Chapter 188: Floor 17 Hidden (5)

Once the Champion Duels were over, ownership of the God-Slaying Sword went to the Dafria Family.

“That was a truly magnificent duel.”

Gakil and I were stopped by Grand Duke Bilford.

“To think there was another demon this skilled... Just who are you?”

Grand Duke Bilford was extremely curious about my identity.

I gave him a vague answer.

“I’m just a wanderer.”

“Just a wanderer, you say... If all mere wanderers were like you, humanity would have been wiped out long ago, and demons would be ruling the entire continent by now.”

Grand Duke Bilford let out a hearty laugh.

“Kim Seo-hyeon, was it? I have no intention of digging into your identity. I simply wish to offer you my thanks in the name of Bilford. Thanks to you, we were able to stop the Keilteir Family’s madness.”

Grand Duke Bilford kept going on about one thing or another, but...

That wasn’t what I was concerned about right now.

‘Still no clear notification...’

Participate in the Champion Duel and prevent Keilteir from winning.

Apparently, that alone wasn’t enough to clear the Hidden.

For now, I was acting to prevent the War Demon God’s revival, but I still couldn’t be certain whether stopping the revival was actually the Clear Condition.

Then again, if I hadn’t stepped in, Keilteir would have won in the end, so stopping him had to have been the right move...

I gave Grand Duke Bilford the occasional response, then turned to Gakil.

“Since the Dafria Family now has ownership of the God-Slaying Sword, does that mean we can take it with us whenever we want?”

Gakil shook his head.

“Of course not. This is merely temporary authority granted because the position of Demon King is currently vacant. Unless we intend to perform the War Demon God’s revival ritual, the God-Slaying Sword will remain stored in the Demon King’s Castle Treasury just as it is now.”

Hmm...

Something about that bothered me.

I was sure the God-Slaying Sword was central to clearing this Hidden.

I said,

“Then we can at least go see it, right? I’d like to see the legendary God-Slaying Sword for myself.”

Grand Duke Bilford answered.

“That much should certainly be possible.”

My request was accepted.

The elderly butler who had overseen the Champion Duel led Gakil and me there. Grand Duke Bilford came along as well.

Apparently, the old butler was the chief administrator of the Demon King’s Castle... or held some position along those lines.

“This way.”

The Treasury where the God-Slaying Sword was kept seemed to be underground.

Following the old butler into the underground depths of the Demon King’s Castle, we entered a maze of twisting passages and seemingly endless staircases.

Only after walking for quite some time did we finally reach our destination.

When a massive door opened, it revealed a room piled high with all kinds of treasure.

The old butler paid the treasures no attention and continued farther inside.

Only after passing through several more doors did we finally reach the chamber containing the God-Slaying Sword.

“This is Ryuon, the God-Slaying Sword.”

I looked up at the single sword floating in midair.

It was a plain, rugged-looking blade without any particular ornamentation.

...That thing was the God-Slaying Sword that had killed a god?

It looked so ordinary that I couldn’t help wondering if they were showing me a fake.

- Hah...

At that moment, the Demon King let out a sigh.

- Unbelievable. It truly does contain Divinity.

‘So it really is the God-Slaying Sword?’

With confirmation from the Demon King, at least I knew it was genuine.

But the Demon King’s tone grew grave.

- We should consider this bad news.

‘...What? Why?’

- I had my doubts, but seeing this confirms that the War Demon God truly is a god. I never imagined the Tower could even use the power of a god as part of one of its challenges.

Ah... I guess that was true.

An object containing a god’s power.

Which naturally meant that the War Demon God they intended to revive with it wasn’t merely a god in name, but an actual god.

I asked Grand Duke Bilford,

“Can the War Demon God’s revival ritual be performed without the God-Slaying Sword?”

“No. The God-Slaying Sword is absolutely necessary. How could one perform a ritual to revive a god without a Divine Artifact containing the power of a god?”

I stopped time for a moment to think.

All right, let me sort this out...

Preventing Keilteir from winning hadn’t been enough to clear the Hidden.

That meant there was still something left.

If I had to guess what that something was... maybe someone would try to steal the God-Slaying Sword, or something along those lines?

If so, what I needed to do right now was simple.

I just had to keep watch and make sure the God-Slaying Sword remained safe.

As long as I protected the God-Slaying Sword, there was no way the War Demon God could be revived.

The only problem was whether preventing the revival really was the Clear Condition...

For now, I had no choice but to keep acting under that assumption.

What else was I supposed to do? Help Keilteir revive the War Demon God right now?

If that turned out to be the wrong answer, there would be no way to undo it.

The best option was to watch how things developed and adapt accordingly.

I let time flow again.

Unfamiliar glowing symbols revolved in a ring around the God-Slaying Sword floating in midair...

“What kind of magic is that?”

“It is a defensive spell. The sword has been sealed so that intruders cannot touch it.”

The old butler answered.

Could I break that seal by force if I wanted to?

Ideally, I’d secure the God-Slaying Sword myself and keep it by my side.

But to do that, I would have to subdue everyone here, break the magical seal, and make a run for it.

I could do it... but would that be okay?

Hidden Routes were exactly the kind of bullshit where attacking someone you weren’t supposed to, or touching one wrong thing, could suddenly mean a failed clear.

Of course, things were somewhat different this time because the Tower had attached several conditions to its offer.

[Upon accepting the proposal, ‘Person123’ must enter Nightmare Difficulty Floor 17 within 24 hours and cannot exit until he clears the Hidden Route.]

I couldn’t leave until I cleared it, but could I still fail midway? What about the three chances?

There were too many unknowns.

And because I didn’t know, I had to be careful for now.

Better not to cause a scene. I’d watch from the shadows instead.

I registered my current location as a Warp Point.

After I finished looking at the God-Slaying Sword, I followed the old butler out of the Treasury.

On the way back to the surface, I stopped time every so often and committed the entire route to memory, just in case.

“Kim Seo-hyeon, if you are willing, I would like to invite you to the Bilford Family. What do you say?”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to decline.”

“Hmm, what a shame. Then perhaps another time.”

Grand Duke Bilford kept pestering me about it, but I politely turned him down.

Gakil, meanwhile, seemed ready to return to his family immediately.

He had rushed to the Demon King’s Castle because of me, but there was probably a mountain of work waiting for him back home.

“Grand Duke Bilford has promised considerable support to the Dafria Family. We owe it all to you, so allow me to thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

At least the Dafria Family seemed to have gained quite a lot from all this.

“Will you not return with me? Heilin will surely be waiting for you as well...”

“No, I need to be on my way now. I’ll leave on my own using Teleportation, so you don’t need to worry about me.”

After telling Gakil that, instead of leaving the Demon King’s Castle, I warped back to the point I had registered.

Pop.

The Treasury containing the God-Slaying Sword.

Fortunately, unlike the 4th Floor Hidden, there didn’t seem to be any device here that blocked teleportation.

I sat down in a corner of the Treasury and quietly watched the sealed God-Slaying Sword.

[Time Remaining Until Successful Clear: 3 days 18 hours 5 minutes 15 seconds]

There were roughly four days left until the clear.

Even if I failed to find the Clear Condition, all I had to do was stay alive until then.

Of course, paradoxically, the timer itself was proof that something had to happen before then.

There was no way the Tower would simply let me clear it without a fight.

[Time Remaining Until Successful Clear: 2 days 23 hours 41 minutes 26 seconds]

Nearly a full day passed.

I didn’t sleep. I just kept watch over the God-Slaying Sword.

Then it happened.

“...!”

I sensed presences approaching this way.

There were several of them, and they were moving fast.

I pressed myself into the farthest corner and used Diul’s ability to activate Concealment.

A moment later, the Treasury door opened.

A group of figures wearing masks and robes entered.

Their clothes were stained with blood in several places, as though they had fought their way here.

One glance was enough to tell they weren’t ordinary visitors. They were intruders.

I immediately recognized the identity of one of them.

‘Grand Duke Keilteir.’

The only demons I’d encountered who felt this strong were the two Grand Dukes.

And Grand Duke Bilford had no reason to do something like this.

That naturally left Grand Duke Keilteir.

“Break the seal.”

It was Grand Duke Keilteir’s voice, just as I had expected.

At his order, the masked figures approached the God-Slaying Sword.

So this was the God-Slaying Sword theft I’d been expecting.

I was debating whether to watch a little longer and see what they did or step in to stop them when...

Grand Duke Keilteir’s gaze turned straight toward where I was concealed.

Damn, he noticed me.

Supreme Combat Sense activated, and a red zone engulfed me.

BOOOOM!

I dodged the incoming Sword Aura, dropped Concealment, and faced Grand Duke Keilteir.

The masked figures surrounded me.

The Grand Duke spoke in an icy voice.

“...You’re Dafria’s Champion. How are you here?”

I drew the Gatekeeper of Heaven’s Sword and replied,

“If you lost, you should’ve accepted it. You really think pulling something like this is okay?”

So much for talking.

Bloodlust poured in from every direction.

Keilteir apparently had no intention of continuing the conversation.

I stopped time.

All right. What now?

Better to subdue them all rather than kill them outright, right?

The problem was that Grand Duke Keilteir was nearly as strong as I was.

Of course, that was only if we compared our levels, so I was confident I could beat him without much trouble. Taking him down alive, though, would be considerably more difficult.

And fighting this close to the God-Slaying Sword made me uneasy.

‘Demon King.’

I decided to use the easiest method.

‘Freeze all of them solid. Just be careful not to hit the God-Slaying Sword.’

I tagged the Demon King in.

Fwoooooosh-!

The instant I released Time Stop, the Demon King’s freezing air flooded the chamber.

Every one of the intruders froze solid.

He concentrated especially heavily on Grand Duke Keilteir.

Hssss...

Breathing out cold mist, I walked over to the frozen Grand Duke.

I asked the Demon King to thaw only his head, then pulled off his mask.

The Grand Duke looked thoroughly shaken, as though he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“What... in the world are you?”

His voice came out trembling, perhaps from the cold that had seeped into his body.

I said,

“You were planning to take the God-Slaying Sword and revive the War Demon God, weren’t you?”

“...”

“And then what? What were you going to do after reviving him? I heard the Demon God could go berserk and destroy the entire world. Is that what you want?”

The Grand Duke stared blankly at me for a moment, then suddenly let out an eerie chuckle.

“It is regrettable that I failed to secure the God-Slaying Sword as well. I had hoped to witness with my own eyes the glorious moment of His manifestation...”

That was when it happened.

Black energy suddenly writhed above the Grand Duke’s head.

A black sphere bristling with spikes like a sea urchin.

Flash!

The center of the sphere split open, revealing an eyeball.

‘A Familiar...?’

At the same instant, my Sixth Sense screamed a warning.

The red indicators from Supreme Combat Sense flooded the entire chamber in crimson.

I immediately stopped time.

‘A self-destruct attack?’

So this was the Grand Duke’s final move.

For my Sixth Sense to be sounding the alarm this loudly, the attack had to be monstrously powerful.

I made my decision immediately.

The instant I released Time Stop, I teleported in front of the God-Slaying Sword.

Then I activated the Armor of Karma.

...BOOOOOOOOM!!

A massive explosion erupted, and instead of light, pitch-black darkness swallowed the entire chamber.

When the darkness cleared, the room had been reduced to ruins.

Except for me, everyone, including the Grand Duke and the masked intruders, had been completely obliterated.

I deactivated the Armor of Karma and checked whether the God-Slaying Sword was safe.

“Phew.”

Still intact.

Since I had taken the full force of the blast head-on, the sword didn’t seem to have been affected at all.

I stood still for a moment, staring into empty space.

“...”

Still nothing.

I had stopped the theft of the God-Slaying Sword, and Grand Duke Keilteir was dead.

Yet the clear-success notification still didn’t appear.

I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

Considering the Tower had supposedly increased the difficulty... nothing so far had been all that difficult.

A sudden sense of foreboding came over me.

I remembered what the Grand Duke had said just before he died.

He regretted not securing the God-Slaying Sword ‘as well’...?

The way he had said it almost made it sound like the revival ritual hadn’t failed yet.

I stopped time and thought.

The War Demon God’s revival ritual required the God-Slaying Sword.

Because the God-Slaying Sword was a Divine Artifact containing the power of a god.

But what if... Keilteir possessed another Divine Artifact besides the God-Slaying Sword?

What if the ritual could be performed with that instead?

‘Fuck.’

A chill of dread swept through me.

I shouldn’t have been sitting here guarding the God-Slaying Sword.

I had to cross over to the Demon Realm, where the War Demon God’s remains were said to be, right now.

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