Chapter 311: 311
Chapter 311 The King of the Underworld (1)
Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (300(0)/12)
[You have entered the tenth gate, Hell of Black Darkness . ]
The path to the last gate was a dangerous one .
Especially near the ninth gate, the appearance of Minotaurs and Nemean lions almost decimated Yeon-woo’s party .
Shanon and Hanryeong, who had been fighting on the frontlines, had to recover their stamina in the shadows .
「Haaa…… Haaa…… what a ridiculous master . 」
「It’s been a while since I fought so crazily like this . 」
Shanon and Hanryeong seemed quite exhausted mentally . Theoretically, they could fight forever without any rest as long as ghosts were supplied to them, but because they were once humans, they couldn’t ignore the mental stress from fighting nonstop .
The sustained fight against monsters under the Titans and Giants was that hard .
The gate itself and the monsters . They had to fight against both .
Still, Yeon-woo silently persevered .
Nemesis occasionally asked him to go back . Yeon-woo’s other subordinates didn’t say anything and moved according to his wishes .
It was because they knew how desperate he was from their connection to him .
The desire to look for any clues of his little brother .
The resolve to gain the Black King’s power .
He was so desperate for all of it .
This was the reason why Yeon-woo had pushed himself to the limit all this time .
His subordinates wished to heed their master’s wishes . Even if they failed .
In the end, Nemesis realized what the other subordinates wanted to do and didn’t try to stop him any further .
He also wanted the power and clues as much as Yeon-woo did .
His longing for his previous owner was so great that he appeared in his dreams .
“Please bless us with your spirit and wash away the darkness with light in this place… . . ”
Creutz planted Zulfikar in the ground and activated a barrier around them with a prayer .
〈Holy Light Barrier〉 . It was a spell that didn’t allow the approach of enemies with bad intentions and offered protection from spells . However, the barrier couldn’t be transported, so he had to continue to recite the prayer as they walked .
Still, with the barrier cast, they were able to rest for a little while .
Creutz was doing everything he could while moving with Yeon-woo’s party .
Although he must’ve been curious about many things, as promised, he didn’t ask . Yeon-woo realized his sincerity and respected him as a comrade .
“… . . Are they not allowing us inside until the very end?”
Yeon-woo looked at the heavy darkness beyond the Holy Light Barrier .
The tenth gate, Hell of Black Darkness, had players walk through the territory filled with a fog-like darkness to reach the final destination .
Actually, that in itself wasn’t that hard for Yeon-woo .
Even if his sight was blocked by the darkness, after realizing Consciousness from the 20th floor, he was confident he could clear this gate without any problems .
However, the problem was the monsters he could see bustling through the darkness .
The subordinates of the Titans and the Giants . From the Hydras to the Nemean lions, the monsters that kept on bothering Yeon-woo’s party were swarming around . There were tens of them just from a brief headcount .
Each of them was gruesome and violent . They were all tens of meters tall, and attempting to pass through a bunch of them was like walking through death’s door on purpose .
It was a relief that the Tannin Fear and Boo’s Inferno Sight were very useful in controlling the monsters .
If not for both, they would’ve been in critical danger already .
‘Anyway . ’
Yeon-woo turned around .
‘Do I have to have these gazes on me here too?’
Yeon-woo was sick of the additional gazes that were on him since he entered the hidden stage .
Up until now, he felt that the gazes were coming from “above . ”
But the closer he got to Tartarus, the gazes were coming from “below . ” And each of them felt unpleasant and fearsome .
The Titans and Giants . It was definitely their gazes . The information from the quest window was correct .
‘I almost can’t feel the gazes from above like Hermes’s and Athena’s . ’
Obviously, the stronger the energy from Tartarus was, the weaker the gazes from the heavenly world would be .
Other than those he was connected directly through Channelings, there were almost no gods or demons who could see Yeon-woo properly .
[Agares laughs at the other gods and demons who are frustrated at being unable to see you . ]
[Agares goes to a group of gods and demons who are having a talk about Tartarus and mocks them . ]
[The godly society ‘Olympus’ ignores him . ]
[The godly society ‘Asgard’ is annoyed at Agares’s visit . ]
Agares seemed to be doing his own thing again . Yeon-woo just swiped it away from the message window because it was annoying .
Just when he was spinning his magic circuit to regenerate, Boo slowly lifted his head . Clack . The click of his bones bumping against each other rang out .
“Did you find something?”
「After . Looking into . All the ghosts . Here . 」
Yeon-woo had brought all the scattered ghosts from each ghost monster with him . If not, his subordinates would have faded away already .
「It . Appears . The other . Cyclopes . Have gone this . Way . 」
Sponsored Content
“I see . ”
Yeon-woo brushed himself off and stood up . Boo had been chasing the traces of the rest of the Cyclopes’ apostles . He had been able to confirm that they had just cleared through all the gates to cross over to Tartarus .
If so, they didn’t have any time to lose .
“Should we move again?”
Creutz read Yeon-woo’s presence and stopped the prayer, sighing heavily . There were deep, dark circles under his eyes .
Krrrr—
The moment they left the Holy Light Barrier, the gazes of the monsters started to crowd over to them .
The other players who had been passing through the gates were already in their stomachs .
Their starving stomachs that couldn’t be satisfied were desperately looking for their next prey .
Yeon-woo had already taken back his subordinates . It was impossible to handle all of those monsters .
He had to move quickly while avoiding the monsters to get to his destination .
“Run . ”
Pat—
His party began to run with all their strength .
Above Yeon-woo’s head, Boo’s Inferno Sight burst open and began to protect them .
Kwakwakwang!
[You have cleared the hidden stage ‘Ten Gates . ’]
[You have accomplished an unbelievable feat . The title, ‘One Who Endured Ten Trials,’ has been created . ]
[Additional Karma is being rewarded . ]
[You have gained 20,000 Karma . ]
[You have gained an additional 30,000 Karma . ]
[Would you like to challenge the second hidden stage?]
『Goodness, to come here as a player . 』
The Cyclops Brontes spoke in a moved voice, looking at the large bronze door in front of him .
He had finally arrived at the entrance of Tartarus, the place he wanted to come to no matter the cost .
Yeon-woo rubbed the bronze door . This door had similar patterns to what he saw in the Olympus Treasury and Poseidon’s temple . It was a great door with all kinds of holy paintings on it .
However, the holy paintings on it were much more detailed than on the others .
Sponsored Content
He could see the Titans and Giants plunging into a dark abyss, falling from the white clouds after being hit by Zeus’s lightning .
There was a being who didn’t take its eyes off of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades even while falling into the abyss .
‘Kronos . ’
The god of time and death and the king of Titans had a more realistic face compared to the other gods’ .
He seemed furious, yet also saddened by his sons’ betrayal .
After the two great wars against the Titanomachia and the Gigantomachia, the gods of Olympus locked up the Titans and Giants who fought against them .
Beyond the heavy darkness, beings like Kronos were probably swarming .
It was a prison filled with godly beings that a mortal couldn’t dare approach .
This was also one of the few locations that gods and demons could move freely without their holy territory, so Yeon-woo couldn’t help but feel anxious .
The same went for Creutz .
The tenth gate was a horrible place that was worse than all the other gates combined .
He was even feeling proud of himself for having cleared it .
He supposed it was true that nothing was impossible if he worked hard enough . A bitter smile spread across his face as he suddenly remembered what the Regiment Leader once said .
Yeon-woo examined the bronze door with his Draconic Eyes and turned to look at Brontes .
“But how do I get past this?’
No matter how much he pushed it, the bronze door wouldn’t budge . He thought it would open automatically because he had received the quest from Persephone, but it didn’t budge .
That was understandable since it was a door meant to keep in criminals of Olympus . Of course it wouldn’t open easily . If it did, the Titans and Giants would’ve kicked it down already .
『There’s a side entrance only Lord Hades knows . To be exact, it’s somewhere only him and those allowed by him can move through . 』
“Can you tell me where it is?”
『Wait . 』
Brontes closed his eye and muttered a spell .
Pat!
Light flashed around them . When Brontes held his hand out, something resembling a dandelion seed floated around . It was a seed with an ashy atmosphere above the brilliant white light .
『Fortunately, it still works . 』
“What is it?”
『It’s a spirit of the Underground . Technically, it’s a guide that borrows Lord Hades’s strength to lead the way to his location . He originally gave it to us… . . and it’s still possible to summon it . Did he believe that I would come someday?』
Brontes closed his one eye with a touched face . Tears brimmed in his eyes . He began to speak again, opening his eye .
『Let’s not stay here and get moving quickly . 』
Yeon-woo and Creutz began to follow the spirit . The bronze door seemed infinitely tall .
Sponsored Content
In the place filled with darkness, Yeon-woo continued to observe the holy paintings . Each of the holy paintings was different .
Then, the spirit paused . It disappeared, and a small red portal appeared in the bronze door .
Yeon-woo and Creutz looked at each other without saying anything . With a nod, they entered the portal .
When the light settled, Yeon-woo was standing alone under a dark sky above a giant ridge .
That moment .
[You have entered the second hidden stage, ‘Tartarus . ’]
[Warning! This is a prison where Olympus’s criminals, the Titans and Giants, are locked in and under special care by the Bureau . This stage is difficult for players to approach, so a speedy escape is advised . ]
[An ominous gaze is reflecting on you . ]
[An ominous curse is approaching . ]
[The sudden quest (Persephone’s Long-time Wish) has been updated . ]
[Please check the quest window . ]
Hwakk!
Inexplicably, Yeon-woo felt creeped out .
The gazes of the Titans and Giants that had somewhat been blocked by the bronze door were now directly on him .
He could feel a bit of emotion from within the gazes .
Curiosity, surprise, longing, envy . They were all different gazes, but there was a similarity among all of them .
Distrust .
What had they seen to make them feel distrust in Yeon-woo?
‘Could it be?’
Yeon-woo realized that the exact receiver of the gazes wasn’t him but the Despair and Grief of the Black King .
『……How are you here?』
『……Why is his trace here?』
From far away, he could hear a voice . It was faint, like an echo .
Then, Yeon-woo realized that what he was standing on wasn’t a ridge but the head of an enormous Giant god .
Huge eyes that were tens of meters long glared at him .
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc . . ), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible .
Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .
Please download our sponsor's game to support us!