Chapter 24 – Ahmuge (2)
After the message had appeared, Sungchul was moved to another s.p.a.ce. It was a land without any features like trees, hills, valleys, or buildings. This perfectly flat land extended all the way to the horizon, which was the only means to distinguish the boundary of the land. Another message appeared before him.
[You have arrived at the Forgotten Path of Sajators.]
Sajators. He, along with Vestiare, was one of the two magicians that were a part of the Seven Heroes, but his style was vastly different to her’s. Vestiare used echoes to cast her magic repeatedly, but Sajators was versatile enough with his ability to use several different types of magic simultaneously. Because of that he had earned the nickname ‘Magician of Multicast’.
He would simultaneously prepare a mult.i.tude of spells, either dodging the enemy attacks or having already sealed off their movement with magic, before simultaneously unleas.h.i.+ng the prepared array of destructive spells to destroy all of his enemies in one go. His Multicast was even able to stack several different high-level spells with enough power to blow away the mountains; even just obtaining a single one of these spells would greatly help Sungchul.
‘I got lucky. I managed to find the path of Sajators after the path of Vestiare.’
He had hoped to also find traces of the other members of the Seven Heroes around the Summoning Palace. Since they always acted together ever since their conception until their final journey.
“Uuu…. I can’t breathe… so painful…”
Bertelgia, who was in his front pocket, began to struggle.
“What’s wrong, book.”
“I can’t breathe… this s.p.a.ce… it feels like I am fish out of water. Hurry… into the storage… put me into your storage.”
It appeared that this s.p.a.ce wasn’t suitable for familiars. He put the familiar into his storage, and not long after a light that was about the size of a firefly appeared.
It was a primitive spirit called Will o’ Wisp. The Will o’ Wisp which had arrived quietly began to form words.
[Which path of the Seven Heroes do you wish to walk?]
[The difficult of the trials will vary based on the dream.]
There were five different dreams listed in ascending order of difficulty.
[Gentle Slope]
[Flat Path]
[Gentle Hill]
[Twisting Slopes and Hills]
[Unexplored Path]
Sungchul chose the most difficult path, and countless clouds appeared from the horizon. The clouds quickly covered the sky, and gra.s.s rapidly grew to cover the land.
He watched the changing environment with cold eyes until something within the scene caught his attention.
‘Ah, this place. Isn’t this the Path of Lamentation?’
There was no doubt. This was the path leading to the entrance of the Demon realm. As if to prove that demons hated and despised all life, gra.s.s would not grow where a demon’s hooves had trampled on the Path of Lamentation. Only the cold, emotionless rain wet this dead land.
Sungchul watched the flowing clouds before picking a direction. He was heading north-west, walking wordlessly across the desolate landscape. Until suddenly and without warning, the ground beneath his feet gave out and pulled him into a vortex of earth and sand. It was a Sand h.e.l.l; one of the monsters of the demon realm. Sajators’s message popped up before him.
[Due to this monster that swallowed the ground, we lost a large number of support units and beasts of burden that were carrying our rations.]
Sungchul didn’t panic and immediately jumped into action, he followed the contour of the sand as he ran towards the center of the vortex where a large pair of jaws awaited him.
“Ahahaha!”
He could hear the soulless laughter of a woman coming from the center. He grabbed the saw-like horns from its gaping maw to withstand the flowing sand.
“Ahahaha!”
The Sand h.e.l.l suddenly began struggling more violently and loosened the ground even further. Several tons of sand flew up then came showering down from the sky. It was an astounding amount of strength. However, Sungchul didn’t budge.
He grabbed the Sand h.e.l.l’s horn and held on solidly until its movements became dull. He twisted off the horn and stuck it deep into the maw of the Sand h.e.l.l after it had stopped shaking the earth.
“Ahahaha… Graaaaarkk!”
The Sand h.e.l.l spat out violet blood as it convulsed before it flipped over. Sungchul lightly leaped out of the sand pit and hurried on.
A human skeleton blocked his path next. He wore a brilliant crown and a s.h.i.+ning set of armor. As if to prove his former regality, the skeleton warrior had donned equipment that was fit for a king; his body made clacking sounds as he drew his blade. A message appeared before Sungchul.
[A foolish king joined hands with the Demon King in exchange for eternal life. He got his wish, but he didn’t retain his past form. We lost many friends due to this foolish king that stood in our way.]
Sungchul finally understood. The scenery before him was composed of Sajators’s memories. He was perfectly reliving Sajators’s journey through the demon realm that was sealed inside this place.
“Mortals… cannot pa.s.s…!!”
Several thousand skeleton warriors rose up around the Skeleton King. It was the very definition of a skeleton army. The crowned skeleton swung his blade, and the thousands of skeleton warriors mindlessly rushed towards Sungchul.
Sungchul cut down one or two skeleton warriors with his beginner’s blade, but he ended up pulling out Fal Garaz from his storage.
WHAM!
One hammer blow crushed dozens of skeleton warriors and left them sprawled on the floor.
Wham! Wham!
Several holes formed within the Skeletal army. The army had the ability to replenish their numbers, but the rate of their replenishment couldn’t keep up with the rate at which Sungchul destroyed them. Sungchul eventually reached the crowned skeleton and then finished the battle with a single swing. The crown fell to the floor and the army cursed with immortality disappeared, sucked into the ground through a mysterious force.
Several more obstacles blocked his path towards the demon realm, but he overcame them with little difficulty. Balrog, a high-tier demon, finally appeared before him.
[How much blood had to be spilled beneath the hooves of the Demon General Ugripos, the King of all Balrogs? Our forces numbered 103 when we encountered him, yet the only ones to survive in the end were the Seven Heroes and a nameless child.]
“….”
Sungchul focused all of his senses on the demon in front of him. It was different than the average Balrog. It was larger and exuded a stronger aura.
“Uwahaha!”
Ugripos let loose a thunderous laughter and swung his ma.s.sive ax like a windmill. Strong gusts of winds caused the flames of h.e.l.l to erupt from the ground dyeing the scene an infernal red. Within the flames and the wind, Sungchul gripped Fal Garaz and stood unshaken against the king of Balrogs.
Wham!
Sungchul’s hammer soon landed a critical hit upon Ugripos, but the moment they made contact, Ugripos evaded the blow by leaving behind an illusion made of flames, just like a cicada shedding its sh.e.l.l.
“Your attacks will never reach me.”
The demon spoke, but Sungchul didn’t stop. He blindly swung his hammer towards Ugripos again. It wasn’t just once, but it was a continuous blow which appeared as though several dozens of hammers were attacking simultaneously.
Ugripos tried to use his evasive technique again, but after using the skill for the third time, Sungchul’s hammer finally found its mark.
“N-no! Save me! No!!!”
The King of Balrogs while in the air, clenched his fists as the merciless barrage of blows pounded his body, and finally, he perished.
“….”
Sungchul loosened his grip on the b.l.o.o.d.y hammer and calmed his breathing as he stood over the demon’s corpse. There was a burning land beyond the dark clouds. Demonic Realm; the land of devils. This was the end of the path of Sajators. The scene of the Demonic Realm suddenly vanished, and the featureless barren lands surrounded him once more.
“Amazing! I can’t believe there was a human capable of brute-forcing his way through the path like this.”
He heard a voice from behind. It was a voice full of youth and vigor. Sungchul turned around to respond to the owner of the voice. It was a magician wearing a pure white robe; he wielded a staff that was slightly larger than he himself. Sungchul didn’t feel a presence from him, which meant that it was simply an apparition made of magic. However, Sungchul was still surprised.
‘So this is Sajators.’
He looked younger than Sungchul had antic.i.p.ated. No, ‘childish’ would be more accurate. Unlike the typical elderly mages who have diligently trained for their entire lives to obtain power, he seemed more like a gifted prodigy who did not have control over his overwhelming strength and was likely to act out on a whim.
“So you’re the human that Vestiare was talking about. Your strength is a most thrilling thing to behold, and so unwavering to boot. Really, I think you have the greatest potential I have yet to see!”
Sungchul only quietly responded.
“Stop yacking away like a b.i.t.c.h. Hand over the rewards and f.u.c.k off.”
Sajatars grinned so widely that he showed his teeth*.
“The rewards will come. A promise is a promise! I just want to ask one thing: for what do you fight?”
He coiled his legs in the air and crossed his arms as he looked down upon Sungchul.
“To bash your head in.”
Sungchul fidgeted with his hammer while speaking.
“Haha! Truly an interesting friend. Ok. You sound a bit impatient, so I’ll reward you first.”
Sajators smirked while putting his hands together. Magical letters blossomed like flowers, appearing and disappearing around his hands, and after a while, several items appeared in his palms. Sajators grabbed one of the items and pushed it towards Sungchul.
“How about this? Friend?”
“What’s this?”
Sajators formed an evil smile at Sungchul’s question and answered.
“Final Elixir.”
Sungchul’s eyes visibly shook.
‘He said Final Elixir…? Is this really the elixir…?!’
Final Elixir.
It is the king of all medicine said to even be able to resurrect the deceased, but the true value of the Final Elixir lay elsewhere. Final Elixir was one of the only two known methods that could undo the Curse of Extinction.
“If you don’t like it, I have other items here. Feel free to choose carefully.”
Sajatrs laid down several items that also included legendary artefacts, magical scrolls filled with mystery, and other items that were difficult to look away from. However, Sungchul’s eyes only held the Final Elixir within.
“….”
With his eyes filled with longing, Sungchul reached out for the elixir. Sajators’s cruel smile deepened when his hands finally came in contact with the final elixir.
“Dear me. It’s a miss.”
When his fingers touched the Final Elixir, the legendary medicine turned to dust and scattered on the floor. Sajators’s heartless words followed after a cold laughter.
“Now I know what you fight for. Fatherly love… Such a painful word for you, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Why so quiet? Don’t tell me you’re angry? Hm?”
At that moment, Sajators’s apparition could feel an indescribable pressure bearing down upon him.
“Oh my…?”
A fierce combat aura made from pure wrath billowed out of the poorly dressed young man. The hammer slowly rose.
Sajators’s apparition tried to escape, but he discovered that the intangible murderous intent had bound him in place.
“d.a.m.n.”
The apparition was struck down by the hammer, and it shattered into pieces. However, it never lost its composure, as if still mocking Sungchul until the very end.
“Let’s meet again next time, friend. It won’t turn out like this that time!”
The cold voice weakly echoed as it broke apart, and bright letters appeared before Sungchul.
[You have completed Sajators’ path.]
[You have achieved the mission ‘Completionist of the Unknown Path (Hidden – Epic)’.]
Rewards: 1. Magic Power +25
2. Magic Blade – Infernal Heart (Rare)