Chapter 182

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The Grim Reaper was a beast without physical substance. No physical attack could damage it at all. Only magic skills could at least inflict harm on the Grim Reaper. And even that was only true when one used a powerful B-rank or higher skill. In a way, it could be said to have the worst possible affinity against Zeon. Because Zeon’s power over sand could not damage the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper had probably known that fact as well when it appeared. Black haze rose from the Grim Reaper’s scythe. Its scythe was a supreme item. Also known as the Scythe of Death. If even the slightest cut was made by that scythe, the soul itself suffered a severe wound. Even if one survived through luck, the soul would be ruined, and in the end one would die. The Grim Reaper came forward, presenting the Scythe of Death.

“Let’s see whether sand truly does not work.”

Zeon raised a hand. At once, subspace opened behind his back, and an enormous quantity of sand poured out. The sand filling the corridor rose while writhing as though alive. It looked like snakes. Viper. It was one of Zeon’s skills.

Shaaak!

Dozens of sand snakes flew toward the Grim Reaper.

Pubububuk!

But Viper passed uselessly through the Grim Reaper and slammed into the wall behind it.

After that, Zeon launched Viper several more times.

But Viper could not damage the Grim Reaper.

He even used Sand Mixer, but it was no use.

The ghost flames in the Grim Reaper’s eyes burned even more fiercely.

After confirming that Zeon’s attacks did not work on it, it seemed its confidence was swelling.

Swoooosh!

The Grim Reaper swung the Scythe of Death.

Zeon retreated, avoiding the blade by a hair’s breadth.

Judging that it had seized the advantage, the Grim Reaper came in at even more terrifying speed.

Shishishik!

The corridor filled with the Scythe of Death.

It was because the Grim Reaper was swinging the scythe so quickly that afterimages were appearing.

The Grim Reaper’s attacks were extremely fast.

Because it was a being without physical substance, it was not constrained by space when it moved.

Even so, the Grim Reaper’s speed could not completely catch Zeon.

Every one of its attacks narrowly missed him by only a few centimeters.

At that, the ghost flames and black haze in the Grim Reaper’s eyes thickened even further.

It was a sign that it was angry.

Shaaak!

As the Grim Reaper swung its scythe, black power poured out.

The black power in the shape of scythes rushed at Zeon as though it would slice him to pieces.

In such a narrow corridor, there was only so much room to evade.

Thunk!

Zeon’s back touched the wall.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

At Zeon, the scythe-shaped power rained down like a storm.

Kwakwakwang!

With explosions, the wall where Zeon had stood blew apart, and dust billowed thickly into the air.

The Grim Reaper advanced toward the wall with the Scythe of Death still extended.

It was certain that Zeon had died.

Just as the Grim Reaper had nearly reached the wall, Suddenly, a red flash burst forth from the thick dust.

The instant it saw the intense red light, the Grim Reaper unknowingly shuddered all over.

Instinctively, it had felt fear toward that red light.

The red light the Grim Reaper feared was the dragon eye.

The dragon eye embedded in the Thermo Gauntlet had revealed itself.

Dragonkind were beasts beyond ranking.

No, it was irreverent even to place them in the category of beasts at all.

No matter that the Grim Reaper was an A-rank beast, it could not compare to a dragon.

That was why it felt fear toward a being above itself.

Even if that was only an eyeball.

As though trying to shake off its fear, the Grim Reaper swung the Scythe of Death.

Shishishik!

Dozens of masses of black power flew toward Zeon.

At that moment, dozens of red streaks burst out of the Thermo Gauntlet as well.

They were Fire Missiles.

Pububububung!

The dozens of Fire Missiles intercepted every one of the masses of black power launched by the Grim Reaper.

Not content with shattering the black power, the Fire Missiles flew straight toward the Grim Reaper.

The Fire Missiles struck the defenseless body of the Grim Reaper.

Kieeeee!

This time even the Grim Reaper screamed, apparently having taken heavy damage.

Fire Missile was a skill any magic-type Awakened could use with ease.

But a Fire Missile launched by borrowing the power of the Red Dragon was on an entirely different level.

The Grim Reaper’s body flickered for an instant.

It looked as unstable as a lightbulb on the verge of going out.

That was how hard it had been hit.

Even with the same Fire Missile, its power changed depending on who used it.

Naturally, using a good item could only increase its power.

And this was no mere good item, but one with a dragon’s eye embedded in it.

The Thermo Gauntlet had evolved to the point that it could not be ranked.

Its power was being displayed against the Grim Reaper.

Psssh!

The areas struck by Fire Missiles gave off white smoke as they burned away.

The Grim Reaper writhed in agony under pain it had never felt before.

Floating wildly through the air, it soon found the cause of the pain and glared fiercely.

The cause was Zeon.

It understood that only by killing Zeon would this pain end.

Kwooooar!

With a shriek on an entirely different level from before, the Grim Reaper flew at him with terrifying speed.

The Grim Reaper became one with the Scythe of Death.

Kwakwakwa!

Black power covering the Grim Reaper became a storm and tore through the corridor.

There was nowhere Zeon could evade to.

Nor did he intend to evade.

Zeon thrust forward the hand wearing the Thermo Gauntlet and muttered, “Fire Rain.”

In an instant, the dark corridor was dyed red.

A rain of flames filled the corridor and poured down.

The rain of fire struck the Grim Reaper without mercy.

Pububububuk!

The Grim Reaper’s ability to let all physical attacks pass through it was of no use this time.

Kieee!

The Grim Reaper’s scream echoed through the corridor.

Its body had grown incomparably smaller than it had been at first.

Even so, like the A-rank beast it was, it endured tenaciously.

“As expected, this much is still not enough. In that case…”

The corner of Zeon’s mouth curled upward.

There was a skill he had always wanted to test.

The Grim Reaper was a perfect beast to test it on.

Zeon drew up his control.

The sand scattered over the floor rose and wrapped around the Grim Reaper.

But the Grim Reaper paid no attention to the sand.

Because it knew that sand could not harm it.

Seeing that, Zeon’s smile deepened even further.

Clench!

Gaaaaaang!

The moment he clenched his fist, the sand wrapped around the Grim Reaper began spinning at terrifying speed.

It was Sand Mixer.

But Sand Mixer could not inflict any damage on the Grim Reaper.

It merely rotated violently while passing through the Grim Reaper.

Zeon had expected as much.

“What happens if I add Fire Wall to this?”

Fire Wall was a basic skill that created a wall of flame.

Any Awakened proficient in fire magic could use it.

He had not used it much because its effect was poor compared to its extreme mana consumption.

But the story changed when Sand Mixer and Fire Wall were fused.

Each grain of sand spinning at terrifying speed swallowed flame.

The reddened Sand Mixer itself became no different from an ultra-high-temperature blast furnace.

Caught within it, the Grim Reaper screamed.

The black power protecting the Grim Reaper had vanished long ago.

The superheated sand rotating at extreme speed ground away the Grim Reaper’s true body.

Gaaaaaang!

The particles shaved off the Grim Reaper, and the flames melted them away without leaving even a trace.

Kieee!

The Grim Reaper thrashed madly, trying to break out of Sand Mixer.

But escaping had been impossible from the start.

“Perish as you are. Outsider that belongs neither to this world nor to the next.”

In the end, the Grim Reaper’s true body was completely ground away by the ultra-high-temperature Sand Mixer.

Thunk!

Only the Scythe of Death fell to the floor.

Only then did Zeon release Sand Mixer.

Even the heat that had been burning the air vanished cleanly.

The Grim Reaper was nowhere to be seen.

It had been completely annihilated.

Zeon reached out and picked up the Scythe of Death.

Pain shot through the hand that held it.

Just by gripping it, all kinds of curses burrowed into his body.

The Scythe of Death was a cursed item.

It bore such vicious curses that unless one was a curse-type Awakened, one could not even hold it in the hand.

Even so, Zeon endured firmly.

He was using his own body to neutralize the curses placed upon the Scythe of Death.

In an instant, strength drained from his body, and his vision darkened.

His heartbeat slowed, and his skin withered at once.

“Tch! Every curse under the sun really is packed into this thing.”

The Scythe of Death was a medium for all kinds of curses.

Just holding it caused tens of thousands of curses to invade Zeon’s body.

If it were not someone on Zeon’s level, they would have lost their life the moment they touched it.

Zeon drew upon the power within the Thermo Gauntlet.

At once, all the curses devouring his body burned away.

No matter how tremendous the Scythe of Death was as an item, it could not withstand the dragon eye embedded in the Thermo Gauntlet.

Thanks to that, Zeon returned to normal.

“So it spreads curses and can also sever them?”

No one had told him that.

The moment he held the Scythe of Death, he had instinctively understood how to use it.

The mere fact that it could sever curses made the Scythe of Death immeasurably valuable.

However, Zeon had no need for it right now.

Zeon opened subspace and stored away the Scythe of Death.

Then even the faint remaining cursed energy disappeared completely.

He also put away all the sand he had used.

In an environment where sand was this precious, it was an unavoidable choice.

No further beings appeared to block Zeon.

As Zeon had guessed, it seemed the Grim Reaper had indeed been the final gatekeeper.

Even so, he did not let down his guard.

That was when it happened.

Rumble!

The entire underground shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

The floor beneath his feet shifted horizontally somewhere else, and the walls changed.

In some places walls disappeared.

In others, walls that had not existed before appeared.

The entire underground space was moving as though solving a puzzle.

Zeon did not panic and instead watched the changes in the space closely.

The space, no, the entire castle, felt like a living organism.

With no means left to stop him, it instead felt as though it was moving Zeon toward the core.

Thud!

After moving for quite some time, the space beneath Zeon’s feet finally came to a halt.

At that instant, a strange light rose in Zeon’s eyes.

Because in the place he had arrived at, he encountered unexpected faces.

“Hyung!”

“Zeon!”

The ones welcoming him with delight were Levin, Brielle, and Eloy.

Zeon said, “So all of you made it through safely.”

“I told you I knew you would still be alive.”

“There was no way sand would kill Zeon.”

“You look perfectly fine.”

They approached Zeon.

Zeon patted Levin and Brielle on the shoulders and looked at the people who had been with them.

He saw the entire Pegasus Raid Force, including Lee Ji-ryeong, Bronson, and Gesling, along with the Awakened of the western district.

They could not hide their surprise at Zeon’s sudden appearance.

Without even giving him a glance, Lee Ji-ryeong said, “You’re late.”

“There were many things blocking my way.”

“You worked hard to get here, so from now on, rest comfortably and watch.”

“…”

“Watch how we kill the master of this castle.”

Lee Ji-ryeong was looking at the door straight ahead.

A giant door giving off an ominous atmosphere was making the point clear enough.

The master of the castle was inside.

Lee Ji-ryeong smashed that door down.