Anguish was soaked in blood.
Because of the endless amount of blood, it was unable to absorb all of it.
Drip. Drip.
The blood ran down the edge of the sword and dripped on the floor.
However, a puddle of blood was already forming on the ground.
Muyoung's appearance was that of a vampire.
As if he craved for blood, he instantly assassinated five more people.
These five sheep who were stricken with fear and weren't able to cooperate with each other were unable to do anything against the wolf.
"This has to be a dream…"
Muyoung wielded his sword at a man who fell to the floor who had lost the will to even run away.
Slash!
Swish.
Naturally, Anguish was sheathed once again.
<'Slayer' has killed 200 people!>
It wasn't satisfied in labelling Muyoung as the Boss and had to go and give everyone else a blessing.
As if it was trying to balance it out.
Muyoung could understand why Ben the Slaughterer stopped his massacre after 200 kills.
'He probably got scared.'
He valued his life.
The Toughness blessing protected the person from the effects of spells and curses and also negated negative emotions, like fear.
When fear disappeared, a prey is no longer simply a prey.
If they combined their strengths and used their now clear-headed minds, the hunter might be the one to get bitten.
'I've now fulfilled the condition to receive the Lunatic Sovereign's Ring.'
Normally, a person would usually stop after reaching their goal.
Muyoung's ultimate goal in entering the tower was to receive the Lunatic Sovereign's Ring and he had already achieved it.
If he continued to progress, he didn't know what they would try to do in an attempt to kill the 'Slayer'.
But…
Muyoung was interested.
If there wasn't a condition for the Slayer to be at a disadvantage, he would have stopped by now.
He didn't particularly enjoy pointless bloodbaths.
However, after every 50 kills, Muyoung's situation also changed disadvantageously.
Was it simply just to make it balanced?
Or because they didn't want the Slayer to kill everyone inside the tower?
No way!
The tower or the Underworld were both not all that friendly of a place.
'As the conditions get harder, the rewards will also become better.'
An immutable law.
In this world, a person was rewarded by overcoming hardship.
The problem was most would die in the process, but it was still worth a try.
Even if Muyoung returned with his memories intact, there was no way to ensure a victory against the Demon Gods by following a fixed path.
Muyoung looked towards the survivors.
'257 people.'
There was enough prey.
'This, this is impossible.'
Collin wasn't able to come back to his senses.
The current situation was way beyond what he had imagined.
Truly, something impossible had occurred.
'I'm going to die?'
The people he had appointed knighthood had turned their backs and started to escape.
The people he tried hard to gather, half had scattered or were dead, and of the 10 people who followed Collin before he had even entered the tower, 3 had already escaped.
It was the worst situation. Death was slowly approaching.
As Collin had always been a winner his entire life, losing was something Collin was unfamiliar with.
Born as the Prince of England, he always reigned over numerous amounts of people.
However, no amount of authority worked on his enemy.
Die by the condition of his class or die in the hands of the Slayer.
But, how was he to contend against a monster if he couldn't even step on his shadow?
'Escape…'
It was easy killing 5 men.
It was a decision a ruler should never make.
Collin was seriously considering an option he has never made in his life.
At the moment he was licking his lips nervously.
<'Slayer' has killed 200 people!>
Swish.
The wind blew.
At the same time, he felt as though something was covering his body.
His thumping heartbeat slowly calmed back down to normal.
His brain which was solely fixed on fear started to function again.
"What do you want to do?"
As the man who was wearing a leather armor and holding a mace asked, Collin spoke.
"…Lord Alberts, the man is cleverly avoiding our location. Aren't I right?"
"Yes. The people he had killed so far were the ones who had run away."
"In other words, it means he fears our gathering of people."
"Indeed, yes."
"Gather everyone. Now, we will commence hunting."
They were taken back for a moment due to the appearance of zombies and the movements of the Slayer, but they had far greater numbers on their side.
About a hundred people.
Originally, they had about double their current number.
Even though he didn't knight everyone, the fact that Collin was able to bring together this many people in a short time proved his ability.
It was doable.
He just panicked because he had never met anyone who threatened his life.
'That son-of-a-b*tch. How dare he humiliate me like this.'
Collin couldn't accept the fact that he was frightened for a moment.
'I will definitely kill you. No matter what happens, I will kill you for sure!'
Clench!
Collin ground his teeth as he projected his murderous intent towards where the 'Slayer' might be located.
*
Zombies were quickly decreasing in numbers.
People, who were blessed with Toughness, had their fear reduced to a certain degree and started to fight back.
'Gather.'
If he left them alone, they would only be defeated by the enemy one by one.
All the 30 some odd zombies who used to roam around the second floor started to gather towards Muyoung.
By this process, Muyoung was able to notice that 'Collin' was the man behind the hunt.
The widespread arrangement of people started to move in around Muyoung.
'Not a bad decision.'
It seemed like his stiff brain was working better.
However, it wasn't like Muyoung would let them do as they pleased after knowing their intentions.
Using the talisman, Muyoung recalled the Skeleton of Fire and Ice.
It was possible to summon it wherever he was if he had the talisman.
Crack. Craaack.
The Skeleton of Fire and Ice was covered in thick layers of blood.
Since it had killed tens of people who tried to pass through the entrance, it seemed natural that traces were left.
But… At that moment.
Clank.
Zombies started to eat each other.
In a blink of an eye, the total number of zombies had decreased to 15.
Eventually, the bodies of the 15 zombies that ate off another were inflated. Their skins also changed to green.
Sharp fingernails and teeth were created and they contained a strong corpse poison.
Watching the whole process, Muyoung pondered for a moment.
'Did my skill ranking increase because the number of kills from the Skeleton of Fire and Ice added up to my score?'
Muyoung didn't do much after he entered the tower.
All he did was make zombies and slay people.
It seemed like the two actions he made had helped him raise his rank.
Death and art, it seemed as though their fields were divided.
Muyoung just looked at the newly created ghouls.
They were about 1.5 times bigger than the size of a normal zombie and their abilities have greatly improved.
'Sorry about this.'
Ghouls were incomparable to zombies.
If there were 10 zombies, they may be somewhat comparable.
If zombies were just mindless moving corpses, ghouls had an understanding of combat.
Especially their poison imbued in their nails and teeth were strong enough to kill even an elephant.
Unintentionally, an enormous fighting potential was handed to him.
All of Collin's efforts and plans were put to shame.
'If it's like this, then even a single breakthrough isn't necessary.'
Originally, he was planning on making a single pathway and killing them off slowly.
But, with 15 ghouls, it didn't seem necessary.
"Follow me."
Geeeeek.
Kwaaaaak.
As Muyoung moved forward, the Skeleton of Ice and Fire and the ghouls followed behind.
*
Clash!
Muyoung parried a mace that was flying towards him.
The man who lost his weapon ran towards him without a weapon.
Gaah!
Anguish cleanly sliced through the man's chest.
An exquisite work where even the bones were cleanly cut. The man fell to the floor.
"Haaaaaaaa!"
Right after, a man wearing a full plated armor blocked him with a longsword.
Thump!
However, the speed was awful.
After Muyoung tripped him over, the man lost his balance and Muyoung took the chance to stab through the slight gap in-between the man's plated armor.
Swish.
As Muyoung took back Anguish, which had accurately pierced through his sides, with a loud sound of a crack, the man's waist snapped.
Muyoung continued to walk as he sliced through people who were in his way.
No one could stop Muyoung from moving forward.
If they attacked all at once, it might have been different, but the ghouls were already taking care of the surrounding situation.
And the person, who was trying to kill Muyoung, was a man being protected in a safe area.
'Collin.'
At a first sight, Muyoung could tell it was him.
That this was the man who was responsible for gathering up all the people and testing him up until now.
As Muyoung stood right in front of him, Collin grabbed a thin longsword.
"Lord Alberts, Sir Swin…"
As he stood there and called out the names of his dead comrades, he felt enraged.
"You, I am going to kill you for sure!"
Did he feel companionship with those who were dead?
But, he was flimsy.
Like a flowing stream of water, Muyoung naturally dodged the longsword.
As if he trained his skills well, compared to the few who fought earlier, he had much more sophisticated skills. But, he didn't have too much real-life experience.
On the other hand, Muyoung had more real-life experience than anyone else.
As Muyoung moved much deeper than the length of the longsword, he swung Anguish without the slightest hesitation.
Slash!
Slayer' has killed 300 people.>
The number of survivors quickly decreased.
As Collin, the person who had arranged the largest group had died, without an exception, the majority of the people tried to kill each other to escape.
However, there were still a few who decided to stay.
The blessing from the Tower allowed survivors to lose their fears and stick together.
At 200 kills, they received a 'Toughness' blessing, at 250 kills, they received an 'Iron Will' blessing and finally at 300 kills, they received the 'Guardian' blessing.
'Isn't it trying hard.'
Muyoung lightly clicked his tongue after reading the message about the 'Guardian' blessing.
It was a blessing that could only be used by quite high ranked priests.
A penalty that wasn't really a penalty was created.
Either Muyoung had to die or everyone else did for this fight to end.
Now, he couldn't even give up.
Of course, he wasn't planning to… But still, it was going to the extremes.
'Winner gets all.'
The last one standing would get everything.
Muyoung was already very used to this method.
It wasn't originally this kind of an extreme world.
He turned around and looked at the ghouls.
Meanwhile, the number ghouls have increased to 30.
There was something unique about these ghouls, they had a bit of a dark aura mixed into their skin.
And in the middle of them, there was a ghoul that was particularly dark.
'Dark Ghoul. The Prince and his subjects.'
As a matter of fact, after making Collin into an undead, he had turned into that creature.
An ability to reinforce the 30 ghouls under his supervision had been created when his head was put back together.
When Muyoung looked at the Dark Ghoul created from Collin's corpse, information about it appeared on the Status Viewer.
Level: 56
Type: Ghoul
Strength 65 (60 + 5) Agility 60 (55 + 5)
Stamina 55 (50 + 5) Intelligence 44 (39 + 5)
Wisdom 46 (41 + 5) >
+ Dark Aura (The 30 chosen ghouls' stats will increase by 5.)
+ Decent tolerance to light.
+ Loss of vision (superior sense of hearing).
Even the Dark Ghoul had its stats raised by 5.
Since the number in front of the brackets were the finalized values, if he only considered just the basic stats, it was higher than Muyoung.
Although stats weren't everything in a battle, it was at least an objective indicator of one's capabilities.
'I've gained something unexpected.'
Muyoung never guessed that Collin could be turned into this good of an undead.
It meant that Collin had that much of an overwhelming story.
Not only that but since he was recognized as 'Prince and his subjects', not one but many, he could now place the 31 ghouls under one talisman.
It was now a question of whether all the blessing given to the rest of the people in the Tower to counterbalance Muyoung would be able to stop these undead.
Grrr.
The Dark Ghoul laid down flat on the floor and pricked up his ears.
Although he had lost his vision, he instead gained a greater sense of hearing and was able to catch even the finest details.
Geeeek!
Unlike the zombies, the Dark Ghoul was able to make decisions by himself and soon started to run towards his prey while letting out a horrible shriek.
The 30 ghouls followed soon afterwards.
'Then…'
Muyoung couldn't just play around.
The time had come to end this fight.
After 350 kills, no other blessing was given.
Maybe it had assumed that no one could massacre more than 300 people?
He could only know just how many survivors were left and how many people he had slain.
Even then, Muyoung was still calm.
To enter the Tower, the requirement was that the person had to have 'murdered' someone.
Also, most of the people entered to kill another.
Even though there were some who entered not because they wanted to, he didn't have the time to take care of them.
He couldn't hesitate any longer.
It wasn't enough to just step onwards.
There were too many strong enemies Muyoung had to face.
'396 people.'
Swish!
With a large shake, Muyoung brushed off a large amount of blood on Anguish.
No one else had survived.
Muyoung walked in between the dead bodies.
'I'm missing four people.'
For some reason, he felt sad.
The numbers didn't exactly fall clean.
He thought that like the blessing, the reward might have been decided upon every 50 kills.
However, no one was left alive.
In sadness, as he sheathed Anguish, letters started to appear and combine.
'Who almost accomplished?'
It was definitely different from the last time he earned the Death Lord class.
At that time, he had received a special reward instead of an incredible.
As expected, was it because he didn't have 400 kills?
Since it seemed like he would get a reward every 50 kills and since he had killed 394 people, he thought he was going to get the reward for 350 kills.
Muyoung clicked his tongue.
He waited for the reward, but then a story he never thought of appeared before his eyes.
<'Death Lord' objects.>
The reward has changed.
The impossible that has been almost accomplished has been changed to accomplished.
This had never happened in all of his 40 years.
Even more, the fact that the 'Masters of Darkness' were responsible for this change in the reward.
Besides the Death Lord, they were names unfamiliar to him.
'The Masters of the Darkness, who couldn't become Gods.'
Solomon had died and instead the Laws were left behind.
And through the conversation with Merlin, Muyoung knew that those who overlooked the Laws were recognized as the Masters of Darkness.
However, Merlin didn't even know the specifics about the Masters of Darkness.
Possibly because the Masters of Darkness were superior beings to Merlin?
Through this opportunity, Muyoung found out how many were part of the masters.
'Eleven beings.'
Those who supported were 4 and those who forfeited were 6. And if you added the Death Lord, by simple calculations, there were 11 in total.
However, it didn't seem like the Masters of Darkness were simply managers.
Even if their identities were in a fog, like how Muyoung was chosen by the Death Lord and was given a class related to him, it was likely that other masters could also choose someone as well.
Death Lord, the Lord Class.
The undead made by the Art of Death skill were much stronger than a normal undead.
Depending on the rank, it should have more destructive power than most secret classes.
The classes offered by the other 10 masters would probably be the same.
While putting a bit of strength in his eyes, he focused on the letters that appeared.
Soon after, a red ring, helmet, and cape appeared on top of Muyoung's hand.
Swish!
Neeeigh!
And beside him, a huge horse, about 3 meters tall, jumped out.
Its hoofs, tail and mane were blazing with blue fire.
It had dark skin and great big wings like a Pegasus, but Muyoung almost pulled out his sword instinctively, after looking at the creature.
'A top ranking monster…!'
Even in the Underworld, there weren't many monsters considered to be in the top ranks.
Usually, people identified dragons and their mixed bloodlines, giants, hydras and other creatures as top ranking monsters.
And the Hellhorse that appeared before Muyoung had the magic power that was comparable to a dragon's.
Just by facing the creature made Muyoung's whole body tingle. It became hard for him to breathe and all his pores were dripping with sweat.
Even if the monsters that appeared at the temple were strong, they were merely low ranked.
Something like a Dark Ghoul would barely pass the threshold into the intermediate rankings.
But, all of a sudden, a top-ranked monster appeared.
If it was someone other than Muyoung, they would have fainted already.
The Hellhorse looked down on Muyoung.
Neigh!
Afterward, it snorted heavily.
A top ranking monster could wipe out a reasonably sized guild or a clan.
As of now, even if Muyoung gave it all he had, he would be unable to win against the Hellhorse.
For some reason, he didn't sense any killing intent.
Muyoung quickly calmed down.
It was one of Muyoung's specialties to adapt to any situation.
When the Hellhorse watched Muyoung instantly return his breathing back to normal, the horse looked surprised as it nickered.
"I accept."
Neigh!
As if it was telling Muyoung, he had made a good decision, it spread its wings widely.
It probably thought it benefited, but Muyoung also did it intentionally.
'It's enough.'
The rewards were more than what he had expected to receive in the beginning.
It was truly impossible to simply tame a top ranking monster.
Even the Dragon Lord had to overcome tens of life-threatening situations and succeed in 10 consecutive achievements in order to tame the Magical Dragon.
For now, being helped 3 times was more than enough.
Just like that, it was the same as a decent guild moving at his command.
Depending on how he used them, these 3 opportunities could prove to be an enormous help.
And Muyoung was one of the few people who could use these opportunities wisely.
'I could look around a dangerous area.'
As for now, 'Hedley Kow' was all that was on his mind.
A fairy that could transform into any appearance.
In the end, it turns into a Phoenix, if he could just grab hold of the Hedley Kow in that transformed state, he could benefit from it tremendously.
Even though he had a Long-distance Teleportation Magical Item since it was in a Demon God's territory he didn't know where to start, but with this, he believed he could advance more quickly than before.
Besides that, couple memories came back to him regarding where he could use the Hellhorse.
'If I beat it before using all my 3 chances, that will do.'
Also, if Muyoung grew stronger before he used all his chances, that was good enough.
Or, figured out a way to win.
He had many options.
It was just that it took him time.
Muyoung considered taming the Hellhorse as a 'definite fact'.
'The gate to the Underworld opens in two days.'
He cleared his mind and nodded.
The Tower appeared on the 25th day. Within just 3 days he was able to overcome the trial and receive a reward greater than what he had imagined.
This was enough to enter the Underworld in two days.
It would be enough to be free from the clutches of the Forest of Death and Wung Chunglin.
'The past will not repeat itself.'
In the past, he was kidnapped without being able to even resist them.
Afterwards, with all the different kinds of drugs and brainwashing, he was turned into an absolute perfect assassin.
He lived a meaningless life, like a machine, for 40 years.
Once was more than enough.
Muyoung clenched his teeth.
Whoooosh - !
Afterwards, a bright light surrounded Muyoung.
AN: Volume 1 - The beginning ENDS here