The Swordsman Genius Returnee Even Swallows Immortality

25

The next day.

After some sweet rest, they began to advance into the dark zone again.

It was already the 54th floor.

However, this time, something was different.

It was because Phelevan, disguised, took the lead.

He, who had always been behind, stood side by side with Habell and Dante.

Seeing that, the three behind them made surprised expressions.

“Mr. Eltaine, didn’t you rest too well yesterday?”

“I wonder if you’re not pushing yourself. I’m worried.”

Ronslot and Dorison showed worried reactions.

That was because they thought he was pushing himself.

Phelevan scoffed at their concerns.

‘They don’t even see how much of a difference in level there is between us.’

Is it because he has been in Astria for too long?

It seemed that his expectations had become too high.

And in Phelevan’s eyes, Dante was no exception.

He was certainly standing next to Habell and fighting the evil species.

However, he was only able to stand next to him by pushing himself.

‘This way, he’ll only hold you back.’

As expected, the vessel that would hold Habell had to be at least as good as Astria.

Kukung!

At that moment, an evil species in the form of a bear covered in black fur appeared.

His name was Ink Bear.

It was huge, about the size of a decent building.

At that moment, he swung his front paw towards Dante, who was right in front of him.

Then, an ink blade shot out from the Ink Bear’s front paw.

Chaeng, chaeng!

Dante hurriedly deflected the ink blade, and the Ink Bear pounced.

Trusting its enormous size, it intended to crush Dante.

As Dante hurriedly took a defensive stance.

Pelevan passed by him.

He closed the gap in an instant, imbuing his sword with aura.

Swish!

“Kuang?!”

Pelevan’s sword tore through the ink bear’s belly.

The ink bear screamed, spilling its entrails and ink.

Seizing the opportunity, Pelevan leaped onto the ink bear’s head in a flash.

And immediately, his sword descended towards the ink bear’s head.

Thud!

The severed head of the ink bear rolled on the floor.

Simultaneously, the ink bear collapsed with a thud.

Pelevan, who had landed on the ink bear, looked back at Habell.

“Are you still going to insist on those conditions?”

“Hm.”

Habell blatantly ignored him, picking his ear with his pinky.

“Ha.”

Pelevan thought Habell was being stubborn.

Anyone could see the clear difference in ability between Dante and himself.

He couldn’t understand why he had made such a condition.

“You’re quite skilled at fighting the Fiends.”

Meanwhile, Dante approached them.

Pelevan glanced at him and let out a short sigh.

“Don’t you think you’re holding someone back?”

Pelevan asked, his tone laced with sarcasm.

He thought highly of Habell’s abilities.

However, he had treated him the same as Dante.

So, his pride was slightly hurt.

“It seems you spoke with Mr. Habell yesterday.”

But even in the face of Pelevan’s pointed question, Dante remained calm.

“I don’t know what you talked about with Mr. Habell.”

Dante sheathed his sword.

Then, he collected the spoils from the ink bear and handed them to him.

“Mr. Habell might want this. He seems to be that kind of person.”

Pelevan turned away from the spoils Dante handed him.

Seeing that, Dante simply put the spoils into his subspace.

* * *

The raid continued after that.

Perhaps because of the continuous darkness.

No matter how much they adapted, they all began to feel fatigued quickly.

However, Havel had no intention of stopping.

Dante silently followed Havel.

‘His stamina is really ridiculous.’

Pelevan showed a tired reaction as he watched the two of them.

Dante’s skills were lacking.

However, his stamina was better than Pelevan’s.

‘I wonder why I value this kind of thing.’

Is it really an advantage to be inflexible and only have a lot of stamina?

At that moment, Havel stopped walking.

“I guess we’re here.”

His neck is lightly stretched and relaxed.

“Dante.”

“Yes, Mr. Havel.”

“This is your first mission.”

Dante’s expression changed in an instant.

“Please tell me.”

Havel chuckled.

His expression changed as soon as he said that he would give him a mission himself.

He looked like a knight who was faithful to orders.

“The mission is simple. Just overcome the trials before that guy.”

“Yes.”

Dante answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“He’s coming. Be prepared.”

That was the moment.

Dozens of scythes connected by chains flew in from the darkness.

Dante jumped out next to Havel and swung his scythe.

Clang!

Sparks flew.

And the same was true for Pelevan.

However, the scythes were not only aimed at them.

They were aiming at the lantern bearers floating around them.

Crash!

“Tsk.”

Pelevan clicked his tongue.

Darkness fell in an instant.

In the meantime, Havel had somehow stepped back.

He swung his sword once and knocked away all the flying scythes.

“Mr. Havel?”

The three people behind him looked at him in surprise, and Havel said,

“This is not your place. Stand by.”

This is a job I left to those two.

So Havel had no intention of intervening.

Instead, Havel found himself feeling bewildered as he watched the current situation.

‘I didn’t expect this.’

Havel’s eyes were different from others.

No matter how dark the area was.

Because Havel could see clearly through such darkness.

Havel let out a hollow laugh.

‘Gehenna, was it?’

A criminal organization that was said to be lurking in the dark area.

I had thought they were just ordinary criminals.

‘Oh my, they’ve become fool beings.’

The members of Gehenna were no longer human.

They had been taken over by the Tower and turned into foul beings.

Whether or not that was their will.

Horns, proof of the foul beings, were sprouting from their heads.

And Havel vaguely felt that they were one of the trials of this floor.

At the same time, interest flickered in Havel’s eyes.

‘I wonder if the foul being inside me is the same as the foul beings in those guys.’

Since they were humans capable of conversation, I could find out.

‘One of them.’

I should try to capture it.

Havel’s gaze looked far beyond the darkness.

The trial had only just begun.

* * *

Clang!

The sound of clashing swords rang out once again from Dante’s side.

That was because a group of people had begun to raid them through the darkness.

The skull marks engraved on their bodies belonged to Gehenna.

“Gehenna? Are they the ones who got eaten by the Tower?”

Peleban’s eyes narrowed.

That was because he had seen the horns sprouting from their heads.

Furthermore, they were extremely quiet.

Because the Tower was hiding them within the darkness.

‘A trial, huh.’

Those words were spot on.

‘Havel must have predicted that they would raid us, and set up these conditions.’

But it didn’t matter.

Whether the Tower had turned them into foul beings or not, they were criminals in the end.

Without hesitation, Peleban swung his sword.

Swish!

“Ugh?!”

A member of Gehenna, whose neck had been severed, staggered.

Ink-colored blood dripped from his tattered neck.

However, the wound healed quickly as flesh grew back.

‘Regeneration?’

To think that it would even have regeneration, as if it wasn’t already a pain in the neck.

“Hey! This guy’s strong! We should get an executive out here, or maybe just overwhelm him with numbers!”

At that moment, the member of Gehenna let out a cry.

Seeing this, Pelevan froze.

He hadn’t known that humans who had become fiends could communicate.

“You’ve become a fiend and still retained your sanity?”

Pelevan grimaced.

He then took a step back into the darkness and let out an eerie laugh.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be just like us soon enough.”

“As if I’d let that happen!”

Pelevan charged after him, pounding the ground. But once again, dozens of scythes flew in to obstruct him.

The scythes that kept flying in from the darkness were incredibly irritating.

The darkness.

This damn darkness was getting in the way far too much.

His opponent was clearly using guerilla warfare.

As this continued, Pelevan’s stamina began to dwindle.

‘I already used up a lot of stamina chasing after Habiel.’

His sluggish reactions were a result of his insufficient stamina.

At that moment, another scythe flew in.

Clang!

And it was none other than Dante who blocked it.

He was in a sorry state, having been battered around just like Pelevan.

“Mr. Eltaine, could you buy us some time?”

Pelevan frowned.

“You and I are in competition right now. Did you not understand what Habiel said?”

Habiel had told him to overcome the ordeal before the other.

Dante couldn’t have missed that.

“Yes, but at this rate, we won’t be able to overcome the ordeal at all.”

Pelevan couldn’t deny that.

Unlike fiends, humans possessed intelligence.

Gehenna knew well how to relentlessly corner people.

After all, they had hunted countless humans.

“Alright, you can call me Pelevan.”

Pelevan so said and raised his sword.

Then, a whirlwind surged from his sword.

It was his family’s secret technique.

“I can buy you some time. Briefly explain what you intend to do.”

“I’m going to create the dawn.”

It was a brief explanation, but it was too brief.

Dante had already entered a state of concentration.

Pelevan had no time to ask any more questions.

This time, five figures emerged from the darkness along with the scythe.

Each armed with weapons, they were the notorious criminals wanted outside the tower.

“Criminals.”

At that moment, Pelevan thrust his sword into the ground with a thud.

Jeretz-style swordsmanship

Ascending Dragon

Then, the whirlwind that had started from his sword spread out in an instant.

“Eeeek?!”

“Kugh!?”

Those who clashed with the whirlwind’s blades rolled on the floor.

Clang, clang, clang!

The scythes that were flying in at the same time were no different.

However, the opponents weren’t fools either.

As soon as the whirlwind occurred, a headwind blew from the opposite direction.

‘Is there someone who can handle the wind like me?’

Pelevan bit his lip.

This was because his Ascending Dragon was weakening as it faced the headwind.

In the meantime, the members of Gehenna slowly walked in.

“Without fear of death!”

Pelevan relied on his regeneration ability and blew away those who entered the whirlwind.

However, they are now pushed with their numbers.

Pelevan knew that he was running out of stamina and stopped his torrent.

They came through the whirlwind regardless of whether their arms or bodies were cut off.

They trusted their regeneration ability and pushed through.

‘These guys aren’t afraid to die.’

Sensing the crisis, Pelevan frowned.

Cold sweat formed on his back.

Those guys intended to stab him once, even if it meant their own deaths.

“It’s done.”

At that moment, Dante’s voice rang out.

“Watch your eyes.”

Dante’s sword was shining brightly.

And immediately, Dante’s sword was thrust toward the darkness.

**Banphelion Ryu’s Dawn Swordsmanship**

**Dawn Sky**

At that moment, dawn swallowed the darkness.

**Kwagagagagak!**

And a belated storm tore through Gehenna’s members and the darkness.

It was a dawn that fell far short of Habell’s.

But it was a technique sufficient to drive out the darkness.

As the darkness disappeared, Pelevan’s eyes widened along with the open space.

This was because it was the first time he had ever seen such swordsmanship.

“C, crazy.”

“What is that?”

The members of Gehenna who were rolling on the floor inspired in terror.

But it was strange.

None of them were looking at Dante.

‘Behind?’

Pelevan’s eyes slowly turned back.

And his body freezes upright.

Hundreds of Gehenna members behind him were frozen stiff.

Without a sound, more than half of their comrades had been hit.

And at the center of it all.

It was none other than Habell.

Pelevan’s eyes, which met Habell’s, shook.

He knew he was strong, but he didn’t know he was this strong.

“The trial is not over yet.”

And to such a Pelevan, Habell pointed ahead, smiling leisurely.

“Shall we continue?”

Pelevan could not disobey that order.

Inwardly, he thought that Dante was being tested under the pretense of himself.

But maybe he was the one who was really being tested.

Pelevan could only turn his shrunken body forward.