Chapter 1162

For an instant, it was as if the world had stopped.

The faint haze of magical power around me, the mountains of monster corpses, the roars of the monsters that had survived—all of it vanished.

I could no longer feel or see any of it.

Only one sight remained: far away, a man with pitch-black hair hanging down like a cloak held a pure-white skeleton in his hand. The two of them were burned into my retinas as though they were the only things left in the world.

Pain clenched my heart.

“What are you holding?”

My restrained voice crossed the hundred or so meters¹ between us. At the other end stood a man gazing silently at me.

No—a wicked Black Dragon wearing human skin.

“Ah. This?”

His voice was beautiful enough to seem otherworldly, and carried an evil so pure it was all the more horrifying.

“A clue to satisfying a desire I’ve held for a very long time. And a valuable trophy.”

One corner of Morgoth’s mouth curled upward.

“Perhaps someone’s friend, too.”

“……!”

“A friendship between a human and a monster. A moving story. Judging by the fact that you’ve come here alone, it seems it was all true.”

I didn’t know exactly what had happened here, or what had been said.

But I was certain of one thing.

The Skeleton King had done everything he could, and he’d done it for me—for all of us.

That was why I couldn’t ask the most important question. His obsidian eyes watched me closely, taking in every part of me.

“Are you afraid?”

As if he’d read my mind. I answered briefly.

“Yeah.”

“Of what?”

“There’s a crazy Dragon standing in front of me, and he’s holding someone I know very well. I want him to still be alive.”

Maybe it was how readily I’d answered. After a brief silence, Morgoth gave a quiet laugh.

“You’re honest. Almost disconcertingly so.”

“So? Your answer?”

“Didn’t I already tell you? A valuable trophy. He was so violent in his rampage that he’s a little damaged, but I have no desire to see him shattered to pieces.”

The meaning was clear.

He was still alive.

The Skeleton King.

It was the answer I’d been desperately waiting for since the moment I set foot in this godforsaken ruin. Only then did I let out the breath I’d been holding.

“Thanks, you son of a bitch.”

“Don’t mention it. I couldn’t pass up such a precious opportunity after all this time.”

“You don’t make a habit of taking hostages, do you?”

“Hostage-taking? My intellect and stature are far too great for such cheap amusement.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s the worst news you could have heard. I draw a clear distinction between trophies and everything else.”

“A distinction?”

“If something is too dangerous to possess, it must be destroyed. That way, there’s no trouble later.”

Morgoth’s smile deepened.

“Just like you.”

At that moment—

Vwoom.

Magical power churned around us. A wave of power, unbelievably pure and vast.

And murderous intent so vivid I could almost touch it.

“Was this your plan from the start?”

“No. But the moment we first met, I realized I might make the same mistake Asmodeus once did. And, more than anything…”

His gaze swept over me, unpleasant in its mixture of interest and regret, as though it could see through my entire body.

“Prey.”

His hair, long enough to reach the ground, rose into the air like the wings of a being from myth.

Not an angel’s wings. A demon’s.

“You already see me as prey, don’t you, Jin Taekyung? Young, strong human hero.”

For an instant, silence hung between us. Then I spoke.

“Yeah. I do.”

A Hunter. A sword and shield for humanity, and a hunter.

But that wasn’t the only reason I’d come to face him head-on.

If Morgoth had truly been someone I could trust, I would have gladly done whatever he wanted. I would have bowed at his feet. If he’d told me to cut off my own arms and legs, I would have done it.

My life?

If the deaths of Cheon Taemin and me could bring peace to billions of people, I would have given up my life without a second thought.

That was my duty.

But just as Morgoth had understood something when he first saw me, I’d understood something about him.

His eyes.

They were so clear they seemed pure—and no different from a child’s eyes as he watched an ant crawl across the asphalt on a midsummer afternoon.

That was why tens of millions of lives had been ground to dust.

Right here, in the very place where I stood.

And there was one more thing.

“He’s not a trophy.”

“What?”

“He’s not some trophy. That guy.”

My voice boiled over, so strange it sounded like someone else’s. I took a step.

Slowly. Heavily.

As I put my foot down harder than ever before, memories as vivid as yesterday sank in deeper than the footprint it left.

Thud.

“Human, why don’t you make a deal with me instead?”

“A deal?”

Yeah. It was there.

An A-rank Gate. Black Wizard’s Black Forest.

We’d first met in that dark, damp forest thick with dead trees. And then we’d stayed together.

For far longer than I’d expected.

Thud.

“Hey, Warlord Mon.”

“Do not call me by such a name. I am the master of the Black Forest and commander of the mighty undead legion.”

“Hmm. All right.”

“At last, you understand.”

“So, Golgoli.”

“……Damn it.”

I couldn’t say exactly when it had happened—when I’d begun to see him as more than just a monster.

“Something wrong? Why’ve you been so down all day?”

“I was just thinking about something.”

“What?”

“What kind of being was I, in the past?”

That day, I’d told him as he brooded that I didn’t really know, but he’d probably been a pretty decent guy.

I’d let the words slip as though I were talking to myself, embarrassed for no good reason. He hadn’t forgotten them.

“Human, I have a question.”

Even now, I could see it all clearly.

The spearhead of White Flame, which the Arch Lich had sent flying at me when I was too exhausted and injured to move.

The Skeleton King forcing his way out of my Inventory by his own power and shielding me with his entire body.

“Why…?”

“Human. I have a question.”

That voice I’d thought I would never hear again.

“What you said to me before—did you mean it?”

“Of course I did.”

Only after hearing my answer did the dim lights in his eyes curve like a crescent moon.

“I see.”

The Skeleton Warlord I’d first met in the Black Forest fell.

“You asked me why.”

Then, on human land, a new being who’d sacrificed himself to protect humans rose once more with a shining crown.

He gave back the words I’d once said to him—words he would never forget.

“You’re cunning, but you’re a pretty decent human. That’s all.”

The Skeleton King.

King and master of the dead who wander the Nine Springs.

And…

My friend.

Hot.

My eyes, fixed solely on Morgoth. My two dantians, pouring out Scorching Yang Qi without pause like a volcano erupting after a long wait.

And the step I took, carrying every memory that had just passed through me.

Crack.

A deep rumble spread. The devastated ground crumbled again.

Hairline fractures spread in every direction like a spiderweb, then erupted.

Fwoosh—KABOOM!

Flamefire Path.

I shot forward as a single, blazing streak of fire.

It happened in an instant.

BOOM!

With a sudden flare of blue-black flames, the hundred or so meters¹ between the two of them disappeared at once.

No—vaporized might have been more accurate.

The heat Morgoth felt was that horrifyingly intense, and the speed surpassed even sound.

But—

I can see it.

The Black Dragon’s obsidian eyes flashed as he read it all: the streak of fire rushing up to his face, and something suddenly emerging from its immense heat.

Whoosh!

“……!”

Morgoth’s eyes flew wide. A silver spearhead slashed down at an angle, reflected in them.

Where had it come from? How?

He hadn’t sensed the power of any magic.

Before he could find an answer, the flames carried on the spearhead drove into his chest.

Or so it seemed.

For the briefest moment.

Flash—slice!

In a moment split into smaller moments, Morgoth crossed the distance in an instant. He silently raised a hand to touch the area around his chest.

More precisely, to the patch of skin that had been scorched black by the slightest graze.

“……Hot.”

It was only the third time in thousands of years that he’d felt pain.

But unlike the undead monster who’d caused him pain the second time, the human approaching from afar with his spear lowered still held immense power.

Enough to make Morgoth ask with genuine curiosity, “Are you, by any chance, one of my kind?”

Slowly but carefully closing the distance, Jin Taekyung answered calmly.

“Yeah. Long time no see, son.”

“Your vulgar speech makes it clear you’re not one of my kind…but how can a human grow so strong so quickly?”

Morgoth already knew about Jin Taekyung. He knew a great deal.

And until Morgoth had been summoned to this world, Jin Taekyung’s power had been nothing like this.

“A lot’s happened. Things even you couldn’t possibly imagine.”

“Things even I couldn’t imagine…”

How could that not fascinate him?

But Morgoth forced down the curiosity rising from deep within him. The human before him was too dangerous to let a moment’s curiosity distract him.

“A pity. I’ll never get to hear that interesting story of yours.”

Muttering under his breath, Morgoth curled both hands like claws and seized the empty air.

No—he tore it.

Grrrrrrk.

Warped space opened its jaws. Beyond the gap, where only darkness rippled, beings that had remained hidden until now emerged.

Clank, clank.

Sharp spears and blades. Armor covering every inch of their bodies.

There were hundreds of them—thousands—and they resembled one another like twins born of the same womb. Jin Taekyung recalled the first day he’d returned to this world.

“Those are…”

“My most loyal guardians.”

Dragon-tooth soldiers.

Guardians born of Dragons and existing only to serve Dragons.

But they weren’t the only thing that made Jin Taekyung freeze.

“……Faye Chen?”

A familiar face appeared among the Dragon-tooth soldiers, and a low groan escaped his lips.