Chapter 245

Suho decided to take care of Seo Jiwoo first.

"Hunter Seo Jiwoo, thank you for your hard work. We'll stay here and look around the Sea of The Afterlife, so please go back outside and rest."

Seo Jiwoo's role was essentially over. Since she was in a state where she couldn't even breathe properly just by being near the Sea of The Afterlife, it was urgent to send her out of the dungeon as soon as possible.

"Harmakan, guide her to the way out."

When looked at Harmakan, instead of personally escorting Seo Jiwoo out, used magic.

Flash—!

The magic circle created in Harmakan's hand compressed into the size of a fist.

[Master, there's an easier way.]

Suho accepted the item handed to him.

Ding!

[Obtained Item: 'Return Stone'.]

"Return Stone?"

An information window popped up before Suho.

[Item: Return Stone]

[Type: Consumable]

[An item created by Harmakan's magic.]

[You can return outside the dungeon by breaking the Return Stone.]

"Oh. You can make something like this too?"

[It's just a petty trick I learned while researching Kandiaru's legacy.] Harmakan spoke humbly as if it was nothing, but his lips and shoulders were already twitching with excitement at Suho's surprised reaction.

"Can this item be used by anyone other than me?"

[Originally, it was impossible, but I've specially modified this one so that anyone can use it near Master's shadow soldiers.]

"Near shadow soldiers? Did you utilize the Shadow Exchange skill?"

[As expected, you're sharp. Since I'm subordinate to Master, I've found that most of Kandiaru's legacy is magic that utilizes the shadow power from the beginning.]

"I see." Suho nodded.

The more he learned, the more it seemed like the demonic spirit race was a useful bunch. He immediately placed the Return Stone in Seo Jiwoo's hand and said,

"Then please go back safely."

"This is…" Seo Jiwoo, who suddenly had the Return Stone in her hand, had an expression that said she couldn't be surprised anymore. Well, since he even created a dungeon, she didn't have the mental capacity to be shocked even if a way to easily return appeared.

Crack!

Seo Jiwoo broke the Return Stone with her hand as Suho explained, and she left the dimensional gap through the portal connected to the outside of Hapjeong Station.

[Master doesn't need to use the Return Stone; you can just use the Shadow Exchange skill.]

"Yes. Speaking of which, I need to deploy soldiers around here in advance. So I can return anytime."

It was good that he had a lot of shadow soldiers. If he spread them all over the place, he could move anywhere whenever the cooldown ended. Suho selected a few of the shadow demons he extracted today and a few shadow lizardmen and ordered them to continue guarding the front of the Gate.

[Shadow Demon's title has been changed to 'Shadow Gatekeeper'.]

[Shadow Lizardman's title has been changed to 'Shadow Gatekeeper'.]

"Now, let's go in." Suho led the rest of his troops and stepped into the Gate.

[Entering Gate: 'Sea of The Afterlife'.]

Flash—

And at that moment…

"…!"

A sticky, pitch-black sky unfolded before Suho's eyes. A boundless expanse of melted, undulating darkness stretching in all directions.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Warning messages suddenly began to pop up.

[A living body has come into contact with the energy of the 'Sea of The Afterlife'.]

[Debuff: 'Death' is activated.]

[Health decreases in real-time.]

[HP -100]

[…]

"Wow." This was crazy. His HP was steadily decreasing by a whopping 100 every second.

"So if I stay here, I'll eventually die. Even Kandiaru's blessing doesn't work in the face of death."

"Of course. Even the Absolute Being couldn't avoid death, so a blessing created by a mere creation is useless here." Antares, who had climbed onto Suho's shoulder, was scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes.

…It was vast. He couldn't spot anything like the World Tree no matter where he looked. All he could see was sticky darkness.

[My liege, be careful. Just because you can't see anything doesn't mean there's nothing here.] Beru also had an unusually tense look in his eyes.

[The moment you fall into this sea, the rate at which your health decreases will accelerate.]

Fortunately, there was no chance of Suho falling into the sea. He had a skill he learned from the Ice Elf Sirka, the successor of the Monarch of Frost.

Splash

[Using Skill: 'Elven Footsteps'.]

Suho's carefully extended foot succeeded in stepping on and walking across the black sea.

[Oooh!]

[Master walked on water!]

[Kieek! As expected of Master!]

The shadow soldiers cheered with their hands raised.

Suho was also relieved.

"That's a relief. If this skill didn't work, I was going to use the Ruler's Authority."

The Ruler's Authority was closer to the concept of floating in the air rather than walking. So Elven Footsteps were less burdensome to use in many ways. Anyway, Suho, having solved the movement restriction, looked at the soldiers, including Beru.

"But are you guys okay?"

[We are fine since we are already dead souls.]

"That's a relief."

The shadow soldiers didn't have the concept of HP, so there was no health to lose.

"Then what about Antares?"

"Beep?"

"Did you already run away? You little..."

[The King of Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction, urges Ragnar to take refuge in the shadow world.]

Ragnar, who was no longer possessed, was withering away on Suho's shoulder with a blank expression.

"Yes, you go in."

Suho sent Ragnar back into his shadow. And as he watched his HP decreasing in real-time, he bought a lot of healing potions from the shop.

[Purchased Item: 'Intermediate Healing Potion'.]

[…]

"This… the cost of potions is going to be significant."

Suho wondered if there were any other places like this.

A place where you absolutely must drink potions regularly.

Because even if you drink several at the same time, they don't restore HP any faster. In the end, the potions here were limited to barely maintaining his current health.

"If a battle breaks out in this state, it will be absolutely impossible to recover with just potions."

[My liege, why don't you leave the reconnaissance of this place to the soldiers and stay outside safely?] That was Beru's advice.

"Let's look around as much as possible since we've already come this far."

Suho spread the shadow lizardmen, who could fly, in all directions to scout the surroundings. And he himself walked across the Sea of The Afterlife with Elven Footsteps.

[You must use Shadow Exchange with the soldiers outside the Gate whenever you feel it's dangerous.] Harmakan also spared no advice for Suho.

[No, it would be better to exchange with the soldiers you left on Earth. Considering the cooldown, that would be more efficient…]

It was then…

"They're here." Suho's eyes sharpened.

Splash—!

Giant tentacles shot out from the sticky, pitch-black sea, targeting Suho from all directions.

[Nightmare Bud]

"This really is a flower garden."

Suho threw his dagger as if he had been waiting.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash—!

"Kiiiii!"

The battle suddenly began. Starting with the Nightmare Buds, nameless weeds also appeared and attacked Suho. Now that a human with abundant life force had entered the Sea of The Afterlife, their goal was obvious.

Chomp! Chomp!

Chomp!

Numerous plants opened their mouths wide to devour Suho. Some even popped out from under his feet.

[Protect the Little Monarch!]

[Protect Master!]

Actually, these guys weren't a problem individually. What could mere weeds do against the mighty shadow soldiers? The real issue was completely different…

"…These weeds, it seems like they don't give experience points."

[Master, the Sea of The Afterlife is not a place for leveling up. It's an area that cannot be replicated even with Kandiaru's Instance Dungeon.]

"I can't level up here." Suho's expression turned serious.

This was a very, very serious problem.

Suho looked around again. Again, the Sea of The Afterlife was vast, a truly boundless expanse. He had his army thoroughly search the area, but there was no sign of the World Tree, not even a shadow. At this rate, he would end up wasting all his money on potions.

"Hmm. So it's that kind of place…? Let's change our approach." Suho's gaze suddenly lowered to his feet.

"Follow me, everyone."

[M-my liege?!] Beru was shocked.

Splash—!

Suho, who was safely walking on the surface, suddenly jumped into the Sea of The Afterlife.

[Everyone, follow the Little Monarch!!] At Beru's urging, the soldiers followed Suho and dived into the sea and killed any weeds they saw down there.

The problem was Suho.

Ding!

[Health decreases in real-time.]

[The deeper you go, the stronger the effect of Debuff: 'Death' becomes.]

[HP -100]

[HP -109]

[HP -123]

[HP -149]

[HP -162]

[…]

This was truly death. The deeper he went, the more Suho's HP decreased.

'No wonder my father told me to level up first, before trying to find the World Tree.'

Fortunately, thanks to diligently leveling up as his father said, he still had some leeway. Besides, he had no problem breathing in this strange black seawater. It was thanks to learning the trick of creating a protective barrier on his face with magic power from Esil when he was wandering in the desert before.

As he left the small fry to the soldiers and swam deeper and deeper into the Sea of The Afterlife…

'…Found it.' Suho's eyes gleamed.

'Yes. The Sea of The Afterlife is where the dead wander.'

He was curious why he couldn't see anything, but they were all gathered down here. That's right. At the deep bottom of the Sea of The Afterlife…

There was literally 'hell.'

An awful lot of souls. Countless residents of the mixed world, including humans, were submerged like cold corpses. But no matter their appearance, their eyes, already dead, were simply empty. Even the souls that were already tattered from having their nutrients sucked out by weeds couldn't feel any pain and were simply one with this black water.

[My liege…] Beru, who was clinging close to protect him, looked at him with uneasy eyes.

Suho, who finally faced the terrifying reality of the Sea of The Afterlife after diving in…

"A big catch." But he was smiling… More brightly than ever.

"Arise, everyone."

[…!]

[Shadow extraction successful.]

[…]

[The King of Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction, grumbles that this is just so unfair...]

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