Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity
Chapter 35
Aden examined his accomplishments.
<[Undead Hunter]>
A peculiar force surged through his entire body before dissipating. However, he could feel new power being etched into his being.
“I’ve obtained this again.”
The Undead Hunter was a title Aden had acquired while eliminating the remnants of dark magicians. Although it currently only provided a 10% increase in abilities against undead, it would later generate powerful synergy when merged with more significant achievements.
Aden felt a bit deflated as he looked at the Lich, now reduced to bone powder.
‘In my past life, I struggled so much to capture it.’
Before his regression, when Aden had entered this dungeon, he had managed to get through the soldier’s and knight’s rooms without much difficulty. However, in the magician’s room, he’d nearly died. Even a half-formed Lich was still a Lich—a deathless entity wielding dark magic.
He had barely managed to escape the dungeon. The Lich had only one vital point: its life vessel. Aden had prepared for several escapes and searched every possible hiding place for the vessel.
‘It was in the sixth vertebrae from the top after all.’
If it had been a genuine Lich, it wouldn’t have been this easy. A fully-formed high-level Lich would have hidden its life vessel in a safe place without the need to carry it around.
Aden picked up the fragments of the life vessel scattered on the floor.
‘Creating this life vessel would have required countless lives.’
Hundreds of humans must have been sacrificed as offerings. Thus, it was a precious item containing the life force of hundreds. Although it was broken, not all the life force inside had dissipated, so Aden pocketed it. It was a useful item in many ways.
Curse spoke to Aden.
– Aden Albireo, gather that bone powder on the floor as well.
“What? This stuff?”
It wasn’t particularly powerful or valuable, just trash.
– You wish to meet the Ent tribe, do you not? Their essence is trees. The bone powder of a Lich would make an exceptional fertilizer for them.
“Is that part of the thousands of years of accumulated knowledge you mentioned?”
– Correct.
Aden frowned.
“Why should I believe you?”
He was a madman who had driven the world to ruin. How could he trust him?
– Don’t be so prickly. Are you a hedgehog? I must have mistaken you for a human until now.
Curse’s sly joke was highly irritating. He was annoying in a different way from the Demon Lord before the regression.
– Aden Albireo, I am not the underground lord you know. If you die, so do I. Do you not understand?
“…….”
Aden could only acknowledge this with silence. Curse was a curse whose existence’s purpose was to devour Aden, thus needing him. Unless other variables arose, he had neither the reason nor the ability to harm Aden.
“……I will gather it for now.”
Aden transferred the bone powder into a small pouch by hand.
‘Hmm?’
However, something was buried under the bone powder. Aden pulled it out.
‘A pendant?’
It seemed to be an item the Lich had possessed.
‘I didn’t see anything like this in the past.’
Aden, thinking for a moment, quickly reached a conclusion. In his previous life, he hadn’t bothered searching through the bone powder heap for items. It must have existed back then too.
‘This pendant, it feels familiar somehow.’
Although he felt a strange sense of déjà vu, he couldn’t remember where he had seen it. Aden decided to keep the pendant and examine it later.
Finishing his thoughts, Aden approached the stone seat and placed his hand on it.
“Summon merchant Rabbits.”
The stone seat emitted a white light.
Rumble.
The stone seat shattered, leaving only a rectangular pedestal. Then, the light burst forth again, and a figure emerged from the light.
As the light dimmed, its form gradually became clear. Long ears, white and fluffy fur, a twitching nose. A white rabbit the size of a large dog floated in the air, dressed in a black suit and a bowler hat.
– Greetings!
The suited rabbit greeted energetically with a cheerful voice.
– I am Rabbits, your friendly companion from the Gentle Spirit Trading Company! Dear customer!
Spirit merchant. They were classified as spirits, but unlike other spirits who lived as part of nature, they were different. They had a strong desire for money and even created their own trading companies. When one defeated a dungeon boss and activated the altar, a spirit merchant could be summoned. People typically traded treasures and by-products obtained from defeating monsters with them.
– Wow, how did you know to call for me? Excellent choice, dear customer!
The rabbit looked at Aden with a business smile. Then, it glanced around discreetly, and its lips briefly curled up before returning to normal. Aden noticed the change.
‘It seems you’ve spotted it.’
Rabbits spoke brightly to Aden.
– At our Spirit Trading Company, we offer potions, weapons, food, and more! Everything at fair prices…
“Current location of Ent settlements on the western continent. I want that information.”
Aden cut off the rabbit’s unnecessary introduction midway.
– Ents, you say?
Rabbits’ ears perked up, and its eyes gleamed momentarily. The location of the near-extinct Ents was highly valuable information.
Aden spoke with confidence towards Rabbits.
“Your kind, with the Spirit Eye, would certainly know.”
– Hmm, you are well-informed about us, dear customer.
Rabbits adjusted its tuxedo tie, showing confidence.
– Of course, our Spirit Trading Company possesses all kinds of precious information, and even if we don’t have it, we can find it quickly. However, the information about the Ents is highly valuable.
The rabbit rubbed its hands together as it spoke.
– The location of even a small village alone would cost quite a bit. Let’s start with a special discount, 2000 gold…
“4000.”
– …What did you just say?
Rabbits tilted its head, thinking it misheard.
– Did you just say you’d pay 4000 gold?
“No, that’s not it.”
Aden shook his head. Rabbits was left speechless by what Aden said next.
“Give me the location information of the Ent village and 4000 gold.”
– …Are you joking with me?
Rabbits’ face showed a hint of annoyance. For spirit merchants who lived and died by money, joking about money was a taboo.
– Why on earth should I give you money, dear customer?
The rabbit’s eyes gleamed with a murderous intent. However, Aden remained unfazed and looked directly at it as he spoke.
“You know why spirit merchants operate in dungeons, don’t you? And what you’ve been eyeing here.”
– …!
There was a little-known fact among people.
The Spirit Eye of spirit merchants had the ability to scan their surroundings and instantly grasp the location and information of all hidden items.
Their main income source was collecting treasures unnoticed by humans after they left the dungeon.
– What are you talking about? I don’t know, ha ha.
The rabbit awkwardly laughed, sweating profusely. Its expression gave everything away.
This creature knew about the hidden piece here.
‘That’s why I chose you.’
A veteran spirit merchant would maintain a poker face, playing with their tongue to empty the other party’s wallet. However, this one had only just shed its apprentice status. Lacking experience, it still had some naivety.
‘Making it easier for me to exploit.’
Aden spoke to the rabbit.
“Just watch. I will show you why you should pay me.”
Aden approached the right wall of the magician’s room.
There, a row of candle holders with melted candles stood attached to the wall.
Exactly ten of them. Aden pulled out candles, matches, and a white shroud he had purchased in the village from his pouch.
He struck the match and lit the candles. Then, he placed the ten lit candles into the holders. As the dark room brightened…
Rumble.
A sound of something operating echoed, and the entire dungeon trembled slightly. Soon, cracks appeared on the wall opposite the entrance, and it began to collapse.
Rumble.
As the wall crumbled, a space beyond was revealed. On a pedestal made of basalt, a huge, glowing blue gemstone emitted a bright light.
‘Dungeon Core.’
A special magic stone that allowed the dungeon to function as a dungeon. And before this magic stone floated a translucent, shabby-looking white woman.
– Aaaaaah…!
The resentful woman let out a piercing scream.
The system responded.
– You have entered the Banshee’s Chamber.
Banshee. A fallen spirit that haunts a specific place or object, attacking anyone who approaches.
– Aaaaaah-!
As Aden approached, the Banshee shrieked sharply, displaying hostility towards him. Aden spoke to the Banshee without any hesitation.
“Banshee. You are a washer of the clothes of the dead.”
At that moment, Aden drew a dagger and cut his wrist. Blood gushed out, soaking the white shroud. He then threw the blood-stained shroud at the Banshee.
“Clean the clothes of your master. Fulfill your duty, return to your true form.”
Surprisingly, the Banshee’s hostility vanished entirely.
The Banshee then performed a peculiar action.
– Ah, ah.
The Banshee, clutching the blood-stained shroud, squatted on the ground, rubbing the shroud vigorously with both hands as if washing it.
– Aaaaaah…
The Banshee continued to emit sorrowful cries as it rubbed the shroud.
Astonishingly, the blood-stained shroud gradually became clean. As the shroud’s blood washed away, the Banshee’s form grew fainter.
Eventually, the once blood-stained shroud turned pristine white…
Poof.
The increasingly faint Banshee dissipated into smoke. In its place, a silver shield floated, emitting a gentle light.
Aden picked up the shield.
As he did, the shield shone brightly, transforming into sparkling particles.
The particles gathered on the back of Aden’s left hand, forming a white shield-shaped emblem. The system responded.
< The Bound Artifact ‘Banshee’s Spirit Shield’ has been bound to you. >
<[Banshee’s Spirit Shield (Proficiency 3.5%)]>
The system could confirm information only for bound artifacts, recognizing them as part of Aden’s information.
‘Banshee’s Spirit Shield.’
A Banshee was a fallen spirit born from a spirit who lost its contractor and was consumed by grief, clinging only to its regrets. For spirits, it was akin to a human vengeful ghost.
Such Banshees clung to the items their contractors once possessed and guarded them.
By performing an action related to the regret, the Banshee would mistake the person as its contractor, and upon resolving its regret, it would disappear, leaving the item behind.
This Banshee’s regret was washing the blood-stained shroud.
‘Though I don’t know why that was its regret.’
It must have had a unique story.
What Aden knew was only how to resolve the regret. In his previous life, he had missed this fourth room entirely.
After that, the spirit merchant rabbit had taken the entire Banshee and sold it to someone.
A knight bought the Banshee along with the information that giving it a blood-stained shroud was the key, for a huge sum of money.
The knight who acquired the Banshee’s Spirit Shield later became known as the Berserk Shield Knight, and his fame reached Aden’s ears.
‘It was only much later that I found out this was my master’s dungeon and I gritted my teeth.’
The shield, imbued with the characteristics of a fallen spirit like a Banshee, had three functions. The first was permanent binding.
Reflecting the Banshee’s obsession, the shield remained as a tattoo within Aden, always ready to be used.
No matter how far it was dropped, it could be summoned back, eliminating the worry of theft.
The second was Berserk Mode. Reflecting the Banshee’s madness and resentment, it turned the wielder into a berserker. Holding a shield, which existed to protect, while becoming a berserker was indeed contradictory.
It tripled all combat abilities and halved all physical damage.
However, once all stamina was exhausted, it left the wielder in a state of extreme fatigue and excessive use could endanger their life.
‘The reason the Berserk Shield Knight died prematurely after gaining fame for only a year.’
It was an ability with two sides of the same coin. Even these two functions alone made it a precious artifact anyone would covet. However, Aden desired its third function.
‘It’s a growth-type weapon.’
For now, it had only two abilities. But the weapon containing a Banshee had infinite potential and possibilities.
It would grow stronger as its owner grew and shared experiences with them.
‘This shield will grow stronger with me.’
Having the greatest sword, Baalzebul, he needed the greatest shield to protect him.
“This is what you were after, right?”
– ….
Spirit merchant Rabbits, aghast, could only gape in silence.
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