The Hero Returns

Flick!

Clank, clank!

Pierce, pierce!

A relatively sharp Ice Spear flew over and exploded in front of him.

Su-hyeun brought his hand up and blocked his face from the debris. During that short time, all signs of the Lich had vanished.

It seemed that it had become aware of Su-hyeun and escaped.

Su-hyeun raised his head again.

'He didn't seem to be half as good as the previous one...'

It was a different Lich than the one that appeared as the dungeon's boss in the level-fluctuating dungeon.

Different from the summoner Lich, who had imperfect vitality and power, the Lich here was the real deal.

'A Lich on the 20th floor...'

The level of difficulty increased the further he ascended.

The existence of Lich could've brought about many variables.

The Lich was a monster that was very knowledgeable about magic. According to their level of magical knowledge, a Lich could do a variety of things.

The Lich could not be seen as a boss on the 20th-floor's trial.

Instead, the 19th-floor's ancient monster was a more demanding opponent.

If so...

'A certain situation that the Lich is trying to make...'

That would be the primary key to the trial.

'Good. End of thinking.'

Sweep!

Su-hyeun's body disappeared from the spot as if he had sunk.

The mercenaries releasing magic attacks at Su-hyeun were caught by surprise and shouted, "He... he disappeared!"

"Find him!"

Though they searched the area, Su-hyeun was nowhere to be found.

[Shadow Assimilation.]

Sweep!

Su-hyeun reappeared under a bronze statue located in the distance.

At the back, the soldiers were still busy searching for Su-hyeun, unaware that he had already entered the castle.

'It takes a while to manifest.'

'Shadow Assimilation' was a skill that was obtained in the case of infiltration. It was purchased on the 15th floor with a considerable amount of achievement points.

It was commonly used by awakeners of the assassin class, where it gave one the ability to move with a specific shadow in sight.

It was quite a useful transportation skill.

One needed to use a shadow larger than the user himself. Although the shadow needed to be within sight, a penalty like that was not much of a problem for a spatial skill.

The problem was its manifest period.

As it was a spatial skill, the difficulty level increased, leading to an extended manifest period.

'Should I have increased my skill proficiency level?'

It would have been a pain to do that.

To a certain extent, the skill was only obtained for infiltrations like this, not a skill that could be used frequently.

It was better to increase the skill proficiency of other skills instead.

'Anyway, I should have gone far enough...'

He hid behind the bronze statue and observed the soldiers searching for him.

Thankfully, they were not able to spot him. Before Su-hyeun got caught, it was better for him to go deeper.

[Shadow Assimilation.]

Su-hyeun soon spotted another shadow in sight.

From a distance, he used the shadow he saw to utilize the Shadow Assimilation skill.

With that, Su-hyeun succeeded in infiltrating the castle.

* * *

The castle was empty.

It seemed that most of the soldiers were sent out to prevent him from entering.

Although Su-hyeun had succeeded in infiltrating, the castle was dead silent as if the soldiers didn't think that he had entered the castle.

'There's nothing special...'

Trudge.

'Must I go in further?'

The scale of the castle was relatively massive.

It was hard to even look around the castle in a day. It was nearly impossible to just observe this place alone.

'If so...'

Su-hyeun lowered his head and looked at the ground.

"Well, those with something up their sleeves usually liked the underground more.'

Slung!

Su-hyeun hung the tree branch held in his hand on his back and took out Gram.

And...

Burn!

The flame lit up, and Su-hyeun held on to Gram in the opposite direction. Holding the sword's handle with both hands, he directed it towards the ground.

Poke!

Burn!

The fallen sword made the interior of the castle hot with the flame. Cracking sounds were heard as the castle walls and floors started to crack apart.

Crack, crack!

Rumble!

The corridor where Su-hyeun stood at started to crumble.

'Regardless of whether the castle falls or not, what does it matter to me.'

There was a shortcut downwards; he didn't need to find his way around.

Crumble!

The floor of the castle crumbled, rumbling loudly. Su-hyeun grabbed onto the walls and fell along slowly.

Looking down, he spotted nearly pitch-black energy.

No, he had felt it.

"Bingo."

Thinking that it was not an ordinary castle, he believed that something was hidden in there.

He had been worried that it would be concealed in a complicated way, but it didn't seem so after he managed to find it so easily.

'Indeed, it was easier to act instead of thinking about it.'

In truth, it was better to have used both brains and body to execute, instead of just relying on either one.

Of course, that didn't mean Su-hyeun wasn't a clever thinker.

Slick!

Su-hyeun threw himself down. Since he was now sure there was something beneath, there was no need for hesitation.

Pierce, pierce!

Swoosh!

At that moment, black stems shot out towards Su-hyeun as he fell.

Su-hyeun leaped upwards reflexively. He then injected flame into his sword and sent it downwards.

Bang, bang!

Burn!

As the flame hit the stems, both had been wiped out. Su-hyeun climbed along the undamaged corridor and looked in the direction where the energy came from.

"I had thought some rat came along, but it was the kid from earlier."

A husky voice rang out.

But it wasn't like Lich's, where it was fully split.

It was using voice modulation magic.

"What were you doing here?"

Su-hyeun wanted to obtain some hints from him.

Su-hyeun had already learned that the castle was intertwined with the Lich. However, there was no knowing what the Lich would've done there.

If possible, Su-hyeun was hoping that the Lich would be a tell-tale.

"Why would I tell that to someone who would soon become a dead man?"

"If our aims are the same, wouldn't it be better if we cooperated?"

The Lich started to gather magic in its hands, but Su-hyeun re-directed the topic.

These words used to work quite well.

Either way, they only worked towards their motives. If someone as strong as them were to cooperate with them, they would have considered it.

However...

"I don't trust you."

Lich's reaction was firm.

"Why is that so?"

"The energy that you're using."

Lich took off its hood revealing its face and pointed at Su-hyeun.

"It was the energy that would become our enemy."

"...Ah, is that so?"

The flame was the problem.

The flame's nature was similar to light and fire, which conflicted with the Lich's energy. Just as light and dark didn't go together, the Lich despised Su-hyeun.

"Well, what a shame."

Burn!

Su-hyeun raised the flame that Lich had despised onto his whole body.

The castle was soon heated up. With that power, Lich backed away with black magic wrapped around him.

"If so, I would have to finish you off first slowly..."

As he talked to Lich, Su-hyeun did not approach but instead turned his head away.

At that moment, the Lich who backed down while being pressured by Su-hyeun's magic stepped forward again.

"Did you think that I would be alone?"

Slide, slide!

Underneath, three more robed men appeared in the endless underground.

Su-hyeun put up a perplexed expression, as he felt the same kind of magic from them as well.

'Things are getting complicated.'

There wasn't just one Lich there.

* * *

Crumble, crumble!

The castle shook again.

The heat filled up the hall. Maxman stopped commanding his soldiers and stopped in his tracks.

"This... What..."

The intruder had entered the castle.

His existence was enough to overwhelm thousands of his soldiers. With a single blow, he could've cut down the iron gate to their fortress and resisted the magic attacks from dozens of his mercenaries.

He was a monster.

Although Maxman had been on the battlefields for decades, he had never seen a monster like that intruder.

Thus, Maxman had to stop him. If such an intruder was in the castle, none of them could sleep a wink.

However...

'Is the intruder an enemy?'

Maxman was surprised at the quick brief on the damage report by his soldiers.

There were no dead soldiers.

Come to think of it, the intruder did not hold a sword in his hands. Instead of a sword, he held a tree branch he had picked up somewhere.

Of course, the intruder could have killed the soldiers with just a single tree branch.

He had the skills to cut down the iron gate, so did it matter with what weapon he was holding?

However, the intruder did not act that way.

It meant that he didn't intend to kill anyone.

'Then why...?"

He could not understand his objective.

Despite being confused, he was sure about one thing.

'Something was going on.'

The feeling of danger and anxiety he felt now was not due to the intruder since he had no intention to kill the soldiers.

Even if the kid was an intruder, it was hard to consider him an enemy when he did not harm the soldiers even at the expense of trouble.

'If so, just what is this feeling...'

"Captain!"

Maxman turned his head sharply towards the soldier who called out to him.

"There's a signal from within the castle! I think the intruder had entered the castle."

"What's his exact location?"

"The basement."

"Gather the soldiers and mercenaries immediately... No, wait."

Maxman shook his head.

"Pick out those who can move and set off. I'll go there myself."

* * *

Clank, clank!

Crack, crack!

Dozens of rectangular windows were fixed on the walls. Su-hyeun fell back as he was hit by the flame.

"How disgusting."

He furrowed his brows and turned his head around.

One of the skeletons reached out its hand and stood there.

Whoosh!

They seemed to have prepared for a long time since quite a bit of energy was shot out.

It was a familiar type of magic.

'Dark Gun, Guide.'

It was a high level of dark spatial magic that took the life of opponents after pressurizing them by crumbling every space available.

It could not be received by the normal flame.

"Damn it."

Burn!

The flame on Su-hyeun's sword had become blue.

Wrapping it around the sword, Su-hyeun made a downward stroke.

Slash!

Rip!

The Guide's darkness was split in half. The scattered power dissipated, revealing the Lich.

"The Guide...!"

Seemingly flustered, the Lich's voice cracked as it initially would. Three more Lich appeared around Su-hyeun and surrounded him.

"Haa..."

Su-hyeun let out a long sigh.

Had he known this would happen, he would have taken his time.

'All I can do now is regret...'

It seemed that Su-hyeun had to use one more of his cards.

'I hadn't wished to use it hastily if others got involved...'

Creak, creak!

Starting from the back of his hands, Su-hyeun's skin was gradually covered in scales.

When both arms were covered entirely in scales, Su-hyeun's eyes had turned similar to those of a beast's. All his senses were amplified and turned sharper than before.

"I have no other choice."

[Transfigure: Imoogi.]