Chapter 36

Sword Master (1)

Penetrating the rest of the lumps of flesh covering the exterior of the castle, we entered inside. As we stepped in the entrance, we saw traces of touches by unknown species all around the area.

The seemingly unusual items were everywhere, but no hunter dared to touch them recklessly. We did not know which was an artifact and which were the components of the dungeon.

All the more, this kind of dungeon was always accompanied by traps.

"Emily, scan!"

A hunter brought by McKid stepped forward and used her skill. Based on the Mana pattern, it was a B-rank clairvoyance. In the meantime, I was quietly pulling up Mana, too.

[Penetration (Rank: A)]

This was a level of clairvoyance higher than what she used. A detailed view of the trap structure required both [The Successor's Eyes] and physical projection.

But then...

-The dungeon structure resists the skill!

-The results of the clairvoyance are somewhat blurred.

The dungeon was resisting. It meant that the building itself was much like an artifact.

'Then, I have to take it one step higher.'

I was instantly glad that I had absorbed a lot of Mana cores beforehand.

[Penetration (Rank: S)]!

Now I could see the structure properly.

While I was observing everywhere, Emily grimaced as if she had finished her clairvoyance.

"The resistance of the structure is too strong."

"What about the projection rate?"

"60%... No, 55%."

This meant that she watched a little more than half of it. At this, McKid clicked his tongue.

"That's ambiguous. Just tell me what you saw."

"The statue-like structure over there is a sensor. Looking at the structure, I think the blades will fall from the ceiling if I approach it. It's not enough for the people here to be killed, but if we want to save Mana, we'd better take care of the ceiling first."

Rune Stone shone as fast-witted magic hunters seemed to be preparing spells.

"The front door is made to be automatically opened and closed. It'll open after the blades fall, right? It tempted you to go in, but it's just a front. There is a complex structure hidden underneath the floor. If I step on it, I'm sure the door will close again and will get me stuck, and I'm sure something is going to happen after that, but I'm not entirely sure what it is. Anyway, we can't go in there. However, the wall on the right is colored a bit differently. If you break it, you'll get a passageway. They're clean."

"Anything more?"

"None."

"Okay, get the spells ready. We'll deal with the ceiling first."

It was then that I stepped in, "For a moment... Wait a minute."

Everyone's eyes were on me, who was posing as a hunter named Dell Parker. McKid spoke in an annoying voice, "If you're going to drag on, stop it. From my point of view, this dungeon started as a losing business from the beginning."

You don't need to be a bitch about it, bastard.

"Listen to me first."

One of the reasons I had chosen Parker as my cover was because he did not publish his unique skill to the public. I then asked Emily.

"You said your clairvoyance was in the B-rank, right?

She nodded.

It was the individual's freedom to reveal his or her skills in advance. If you didn't write anything on your profile, you wouldn't be contacted by the agency, so you could tell them what you wanted to say for adequate self-promotion. In her case, she participated as a support, so the skill rankings had been revealed in advance.

"I didn't write it on my official profile, but my unique skill is also support-type. It's similar to clairvoyance. But somehow, I think my skills work better than your Penetration in this environment."

McKid did not dig into what my skill was called or what the 'environment' even meant. He then decided to ask a single question, as if it would be a waste of time to ask for more.

"Emily said she had a 55 percent perspective. Your name is... Dell Parker, isn't it? How much do you see?"

I stated a number not too perfect, but a level that was better than Emily's.

"85%."

Surprisingly, McKid's eyes widened a bit. He moved right on to another question.

"Well, what did you see, Dell Parker?"

"What is prepared inside the front door is a flame trap. It's the same that if you break the right wall, you'll get a passage. But that is also a front. The doors won't close immediately, but after about 10 meters, they'll be closed and locked inside."

Everyone changed their expressions once again at the word '10 meters' that I mentioned. It meant that I could see it until that very distance.

"We have to stay here and break that statue instead of moving forward. Then the whole room will move and connect to a new passage that is now cut-off."

"I don't think it could be known just by clairvoyance, though?"

"I told you. It's of some sort."

"Okay, then let's go over one by one. It's a matter of life and death so that you wouldn't have been just talking nonsense."

At his instruction, a magic hunter made a spell, and blades hidden from the ceiling poured down. Almost at the same time, the door that had been closed in front of it opened, like it was calling them to come in.

"Next, Ericsson?"

Under McKid's directions, another hunter he brought threw a crystal at the floor, and a pile of stones appeared to form a lump of a golem.

'It's a sacrificial golem.'

Expensive golem crystals were consumed to verify my unique skill.

Boom! Boom!

The golem walked, creating light vibrations. As soon as it entered the door···

Bang!

As if it was waiting for it, the door closed, and light and heat leaked out from the inside. Everyone should be aware of what was going on beyond the door—traps that could turn the entrants into whole roasts.

"Hmm..."

McKid's eyes became slightly different.

Next, a hunter broke the right wall, revealing a passage. Ericsson made another golem and sent it away. As it moved forward about 10 meters as I said...

Bang!

The door closed again by surprise. The sound of breaking and grinding within the vicinity continued.

"This is the last one."

McKid broke the statue, exactly as I had stated. Then...

Whooooooooooh!

I felt the room with the expedition team rising like an elevator. After some time, the entrance we entered disappeared, and there was a passage leading to the other floor.

Now, the route to retreat was gone, and only the way to the inside was left.

McKid felt dumbfounded. "Damn it, is this an A-Class dungeon?"

I answered back with a nonchalant expression, "The traps we've just seen, you've been able to stop them without a scratch. If it were other hunters or me... They might have been hurt, but they wouldn't have died. The fact that we had to get rid of that statue could have been figured out in the end through a hidden hint somewhere here."

"But it would have taken that long."

I felt it once again when I saw McKid's expression. This guy wanted to end the clearing as efficiently as possible and with the least amount of time.

And thus, I spoke, "I don't think there's a need for two people to project at once in this team, and what do you think about me taking charge of it? Instead, I request this to be reflected upon the distribution of compensation after clearing."

Apart from the system's additional compensation in a separate space, hunters should judge and distribute such things as dungeon acquisitions on their own.

McKid looked around the expedition team and asked once more. "Do we need to ask for opinions?"

Of course, everyone agreed.

After that, I was in charge of sensing the traps. Victory welled up inside me.

'All right, all is as planned.'

*

Since then, there had been several battles, and I had helped identify and removed most of the traps in advance. Of course, I didn't forget to make mistakes little by little because I could have bought suspicion if it was too perfect.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't see it."

The expedition team was wiping out the slime debris all over their bodies because I let them touch the traps on purpose.

Everyone frowned, but they didn't dare blame me. After comparing it a few more times, they had no choice but to admit that my clairvoyance was better than hers.

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Whenever I moved to such a new room, I didn't forget to look everywhere by Penetration. I also meant to grasp the trap in advance, but it had a more important purpose.

How far did we go like that?

'It's here!'

I then found the place I was after.

I could see it. It was a trap as soon as we entered. A structure that black tentacles would come out of the floor when touched, tying the intruders tightly and dragging them underground.

"Wait, everybody, stay still. I need to take a closer look."

In here, no one else should be set up, and only I should be the one to be caught. Right now, I had been taking the lead in clairvoyance to make a reason for me to be the impromptu leader.

I walked away as if I was letting them watch closely with the explorers behind my back. Then, on the front-most trap activator, I deliberately stepped hard on it.

Thump!

"Ahhhhhh!"

At that moment, the floor where I was stepping on fell away, and a tentacle-like black sea anemone wrapped my body. I struggled, coupling this with a scream, which effectively made me look desperate.

"Damn it!"

McKid's face was distorted. He lifted the weapon. He was the one to be in the most trouble if I was gone. Meanwhile, I struggled with my body wrapped in a black tentacle, and I was thinking this.

'Why are they so slow? Pull me down quickly!'

As if they heard my inner voice, they pulled me underground. McKid's attack, trying to cut off the tentacles, split the air above my head.

"Oh!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

In an instant, the explorers disappeared from sight.

After being dragged underground, I fell, trapped in a dark, narrow passage. The hole under my foot seemed to go way down.

'If I keep being dragged away like this, my body will crumble and soon become pulverized.'

There was no need to go that far. I had already identified what the structure was at the bottom through Penetration. I calculated for the chance.

I fell, fell, fell, and now...!

I blew up the flames of Mana all over my body.

Boosh!

All the tentacles tied to me were all burnt out.

Thump!

I stretched my arms and legs to the wall to stop the fall. I stood still in the middle of the vertical passage.

"[Dig]!"

After digging a hole in the middle of the passage, I entered. There was an area of the dungeon where other explorers had not yet even entered.

'McKid will continue to explore instead of risking and running to save me. Emily's clairvoyance isn't that useless at all, nor does it make a fatal hindrance in their battle manpower to lose an A-rank person.'

They would probably think of Dell Parker as a dead man and keep going.

'I will be one step ahead, outside McKid's eyes.'

I continued on the dungeon expedition after being alone.

I simply relied on the maps in my head and perspective skill to advance. I avoided traps and minimized battles. After penetrating such a complex maze of dungeons alone, I finally arrived at my destination.

'Here I am.'

*

Where my steps stopped was an empty room with a completely different atmosphere.

Among them, a human-like skeleton sat down, which looked unique.

He held the sword's handle with his two remaining bones and died that way with the blade facing him as the sword penetrated one's own chest. I approached without hesitation and grabbed the sword handle that the skeleton was holding.

Then...

Whooooooooooh!

The sword began to cry, and a refreshing voice had started to resonate in my head.

'Ahhh...!'

I didn't hear it wrong. I could listen to it one more time—a resonance like that of a refreshing spring breeze.

'Oh, my God, how long has it been? My senses are back!'

The ones in this room now were the skeleton, sword, and I, including both living and non-living things. There were only three of us.

Unless the skeleton spoke to me, the one behind this voice was definitely the sword I was holding.

When I came into contact with the item, a system message popped up.

[Devil Slayer]

Item Description: It was said that a legendary being first used this sword to make mountain ranges out of the corpses of countless demons and make the ocean out of their blood. If you listen to the sword's voice, you will be able to learn the essence of the sword that the previous owners have learned.

※ Precautions: This sword amplifies and releases the user's sword mastery and may take a long time to get used to it.

A sword to cut demons. In other words, the Demon-Slaying Sword.

However, in our previous lives, we all called this sword 'Magic Sword.' The name was short, and it was considered much more appropriate due to its nature.

The voice then kept ringing.

'Oh... I see it. I can see everything. How long has it been...? My senses are back!'

The voice that came directly into my mind... how should I put it?

Suppose telepathy could be compared to a substance, then it would be like unspoiled soft cotton. Its voice sounded like the rays of the sun breaking through the early morning air.

A brilliant ringing that must make you feel better just by concentrating on it.

If one could turn telepathy into this, they would probably make the person want to give out goodwill and trust for no reason whatsoever. I knew I might if not for the system messages continuously popping in.

'Oh... Uhm, you. You keep... looking at me?'

A voice whispered to me, 'By any chance... Can you hear this voice?'

I nodded, holding back the corners of my mouth rising. Yeah, we need to talk first.

'Oh, my God! It's been a while since I met someone who could hear my voice! This is fate. Let me introduce myself first.'

I was listening for a moment to the voice of the sword.

'I'm a sword that has slain countless demons in the past. And I remember all the sword movements of the swordsman who had me in their hands. Oh, my heart is full. Thank you for holding me. It's fate. What do you think? Would you be my master?'

The echo sounded full of good faith and pure joy.

Nevertheless, the common sense of a hunter who had been through a lot would not immediately accept such a voice without any doubt.

Surprisingly, more than half of the hunters who held the sword in the future accepted the offer as soon as it was in their hands, as if it was possessed by something.

I was speechless.

The sword babbled again when there was no immediate answer.

'...Of course, it must be hard to accept it right here. That's okay. As you can see, I'm a pretty good sword. Hold it in your hand and swing it a few times! I may have a chance to give you a few words of advice.'

Most of the other half's hunters would also be tricked on in the next step.

Just listening to the sword's voice has the effect of filling in years of sword mastery.

The system was said to take care of the Mana control for skill activation, but using a lot of it to increase mastery was another problem. However, this sword allowed one to skip the process, whether it was a familiar [Sword Mastery] or a mastery skill specialized in swordsmanship.

They relied on it, built trust, and eventually accepted it.

They accepted the teachings of the sword to be the true master of the sword.

'The process of being a true owner is simple. I can offer you all the movements of the sword I have accumulated so far by 'accepting' in your mind that you will allow me and accept me. Don't worry. You don't need to acquire the skills that the Awakened has. All you have to do is let me. It doesn't have to be right now. We have a lot of time left in the fut...'

I cut off the sword's words there.

"Hey."

'Yes! Go ahead.'

I rolled up my lips. "Don't bullshit me."

There was a momentarily flowing silence. The reaction of the sword was a little bit late.

'What's that? What does that mean?'

I spoke in a cold voice. "Cut the bullshit."

From the moment I caught this sword, system messages were ringing noisily in my head, apart from the voice of the sword.

'[Devil Slayer] attempts [Whisper of the Sword] to the user.'

' ···[The Successor's Eyes] blocks the [Whisper of the Sword]!'

'[Devil Slayer] attempts [Whisper of the Sword] to the user.'

' ···[The Successor's Eyes] blocks the [Whisper of the Sword]!'

'[Devil Slayer] attempts [Whisper of the Sword] to the user.'

' ···[The Successor's Eyes] blocks the [Whisper of the Sword]!'

'[Devil Slayer] attempts···.'

The whispering of the sword was sweet, but that was why one should be more careful.

The devil did not give out unpleasant sounds to your ears. Their whispers were just so sweet that their tongues would tingle.

'Just like the voice of this sword.'

As always, there was no lie in the description of the items displayed by the system.

However, it didn't explain everything kindly. As the message said, it was true that [Devil Slayer] had massacred many demons through an unknown time.

However, the first owner to slaughter the most demons with this sword in his hand was also a devil.