Chapter 42 – His Time (3)
We pa.s.sed through countless fights.
We endured against endless battles.
Eventually, we arrived.
The 13th floor stage.
‘It just had to be this stage with villains.’
Was that the reason why? As soon as we entered, it was different. Two different species greeted me after we were transported.
One with a happy voice, and one with a horrendous voice.
[Welcome, Death King.]
First was the happy voice.
The Tower no longer called me ‘Hunter Kim Gong-ja.’
Instead, it used my nickname, Death King.
I was acknowledged by the tower, and I was welcome as someone who belonged.
Was I too simple if I was happy at small things like this?
-Keaaaaaah!
And.
-I won’t forgive you!
There was a voice that sounded like it was being ripped apart.
-You dare! To my children!
No.
The owner of the voice was actually being ripped apart.
-You dare to take the children that I saved! You dare mock me! Or are you trying to trick me? Are you going to take my flesh, my blood, and my soul?!
The Devil King.
The owner of the red demon was spilling wastewater.
-I’ll curse you!
The Devil King’s figure was ripping apart. Black blood and the boiling wastewater were evidence of his pain. He looked more pitiful than when he escaped from the 12th floor. He shouted towards the direction of the sky.
-You! The world! I curse everything that’s not me! If the world is trying to get rid of me, I’ll swallow the world! Your oceans will become my spit, and your earth will become my fles.h.!.+ Your fles.h.!.+ Bones! Heart! I’ll chew everything up to your last organs!
“…”
Next to me, the Witch was silent. That was how violent the screams of the Devil King were.
It was an intense murderous intent.
Even the Sword Saint took a step back and tightened his grip on his sword.
“It’s a horrendous scream.”
The Sword Saint murmured.
“I’ve never heard of a voice like that. It sounds like he has a thousand mouths.”
“Yeah. Why is he shouting like that…?”
The Sword Saint and Witch wrapped their Aura around themselves. Was it to prevent themselves from being covered by the murderous intent?
There was only one person different.
-Huh?
Bae Hu-ryeong only tilted his head calmly.
-What’s with that guy?
And he said totally unexpected words.
-He’s weaker than before.
‘Pardon?’
-He’s a lot weaker than when he was fighting on the floor below this.
He was a lot weaker.
I slowly observed the Devil King.
‘…That?’
-Yeah.
Bae Hu-ryeong wrinkled his eyes.
-Since he was cut by the Witch or whatever her name is. It’s obvious that he would be injured. But it’s not just an injury and…his [Level] completely dropped.’
‘His level dropped?’
-Mm. How do I say this? For example…
Bae Hu-reyong carefully thought about his words.
-Yeah. Let’s compare him to a head king goblin. That guy was like an SSS Cla.s.s head goblin that was a combination of Alexander and Arthur, with a goblin.
‘You’re metaphors are becoming even more innovative. How do you know Alexander and Arthur?’
-An emperor should know about the great ones before him.
‘Ah, sure. Let’s go with that, Sword Emperor.’
I spoke inwardly.
‘So the Devil King on the 12th floor was that kind of SSS Cla.s.s head king goblin but…’
-Yeah. He’s kinda like just a head king goblin with the SSS Cla.s.s tag taken off. And not the head king goblin that was leading the 11th floor army, but the weak head king goblin you cowardly gorked and krred at to defeat.
In the tower’s time, it happened a few days before.
But as Bae Hu-ryeong referenced something that was a far-off incident to remember, he tilted his head.
-Hu! That’s strange. Bosses have to become stronger as they climb the tower usually. But why did that happen? Did the Witch’s attack have some kind of lev down effect earlier?
“······.”
Listening to the Sword Emperor speak, I looked around.
It was an empty temple.
The Devil King was still crying out towards the sky like a lion. The nightmare causing the fall of rain was crying out in pain, and he was furious.
‘…Could it be…’
His appearance gave me a bit of a.s.surance.
‘Did something unexpected happen to the stage?’
It was then.
[Calculating the 12th floor clear rewards.]
[Calculation impossible!]
Voices flowed into my head.
[The hidden quest is currently being progressed.]
[All awards will be calculated when the 19th floor is cleared.]
[Only the smallest rewards are being given currently.]
Something iridescent was spread out in front of my eyes.
[The Blessing of the War G.o.d is being strengthened.]
It was a map.
However, it was completely different from maps that I saw up until now.
[All maps from the 11th floor to the 20th floor are being opened!]
It was a world map.
Like its namesake, the map that was given to me on the floor below was a ‘mini map.’ Even if it was big, it was limited to a single floor usage. But the map in front of me was on a completely different level.
It was a map of this world, a map of Another World.
I began seeing a ‘world map.’
“······!”
As soon as I saw the map, I realized.
“I figured it out!”
“Hm?”
The Sword Saint and the Witch looked at me at the same time. The Witch had a questioning face, and the Sword Saint had an indifferent face.
“Figured…what out?”
“Why the Devil King is being like that. Black Dragon Master. Think of the last stage.”
I spoke quickly.
“The history of the Devil King’s attack disappeared. And the cities are completely different. Things like the refugees shelters are completely gone.”
“So what…?”
“Sheesh, think about it logically. Where would the refugees have come from? From the rural villages in the empire, no, probably from across the entire continent. But the refugee shelters where those people were completely disappeared.”
“…Ah.”
The Witch finally looked like she caught onto something.
“I see.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“It’s not just the empire’s history that changed. All the other refugees from across the empire…”
“Yes.”
I nodded my head.
“Not just the empire, but the entire continent changed. We returned to the time before the Devil King attacked!”
Yes.
“And now!”
That was what happened.
“And we’re at the point when this temple was being attacked!”
Seeing the world map, I became sure.
The continent of this world was divided by mountains. The mountains were so high that you had to risk your life to climb them. But in between the mountains, there was a small area. People could pa.s.s by this area to get to opposite sides of the continent.
This temple was located right in that area.
A temple that connected the east and the west. There would probably be a long history and countless legacies about this.
This temple was the s.h.i.+eld of the G.o.ddess.
Inside the s.h.i.+eld, there was a large horizon to the east. Small lands were in the field, and beyond that, there was an empire. Past the empire, there was only the ocean, so the empire’s borders started on the plains and ended on plains.
On the other west side, it was completely red.
All the land beyond the G.o.ddess’s s.h.i.+eld was stained red. It was the Devil King’s land.
The Devil King had broken through this s.h.i.+eld to plough through the east. And at the end, he had pushed them back until the port.
That was how history was supposed to go.
‘So this is what ‘history changing’ means!’
I understood.
The time of this world was going backwards.
History changing.
It might’ve been more appropriately called [History Regression.]
-Keahhhhh!
Yes.
Why the Devil King was crying out like that, and why the Sword Emperor said the Devil King’s level had fallen.
I could completely understand it now.
I muttered inwardly.
‘His level went down.’
-What?
Bar Hu-ryeong furrowed his eyebrows.
-Level went down?
‘Yeah, you know. The voice that we hear when hunters climb a level.’
There was.
There was a chosen voice that hunters heard when they became stronger.
[Your existence has become even clearer.]
[Your level is growing.]
Bae Hu-reyong probably thought of the same voice as me.
-Are you talking about the ‘your being’ thing?
‘Yes, exactly!’
It was easy to understand what ‘your level growing’ meant. But it was confusing what [Being becoming clearer] meant. I just thought they were trying to sound fancy but…
Looking at the Devil King now, I knew.
“That boss monster probably grew by killing more people. But his murders and hunts became nothing. And so.”
That was why.
“His growth was deleted.”
His being was growing faint.
“The path that he took so far…the history of ma.s.sacres had been erased.”
Because I changed the history of the 12th floor after going through endless battles.
-Keaaaaaah!
Every time I took a step forward, the Devil King took a step back.
[The Devil King of Fall Rain is furious.]
[His being is becoming fainter.]
And the voice that I heard proved that I was right.
-You…!
The red nightmare growled.
It was the same murderous intent as before.
But no one was pushed back. Not anymore.
The Witch, Sword Saint, and I looked the Devil King directly in the eye.
“Let’s go.”
I spoke.
“Let’s light the signal fire of counterattack.”
5.
-Hundred Ghosts!
Bgrrrrr!
The Devil King’s body boiled.
-Thousand Monsters!
It was a voice that sounded like it was screaming.
-My child!
As if replying to that, monsters from all over the stage were raised. It was summoning magic. They had probably been there from the beginning.
From the column of the temple, from the remains of the collapsed building, monsters slowly got up.
-Oooouuuuh.
About a thousand zombies got up.
Were they the humans that were in this temple in the past? They were some who wore mitres, and some who were dressed as paladins.
The Devil King shouted.
-Kill them!
The horde of zombies ran at us.
Next to me, the Witch sighed.
“Haaaa. I didn’t like zombie movies from when I was young…”
“I don’t really like them either.”
“Can you win, Death King?”
“It’s not a matter of if I can.”
I raised my sword.
“I will.”