Chapter 50: Malice Family Massacre (2)

Chapter 50: Malice Family Massacre (2)

Everyone carries their own grudges and regrets deep within their hearts.

If that holds true even for those who live just a hundred years, then imagine what it’s like for someone who has lived close to a thousand.

There is a limit to how much pain one can hold inside over such a long time.

An ordinary person would have succumbed to madness.

That’s why I forgot.

No, I tried desperately to forget.

Because if I kept that regret in my heart, I knew I wouldn’t be able to endure it.

But now.

The moment I saw with my own eyes the death of Malice Praman—whom I had buried deep in my heart, or rather thought I had forgotten—

‘Good.’

I felt a refreshing sensation.

To live through a thousand years, I dulled my emotions.

And most of that was oblivion.

I forgot.

And erased it.

No, I thought I erased it.

But that was just an illusion.

The bitterness in my heart still remained, and only now has that weight been lifted.

“Ugh! To think they actually did it. But it suits you well. Remember this. This is your fate.”

The humiliating image of the bastard who licked the floor beneath me and trampled my head remains vivid.

That wasn’t a choice.

To survive, I had no option but to lie flat and endure.

In truth, I worked hard to escape that miserable humiliation.

My ambition to rise higher.

Relentless effort.

I didn’t even hesitate to join the Demon King’s army to gain strength and survive.

Everything was for the sake of obtaining power.

But when I finally reached the pinnacle, what I felt was emptiness.

In the end, those who once humiliated me were all dead or gone.

No matter how strong I became, I thought it impossible to ever free myself from that lingering disgrace.

But now, though it was only a fragment of a memory replayed, I feel liberated.

By killing the one who once inflicted the greatest humiliation upon me.

Of course.

“You’re no different.”

Scum who looked at me with disdain, taking pleasure in tormenting the weak.

‘A beast speaking human words.’

‘Bark! That suits you better.’

“Hahaha! Exactly.”

The memories of the past surfaced.

The murderous intent naturally spilled out.

“Screech!”

That movement followed.

When willpower flows, action naturally follows—an exquisite movement.

“Thunk, thunk thunk!”

The necks of those who were nothing but noble trash collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

“Is this… your choice?”

Next to me, still expressionless despite the chaos.

No, to someone who has lived a thousand years, I can see it.

Though they feign emotionlessness, a massive flame burns inside.

A wolf baring its teeth for revenge.

No answer was given to the question.

“…You made this choice, so take responsibility.”

With those words, he dispersed into a black mist.

‘Definitely different from reality.’

I know him well.

If this were reality, he would have silenced this uproar by beheading me.

But here, he vanished.

Because this Tower must manifest the stage of trials.

“What’s all this commotion!”

“How dare you disturb this place!”

From all around, forces belonging to the Malice Family appeared in response to the uproar I caused.

As I said before, this is a prestigious swordsmanship house.

Naturally, strong swordsmen abound here.

[You have killed Malice Praman, the heir of the Malice Family.]

[Warning! You have chosen the path of torment beyond a nightmare. What unfolds before you now is hell.]

[Difficulty increased, rewards greatly enhanced.]

The ripple caused by my choice.

It was a path far beyond difficulty, even beyond nightmares—an ordeal.

With the rise in difficulty came a proportional increase in rewards.

‘Good.’

Difficulty increasing.

Though it was unintentional, it didn’t matter.

No, it was actually welcome.

“Subdue them!”

A shout.

“Papapat!”

Enemies rushed in from all directions.

Their hostility was aimed at suppressing me.

“If you can, come at me all you want.”

A fragment of the past.

But the Malice Paladino before me was no longer the one from before.

He was the No.1 Knight, the sole pinnacle of the Gritia Continent.

Of course, I had only recovered about 25% of my power at the peak, but that was enough.

[Sword’s Tomb]

“Tsut-tsut-tsut-tsut!”

Like ink spreading, the area around me turned into a gray domain.

In an instant, everything changed.

No longer a banquet hall adorned with antique decorations and ornate chandeliers.

But a battlefield.

Blood streamed, pooling into a massive lake.

And a thousand swords plunged into the corpses.

It was the Sword’s Tomb, which had manifested before.

“Th-this is…?”

“An innate domain?”

Truly a prestigious family.

They immediately recognized the innate domain I unleashed.

But knowing it didn’t change the outcome.

Latent power explosion.

I increased my power through latent power bursting within Umbra.

“Vroooom!”

Responding to my will, the thousand swords emitted their names.

Hovering.

Floating in the air.

When I used this against the Shinhwa Guild, I couldn’t fully utilize the Sword’s Tomb.

But now it’s different.

I had recovered 25% of my vigor, and with latent power bursting, I had regained nearly 30% of my prime strength.

Which means—

“Annoying, disappear.”

The sight of them stirred memories of past humiliations.

That’s why I intended to wipe them out before my eyes.

Using the swords summoned from the Sword’s Tomb.

“Papapapapat!”

The thousand swords floating in the air shot out in all directions.

A threat?

No.

“Poke!”

“Kuhk!”

This time it was different.

Each sword held true intent, my murderous will.

Willpower becomes strength.

Those swords filled with tremendous will—

“Poke, poke!”

Led those surrounding me to death.

“B-block them!”

“Uaaah—”

They struggled, desperate to block or survive.

But it was meaningless.

“Poke-poke-poke!”

Their will was truly weak.

Before the power I had recovered—nearly 30%—they only died helplessly.

Of course, there were those who resisted, not futilely.

“Clank!”

The Malice Family.

A prestigious house that produced many Knights, naturally a few Knights were stationed here.

For example—

“You bastard—”

Malice Greg, head of the Malice Family, who rushed out amidst the chaos.

And the Knights standing beside him.

True to their reputation as a swordsmanship family, there were five Knights in total.

But—

‘Only barely Knights, who just scraped by to receive the Knight’s commission.

Except for the head, the rest barely qualified as Knights.

Therefore—

I tightened my hold on the Excidium, the sword of destruction, and prepared to advance.

But then, an unexpected variable occurred.

[Kayle Turner of the United States has used a Name Enhancement Ticket targeting the Republic of Korea.]

[Kwon Liang of China has used a Named Enhancement Ticket targeting the Republic of Korea.]

[Kayle Turner of the United States has used a Named Enhancement Ticket targeting the Republic of Korea.]

[Kwon Liang of China has used a Named Enhancement Ticket targeting the Republic of Korea.]

Not just once or twice.

Accompanied by dozens of such messages came a tangible feeling.

“Kwaaaaaaah!”

It was the surge of power from the Knights rapidly growing stronger.

‘Were they aiming for this?’

I had expected some interference to a degree.

But I never thought it would be Name Enhancement, not weakening stats or reducing rewards.

Those tickets were a kind I had never gotten before from conquering the Tower.

I could only guess they were obtainable only at difficulties above the higher floors.

But as they say, misfortune and fortune come together.

[Due to foreign interference, thisvtrial have grown stronger.]

[The path of torment is changed to the Blood Sea path.]

[Due to the inscrutable difficulty, rewards have skyrocketed.]

This wasn’t the Tower’s design.

External interference and the ticket effects forcibly increased the difficulty.

The Tower is honest.

Whenever difficulty rises, appropriate rewards are granted.

Because of interference from the United States and China aiming for opportunity, the difficulty surged dramatically, and rewards exploded in response.

But—

Of course.

“Haaah!”

The father, enraged by his son’s death, and the Knights who lost their future head, had to be brought down.

“…Thank you.”

Looking at the fierce onslaught, I felt neither surprise nor confusion.

Gratitude.

The United States and China might think they struck a critical blow, but it was actually a help to me.

I emitted Magi that enveloped my heart.

Through the massacre in New York, I had recovered 30% of my Magi.

Knight 25%, Legion Commander 30%.

Once, it was impossible to mix these powers.

Because the aura wielded by the Knight clashed with the Magi.

So when I was a Knight, I used the Knight’s aura.

As the Undead Legion Commander, I used Magi.

I couldn’t combine the two, only one energy at a time.

But after my duel with the hero, I came to understand.

“Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!”

The aura and Magi merged into one.

“……”

Even those charging in at the strange phenomenon stopped their attacks, stunned as they stared.

When aura and Magi combine, chaos and disorder are complete.

“Tsut-tsut-tsut-tsut!”

And that chaos transformed the Knight Sword and Armor into something of a completely different nature.

[Turba]

Irregular

Sword and armor of chaos.

Though their power and influence had declined compared to their prime, they were more than enough to deal with these insignificant Knights.

I bent my knees like a spring gathering strength before release, I focused power into my lower body.

And—

“Fwah!”

Sword light consuming the space.

Space Slash.

Chaos ignores all laws.

Finally completed, a strike that even cuts through space itself!

Screams?

None.

What they could do was only—

“Shhrrrk.”

Upper and lower bodies severed.

“Thunk!”

Collapsed onto the ground.

Along with that—

[You have achieved the first 3-star rating on Floor 30 at Very Hard difficulty (Nightmare > Torment > Blood Sea).]

[You have gained control of Floor 30 of the Tower for the Republic of Korea by passing Very Hard difficulty.]

[You have succeeded in swimming through the Blood Sea for the first time.]

[Due to the amazing feat of navigating the Blood Sea, additional stars are awarded.]

[As the one who has traversed the inscrutable domain of the Blood Sea, you receive the Knight Erlea Harmens’s Bundle.]

Surpassing the Blood Sea’s domain, an achievement no one had reached before, rewards were bestowed.

And that was—

‘I see!’

Erlea Harmens.

One of my past names.

Unexpectedly, I was given a bundle bearing that name.

Naturally, I opened the reward bundle before me.

At that moment, I saw several rewards drop.

“Thunk, thunk thunk!”

But—

“This is…?”

What first caught my eye wasn’t a sword or armor.

But several tickets.

And among them, one pale gray-brown ticket stood out.

More than anything else, the name engraved on that ticket was peculiar.

Purge Ticket (3)

A ticket I had never obtained before.

A ticket with the effect of “purge” that I couldn’t help but examine closely.