Chapter 182

Chapter 182

The Grim Reaper was a monster with no physical body.

Physical attacks could not harm it at all.

Only magic Skills could damage the Grim Reaper to some extent. Even then, only when one used a powerful Skill of Grade B or higher.

In a way, it could be called the worst possible match for Zeon.

Zeon’s ability to control sand could not damage the Grim Reaper.

The Grim Reaper had probably appeared knowing that fact as well.

Black heat haze rose from the Grim Reaper’s scythe.

Its scythe was a top-tier item.

Commonly known as the Reaper’s Scythe.

If one was cut even slightly by this scythe, the soul would suffer a grievous wound as well.

Even if one was lucky enough to survive, the soul would be damaged, and eventually, death would follow.

The Grim Reaper advanced with the Reaper’s Scythe held forward.

“Let’s see if sand really doesn’t work.”

Zeon raised his hand. Then subspace opened behind him, and a tremendous amount of sand poured out.

The sand that filled the passage rose, writhing as if alive.

It looked exactly like a snake.

Viper.

It was one of Zeon’s Skills.

SWISH—!

Dozens of sand snakes flew toward the Grim Reaper.

THUD, THUD, THUD—!

But Viper passed through the Grim Reaper in vain and struck the wall behind it.

Zeon sent Viper flying several more times after that. But Viper could not damage the Grim Reaper.

He even unleashed Sand Blender, but it was no use.

The ghost fire in the Grim Reaper’s eyes burned even more fiercely.

Once it confirmed that Zeon’s attacks did not work on it, confidence seemed to surge within it.

SWISH—!

The Grim Reaper swung the Reaper’s Scythe.

Zeon dodged the Reaper’s Scythe by a hair’s breadth and retreated.

Judging that it had seized the upper hand, the Grim Reaper rushed in at even more terrifying speed.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH—!

The passage filled with Reaper’s Scythes.

Afterimages had appeared as the Grim Reaper swung the Reaper’s Scythe at a speed invisible to the eye.

The Grim Reaper’s attacks were extremely fast.

Because it had no physical body, it moved without being bound by space. But even with such speed, the Grim Reaper could not completely catch up to Zeon.

Every one of the Grim Reaper’s attacks missed Zeon by mere centimeters. Then the ghost fire and black heat haze in the Grim Reaper’s eyes grew even thicker.

It was a sign that the creature was angry.

SWISH—!

When the Grim Reaper swung its scythe, black energy shot out.

The scythe-shaped black energy came rushing in as if to tear Zeon apart.

There was a limit to how much he could dodge in the narrow passage.

Thud!

Zeon’s back touched the wall.

There was nowhere left to dodge.

The scythe-shaped energy poured down like rain toward Zeon.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!

With explosive roars, the wall where Zeon stood burst apart, and dust rose thickly.

The Grim Reaper approached the wall with the Reaper’s Scythe hanging low.

It was certain Zeon was dead.

It was when the Grim Reaper had almost reached the wall.

Suddenly, a red flash burst from within the thick dust.

The moment it saw that intense red light, the Grim Reaper trembled without realizing it.

It instinctively felt fear from the red light.

The red light the Grim Reaper feared was the eye of a dragon.

The dragon’s eye embedded in the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat had revealed itself.

A dragon was a monster that could not be given a grade.

No, it was profane to place it in the category of monster at all.

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

That was why it felt fear before a being above itself.

Even if it was only a single eyeball.

As if shaking off its fear, the Grim Reaper swung the Reaper’s Scythe.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH—!

Dozens of the familiar black energies poured toward Zeon.

At that instant, dozens of red energies also stretched out from the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat.

They were Fire Missiles.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!

Dozens of Fire Missiles intercepted every black energy the Grim Reaper had launched.

Not only did they shatter all the black energy, but the Fire Missiles then flew toward the Grim Reaper.

The Fire Missiles struck the defenseless Grim Reaper’s body.

SCREEEE!

This time, even the Grim Reaper must have suffered heavy damage, because it screamed.

Fire Missile was a Skill that any magic-type Awakened could easily use. But a Fire Missile launched by borrowing the power of a Red Dragon boasted power on an entirely different level.

The Grim Reaper’s body rippled for a moment.

It flickered like a lightbulb just before going out, looking precarious.

That was how great the damage had been.

Even the same Fire Missile changed in power depending on who used it. Naturally, if one used a good item, the power was bound to increase.

And this was not merely a good item, but an item embedded with a dragon’s eye.

The Gauntlet of Extreme Heat had evolved to a point where it could no longer be graded.

That power was now being displayed against the Grim Reaper.

Hisssss!

The areas struck by the Fire Missiles burned away while giving off white smoke.

The Grim Reaper rampaged in agony from the pain it felt for the first time.

After floating wildly through the air, the Grim Reaper soon found the source of its pain and made its eyes flash.

The source was Zeon.

It knew that only by killing Zeon would this pain end.

ROOOOAR!

Bursting with Fear on a completely different level from before, the Grim Reaper flew forward at terrifying speed.

The Grim Reaper became one with the Reaper’s Scythe.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE—!

The black energy covering the Grim Reaper became a storm and destroyed the passage.

There was nowhere for Zeon to dodge.

Nor did he intend to.

Zeon stretched out the hand wearing the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat and muttered,

“Fire Rain!”

At that instant, the dark passage was dyed red.

A rain of flames filled the passage and poured down.

The flame rain struck the Grim Reaper terrifyingly.

THUD, THUD, THUD—!

Even the Grim Reaper’s ability to let all physical attacks pass through was useless this time.

SCREEEE!

The Grim Reaper’s scream echoed through the passage.

Its body had shrunk to a size that could not be compared to when it first appeared. Even so, as befitting a Grade A monster, it was stubbornly holding on.

“So this much still isn’t enough. In that case......”

The corner of Zeon’s mouth curled upward.

There was a Skill he had wanted to test for a long time.

The Grim Reaper was a good monster to test it on.

Zeon raised his control. Then the sand scattered across the floor rose and wrapped around the Grim Reaper. But the Grim Reaper paid no attention to the sand.

That was because it knew sand could not harm it.

Seeing that, Zeon’s smile deepened.

Clench!

GRIIIIIND—!

The moment he clenched his fist tightly, the sand wrapped around the Grim Reaper began rotating at terrifying speed.

It was Sand Blender.

But Sand Blender did not deal any damage to the Grim Reaper.

It only rotated fiercely while passing straight through the Grim Reaper.

Zeon had expected this much.

“What happens if I add Fire Wall here?”

A basic Skill that literally built a wall of fire.

Aside from the drawback of severe mana consumption, any Awakened who had learned flame-type magic could use it. Until now, Zeon had rarely used it because its effect was poor compared to the mana it consumed.

But the story changed when Sand Blender and Fire Wall fused.

Each grain of sand rotating at terrifying speed contained flame.

The red-hot Sand Blender itself was no different from an ultra-high-heat furnace.

The Grim Reaper trapped inside it screamed.

The black energy that had protected the Grim Reaper had long since vanished without a trace.

The ultra-high-heat sand rotating at extreme speed scraped away the Grim Reaper’s main body.

GRIIIIIND—!

The particles ground off from the Grim Reaper melted in the flames and disappeared without leaving a trace.

SCREEEE!

The Grim Reaper struggled madly, trying to escape Sand Blender. But escaping had been impossible from the beginning.

“Disappear as you are, outsider who belongs neither to this world nor the next.”

In the end, the Grim Reaper’s main body was completely ground away by the ultra-high-temperature Sand Blender.

Clink!

All that remained was the Reaper’s Scythe fallen on the floor.

Only then did Zeon release Sand Blender.

The heat that had made the air burn vanished as if washed away.

The Grim Reaper was nowhere to be seen.

It had literally been completely annihilated.

Zeon reached out and picked up the Reaper’s Scythe.

The hand holding the Reaper’s Scythe hurt with a numbing pain.

Just by holding it, all sorts of curses burrowed into his body.

The Reaper’s Scythe was a cursed item.

It was so heavily cursed that no one other than a curse-type Awakened could even hold it.

Even so, Zeon endured firmly.

It was to measure the curses placed on the Reaper’s Scythe with his own body.

In an instant, strength drained from his body, and his vision went dark. His heartbeat slowed, and his skin dried out at once.

“Tch! It has every curse imaginable.”

The Reaper’s Scythe was a medium for all kinds of curses.

Merely holding it let tens of thousands of curses invade Zeon’s body.

If it had been any Awakened other than Zeon, they would have lost their life the moment they took it in hand.

Zeon drew out the energy contained in the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat. Then all the curses invading his body burned away and disappeared.

No matter how great an item the Reaper’s Scythe was, it could not withstand the dragon’s eye embedded in the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat.

Thanks to that, Zeon returned to normal.

“So it can spread curses and sever them as well?”

No one had taught him.

The moment he held the Reaper’s Scythe, he instinctively understood how to use it.

The ability to sever curses alone made the Reaper’s Scythe infinitely valuable. But right now, Zeon did not need it.

Zeon opened subspace and placed the Reaper’s Scythe inside. Then even the remaining curse energy disappeared cleanly.

Zeon also placed all the sand he had used into subspace.

In an environment where sand was so precious, it was an unavoidable choice.

No more beings appeared to block Zeon.

Just as Zeon had guessed, the Grim Reaper seemed to have been the final gatekeeper. Even so, he did not relax.

It was then.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!

As if an earthquake had struck, the entire underground area shook with a powerful vibration.

The floor beneath his feet moved horizontally somewhere, and the walls began to change.

In some places, walls disappeared, and in other places, walls that had not existed appeared.

The entire underground space was moving, as if a puzzle were being assembled.

Zeon did not panic and carefully watched the changes in the space.

The space, no, the entire ancient castle felt like a living creature.

Now that it had no more means to stop Zeon, it instead felt as if it were moving Zeon toward its core.

THUD!

After moving for a long while, the space Zeon stood on finally stopped.

At that instant, a strange light appeared in Zeon’s eyes.

That was because he had met unexpected people at the place where he arrived.

“Brother!”

“Zeon!”

The ones who welcomed him gladly were none other than Levin, Briel, and Eloy.

Zeon said,

“You’re all safe.”

“I knew you’d still be alive.”

“There’s no way sand would kill Zeon.”

“You look fine.”

They approached Zeon.

Zeon patted Levin and Briel on the shoulders, then looked at the people with them.

He saw the entire Pegasus Raid Team, including Lee Ji-ryeong, Bronson, and Gesling, along with the West District Awakened.

They could not hide their surprise at Zeon’s sudden appearance.

Without even looking at him, Lee Ji-ryeong said,

“You are late.”

“There were many things blocking my way.”

“You worked hard getting here, so from now on, rest comfortably and watch.”

“......”

“Watch how we kill the master of this castle.”

What Lee Ji-ryeong was looking at was the door straight ahead.

The enormous door giving off an extraordinary atmosphere told them.

The master of the ancient castle was inside.

Lee Ji-ryeong smashed that door.