The Return of Apocalypses Tyrant

Episode 168

“Okay… let’s see. Wait a minute. Don’t just go in. “My ankles are flying off.”

Nam Ki-cheol looked at the blackened entrance to the dungeon and blocked the approaching Namgung.

“Hmm.”

Then he savored his appetite as if he had a delicious meal in front of him.

Kiiiiiiiii—!!!

When I lightly poked the dungeon door with my finger, a loud scream came out as if the door was alive.

“…What is this?”

“The entrance to the dungeon was turned into a monster.”

“Turn into a monster…?”

“I think you probably have some experience. “Dungeon conversion is when an area in reality is turned into a dungeon due to the influence of the carnival.”

Namgung nodded at his words.

“You may think that a dungeon is simply a change in a real area, but in fact, a dungeon is also an area that exists in another world. That means that when the dungeon appears here due to the carnival, it is merged with the real area and is not its original appearance.”

Thump-thump- Nam Ki-

cheol knocked lightly on the entrance to the dungeon.

“In a word, you can think of demonization as the opposite of dungeon transformation. “It’s about returning the dungeon to its original state before it settled in our world.”

Namgung felt as if he had been hit on the head with a hammer by his words.

‘It’s not just our world that has changed.’

In the 25 years he spent hunting monsters and raiding dungeons at the Gates of Hell, he had never thought about such things.

“If a monster or a dungeon comes from another world, it needs to change to be applied here.”

“Black Route….”

Namgung muttered without realizing it. Nam Ki-cheol heard his words and looked at him with an expression of surprise.

“Huh, how do you know that? “You can’t possibly make this, right?”

He looked at his son.

“How can you make this?”

“I told you. “As I learned to catch this and that, I was able to see things that other people couldn’t see…or didn’t pay attention to.”

“Have you ever opened this before?”

“of course. “Is there any reason to show you this unless you try it?”

“What dungeon is it?”

“It’s not that important.”

“…?”

“When you open the black route, even the level of the dungeon set by Carnival will be completely changed.”

Kwaak-

Nam Ki-cheol grabbed Namgung’s wrist.

“So we have no choice but to hit it directly.”

Crash-!!

Ssssssssssssssss—!!!

When Nam Ki-cheol knocked on the dungeon door, the door opened wide with the sound of the lock being released.

“If you go inside, I won’t be able to help you. Survive on your own. “Let’s meet in front of the boss.”

But before Namgung had time to say anything, Nam Ki-cheol pushed him on the back and pushed him into the door.

“Now wait a minute…!!”

There would be very few people who could defeat Namgung with physical strength.

But strangely enough, Namgung fell forward and inside the dungeon door without even being able to resist Nam Ki-cheol’s touch.

Wow—!!!

“Tsk.”

▶ Jin (眞) – You have entered the lightning abyss.

▶ Those who are not qualified will face endless emptiness.

▶ It is not an accepted world.

▶ Your body begins to be contaminated by influences from the other world.

▶ All abilities decrease.

▶ The attack of cursed souls begins.

Whisper – Whisper –

Namgung stood up from the floor after the fall stopped, holding his sword and guarding his surroundings in response to the warning ringing loudly in his head.

‘What is here…?’

I couldn’t see anything.

I could see that it was a completely different world from the dungeons I had experienced so far.

There was no lightning to strike and no deafening thunder to roar.

All I could hear was chattering, as if someone was whispering in my ear.

[The spirits are watching you.]

At that moment, I heard an unknown voice.

[These are people who were eaten in the dungeon. They are probably the ones who died at the carnival held before this world.]

[Be careful. Spirits will attack you endlessly. For them, the living are excellent prey.]

The Demon King and Lathea were also wary of the disturbing energy felt around them.

‘Where is your father?’

However, Namgoong’s worries were short-lived as he frowned at the fact that he had unknowingly called Nam Ki-cheol his father.

“Am I worried about that person? “You’re crazy…”

He shook his head.

‘The black route is not a special phenomenon, but the essence of the dungeon, and opening it does not require any conditions, but is due to his qualifications….’

Perhaps it was natural that the black route strategy in his past life was cut off due to Nam Ki-cheol’s death.

Only he was the key to opening the black route.

“…But what should I do now? Judging from the fact that he asked to meet in front of the boss, there is definitely a way…”

Namgung’s goal was to attack Lightning Abyss.

However, there were no monsters or even a path around, so I couldn’t tell which direction the dungeon boss was located.

Tung –

It was then.

As Namgung was walking forward, something touched his head.

“hmm?”

Namgoong stretched out his hand in front of himself.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuong

.

“What is this again?”

He slowly swept the transparent wall blocking him. Then it wriggled on the wall as if it were a wave.

Ssssssssssssss—!!

It was then.

[Kikikikikikik…!!!]

[Kikik… ·!!!]

The chattering in my ears suddenly turned into loud laughter, and the squishy wall suddenly spewed out towards Namgung and swallowed him up.

Grumbling—!!

Namgung swung his sword with all his might toward the unknown force that was pulling him down.

Pow-!! pop!!!

The moment I tried to summon a soul soldier, the summoned souls were crushed as if they were being squeezed and burst.

[Kikikikikick…!]

[Kikikick…!!]

At that sight, the spirits surrounding him began to laugh like crazy.

[The spiritual power around is too strong. It is difficult for us, let alone necromancy, to talk to you.]

[If you do this, you may be destroyed first. Quickly, let’s get out of here!!]

Mumyeong and the Demon King warned, but Namgung instead pushed himself into it.

“That man has done this several times. That means it’s not a place that’s impossible to attack. But run away?”

[He has the qualifications to open the black route. It’s different from you!!]

“No.”

Namgung said as he looked at the transparent film that was beginning to cover him.

“There’s no way that person brought me here for no reason. “I brought him here because I could.”

Mission success rate 100%.

No one has broken his record, having performed various special missions including Unit 711 since his days at the National Intelligence Service.

This is not simply because they have outstanding abilities.

‘Eyes that see through the essence.’

He said that he was able to open the black route by learning various techniques, but Namgung could tell.

Qualifications are not something that can be acquired by learning such skills.

It was an ability he was born with.

“I don’t want to admit it, but that person’s insight has always been accurate.”

If he could do it, he could do it.

What you need is…

the determination to take one more step.

‘This is no longer a lightning abyss. You should think of it as a completely new dungeon.’

Namgoong closed his eyes.

Leaving behind the sound of laughter in his ears, he gradually focused on his inner self.

‘The reason I can’t summon spirit soldiers is because this place is full of spiritual pressure.’

The owner of those laughter sounds is also a type of soul.

What if his spiritual power could overpower those souls? If not, his necromancy, let alone his soul soldiers, would be of no help.

The Unknown Demon King and even Lathea.

Those who gave Namgung strength were all spirit bodies as well.

I couldn’t hastily call them out.

This is because they may disappear like soul soldiers due to the spiritual pressure surrounding them.

‘Don’t use that power.’

Did he even foresee this situation? Namgung remembered Nam Ki-cheol’s words when he told him not to use necromancy.

‘I thought it was pointless nagging… but it turned out to be advice.’

Nam Ki-cheol said.

The black route is not the other side but the essence.

In that case, those who want to attack it must also use the power of their essence, not the power obtained through the carnival.

‘Pure human power, not the power of an alien ability.’

What is that?

Namgoong went deeper into his inner self.

‘It’s the power I have….’

Swordsmanship? Martial arts?

He shook his head.

There was no way such a thing could be a way to conquer a dungeon.

Something closer to the essence.

‘I won’t be able to conquer the dungeon if it continues like this.’

The more Namgung looked down at himself, the more he felt that he was somehow insignificant.

Because he was also relying on the power given by Carnival.

“….”

It was then.

‘Dungeon raid…?’

Namgoong thought back to his thoughts a moment ago.

‘The Black Root must turn everything upside down. But why was I still stuck with the idea of conquering the dungeon?’

I thought, Oops. He

bit

his finger without hesitation.

Red blood flowed down the torn flesh.

“Eat.”

There was a fishy smell of blood, and the transparent membrane that had swallowed him began to turn red the moment it touched the blood.

Bubbling… bubbling….

The slime that had eaten Namgung’s blood began to bubble.

“That was stupid. “I was missing the most important thing.”

It wasn’t the essence of a strategy.

In order to reach the other side, the essence of the dungeon’s existence had to be satisfied.

“Defeating a dungeon itself is an act that deviates from the essence of the black route. “From the dungeon’s perspective, I’m just an object that needs to be eaten.”

In that case….

“I’ll eat you.”

To become a sacrifice yourself.

Burrrrrrrrr–!!

Slime started to cover him.

“Big…!!”

His mouth, nose, ears, eyes, and even pores… cold mucus engulfed him through all kinds of pores.

Die.

Namgung’s instincts cried out like that.

This was something he should never have done since he had struggled so hard to survive since his previous life.

“Oof…! Ugh…!!”

My whole body was rejecting it.

But

as if trying to suppress that instinct, Namgung gritted his teeth and shook his shaking body.

Just like that, his consciousness was sucked into the abyss.

Silence where nothing exists.

“Welcome back.”

At the threshold of death, perhaps only for a moment, but he was truly dead, a familiar voice sounded in his ears.

“…father?”

“It looks like you got hit really hard, right? “You call me father with your own mouth.”

My body ached as if I had swum in an endless sea, and my whole body felt heavy and weak, like a wet sponge.

“It looks like the dungeon is satisfied.”

“The Black Root strategy is to choose one’s own death… “It’s more severe than the Revelator’s test.”

“If you do it a few times, you’ll get used to it.”

“I will never do it again.”

“Kkeulkeul…”

Namgung stood up, shaking off Nam Ki-cheol’s hand toward him. I felt like my head was spinning, but I gritted my teeth and held on. It was enough to see me collapse in front of Nam Ki-cheol once.

“You’re acting like a fool.”

Nam Ki-cheol looked at his son and stood up.

“Where are we?”

“Inside the dungeon’s belly.”

The darkness surrounding him disappeared and a place like an old hall appeared before Namgung’s eyes.

“It’s deep.”