Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 196

A few minutes prior…

When Kang Yoon-Soo’s party emerged from the underground, they found themselves in a vast hall with a tall altar at its center, leaving them astounded.

Shaneth raised her brows and asked, “This… Isn’t this the heart of a ruin? It’s similar to the ones I’ve seen before.”

“Hmm… So that means the treasures are at the altar?” Henrick wondered, rubbing his chin.

Iris smiled brightly and exclaimed, “So we should be able to get the treasure without fighting against the monsters!”

She happily skipped up to the altar and tried to open the steel chest sitting atop it. However, as soon as she came into contact with it, the chest was enveloped with an electrical current.

Bzzzt!

“Kyaaah!”?Iris immediately took her hands off the chest when the electric current coursed through her.

[The trap guarding the treasure has been triggered!]

[It will not be possible to obtain the Death Pool Ruin’s treasures unless Alsroa the Witch is dead.]

“Are you alright, unni?” Shaneth asked while helping Iris to her feet.

“That really surprised me,” Iris said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Show me your hand,” Henrick said. He inspected Iris’ soft white hand before tilting his head in confusion and saying, “Your hand seems too normal for having just been zapped by that strong electric current. There are no signs of burns anywhere.”

“The scales suddenly appeared and protected me before I could get hurt,” Iris said. She clenched her fist and golden scales suddenly appeared to cover it.

Henrick grimaced, seemingly reminded of their recent death-defying experience against a certain powerful creature. He grumbled, “I guess you really have gotten stronger, since you can cover your body in those hideous scales.”

“Well, that is a given. I am definitely stronger than Henrick after eating the Dragon of Destruction’s heart,” Iris said with a smirk.

Henrick clicked his tongue in disbelief before grumbling, “I have no plans to compete with you, punk.”

Apart from the door they had emerged from, there was only one other door in the vast hall that made up the heart of the ruin. Kang Yoon-Soo promptly opened that other door.

What greeted them were piles of monster corpses littered across the ground. Apart from that, a slender beauty with a few arrows sticking out of her stomach stood in front of the door with her back turned to them. It was the boss monster of the ruin, the Demon Taming Witch, Alsroa.

Kang Yoon-Soo leisurely walked over to the witch while drawing his sword, before lightly swinging it and slicing the witch across her back.

Sukeok!

The Immortal Sword lived up to its legendary rating, inflicting fatal damage to the witch despite being swung lightly. The witch squirmed on the ground, looking visibly shaken as she looked at Kang Yoon-Soo.

“Hand over the rewards,” Kang Yoon-Soo said before raising his sword above his head.

Alsroa cried out shakily, “Come and protect me, my summoned creatures!”

The lesser demon led the charge as the army of monsters rushed to stand between the witch and Kang Yoon-Soo. However, Kang Yoon-Soo took a few steps back while swinging his sword to block the monsters’ attacks.

Henrick, who was right behind him, could not hide his surprise. He exclaimed in awe, “I really respect that bastard. Look at him. He isn’t letting go of his booze even in that situation.”

“Just hurry up and get ready to fight!” Shaneth snapped sharply, before swinging her scythe and using one of the new skills she had obtained after changing classes to the Red Tyrant. “Fire Storm!”

Hot clouds formed on the hall’s ceiling, then rained down fire on the monsters. The monsters experienced excruciating pain from the rain of fire, but those combatants Shaneth did not harbor any hostility toward did not even feel any heat from the flames.

.

Iris spread her wings open and rushed at the monsters, knocking them back one by one with her fists that were stronger than an ogre’s.

Baaam!

“Gruuwaah!”?An ogre cried out in pain after Iris threw it, sending it crashing into a wall.

Iris took a deep breath when the monsters gathered around her in an attempt to surround her. She then spat a torrent of magical breath. “Fwaaaaaaaaaa!”

[The effect of the Dragon of Destruction’s heart has allowed you to use Dragon Breath.]

[You may choose one of seven breaths to use.]

[You have chosen the destructive fire breath!]

[The breath has consumed half of your mana.]

The dozens of monsters were burned to a crisp by the fire breath.

Iris coughed up smoke after spewing out Dragon Breath before saying, “It feels so hot inside!”

Henrick took out Rick from his summoning box, but the little girl simply stood there refusing to fight.

“Aren’t you going to fight?” Henrick asked.

“I need some inspiration,” Rick replied with a shrug.

“Hmm… Well, art does require quite a lot of that…” Henrick said, rubbing his chin.

Rick quietly observed Shaneth and Iris’ battle for a while before approaching a monster and twisting its head off in a hideous, cruel motion. Then, a translucent substance rose up from the monster’s dead body and Rick absorbed it.

[Rick has collected 0.3 liters of soul extract.]

Of course, the one who fought in the most peculiar way was none other than Kang Yoon-Soo. He had the alcohol-filled chalice in his left hand to his lips and sipped on it while swinging the sword in his right hand. This was the infamous and dangerous Drunken Swordsmanship!

However, his sword never failed to connect with its target, and his movements never showed any sign of faltering or slowing down. The monsters summoned by the witch were quickly reduced in number.

Kang Yoon-Soo and his party continued cutting down the monsters one by one until only Alsroa remained standing among the enemy. The witch could no longer summon any additional monsters because the insignia engraved on her back had been cut open.

Kang Yoon-Soo thus walked over to the witch lying on the ground and stabbed her through her heart.

[You have killed the Demon Taming Witch, Alsroa!]

[You have obtained the right to take the treasures of the Death Pool Ruin!]

The monsters summoned by the witch disappeared without a trace when their summoner died.

Blake lay on the ground covered in blood, watching dumbfounded while Kang Yoon-Soo and his party made short work of the witch and her minions. He thought in absolute shock, ‘Who the hell are these people?’

Even the four men who prided themselves on being the strongest on the continent had been helpless against the witch and her minions, but these people fought so leisurely against the boss monster that had wiped all but one of them out.

Blake could not say anything, as his mind was filled with a mixture of shock and relief. However, as he was still dumbfounded and disoriented, Kang Yoon-Soo walked toward him. Blake realized that the young man walking toward him was a Traveler like him when he noticed the device on the man’s wrist.

“Go,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

The young man’s instruction was so curt that Blake failed to understand what he said.

“I said go.” Kang Yoon-Soo repeated.

Blake slowly stood up, his mind still hazy. He looked around the area to find that quite a while had already passed since Vincent, Ignacio, and Cheon Si-On died—he was the only one alive from the raid group that had entered the ruin. The only clues he had as to what was going on lay in the young man’s sparse words that nonetheless stung painfully.

‘There’s no reason for me to stay here, nor do I have the right to,’?Blake thought with a bitter smile.

Even though his party had successfully broken through the twelve floors of the ruin, he fully knew that he did not have the right to have the ruin’s treasure, or even to ask for part of it. The only reason he was still alive and breathing was because the other party had killed the witch. Even though he could still have requested for a portion of the treasure or made an unreasonable demand for it, he was in no mood to do so.

Blake felt empty after finally realizing that, despite being so arrogant and full of himself, he was nothing but a weak and insignificant person before true strength.

He turned and began walking out of the hall, but at the last moment, he turned back around and said, “We agreed to call the one who killed that witch the strongest Traveler on the continent. Then… Are you the strongest Traveler on the continent?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

In truth, it was laughable to claim that he was the strongest Traveler on the continent simply because he had killed the witch, who was the boss monster of the ruin. However, Blake knew from the young man’s short yet confident response that there was no doubt that he was indeed the strongest Traveler on the continent.

As he watched Blake’s back slowly receding into the distance, however, Kang Yoon-Soo muttered in a low voice, “But there are countless beings much stronger than a Traveler in this world…”

***

Kang Yoon-Soo opened the steel chest sitting atop the altar. It was the chest that held the ruin’s treasure, which he had obtained the right to keep after killing the boss monster.

The Death Pool Ruin’s treasure was a white chain sickle.

[Alsroa’s Chain Sickle]

Rating: Unique

Attack Power: 207

A chain and sickle forged by Alsroa to torture her summoned creatures. It is rumored to have been crafted from the ashes of countless children burned to death by the witch.

+The user will have a chance of inflicting a curse on their target when attacking with this item.

+This item will be far more effective than a whip when it comes to taming a rebellious creature.

+The user may increase a creature’s loyalty and obedience by performing cruel acts with this item.

Kang Yoon-Soo passed the chain sickle to Shaneth. She had been using her Death Scythe for quite a while, so its edges were chipped and dull. In fact, it would likely have already broken if it had not been crafted from souls.

Shaneth nodded in satisfaction after swinging the sickle a few times, then remarked, “I can use the chain to attack from a distance, and I can swing the sickle much faster than the scythe.”

The party was finally able to have a breath of fresh air after walking for quite a while through the ruin and reaching the exit. By the time they began descending the mountain it was situated on, however, the sky was starting to darken. They set up camp and lit a campfire, then sat around it.

Henrick said while tending to the campfire, “It feels so liberating to finally see the sky after being stuck underground.”

The dark night sky above them was filled with stars.

Shaneth hung a pot over the campfire and began boiling a pork stew seasoned with all kinds of spices. Steam started rising from the pot, and soon the entire camp was filled with the stew’s delicious aroma.

“I can’t… gulp…?stop drooling,” Iris said, looking greedily at the stew, seemingly ready to eat the whole pot before it was even cooked.

Henrick suddenly asked, “Oh, right, how do you plan to go to the magic tower?”

“There are many ways to go there,” Kang Yoon-Soo said before taking a sip from his alcohol-filled chalice.

The Colossi’s Magic Tower was considered the most dangerous place on the continent, and just like the Dragon of Destruction’s lair, it was also a place that could not be accessed through normal means.

Henrick shrugged and asked, “Is it? Well, I’m sure you’ll take care of that part, anyway.”

Shaneth let out a sigh after distributing the dinner to the party members and asked, “Can’t you talk about something more fun or interesting, since we’re gathered around a campfire?”

“Huh? What’s gotten into you?” Henrick asked.

“The corpses littered across the ground and what that man said bothered me,” Shaneth replied.

“You mean what that guy who was beaten to a pulp said about the strongest Traveler on the continent and whatnot?” Henrick asked. He smirked and continued, “So, the strongest on the continent, eh? Then, should I tell you an interesting story about that topic? There are quite a few candidates worthy of the title ‘strongest on the continent’ among the Continentals.”

Iris, who had previously been focused only on her food, suddenly perked up her ears. That was how skilled Henrick was when it came to storytelling.

“There’s been no precedent of gathering all of them in one place and deciding who the strongest is, but I would choose one person out of all of them without any hesitation,” Henrick said.

“Who is that?” Shaneth asked.

“The Captain of the First Order of the Imperial Knights, Helkin,” Henrick replied.

“I am sure that he looks very scary if he is a knight that Henrick praises so much,” Iris said.

“He does look scary, but he’s an old man. He’s a white-haired monster who doesn’t sleep at all,” Henrick replied.

Shaneth could not hide her surprise as she asked, “Don’t people usually retire after growing old?”

“That’s only for those old people whose skills start to decline after they get older. In Helkin’s case, his skills only started to improve and become sharper the older he became,” Henrick replied while poking the campfire with a stick, causing small embers that looked like fireflies to rise from it whenever he did so. He continued, “Of course, his stamina isn’t as great as it was during his prime, but his swordsmanship is way better than it was back then. So it might be possible for him to lose to the youngsters these days, but that’s not the reason why I’m telling you he’s the strongest on the continent.”

Shaneth was so engrossed in the story that she subconsciously gulped as she asked, “What’s the reason, then?”

“Helkin was the only one recognized by the strongest sword on the continent,” Henrick answered.

“The strongest sword on the continent…?” Shaneth muttered, looking confused.

“There’s a certain spirit sword that was passed down through the royal palace for generations. It boasted excellent capabilities, but an ego resided in it, and that ego refused to acknowledge anyone as its master. However, the sword suddenly acknowledged Helkin in his later years,” Henrick said. He licked his lips and continued, “Helkin doesn’t carry that sword around, and they say he enshrined it somewhere only he knows about. Still, it’s rumored that he uses that sword when an imperial decree is given for him to go on an expedition, or when he clashes against an individual worthy of being cut down by it. The only one I would recognize as the strongest on the continent would be Helkin when he’s using that sword.”

“Is there anyone on the continent who can fight against Helkin when he’s using that sword?” Shaneth asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Well, that’s what I think, at least. Although there haven’t been many times when Helkin had to use that sword,” Henrick replied with a shrug.

Iris could not hide the amazement she felt. She asked, “How do you know that interesting story so well in detail, Henrick?”

“I ran into that old man a few times while working as the crown princess’ artisan,” Henrick replied.

“Really? How did you run into him?” Iris asked expectantly.

“I got caught while hosting secret drinking sessions,” Henrick said with a shrug.

“…”

The party decided to sleep early so they could start the next day earlier.

When the others fell asleep, however, Kang Yoon-Soo woke up alone and went toward a secluded place away from the camp. The evening breeze was cold, signaling the coming winter. He walked against the chilling night wind while thinking, ‘Everyone has gotten stronger after killing the Dragon of Destruction.’

That was true. His companions had definitely gotten stronger as a result. They were strong enough to easily kill monsters that even the strongest Travelers on the continent could not deal with. That was exactly why he had to grow even stronger himself.

‘Sirian and the Demon Lord… I won’t be able to kill them by getting stronger through normal means,’?he thought.

Of course, the fact that he had been able to kill the Dragon of Destruction in less than a year after he regressed was a miracle in itself, but it was downright impossible for him to defeat Sirian and the Demon Lord in his current state.

‘I need a way to save time…’?he pondered.

Kang Yoon-Soo decided to take advantage of the changes that had happened in his final life. He took out the angel’s hair and burned it in a lump of smoldering coal he had prepared beforehand.

[The angel, Yuriel, has descended.]

[This is the angel’s third descent onto the continent!]

[Time Remaining: 3 hours.]

A blinding light shot down from the sky, and a half-naked angel descended from it.

Kang Yoon-Soo got straight to the point and said, “Bring me to the goddess.”