stretch of flat, barren land.
Against an army of a million undead, more than a million humans fought.
Most of the humans used swords and spears, while a few users of holy energy and magic were mixed in the crowd.
However, there was a great variety of undead.
No, there were so many of them that looked so bizarre, it was difficult to define them as undead.
Zombies with wings of an angel, skeletons with Pegasus's horn pierced through both of their hands, vampires with the body of a bear, and 3 frog-headed Cerberus...
They weren't simply different in appearance, but they were far stronger than a typical undead.
They even had an amazing ability to think for themselves and had cognitive capabilities.
The general belief that undeads were just dead bodies who moved simply was destroyed.
Humans struggled to protect their base, but it was useless.
In an instant, there was a mountain of corpses.
Massacre, there was no other way to describe this scene.
And in the middle of all this, there was a huge lich with a red cape fluttering in the wind.
The Death Lord.
As the Death Lord raised his hand, thousands of corpse were lifted off the ground and completely reconstructed into the form of a giant.
"Death is a beautiful thing."
Gwahhhhhhhhhh!
The giant roared out loud.
As the Death Lord gazed at the huge giant, so large that it seemed as if it could touch the sky, he nodded his head.
Doesn't it look amazing for something made out of mere humans?
As the Death Lord walked, all the corpses he passed by came back to life.
The comrades who used to fight with them in battle were now ripping apart and chewing on their hearts and swinging weapons in an attempt to cut their throats off.
It was an unbearably horrific scene.
Against the overwhelming power, humans were only helpless.
"Since I'm the King of Death, worship death!"
The ruler of all deaths.
He was the Death Lord.
*
The body was burning with a fever.
After Muyoung had collapsed, he was continuously in a hypnagogic state for the entire day before he could finally get up from his spot.
'What… was that dream?'
While he was passed out, Muyoung had a dream that could have been part of a movie.
He felt like he had seen a war movie through a big screen.
However, it felt strangely vivid. A dream, but not just a dream.
Thump!
He tripped over his own legs and fell back on the ground.
Muyoung lightly clicked his tongue.
It seemed like he needed to first take care of his body before he could even think about the dream.
'Hmm, I wasn't able to completely remove all the poison.'
He remembered using herbs right before he fainted, but it seemed like they didn't completely heal him.
Muyoung gazed as his ring on his finger.
"Paranormal."
The first reward he received in the Blue Temple by killing monsters.
Even if it was limited to 5 uses, it allowed for an effect to increase all his stats by 2 for ten minutes, cast a Healing Wave, or a Fire Bolt.
'I used it twice already. But, I'm not sure if 3 healing waves will be enough for my body to recovery.'
He used it twice to fight against the giant serpent.
Swaaaa!
He chose the Healing Wave skill among the effects offered by Paranormal.
Right away, a green light emitted from the ring.
The light wrapped around him and rejuvenated his body.
After casting it two more times, he was back to his lively self.
His body seemed to have recovered and gained resistance to the poison.
'It's done.'
Since it wasn't a powerful poison, it seemed like the tiny bit left in his body would naturally recover on its own.
Swoosh!
However, since he had used Paranormal to the full, the ring shattered into dust.
He felt as if he had wasted it, but considering the situation, it was the best choice he could make so he didn't have any regrets.
'By the way… I clearly remember that messages popped up before passing out.'
He remembered seeing a few words floating in from of him.
But he could not remember what it was about.
After Muyoung sipped some water using his water producing magical item, he looked at his watch to see what had changed.
First, he looked at his abilities.
Achievement Effect -> Gremory's Anguish (A, +3 to all abilities)
Class Effect -> Death Lord (Lord class, Ruler of Death)
Abilities ->
Strength 44 (33+11) Agility 37 (34+3)
Stamina 35 (32+3) Intelligence 17 (14+3)
Wisdom 16 (13+3) Fighting Aura 19 (16+3)
Special Note: Fighting Aura has been awakened.
The armor you are currently wearing or using: Anguish (Strength +5) and Herculean Strength Leather Armor (Strength +3).
Nothing greatly changed about his abilities.
His strength was definitely the highest, but since his pure stat was only 33 with an added stat of 11, it just seemed very high.
However… Something he had never seen before was written under class effect.
'Death Lord.'
The Ruler of Death!
But, it was the first time he heard of this.
There was also something unfamiliar.
'Lord class?'
Not even a secret class, but a lord class?
There was no one with a lord class, at least from the people he had killed in the past. Even Muyoung, who knew quite a lot of classified information, was totally clueless.
'Wasn't this the place where he could receive the secret class, Necromancer?'
Muyoung instantly shrugged his head.
This was the place.
The trials were also the ones he had to complete as well.
Then, he could only believe the cause was the amount of time he spent on clearing the trials.
'It clearly stated Masters of Darkness were examining me. I don't have a clue what all this means.'
Masters of Darkness and lord class, they were all things unfamiliar to Muyoung.
For a moment, Muyoung furrowed his brow.
The reason he wanted to earn the Necromancer class was because it was a class that specialized against a large group of opponents.
However, if the Death Lord's class specialized against only a few opponents, then he couldn't say he had achieved his goal.
He needed to carefully examine the classes he was planning to earn in the future.
'Skills.'
Muyoung turned the pentagram of his watch to look at his skills.
There was an addition to his skills besides the skill of the Demon King of the 27th Legion.
Skill Title: Art of Death (F)
Description - Reinvent and reconstruct death into art. Once the undead is created, it will be graded. Its abilities will be determined by this grade.
"Death is a beautiful thing."
Even if he had only gained a single skill, he felt like he understood what it could do.
'This wasn't simply a dream.'
The transfigured undead in his dreams.
It was probably the skill to make those kinds of creatures.
Death Lord led an army of a million transfigured undead to massacre humans.
If it was that powerful, then it seemed enough to fight off the troops of Demon Gods, the legion of Demon Kings.
'First, it was a type of Necromancer class.'
His initial worries disappeared.
It also seemed like a higher class than the normal necromancer.
If he just polished this skill, he believed he could reenact the scene he had seen in his dreams.
Also, as he increased his rank, more skills would be added.
Muyoung approached the dead giant serpent.
Out of the Five Gatekeepers, it was the monster that tormented him the most.
Didn't he almost die from it?
He felt it would be beneficial to make it as an undead.
"Art of Death."
When you didn't know how to use a skill, if you just say its name, it usually worked.
Soon after, a dark aura emitted from the tips of Muyoung's fingers and it wrapped around the giant serpent.
Swish.
The giant serpent started to move slowly.
'If it's an art score of 0, then does it reduce the strength of the undead?'
At first, nothing really seemed different.
The sluggish movement and basic patterns.
However with a glance, he noticed that it was definitely weaker than before.
It just seemed like a great big undead giant serpent. That was all he could say.
It was nothing compared to the undeads in his dream, who moved on their own without an order, could think for themselves and overwhelm the humans.
Stumble!
Muyoung was barely able to stay up by leaning on to the giant serpent.
Maybe it was because he used a skill, he felt as if he was becoming exhausted at an alarming rate.
'Somehow it seems as though I spent my stamina.'
It must had been a skill where he couldn't abuse it constantly.
From the state he was in, it looked like he could use this skill at most 3 times a day.
It seemed like he needed to use it wisely.
To increase the art score, different types of materials were generally required.
If he used the corpse of the boss that attacked every 10 days, he thought he might be able to get a better score.
'Let's go down.'
After thoroughly examining the Death Lord class, he started his way back.
He passed out for quite a long time. There wasn't any time to waste.
*
Even if the giant serpent had lost 50% of its abilities, it was quite useful.
Its thick hide was a fine shield for Muyoung, as he climbed down the cliff.
Thanks to the serpent, Muyoung was able to climb down safely.
The Guide was waiting for Muyoung at the bottom of the cliff.
He looked at Muyoung in admiration.
"Huk. Huk. Didn't think you would really make it."
Although he did not have any ill-will, these words could have caused a misunderstanding depending on who heard them.
Muyoung shrugged his shoulders and spoke,
"Did you want me to die?"
"No, but it's hard for me to believe that this is real. And from your aura, you don't seem like an ordinary man. It seemed as though you have earned an incredible reward…"
Muyoung nodded.
The Guide was the other self of the supreme magician.
Although Muyoung didn't deliberately try to hide the change, it wouldn't have been weird for the Guide to notice his changes.
'What perfect timing.'
Muyoung asked one of the questions he had about the Death Lord class.
"Who are the Masters of Darkness?"
As if it was trivial matter, he answered.
"They are the ones who couldn't become Gods and by Solomon's Laws, became the ones who managed the darkness. But, how do you know… ah, no, did you?"
"They said one of the Masters of Darkness has chosen me."
"…!"
The Guide's eyes widened.was hard for him to believe. As if that wasn't possible.
The Guide asked again.
Muyoung nodded his head and started to speak.
"Is it really that strange?"
He was honestly just curious.
That was why Muyoung asked so bluntly.
The Guide was someone who was wholly dedicated to this place, even before the collapse of humans.
He might even be the one person who knew more than Muyoung.
If the Guide didn't have the answers, there was no way for Muyoung to find out as well.
His expression was serious.
"I'm not sure of the details. How many manage the Laws of the Darkness, who are part of it, and etc. Just know one thing, that they have really high standards. Even if someone completed the impossible, it was rare for them to choose anyone…"
Then he looked Muyoung again and rubbed his chin.
It seemed like even the Guide did not have the information about the Death Lord or the Lord class that Muyoung really wanted to know about.
The Guide continued to speak.
"But, you were chosen, right?"
Like a kid who had just found a new toy, his eyes started to sparkle.
Great excitement.
At the same time, a slight smile appeared on his face.
"As expected, you truly aren't an ordinary human being. That's probably why you were able to win the three wagers against me."
While he seemed to be particularly obsessed with wagers, Muyoung could not refute his words.
Before Muyoung realized, the Guide was holding an Orc Staff.
Even the mood seemed to have changed.
The aura of magic surrounding them was so dense that it suffocated Muyoung.
Muyoung bent his eyebrows.
As Muyoung slowly moved his hand towards his weapon, the Guide started to talk again.
"Ah. Ah, I'm sorry. I was extremely thrilled. That's right, I probably said that I was going to tell you my name if you came back alive. If it is you, you deserve to know my name."
Tsk.
Muyoung clicked his tongue as he removed his hand from the sheath and returned his hand to where it was before.
"Do as you please."
To be honest, it wasn't like Muyoung was really curious about his name.
What could happen by knowing letters of a name.
Seeing how the Guide was obsessed about it, Muyoung just thought he really wanted to introduce himself.
"I'm a Druid."
Druids were known to be the ones who dealt with nature and spirits.
Swish.
Out of the blue, the wind blew.
The spirits of the wind started to come and surround the Guide.
Muyoung swallowed his saliva.
"I thought you were a magician."
"At the same time, I'm also the supreme magician. You weren't wrong. Even though I was born from an Incubus of Darkness, I was baptized right away so that I wouldn't be infected by evil. Instead I was able to gain an enormous amount of power. Of course, there is no way I can display my true powers in this fake form."
As if he was boasting, he continued to talk.
"The system of 'skills' that humans are able to use were made by me. So that as long as you knew the spell, it wasn't hard to cast the spell or to exert magic."
Even though the Guide said that he was going to share his name, he was bragging about his identity.
But, Muyoung didn't really care about his identity.
"Are you asking me to play twenty questions?"
The Guide looked a bit disappointed.
"You still don't know who I am?"
As if his identity should have been obvious by now, the Guide clearly found it shocking.
"I still don't know."
"Merlin."
"Merlin?"
Muyoung looked at the Guide.
The Guide didn't seem like he was joking around.
Finally, there was a smile on the Guide's face.
"I'm the Merlin whom you're thinking of."
Finally, few words appeared in front of Muyoung.
For a moment, a blue light wrapped around Muyoung's body.
Just by knowing the Guide's name, his magical abilities rose.
That meant that the 'name' had that much worth, but it was the first time something like this happened for Muyoung, so it was natural for him to be a bit confused.
"As expected, you really are talented! Just because someone hears my name doesn't mean that they all get something. A drawing might be just a scribble for someone, but to another, it might be a work of art."
Without a care in the world, Merlin became more enthusiastic about Muyoung.
"It's my first time hearing that Merlin followed Solomon."
"It wouldn't be correct to say that I followed him. We had no choice, but to combine our strength. If the Seal of Lemegeton was to be broken… The fake will become real and the real will become fake. It was very obvious that in a state where everything became chaotic, humans would be annihilated."
He also seemed to be the reason to why humans from Earth were being summoned here.
Muyoung could not take it as a joke any longer.
Right now, Merlin was telling him about the history of this world.
He knew that the 72 Demon Gods were going to be freed when the Seal of Lemegeton was broken. But, even Muyoung was unaware of the specifics regarding its background.
"Do you mean the summoning of the humans into this Underworld was already decided upon long ago?"
Merlin nodded his head.
"Yes. And to be honest, it wasn't too promising either. The Demon Gods were too strong and therefore, even if they were to prepare for them, there was always a limit. That's why, our only hope was human's unlimited potential, but…"
He became silent.
However even if he didn't hear the rest of the story, Muyoung understood.
After all, in the end, humanity wasn't able to stop the Demon Gods.
Instead, due to conflicts between humans, numerous humans with potentials were killed.
And, even Merlin, himself, wasn't able to consider human's desires and their selfishness.
No, even if he knew, like a Pandora's box, he might have still firmly believed in them as their last hope.
"However, if it is you, the person who was chosen by the Masters of the Darkness, I believe you have the potential of becoming a true hero."
The burning look of Merlin's eyes were making him feel uncomfortable.
However, Muyoung didn't really like how he was sweet talking him.
Muyoung placed a lot of pressure on his neck before he spoke.
"So what is your point?"
"Become my successor."
Muyoung thought he had heard of this somewhere.
That a person could potentially receive a class from supreme beings.
Unlike other people, Muyoug was able to accept four classes.
As of now, since he has earned a secret class, it wasn't a bad idea to earn another.
Still…
'Death Lord is one of the magic-type classes.'
Muyoung was planning on getting specifically distinct classes.
And just by the name, he could tell that the Court Magician class was one of the magic-type classes.
"I refuse."
"You… refuse?"
In an instant, Merlin's expression became strange.
It was an expression like he never expected to get refused by his offer.
Muyoung calmly spoke.
"To become your successor means that I need to be here for a long time right?"
Merlin was a being unable to leave this Blue Temple.
To learn from him meant that a lot of time will be spent here.
"10 years would be more than enough. You will be an accomplished magician…"
Muyoung just shook his head from the expected answer.
Becoming an accomplished magician seemed nice, but in 10 years, he could gain a lot more by living in the Underworld.
He needed to be the first to retrieve specific treasures.
"I'm more curious about the world beyond these gates."
"Even if you go there, there aren't many good things to see. It's much better to learn from me now and go against the Demon Gods later."
"If I become your successor, does that mean I can kill the Demon Gods for sure?"
"That…"
Of course, it would be impossible.
Like he said, all Muyoung could do was fight against them.
Muyoung knew the end of Merlin.
Even when he returned to his former self, all he could do was tie up three top ranking Demon Gods for 10 days. That was all.
Even if Muyoung was to take all Merlin had to offer, it meant that there was a limit.
Of course, just that by itself was an incredible thing. It was enough for him to be called the supreme magician.
However, Muyoung knew too much about the past.
It would be foolish for him to waste 10 years here.
Therefore, he calmly replied.
"As humans are faced with trials, by overcoming them, they get stronger. And a system that rewards you appropriately is exceptionally pleasing. Since you will be rewarded for the amount of effort you put in."
"Selfishness of the humans have gone too far. If you pass the gates, monsters and Demon Gods aren't the ones to be worried about, it's facing the sickening desires of humans, the same kind as you. Are you going to consider that as a trial too?"
"If they stop me, I will destroy them. I'm not willing to leave anything that stands in my way."
"Ha…"
As Merlin listened to Muyoung's answers, he sighed.
It was because he knew that whatever he had to say, wouldn't go through to Muyoung.
Muyoung's determination was that firm.
"What a shame, what a real shame."
"Why don't you look for a successor yourself instead of just waiting. There are plenty of people who are more talented than me."
It wasn't like Muyoung was exceptionally talented in magic.
However, considering how many real 'genius' magicians have shown up in the Underworld, it wasn't like Merlin couldn't find a successor.
But, Merlin didn't move from the center of the forest.
Even if a genius showed up, how can he find a successor if he just sits and waits?
"I'm not just looking at skills. But you do make a good point."
Merlin sighed out loud.
"I've basically given up on relying on humans. Just enjoyed wagering with a few humans who came to see me. However… After seeing you, I wanted to try once more."
"You will surely find someone."
Finally, Merlin took out a small bottle from his side.
"Take it. It's the Secret Medicine of the Sage."
Inside the bottle, there was a liquid that had a red glow.
The Secret Medicine of the Sage!
It was an item recognized as the pinnacle of alchemy.
It was one of the choices he had when he made it to Solomon's Hall of Fame for killing the boss. But unfortunately, it was a reward he had to give up.
However, Muyoung gave him a flat refusal.
"I'm not interested in becoming your successor."
Even then, Merlin didn't take his hand back.
"I'm not giving it to you because of that. My primary role is to make heroes and to guide them. Since I can see hope in you, I can't just send you away, can I?"
For a long time, Merlin just looked at Muyoung without saying a word.
Muyoung didn't try look away either.
If Merlin was willing to give him the Secret Medicine of the Sage with no strings attached, there was no reason for him to refuse.
As Muyoung grabbed the bottle, Merlin spoke as if he was worried.
"I hope your will won't be broken."
"Nothing will be able to break my will."
Muyoung waited 40 years to get this chance.
A chance to go through his life again!
Never, no matter what happens, Muyoung wasn't willing to waste this chance.