It started off as a small question, and that question quickly turned into remorse. That remorse turned into anger and hatred again, before completely overwhelming the Hell Spiders.
Krrrrg, krrrg.
Their thick cuticles, normally able to fend off various monstersā attacks using strong claws and sharp fangs, melted like salt soaked in water upon contact with the black and ominous energy. Likewise, the venom and webs they excreted were quickly dissolved.
With that, the power of Greed devoured tens of thousands of Hell Spiders, big and small.
āTell me.ā
The Hell Spiders disappeared without a trace, and the Spider Duke was left all alone as the last one standing. He lifted his head upon hearing Kim Jin-Wooās sadistic voice.
āHow do you feel right now?ā
The Spider Duke didnāt answer. But Kim Jin-Woo continued smiling. He even seemed to enjoy the stuffy silence.
āIs this still not enough?ā
Perhaps not truly hoping for an answer, Kim Jin-Woo freed the greedy monster inside him once more without waiting for the Spider Dukeās response. This time, the power of Greed headed toward the Hell Spidersā nest.
Crunch, crunch.
The terrible monster devoured the spiderlings in the nest before beginning to gnaw at the labyrinth.
Goaaaaaaaaaaar.
The hard outer wall quickly crumbled and collapsed. The crumbling stones of the wall disintegrated into nothingness.
The labyrinth of the mighty Duke, who had once dominated the Deep Floors, was broken and destroyed in an instant. Soon, it was nothing but a disgraceful pile of stones. The faint pulse of the Labyrinth Core that could be felt inside the wreckage was the only indication that the labyrinth was still alive.
However, that was nothing but a mere smoldering ember in the face of Kim Jin-Woo, who could extinguish it whenever he wanted to. In reality, the Spider Duke had virtually lost everything he had.
āDo you feel satisfied?ā
The Spider Duke spoke for the first time. However, the sentence he had uttered was something completely unexpected. His voice, which Kim Jin-Woo had expected to be drenched in grief and helplessness, was unexpectedly calm and steady. It sounded as emotionless as the day Kim Jin-Woo and the other tunnel diggers had beene freed from their lives as slaves.
āThe Overseers who inflicted pain on you, and the warriors who trampled and killed your acquaintances, have all been slain by you and none remain.ā
There was not an ounce of regret for the deaths of tens of thousands of his clan members in his voice.
āNow, all that is left is me, and in truth, your revenge is as good as complete.ā
Kim Jin-Woo looked at the Spider Duke with a stiff expression. He couldnāt tell what the Spider Duke was thinking behind that ugly face of his, but at the very least, he could tell that the Duke had no intention of submitting to him despite having been faced with such terrible violence.
āAre you satisfied now?ā the Spider Duke continued, before going further to say that revenge was nothing but futile. āThe weak will be eaten. Everything of the weak belongs to the strong. Back then, you were weak and I was strong. And now, you are simply stronger than I am. I cannot understand why you are placing such great importance on the natural order of things.ā
āAre you trying to say youāve done nothing wrong, and so I should let you live?ā Kim Jin-Woo replied.
āWould you spare me even if I did?ā the Spider Duke asked.
It was a question that wasnāt even worth answering. If they hadnāt met again, things might have been different. However, now that they had met like this, Kim Jin-Woo didnāt have even the slightest thought of letting the Spider Duke live. Thus, he didnāt answer.
āThen take what you want.ā
There wasnāt the slightest hint of a change in the Spider Dukeās attitude; he was shameless to the point of even looking dignified.
āI am the ruler of the Hell Spiders and the Lord of Absolute Venom who ruled over the Deep Floors. I may be weak, but I will not live as a wretched loser.ā
After saying that, the Spider Duke didnāt speak any further. It was as if he were making an open declaration that he would rather face a proud death than live a life of bondage.
But he was unaware.
āYouāre mistaken.ā
The Spider Duke couldnāt have imagined how cruel Kim Jin-Woo, who had once lived as a slave in his labyrinth, could be as he had grown into a truly terrifying monster.
āItās not you who will decide whether you die.ā
Up until that point, the Spider Duke had still been unaware of the situation.
āAs you said, everything of the weak belongs to the strong. Even how they die.ā
By the time Kim Jin-Woo had finished speaking, he was already right in front of the Spider Dukeās face.
āAnd I never permitted you to die an honorable death.ā
Even before he had finished speaking, Kim Jin-Wooās fists flew toward the Spider Duke.
Crack.
The Spider Dukeās hard cuticle cracked with an unpleasant noise, and all sorts of bodily fluids splashed out. He was subdued in an instant.
All of the appendages supporting his giant body were torn off and rolled along the floor, and the black and red stripes on his body all cracked apart, covered in his own blood. Most of his arrogantly gleaming eyeballs had also been plucked out, leaving behind only a single pair of eyes.
Kheeeee.
His powerful jaw had been torn off in an instant, and the only thing that flowed through what was left of his jaw was a moan of pain.
āAre you still the Lord of Absolute Venom?ā
Kim Jin-Woo plucked out one of the two remaining eyeballs as he spoke.
āKheeeeek!ā
āOr are you a loser whoās rolling around pathetically on the floor?ā
The Spider Duke couldnāt answer. He could only wriggle across the floor like a dying, insignificant insect.
Of course, the Duke, who was as powerful as he was arrogant, hadnāt been rolling around that way from the beginning. However, it wasnāt easy for him to endure the pain of having his legs torn off and his body cracked all over. Ultimately, from the moment his spinneret had been torn off savagely, the spider could no longer maintain his image as a Duke.
Despite feeling that he was being overly ruthless, even by his standards, Kim Jin-Woo didnāt hesitate. When he thought of the other tunnel diggers who had been murdered so brutally that he had been unable to even leave their corpsesā side, Kim Jin-Woo couldnāt help but feel justified in his actions.
The other tunnel diggers had desperately risked their lives to save him when they could have saved themselves, which was why he had always put his own life on the line in order to improve himself. That was why he had grown into the perfect match for the greedy and ruthless Night.
Kim Jin-Woo reached out toward a piece of the Spider Dukeās cuticle that had broken and ripped it off.
āIf you donāt intend to beg for your lifeā¦ā
The Spider Duke screamed once more, having felt the terrible pain of being dismembered alive.
āThen beg to be killed.ā
Kim Jin-Woo had a terrifyingly sadistic smile on his face. He didnāt look as if he cared at all about all the blood and fluids that had splattered across his body.
āThatās the only death I can grant you.ā
The Dukeās dignity had long since been stripped away. The Spider Duke had to beg him to be killed, as Kim Jin-Woo said. However, there was no way he was going to grant that request right away, even if the Spider Duke did so.
Only after dismembering the Duke and leaving only his head behind did Kim Jin-Woo finally grant permission for the Spider Duke to be freed from his pain.
āYou asked if I was satisfied, didnāt you?ā
Kim Jin-Woo trampled on the Spider Dukeās dismembered head and crushed it. As his foot pressed down on the wretched head, his shoulders began to shake.
Was he feeling regret and a feeling of emptiness? Or was he finally weeping over finally achieving his sweet revenge?
That couldnāt be the case. After all, he had changed too much to feel that way.
āOf course Iām satisfied.ā
Kim Jin-Woo was smiling brightly.
The entire time while Kim Jin-Woo had been dismembering the Spider Duke, Dominique and the other Nagas had continued to watch without so much as blinking. None had looked away despite the terrifying sight of the spiderās appendages being ripped off one by one and his body being cracked apart bit by bit.
It was an incredibly rare sight to see someone drenched in their enemyās blood, feeling full from consuming their flesh. However, the Nagas knew exactly what that disgusting spider had done to their master; thus, they couldnāt help but feel satisfied at what they had witnessed.
āCongratulations, Master.ā
āCongratulations on getting your revenge!ā
When their master showed up covered in a bloody mess of fresh blood and disgusting bodily fluids, the Nagas congratulated him without any hesitation.
āThis is just the beginning.ā Kim Jin-Woo reminded them that the real culprit still remained, and that their congratulations had to be withheld. And with that, he resumed the expedition.
More labyrinths were destroyed and their Cores absorbed. Kim Jin-Woo and his summons devoured every clan they encountered. That was how he led his expedition.
It was a move that made Kim Jin-Woo truly worthy of the title āTyrantā. The entire Underworld trembled in fear. But thankfully, the Tyrant was headed straight toward the Underworld Tree.
The labyrinth masters in his path were able to avoid their own extinction by extracting their Labyrinth Cores and fleeing far away. Some of them unfortunately encountered Reapers or other labyrinth masters during their escape, but most were able to survive.
āMaybe weāve been causing too much of a ruckus,ā Dominique remarked. Every labyrinth they had recently encountered had been abandoned, so it wasnāt difficult to guess what had happened.
āIf this goes on, it seems that it wonāt be easy to encounter an active labyrinth again in the near future.ā Dominique and the Nagas, who had just awakened their appetite, expressed their disappointment.
āStill, itās fortunate that the advance has accelerated. I didnāt feel comfortable leaving the labyrinth for too long.ā Perhaps it was because she was now carrying a child, but Dominique had gotten increasingly worried over time, hoping that the long expedition would end soon.
āItās not long now. I can feel the energy of the Underworld Tree.ā Kim Jin-Woo consoled Dominique and urged the Nagas forward.
After a long walk across an empty plain, the expedition finally arrived at the Underworld Treeās location.
āStop here for now. If you approach it any further, youāll get swept up by it.ā It was still quite a distance off to say that they had reached their destination, but Kim Jin-Woo stopped the Nagas as he looked at the Underworld Tree.
The Underworld Tree was still as overwhelming as the last time he had seen it. Even he, the heir to the one and only true Lord, who had managed to realize his own existence and gain full control over his powers, couldnāt easily bring himself to push forward.
āThatās the Underworld Treeā¦ā
Dominique and the Nagas looked at the distant Underworld Tree with expressions full of complex emotions. Its overwhelming existence deserved to be worshiped. But at the same time, the Mysteries of the Underworld were their greatest enemy, and the Underworld Tree was the main entity that governed the Mysteries of the Underworld.
āWhat are you going to do, Master? It seems nigh-impossible to even approach it,ā Angela, who usually never lost her sense of self-confidence, asked with a look of dread.
āI have the Wish Stone, so itāll work out somehow,ā Kim Jin-Woo replied. The only problem was that the sleeping Night inside him desired to eat the Wish Stone so desperately.
However, Kim Jin-Woo wasnāt too worried. He continued, āWait here. With such a commotion, the Usurper certainly knows weāre coming. My first priority is to resolve the problem with her.ā
āSpeak of the Devilā, was it? As soon as he finished speaking, a fluttering white hem appeared in the distance.