The remaining linked quests were automatically completed as soon as I finished the first quest. Apparently, their requirements had been met. I had been forced to carry out āThe Birth of Doom Manāt from the very beginning. It was both a shackle and the last resort for me.
At that moment, the notification message confirmed that the quest had been completed.
Crackle-!
A red light spread right in front of me, and it pierced through all kinds of emotions and thoughts. The fire could burn even my soul, and it was stretching out while a red circular shape was filling the front. It was huge, and I got scared. The whole world surrounding me was engulfed by the red light. Then, it became dark again. When the red light colored the space again, I saw the eye.
Doom Kaos!
Doom Kaos was gazing at me. It was different from when I had encountered it before I was sealed. I was in the Life Vessel, but I couldnāt resist the feeling of being locked up by it. I was under a pressure, and the feeling I felt at the moment was terrifying fear.
Shit.
I wanted to believe that my mind was being manipulated. A certain degree of fear was always necessary, but death was inevitable as soon as someone froze. If I could have escaped, then I would have done so without looking back. Well, I would have been kneeling down by him before thatā¦
However, his gaze had a peculiar and dreadful vibe, and it was hard to describe in human terms. If I had to try, then I could only say that it could be explained as āapprehension/distrustā or āa cluster of various consciousnesses.ā It was connected to the truth about the being that was called the Old One. The Old One hadnāt been in our dimension for that long as it had confronted Doom Kaos by shifting into multiple dimensions earlier. When Doom Kaos was after a certain dimension, the Old One appeared there too.
However, I wouldnāt make snap judgments on what was evil versus good. My opinion would be nothing but dust in a space war that was being fought by two transcendent beings.
Even if things were as black and white as Doom Kaos being evil and the Old One being good, nothing had changed for my perspective. The most important thing was my family and the safety of mankind. All of these hardships I had been going through were only for these two points. What the two did didnāt matter to me as long as I could achieve that.
I shouted, āJust guarantee one thing for me. The safety of humanity, so that you will stop attacking our dimension. Then, Iāll be your man and fight against the Old One. It means Iāll give you everything you want including the vitality, soul, and the earth. Just point where you want me to attack!ā
The mainland of the Seven Demon Kings was at peace and their civilizations had remained intact. I was always ready to sacrifice my soul if our land could be guaranteed that way. It was a bummer that I was in the life vessel and could only communicate like this. If I had a physical body, I would have done what Joshua had done upon seeing me: go on one knee and calling Doom Kaos āMaster.ā
[You have inherited the position of Doom Dejire.]
A notification message popped up, and I took it as a contract with Doom Kaos.
[Doom Caso will be afraid of you from now on.]
***
Doom Kaos disappeared along with the red light that had filled the world. It became dark again, but surprisingly, nothing had changed. This was because my revival hadnāt taken place yet. I wondered how long it would take before I could revive, how it would happen, and what would happen to the power of the Old One inside me. Then, a notification message appeared.
[Remaining time (Revival): 29 days 23 hours 59 minutes 49 seconds]
The bolded messages seem to have been sent by Doom Kaos. Also, apparently I was still stuck with this system even though I was now included in his camp. Well, I wanted to avoid making eye contact with its eye whenever something happened.
This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Meanwhile, Yeon-Heeās heart rate was accelerating, and the moment when I focused on the sound was when my view opened up. The world had brightened up. Of course, I was looking through Yeon-Heeās vision. After all, she was the only person with such skinny and small arms who could slaughter Baclan warriors in the blink of an eye.
I could also hear the roar of Kciphos King Gundrak, Yeon-Heeās pet, in the distance. A high-ranking Baclan warrior that had been controlled by Yeon-Hee had just been decapitated by its own kind. The monster that killed it was Yeon-Heeās next target, then it ended up dying in a similar way.
Yeon-Hee. Hey, Yeon-Hee! Can you hear me?
There was no response, so she must not have realized that I was inside her, my Life Vessel, after I died. Anyway, I had joined Doom Kaosās side, but the Seven Demon Kingsā attack hadnāt stopped. I wondered if it was because I was in the middle of a war or if Doom Kaos didnāt value human Awakened or its soldiers. It was too early to jump to conclusions.
[Guild: Maryās Corps has succeeded in defending the first-floor boundary.]
[Until the first weakening: 6 days 4 hours 1 minute 3 seconds]
Yeon-Hee called in her pet over, and everywhere she walked past with the Kciphos in her arms was filled with Baclanās bodies. The number of dead Awakened outweighed the Baclans.
Yeon-Hee scanned the bodies meticulously, and she focused on high-quality equipment a little longer than basic ones. Every time she collected an item, I could see the information window that she was looking at. The bulky equipment had been put aside, and most were B-class accessories.
Then, I heard a whispering sound from the distance, and some people dared to call Yeon-Hee a witch.
Ssss-
Yeon-Hee moved immediately. After the scenery passed by quickly, I saw the backs of those who were running away. The question was how did they grasp that Yeon-Hee was chasing them and running away. They had no choice but to stop when she made a noise.
To be honest, I was impressed because I was certain that she would slaughter them. However, she was asking in a bright tone. She was calm even when she heard the party calling her a witch earlier.
āYou guys should introduce yourself since itās our first time seeing each other.ā
Despite Yeon-Heeās efforts, no one answered. She pointed at one guy, and he froze as if he was facing a ghost. I had acted the exact same way a few hours ago when I saw Doom Kaosās gaze.
āWho are you?ā she asked.
He stuttered, āIā¦ I am Raphaelā¦ from Diego Attack Squad. Iām under Diego Rodriguez in the third unit.ā
āUnder the third unit of the Mary Corps,ā she corrected him.
He nodded frantically. āYes, yes. I am directly under Diego Rodriguez of the Mary Corpsās third unit.ā
āTell me, Raphael. Whatās the matter?ā she asked congenially.
There were four other people around him, and their bodies were turned towards the exit. They were ready to run away again at any time, but it was impossible since Yeon-Hee was in front of them. She was already aware of them, and the moment they ran, their necks would be sliced off or they would be killed by their colleagues. Even then, no one answered.
[* Storage box]
[The Clown's Dagger has been removed.]
Yeon-Hee wrapped her fingers around the daggerās handle, and she raised it as if she would stab his forehead. However, the direction of the bladeās tip changed to his chin. Even if she didnāt use much force, the dagger would vertically tear his face from his chin to his forehead.
She remarked casually, āOdin said that this dagger is pretty good. I still need to wait a long time to maximize its reinforcement, but I agree with him. Is there anyone with the Reinforcement insignia?ā
āMā¦ Msā¦. Maryā¦ā he began to plead.
She smiled slightly. āI was going to spare your life if you had it, but I guess you donāt.ā
āPleaseā¦ā he begged.
She continued lightly, āWitches donāt just take oneās mind away. We can also curse too.ā
Her words sounded like a joke, but they had a strong, murderous undercurrent.
āChoose. Do you want me to control your mind or curse you?ā Yeon-Hee asked cruelly.
He squeaked, āIā¦ I donāt wantā¦ eitherā¦ We were justā¦ā
āCan you afford to explain things properly now?ā
He confessed, āWe were just discussing what popped up. Odin said that he had handled all the malicious parts of the System, so we wondered why this quest showed upā¦ Thatās really all. Please trust me. The System is telling us to kill you, Ms. Mary. You should be carefulā¦ā
This was the first time I was able to see how Yeon-Hee read the memories and thoughts of her targets. Although her overall ability was inferior to Doom Dejireās, her speed of skimming through the targetās recent memory was fast. Then, she found the notification in question.
[Assassination (Quest)
She is not just a danger to everyone. Her presence is the worst of the worst.
Mission: Kill Mary
Time limit: 30 days (Remaining time: 29 days 21 hours 30 minutes 2 seconds)
Class: S
Rewards: Challenger box * 50, Start item of the quest āGuardian,ā Start item of the quest āMysterious Black Fragment,ā Start item of āMaster of the Skeletal Dragon,ā Privilege āFast Growth,ā Privilege āCollection.ā
* A quest item (Location Seeker) will be awarded.
* Donāt worry. Mary has not received an assassination quest in return.
* The quest also provides a great number of XP.]
***
I had wondered if the Old One had originally planned to treat me like the dog it would kill after hunting down one Doom. Anyway, the bloody Old One wouldnāt have given such a quest to only these guys. It was trying to lead everyone to kill Yeon-Hee and eventually cause me to truly die.
Anyone would have noticed that this quest would bring them huge benefits even without reading the flowery language on the names of the quest start items and privileges. From the sheer number of Challenger boxes being offered in the decision, I could tell how much the Old One wanted to kill me.
Yeon-Hee took her eyes off the notification message in the guyās memory and began to search her quest window. The assassination quest was usually two-way, but it was different this time. It was true. There was no assassination quest for Yeon-Hee.
She finally murmured, ā...It has been a while. Itās gotten worse.ā
āPardon me?ā the guy asked.
She looked at him. āNothing. Anyway, you guys must really want to kill me because I do too.ā
He begged, āPā¦ Please donāt kill us. We really were only discussing what had happened. Guys, say something.ā
He looked at the tip of the blade touching his chin and turned to look at his colleagues. Even then, Yeon-Heeās eyes were fixed on his face, so I couldnāt see her patting the Kciphos. However, I was sure that she was touching the monster because I heard the small noise that it always made when she stroked its fur.
Grrrrrrr-
Yeon-Hee soon pulled away her dagger. The Clownās Dagger moved like a living creature in her grip, then disappeared into the storage box. Contrary to my expectations, she left the scared guys intact. Following that, she kept looking at her pet. I could see that she was doing her best in trying to calm down as she continued to stroke her pet.
After the battle, executives were returning one after another to the boundary on the seventh floor. They all looked at Yeon-Hee in the same way. They were thirsty for the quest rewards. It was obvious that they were trying to hide their intentions from her as they tried to calculate their success rates in achieving the goal. Their eyes gleamed with a mixture of that and the fear they had of her.
āOkay, guys. Eyes on me.ā
Yeon-Hee drew more attention toward herself like a middle school teacher.
āRaise your hand if you got the quest,ā Yeon-Hee said this in a calm and playful tone, but no one believed that she was in a delightful mood. Everyone raised their hand, and they exchanged looks. They seemed to be preparing for all possibilities. My view shook up and down as Yeon-Hee nodded.
[Your Empathy has been activated.]
āYou guys are all annoying, but you two drive me crazy.ā
Then, things happened.
[You have used Isisās Gaze.]
[Target: The Worst Guy 1]
One of the executives suddenly rose, and he threw himself straight at another executive sitting next to him. Cold energy wrapped around his weapon, and the resulting ice tail feathered out as he hit the top of his opponentās head.
Everyone was exhausted after the battle, so the victim couldn't react. Also, the executive Yeon-Hee chose was stronger than the others. The power of the hit was strong, and the freezing effect that quickly immobilized the opponent spread from the area of a shock downward. He kicked the victim over, then accurately struck the victimās face after pulling the victimās upper body between his feet.
Then, he alternately looked at me, noā¦ Yeon-Hee with furious eyes. He seemed to be waiting for her order.
She continued mildly, āLet me say one thing. If you donāt want to die, just watch. I donāt want to ruin everything.ā
Yeon-Heeās view briefly shook up and down toward the executive who was being manipulated by her. Then, his violent attack resumed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blood splattered and pieces of flesh bounced off in all directions. Even towards Yeon-Hee.