I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 59

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inherited the Basement 1 of the Tower – Episode 59

Thud.
The Death Knight’s greatsword fell to the ground with a heavy, dull sound.

-…I’ve lost.

Kneeling on the ground in tattered form, the Death Knight was missing one arm.
Its crimson eyes trembled before the darkness that enveloped my body.

“….”

A heavy silence descended upon the surroundings.
The first to break the stillness was the rough breathing of the raid party members.
Everyone stared at me and the kneeling Death Knight in turn, their faces blank with shock.
Yang Sang-jin was particularly affected.

“How… how is this possible.”

Until just moments ago, he had opposed my independent combat.
After all, Yang Sang-jin had been present at the scene where Taesan’s raid party was annihilated by a single Death Knight.

“Even if its mobility was eliminated. To do this alone….”

Moreover, he had just witnessed the combat between me and the Death Knight firsthand.
It was impressive enough that he could still manage to speak words expressing disbelief, however hesitantly.
The other raid party members had become mute, their mouths hanging open.
I also checked the reactions of Li Wei and Lin Xiao-wei.
Their expressions were strangely rigid, and their discomfort was evident.

Click.

Lin Xiao-wei roughly sheathed the weapon she had been holding.

‘She must be disappointed.’

They hoped for the raid party’s failure, so that the opportunity to clear this special dungeon floor would return to China.
This was also part of the reason I insisted on facing the Death Knight one-on-one, pushing the other raid members back.
If the battle had turned into a chaotic melee just now, they would have definitely tried to take the lives of our members under the cover of that confusion.
By stepping forward myself to control the situation and nip the problem in the bud, from their perspective, I must have looked like a dog chasing chickens only to gaze at the roof.

‘Well, I wouldn’t have noticed either if I hadn’t known their identities beforehand.’

If I hadn’t known, I would have simply looked like an enthusiastic hunter whose passion had deflated because the battle with the Death Knight fell through.

“Hey! You should be recovered enough by now, get up already!”

At that moment, Yang Sang-jin’s irritated voice rang out.
Despite his grumbling, his hands glowed with light.
Seeing that light directed toward Jinhyeok sitting in front of him, it seemed he was helping with recovery from the barrier I had deployed earlier.

“…A commoner couldn’t possibly understand a nobleman’s advice. Do a bit more.”
“It’s not advice, it’s a complaint, you idiot! And don’t you know that healers are the most noble among nobles?”
“That’s only true in games. Live in reality.”
“How do you even know what comes from games?”
“…Nobles don’t have time to waste on entertainment.”
“Ugh. Stop spouting nonsense about being a nobleman and live in reality! For once!”
“….”

Jinhyeok’s words seemed to fail him as he closed his mouth and slowly recovered his energy.
I noticed that Lin Xiao-wei’s gaze, which had been watching the scene, was fixed on Yang Sang-jin.
A sinister glint in her eyes.
The next moment, our eyes met.
Lin Xiao-wei flinched, then awkwardly averted her gaze and turned her head away.
Now that she had witnessed the martial prowess I displayed against the Death Knight, she wouldn’t be able to move recklessly for a while.

“….”

Hyeon-jun, who knew the details through the interpretation of the conversation between Li Wei and Lin Xiao-wei, seemed to have noticed the atmosphere as well, and looked toward me.
I nodded in acknowledgment.
Yang Sang-jin would be the first target.
It wouldn’t hurt to give a subtle warning to Hyeon-jun, our tank, in case something unexpected happened.

“Is this really the end of it?”

At that moment, Park Seong-cheol asked carefully.
Even though I could see the spear tip shimmering with blue light, I pretended not to notice.

“What, disappointed you couldn’t show off?”
“…No.”
“Don’t worry. This isn’t the end. Right?”

I tapped the kneeling Death Knight lightly.
He nodded his heavy head.

-…That’s right.

At the Death Knight’s affirmation, the quick-witted Park Eun-ji murmured quietly.

“…Thanatos.”

She looked at me, her eyes sparkling.

“I learned about it in school. It’s a god from Greek and Roman mythology. That old man mentioned it earlier.”

…This is rather surprising.
A sharp-eyed kid.
Not that I dislike it, but it’s a bit troublesome in the sense that I don’t feel like explaining.

“The special dungeon floor isn’t finished yet, is it? The Death Knight isn’t the end, right?”

At Park Eun-ji’s bold question, the Death Knight slowly rose to his feet.

-I am merely the messenger and servant of my lord. My role is to patrol and block those without qualification, and to guide those who possess it.

As he spoke, he glanced at Yang Sang-jin, the healer, at an appropriate moment, then turned his head back toward me.
Yang Sang-jin bristled at what seemed like a dismissive gaze, attempting to protest, but I raised my hand to stop him.

“Guide us. Where is Thanatos?”

* * *

We positioned the Death Knight at the front and reformed our ranks to continue forward.
I had bound him as a precaution, but he offered no resistance and guided us willingly along the path.
As we passed through the grassland and entered the plains, the oppressive atmosphere lifted, and I felt some ease return.
Taking advantage of this moment, I asked the Death Knight something I’d been curious about.

“By the way, how did this place come to exist? From what I know, this should be a stronghold of the Solar Knights.”

At my words, the Death Knight gazed at the sky with a longing expression.
Then he murmured softly.

-Vengeance.
“Vengeance?”
-For our sun, we extinguished theirs.

I furrowed my brow.

“What nonsense is this? So Thanatos got angry and slaughtered all the Solar Knights?”
-That is correct.
“Then why are you still here doing this? I can see you have your own will. Don’t you feel like betraying him? Are you bound by some contract or something?”

The Death Knight paused mid-step, staring into the void with hollow eyes before answering.

-At first, it was compulsion. Then it became atonement. Now it is love.
“…What?”

I stopped in my tracks, doubting my own ears.

-What is wrong?

The Death Knight turned to look at me, confused by my reaction.

“Aren’t you male?”
-That is correct.
“….”

As I continued to stare, the Death Knight added as if making an excuse.

-It was frequent in ancient Greece, or so I’ve heard.
“But you’re not even from Greece.”
-Ancient Egypt was the same way.
“How remarkably coincidental.”

I found myself at a loss for words and decided to drop the subject.
Thanatos, the god of death himself—his tastes were certainly unique.
After exchanging such pointless banter, I wondered how far we’d walked through the forest.
Before long, the landscape around us began to grow desolate and bleak.
Grotesquely twisted ancient trees appeared here and there.
A deep violet mist blanketed the earth.
The Death Knight nodded.

-There it is. The castle of the Lord of Death.

Where he pointed.
Beyond the mist, a massive and overwhelming fortress revealed its ominous grandeur.
Its outer walls were grotesquely constructed from tens of thousands of skulls and bones, and the spires’ peaks jutted sharply toward the sky.
At the very tip hung a skull still wearing its helmet.

‘Vengeance.’

I didn’t need to ask whose helmet it was—I could guess.

“Everyone, stay alert. This is where it truly begins.”

I gripped my sword’s hilt and warned my team.
Thanatos.
I couldn’t know exactly why he sought me out, Nix’s apostle.
Even if he were favorable toward me, there was no guarantee he’d be favorable toward my other team members.
As my team members tensed, the Death Knight burst into raucous laughter.

-There’s no need to be so frightened. If you observe the proper etiquette, there will be no suffering. For the Lord of Death grants a peaceful death to those who do.

As the Death Knight cackled, I mercilessly struck the back of his helmet with my sword.

Clang—!

“Stop spouting nonsense, you brat.”
-Ugh.

I stood before the colossal iron gate and grasped its handle.
It had taken far too long.
Within this chamber lay Thanatos, the one I had searched for so desperately.
Creak—.

The moment I was about to pull the handle open.
The Death Knight suddenly added one more thing.

-Ah, that’s right. There’s one more precaution you should know.
“What is it?”
-Don’t pull the lever beside the gate. It’s a trap. If you do, you’ll be scattered across different parts of this dungeon.

I froze.
My hand, which had been opening the door, came to a halt.

“….”

In that moment, a thick silence descended.
What was about to happen became painfully obvious.

“The timing of your words, truly.”

I cursed under my breath and released the handle, my hand moving toward my waist.

-Krhehe. No matter how I think about it, I have no desire to guide you to him so obediently.

The moment those words finished, I drew the pitch-black longsword from my waist.
As expected.
At the end of my gaze, Lin Xiao-wei, who had been at the rear of our formation, was reaching toward the weathered lever beside the gate.

“Caught you.”

Without hesitation, I swung my blade and activated my Third Form.

“Night Shadow Demon Blade!”

Skreeeee-!

A blade of darkness tore through the air, grazing precisely across Lin Xiao-wei’s wrist just before her hand could touch the lever.
She flinched and stumbled backward.
Good—I’d stopped Lin Xiao-wei.
Now I just needed to keep Li Wei in check….

Clunk!

“…!”

Damn it.
With a dull, metallic sound, the machinery groaned to life, the gears resonating through the stone walls.
I turned my head toward the lever, and my eyes could barely believe what I was seeing.
The one who’d pulled the lever was neither Lin Xiao-wei nor Li Wei.

“No, wait—! You should’ve said something sooner!”

It was Park Seong-cheol, trembling with a bewildered expression.
He’d pulled it himself and now reached toward me desperately, as if he had no idea what to do.

“Damn bastard.”

A curse escaped my lips involuntarily.

Vwooooom-!

At the same moment, a massive magic circle activated from the ground, and crimson light surged upward.
The incantations of the magic circle came into focus.
I recognized some of the characters and symbols I’d seen when Elder Barkalor used his curse, but I couldn’t decipher them.
Still, I could grasp how the trap functioned.

‘It’s merging.’

The separate magic circles began combining with nearby ones, transforming into a single, massive circle.
It was binding nearby organisms together and moving them as one.
In other words, anyone nearby would disappear with it.
The moment I realized this, I reflexively shouted.

“Hyeon-jun! Protect Yang Sang-jin!”

I had already communicated my intent through a glance.
That man’s instincts were remarkable.
He would certainly move before I even gave the order.
But.

Splort—!

A violent tearing sound erupted, as if space itself was being ripped apart and vanishing.
Looking toward the flash of light, the spots where Hyeon-jun, Yun Seo-rin, Li Wei, and Park Seong-cheol had stood were already empty.
The magic circle’s activation speed had been faster.

‘…Damn. No, wait. Actually, this is fortunate.’

Three people had been separated along with Li Wei to keep her in check.
If it was Hyeon-jun and Yun Seo-rin, they could somehow endure.
Feeling my heart lighten, I turned my gaze elsewhere. And at the sight unfolding before my eyes, I clenched my teeth.

“….”

Lin Xiao-wei. She was pressing a cold blade against Yang Sang-jin’s throat.

“H-Kang Ha-jin! Help me…! Ugh, argh!”

Yang Sang-jin tried to say something, but squeezed his eyes shut at the pain from his throat.
As Lin Xiao-wei applied pressure to the blade, a thin stream of blood trickled down Yang Sang-jin’s neck.
Her lips curved upward as our eyes met.

“…Seriously.”

Soon the magic circle beneath my feet completed, and I felt an intense floating sensation as my body was transported somewhere.
My vision blurred and space began to distort. A situation where I didn’t know where I’d end up.
I immediately seized the Death Knight cackling nearby by the collar with an iron grip.
Where did she think she was going alone?
She was the one who had upset the board.
I wouldn’t let her laugh by herself.

-W-wait! Let go of me!

Splat—!

With the Death Knight’s startled cry, my vision was consumed entirely by darkness.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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