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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 277
[The Fortress of Shadows Shrouded in Doom]
‘I can’t see anything.’
Where this place was, or exactly where he was standing, he couldn’t tell as nothing was visible.
[Your vision is obstructed by the dense darkness.]
Ah, so that’s why.
If it’s because of a debuff, Safeguard should take care of it.
[Activating Safeguard.]
[Safeguard cannot be used.]
However, Safeguard had no effect.
Then, what about the Holy Orb of Glory?
[Activating Holy Orb of Glory.]
Once the Holy Orb of Glory was activated, the surroundings finally brightened.
The darkness-attribute debuff was dispelled upon encountering the light-attribute Holy Orb of Glory.
‘Is it because of the title?’
As his “rank” increased, the skill's effect had also strengthened.
With the area illuminated, Jeong-hoon could now tell he was standing at the entrance of a fortress.
At the entrance stood knights stained in black, guarding the gate.
[Lv. 650 Shadow Sentry A]
Even mere sentries were at Level 650.
The absurd stat made him laugh dryly.
‘Incredible.’
He now fully understood why reaching 60% of the Ultimate Energy was a condition for starting The Path to the Ultimate (2).
The difficulty was leagues beyond what he had faced during the Heavenly Demon Cult incident.
[To pass through the fortress gates, all monsters must be eliminated.]
This wasn’t even part of a quest; he had to clear out the monsters directly to force his way in.
Which meant the hunting would only continue once he entered.
‘If I had to fight them with my vision obstructed, it would’ve been unbearable.’
Jeong-hoon activated Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.
As befitting their Level 650 status, the sentries didn’t panic when Jeong-hoon approached; instead, they assumed their stances.
“Intruder detected.”
“Eliminate the intruder!”
The sentries sent out a signal, and the gates opened, releasing a flood of soldiers.
At a glance, there were at least 100 of them.
It was clear from the start that this battle wouldn’t be easy, but Jeong-hoon charged at them without hesitation, unleashing Heavenly Demon Lord's Fist Techniques.
Thwack!
Jeong-hoon’s fist slammed into the helmet of the sentry in front of him.
With a heavy impact sound, the sentry’s head snapped to the side. Jeong-hoon swiftly followed up with three punches to its abdomen.
‘Are these guys really Level 650?’
Jeong-hoon felt a sharp ache in his fist and couldn’t hide his surprise.
The energy of the 1-Star Heavenly Demon Lord's Fist Technique was imbued in his punches.
The fact that damage was penetrating that energy meant only one thing.
‘This confirms it. Baal, that bastard, is interfering.’
It can't be explained otherwise.
To think he would exploit the loophole of not including a clause prohibiting interference when the wager began.
‘He must desperately want me to fail.’
So that he could bind me to a contract with him.
But what to do about this?
Instead, I feel grateful.
Jeong-hoon's lips curled into a sharp grin.
The reason he hadn’t bothered to mention the difficulty was simple: he wanted to test how much power his title would exhibit.
From Level 5 onward, this was uncharted territory, even compared to his regression, so it was necessary to gauge his current limits.
That way, when the time came to fully harness the Ultimate Power, he could make more accurate calculations.
‘And the higher the difficulty, the better the rewards.’
This was an immutable law.
If the difficulty had indeed been elevated, then the rewards here were bound to be significantly upgraded as well.
Whoosh—
These thoughts lasted only briefly.
An unrelenting storm of sword strikes rained down on Jeong-hoon.
‘I can see them.’
Every single one of them was over Level 650.
Despite that, Jeong-hoon evaded the strikes without using a single buff-type skill, moving just enough to dodge each blow.
His movements were minimal, yet precise, allowing him to maintain his balance and counterattack immediately.
Thwack!
Once again, his fist crashed into the helmet of the sentry before him.
The sentry, struck hard, staggered backward.
Without hesitation, Jeong-hoon drove his foot upward into the vulnerable spot between the sentry’s legs.
“Gahh!”
The sentry, hit squarely in its weak point, curled up and collapsed on the spot.
This caused the six sentries rushing toward Jeong-hoon to collide with the fallen one, losing their footing in the process.
“Come at me as much as you want. I’ll clear it all without fail.”
Adjusting the difficulty was Harphael’s prerogative.
Even so, there must be a limit to how much it could be increased.
‘I’ll smash through that limit myself.’
Jeong-hoon stepped into Heavenly Demon Lord's Steps and drove his fist into the solar plexus of the sentry to his left.
***
About two hours had passed since the battle began.
The Shadow Sentries that had poured out from the fortress gates now lay lifeless on the ground.
[You have eliminated all monsters.]
[The gates are now open.]
Finally, the gates were unlocked.
It had been a grueling fight, but Jeong-hoon couldn’t afford to stop now.
The Path to the Ultimate (2) was just beginning.
Restoring his stamina with divine power, Jeong-hoon stepped through the gates.
Contrary to his expectations, however, no monsters ambushed him inside.
‘That’s strange. There’s no way they wouldn’t have noticed the commotion outside the gates.’
Of course, he had prepared for this and was expecting to just wait for him to enter.
At that moment, a shadow, dyed completely black, slowly approached Jeong-hoon.
Jeong-hoon was about to step into Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion, but he hesitated.
‘A quest?’
A question mark was blinking above the shadow.
In other words, this wasn't a monster, but an NPC.
‘So that’s why no monsters attacked me.’
If that’s the case, everything falls into place.
===
[NPC Information]
- Nickname: Nameless Shadow A
- Level: 700
- Class: None
===
A Nameless Shadow A boasting a level of 700.
It has no class.
‘A being that has lost its purpose.’
Having no class means it has lost its original role.
[Path to the Ultimate (1): Nameless Shadow A]
Restrictions: Entrance to the Castle of Shadows Shrouded in Destruction
- Reward: ??
- Description: You are currently an intruder. However, Nameless Shadow A welcomes you. Please fulfill its wish.
It seems there’s something binding between them.
Jeong-hoon accepted the quest.
At that moment, Nameless Shadow A reached out toward him.
Simultaneously, a voice echoed in his mind.
[Can you hear me? You should be able to…]
Jeong-hoon nodded.
“Yeah. I can hear you.”
[Really?!]
Though it was a shadow and its expression was unreadable, the tone of its voice was unmistakably one of joy.
“More importantly, why did you approach me?”
[I need a favor.]
“A favor?”
[Yeah. There was a commotion outside, and I’m the one who blocked it all. Aren’t you grateful? Huh? Don’t you want to repay me for that kindness?]
“……”
[Why are you silent? Do you want to see me go mad?]
This one was definitely not normal.
Jeong-hoon sighed quietly and spoke.
“What do I need to do to help you?”
[As expected, you’re not the type to ignore favors!]
“Just tell me quickly.”
[I'm really tired of this life now. I want you to end it for me.]
"End it for me?"
[Yeah.]
That was certainly a unique request.
Who would have thought that death would be their wish?
Jeong-hoon fiddled with the Leviathan in his inventory and spoke.
If that's what was wanted, he would end it painlessly.
"Do you want me to kill you?"
But Nameless Shadow A shook its head.
[If it were that simple, I wouldn't be here like this…]
"Then what should I do?"
[Find my corpse.]
"Find your corpse?"
[Yeah. Unfortunately, I can't go beyond the first floor. My body must be somewhere else. If you break the curse on that body, I will be free.]
The castle was so large that even surpassing the 20th floor would be easy.
This was a quest to find a body somewhere in this vast castle.
"Alright. I'll look for it."
[Thank you! In the meantime, I'll stop the shadows on the first floor from attacking!]
"But you said there's no body on the first floor."
[That means I can stop them while you go up to the second floor.]
Jeong-hoon nodded.
Indeed, since he was on a quest, there was no risk of the shadows attacking.
However, Jeong-hoon didn't head up to the second floor. Instead, he began thoroughly searching the first floor.
‘The floors aren’t divided for no reason. There might be something hidden.’
Especially if the difficulty was adjusted, there was an even greater chance of receiving rewards.
So, he wasn’t going to overlook anything.
"I found it."
Jeong-hoon's lips curled into a smile.
In a corner of the castle, there was a weapons vault.
The items inside the vault were the rewards.
===
[Broken Greatsword (+15)]
- Type: One-handed sword
- Grade: Celestial
- Attack Power: 0
- Critical Hit Rate: 0%
- Remaining Durability: 15%
- Special Ability (1): X
- Special Ability (2): X
===
At first glance, it was a broken weapon that couldn't even be used.
Yet, Jeong-hoon's smile only grew wider and showed no sign of fading.
‘If I extract it, I can get enhancement stones.’
The enhancement stats attached to the broken weapon.
If he extracted it, he wouldn't get as many enhancement stones as the number of successful upgrades, but he could obtain a quantity close to half of that.
In other words, the value of this broken weapon was around 7–8 Celestial enhancement stones.
And this wasn’t the only broken weapon.
===
[Broken Dagger (+7)]
- Type: Dagger
- Grade: Celestial
- Attack Power: 0
- Critical Hit Rate: 0%
- Remaining Durability: 22%
- Special Ability (1): X
- Special Ability (2): X
===
This was also a Celestial-grade dagger.
With an enhancement level of 7, extracting it would yield 3–4 Celestial enhancement stones.
These were materials necessary to enhance Celestial equipment.
Jeong-hoon placed all these items into his inventory.
As he was doing this, one particular weapon caught his eye.
It was another broken weapon, but unlike the others, it was shining faintly.
===
[Broken Bow (+10)]
- Type: Bow
- Grade: Ultimate
- Attack Power: 0
- Critical Hit Rate: 0%
- Remaining Durability: 36%
- Special Ability (1): X
- Special Ability (2): X
===
Ultimate!
He never expected to find an Ultimate-grade weapon.
His heart raced.
Whenever a piece of equipment was upgraded, it had to be reinforced using the corresponding enhancement stones of that grade.
But Ultimate—
That meant the equipment could be upgraded beyond Celestial.
"This is amazing."
Jeong-hoon hurriedly packed the equipment into his inventory and exited the weapons vault.
Outside the vault, Nameless Shadow A was waiting for him.
[Why are you picking up broken stuff?]
The shadow's voice was filled with irritation.
It made sense, as Jeong-hoon had promised to help but instead of heading up to the second floor, he had stayed on the first floor, rummaging through everything.
"I was about to leave."
[Really?]
"Yeah."
Now that the weapons vault had been searched, there was nothing left to do on the first floor.
It was time to head to the second floor.
To reach the second floor, he had to use the central staircase.
Above the staircase, a portal flickered, and he needed to use that portal to reach the second floor.
This was the method for each floor.
Jeong-hoon entered the portal.
[You have defeated all the monsters.]
[Would you like to ascend to the second floor?]
The monsters on the first floor had all been dealt with.
‘Now I understand why no one was on the first floor.’
The promise to stop the attacks was meaningless.
The monsters hadn’t been able to attack because Jeong-hoon had already cleared them out in advance.
‘Let’s just go up for now.’
[Ascending to the second floor.]
Jeong-hoon’s body was pulled into the portal.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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