Chapter 8: Boss Battle (1)

A door appeared.

As Muyoung stepped through the door, a bright light enveloped him.

Muyoung closed his eyes, when he opened them, he noticed others looking at him.

All together, 5 people.

‘Was I the last one?’

The desert was long.

For days, maybe weeks, Muyoung had walked continuously.

No way, did they wait for me all this time?

Muyoung stretched his hands and touched his hair.

His body of only skin and bones with almost no hair had been turned back to normal.

‘An illusion.’

Muyoung realized that the world within the door was an illusion.

Within the doors, he wasn’t aware of it, but he became certain once he passed through the door.

“Are you okay?”

Taehwan approached him.

He donned a shield Muyoung hadn’t seen before.

A red shield embedded with a cylindrical ruby.

As the aura seemed to be out of the ordinary, Muyoung assumed it was the reward he earned from passing through his trial.

As Muyoung’s gazed fixed on the shield, Taehwan awkwardly laughed.

“Ah, this shield? They gave it to me when I passed through the trial. It’s a rank B item, the ‘Shield of Eradication’.'”

A B rank gear was definitely a rare item in the Underworld.

Even in a large guild, it was only given out to a few of their important members.

It wasn’t an item a newbie could get.

Taehwan seemed quite triumphant about the fact that he earned a B rank equipment.

“Hyoungnim[1], there is an unknown effect on this shield. Could you please look at it?”

Taehwan started to call Muyoung ‘hyungnim’ since they entered the forest.

And so, he held out the shield.

Normally, it was common sense to not hand over your gear, even among your friends.

It meant that he wasn’t completely contaminated by this world, but as Muyoung was also curious, he took Taehwan’s shield.

Name: Shield of Eradication

Rank: B

Classification: Equipable type

Durability: 8,500

Effect: You gain a ‘toughness’ buff when you face more enemies.

“You got a quite decent item.”

Muyoung nodded his head.

The durability level was certainly high, but his attention was more focused on the ‘toughness’.

Within the B rank items, it was definitely hard to find one with a toughness effect.

On top of that, its buff will increase as he faced more opponent.

If he used it on a battlefield, it was sufficient enough to be qualified as a B+ or an A rank item.

However, Muyoung’s reaction only made Taehwan more puzzled.

“I don’t understand what toughness really means.”

“It is a buff to reduce the effects of spells and curses. It also allows you to resist primitive states of dread, like fear.”

Muyoung handed back the shield.

It was a decent item, but Taehwan’s abilities were far off from being able to use it to its full potential.

There was a secret class, ‘Guardian of Light,’ which used shields, but unfortunately, Muyoung didn’t know how to earn it.

As Taehwan received his shield back, he said,

“Anyhow… it seems like you have also changed quite drastically.”

Taehwan skimmed Muyoung’s body and looked at his sheath attached to his waist.

The usual place for his Scimitar of Strength was replaced by a different sword.

Muyoung drew his sword.

It was a red sword that looked like it was covered in blood.

Bone-like objects stuck out throughout the length of the blade.

Name: Anguish

Rank: A

Classification: Equipable Type

Durability: 30,000 (Unrepairable)

Effect: Strength +5. Ability to steal blood from the opponent and recover the stamina of the user.

An A rank…

It was a high ranked equipment that only the leaders of guilds would normally use.

The effects were also outstanding.

It was perfect for Muyoung who had a low level of stamina.

The fact that it was not repairable was a bit of a fallback, but still, since the durability itself was amazingly high, he knew it would last him at least a few years.

Even with his Scimitar of Strength, with a durability of only 300, he was still able to use it even if it became a bit dull.

‘The Shield of Eradication is nothing compared to it.’

There was a condition attached to the Shield of Eradication.

As you fight a greater number of enemies.

If you think in reverse, it also implies that you can’t get the toughness effect when you fight against a few people.

However, with Anguish, he just needed to attack. As long as he could spill the blood of his enemies and the durability had not dropped to 0, it was built for continuous fighting.

But, Anguish wasn’t the only thing he had earned.

Muyoung turned his Status Viewer and checked his abilities.

Achievement Effect -> Gremory’s Anguish (A, +3 to all abilities)

Class Effect -> None

Strength 30 (22 + 8) Agility 23 (20 + 3)

Stamina 24 (21 + 3) Intelligence 14 (11 + 3)

Wisdom 15 (12 + 3) Fighting Aura 13 (10 + 3)

Special Note: Fighting Aura has been awakened.

*As your Fighting Aura increases, low-grade enemies won’t be able to approach you.

[Before and After Comparison]

Strength 11 Agility 13 Stamina 9 Intelligence 9 Wisdom 8

Strength 30 Agility 23 Stamina 24 Intelligence 14 Wisdom 15

Maybe that was why his body felt like it was overflowing with power.

‘Ha.’

Even Muyoung himself was surprised at his development.

When comparing to the first day, his basic stats had improved drastically. However with the inclusion of Anguish and the Achievement Effect, his stats had improved even further.

Besides, an A ranked Achievement Effect was much rarer than similarly ranked weapons.

That was because receiving an achievement effect itself was extremely difficult.

‘With this, it seems like the boss battle will be much easier.’

His current stats exceeded far beyond his expectations.

If Taehwan blocked the attacks with his shield, he thought that it was enough to come out victorious in the boss battle.

Afterwards, it seemed possible for him to go and retrieve his secret class.

‘Anyways…’

He examined everything, except for the last one.

‘The Demon King of the 27th Legion?’

If Muyoung’s memories were correct, he clearly remembered the last message about a skill earned with that name.

It was exceptionally rare for a someone to gain a skill before earning a class, but the name wasn’t anything ordinary either.

When he opened his skill category, there was one as he expected.

Skill Title: The Demon King of the 27th Legion (A+)

Description - The qualifications to become the Demon King of the 27th Legion. Gremory originally had 26 Legions. Only Demon Kings were able to command the 26 Legions and every one of them possessed tremendous power.

<‘The first Human Demon King(?)’ had been recorded in your history.>

These were the messages that popped up as he checked his skill.

Muyoung knitted his brows after reading all the messages.

‘If you really think about, it’s not really a skill.’

Simply put, he didn’t have the ‘qualification’.

But, the necessary qualification was a staggering A+ rank.

However, if he could prove himself, it meant that he would gain more power than he could imagine.

‘A quest to become Demon Goddess Gremory’s Demon King…’

Even in the past, Gremory was a Demon Goddess who didn’t reveal herself and was a Demon Goddess veiled in mystery.

He never thought it was because she was a peacekeeper.

He thought for a moment and decided it wasn’t a bad idea.

If he could gain strength and achieve his goals, becoming a Demon King wasn’t bad at all.

What Muyoung truly wanted to do was save humanity.

But, it didn’t mean that he wanted to save everyone. That’s why Muyoung didn’t want to be a true warrior.

It suited him more to become a Demon King-like warrior.

The problem was the method.

How he was going to become one.

For Muyoung, who didn’t even know the location of Gremory, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

‘Someday I will achieve this.’

However, Muyoung didn’t really care.

They were most likely able to find this Shrine of Gremory only because someone or something deliberately led them to it, otherwise, it would have been impossible.

That meant that it was possible to complete the quest.

“Mister. It says that I gained a new class.”

Suzy carefully approached him.

She then removed her Status Viewer from her wrist.

This was also considered taboo in the Underworld.

However, this wasn’t even comparable to Taehwan giving his shield to him.

“Don’t ever show your Status Viewer to others.”

“Okay…”

She sunk her head from Muyoung’s cold words.

But quickly raised her head to say…

“Then I will only show it to you, mister. After all, if I don’t know what I have, I will still be in danger.”

Muyoung looked at Suzy’s eyes for a moment.

He couldn’t believe that that was a statement made by a 9-year-old.

She really was a keen child.

And it wasn’t as if her words were wrong.

Not knowing what you had was also dangerous.

He took Suzy’s Status Viewer and looked at it closely.

Name: Bae Suzy

Achievement Effect -> None

Class Effect -> Valkyrie of Dawn (Secret, There will be light after hardships.)

Strength 11 Agility 11

Stamina 11 Intelligence 11 Wisdom 11

Special Note: None

‘So you could even receive a secret class.’

Valkyries referred to maiden warriors who served a God.

It seemed like a special class only women could receive.

Even in the past, he had never heard of the Valkyrie of Dawn.

That was probably why it was a secret class.

In the past, there were less than 100 people who had a secret class.

Just by looking at that, you could tell that they were well worth it.

It was as if Suzy received an incredible growth potential.

Though there was a question regarding the last part.

There will be light after hardships.

It was indeed an ambiguous effect.

Does it mean that you will only get stronger as you face more hardships?

Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that her abilities are all 11.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Screech. Squeak.

That moment.

It became noisy outside.

‘Must be the shrewmice.’

Muyoung sensed a huge number of them heading their way.

“Is, Isn’t this the sound of the monsters coming towards us?”

“They shouldn’t be able to enter the shrine right?”

The two cowardly men asked Muyoung.

However, Muyoung just shook his head.

All the doors disappeared and the Star of David had lost its brightness.

Bang! Swish!

The statues of the goddess outside the shrine started to crack and crumble.

These signs only meant one thing.

“Catch this. And… brace yourselves.”

After passing Suzy her Status Viewer, Muyoung unsheathed Anguish.

“Enemies are approaching.”

[1] Big brother (younger male to an older male).