Level Up Machine

Chapter 60 Armor of the Demon God (5)

Boom!

The passageway was collapsing. Yeong-sik, holding Han-seong tightly, used all his strength to boost out of the corridor.

“What did you grab earlier besides the sword?”

Now accustomed to the speed of the boost, Han-seong asked Yeong-sik. From what he knew, the silvery-white sword that had been in the transparent case earlier was the legendary sword called Luminous, used by the hero Andras.

A weapon so legendary that there were dozens of tales about it.

Because it possessed a will of its own, only the bloodline of the Elnote royal family, specifically those who were chosen, could wield it. Its value was immeasurable.

To abandon that and choose some dull armor that didn’t even emanate magic…

Han-seong found it hard to understand Yeong-sik’s choice.

“Well, to be honest, I have no idea what I picked up myself.”

Yeong-sik thought back to the jet-black suit he had discovered in the hidden compartment within the wall. The moment he saw it, he realized it was not armor or a magical artifact, but a ‘mechanical device’.

However, he couldn’t fathom why such a suit, something one would only expect to see in a sci-fi movie, was hidden within a collapsed wall.

‘What on earth is going on?’

With the royal castle crumbling, there was no time to analyze the structure of the jet-black suit or to inspect it closely.

The suit, now in his inventory, continued to weigh on Yeong-sik’s mind.

Boom!

A massive pile of rubble fell beside him as he was lost in thought. Clicking his tongue, Yeong-sik spoke up.

“Let’s get out of here first and then think about it.”

“Yes.”

Han-seong, also watching the collapsing passage, nodded with a firm expression. The flames of Yeong-sik’s boost flared even brighter.

“Intruder, eliminate.”

Thud!

“Damn it!”

While boosting out of the corridor, they saw Yoo Jin darting around, using short-range teleportation to evade the Guardian.

“Yoo Jin!”

“Damn, you’re late!”

Yoo Jin’s eyes lit up when he saw Yeong-sik and Han-seong. He extended his left hand forward.

“Space Wall!”

A distortion in space formed a wall in front of him.

Thud!

The Guardian’s fist crashed into the wall.

“Quick, gather around me!”

Yoo Jin shouted urgently.

Yeong-sik and Han-seong placed their hands on his shoulder.

“Just buy me a little time!”

Yoo Jin began casting the teleportation spell as he spoke. Han-seong watched the Guardian tearing through the spatial distortion Yoo Jin had created, advancing towards them.

Having to face a Guardian with power equivalent to at least a high-ranker in a collapsing passage was a nightmare scenario.

“Divine Barrier!”

Han-seong squeezed out every bit of his magic power, creating a protective shield imbued with a holy aura. The Guardian’s sword, glowing with a blue light, struck the Divine Barrier.

“Cough!”

The intense impact on the Divine Barrier caused Han-seong to spit out dark red blood. Yeong-sik glanced at Yoo Jin, who had not yet finished casting his spell, and stepped forward.

“Light Shield!”

A skill obtained from an A-grade memory cube manifested. A semi-transparent shield emitting a pure white light appeared in front of him.

Boom!

The Guardian’s sword, which seemed capable of destroying everything, was stopped by the white shield.

Yoo Jin opened his mouth.

“Warp!”

Flash!

The bodies of Yeong-sik, Yoo Jin, and Han-seong vanished as if they were melting into the air.

* * *

“Hah, hah… We made it out just in time.”

Han-seong panted heavily, turning his head.

Though he couldn’t fully understand the structure of the royal castle, exiting through the entrance they initially used to enter the castle seemed to have spared them from the effects of the collapse.

“Ugh… Ugh!”

A painful groan escaped from Yoo Jin. He collapsed to the ground, placing his hand on his left chest and trembling slightly. Dark red blood trickled from his mouth and nose.

“Lie down, Yoo Jin. I’ll use healing magic.”

Han-seong grabbed Yoo Jin’s shoulder as he spoke. Yoo Jin shook his head and opened his mouth.

“No. You know this is a wound that can’t be healed by magic.”

“But at least I can alleviate the pain.”

As Han-seong said this, he cast a pain-relief spell on Yoo Jin. Yoo Jin’s expression eased considerably. Yeong-sik, watching him, asked.

“You always clutch your left chest after using magic. Is there a particular reason for that?”

“My magic puts a lot of strain on my heart. Using it excessively causes severe pain.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Well, it’s not like I started using magic yesterday. I’m used to it by now.”

Yoo Jin replied, wiping the blood from around his mouth.

Once Yoo Jin stood up, Han-seong raised a communication crystal.

“This is Team A. We’ve secured the target.”

– This is Team E. We haven’t completed our mission yet. The designated target is not at the specified location. Requesting support.

Yoo-na’s voice flowed through the communication crystal. Team E was the team assigned to rescue the hostages in the underground prison, led by Tiria.

“We’ll head there immediately,” Han-seong said, cutting off the communication. His expression twisted slightly.

“That’s strange. It shouldn’t have taken this long to rescue the hostages from the underground prison…”

Muttering in confusion, he began to move.

“Let’s go to the underground prison and join Yoo-na,” he said. Yeong-sik and Yoo Jin nodded, heading towards the underground prison.

Boom!

“Damn it! Where the hell did they hide it?!”

Upon reaching the underground prison, they heard Yoo-na’s agitated voice. Yeong-sik and his group moved towards the source of the voice. There, they saw Yoo-na, Tiria, Ara, and Gil-soo, inspecting the walls of the underground prison and knocking on them.

“Have you not found Duke Erman yet?” Han-seong asked.

“No… We’ve searched the entire underground prison, but we haven’t found any sign of my father, mother, or brother,” Tiria replied, her expression anxious.

Yeong-sik approached the restless Tiria and asked, “Is there a possibility they might be in another location besides the underground prison?”

“…No, according to the prisoners here, they were definitely imprisoned in the underground prison until recently,” Tiria answered, biting her lip with a troubled expression. Yeong-sik turned to survey the underground prison.

The prison, capable of holding nearly a hundred inmates, was filled with prisoners clinging to the bars, pleading with the Salvator Guild members.

“Please, get us out of here! We’ve been falsely accused by King Hendrick and imprisoned here!”

“If you get us out, I’ll give you 5,000 gold! No, I can give you up to 7,000 gold!”

“Open this door! Open it now!”

The underground prison mainly housed nobles who had fallen out of King Hendrick’s favor or committed various crimes such as bribery, embezzlement, and tax evasion.

They demanded large sums of money for their escape, pleading or raging, shaking the bars violently with their hands.

“We said we’d only release those who can tell us the location of Duke Erman’s family! If anyone speaks out of turn again, I’ll make sure you never see the outside world alive!” Yoo-na shouted sharply at them. Her outburst silenced the prisoners, who began to eye each other cautiously.

“…It seems none of them know the location of Duke Erman’s family,” Yeong-sik murmured, observing the silent prisoners. If they knew the location, they wouldn’t have kept quiet.

“Let’s spread out and search. There might be a hidden location,” Yeong-sik said, recalling the hidden compartment in the royal castle where he found the black suit. The guild members nodded at his suggestion.

The Salvator Guild members paired up and began exploring the prison. Yeong-sik was paired with Tiria. She, with an anxious expression, pressed her hands against the surrounding walls, searching the prison.

Given the substantial size of the underground prison, Yeong-sik and Tiria naturally ended up separated from the others.

“Scan.”

Yeong-sik used the scan function to inspect the surrounding walls. However, he found no hidden spaces within the walls.

“Let’s check somewhere else.”

“Yes.”

Tiria followed Yeong-sik with a dark expression. Glancing at her, Yeong-sik asked, “What kind of people are the guild master’s family?”

He changed the subject to ease her anxiety. Tiria managed a faint smile as she replied, “They are good people. My mother is kind, and though my father is stern, he always took good care of me. My younger brother is very affectionate.”

She spoke with a distant look, as if recalling the past.

“They are innocent people who don’t deserve to be imprisoned in a place like this,” she added in a somber voice.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be reunited with your family soon,” Yeong-sik reassured her, continuing to scan the prison as he investigated.

After a while, he discovered a square metal plate on the floor, resembling a sewer cover.

Yeong-sik’s eyes lit up at the sight.

‘There shouldn’t be a sewer in a place like this.’

Recalling the layout of the prison, he remembered that the prisoners used chamber pots, not modern plumbing systems.

“Scan.”

Yeong-sik scanned the floor, and a hidden space beneath the metal plate appeared in his mind.

“Guild master.”

“Yes?”

Tiria approached as Yeong-sik called her. He tapped the metal plate and said, “There’s a hidden space beneath this.”

“Ah…”

Tiria’s expression brightened, and a short gasp escaped her.

“Please step back for a moment.”

“Understood.”

Tiria nodded obediently and stepped back. Red light emanated from Yeong-sik’s eyes, precisely targeting the seams of the metal plate.

Sizzle!

Sparks flew in all directions, accompanied by the sound of metal being cut as if it were being welded. Yeong-sik cleanly cut the metal plate and extended his hand toward Tiria.

“Let’s go down. Hold my hand.”

“Ah, thank you, Yeong-sik.”

Tiria, slightly embarrassed, took his hand. Yeong-sik held her close and used his boost to slowly descend below the metal plate.

Upon entering the space beneath the metal plate, they were hit with a stench so foul it made their heads spin.

Squeak! Squeak!

As Yeong-sik landed, he saw a swarm of rats scattering in all directions.

“What is this place?”

Yeong-sik looked around, trying to make sense of their surroundings. The pitch-black space offered no visibility.

Shhh.

Yeong-sik used the blue light from his energy blast to illuminate the area and moved his hand toward the source of the foul odor.

There, he found…

“Ah, ah…”

Tiria let out a sound that was a mix of a gasp and a scream as she saw the source of the stench. Yeong-sik’s expression hardened as well.

The source of the foul odor was three rotting corpses.