Chapter 50

The Scavenger Guild members were frantic, fighting off mummies while trying to keep up with Randolph as he pushed ahead.

“Raaagh!”

Fortunately, watching Randolph had taught them something about how to deal with the mummies. With his tremendous strength, he mercilessly tore the limbs off any mummy blocking his path.

“Don't break their legs! Rip them clean off so they can't get up again! Tear their arms off too, so they can't crawl after us!”

The method certainly worked. Wherever Randolph stormed past, mummies with their arms and legs torn off writhed on the floor like bugs.

But even that only bought them so much time.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Whoa! Th-they're putting themselves back together!”

The bandages were what held the mummies' bodies together in the first place. Moving on their own, the wrappings reattached the severed limbs and hauled their bodies upright.

Still, at least it had bought them time.

“Run while you can! Keep running!”

The Scavenger Guild members ran for their lives. But the labyrinth was complicated, and they repeatedly lost their way.

That was when Randolph's straggling subordinates spotted Suho approaching in the distance.

“Isn't that the summoner from earlier?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“He's got the nerve to come in here?”

They might be struggling now, but the whole point of enduring this ordeal was to find the relics hidden in the pyramid. They couldn't allow hunters outside Scavenger to interfere with something so important.

“Perfect. Let's grab him and toss him to the mummies as bait while we get past.”

With sinister looks on their faces, they were just about to head toward Suho when it happened.

[“Kyaaaah!”]

[“Kyeeeek!”]

“Gah!”

As Suho rounded the corner, a horde of black mummies poured out behind him.

The Scavenger Guild members froze.

“Th-this is insane!”

“What the hell are those?”

The next time they encountered Suho, he was leading an army of black mummies.

“Huh?”

Just then, Suho spotted them too. Instinctive terror seized the Scavenger Guild members, and they wheeled around.

“Damn it! Run!”

As they fled without a moment's hesitation, Esil promptly hurled her spear.

WHOOOSH! KABOOM!

The wall collapsed, blocking their escape. With no other choice, the Scavenger Guild members turned back toward Suho, their eyes vicious.

“I don't know what's going on, but all we have to do is kill the summoner!”

“Ignore the mummies! Just kill that bastard!”

WHOOSH!

But their momentum didn't last long.

[“Kyaaaah!”]

The white mummies could regenerate, but not very quickly. The black mummies, however, regenerated at a ludicrous speed.

[“Heh. Your increased mana is certainly making a difference, Young Monarch.”]

Delighted, Beru enthusiastically cheered the mummies on.

“Aaargh!”

“Aaagh!”

Screams filled the air as an entirely different scene unfolded.

[“Never forget, Young Monarch. This undying army is your true power.”]

Suho's army continued advancing, overwhelming its enemies. But he refused to grow overconfident.

Randolph was an A-rank hunter. This much strength still wasn't enough to defeat him.

'I need to kill the Venomfang Sand Centipede.'

Suho kept advancing toward the sand centipede's distant screeches.

The moment came sooner than he expected.

CRASH!

“Huh?!”

The ceiling collapsed above the Scavenger Guild members fleeing the black mummies, revealing a sand centipede beyond it.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“H-help...! Aaargh!”

CRUNCH!

Having swallowed a hunter whole in an instant, the sand centipede turned its gaze in search of its next meal. The venom dripping from its fangs made it hard to breathe.

[Using 'Skill: Storm Slash.']

ROOOAR!

Suho hurriedly raised a storm of blades, driving away the acrid poisonous fumes. Simply being near the venom was draining his HP in real time.

'How thoughtful of you to come to me!'

Suho swung his twin swords, ready to begin the hunt in earnest.

“All of you, attack!”

At his command, nineteen black mummies rushed the sand centipede at once.

“Kyaaaah!”

[“Kyaaaah!”]

The sand centipede mercilessly bit the black mummies to death. But no matter how badly their bodies were torn apart, they kept knitting their bandages together and regenerating. Then they hurled themselves at it with even greater demonic ferocity.

The venom seeping from the sand centipede's fangs seemed to do no damage at all to the black mummies, which harbored poison themselves. Conversely, their poison had no effect on the centipede either.

The ferocious battle continued, each side biting and tearing at the other.

“Arachne!”

[“Krrraak!”]

“Web it up so it can't escape!”

At Suho's command, Arachne began spraying webs over the sand centipede's body.

“Esil! Keep it busy so it can't tear the webs!”

“How?”

“However you can!”

Esil immediately shot forward. As she poured mana into her spear, the weapon astonishingly began to lengthen.

“Oh? She can do that too?”

Taking the opportunity to quickly buy a mana potion from the shop and put it to his lips, Suho watched in fascination.

Just then, Beru appeared and launched into an explanation.

[“Some demons can assume spirit form like that. How else could the demons at the factory have possessed humans?”]

“Spirit form?”

[“Yes. That spear is a demon's horn. If the demon can assume spirit form, so can its horn. Once it does, changing its size by pouring mana into it is simple.”]

“Then what about mine?”

Suho raised his weapon, Vulcan's Horn. When it came down to it, wasn't this sword a demon's horn too?

[“Oh. Now that you mention it...”]

Beru's eyes gleamed with interest.

[“As I recall, the demon Vulcan was enormous. Naturally, the horn was enormous as well.”]

“Then why's this sword so small if it was made from such a huge horn?”

[“The power must have been compressed while the weapon was being made, by turning it into spirit form like Esil's spear.”]

An idea flashed through Suho's mind.

[Item: Vulcan's Horn]

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Sword

Attack +40

A sword made from the horn of the avaricious demon Vulcan.

Imbued with Vulcan's power, it inflicts greater damage.

-Effect 'Destructive Urge': Increases physical damage by [40%].

-Effect 'Demon Devourer': Vulcan's power grows stronger with each demon soul devoured.

[Demon Souls Devoured: 10]

The item information appeared over Vulcan's Horn. This sword had always been a weapon that grew stronger the more demon souls it absorbed.

And wasn't Esil, who was fighting fiercely up ahead, a demon too?

A demon noble with exceptionally noble blood, at that!

“Esil!”

“What!”

She answered his call from behind without even having time to turn her head.

“I just had an idea. Can you help me?”

“I don't know what it is, but fine!”

“You said yes, remember?”

At her firm agreement, the corners of Suho's mouth rose. He went right up beside her as she fought the sand centipede and held out Vulcan's Horn.

“Can you turn into spirit form right now?”

“I can, but why—Eek!”

Only then did Esil notice Vulcan's Horn in his hand, and she recoiled in horror. Suho smiled brightly.

“Could you step inside this for a minute?”

“Why, you...!”

Already caught in a breathless battle, she had no time to argue over his sudden proposal.

“Can you?”

“I-I can, but... Oh, whatever! Spirit form!”

This was no time for a lengthy conversation.

A flash of light erupted. Esil's body grew translucent, transforming into a spirit. Then she seeped into Vulcan's Horn, just as Gray had possessed Suho's body.

DING!

[Vulcan's Horn devours a demon soul.]

Esil's shrill voice burst out from within the sword.

“Right, happy now? What next?”

“Great! You can make this sword bigger like your spear, right?”

“Of course I can! Oh, so that's it!”

The urgency of the situation had left little time for explanations, but Suho's words made Esil realize what he intended. She remembered how he had grown huge to fight the sand centipede earlier—how he had fought barehanded because he had no weapon.

“Want me to enlarge it now? I'll need your mana!”

“Wait! Before that!”

Suho dodged an incoming attack from the sand centipede. Ordering the black mummies to attack it, he looked at Rakan’s Fang in his other hand.

“Hey, you saw that, right? Can you do it too?”

“...”

Rakan’s Fang gave no answer.

“You can't? Aren't your clan's fangs like demons' horns?”

Suho remembered clearly: Rakan, the King of Beasts he had met in the Domain of Repose. This sword had been made from that enormous wolf's fang. It couldn't possibly have been this small to begin with.

“... It is possible. But it is not mine to authorize.”

Then an answer came from elsewhere.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, readily nods, granting permission.]

After all, the fang had originally belonged to Rakan.

'Perfect.'

With every permission granted, Suho saw no reason to delay.

“Giant’s Armor.”

[Using 'Skill: Giant’s Armor.']

WHOOOOSH!

Aura armor enveloped Suho, doubling his size.

“Now!”

The two swords in his hands grew simultaneously. Vulcan's Horn and Rakan’s Fang expanded to fit his doubled size perfectly.

He crossed the twin blades, his eyes flashing.

'This time will be different.'

Without hesitation, Suho charged the sand centipede, swinging both swords.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

“Kyeeeeeek!”

The merciless barrage carved countless wounds into its body. But the creature was no pushover. Sensing danger, it thrashed as it tried to escape the pyramid, shaking the structure as though it might collapse.

Suho decided to burn through all his mana at once.

“Gray, Spirit Possession!”

Gray's spirit, which had been staying in the Shadow Dungeon, traveled through Suho's shadow and coiled around him.

[The spirit of 'Pet: Gray' possesses the shaman's body.]

WHOOSH!

Suho's hair turned silver, and wild energy streamed around his body.

[Using 'Skill: Wind of the Grasslands.']

[Movement speed temporarily increases by 30%.]

[Attack speed temporarily increases by 30%.]

WHOOOOSH!

Suho's sword strikes became incredibly fast. He hacked the centipede apart even more ruthlessly.

“Kyeeeeeek!”

A scream erupted from the sand centipede's mouth.

And finally...

SLICE!

Suho's sword severed its head.

[You have defeated a Venomfang Sand Centipede.]

THUD!

The enormous monster finally collapsed. And just as Suho's mana ran dry...

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

Suho was restored to full condition.

“Release.”

WHOOOOSH!

['Spirit Possession' has ended.]

[The spirit of 'Pet: Gray' leaves the shaman's body.]

['Skill: Giant’s Armor' is canceled.]

Suho shrank back to his original form. Then he gazed at the enormous sand centipede's limp corpse before him.

With a faint smile tugging at his lips, he commanded it without hesitation.

“Arise.”