Chapter 152

"Graaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Hwang Dongsuk's soul screamed in agony, tears of blood streaming down in the darkness. His entire body, except for his face, was bound by blood-soaked chains. The chains not only coiled tightly around his body but also pierced through his soul, some even taking root within it. These chains were the curse of punishment that Harmakan had engraved on Hwang Dongsuk, a prison of guilt where he was eternally trapped, even in death.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaah…!"

He wailed in pain. There was no escape from this endless torment for his soul. All he could do was scream, cry, suffer, and clench his teeth, shedding bloody tears in this hellish prison that squeezed his very essence.

Then, he heard it.

"Arise."

Finally, the voice of salvation called out to his soul from above. Hwang Dongsuk raised his head, tears still flowing. Snap! The chains broke. Harmakan's curse, which seemed eternal, was disappearing. His limbs were freed. Hwang Dongsuk rose. But...

"Graaaaaaaaaaaah…!"

The tears of blood streaming from his eyes didn't stop. The chains of the curse were broken, but the prison of guilt that had confined him still gripped his soul tightly.

The Demonic Spirit's Armor.

The curse of the Death Knight, specially crafted by Harmakan to imprison evil spirits. Even though the chains were broken, this armor continued to squeeze Hwang Dongsuk's soul to its limits, inflicting excruciating pain. However, for a Death Knight, pain was power itself. Ironically, the more pain Hwang Dongsuk felt, the stronger the armor he wore became. Thanks to that…

[Armored Shadow Soldier Lv.1] Elite Grade

Hwang Dongsuk's soul, clad in the Demonic Spirit's Armor, rose from the shadows, tears of blood still flowing. Even as a Shadow Soldier, his pain remained, and the number of demonic soldiers like him gradually increased.

[[Armored Shadow Soldier Lv.1]

[[Armored Shadow Soldier Lv.1]

[[Armored Shadow Soldier Lv.1] ...

"Graaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Dozens of Death Knights, wearing full-body armor billowing with black smoke, let out horrifying screams. It was a scream of pain and a roar of anger towards Harmakan, who had forced them into these terrible cages.

"All forces, attack." At that moment, Suho's command sounded.

["KwaaAAAAAAAAAA!"]

["KwaaAAAAAAAAAAAH-!"]

They rushed forward competitively, their murderous intent filling the air, and Harmakan couldn't help but panic at their onslaught.

"Th-this…!"

Harmakan hurriedly summoned spirits to counter their attack. Swish! At the same time, he pulled out Vulcan's Horn still embedded in his body, causing blood to spurt out. Harmakan used the blood to draw a rune in the air and chanted a curse.

"Evil spirits who dare defy me! Be cursed!" At his worlds, the stench of blood spread from him in all directions.

[The Grand Shaman of the Demonic Spirit Clan, Harmakan, uses Skill: 'Damage Amplification'.]

[Increases the damage taken by those cursed.]

[Even normal attacks will inflict critical wounds.]

'Damage Amplification'? Suho's eyebrows shot up at the successive system messages. Harmakan's curse had been applied to all the Shadow Soldiers. As a result, the attacks of the specters he controlled began to inflict far greater damage. 

Simultaneously, Harmakan unleashed a new curse. "The land of death shall descend upon this place!"

[The Grand Shaman of the Demonic Spirit Clan, Harmakan, uses 'Skill: Exploitation'.]

[Harmakan recovers hp equal to 2% of the damage he inflicts on his opponents.]

Every time the Demonic Spirits attacked the Shadow Soldiers, Harmakan's wounds were healed little by little.

Beru, amazed by this spectacle, shouted to Suho, [My liege! He's quite proficient in curses!]

"Indeed. His combos are something else too."

As expected of a Grand Shaman. Increasing harm done to enemies and then absorbing a portion of that amplified damage... It was a rather troublesome combo.

But...

"It's meaningless against me." Suho smirked, glancing at the messages appearing before him.

[Curse detected.]

[Cleansing curse with the effect of Blessing:'Health and longevity'.]

[3, 2, 1... Cleansing complete.]

Whoosh! The curse Harmakan had placed on Suho was instantly washed away and disappeared. The blessing 'Health and longevity', bestowed upon him by the Great Spellcaster Kandiaru, had overcome the curse of the Grand Shaman, Harmakan.

"It's clear who's superior between the two." At the same time, Harmakan also noticed this and looked at Suho with a shocked expression.

"Kandiaru's blessing?! You're definitely connected to the Shadow Monarch! Could it be... Are you his successor?!"

At first, he was in shock, but soon Harmakan's eyes were filled with greed as he licked his lips, looking at Suho.

"Kueh-kueh-kueh! What a windfall! I thought I only suffered losses today, but to discover such a valuable research subject!"

FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

All the specters around Harmakan swirled and were sucked into his body. And with that, his presence before Suho became even larger.

Rumble!

[The Grand Shaman of the Demonic Spirit Clan, Harmakan, manifests.]

"...!"

Harmakan emerged from the body of the Yamri Village's head he had possessed, revealing his true form.

["Graaaaaaaaaah!"]

["Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"]

At that moment, the Death Knights and Shadow Soldiers, freed from the specters, charged towards him with explosive momentum.

...KWAANG!

Surprisingly, they were all thrown back with a repulsive force even greater than that of their charge.

"Keh-ha-ha-ha!" At the center of it all, Harmakan burst into laughter, a grotesque energy swirling around his body.

[The Grand Shaman of the Demonic Spirit Clan, Harmakan, uses Skill: 'Thorn of Pain'.]

[Harmakan shares all the pain and damage he receives with the attacker.]

"Thorn of Pain?" Suho frowned as the Shadow Soldiers were instantly annihilated by a single attack.

'A skill that reflects all the damage and pain he receives back to the attacker.'

Of course, Harmakan himself couldn't escape the pain and damage either. But the problem lay in the 'Damage Amplification' and 'Exploitation' curses he had used earlier.

'He shares the pain, but amplifies the damage the opponent receives, while healing himself with the Exploitation skill?' That combination of skills was incredibly efficient and malicious.

"...This guy is really interesting."

Suho chuckled and pulled back all the Shadow Soldiers who were recovering from their injuries. He then ordered all his Shadow Soldiers to eliminate the remaining Death Knights swarming the village and… It was time to go all-out against the boss monster. 

"Esil!" 

Swish! Vulcan's Horn, which Harmakan had thrown away from his body, flew through the air and landed in Suho's hand.

Esil, responding to his call, immediately turned into her Spirit Form.

[Vulcan's Horn devours the demon's soul.]

[Item:' Vulcan's Horn' equipped.]

[Buff: Destruction Desire' applied. Damage done increased by 300%.]

"D-Demon's Horn?!" Harmakan's eyes widened in shock as two horns suddenly sprouted from Suho's head.

"How can the Shadow Monarch's descendant use the power of a demon noble?!"

But it was too early to be surprised. Spirit Possession, Giant's Armor, Grasslands Wind, Iron Body Technique... Suho applied all the skills to his body, and with each one, Harmakan's eyes grew wider in disbelief.

"This is impossible! Even if you're the descendant of the Shadow Monarch, how can a mere human body wield such diverse powers?!"

Fwoosh! The enlarged Suho, his silver hair fluttering, walked towards Harmakan.

"You know what? I heard my father was a Necromancer. So, what does that make me?"

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suho's two fists, enveloped in the Iron Body Technique, began to rain down on Harmakan in earnest. Each blow triggered a tremendous explosion, and the shockwaves ravaged the surroundings.

"Y-you! It's useless!" Harmakan gritted his teeth, enduring all the attacks, and shouted,

"Even if you have Kandiaru's blessing, the 'Thorn of Pain' is a curse on me!"

[The Grand Shaman of the Demonic Spirit Clan, Harmakan, uses Skill: 'Thorn of Pain'.]

[All pain and damage Harmakan receives is shared with the player.]

At that moment, blood spurted from Suho's mouth, who had been relentlessly attacking. The stronger Suho became, the stronger the backlash he received. Seeing this, Harmakan's lips twisted into a grotesque smile, and a strange laughter erupted.

"Keh-keh-keh! Alright, I acknowledge you're quite something! But let's see how long you can last!"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Of course, Harmakan, who was receiving Suho's attacks head-on, was also bleeding from his mouth. But he was confident.

"Do you know?! This is an Instance Dungeon created with Kandiaru's legacy! And I am the king of this dungeon! That means all the spirits who died in this land give me power!"

Instance Dungeon. Kandiaru's legacy, discovered by chance in the Spirit Realm. Since he began researching it in earnest, Harmakan's power had grown tremendously. It was the reason he, a mere clan leader, could rise to the position of Grand Shaman.

"You only have Kandiaru's blessing, but I'm different! I, Harmakan, am the disciple of Kandiaru, the greatest shaman of the Demonic Spirit Race!"

Kandiaru's disciple. The implications of those words were enormous. The Great Spellcaster Kandiaru, who designed The System, was once feared even by the Monarch of the Demonic Spirits. Even discovering a part of Kandiaru's legacy was enough for Harmakan to become the Grand Shaman. So, even if Kandiaru's blessing protected Suho... This land of death, the Instance Dungeon, was also Kandiaru's legacy...

"Keh-ha-ha! Come at me with all your might! The stronger your power, the more it will eventually consume you..."

But at that moment.

"You talk too much."

Shiver! Harmakan couldn't help but feel a chill at Suho's words.

'W-wait a minute.'

Something was strange. Come to think of it, Suho hadn't stopped attacking even for a moment, despite sharing all the pain. Did it hurt? Of course, it did. But...

'So what?' Suho was smiling, even with blood trickling from his lips.

"I'm confident in my endurance too."

Whenever Suho was about to sleep, Beru would sit beside him and tell him stories of the past. Most of those stories were Beru's firsthand experiences, but some were about Sung Jin-woo's younger days, which Beru had heard about.

'My father had a job change quest.'

He said his father's first job was Necromancer. It was probably a job assigned to increase his power gradually until the vessel was suitable, according to the system's design. However, his father's growth surpassed the system's design, and he was able to change jobs directly to the Shadow Monarch. At that time, his father's level was only 40. But Suho was already past that, approaching level 50, and yet no job change quest had appeared... The reason was obvious. The leveling system was solely designed to create the vessel of the Shadow Monarch. The job change quest was just a facade, a mere step for his father to grow into a suitable vessel. That's why Suho couldn't become a Necromancer, a Shadow Monarch, or anything else.

[Job: None]

Suho's eyes shone intensely as he looked at the top of his status window, which had always been blank.

'...So.' Even without a job. Even without a job change quest. So what?

'I can decide for myself.'

For now, he just needed to trust the sturdy body his father had passed down to him, use all his strength to crush and shatter the enemy before him, and move forward. That was all he needed to do for now.

"So for now, I'm a Barbarian."

Barbarian. A warrior who endures all pain with sheer resilience and relentlessly attacks powerful enemies.

"That's what I've decided."

Ding!

[Skill: 'Martial Arts Lv.1' acquired.]

Suddenly, even greater power surged into his fists.

"Kuaaaaaaaaaah!" Finally, a scream of pain erupted from Harmakan's mouth.