Chapter 40: 40

“Oh, successor of Lord Nakron! Please enlighten us insignificant beings as to your most noble name!” Kalriven exclaimed while prostrating in front of Kang Yoon-Soo.

“Kang Yoon-Soo,” he replied in a low voice. Kang Yoon-Soo then slowly got up from his seat and began to speak in a tone befitting a ruler. “I command you not as Nakron’s successor, but as myself.”

“What is it, my liege?” Kalriven asked.

“Do not liken yourselves to mere corpses. Nobody shall refer to any being that moves and gives respect as a corpse,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Kalriven was astonished, but it quickly snapped out of its daze and suddenly exclaimed, “Kang Yoon-Soo! I salute our new liege!”

Kang Yoon-Soo’s title suddenly changed from that of Nakron’s successor to the monarch of the undead; it was the proof of the undead acknowledging him as their master.

The undead expressed their joy upon the emergence of their new master. The skeletons clacked their jaws, the banshees danced and sang with their hideous voices, the ghosts flew around close to the ceiling, and the dullahans passed their heads around.

“It might not be the right time to say this, but… Don’t you think that guy is more sinister than the undead…?” Henrick grumbled as he looked at Kang Yoon-Soo.

“Shh! I told you they might hear you!” Shaneth rebuked him once again.

Kalriven stood up and said, “I will guide you to the basement; please follow me.”

***

The basement of the Castle of the Dead was warm, which was very welcomed by the two who could not adjust to the cold castle above. However, the undead hastily retreated from the warmth as if they had met their natural predator.

A bright, neat, and white corridor greeted them. Kalriven stood at the forefront as it said, “The basement of the castle is always flowing with holy energy because of the holy seal. That is why the undead are avoiding this place.”

“Ah… but why are you alright?” Shaneth asked.

“Madame, lover of my liege, I am an undead being raised by Lord Nakron with his heart and soul; that is why I can ignore the holy energy to some extent,” Kalriven explained.

“What do you mean by… ‘lover’…?” Shaneth asked in confusion.

Kalriven suddenly had a fierce expression and its eyes flashed. “If you are not his liege’s lover, then are you nothing but a stranger? A mere human without any ties to his liege has no business being in the Castle of the Dead.”

Shaneth had forgotten for a moment that the undead were always hostile toward the living, and this was the moment she realized that she was no exception.

Henrick suddenly butted into the conversation as he wrapped his arms around Kang Yoon-Soo’s shoulder and said, “You’re right! That miss is this guy’s lover; they’re just shy about it. Ah! I’m this guy’s older brother, by the way. I’ll leave my brother in your care.”

“I will devote my life to serving his liege,” Kalriven replied.

Shaneth whispered from behind Kalriven and asked, “Why are you his older brother, mister?”

“Then am I his daddy?! Look closely; don’t we look alike?” Henrick retorted shamelessly.

“He’s much more handsome, in my opinion…” Shaneth murmured.

“Tsk tsk… He’s already covered this beautiful little miss’ eyes… Lucky bastard…” Henrick teased her, even as his arm was still wrapped around Kang Yoon-Soo’s neck.

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said, “Bro.”

“…!?” Henrick exclaimed.

It was not only Henrick; even Shaneth was stunned at what Kang Yoon-Soo had just said. It was logical to play the family in front of Kalriven, but to think that the emotionless Kang Yoon-Soo would say such a thing!

However, Kang Yoon-Soo said in his usual dry, emotionless voice, “Bro. Let go.”

“Y-yeah, my lovely little brother… I guess you got choked by my arm… Ha… Haha!” Even the quick and witty Henrick was flustered by Kang Yoon-Soo’s sudden change in demeanor.

A small room was at the end of the corridor, and the bright light and warmth gradually got stronger and stronger as they approached it.

“That is the room where the holy seal was placed… A shameful act by Argon the priest… I will explain the specifics here, as even I cannot approach that room. Firstly, there are multiple steps to release the holy seal…” Kalriven began.

“Stop. I hate long explanations.” Kang Yoon-Soo cut the Death General off. He approached the room, and the moment he opened the door, light started to flood out of it.

Kalriven shouted, panicking, “My lord! That room is dangerous even to humans!”

However, Kang Yoon-Soo marched on without a single hint of hesitation. The interior of the room was pure white, and there was a sword shining brightly in its center. He took a step into the room, and suddenly, a magic circle activated underneath his feet; several lights shot out from the magic circle.

Ziiing!

The room was instantly filled with numerous rays of light that resembled lasers. The moment a ray of light grazed the edge of Kang Yoon-Soo’s shoulder, the part of his clothing struck by it disintegrated.

The magic circle was a defensive mechanism designed to disintegrate all intruders, and the chance of an undead being, much less a human, surviving it was very low. However, Kang Yoon-Soo nimbly twisted his body and avoided all of the incoming rays with relative ease. He then continued to dodge the rays, slashing the part of the ground where the magic circle was located with his longsword.

The magic circle was damaged by his attacks, causing the rays of light to slow down with each strike. In time, when the magic circle was left severely damaged and unrecognizable, the rays of light finally stopped.

However, that was not the end.

Ziiing!

A second magic circle appeared on the left wall this time, and more than ten rays of light chased after Kang Yoon-Soo. However, Kang Yoon-Soo repeated the same thing he had done the previous time. He avoided the rays of light and lodged his sword into the wall to damage the magic circle.

Then, more magic circles showed up one by one on the right wall, the front wall, and the back wall in sequence. Even after Kang Yoon-Soo destroyed the magic circle on the back wall, yet another showed up on the ceiling. It would be impossible to avoid the rays of light from the ceiling, even for Kang Yoon-Soo.

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Kang Yoon-Soo looked back through the door and said, “Bro.”

“Let’s get rid of that nickname when we get out of here…” Henrick muttered as he summoned small wooden dolls from his summoning box. The wooden dolls he summoned this time were colored, and smaller than the ones he had previously used. He imbued mana into the threads connected to the wooden dolls and threw them at the ceiling.

“Ah! Won’t the thread be cut?” Shaneth asked.

“The mana thread can’t be cut by an external force,” Henrick replied as he controlled the wooden dolls.

The small wooden dolls clung to the ceiling like spiders, taking out daggers from their sleeves and starting to cut apart the magic circle above the room. The dolls Henrick had summoned this time were none other than assassin dolls. Henrick’s hand movements were nothing short of magnificent, and the magic circle on the ceiling was destroyed in an instant.

“How many dolls do you even have?” Shaneth asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Hmm… I’m not sure… I think I put around 500 dolls in this summoning box alone?” Henrick replied, rubbing his chin.

“…” Shaneth was speechless.

“Look at this little miss. Do you think I played around and did nothing while I aged?” Henrick remarked.

All of the magic circles were destroyed, and Kang Yoon-Soo pulled out the sword that had been shining brightly at the center of the room.

[Sword of the Holy Cross]

Rating: Unique

Attack Power: 3

A sword made by a great holy man to seal evil undead. It has no value as a weapon, but an astronomical amount of holy power is stored within it.

*You may deal fatal damage to a member of the demon race.

*Stabbing the sword into the ground will have a high chance of alleviating the status ailments of allies.

*You may receive a special quest related to the holy artifact of the goddess if you give this sword to a certain church.

*The effectiveness of healing spells will multiply by three if used by a holy person.

It was a unique-rated sword, but it lacked the power to be used as a weapon.

‘However, this sword is an absolute necessity to complete the ruin raid quest that will come later.’ Kang Yoon-Soo stored the Sword of the Holy Cross in his backpack, and the light in the room dissipated after he took the sword. The warmth receded, and the cold darkness from aboveground instantly spread and filled the basement.

“Clack! Clack! Clack!”

“Gru-oooooooh!”

The eerie cheering of the undead filled the air from afar. Kalriven also had a wide smile that did not suit the black knight; he remarked, “I am surprised, to be honest. I never imagined that you would dispose of the holy energy this easily! You are truly fit to be the lord! The Castle of the Dead will be an even more sinister and accursed place from now on! Hehehe!”

“There’s still a long way to go,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“You are right; the other seal still has not been released yet.” Kalriven nodded in agreement.

“You mean the seal is still there?” Shaneth asked.

Kalriven nodded in response and explained with a serious expression, “There are two seals in the Castle of the Dead: The holy seal and the seal of the blue frost. The chill that envelops the castle was not created by us undead. That seal was made by Shahren to seal us within the castle. We cannot set a single foot out of this castle unless both seals have been released.”

He then added, “Oh, my liege, we still have to carry out the will left behind by Lord Nakron, and that is to turn the corpse of the strongest dragon in the continent into an undead being. We need to conquer a ruin somewhere on this continent for us to fulfill Lord Nakron’s will.”

Kalriven then prostrated in front of Kang Yoon-Soo and cried out, “Oh, my liege, the lord of the undead! I humbly plea for your benevolence; conquer the ruins of ice and spirit to grant us our freedom!”

[Legendary Quest—Castle of the Dead]

The Death General Kalriven and the undead are sealed in the Castle of the Dead due to the work of Shahren. The undead wish to leave the castle to lend their strength to their new master. Conquer the ruins of ice and spirit located somewhere on the continent to release the undead.

*You will obtain the special swordsmanship skills of the Death General Kalriven if you accept the quest.

*The quest will fail if someone else conquers the ruin before you.

*There is no way of knowing how the released undead will affect the continent.

Reward: 7,827 undead freed. Kalriven’s absolute trust. Nakron’s crafting book.

It was a request from Kalriven, and it was the highest-tier quest one could receive from the undead, which could not be obtained through ordinary means. In addition, this was the first time a legendary quest’s rewards had actually been written.

The rewards for the legendary quest were more than 7,000 undead and the absolute trust of a top-tier undead being. It was an amazing reward, but the difficulty of the legendary quest was definitely going to be high.

“Okay.” Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and accepted the quest from Kalriven.

The Death General could not hide its joy as Kang Yoon-Soo accepted the legendary quest. Kalriven exclaimed, now speaking in a docile and soft voice, “I will never forget your benevolence! You are our new lord and master!”

The Death General had now pledged absolute loyalty to Kang Yoon-Soo, after he had removed the holy energy from the Castle of the Dead and accepted the legendary quest. Kalriven scanned Kang Yoon-Soo from head to toe before taking out its sword. Shaneth and Henrick jumped up in surprise, but Kang Yoon-Soo was not fazed at all.

Kalriven raised its sword and said, “Oh, my liege, you are a great being without a doubt, but your strength is still lacking. That is why I wish to provide you with my own swordsmanship. I am certain it will be of help to you in your future travels.”

“Let’s do that,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied without an ounce of excitement for such a rare opportunity.

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