Chapter 319. Darkness (1)

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The Dark King pondered as he looked at the scene in front of him.

As to which side was the correct one to take.

If he took Zeus’s side and suppressed Hansoo, he would gain a chance to escape from this pain.

After all, life was the most important thing everyone had, and he would just need to threaten Hansoo to release his suffering.

But something bugged his mind.

If he helped Zeus and they still lost?

What would that man do then?

…

‘… That would be terrifying.’

But the Dark King soon decided.

He could not live in eternal pain like this.

He wanted to eat delicacies, sleep with beautiful woman, and enjoy everything a powerhouse like him deserved.

Claws started extending out from the Dark King’s hand.

‘Kill.’

One could still get used to pain after a while.

Though he couldn’t withstand the pain in his body, he’d gotten used to one thing during the past few days.

Fighting amidst the pain.

‘Good.’

Zeus smiled as he saw the Dark King bring out his claws.

He didn’t like being injured, he prefered to completely dominate the other party.

And of course, having another person to fight with was always a plus.

-Rumble!-

The Silveril lengthened once again.

Then-

-Booooom!-

Zeus pounced off the ground and swung his blade against Hansoo.

-Crackle!-

Lightning followed the path of the blade as it smashed into the nearby area.

The sword clashed with the shield, creating sparks, and Hansoo saw the Dark King charging towards him past the shield.

Hansoo chuckled.

Of course anyone would want to escape such eternal pain.

But they should also use their brains.

Hansoo flicked his fingers and mumbled.

“Maybe you can’t think properly because you’re in pain. Shall I help you?”

Then-

-Kwadddddddk!-

“Ah… Ahh… AHHHHHH!”

The Dark King fell mid-dash, and started to scream as all his skills dispersed.

-Ssssssh-

Zeus grit his teeth as he looked at the Dark King rolling around the floor.

‘Fuck… I thought as much, but still.’

Of course the person who’d put on such a suppression method wouldn’t allow any forms of retaliation.

He’d tried to convince the Dark King just in case, but it seemed it wasn’t very useful.

Well, the one in pain was the Dark King anyway, and not him.

‘This is good, at least I created an opening.’

The slight opening that was caused by the finger flick.

Normal adventurers wouldn’t be able to notice and utilize this, but he could.

A tiny, tiny opening.

-Crackle!

His Silveril slid past the shield and charged towards Hansoo’s right arm.

-Crack!-

A satisfying sound could be heard from his right shoulder, and Zeus smiled at this.

‘This should be good enough.’

-Chzzzchchzchz!-

The tremendous flow of current surged through the Silveril.

Even though Hansoo was a transcendent, he was still a human.

If his nerves burned up and his heart stopped, he would still die.

‘I’ll make you suffer a bit more.’

Zeus didn’t focus on his heart, but rather on the nerves all over Hansoo’s body.

This would cause the pain to intensify several times more, and could even cause paralysis.

But at that moment-

‘What the… What is this?!’

The lightning that he had poured into the other party’s body was no longer in his control.

Instead it was moving according to Hansoo’s will.

‘What the fuck…? Is this a Spirit?’

He had heard many stories about Spirits before.

But he had never heard of a Spirit that could suck out the energy of the opponent however one willed.

‘Damn… No!’

In the opening that was created when he lost control over his lightning, Hansoo smashed his spear towards his body.

Right above his heart.

-Kuddduduk-

“Kuhuk!”

They were too close to each other.

The spear that penetrated through the lightning armor and his ribs continued to dig into his body.

Right into his heart.

“Huaaa…”

Zeus breathed out; somehow he was still alive, but only just barely.

-Zchchczhzz-

Hansoo, who had been electrocuted, spoke with a cold expression.

“Release this before things turn nastier.”

“…”

Even he would die if his heart were penetrated.

Zeus slowly nodded and sat on the ground.

***

‘What is this bastard?’

Zeus frowned as he looked at the man who was rapidly healing in front of him.

This man had been hit by an attack that could have easily burned any normal transcendent countless times over.

Even if he had a Spirit, the body should not be able to heal back this quickly.

The healing rate was so fast that it was visible to the eye, and his right shoulder was basically completed mended already.

‘… Is he a lizard or something?’

Zeus looked at the man that had defeated him.

He’d assumed that he was pushing that man back, but as he thought about it, that didn’t seem to be the case.

That man’s expression hadn’t changed a single time during the whole fight, and he still seemed to have many things hidden up his sleeves.

Though the man had received a lot more injuries, it now seemed that this was just his style of fighting.

Since even he would use his shield to fight if he had a cheat-like healing ability as this man’s.

‘And it even seems like he grew stronger during our fight…’

Zeus shook his head.

That wasn’t the important part.

‘What do I do now? The situation is really bad.’

At first, he’d been really worried.

Of being turned like the Dark King.

But thankfully, the man had only suppressed his mana, and hadn’t turned him like the Dark King.

Well, the spear was placed right outside his heart too.

‘Thankfully… Wait. Why am I thankful…?’

Zeus mocked himself for having such thoughts.

Even if one dodged the worst case scenario, they would still be in deep shit.

Like now.

Then-

After almost healing up, the man stood and spoke to him.

“So, how many of you guys were out there again?”

Zeus pondered for a moment.

‘How should I answer so it’s in my favor…?’

A very short moment of thought.

But Hansoo didn’t miss this.

“Yeah… things kept inside don’t really come out on their own, do they?”

‘Gotta squeeze them out as always.’

Hansoo smiled coldly as he started to gather a dark-red-colored energy in his hand.

The sight immediately caused Zeus to panic.

Since that was the same vicious energy currently inside the Dark King’s body.

“Ahh! No!”

“Don’t worry, it’s slightly different.”

Even before Zeus could react, the dark-red energy had penetrated into his body.

But soon Zeus realized that it wasn’t doing anything, and was now confused.

‘Huh?’

Hansoo continued to smile coldly.

“I need to use you. How will I be able to use you if I turn you into that thing over there? Don’t worry. This is just… well, let’s just say that if I die, you’ll die, too.”

“What?! You crazy bastard!”

Zeus flew into a rage.

He’d thought that he was already in one of the worst possible situations, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

And he knew that what the man had said was true.

The dark-red energy squirming around his heart and his brain proved it.

Hansoo laughed at Zeus.

“How about it? Have your thoughts changed since we’re now in the same boat?”

“F***ing hell…”

Zeus sighed.

‘Crazy bastard… I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I hope he lives a calm life…’

“What are your goals? I need to know your goals to answer your question. I should at least know what you want since we’re in the same boat, right?’

Hansoo nodded at these words.

“Simple. I need a lot of people like you. As many as possible.”

Hansoo was planning to fish out every last one of them.

And if this guy told him their locations, things would become even easier.

And the moment Zeus heard this, he grit his teeth.

‘Fuck, this one is going to be trouble.’

Out of the eleven out there, none of them were easy targets.

He grit his teeth as he predicted a future of himself becoming a meat shield for this bastard.

He would need to do his best in that case.

Since his comrades, no, they were his enemies now, weren’t easy to deal with.

‘What the hell is this guy’s identity?’

Then-

Something flashed through his mind.

The mumbles of the being that had given him and his allies their strength.

— I need you guys to grow well… Only then will you be useful to me when I kill that Kang Hansoo.

‘… Their sizes are completely different. Were they the same person?’

But for some reason he felt suspicious.

Someone who had appeared out of nowhere.

A similar outfit.

And the golden spear in his hand did not look simple.

Zeus cautiously asked just in case.

“… Are you perhaps that Kang Hansoo?”

Hansoo didn’t reply to his question, but Zeus knew.

That he was Kang Hansoo.

And the moment he realized this-

‘Fucking hell…’

The one who had turned him into a transcendent seemed to be half crazy, but one thing was clear.

They felt an Intense amount of rage towards Hansoo.

And he was sure that the being had ways of finding out if Hansoo had come back or not.

Then-

Zeus’s eyes turned to the War Fortress.

‘… Was that the reason why he put the Dark King around this area?’

Zeus grit his teeth.

***

The normal adventurers in the War Fortress were gossiping amongst themselves.

They couldn’t handle this intense feeling of unease.

“F***… What exploded this time?”

“… Why are those guys not climbing up if they’re that strong already? Why are they causing chaos around this area?”

They thought that everything would end after the Dark King had finally been dealt with, but something else had occurred just a few days after.

Though they were quite a long distance apart from the battle, the shockwaves from the thunderstorm could be felt in their area.

Though the man had won again, there were no guarantees that the man would continue to win.

Of course they couldn’t bear this constant lingering sense of danger.

One of the people asked Akran.

“… Can’t we just go up or something? Damn it all.”

Akran scoffed.

“Does anything change if we go up?”

“…”

The man fell into silence.

It was true.

No matter where you go, if you yourself weren’t strong, nothing would change.

Akran spoke to the man who had fallen silent.

“This is a chance for us to raise our strength, remember? That man is not our enemy.”

The man turned around with a grim expression.

‘Though he’s not a enemy…’

That man was not like the Dark King.

He had given them a chance to become stronger.

But that didn’t help his fears from going away.

‘… That man is actually more fearsome.’

Though the transcendents, who they could not handle, were terrifying.

That man was even more so, since he was hunting those very transcendents.

Any power that wasn’t under one’s control was a symbol of fear.

Then-

Somebody approached Akran and spoke.

“Uh… I think you’ll need to come over for a bit.”

“What’s up?”

The adventurer spoke carefully.

“… One of the captured underlings of the Dark King escaped.”

“What? How?”

Akran frowned.