83-84

Chapter 83: Jinma 3

Demon King

Jinma – 3

It took too long for me to arrive here finally. How many times had I returned to this room? Right here, where the door to the boss was before? This was all that was left now, and nothing was stopping me from entering anymore.

"Alright." Even though no one was around to hear me, I talked to myself. Even after acquiring the wings of Jinma, I still felt nervous about going through this door. 'What is waiting for me inside?'

"No time like the present." I slapped my cheeks, forcing the thoughts that were forming in my mind like stormy clouds. I had no need for questions or hesitation; I just had to keep moving forward as I had been doing until now. I double-checked my equipment. I had Blood Baptism, the sword I made using Blood Shadow, the Twilight sword, my charms of dark drops and illusions, and Herma's bloodstone ring. I wasn't wearing the ring currently; however, finding no need for it as it didn't increase my abilities. I had plenty of emergency food left still, and my physical condition felt good.

I pushed open the door to the boss room, greeted by the sight of a large cavity in which gloomy purple fog swirled. It was dark in here, much more so than in the other rooms.

[Kii…who is this now?]

A voice rang throughout the room. I expected to be greeted by an attack, but it seemed this one wanted to talk.

[Ah, yes… I've been waiting to meet you.]

"Who're you?" Reaching out with my sensing, I was able to locate my opponent and tell what he looked like. It was much larger than any other monster I had faced so far, even the one in the Rookie's Battlefield, and was at least thirty times my own size. However, its massive body was chained at the far end of this cavern from me bound to the large wall. I couldn't tell what sort of material the chain was made of, but it dug into the wall and bound all of its body. The only thing it could move was its fingers, toes, and mouth.

'Why is he tied up? He still feels so overwhelmingly strong despite that…"

[Don't know me? Don't you know me? Hahahahahaha!]

"Khhh…" It was an attack. 'Madness Noise? No, not quite…' It was a higher-level skill than that, a terribly advanced technique that breaks the opponent's will with a word, destroying their soul and stealing their body. If I hadn't been training my resistance with L, if I hadn't been learning how to interfere with the opponent's force of strength and reduce its effect on me, that would've been the end of it already.

[Was that the first time you heard that one? It's really a funny joke.]

I could feel the fog rising ominously, trying to reach out to me. Thanks to my Predation of the elves and monsters on the Rookie's Battlefield, however, I learned a few things about ice magic. I froze the fog before it could touch me, but it continued to rise.

[I knew it. You are a fun one. What a noble sacrifice you have made, coming here, walking the path that you do.]

"Don't kid around…" I decided to change my tactics, dropping the ice magic that I wasn't familiar with yet and combining my flame magic with Demon's Claw. I shaped the Demon's Claw into a shield, evaporating the mist that came close to me as I jumped off into the air with Ubiquitous.

[That's not fun.]

The fog united with a terrible purpose at the point where I jumped to. I managed to pull out of the way at the last second, but my mana took a hefty blow in protecting myself. As expected, the fog was his weapon, full of murderous intent and mana as it flowed throughout this space. It was fundamentally the same as the Wings of Jinma.

"Same as me…"

[What sort of form is that? A weak elf?]

I ground my teeth and leapt away from the fog. Ubiquitous was a bad matchup for this guy. This entire space was filled with his mana, so no matter where I tried to jump to, the fog would be there waiting for me. It would be better if I just moved fast physically.

[Weak. Slow. How silly! Why did I have to wait here for someone like this?]

A sound wave spread out through the cavern to hit me. The fog kept grasping onto me wherever I was. No matter how much I evaporated, it just continued to increase and tighten around me. The amount of mana here was absurd; if I hadn't gone through Jinma's Tower, I wouldn't have stood a chance. My senses were working overtime as I tried to attend to the flow of mana coming from the monster's body, and throughout this space, moving all the while.

[What a shame that I have to wear this chain. It would be so much more fun without it.]

"Shit!" I slashed at the fog with my sword and my Demon's Claws. I tried to burn through it with flames or freeze it with ice; even black mine was of no use. I tried Lunatic Trickster, but it wasn't possible to even activate here. It was a skill that set up traps and placed an area under your control, but his mana was already dominating this space. None of my skills were working on this fog, so I had to go after the body. I hit the floor running, burning away the fog around me as I tried to swing my sword at his neck, but it was pointless.

[Weak, too weak!]

The closer I got to him, the thicker the fog became. By the time I neared his body, the fog in front of me rose like a thick wall, threatening to crush me. I couldn't burn through it fast enough; it was endless. I had already burned through a big chunk of my emergency food.

[If this is all you can manage, then you might as well just become a sacrifice for me.]

The fog gathered in the air and formed huge spheres, a faint light emitting from the center of each of them.

"Pelcadia's Jewel!" It was colorless and transparent, but I knew in an instant. It was the same as the Jewels of Pelcadia I had collected so far. It held an immense amount of power, however. I wondered if that was because of its user. Even if I put all of mine together, I didn't think it would amount to that level of strength; it was too overwhelming. I had to find a way to get rid of that gem, but I couldn't break it with my own power. It would be easier to just chop him up, but I couldn't do that without destroying that gem.

[Are you done yet?]

The spheres flew in, at such speed that I had to wonder if they were using Ubiquitous. I had been able to read some of their trajectory and avoid the brunt of it, but some of my Demon's Claws covering my body were torn off.

"Hrk!" I could feel fear squeezing my heart. Were those spheres really only made of mana? I had no clue how I would even get close to that level of power using the Demon's Claw. I had no time to rest, though, as the spheres kept up the attack and refused to allow me room to breathe.

[Hahaha, it's so cute watching you play.]

Level 199, Crimson Elf Chaos Claw. All the strength and experience I had acquired up until now, which felt so grandiose to me, evaporated. No matter how strong I was, it all seemed so useless in front of this enemy that was so much stronger than me. It wasn't that I couldn't decipher their identity or figure out the trick; they were just overwhelmingly strong. Pelcadia's Jewel materialized in the fog, continuing to consolidate its strength, filled with mana stronger than any weapon. With the fog and that jewel adding to this monster's power, and its ability to detect wherever I was, there was no place I was safe in here.

[Are you feeling helpless? But I'm the one stuck here! What the hell are you doing?]

If I used Ubiquitous, it would all be over. The spheres would fly in without delay and destroy me the moment I reappear. Maybe if it were a higher level than advanced, it would be able to trick him. I couldn't ignore the power contained in his words, however. The spheres were pressing me too hard to break down the power contained in his voice with my Predation. His words slowly poisoned my mind as I was unable to stop them fully. In the next moment, I focused on deflecting the mental attack. It was enough for one of the spheres to find an opening, cutting away at my flesh.

"He's too strong…" Even though his body was stuck there, this balance of offense and defense was superb. It felt as far away from me as the heavens above. No matter how I struggled, I still felt like I was dancing to his tune. How could I evade these orbs attacking me? How could I get rid of the mana that was protecting him? I had no clue about the former, but the latter came easily enough. I had to bring out my own mana, the Wings of Jinma. It may be impossible to compete with him on an equal footing, but maybe I could break through for at least one moment.

The conclusion I had come to was that its body was weak, unlike its mana. It was decrepit and wounded. It made me wonder if this boss was in pain, but I pushed the question out of my mind. It wouldn't help me now. The only thing that mattered was to reach him. If I could do that, if I could destroy its heart, then I could kill him. Now, how could I actually get there?

"Whoo…" I exhaled, thinking about the answer to that. I had to surprise him. In this realm filled with his mana, I had to hide somehow. If I pretended to be assimilated into his mana and slipped through unnoticed, I could put my sword in his heart. Out of the skills I had, I had one that maybe would work. I hadn't used it yet, convinced that it wouldn't work again if I used it once. But I had to trust my intuition. He was a different opponent than the ones I had faced before, both of us different in our absolute power of being. To deal with it, I had to raise my level a bit. But if I didn't win this battle now, I wouldn't be able to grow stronger. I'd be dead. 'What a bad joke.'

[Already tired out? Nothing left to eat?]

"There's one thing left for me to eat." I responded, calming my mind. From now on, I had to receive the brunt of his attacks head-on and conserve my mana for my surprise attack. It would hurt—a lot. But I couldn't let it overwhelm me before I let off my surprise attack. It didn't matter how badly he broke my body, so long as I could get that attack off, I would win. For the first time in a truly long while, I felt afraid. Fear that I hadn't felt when I had been fighting those countless monsters or even with the Knight of Elakatra. Right now, I felt desperation born from facing death head-on.

[One?]

He asked the question as a sphere came toward me. I refused to blink as I watched the sphere approach, taking in a deep breath as I prepared myself. I lifted up my Demon's Claw, pulling my soul back into myself and concentrating all my mana into one point. In the next moment, the sphere reached me. My Blood Baptism was torn apart, my right arm disappearing without a trace. The pain of it was enough to whiten my mind and made me want to scream. My regeneration started immediately, but it didn't make the pain any less terrible. I didn't let out a single noise, however.

[Khahahahaha! Are you really determined to die? To give up your life as a sacrifice to me?]

The voice penetrated my soul, rotting me from within. I was consumed by the thought that I had to do anything he wanted me to. I moved my mana quickly away from that part of my consciousness, however. As if I had no thoughts, as if I had no will, I took a step forward.

[Huh?]

Ignore it.

[This…you…?]

The fog rising from all over grabbed at my body, assimilating me without resistance. My flesh was ripped off, my blood flowing freely into his mana.

[I can't catch it.]

I walked through the darkness filling this space, using a shadow step that had not yet progressed to the highest level. However, with my surprise and fairy tales, it was enough to hide any trace of me.

[Found it!]

A sphere flew forward, an explosion ringing out in the cavern as it collided at a point in the air. It was a display of mana enough to terrify anyone witnessing it, an explosion strong enough to destroy this dungeon. It was concentrated on one point in space that had been distorted, erasing everything that had been there.

Specifically, my alter ego who had taken the hit for me.

[Am I free now?]

He was talking to himself. Ignore it and move forward.

[It's been a long time…a really long time.]

Keep pushing through. The Wings of Jinma, which had assimilated all of the Tower's mana and were now firmly enveloping my damaged body like armor, cut a path through the mana of this monster. I desperately raised the strength of my Surprise and Fairy Tales.

[Freedom. Now, I am free!]

His body was right in front of me; I could sense his heartbeat weakly pulsing throughout his chest. It made me laugh how weak I could tell this body of his was. I put my sword through that weak heart, pouring out all the mana I had left.

[Kahak?!]

[Achievement! You have walked freely in the shadow of Jinma.]

[Advanced Shadow Step became Lv10 and has become the Highest Shadow Step.]

[Congratulations! You have satisfied the conditions to synthesize special high-level skills.]

[Kh….]

I had succeeded in killing him.

[You have gained 89,918,984 experience.]

[You have received 23,918 gold.]

[You have obtained Pelcadia's Jewel (Nothing)]

[Quest completed!]

[You have gained 293,183,292 experience.]

[You have received 50,000 gold.]

[You have obtained the Key to the Castle.]

[Level up!]

I swallowed the blood pouring out from him, his flesh a delicacy for me to dine upon. The chain that had been restraining him came loose, flashing briefly before disappearing into my inventory.

[You have obtained one half of the Sealing Chain.]

I moved out of the way of the falling body, no longer supported by the chain. I moved atop it and laughed triumphantly.

[Evolution is now available.]

And so, the final evolution of this dungeon had arrived.

Chapter 84: Jinma 4

Demon King

Jinma – 4

[A breakthrough joins this Evolution.]

[Limit breakthrough means surpassing the limits of the lower system of living things and entering the upper system. The existence of the lower system cannot properly interpret the existence of the upper system. Even if an ability is used with the same power, it will be pushed out of the battle and be unable to generate power.]

[If the limit is broken, all elements that compose the soul will be replaced with a higher quality of energy. This includes physical abilities and skills, as well as magic.]

[Would you like to evolve?]

Instead of the usual choice of evolution, I was greeted by this notification window. I thought evolution was breaking through the limit, but apparently not. This talk about becoming a higher being was odd; the regular evolution had been shocking enough. What would this be like?

Still, when I thought about it, parts of this made sense. The mana of Jinma, for example, was mana that I couldn't fully deal with. I was able to use part of it, but its full power was much greater than I could physically exert. It made sense it would be designed to be used by these so-called higher beings. A, L, that monster I just killed. All of those who dealt with it or mana like it must technically be these superior creatures.

'Perhaps the Knights of Elakatra are like that too?' That knight's power was definitely great, and their mana felt similar to that of Jinma's. It was certainly possible. More thoughts filled my mind about these subsystems and higher levels, but I soon concluded it was pointless. If I wanted to understand, then I should just become an entity that was a part of this higher-level system. Maybe then I would learn more about it and get stronger to boot. That was my goal all along, anyway.

Before that, however, I still had some work to do. Because my Shadow Walk had reached the highest level, it became possible for me to synthesize special high-level skills. According to that notification, my skills would change in this evolution, so it would be wise for me to do that first.

[Special advanced skill 'Reaper' can be synthesized.]

[Top-notch Surprise, Fairy Tale, Demon's Claw, top-notch combat skill (Martial Arts), top-level or higher special movement skill (Shadow Step)]

[Possess the highest-level magic skill (Flame Magic).]

[Possess top-notch combat assistance skills (Detection, Command)]

[Would you like to synthesize the 'Reaper' skill? The Surprise, Fairy Tale, Demon's Claw, Martial Arts, and Shadow Walk skills will disappear.]

I closed my eyes and thought about what I would lose. Of course, it wouldn't be easy to synthesize a new skill. Nothing had been ever since I opened my eyes as a goblin. I opened my eyes and looked through the skills again, finally nodding.

[Surprise, Fairy Tale, Demon's Claw, Martial Arts, and Shadow Walk skills have been synthesized.]

[You have acquired the Reaper skill.]

[Reaper Lv1]

[Death is in everything that exists. All actions related to killing are heavily increased. With a higher skill level, you can deal death in more diverse and powerful ways.]

I looked at the other skills I had access to, several I had known about before. Many of them were still at the beginner level and couldn't do much yet. This Reaper skill, however, felt like the sort of skill I would have associated with that of a higher being. Its limits were unclear, and its potential was absurd. I had to make sure my abilities supported it so that I could use it properly. It had the potential to be a ridiculously powerful skill.

"No sense waiting around anymore." I wanted to finish devouring this giant monster and check out the final reward of this dungeon, as well as figure what this key was for. But first, I had to evolve. It shouldn't be all that different from what I had been doing up until now, but I was still nervous. I tried to shake off those emotions and confirmed that I wanted to evolve in the notification window.

Several items popped out of my inventory, circling around me. They were Pelcadia's Jewels I had acquired throughout the dungeon, gradually growing closer to me as they orbited around my body.

"No way…" The gems fused into my body as soon as I had said it. It didn't hurt much, but fear consumed me as I felt like everything that composed my body was shattering apart. I lost consciousness.

"Huh…!" When I woke up again, I was surrounded by darkness. I couldn't feel or see anything around me.

'What is this…? Did something go wrong when I chose to evolve?' I felt like I was floating in space. This didn't seem like the dungeon, and even though my sensing ability should have reached the highest level just now, I couldn't sense anything around me. Was I even in a physical state right now? I couldn't tell; all I knew was that I existed.

[You betrayed us.]

A voice echoed through the dark space, the voice of a young man.

[You like that word, don't you?]

A new voice, somewhat familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

[The promise has been broken. I will not allow you to become the monarch.]

[Do whatever you want, I've already abandoned it all.]

[Your ability to run away is amazing but remember this: I am the only monarch. From the moment you went down there.]

[You won't be able to do as you please. How about putting in some effort for once?]

[You…!]

The voices of the two men disappeared without a trace as I tried to concentrate on them.

[Absolutely not!] Immediately cutting through the silence, the sharp voice of a woman appeared. I could tell who it was right away. L.

[You don't have to sacrifice anything!]

[It's not a sacrifice, I'm just taking a small step back so I can keep moving forward.]

[How many steps back?]

[I don't know… about fifty?]

[You… you idiot!]

[Stay here. I'll come back someday.]

[Someday?!]

The voice opposite of L's was a man, still familiar sounding. Their voices calmed down after a while, fading away once more. I shook my head, unsure of what their conversation had been about.

[It's an impossible choice for me to make.]

This time it sounded like Rain. His voice was so familiar to me by now.

[You just can't be bothered to choose.]

[You know I respect you.]

[That's the first time I've heard that.]

[I know you'll be back, don't look sad.]

[You trust me too much. Don't you know praising a child too much is bad?]

[Is that so? I had thought that the more praise you gave them, the more they grew…]

Silence for but a moment.

[I'll be here waiting for you, Fate.]

Both voices vanished again, and light began to shine through the space I was in. I thought over the voice who was responding to Rain, engraved into my mind for a moment before it slipped away. That had been my voice, talking to Rain. This place was inside of me, my brain or soul, or whatever. It was a place that contained all that I was. My being promoted to a higher level, by breaking through that limit, my knowledge and memories that I hadn't even realized I forgot were returning, bit by bit.

But this was the end of that. I had barely taken the first step toward Jinma, and I was still so far away. I could tell this place was rejecting me, slowly pushing me away.

[Sorry, little one.]

[It'll be a miracle if they wake up.]

[They seem to be about six years old… who will take care of them?]

My consciousness began to fade once more as I heard the voices of some unknown adults. I considered these words briefly, chewing over them before my mind went black.

[Belkena]

[Belkena are among the rarest of the races underground, outstanding fighters that have always stood at the center of the demon lineage.]

[Belkena, who were born under God's favoritism and fell due to the curse of all the other races who loathed them. They walk a path close to death, having awakened to deal with the power of Jinma, which they use as a weapon to kill their opponents.]

[Belkena are a race of evolution, known for their fast rate of evolution and strength. Many Belkena die out, however, before they can show off their talent. If you do not have the will to follow this path, you too will share that fate.]

[Kill and devour, and the path before you will open.]

[The seal of the castle has been released by completing all conditions.]

[You may use the key to return to the castle.]

My eyes slowly open, feeling odd in my new form. I hadn't experienced the agony of evolution that usually came, but I didn't mind that.

"Hmm…" Everything felt different; the appearance of the world itself feeling new before me. I could feel everything around me, the details so vivid. Jinma's mana welled inside me, filling out every inch of my body to protect and strengthen me. I could tell that my mana was affecting the mana of the world around me, changing its shape in direction to my command and spreading out. I felt like I could handle Jinma's mana perfectly now.

I created a mirror of ice before me, looking at my reflection. My face was much the same as it had been as a Crimson Elf, although my ears were shorter. My skin was as dark as pitch now, instead of that blood-red hue, and my body didn't look as fragile as it had as an elf. I was more muscular now, and perhaps a bit taller, although not quite as large as I had been as a bugbear. I wasn't dissatisfied, though, feeling the power welling up inside of me.

I decided to call out my status, barely able to register what appeared before me.

[Fate]

[Belkena Lv1]

[New Magic – 52, Soul Magic-87, Luck-???]

[Skill-Gluttony Lv1, Reaper Lv1, Lunatic Trickster Lv1, Ubiquitous Lv1, Domination Lv1, Blackmine Lv1, Belkena Spell Lv1]

"Ha…haha…" I laughed weakly, too shocked to speak.