Chapter 181
A forked path appeared before the Pegasus assault team.
The reconnaissance leader, Gesling, closed his eyes and sent out his mana.
Gwoooaaah!
At that moment, undead soldiers emerged from both passages.
They filled the corridors completely, surging forward like a rising tide.
Then Gesling opened his eyes.
“The right passage. There’s a life signal there.”
“You heard him. Block the left passage and push through the right.”
The assault team leader, Bronson, immediately gave the order.
The martial-type Awakened moved in perfect unison.
KWA-BOOM!
Their attack caused the entire left passage to collapse. Naturally, the undead soldiers were buried under the rubble as well.
With no need to worry about the left side, the Awakened focused solely on the undead pouring in from the right.
“We have to find and destroy the cores.”
At that moment, those with detection skills—led by Gesling—proved their worth.
“The core is hidden on the left side of the waist!”
While the martial-type Awakened held the line, the detection-type Awakened pinpointed the cores. Then the magic-type Awakened launched precise spells to strike them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With explosive blasts, the undead collapsed—and did not rise again.
Their cores had been destroyed, eliminating any chance of revival.
That was the strategy the Pegasus assault team had discovered.
Not mindless attacks, but locating the core and delivering precise strikes to completely prevent resurrection.
After countless trials and errors, they had finally found a method to conquer the ancient castle.
All of it was possible because Lee Jiryung had bought them time with his overwhelming power.
“Hold them!”
At Bronson’s command, the martial-type Awakened stepped forward to block the undead. While they held the line, the magic-type Awakened prepared their skills and destroyed the cores.
As this process repeated, their offense and defense became as precise as a finely tuned machine.
Lee Jiryung silently watched the scene.
This was why he had created the Pegasus assault team.
He could have wiped everything out himself—but if he did, the team would never grow.
Only if the Pegasus assault team grew stronger could he aim for greater heights.
Awakened who survived such fierce battles would grow rapidly, becoming elites—and a solid foundation for him.
No one could reach the top alone.
There had to be those supporting from below.
It wasn’t about advancing alone, but growing together.
That was why Lee Jiryung had stepped back and was observing the team’s assault.
Fortunately, they had lived up to his expectations so far.
Though the casualties were higher than he would have liked.
At that moment, Lee Jiryung’s gaze shifted to Levin.
Levin, still in his ghostified state, was releasing lightning.
His unique Purple Lightning didn’t just destroy the cores—it incinerated the undead soldiers’ bodies entirely.
Though it still lacked some precision, its raw power far surpassed ordinary lightning skills.
That made him valuable.
As a fellow lightning-type Awakened, Lee Jiryung was confident he could train Levin well.
The problem was—Levin had no intention of following him.
Levin trusted Zeon deeply.
As long as Zeon lived, Levin would never follow him.
“…Levin and Zeon, huh.”
At that moment, what appeared in Lee Jiryung’s mind was a scale.
He placed Zeon on one side, Levin on the other, and watched which way it would tip.
“…Interesting.”
Contrary to his words, Lee Jiryung’s gaze turned cold.
KWA-KWA-KWA!
Even then, the Pegasus assault team steadily advanced through the castle.
The undead soldiers were no longer a match for them.
“Good! We’ll clear it soon!”
“Keep pushing!”
Confidence soared among the Awakened.
Just as the thought crossed their minds that they could conquer the castle quickly—
Kiiiiing!
As if to shatter that confidence, the corridor walls opened, and figures clad in knight armor appeared.
“What now?”
“Undead knights this time?”
At a glance, their presence was on an entirely different level from the undead soldiers.
Lee Jiryung shouted,
“Everyone, be careful! These are on a completely different level from the ones before!”
“Yes, sir!”
Tension filled the faces of the Awakened.
They could already sense the strength of the undead knights.
At that moment, the undead knights attacked.
Whoosh!
Their swords cleaved through the darkness.
A martial-type Awakened targeted by one shouted as he swung his sword in response.
“Don’t underestimate humans, you rotten corpses!”
He was a C-rank martial-type Awakened, his primary weapon a sword.
In an instant, his sword split into three.
One for defense, one to create an opening, and one for the finishing strike.
Slash!
But his blades never reached the undead knight.
The knight’s sword cut through both his weapon and his body at the same time.
“W–what…?”
The Awakened muttered in disbelief as his body split into two and collapsed.
“Shit! That’s aura!”
“Undead using aura?!”
“This is insane…”
Just as they said, a sinister black aura burned around the undead knights’ swords.
The fact that mere undead were using aura—something only B-rank Awakened or higher could wield—shocked the Pegasus assault team.
At that moment, lightning flashed through the corridor.
Lee Jiryung had launched an attack.
The Awakened had no doubt his lightning would completely roast the undead knights.
But what happened next made them question their eyes.
Saaa—
A black barrier appeared in front of the undead knights.
The barrier deflected the lightning bolts to the side.
Though it shattered shortly after, it had still protected them from the attack.
“…Aura… shield?”
“Are you kidding me? Since when can some damn corpse use an aura shield?”
An aura shield was something only B-rank or higher martial-type Awakened could create.
That meant the undead knights in front of them were at least on par with B-rank martial Awakened.
Their raw power might have been similar—but the advantage lay with the undead knights.
Because they were undead.
Unless their cores were destroyed, they wouldn’t die no matter how severe the damage—even if their heads were cut off.
On top of that, the undead knights could freely manipulate aura.
Using aura for both offense and defense, it was the human Awakened who were being pushed back.
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
The Awakened at the front fell with screams.
They had been killed by the undead knights.
But the real problem came afterward.
Gwooo…
The Awakened slain by the undead knights began to rise again.
“What the—?”
“Why are they…?”
Their eyes were filled with black energy.
The fallen Awakened turned their bodies and attacked their former comrades.
“Damn it!”
“These bastards—they’ve turned into undead!”
“If you die to an undead knight, you become one—shit!”
Shock spread through the Awakened.
To them, death had always been like a constant companion.
Always by their side—ready to strike at any moment if they let their guard down.
They had long prepared themselves for death, even accepted it calmly.
But being resurrected as undead was an entirely different matter.
For the first time, fear appeared on their faces.
Lee Jiryung noticed the disturbance and clenched his teeth.
“…No choice. I wanted to conserve as much strength as possible for the boss.”
Even for him, mana wasn’t infinite.
Powerful skills consumed large amounts of mana and took time to recover.
That was why he only stepped in when absolutely necessary.
But now was not the time to calculate.
Even at this moment, the Awakened at the front were dying to the undead knights—and rising again as enemies.
For now, they were barely holding on.
But once the number of fallen grew too large, the balance would collapse.
Their numbers would shrink while the enemy’s grew.
The advantage would flip.
He had to end it before that happened.
“…Hoo!”
Lee Jiryung took a deep breath and prepared his strongest skill.
Crackle! Crackle!
Sparks surged violently around his body.
Seeing this, Bronson shouted,
“It’s the Thunder God’s Hammer! Front line—fall back, now!”
The ultimate skill that had made Lee Jiryung who he was—
Thunder God’s Hammer.
Those who knew its power hurriedly retreated.
Watching them, Levin frowned slightly.
Just how powerful is it…?
Then—
Flash!
A bolt of lightning far beyond anything before erupted from Lee Jiryung’s body.
Blindingly intense, it struck directly at the undead knights.
The undead knights raised their aura shields, attempting to protect themselves.
They seemed confident—they had blocked it before.
But the result was different.
Crack!
With a sound like shattering glass, the black aura shields were completely destroyed.
Without protection, the lightning struck their bodies directly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The undead knights exploded like fireworks.
If that had been all, they might have revived—
But the lightning had destroyed their cores as well.
The undead knights ceased to exist.
All that remained where they had stood was black ash.
It truly was like the hammer of a god descending.
Eloi muttered as she looked at the devastated corridor,
“That crazy bastard… how is that only A-rank? Isn’t he already S-rank?”
—
Psshhh…
Fine dust drifted through the air like sand.
It was what remained of the beings once called Interrogators.
Zeon had ground them down with Exion.
They could not revive.
Their cores had been destroyed.
As the Interrogators died, the Awakened who had been tortured quietly passed away as well.
Even in death, they smiled.
Only in death could they finally find freedom.
“…May you rest in a better place.”
There were no more undead left to block Zeon’s path.
Even so, he did not lower his guard.
Among dungeons, the worst were those where the dead roamed freely.
Not just because they were difficult—
But because of situations like this, impossible to predict.
Then—
Shhk—
Something emerged through the wall.
A ghostlike figure appeared.
It was a Grim Reaper, holding a massive scythe.
As if warning him not to come any closer, it pointed the scythe at Zeon.
It was the very Grim Reaper that had abducted Cha Jincheol.
As if determined not to let him pass, it flared its robe and glared at him.
Fwoosh!
Ghostly flames flickered in its eyes.
“…So you’re the final gatekeeper?”