Chapter 39: Ogofa's misfortune
Wroom…
A faint hum of a door opening replaced the cold silence.
[Welcome to the Mid-boss room of
A cold wind blew. The darkness welcomed them with open arms. Kyriaki ignored the holographic notification window and took a step forward.
Tak.
The nano-tec heel of her white boots made a rough sound as she entered the dark room. Following her Euclid, Levana, Adam and Ethan also entered with different kinds of expressions on each person. The former had sparkling eyes while the later shivered with trembling hearts.
Tak.Tak.Tak.
Just after ten steps, Kyriaki stopped. Her nose wrinkled as she held back her dissatisfaction. Euclid also stopped beside her as if he also saw what she saw and wanted to express his dissatisfaction as well. His ocean blue eyes gleamed in the dark.
"Welcome, humans."
An eerie voice, tinted with amusement and superiority of baseless confidence rang inside the dark room. It was too deep to be a human, too light to be a demon.
In a dungeon of living dead who acted on instincts despite retaining their former intelligent lives, hearing a voice full of reasons injected an uncomfortable feeling right into the children's heart.
Bang!
The door closed in an instant with a loud bang. The way it opened calmly seemed like a mirage.
"Gasp!" Someone who had been holding their breath till now gasped for air as if he was about to die. Kyriaki ignored all of those with slightly frowned eyebrows.
"That language…" She mumbled.
"It's Titan Runic, right?" Euclid asked carefully, his tone similar to someone who was calculating and planning something unpredictable. Kyriaki merely nodded.
Titan Runic; The language of Titans. The power behind Titans. And coming from a place like this?
It said a lot.
Woosh!
A small sound as if a switch had been turned on barely reached their ears. One by one, the torches attached to the high walls started to burn with newly lit fire. The hall stretched out to a far distance. Longer and longer.
As fire torches went on one by one in a rhythm, the children's faces paled and eyes opened wide as if they would pop out. Half of the mid-level boss room was already visible. And the creatures that came to sight under the light of torches were starting to growl like hungry wolves.
Kyriaki worked hard to maintain her poker face. But her eyes, which were formally distant and indifferent, had turned cold and cautious.
[Ding!]
[Deadborn
Category: Monster
Variant: Zombie
Description: Inflected former humans or beastkin. Due to the evolution of the zombie virus and demonic magic, they had become a mutated zombie Sub-race. It has the lower body part similar to a kangaroo and upper body of a human without either nose, eyes, nor skin. It also has an evolved bone factor and nerve system. Deadborns are a type of zombie species with an intact higher intelligence compared to ordinary zombies. Be aware of the skill
'… they look like Red Vexom from Maxvel Univerxe without eyes.'
Kyriaki expressed her displeasure inwardly, not taking her eye off the hoarder of monsters that came to her view upon the increasingly brightening boss room.
"Zombies? Monsters? What is this?!"
"Be careful, those are Deadborns." Kyriaki glanced at her frightened teammates and explained in a clear and calm voice. "Thankfully, they are all currently under E+ Rank. Even though it might be hard to kill them with your current rank, it's not impossible."
"And be careful not to get hit by their Skill;
"...I understand, for now." Levana nodded.
Then she froze as the last fire torches were brightly lit in the end of the room. Following her, all children froze as if they were hit by a high ranking ice spell.
Clang.
The sound of chains clashing with one another echoed in the mid-level boss room. At the end of the sound, one creature with two creepy smiles wasn't something they expected in the slightest.
"What the hell is that?!" Ethan's cry overlapped with the low growls of zombie monsters. It was a voice that sounded like a scream.
"Crazy!"
"Fxxxxxx xxxxx"
As the elves panicked, Euclid bit his lips, erasing the last trace of his bright smile. Kyriaki intently stared at the creepy and unpleasant monster without uttering a word.
[ Twin Headed Zombie King
Category: Monster
Variant: Zombie Titan
Rank: D
Description: Inflected former titan, evolved into a being with unique skills due to the high bloodline, change of original virus and demonic magic. It had lost its former powers and bloodline abilities as a titan and had been reborn as an irregular mutated zombie with two heads. It has grey skin and rotten flesh. Be aware that it had not lost its memories and intelligence from before it became a zombie.]
An Irregular mutated zombie from a higher species. It was dangerous. More dangerous than seeing ordinary elves that had become zombies. There was a clear difference between those who had lost their main source of power; Intelligent to instincts and those who had not lost their intelligence to instincts even in death.
A zombie that uses weapons.
A zombie who can speak articulately.
'...A zombie without instincts to run towards living despite containing traces of intelligence.'
"Ugh, what kind of Rexxdent Evil and Paxxent Zero slaughter zombie is that?!" Kyriaki blurted out, taking her stance before even summoning her sword.
"What's Rexxdent Evil?"
"And Paxxent Zero?"
Euclid and Levana both summoned their weapons, not forgetting to question Kyriaki's impulsive comments on the process. Kyriaki ignored them as she scanned the new enemy with caution.
It looked just like a Titan, but with unpleasant grey skin and a rotten flesh smell. The beautiful runes had faded and been replaced by black veins. The two heads, unlike a Titan, looked ominous.
It sat in a lotus position on a high platform.
Not blinking.
Not decreasing its smile.
The Flail with a long chain on its hands made noises from time to time as if to say everything happening right now was real. But the most surprising part wasn't anything related to that.
"Am I seeing this right? Why does it have two heads? Is it a titan, an orc or a zombie?" Kyriaki couldn't help but ask.
This kind of monster, she recalled the third person's memory she obtained and immediately found out where she had seen it. The Twin Headed Zombie King was supposed to appear six hundred years from now as an EX (High) ranked Boss monster under Sin of Lust; Se'irim.
Why did it appear now of all time?
There were so many questions she knew she couldn't get an answer to. Hence, she let go of her gifted memories that cannot be used on a mere D Rank mid-level boss monster and focused on the current situation.
"Eucee, didn't you say it was just a mutated zombie?"
"Who would have thought there'd be an unusual monster of D rank in a mid-level boss room!?"
"Mhmm…Now that I think about it, D rank in a C+ rank double dungeon is hardly surprising."
"Sigh…I should have been more careful before coming here. All the plans we made are useless now."
It was such a rookie mistake both Euclid and Kyriaki made since it was their first Boss Raid.
"It couldn't be helped, we are far too inexperienced and immature." Kyriaki also agreed with him as she shook her head. Euclid sighed again, briefly glanced at the empty air and smirked as if he found something funny.
"Kekekeke!" And the creature; The Twin Headed Zombie King also joined in Their amusement. Two laughing voices overlapped with one another.
"What is this? They are all baby Elves and Dragons?" The right head of the Zombie King laughed with overflowing amusement.
Kyriaki rolled her eyes at the similar phrase she heard from somewhere. She wanted to hum the tune 'Someone wrote this song before and I could tell you where it from~' if she had more time, but alas, The Twin Headed Zombie King seemed to not understand her musical mind.
"Elves aren't that tasty… but the hatchlings are." The left head licked his lips.
The black tongue wet with sticky saliva drooled from his mouth as if a slime had exploded. Euclid immediately backed away like an OCD patient that couldn't stand the sight of dirtiness. His eyes, mouth, nose and entire body displayed his disgust towards the monster without any filter.
"Their tears, blood, flesh, scales and most importantly, their core…everything is precious and delicious. I might be able to climb up to C rank with these two…Kekekekeke." But the clueless Twin Headed Zombie King was so immense in their thoughts that they failed to notice the hatchlings' facial expressions.
"That's true. I am precious."
"I can prove I'm delicious too, if only you were my Apomero."
Euclid and Kyriaki shrugged their shoulders and lifted their chins proudly.
This time, not only hatchlings but elves nodded in agreement.
A dragon's physical body was priceless. Each part had a rare power that could sometimes bring back the dead, cure diseases, boost abilities, nullify any poison and many more hidden benefits.
Thus, they had no choice but to agree to the part where it called Dragons precious.
After hearing their proud declarations, For the first time, The Twin Headed Zombie King paused and took a closer look at the children with narrow eyes.
"You all have loose mouths…. little brats."
"You are not the one to talk, Prince Einn."
The air froze.
The remaining children froze.
The Twin Headed Zombie King froze.
And even the Deathborns froze.
"...What." The right head of The Zombie King twisted his face. The left head blinked his eyes as if he couldn't understand. "What did you say?"
"Hmmm? I said, 'You are not the one to talk'?" Kyriaki tilted her head, smiling gently.
Someone somewhere took a deep breath. And another shivered by the frozen air.
"Not that!!" The right head of The Zombie King yelled with a booming voice. "You! How do you know my previous name!!??"
"Oh, your name? Einn, was it?"
"How dare you utter my noble name like it's nothing!"
Clang!
The thick Flail in his hand shot sideways and hit the wall, crushing not only the sandwall but also a few Deathborns.
"How did you find out my identity!? It's impossible!! My Queen hid me so well!!" The right head of The Zombie King gritted his teeth as he looked at Kyriaki with his black hole-like eyes that replaced his former titan eyes. Then as if something came to his mind, his tantrum also froze.
"That's right…Her majesty hid me so well that even 'he' couldn't find me for centuries. Nobody knows my secrets…yes, nobody. This must be a coincidence. There's no way a tiny hatchling knows anything about me." He mumbled as if he was talking to himself.
The left head nodded along with his words as if he was agreeing. It was a pitiful sight, as if looking at a mentally ill patient in a white hospital room.
Kyriaki however, was not someone who sympathized with many. And so, she opened her mouth, crushing Zombie King Einn's whatever thoughts that filled his rotten heart.
"Oh, are you talking about how you ran away from Isaz two centuries ago after a failed treason? Or the fact that you were the younger brother of King Ragnar? Or it must be the fact that you sell your soul to Succubus Queen Se'irim, The Sin of Lust?" Her golden eyes flashed with the desire to analyze every little word and movement Zombie King Einn did as she leisurely listed down all his dark past. Euclid once again glanced at the empty air with curiosity and surprise.
"H-how…"
"Yes, How?!" Euclid laughed out loud as he playfully asked, mimicking The Zombie King. His ocean blue eyes, which were far from laughter, observed Kyriaki's expression as if he was amused.
Bang!
As Kyriaki was about to sigh, a loud bang stole her attention.
She looked at the place where it came from and locked her eyes with the right head, which she recognized as Einn in an instant.
His huge body was trembling, like a drug addict after missing one round of drug use. And the left head also followed his expression and movements as if it was mimicking him.
Kyriaki pressed her lips together in a straight line after noticing that. Their four hollow eyes stared at her for a while as his upper right hand was still on the place where he punched the ground and made a cracked hole.
"...It doesn't matter what you are." Right head began to mumble in a breathless and trembling voice. "Yes. Yes… whatever you are, in the end you'll just be my meal." The left head nodded. It was as if he was consoling Einn, the right head, with false hope. It was clear as the day that both heads weren't in their right mind.
"..." Kyriaki, who knew it was a side effect of selling his soul to a demon and becoming a zombie willingly, just stared at the right head with no pity whatsoever.
Einn might have all his memories and intelligence, but what use could it be to a mentally ill living dead?
""Go!"" Two voices exclaimed in sync.
At the command of their King, Deadborns began to move. Their second skill
"Grrraaahhhhhh!!!" The one on the first row opened its mouth, the long red tongue stretched out a few meters in length with sharp blade-like movements.
[You've been hit by
[
Skill attacks poured down like a rain as the population of Deadborns easily exceeded one hundred. Kyriaki smirked at her super convenient bloodline ability that appeared on the text of her notification bar.
Except for the two hatchlings, the rest of her teammates avoided the sonic waves, dodging left and right.
Just like Euclid said before,
The Dragons had no effects, but The Elves had to focus on not getting hit by them as much as possible.
"Guys, get ready. I and Eucee are going to be the front guards until at least two of you go up in one sub rank. Make sure to avoid
Kyriaki was D- rank, Euclid was E, Levana was F and the other two were still F- ranks. It was a safety measure for the lower ranks to stay alive since Deadborns were all around E rank.
Kyriaki posed in the same way she did when the Crimson Moon first appeared. Her body neatly lowered, her legs strongly bent down in a very stable manner, her long sword which felt like a great sword in the hand of a five year old body was lifted high to her eye level as the tip of the blade was pointed towards the enemies.
[Colors Of The Spring: First Color: Planted Seeds]
Just like back then, a mass of multicolors with green highlights of sword aura wrapped the Cadmus' Dragon Slayer in an instant. Leaving aftereffects of tiny seeds-like objects, she thrusted her sword forward with flawless movements.
Swoosh!
[You have Slayed a Deathborn E-]
[Core energy +0.1]
[Sub-authority: Mega Collection Activated]
Thus began the battle between living and living dead.
[Breath of the Ice Spirit: Second Breath: Frozen Water Rope]
It was Euclid, who spun around with blue sword aura overflowing his twin swords. A thin wave that resembled a rope made of water shot up and wrapped around two Deadborns. He pulled his sword back as he bent down on one knee.
"Kyyyaaaaaakkkkkkkkk!" The undead screamed.
"You kill it." Euclid smiled brightly as he turned around to look at Levana, ignoring the agony of the Deadborns.
Kyriaki's eyes widened for a moment as she realized Euclid's intentions. And soon, she joined in, capturing prey in hope of leveling up her teammates.
Her original plan was to make a way for them to fight, but this plan, which she thought of as 11th in her 100 plan collection, wasn't too bad either.
Levana jumped into a nearby shadow, vanishing from the sight.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU USELESS MEAT SHIELDS DOING!!?? GO FIGHT FOR ME!!!"
The Twin Headed Zombie King; Einn's voice boomed in the mid-boss room from time to time, reminding them of his existence.
They couldn't tell how much time passed, but as soon as Ethan, who was the second to level up another sub-rank, finished his set course, Kyriaki and Euclid made eye contact. The Cadmus' Dragon Slayer on her hand vanished and Kyriaki's expression became more serious.
"I'll take care of the right head, you take responsibility for the left one." It was a clear command sent out in the form of Elven Sign language.
Euclid nodded without hesitation. Levana, who was between them, widened her eyes slightly and then lowered her eyebrows as if she suddenly remembered something.
Ignoring her, Kyriaki summoned something else on her right hand and ran towards Euclid at a bullet train speed. Euclid bent down on one knee and placed his clasped hands together to form a foot support.
Thud! Swoosh!!
In one light move, she was spinning high up in the air.
The item she summoned; A staff with a simple design and a blue crystal attached, was pointed at the path to the Zombie King.
A simple spell was chanted from her rosy lips.
Blue gemstone glowed slightly and immediately wrapped in multicolored mana. The next minute, countless metaphors like mana balls were shot from the tip of her staff.
If a human mage saw that, they could have cried their eyes out asking why humans could only shoot two mana missiles at the second circle of their carrier when a dragon has nearly no limit using the same basic spell.
Fatally injured and burned Deadborns screamed from their lungs as a path was paved perfectly by Kyriaki's hands.
"Take care of the Deadborns." Euclid's loud command to the Elves reached her ears as she stepped on falling and running Deadborns. She used her free hands as soon as her staff was sucked into her inventory.
Kyriaki jumped diagonally until she reached the Twin Headed Zombie King. Then she turned sharply in the air as she made eye contact with the left head.
[Colors Of The Spring: Second Color: Rays Of The Spring Sun]
Cadmus' Dragon Slayer, which was summoned once again at one point of her long run, glowed in a bright aureolin centered multicolors. A single ray of sun as sharp as a blade shot up in crescent shape.
Slash!
"ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH"
An unpleasantly loud scream, like it was from a sinned soul of the burning hell made the walls and the ground tremble.
The Zombie King, who was sitting on the podium as if he was a mere spectator and was surprised by Kyriaki's sudden approach, was stabbed on the neck of his right head in an instant.
Kyriaki pressed down on his shoulder with her right foot lightly and freed her sword within a second, then she performed a backflip brilliantly and landed on the ground gracefully like a swan.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
At the end of The Zombie King's two loud voices, a sweet and charming voice as calm as a lake in sunset was heard.
[Breath of the Ice Spirit: First Breath: Icy Slash]
An X shaped sky-blue aura was released from the twin swords Euclid wielded and made a deep wound in the shape of an X on the neck of the monster's right head. A thin layer of ice manifested on the bloodless wound, making it painful and unpleasant.
"Increase the force." Kyriaki yelled.
"HAAARRRRRRHHH!!!!" The Twin Headed Zombie King stood up with swift movements, as if he was never that big, as if he wasn't a zombie at all. His weapon; the flail, spun around with the intention of crushing the hatchlings mercilessly.
Boom!
The Flail hit the floor deep enough to be stuck for a while.
Woosh!
Euclid jumped up in the air and landed on the chains of the giant flail. With fast movements he ran upward using it as foot support.
[Thunder Blade: First Strike: Lightning arch]
Pzzzt.
The air began to vibrate as the two Swords in his hand coated with sky-blue aura changed the form.
Crackle.
Swoosh!
Two arch shaped slashes accompanied by lightning crackled in bright sky-blue hue and delivered two deadly strikes one after another.
Thud!
The sound of the left head of the Zombie King falling on the ground resonated with the crackling sound of his strike's afterimage.
It was the first time Euclid used another sword technique other than [Breath of the Ice Spirit], which was an A+ sword art. The new technique he used; [Thunder Blade] was a sword art mainly used by the Branch House Asterios, where Euclid's mother came from. This technique was very dangerous for an E rank Warrior to use, as the rank of this technique was Demi-God a.k.a DG rank. Due to that reason, his attack seemed to be less powerful compared to the real technique.
[Colors Of The Spring: Fifth Color: Fluttering Flower Petals]
Before a second passed, Kyriaki was already spinning in the air.
Her sword wrapped in neon green rose vines bloomed roses of beautiful red color, like they were made of rubies and had been covered in multicolor star dust.
The rose petals mixed with mysterious colors, instead of circling around her and shooting individual bullets and blades for each petal like before, shot like a missile towards the Zombie King. It obeyed the will of the technique executor, forming a new variation to the original technique.
Meanwhile, the flower petals, like a single blade, sliced the neck of Einn's left head and clashed on to the wall behind him.
Boom!
It made a huge horizontal rift similar to a blade slash on the wall.
The theory that the same sword technique could be used in different ways following the user's own will was proven right by her actions. Euclid's eyes widened as he realized that fact, watching Kyriaki's calm and swift movements.
Kyriaki calmly stepped on the remaining red petals made of her sword aura like a stepping stone and landed on the ground with a light moment similar to when she performed this exact technique before and danced in a flower pattern. It looked similar to the last few steps and movements she made that time.
All of this happened so fast that the time she landed on the ground was the same time the head of the Zombie King also fell down.
The Twin Headed Zombie King fell on his knees with a wobbly, headless body.
"Hah…it's finally over."
Levana, who had finally finished slaying all the Deadborns, sat on the floor with a tired expression.
Adam and Ethan curiously got closer to the dead Zombie King as it was the first time they encountered a monster only written on text books they read in the academy. Kyriaki looked at their status window which displayed they had risen up to F rank and nodded with satisfaction.
As she was about to call Euclid to examine if he had taken the core energy of the Zombie King, her too-much-holy-looking system took over the view with its' form that looked like an old scroll. But the usual gold letters were nowhere to be seen as it was tinted with a blood red color.
[Warning] [Warning] [Warning]
[>Stigma of Chaos (Caution)<'s influence is taking over the Host' mind]
[Stigma control is rising from current 25% state]
[34%]
[61%]
[89%]
[>Stigma of Chaos (Caution)< Temporary had taken 100% control over the Host's mind]
[Host will display extremely cautious symptoms until The Stigma is removed]
Kyriaki's eyes narrowed involuntarily as she sharply turned her head.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart rate rose in an instant as suspicions grew in her head.
Everything…
Everything seemed so suspicious that Kyriaki's every nerve and blood vessel was focused on all the scenarios her mind was making.
That was when it happened…
Bang!
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