Chapter 85 – Ghost’s End. My Beginning.
“Whew…..”
40 minutes had passed since my fight with Ghost began.
Calling forth different egos, he continued to attack.
There were roughly 15 corpses sprawled over the floor.
All of them were corpses of Ghost, each wearing their golden armor.
In a single body, there are many sides of oneself that make up the mind.
In this case, however, each time his life expired, a new body would be created, carrying a different Ghost.
It was difficult to understand exactly what Ghost’s ability did.
I felt as though his name ‘Ghost’ wasn’t just for show.
However, he didn’t have much power behind his attacks.
It was just that the prolonged fight was wearing me down.
I used Heal between fights, but it was only a C ranking recovery magic.
My stamina and strength stats were increased so much that Heal wasn’t affecting me much.
Strength and stamina both raised the ability to stay in combat longer.
In theory, it would make sense for me to continue fighting without any signs of weariness.
However, my attacks were that much stronger, and so it consumed that much more stamina.
I thought to myself that I needed to learn at least a single good recovery skill.
He continued to pull out many egos.
He seemed to have collected many different classes, from summoner to magician, warrior, and many more.
It was amusing when he pulled out things that weren’t human.
Lifeforms that didn’t exist in this world. Monsters from another world.
Even some of the hidden bosses in some of the dungeons.
However, against me, who has gone through countless dungeons, it was nowhere enough.
“Urgh!”
“I think this is getting pretty tiresome.”
Only 10 minutes remained before the dungeon closed.
It happened when I defeated roughly the hundredth one, which was a ghastly form.
As the pathetic display of a fight continued, my anxiety continued to dissipate.
It was then.
“KUWWECCCKKK!”
The new form that Ghost took began to puke nonstop.
“Did you absorb someone who is an alcoholic…. What the?”
Looking towards him as he made that puking noise, I couldn’t help but be shocked.
He was puking out all the souls of those that he had absorbed.
However, I couldn’t see additional bodies of Ghost.
Instead, I saw a massive amount of souls, from children to the elderly.
They gave off a soft green glow, piling enough to make a small mound in front of Ghost.
Each form were clearly defined.
After leaving Ghost, they seemed to be free at first. However, there weren’t any life in their eyes, each lacking pupils.
Almost like in the movies where the characters lose their souls to a spell from a warlock.
‘If I deal with that many, the dungeon dissipate. If that’s the case….”
-CRASH!
-BOOM!
Staring with Meteor, I used every magic attack skill I had on him.
However, only massive shock waves rang throughout the dungeon instead.
I wasn’t able to deal any damage.
Almost like ghosts, all the attacks had gone through.
It was possible that unless the souls had flesh, I couldn’t attack them.
Ghost, who stood behind them, used his staff to block all the magic attacks.
He remained silent.
Too busy puking out more souls, I suppose.
His continuous puking finally stopped.
Then I began to hear horrific screaming.
“AAAHH! KILL ME!”
“I WANT TO DIE! Please…”
“L…Let me go. I CAN’T HANDLE IT ANYMORE!”
Repeatedly grasping his hand into a fist and then stretching it flat, he took a deep breath.
Silencing their screams, he spoke.
“It’s been quite a while since I felt the warmth of flesh…. It’s almost awkward….”
“Are you the original body…. Park Joon Sik?”
It seemed that his original body had finally appeared.
However, before entering the dungeon, Ho Jin wasn’t able to recognize Ghost right away.
Did that mean that the ego he put on then wasn’t himself?
He really was confusing.
“Hmm…. Park Joon Sik. At this point, I’m not even sure if that name is really mine.”
“….”
“All the egos in my body believe that they are the rightful owner of my body. Well, since I am able to control all the souls that I’ve absorbed so far, I guess you could call this body the original.”
“You’re rather difficult. Disgusting and annoying. No matter who you may be, it’s time to end this.”
“Do you have the confidence to take on every soul that I’ve absorbed?”
“Even if you absorbed for another 10 years, or even 100 years, I can crush you whenever.”
“Then let’s begin! KUHAHAH!”
Finishing his words, Ghost stretched out his arms and the mountain of souls flew towards him.
Those that screamed and howled with lifeless eyes now formed around Ghost.
They were absorbed through his arms and legs, as well as his torso.
With each soul he absorbed, Ghost’s golden armor was being covered by a barrier, growing thicker by the second.
The fights up to now have been 1v1, but now it was going to be one against many.
‘10 minutes left….. I’ll take care of this quickly and head to the Unknown Dungeon.’
-CRACK!
I was lost in thought for only a brief moment.
With a speed that was near impossible to follow, he appeared before me.
Not only that, but his short sword smashed my shield into pieces.
All of it happened in a split second.
“Shit!”
-CLING! CLANG!
Fierce attacks followed, barely deflected by my sword.
As if amused by the current situation, he was shouting excitedly, even during his attacks.
“This is a good thrill. You wouldn’t be afraid of a single grasshopper. But… what if they came in a swarm? You’ll taste a famine unlike any other! Ki-ya!”
-SLICE!
“Crap!”
Attacks unlike before came at me.
Electronic Shock and True One Strike were used at the same time.
Magic of the highest rank from the magician class and a skill beyond ranking from the warrior class were used simultaneously.
Right now, Ghost couldn’t be called human!
Like me, he was using skills from various different classes freely as he wished.
It felt as though he had gathered all the stats of those he had absorbed to create this completed form.
He was pouring out skills as if his mana was unlimited.
“Die! Die! Die! KUHAHA!”
“Damn it.”
It was a one sided fight.
Thanks to the stats I absorbed, I was only able to avoid the attacks with vastly increased speed.
The attack was so fierce that I couldn’t even think about counterattacking.
From Ghost’s view, the best defense was a good attack.
-SLICE!
-CRASH!
With the ease of casting Frost Orb, he poured out skills beyond ranking.
At this rate, I would meet a bad end.
Frothing at the mouth, Ghost spoke.
“I’ve invested a huge amount for your ability. Breaking down the tower that I’ve raised, I’ll use you to raise a new tower! Now, hurry! Kneel before me, and offer me your ability!”
“You’re insane… You’ll die today. I’ll rip you apart!”
I used all the shields I had to cover my body.
As I received all the attacks, I began my furry of slices at him with my Formless Sword Aura.
The duration of my shields were 5 minutes long.
It wouldn’t be far off from the time left before the dungeon closed.
Things wouldn’t end just by avoiding.
Power against power.
I planned to go all out against him in the last 5 minutes.
“KUWAAA!”
Pulling out all the strength I had, I continued to attack him.
However, he ignored the the damage he took from the Formless Sword Aura and continued to attack.
It was then.
“KURRUHH.”
“It’s done!”
“KUHAA! KUHAHA! DIE!”
The Fear.
It was definitely the howling that signaled the activation of Wild Beast.
In a single moment, it was as if all the blood in my vessels were replaced by magma, burning up my body.
At the same time, strength was overflowing to the point where I could no longer control it.
It was almost as if endorphin like hormones were filling my body like a waterfall.
“ORAAAAAA!”
“KU…. KUAH!”
I definitely had my eyes open, but I couldn’t see anything.
The white of the dungeon disappeared from view, and the outline of his body filled my field of view.
1 minute. In the next 1 minute duration of Wild Beast, I had to snuff out Ghost’s life completely.
“KUWAAAA!”
“KUHUCK! KUWUHH!”
I heard the scream of Ghost, as well the screams of those that surrounded him, emitting a piercing scream.
The wild unrestrained flurry of attacks continued at Ghost.
Just like that, the 1 minute duration of Wild Beast ended, and I regained consciousness.
There wasn’t anyone standing before me.
However, my sword aura didn’t know how to stop, continuing to swing at nothing but thin air.
As my burning body calmed itself, exhaustion caught up.
Stopping my attack, I regained control of my breathing.
“Huff…. Huff…”
Looking down, I saw that Ghost had become a pool of bloody paste.
I cleaned off the blood and fat that caked it, then bent down to pick up the staff.
Using my Eye of Insight, I attempted to check it.
A sigh of relief came out, along with some muttering monologue.
“Finally… it’s over….”
The information on the staff came up clearly.
Thus, it meant that Ghost was dead.
This was a rare weapon that could not have its information revealed until the owner perishes.
If the information on the weapon was revealed, it meant that the owner’s life expired.
However, since I had used up an insane amount of stamina, I couldn’t process the information.
On top of that, I didn’t have the luxury to do so.
Less than 1 minute remained before the dungeon expired, after all.
I immediately took off my Mana Shield, and then used Dual Casting’s third hand to cast Heal.
Heal had a low rate of recovery, but with three castings at the same time, I felt that the recovery speed was faster than I expected it to be.
I will head to the Unknown Dungeon.
On one hand, Jong Ho and Ho Jin would be waiting outside, worrying for me.
Also, I was worried about my mother back home.
However, a chance to grow as quickly as this would probably be difficult to come across again.
After all, it was the entrance to the Unknown Dungeon, which would only form with the sacrifice of many lives.
The two radical faction leaders that I’ve experienced firsthand both became stronger by going through this place.
They also had obtained their artifacts here.
Danger would come for me again.
My decision wasn’t wrong.
According to Ghost, he said that it would take a day to clear this place.
Since I could pour out incredibly powerful skills without limits, it probably wasn’t an exaggeration.
“A single day… It could be treated as being selfish, but this is a path I take for everyone’s sake. Here I go.”
My hesitation was brief.
I took the steps toward it.
The gate that took me in vibrated intensely as it pulled me in.
****
As soon as I entered the Unknown Dungeon, I noticed how damp it was.
It was a swamp that went up to my knees, reeking of a foul scent.
However, I was met with familiar faces that helped me forget this nasty feeling.
Monsters as far as I could see were present, and I could not see an end to them.
Experience? I didn’t need something like that.
I was in a state where I had consumed more stats than it could ever be compared to leveling.
Covering my body with Mana Shield, I walked towards them.
“Time for some fun, properly this time.”
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