"ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Orien’s rage-filled shout echoed through the surroundings, spreading like a violent shockwave.
The air trembled, and even the magma below quaked in response to the power behind his furious scream.
When he finally calmed down, a deep and terrifying anger was etched across his face. His eyes were a perfect embodiment of madness, a madness so intense that it began to subtly distort Orien’s human form, as if his true nature was struggling to break free.
"LILITH!!!!!!"
No more than five seconds passed before Lilith, one of the Seven Overlord demons, emerged from the deep shadows before him.
And kneeled.
She did not attempt to comfort Orien. Even though they shared a close and intimate relationship, she knew her bounds very well and understood that this moment was not one of closeness.
The anger-filled voice that had summoned her was not the call of someone close. It was the call of a King.
And what does a subject do when a King call?
They obey.
"Your orders, My King."
"You have disappointed me, Lilith."
Orien’s words struck her like a dagger to the heart, sending a violent tremor through her body as agitation and guilt washed over her.
"You said you would capture both Ash Burn and Ray Dawson alive, yet I see no one before me. You said leave everything to you, yet I see no results before me. Are you no longer able to carry your own weight?"
Lilith remained kneeling in silence, but her body trembled uncontrollably from the emotional turmoil raging within her. Her fists were clenched so tightly that black blood slowly seeped out, dripping onto the ground beneath her.
"Forgive me for my incompetence, My King. I will gladly accept any punishment you deem fit for this failure."
Lilith spoke those words with unwavering resolve, her voice steady despite the fear clawing at her chest.
-SHRUMMMM!!!!!!
In an instant, an overwhelming pressure descended upon her, forcing her down until all four limbs and her head were pressed against the ground.
"Are you certain you want ’any’ punishment? Even if that punishment is DEATH?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Lilith’s heartbeat began to race violently. The air grew thick and suffocating, and Lilith felt as though she was standing directly before Death itself.
Her back was drenched in sweat, clearly visible as she remained forced into her kneeling position.
"I-I-I... w-will glad-dly accept any punishment, even if it is the death of me." She forced those words out with immense difficulty. Though her voice shook and her body trembled, her resolve did not falter once she realized there was no turning back.
Silence followed, stretching for several heavy moments, before Orien finally let out a tired sigh.
"Secure the area around this dungeon. Kill everyone and everything near it. Inside, the rat named Ash Burn is hiding. Send a small army inside. I want him alive. Also, you will enter as well. This is an SS rank dungeon, and your rank fits perfectly for it."
"Bring him back alive and you will be free from any punishment. Fail, and I will show you what true hell is."
The instant his words ended, the crushing pressure weighing on Lilith vanished, and Orien’s physical presence disappeared as well.
Even then, she continued to kneel. She did not dare lift her head, fear keeping her frozen in place.
And she was right to remain still, because a few seconds later, a cold voice echoed directly inside her mind.
[I don’t want any failures this time]
[And what was the name of the girl connected to Ash Burn? The Moon Blessed? Elysia. Yes, that one.]
[Abduct her and the Star Blessed girl as well.]
[We are pushing ’the plan’ forward immediately.]
[I want that mongrel to feel the pain of losing something precious.]
With that final command, Orien’s presence vanished completely.
Lilith slowly stood up, and as she did, her aura rose along with her, spreading outward in heavy waves. In truth, she was angry, very angry, and it was not the kind of anger that faded easily.
Even though she held authority over Lust, at this moment she looked no different from the Sin of Wrath itself. The violent emotions boiling inside her were barely restrained, twisting her expression into something dark and dangerous.
And the cause of all this anger was simple.
"Ash Burn...."
The name left her lips with deep, venomous hatred as she stared at the violet portal standing before her. Her gaze was sharp, filled with killing intent that had yet to be unleashed.
But she did not step through the portal. Not yet.
She still had tasks to complete, orders personally given by her king. She had no intention of facing his wrath again for something left undone.
Her first task was to secure the area.
And at this very moment, she could sense it clearly. Hundreds, if not thousands, of presences were rushing toward her at terrifying speed.
Among them, two stood out clearly, their auras heavy and unmistakable.
Two SS ranked Mythical humans were approaching.
Lilith licked her lips slowly, her anger finally finding an outlet, and muttered in a low voice,
"...at least now I can let out some steam..."
****
Meanwhile, inside the dungeon...
-Thud!!
Ash’s body fell into the middle of a dense forest.
Golden lightning crackled violently around him for a brief moment, arcs dancing across his skin, but that radiant shade soon faded away, leaving only the sound of his rough, uneven breathing echoing through the vicinity.
One of his legs was missing, already beginning to regenerate at a slow yet steady pace.
He pushed himself slightly to the side and lay flat on his back, his gaze fixed on the thick canopy of branches and leaves above him. Thin streams of sunlight filtered through the gaps, falling gently across his face.
".."
Ash had no words to describe what he was feeling. The emotions inside him were heavy and tangled, a mixture of helplessness, sadness, anger, hatred, emptiness, and loneliness, all blending together until they became impossible to separate.
But emotions were just emotions.
They did not interfere with his thinking.
His mind remained clear, sharp, and calm, like a crystal that refused to cloud no matter how violent the storm around it became.
He stared at the trees with an unfocused gaze for few minutes before his eyes caught the sight of a small popup window at the corner of his vision.
[Welcome to the Mythical Rank dungeon : Sword Tomb]
[Find and fulfill the conditions to clear the dungeon. Rich rewards awaits you at the end.]
The message confirmed his entry into the dungeon and quietly reminded him that the danger was far from over.
After reading it, only one word echoed through his mind and heart.
’Move forward.’
He did not know where that voice came from, but he closed his eyes and let his thoughts flow.
He decided not to think about negative things, he refused to stay cooped up in sadness and to not move forwards, he refused to stay weak. He needed power.
And for that, he had to keep moving forward.
He remembered the last moments of him escaping from Orien’s clutches.
At the final moment before entering the dungeon, he had activated Overload Mode and severed his own leg using pure lightning mana to escape Orien.
If not for his instincts forcing his body to move, his Omni Thought having the thought process faster than Orien’s own thinking process, and his ruthless decision to cut off his leg the instant he sensed danger.
If even one of those factors had failed, Ash would have been captured by Orien, the Demon Prince, and his fate would have become far worse than death.
Because death, for others, was a release.
For him, it was a curse.
He could not die, and who knew what unimaginable things he would be forced to witness, or what hideous acts he would be made to carry out with his own hands.
And if not these, then his soul would have become a dinner for Orien.
Just thinking about it made his stomach churn.
Hufuuu, lets focus on the present....
The Sword Tomb dungeon had a very straightforward clear condition. Defeat the boss and clear the dungeon.
That was how most dungeons worked.
But this one was different.
Here, he would have to defeat four Legendary Rank bosses and one Mythical Rank boss. And since the dungeon carried the name Sword Tomb, every boss he encountered would be a swordsman.
...but this is not as simple as it seems....
The dungeon Ash had entered was special. A SS rank dungeon surrounded by four Legendary Rank dungeons, and coincidentally, it housed four S rank bosses and one SS rank boss as well.
However, there was a critical problem.
Two of those surrounding dungeons had already broken.
So what would happen to the bosses of those dungeons?
...the Mythical Rank boss will become even stronger....
From what he knew, the four S rank bosses wielded four elemental swords. His task was to obtain those four swords and then collect the final elemental sword from the SS rank boss. Only after gathering all five swords would the true reward reveal itself.
In other words, only then would the Rune itself appear.
There was one more thing that could not be ignored.
Every time a dungeon broke, the rank of the final boss increased.
The progression was clear.
SS- (Initial), SS, SS+, SSS-, SSS.
Before any dungeon had broken, the final boss had been at SS- rank. But now, with two dungeons already destroyed...
...the current rank of the final boss was SS+.
Ash slowly exhaled and murmured softly,
"Let see what the future has in store for me...."
***