Chapter 111
Seong-Hwi reached the director’s room by following the map engraved in his mind.
“Is this a steel door?”
“Haaap! Dammit, we’re fucked,” Frank cursed as he struck the door to the director’s room several times.
He didn’t know what the door was made of, but it was purely of an extremely dense metal. Leo kicked the cement wall beside the door, but the same steel material was under the cement. It seemed the steel protected all sides of the director’s room.
“This is going to take a while,” Leo remarked as he frowned, feeling the repulsive force from kicking the door.
Seong-Hwi stepped forward. “It’ll take less than a minute.”
“What?”
A dark red aura covered Seong-Hwi’s hand.
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
He placed his hand on the steel door, and the metal bubbled like burnt human skin.
“You have a corrosion skill, too?”
“And it’s not just any corrosion skill. I’ve never seen one with such an immediate reaction.”
“Natural enemy... of melee weapons.”
Seong-Hwi’s teammates shook their heads at his arsenal of skills. Once the door turned dark red, Seong-Hwi kicked the door, and it fell forward. They were met with a paradise of various machines and experimental tools. It was filled with complex wire layouts, tubes, flashing lamps, and buttons of different colors.
“Is this place... a command center? Wait, what are those?” Frank said as he looked around and pointed at the center of the room.
Two giant, cylindrical water tanks were filled with a bubbling green liquid, and two babies floated inside them.
[You discovered survivors of Weishaupt Research Institute.]
[No.1,000 & No.1,002.]
“Survivors? Does that mean they’re residents? Come to think of it, the quest mentioned there was two,” Leo recalled the dungeon quest.
Seong-Hwi thought, According to the information Curiositas planted inside my head, this research institute’s ultimate goal is to give birth to the Ark, who will remember the world on the verge of collapse.
The Ark of the Ark Project referred to the host of the perfect DNA who could overcome the extreme external environment and preserve humanity’s legacy.
A Chaos who strives to preserve humanity, huh? How ironic.
He was sure the dungeon boss was a Chaos, but one could say he was a saint from a human perspective.
Regardless, it has nothing to do with me. There’s only one thing I want.
Seong-Hwi walked toward the water tanks, staring at the green liquid inside them. He pressed buttons on the machinery, following the method Curiositas planted in his mind. Just then, the sound of machinery echoed from the water tanks.
“Huh? The water’s flowing out!” Frank said as he stared at the tanks.
The green liquid rapidly flowed out of the tanks, forming a vortex, and was completely drained after a few minutes. The bottom portion of each water tank opened like a drink dispenser. It revealed two bottles the size of an index finger, each containing an extremely concentrated green liquid.
The Elixirs! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly, his eyes shining.
He had finally discovered the Elixir, the legendary brew of life, the greatest S-rank consumable item in terms of recovery.
“Whoa! That must be—”
“The... Elixir! And two... of them!”
Frank and Sonya approached the Elixirs as if in a trance.
Seong-Hwi shouted, “Wait! Leo will safekeep the Elixirs.”
“Hm? Me?” Leo asked curiously as he stared at Seong-Hwi.
Seong-Hwi nodded. “You’re the perfect person for the job. You’re a phenomenal tank and Kabuka’s subordinate.”
“Hmmm...” Leo groaned with a conflicted expression because he had begun to harbor doubts about the savior of his people.
“Take them, Leo. I trust you to keep them safe,” Seong-Hwi continued.
“Whoa there, Seong-Hwi. Does that mean you don’t trust me? You’re hurting my feelings,” Frank remarked sorrowfully.
Sonya also stared in silence at Seong-Hwi sorrowfully, but Seong-Hwi simply stared at Leo without faltering.
“If you’re going that far... very well. I will keep them safe,” Leo said as he approached the tanks.
He trusts me enough to entrust the Elixir, an S-rank consumable item, to me? Why? he wondered.
His first impression of Seong-Hwi was not good; rather, it couldn’t have been worse. However, he realized that his every action had been intricately calculated.
Most of all, he did not run away despite encountering a demon of unfathomably higher caliber. That alone was enough to show Leo that he was a man worth becoming friends with. Also, for some reason, Seong-Hwi felt like a long-lost friend to him.
Leo smiled faintly as he thought, It’s not a bad feeling.
He grabbed the two Elixir bottles, and an Akasha Message appeared.
[Elixir (Consumable Item)
Rank: S
Description: A legendary panacea that removes all debuffs, cures all diseases, recovers life force, lifts all curses, extends lifespan, and regenerates body parts.
Condition: Its effects only activate if the individual who genuinely cares for the one they use the Elixir on sacrifices their life.]
“What... is this?” Leo mumbled as his eyes widened.
Its description was as he had heard: a legendary item that could heal anything. However, he had never heard about its condition.
It only activates if the person genuinely cares for the one they’re using it on? What in the—
Just then, the cries of the two babies in the empty water tanks echoed throughout the director’s room.
“Wah! Wah!”
“Waaah!”
“Poor... babies,” Sonya mumbled.
“What should we do about them?” Frank asked Seong-Hwi.
Seong-Hwi stared blankly at the squirming babies inside the water tanks and mumbled, “Orphans...”
These babies were abandoned in this world without parents. They were just lumps of flesh struggling to survive, but Seong-Hwi felt a sense of familiarity with them. He wanted to help them, likely because he had been through something similar.
I sympathize with them. Thankfully... it looks like my humanity is still intact, he said inwardly.
The two babies knew nothing and had done nothing wrong. They were the epitome of the state before the birth of good or evil. However, Seong-Hwi decided logically despite such feelings.
“We’ll leave them here,” he said resolutely.
“But Seong-Hwi, the quest mentioned helping the survivors—”
“That condition is only valid if we defeat the dungeon boss. Besides, let’s say we take the babies. What are we going to do with them? They’ll only be a nuisance. These babies are safer in here.”
Seong-Hwi pressed the buttons on the water tanks again, and a transparent fluid slowly filled the tanks this time. It was nutritional fluid, which contained all the nutrients a human required for survival. The babies’ expressions eased again after being submerged in it.
He said, “You mustn’t be sentimental, Frank. Think about who we are. We’re travelers, and these babies are residents. We can’t even take them to the Mirror World.”
Frank remained silent momentarily and mumbled, “I know.”
Seong-Hwi continued, “If they’re lucky... they might survive. Come on, let’s go. We’ve fulfilled our objective.”
“Go where?” Leo asked as he put the Elixirs away in his pocket with a serious expression.
Seong-Hwi pointed at the monitors filling one side of the director’s room. Explosions endlessly sounded from the speakers.
“To the battlefield.”
I’ve fulfilled my primary objectives. From here on, it’s a bonus round, Seong-Hwi thought.
Before, he would have retreated as soon as he secured the Elixirs, but his unexpected encounter with Curiositas completely changed his thought process.
I’m still too far away. I have to be greedy! I have to risk my life to clash against my destiny.
There were still too many things available to grasp in the S-rank dungeon.
***
The mass incubation room was filled with explosions and vibrations.
“I will take every single drop of your blood!” Adolf screamed as he grimaced terrifyingly, his face enveloped in grey Chaos Mana.
He extended his hand and activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Cesium-137 Mist.]
The grey mist poured toward Seriel and Krypta. Seriel flapped his six pairs of wings to escape it, but Krypta was engulfed by it.
“Gaaah! Ahahaha!” Krypta laughed crazily.
[You are exposed to Chaos radiation.]
[Current Chaos radiation level: 105 Sv/h.]
His black armor melted, revealing his white bones protected by Demon Force. A Death Knight was a kind of Skeleton and one of the highest forms of undead. He simply laughed, so drunk on the power of Demonic Sword Fatum that he had forgotten about pain.
“How unsophisticated,” Seriel mumbled as he stared at Krypta from above.
He seemed high and mighty in the sky, but was also not in good shape.
As expected from a Hispar-rank Chaos. His Chaos Mana is imbued with an element, Seriel thought.
Chaos Mana was different from any race’s secondary force. It boasted unparalleled destructive force comparable to the clashing of light and darkness, and defensive capabilities that devoured mana. On top of that, Chaos monsters Uluhatu-rank and up could undergo a secondary transformation and imbue elements to their Chaos Mana, making them several times harder to face.
His element is... poison?
That was not all. The main difference that set Hispar-rank Chaos apart from Uluhatu-rank Chaos was that they could use os skills.
“Your flying is bothering me!” Adolf shouted as his left eye turned black, shooting a dark light at Seriel like a laser.
[Activating Os Skill: Ruina.]
“Hup!” Seriel grunted as he quickly evaded the laser, but grazed the end of his sixth wing.
[You are exposed to highly concentrated Chaos Mana.]
[Applying Debuff: Corruption.]
[You are exposed to Chaos radiation.]
One of Seriel’s wings turned black from being corrupted by Chaos Mana.
“How dare you defile my wings, bestowed upon me by the almighty God of Heaven?!” he screamed in rage.
He knew he wasn’t powerful enough to defeat a Hispar-rank boss. He was a fourth-grade angel, the lowest of the superior angels, but he was assigned this mission because of the race skill specific to angels.
“O Almighty God of Heaven! Grant your humble servant Seriel the blessing of the Holy Spirit!” Seriel prayed as he clasped his hands together.
The golden halo above the crown of his head lit up and spun rapidly.
[Activating Race Skill: Open Halo Channel.]
Angels could commune with each other and share their power through the halo. The connection was known as the halo channel, and opening it could allow fellow angels to send them power, regardless of where they were.
Although the skill’s effectiveness depended on the grade of the angel sending their power and how far they were, a fourth-grade angel could receive power from up to a first-grade angel. This was why a fourth-grade angel like Seriel was allowed to participate in an S-rank dungeon.
[The first-grade angel Gabriel answers your prayer.]
[Gabriel’s Lily Holy Force enters through the halo.]
“Ahhh! O Great Gabriel!” Seriel shouted ecstatically once the archangel Gabriel sent him his signature ability.
A beautiful voice echoed in his head, “Use this power to secure the Elixir and offer it to the God of Heaven.”
It was Gabriel’s voice.
Seriel, overflowing with the power of Lily Holy Force, shouted, “O Angel of Revelation! I will not tarnish your name!”
Seriel raised his white sword, enveloped with Holy Force as beautiful as fluttering lily petals.
“Haaah! Kikikik! Is that a bitch’s power, or what? Are you sure that’s a man’s power?!” Krypta laughed as he stared at Seriel.
However, he looked different than before. His bones were soaked black in Demon Force, and he was enveloped in a destructive aura completely different than before. The geometrical signs engraved on the spine of the Demonic Sword Fatum were shining, and the upper body of the horned demon sculpture on its guard was upright and staring at Seriel.
“Kikikik! What a nice view! I sure am lucky!”
“Bastard! You’re not Krypta! Who are you?!”
“Me? Kikik! My name is Taizet, but it’s not a name a mere white pigeon may call me by.”
“Taizet!” Seriel shouted with a frown.
It was the name of an archdemon, eighteenth in the demon ranking, also known as the Demon of Hellfire.
“How dare you defy the Sēmen?!” Seriel shouted.
“Kikikik! Pigeons are so funny. You defied them first! Also, I technically didn’t. I’ve only manifested through this guy. I’m not physically here.”
Fatum was a demonic sword because it took as much power as it granted. At first, it was stats, but once there were no more stats to take, it took the wielder’s body.
Taizet had granted Krypta the demonic sword, hoping it would happen. The Sēmen officially announced a proxy battle, but the angels and demons had broken the agreement, directly or indirectly.
“Silence! Hand over your blood for the Ark!” Adolf shouted as he raised his arms, activating a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Radioactive Isotope Decay.]
A dangerous amount of Chaos Mana gathered in his hands. The Chaos Mana particles collided with each other, and the energy from the generated explosions was pressurized.
“Kikik! That’s dangerous! This weak-ass body might be destroyed.”
“O Great Archangel Gabriel! There is nothing I cannot overcome with your powers!”
Seriel and Krypta silently agreed to first defeat Adolf, preparing an absurdly powerful skill.
“I will get what I want, even if it kills me!” Adolf shouted as he brought his hands forward.
An explosion engulfed the angel and the demon.
***
“Hurgh! Cough!”
Yuki was barely holding on to consciousness, far from the battle between the three monsters.
“Heh, why don’t you give up already? You won’t survive that wound,” Nakivarro mocked.
“Shut... up! You coward!” Yuki cursed.
“Coward, huh? I’m only doing my job. I have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“Kurgh! If that’s the case... Why did you get so mad over what the wing said? You... Tutsi murderer!”
“Fucking bitch!”
“Nakivarro, enough talking and just kill her. Our plan will fall apart if the others see this,” Gardner remarked.
Khanh shouted, “Yahoo! Let me do it! I’ll blow a hole through that high and mighty face!”
She aimed her D Weapon, M1903 Springfield, at Yuki’s head.
I have no more mannequins... and I’m out of mana. I suppose... this is it for me, Yuki thought.
She knew she would die one day, but did not expect it to be today.
I’m the idiot for letting my guard down despite knowing spies were in the team’s midst.
She closed her eyes after accepting death. A woman’s face popped into her head in the darkness. It was the smiling face of her mother, Onie Rikako, whom Yuki had separated from when she was fourteen. She wasn’t even sure if she was remembering her face correctly.
She resented her mother when she thought she had abandoned her, but was overwhelmed by guilt after realizing that was not the case, and busied herself with the desire to meet her again. Her only regret was that her feelings never bore fruit.
I didn’t think I’d die before I brought you back to life... I hope there is a hell, because I want to meet you... one last time.
Yuki heard the gunshot and could feel the bullet tearing through the air.
No, scratch that. I hope there isn’t a hell. I want you to be in heaven.
She waited for the pain, but it didn’t arrive, no matter how long.
“W-what the hell?!” Khanh shouted.
Yuki opened her eyes and saw six backs surrounding her. She initially thought they were her mannequins, but that was impossible since they were all destroyed.
A familiar voice said, “The commander is deemed to be incapacitated. I will take over as the second commander.”
“Cheon...”
“Exterminate the traitors.”
“Seong-Hwi?”
Yuki saw the cold eyes of the man who looked back at her.
She thought, this time for certain, I’m... saved.