I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 61

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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 61

“Mother’s Apostle. Before you depart, please take back a portion of my power.”

As Thanatos extended his hand, a thick and desolate aura of death seeped into my body.

Sizzle—

Then a burning pain erupted near my left shoulder.

Ding!
【You have obtained ‘Thanatos’s Mark’.】

“Ugh.”

Despite the sudden agony, I gritted my teeth and endured it, causing Thanatos to widen his eyes in surprise.

“…You’ve inscribed the Mark of a God. The pain must have been considerable.”
“Certainly. I’d want to use it as a torture method.”
“Unfortunately, that can only be engraved upon the Apostle of Night.”

He added that it must be conveyed to others in the form of an imperfect item.
It seemed Choi Yeon-su’s Claw was one such example.

“You really can’t manage a single joke to the end.”
“Haha, it was a jest. In any case, with that, you’ll be able to use a portion of my authority, and you’ll also be able to venture into the Underworld.”

The Underworld—a realm only the dead could traverse.
I had no particular desire to go there at the moment.

“Authority, you say?”
“I can grant peaceful rest to beings of lower rank.”
“That can’t be all there is to it.”

Thanatos answered my words with a dark expression.

“Of course. Like my transgression, I can refuse death to the departed.”

Thanatos gazed toward where the Death Knight had gone.
He seemed to regret having annihilated the Solar Knights of old and resurrecting them as skeletal soldiers and Death Knights.
Of course, that regret stemmed from Thanatos’s personal moral compass.
I, however, was confident I could wield my power without a shred of conscience if it served my purpose.
The divine authority to govern death itself.
With only these necromantic abilities, I could command and control Undead monsters as I pleased.
Given that I’d be conquering the higher floors ahead, could there be a more perfect and reassuring power than this?
Perhaps Thanatos noticed the eager anticipation in my expression, for he added:

“Ah, one caveat—it only works on humanoid beings. And like Eternal Rest, it’s limited to lower-ranked entities.”
“Only humanoids, then. That’s unfortunate. I’m aware of the latter restriction. According to records, you’ve failed at it quite often yourself.”
“….”

Thanatos looked toward distant mountains with a stung expression.
It appeared the legend was true—he had been sent by Zeus to claim lives but failed to lead Heracles and Sisyphus to their deaths.

“Now that I think of it, Heracles’s apostle seems to exist in the present era as well.”
“Heracles’s apostle?”

This was the first I’d heard of it.
When I gave him a look asking for details, Thanatos spoke:

“Yes. ‘Superhuman Strength’—that is his unique stat. We’re not on the best of terms for the reasons you mentioned, but if we could cooperate, it would be ideal. After all, we’re of the same bloodline. Though it ultimately depends on his will.”
“…!”

Ah, I see.
Then this wasn’t news to me after all.

‘James.’

America’s rank one hunter.
His unique stat had been said to be Superhuman Strength.

‘He said he was coming to Korea anyway.’

I wasn’t sure how much he knew.
But there would be no harm in meeting him.

“By the way, Apostle. You seem to be carrying something unusual on your person?”

Thanatos narrowed his eyes.
Then a status window materialized before me.

Ding!
【Black Armor retreats in surprise behind the Black Flame Dragon.】

“Black Armor? You find it peculiar?”
“Yes. That black, serpentine thing—it doesn’t belong to our mythology.”

A serpent, he said.
It did have a habit of flicking its tongue whenever I praised it.
Watching it restrain the Black Dragon, I’d suspected it wasn’t an ordinary being.
But for even the God of Death himself to call it peculiar—that was unexpected.
And what did he mean by “another mythology”?

“That can’t be right. I received this through Nix’s authority.”
“Hmm… I’m not so sure. My mother was always inclined to look after the forsaken ones, regardless of time or place. Perhaps she did the same in other mythologies as well.”
“Meddlesome warmth, then. Thanks to that, I’ve benefited too.”

I fidgeted with my collar absently.
A peculiar existence indeed.
It seemed worth watching for what lay ahead.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

I’d gained abilities and gathered information.
There seemed no reason to linger in this fortress any longer.

“Then, I wish you fortune. Perhaps we’ll meet again someday.”
“Let’s hope not. I’d rather not die.”

I paused as I was leaving and turned back to face him once more.

“This is sudden, but it feels like now or never. My image of the God of Death has always been a ‘scythe,’ you know. Isn’t a staff a bit bland?”

At my words, Thanatos extended the jet-black staff he’d been holding.
He swung it once with a sharp whistle.

Clang!

From what had appeared to be nothing more than a plain stick, the blade of a scythe emerged.
I smirked at the sight of it.

“Much better.”

* * *

“….”

The Death Knight approached Thanatos, who sat alone sipping his tea.

-Have you finished your business?
“Yes.”
-He was quite audacious. Speaking to the Lord God without honorifics….
“Lord God?”

Thanatos let out a derisive laugh at those words.

“As I always say, I am no Lord God. Zeus, the Heavenly God—he is the Lord God. And setting that aside, in both hierarchy and power, she far surpasses him.”
-The Goddess of Night, as you called her.
“My mother.”
-Then it makes sense.
“What does?”
-The serpent’s essence that human possessed is Apophis from Egyptian mythology. Chaos and darkness incarnate, the sworn enemy of the Sun God. Legend has it that Set slew it, yet how….
“How did it come to him? I’m not certain myself.”

Thanatos brought the teacup to his lips.
The Death Knight shook his head.

-That is not what I meant. I was asking how that human came to command chaos itself.

Pause.
The teacup froze before Thanatos’s mouth.

“…Chaos?”

Now that he thought about it, Thanatos had felt a strange sense of déjà vu from their first meeting until now.

“I called her mother because he is an apostle of night.”

In truth, his instinct was sensing something entirely different.
Not so much a mother, but rather—

“…Erebos.”

* * *

“Gasp, gasp! We must stop them!”

Hyeon-jun’s voice rang out, his neck straining with urgency.
The forced teleportation magic circle had expelled them into the heart of a vast necropolis that stretched beyond sight.
And the moment they materialized, they were greeted by an overwhelming horde of Undead that filled their entire field of vision.
Hundreds—no, thousands upon thousands of skeletal masses surged toward them from all directions, emitting grotesque sounds.
The sudden situation left them disoriented.
Yet Hyeon-jun instinctively raised his shield, desperately attempting to fill the void left by Kang Ha-jin’s absence.

“Everyone, fall back from Park Seong-cheol, Li Wei, and Kim Cheol-su!”

The raid members flinched at Hyeon-jun’s urgent cry.
It was Park Seong-cheol who had activated the trap lever.
If so, he was likely either an accomplice or an enemy.
Moreover, Li Wei was an adversary whose true identity the Association had uncovered through investigation.

“Understood.”

Jinhyeok extended his hand and activated a force field.

Zzzzang—!

A transparent barrier surged upward, completely isolating Park Seong-cheol and Li Wei from the rest of the team.
Li Wei, who had been attempting to approach under the guise of helping amid the chaos, stopped in his tracks and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

Li Wei regarded Hyeon-jun with cold eyes.

“You knew.”

He spoke in halting Korean.

“Don’t underestimate the Korean Association.”

I replied fluently in Chinese.
But we had no time to stand facing each other.

Crash—!

A massive wave of Undead surged forward like a tidal wave, charging at us.

“Everyone, focus! If we scatter, we’re done for! We hold the line until Kang Ha-jin arrives!”

Hyeon-jun clenched his teeth. If only Kang Ha-jin were here.
With his overwhelming power, he would have broken through this crisis in an instant.
But now was not the time for such thoughts.
I had to do this.
Hyeon-jun gripped his shield firmly at the very front.
It was terrifying, but I couldn’t run away.
Yet despite his grim resolve, the battlefield situation spiraled into catastrophe.

Boom—!

A Lich in the rear, radiating sickening mana, cast a corpse explosion spell.
With a tremendous roar, bone fragments and flesh scattered explosively in all directions.
Amid screams and chaos.
Park Seong-cheol’s head snapped reflexively toward Park Eun-ji.
The girl who reminded him of his lost younger sister, Park Ji-eun.
The moment his body moved instinctively to save Park Eun-ji.

Grip.

Li Wei seized Park Seong-cheol’s shoulder firmly.

“We have to go, brother. Let’s regroup with my comrades. By now, we should have killed the healer.”
“….”

Park Seong-cheol bit his lip hard.
His gaze remained fixed on the endangered raid members and Park Eun-ji, but he gave no answer.

Whoosh!

Soon after, the two figures vanished swiftly into the darkness, leaving the battlefield—now a complete hellscape—behind them.

…Meanwhile.

Whoooosh—

A tremendous gust of wind erupted beneath the explosion.
It was Park Eun-ji’s skill—she shielded her team members from the blast, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Drip—

“Ugh.”

Her internal injuries were severe.
The critical part was that the Undead continued to swarm toward them relentlessly.

“Kyaaah!”
“Kyaah!”

It was only a matter of time before the Lich located them and triggered another explosion.

“Ugh, my head… Eun-ji!”

Yun Seo-rin, who had regained consciousness moments later, rushed over.

“I’m fine. More importantly, what about Hyeon-jun?”
“I’m here.”

Thud—

Hyeon-jun pushed himself up from beneath the rubble scattered by the explosion.
His shield was already shattered, and his clothes hung in tatters.
Though he had no severe wounds, the pain was clearly intense.
Park Eun-ji remained standing, still using her wind to shield them from the Undead pressing forward.
She had no idea how much longer she could maintain it, but if she released the spell, the Undead would surge in.

‘He was right.’

If I had wasted wind magic from the start, the three of us, including her, would have died here.
And Yun Seo-rin was right.

“…Just like you said, I have something I can do well too. Hehe.”

Still, I was grateful to have discovered at least that much in this hopeless situation.
I had always tried to be useful.
I struggled not to be abandoned.
Perhaps that was a thought I couldn’t shake off ever since I became alone.
It was the same even after Choi Yeon-su took me in.
That’s why I challenged this special dungeon floor too.

‘I still haven’t found my sister and brother.’

Tears welled up and tried to blur my vision, but I blinked them away and cleared my sight.
Right now, unnecessary emotions could steal the lives of her and the team members behind us.

“Eun-ji.”

At Park Eun-ji’s words, Yun Seo-rin bit her lip.

Crunch—.

Of everyone here, only Yun Seo-rin was relatively unharmed.
The explosion seemed to have sent Jinhyeok and Seong U-jae far away.
Whether they were safe or not was uncertain.

“…I know it’s hard, but hold on a little longer. I’ll bring the captain.”

No matter how much I racked my brain, there was only one way to resolve this situation.
Not a good strategy, not a weapon—just one person.
Kang Ha-jin.
I had to bring him here.

“That’s dangerous!”

Hyeon-jun tried to stop me.

“Don’t you know the protagonist doesn’t die? Don’t interfere with Eun-ji and just stay put.”

Yun Seo-rin let out a sharp laugh and stamped her foot against the ground.

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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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