Ark-Volume 20 Chapter 3

ACT 3 Hell Door

“Now the rest is over so start looking for the stairs to the next floor!”

The soldiers scattered at Ark’s command and started searching. Unlike the upper layers of the secret dungeon, the Abyss was a natural cave. Therefore the structure was very complicated and it wasn’t easy to find the way to the next area. Sometimes they had to wander for 10 hours before finding the path to the next floor. While the 60th floor had swamps and a ravine, it wasn’t complicated like a maze. Looking for the way wouldn’t be difficult. However…..

“There’s no path on this side!”

“It also isn’t on this side!”

The soldiers scattered all over the place shook their heads as they reported back.

“What? What did you say? There’s nothing?”

“Is this the last floor of the secret dungeon?”

The soldiers asked with a look of expectation. It had already been a fortnight since they entered the dungeon. They were already sick of wandering around and being in danger. But Ark just shook his head.

“No, that’s not it. Vega was just a middle ranked boss. There should still be another boss in this dungeon. So there will definitely be a passage somewhere.”

That’s right. That was the reason why Ark thought the 60th floor wasn’t the lowest one. Only middle ranked bosses had appeared so the secret dungeon wasn’t cleared yet. He had also obtained another stone sculpture from Vega. The sculptures had dropped from bosses so there was no doubt it would be used in the dungeon somewhere.

“It is clear there is still a secret in this dungeon. If there isn’t a route to go down then it must be something else. If there is nothing then we’ll have to go back to the labyrinth and search carefully. Look through every corner of this floor. If there is no route then look for something strange.”

“That’s true. Hey, search in every corner more carefully!”

The soldiers considered Ark’s words and shouted. The monsters weren’t the problem in the Abyss. The dungeon itself was one enormous trap. Who knew how dangerous the Abyss would become if they had to search a few more days? They would rather go downstairs and die then have to go through that labyrinth again. After Ark’s threat, the frightened soldiers used magic to create light and searched the 60th floor again. After a while, the soldiers who were investigating the side the lizards came from came running towards Ark.

“Ark, I found something suspicious!”

The soldier had found a small cave. On the outside it just seemed like a crack in the wall but it was actually quite a wide cave after entering. But the deep cave wasn’t a passage. It was just a room with a wide space. Yet there was something strange on the opposite wall of the cave.

“What the, this is?”

Ark looked at the wall and tilted his head to one side. Unlike the other walls, this one was carved 10 cm inwards. The size was about 3 metres high and 1 metre wide. Although he looked carefully, there was no other device. Just the rectangular structure which had been carved into the wall. And more walls.

“Something like this can’t be naturally created. In other words, someone must’ve made it. Obviously there must be a secret hidden here. Eh? What’s this?”

While touching the wall with his fingertips, he felt something strange. When he removed the surrounding earth, he felt a small iron plate. Small letters were carved into the iron plate. The carved letters were in unintelligible characters. However Ark knew how to decipher those characters. It was with Knowledge of Ancient Relics! As expected, where he touched the characters there was a shallow light and the deciphered contents appeared.

The beast who was born in darkness and lives by eating.

But uncertain people won’t be aware of his presence.

If you have firm belief then inscribe his image here.

But keep something in mind. This existence will cause you endless despair.

‘Beast? Inscribe the image of a beast on the wall?’

Ark was even more confused by the contents of the iron plate. Why was it suddenly telling him to inscribe the image of an animal on the wall?

‘Inscribe on the wall? Then I have to draw an image inside this rectangle? But how do I know what beast to draw? Was there a hint somewhere in the dungeon? Like a mural or something drawn somewhere…….’

It was a serious problem. Ark was presently on the 60th floor of the secret dungeon. In the meantime he had explored dozens of kilometres. If he didn’t find a clue on the 60th floor then didn’t it mean he would have to search from the beginning again? It was unreasonable to even think it. In addition, the soldiers in Dark Eden wouldn’t easy obey.

‘Wait…..mural? A mural? Come to think of it…..’

Ark tilted his head and looked at the wall for a while. A thought came to his head after remembering the word mural. The recessed wall was in the shape of a rectangle. It was as if someone had taken a mural off the wall.

‘Then there was originally something here. But why did someone take off the mural? That’s right, the iron plate didn’t say I needed to draw it. I misunderstood the words. Don’t I just have to return the original mural here?’

After thinking that, something flashed through Ark’s head. The ten stone sculptures in the form of slabs that he collected! When investigating the slab, he had seen something carved on the surface but he couldn’t identify its shape.

“Perhaps?”

Ark quickly pulled out the slabs and placed them in the rectangular recess. That’s right. The slabs were the murals that had been taken away from this wall. Once he knew that, the steps afterwards were simple. Ark placed the slabs back in like a jigsaw puzzle. A large image started to form on the wall. But Ark felt more confused after he managed to insert the 10 slabs.

“What, what the? Am I short one slab?”

Even though all ten slabs were inserted, an empty space was left in the centre.

“What the? I need more slabs? Is there another middle ranked boss? No, I can’t even defeat the boss on the next floor if I can’t solve this puzzle? Nevertheless, the lack of a slab……is there a boss that is hiding?”

Ark looked at the nearly completed wall mural and scratched his head. Suddenly he felt something strange when looking at the mural. The empty space had an overall triangle shape. The shape and size was similar to something he had seen before. But where? He stared at the wall mural and searched through his memory. After staring for a while, Ark finally remembered what he forgot.

“Wait? This form is….that’s right, I’m sure of it! Radun, the Bloody Slate!”

Ssak ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!

Radun spat out a slate onto the floor. It was a slate with a deep red colour that seemed to drip blood. This slate hadn’t been obtained in the secret dungeon. Lumines had handed him this slate after freeing the Draconians from Magura’s subordinates. But he had needed 200 Knowledge of Ancient Relics to confirm it so he had forgotten about it. Surprisingly, the Bloody Slate seemed to fit perfectly into the mural.

“Looking at the shape, I’m positive this is right!”

Ark grabbed the slate, causing it to vibrate and a new message window rose.

‘Yes!’

Ark inwardly cheered as he checked the information window. After the name was different, the description was the same as the other 10 sculptures he got. In other words, the Bloody Slate was part of the mural.

‘For the slate Lumines gave me to be a part of this mural……’

Then wouldn’t the dungeon boss be related to Magura who disappeared hundreds of years ago? He had suddenly obtained hidden information about the Lore quest. No, the boss hiding in the lowest layer of the Abyss might even be Magura himself. According to Lumines’ words, Magura was an evil which existed before the Dark Lord. It was obvious after considering the name of the dungeon, Cradle of Ancient Evil.

“Well what matters is that I’ve found the last key!”

Ark placed the Bloody Slate into the empty space. Finally the image of the beast which the iron plate mentioned had been completed. It was the shape of a huge wild dog with black fur. A black wild dog was often considered an omen of bad luck in the old days. When the Bloody Slate was inserted, it formed the red eyes of the dog. So the image of the beast was finally completed.

Ku ku ku ku, ku ku ku ku!

The cave started to shake violently. Rocks fell down from the ceiling like hail.

“What, what the?”

“The cave is collapsing!”

Ark and the soldiers quickly rushed outside the cave. The cave fell almost at the same time.

“What is this? A passage wasn’t created and it just collapsed……”

Ark looked at the collapsed cave with an absurd expression. Although the cave collapsed, the huge wall mural which was still standing started to crack. Then an enormous rock fell down and a strange shape was shown. Door……it was a door. An enormous door which reached dozens of metres. But it wasn’t an ordinary door. The door was made from humans. Thousands of humans with looks of suffering on their faces made up the grotesque doors! The soldiers were at a loss of words after seeing the eerie doors.

“Hell door……”

Someone groaned and muttered. That’s right. It was just like the Hell door described in Dante’s work. The soldiers of Dark Eden were overwhelmed by the terrible door. Even Ark was a bit lost when he thought about it. Only Isyuram and the rehabilitation members were the exception.

“A hell door at the end of the Abyss…..isn’t this pretty fun?”

Isyuram laughed gleefully and approached the hell door. Jjak-tung also laughed and nodded.

“Then hell will be behind this? Good. I always wanted to see it.”

Bul-kkun also giggled and muttered.

“Although it is abrupt……you would see it sooner or later.”

“What? That is slander.”

“Then you know that you’ll go to heaven?”

“Of course. Do you know how much I’ve donated to the church?”

“Donation? Isn’t that just money laundering?”

“Don’t talk boring nonsense. If other people here it the will think it is true.”

Jjak-tung freaked out and quickly blocked Bul-kkun’s mouth. While it was unsure if Jjak-tung actually did money laundering, Isyuram’s and the rehabilitation members’ words caused the soldiers to relax a bit. But that only lasted a few minutes. The moment Ark entered the huge Hell door, he witnessed an absurd scene. The other side of the Hell door was an extremely bizarre sight. Dark water stretched out beyond the threshold of the door. It stretched into the horizon! It was already weird for there to be a huge ocean underground. But the even more astonishing thing was the ‘thing.’

Kuoooooh, aaaaaaaah!

Humans and beasts, monsters…..transparent beings were entangled everywhere in the ocean. Whenever the waves hit the strange forms, a cry would emerge. It was a literal hell.

“Do we have to get pass here?”

Ark looked at the wide ocean with absurd eyes before trying to touch it. Then a black shape popped up and wound around his arm. His health was sucked out at an enormous pace at the same time a warning message appeared.

Ark freaked out and removed his arm. Fortunately he didn’t lose a lot of health but…..

“How are we going to pass this place?”

“Ark!”

Then Isyuram who had been looking around suddenly shouted.

“Can’t we ride this?”

Isyuram pointed towards a small boat that was on the side of the hell door. Although it was a small boat, it would still float on the Hell River. They had no choice but to use the boat if they wanted to pass through the river. But there was one serious problem. The size of the boat was so small that only fifteen people could fit at most. In other words, the people who could enter this place were limited.

‘Then only 15 people can pass through?’

Even when they moved with hundreds of people, there was always a life and death situation. But now only 15 people could go to a place where there was a boss? It was a ridiculous situation. But……

‘This is a game.’

That’s right. Once again this was a game. Although this might be an incredibly difficult dungeon with strong monsters, it was a game so it was ultimately designed to be defeated by users. Then the Hell River and small boat must’ve been purposely designed. And the purpose was to restrict the number of people.

‘Well I don’t know if my guess is correct. There are currently 120 soldiers remaining. In such a situation, if another 1,000 enemies appeared then the odds aren’t in my favour. But there’s no need to worry about since the number of personnel is restricted. It means I can face the enemy with fewer troops. Besides…..

Anyway, this was still the last boss of the secret dungeon. In other words, the best loot would drop. If he caught that boss with all his troops then he would’ve had to divide the loot into 3,800 parts. No matter how good the loot was, Ark would only get a few gold. Yet how much would he get if only a dozen people entered? Of course, he would still have to share the loot with the coalition members that entered. And the people who were entering were Isyuram and the rehabilitation members. He couldn’t monopolize it but he would be able to get the yolk of the egg!

‘Huhuhu, this is an opportunity!’

There was a greedy smile on Ark’s face as he came up with an idea.

“Does anyone want to travel through hell?”

The soldiers shook their heads and stepped backwards. There were no humans who would want to visit hell. Of course, Isyuram and the rehabilitation members were the exception. So the group ended up being Ark, Isyuram and the rehabilitation members.

“Now, shall we do a bit of sightseeing through hell?”

Isyuram put his foot up on the side of the boat and said. The boat then slid smoothly through the water.

————————————————————————————————————

“What the, that is?”

The boat had been floating for 5 minutes. The horribly distorted and wriggling shape of the landscape was enough to cause motion sickness. Then finally Ark’s group arrived close to the destination. But the final destination was an unimaginable place.

“Black…..crystal temple?”

A bizarre island had appeared on the Hell River. A huge temple was located on the centre. The temple looked different from others. The walls, roof and even the floor of the temple was made of a black crystal. The temple was extremely beautiful but also terrifying as it felt like his soul was being sucked in. After landing, Isyuram looked at a crystal pillar and said.

“This temple is beautiful but it feels unpleasant.”

“Is it because it is in hell?”

“My mood was refreshed the moment I entered the hell so it is still strange.”

Isyuram muttered. The mysterious atmosphere of the crystal temple was enough to make Isyuram tense.

“Stay alert. There is a high possibility that the boss is here.”

“Don’t worry. I can enter battle mode when it is necessary.”

Isyuram answered and entered the temple. It was more enormous than it looked on the outside. The structure of the temple looked just like a building in ancient Rome. The sides were lined with thick pillars holding up the incredible weight of the triangular roof. And everything was made of the black crystal. It was like there were floating in a dark space.

“This funny feeling…..”

Isyuram kicked the floor and flinched. He stared at the dark temple with a pensive expression and breathed out lightly.

“…….Ark, do you understand?”

“……….How can I know understand that there is a strange atmosphere?”

Ark gulped and swallowed his saliva. Isyuram’s reaction was natural. There was a strange smell coming from the darkness. It was the unpleasant scent of rotting flesh and blood. The smell stimulated his nerves and caused an eerie feeling! It was impossible for someone like Ark and Isyuram not to sense the hostility present. After Ark, Isyuram and the rehabilitation members sensed the aura, they instantly changed into battle mode. But despite waiting 1 minute, there was no reaction from the inside.

“It has no intention of coming out. Is it making us come there instead?”

“The monster sees no need to come out…..”

“We’ve come all the way here to kill it and now we have to search for it?”

“I’ll go first.”

Ark stepped forward and said. While Isyuram and the rehabilitation members had strong combat skills, in New World Ark was still the strongest among them. When considering level and defense, Ark was the only possible choice to lead. With sharpened nerves, Ark carefully stepped forward. How far did they enter? Once the party arrived at a large hall, they witnessed an unimaginable scene. A huge beast 20 metres in size was lying in the hall. The monster was a black wild dog. It looked exactly like the one shown in the mural. But this black dog had its body ripped to shreds. The lower part of the body was so torn apart that its internal organs were flowing out. The terrible smell of blood drifted about the interior of the hall. Ark looked at the dog’s body and asked with a puzzled expression.

“What on earth happened to it?”

Since it looked exactly the same as the mural, Ark was convinced that this dog was the final boss of the Abyss. But why was there a horrifying body before the battle had even begun?

‘Did another user enter before us and took care of the monster?’

He thought that for a bit. He had often experienced such things when roaming around dungeons. General monsters were a lot more common that boss monsters. After taking care of the general monsters, he went to the location of the boss only to find that another user had taken care of it. But Ark soon shook his head.

‘No. I sealed this dungeon up one year ago. Furthermore, the hell door needed to be opened to arrive here. While they could obtain the other slates, it was impossible for other users to open the door without the Bloody Slate. In that case……’

“What? It can’t be that we came here in vain?”

“I’m going crazy.”

A rehabilitation member said with an exhausted expression.

“Damn! I can’t even eat fried dog.”

Isyuram loved eating dogs so he complained after seeing the huge, dead dog.

-Kuoh….ku ku ku ku

Suddenly groaning sounds emerged from the beast’s mouth which almost sounded like a laugh.

“What, what the? That bastard is still alive?”

Isyuram exclaimed as he jumped from the shock. It wasn’t just Isyuram. Ark and the rehabilitation members were also staring at the beast with amazed eyes. Then the beast’s eyelids opened and red eyes were revealed.

-…….Humans!

He spoke in a delighted voice. The red eyes scanned the party before he said.

-I need to ask…..my subordinates had it…..the key…..you can’t come to this place without it…..only one key remains…..where did you find it?

‘The last key? Is it talking about the Bloody Slate?’

“From the Fire Draconians I saved in Hwaryong Mountain.”

Ark wavered before answering. He had visited this place yet the boss was already like a corpse. Well, he wasn’t dead but he still wasn’t in a normal condition. Ark was interested in why the boss of the secret dungeon was in such a state. The boss might even lead to a different event. The beast wasn’t able to fight in this state so did it really matter if he knew? The beast’s eyes narrowed at Ark’s answer.

-It was like that…..so it was there.

“Are you Magura?”

-I….you know…..there was a survivor from the Fire Draconians?

“Yes, I heard about you from them. I don’t know why you look like this but expect me to spare you.”

Ark declared in a cold voice. It wasn’t to get revenge for the Fire Draconians that Ark said this. Despite his looks, Magura was still alive. So couldn’t he get loot from him when Magura ran out of breath? In the worst case scenario, he might not get any loot but he could complete the quest. Magura frowned at Ark’s words. After a moment, the upper part of his body stared shaking from laughter.

-Hahahaha! Spare me……? You….me?

“Judging from your current state, you’ll die even if I don’t touch you.”

-Those words….this body is dying….is that what you think?

“You’re saying it isn’t true? Are you trying to make me laugh?

-You…..your current situation…..you still don’t understand.

“My current situation?”

-For hundreds of years I…..for you guys…..I’ve been waiting.

What nonsense was he saying? He had been waiting hundreds of years for Ark and his companions? Ark muttered with an absurd expression.

-It isn’t possible to understand…..it is natural…..but you’ll soon discover why…..the reason I said I’ve been waiting hundreds of years…..!

Chwa chwa chwa chwa chwa chwa!

It was at that moment. Magura’s body started convulsing and the internal organs on the ground flew in every direction. They wrapped around the pillars in the temple pulled Magura’s body upwards. A cobweb like structure appeared in the centre above Magura’s upper body. A red warning message then appeared in front of Ark.

“T-this is…..!”

“Hik! M-Master! Above!”

At that moment Racard’s scream was heard from behind him. Ark lifted his head with surprise. The internal organs…..the internal organs were wriggling like a snake and fell towards him.

“Dark Dance!”

Ark quickly moved his feet and withdrew dozens of metres. At the same time, there was a loud banging as dozens of strands of internal organs impacted with the place where Ark was. If he hadn’t instinctively avoided it then he would’ve been crushed to death. But there was no time to even sigh with relief.

Syu syu syu syuk.

After Ark avoided it, the dozens of internal organs tentacle stems flew towards him at a tremendous speed.

“Ugh! What is this…..?”

Tentacles? Anyway, they were still heading towards him even after he avoided it. But he couldn’t closely examine the tentacles because he had to keep on running away from them. He had looked away for one second and a tentacle had closed around his leg. He lost his balance and stumbled, causing dozens of tentacles to repeatedly hit him.

Pepepepeng!

He became dizzy and also lost 10% of his health. But he couldn’t afford to become flustered.

“Dark Blade!”

Ark struck the tentacle that was wrapped around his leg. And he rolled across the floor to escape the rest of the tentacles. After Ark had fended off that attack, he had time to look around the room.

‘Oh my god…..!’

The tentacles hadn’t only attacked Ark. Magura had a large number of tentacles attached to his body, the pillars and floor to ceiling. The hundreds of tentacles were also attacking Isyuram and the rehabilitation members. Fortunately Isyuram was using quick footwork to avoid the attacks from the tentacles while the rehabilitation members had only lost 20~30% health.

“Hik, hik! Intestines, intestines! I flew into intestines!”

Racard was also flying between the pillars and avoiding the tentacles.

“D-dammit!”

“Ack! It’s coming from all directions……”

All of this had happened in less than one minute.

‘If we’re careless then we’ll be wiped out in an instant!’

Then Bul-kkun and Tazza got snagged by the tentacles and fell down. Dozens of tentacles then focused on those two. Ark threw the Saw blade and shouted.

“Transformation off! Iron Fire Wall!”

Clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack!

The Saw blade quickly turned into Razak and stood in front of the two with his shield. Wings of flames poured out and pushed back the tentacles. Meanwhile Ark used Sprint and cut the tentacles wound around Bul-kkun and Tazza.

“Teacher, hyung-nims! Gather around me!”

“Ugh, understood!”

Isyuram and the rehabilitation members gathered around Ark. Then they formed a back to back circular formation. It was a method designed to limit the directions the tentacles could attack from. Even if dozens of tentacles flew towards them, with their backs protected it was possible to avoid receiving a concentrated attack like before.

“What on earth, that guy? Wasn’t it supposed to be dead?”

Isyuram muttered as he continued attacking the tentacles.

“If we hit it then it’ll die.”

“What?”

“That guy……only has 15% health left.”

Ark stared at Magura with gold eyes. Shortly after the attack had started, Ark had used Eyes of the Cat to check Magura’s information. He confirmed that Magura was a level 500 elite boss. In a normal fight there was no way 12 people would be able to defeat him. But Ark had discovered why the number of people allowed in the shrine was restricted. He didn’t know the reason yet but Magura’s body was ripped to shreds and it only had 15% health left.

‘That beast only has half his body and 15% health left.’

Ark also only lost 10% health when hit by the tentacles. He had thought Magura would be incredibly strong but he was mistaken. While losing 10% health with one blow was a tremendous attack power, Ark had actually been hit by dozens of tentacles. He had received dozens of hits from a level 500 elite boss yet his health had only been reduced by 10%. In order words, Magura’s stats had also been decreased like his health. On the other hand Ark, Isyuram and the rehabilitation members had received various buffs from the priests and magicians so they were in great shape. Of course, Magura still wasn’t an insignificant opponent.

‘But Magura could only properly move his head and one paw. Therefore he can probably only attack with the tentacles.’

And they could somehow stop the tentacle attacks thanks to the circular formation. But there was no meaning in stopping the tentacles if they couldn’t damage Magura.

“Teacher, hyung-nims, maintain the formation while I approach that guy!”

Ark struck a tentacle and approached Magura with the circular formation still maintained. The problem was that there were also tentacles hanging above Magura’s body like a spider web.

“Razak, transform!”

After approaching Magura, Ark commanded Razak to transform. Then he grabbed the Saw Blade and swung it towards the tentacles. The whip swept past dozens of tentacles at once. At the same time, Magura’s body which had been hanging in the air descended.

“This is an opportunity, Demonic Detection!”

It was the skill which originated from Hero Maban! He used the 5th stage skill of Eternal Soul. Ark’s eyes instantly turned white and the scenery changed like he was looking through infrared goggles. Then something which looked like black blood was drawn around Magura’s body. It was the demonic energy in Magura which had been drawn out using Demonic Detection! Ark swung the Saw blade towards the area where the black blood was thickest.

“Dark Blade!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

When he cut the black blood, it caused a change explosion within Magura’s body. The burst blood vessel had spread. When attacking the demonic energy discovered with Demonic detection, he could deal between 100~1,000 additional damage. In addition, cutting the blood vessel also temporarily decreased defense. It was indeed a skill for dealing with Demonic monsters.

-Kuuohh….you dare…..foolish human…..!

Maura growled after receiving considerable damage. At the same time, dozens of tentacles sprouted like an arrow from the skin.

“Bah, how do you expect to get past out protection?”

Isyuram and the rehabilitation members were like a barrier protecting Ark from the tentacles.

‘Okay, if this keeps up then I can win!’

But he couldn’t be too hasty. Magura was still a boss monster. If there was the slightest slip then the situation could change in an instant.

‘Slowly, I have to slowly decrease that fellow’s health!’

Ark maintained the circular formation and blocked the attacks of the tentacles while grasping the timing to attack Magura. Ark never dealt continuous attacks and focused on attacking and defending with Isyuram and the rehabilitation members. So they slowly cut down Magura’s health. On the other hand, Magura had lost 5% health from the attacks.

-Impertinent bastards!

Magura gave a strange yell and his body shook. Something unthinkable then occurred. The tentacles flying all over the place gathered and changed to a huge hammer. The huge hammer hung over all of their heads.

“Huck! S-scatter!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

There was a tremendous roar as Ark, Isyuram and the rehabilitation members flew all over the place. Then the tentacles dispersed again and attacked the party. The situation was like when they were first attacked. Bul-kkun and Hae Gyeol-sa were already wrapped in dozens of tentacles.

“Hyung-nims!”

Ark swung his Saw blade and cut the tentacles wound around Bul-kkun’s arms. Just as he was turning towards Hae Gyeol-sa…..

Magura’s neck started to bulge like a balloon and a huge object popped out of his mouth. The huge tongue like object extended like jelly and instantly covered Hae Gyeol-sa’s body. Then the object along with Hae Gyeol-sa was drawn back inside Magura’s mouth.

“W-what, that guy! Surely not…..?”

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

Magura’s jaw moved and a horrifying sound was heard. Then blood emerged from the fangs…….He was chewing. Magura had chewed and swallowed Hae Gyeol-sa! But the truly horrifying scene occurred afterwards.

“U-unbelievable……!”

A groaned flowed from Ark’s mouth as he looked at Magura. A blissful expression appeared on Magura’s face after he swallowed Hae Gyeol-sa. Then his chest area started twitching and expanding. Fur also grew out form the missing skin on the left, front paw. At the same time, 8% of Magura’s health was restored. He had used Hae Gyeol-sa to revive and restore his health.

-Kukukuku, for hundreds of years…..I finally regained it.

“Regained it?”

Ark used Eyes of the Cat as well as Skill Penetration and the information window appeared.

-Kukukuku…..do you understand now?

Magura shook his paw which had been restored.

-Yes, the slate you found isn’t a key…..it is to brand the living sacrifices.

‘Living sacrifices? Brand?’

Then Ark recalled the warning message that appeared when entering the Abyss. It had warned about a huge sacrifice! And Magura’s body was destroyed. He had confirmed the information about Piece of Flesh after using Skill Penetration. So they were sacrificial offerings for Magura! Magura had spread complex information in order for some sacrifices to come here.

“Don’t tell me…..for hundreds of years……?”

-You noticed……it is my plan.

Magura laughed and muttered. The worst case scenario instantly rose in Ark’s head.

-I……I’ve been in this dead body for hundreds of years since the end of the Dark Century……but I was born in the darkness itself……I am an immortal existence……My soul has been waiting in this body for a good opportunity to restore my flesh…… Yet no matter how immortal I am…..I can’t restore my body without absorbing a human’s flesh…..so I prepared something just in case.

“The Bloody slate containing the secrets of the Abyss!”

-Yes…..kukukuku. Humans are simple…..just slip them some bait about a hidden secret and they will enter…..if I just sit here calmly then the sacrifices will come to me……warriors and soldiers are strong……but too much time passed this time…..the bait I cast disappeared before humans could come here……and after hundreds of years……I had mostly given up but thankfully you guys came here……

Ark now started to untangle the secrets of the Bloody Slate.

-Now you know……the meaning to I’ve been waiting for you for hundreds of years…..?

It was simple. In order to eat. And that was the main reason why the number of people allowed in the crystal shrine was limited. In Magura’s condition he couldn’t afford to meet a lot of users. This meant Magura had limited the numbers to an amount he could eat.

That’s right. The dungeon, slates, hell door…..the whole thing was a trap!