Chapter 24

: Blood-Red Tower (6)
TL by Yoni
Edited by Yoni & Myoni
 
 
Anguish was soaked in blood.
Because of the endless amount of blood, it was unable to absorb all of it.
Drip. Drip.
The blood ran down the edge of the sword and dripped on the floor.
However, a puddle of blood was already forming on the ground.
Muyoung’s appearance was that of a vampire.
As if he craved for blood, he instantly assassinated five more people.
These five sheep who were stricken with fear and weren’t able to cooperate with each other were unable to do anything against the wolf.

This has to be a dream…

Muyoung wielded his sword at a man who fell to the floor who had lost the will to even run away.
Slash!
Swish.
Naturally, Anguish was sheathed once again.
 
<‘Slayer’ has killed 200 people!>
<257 Survivors.>
 
It wasn’t satisfied in labelling Muyoung as the Boss and had to go and give everyone else a blessing.
As if it was trying to balance it out.
Muyoung could understand why Ben the Slaughterer stopped his massacre after 200 kills.
‘He probably got scared.’
He valued his life.
The Toughness blessing protected the person from the effects of spells and curses and also negated negative emotions, like fear.
When fear disappeared, a prey is no longer simply a prey.
If they combined their strengths and used their now clear-headed minds, the hunter might be the one to get bitten.
‘I’ve now fulfilled the condition to receive the Lunatic Sovereign’s Ring.’
Normally, a person would usually stop after reaching their goal.
Muyoung’s ultimate goal in entering the tower was to receive the Lunatic Sovereign’s Ring and he had already achieved it.
If he continued to progress, he didn’t know what they would try to do in an attempt to kill the ‘Slayer’.
But…
Muyoung was interested.
If there wasn’t a condition for the Slayer to be at a disadvantage, he would have stopped by now.
He didn’t particularly enjoy pointless bloodbaths.
However, after every 50 kills, Muyoung’s situation also changed disadvantageously.
Was it simply just to make it balanced?
Or because they didn’t want the Slayer to kill everyone inside the tower?
No way!
The tower or the Underworld were both not all that friendly of a place.
‘As the conditions get harder, the rewards will also become better.’
An immutable law.
In this world, a person was rewarded by overcoming hardship.
The problem was most would die in the process, but it was still worth a try.
Even if Muyoung returned with his memories intact, there was no way to ensure a victory against the Demons by following a fixed path.
Muyoung looked towards the survivors.
‘257 people.’
There was enough prey.
 
 
‘This, this is impossible.’
Collin wasn’t able to come back to his senses.
The current situation was way beyond what he had imagined.
Truly, something impossible had occurred.
‘I’m going to die?’
The people he had appointed knighthood had turned their backs and started to escape.
The people he tried hard to gather, half had scattered or were dead, and of the 10 people who followed Collin before he had even entered the tower, 3 had already escaped.
It was the worst situation. Death was slowly approaching.
As Collin had always been a winner his entire life, losing was something Collin was unfamiliar with.
Born as the Prince of England, he always reigned over numerous amounts of people.
However, no amount of authority worked on his enemy.
Die by the condition of his class or die in the hands of the Slayer.
But, how was he to contend against a monster if he couldn’t even step on his shadow?
‘Escape…’
It was easy killing 5 men.
It was a decision a ruler should never make.
Collin was seriously considering an option he has never made in his life.
At the moment he was licking his lips nervously.
<‘Slayer’ has killed 200 people!>
 
Swish.
The wind blew.
At the same time, he felt as though something was covering his body.
His thumping heartbeat slowly calmed back down to normal.
His brain which was solely fixed on fear started to function again.

What do you want to do?

As the man who was wearing a leather armor and holding a mace asked, Collin spoke.

…Lord Alberts, the man is cleverly avoiding our location. Aren’t I right?


Yes. The people he had killed so far were the ones who had run away.


In other words, it means he fears our gathering of people.


Indeed, yes.


Gather everyone. Now, we will commence hunting.

They were taken back for a moment due to the appearance of zombies and the movements of the Slayer, but they had far greater numbers on their side.
About a hundred people.
Originally, they had about double their current number.
Even though he didn’t knight everyone, the fact that Collin was able to bring together this many people in a short time proved his ability.
It was doable.
He just panicked because he had never met anyone who threatened his life.
‘That son-of-a-bitch. How dare he humiliate me like this.’
Collin couldn’t accept the fact that he was frightened for a moment.
‘I will definitely kill you. No matter what happens, I will kill you for sure!’
Clench!
Collin ground his teeth as he projected his murderous intent towards where the ‘Slayer’ might be located.
 
 
Zombies were quickly decreasing in numbers.
People, who were blessed with Toughness, had their fear reduced to a certain degree and started to fight back.
‘Gather.’
If he left them alone, they would only be defeated by the enemy one by one.
All the 30 some odd zombies who used to roam around the second floor started to gather towards Muyoung.
By this process, Muyoung was able to notice that ‘Collin’ was the man behind the hunt.
The widespread arrangement of people started to move in around Muyoung.
‘Not a bad decision.’
It seemed like his stiff brain was working better.
However, it wasn’t like Muyoung would let them do as they pleased after knowing their intentions.
Using the talisman, Muyoung recalled the Skeleton of Fire and Ice.
It was possible to summon it wherever he was if he had the talisman.
Crack. Craaack.
The Skeleton of Fire and Ice was covered in thick layers of blood.
Since it had killed tens of people who tried to pass through the entrance, it seemed natural that traces were left.
But… At that moment.
 
 
Clank.
Zombies started to eat each other.
In a blink of an eye, the total number of zombies had decreased to 15.
Eventually, the bodies of the 15 zombies that ate off another were inflated. Their skins also changed to green.
Sharp fingernails and teeth were created and they contained a strong corpse poison.
 
 
Watching the whole process, Muyoung pondered for a moment.
‘Did my skill ranking increase because the number of kills from the Skeleton of Fire and Ice added up to my score?’
Muyoung didn’t do much after he entered the tower.
All he did was make zombies and slay people.
It seemed like the two actions he made had helped him raise his rank.
Death and art, it seemed as though their fields were divided.
Muyoung just looked at the newly created ghouls.
They were about 1.5 times bigger than the size of a normal zombie and their abilities have greatly improved.
‘Sorry about this.’
Ghouls were incomparable to zombies.
If there were 10 zombies, they may be somewhat comparable.
If zombies were just mindless moving corpses, ghouls had an understanding of combat.
Especially their poison imbued in their nails and teeth were strong enough to kill even an elephant.
Unintentionally, an enormous fighting potential was handed to him.
All of Collin’s efforts and plans were put to shame.
‘If it’s like this, then even a single breakthrough isn’t necessary.’
Originally, he was planning on making a single pathway and killing them off slowly.
But, with 15 ghouls, it didn’t seem necessary.

Follow me.

Geeeeek.
Kwaaaaak.
As Muyoung moved forward, the Skeleton of Ice and Fire and the ghouls followed behind.
 
 
Clash!
Muyoung parried a mace that was flying towards him.
The man who lost his weapon ran towards him without a weapon.
Gaah!
Anguish cleanly sliced through the man’s chest.
An exquisite work where even the bones were cleanly cut. The man fell to the floor.

Haaaaaaaa!

Right after, a man wearing a full plated armor blocked him with a longsword.
Thump!
However, the speed was awful.
After Muyoung tripped him over, the man lost his balance and Muyoung took the chance to stab through the slight gap in-between the man’s plated armor.
Swish.
As Muyoung took back Anguish, which had accurately pierced through his sides, with a loud sound of a crack, the man’s waist snapped.
Muyoung continued to walk as he sliced through people who were in his way.
No one could stop Muyoung from moving forward.
If they attacked all at once, it might have been different, but the ghouls were already taking care of the surrounding situation.
And the person, who was trying to kill Muyoung, was a man being protected in a safe area.
‘Collin.’
At a first sight, Muyoung could tell it was him.
That this was the man who was responsible for gathering up all the people and testing him up until now.
As Muyoung stood right in front of him, Collin grabbed a thin longsword.

Lord Alberts, Sir Swin…

As he stood there and called out the names of his dead comrades, he felt enraged.

You, I am going to kill you for sure!

Did he feel companionship with those who were dead?
But, he was flimsy.
Like a flowing stream of water, Muyoung naturally dodged the longsword.
As if he trained his skills well, compared to the few who fought earlier, he had much more sophisticated skills. But, he didn’t have too much real-life experience.
On the other hand, Muyoung had more real-life experience than anyone else.
As Muyoung moved much deeper than the length of the longsword, he swung Anguish without the slightest hesitation.
Slash!