SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 43

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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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Chapter 43. His Time (4)
6
Breaking through floor 12 required nearly a hundred deaths.
From floor 13 onward, it would take fewer.
‘Sword Saint.’
-Why?
‘Let’s make a wager.’
-What kind of wager?
I lopped off the head of the first zombie that came at me. Crack! The undead thing’s neck, already rotting to begin with, split open like soft tofu against my blade. Toward the dozens, hundreds, thousands of zombies rushing in snarling waves, I called out:
‘How many times do you think I’ll die pushing to floor 19? Let’s bet on it.’
-Hmm.
Bae Hu-ryeong stroked his chin.
-Okay. I’m betting a hundred deaths or fewer!
I let out a small laugh.
‘Then I’ll bet ninety-nine or fewer.’
-Wow, what a cheap bastard. You want to get petty like that? Huh?
‘Yes. That’s exactly what I want.’
Bae Hu-ryeong snorted.
-Fine then. Let’s see if this zombie bastard can slaughter his own kind. Do your best! But since we’re betting, I’m sitting this one out. Deal?
‘Deal.’
I laughed as the endless tide of zombies bore down.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours.]
I died laughing.
.
.
.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours.]
“Ugh, I have to figure out how to handle this volume… Witch, there’s no other way?”
“I’m already doing my best. You know I’m the only one here with Wide-Area Attack. But it’s tough. More than that, Sa Wang—can’t you use the Counter-Fire Tactic with your skill?”
“Oh, of course I should. But right now the cooldown isn’t ready… I’ll be able to use it in about 3 coins.”
“What do you mean by 3 coins?”
“That’s just how it works. Anyway… wait, could this thing on the Mini Map be… Oh! Geom-seong! Could you break through over there!? That big lid that looks like a Stone Coffin! I need to check on something!”
“Check on what?”
“I’ll explain later! Just do me this favor for now! You, prophet! Okay?”
“Hmm…….”
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours.]
“Okay! Geom-seong! That little Stone Coffin is actually a secret passage. And underneath it there’s a hammer with undead-killer enchantment! Go with the Witch and grab it and use it!”
“This fellow has walked the path of the sword and nothing else…….”
“It has Area-of-Effect attached! When you channel aura and slam it on the ground—boom—a Floor Pattern spreads out and all the zombies get swept away! Okay?”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m the prophet! Okay?”
“I don’t know what to make of this…….”
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours.]
“The zombies are mostly handled now, so now the Demon Lord—wait, what is that?”
“A zombie, it seems. A giant one. So this fellow concludes it must be a zombie giant.”
“Hmm. This Temple looks deep with history just at a glance… perhaps it was a Guardian Giant Soldier protecting this Temple, and the Demon Lord took it and made it a servant… something like that, I’d imagine. If the Heretic Inquisitor had been here, I would’ve learned more about it…….”
“Wow, you even know about the religions of other worlds? You’re no ordinary SSS Rank cleric.”
“It’s skill-based.”
“That’s proof enough of SSS Rank, I suppose.”
“Unpleasant. Why dredge up talk of that worthless fool. At any rate, this fellow will handle that giant.”
“Yes, Geom-seong. I’m counting on you!”
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours.]
“At any rate, this fellow will handle that giant.”
“No, Geom-seong. Keep using Floor Pattern to harass the zombies.”
“Listen here, that giant is the perfect test for this fellow’s sword…….”
“That prophet! That prophet! Okay?”
“No, seriously… phew, so who’s supposed to fight that giant?”
“Well, the Witch, of course. Could you aim your beam at that zombie giant’s eyes?”
“I was going to. That eye was just begging to be hit. Having a single massive eye is practically an invitation to aim for it.”
“Perfect! Let’s go!”
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours.]
“Anyway, that giant is something this person can handle—”
“Hundred Spirits Summon!”
“Good heavens. Sa Wang, does that skill of yours have no cooldown at all?”
“Well, it’s a bit of a thing… Now then, I’d like both of you to face the giant. There’s just one thing I need to ask of you, especially the Witch.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t aim for the eye.”
“Why not?”
“Because it will cause serious problems.”
“But Sa Wang, look at that one-eyed zombie giant. Look at that massive eye. Do you see it?”
“Yes… I’m looking at it. I understand perfectly well that it looks like an eye you absolutely have to hit. But I can’t.”
“Why not? That eye, Sa Wang… if you could fire beams like I do, and you saw a giant with an eye like that…”
“I understand, Witch. If I were you and heard someone tell me not to hit that eye, I’d demand to know why. But there’s no time to explain now… please. Will you trust me?”
“Ugh…”
“Let’s do as this young man says, Witch.”
“Even you, Geom-seong?”
“The young man says he’s a prophet. For now, let’s follow his lead.”
“…Very well. …I’ll do my best to avoid hitting that eye.”
“Thank you!”
We ran. We fought. We saved one another. Sometimes we hid away to let time pass.
We spoke much.
We did much.
—My children…!
We shattered the zombies that lingered in the Temple.
—My generals…!
We defeated the one-eyed giant that must have existed only in legend, from when this Temple once served as the Mountain Range’s shield.
—Aaaahhhhh…!
[The Demon Lord of Autumn Rain decides to retreat.]
And then.
[The Demon Lord of Autumn Rain retreats to the 14th floor!]
We had pushed the Demon Lord down another layer.
Just as on the 12th floor, light spheres scattered through the air.
The Temple, positioned at the heart of the continental divide, gleamed like a freshly polished shield.
Bells rang out with hymns. Merchants from the east rode horses, while those from the west rode strange birds that walked on two legs, greeting passersby. Holy knights sparred fiercely, striking their hammers together, and orphans kept in the Temple watched the merchants with longing eyes and the knights with admiration, until the priests grabbed their ears and dragged them into the chapel.
And from a vantage point overlooking the Temple, the one-eyed giant sat astride a mountain peak with a bored expression. Whenever a cloud resembling wool drifted past his head, he would blink his enormous eye and sneeze.
“The great San-gun sneezed!”
The face of the joyfully chattering orphan held no fear. The priest rapped the orphan on the head to correct him, then bowed deeply toward the one-eyed giant.
The one-eyed giant grinned and waved his hand at the priest.
Ah.
“Sa Wang.”
Hmm.
“Yes… Witch. Let us go. Now then, Geom-seong, are you ready?”
“Wait just a moment. That merchant over there is selling a fine whetstone.”
Geom-seong bought the whetstone. While he sharpened his blade, I turned my gaze from the giant and looked at the World Map.
The patches of crimson land that had been torn away were, however, writhing as if they might surge forward again at any moment.
Even so, there was enough time for Geom-seong to sharpen his blade on the whetstone.
That was sufficient.
“Sa Wang.”
The Witch took my hand. Geom-seong, having finished sharpening his blade, quickly took the Witch’s hand as well.
“Transport.”
Light enveloped us once more.
“Hmm. The 14th floor is a forest, it seems. The Demon Lord has… hidden away.”
“Be careful. I sense killing intent from all directions.”
“Indeed. Let us proceed slowly, slowly.”
[You have died.]
[Regression to 24 hours prior.]
.
.
.
Thus we brought down the Demon Lord commanding the fallen elf king in the Cursed Forest.
[Estelle has decided to retreat.]
[Estelle withdraws to Floor 15!]
.
.
.
Thus we defeated the Demon Lord who commanded the Mermaid Queen at the upside-down waterfall.
[Estelle has decided to retreat.]
[Estelle withdraws to Floor 16!]
.
.
.
Thus we repelled the Demon Lord who controlled the wyverns atop the shattered volcano.
[Estelle has decided to retreat.]
[Estelle withdraws to Floor 17…….]
History regresses.
To before the Demon Lord Army invaded the Empire.
To before they assailed not only the Empire, but nations beyond.
To before the Temple known as the Goddess’s Shield crumbled.
To before the fairy forest was cursed, before the Mermaid’s Waterfall ran backward, before the primordial volcano erupted.
Before, and before again.
To an age before the Demon Lord reigned as the sovereign of absolute evil.
Ephemeral.
As a wave is swallowed by another wave, becoming a single bubble that vanishes into nothing.
As petals fall.
Each floor we ascended, the Demon Lord’s domain narrowed; each floor we climbed, her power waned.
[Estelle’s existence grows indistinct.]
Just as the Demon Lord of Floor 13 was weaker than the one of Floor 12.
Just as the Demon Lord of Floor 14 was weaker than the one of Floor 13.
Just as the Demon Lord of Floor 15 was weaker still.
Weaker. A little weaker. Bit by bit weaker…….
[You have died.]
[Estelle has decided to retreat.]
[Estelle’s existence grows indistinct.]
[You have died.]
[Estelle has decided to retreat.]
[Estelle’s existence grows indistinct.]
.
.
.
—You cursed fool!
Ninety-seven times.
Floor 19, reached after the ninety-seventh death, was some forgotten corner of an obscure Small Kingdom.
—You cursed fool!
The Demon Lord shrieked across that desolate land.
Not Geom-seong. Not the Witch.
The one the Demon Lord glared at with grinding teeth was me.
—If only you had not existed!
Eyes bloodshot with rage.
—It is your fault! All of it! Every last bit of it! If only you had not come, if only you had never crossed from that other world to wield a blade like this, none of this would have come to pass! How dare you! A mere swordsman from beyond the veil…….
I drew my blade.
“Well then. Now I can finally see your eyes clearly.”
—What did you say……?
“I mean what I say. I’ve climbed this far just to see what kind of eyes you possessed.”
That’s right.
The Demon Lord of Autumn Rain had no eyes.
The Demon Lord was a formless shadow. It possessed a face, yet bore no expression. It had arms, but no hands. Filth. The entire form was caked in black viscera that bubbled endlessly without pause.
That was how it had been.
“Does this make any sense?”
At last, the Demon Lord’s mask had shattered.
“A Demon Lord and a Hero who can’t even lock eyes once. It’s a tragedy that doesn’t hold up at all.”
A space had finally opened where the filth could not reach. Eyes bloodshot crimson. Though they blazed with a murderous intent so virulent it choked the air—yet that gaze did not frighten me. Instead, I welcomed it.
I leveled my blade at the Demon Lord.
“Come at me with everything you have.”
—You bastard…….
“Or run away again. Come on, aren’t you curious? How much weaker will you become if you flee this time?”
—…….
“If you don’t come at me with full power now, you won’t be able to win.”
Even setting aside the rewards I’d gain from clearing Floor 19, the Demon Lord of Floor 20 would grow endlessly weaker.
—You dare speak to me, hyena that gnawed at my own flesh? What could you possibly know…….
A sound that growled like a curse.
A shadow wandered there, lost and adrift.
I opened my mouth slowly.
“Estelle.”
It froze.
The Demon Lord’s crimson eyes widened.
“I warned you to come at me with full power.”
—…….
“If you don’t.”
And then I launched forward.
A scream tore through the air.
Black viscera sprayed.
“My time will become longer than your history.”
Listening to the Demon Lord—to Estelle’s—screams, I glared ahead.
Straight forward.
Toward the path I would walk.
SSS Rank Hunter Who Must Die to Live (Serial)
Author | Shin No-ah
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyeok
Address | 204-ho, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st)
Email | [email protected]
Homepage | www.jayplemedia.com
© Shin No-ah 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. pursuant to a contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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