Chapter 33: Have faith in the name, Shadow of victim.

Chapter: The Price of a Glance

“Why do you ask of such?”

The Troll Monster responded, pacing left and right with its sharp eyes solely fixed on Kai alone. Its movements were heavy, shaking the earth beneath them, but its gaze never wavered.

Kai remained calm as well, not feeling the slightest bit threatened by the monster’s massive size or the Killing Intent radiating from it.

“Because I wish to know if we have the same knowledge. Is that not good enough for an answer?”

The Troll Monster seemed skeptical, its feet pounding on the ground each time it took a single step. It looked at Kai, assessing him, trying to understand why a Shadow Demon was wearing the skin of a human.

Then, suddenly, it roared out its frustration, the sound echoing through the trees, before it gently sat down on the ground, crossing its massive legs.

“Fine, I will tell you. But after I tell you, you will answer a question of mine, and after that, you will die.”

Kai looked at the monster with a bored expression.

“I accept your terms.”

’I already intended on killing you to begin with, so this technically works in my favor. I am surprised this monster can actually speak so fluently. It must be a variant species.’

He allowed his thoughts to settle, then he listened attentively to the words that left the monster’s mouth.

“Virtual Reality. I know nothing of what it is, or its usefulness. However, I do know this. After I devoured a human once, a wretched thing who tried to kill me, I received hunting images of a world that nearly brought me my death.”

The Troll shuddered, a genuine look of terror crossing its monstrous features.

“I could not fathom it. These people, who keep hunting me when I arrive, all seem to come from this place. I remember one of them speaking of the term Virtual Reality. In truth, devouring them was a mistake. I wish to forget the world I saw, as they still hunt me till this day.”

Kai sighed.

’Looks like I got my hopes up. I assumed there would be a chance this monster was also from the same world and also got trapped in a Boss’s body. So long for that theory.’

Following the thought was a serious look that played on his face.

’That said, it seems I am not the only one that can get memories from players when I eat them. I assumed it came with my specific Dungeon Skills, but it seems I was wrong about that too. The world this monster saw was probably the real world I came from. Was it that haunting? Seeing another universe?’

He looked at his hand, flexing his fingers.

’I agree this world is that of a game, and nothing like my old world, but surely it can’t be that haunting to a monster—’

Bash!

’Eh?’

The first thing Kai noticed was not pain, but the sudden shock that quickly grazed Lyra’s face. She was certainly looking at him and screaming his name, her mouth wide open in a terrified wail, but he could not hear anything leave her mouth.

The world had gone silent.

It was then he realized something.

He was dead.

During his time articulating his thoughts, the Troll Monster had launched its wooden weapon straight at Kai’s chest. The strike had been instant, bypassing all defense, leaving a giant massive hole in his torso.

Blood spilled onto the ground—dark, grimy, and glittering blood that looked more like oil than human vitality.

“My Lord!!!”

Lyra screamed at the top of her voice before she ran towards him, kneeling on the ground with her hands buried in his pool of blood.

The tears that left her eyes were plenty, her lips trembling just at the sight of him broken and lifeless.

She didn’t once look towards the Troll; it was more like she didn’t care one bit about the enemy. Her entire world had just collapsed in front of her.

The Troll Monster had a satisfied look on his face, knowing he had just killed a Boss just like himself. He stood up, towering over the grieving subordinate.

“That attack is my Authority,” he announced, his voice booming with pride.

“As long as you take your eyes away from me, all my attacks will be untracked and hit one hundred percent. You were only unfortunate to not have known that. In the face of a predator, looking away is death.”

As he spoke, Lyra’s cries echoed in the background. They were loud and painful, almost impossible to ignore. It was the sound of pure despair.

However, it stopped as soon as she noticed something.

Her Master’s blood was sipping back into his body. The dark liquid moved against gravity, flowing into the wound, and his flesh had begun to knit together, muscle fibers reattaching on their own.

Her tears stopped mid-fall, as she stared at him, confused and somewhat happy.

Yes, Kai’s eyes had opened.

“Interesting. So that is the Authority of the Hunting Troll. I am glad to have known that.”

Shock was instantly etched on the Troll’s face when he heard Kai’s voice.

Kai should be dead. He saw the tree trunk rip his guts to shreds from the attack.

There was no recovering from a destroyed heart.

His fear only grew when he saw Kai sitting upright on the ground, his red glowing eyes focused on the Troll. There was not a scratch on him.

“That was an excellent attack. You should be proud.”

“H-How are you still alive?!!!” the Troll Monster yelled, its wings flapping open in panic as it took to the sky, hovering slightly above the ground to put distance between them.

Meanwhile…

“My Lord!!!” Lyra’s voice screamed out, the tears still lingering on her cheeks. “I thought I lost you! You were dead on the ground, your blood was everywhere!!!”

Kai looked at her, seeing the genuine terror in her eyes. He reached out and placed his hand gently on her head.

“While I am grateful you would shed such heartwarming tears at the face of my death, do you really have such little faith in me that you would think I would die at the hands of such a weak monster?”

Lyra began to clean her tears frantically, sniffing.

“I am sorry, my Lord. I got scared. That was unbecoming of me.”

“Fear is a normal factor of life. You should not be ashamed about that. But so should your everlasting faith in the name Shadow of Victims. Dying to such a weak attack is nothing short of impossible.”

After uttering those comforting words to her, Kai slowly stood to his feet. His entire clothes and form were back to normal, as though he was never injured to begin with.

Then, once he was standing on his two feet, he looked up at the hovering monster.

’Holy shit! I thought I was a goner! What the fuck?!’

Internally, Kai was screaming.

He kept his eyes on the Boss, maintaining his stoic facade, but his heart, which had just been regenerated, was pounding.

’First of all, this is the first I am hearing of this. So all Bosses have Authorities? I shouldn’t be surprised; this is his dungeon after all, but what kind of Authority is that? A guaranteed hit if I break eye contact? It is no wonder no one has been able to complete the quest. If you blink, you die.’

Sigh.

’That was a close call. If the system hadn’t urged me to sacrifice one of my skeletons in the dungeon in order to come back to life, I would definitely be dead. And the thought of that actually pisses me off. I lost a loyal soldier because I got distracted.’

The notification from earlier about [Immortality] was not a passive buff; it was a resource exchange.

He could transfer his death to his subordinates.

Kai pointed a finger at the Troll.

“You who call yourself the Troll Monster. I can see where this ends for you. Death is all I see, and darkness for those who follow.”

…

[A/N]

Thank you for reading, see you in the next Chapter.

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