Chapter 60: Freedom Through Death

Deep beneath the earth, under Ashvarn .. at the waning end of the long night…

While the world slept, and the Heart wandered their city streets, utterly unaware of what was unfolding beneath their feet…

Ethan Heart had already begun deciding his fate.

Since reaching the Legacy Dungeon, many hours had passed.

Hours during which Mathius screamed again and again, trying to dissuade Ethan from killing him.

He tried temptation. Deception. Even begging.

But it was useless.

Ethan had not spoken a single word since their last exchange. He focused entirely on driving his blade into Mathius’ flesh.

After all that time… much had changed.

After thousands of thrusts .. thousands of strikes … the floor before the throne was now drowned beneath a vast sea of black, putrid blood.

Mathius’ blood.

Blood that had spilled after he suffered the bleed dozens… no, hundreds of times.

His pale body was now painted in his own corruption, covered in countless horrific wounds carved by the sword.

Unlike the rage he showed at the beginning, Mathius had fallen silent over the past hour.

He simply stared at the floor beneath him, unmoving.

Hopeless.

On the other side stood Ethan, gasping heavily, exhaustion tearing through his body.

He too was drenched in foul blood—soaked to the point that some of it clung to his face.

“As expected of a King-rank… your vitality is on a completely different level… huff…”

He breathed with difficulty.

Seven hours had passed since he began torturing Mathius.

His sword was now completely stained in corrupted blood, wrapped in a terrifying dark aura.

To accelerate the process, Ethan had activated the Night Lord’s Aura, amplifying his damage.

Though it reduced his defense to only 1, Mathius remained chained … unable to strike back or exploit the weakness.

Ethan was utterly drained.

But his effort had borne fruit.

Using the Wise Raven’s Insight, he observed the boss’s health bar—and realized there was little left.

That endless crimson gauge, which had once seemed eternal…

Had finally reached its end.

Mathius had entered the final moments of his life.

Death was already standing before him.

And yet…

He remained calm.

He did not scream.

He did not beg for mercy.

Not anymore.

“I see you’ve lost your will to live, Mathius… you haven’t spoken a word.”

Ethan frowned.

Mathius did not respond.

He continued staring downward, distant—as if his mind had drifted to another world entirely.

Drenched in filth and blood, he no longer resembled the imposing boss he once was.

He looked… pitiful.

But what unsettled Ethan the most…

Were those crimson eyes.

That gaze.

“Stop that… don’t start acting like human now. It won’t change your fate.”

Ethan drove his katana forward again.

Despite its durability, the blade had begun to dull from the sheer number of strikes.

It could no longer properly cut Mathius’ flesh.

Now, Ethan could only thrust.

Fortunately, the weapon remained strong enough not to break.

Moments later …

The bleeding triggered again.

Mathius’ health dropped further.

Only a sliver remained.

“One more bleed… and it ends.”

Ethan’s face was expressionless.

He continued.

The countdown toward the final thirty strikes had begun.

The end was close.

Very close.

Mathius slowly raised his head.

Their eyes met …

But Ethan immediately looked away.

He didn’t want to see those eyes.

Because they no longer looked like a monster’s.

They looked…

Human.

And that unsettled him.

He would have preferred curses.

Hatred.

Anything but that.

But Mathius did not curse him.

When Ethan reached the twentieth strike, Mathius finally spoke again … after a long silence.

“I suppose… this was always my fate…”

His voice was quiet.

“To be bound by chains… chains that turned me into a slave.”

His gaze drifted past Ethan.

Toward the throne behind him.

“At some point in my life… I believed I would become a king.”

A faint smile formed on his lips.

“But I was nothing more than a slave pretending to be free.”

“In the end… slavery never left me.”

His smile weakened further.

“Not when I was human…”

“And not after I became a monster.”

Ethan frowned.

“What nonsense are you talking about now?”

Mathius shook his head gently.

“You don’t need to understand.”

“Just finish what you came here to do.”

He closed his eyes.

Ethan continued stabbing.

Each thrust dragged Mathius closer to the end.

Closer to the end of his long existence.

“Twenty-seven.”

“Twenty-eight.”

“Twenty-nine.”

One strike remained.

Ethan did not hesitate.

“Thirty.”

Silence fell.

For a moment…

They simply stared at each other.

“Now… I shall finally attain my freedom. The freedom that comes with death.”

“I pray that you, too, find salvation… descendant of the Heart.”

Those were Mathius’ final words.

Words that caught Ethan off guard.

The moment they left his lips, blood erupted violently from his body. His eyes closed … and then, he began to break.

Cracks spread across him at a terrifying speed.

Fractures ran through his form like a relic long abandoned by time …

Like a worn shard of glass that had finally reached the moment of its collapse.

Then, a cold wind emerged from nothingness.

It swept across him, tearing him apart—reducing him to dust that scattered into the air.

Within seconds…

Mathius’ body was gone.

Nothing remained but the pool of corrupted blood that had seeped from him.

The swords and golden chains that bound him dissolved as well, vanishing now that there was no prisoner left to hold.

With Mathius’ death came the release of an immense number of souls.

They surged toward Ethan instantly—piercing through his body, granting him at last the chance to rise his level.

Thousands of souls entered him.

All but one.

One soul shone brighter than the rest, pale and gray, trembling with quiet intensity.

Mathius’ soul.

Ethan stood there, staring at it in silence.

Then he let out a long breath.

“Did you really have to look human in your final moments… you damned boss?”

He ran a hand through his hair in irritation and stepped forward, extending his hand toward the soul.

“I wish you had remained a monster until the end. Because of your last words… I’m left with an unpleasant feeling now.”

Alone within the vast throne hall, Ethan claimed Mathius’ soul.

“Let’s finish this quickly… I’ve already wasted enough time.”

The glowing blue rune on his arm ignited.

He activated the Blessing of the Legendary Weapons Master, and began forging the boss’s soul into a weapon.

Shattering Mathius’ soul would have granted him even more souls.

But Ethan had already gained enough to reach his desired threshold.

And the chance to forge a weapon from the soul of such a powerful boss…

Was not something that came twice.

Slowly…

The soul began to change.

Its form twisted, reshaping itself into something entirely new.

Violent fluctuations rippled outward.

The very fabric of space trembled.

Whatever weapon would be born from this… It would not be ordinary.

Everything proceeded smoothly.

Without resistance.

Without failure.

Until a sudden, searing pain erupted at the back of Ethan’s neck.

He gasped, reaching back instinctively.

His fingers came away stained with blood.

His expression darkened instantly.

“Impossible…”

He cursed under his breath.

There was only one source for that pain.

Only one source for that blood.

The Blood Eclipse Mark.

The magical seal Luna Heart had placed around the curse was still intact.

And yet—

Somehow…

The Blood Eclipse had activated.

Alarmed, Ethan tried to react.

But then he noticed something he had overlooked.

Mathius’ soul was still in the process of forming into a weapon.

And it was releasing violent fluctuations.

Dark mana fluctuations.

Mathius’ mana.

“I don’t believe this…”

Ethan’s voice trembled.

“The curse wasn’t triggered by the Demon of Balance… it’s reacting to Mathius’ mana?”

Seconds passed.

Then he heard it.

A voice.

A sob.

A whisper beside his ear.

“Give it to me… give it back…”

The voice resembled Mathius’.

But it sounded…

Human.

“Give it back… give it back… give it back… give it back… give it back… give it back… give it back… give it back… give it back… GIVE IT TO ME!!!”

Ethan clutched his ear.

The screaming grew louder.

As if someone were shouting directly into his skull.

“Give it to me!!!”

The pain intensified.

His head throbbed violently.

“Give it to me!! Freedom!!”

The final scream tore through him …

And then … Darkness erupted from nothingness.

It consumed him completely.

He fell.

Falling helplessly into the abyss.

Powerless.

Unable to resist.

He tried.

But it was futile.

Ethan was now completely at the mercy of the curse.

It dragged him deeper.

Deeper.

Until his consciousness began to drift away.

Drifting toward another place.

Another time.

A time…

Known among the Heart as … The Incineration.

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