SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 39

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 39: The Alias of the Hero (3)

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It grew larger and larger.

A frog... Yes, the first creature it had devoured was a frog, which it now understood. It had come to know much more than before. It knew frogs, snakes, and even eagles.

The joy of feeling raindrops directly on its skin as a frog.

The pleasure of slithering smoothly over the soft earth as a snake.

The delight of entrusting its weight to the sky as an eagle.

It had come to know the joys of rain, earth, and sky.

-Grrrr.

Finally, it became a lion and even realized the joy of slaughter.

The meat of the deer was delicious. How fragrant! The moment it sank its teeth into the deer's neck and became intoxicated by the blood, ah, it felt as if it could close its eyes in satisfaction.

It should have become a spirit or a divine being, following the natural order.

-Ah...

If, by some chance,

-Gasp!

it had not encountered a noisy creature.

-Aaaah!

The creature ran away, showing its back.

Instinctively, it chased after the creature.

-Save me... Daddy! Daddy, please save me!

The creature was slow despite being noisy. It even stumbled onto the ground itself.

What was it doing?

It didn't understand the creature's 'fall'. It had swallowed countless creatures while traversing land and sky, but this was the first time it saw one so foolish to trip while running.

-I don't want to die! Daddy, help...

Before the noisy creature could grow any louder, it sank in its teeth. Crunch! Chomp. Blood flowed between its teeth. Once its mouth was full of blood, it stopped for a moment. A lightning-like shock rang through its mind.

Fragrant!

What was this aroma?

It was mesmerized, addicted, intoxicated by blood. It devoured everything about the creature in a frenzy, blood, flesh, bones, entrails! Everything was so fragrant.

From blood to flesh. From flesh to bones. From bones to entrails.

As its teeth sunk deeper, its hindlegs became thinner. Its forelegs grew longer.

The hindlegs became legs.

The forelegs became arms.

The lion's mane turned into hair.

It all happened in an instant. It quietly consumed the remains of the creature. As it licked up the last remnants, memories of the creature slowly seeped in.

-......

Human.

The creature was called a human.

The human was born in a remote village, loved and raised by family. There was no lack of love. But perhaps life always lacks something. This human was deprived of health.

Disease.

There was no way to cure an incurable disease in the poor countryside. Even if there were, they lacked the money. In a home overflowing with love, the human was dying day by day. Bravely, this young human refused to die in bed.

-I want to walk before I can no longer!

-I want to breathe more of the outside air.

It was a mistake.

The human went too far. It was a test to see how far it could go before dying.

The human's final destination was death. Inside its stomach.

-Hey! Ester!

No.

-You were here!

It was no longer that thing.

-How many times have I told you not to go out alone! It's dangerous near the forest. You never know when a beast might leap out. From now on, never go around alone... Wait, why are you dressed like that!

-......

The girl spoke.

-Dad.

She smiled.

-I think I'm healthy now.

Ester.

The first name the Demon King ever had.

A voice echoed in my mind.

[Activating skill.]

The plains started to flip over.

The change began directly beneath my feet. A shadow. My shadow, which had extended no farther than my own body, began expanding without end. It spread over the plain that the Demon King's sludge had already covered once.

-Grooo...

Squirm!

Something emerged from the shade.

-Grooo!

They were bones.

White human bones emerged from the shadow.

Like demons escaping hell, they appeared.

'Sword Emperor.'

I thought to myself as I surveyed the scene created by my shadow.

'You wondered why I chose [Ghoul Summoning], didn't you?'

-Yeah, I did.

'At first, I was drawn to other skills.'

Like those enhancing Aura.

The red beams shot by the Demon King were terrifyingly powerful. Imagine how cool it would be if I could use such attacks someday.

But after some more thought, I changed my mind.

'Skill card open.'

[Ghoul Summoning]

Rank: SS

Effect: You summon as monsters those whom you have personally killed. The deceased do not inherit their abilities or memories from life. They are merely summoned as monsters like goblins, orcs, zombies, skeletons, etc.

*However, you can only summon once a week.

A card shining brilliantly in gold.

'I can summon all those I've personally killed as monsters...'

I muttered as I glanced over the card.

'But here's the problem. How many people have I actually killed?'

-Oh.

The Guardian Spirit frowned.

-Wasn't it two? That Flame-whatever guy and you?

'That's right. Seems likely.'

I smiled.

'But then, why does [Eyes of a Detective] show my kill count as over 4000?'

-What?

'It's ridiculous. And strange. I may have killed myself as casually as eating meals, but did I kill some unrelated person? I only kept offing myself. So why does my kill count say four thousand? Logically, two would be the fair number.'

-......

'So, here's the thing.'

I looked ahead.

'The Tower has its own way of calculating death.'

I gazed at the shadow-covered plains before me.

'Even if you kill the same person twice, the Tower counts that as [2 deaths], not [1].'

And then I saw the monsters crawling out of the shadows.

A legion of skeletons emerging from my hell.

'Now let me ask again.'

It was an army.

Countless skeletal soldiers covered the wilderness.

'How many deaths do you think I've caused?'

4097 suicides.

The first hunt of Yoo Soo-Ha and the second hunt which had to be repeated due to being killed by the Sword Saint before 24 hours were up.

Therefore, 4099 deaths.

My trace of deaths spread across the vast plains.

"Wow..."

I nodded, contentedly observing the hellish scene I created.

"I really died a lot."

It was then.

-Grooooo!

They bared their teeth, all looking identical. Similar in size and height to me. It made sense since these monsters were evidence of my own deaths.

'Even their weapons are all the same.'

Daggers.

Every skeleton wielded the same dagger I used for my suicides and during the hunt of Yoo Soo-Ha.

"This is unbelievable!"

However, the only one leisurely admiring the skeletons' weapons on this vast plain was me. Both the Witch and the Sword Saint looked around in dismay.

"Is this your skill, Kim Gong-Ja?"

"Yes." "You're kidding, right!?"

The Witch was astonished.

"Unbelievable! A skill to summon thousands of monsters! No wonder you cleared the 10th floor alone!"

"Well…"

The Witch seemed to misunderstand my method of clearing the floor. Before I could correct her, she marveled by herself.

"No, that's not it..."

Hmm.

Let it be.

"Yeah, that’s right."

"Exactly!"

"Let’s talk about this later."

There was no immediate need to correct the misunderstanding.

Nor the time for idle chat with the Demon King in sight.

-How do you possess the same skill as I do...?

The Demon King stood frozen in place. There was no expression to read on the Demon King's face, but the voice alone revealed how flustered it was. It was a shame. If I could see an expression, I could have enjoyed the sight of its entire face twisted up.

"Curious?"

I brushed off the lingering regret and smiled slyly.

"But what to do? I have no intention of telling you."

-......

"Keep wondering. Or, want to trade your life for the knowledge? How about it?"

-Unforgivable...! This is not permitted!

The Demon King roared like a wounded lion.

-How long will you mock me! Goddess! You promised to accept my anguish, my resentment, all my grudges! How could you let this happen!

"Sword Saint Sir!"

I didn't pay attention to the Demon King’s lament. The Demon King had its reasons, and I had my role. The Demon King was my enemy. If the enemy was distracted, it was an opportunity for me.

"Please fight alongside the skeletons! With you joining, we won’t be pushed back!"

"Hmm."

The Sword Saint replied with a reluctant face.

"Alright. I’m not keen on fighting alongside monsters... but it’s more tolerable than helping you."

"Thank you! Black Dragon Master, please help me! Together, let's take down the Demon King!"

"I know. Just don’t hold me back!"

The Sword Saint swung his sword, and the Witch spread her aura. Both seemed determined to follow my command until the Demon King was defeated. I nodded once and then shouted to my deaths.

"Ghouls!"

Four thousand skeletons growled low.

"Show me what you do best!"

I commanded.

"Kill and be killed!"

The legion obeyed my command.

-Grooooo! The skeletons charged in every direction. Leap! A monster made of nothing but bones was light. One jumped high into the air and landed on an orc's head. It wrapped its bony legs around the orc's neck and stabbed with the dagger held in both hands.

Stab! Stab! The skeleton drove its dagger down like a mad thing. The blade tore through the orc's eye, mouth, and throat. The orc gave a brief death cry and collapsed. The impact of the fall shattered the skeleton's left arm, but it did not stop. It merely rushed toward its next prey.

-Kieeeek! Elsewhere, a goblin screamed in pain. A skeleton whose body had been smashed until only its skull remained was tearing at the goblin's forearm with its teeth alone.

-Groooo! -Kiiii! Other skeletons gathered around the goblin. Every one of them was broken somewhere. One had a shattered arm. Another had lost a leg. Another had lost its head. Yet all of them carried daggers. Kieek! The goblin thrashed, but the struggle was useless. The skeletons surrounded it and brought their blades down. A fountain of blood erupted.

-Damn, look at those skeletons.

The Sword Emperor exclaimed.

-Look at the tenacity of those skeleton bastards. I wonder who they take after. An army of monsters that doesn't fear death? What the hell is that? It's terrifying!

A massacre occurred all over the plain.

The Demon King trembled in rage.

-Unacceptable!

The Demon King's shadow continuously spilled a black liquid. If the liquid had been red, I would have thought it was the Demon King's blood. The Demon King wailed as if vomiting blood.

-You have no right!

The Demon King's outcry echoed between heaven and earth.

-A mere being from another world! You bear none of this world's malice, grudges, or lives! How dare you stand in my way!

"Does it matter where I come from?"

I said, facing the echo.

"I stand here now. But if you still think I lack the qualification..."

Before the echo could fade, a familiar voice resounded in my mind.

[The Tower bestows upon you an alias.]

As if someone who had been watching me for a long time was blessing me.

As if celebrating my liberation from the prison of time.

[Your alias is the King of Death.]

The voice echoed long.