Chapter 222: The face of a beast [1]

In the tales spoken of the people saved by the wandering loner, Kyo min soo was praised for his countless deeds. He stopped bandits from ransacking a village and slaughtered a tyrant who ruled and oppressed its people. He was a living idol for anyone who hoped to do good and help those who were in need. But one was unable to be justified, the kill count he bear in his name. Was he truly a champion of the weak or nothing but a psychopath aimlessly wandering this world?

’Damn it! I wished I should’ve listened to Yoona’s warnings and now we’re facing our karma. Morris hinted about us encountering a terrible outcome shortly, but isn’t this a little too early? Demons are already a pain but to think we’d come face to face with one of the heavenly demons. Are our sins that unforgivable?’

A day before they left the 2nd trial

“Wait, so you weren’t kidding about the whole being a prophet?” Yoona was surprised and the others were as well when they heard his explanation

“I just want to make this clear, I don’t want to be a part of your shenanigans! I helped you since it was unavoidable and I was the only one who knew of a way to face the hidden boss. To tell you the truth, prophets aren’t supposed to tell you what’s to come since they’ll face divine retribution. But I’ve found a loophole, I’ve written a book and in that book was my premonition,” It all makes sense when he was able to accurately tell their mood and their way of thinking

Right then and there Christoper Morris told them the truth mixed with a couple of misconceptions. But when he handed out a copy of a book he made with the help of the system left his characters in utter shock. Everything they’ve experienced so far and stories no one knew but them were all written in his book

“Holy shit! Dude, I’ve never seen you in this kind of light before… So up until now, you’ve been pulling the strings? Every shit we’re leaving was being carefully cleaned by you, well if you put it like that it felt strange. That’s the reason why it wasn’t a big deal after a single night passed when we escaped from the guild. You’ve murdered them all,” There wasn’t hiding it at this point, even their calm-headed teammate Gale was surprised

Some of them look at him differently and whether it was positive or negative it was by no means concerning his judgment. When they’ve calmed down they saw a menacing stare along with an expression filled with the intent to murder them all. But they never once felt any pressure and they saw him take a seat and sighed for a very long time

’Whew, im glad that went well on my side! It’s going to be problematic if they became suspicious of me. But I’ve managed to win them over by mixing a few lies with the truth, and now they’ve seen me as a fellow victim. Let’s just answer after a few minutes have passed, this will make it sound more dramatic, and let’s put some emotion into my words,’

“Listen up you five, I don’t want you pulling any kind of bullshit when there’s a lot of risks. You’ll die, im not even sugarcoating this since it’s the truth, all of you will suffer from the choices you’ve made. I’ve only helped you lessen the karma you’ve made because you tampered with my divinations. My identity was supposed to remain a secret, but someone leaked my abilities and you’ve paid the price,” He glared at Yoona who was filled to the brim with guilt, and his face which screams of disappointment only reinforces her mistake

Because she leaked his identity, Hugo took her words seriously and chose a thorny path for an easier victory. But this resulted in the ever-growing climax of the 2nd trial where they’ve awakened Vandrake the corrupt. He never spoke any names and he used this moment to give his characters a spook

’That’ll teach these kids for doing something irresponsible without any doubt about the outcome. I nailed it when I glared at them, I think I perfectly timed the murderous intent when I let my right eye glow. Since I’ve already done my part it’s about time I left, the personality I made them think the real me is an antisocial freak. They might think im some kind of loner edgelored archetype character, but who cares let’s just roll with it,’

“Wait a moment,” He stopped mid-way from the stairs leading to the exit of their dorm when he heard Hugo’s voice

“I’m sorry for everything… I know that I can’t change it back to the way it was and my words mean nothing to you. You’ve sacrificed your life to warn the people by spreading your premonitions in the form of a novel. Still, I want you to know that I’ve looked up to you, and even though you act like that I know you suffered from taking those players’ lives. There’s not a single sane person who’ll be fine when they spilled another person’s blood,” He didn’t give any response and raised his right hand and reveals his signature sign, his middle finger

Back to the present

[Are you sure you properly informed the duty of that halfbreed? You do know his the most unruly out of all the members of your mercenary group?]

’Kyo min soo? He’ll be fine, don’t worry about him, his not the type to lose when he fully grasps his opponent’s strengths,’

[I didn’t mean his survivability, are you a hundred percent sure he won’t go rogue…? We’ve seen him do this a couple of times when he even plotted against you time and time again. Are you sure he’s not going to disobey you?]

Whilst they were chatting he easily bypasses the surveillance when he took the passage taken by Zeke. He found a built-in secret passage near the sewers near the palace that heavily guarded its ruler. When he was in a situation that he couldn’t avoid, he access the information in the communicator and redirected his path. The guards weren’t able to detect him in the walls and he lurks from the shadows manipulated by his skill

“No matter how vicious a dog may be, a loyal dog never bites the hand of its owner and I’m his guardian. When I adopted that kid and used his misconception about me who he thinks was the righteous and heroic savior. I used that vision of his to nurture his talent and beat him to death just so he could grow and in return, I gained his loyalty. No matter what assignment I’ve tasked him to do he’ll bring me the results I want,” He says this with absolute certainty whilst he resumed his path to the imperial palace

[You aren’t the type who gambles on the outcome of a calculated strategy, even if you’re cunning it’s impossible. An outcome will change at any given time, and your plans might fail in the process. But you never deploy a scheme if you weren’t sure of its success, it only leads to a single possibility. This plan of yours will work from the very beginning till it reaches your desired end]

On the outskirts of the imperial castle far away from the reach of the guards lies their greatest threat. It was a manifestation closer to that of the absolute darkness himself a being who holds both power and authority, Argoth the beast. Don’t let his appearance blind your judgment from his defenseless figure for this demon carries the will of its king

“Bravo! That last attack was such a warm welcome for someone like myself. Youre a lucky one indeed, if it weren’t for your teammates you would’ve been dead in the palm of my hands. Since you’re serious, I might as well give you my very best, it’s the custom of my race to show one’s hands if they were provoked. Bring forth the power hidden between my very existence, partial awakening one-headed dog hell hound,”

The darkness within his plaguing his surroundings returned to his body and transform into a head of a dog. When it reaches his side it devours his body and instead of rejoicing, they felt a shiver coursing through their spine. When the darkness disperse it revealed a new form and a necklace in the shape of a dog’s head

[System: The player Kyo min soo has activated the skill called [Demonic awakening]

[Demonic awakening]: A state where the caster can awaken their max potential by consuming the darkness. This state grants power but madness in return, your fear is swapped with excitement, pain for pleasure, and rage for power

Additional information: This state will slowly consume the caster’s stamina and when it reaches zero [Madness] will take its effect

[Madness]: The player will begin to lose his reasoning and slowly become one with his inner demon. Once they’ve lost control they’ll become corrupted by their power and none can expel this effect. Because of this dangerous side effect, the caster can call forth the powers of the beast residing in hell

Rank: SSS

Cost: 100 corrupted mana or chi

Cooldown: 1 hour]

They can feel their hearts pounding, but they weren’t tired in the slightest, and their feet shaking but they’d never once felt any fatigue. This feeling they encountered was something that every living thing has ever possessed, fear for one’s life

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep