Chapter 163: Stove League

<Succubus Queen>

– Threat Rank: A+

– Discovery Location: Incheon Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea ‘Steel Labyrinth’

The queen of the dream demons, the succubi.  

She invades dreams in the form a man finds most beautiful and steals his vitality.  

She possesses far stronger magical power than ordinary succubi and specializes in enchantment magic.  

Even priests who have maintained long periods of abstinence fall into slaves of pleasure before the Succubus Queen.

The monster rose from the fully opened capsule.  

It was a Mecha Succubus Queen, a fusion of monster and machine.

[Scanning…… commencing…….]

A cold voice mixed with mechanical tones.  

Soon, the Succubus Queen’s eyes glowed green.

She alternated her gaze between me and Jeanne.

[Unauthorized entities…… Experimentation impossible…… Eliminating intruders…….]

Her eyes immediately turned blood red.  

At the same time, massive wings spread wide.

Screeeech!

Huge bat wings made of blue metal.  

Vicious steel claws were attached to her slender hands and feet.

Jeanne stepped forward and asked.  

“Shall I kill it, Master?”

Jeanne stared at the Succubus Queen with murderous eyes.  

I raised my hand to stop her.

“Not yet. I have something to test.”

“Understood, Master.”

Jeanne quietly bowed her head.

An A+-rank dungeon, the Steel Labyrinth.  

We had faced countless monsters below A-rank on the way to the boss room.  

There was one thing I realized during the process.

‘Against monsters below A-rank, the test doesn’t work properly.’

To properly gauge strength, the opponent needs to be of a similar level.  

Just like how winning arm-wrestling matches against elementary school kids doesn’t accurately measure your true strength.

Moreover, the monsters in this ‘Steel Labyrinth’ dungeon were one or two levels stronger than their listed threat ranks.

‘In other words, the Mecha Succubus Queen should be at the upper end of A+ rank.’

She was the perfect sandbag for a power test.

I charged straight at the Succubus Queen.  

At the same time.

-Ding!  

<Skill ‘Superhuman Strength’ has been activated!>

I activated Superhuman Strength on my right arm.  

Steel-like, tough muscle fibers covered my right arm.  

A massive fist hurtled toward the Succubus Queen.

The Succubus Queen wrapped her entire body with her steel wings.

Boom—!

A powerful roar echoed throughout the entire boss room.  

Only a faint scratch appeared on the steel wings.

Even with the A-rank skill, Ogre’s ‘Superhuman Strength,’ I couldn’t break through her defense.

But.

“……Alright. This time I’ll throw a real punch.”

What if I added Descent of God?

-Ding!  

<Skill ‘Descent of God’ has been activated!>

A sensation like intense electric current flowing through my veins.  

Every sense from head to toe sharpened to an extreme degree.

I struck the steel wings with all my strength.

Crack—!

Unlike before, a crunching sound rang out.  

A clear fist imprint was left on the steel wings.

Superhuman Strength and Descent of God.  

The two strengthening skills overlapped and created powerful synergy.

I began hammering the steel wings relentlessly.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom—!

A merciless barrage of punches without pause.  

The Succubus Queen’s steel wings quickly became tattered like rags.

At that moment.

Shwaaaack!

The Succubus Queen’s tail shot out from a gap in the steel wings.  

The steel tail flew straight for my neck in an instant.

However.

-Ding! 

<Activating item skill ‘Blood Mist’ from the ‘Blood Mist Ring’!>

The steel tail passed through the blood-colored mist.  

I created distance from the Succubus Queen and deactivated Blood Mist.

[Intruder…… Elimination…… Order…… Executing……]

The Succubus Queen repeated the same words.  

Then she began to move.

At that moment.

Slip—

The Succubus Queen lost her balance and staggered.  

Thick black oil mucus had turned the floor into a slippery mess.

I threw a burning Fire Crow feather.

“Open wide. Signature dish coming in.”

The moment the oil mucus and Fire Crow feather made contact.

BOOOOM!

A massive pillar of flame erupted.  

Fierce flames engulfed the steel pipes, hoses, and wires.  

Everything inside the boss room was melting into black slag.

The intelligence stat increased by Descent of God caused the skill damage to skyrocket as well.

A moment later.

Hssss—

The flames died down, revealing the Succubus Queen.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle……

The acrid smell of burning metal and scorched flesh stung the nose.  

The steel covering the Succubus Queen’s body was melting and dripping off.  

Bright red muscle and veins were exposed underneath.  

Part of her face had completely melted away, revealing bone.

“Ugh…… That’s pretty disgusting……”

The now grotesque Succubus Queen staggered forward.

[Elim…… inate…… Intru…… der…… Eliminate……]

At that moment.

Whirring— Clank!

A steel plate on the boss room ceiling opened, and a large pipe-like structure emerged.  

Silver-gray liquid began pouring out from the pipe.

Splashhhhh—

The sticky liquid covered the Succubus Queen.  

The silver-gray substance clung to her body.

Squirm squirm squirm squirm—

In an instant, the Succubus Queen regained her original form.  

‘……No, she feels much stronger than before.’

Her steel bat wings had grown even larger, and sharp spikes and saw blades had sprouted all over her body.  

It seemed that unless she was taken down in one strike, her body would continuously strengthen.

‘……I’ve pretty much finished testing my combat power.’

What remained was…

[Master, all preparations are complete.]

Jeanne’s voice came from behind me.  

It was the chilling voice she used when the Symbiote Breastplate was activated.

As expected, Jeanne’s entire body was covered in black armor.  

But that wasn’t all.

Vrrr— Vrrr— Vrrr— Vrrr—

Three black petals floated behind her back.  

The Three Leaf state of the Mana Cultivation Method.  

Mana was rotating explosively around Jeanne.

Then, Jeanne raised the Black Long Night Sword.

『Seven Demon Second Strike Secret Art: Greed Kill, Mammon』

A dark red glow bloomed from the tip of the blade.  

The moment she slammed the sword into the ground.

Rumble rumble rumble—

The ground split apart as red lava erupted upward.  

Waves of lava surged forward like living snakes.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Everything in the surrounding area was swept up and melted by the lava.

At that moment, the Succubus Queen thrust her hand forward.

Clank— Shing shing shing!

Her steel arm split open, revealing dozens of gun barrels.  

Dark blue energy gathered at the tips.  

Soon, the Succubus Queen fired dozens of black energy beams.

Ziiiing!

They merged into one and flew toward the Greed Kill secret art.

However.

Rumble—

The black beams were mercilessly swallowed by the surging lava.

The Succubus Queen then spread her wings wide.

Crrrrrr—

The dark red spikes attached to the wing surfaces spun like drills and shot forward.

However.

Ruuuuuumble~~!!

Everything melted away before the Greed Kill secret art.

Then.

BOOOOM!

The aura of the Greed Kill secret art swallowed the Succubus Queen whole. 

Lava surged all the way up to the outer walls and ceiling of the boss room.  

Even the ceiling pipes that had repaired the Succubus Queen melted and disappeared completely.

Jeanne then drove the Black Long Night Sword into the ground.

Rumble—

The lava was sucked back into the cracks in the floor.

All that remained in the boss room were pitch-black melted iron fragments.  

Far away, the fragments that used to be the Succubus Queen were melting and flowing.

High-grade mana stones were scattered around the area.

‘……As expected, even the boss here only drops mana stones.’

I looked at Jeanne and thought.

‘She’s gotten stronger than before. Is it the effect of accepting the power of the second Seven Demon Strike?’

Jeanne’s combat power was steadily increasing.  

In that case, it was time to reinforce other areas.

-Ding!

[Shadow Knights]

▶ Yi Seonggye  — Rank: A+

▶ Cheok Jun-gyeong — Rank: A+

▶ Yi I — Rank: A+

▶ Sogi Pa — Rank: A+

▶ Kim Hyeong-eon  — Rank: A+

▶ Jeong Gi-ryong — Rank: A+

▶ Lee Ui-min — Rank: A+

▶ Kim Deok-ryeong — Rank: A+

▶ Myeonghoe — Rank: A+

▶ Heo Jun— Rank: A+

I looked over the Shadow Knight summoning list.  

A list packed full of A+ ranks. 

However, it was still insufficient to face S-rank monsters.

‘Even last time against the Fierce God Evil Slayer, dozens of Shadow Knights weren’t enough.’

What I needed to prepare for wasn’t just S-rank monsters.  

The Mana Spear’s promotion quest would also become significantly more difficult. 

No matter how much I thought about it, there were never enough ways to strengthen our forces.

I took out a small bell from my pocket.

Clatter—

A black bell tied with a red string. 

It was the material needed to create the S-rank Shadow Knight, ‘Chi You.’

However.

-Ding!  

<To summon the Shadow Knight Chi You, two relics are required.>  

<Currently possessed relics: 1>

I couldn’t create it right now.  

It seemed two relics were needed to create an S-rank Shadow Knight.

‘Well, it’s not a big problem.’

Flutter—

-<Phantom Thief Gentleman’s Monocle>/Accessory/A-rank  

An accessory used by the Phantom Thief Gentleman who shook the Lokpia Continent hundreds of years ago.  

It is said that wearing this allows one to see the true nature of objects.

With this artifact, I could distinguish real relics from fakes as much as I wanted.  

There were countless heroes in China.  

I would recover their relics and create a Shadow Knight legion with them.

“Alright then…… Shall we head to China?”

It was time to go scout world-class talent.