Chapter 48
I leveled up ten levels in one go.
To level up this much at the level-100 range…
That was an enormous amount of experience. As expected, this man was far stronger than the intruder I had encountered on Floor 60.
But since I killed him with Voidside, I probably couldn't turn him into an undead.
I had only been able to kill him because Treasure Keeper had reduced him to a near-death state. Even then, it seemed the experience hadn't been divided.
Taat-!
I landed atop the pile of gold coins and turned my gaze.
On the left, the Blood Knight was dealing with the skeletons.
On the right, Treasure Keeper lay collapsed, bleeding heavily from its serious injuries.
‘You can't die now…’
Thinking that, I headed toward the Blood Knight first.
Clang! Kaaaang-!
Skeletons were swarming the Blood Knight without end. Even when it smashed and cut them apart with its greatsword, they kept coming back to life.
That was because the old man was resurrecting the skeletons from behind.
The old man seemed to have panicked after the man caught in Treasure Keeper's grasp died, and was pouring out mana even more violently.
I reached the skeletons and drew a semicircle three or four times.
Screech-!
Slaaash!!
Slaaaash-!
I cut through the horde.
They crumbled where they stood.
The old man poured mana into them again, but they never rose a second time.
He looked back and forth between his own two arms, bewildered.
It seemed he had realized that their resurrection had been blocked.
He poured mana into the pile of bones once more, but the bones didn't move even slightly.
I approached the old man.
“I guess there really are situations where this scythe's effect comes in handy.”
The moment he met my eyes, he dropped to his knees and prostrated himself.
“̵̨̞̬̪҇̿̓̍I̵̛͈̥͛̃͜,҈̧̖͎̗̆̇͡ wh̴͖͆͢͠
He seemed to be begging for his life.
It was convenient that he didn't move.
I raised the scythe high and brought it down toward the crown of his head.
Kraaaang-!
His head split apart, spraying blood across the floor.
…”
Why was that? As expected, I felt little guilt.
In any case, at last, every intruder who had stormed Floor 100 had been killed.
A system window appeared.
[You have successfully repelled the intruder.]
[The Demon King's reward will now be granted!]
[Calculating difficulty…]
[Calculation complete]
[1,500,000G awarded!]
[The Demon King's reward vacation has been granted!]
[Your guardian duty has been suspended for 23:59:59!]
A reward of 1.5 million gold.
And I had been given a 24-hour vacation.
But I had no time to relax and examine the system window right now.
I hurriedly turned around.
“Treasure Keeper!”
I approached the creature lying sprawled on the ground.
Its condition was horrific.
Its chest was riddled with holes, and black blood poured from the stumps where its arms had been torn off.
Its heartbeat was faint.
Its breathing was so precarious that it could stop at any moment.
“Don't die…!”
It couldn't die.
The locks would disappear along with it. If that happened, I wouldn't be able to open the golden chest.
Treasure Keeper would resurrect once I reached Floor 101. If it died, I would never be able to meet it again.
I urgently reached out with both hands and placed them over Treasure Keeper's chest.
I rotated the second Circle in my dantian.
“Blood Command!”
Vrrrrrr-!
My mana burrowed into Treasure Keeper's body.
I forcibly drew up the blood that had spilled onto the floor and shoved it back into the severed stumps.
‘I have to match the timing of its heartbeat…’
Then, matching Treasure Keeper's heartbeat, I pumped the blood with my mana and forced it to circulate.
The damaged blood vessels and organs throughout the giant's torso appeared in my mind like a transparent diagram.
Using the blood as a medium, my mana stopped the bleeding in Treasure Keeper's body.
“Please…!”
Even though its insides were already exposed, I forced the blood to flow again.
Then.
<Cough…!>
Treasure Keeper coughed and barely regained consciousness.
‘It worked!’
I had succeeded in forcibly keeping it alive.
I had left it unable to move, but alive.
Now, no one could interfere with me.
At last, I could open the golden chest.
All I had to do was search the remaining area and find the locks.
Keeping Blood Command active with one hand, I began digging through the unexplored area of gold coins with the other.
Fwaak- Pak-pak-!
Gold coins flew in every direction with a loud metallic clatter.
Just then, Treasure Keeper opened its mouth amid a series of coughs.
<Ah… Inspector… How can I ever thank you… Thank you for saving my life.>
“…It's nothing.”
I answered curtly while digging through the gold coins with one hand.
Had it not realized?
I wasn't healing it. I was forcibly keeping it alive so I could find the locks.
Clink, shrrrattle.
The sound of digging through gold coins rang loudly throughout the chamber.
Treasure Keeper panted and spoke again.
<It is astonishing that you weren't injured at all by that explosion…>
“Yeah. Unlike a weakling like you.”
Pak-pak.
I answered carelessly, sharpening my sense of touch at my fingertips.
<I am truly grateful that one as mighty as you fought alongside this humble one…>
“……”
I stopped moving for a moment.
Hearing that, irritation began to rise within me.
Seriously.
Had it still not noticed?
“You idiot.”
I shouted as I grabbed a handful of gold coins and threw them away.
“What are you thanking me for? Can't you tell? I'm digging through your gold coins like this, and you still don't get it?”
<……>
“I'm looking for your locks right now!! I'm not an Inspector. I'm an intruder who came here to rob your golden chest from the very beginning!”
I pressed the matter angrily.
Treasure Keeper didn't even flinch.
After a while, a quiet voice returned.
<I know…>
“I knew it! Why aren't you angry? At least swear at me! This is so uncomfortable I could die!”
<Perhaps because I am used to it.>
“Used to what?”
<I have already… been betrayed before.>
It was an unexpected answer.
Regret showed in the eyes beneath Treasure Keeper's disheveled hair.
After another brief silence, it began to speak.
<By the man who robbed the chest 400 years ago.>
“…You mean the man wearing that hood?”
<Yes. And he was the ancestor of the young man among the intruders just now. He was wearing the same hood, and judging by his presence, he was unquestionably a blood relative.>
“…”
<400 years ago, that man played with me every day in this lonely place.>
Its voice trembled faintly.
<Just as you fought for me a moment ago… he, too, fought alongside me whenever other intruders came in. I gradually came to trust him… and believed that, by playing together every day, we had become inseparable.>
Apparently, that man had used a method similar to mine.
“…One day, he found all the locks and killed you.”
<That is correct. The moment I saw that descendant earlier, the memories of that time came back, and it felt as though my blood were boiling in reverse.>
I furrowed my brow.
“Then why aren't you angry at me…?”
Treasure Keeper answered slowly.
<Did you not confess first that you had deceived me…?>
I was dumbfounded.
“I only confessed because you could no longer stop me!!”
<That man…>
Treasure Keeper's one remaining hand clenched around a gold coin.
<He deceived me until the very end. Even at the moment my last arm was torn away… he smiled as he tricked me.>
“……”
I was left speechless.
Treasure Keeper was far too innocent.
It must have wanted to believe that man until the very last moment.
The same seemed true of me just now.
And only then did I understand.
Why I had felt so little guilt when I killed that man and his companions.
It was because those intruders had attacked this foolish giant. I wanted to protect Treasure Keeper.
‘Even though I've been deceiving Treasure Keeper all along.’
I mocked myself.
Then I barely managed to open my mouth.
“…I'm sorry.”
<……>
It was an apology utterly devoid of meaning.
I didn't know how Treasure Keeper had taken those words.
But the roots of my feelings were clear.
“But I can't help it. I have to take what's inside that chest and become stronger.”
<…Is it to kill the humans?>
I had simply grown tired of deceiving Treasure Keeper.
“No. I'm going to kill the Demon King.”
Treasure Keeper's blood surged violently.