Chapter 72: Velator the Hero (1)

I had always wondered.

Why was it me, and not someone else?

Why did the dimensional transfer happen to someone as ordinary as me?

At last, I was able to approach the truth.

That was—

‘It wasn’t a transfer at all!’

From the very beginning, I was a being created on the Gritia Continent, that land forged by the union of gods.

The so-called curse of immortality placed on me?

No.

That wasn’t a curse.

The earliest races received many blessings at their birth, one of which was eternal life.

Of course, those blessings differed by race.

Some received agelessness and immortality.

Some received eternal reincarnation.

Others received lives that nearly touched eternity.

What was bestowed upon humanity was the most meager: mere agelessness. 

In other words, it was not a curse gained by transferring to the Gritia Continent.

And the primordial races were all bound by a single law.

[…Since the first murder has occurred, you must accept the fate of killing one another and seizing each other’s power.]

That was all.

A voice ringing vividly in my mind.

But that wasn’t my memory.

It was the memory of Death, the first of the Demon Clan.

But according to that binding law, his power and memories were all absorbed into me, letting me approach the truth.

Not just his memories.

His power as well.

Of course, it wasn’t aura or magical power.

He was a Demon, but he didn’t rely on magical power. 

Instead, he honed his swordsmanship.

And the heavy karma he cultivated through his eternal life was now mine to claim.

“I see.”

And I realized something else.

‘Did the Divine Slayer’s Spear only destroy his immortality?’

The reason Death could resurrect and appear in the modern era.

That was because the Divine Slayer’s Spear hadn’t claimed his life, but had destroyed his immortality.

Of course, I still had no idea how he’d been revived, or who was behind it.

It seemed that—

‘I won’t know until I meet him face to face.’

That was all.

I could only hear the deeper truth through Salmora the Plague Legion Commander, the only Legion Commander to have stepped forward.

“Whoosh.”

Right ahead, I saw sparkling dust scattering in the air.

That was the last remnant of Death, all energy drained away.

And this death didn’t simply mean annihilation.

“Boom!”

A deafening roar shook the Demon King’s Castle.

And then—

“Rumble-rumble-rumble!”

Giant tremors began to shake the castle.

The Demon King’s Castle… was collapsing.

It was only natural.

Because Death, the master and power source of the Demon King’s Castle, had vanished.

It takes a tremendous amount of energy to keep this massive castle floating in the air.

But with Death gone, the source of power disappeared.

The Demon King’s Castle was falling, soon to crash and shatter against the ground.

This is what makes the Demon King’s Castle so terrifying.

Even now, with laws in place preventing movement or the use of vehicles, the castle’s fall was essentially an expression of intent to kill all enemies.

Yet even as the pressure bore down on my whole body, I remained calm.

I couldn’t help it.

[Levitation]

Because I had manifested my will.

Of course, unless one is a god, merely manifesting one’s will shouldn’t be enough to lift a fortress of this size into the air.

But then, a miracle occurred.

“Snap!”

The fall of the Demon King’s Castle stopped.

It floated in midair, before it could hit the ground.

Why?

Simple.

Because I am now the new master of the Demon King’s Castle.

Having absorbed everything of Death’s meant I could control the castle as well.

Of course, I’d need to know how to control it, but I already had perfect command—because I had absorbed all of Death’s memories.

“Salmora. Maybe you thought of this castle as nothing more than a discarded pawn, but that’s your fatal mistake.”

No doubt Salmora considered the incomplete Demon King’s Castle a mere piece to be thrown away.

But that was a grave miscalculation.

A mistake only possible because he couldn’t remember me.

‘I know the structure of the Demon King’s Castle, and how to make it even better.’

I even knew how to turn this incomplete castle into a finished masterpiece.

Of course, I’d need all sorts of materials and tools for that, but at a national level, those could be procured.

Salmora, that guy, had effectively handed a mighty strategic weapon to his enemy.

***

“Hmph.”

A middle-aged gentleman with a monocle.

The confident smile that always adorned his lips had vanished.

“Rustle, rustle.”

He turned the pages of the file, his brow deeply furrowed.

“…I’ve been thoroughly beaten this time.”

Not a hint of his usual smile.

That alone showed things hadn’t gone as he’d expected.

And no wonder.

“We lost the Four Harbingers of the Apocalypse, the Demon King’s Castle was taken, and there’s been no word from the Tower climber.”

Defeat after defeat.

He’d lost his elite guards, the Four Harbingers of the Apocalypse. 

The incomplete Demon King’s Castle, originally a piece meant to be discarded, had been stolen, and even the most important objective—the Tower climb—had come to a standstill.

This was a humiliation Salmora had never experienced before.

As the brain of the Demon King’s Legion, he’d planned countless operations until now.

Not all had succeeded, of course, but most had fallen within the scope of his predictions—whether success or failure.

But now?

This time, this opponent seemed to see right through his every move, and he could do nothing but keep losing.

‘Kim Si-won…!’

At first, he’d only meant to use him as a tool.

But now, after repeated defeats, he’d grown curious about his adversary.

The files he was reading recorded his failures, but also contained everything he’d learned about Kim Si-won so far.

What he saw was hard to believe, even as he read it.

‘He possesses both a knight’s aura and magical power?’

He knew humans used aura.

It was a way to overcome their physical limitations.

Thanks to aura, humans had gained the strength to resist the Demon Clan.

The use of aura?

There was nothing strange about someone wielding it in the present age.

Humans are frail beings, always desperate to make up for their shortcomings.

What was puzzling wasn’t aura, but magical power.

Could a human handle magical power?

Even in all his long life, he’d never heard of such a case.

“This will make for an excellent reference.”

It was unsettling.

But the fact that a human could use magical power—that was a valuable reference in itself.

“Hmm… I have quite a few new experiments to try.”

He would begin soon.

A human who could wield magical power.

And how that power could be harnessed for the Demon King’s Legion.

Though he had tasted repeated defeat, all of that was nothing but experience—just more data for future use.

There was, however, one problem.

That Kim Si-won was not climbing the Tower was a rather serious matter.

So far, only he has managed to break through Very Hard difficulty.

That was why Salmora tried to pressure Kim Si-won into climbing the Tower no matter what, but it seemed that plan had been exposed.

Despite repeated threats, Kim Si-won still hadn’t ascended the Tower—clearly, he’d seen through Salmora’s intentions.

That was very troubling.

If Kim Si-won didn’t climb, the next unlock wouldn’t occur, and the ultimate goal of the Demon King’s Legion couldn’t be achieved.

That was all.

“Tch— There’s never been a time when these damned restrictions have been so infuriating.”

One might wonder: why not just climb the Tower himself?

But he couldn’t.

The Demon Clan fundamentally couldn’t ascend the Tower.

Climbing the Tower was a blessing only humans—weak as they were—could enjoy.

“It can’t be helped.”

The frown vanished from his forehead.

“Snap!” He snapped his fingers.

At his signal, light poured into one of the spaces shrouded in darkness.

As if from a spotlight, a beam of light revealed—

“Bubble, bubble.”

A glass tank filled with clear liquid.

Inside that giant tank floated a blonde youth, naked as at the dawn of time.

No, not a youth—a young man, just past adolescence.

“I’d have liked to let you rest a little longer, but the world isn’t so forgiving.”

The middle-aged gentleman began to speak to the figure inside the glass.

At that moment—

“Bubble, bubble.”

As if he understood, air bubbles rose violently in reaction.

“Now, you must serve not as a human, but for the Demon King’s Legion, Hero.”

The Hero of the Gritia Continent.

He who was chosen by earth, sky, and light—now appeared in the modern era, looking far younger than before.

***

“No, that’s not right!” With a frustrated voice, he strode over.

“Don’t you see these blueprints? Didn’t I tell you to follow them exactly?”

He spread the blueprints in his hand, shouting at the top of his lungs.

This was Minister Kim Chaun, usually famous for his laid-back attitude, a man synonymous with slacking off.

But this couldn’t be helped.

After all, the place he was overseeing was the Demon King’s Castle.

No—now it was no longer the Demon King’s Castle, but Si-won’s Fortress, one of Earth’s strategic weapons.

Kim Si-won had entrusted the expansion and outfitting of the castle to Kim Chaun.

Of course, since he didn’t know a thing, Kim Si-won had provided all the blueprints and reference materials necessary for the expansion.

Kim Chaun liked to slack off, but he wasn’t completely oblivious.

He focused all his attention on the monumental task entrusted to him.

‘This is an opportunity.’

A chance to impress Kim Si-won.

To seize that chance, he did his best to follow the blueprints without the slightest error, with meticulous care.

Thanks to that, he had to get snappy with those handling the expansion, and his nerves stayed on edge.

He couldn’t afford to be careless.

It was a chance to gain Kim Si-won’s favor, after all.

‘How much do you think all these materials cost?’

The materials for expanding the fortress were rare metals and precious resources, impossible to price.

Of course, all those materials were things Kim Si-won had obtained by climbing the Tower.

But just because they weren’t his didn’t mean he didn’t value them.

Besides, these materials were worth untold fortunes.

Not only Kim Chaun, but the awakened assigned to the expansion (those who had awakened building-related traits) were all on edge.

“All right, everyone, let’s keep it up! We’re almost there! Let’s create a masterpiece together!”

Of course, it wasn’t all stick—he threw out some carrots too, to encourage them to do their best.

After much time and effort, finally—

“It’s done!”

He completed the expansion as required by the blueprints, constructing the finished fortress.

“Now South Korea can rise as the world’s greatest power!”

He couldn’t help but marvel.

The blueprints detailed the might of the completed fortress, as well as its weapons.

Its power was beyond compare, far surpassing even the strongest weapon of the modern world—the nuclear bomb.

With this in hand, South Korea could join the ranks of the world’s greatest nations.

Of course, neither Kim Chaun nor anyone here held any special patriotism for South Korea.

To be honest, they didn’t really feel much attachment to the country, but it was only natural to react to the rise and fall of a nation.

Especially at a moment like this, when the nation’s power had leapt upward, it was hard not to be moved.

“Then, I’ll make the call…”

Si-won Fortress, complete.

He reached for his communicator, ready to call Kim Si-won, who was surely waiting for this news.

[Velator of the United States has cleared Very Hard Difficulty Floor 1.]

[Velator of the United States has cleared Very Hard Difficulty Floor 2.]

[Velator of the United States has cleared Very Hard Difficulty Floor 3.]

[Velator of the United States has cleared Very Hard Difficulty Floor 4.]

“Wh-what?!”

An unbelievable truth.

A series of messages rang out, declaring that Velator of the United States had cleared Very Hard difficulty—something thought possible only for Kim Si-won in this world.