Chapter 30
The Constellations immediately went wild.
[Death Knight? How does that make any sense?]
[To think someone planned something like this. What reckless courage.]
[As long as it’s entertaining, who cares? Why is everyone getting so angry?]
[Sure, but aren’t all those people going to die? A Death Knight isn’t some neighborhood dog. At their current level, they’re definitely dead.]
The reactions were divided.
Then...
Light flashed in the air.
A familiar figure appeared.
Uji.
He looked extremely irritated.
Snap!
Uji snapped his fingers.
The energy flowing through the area suddenly froze.
It was as though time itself had stopped.
Uji stared at Jang Geonho.
His eyes were ice-cold.
“...You look terrible.”
His expression darkened.
“You’ve done something quite entertaining, Jang Geonho.”
Geonho spread both arms.
He smiled casually.
“Haha. Took you long enough.”
His eyes gleamed.
“I’ve been waiting.”
He looked around.
“Now everyone’s here.”
His smile widened.
“So shouldn’t we finally continue?”
Uji’s eyes became dangerous.
“You arrogant bastard.”
His voice echoed.
“Do you even understand what you’ve done?”
Uji glared.
“You inferior creature.”
His anger exploded.
“You dared summon a Constellation’s subordinate!”
Geonho shrugged.
“I gave the Constellations something interesting to watch.”
He smiled.
“Shouldn’t they be thanking me?”
Geonho tilted his head.
“If anyone complains, you can just remove them.”
His smile became wider.
“Right?”
Even Suhyeok, who had regressed, knew nothing about the subordinates of Constellations.
That was natural.
To Players...
Constellations themselves had always been mysterious beings.
Suhyeok spoke to Leon through telepathy.
Leon.
Do you know anything about Constellation subordinates?
Leon said nothing.
His expression had become unusually serious.
He swallowed hard.
His paws were trembling.
It was the first time Suhyeok had ever seen Leon look this frightened.
Leon glanced toward him.
Then he finally spoke.
[...Lee Suhyeok.]
Leon’s voice was quiet.
[Your old world probably had myths too, nya.]
Suhyeok listened.
[Constellations are beings from those myths, nya.]
Leon continued.
[The more people remember them, the higher the Constellation’s rank becomes.]
He hid his trembling paws behind his back.
[It’s the same for their subordinates, nya.]
This was the first time Suhyeok had learned something this important about Constellations.
Leon continued.
[Among them...]
He swallowed.
[Death Knights are subordinates with higher status than many ordinary Constellations, nya...]
The title...
God of Death.
It referred to one of the gods from Greek and Roman mythology.
Thanatos.
A series of system messages appeared as if confirming it.
[Status Effect ‘Deathlike Sleep’ is spreading throughout the entire region.]
[The effect has been partially modified for Players.]
[All stats have been greatly reduced.]
[The user strongly resists Status Effect ‘Deathlike Sleep’.]
That meant...
The ordinary citizens in the arena were probably already unconscious.
Every Player except Suhyeok had also suffered a major reduction in stats.
This is bad.
Leon spoke again.
[Doing something like this should require a far greater number of sacrifices, nya.]
His expression remained dark.
[The exact conditions differ depending on the Constellation...]
Leon clenched his paws.
[But someone is definitely helping Jang Geonho, nya.]
Suhyeok’s eyes narrowed.
...Right.
He finally understood.
That bastard.
Upper Administrator Taeo.
Everything fit together now.
Taeo had probably been preparing this situation long before meeting Suhyeok.
Leon continued.
[Be careful, nya.]
His voice became serious.
[If that Death Knight recovers even thirty percent of its true power...]
Leon looked directly at Suhyeok.
[Everyone here will die, nya.]
He paused.
[Even you.]
Time remained frozen.
Uji was busy trying to calm the Constellations, whose complaints were exploding across the broadcast.
Eventually...
He began adjusting something.
System messages appeared.
Ding!
[Difficulty of the dungeon has been partially adjusted.]
[Difficulty has been lowered from ‘Extreme’ to ‘Hard’.]
[Because of the Domain of Death, stat gains from stat points will not be saved and will instead be permanently consumed.]
[Due to the formation of an unidentified Hidden Dungeon, clear rewards are being recalculated...]
Jang Geonho smiled when he saw the messages.
He looked toward Suhyeok.
“Looks like you’ve gathered some pretty good Constellations around you.”
His eyes curved.
“With this amount of Intervention Power, they must be taking quite a loss.”
Geonho smiled.
“That hurts my feelings.”
He shrugged.
“You’re receiving special treatment all by yourself.”
Suhyeok’s eyes turned cold.
“Shut up.”
He wanted to cut Geonho down immediately.
But because Uji had frozen time...
He could not move even a finger.
The same was true for Geonho.
The moment time resumed...
Suhyeok would kill him.
Uji sighed.
[I can’t keep time stopped any longer.]
He raised his hand.
[We’ll resume now.]
Snap!
Uji snapped his fingers.
The dark energy that had been frozen immediately began moving again.
System messages appeared.
[Clear condition of the dungeon has been revealed.]
[Condition: Neutralize the Death Knight, subordinate of the God of Death.]
[Reward: ???]
Jang Geonho coughed.
“Cough, cough...”
He looked pale.
“Did I use more power than expected?”
Then he smiled.
“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Geonho looked toward Suhyeok.
“Do your best, Lee Suhyeok.”
The barrier around the summoning formation began fading.
Suhyeok immediately swung his sword.
Whoosh!
The blade cut through empty space.
Geonho had disappeared.
“...He escaped.”
Suhyeok looked down at his sword.
Blood stained the blade.
Jang Geonho had already suffered internal injuries.
Now he had also been cut.
He could not have gone far.
But there was a more urgent problem.
The Death Knight.
Uji’s voice stopped Suhyeok.
[Hmph.]
Uji glared at him.
[No matter what you do now, it’s useless.]
His expression was filled with dislike.
[Everyone here will die anyway.]
His gaze moved toward Leon.
More precisely...
He seemed irritated that Leon was still beside Suhyeok.
It was not difficult to understand why.
Uji was wary that Leon might threaten his position.
He looked down at Suhyeok.
[I’ll watch how far you can go with that useless creature beside you.]
His eyes narrowed.
[Player Lee Suhyeok.]
Meanwhile...
The situation inside the arena remained intense.
Bong Taesu and Rachen were both breathing heavily.
They had already exchanged dozens of attacks.
Their injuries had accumulated.
Both understood instinctively...
The next exchange would probably be their last.
Rachen exhaled.
“Haah.”
He smiled tiredly.
“You’re persistent.”
His grip tightened.
“Let’s finish this already.”
Taesu raised his fists.
“Huff... Whew...”
His eyes sharpened.
“Prepare yourself, brother.”
He lowered his stance.
“I’m going all out...”
Then...
A massive circular barrier suddenly appeared.
It swallowed the entire area around the arena.
It looked exactly like the wall from the Tutorial.
“......!”
But that was not all.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky.
They twisted together.
A massive wormhole formed above the arena.
Taesu and Rachen stopped attacking.
Both looked upward.
“W-What is this...?”
Then...
Something began leaving the bodies of the audience.
Souls.
One after another...
People collapsed.
Their souls were pulled upward.
They drifted toward the enormous wormhole.
Thud.
“B-Brother!”
