The Undead Blacksmith's daily life (Solo leveling/Dark Souls SI) Chapter 23

Kim Chul, the A-Rank hunter being groomed by the White Tiger Guild, felt fear as he watched the massacre in front of him, letting the others from his group escort him out of the Gate yet not reacting and simply watching with awe and terror.

As a Hunter being groomed to become one of his Guild's main force, he was no stranger to the blood and death of his fellow hunters, and neither did he feel anything for the monsters that existed within the Gate.

However, the incidents that had taken place in the scant few hours had left him feeling like his world was being turned upside down and his worldview shattered.

At first, he was annoyed to know that the manager of the 2nd division had allowed two additional hunters from outside the guild to accompany his team into the gate. That annoyance turned into delight when he realized that one of the two was the newly christened National-Rank Hunter, James Hudson.

If he could somehow catch the eye of James Hudson with his talent, he could shoot straight to the top of the food chain, even managing to leave behind his current guild and play on a different level.

For that reason, he planned to make use of this opportunity and show off his power and skills, hoping to have the National-Rank hunter back him up in the future.

Then, that excitement turned to terror when the Gate they entered turned into a Red Gate, trapping them inside for hours on end.

Unfortunately for the A-Rank hunter, this emotional roller coaster was not done teasing him yet.

For what happened afterwards can only be called ridiculous.

Ice Bears, an entire hoard of them, overwhelmed the hunter's party, trying to kill them all from the very moment the Gate turned Red.

Desperate, Kim Chul did not even think for a moment before making a strategy and forming his group into a formation with him at the center.

For anyone observing from the outside, it was clear to see that the A-Rank hunter was prioritizing his own survival over that of his comrades.

And yet, despite knowing this fact, his companions did not dare go against his words since this was a matter of survival.

As for depending on the National-Rank hunter, that was a pipe dream. Especially since they all knew how fickle such powerful Hunters were and would never move unless there was something to be gained from the fight.

And just like they expected, James Hudson simply watched from the distance along with his nephew, killing the occasional Ice Bear that moved towards them, not even intervening when a Hunter was injured.

It was only when one of the Hunters came close to dying that he finally moved, simply striking down the Ice Bears with speed and strength that was simply impossible to keep up with for the A-Ranker despite using nothing but his fists, directly massacring the monsters.

Of course, the dungeon was not done with them yet, as another group of enemies appeared in front of them.

This time, it was a large group of Ice Elves that were easily in the B-Rank and A-Rank.

That was when the National-Rank hunter finally stopped holding back and released his full power.

What was once a frozen wasteland akin to the Cocytus of myths turned to a magma-filled land of Hell as firestorms the size of skyscrapers ravaged the land.

Even without his armor or weapons, the man cut a striking figure that sent shivers down Kim Chul’s spine as his emotionless eyes gazed upon the screaming Ice Elves.

That is what led to his current situation, as the Red Gate finally opened, allowing the members of his guild to rush in and drag him and his team out of the Gate, leaving behind the National-Rank hunter and his nephew, who was oddly calm and did not even make a move until now.

For Kim Chul, he learned an absolute truth this day.

That he had no right to be as arrogant as he is now, especially when he can’t even comprehend the chasm that exists between him and those that are truly strong.

With that realization, the mentally strained A-Rank hunter finally fainted, making his guildmates drag him out of the gate along with the rest of the White Tiger Guild members.

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Humanoid monsters are a strange breed.

Ever since I arrived in this world and learned of the ridiculousness that is the Gates and everything that stems from it, I have learned that there are specific rules that these supernatural events always follow.

The Rank of a Gate depends on the mana leaking out of it.

The mana of a Gate depends on the level of the highest ranking monster within it.

The monsters within the Gate area always hostile and cannot coexist with Humans.

The Gates can rarely hide another Gate within themselves, a so-called Double Dungeon.

The Gates can also turn into Red Gates out of nowhere, just like it did with us.

However, there is one rule that seems to be breaking fairly regularly these days. Even if most of them are false alarms.

Humanoid Monsters.

The strange creatures which looked like humans but were, without a doubt, Monsters.

The first one I ever encountered was the one with the Blanche family incident in France. Then, I heard rumors of something similar happening in Japan. Although that was later confirmed to be nothing but a Dark Elf monster that was killed by a Hunter by the name of Amamiya Mirei.

Then, there was the incident with the Serial Killer called X, who was first suspected to be a Humanoid monster in England but was later revealed to be an Ex-Hunter, thanks to the few blood samples and rare CCTV photos that investigators managed to find in the aftermath of her ‘games’. Unfortunately, there was no hit in the International Hunters database, so we had no identity to associate that woman with.

Simply put, Humanoid Monsters are considered to be an impossibility, yet the number of their supposed sightings has been increasing across the world, even if most of them turn out to be false, with only one confirmed sighting that I fought and killed in France.

And then there is the issue with the ‘System’ that my nephew picked up from the Double Dungeon, another rare phenomenon with only two such incidents recorded in the history of the Hunters Association. Now, even a Red Gate sprang up during our expedition this time.

Something is happening.

Somewhere out there, someone or something is planning things and pulling strings in the shadows. I can just feel it in my gut.

Worse yet, whoever or whatever this is has started to escalate things in an unpredictable direction.

“Arise!”

I watched with interest as the darkness within Jinwoo expanded, creating invisible tendrils that reached out from within my nephew and invaded the souls of the dead monsters around us, raising them as ‘Shadows. ’

“So that’s how your necromancy works, huh? Pretty efficient.”

Jinwoo just smirked at my words and showed a proud expression.

I rolled my eyes at his actions and smacked him behind his head.

“Don’t get too confident, brat. You are still far away from reaching my level. Remember our deal?”

“…..I am not going to attack an S-Rank Gate until I am strong enough to defeat you in a one-on-one match.”

I nodded with satisfaction.

“Good.”

I kept watching my firestorms burn the Ice Elves to dust while Jinwoo continued to revive the intact corpses as his shadows, but he slowed down when he only had a few slots for his shadows left.

From what the kid told me, there is a limit to how many shadows he can have right now, and given what our plan was for coming here in the first place, it was a given that he would keep a few slots open.

‘Hmm, that’s the last of them.’

I felt the mana of the Hunters from the White Tiger Guild disappear in the distance, indicating that they had finally left the Dungeon.

Time to start the experiment.

I turned to Jinwoo and nodded, indicating that he should get ready, as I pulled out my Bottomless Box.

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Sung Jinwoo eyed the strange contraption that his uncle took out with Trepidation, knowing that things were about to get difficult.

Reaching into the strange box, his uncle pulled out a colossal blade that gleamed with darkness likes of which he had never felt.

Instantly, his System rang out with a notification that made his heart beat with anticipation and fear.

The familiar blue screen turned yellow as it started to glitch while their surroundings twisted.

Within seconds, the Dungeon was replaced by what looked like a massive stone structure similar to a colosseum.

Even at a glance, it was clear that this place must have been a beautiful masterpiece of an accomplished artist as murals and carvings littered the walls, depicting some unknown warrior or a tale lost to time.

“Don’t be distracted, Jinwoo. For the foe we now face is one that will kill us in a heartbeat if we are distracted for even a second.”

Jinwoo turned to look at his Uncle, seeing the nostalgic look on his face.

However, before the young Shadow Monarch could say anything, the hoarse roar of a creature rang out in the surroundings, followed by a massive shadow leaping across the arena, landing in front of them and cracking the floor.

Jinwoo felt startled as he looked at the being that, while still hunched over, was taller than him and his uncle by a good few feet.

His tattered blue robes and dirty silver armor might have been things of beauty once upon a time, but were now nothing more than rags and broken pieces barely held together.

The colossal blade that he wielded with a single hand felt similar to his shadows, yet the darkness he felt from it was orders or magnitude more chilling than anything he had ever felt.

All in all, the humanoid monster looked intimidating and felt wrong to his sense.

It only took Jinwoo a single look to identify the armor as the inspiration for the one that his Uncle had forged for him recently. That is why he had also identified who this being was from his uncle’s story.

Jinwoo silently watched as his Uncle walked forward and used the exact copy of the sword that was being wielded by the monster to take a simple stance while speaking with sadness.

“It has been a while, Artorias.”

The monster known as Artorias, once known as Artorias the Abyss Walker, one of the greatest knights of Gwynn, roared in response.