Reincarnator

I want to live.

...........

In the outer parts of the War Fortress.

Roaaar!

Kuoo!

The screams of both beasts and humans resonated endlessly.

"Damn it!"

"Maintain the formation! They're rushing in!"

"What do you mean?! We need to leave before everything collapses!"

The adventurers that were fighting against the Kang-Kions were looking quite frantic.

It was obvious, actually.

In a battle between two powerhouses, they would easily be crushed apart.

It might be calm now, but it might start up again at any moment.

And since the Kang-Kions were charging towards them at a time like this, how could they not feel uneasy?

'Damn...I need to get as far away as possible.'

—crunch—

Niclouse mumbled, smashing his fist into the mouth of the Kang-Kion that had dashed towards him.

It might count as suicidal to leave the other humans and then go out into the open field where countless abyssal beings swarmed, but this was not the time to consider such a thing.

Since anywhere else in the 4th zone was better than this place.

He needed to get as far away as possible while the Dark King was distracted.

—rumble—

'F***...It's another earthquake.'

The already weakened land was breaking apart by the Kang-Kions, revealing the shadowed abyss of a maze below.

Though he wouldn't die by falling, it was easy to see what would happen if one were to fall inside there.

Niclouse smashed the Kang-Kion in front of him as he started to get even more desperate.

—boom!—

"F***...Go away, you bastard! Get lost!"

—roaar!—

But sadly, the Kang-Kion continued to charge towards him with its half-destroyed mouth.

'God…dammit!'

Niclouse made a decision right then.

If he wasted time here, then he would die.

Since the Dark King could arrive at any moment.

'I'll give this to you then!'

Niclouse decided to sacrifice his right arm.

But as he was about to shove his arm into the Kang-Kion's mouth.

—boom!—

The Kang-Kion's head suddenly blew apart.

'...Huh?'

While Niclouse was at a loss—

—a firm and pretty female's voice could be heard.

"Hey, mister! Don't just feed those things! Run!"

"...? Who?"

Nicloused asked where the voice had come from.

A face that didn't belong in a battlefield like this.

With such beauty and strength like her's, he should've seen her before or at least have heard of her once.

The female who had blown apart the head of the Kang-Kion gave a short answer.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

The female, Misun, looked at Niclouse with a sorry expression.

A mangled body.

Even his right leg was broken.

'…we must save as many as possible.'

—booom!—

—boom!—

Countless sounds of explosions could be heard all around them.

Through the path Taesang had cleared on the way over to the War Fortress, Akran and the other comrades of the refugee's fortress had charged over.

"Rescue everyone as quickly as possible!"

"Move the injured! While the 2nd division relocates them, division 1 and 2 will fight the Kang-Kions!"

Kyaaaooo!

—crunch!—

Misun extended her hand towards Niclouse amidst the screams of their comrades and those of the Kang-Kions.

"Let's go. I'll help since you'll be slow with that leg."

"Uh…yes...thank you."

Niclouse realized that he wasn't in a situation where he could object, and leaned on Misun.

As she held up Niclouse, Misun carefully observed the surroundings.

She had to find a path of escape.

But her expression quickly darkened.

'Damn…there's too many.'

Though there were quite a lot of Kang-Kions that had attacked the refugee's fortress, the War Fortress was another story in itself.

Despite numerous Kang-Kions having been shredded from the giant explosion, countless Kang-Kions still remained as they were jumping around to devour the humans.

—crunch!—

'Damn...I knew that our numbers would increase on the way out but…'

Misun slashed apart a Kang-Kion rushing towards them.

The number of survivors would increase if they kept going, but at this rate, one out of every three were bound to die.

Maybe even two out of the three.

'Taesang…you bastard! Where did you go?!'

Misun clenched her teeth at the thought of her comrade—they desperately needed him right now.

—rumble—

The earthquake beneath their feet started to get stronger and stronger.

'This…!'

Misun's expression brightened up.

This was not an actual earthquake.

It was a shockwave created from a powerful being stomping on the ground.

A force that a normal human needed all their might to create was continuously being repeated as it approached them.

'Is it Taesang?'

But as Misun raised her head with a bright expression—

—Niclouse, who was standing next to her, made an expression of despair.

Full of terror.

"F***…run! Quickly, run! Run the hell away!"

"Huh?"

Misun was shocked at Niclouse's reaction, who was struggling to run away, and then also cursed after figuring out the identity behind the stomps.

"SHIT!"

—tatatata—

Niclouse and Misun both started to dash away with all the strength in their bodies.

And towards them—

—boom! boom! boom! boom! Boom!—

"UAHHH!!!...AHHHHH!!!"

The Dark King, a demon in their hearts, was charging towards them with a horrifying expression.

'F***…! He lost? He went there so confidently!'

Misun cursed inwardly as she ran.

Though all his limbs were broken and he was bleeding from all over his body, his aura alone told them.

That he was still much more powerful than them.

If they got caught, they would die.

No, they wouldn't simply just die.

They would be ripped apart.

Though Misun and Niclouse ran away in fright, it was futile.

—boom! boom! boom!—

The distance between them and the Dark King was only getting shorter and shorter.

Though they ran as fast as they could, the Dark King seemed to be even more desperate than them for some reason.

And to make matters worse.

Roaaar!

The nearby Kang-Kions were charging over to them as well.

The Kang-Kions wouldn't let go of this chance; their defenses were lowered, and they were busy running away with everything they had.

"Ahh!"

—crunch!—

Uduk!

Though Misun and Niclouse screamed as they attacked the Kang-Kions in front of them, the Kang-Kions were not weak enough that they'd be defeated by their desperate attempts.

'God…'

Misun's expression darkened as she got bitten on both her left arm and her right thigh.

Though it hadn't been cut off, there wasn't much difference.

Since the vicious aura behind them had now drawn close.

'To become minced meat alongside these beasts…'

Misun gave up all resistance as she sensed the terrifying attack coming in from behind her.

She could not dodge it.

Then—

—boooom!—

A huge explosion occurred, with Misun as the center.

'...?'

Misun, who had her eyes closed, opened them when she felt her limbs becoming lighter.

And was at a loss for words.

Grr…

Kyrk…

The Kang-Kions, who had been biting onto her arm and leg had turned to dust.

And shockingly—

"AHHH!!!...UHAAAAAA!!!"

The Dark King roared his lungs out as he charged past them.

Towards the Kang-Kions in the distance.

Soon—

—booom!—

—boom!—

Roooaaar!

—boom!—

Watching this scene, Misun's legs gave out and she fell onto the floor.

"...what the..."

They watched the Dark King, who simply ignored them and was solely focused on killing the Kang-Kions.

...................

UAHHHHHHHH!!!

—boom!—

Taesang gulped as he heard the roars and the sounds of explosions from the distance.

"...will he have to live his entire life like that?"

Taesang asked while he stared at the Dark King in the distance.

The Dark King was literally fighting like a crazy dog.

Swinging around his broken limbs.

Squeezing out every ounce of strength he could from his torn muscles.

But shockingly, his expression didn't seem all that painful.

Quite the opposite, really.

Every time he managed to kill a Kang-Kion, his expression would brighten up a bit.

A very small amount at a time.

UAAAHHH!!!

The slightly brightened expression quickly turned gruesome, and he soon jumped fervently towards the other Kang-Kions.

As if he couldn't even be bothered with the nearby humans.

The Dark King was clearing away the Kang-Kions way faster than Taesang could ever accomplish, and thankfully the adventurers were able to catch their breath.

To the point where his help was not needed.

And Hansoo nodded.

"Yes. Forever."

Until he released him.

Or until he died.

He would not be able to stop this act.

Since the moment he stopped, the pain that was many times worse than being tortured in hell and all of eternity would rise up again.

His entire life would now be devoted to that.

His nose will smell the Abyss.

And his eyes will look for their traces.

His hands will smash their hearts, and his legs will constantly be forced to move to find them.

And as the Dark King flew, the Abyssal beasts were smashed apart.

Gulp.

As he stared at the crystals that were littered on the ground, Taesang asked Hansoo—

"Uh...What if he absorbs those crystals? Couldn't he overpower this pain once he gets stronger?"

He didn't know what Hansoo had done, but there was an unspoken rule in the Abyss.

A skill set by a weaker party would not have much effect.

Though he was like this for now, things might change if the Dark King actually grew stronger.

Those bindings might break.

But Hansoo just chuckled.

"He can't."

"...Pardon?"

"I made it so he wouldn't be able to. From now on, he'll only be a janitor."

Taesang fell into silence.

'...a janitor, huh?'

He was only a janitor in name.

Taesang felt like this incident with the Dark King was a warning to him and any other future transcendents. He hesitantly asked—

"Are you going to go up now? There is no reason for you to remain here…"

This man had no more opponents since the Dark King had been dealt with, at least in his opinion he didn't.

There was no real reason for this man to stay here, right?

Though Taesang had only been in this damned world for two years, he knew one thing for sure.

To quickly become stronger, one needed to be at the appropriate location.

The strong would need to go higher.

The elevator had been created for that reason.

But Hansoo shook his head.

He would leave.

But to the west.

He wouldn't go up yet.

He would only go up after becoming a 2-star transcendent.

'There's a lot of powerful guys left, still a lot to do.'

Hansoo controlled the bloody energy inside his body as he mumbled.

The world will always try to keep the balance.

And slightly disadvantageously to humans.

'Where could they be? It shouldn't stop at grade 3 and 4s.'

—rumble—

Hansoo looked towards the War Fortress; the commotion was now dying down.

And then towards the distance.

Towards the vast Green Zone before his eyes.

...................

—rumble—

Below the ground, in the Great Maze.

Deep down where the Ains lived in the past.

—squirm—

Something black moved about.

Grrrr…

And behind the mysterious creature, a giant tunnel that the creature seemed to have dug out could be seen.

As the mysterious creature slowly made its way towards the War Fortress, the surface shook with vibrations again.

…rumble…

The vibrations above stopped.

[...]

The mysterious black creature, after realizing the vibrations had stopped, pondered for a moment, and then turned around as if it had lost interest.

This wasn't the only place where there was food.

Soon—

—rumble—

The mysterious creature then started to head towards another direction.

Towards the west.