The Fertile Land
[Swamp Land - Sanctuary of Rest]
Kim Jun swept his gaze through the sanctuary.
Behind the collapsed wall, beneath the broken altar, between the old blankets.
“Where the hell are they…?”
But no matter how hard he searched, Fresentia and Petra were nowhere to be found.
All that remained in the sanctuary was Pasia, curled up in a corner with her body drawn tight.
“Hhuuuk… ■■■… my little sisters…”
Pasia’s lips trembled as she tried to force something out.
Access denied: restricted information
At that instant—
Riiip—
As if a black hand had torn the sentence apart, the girl’s words were covered over by a black block in midair.
Kim Jun’s eyes wavered.
“...It’s blocked?”
The Tower itself was deliberately cutting off the information.
As though it were saying, Not yet. You’re not allowed to know.
Pasia could no longer continue, her small shoulders shaking violently.
Kim Jun immediately reached into his wrist and drew out Thread of Ariadne.
I’ll use this to confirm their location.
Threads of light spilled from Pasia’s fingertips.
They seemed to be pointing toward the whereabouts of Fresentia and Petra.
Then—
Snap.
The line of light dropped uselessly to the floor and went no farther.
“This is….”
The thread had never failed before.
The tool had never once lost its sense of direction.
And yet this time, it merely lay limp against the ground, nothing more than a powerless cord.
Andras said in a low voice, “Master. The girls aren’t here.”
Kim Jun clenched his teeth.
“Right. They’re not on this ‘floor’.”
Each floor was an independent world.
Thread of Ariadne would always point to its destination within the same world, but it could not reach across to beings in another world.
That meant Fresentia and Petra had been taken to a different floor.
And though the message had been censored with black blocks, the meaning was obvious enough: someone had kidnapped the girls.
I don’t know who it is, but...
He balled his hand into a fist.
Repeated intrusions. More traps. More interference.
So you’re just going to keep getting in my way.
Kim Jun’s mood darkened to the point of irritation.
But anger wasn’t the priority right now.
He looked around the sanctuary’s interior.
It was enough to hide in for a while, but nowhere near enough to keep a child safe for long.
The wind leaked in through the broken stained glass. If it rained, this place would turn into a puddle in no time.
And there was nothing to eat but a few dried biscuits.
There wasn’t even a drop of water.
He couldn’t leave a young girl alone here and head to the nineteenth floor.
Should we move?
It looks like we’ll have to.
One place came to mind at once.
[Fertile Land - The Aurelius County]
A land where peace and abundance coexisted, unlike the rest of the Dark Souls world.
Wide grain fields, plentiful water, and sturdy stone walls.
Even back when hunters regularly passed through, this place had felt more like a refuge than a battlefield.
But Kim Jun knew better.
Before his regression, the Count of Aurelius had suddenly declared war and launched an attack on the Lion King’s fortress.
Even with hunters there?
He didn’t care. I think he claimed it was for the hunters’ safe passage, or something like that.
The real reason was simple: he wanted to find traces of the Crimson Blood.
And later, his power had only grown.
Enough to invade the fifth floor’s Thebes by crossing dimensions.
By then, he was no longer merely a lord; he was more like a monster, his entire body grotesquely fused with countless arms.
Twelve arms sprouted from his twisted shoulders, each hand gripping a different weapon.
On the right, a massive axe and a war hammer. On the left, a longsword and a shield. And behind his back, two more arms had burst forth to hold a bow and a mage’s staff.
The madness of the Crimson Blood had transformed him into that hideous shape.
He had barely retained the outline of a human, but he was already something far closer to a monster.
Don’t let the appearance fool you.
Kim Jun’s eyes turned cold.
On the surface, Aurelius looked like a count who protected prosperity and peace. In reality, he was a man who hungered for blood and power.
Can’t we just beat him up, Master?
Exactly.
It was a simple and satisfying answer.
If words failed, he would force compliance.
If negotiation failed, he would turn it into coercion.
There was no way a handful of soldiers from the county could stop Kim Jun and Andras in their current state.
He would leave Pasia somewhere safe, then head for the nineteenth floor.
If Fresentia and Petra were alive, they had to be there.
The plan was simple and clear.
Kim Jun slung his greatsword over his shoulder and stood.
“Pasia?”
“Y-yes….”
“I’ll take you somewhere safe. You trust me, right?”
“Y-yes…”
*
[Grassland]
The green field looked peaceful, but reality was different.
“Intruder!”
A knight in full plate armor shouted and charged.
Rebel knights.
Those who had risen against the order of the Crimson Blood’s descendants.
They dressed themselves up as righteous resistance on the surface, but in truth they were nothing more than plunderers.
Monstrous beings who hunted hunters and built up experience through slaughter.
Crunch-!
Kim Jun’s greatsword swept in a half-moon arc and split three knights’ torsos wide open.
“Aaaagh!”
Their bodies rolled across the grass.
Chazazazak-
As Andras swung Shisan Hyeolhae, the grassland turned into a river of blood.
The blue field was dyed red in the blink of an eye.
Kim Jun walked in a straight line, cutting down only those who blocked his way.
Since Strasspher Fortress, their base, stood off at a distance, there was no reason to stop there.
And so they cut and carved their way through the grassland, leaving devastation in their wake for a full hour.
“Master, I have a doubt.”
“What is it?”
“Wasn’t this floor’s boss at the Lion King’s place? Then why are the lands behind it so empty?”
Kim Jun paused for a moment.
The demon had a point.
The Tower always forced every area to be consumed in sequence.
As if it wants you to enjoy every bit of content it prepared.
Normally, each region had its own mid-boss, and the final boss waited deep in the map.
But this floor was different.
The boss, the Lion King, was already stationed at the starting point—the [First Land]—while the [Swamp], [Grassland], [Fertile Land], and [Shadow Land] that followed behind it were all simply left behind, as though abandoned.
Why place the final boss at the very beginning? And that door leading to the next floor is there too. That’s strange.
Kim Jun frowned slightly.
“Maybe the Tower arranged it that way on purpose.”
“You mean it was intentional?”
“If it lets people cross to the next floor without gathering enough experience here, then maybe it’s planning to kill everyone on the nineteenth floor.”
“Hmm….”
The question remained, but he had no leisure to stare at it from the side.
After crossing the grassland, a fertile land spread out in the distance.
[Fertile Land - The Aurelius County]
Tall walls, endless golden wheat fields, and the ringing of bells carried from afar.
The only place on this floor that looked like the human world.
Step.
“Halt.”
As they approached the gate, two guards crossed their spears and blocked the way.
“Welcome, Hunter. For what reason have you come here?”
One guard smiled and greeted him politely.
“I’m here to make this my land.”
“...Pardon?”
Kim Jun’s answer was enough to shatter the atmosphere at once.
He meant it literally.
He intended to occupy this place.
At first, he had planned to threaten them into obedience and leave it at that, but he had changed his mind.
The more I think about it, the more this feels right.
No matter how much he threatened them, there was no telling what the power-crazed Count Aurelius would do to Pasia, who carried the Crimson Blood.
There was no need to gamble.
“If you understand me, open the gate.”
“Hunter. I assume you’re joking, but—”
“I’m not joking.”
The guard’s face stiffened.
His gaze turned icy.
The soldiers watching from the towers began tightening their grips on their weapons one by one.
Clack-clack-clack-clack—
Archers appeared atop the walls.
They drew their bows and aimed at Kim Jun and Andras.
Gigeegik—
“Hunter. This is your final warning. We are generous to all who set foot on this land, but not so merciful that we’ll spare intruders.”
“Same here.”
Enough with the pointless conversation.
Kim Jun wrapped Black Flame around Dragon Eater.
Czzzzzzt—
Andras, too, began coating Shisan Hyeolhae in Black Flame.
Ssssssshhh—
It was less the sound of fire and more the hideous noise of skin being torn apart.
“W-what is that…!”
The fire born from Hell spread wider and wider, swallowing the air itself.
The space before the gate began to resemble a blazing inferno.
“Fire!”
“Shoot them! Kill the intruders!”
Ping-ping!
Hundreds of arrows filled the sky and rained down on the two of them.
But—
Whooosh!
Before they could even land, black-red flames coiled around the arrows.
Devoured by the flames, the arrows turned to ash in an instant and scattered away.
“Andras.”
“What is it, Master?”
“Proceed.”
“Kukukukukukukuku…”
Andras’s grin split wider and wider, stretching almost to his ears.
In that moment, the frenzy he had been holding back exploded outward.
*
“Kihihihihihihi!”
With a howl bordering on madness, Andras lunged forward.
Every time Shisan Hyeolhae moved, soldiers were sent flying like fireballs.
“Aaaah! Stop him! Stop him now!”
The commander shrieked, but the order only fed the frenzy further.
“Die! Wahahahahahaha!”
Through the shared effect of the Blue Abyss Talisman Kim Jun had granted him, Andras was far stronger than before.
He poured out skills like a machine gun.
“Kihahahahahaha!”
Fwoooosh-!
Crack-crack-crack-!
Black-red sword qi, stretching tens of meters, swept across the area.
The courtyard before the gate turned into a sea of fire, and the soldiers who had once stood in neat formation crumpled into ashes.
“Hey, wreck it only as much as you need to. This is where Pasia’s going to stay.”
Kim Jun furrowed his brow.
“Ah.”
Andras seemed to stop for a moment, then burst into fresh laughter and hurled himself forward again.
“Kahahahahaha!”
They pushed through the gate and into the massive fortress beyond, all the way to the count’s residence.
Soldiers kept pouring out in endless waves.
It was useless.
Thud—!
Crash—!
Whether they stabbed with spears or hacked at his arms or legs.
Andras only surged forward with even more insane momentum.
The more flesh was torn and bone was broken, the fiercer the black-red flames burned.
His demon nature made him seem as though he were breaking apart and regenerating at the same time.
For the soldiers, that alone was enough to drive them into panic.
“Aaaagh!”
“It’s a monster! A demon!”
Screams and shrieks burst out one after another.
48