Eeeeee!”

Just then, a blood mosquito flew straight at me.

“The prey is coming to me on its own.”

A naturally changed subject.

I focused on hunting again.

Some time passed.

Blood Drain and Regeneration.

The skills I expected had been added.

“Hoh, new power has settled into my contractor’s body.”

“Yeah. I gained new skills through Devour.”

“Indeed. What a peculiar ability.”

“Can you also tell that my strength has increased?”

“Yeo is, after all, the Goddess who rules the night. Yeo can immediately sense changes in a contractor whose soul is connected to her.”

Pride filled her voice.

I answered half-heartedly.

“As expected of the great Goddess, you really are different.”

After giving Nyx a half-hearted reply, I checked the abilities of the absorbed essences.

Neither seems immediately useful.

Blood Drain required directly sinking fangs into a living creature.

Regeneration wasn’t particularly fast either.

Considering the swamp lizard could regrow entirely severed parts… it was basically a lesser version.

But there’s synergy.

I smiled contentedly as I looked at the information for both skills.

If multiple essences’ synergies were added to Regeneration, I could obtain the Ultra Regeneration skill.

The ability to recover even a severed limb in just a few seconds!

The swamp lizard’s essence was one step on the staircase leading to Ultra Regeneration.

“I got too excited and went in too deep.”

Because the difficulty was too high with just blood mosquitoes and swamp lizards, there was no boss monster in the swamp.

Since I had gathered 100% of both species’ essences, there was no reason to stay in the swamp any longer.

At that moment.

Bubbles violently erupted from the swamp as if it were boiling over.

Wait a second, I never heard anything like this in my previous life?!