Chapter 128 Skirmish 5

Outpowering the collapsing statues, Skull looked up.

The last remaining statue struck Skull with a sword. Instead of running away, Bucephalas rushed at the sword. At Skull's order, Bucephalas climbed not only the blade of the sword but also the stone statue's arm.

Bucephalas was done with it so quickly that the statue could not even withdraw its arms.

When it shook its arms vigorously, Bucephalas was already about to attack its collarbone.

The lightning of greed flashed from Skull's right arm. The battle hammer that swallowed up a lot of lightning hit the stone statue's jaw.

The sound of the attack was different from when Eligos or Ophelia mounted the attack.

The lightning strike exploded not only the stone's jaw but also the air. The shattered head of the stone statue scattered in all directions.

"Skull, Skull!"

Bucephalas stepped in the air. It created a scaffold made of dark magic where its feet touched, which was the unique driving method of the upper Nightmare horse flying in the sky.

When the fourth stone statue collapsed, Yong-ho turned to Aamon.

He shot Aamon engulfed in the green flames at the castle gate right before his eyes. Break through the gate!

It couldn't be called flames anymore. A great greed swallowed up black mana.

It transformed Aamon into a huge ballista.

An incredible physical force hit the gate. The gate crumbled with a terrifying noise. Actually, it was separated from the wall as it could not withstand the impact.

Salami entered the castle and hurriedly flapped its wings of flames. He almost fell to the ground due to the aftermath of the terrible blow, but he adroitly kept his balance before landing safely.

Yong-ho also groaned in pain because he felt like his right arm would fall off. At the same time, he felt a strong pleasure in the fact that he destroyed the gate with a single blow.

Yong-ho looked back from Salami's behind. The artificial sun's sunlight poured over the broken gate. The dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon followed Yong-ho, fully releasing their own mana.

Yong-ho looked ahead again.

He had no intention of stopping.

***

There were a series of wide spaces inside the wall. It seemed that Mammon thought of the second floor of the Labyrinth of Greed as the continuation of the huge "gathering places".

Namely, places for large-scale engagement.

Because of this, the passage was wide, and the size of each room was also unusually large.

Yong-ho moved forward without hesitation. Dozens of dungeon monsters appeared in droves, but they couldn't stop the advance of Yong-ho and his spirits. Whenever the flames, lightning, and darkness rained down, they were destroyed in mass.

Fortunately, there were few traps along the way.

According to Ophelia, there were "traces" of a huge magic position or traps all over the second floor. However, most of them reached the end of their lifespan or were severely damaged and destroyed, which was natural.

It was already hundreds of years ago that the House of Mammon lost the second floor of the Labyrinth of Greed. During that long period of time, Mammon's people were not supplied with properly and used up mana in dealing with the dungeon monsters coming up everywhere.

'In some respects, I wonder if we are now benefiting from the dungeon monsters.'

Yong-ho was referring to the trap of the Labyrinth of Greed. If properly activated, the trap would have been a much greater threat than the dungeon monsters.

Yong-ho only went straight ahead, following Scathach's advice.

'Baphomet is the last barrier on the second floor as well as its gatekeeper. The passage leading to the third floor is beyond Baphomet's sealed paper. To get there, you just have to go straight. The previous king was a very bold man.'

She was right. After he passed through five large rooms following the castle gate, he saw a straight path. With Catalina's power, he looked through the darkness to find a huge door. It was clear that it was the door leading to Baphomet's sealed paper.

Yong-ho, who ordered his dungeon spirits to just move on until now, told them to stop for a moment.

'All of my dungeon spirits have become strong.'

They really fought much better than he expected. In fact, he was busy taking care of his own growth until now, but his dungeon spirits made a big progress, too.

Especially, Eligos drew his attention.

Ophelia had been recognized as a "strong woman" in his mind since she entered the House of Mammon. In the case of Catalina, he felt it was natural that she became strong since she was around him as his escort knight all the time.

But Eligos was an exception. He was the one who guarded the House of Mammon alone even when all the other dungeon spirits were fighting on the battlefield.

Eligos didn't show all his skills when he sparred with Ophelia. His sparring partner was Ophelia.

Regardless of his denial or not, Eligos cherished her very much. How could he display his 'real skills' when she was his sparring partner?

But Eligos was different when the opponent was the dungeon monster.

He fully displayed his real skills while fighting the dungeon monster.

Yong-ho understood why Eligos' name for his next advancement was 'Tyrant.'

He attacked the dungeon monsters fiercely just like a hungry beast catching its prey.

His fierce attack completely belied his usual appearance, so Yong-ho was shocked by such a stark contrast.

Yong-ho smiled before he knew it when he recalled the days when he had just become the head of the House of Mammon, for he clearly remembered the small Eligos who went out to draw water every morning.

Then he looked at Skull.

When it came to the amount of training, no dungeon spirit of the House of Mammon could surpass Skull.

That was why Yong-ho trusted Skull all the more. Moreover, Skull played a very important role in the battle against Baphomet.

Scathach chose Yong-ho himself and Skull as the key players in this battle because of the characteristics of Baphomet.

Death, Baphomet was the incarnation of death sent by fanatics in the alien world.

Because of this, even though he was weakened, he exhaled the energy of death naturally like his breathing.

Those whose energy was weak lost their lives just by being exposed to Baphomet's energy.

Even those strong men saw their strength weakened because of their instinctive fear of death.

It was only Yong-ho and Skull who could exert full combat power even in front of Baphomet's energy of death.

After experiencing more than hundreds of near-death experiences, Yong-ho could endure the energy of death.

Since the undead Skull was already dead, he would rather feel calm in the face of Baphomet's energy of death.

It was because of Baphomet that Scathach's test was a near-death experience from the beginning. Anyone who did not pass her test could never be an opponent of Baphomet.

Yong-ho patted Skull on the shoulder, who he thought was always reliable.

Skull laughed heartily when he felt Yong-ho's confidence in him without Brigada.

"Skull Skull."

Yong-ho was not in a hurry. He kept sharing the magic potion he obtained from the arena with the dungeon spirits. The restorative Scathach made for him also played a great role.

About 30 minutes passed. They caught their breath fully by now.

Yong-ho ordered Salami, Bucephalas, and the Skull Squad to stand by. He then sprayed the lights into the passage. After driving away the darkness, they went forward.

It was a huge bronze door.

Yong-ho realized that the name of the second floor, 'Gate of Hell,' referred to this door.

Dozens of people were embossed on the door. They were groaning and crying in pain.

Yong-ho took his breath deeply and held the doorknob.

By Herculean force, he opened the 'Gate of Hell' very slowly.

It was filled with impenetrable darkness. But he could see. Rather, he felt it.

A black monster fell in the middle of the wide empty area. Large shackles were attached to its neck as well as its limbs, and those tied on its legs were still connected to the floor.

The door was not yet opened halfway. However, the energy of death came out continuously. The black monster raised its head slowly, crying in a spooky voice.

It was laughing. Its creepy laugh filled the empty place with the energy of death.

Red eyes, Yong-ho remembered seeing them when he peeked into Scathach's memory.

The black monster shook its shoulders. It touched the floor with its hands and raised its upper body very slowly. It stared at Yong-ho with its red eyes shining alone in the dark.

Yong-ho was scared. It was much more dreary than what he saw in her memory. He felt like Scathach saying that it had become weak was an absurd lie. Death wrapped around his body. He could feel hundreds, rather thousands of eyes around. The screaming of resentful ghosts filled the whole world.

But Yong-ho opened the door. He didn't close it. Then he took a step forward in the darkness.

Brigada was activated at once. His dungeon spirits followed their king, Yong-ho, just like Mammon's 12 Spirits had done in the past. They were not terrified by the fear of death.

Yong-ho didn't have to say anymore. He quietly raised his hand. Like Mammon in his memory, he grabbed Aamon, the magic spear of the red lotus that bloomed in the air. He drove away not only darkness but also the energy of death with the green flames of greed. The blue water, which was like the symbol of Scathach, spewed out from the uncompleted Godly Energy located in the magic field of his left hand.

Baphomet laughed like crazy. His crazy laughing soon turned into a roar. Baphomet saw Mammon in Yong-ho. So, it cursed him and got crazy. Grabbing the scythe of death from the darkness, it charged at Yong-ho wildly.

It was like the rush of death itself.

Yong-ho also rushed forward to confront it.

As the new King of Greed, he confronted the incarnation of death.