Chapter 458 - 458 (1/2)
”Their locations are...at the edges of American coastlines.”
But those weren't everything.
”Even wider...With the Pacific in the center, there must be at least several thousands.”
Creaaaak—
Crack, spliiiit—
When he sent his power to his hand, pressing against the stele, cracks began running on the slab made out of the World Tree.
Puff—!
And then, the stele shattered into powder.
The stele could no longer continue with its intended purpose after breaking apart. When that happened, the colorless dungeon next to it briefly wavered ever so faintly.
”As I thought, they were connected somehow, huh?”
Su-hyeun unhesitantly stepped inside this colorless dungeon.
Its interior didn't look all that different from other dungeons. Its entrance that lacked any discernible color seemed to be the only difference, as he could still sense the presence of monsters within this large cavern.
”No, wait.”
Step—
Su-hyeun's eyes gleamed sharply as he walked inside this enclosed cavern. ”There is something different here, alright.”
”What brings you back in here?” A skeleton waiting by the entrance of the dungeon suddenly addressed Su-hyeun.
Its cracking voice sounded androgynous. It wore a set of a smart, gentlemanly business suit while a fedora adorned its skull. This creature was no doubt the top dog in this dungeon.
Also, it was no ordinary monster, either.
”Did we not warn you that until the promised date, there will not be any further interaction—?”
”A Prey—No, you seemed to be a low-rank Predator.”
”What was that?!” The gentleman skeleton gasped in a flustered voice.
If its face still had muscles and skin, it would've probably made a rather funny expression by now.
Shu-ahahahk—
Crack, ka-boom—!
Su-hyeun dashed forward, grabbed the skeleton's throat, and lifted it up before slamming the undead down hard on the ground. A deep crater caved in on the spot, and the ripples from the impact rocked the entirety of the cavern.
Krrrrr—!
Hiss, hsssss—!
Sha-aaaah—!
All sorts of monsters began leaping out from the deeper part of the cavern next. It seemed that they sensed a threat after their leader, the skeleton, got attacked.
”Nezha.”
Shu-wuwu—
Su-hyeun called out, and Prince Nezha answered by revealing himself. This time, Prince Nezha appeared with his torso guarded by the treasure armor. At the same time, his hands wielded the Yogoe Slaying Sword and the Yogoe Rending Saber.
”Sweep them all away.”
”Yes, my lord.”
Pang, paaaaang—!
Dozens of spheres circling around Prince Nezha shot out toward the monsters. At the same time, he kicked the ground to dash forward while swinging both of his mighty blades.
Kwa-dududu—!
Splaaat—!
He began dashing and weaving through the ranks of countless monsters. The current Nezha shouldn't have any problem dealing with a Predator ranked among One Hundred Evils.
”What are you trying to do?” asked the skeleton.
Despite being buried halfway into the ground, it had not blacked out. For one thing, it didn't have a brain inside its skull, and also, Su-hyeun had pulled back his strength at the last second.
The skeleton, with its smart suit now all in tatters, also understood the latter fact.
Grip, squeeze—
The undead grabbed Su-hyeun's wrist and tried with all its might to pull that hand away, but in the end, it failed.
Su-hyeun's physical strength easily outclassed the undead. With his gripping power or strength alone, it would be too easy for him to crush the skeleton's throat to powder.
”You. You are not really undead, are you?”
When Su-hyeun first spotted this skeleton with the suit, he felt that something seemed off, and as it turned out, this was the reason. This creature possessed a rather stock appearance of an undead, which was a skeleton, but even then, it was not undead.
Meaning, it was not a dead skeleton but a living one.
If it was a dead creature, it wouldn't have been able to rebel against Su-hyeun. His Necromancer trait possessed a powerful controlling influence over all dead and undead, after all.
So, a mere low-rank Predator wouldn't have been able to escape from Su-hyeun's control.
”I'm different from those lowly things.”
”Yeah, I know. You're even worse.”
”What's your goal here?”
”Fafn—No, wait. I guess you wouldn't know that name. Okay, so, what's your relationship with Bradley?”
Push—
The skeleton's skull momentarily pushed back. Its resistance had gotten even stronger than before. ”How do you know the name of that noble one?”
”I see, so he's still using that name, huh? And judging from your reaction, you are in a master-servant relationship with him, then?”
”...”
”You want to stay quiet, is that it? I know torturing you won't work, so that leaves me with only one other method.”
Crunch—!
Su-hyeun unhesitantly shattered the skeleton's neck. Although its skull was now separated from the rest of its torso, the skeleton didn't die immediately.
But then...
[Flame]
Ruuuuumble—
The purple-colored flames enveloped the skeleton's torso and began melting all of its bones down with the suit. Even if the Predator boasted a ”life force” as tenacious as that of the undead, it was impossible for it to still cling on when its entire body had melted down to nothing but black liquid.
”Alright. Now then,” Su-hyeun stared at the soul of this now-dead skeleton, ”Why don't we have a proper conversation in this manner?”
”Inconceivable. Just how...?”
Maybe because it used to be a Predator, the skeleton still retained some level of its ego despite ending up as nothing but a soul.
It was certainly different from Rockwell earlier, at least. Still, that didn't mean it could resist the control exerted by the Necromancer trait.
”What is this place? It doesn't look like a regular dungeon, at least.”
”To put it simply, this place is a stepping stone that connects different dimensions. But the passageway is still too narrow, and we are waiting for the signal to...Huph?!”
The skeleton hurriedly covered up its mouth with its hands. It seemed to be incredibly flustered because it replied so willingly and honestly to Su-hyeun's questions.
But Su-hyeun simply ignored that reaction and continued with his questioning, ”What is this signal you're talking about?”
”The moment our sovereign arrives, the exit's color will change. That is the signal.”
”Fafnir is headed over here? If so, is there a reason why you are all waiting around like this?”