DEB 8

How long had he been sprawled out in the second-floor corridor? 

Growing impatient, the system urged him to start tackling the third floor, asking if it wasn’t about time. 

Finally getting up, Huiyun checked his overall physical condition by lightly rotating his shoulders and arms. Though a bit stiff, the fact that he didn’t feel like he was going to die from moving suggested that the penalty symptoms had somewhat alleviated.

His recovery seemed faster than when he was outside. Could this also be due to the 50% penalty reduction?

Tilting his head, he then entered the stairs to the third floor, then the system popped up a notification.

[On the third floor resides the Gate’s boss ‘Steward’. The Steward is a ‘Mirror Difficulty’ monster that adjusts its strength according to the first hunter it faces. Mr. Huiyun, who has not awakened as a hunter, should be able to easily defeat the Steward!]

“Sounds good.”

This was the most welcome news he had heard since entering the Gate. In this case, isn’t it fortunate that he didn’t awaken as a hunter? As he was thinking about it, the system, which understood the meaning behind his words, popped up another notification.

[But if you had awakened, there would be a 100% chance of defeating the Steward without any trouble!]

It was clear that the administrator found joy in crafting sentences with percentages.

Ignoring the administrator’s habitual encouragement to awaken, Huiyun proceeded to the third floor. Unlike the first and second floors, the third floor, which housed a boss-level demon, was filled with a heavy and ominous air.

A dense and murky energy. Not a poorly imitated demonic energy, but a thick and sinister aura that seemed to have been dredged from the demon world filled the third floor. Quickly creating a spear, Huiyun inhaled deeply at the end of the corridor, and the door to the innermost room opened. He looked on tensely, but no creature came out of the room.

“Could it be, again…”

Was this another situation where, like the mansion’s entrance, there was a limited time to enter?

The approach to the boss fight seemed different indeed. Swallowing his saliva, he moved towards the open room at the end of the corridor. From the corridor, the room’s interior seemed as dark as if covered in pitch black.

Realizing that he needed to enter the room to see anything, Huiyun calmed his anxious heart.

If he could safely clear this floor, he would finally find a way to the treat his mana hypersensitivity. He stepped inside while mentally assuring himself that he could do it.

whoosh! 

Light flooded in, and the scenery changed.

The old, rundown mansion disappeared, revealing a luxurious and spacious room fit for a duke. At the center of the room was an elderly butler.

Upon noticing Huiyun, the butler bowed respectfully. 

“Have you finally arrived, young master?”

“What?”

“Butler Hweian, at your service. I have been waiting here, not leaving the mansion. But young master…”

As he spoke, the butler’s face began to bulge grotesquely, as if lava was boiling underneath his skin, causing bubbles to form. Huiyun was taken aback and lost his voice, and then the butler spoke.

“Your voice has changed.” 

“…”

“…Is that so. It seems you are not the young master after all.” 

The butler murmured sadly, and then the ground began to shake. 

Thud, thud!

From the ceiling to the bookshelves, walls, windows, and floor.

Everything that constituted the space shook as if there was an earthquake. Reflexively looking for something to grab onto, Huiyun saw the surroundings gradually change again.

The luxurious bed turned into an old, scorched one, the elegant curtains and clean windows turned into broken windows and burnt curtains, and the smooth, shiny floor turned into dark, gloomy tiles. Every part of the chamber was changing one by one. This must be the real appearance of the once noble duke’s house.

“Hand over the young master!”

The butler, whose face had grotesquely changed, screamed and twisted his body. Simultaneously, a blue notification window, not gold, appeared in front of Huiyun.

[You have encountered the boss of the ‘Remnants of the Persian Ducal Family’ gate, ‘Steward, Hweian’! Defeat the boss and conquer the gate!]

It was the notification that the full-scale raid on the 3rd floor had begun. Huiyun stepped back to avoid the butler, who now had black horns on his head, his pale skin had turned grotesquely dusky as if poisoned, and he was swinging his claws that resembled those of a beast.

Flap!

The butler, now with wings on his back, charged at Huiyun back. The butler’s claws, seemingly over 40 centimeters long, flew towards Huiyun’s eyes as he raised his sword to block.

Clang!

The sound of the sword clashing with the claws rang out. 

Clang! Bang! Clack!

Huiyun barely kept up with the relentless attacks, his eyes wavering.

How can his power be so strong?

Huiyun wasn’t fighting with just his physical abilities. If he had, he would have died on the 1st floor already.

Huiyun fought by enhancing his physical body with his abilities, yet the Steward’s strength was comparable… no, slightly superior than his. Looking at the system message that suggested an easy victory, the system also seemed flustered.

[Why is he so strong…? Mr. Huiyun isn’t registered as a hunter, so there’s no data to analyze in mirror mode… Ah!]

As the system realized something, Huiyun continued to fend off the attacks with shaking arms, thinking the system had found a solution, and put all his effort into countering the Steward’s strikes.

“Did you figure out what to do?”

[No! It’s not that, but I think I know why the Steward is so strong! The people outside! Maybe they came first, tried and failed, and were kicked out? The Steward must have entered mirror mode using their data.]

“What?”

Shocked, Huiyun dodged the charging Steward, his legs gave out, and he fell. The Steward seized the opportunity and lunged, swinging his hand. Huiyun’s sword blocked the attack, but it was a moment too late as the attack leave a long gash on his chest.

Nothing is going right.

Summarizing the system’s words, it meant that the three men Huiyun saw before entering the mansion had tried and failed to conquer this gate.

Indeed. If it was an upper-level gate, even A-rank hunters would have found it difficult. It was a place where at least one S-rank hunter was needed to capture, but with the boss being this tricky, Huiyun guessed it wouldn’t have been easy. Realizing now was not the time to analyze, Huiyun rolled on the ground.

Rolling on the ground, he kicked at the charging Steward’s abdomen. His kick only made the Steward step back two steps, who immediately flapped his wings, pushing Huiyun away.

Crack!

Desperately creating another sword, Huiyun could only defend against the attacks coming from all directions with two swords. He pressed his lips as he realized that merely blocking like this wouldn’t defeat the Steward.

It was supposed to be an easy win!

He cursed the system again and took a deep breath. 

Yasha was not a fighter.

Of course, his previous life mastered the sword, bow, and spear. He could handle all weapons, but that wasn’t Yasha’s greatest ability.

Using weapons in combat was merely an entertainment for him.

Among the various attributes of dragons like flame, fire, darkness, wind, the Yasha’s attribute was dominion. 

That’s why he reigned supreme over all dragons, born as a primordial being, standing above all creations. 

The closest creation to a god.

Huiyun, remembering that, gritted his teeth and pushed the Steward’s attack far away, and quickly retreat to put distance between them.

Let’s not be obsessed with weapons.

The easiest way to wield his power, the easiest way to manifest it was through creating weapons for attack, and he had stubbornly stuck to that method for a long time. 

However, the difference in experience between the Steward and Huiyun was clear. No matter the memories of his past life, if his body was sluggish, he would inevitably be pushed back in a fight with weapons.

Then, he had to do what he was best at.

“I don’t think even the penalty reduction will help me this time.” 

Domination.

It was time to reclaim that long-forgotten authority.

Something that only Yasha could use, something that could well be said to be the essence of Yasha’s identity. An ability he could use because he was the leader of the living.

Just thinking about it made his heart race and his intraocular pressure rise. Excitement surged as his physical abilities dramatically increased, and Huiyun, who had put distance between himself and the Steward, stretched out his hand forward. 

Like standing on a strong wind, his black hair began to flutter upwards.

Woong, woong!

Thinking of using his true power, his heart beat fiercely as he felt a massive energy surge throughout his body.

“…Why, why this power…!”

The bewildered Steward looked around to find the source of the power. The Steward didn’t think for a moment that Huiyun was the source of the vast power.

Then, Huiyun clenched his palm.

Thinking of gripping the opponent’s neck and applying force to his fingers, The Steward grabbed his own neck and gasped. He looked at Huiyun with trembling eyes.

“Kuh… Why… Kuhuk!”

Coughing, the Steward pressed harder on his own neck with a stronger force. He was strangling himself.

That frightened look on the Steward’s face… Huiyun had seen those eyes before. That is, when he was Yasha….

Beep! 

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, a splitting headache came out of nowhere. Huiyun staggered, but he pushed on, focused on the enemy in front of him. 

He regained his breath and squeezed his hands, the Steward’s body floated in the air.

“Kkeueuk!”

The Steward made a choking sound as he flailed his legs. 

The sight of the demon, hanging in the air and holding his neck as if he had hung himself, was horrifyingly familiar to him.

Gguuk.

Huiyun clenched his fist tightly. At the same time, a strong wind blew around Huiyun, shaking his hair, clothes, and even the old windows, and then it struck the Steward.

“Kkeok!”

With a single scream, the flailing body of the Steward went limp in the air. Shortly after, Huiyun, who had fallen to the ground as his legs gave out, coughed up blood and spilled it on the floor. Huiyun frowned in pain and looked at the dead Steward confusedly.

“Why…”

He hadn’t intended to go this far.

Just as Yasha had done, Huiyun also meant to subdue the Steward under the authority of domination, not to drive him to suicide! 

Yet, as if possessed, his body moved on its own. That unfamiliar and creepy feeling made him back away slightly.

Thud.

Something touched his back. Startled, he lifted his head and he saw a man who seemed strangely familiar yet unfamiliar, looking down at Huiyun.