Chapter 174

Chapter 174

Grim Reaper.

It was an existence commonly called a Reaper.

It was far too powerful to simply dismiss as a monster, and like a human, it was capable of a certain degree of thought.

This creature, which moved only as a spiritual body without a physical body like a Specter, was a monster whose estimated grade exceeded Grade A.

In another dungeon, it would have been more than capable of serving as the boss.

Such a monster had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The problem was that no Awakened in Neo Seoul had ever experienced a Grim Reaper before.

Dungeons where Grim Reapers appeared as bosses were extremely rare, and like this dungeon, they were all located far away from Neo Seoul.

Because of that, they did not know of its danger. They did not even know it existed.

Zeon shouted once more at the Awakened who were only staring blankly.

“I said dodge already.”

“Fuck! Who are you yelling at?”

“What’s so scary about that thing?”

The West District Awakened instead flared up and glared at Zeon.

A monster they had never seen before in their lives stood before them, but they did not feel afraid at all.

Even if the opponent was a Grade A monster, they were confident they could bring it down.

They did, in fact, possess that much combat strength.

The problem was their compatibility.

The offensive power of mechanized Awakened was mainly focused on physical force.

Of course, they could use techniques such as flamethrowers or compressed air shots through parts, but their main attacks were all attacks using their mechanized bodies.

On the other hand, the Grim Reaper had no substance.

Physical attacks did not work against a body that had become spiritual. In contrast, the Grim Reaper could harvest human souls with its giant scythe.

Ssssss!

The giant mole monster was drying out at terrifying speed.

The Grim Reaper was harvesting its soul and absorbing even its vitality.

In this way, the Grim Reaper increased its own power.

“A Specter can be dealt with easily enough using this.”

Thin silver threads shot out from the wrist of a mechanized Awakened.

The silver threads wrapped around the Grim Reaper, but because it had no substance, they merely passed through it in vain.

But the mechanized Awakened was not disappointed. He still had a trump card left.

The small generator installed in his abdomen activated, instantly generating a tremendous current.

The ultra-high-voltage current flowed along the silver threads.

The mechanized Awakened was certain he would hear the Grim Reaper scream, but the situation he expected did not happen.

The current he created only inflicted a stinging level of pain on the Grim Reaper. That enraged it.

The Grim Reaper swung its enormous scythe at the Awakened who had fired the current.

SLAAASH!

“Huh?”

Even though he had been cut by the enormous scythe, not a single wound appeared on the Awakened’s body.

The Awakened cut by the scythe blinked, then burst into loud laughter.

“Haha! What the hell? It’s nothing speci......”

Suddenly, his voice cut off.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hey! Stop messing around and......”

The moment the fellow Awakened nearby spoke to him, he fell backward like a log.

THUD!

The face of the fallen Awakened was pale, without a trace of blood.

That was because his soul had been harvested by the Grim Reaper’s scythe.

Not only that, but the vitality left in his body had also been sucked away by the Grim Reaper.

CRUMBLE!

In an instant, the Awakened’s body shriveled, then turned to powder and scattered.

All that remained was his mechanical body.

Even after absorbing the Awakened’s soul and life force, the Grim Reaper did not look particularly satisfied.

The size of the body was not necessarily the size of the soul, but it still had some influence.

The size of the soul it had gained by going through the trouble of swinging its scythe was far too insufficient to satisfy the Grim Reaper.

SCREEEE!

The Grim Reaper’s rage exploded.

The nutritionless soul had provoked its anger.

SWISH!

The Grim Reaper attacked the other Awakened.

“Fuck! You ghost bastard.”

“Die!”

The mechanized Awakened fought back against the Grim Reaper. But their attacks did not work on it.

Meanwhile, the Grim Reaper steadily harvested their souls with its scythe.

“Kraaak!”

“Save me!”

The screams of the mechanized Awakened echoed out.

“Fuck! What the hell is this......?”

Cha Jin-cheol’s eyes widened.

His subordinates were dying before his eyes.

If they had at least scattered like sparks while fighting magnificently, that would have been better. Instead, they were simply being slaughtered like dogs.

“You son of a bitch! Come at me.”

Cha Jin-cheol roared and thrust out his right arm.

Whirr!

At that instant, his arm transformed and became a long cannon.

CRASH—!

A projectile fired from the barrel.

It was an electrically fired Railgun.

It was incomparably smaller than the enormous Railgun he had used when bringing down the Mammoth, but its power was still remarkable.

Shrrrk!

But the Railgun projectile he fired passed through the Grim Reaper’s spiritual body in vain.

The Grim Reaper glared at Cha Jin-cheol, who had attacked it.

At that moment, ghost fire rose in the Grim Reaper’s eyes.

Its gaze was fixed on Warden’s Binding Rope hanging at Cha Jin-cheol’s waist.

Hoooooo!

As if bewitched, the Grim Reaper let out a bizarre groan.

It flew toward Cha Jin-cheol with its unique fluttering movements. More precisely, it flew toward Warden’s Binding Rope that Cha Jin-cheol possessed.

“Fuck!”

Cha Jin-cheol spat a curse and fired the Railgun repeatedly. But the projectiles passed through the Grim Reaper’s body uselessly, and before he knew it, the creature had reached right in front of his nose.

—You must dodge immediately. If you are cut by the Grim Reaper’s scythe, your soul will suffer a serious wound.

“I know.”

Cha Jin-cheol shouted and hurriedly retreated.

The Grim Reaper clung to Cha Jin-cheol and followed.

Nothing seemed capable of stopping it.

At that moment, something unexpected happened.

THUD!

“That’s enough, you skull bastard.”

Someone struck the Grim Reaper hard.

It was Levin.

Like the Grim Reaper, Levin was also in a Ghost Transformation state.

Ordinary physical attacks could not damage the Grim Reaper, but if the attacker was likewise transformed into a ghost, the story changed.

CRACKLE!

Purple electricity flickered across Levin’s entire body.

SCREEEE!

The Grim Reaper, struck by the purple current, screamed in pain.

The current created by the generator had barely affected it, but the electricity released by an Awakened dealt damage.

At that moment, ultra-high-heat flames engulfed the Grim Reaper.

Zeon had fired Fire Missile using the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat.

With both electricity and flame attacks added, even the Grim Reaper suffered a heavy blow and staggered.

“I’ll kill you, you skeleton bastard.”

Mandy transformed into Eloy and poured out attacks.

Under the chain of attacks, the Grim Reaper took serious damage and staggered.

It had shown overwhelming strength against physical attacks, but it had received considerable shock from attacks of various attributes.

Zeon approached the Grim Reaper.

The dragon energy contained in the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat exploded.

At that instant, the Grim Reaper instinctively felt fear and trembled.

No matter how much of a Grade A monster the Grim Reaper was, it could not compare to a dragon.

The Grim Reaper hurriedly moved away from Zeon and flew toward Cha Jin-cheol.

“You bastard. Get lost!”

Cha Jin-cheol threw a furious punch. But this time as well, it did not work on the Grim Reaper.

The Grim Reaper passed through Cha Jin-cheol’s fist and grabbed Warden’s Binding Rope at his waist.

FLAAARE!

At that instant, ominous black light exploded from Warden’s Binding Rope.

“Krrgh!”

“What is this?”

The Awakened unconsciously closed their eyes against the intense light.

A moment later, when they opened their eyes, Cha Jin-cheol had vanished without a trace.

“This can’t be!”

“Captain!”

The West District Awakened searched the area frantically, but Cha Jin-cheol was nowhere to be found.

Zeon said to Levin, who was still in Ghost Transformation state,

“Find it.”

“Understood, Brother!”

Levin flew off and searched the area. But neither the Grim Reaper nor Cha Jin-cheol could be found anywhere.

Levin released Ghost Transformation and said,

“They’re gone, Brother! It looks like they’ve already gone far away.”

“Then it must have taken him to its nest.”

“If you say nest, do you mean the place where the dungeon core is?”

“Most likely.”

“Why did it kidnap him of all people?”

“That item.”

“What?”

“It seems to be because of the item called Warden’s Binding Rope.”

“Why that?”

“It seemed like an item containing some being’s resentment.”

It was not all that rare for the lingering thoughts of an item’s original owner to remain within it. But most such lingering thoughts amounted to little more than a slight regret or wish, and they naturally disappeared with time.

The resentment remaining in Warden’s Binding Rope, however, was not at that level. It was expressing resentment so strong it made the skin prickle.

If it was that powerful even while sealed, Zeon could not estimate how strong it would be once released.

That was why Zeon had said Damian had released poison into Neo Seoul.

As long as the seal remained, there would be no problem, but the moment the seal was released someday, trouble was bound to erupt.

“Even so, I was somewhat relieved because West District won the bid.”

The Awakened of West District had replaced most of their bodies with machines. Because of that, curses such as resentment did not work well on them.

“But the moment we entered this place, the seal weakened, and the Grim Reaper took him away. It seems this dungeon is connected to the Warden after all.”

Zeon did not know what the Warden was. But since the item Cha Jin-cheol possessed was named Warden’s Binding Rope, there was a high possibility that the master of this dungeon was also connected to it.

“First, let’s find the Pegasus Raid Team.”

“Ah, I know where they are. I saw them while searching for the Grim Reaper.”

“Really?”

“I’ll guide you.”

Levin walked ahead.

Zeon, Briel, and Eloy followed behind him.

The West District Awakened who had been left behind looked at one another’s faces for a moment, then hurriedly followed.

“Let us go with you.”

“Damn it!”

They too realized they had no other choice but to join up with the Pegasus Raid Team.

The Squad Leader bit his lip hard.

‘To think the captain was kidnapped as soon as we entered the dungeon.’

It was a situation neither Cha Jin-cheol nor they had expected at all. Because of that, they had made no preparations for it.

Fortunately, just as Levin said, finding the place where the Pegasus Raid Team was located was not difficult.

The base protected by the Guardian’s Wing could be seen far away.

Levin took the lead and opened the path.

Whenever they encountered a section that felt suspicious, Levin used Ghost Transformation and scouted ahead.

There were no monsters capable of harming Levin while he was transformed into a ghost.

Occasionally, when an unexpected monster appeared, Eloy repelled them all.

Thanks to that, the group was able to safely reach the vicinity of the base.

The faces of the West District Awakened who followed behind them were clearly stunned.

‘What kind of party is this?’

‘What is with this composition?’

Zeon the Sandmancer, Eloy with her insane offensive power, Levin who freely used Ghost Transformation, and finally, the little kid in the somehow suspicious pointed hat.

It was a combination that seemed completely unsuited to one another. Yet unexpectedly, their combination displayed tremendous power.

At the center of it all was Zeon.

‘Not only did he awaken a rare ability, he also has an eye for people?’