Kang Yoon-Soo and Kalriven drew their swords and started a sparring session. Kalriven moved extremely slowly at first, but the Death General changed its mind after seeing Kang Yoon-Soo’s swordsmanship. Kalriven increased its speed, and soon all of Kang Yoon-Soo’s attacks were being parried by the Death General.

However, the only gap that existed between them was one of physical ability, and Kang Yoon-Soo’s swordsmanship did not lag behind that of Kalriven. Kalriven, who had been planning to go easy on Kang Yoon-Soo, suddenly began taking the match seriously.

Clang!

Sparks flew whenever their swords clashed.

The only reason they were able to exchange blows despite the overwhelming difference in their levels was obviously because Kalriven was holding back and controlling his strength. However, Kang Yoon-Soo’s movements were sharp and precise. Sometimes, he attacked from an unexpected angle and Kalriven had difficulty blocking the attack; at times, he almost landed an attack on the Death General.

Kalriven was the first one to lay down its sword after hours of sparring. The Death Knight praised Kang Yoon-Soo with a wide smile that showed its satisfaction at the results of the match. “You really are worthy of being the lord. You have amazing skills despite your lack of experience. Do not misunderstand, my lord; these are not empty praises.”

A purple light flowed out from Kalriven’s sword toward Kang Yoon-Soo, and he absorbed the light.

[You have received the Abyssal Sword skills of the Death General Kalriven.]

[You are the first to receive an undead being’s swordsmanship on the continent.]

[Your commanding authority over the undead has risen.]

[Abyssal Sword]

Skill Level: 1 (00.00%)

Energy Consumption: 20%

A sword skill that is one with darkness, unique to the undead. The skill effect will differ based on the undead that gave the skill.

*Death General—Apply a critical strike to significantly reduce enemy HP. The critical success rate increases the stronger the enemy is relative to you.

Just as magic consumed mana, the use of physical skills like swordsmanship used energy. The Abyssal Sword consumed 20% of the user’s energy, and the user would enter into a state of exhaustion after using it five times. In addition, the sword skill was rather precarious to use due to the fact that the critical success rate increased when the enemy was stronger than the user, which meant it also decreased when the enemy was weaker. Above all, the fact that the skill had been given by a monster stood out; there had been no cases of anyone receiving a skill from monsters, since they were hostile to humans.

Kalriven took out a black crystal and gave it to Kang Yoon-Soo, saying, “You may communicate with us through this black crystal once you release the final seal on the castle.” It continued in a voice filled with expectation and sincerity, “My lord, we have decided to place our trust in you. We shall wait for the day you release us and allow us to serve you.”

The undead legion prostrated in front of Kang Yoon-Soo and worshiped him upon hearing Kalriven’s words. Kang Yoon-Soo did not bother to give a reply, and merely silently nodded.

It was around the time that they crossed the castle drawbridge that Kang Yoon-Soo heard a whisper.

‘The calamity is fast approaching, and you need to prepare to fight against it.’

Kang Yoon-Soo stopped in his tracks as he looked around; it was definitely the same voice that had whispered to him back at the mudgem swamp. It sounded feminine, and its tone was calm and elegant.

“Are you alright?” Shaneth asked.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. He had a bad feeling, but he shook his head and ignored it.

***

The trio left the Castle of the Dead and returned to the forest after crossing the lake. They turned around to take one last look at the black castle, but it was gone without a trace. The castle had disappeared from their view, just like a mirage.

Henrick scratched his cheek and said, “My, that was a strange experience. It’s as if it were all a dream.”

“I thought my heart was going to burst from anxiety. It feels as if it’s been a hundred years since I last saw the sun,” Shaneth said, raising both of her arms to take in the sunlight.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly stopped in his tracks, extending his hand toward Henrick.

“What do you want?” Henrick asked.

“Alcohol,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

“You…” Henrick grumbled as he opened his backpack. His backpack was filled to the brim with the chilling alcohol from the Castle of the Dead, which did not lose its cold even under the hot midday sun.

“You stole it…?” Shaneth asked, her words trailing off.

“Hey! Who do you think I am? The skeletons gave it to me,” Henrick retorted.

“The undead gave gifts…?” Shaneth exclaimed, her eyes wide.

“Why? There are no boundaries in love, so why would there be any in friendship? A bond made by booze transcends race and age. Well, except for some jerk who steals it in daylight…” Henrick said, glaring at Kang Yoon-Soo.

“…” Shaneth stared at him as well.

“What are you looking at?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Don’t drink too much, it’s not good for your health,” Shaneth said worriedly.

“Alcohol is meant to be drunk that way; stop nagging, little miss,” Henrick teased her.

The two alcoholics clinked their mugs filled with the chilling alcohol of the undead and merrily walked ahead while drinking. The nagging little miss let out a sigh before following behind them.

***

Several exhausted-looking men mounted on horses passed through a mountainous area; they were the Third Order of the Imperial Knights. However, they looked so haggard at that moment that nobody would believe they were Imperial Knights.

The captain of the knights, Lenox, tied his tired horse to a tree and said, “I know that you are all tired, but I am absolutely certain that our objective lies somewhere here in the Hatar Mountains. We must find that at all costs and fulfill the imperial order.”

He reminded them once again of their mission. The knights nodded in response, but they could not keep their exhaustion from showing on their faces. After all, they were knights and not mountaineers, and there was a limit to turning over every stone in such a vast mountain range with only sixty people.

They had been tipped off about a blonde girl going up into the mountains from the village at the foot of the mountain, and they had even found traces of her hiking up the trail. However, even though they searched the mountains for nearly twenty days, they were unable to find any signs of her.

A search of this scale would usually be carried out by the imperial army, along with experienced hunters and mountaineers. Unfortunately, they were not able to do so this time around, because they were on a top-secret, classified mission for the royal family.

The search party was composed of knights, but they had abandoned their armor for this mission and were in plain clothes instead. It was odd for the imperial knights to go to such an extent just to find one girl; they were certain to be a laughingstock for the Republicans if they were seen in their current state.

“Umm… I have a question, though…” A new member, Eric, scratched his cheek as he raised his hand. His seniors glared at him, but he could not hide his curiosity and asked, “Why were we, the Third Order of the Imperial Knights, mobilized just to find one girl? Not to mention the need for us to be so clandestine. I would like to know the reason why we imperial knights have to go through this just to find a girl.”

Eric’s seniors glared at him, but they could not hide their curiosity as well. It was difficult for even the imperial knights to be motivated in carrying out their mission if they were not aware of what was going on.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Lenox hesitantly explained, “From what I have heard… This mission is related to the assassination attempt on the imperial princess.”

The knights were more surprised by the fact that their captain, who was known to be uptight when it came to the rules, had spilled confidential information regarding their mission than the fact that there had been an assassination attempt on the imperial princess.

Lenox was from a fallen noble family, and he had managed to climb up the ranks to become the captain of a knight’s order purely by his swordsmanship and intellect. He was a knight who was respected by not only the knights in his order, but other knights as well. The knights would surely have protested by now if it were not for his leadership. 

However, even Lenox could not feel uneasy about their mission this time. He looked at the road underneath them and thought, ‘Is this mission really so important as to even divert the trading routes?’

The midday sun stared down at the trio.

Henrick was the first to speak up, asking, “What do you think?”

“About what?” Shaneth asked.

“Our current situation,” Henrick replied.

“Hmm… I don’t know… It is a difficult one, that’s for sure…” Shaneth replied after contemplating for a bit.

“In short, we’re fucked,” Henrick cursed.

“Please watch your language,” Shaneth cautioned him.

Sinirant Trade Route was a major route that connected the imperial capital to several other cities. Its stone-paved roads were wide and sturdy enough to sustain the weight of the endless lines of travelers and carriages that passed through. In addition, the roads of Sinirant were famous for being well maintained, to the point that one would not see a single stone sticking out of the pavement.

It took the trio ten days to reach the trade route. Their food rations had run out and they were fatigued from their travels. However, the sight before their eyes once they reached their destination was something they never could have imagined—the trade route was completely destroyed.

The stones that should have neatly paved the roads were scattered all over the place, and countless shattered fragments littered the area. The roads had so many crevices they were impossible to walk on, and there were no carriages or even any pedestrians in sight.

“What in the world happened here…?” Shaneth asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“The strangest thing is that the largest trade route in the continent is in ruins, but there’s not a single soul in sight,” Henrick remarked.

Even as the two were completely dumbfounded, Kang Yoon-Soo raised his right hand and pointed toward something. A tiny dot appeared on the horizon, slowly moving toward them. The dot grew larger and larger as it neared them, but it was still tiny nonetheless.

When the dot finally reached the party, they saw that it was actually a dwarf with a black beard. He slowly opened his bag and started to pick up the stones one by one.

“Excuse me, sir!” Shaneth called out to the middle-aged dwarf.

“What do you want?” the dwarf replied.

“What happened here? Where is everybody?” Shaneth asked.

“Aren’t you guys behind on the news?” the dwarf remarked, stroking his beard. He added, “This trade route has been closed.”

“What? Why?” Shaneth asked in disbelief.

“Because of the bandits; they’ve been rampaging in this area these days,” the dwarf replied.

“Was it so bad that they had to close the trade route?” Shaneth asked.

“How would I know? Well, to be honest, people have been talking because of this closure. They say the nobles are fighting among themselves, or the empire has the ulterior motive of curbing the powers of the merchant companies. Well, one thing’s for certain; the bandits are just an excuse to close the trade route,” the dwarf explained as he picked up the scattered stones.

“Most people have diverted to another route, and the lack of people encouraged the monsters and animals to come out all the way to the road; as you can see, they made a mess out of it. Well, I’m not complaining, because I get to come and get good quality stones for free,” the dwarf explained. He picked up a few more stones before leaving.

“What should we do now?” Shaneth asked.

“Do we even have a choice? We need to return to where we came from and buy a horse, or use another trade route,” Henrick said with a sigh.

“We just wasted our time, then…” Shaneth replied, sighing as well.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly spoke up. “We’re not going back.”

“Eh?” the other two exclaimed.

“We’ll cross the Hatar Mountains,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, pointing toward the nearby mountain range.

The mountain trail was not usually used by people because of the well-developed trade route; thus, the mountain did not even have a proper path to walk on.

“You plan to cross the mountain without a pathfinder? Do you plan to get lost and starve for days?” Henrick asked, looking perplexed.

“This is a shortcut,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

“But who’ll guide us through it…?” Henrick asked.

“I will,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered, beginning to walk toward the mountain.

Shaneth and Henrick hesitated for a while, looked at each other, and let out sighs at the same time.

“We can trust that guy, right?” Henrick asked.

“Didn’t you see what happened at the Castle of the Dead? He’s unpredictable,” Shaneth replied.

“In other words, he’s a madman…” Henrick sighed in resignation.

Henrick took out a flame-spitting doll from his summoning box and placed it on the ground. The flame from the doll emitted smoke, which he planned to use as a guide to finding his way back if they ever got lost. He then ran to catch up with Kang Yoon-Soo, grumbling as he trailed behind. “If only he weren’t doing a legendary quest…”

***

The Hatar Mountain Range consisted of numerous mountains connected together. While some of the mountain peaks in the range pierced through the clouds, some were low enough to be closer to tall hills. However, the landscape of the mountain range was quite complex, and the fact that it was extremely vast and overgrown did not help with navigating it. In fact, the range had still not been completely mapped out, and there was no map of it available.

“Kyaah!” Shaneth screamed as she tripped over a tree, but Kang Yoon-Soo easily caught her with one hand. She was in the middle of thanking him when all of a sudden, Henrick screamed from behind them.

“Gah!” Henrick fell down and was almost buried in a thick thorn bush, but Kang Yoon-Soo caught him as well with the other hand.

Shaneth sighed and said, “Trekking across a mountain at night is a very dangerous thing to do.”

 “I agree; it’s so dark we can’t see what’s right in front of us,” Henrick added, waving his hands in front of him.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo did not hesitate even for a moment and confidently walked into the darkness. Oddly enough, he did not even graze a tree branch while walking in the dark.

Henrick’s face distorted into a grimace as he grumbled, “What the hell is that guy?”

“He isn’t a normal person, that’s for sure…” Shaneth replied.

“Then am I traveling with a ghost and not a human? Come to think of it, he doesn’t even get drunk and he has the same expression day and night. He’s definitely closer to a ghost than a human…” Henrick remarked.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly pointed into the distance, at a crevice on the mountain wall—it was a small cave. “We’ll make camp here,” he said.

“There aren’t any beasts inside, right?” Henrick asked before picking up a stone and throwing it into the cave.

Clack!

Luckily, there was no movement or sound from within the cave. The trio entered the cave through its tight entrance, and found that its interior was quite spacious. The interior of the cave was quite warm, and was suitable for them to spend the night.

Kang Yoon-Soo scavenged some firewood and lit a fire. Shaneth took out some dried food, and Henrick lay down and started to carve pieces of wood with his sculpting knife. Henrick appeared to just be messing around at first, but he carved three wooden utensils in an instant with only a few movements of his hands.

“Your crafting speed is really fast!” Shaneth exclaimed in surprise.

“What’s the point? It’s nothing compared to that guy,” Henrick grumbled.

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said.

Henrick’s hands stopped moving when he heard Kang Yoon-Soo’s words, and he just looked at the other man. Kang Yoon-Soo silently stared at Henrick, but the way he looked at him was a bit different this time.

“I learned how to craft and control puppets from you at one point in time. However, I couldn’t hold a candle to your skills—no matter how much I practiced.”

Kang Yoon-Soo said several words that made no sense. Henrick had taught him how to craft and control puppets? It had not even been a month since they began traveling together, and Henrick did not recall teaching Kang Yoon-Soo how to do anything in that time.

Henrick looked at him with a perplexed expression and replied, “You mentioned that at the pub last time, but what do you mean by that, exactly? It hasn’t been a month since we first met, but you’re saying that you learned such skills from me? You sound as if you knew me from before…”

Kang Yoon-Soo fell silent and did not reply further. An awkward silence filled the cave.

Shaneth spoke up to change the mood. “Come to think of it, our rations are running out quite quickly. We have no choice but to eat them soon because they might spoil in the backpack. We should’ve bought more dried rations if we knew this was going to happen…”

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly stood up after Shaneth voiced her concern, and Shaneth looked at him curiously. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“To get food,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

“Can you find your way back without getting lost?” Shaneth asked just in case, even though she felt the answer would be obvious.

 “Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

He then exited the cave. It was dark outside, but visibility had never been an issue with him in the first place, to the point that he closed his eyes as he walked. He could find his way just by the sounds of leaves crunching under his steps, the dirt shifting beneath his feet, and the grass dancing in the wind.

He walked for quite a distance before thinking to himself, ‘I have to be careful.’ He had subconsciously blurted out the story regarding Henrick. He had tried to suppress his emotions, but the memories of his previous life had somehow found their way out of his mouth.

In fact, Kang Yoon-Soo was well aware of it. He was aware that he could not cope with the changes he had experienced in his regressions, and that he was falling apart. ‘I shouldn’t think negatively. I have to hold it in… the same way I did for so long.’

He massaged his temple as he walked behind a large boulder. Funnily enough, he came across a wild tusk boar that had its snout in the ground, feasting on a bunch of wild mushrooms it had found. The wild tusk boar was a beast that lived up to its name due to its long, sharp tusks; in fact, its tusks were so sharp that there would be no need to refine them before using them as weapons.

Kang Yoon-Soo drew his longsword, stabbing it into the neck of the wild tusk boar. The beast let out an ear-splitting shriek before whimpering in pain. Unfortunately, Kang Yoon-Soo could understand the cries of the beast.

‘Spare me! I have five kids in my burrow! They’ll all die if I don’t return tonight.’

Kang Yoon-Soo stabbed the boar with his longsword several times more. The fact that he could understand the beast tormented him, because killing a shrieking beast and killing a talking beast were different issues altogether. For him, there was only a thin line between a human and a monster. He had conversed and hunted alongside monsters in a previous life, and he had formed a bond with them.

He bit his lips and told himself, ‘Don’t think about the past. Focus on this life.’

The wild tusk boar stopped breathing, and Kang Yoon-Soo lifted its carcass onto his back before walking back toward the cave.

It was only after Kang Yoon-Soo had walked quite some distance that an arrow sharply flew toward him and grazed his cheek; a thin red line of blood formed in its wake.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked toward the place the arrow had flown from, and a chilling voice called out from the darkness.

“Kang Yoon-Soo, how is your thousandth life going?”