6th Floor Plaza (2)
Hydra was too massive for him to notice before, but a small mark appeared above the heads of evildoers. It was a sword-shaped icon pointing straight at the crown of their skull, as if urging swift judgment.
Slash!
Yun-seok's sword flashed. But the dozens of challengers surrounding him didn't even register that it had moved. All they saw was the arm of the man strutting in front of Yun-seok severing and flying off.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed from the man's severed arm like a fountain. That became the signal. The challengers, weapons at the ready, charged at Yun-seok all at once. They were like a swarm of rabbits.
Vmmm!
Slashslashslash!
Yun-seok swung his sword, cloaked in Blood Demon Qi, through the air once. The crescent-shaped sword energy sliced through several challengers at a time, bisecting their bodies.
The man whose arm had been cut off first snapped back to his senses and yelled at the woman holding a staff.
"Y-you crazy bitch! What the hell are you doing? Hurry up and release the Silence Authority!"
"...Y-yes, sir!"
The spiderweb-like mana dispersed, and mana usage became possible again within that range. As a result, the rabbit swarm grew stronger. Not that it made much difference.
"Fire Lance!"
"Arrow of Retribution!"
"Chains of Weakness!"
Magic, skills, curses. The challengers, now able to use mana, unleashed a barrage of every kind of attack. But none posed any real threat.
He cleaved through the spells with his Solar Sword, which ignored all magic at or below the wearer's mana stat. There wasn't a single challenger with higher mana than Yun-seok. Arrows? He just saw them coming and batted them aside. And the curses? They fizzled out in seconds thanks to his magic resistance, likely due to the mana gap.
"Th-this crazy monster bastard...!"
This was supposed to be one against many, yet the lone fighter was overwhelming the mob. No, massacring them.
As soon as Yun-seok began scattering Blood Demon Qi in all directions, the plaza quickly turned into a sea of blood. The ground was slick with fresh gore and littered with severed limbs.
What, this weak?
Even accounting for them being stragglers, the disparity was insane for challengers who'd all reached the 6th floor. Adventure, Exploration, Mission... They'd said those trials were much easier than Duel, but did they come with proportionally stingy rewards too?
A voice from the side made Yun-seok turn his head.
"Di-dimensional shift: Fre...!"
A man was trying to chant an escape command. But unless he had Shadowless Chant too, it was too late. Yun-seok heard him and fired a sword beam on the spot. The man failed his goal and dropped dead, neck slit.
"P-please... spare me...!"
Maybe because he'd seen what happened to the guy trying to flee ahead of her. The sole survivor left was begging for her life. It was the woman who'd cast the area silence on his orders.
There was no evil mark above her head. It was almost comical. Her authority must have played a huge role in enslaving duel challengers all this time, yet she wasn't marked as evil?
"Th-this place is insane! I couldn't do anything on my own! You wouldn't have done different if you were me, right?"
That made her even worse. Even if she didn't enjoy their suffering, she'd actively participated in key tasks for her own gain.
"I had no choice! I really didn't!"
Thud. Thud.
As Yun-seok slowly advanced, the woman cried out in an aggrieved tone. She even dragged his parents into it to lend weight to her logic... But Yun-seok felt zero sympathy.
"You wouldn't understand! I'm not strong like you...!"
Slash!
Yun-seok severed her arm. Her pathetic attempt at persuasion had just pissed him off.
He approached the groaning woman in agony and asked,
"Who has the authority that blocks dimensional shifts?"
Maybe because his glare was so murderous. Despite the pain, she managed to raise her remaining hand and point in one direction. Toward the man whose throat had been slit mid-chant earlier. He'd probably given up on it working, released his authority, and tried to flee alone. He'd failed, of course.
"You mentioned an alliance earlier. How many members?"
"About a thousand..."
He checked with Executioner's Eye. It was true. Thinking compliance might save her, she spilled unasked info freely.
"Most are resting in the residential zones. But a shift-change patrol will come soon, so you should get out of here..."
She said it like she was looking out for him. Disgusting. Just moments ago, she'd been trying to enslave him, and now this?
She probably didn't actually care. She just hoped he'd call it quits and return to his waiting room.
Yun-seok smirked.
"Perfect. They're coming right to me."
"...?"
By the Shaman's Law, dimensional movement for all beings within the domain is now impossible.
Yun-seok waited in the plaza, dragging the woman along. Soon, dozens poured in. They gaped at the blood-soaked plaza for a moment before Yun-seok's distant sword beams mowed them down in seconds.
Then he headed to the residential zone she'd pointed out. More precisely, the building housing the enslaved duelists.
"H-here it is..."
She guided him as ordered, but shot him a look like, You're really going in? Fair enough. Yun-seok's senses picked up at least three hundred presences inside the massive structure.
Instead of answering, Yun-seok flung the doors open wide. But no one inside paid it any mind. They were all lost in madness.
"Hahaha! You filthy slut! Shake it harder! Yeah?"
"Fight! Kill! Kill 'em!"
"Fuck! Think you're hot shit 'cause you're a duelist? Look at you now, groveling before me!"
If depravity had a form, it'd look like this. The building crawled with demons. Finding anyone without an evil mark was impossible.
Yun-seok led the woman inside. A few men spotted them and approached with sleazy grins.
"New face? Fresh meat?"
"Heh! Look at this frozen stiff!"
"Perfect timing. The ones in the arena just died off. Toss him in! Hey, you cool with that? You duelists love that shit, right?"
They thought he was a newbie who'd signed a contract to enter. They snickered at him.
They'd promised not to mistreat those who fulfilled their duties? He'd known it was bullshit from the start, but he hadn't imagined contract signers got this treatment.
"Hey, drop your pants first. That stiff cock looks promising. Let us have a peek."
Yun-seok silently stared at the man patting his shoulder. The guy tilted his head, puzzled. A contract signer should've been unable to refuse.
"Trash..."
Yun-seok had no noble vow to save the suffering. These were fellow duel challengers—potential rivals. Rescuing them would just add more competition. Heading back to his waiting room and pushing to the next floor might be the smart play.
But...
This was rotten to the core. Way too much trash here. It all needed clearing out, fast. Trash multiplied quicker the more there was.
"What? What'd you just call me...?"
The man asked like he'd misheard, but Yun-seok didn't reply. He simply activated one of the authorities bought from Elle.
Shaman's Law.
Consuming his mana converted to Blood Demon Qi, Yun-seok declared the entire building a domain of law. One absolute premise within:
Absolute Decree: Shaman's Law
◈ Dimensional movement for all beings within the domain is impossible.
He had no intention of letting even one leave alive.
"What the?"
"You shitting yourself too?"
"Who is this? Who pulled this prank?!"
The hedonistic challengers blinked at the message floating before them.
Yun-seok walked slowly to the center of the building.
"Steel Executor."
A skill that set a 50m radius as an execution zone, boosting physical resistance by 50%. As if triggered by the skill, a massive steel sword plummeted from the sky, piercing the ground.
Boom!
The massive crash drew every eye to Yun-seok.
"What the hell? Who is that guy?!"
"Take him down!"
Someone pointed at Yun-seok. Others grabbed weapons, quick on the draw.
Yun-seok pushed his Blood Demon Qi to the limit. The bloody aura billowing around him was enough. Enough to make them realize he was the reaper come to judge them.
Slashslashslash!
A storm of blood raged. It didn't discriminate between friend or foe. There might've even been enslaved duelists among them. Yun-seok didn't care. If the evil mark hovered above their head, he blasted them with crimson sword energy, shredding their flesh to bits.
The more evil judged, the greater the stat boost from the Solar Sword's effect—and it was permanent.
As the commotion grew, challengers from upstairs grabbed weapons and rushed down to the first floor where Yun-seok was. No big change. The trash had just come to him.
"R-run!"
"We gotta get Kart to...!"
The trash here weren't skilled despite their malice. Having chosen to fall behind, they were laughably inferior to types like Cheonma or the Steel King. Yet they'd oppressed the weaker and reveled in their misery.
Yun-seok had never understood people like that. Back then, he'd had no choice but to endure. But now he had the power to punish their wrongness.
If someone asked if it had to go this far, Yun-seok would counter: Why not go this far?
They'd abused the weak on their flimsy power. Yun-seok wasn't much different. He had power now. So he'd return it in kind from the strongman's perch.
"..."
Each slaughter stirred something like pleasure from deep inside. Yun-seok belatedly noticed his lips curving faintly. Was this the Blood Demon Qi's influence? Maybe he looked more monstrous than them right now.
But...
It didn't feel bad. Like shedding ill-fitting clothes and finally wearing something that fit. He could really feel how stifling his old self had been.
"S-spare meee!!"
"Heal! Someone heal...!"
"You demon bastard!!"
Once, Yun-seok had believed in karma. Kang Hyung-woo, Lee Chang-hoon, all those who'd ignored him... He'd thought heaven would punish them someday. But heaven was just heaven. No one punished them until Yun-seok gained power to do it himself.
Still, he didn't resent heaven. If heaven wouldn't judge them...
Then he'd do it from now on. That was all.