“Grraahh- Aww- Awwww!!”
Kim Ye-min, who had turned into a half-human half-beast, let out a howling cry filled with resentment as she shed bloody tears towards the sky.
Of course, she couldn’t control her body properly during the mutation.
Pooooof──!
The unrefined howl of a beast was her last testament.
Pshuuuuk─
Ainz and Dry, devoid of both blood and tears, shredded her throat, painting the room entirely red.
“Gggrroooaaahh…??”
Thud─!
‘That fierce b*tch…’
Kim Ye-min tried to embrace everything she had until the moment of her death, yet she still dropped two artifacts.
‘One unique artifact… Beast’s Heart Stone? This is a nice item too.’
Derevaine’s Beast Whip
– A unique artifact for the Beast Master class.
– Essential artifact for taming beasts.
Beast’s Heart Stone
– Helps in controlling completely subservient beings.
– Increases the stats of all subdued beings by 10%.
I shoved the Derevaine’s Beast Whip into my space because it was something I couldn’t handle properly.
‘Beast’s Heart Stone… If I give this to Yeon-hee, my stats will increase by 10%— Hmm?!’
As soon as I held the red heart the size of a baby’s head, it began to fuse with the core in my mind.
‘What?!’
Crunchy- crackle-
– The Beast’s Heart Stone has found a being with sufficient qualification.
– The Beast’s Heart Stone merges with the core.
– All stats of the demon servants and minions increase by 10%!
‘Aah… I don’t even have a choice in this?!’
The pulsating Beast’s Heart Stone melted into the core, leaving no shape behind.
‘Tsk- There’s no alternative, huh? If it decides for itself.’
“Tap?!”
“Uhh…?! M-Master! What the heck is this?!”
Suddenly, all my subordinates were startled as their stats grew by 10%.
Haseirin and Grim Reaper, who were far away, probably experienced changes too.
‘If the Grim Reaper… grows by 10%, I won’t even be able to win against him next time.’
I had to be careful not to seem intimidated when we meet again.
“Ahem- There’s nothing to be surprised about. It’s just me giving you some power.”
I feigned nonchalance, but the core fused with the Beast’s Heart Stone was pounding away.
“Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
“Crrraaallll!!”
“Indeed, Master… Ahh-!”
“Aaah- This explosive growth feels so long-awaited-! I want… to be ravaged by the master and explode….”
“Hold on. That’s training too.”
Before my subordinates’ intense reactions could finish, a message appeared.
– You have acquired ‘Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion.’
“Huh… What’s that gem-like thing, Master?”
“It’s pretty.”
“This? It’s a sad fragment filled with human regrets.”
Having obtained a total of ten fragments, I needed just six more to gather all the materials to complete the Life Potion.
Stirring to and fro-
At that moment, Oung-han, who was stabilizing in his mutation, couldn’t hold back any longer and began to stir.
“I won’t have enough time to work on Teacher Cha. Let’s wrap things up here.”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
“………”
Oung-han, who appeared to be relatively quietly asleep.
But I knew he was already fully conscious, calculating when to escape.
“Hey, stop pretending and get up.”
“……… No way!!”
Unlike Kim Ye-min, Oung-han had retained his sanity.
He hurried to escape and, surprisingly, showcased powerful strength by lifting and throwing off the ‘burden’ pinning him down.
It wasn’t a display of strength that a magician could display.
But.
Thud thud thud thud!!!
“W-what is this?!”
The dark space’s stone floor surrounded him.
He tried to tunnel out quickly, but the first barriers were laid on the ceiling and floor.
“Jengan!!”
Even if he grew stronger, he was fundamentally an illusionist.
Escaping from a physically manifested prison was not an easy job.
I summoned the ‘Gori’ troops and ‘burden’ back into the confined space.
“Do you think I will get taken down by these filthy bugs!!”
He cleared the first turn without any issue.
‘His combat abilities aren’t half bad. Not allowing an attack even once in that narrow space.’
Fwoosh──
“Graaaah?! It’s hot!! It’s hot!!”
But that was all.
After piling up barriers and injecting the combo of Chain of Flame and Firewall into the prison, he let out a horrifying scream and became utterly confused.
‘That’s good intel. Although the mutation process is still not complete and his stats are low… at least I can neutralize him with the stone prison up to mid A-rank.’
Filling the chamber with flames, roasting him several times, and summoning minions again and again, he ultimately breathed his last in a pitifully crushed state.
When the stone prison was released, hundreds of Hook Bats swarmed in to shred his body apart, to the point that there was nothing left to collect.
“I hope you felt even 1/10 of the suffering the ordinary people you killed felt.”
At least Oung-han resisted my attacks, but what crime had those who died from his illusions committed?
“Wow… You defeated Oung so easily… Master’s abilities truly know no bounds.”
“And this isn’t just an ordinary stone either.”
The twins, while blatantly rubbing their private parts, kept talking to me incessantly.
“Your skills were helpful. Twin Cast. That’s some real deal. By the way, why is it in a spear form?”
“I kept picturing something that impales, so it ended up like that. Master.”
“The shape of an impalement… I see. You manifested it based on your imagination… you have quite the talent.”
“Ahh- Do you mean to acknowledge us? If so, then granting us the honor of sharing a bed with you would truly—”
“Shut up. It’s an important moment, so stay quiet.”
“Ugh…!”
– I have punished the villain by turning him into a ‘mutant’!
– You have gathered sufficient fragments.
– Complete the ‘Life Potion’ within the remaining time, and earn rewards!
‘Hmm, as expected. I really need to finish this. I should move quickly.’
“I’ll handle Teacher Cha myself later.”
“Yes, Master!!”
“You two should stick to this guy and carry out activities. Just follow Jung Tae-hyung for specific directions.”
“Y-yes?! Are we not going to be with you, Master?”
The twins looked dismayed at my order to join the Grim Reaper.
‘The Grim Reaper can’t accompany us to the dungeon. But twins can surely join our party. Of course, it’s something we have to try.’
In an unstable dungeon, even a top A-rank hunter might be able to enter down to B-rank.
That way, I could more reliably ensure Yeon-hee’s safety.
“I have a lot to handle in a hurry. For the time being, it will be like that.”
“Yes… Understood…”
The disappointed twins started gathering their things.
“Pack just the essentials.”
“Yes, yes!!”
Just as I was urging the twins, I noticed something wriggling on the floor.
“Holo-ron-”
“Grroooorrr-”
“……… Huh? Why aren’t you two disappearing?”
The two ‘beasts’ Kim Ye-min managed were not vanishing but were looking up at me in their miniaturized state.
“Beasts aren’t summoned entities, so isn’t it natural for them not to disappear? They are living creatures, after all.”
“Is that so… Even so, these guys are life forms that are essentially demon beasts trained by magic. Letting them stay will cause problems.”
“Should we just kill them then?”
I hesitated at the twin’s question.
– The excellently trained beasts ‘Holo-ron’ and ‘Grrooooo’ detect the familiar aura coming from you.
‘What’s this… They recognize me as their master just because the Beast Master is gone? But I can’t use this myself.’
– This is a unique artifact for the Beast Master class.
As I infused my magic into it, a message popped up.
‘Let’s just give it a try.’
I picked it up and gave a few playful lashes to the jaguar with the amusing name ‘Grrooooo.’
Slap- Slap-
“Meow-! Grroooorrr-!”
‘………. He seems to like it?’
I didn’t know much about animals, but his reaction clearly expressed satisfaction.
I swung harder, and even though ‘Grrooooo’ got struck red, he continued to express joy with heavy breaths.
‘Is this what taming meant… I’ve turned these kids into something strange.’
In that moment, I had a hunch that leaving them with Ham Eun-young would be just right.
‘With Azraelon around, controlling them shouldn’t be too difficult.’
After sorting my thoughts, I headed outside with the twins once they finished organizing their things.
Flap─
With the giant wings of ‘Zweihander,’ the twins rode on my back as we flew together.
“Woohoo! This feels amazing! Master!!”
“I’m flying! Kyaahh!”
The twins were having the time of their lives holding on to Zweihander’s skeletal wings, but Zweihander himself seemed none too pleased with his burden.
He oddly reminded me of the Sword Dragon.
“Zweihander. Chill out a little.”
“Tap…”
After stroking the horned Zweihander’s head a few times, he seemed to perk up and picked up speed.
Swoosh─
Even while flying with Zweihander, I remained alert of my surroundings.
‘It’s convenient with the Stringer gone. But I can’t shake off the feeling that it’s a bad omen.’
The ‘Ethereal Stringers’ feast on the magical energy they consume while gliding through the skies.
They move in swarms, diving at those imbued with magic to suck it dry and leave them behind – a real headache.
Of course, being drained doesn’t mean you’ll die, but you might feel like you’re nearing death.
They hadn’t been spotted for months since I started flying, but strange occurrences are happening on the opposite side of our country in South America, where they were gathering quite heavily.
There’s a top-tier dungeon known as ‘Sky Garden’ over there, and news of something happening lately has started coming in.
“Let’s pick up the pace.”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
I dropped the twins off in a suitable open space once we arrived in Seoul.
“Can we see you again, Master?”
‘Of course.’
As I finished flying, the remaining transformation time was exhausted, so I was communicating through telepathy.
The demon servants twins did not react even when they knew my essence was that of a skeleton.
“I will protect Hunter Lee Yeon-hee at all costs.”
“Just leave it to us. No one can withstand our skills.”
That might have been overly confident, but it isn’t entirely wrong— not many S-rank hunters could survive a hit from the Twin Cast.
I also received a set of ‘Aqua Plighter’ from Hae-ryeong.
‘I’ll use it well, Hae-ryeong.’
“Ahh… Master called my name… Haaah…”
“Ca-can you call my name just once?”
‘If you complete your mission well, I will pat you on the head. Do well, Hae-ryeong, Hae-min.’
Leaving behind the two, who were blushing intensely from having their names called, I headed straight home.
“Is Il-wol back? How was it? Did you meet Examiner Cha?”
By the time I got home, Yeon-hee had already arrived, looking clean without a single scratch, so it seemed like she had cleared the first floor of the ‘Living Statue of Strength’ dungeon rather easily.
Of course, the main game would be after going underground.
I explained the Evolved Creature quest to Yeon-hee in detail.
“Huh?! Then we need to hurry! Let’s talk later.”
Upon hearing that we had to rush to create the item known as ‘Life Potion,’ Yeon-hee immediately returned me to the ‘Dark Space.’
Vwoom─
‘Quickly- Quickly-‘
As soon as I entered the space, I dashed towards Rainy at full speed.
‘Rainy!!’
(Eh? Ah?! Il-wol! Look! You handed in everything so cleanly- Eeeeek? Did you bring more again?)
Upon presenting her with a heap of fragments muddled with corruption, Rainy stepped back in shock.
– 36:20:12
‘Thirty-six hours… it’ll be tight. Is it possible?’
Rainy, having listened to my explanation, approached the pieces emitting a dark aura, saying she would give it her best shot.
(Eeehhhh… Clean, clean, please.)
She wasn’t chanting any particular spell nor drawing any specific magic circuit.
She was simply breathing her mysterious and refreshing aura into the fragments of the Corrupted Life Potion.
And it was truly astonishing that it worked.
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