Devouring the Blood Fiend's Essence

A satisfied “Kya.” slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

I already knew I could get Fiend's Rage from the Blood Fiend. When I cleared the seventh floor the normal way in my previous life, this skill never dropped.

Nyx’s voice drifted through my mind, regal and slightly mocking.

“Heh heh. What more is there to say?”

A skill that doubled both Strength and Agility. Even if my body took a heavy blow or suffered strain, as long as my will remained firm, I could keep moving. It was perfect for me.

“Yeah, exactly. When I use my brute force technique, there’s about two seconds of shaking afterward.”

“With Fiend’s Rage active, that shaking disappears completely.”

“Sure, but once Fiend’s Rage ends, my bones and muscles will probably shatter.”

The long cooldown was the tradeoff, but there was no lingering penalty after the minute was up. Berserk had no cooldown penalty either, yet the three-minute stat drop afterward killed your staying power in battle. Hunting the Blood Fiend had been worth every bit of effort.

Interesting. I’d expected resonance with Berserk, but an entirely different essence reacted instead. A life-steal option was always welcome.

With the Blood Fiend’s essence devoured, I moved on to checking the items.

Seo Jeongmin, who had arrived a step too late, scanned the items and clicked his tongue.

“Two rare items. Not bad.”

I offered generously, “Want to pick first?”

“Haha, no, no. If it weren’t for you, Player Yu Jinho, we would have been wiped out. Please, choose first.”

“Come on, the Black Tiger team has four people. You pick first.”

I pretended to be gracious. I didn’t need to ask what he wanted—his eyes had been glued to the black orb the entire time.

“Then… I’ll take the Orb of Vengeful Spirits.”

“I’ll take the sword.”

I picked up the worn-out blade rolling on the ground. Its balance was terrible, the edge was chipped and dull, and rust covered several spots. The additional stats were pathetic too. Even a Magic-grade weapon would probably be more useful.

I simply smiled. Right now it looked like worthless scrap, but if certain conditions were met, it would be reborn as a Unique-grade famous sword.

Seo Jeongmin stared at the mission window and let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Because if it had been a regular fiend, they could have taken it down without my help.”

My contribution score was so overwhelmingly high that it looked like I had soloed the thing. The Babel Tower rankings updated at midnight every day, so there was no way to fake the results with public opinion. His plan to ride my fame had been completely crushed. He was probably more upset about his ruined scheme than happy about defeating the hidden boss.

To make things worse, even the support magic he had cast was counted in the contribution, putting him below the supporter in the rankings. A true masterpiece. Absolutely priceless.

When I activated Fiend’s Rage, I gained a blood absorption effect. The ring I received as a reward let me steal life force from enemies I grabbed in close combat. It would be incredibly useful for recovering from wounds that even Regeneration or the Earth Mother Goddess’s Protection couldn’t handle during battle. The reward was far too generous for a low-floor boss. That just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠showed how outstanding my performance had been.

“What’s with that weird hum?”

“Can you read minds now too?”

Lately she had gotten very good at reading my thoughts just by watching my expression. I was going to have to work on my poker face.

After clearing the seventh floor and logging out, I returned to the Baekho Guild training ground.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Seo Jeongmin greeted me, the muscles in his face twitching. He was probably racking his brain trying to figure out how to salvage this situation.

“Yeah, yeah. Good work.”

I waved my right hand dismissively and left the Baekho Guild training area.

“Um…”

A few of the reporters who had been watching me approached, but I cut them off coldly.

“If you want an interview about the seventh floor clear, go talk to the Black Tiger team leader.”

Nyx turned her head and glared at the reporters.

Since I had openly ignored them, it would be stranger if they looked at me kindly. They would probably take it out on Seo Jeongmin instead.

Hah. I snorted. Let’s see him trip over his own feet.

* * *

After the sparring and teamwork training with the Black Tiger team, I checked the time. Even though we had cleared the hidden boss on the seventh floor, it was only a little past three in the afternoon.

“No. I’m running the seventh floor again.”

Players could challenge the Babel Tower twice per day. There was still time left, so rather than wasting it at the training center, it was better to complete another mission.

“I’m going to hunt more fiends.”

According to the Babel Tower’s system, regular fiends and Blood Fiends were treated as completely different species. Just like how Red and Blue Goblin essences could both be absorbed on the first floor. Even the color of the cloth wrapped around their bodies created a different essence.

“I don’t know. The Old Gods are the ones who designed it.”

“Thanks to that absurdity, I get more skills and stats, so I’m grateful.”

“Exactly.”

I would use every advantage I could get. The tower’s administrators, the Old Gods, were immensely powerful. Even though I was growing much faster than before, I couldn’t confidently say I could defeat them. Therefore, I had no time to rest.

I took public transportation home.

“They’re too stingy to provide one after what happened.”

This incident had most likely been carried out by Seo Jeongmin on his own initiative. Since the person in charge was busy panicking, there was nothing to expect from them.

After washing up lightly at home, I selected the seventh floor matching option. I was randomly matched with other players. Before crossing the red line, we quickly established a hierarchy among the team members, then began the fiend raid.

“Uoooo!”

The fiend let out a thunderous shriek. I was already sick of hearing that cry.

“All of you, stay out of the fight and provide support from outside its attack range. If you get caught and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one of you dies instantly, the mission fails. We’re not wasting a challenge attempt.”

Exactly forty-five minutes after the fiend raid began, the creature collapsed to the ground without even managing to let out its signature scream. Compared to the Blood Fiend, this was nothing.

A skill that forcibly dragged enemies within range. It was quite useful for disrupting their balance or cutting off escape routes. The downside was that maintaining it disabled one arm, so keeping it active at all times during combat was difficult.

Unlike the hidden boss Blood Fiend, this one didn’t drop any items and simply turned into gray ash.

“Item drops in the tower are probabilistic. This time I was just unlucky.”

“That was a hidden boss. The higher difficulty means better rewards.”

The sight of a monster’s equipment shattering into pieces the moment its owner died still felt somewhat unreal. There were times it really felt like I was playing a game rather than experiencing reality.

After finishing the second fiend raid, I immediately sat down in the lotus position.