Taehwan lifted his Shield of Eradication.
Clash-!
However, Rellaka's strength was beyond his imagination.
"Hugh!"
Taehwan, who was holding the shield, just bounced away.
Thump!
Behind him, Baeksoo stabbed Rellaka's side with his dagger.
But, it wasn't deep enough.
It was like making a light scratch on a tough leather.
Graaahh!
After Muyoung figured out Rellaka's movement patterns, he started to move.
Then Rellaka instantly turned its body to face him.
From the start, Rellaka knew that Muyoung was the strongest out of the three.
If it could kill Muyoung, then killing the rest wasn't going to be a problem.
'It's smart.'
Indeed, it wasn't an ordinary monster.
While holding Anguish, Muyoung spurred from the ground.
In an instant, Muyoung swiftly jumped for one of its three necks, but Rellaka's speed was second to none.
But, Muyoung also knew that the Rellaka was going to dodge.
Puuk!
As he landed on the ground, he lowered himself and extended his foot to trip it.
Like tackling, the smooth attack by Muyoung led Rellaka to stumble and lose its balance.
Afterwards, it turned into a fight of speed.
Either Muyoung was swifter with his sword or Rellaka was faster at recovering its balance.
By a narrow margin, Muyoung's sword sliced one of Rellaka's necks.
Graaaahhh!
Rellaka, while writhing in agony, quickly backed off.
Although it was a critical attack, surprisingly, the wound quickly recovered.
'All the heads need to be cut off.'
Even if the head that dropped on the floor wasn't going to recover, he knew that it was going to be hard to land a fatal injury with most of his attacks.
'I've also suffered.'
As he slightly tilted his head, he looked towards his right shoulder.
The instant Muyoung went for its neck, one of Rellaka's claws must have gotten stuck on his shoulder.
Blood was gushing out and it was hard for him use his full strength.
If you think about the amount of damage, Muyoung suffered a loss.
"Hyoungnim! I will block it!"
Taehwan came to the middle and made a wall.
Taehwan probably wanted Muyoung to stop the bleeding.
Muyoung nodded.
This will probably be a long fight.
It was unwise to leave a wound unattended during a fight.
He rubbed on some herbs that were good for hemostasis, which he had brought.
It felt like his skin was burning off, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.
"Gaaaaaahh!"
The enraged Rellaka started to fight more aggressively.
Even if Taehwan kept trying to block all of its moves, it was impossible.
And it has already been a while since Beaksoo had been knocked out.
Muyoung picked up Anguish again while rotating his shoulder.
What Muyoung felt was excitement.
He was aroused by the fact that he could freely express all he had against a powerful prey.
Gaaahh!!
While ignoring Taehwan, Rellaka jumped high above the ground and went straight for Muyoung.
It seemed like it knew it was going to die if it didn't kill Muyoung. And, therefore, made a desperate attempt to kill him.
'Okay. Bring it on.'
Muyoung firmly grabbed hold of Anguish.
*
'Son of a b*tch. How dare you humiliate me.'
Juyoung moved out of the temple with a group of people.
"Will, will this be really alright?"
"It's not too late to return back…"
Besides Juyoung, the 5 people who were with him were all uneasy.
It was because they were unsure if the job they were trying to complete while abandoning their post was going to go well.
"Just shut up and follow me. I'm sure he's probably exhausted by now."
Juyoung was overflowing with confidence.
'That bastard said that he was going to kill the boss. It's probably a formidable opponent since he needed to prepare for days.'
The bastard he was referring to was Muyoung.
Muyoung was continuously preparing for days for today's battle.
The guy who continuously murdered monsters like it was nothing.
It meant that the 'boss' they had to kill today was that much stronger.
But, it didn't seem like Muyoung was going to lose. However, he had to be exhausted.
Juyoung was planning on eliminating Muyoung when he was worn out.
'I'm going kill him, take his weapon and the prize he was supposed to earn.'
If Muyoung and Taehwan disappeared at the same time, no one could stop Juyoung's advancement.
This was the jungle.
It was the place where the strongest became the righteous.
Oh Juyoung.
Before he came to this place, he was a gangster.
After being expelled from high school for violence, he hung around crappy friends and committed crimes.
But, Juyoung was always filled with dissatisfaction.
He was dissatisfied that he had to always crawl on the floor in society.
And then one day.
His life was turned upside down and he was summoned to this 'Blue Temple'.
Getting attacked by monsters, living in the wild where life was considered worthless. He was there.
Everything was perfect.
He thought that he could finally live how he wanted with no one to stop him.
Kim Taehwan?
He was a rookie.
He was clueless about the bloody underground world.
Even if Taehwan had the skills, Juyoung knew he could get rid of him if he really wanted to.
But… Just one person.
Juyoung couldn't do anything about just one person.
Just by his appearance, he seemed to be like a bomb.
When he fought against monsters, he didn't seem like a wolf, instead he resembled more closely to a lion.
'Muyoung. I just need to kill him.'
Clash!
He heard sounds of an intense fight nearby.
Taehwan and Baeksoo, who were injured, were both sprawled out on the ground.
Only Muyoung was fighting the great monster.
But, the fight was about to end.
Slash!
Muyoung had sliced off the last head of the monster.
Haaa! Haaa!
Muyoung dropped on the ground and was breathing heavily.
From a far, it seemed like he had suffered injuries all over his body.
'Today's going to be the last day you'll get to act like a mad dog.'
A smile formed on Juyoung's face.
If he was so exhausted that he had to fall onto the ground like that, even if he was the mighty Muyoung, he wouldn't stand a chance against six men.
*
Rellaka was strong.
It was strange.
When he thought of his past memories, he was sure three people were going to be more than enough, but instead they could have been the victims.
'Are my memories wrong?'
Of course, he couldn't have been able to remember everything perfectly.
But, at least they won.
He will use these mistakes as a stepping stone in moving forward from today.
Hoo! Hoo!
Muyoung sat down for a bit after he had cut Rellaka's last head off.
There wasn't a place on his body that wasn't sore.
There were traces of Rellaka's claws all over his body.
However, he couldn't just continuously rest there.
Both Taehwan and Baeksoo fainted after receiving injuries.
It wasn't good to leave them unattended.
Even the Shamba's attacks weren't finished yet.
"I will be back soon."
He had to kill all the Shambas for him to have an opportunity to treat them.
Thump!
He stood up using Anguish for support.
Even if Anguish absorbed the blood of Rellaka, whom he had killed, the amount was small.
Instead, the wounds he had received from Rellaka's attacks were much greater.
Maybe it was because Muyoung had lost so much blood, but his face was white as a sheet.
At the moment when he was too exhausted to move properly.
"Mister! Be careful!!"
Suzy's urgent cry struck Muyoung's ears.
He then looked around.
"Die!"
The six men who were hiding behind a nearby tree came out.
It was Juyoung and his group.
Muyoung sorta figured out why they showed up there.
Far behind Juyoung, there was Suzy who seemed to be out of breath from following Juyoung from the other side.
If Suzy didn't warn him, he would have been helplessly ambushed.
'Even if my body was in this state…'
He didn't think he wouldn't be able to notice people who weren't even properly hidden.
It was the limit to the body he returned to.
Oh Juyoung.
Muyoung didn't think he would be that reckless.
Muyoung thought he had at least some sense in him.
Was his thirst for revenge so strong that he had lost all reason?
Did Juyoung really think that he could win against him just because he was exhausted?
Stab!
Muyoung pierced through the chest of the first person who ran up to him.
Then using Anguish, Muyoung absorbed the blood flowing from the person's body.
Juyoung didn't know the effect of Anguish.
He probably just thought it was a weapon with an extremely sharp edge.
If he knew that it allowed him to recover his stamina like that, he wouldn't dare to challenge him like this.
Even without Anguish, as his skills were far superior than the six men, there was probably nothing they could do.
One should not be screwing around a lion just because it was injured.
Gush!
As he pulled out Anguish, he looked at Juyoung.
"Stop struggling and just quietly die.
This was probably the last frantic attempt from Juyoung.
"You first."
Muyoung positioned himself again.
He gained the stamina to move after killing the guy who thoughtlessly approached him.
Then, he slowly spoke.
"I will tear out your tongue which doesn't have a shred of responsibility."
Juyoung wasn't as composed as his words made him out to be as he tightly held his sword upright.
The reason why monsters were a threat was because of their fast speeds and their attack power. They were specialized to risk their life in order to kill their opponent.
However, Juyoung didn't match any of the above criteria.
He was just strong in terms of strength, but that was all.
Clash!
Smack!
After their swords had clashed, Muyoung quickly turned his shoulders to smack his elbow against Juyoung's chin.
"Kuk!"
Juyoung fell on the ground with a concussion.
Muyoung shoved his hand inside Juyoung's suspended jaws, which were disjointed.
Stretch!
Unable to resist Muyoung's strong grip, his tongue was pulled out.
Because of the grotesque scene that just happened, the other four were unable to act rashly.
"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Next, I will slice off your wrist since you don't need it."
He wasn't going to kill him right then.
Muyoung was the best assassin who completed even the hardest training.
He knew how to kill a person while allowing them suffer and make them feel extreme fear.
It wasn't the most pleasant experience, but since Juyoung stuck out his sword against him, he was an enemy; not anything more or less than that.
Swish!
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Juyoung writhed in a desperate agony.
His wrist that was holding the sword was cut off.
"I'm not really the type to enjoy torture. Lastly, I will slice your head off."
Giving him a warning before completing the task.
Juyoung was in complete fear just by that.
However, Juyoung shook his head as he still desperately wanted to live.
He seemed like he was pleading for his life, but Muyoung had already given him a warning.
It was Juyoung who ignored his warning. Now it was time for him to pay for his decisions.
Slash!There wasn't even the slightest hesitation.
In a blink of an eye, Juyoung's head was separated from his body.
The scene was like a B-rated film, its lack of realism left the surrounding men speechless.
Clank!
Crash!
However, they soon realized that this was reality and they all dropped their weapons on the ground.
Then they raised their hands and tried to prove their innocence.
"I, I was forced by Juyoung, that bastard, to participate in this."
"Same with me… Didn't you know? If you didn't follow Juyoung, you had no choice, but to starve…"
Ha!
Muyoung laughed as if he found this whole situation ridiculous.
"Save your lame excuses."
Since they have already raised their weapons against him, there was no need for any excuses.
In the past, Muyoung knew the reason why the Forest of Death was able to survive amidst all that ill-will.
The Forest of Death never let an enemy go.
It was the same for those who had the possibility to later become an enemy.
It was one of the few things Muyoung agreed with the Forest of Death.
It was foolish to leave those who could later become an obstacle alone.
"Raise your weapons."
Muyoung's eyes narrowed.
The men shivered at that sight.
And at the same time, they realized.
They should have never meddled with him.
Even if it was injured, a lion was a lion.
If they continued to stand there idly, they knew they were going to die.
As their instincts told them to move, they picked up their dropped weapons.
"FUUCKK!"
The man, who was the first to come up with an excuse, dashed towards Muyoung.
Swish!
Thud!
One exchange was enough.
To end this quickly was the only mercy Muyoung could show.
As an act of mercy, Muyoung swiftly ended their lives.
Swish!
Swish!
As he moved continuously like a stream of water, their heads fell to the ground.
Muyoung recovered some of his stamina as Anguish absorbed their blood.
The wounds received from the fight with Rellaka slowly began to close.
Although he wasn't fully recovered, he still recovered enough to hunt the rest of the Shambas.
Shortly, he sheathed Anguish and started to move.
"Ah…"
As the one who spectated everything from a far, Suzy was startled when Muyoung appeared in front of her.
Suzy has seen quite a few deaths, but this was the first time seeing a human dying at the hands of another human.
It was natural for her to fear Muyoung.
"Follow me."
But Muyoung didn't care.
If she learned something from his actions today, she would live, if not, she would die.
The Underworld wasn't a kind place for a child.
As Muyoung took the lead, Suzy lowered her head and followed along.
*
After splitting the skull of the last Shamba, the above words appeared.
Solomon's Hall of Fame.
In the past, he did have his name on there.
He was at the top of the 'most humans killed' rankings.
It seemed like this was a ranking of people with the highest level of contribution in a boss raid at the Blue Temple.
'If I leave my name in Solomon's Hall of Fame, the Demon Gods will learn of my name as well.'
It was a fact found by the one with the most names on Solomon's Hall of Fame, 'The Adventure King Orgo'.
Although he didn't know the exact relationship between Solomon and the Demon Gods, the story of how the 9th seat Paimon went out to search and kill Orgo himself was famous.
There was even a secret rumor floating around that if one had many achievements in Solomon's Hall of Fame, they would receive something that could harm even the Demon Gods.
On top of that, it became much easier to get accepted into one of the Great Guilds or gather more people. Depending on the situation, it might even unlock a 'Secret Mission', however…
Muyoung declined.
He might have become famous more quickly once he revealed his name, but that was not what he wanted.
After all, revealing his name had very little to do with receiving secret missions.
There was also nothing good that could come from the Demon Gods learning about him.
Of course, it couldn't be said that it wouldn't help him become a Demon King under Gremory, but the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.
'I refuse.'
He didn't even bother to say his decision out loud.
< 3rd place: Ootsuki Yuka - 72.8%>
The names of 2nd and 3rd place were both very famous.
They had already established their influence and had been rising at a frightening pace.
That was especially the case for Alexandro who had already become the head of the Nine Great Guilds years ago.
'Influential monsters.'
Which meant that for at least ten years, no one had broken his record and that Muyoung was finally the one to break it.
Even though he probably didn't have any past experiences like Muyoung, the difference was less than 2%.
Although results weren't everything in the Blue Temple, Alexandro definitely had the right to rank amongst the top 10.
<'Solomon's Hall of Fame: Blue Temple (1)' has been added to your history.>
"…!"
His eyelids slightly trembled.
There were a few items that he had heard of within the list.
Tyrant's Sword, Soul Shield of Avalokitesvara and the Boots of Hermes were especially famous.
These were items used by masters.
The Secret Medicine of the Sage was known as the epitome of alchemy and the Infinity Pouch spoke for itself.
There was simply nothing to discard.
But the item that peaked his interest the most was the Talisman of Asura.
'Talismans of the Eight Deva Guardians of Buddhism.'
There were Eight Guardians that served under Buddha.
Among them, there was one called Asura.
Wasn't this one of the items the Five Great Clans searched for day and night!
Muyoung didn't know for certain, but he remembered reading a secret document that stated if someone collected all eight of the talismans, Buddha will descend.
The descend of Buddha, it might be hard to believe, but there really could be a calamity that significant.
'I choose the Infinity Pouch and the Talisman of Asura.'
There was no need to agonize over it.
Anguish was enough for him as a weapon and Infinity Pouch was a treasure he might not get the chance to obtain again. For someone who was trying to change everything by himself, it was a vital item.
Not choosing the Secret Medicine of the Sage, which could raise the limit of a human, was a regretful loss, however, his growth would be determined by the four secret classes he would choose.
Not long after, a pouch the size of two fists and a talisman floated above his hands.
Although the Infinity Pouch had a limit to the size of the item that could fit, it was limitless in terms of the amount it could store.
Muyoung was quite interested in the Talisman of Asura.
Name: Talisman of Asura
Rank: A+
Type: One-time reinforcement type
Effect: Contains the strength of Asura, one of the Eight Deva Guardians of Buddhism. It can strengthen an equipment or a skill.
Aha, Muyoung nodded his head.
After reading the explanation, he understood.
The Five Great Clans had a few exceptionally incredible weapons.
They were probably reinforced by the Talismans of the Eight Deva Guardians of Buddhism.
'Unexpectedly, it can also reinforce skills.'
It wasn't that there were no magical items that could reinforce skills.
However, there were only a minute number of them. If one did not have heavenly luck, they would not be able to obtain one.
On top of that, the Talisman of Asura had no limitations so possibilities were endless.
"Damn it, everyone move! How long are you all going to be space out for?"
"Someone lend a hand here!"
People started to carry the corpses.
Though they won the battle, the damage was devastating.
Muyoung packed some medicinal herbs and went out to bring back Taehwan and Baeksoo.
The death of Juyoung actually resulted in everyone gathering together as a group.
People started to follow Taehwan as their leader and the exploration was stopped.
However, Muyoung didn't intend to explore any further.
'Necromancer.'
The secret class that was able to singlehandedly kill thousands of people in the past.
After fully preparing to get the class, he headed out towards the forest.