Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: 2nd Floor (3)
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The labyrinth's second floor.
Gula, the leader of the Gula Mercenary Group who had entered alongside Elena and the soldiers, stood there with his mouth agape as he watched her.
The reason was obvious—Elena's combat prowess.
Of course, Gula, who had operated in the area for a long time, knew her as the so-called failed hero, and he had even worked with her before.
In other words, Gula was well aware of Elena's skills.
'Does... that even make sense?'
He watched in utter disbelief as she took down the second floor's boss, an undead troll.
The undead troll looked nothing like a normal troll, just like the one on the first floor.
For starters, it was over twice Elena's size, and whether it had been modified by a necromancer or not, it had a whopping four arms.
Moreover, despite being undead, a single swing of its attack shattered the ground, sending chills up the spines of the soldiers and mercenaries.
In short, the undead troll on the second floor looked far too strong for anyone to handle alone.
No, it had been strong.
At least, far beyond what Gula remembered of Elena.
...Or so it should have been.
Boom!
Elena was handling the undead troll with complete ease.
No, more than that.
-■■■■!!!
Elena was hunting the undead troll.
Boom!
She effortlessly dodged its attack and in an instant leaped behind it, severing its spine.
Thud-!
The undead troll crumpled to the ground from Elena's single strike.
At the same time, Elena raced up its body toward its head and, before it could react, buried her hand axe into its skull.
Crack-!
The sound of its skull shattering echoed as the hand axe sank into the troll's head.
-■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!
Even as a reanimated corpse, the undead troll seemed to feel pain and began thrashing wildly, but Elena didn't stop there. She swung the hand axe in her other hand.
Crunch!
She completely pulverized the undead troll's skull, and soon the boss went limp, ceasing all function.
"...Huh."
Gula had, of course, heard the rumors.
Rumors that Elena, once a failed hero, had suddenly grown stronger after joining Lartania's lord.
However, rumors in the mercenary world were always exaggerated, so he had only acknowledged it as "something like that."
To him,
'This isn't just "stronger"—it's on another level.'
Elena's display was shocking.
'...There really must be something about that lord.'
Gula suddenly recalled one of the rumors that had circulated alongside Elena's.
'If my guess is right, there might be some money to be made...'
Just as he thought that.
Like on the first floor, Elena basked in the cheers of the soldiers and mercenaries. She turned her gaze to the vanishing undead troll and approached the blue bone left at its feet, just like last time.
'Blue bone.'
'Again.'
Elena hadn't made any mistakes in this fight against the undead troll.
Yet, the blue bone had appeared once more, not only averting her crisis but helping her dispatch the troll with ease.
For instance, it had pierced right through one of the troll's feet, allowing her to sever its spine in one go.
Thus,
'...I should report this to the lord.'
She pocketed the slightly larger blue bone left behind after the corpse vanished, then turned to look at the soldiers and mercenaries.
Their eyes, filled with awe and admiration, unwittingly thrilled her.
She had received such gazes on the first floor and all the way to this boss room, but she still loved them.
Whenever she felt those eyes, Elena sensed the long-unfilled void of recognition being satisfied.
And so, Elena felt grateful to Kim Hyunwoo once more—the one who had made her like this.
After all, the reason she could receive such recognition and fill that void was because of him.
"..."
She needed him.
Some time later, as the notification popped up for Kim Hyunwoo announcing the conquest of the labyrinth's second floor.
He stared at what Rani had brought him and unwittingly voiced a question.
"So, you're saying this was in the room assigned to you?"
"Yes. It must have belonged to the previous occupant. Maybe they left it under the bed and forgot... or something."
Upon hearing Rani's words, Kim Hyunwoo recalled whose room it had been and let out a quiet sigh.
'It was the Absolute Ruler of Darkness's room.'
The Absolute Ruler of Darkness.
Thinking back now, he felt a bit sorry for the nickname he'd given her. Kim Hyunwoo turned his gaze to the sword on his desk, which laughably exceeded its width.
More precisely, to the notification window floating before his eyes.
※ Handmade weapon!
Execution Sword
Grade:Legendary (※Grade reduced due to handmade production!)
Attack Power:Top-tier
Traits:Reflection, One Strike, Invincibility
Description: The sword of the Execution King, crafted by Lartania's lord. Though handmade, it's uncannily close to the original and can replicate all its traits perfectly.
Kim Hyunwoo, who had been reading the simple yet detailed notification about the sword, soon glanced at the description.
'Was there ever an info window like this in Arteil to begin with?'
At least from his memory, there wasn't. Tilting his head, Kim Hyunwoo shrugged and lifted the Execution Sword.
Despite being far taller than him, it felt incredibly light.
As he held it, memories of the past flooded back unbidden.
'I slaved away for five whole months in that minigame to make this.'
From the time invested in the minigame to the endless grinding—Kim Hyunwoo recalled it all.
'But why is the Execution Sword I gifted to the Absolute Ruler of Darkness here?'
Soon, that question arose as he stared at it, but
'Since it was under the bed, her favor must've dropped, and she left it behind when she left the territory.'
Kim Hyunwoo quickly concluded.
It had been abandoned under the bed, covered in dust, which was proof enough that the Absolute Ruler of Darkness had left it behind.
Thus, as he gazed at the sword, he began pondering what to do with it.
'First off, no need to return it...'
In truth, he didn't even know where the Absolute Ruler of Darkness was, and even if he did, he had no intention of giving it back.
'She left it because she didn't need it. Or maybe she didn't think much of it.'
"Hmm..."
'Still, I put so much effort into making it. Seeing it abandoned like this feels a bit off.'
Kim Hyunwoo stared intently at the Execution Sword but ended up smiling instead.
Come to think of it, because the Absolute Ruler of Darkness had left it behind like this, he could now decide how to use it.
'Give it to a hero as equipment? Or just sell it?'
Kim Hyunwoo fell into happy deliberation.
It was covered in dust, but in a world where a hero's star rating determined everything, this sword—second only to that—could create variables.
Of course, being handmade by him, its abilities fell short of the original Mythic grade, but even so, it was an outrageously powerful weapon.
In other words, this was like an unexpected gift for Kim Hyunwoo.
If he wanted to use it right away, he could recruit a sword-using hero and hand it over. If he sold it, his pockets would undoubtedly grow fat.
Thus.
"Thanks for letting me know, Rani."
"Hehe—no problem."
He praised Rani and began seriously considering how to make use of the Execution Sword.
"Master."
At the entrance to the underground cavern in the Kalan Kingdom, Loriell sighed as she gazed at the door that offered no response today either.
"...Shouldn't we just go in and check?"
Ruin, standing beside her with a similarly worried expression, suggested, but she shook her head.
"No. We absolutely need Master's permission to enter the grand cavern. Are you thinking of defying his words?"
"That's not it. I'm just worried, you know."
Ruin smacked his lips and stared at the door.
"Master, it's been days since you last ate. I've brought food, so please have at least a little!"
He called out to the door, but just like with Loriell, there was still no reply from within.
Soon, two of the Kalan Kingdom's five swords, who had been standing guard before the door for a while, left when no answer came even after a long time.
And so, after much deliberation, Loriell.
"Ruin."
"Yeah?"
"Starting tomorrow, stay by Master's side. In case he needs something. Unless there's urgent business, wait right at the door."
She instructed.
"...That's fine, but what about you?"
To Ruin's curious question.
"I'm thinking of going to Lartania territory."
Loriell.
"Master's suffering so much. I need to go talk about him."
She murmured with a serious expression, gazing in the direction of Lartania territory.