Record of a Thousand Lives

Kang Yoon-Soo stabbed his Sword of the Holy Cross into Rekimond’s chest, but Rekimond did not even bat an eye as he coldly stared at Kang Yoon-Soo.

“The secret of this place changed me. I managed to escape death, but I am now under a curse. Now, I need blood to stay alive…” Rekimond saidcoldlyas his eyes slowly turned red. Hecontinued witha deafening shout that shook the large altar, “As long as you areinside this place! Yourbloodisall mine!”

Rekimond’s flesh started to tear apart;dense, thickbonegrewoverhisoncefeeble-lookingbodyand his skin turned ghastly pale. Apair of wings unfolded from his back as he slowly turned darker and darker.The newly transformed Rekimond let outan ear-splittinghowl.“Gruwwaaaah!”

[A Lesser Devil—Frost Demon (Level 261) has appeared!]

The Martial Blood Clan members at the foot of the altar panicked. One of them shouted, “M-monster! It’s a monster!”

“What?! He wasn’t going to reward us for the quest?”

They allfell into a panic, as the onewhoshould have given them a reward for the quest had turned out to be a monster.

It was Kang Yoon-Soo who reacted first while the others were still in shock.He ran down the altar and shouted, “Get away from the Mana Golem!”

The clan members hurriedly movedsomedistance away from the Mana Golem;Sally immediately jumped down from the golem as well. Suddenly, while standingat the entrance of the room, the Mana Golemsuddenly smashed its arms down into the ground.

Booom!

A large boom reverberatedthroughthe room, andthe frozen ground was split intwo.

“I, follow the commands of the Great Adventurer Rekimond Aurel, kill you all,” the immensely strong Mana Golem declared.Thegolem that had been a dependable ally to the adventurers until then hadsuddenly turned into an enemy.

The Frost Demon took thechance to spread its wings and shout in a commanding voice, “Storm of ice, heed my call! Attack these foolswhowill serve as my food and blood!”Itcast itswide-areamagic, andhundreds of sharpice shards flewtoward the party.

Kang Yoon-Soo immediately shouteda command, “Shaneth, Sally, raise a wall of fire!”

“Pyrokinesis!”

“Wrath of the Flames!”

The twolayers of flame pillarsmerged into one, blockingthesharpicicles that rained down from above. However, theycould not fully melt all of the icicles; some of the ice shardsmanaged to pass through.

The Mana Golem attacked at ferocious speedswith its two large arms as soon as the icicles rained down from above, repeating,“I, follow the commands of the Great Adventurer Rekimond Aurel, kill you all.”

Boooom!

“Aaack!”

Three clan members of the Martial Blood Clan were immediately crushed under the golem’s fists;they were the first casualtiesof the raid. However, Kang Yoon-Soo seemed calm and unfazed, thinking,‘I didn’t expect to conquer the ruin without any casualties in the first place.’

They were now stuck betweentheFrost Demoncasting wide-areaice magic and the gigantic Mana Golem that was blocking the exit. Kang Yoon-Soo had to raid both boss monsters at the same time.

“Storm of ice, heed my call! Freeze these sacrifices meant for me!”TheFrost Demon on top of the altarcalled out, castinganotherwide-areaspell.

Kang Yoon-Soo urgently shouted, “All of you, cover your weapons inholywater!”

Holywaterlookedjust like normal water, but it would imbuea weapon coated in it withthe holyattribute, causingthe weapon’ssurface to glow. Just as Kang Yoon-Soo’s party hadexperienced at the Castle of the Dead, holy-attribute attacks inflicted heavy damage on undead and devils.

“Swordsmen and spearmen, form a line in front;archers,stand back and shoot at the Frost Demon,” Kang Yoon-Soo commanded.

The Martial Blood Clan members immediately got into formation.However, the Mana Golem behind them suddenly raised its arms up again. Their formation did not matter, as they did not have a way to block the Mana Golem’s attack;what awaited them was certain death.

“Henrick, stretch out your mana threads,” Kang Yoon-Soo commanded.

“I understand what you mean!” the quick-witted Henrick said, nodding.

Henrick stored all of his dolls intohis summoning box andstretched out his mana threads; they extended to fifty meters in length. He called out, “Thread Tying.”

Henrick had used one of the most basic skillsofaPuppeteer. ‘Thread Tying’ was a skill thatcould tie monsters upin exchange forgiving up control of thecaster’s dolls. The mana threads that shot out of Henrick’s hands wrapped around the arms of the Mana Golem.

“I can’t tie this guy up for long! Hurry up and do something!” Henrick shouted, strugglingto keep the Mana Golem under control.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at Irisand called out,“Iris.”

“What is it?” Irisasked.

“Dig,” Kang Yoon-Soo ordered.

Iris had feasted on the hearts of the Ice Landworms before they entered the room.IceLandwormswere monsters that had the ability to dig through the thick frozen ground, andIris had absorbed thatability from their hearts.

Large teeth that resembled those of the Ice Landwormsemerged fromIris’ armsandshe asked, “Where should I dig?”

“Beneath the feet of the Mana Golem,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Iris started to digdiligentlyunderneath the feet of thetied-upMana Golem. Shewas able to dig at a frightening speed thanks to the Ice Landworm’s ability she had absorbed, as well as the innate monstrous strength of the doppelgangerspecies. The Mana Golem leaned toward one sideand collapsedto the ground.

Boooom!

“Go, subdue the golem so it can’t get up,” Kang Yoon-Soo ordered the undead legion.

The600Undead Ahinkuls acknowledged the commandandcharged at the Mana Golem. Meanwhile, the archers aimed their bows andshot arrows dipped inholywater toward their target.

“Airborne Shot!”

“Triple Arrow!”

“Precision Sniping!”

Numerous arrows from various skills flew toward the Frost Demon, butthe monster was stillable tofinish castingits spell.

Whooosh!

A raging blizzard started to build up around the Frost Demon, seemingly threateningto rip anyone who dared come close to it to pieces. The arrows shot by the archers were all swept away by the blizzard and fell helplessly to the ground. The blizzard started togrowlarger and larger, inchingcloser toward the clan members that were near the foot of the altar.

“Ack!My body!”

“A graze can freeze you! Be careful!”

It was abitterly coldblizzard that threatened to freeze anything in its path; the rough winds blew snow all over the place, hampering the clan members’ vision. Theycould not properly wield their weapons, as their hands were slowly freezing from the blizzard.

“Sally,” Kang Yoon-Soo called out.

“FlameEquip!” Sally raised both of her armsandused her skill.A dazzling flame covered theclan members’ weapons,and their now burning weapons thawed their frozen hands.

“Forest of Curses,” the Frost Demon called out.

A creeping black fog covered the groundand turned itdark. The clan members felt their strength fade away; their gripson theirweaponsloosened and they no longer had the courage to fight.Some of them coughed as if they hadcaught a deadly disease.

“It’s a curse!”

“Be careful not to breathe it in!”

‘I have to make the Frost Demon come down from the altar first.’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.The Frost Demonwas a powerful enemy that used powerful wide-area offensive spells and debuff curses. Itwas bound to keep rainingits magic downon them as long as it stayed on top of the altar.

“White, come here,” Kang Yoon-Soo ordered the beast.

“Marknok!”The beastwho hadfully pledged its loyalty roared,immediately runningtoward Kang Yoon-Soo.

Kang Yoon-Soo got on top ofWhiteand commanded, “Run toward the demon.”

“Ramirukra?”White asked.

“Use your claws and run along the walls,” Kang Yoon-Soo commanded.

White ran at a frightening speed and did not stop even though the blizzard was freezingitseyes and cheeks. However,itdid not run toward the altar directly; instead,it chose to run and jump toward a wall instead.It extended its claws, clingingto the wall and running along its surface.

It was at that moment that Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly heard an eerie, chilling sound from behind.

“I shall feast on your blood first!” the Frost Demonexclaimed as it spread out its wings and flew toward Kang Yoon-Soo.“Ice Touch,” the demon called out as it swungits black arm, sending out a waveof cold air.

Kang Yoon-Soo instinctively jumped off White’s back,but there was nothing nearbytoland on as he quickly fell from the sky. The Frost Demon was already below him, glaringhungrily athim.‘A few seconds will decide life and death,’hetold himself, stabilizinghis breath.

In the next moment, as Kang Yoon-Soo was halfway to crashing into the ground, a strong blizzard crashed into him. The icy winds blew so intensely hecould not open his eyes.However,hegripped his swordwith his eyes shutand muttered, “Abyssal Sword.”

It was the sword skill he had learned from the Death General Kalriven.‘Abyssal Sword’enabled him to deal a significant amountmoredamage the stronger his opponent was.Kang Yoon-Soo swung his sword imbued with boththe fire and holy attributes; hisattack resembled a flash of lightning.

Kwachik!

Kang Yoon-Soo’sstrike cut across the Frost Demon’s chest that still had the Sword of the Holy Cross embedded in it,dealinga critical blow.He thenstabbed his swordintoone of the demon’sthick black wingsto keep himself fromfalling to the ground.

“Get off me!” the Frost Demon screamed, flapping its wings fiercelyin an effort to shake off the human clinging ontoit.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo had no plans to let the demon go that easily. Hestabbed the demoninthechestthree consecutive times, desperately muttering,“Abyssal Sword. Abyssal Sword. Abyssal Sword.”

Theswordskillhe hadlearned from the Death General consumed a huge 20% staminaeach time it was used,and was quite risky to use consecutivelyashehad just done. However,the three strikes woulddeal massivedamage to the demon ifthey successfully landed.

The damage Kang Yoon-Soo inflictedonthe Frost Demon was amplified thanks to the Sword of the Holy Cross he had stabbed early on into the demon’s chest.He wasable to disturb the Frost Demon’s flight pattern as a result.

“Keheuk!”

The Frost Demon decided that it was suicidal to try and stabilize its flight when the enemy wason its back; it slammed itselfintoa nearby wall in an attempt to shake the human off it.Itsbody andwings trembledfromthe impact, but Kang Yoon-Soo maintained a firm grip onthe sword embedded inthe demon’s wing, holding onlike a stubborn parasite.

“Damn human!” the Frost Demon growled, before suddenly diving downtoward the ground.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly jumped off the demon at that moment and commanded, “All units, focus down the demon.”

“Uwaaah!”

More than two hundred clan members charged at the demon that was now on the ground. They swung their weapons imbued with divine power, andthe archers rained down arrows imbued with the holy attributetowardthe demon.

The Frost Demonsnarledangrily at the humans beforeswipingits claws and shouting, “Cold Armor!”Itused a high-tier defensive spellthat covered its entire body with armor made of ice. All of the weapons and arrowsusedby the clan members froze upon coming into contact with the armor.

“Your blood and flesh shall give me strength! Give it to me!” the Frost Demon howled, skeweringfive clan members at once. It then crushed the corpses and began to consume them. As it did so, its wounds healed and it grew larger, now looking more formidable.

[The Frost Demon had feasted on human corpses.]

[The demon will grow stronger the more it consumes human flesh and blood.]

The Frost Demon slammed its fist into the ground.

Baaam!

Crack!

A crater formedat the epicenter of the demon’s punch. The demon was now much stronger after it had consumed the flesh and blood ofseveralhumans, and the clan members’ faces paled at the sight ofits new form.

Right as the clan members were stunned by the demon’s sudden power-up, however,a brunette woman ran toward the front and shouted, “Fire Strike!”

Shaneth’s Death Scythe was enveloped in flames as she slashed downwardat theFrost Demon’s chest. As anIgnus Warrior,Shaneth’s flameswere vastly more powerful thanthe flames that enveloped theothers’ weapons. The Frost Demon grimaced in pain andwildly swung its arm toward Shaneth, but Shaneth quickly avoided its strike and retreatedbefore shouting, “Sally!”

“Wrath of the Flames!” Sally shouted, anda vortex of flame shot out from both of her arms.However, theflameshit Shaneth instead of the Frost Demon.

The Frost Demon smirked and cackled before shoutingatSally in delight, “Stupid fool! You can’t even aim properly, and you hit your own ally!”

“Oh, do you really think so?” Shanethretorted, walkingout of the flames with a confident smile on her face.