Chapter 38: Martyr  

"What do you mean?" Lee Shin asked.

"You know what I’m talking about," Dexter said.

A shadow that spread around Dexter created a shield around the two.

- Ah! Dexter’s shadow is making it hard to see the two of them on camera! What's going on inside! It's so frustrating!

The host, Felix, shouted. The audience sighed from their seats. Dexter was not interested at all in whether people outside were curious or not. He glared at Lee Shin.

"How the hell did you know?" Dexter asked.

"I heard it from your subordinates," Lee Shin replied.

"... Is it Burego?" Dexter asked again.

"Haha, you don’t think I’m lying?” Lee Shin asked.

"Well, that’s not the important part. If I kill you here, nothing will get revealed anyways,” said Dexter.

"Do you think you can beat me?” Lee Shin asked.

"The reason why I set up Kalen as a shield was to find variables like you. I've already done my research on you. The Black Star is more than you think.” Dexter asked.

The true, secret head of the Black Star was Dexter, who was now in front of Lee Shin. Lee Shin was able to get this information from Burego, who became demonized.

When creatures became demons, they would descend into pure malice. Therefore, they would lose much of their memory from when they were alive. That was why Lee Shin could not hear this from Xenon, who was killed first.

‘I'm sorry, but I'll have to take Martyr.’

Lee Shin warmed up his mana power in preparation for the upcoming attack. Dexter's sticky mana eroded the space. The sphere of light that was created by Lee Shin was also disappearing under the shadow. New shadows began to appear one by one in the wide shadow space.

"It is harder for you to recognize the shadow because there is no light," Dexter said confidently.

Dexter's confident voice made Lee Shin sneer.

"Come out," Lee Shin demanded.

Upon his call, the undead appeared within Lee Shin’s shadow. The confrontation between the shadow and the undead began.

"This is my world, my almighty space. Do you think the undead can stop my immortal army?” Dexter started to laugh.

The Shadow Soldiers recovered no matter how many times the Skeletons cut them with their swords. On the other hand, the crushed undead were not able to rise again.

"I guess the original is a bit different?” Lee Shin muttered.

"The original?" Dexter asked.

"Yes, I wanted to meet you," Lee Shin replied.

Dexter's eyes flinched.

"Did you already know about me?” Dexter asked.

"Yes, I heard about you from your student," Lee Shin replied.

"My... student?" Dexter asked.

"Yes, your student," Lee Shin replied.

Lee Shin looked at him as if he was looking at a friend he was familiar with.

"I have no students," Dexter muttered.

"Yes, you do. You have an awesome one,” Lee Shin explained.

Dexter was the King of the Shadows, the head of the Black Star which was an organization for a group of Dark Wizards. Dexter was a Shadow Swordsman. He was Cha Yu-Min's teacher.

"Well, I guess you were somewhat humane in the past," Lee Shin muttered.

"What the... Ugh!" Dexter gasped.

Unbeknownst to Dexter, several mana circles had been created and they covered the entire space. The shadow space started to collapse at the banquet of mana laid out explosively, all at once.

"No! My world of fantasy…!" Dexter cried out.

"Sloppy work," Lee Shin muttered.

Dexter’s body slowly collapsed under Lee Shin’s swirling mana.

- T-t-the game is over! And the winner is Tugot!

* * *

[You have become the winner of Gret Ciel.]

[You have found out the secret of the secret group, Black Star.]

[Your achievement is being calculated. Please wait a moment.]

Lee Shin had made so many achievements by expanding the new timeline on the fourth floor that the system, for the first time, failed to calculate his achievements on the spot.

- The winner of this competition is Tugot! He is walking out of the stadium.

Tugot walked out of the portal of the World of the Night, Obscarit. Tugot carried Dexter on his side because he had lost his consciousness.

- What a shock! Dexter, who was fighting on a battlefield in his overwhelming favor, is limp and being carried out by Tugot!

"Yes, Tugot! I believed in you!" "The greatest star of Gret Ciel is Tugot this time!"

"Tugot! Tugot! Tugot!"

With enthusiastic cheers from the audience, Tugot climbed to the podium in front of the portal. There was Martyr, the prize for the winner of Gret Ciel. The Martyr looked holy and sacred. Not only was the audience attracted to its appearance, but so was Lee Shin.

"Dear Tugot, He Who Knows Death, here is the winning prize, Martyr."

It was a bow sword. Its pure white blade and golden decoration accentuated its value. Lee Shin held the sword very carefully.

Wooosh—?

There was a sudden change in the background and the scenes appeared one after another. At the World of Night, Obscarit, Belle was the only saintess who was shining. Her brilliant light shone upon a world full of darkness, revealing its ugly side. The world shook for a moment. The Great Devil, the essence of Obscarit, appeared.

- This is not a place for the living to step up.

"I want to save those who are struggling in pain here!" Belle declared.

- Do not try to go against the law. They have already thrown themselves into the darkness.

"It is my duty to save the living, and to bring them back to life. This is my duty, even if they have already been thrown into the darkness.

- How foolish.

The scene changed every time the darkness and light collided. When Belle returned to her original world, she collapsed and countless people returned with her. Many humans were drawn into the World of Night by the temptations of the devil. Belle was able to rescue them, but it was at the cost of her life. People tried everything to save Belle, but with their power, they could not save her.

"I don't have much time left to live... Please help me save more people..." Belle cried in despair.

"Please say no more, saintess."

"Please… make me a vessel… that can hold my ability.”

Out of all those whom Belle had rescued, there was an old man. He was the best blacksmith ever known. He worked hard day and night to grant her wish. Gradually, the vessel, Martyr, took shape. The beautiful and noble features resembled Saintess Belle. And Belle poured her everything into Martyr.

The Martyr was a life-giving sword that saved lives. It was a sword that cut down the dead. When Lee Shin saw the backstory, his heart started to beat faster.

[You have uncovered the secret of Martyr. Martyr's true power awakens.]

[Martyr's Ego discerns the owner.]

[There is a power conflict between your mana power and the power of Martyr!]

The power that could save people and the power of death began to clash violently. Lee Shin pulled out all his strength in order not to be swept away by the sudden clash of power. His sweat dripped and his mana blood vessel, which had recovered a lot, swelled as if they were going to burst.

The power of Saintess Belle in Martyr could be felt by Lee Shin. It was of a high class. Martyr’s will to destroy evil was so great that it would have been impossible to withstand its power if the class of Gene Ebrium, the owner of Lee Shin’s body, was not similar to her.

"Keugh…" Lee Shin gasped.

If Lee Shin gave up the power of death, it would have been easier for him to use this power contained in Martyr. However, did that make sense? Death had become such an important source of power for Lee Shin that he could not give it up easily. Lee Shin could figure out the secrets of the tower and the secret story behind Martyr, the Holy Sword, thanks to the power of death.

Even if the power of death were something Lee Shin could give up easily, he still would not have given it up. If Lee Shin were going to give up this easily, he would not have even thought of standing up to the gods. The power of the gods was at a different level than this.

Crunch—

Lee Shin clenched his teeth so strongly that they could break. He had a severe headache, as if his head was going to explode. It had been a very long time since he felt this kind of pain. This was the second time, after the time when he acquired the skill Chaos. It was the first time since then that Lee Shin was on the verge of death.

Lee Shin thought of using his skill, Chaos.

[Chaos]

The power created by the failure of all forces to harmonize and eventually disintegrate. Deny everything and accept it all at the same time.

‘Oh right, I had the power of Chaos.’

Lee Shin had the power that was created by the failure of all forces to harmonize. The power could deny everything but accept everything at the same time. Lee Shin had a source of power that could be greater than the confrontation between the power of life and death.

[Chaos]

The turbid energy began to bubble up in Lee Shin’s body. This power covered the fierce confrontation of light and darkness, as well as life and death. A powerful source of power that overwhelmed both light and darkness cleared the battlefield.

[You have gained Martyr's approval.]

[You have become the owner of Martyr.]

[Martyr]

A sword with all the power of Saintess Belle who had a transcendent level of talent.

# You cannot attack the living.

# You can save the dead.

# You can see souls.

# You can kill demons.

# You can destroy evil.

[Martyr's Ego has woken up.]

"Ugh..." Lee Shin grabbed his throbbing head and collapsed on the ground.

- You... You must be my master.

The voice was transmitted to Lee Shin's head as the Holy Sword vibrated. It was the same as the voice of the saintess that Lee Shin had heard through his ability as He Who Knows Death.

"Are you... Saintess Belle?” Lee Shin asked.

- No, I'm not Saintess Belle. I have just been given a little bit of her essence. My name is Martyr.

"I see," Lee Shin replied.

Lee Shin rose from his seat. Throughout the exchange, the time at Gret Ciel had continued to pass and the audience around him was still cheering for him. Now, Lee Shin, holding the pure white Martyr in his right hand and the Silver Tree Wand in his left hand, appeared like a hero. He looked like the ideal hero that people heard only in tales. [Due to your title, the [Pioneer of the World], your achievements have spread to all dimensions, once again.]

"Hey Martyr," Lee Shin called out.

- Yes, my lord.

"I know you can save the dead. Does that mean we can save all the dead?" Lee Shin asked.

- Unfortunately, that’s not the case. There are some restrictions.

"Can you tell me more about them?" Lee Shin asked.

- First of all, the soul of the dead cannot be separated from the vessel.

"If it's a vessel... Do you mean that?" Lee Shin asked.

Lee Shin saw Dexter's dead body as he slowly descended from the podium. Lee Shin did not kill Dexter. He had been breathing until Lee Shin brought Dexter out from Obscarit. Now his body was still. And when Lee Shin examined closely, there was a faint trace of mana on Dexter's neck. In a short amount of time, someone had assassinated Dexter.

‘Are there still any remnants of the Black Star?’

It happened while Lee Shin was focused on Martyr. Lee Shin seemed disappointed. He tried to find the source of the mana by spreading his mana power hurriedly. However, it was too late to go search through the entire stadium. Lee Shin searched, but he could not sense anything.

- When a creature dies, the connection with the soul is cut off. The longer the connection is broken, the more the vessel begins to break down. If the vessel and the soul are at a high level, the grace period will be longer. On the contrary, if the creature’s level is low, the vessel will break quickly.

"Then what’s the second restriction?” Lee Shin asked.

- Secondly, the vessel and its soul must be close together.

Lee Shin approached Dexter's dead body and stared into an empty spot. There was a vengeful soul that floated near the audience. The soul was vengeful, filled with resentment and bitterness. This vengeful soul continued to spit out its resentment towards something. If this resentment were not resolved, the vengeful soul would eventually become a demon. Lee Shin’s mana stretched out toward the vengeful soul.

[The Chain of Soul]

Lee Shin’s mana, which could forcibly bind the soul, flew toward it.

Keugh—

Lee Shin could feel Dexter's bitterness.

When the soul was brought to Lee Shin, it poured its anger on Lee Shin. However, Lee Shin did not care, because this level of anger was like nothing to him. Lee Shin had already been through countless emotions from the demons. And compared to those, this anger was as good as a joke.

"Is there another condition?" Lee Shin asked.

- Last but not least, the soul must have the will to revive.

After hearing Martyr’s words, Lee Shin nodded and looked at Dexter’s soul that he had brought close.

"Do you think it’s unfair? If so, deal with it by yourself,” said Lee Shin.

Lee Shin lifted up Martyr all the way to his head, so that the sword blocked the sunlight. The honorable Martyr cut Dexter's soul and created a beautiful trajectory.

- Keughhh…

"...Uh..."

The pure white lines outlining the trajectory of Martyr's sword connected the soul and the vessel. And Dexter's cold body started to regain its warmth.

"Am I back… alive?” Dexter asked.

"Yes, you are," Lee Shin answered.

"Why? Why... did you… save me…?" Dexter asked.

"Because the one I care about likes you," Lee Shin explained.

"What?" Dexter asked.

[We have finished calculating your achievement.]

Then, suddenly, a system message appeared. Lee Shin tried to remember Dexter’s pale, hardened face.

"Farewell." Lee Shin bade goodbye.

[You have cleared the tenth floor.]

[Your achievements have been recorded.]

[The episode of Great Ciel's has changed. The stage on the tenth floor has changed.]

[Amazing achievement! Many gods are paying attention to you!]

[You have achieved 212,000 points.]

[You have received 212,000 points.]

[Your Health Point has increased by 5,500.]

[Your Mana Power has increased by 15,700.]

[Your Strength has increased by 10.]

[Your Agility has increased by 11.]

[Your Intelligence has increased by 18.]

[Your Dominance has increased by 10.]

[You have acquired Martyr.]

[You have acquired the 『Title - The Winner of Gret Ciel』]

[We are determining your class by calculating the achievements you have made so far.]

[Your class has changed from a 『Necromancer』 to a 『Death Ruler』.]

[You have learned the 『Class Skill - Summoning of the World of Death』.]

A lot of system messages appeared.

"Death... Ruler?" Lee Shin's eyes trembled slightly when he saw his new title.