Episode 198
“The Rider of Blood and Madness?”
The familiar name of a demon slipped from the lips of the orc.
He stepped closer to the orc, pressing for answers.
“Are you and your kind associated with the minions of the Rider of Blood and Madness?”
The orc, bleeding profusely, shouted defiantly.
“Glory to the Rider of Blood and Madness!”
With that cry, the orc’s life flickered out, and his body crumbled to ash.
Zeke frowned as he looked at the orc’s axe left behind in the pile of ash.
“So, Arataso was right about the orcs worshipping the Rider of Blood and Madness.”
This revelation meant these orcs were from the era of the Hero King, over two thousand years ago.
Why such an ancient race, whose traces were nearly impossible to find now, was in this labyrinth was a mystery.
“Have their spirits been bound here like other monsters?”
If Tyr had created this place for training, it made sense to use the orcs, their main adversaries at the time, for combat practice.
“Guess I have no choice but to keep going down.”
As Zeke prepared to move, he noticed the armor and axes left behind by the vanished orcs.
―Axe Information―
Description: An axe favored by orcs
Unique Ability: None
Special Notes: Heavy and sturdy.
―Armor Information―
Description: Heavy armor favored by orcs
Unique Ability: None
Special Notes: Heavy and sturdy.
The descriptions were straightforward, unlike the elaborate details often found on elven armor.
Zeke examined the scattered axes and armor. They were robust but lacked any enchantments, and their size made them impractical for him.
“Not exactly easy to fit all this in my inventory.”
Then an idea struck him.
“Maybe I can sell these at the shop?”
Zeke opened the shop interface and placed the armor and axes for sale.
“Would you like to sell the orc’s armor and axe?”
Seeing the message, Zeke grinned.
“Being ancient items, they can be sold. Perfect. Sell them.”
“You have sold the orc’s armor and axe.”
“You have gained 20 Karma Points.”
“Twenty points! Not bad at all.”
Each piece fetched him 10 points. Zeke diligently gathered all the armor and axes around him and sold them at the shop.
By the time he finished on the 31st floor, he had amassed 1,060 points.
“With 4,834 Karma Points now, if more orcs show up below, I can rack up even more points.”
Unlocking the fourth level of dragon skills required 3,000 Karma Points.
He wasn’t sure what skills awaited at that level, but he knew it would take at least ten thousand points to unlock them all.
“I was wondering how I’d gather enough points, but this is working out.”
With a satisfied smile, Zeke took a moment to rest before heading down to the 32nd floor.
Just then, a message appeared before him.
“The Inverted Tower is adjusting the trial’s difficulty to match the subject’s abilities.”
“The structure of the trial is changing.”
“You are being moved to a hidden stage corresponding to the trials from the 32nd to the 50th floor.”
“Due to the arbitrary difficulty adjustment, passing the hidden stage will grant corresponding rewards.”
“A stage change? Just like that?”
Suddenly, Zeke was enveloped in a bright light.
It felt like stepping into a portal, and when the light faded, he found himself in a completely different setting.
“What is this place?”
Previously, it felt like a closed-off dungeon, but now it resembled an ancient, abandoned city.
The ceiling was high, and unfamiliar architectural styles filled the space.
As he descended the stairs and looked around, he felt as if he had stumbled upon the ancient ruins of Tebeia.
A message appeared before him.
“The hidden stage is beginning.”
“Survive the stage and reach the designated location.”
“Successfully completing the stage will grant corresponding rewards.”
“So this is the hidden stage?”
A low hum resonated from the innermost part of what appeared to be ancient ruins, a white glow emanating from within.
Reaching that spot seemed to be the quest’s success condition.
“If it’s just getting there, it doesn’t seem too hard. Why is it a hidden stage?”
Just as he pondered the seemingly easy difficulty, something moved between the buildings.
Zeke drew his sword and concealed himself.
He observed the mysterious figures, steadying his breath.
“Enemies? Stealthy and quick. Not the movements of monsters.”
Thwip!
Three arrows suddenly embedded themselves where Zeke had been standing.
Whoosh!
Zeke, using the movements he had mastered as a hitman on the Southern Continent, dodged the arrows and swiftly moved between the buildings.
He immediately pursued the flickering shadows.
Whoosh!
Closing the distance in an instant, Zeke swung his sword at the shadow.
Clang!
The shadow parried with a twisted, snake-like sword.
“Damn!”
Zeke realized the skill behind the shadow’s swordplay was no ordinary feat.
Their movements were those of highly trained assassins.
Zeke chased the shadows deeper into the cityscape.
But the shadows vanished without a trace.
Zeke sheathed his sword, clenching his jaw.
“Fast bastards. They didn’t seem like monsters. Could there be humans in this labyrinth too?”
If ancient orcs existed here, humans from that era could as well.
Zeke scouted the area, finding a defensible building to enter.
He pulled out scrolls and mana stones from his inventory, setting up makeshift alarms throughout the building.
With his infinite stamina skill limited, conserving energy was crucial.
“If they’re real assassins, this could turn into a long standoff.”
Patience was the first quality an assassin needed.
As a former assassin himself, Zeke understood their tactics well.
He didn’t move recklessly, setting traps and waiting for the shadows to approach.
This place was practically their backyard, so he needed to be cautious.
Zeke opened his map, focusing on understanding the surrounding space and positions.
Despite the passage of time, the shadows made no move.
Zeke realized they were waiting for him to tire.
“A classic tactic. They’ll probably strike at dawn.”
Though time was hard to gauge in the labyrinth, Zeke knew they were waiting for his stamina and focus to wane.
But Zeke, accustomed to such tactics, remained unfazed.
Even without infinite stamina, he could endure a week without sleep.
As Zeke held his ground, it was the shadows who grew anxious.
About 48 hours into the standoff, Zeke sensed movement approaching the building.
He drew a dagger, rising to assess the situation.
But it wasn’t the shadows approaching.
Grrrr!
A pack of hellhounds, baring their teeth, advanced toward the building.
The hellhounds moved with coordinated precision, as if under someone’s command.
Zeke was taken aback by the sight.
“Controlling hellhounds? They’re supposed to be impossible to tame.”
Though they resembled dogs, hellhounds were classified as high-risk monsters.
A single hellhound was one thing, but a pack was said to be dangerous enough to make even ogres avoid them.
Yet these hellhounds charged into the building like well-trained hunting dogs.
Simultaneously, the trap Zeke had set on the first floor activated.
Whoosh!
A cloud of toxic mist billowed out. Zeke had combined a scroll that released mist with hydra venom he had prepared in potion form to create a deadly trap.
Grrrrr!
Even hellhounds couldn’t withstand hydra venom.
As the toxic mist spread, the hellhounds entering the building foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
Soon, their bodies turned to ash, like other monsters.
Though the hellhounds perished, no message appeared indicating experience points gained, unlike when he had incinerated a boss monster with his elemental sword.
“Tricky.”
The rule was clear: only direct combat yielded rewards.
With no response from the hellhounds, the shadows began to stir again.
Zeke leaned against the wall, waiting for them to make their move.
Eventually, the shadows approached the building where Zeke was holed up.
Zeke tried to track their movements on the map, but the shadows didn’t appear on it.
Rustle!
Though he couldn’t see them on the map, Zeke sensed the shadows stealthily approaching from the first floor, the roof, and the sides.
He held his breath, waiting for them to come closer.
“Just a bit more.”
When the shadows moved further inside, Zeke triggered the trap he had prepared.
Boom!
The explosion scrolls, attached with mana stones, detonated simultaneously.
The blast shook the entire building.
The shadows, startled by the explosion, quickly retreated.
This was exactly what Zeke had anticipated.
Whoosh!
With a dagger in hand, Zeke moved with the stealth of a master assassin, closing in on the retreating shadows.
Thud!
Zeke’s dagger pierced the neck of the masked shadow.
The shadow fell to the ground without even a scream.
As it disintegrated into ash, a misshapen sword clattered to the floor, and a message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
[The cursed soul of an ancient Dark Elf warrior departs from the realm of the gods.]
“Dark Elf?”
It was a name he’d never heard before.
Just then, more Dark Elves began to swarm toward Zeke.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
From one side, an archer positioned on a rooftop unleashed a volley of arrows at him.
Zeke dodged the arrows, only to find another Dark Elf reaching out toward him.
”■■ ■■■ ■■■…”
With a strange incantation, Zeke suddenly felt his body grow heavy and a wave of dizziness wash over him.
“Damn it. A curse.”
He hadn’t expected the assassins to wield curse magic.
With his mental defenses and curse reflection failing him, Zeke quickly rolled backward to retreat.
He swiftly drank a status recovery potion he had prepared in an auto-slot.
The curse lifted, and his senses returned.
Another arrow flew toward him.
Using Teia’s Hershion would drain his stamina too quickly, putting him at a disadvantage in battle.
“In that case…”
Zeke pulled out a shield he had crafted from black scorpion hide from his inventory.
He had made it as an experiment, never expecting it to come in handy like this.
With the black scorpion shield in hand, Zeke charged at the Dark Elf warriors.
Ping! Ping!
The sturdy hide deflected the Dark Elves’ arrows effortlessly.
Zeke swung the shield at the elves.
Crash!
The shield’s curse of stamina drain caused the struck Dark Elf to stagger and collapse.
Zeke immediately activated a hidden mechanism in the shield, stabbing the fallen Dark Elf warrior with a venomous stinger coated in scorpion poison.
Thud!
The Dark Elf writhed in agony before succumbing to the poison.
Sssss—
The dead Dark Elf vanished, leaving behind a misshapen sword.
Without sparing it a glance, Zeke drew Bahamut, assuming the golden sword stance of Agamemnon.
The Dark Elves eyed him warily.
As the standoff continued, one of the Dark Elf warriors stepped forward.
”■■■ ■■!!”
Like the Orcs’ language, the Dark Elves’ speech was incomprehensible to him.
“System, translate. No, from now on, auto-translate any language I can’t understand.”
The system quickly translated the Dark Elf’s words into the common tongue of the continent.
[Hateful human! I don’t know how you got here, but you won’t leave alive!]
Zeke addressed the Dark Elf who had shouted at him.
“Dark Elf. Have you been trapped here for two thousand years like the Orcs?”
The Dark Elves looked startled as Zeke spoke in their language.
Amidst their surprise, the Dark Elf warrior who had shouted at him spoke again.
[Two thousand years? What are you talking about, human?]