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Chapter 27
My Dark Past Is Too Strong
Intrusion (2)
《You have entered the 60th floor of the Tower of Fierce Battles: ‘The Raging Battlefield.’》
Oh Hyun-woo carefully surveyed his surroundings as he stepped into the 60th floor.
Unlike the original form of the 60th floor, what greeted him was a colossal colosseum.
At the center stood a stage for duels, surrounded by spectator stands and inner waiting rooms.
High above, a special viewing platform had been prepared for the emperor. From that throne, someone was looking down at Hyun-woo.
‘Arrogant bastard.’
Hyun-woo strode confidently to the center of the colosseum.
When he raised his head toward the throne, its master rose to his feet as well.
“So, it really was a human. What a pathetic state you’ve fallen into, Caligo. Hertia.”
At the man’s words, Caligo, standing beside Hyun-woo, narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Carmar de Labl.
Unlike the artificial creations Hyun-woo had faced before—this one was a true vampire.
But Caligo didn’t dare to open his mouth.
Serving Lucifer for so long, he knew very well—this was not his time to speak.
—From now on, idle chatter is forbidden.
A cold, commanding voice.
An absolute order falling from the lips of a great being.
‘The Master is enraged.’
Caligo only bowed his head, silently awaiting his lord’s reaction.
“So it was you.”
Hyun-woo curled one corner of his lips as he looked at his opponent.
“What?”
“The insect that ruined my plan… was just you?”
“What nonsense…”
Hyun-woo shouted up at the master of the throne—Carmar de Labl.
“Carmar de Labl. I see you’ve found yourself a new right eye. How do you like it?”
For a moment, Carmar froze.
‘How does this human know my right eye is fake…?’
Before his shock could subside, Hyun-woo pronounced his sentence.
“Today, I’ll take your other eye too.”
Carmar de Labl.
A low-ranking noble of the vampires.
He first appeared in Episode 4—the one who led the assault on Caligo’s clan.
To be exact, he wasn’t the one who gave the orders, but he was the acting commander.
“You… how do you know about my eye?!”
“Because I was the one who tore it out.”
“…Lucifer?”
Just like Varg, Carmar also knew about Lucifer.
I wasn’t the only one who cleared Episode 4, but why is it that they all specifically mention Lucifer?
“So, what do you intend to do?”
“…Impossible! A mere human dares utter that profane name!”
At once, Carmar’s entire body became shrouded in cursed blood—an obvious sign of battle.
I had no intention of avoiding it.
“Fine. Then I’ll take you on myself.”
Since the Varg raid, I’d left most battles to my summons.
But this one pissed me off enough—I’d deal with him properly.
“Party One, focus. From here on, I’ll command every move.”
* * *
The battle began with Hertia.
“Hert, first strike.”
Hertia conjured a sphere of magic in her hand and hurled it at Carmar.
Whooosh!
Boom!
The speeding sphere grazed Carmar’s collar.
“You think such an attack could harm me?”
Despite his mockery, Hertia didn’t flinch. She reached out, her gaze fixed on Iron.
She was about to use her artifact’s effect to target Carmar.
Carmar immediately grew wary of Iron.
But—
“Target: Caligo.”
At Hyun-woo’s order, Hertia twisted her fingertips, directing the artifact’s effect at Caligo instead.
At once, Caligo grinned widely and pulled a violet flask from his belt.
“Carmar—you’ve been tricked!”
《Death’s Liberator Caligo’s attack lands.》
《Poison spreads through Carmar de Labl’s body.》
“Ghhkk—!”
Drenched in Caligo’s poison, Carmar was finally able to move again.
‘The witch’s restriction is gone!’
He stabbed his own abdomen with his left hand, drawing out the contaminated blood.
“Graaahhh!”
Meanwhile, Temina retreated to the rear, while Iron stayed crouched in front.
Carmar felt victory was within his grasp.
Fighting a party with Hertia was troublesome—his allies would often be annihilated before he even got a turn.
But now he was still standing—meaning fortune favored him.
Spreading his wings, he lunged straight toward Temina, who stood beneath her red parasol.
“You’ve grown rusty, Hertia! Lucifer!”
Pulling more poisoned blood from his abdomen, he stretched his hand toward Temina’s heart.
But Temina only lifted her parasol slightly and smirked.
“You seem too focused on just those two. Haven’t noticed what’s around me?”
“What?”
Just as his hand neared her chest, Carmar’s palm burned fiercely.
“Ghhkk…!”
He recoiled, clutching his hand.
《Because my skin is precious, my skill effect activates.》
《Carmar de Labl’s skill attack has been repelled.》
《Skill effect increases evasion rate.》
《Carmar de Labl’s rotten blood seeps into Temina’s body.》
Hyun-woo glanced at the last message.
The damage was avoided, but the debuff was still inflicted.
A typical stacking gimmick:
Every hit planted a mark. If three marks accumulated, control of the summon would be stolen.
But—
‘So what?’
Hyun-woo had no intention of playing by Carmar’s rules.
“Hert!”
Hertia created another black sphere and launched it at Carmar.
He dodged easily again.
“Another magic sphere? You’ve grown weak, Hertia!”
He sneered at her pathetic abilities—until he spotted Iron charging straight at him.
“Uaaaahhh!”
《As a knight, I will fight! Skill activates.》
Fueled by Hertia’s artifact effect, Iron sprinted forward at incredible speed.
“S-sorryyy!!”
“Annoying insect!”
Vwooom!
Carmar dodged his rushing strike at the last moment.
But something felt… wrong.
‘What is this? Hertia and Caligo are far weaker than in their prime—yet why…’
For some reason, the fight wasn’t going as easily as it should.
As he caught his breath, a surge of massive energy flared behind him.
“It’s not over yet! Caligo!”
Distracted by Iron, he hadn’t noticed Caligo creeping up from behind.
“Kya-ha!”
Caligo hurled a flask of fluorescent liquid, shattering it above Carmar’s head.
The fluid clung to his body in an instant.
“Damn it—get off me! Get off!”
“Shout all you want. These things love vampire blood the most! Keh-heh-heh!”
《Death’s Bloom skill effect 1 activates.》
《Poisonous seeds sprout in Carmar de Labl’s body, causing temporary neural paralysis!》
At the same time, the effect of the Grail artifact triggered, purifying the rotten blood within Temina.
《Artifact ‘Blood-Drinking Grail’ activates.》
《The Grail protects ‘Flame’s Shade Temina’ from the Bleed effect.》
Carmar raged as his insurance planted in Temina vanished.
“Graaagh! You worthless insects!”
“As expected—the servant is just like his master. Falling for the same trick!”
Caligo laughed as he backed away.
Flames engulfed Carmar’s body.
《I told you, I’m really hot! Skill activates.》
A perfectly chained combo followed.
《Death’s Bloom skill effect 2 activates.》
《Poisonous bloom erupts within Varg’s body, dealing 50% of max HP in damage.》
《‘Cruelest Avenger’ skill activates—damage from Poison Bloom greatly increases!》
“Guahhhk!”
Carmar vomited blood.
At last, he understood how Varg had died.
Every movement calculated, every path predicted—attacks that could never be dodged.
It was like standing before an insurmountable mountain.
‘Lucifer… This is exactly the same as when I faced him!’
When he met Lucifer, he never believed he could win.
In fact, he had even doubted whether a means to victory existed at all.
The fact that he survived with only the loss of an eye—that had been a miracle.
Could it be? Could this human before him truly be Lucifer?
‘…Impossible. No, impossible! My attack isn’t over yet!’
Shaking, Carmar began pooling the rotten blood he had scattered throughout the tower.
“Ghhh… This place will become your graves!”
Hyun-woo responded coldly.
“You’ll regret that.”
“Silence, human! Don’t get cocky before me!”
《A Pool of Cursed Blood forms within the Raging Battlefield.》
《From the Pool of Cursed Blood, vampire spawn are summoned.》
“With this, your blood will become a part of me!”
* * *
Pathetic.
No matter what you do, you’ll never defeat me.
To suggest otherwise would be an insult—a disgrace to Lucifer.
‘Same old attack patterns as always.’
I couldn’t help but laugh at Carmar’s lack of growth.
Why hadn’t I used Hertia’s skills until now, relying only on basic attacks?
Because I knew this fool would try something so predictable.
Vampires always overestimated themselves.
“Kahahaha! No matter how refined your strategy, against absolute power it is useless! You weakened wretches—I’ll melt you into a puddle of blood and make you mine!”
Yeah. It’s over.
I gave Hertia the signal with a glance—activate skill two.
“Hert!”
“Yes, Master!”
《Dark Side skill effect 1 activates.》
A black curtain spread, covering the pools of blood across the colosseum floor.
Carmar panicked at the sight.
“What is this…?”
Then, tendrils emerged from the curtain, piercing the hearts of Carmar and his spawn.
A finger snap rang out.
Snap!
《Dark Side skill effect 2 ‘Vortex of Death’ activates!》
The massive vortex Hertia conjured swallowed the enemies whole.
“Ghhhaaaghhh!”
For the finale, Caligo sprayed venom right into the vortex.
The remaining spawn, barely clinging to life, collapsed one by one.
And with them… a change came over me as well.
