Chapter 161: Thirty Sixth Level, The Hunchback Pursuing Twisted Mysteries (1)

"I have been defeated."

Inside the dark corridor.

The gems in front of those gathered in the darkness were all shattered.

The shattering of the gems, each connected to someone's life, signified someone's death.

A flame that formed the shape of a woman frowned.

"What happened, Kaleid?"

"What are you talking about?"

A clear voice rang out. An old man, annoyance etched on his face, slammed his wooden staff on the floor.

"Are you trying to shift the blame to me?"

"Did your magic activate properly?"

"It definitely did. My eyes cannot be avoided."

The old man hit the floor again with his staff, sending an unpleasant sound through the room.

"It's just that the guy was stronger."

"Even though it's a lower floor, the fourth-tier adventurers' combined strength of ten men lost?"

"Don't blame me. That's just how it was."

The old man scowled unpleasantly.

"He's a strong one. My magic activated, but it couldn't last long."

"Hmm..."

They groaned, falling into thought. Could they, who have overcome numerous hardships and reached the deeper levels, defeat an enemy with the combined strength of ten fourth-tier adventures while still on the 35th floor?

It was hard to spit out an easy answer.

The Lion King spoke.

"This is troublesome."

The fourth-tier adventurers had been annihilated. And Taesan was on the 35th floor.

It meant that he could descend to the 40th floor without any hindrance.

"Is there no way, Kaleid?"

"There isn't."

The old man answered promptly. The Lion King furrowed his brow.

"Really?"

"It's not there because I say it isn't."

The old man swung his staff with an irritated voice.

"This is already a loophole. A magic circle established with the permission of the Demon God."

The Demon God allowed only minimal interference. An ordinary fourth-tier Guide couldn't stop Taesan at all.

But there were limits to that as well. The magic circle the old man spread on the 35th floor was just within those limits.

"Or are you thinking of finding a way to evade the Demon God's eyes? A novel way to commit suicide."

The old man sneered, and the Lion King closed his mouth.

There were things that shouldn't be done even if Taesan was to be obstructed. And one of them was trying to deceive the Demon God.

"This is very troublesome."

"If only we had observed the battle, we could have learned a lot..."

The bewitching woman muttered as if regretting. They had not seen Taesan's battle with the fourth-tier Guides at all.

"There's nothing we can do if the Demon God doesn't allow it."

The reason for their lack of observation was because of the Demon God. The Demon God allowed their interference but did not permit them to watch the battle. Therefore, they had no idea how the battle unfolded and how it ended.

This was very fortunate for Taesan.

After all.

Taesan's battle style benefited greatly when his opponents lacked information about him.

Attack Nullification, Ability Sword, and numerous other magic and skills.

All of these were unpredictable to the opponents, causing them to panic and be unable to respond.

Had the leaders observed and analyzed Taesan's combat, they could have roughly understood it. At least, they would have surely recognized the Attack Nullification and Ability Sword.

Taesan didn't know, but the Demon God had unknowingly aided him greatly.

"A legitimate way under the Demon God's permission..."

The Lion King tapped his fingers on the table. The answer was not easy to come by.

The Spirit King spoke.

"What about calling him?"

"Him?"

"The demon child who is currently descending here."

The Lion King realized who the Spirit King was referring to.

Quaned, a demon not restricted by rank like others, had been allowed by them to aim for the deeper levels after a long time because they saw potential in him.

Empowered by their expectations, he had already broken through the 50th floor and was expected to join them someday.

"He might be able to."

This demon had permission to reach the deep layers. His power was incomparable to that of a Guide on the same floor.

"Would the Demon God allow it?"

"Gods always want to test mortals. And if her own child asks, there's a high chance she won't refuse."

They began to converge on the idea of sending Quaned up. Ambracia, who had been quietly listening, spoke up as they watched.

"Just so you know. If Quaned fails too, there won't be any more methods left."

They fell silent.

As Ambracia said, Quaned was very strong, having received their permission to reach the deep layers. And the labyrinth granted many rewards for defeating the strong.

If Taesan defeated Quaned and gained stronger abilities and new powers.

He might become so strong that they could no longer handle him.

"The opposite is also true. If Quaned wins, he will become stronger. He will rapidly descend to where we are."

"Chances of success... fifty-fifty."

They couldn't make a decision easily as they didn't fully grasp Taesan's strength. Someone spoke in the silent corridor.

"I've decided."

It was the first time this man had spoken.

As he spoke, everyone focused on him as if deferring to the most exceptional among them.

"Ambracia."

"Me again? I feel like a mere errand boy."

Ambracia grumbled. The man spoke indifferently.

"Call Quaned here."

Clang!

A knight in red armor charged.

Taesan raised his hand.

[You have activated the Distorted Barrier.]

Space warped around Taesan. The knight swung his sword down and was repelled.

The knight continued to disrupt the space afterward. Cracks started to form in the space, but it held up quite well.

"Not bad."

Taesan defeated the knight and checked the magic.

[Elementary Magic: Distorted Barrier] [Mana Consumption: 50] [Proficiency: 1%] [Creates a distortion in space around the user to block attacks. Can only block attacks below a certain level.]

It was another skill Taesan had acquired while dealing with the Guides. There were limitations, but the results of his experiments showed that it could easily block attacks from monsters on the 35th floor. Even with his current proficiency, it seemed sufficient to use up to the 40th floor.

Having finished checking, Taesan continued to move forward.

He defeated the knights he encountered, entered secret rooms to claim rewards, and headed toward the boss.

The boss was no match, either. The knight in crimson armor was faster and stronger than other monsters, but that was it. He couldn't withstand Taesan's attacks for even a moment and fell.

"Too easy."

[It wouldn't make sense if it were difficult.]

Now, the floor wasn't the issue. With his current state, it was highly likely that he could reach the end of the fourth tier without any difficulty.

Unless it was a trial from a god or another Guide.

It was hard to provide any stimulation to Taesan.

"It's comfortable, but..."

Something felt lacking. If it was this easy, it meant it was hard to get a normal reward.

"I want to learn new magic soon."

He wished for something new to come along.

[The Guides probably won't interfere for a while. At least nothing will happen until the 40th floor.]

"Probably."

The Demon God wouldn't allow the sending down of all the fifth-tier adventurers. And it was impossible for one or two to defeat Taesan.

They would gather their full strength and exert it when the time came. The ghost thought so, and Taesan agreed.

Taesan checked his clear rewards. First was the secret reward.

[Ring of Deep Scars] [Attack Power +20] [A ring with a terrible scar engraved. The aura of the one who inflicted the scar curses everything that comes close.]

The attack power was quite good.

In fact, it was an exceptional piece of equipment, but it didn't seem that significant to Taesan.

Then the floor clear reward.

[Helm of Contained Madness] [Strength +30] [Defense +50] [Action Speed +4%] [A helm once given by the god of madness to his follower. It once drenched the continent in blood. Now, the madness is almost gone.] [Damage increases when consumed by madness.]

High strength and defense. And it was a helm. Head protection was hard to come by, so its value was high since Taesan was still using what he got from Death Knight.

[??? used.] [Obtained Armor Filled with Hatred.] [Armor Filled with Hatred] [Strength +50] [Defense +80] [Armor once given by the god of hatred to his follower. The wearer was hated by all and died. Now, the hatred is almost gone.] [Damage increases when consumed by hatred.]

"It's been a while since I changed my armor."

The change in armor significantly increased his defense.

And there was something unexpected.

[You have worn the Armor Filled with Hatred and Helm of Contained Madness simultaneously. Additional Strength 20, Agility 20 increased. When consumed by hatred and madness, [Emotional Outburst] is activated.]

"A set effect?"

Taesan's eyes sparkled.

From what he had seen in the store before, wearing certain items together provided additional effects.

The equipment Taesan had obtained this time was of that kind.

"Do these kinds of sets appear more often the deeper I go?"

[They're rare but do appear. There are constraints since wearing more than two items is mandatory, but the effects are correspondingly powerful.]

"I wonder if there are more sets."

With anticipation, Taesan continued down to the next floor.

[Quest of Floor 36 Started.] [Defeat the boss of the 36th floor and pass through.] [Reward: Bracelet Containing a Fragment of a Core] [Secret Reward: ???]

The monsters on the 36th floor were knights, similar to before.

If the 35th floor had red knights, this time, they were blue.

"It reminds me of the battlefield of the gods."

There, too, blue and red armored knights were fighting.

Taesan muttered and moved forward.

Like before, there were no significant obstacles, and soon he found an altar.

[You have discovered the ruins of the Hunchback Pursuing Twisted Mysteries.] [First Discovery Bonus] [Mana +50]

Mana 50. Not a bad reward.

These ruins were different from the altars of the gods seen before. If there was a single structure at the altar, this time, the whole room seemed to be transformed into a structure, fitting the name 'ruins.'

The condition of the room wasn't great.

Pinkish slime crawled on the walls, and the floor was sticky like a swamp.

And the quality of the power felt

Different.

The power of the gods was clear and distinct, even though it felt different. Perhaps because they each had a domain, there was an absolute will that did not tolerate anything else.

But there was no such sense here.

Instead, it was filled with a greedy aura that wanted to engulf everything and make it its own.

[The Hunchback Pursuing Twisted Mysteries. An immortal.]

"Immortal?"

[Didn't I tell you before? There are transcendents who manage their domains and those who don't.]

"Was that so?"

It was too long ago, so he couldn't quite remember. The ghost said with a wry smile.

[Back then, we weren't meant to meet for long.]

Originally, the ghost was an NPC who would part ways after capturing the sage on the 10th floor. So, naturally, Taesan hadn't expected to take on a new quest and journey this far with it.

[And I thought we wouldn't meet immortals for a while since you need to go quite deep. But here we are.]

"What's the difference?"

The ghost spoke with a hint of nostalgia, and Taesan asked.

[What's common among the gods you've met so far?]

"Each had their own domain."

The god of strife and death, Lakiratas. The god of victory, Balthasar. The god of choice, Maria.

All had their own domains.

[Transcendents are the last stage a mortal can reach. It's a position hard to attain even over hundreds of years. And those who reach such a position all have their own caliber they've built up.]

Those who became transcendents all had exceptional talents.

However, talent alone was not all that was needed to ascend to the status of a god.

[If you consider the gods you've met so far, you'll understand.]

Taesan recalled his experiences.

The god of victory wanted Taesan to seek victory. The god of choice desired Taesan to overcome the opposite of choice, and the god of strife and death wished for strife.

The god of the sword demanded proof through the sword, and the god of proof required Taesan to prove himself through combat.

Each had demanded achievements in their respective domains from Taesan.

Taesan realized something.

"So, that's the path that made them gods."

[Right. A being that transcends from mortality, taking charge of the very domain they've excelled in. That's what a god is. But... immortals are different. They are beings lacking that stature.]

The ghost explained calmly.

[They may have the power to reach transcendence, but they lack the necessary stature. Unable to build it up, they don't receive a domain. Hence, they don't reach the position of a transcendent. That's what immortals are.]