Demon King

The Fifth Evolution (4)

If you qualify to enter the 2nd floor of Jinma’s tower, you should already be level 80. I was convinced that if I went straight there, then I wouldn’t be able to come back for a while, so I was putting off entering Jinma’s tower until the time came.

And now, I have satisfied the conditions of every quest but Jinma’s Tower and raised my level to a point where I’m satisfied. I wanted to get to level 90, if possible. When I reached level 89, I couldn’t even fathom how much experience I needed to level up. Any more than this, can’t be put off. I have to clear the dungeon as quickly as possible.

To do that, I went through the dark passage and reached the fourth floor. After passing through the gate on the third floor, this dungeon was connected with corridors. Its walls seemed to be made of obsidian, similar to the fourth floor.

Instead, the 4th floor had a high ceiling and wide corridors as if the palace had been renovated. Moreover, there was an abundance in the energy of life in the passages beyond the entrance. In short, there were at least hellhound-level high-class species scattered throughout the floor. I was assuming that said monsters may just be waiting for us beyond, so I might be expecting the worst.

“I’ll be back.”

“I’ll just wander around the entrance until you come back.” Lee Chan-yu said with a rather comfortable smile. He looked tense, but his recent evolution into a Beast Commander seemed to have instilled some confidence in him. Moreover, the three hellhounds under his control seemed to be the most reliable protectors in case of emergency.

“I’m not going to use them as a shield, we’ll be hunting together!”

“Ah.”

“Yes, I won’t die, I’m managing well by myself.”

I opened the door to Jinma’s Tower.

Away from the Trickster’s influence… No, the inside of Jinma’s tower, which was revealed after the death of the Trickster who fooled me, was quite dark. But at least the light was bright enough for me to recognize A’s face from across the room.

“You’re late.” A said as soon as he saw me. His voice was audible, even at such a distance.

I thought I would see him as the first challenge on the second floor, but when I came to, I felt a different pressure from him than when we first met.

First of all, he had a burdened appearance. He was handsome and muscular, and he was big enough to not be pushed by a bugbear’s body like mine.

If Rain had the feeling that comforts people and L excites people, then A makes people feel overwhelmed. I felt like I was facing something vast and inhuman. Don’t people feel helpless in front of an absolute being? Yes, it’s silly to discuss the strengths, but I think it’s probably A.

Is this something he does on purpose? Or is it because my senses have improved that I can see some of his skills?

“I had other things to do first,” I responded, struggling to get used to the pressure.

“Have you met her?”

Even though he didn’t know Rain, I thought that he would not react to L. His reaction was so unexpected that I couldn’t answer for a while. But there was no need to hide things from him.

“Yes. She calls herself by L.”

“L…” He muttered then laughed.

Laughed?

In a moment, L’s face popped into my head. After all, her beauty was so great that even A was enamored. I don’t know what A thinks of her, but it was surprising to see his expression change by mentioning L. Maybe A being here had something to do with L.

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However, he quickly turned to his expressionless face again.

“The second floor of Jinma’s Tower. The adversary you will face is a legion that does not die.”

I haven’t said that I’m going to challenge the second floor yet. Moreover, this place seemed to be the same as the first floor. Was the first and second floor a play on words?

“When they are no more, that is when your challenge is completed.”

There was no time for me to mull over what he said. Even before A finished speaking, four walls rose up around just as he did when I challenged the first floor of the tower.

I sensed slight malice in his words. I wonder if I’ve gotten mad at the fact that I noticed A’s feelings. It was needless anger that I wish I could hide until the end.

There was no time for me to blame A. Even though the Trickster is no more, a small black fog began to rise around me.

I noticed only now that the walls were further apart than the first floor. I must say that the size of the arena had increased.

Then, they appeared.

[Hahaha…]

[I feel warmth…]

[It is the energy of the living!]

Inside the black fog, were monsters of different kinds but share similar characteristics. They had no blood, only rotting flesh and bones. I immediately realized what I said.

Those who are revived. Undead. There are so many things to call them by, but the undead were definitely the worst enemies.

[Life is so dreadful!]

I have to battle this thing that I can’t eat!

‘I can’t use the inventory.’

With that, most things I can do are gone. Most of my skills consume magic and stamina. The same applies to the special high-level skill ‘Ubiquitous’ that I synthesized a while ago. And it’s because of the inventory that I can use these, high-consumption skills freely and can recover stamina and magic using Predation.

But what if I can’t take advantage of Predation in battle? For example, what if the target is something I cannot consume, like right now?

[Oh oh oh oh oh.]

[Offer your blood!]

The only things that can be consumed with Predation are ‘creatures.’ Of course, the undead are not creatures. Skeletons, zombies, and ghouls reanimating all over the arena cannot be consumed.

‘Then what do I need to do now….’

This is simple. Even if it’s a legion that cannot die, it will disappear if it’s destroyed. If I can figure out all their numbers and distribute my stamina and magic accordingly, I will complete this challenge.

First of all, I distanced myself from them. Because the monsters were rising from behind me. I swung Blood Shadow, but unfortunately, I could crush them with just that.

If I keep attacking, I could get rid of them. But just swinging the sword several times will consume stamina even more than only using skills.

In other words, I have to thoroughly analyze the strength and magic consumed by all my skills and find the best course of action.

‘And I have to kill all these guys before I get tired.’

Among the skills I have, I used the skill that uses up the least stamina possible: Speed Attack.

Compared to a normal attack, it consumes more, but it was more convenient than regular attacks in that it was able to end three undead all at once. As soon as I finished using the skill, I stepped back and looked at the number of monsters, which reached about a thousand. Such numbers made me feel tired even before warming up.

There are roughly three types of undead: a skeleton, ones made of bones, a zombie, a monster of rotten skin and bones, and ghouls who are zombies but stronger. Fortunately, the undead are not intermediate monsters, save for ghouls.

Skeletons and zombies have to go through my cloak and Baptism of Blood, so they didn’t do much damage. The ghouls were much faster and stronger than the other two but compared to the monsters I’ve dealt with thus far, they weren’t that much of a threat.

Despite that, how many monsters can I deal with without eating? I hadn’t counted that far so I couldn’t figure it out. But from what I’ve seen, it’s not looking pretty for me. If I keep doing what I’ve been doing, it would be impossible to slay a thousand undead.

‘Fuck, I thought my preparations were thorough but didn’t expect this!’

What do I do in order not to die?

I had to figure out their power, speed, and the amount of damage they can do to me, the amount of energy I need to spend to destroy them, the distance and direction to move. Just like the moment when I considered the first floor of Jinma’s Tower impossible but beat it anyway, I had to do the same here.

I saw three ghouls in front of me.

‘Damn it.’ I muttered then charged right at them.

I got used to their attack patterns after slaying seven of them. It was fortunate that my body, stamina, and magic were restored every time, so did the durability of my equipment.

After that was over, I gauged the amount and range of the damage my skills could do to them, and when to use Surprise and Fairy Tale. Even the amount of stamina consumption when using them together in succession.

Since the decrease in strength and magic could not be quantified, all of the work was done using Detection. Even with Detection, an accurate measurement is impossible, but it was something to go on.

As I continued to use it, subtle differences gradually came into light: Where to hit the enemy to do more damage, how to move to my body to accumulate less fatigue, figuring out which skills would be most efficient for the situation, and coordinating movement.

There were things I hadn’t thought much about until now. To be precise, I would have to say that I didn’t afford to pay attention up to this point.

But it meant a lot. To save my stamina and mana, I had to change my tactics, like breaking myself down and rebuilding myself in a new, better way.

The high-level Detection was really great. I just thought that scrolls were no longer needed, but the capabilities didn’t end just there.

It detects external and even internal changes caused by enemy actions. It identifies how much a part of yourself is affected by your actions, and how much it affects externally.

Even the small difference in hand gestures made a big difference. I was amazed why I hadn’t noticed it until now.

Only Surprise and Fairy Tale were showing efficient movement, even I was still far away. It was embarrassing that I was screaming about my advanced skill. What would you do if your skill level was high?

You have to produce more potent power with the least amount of effort.

I shouldn’t be satisfied with just detecting the enemy. I had to fully understand myself and be able to move along the best path I already knew.

Determine the enemy’s movement, then the next, then their mana flow. I should be able to grasp the enemy’s intention instinctually.

I’m glad I figured it out now. I gritted my teeth as I controlled the force on my legs to avoid the claws swinging from my left.

[Advanced Detection has become Lv5!]

And from the moment I realized how to improve myself, the time it took for me to die gradually began to increase.

[Advanced Martial Arts has become Lv4!]

When I died for the twenty-seventh time, I was able to destroy nine hundred and fifty undead.

[Advanced Martial Arts has become Lv5!]

[Lesser Speed Attack has become Lv9!]

When I died for the thirty-fifth time, I had only ten undead in front of me.

[Advanced Detection has become Lv6!]

[Lesser Shadow Walk has become Lv8!]

And when I was resurrected for the forty-ninth time, I succeeded in destroying all the undead in the arena.

“…I won…”

I looked around, muttering. It was still full of black fog, but Advanced Detection clearly informed me that there was no one except the crumbling undead that came out within it.

I squeezed both my strength and magic. It was a perfect move that I couldn’t believe. I now had the confidence that I had gained more than my skill level dictated.

No, I’ve always been dazzled by numbers. Even at the same level, the power I could produce according to my movements and mana operation was divided into rows and columns!

I won. I’ve conquered the second floor of Jinma’s Tower!

The moment after thinking so, something caught my ankle. Without looking into it much, I realized it was a ghoul’s wrist.

A wrist that I just broke and shattered.

Only

[Fun… It’s fun, and it hurts! I want to share this joy with you!]

As if waiting for everyone to finish their break, the undead rose again from everywhere. The skeleton, which had been divided into countless pieces and fragments, assembled entirely within the black fog. The zombies gathered their flesh and reconstituted.

The ghouls laughed at me, taking their heads back over their necks.

[You fool.]

[You are the one who is living after all.]

Why didn’t I pay more attention to A’s words? He never said that they were just “undead” or “the resurrected legion.” He only said it’s called the “Legion that does not die.”

I had to take a step back and reflect on his words. As he said, they were really an undying legion. I thought it would be solved if I broke them to bits and pieces, but that wasn’t all.

I made a mistake in my calculations. And another question popped up in my head.