Chapter 182
The Grim Reaper was a non-corporeal demonic beast.
Physical attacks had no effect on it whatsoever.
Only magic skills could deal damage to it—and even then, only powerful ones of B-rank or higher.
In a way, it was the worst possible matchup for Zeon.
His sand-controlling abilities couldn’t harm it at all.
The Grim Reaper likely knew that—and that was why it appeared.
A black haze rose from its scythe.
The weapon it held was a top-tier item—
The Scythe of Death.
Even the slightest cut from it would severely damage the soul.
Even if one survived, their soul would be shattered, leading to eventual death.
The Grim Reaper advanced, brandishing the scythe.
“…Let’s see if sand really doesn’t work.”
Zeon raised his hand.
At once, a subspace opened behind him, pouring out a massive amount of sand.
The sand filled the corridor and rose, writhing like a living thing.
It resembled snakes.
Viper.
One of Zeon’s skills.
Whoosh!
Dozens of sand serpents shot toward the Grim Reaper.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
But they passed straight through it and struck the wall behind.
Zeon tried several more times.
But Viper couldn’t harm the Grim Reaper.
Even Sand Mixer proved useless.
The ghostly flames in the Grim Reaper’s eyes burned more fiercely.
Realizing Zeon’s attacks had no effect, it seemed to grow more confident.
Shiiik!
The Grim Reaper swung its scythe.
Zeon barely dodged and stepped back.
Sensing victory, the Grim Reaper pressed forward with terrifying speed.
Shhh-shhk!
The corridor filled with afterimages of the scythe.
Its attacks were unbelievably fast.
Being incorporeal, it wasn’t bound by space.
And yet—even with that speed, it couldn’t fully catch Zeon.
Every strike missed by mere centimeters.
At that, the black haze and ghostly flames around it grew denser.
It was angry.
Whoosh!
The Grim Reaper swung again, releasing a wave of black energy.
The crescent-shaped attack rushed toward Zeon, threatening to tear him apart.
In the narrow corridor, there was little room to dodge.
Thud.
Zeon’s back hit the wall.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
The scythe-shaped energy rained down on him.
KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the wall behind Zeon shattered, and dust filled the air.
The Grim Reaper lowered its scythe and approached.
Certain that Zeon was dead.
Just as it neared the wall—
A red flash burst from within the dust.
The moment it saw that intense crimson light, the Grim Reaper trembled involuntarily.
It felt fear—instinctively.
The source of that fear—
Was a dragon’s eye.
The eye embedded in the Superheated Gauntlet revealed itself.
Dragons were beings beyond classification.
Calling them mere demonic beasts was almost blasphemous.
No matter how powerful the Grim Reaper was as an A-rank beast, it couldn’t compare.
Before a higher existence, fear was inevitable—
Even if it was just an eye.
As if trying to suppress its fear, the Grim Reaper swung its scythe again.
Shhh-shhk!
Dozens of black energy waves shot toward Zeon.
At that same moment, dozens of red streaks burst from the gauntlet.
Fire Missile.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The fire missiles intercepted every black attack.
Not stopping there—they surged toward the Grim Reaper.
Caught off guard, it was struck directly.
Kiiieeeek!
For the first time, the Grim Reaper screamed in pain.
Fire Missile was a basic skill for magic-type Awakened—
But when empowered by a Red Dragon, its power was on an entirely different level.
The Grim Reaper’s body flickered violently—
Like a dying lightbulb.
It had taken massive damage.
Even the same skill varied in power depending on the user—
And with an item like this, its strength skyrocketed.
This wasn’t just any item.
It contained a dragon’s eye.
The Superheated Gauntlet had evolved beyond measurable rank.
And now, that power was being unleashed on the Grim Reaper.
Sssss—
The areas struck by the fire missiles smoked and burned.
Writhing in pain it had never experienced before, the Grim Reaper thrashed wildly.
Floating erratically in the air, it soon fixed its gaze on the source—
Zeon.
It knew—
Only by killing him would the pain end.
GROOOAAAH!
With a roar unlike anything before, it charged at terrifying speed.
The Grim Reaper became one with its scythe.
KWA-KWA-KWA!
Black energy engulfed it like a storm, tearing apart the corridor.
There was nowhere for Zeon to escape.
And he had no intention of running.
Extending the hand wearing the Superheated Gauntlet, Zeon muttered,
“…Fire Rain.”
In an instant, the dark corridor was dyed red.
A rain of flames filled the space and poured down.
The fiery downpour relentlessly battered the Grim Reaper.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Even the Grim Reaper’s ability to let all physical attacks pass through it was useless this time.
Kiiieeeek!
Its scream echoed through the corridor.
Its body had shrunk drastically compared to before—but as expected of an A-rank beast, it stubbornly endured.
“…As expected, this isn’t enough. In that case…”
A faint smile curled on Zeon’s lips.
There was a skill he had long wanted to test.
And the Grim Reaper was the perfect subject.
Zeon drew up his control.
The sand scattered across the ground rose and wrapped around the Grim Reaper.
But the Grim Reaper paid it no mind.
It knew sand couldn’t harm it.
Seeing that, Zeon’s smile deepened.
Clench!
Rumble!
The moment he clenched his fist, the sand surrounding the Grim Reaper began spinning violently.
Sand Mixer.
But as expected, it caused no damage.
The sand spun ferociously—yet passed straight through the Grim Reaper.
Zeon had anticipated this.
“…What if I add fire to this?”
A basic flame skill—creating a wall of fire.
Any fire-type Awakened could use it, though it consumed a great deal of mana and wasn’t often used for its efficiency.
But combined with Sand Mixer—
That changed everything.
Each grain of sand spinning at high speed became infused with flames.
The glowing red vortex turned into a superheated furnace.
Trapped within it, the Grim Reaper let out a scream.
The black energy that once protected it had long since vanished.
The superheated sand, spinning at incredible speed, began to erode its very existence.
Rumble!
Particles of the Grim Reaper were shredded apart—then melted by the flames, leaving no trace.
Kiiieeeek!
It thrashed wildly, trying to escape.
But escape was never possible.
“Disappear as you are—an outsider belonging neither to this world nor the next.”
In the end, the Grim Reaper’s body was completely ground down and annihilated within the blazing vortex.
Thud.
All that remained was the Scythe of Death, falling to the ground.
Only then did Zeon release the Sand Mixer.
The intense heat that had filled the air vanished as if it had never existed.
There was no trace of the Grim Reaper left.
It had been completely erased.
Zeon reached out and picked up the scythe.
A sharp pain ran through his hand the moment he held it.
Simply gripping it caused countless curses to invade his body.
The Scythe of Death was a cursed item.
Its powerful curses made it impossible to wield unless one was a curse-type Awakened.
Still, Zeon endured.
He wanted to gauge the nature of the curses with his own body.
His strength drained instantly.
His vision blurred.
His heartbeat slowed.
His skin dried and withered.
“…Tch. It’s packed with every curse imaginable.”
The scythe was a vessel of countless curses.
Just holding it allowed them to seep into his body.
Anyone weaker than Zeon would have died instantly.
He drew power from the Superheated Gauntlet.
At once, the invading curses burned away.
No matter how powerful the scythe was, it couldn’t overcome the dragon’s eye embedded in the gauntlet.
Zeon returned to normal.
“…So it can both spread and sever curses?”
No one had told him.
The moment he held the scythe, he instinctively understood how to use it.
The ability to sever curses alone made it incredibly valuable—
But for now, Zeon had no need for it.
He opened his subspace and stored the scythe away.
The lingering curse energy disappeared completely.
Zeon also gathered all the sand he had used and stored it as well.
In a world where sand was precious, he couldn’t afford to waste it.
No more enemies appeared to block his path.
As he had expected, the Grim Reaper had been the final gatekeeper.
Still, he didn’t lower his guard.
Then—
Rumble…!
The entire underground shook violently, like an earthquake.
The ground beneath his feet shifted horizontally, and the walls began to change.
Some walls vanished, while others appeared where none had existed.
The entire underground structure moved like a puzzle being rearranged.
Zeon calmly observed the changes.
The space—no, the entire castle—felt like a living organism.
As if, having no means left to stop him, it was guiding him toward its core.
Thud!
After a long movement, the space beneath him finally came to a halt.
A strange light flashed in Zeon’s eyes.
Because he saw people he didn’t expect.
“Hyung!”
“Zeon!”
Levin, Brielle, and Eloi greeted him warmly.
Zeon spoke,
“You’re all safe.”
“I knew you were alive.”
“There’s no way sand could kill you.”
“You look fine.”
They approached him.
Zeon patted Levin and Brielle on the shoulders, then looked at the others with them.
Lee Jiryung, Bronson, Gesling, the entire Pegasus assault team, and the Awakened from the western district were all there.
They couldn’t hide their surprise at Zeon’s sudden appearance.
Without even looking at him, Lee Jiryung said,
“You’re late.”
“There were many things blocking my way.”
“Well, you’ve had a long journey. From here on, just watch and rest.”
“….”
“Watch how we take down the master of this castle.”
Lee Jiryung’s gaze was fixed ahead—
On a massive door emanating an ominous presence.
It was clear.
The master of the ancient castle was behind it.
And without hesitation—
Lee Jiryung destroyed the door.