Chapter 53: Floor 3: The Fallen King’s Labyrinth

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[Headless Knight – D++ Rank: Level 40]

Right from the get-go, the difficulty of the Dungeon on the third floor skyrocketed with the appearance of a wandering giant monster that could even be considered a "Mini Boss," almost as strong as the Whispering Scream itself.

However, this one came with its own set of strange and bizarre abilities to boot.

Riven glanced behind him for only a second before a gigantic sword dug deep into the floor and rushed forward. Pieces of shattered stone flew everywhere, aimed straight at those standing behind him.

"Smart, aren’t you?"

He took a single step back, activated Abyssal Shift, and quickly reappeared in front of the group next to Daniela. In one smooth motion he swung his blade and unleashed a wide wave of pure dark energy that completely destroyed all the flying rubble.

"Riven!" Daniela panicked, eyes wide with fear.

"Noir! Daniela, bring them away!" Riven ordered firmly. "If you keep getting in the way, I can’t kill this thing properly!"

"Understood!" Daniela nodded without hesitation. "Noir!"

"Woof!" Noir immediately encompassed everyone in thick shadows. With Daniela riding safely on his back, the little Abyssal Wolf dashed as far away as he could manage.

As he watched them leave, Riven turned his full attention back to the Headless Knight. Based on everything he had fought before, nobody would ever expect that giant, over ten-meter-tall, armored humanoids capable of speech would be the common monsters on the third floor.

But this was simply how Gates worked, especially those with multiple floors. Each floor was twisted in its own unique way, representing an area lost somewhere in time. There was also a very good reason why this place was called a "Labyrinth," and that name originated from the third floor itself.

The Fallen King’s Labyrinth!

Riven had studied these monsters thoroughly through the Monsterpedia he had read back in his previous life. He had even reread the relevant sections five times throughout the past week just to memorize every important detail.

Even so, he still could not fully believe what he was seeing with his own eyes. Could this creature even be called a proper "animal" anymore? It was quite literally the undead body of a giant race of alien, intelligent beings that had once lived in another world.

And yet the current world was already so chaotic and ruled by selfish conglomerates that very few people ever bothered to investigate any of this deeply.

Where did these beings originally come from?

What was their history?

What kind of world and culture had they possessed?

All of that knowledge was lost to time. Whenever someone actually tried to research these questions in depth, they were quickly silenced by those in power.

Monsterpedia remained the only book of its kind that was officially allowed to exist, mostly because it helped Hunters avoid dying all the time. It only survived because many of the greatest geniuses in the world had united to publish the book through official channels.

And yet, just like Daniela before she met him, very few people ever bothered to read these incredibly detailed books. Most preferred to challenge themselves blindly without doing any proper research beforehand.

Perhaps for people who had been born with power far above ordinary humans from the very beginning, these books felt useless. They were simply too confident in their own natural strength.

But Riven was different. He had lived four miserable lives as the weakest person imaginable. Because of that experience he knew that even with his new strength, he should never take anything for granted.

"I’d like to have a chat with you," Riven spoke calmly to the Headless Knight. "I am honestly delighted to meet someone from another world face to face like this."

"..." The Headless Knight glared at him with clear anger. Its giant phantasmal horse began to slowly approach.

"Would you be willing to take on an interview?" Riven asked politely. "I can offer you food, money, anything you might want in exchange for the opportunity to learn about another world."

"Heh... Hehehehh..."

However, the Headless Knight only laughed.

It was openly mocking him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The laughter grew louder and more manic.

Its phantasmal horse cried out loudly and then galloped forward at breakneck speed, reaching Riven in a mere second. The massive sword came crashing down with tremendous force.

There was no response other than pure madness.

"I see. So it is exactly as the books say. Undead are too far gone into madness, incapable of properly speaking with others," Riven sighed. The giant sword struck his body with full power.

CRAAASH!

RUMBLE!

An explosion of dark, phantasmal energies completely encompassed his entire body. Yet the sword only became stuck in his shoulder. Heavy armor made of dinosaur-like scales and sharp crystal horns instantly manifested around him.

At the same time, additional scales appeared beneath that armor, and the skin under the scales turned metallic as well, already naturally as thick and tough as metal.

The result?

An almost impenetrable physical defense!

"It’s a pity," Riven said with a slight look of genuine regret in his eyes. "I wish things could be different, but for the sake of my wife, I will put your soul to rest."

"TSK!" The Headless Knight struggled and finally yanked its sword free after some effort. It roared as its severed head floated above Riven, jaws opening wide to release a thick ghostly green slime capable of melting skin and weakening souls.

However, as the ghostly poison splashed across Riven’s body, he began to rapidly absorb and fully assimilate it. His heartbeat accelerated with newfound energy.

"Thank you. I did hear that you possessed some kind of poison attack," Riven said calmly. "I’ve gotten everything I needed from you now..."

He charged his fist with concentrated energy. Purple and azure ki, and pure mana all converged into a single swirling vortex of abyssal black power.

Then he swung his fist forward. A massive three-headed serpent, or rather, a full hydra, manifested from his Ki Aura in that instant.

BOOOM!!!

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