The remaining linked quests were automatically completed as soon as I finished the first quest. Apparently, their requirements had been met. I had been forced to carry out ‘The Birth of Doom Man’t from the very beginning. It was both a shackle and the last resort for me.
At that moment, the notification message confirmed that the quest had been completed.
Crackle-!
A red light spread right in front of me, and it pierced through all kinds of emotions and thoughts. The fire could burn even my soul, and it was stretching out while a red circular shape was filling the front. It was huge, and I got scared. The whole world surrounding me was engulfed by the red light. Then, it became dark again. When the red light colored the space again, I saw the eye.
Doom Kaos!
Doom Kaos was gazing at me. It was different from when I had encountered it before I was sealed. I was in the Life Vessel, but I couldn’t resist the feeling of being locked up by it. I was under a pressure, and the feeling I felt at the moment was terrifying fear.
Shit.
I wanted to believe that my mind was being manipulated. A certain degree of fear was always necessary, but death was inevitable as soon as someone froze. If I could have escaped, then I would have done so without looking back. Well, I would have been kneeling down by him before that…
However, his gaze had a peculiar and dreadful vibe, and it was hard to describe in human terms. If I had to try, then I could only say that it could be explained as ‘apprehension/distrust’ or ‘a cluster of various consciousnesses.’ It was connected to the truth about the being that was called the Old One. The Old One hadn’t been in our dimension for that long as it had confronted Doom Kaos by shifting into multiple dimensions earlier. When Doom Kaos was after a certain dimension, the Old One appeared there too.
However, I wouldn’t make snap judgments on what was evil versus good. My opinion would be nothing but dust in a space war that was being fought by two transcendent beings.
Even if things were as black and white as Doom Kaos being evil and the Old One being good, nothing had changed for my perspective. The most important thing was my family and the safety of mankind. All of these hardships I had been going through were only for these two points. What the two did didn’t matter to me as long as I could achieve that.
I shouted, “Just guarantee one thing for me. The safety of humanity, so that you will stop attacking our dimension. Then, I’ll be your man and fight against the Old One. It means I’ll give you everything you want including the vitality, soul, and the earth. Just point where you want me to attack!”
The mainland of the Seven Demon Kings was at peace and their civilizations had remained intact. I was always ready to sacrifice my soul if our land could be guaranteed that way. It was a bummer that I was in the life vessel and could only communicate like this. If I had a physical body, I would have done what Joshua had done upon seeing me: go on one knee and calling Doom Kaos ‘Master.’
[You have inherited the position of Doom Dejire.]
A notification message popped up, and I took it as a contract with Doom Kaos.
[Doom Caso will be afraid of you from now on.]
***
Doom Kaos disappeared along with the red light that had filled the world. It became dark again, but surprisingly, nothing had changed. This was because my revival hadn’t taken place yet. I wondered how long it would take before I could revive, how it would happen, and what would happen to the power of the Old One inside me. Then, a notification message appeared.
[Remaining time (Revival): 29 days 23 hours 59 minutes 49 seconds]
The bolded messages seem to have been sent by Doom Kaos. Also, apparently I was still stuck with this system even though I was now included in his camp. Well, I wanted to avoid making eye contact with its eye whenever something happened.
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Meanwhile, Yeon-Hee’s heart rate was accelerating, and the moment when I focused on the sound was when my view opened up. The world had brightened up. Of course, I was looking through Yeon-Hee’s vision. After all, she was the only person with such skinny and small arms who could slaughter Baclan warriors in the blink of an eye.
I could also hear the roar of Kciphos King Gundrak, Yeon-Hee’s pet, in the distance. A high-ranking Baclan warrior that had been controlled by Yeon-Hee had just been decapitated by its own kind. The monster that killed it was Yeon-Hee’s next target, then it ended up dying in a similar way.
Yeon-Hee. Hey, Yeon-Hee! Can you hear me?
There was no response, so she must not have realized that I was inside her, my Life Vessel, after I died. Anyway, I had joined Doom Kaos’s side, but the Seven Demon Kings’ attack hadn’t stopped. I wondered if it was because I was in the middle of a war or if Doom Kaos didn’t value human Awakened or its soldiers. It was too early to jump to conclusions.
[Guild: Mary’s Corps has succeeded in defending the first-floor boundary.]
[Until the first weakening: 6 days 4 hours 1 minute 3 seconds]
Yeon-Hee called in her pet over, and everywhere she walked past with the Kciphos in her arms was filled with Baclan’s bodies. The number of dead Awakened outweighed the Baclans.
Yeon-Hee scanned the bodies meticulously, and she focused on high-quality equipment a little longer than basic ones. Every time she collected an item, I could see the information window that she was looking at. The bulky equipment had been put aside, and most were B-class accessories.
Then, I heard a whispering sound from the distance, and some people dared to call Yeon-Hee a witch.
Ssss-
Yeon-Hee moved immediately. After the scenery passed by quickly, I saw the backs of those who were running away. The question was how did they grasp that Yeon-Hee was chasing them and running away. They had no choice but to stop when she made a noise.
To be honest, I was impressed because I was certain that she would slaughter them. However, she was asking in a bright tone. She was calm even when she heard the party calling her a witch earlier.
“You guys should introduce yourself since it’s our first time seeing each other.”
Despite Yeon-Hee’s efforts, no one answered. She pointed at one guy, and he froze as if he was facing a ghost. I had acted the exact same way a few hours ago when I saw Doom Kaos’s gaze.
“Who are you?” she asked.
He stuttered, “I… I am Raphael… from Diego Attack Squad. I’m under Diego Rodriguez in the third unit.”
“Under the third unit of the Mary Corps,” she corrected him.
He nodded frantically. “Yes, yes. I am directly under Diego Rodriguez of the Mary Corps’s third unit.”
“Tell me, Raphael. What’s the matter?” she asked congenially.
There were four other people around him, and their bodies were turned towards the exit. They were ready to run away again at any time, but it was impossible since Yeon-Hee was in front of them. She was already aware of them, and the moment they ran, their necks would be sliced off or they would be killed by their colleagues. Even then, no one answered.
[* Storage box]
[The Clown's Dagger has been removed.]
Yeon-Hee wrapped her fingers around the dagger’s handle, and she raised it as if she would stab his forehead. However, the direction of the blade’s tip changed to his chin. Even if she didn’t use much force, the dagger would vertically tear his face from his chin to his forehead.
She remarked casually, “Odin said that this dagger is pretty good. I still need to wait a long time to maximize its reinforcement, but I agree with him. Is there anyone with the Reinforcement insignia?”
“M… Ms…. Mary…” he began to plead.
She smiled slightly. “I was going to spare your life if you had it, but I guess you don’t.”
“Please…” he begged.
She continued lightly, “Witches don’t just take one’s mind away. We can also curse too.”
Her words sounded like a joke, but they had a strong, murderous undercurrent.
“Choose. Do you want me to control your mind or curse you?” Yeon-Hee asked cruelly.
He squeaked, “I… I don’t want… either… We were just…”
“Can you afford to explain things properly now?”
He confessed, “We were just discussing what popped up. Odin said that he had handled all the malicious parts of the System, so we wondered why this quest showed up… That’s really all. Please trust me. The System is telling us to kill you, Ms. Mary. You should be careful…”
This was the first time I was able to see how Yeon-Hee read the memories and thoughts of her targets. Although her overall ability was inferior to Doom Dejire’s, her speed of skimming through the target’s recent memory was fast. Then, she found the notification in question.
[Assassination (Quest)
She is not just a danger to everyone. Her presence is the worst of the worst.
Mission: Kill Mary
Time limit: 30 days (Remaining time: 29 days 21 hours 30 minutes 2 seconds)
Class: S
Rewards: Challenger box * 50, Start item of the quest ‘Guardian,’ Start item of the quest ‘Mysterious Black Fragment,’ Start item of ‘Master of the Skeletal Dragon,’ Privilege ‘Fast Growth,’ Privilege ‘Collection.’
* A quest item (Location Seeker) will be awarded.
* Don’t worry. Mary has not received an assassination quest in return.
* The quest also provides a great number of XP.]
***
I had wondered if the Old One had originally planned to treat me like the dog it would kill after hunting down one Doom. Anyway, the bloody Old One wouldn’t have given such a quest to only these guys. It was trying to lead everyone to kill Yeon-Hee and eventually cause me to truly die.
Anyone would have noticed that this quest would bring them huge benefits even without reading the flowery language on the names of the quest start items and privileges. From the sheer number of Challenger boxes being offered in the decision, I could tell how much the Old One wanted to kill me.
Yeon-Hee took her eyes off the notification message in the guy’s memory and began to search her quest window. The assassination quest was usually two-way, but it was different this time. It was true. There was no assassination quest for Yeon-Hee.
She finally murmured, “...It has been a while. It’s gotten worse.”
“Pardon me?” the guy asked.
She looked at him. “Nothing. Anyway, you guys must really want to kill me because I do too.”
He begged, “P… Please don’t kill us. We really were only discussing what had happened. Guys, say something.”
He looked at the tip of the blade touching his chin and turned to look at his colleagues. Even then, Yeon-Hee’s eyes were fixed on his face, so I couldn’t see her patting the Kciphos. However, I was sure that she was touching the monster because I heard the small noise that it always made when she stroked its fur.
Grrrrrrr-
Yeon-Hee soon pulled away her dagger. The Clown’s Dagger moved like a living creature in her grip, then disappeared into the storage box. Contrary to my expectations, she left the scared guys intact. Following that, she kept looking at her pet. I could see that she was doing her best in trying to calm down as she continued to stroke her pet.
After the battle, executives were returning one after another to the boundary on the seventh floor. They all looked at Yeon-Hee in the same way. They were thirsty for the quest rewards. It was obvious that they were trying to hide their intentions from her as they tried to calculate their success rates in achieving the goal. Their eyes gleamed with a mixture of that and the fear they had of her.
“Okay, guys. Eyes on me.”
Yeon-Hee drew more attention toward herself like a middle school teacher.
“Raise your hand if you got the quest,” Yeon-Hee said this in a calm and playful tone, but no one believed that she was in a delightful mood. Everyone raised their hand, and they exchanged looks. They seemed to be preparing for all possibilities. My view shook up and down as Yeon-Hee nodded.
[Your Empathy has been activated.]
“You guys are all annoying, but you two drive me crazy.”
Then, things happened.
[You have used Isis’s Gaze.]
[Target: The Worst Guy 1]
One of the executives suddenly rose, and he threw himself straight at another executive sitting next to him. Cold energy wrapped around his weapon, and the resulting ice tail feathered out as he hit the top of his opponent’s head.
Everyone was exhausted after the battle, so the victim couldn't react. Also, the executive Yeon-Hee chose was stronger than the others. The power of the hit was strong, and the freezing effect that quickly immobilized the opponent spread from the area of a shock downward. He kicked the victim over, then accurately struck the victim’s face after pulling the victim’s upper body between his feet.
Then, he alternately looked at me, no… Yeon-Hee with furious eyes. He seemed to be waiting for her order.
She continued mildly, “Let me say one thing. If you don’t want to die, just watch. I don’t want to ruin everything.”
Yeon-Hee’s view briefly shook up and down toward the executive who was being manipulated by her. Then, his violent attack resumed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blood splattered and pieces of flesh bounced off in all directions. Even towards Yeon-Hee.