Translator: HH Editor: ShaSha
To clear the 12th floor, I needed almost a thousand deaths.
For the 13th floor, I would need more deaths than that.
‘Sword Emperor.’
-What?
‘Let’s make a bet.’
-What bet?
I cut the neck of the zombie that was running at me. My sword went through like it was slicing through tofu. I spoke as I was looking at the tens, hundreds, and thousands of zombies that were running at me.
‘How many times I’ll die until the 19th floor. Let’s make a bet.’
-Mm.
Bae Hu-ryeong stroked his chin.
-Okay. Then I’ll go for 100 or less!
I grinned.
‘Then I’ll do 99.’
-Wow, you unfair bastard. You wanna play cowardly like that? Huh?
‘Yes. I do.’
Bae Hu-ryeong smirked.
-Fine. Let’s watch the zombie kill his own kind. Do well! Instead, since it’s a bet, I won’t help you. Good?
‘Good.’
I laughed looking at the zombies that were running towards me.
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
I died while laughing.
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[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
“Ugh, we need to do something about this amount…Witch, can’t you do something?”
“I’m already doing my best. It’s just me. It’s hard. But Death King, can’t you use your skill to fight against them?”
“Ah, of course, I will. But it’s not the cool time yet…about 3 coins later I’ll have to use it.”
“What’s 3 coins?”
“There’s this thing. Mm, anyway…hm, is this thing on the mini map…ah! Sword Saint! Can you pierce through there?! Through that large top that looks like a stone casket! I have something to check!”
“What are you going to check?”
“I’ll explain later, so I’ll request this of you right now! I’m a prophet! Okay?”
“Mm…”
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
“Okay! Sword Saint! That stone casket is actually a secret opening. Through there, you can find a hammer that has an effect on the undead! You can go with Witch and use it!”
“He’s only ever used a sword his entire life…”
“It has a large territory effect! If you put your Aura on it and slam it into the ground, zombies will be swept away! Okay!?”
“How do you know that?”
“Prophet! Okay!?”
“Well, I never…”
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
“The zombies are just about taken care of, so now, the Devil King, ugh, what’s that?”
“Zombies. Giants. I think it’s a zombie giant.”
“Mm. Since the history of the temple is pretty old…that’s probably a giant soldier who used to protect this temple. He died beside the Devil King and became his subordinate…it’s probably something like that. If the Heretic Questioner was here, we would’ve known more…”
“Whoa, that person knows about otherworldly religions too? I guess he’s not an SSS Class zealot for nothing.”
“It’s because of his skill.”
“Well, that’s the proof of his SSS Class.”
“How unpleasant. Do you have to talk about that damned bastard? Anyways, I’ll take that giant.”
“Yes, sir, Sword Saint. I’ll leave it to you!”
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
“Anyways, I’ll take that giant.”
“No, Sword Saint. You can continue to take care of the zombies with the hammer.”
“Look here, that giant is testing my sword so…”
“Prophet! I’m a prophet! Okay?”
“Sheesh…hu, then who’s taking care of that giant?”
“Obviously, the Witch. Please aim your Beam on that giant’s eyes.”
“Well. They are eyes that I wanted to aim at. It’s basically begging for it with that one gigantic eye.”
“Perfect! Let’s go!”
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
“Anyways, I’ll take that….”
“Hundred Ghosts Summon!”
“Goodness. Death King. Your skill doesn’t even have a cool time?”
“It happened like this…alright, you two can deal with that giant. Especially Witch. I have something I want to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t aim for the eyes.”
“How come?”
“If you do, things will go bad.”
“But Death King. Look at the giant zombie with a single eye. Look at the gigantic eye. Can you see it?”
“Yes…I’m looking at it. I know it’s basically begging to be targeted. But you can’t.”
“How come? That…eye, Death King…if you could use Beam like me, and you saw an eyeball like that…”
“I admit it…Witch. If I was you, I would try to argue that I was going to aim at that eye. But I don’t have time to explain that right now…please?”
“Ut…”
“Listen to him, Witch.”
“Sword Saint, even you…”
“That youngster says he’s a prophet. Let’s listen to him for now.”
“…Fine…I’ll do my best…not to aim at that eyeball.”
“Thank you!!”
We ran. We fought. We saved each other.
We did things.
We talked a lot.
-My children…..!
We broke through the zombies that were at the temple.
-My general….!
We pushed aside the giant one-eyed soldier that was probably a legend back in his days.
-AHHHH…..!
[The Devil King of Fall Rain chooses to retreat.]
And,
[The Devil King of Fall Rain falls back to the 14th floor!]
We pushed the Devil King back floor by floor.
Like on the 12th floor, raindrops of light whirled around.
The temple that was the barrier of the continent was shining like a newly wiped shield.
With the sound of a bell, people sang songs. From the East, merchants were riding horses, and from the West, merchants passed by on strange birds. The paladins were thrusting their hammers together while sparring, and the apostles who were looking at them with amorous eyes were pulled to the temple by their ears.
“The priest sneezed!”
There was an orphan who shouted jokingly and received a knuckle to the head by an apostle. A one-eyed soldier waved his hand at the apostle.
Ah.
“Death King.”
Mm.
“Okay,…Witch. Let’s go. Alright, Sword Saint, are you ready/”
“Wait a moment. There’s a merchant selling good whetstones over there.”
Sword Saint brought a whetstone. While he was sharpening his sword, I turned my gaze away from the giant and looked at the world map.
The red land that was pretty far away was squirming like it was going to horde over here again.
But we still had time for Sword Saint to sharpen his sword.
That would be enough.
“Death King.”
The Witch grabbed my hand. When Sword Saint was finished, he immediately held the Witch’s hand as well.
“Teleport.”
The light surrounded us again.
“Hm. Is the 14th floor a forest. The Devil King…seems to have hidden.”
“Be careful. I can feel enemies all around us.”
“Yeah. Let’s go slowly. Slowly.”
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
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And like that, we cleared through the Devil King’s Elf army.
[The Devil King of Fall Rain has chosen to retreat.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain is falling back to the 15th floor!]
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In the middle of a waterfall that flowed backwards, we defeated the Devil King, who was using the Queen of Mermaids.
[The Devil King of Fall Rain has chosen to retreat.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain is falling back to the 16h floor!]
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On the top of an exploded volcano, we fought against the wyvern-using Devil King.
[The Devil King of Fall Rain has chosen to retreat.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain is falling back to the 17th floor…]
History was regressing.
To a time before the Devil King attacked the empire.
To not only the empire but before he attacked several lands.
Before the temple was destroyed.
To before the Fairy Forest was cursed before the waterfall flowed backwards, and before the volcano exploded.
Before, before.
Before the Devil King ruled an army.
Without any pause.
Like how a wave covered another wave, and how a drop of water disappeared just like a bubble.
Like how flower petals fell.
Every time we climbed the tower, the Devil King’s territory shrunk, and he became weaker.
[The Devil King of Fall Rain’s existence is becoming faint.]
Like how the Devil King of the 13th floor was weaker than the 12th.
The Devil King of the 14th floor was weaker than the 13th.
And the 15th was a bit weaker,
And bit by bit, little by little…
[You have died.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain has chosen to retreat.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain’s existence is becoming faint.]
[You have died.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain has chosen to retreat.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain’s existence is becoming faint.]
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-You dare!
The 97th time.
When I arrived on the 19th floor while at my 97th death, we were in an unknown small country.
-You dare!
The Devil King cried in the middle of the empty land.
It wasn’t the Sword Saint or the Witch.
The person the Devil King was glaring at while grinding his teeth was me.
-If it wasn’t for you!
His eyes were bloodshot with fury.
-It’s because of you! Everything’s you’re fault! If you took the right steps…yes! If it wasn’t for you, this wouldn’t have happened! You dare! A measly sword user from another world…
I lifted my sword.
“Dang. I finally see the eyes.”
-What…?
“It’s exactly how I said. After all this time, I’m finally seeing how your eyes look.”
Yeah.
The original Devil King of Fall Rain had no eyes.
He was a squirming shadow. He had a face, but no expression. He had arms, but no hands. Wastewater. Because he was covered in that black boiling solution.
That was how it was.
“Does that make sense?”
The Devil King’s mask was finally broken.
“The Devil King and a warrior weren’t able to meet eyes. It’s an unbelieve tragedy.”
And finally, there was a part that wasn’t covered by wastewater. Bloodshot eyes. They emanated a grotesque murderous Aura but…I wasn’t scared. Rather, I was glad.
I point my blade at the Devil King.
“Fight with all you got.”
-You…
“Or run away again. Hey, aren’t you curious? How much weaker you’ll get if you run away this time.”
-······.
“If you don’t fight with what you have, you can’t win.”
Even without the rewards I got from the 19th floor, the Devil King of the 20th floor would have been completely weak.
-You dare say…a mere hyena that ate all my flesh, what would you know…
It was a growling voice like he was cursing me.
There was a lost shadow where he was.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“Estelle.”
Pause.
The Devil King’s red eyes widened.
“I warned you to fight with everything you have.”
-······.
“If you don’t-”
And I hit the ground that I was standing on.
An exploding scream came from him.
Black water was flicked everywhere.
“My time will be longer than your history.”
Listening to the Devil King, Estelle, scream, I glared at him.
Face to face.
Towards the path that I was walking on.