Chapter 136 ….
“Don’t tell me Phase 2 is activating?”
It differed by boss, but usually Phase 2 triggered when HP dropped to 30% or 50%.
Right now the creature’s health was at 50%—perfect timing.
If it activated in a crisis like this, there was a high chance it would use some kind of counter ability or invincibility skill.
Grip—
Dohyeon had to quickly decide whether to strike faster or dodge.
Just as he checked the message with slight tension—
[20 minutes have passed since awakening. Arlagini’s mind awakens.]
“…Huh?”
The message was completely different from what he expected.
He blanked out for a moment at the incomprehensible words.
Sss—
A change came over Arlagini.
The creature’s previously murky, foggy eyes regained life and cleared.
The eerie, corpse-like gaze from before was gone, replaced by bright, sparkling eyes that scanned Dohyeon.
Shiii…?
Looking puzzled, the creature belatedly checked its own condition and frowned.
As the pain rushed in, its face crumpled further—
Then it finally burst into a wail.
Shiiiiik!!! Shik!!
With teary eyes, Arlagini suddenly started crying.
Seeing that, Dohyeon couldn’t help but imagine a sound effect like bwaaaang!.
It looked exactly like a child crying for its mother.
From Dohyeon’s perspective, it was utterly absurd.
‘No, what is this all of a sudden?’
Just as he stood there dumbfounded, feeling like he’d somehow become the villain who bullied a kid—
[Species confirmed as complete ‘Human.’]
[Conditions fulfilled.]
Another message appeared.
Paaaat—!
A brilliant light burst from behind Dohyeon, illuminating the dungeon.
It was the same phenomenon he had experienced before.
[The Yang Will of the slumbering Dark King awakens.]
[The Yang Will of Har, the Dark King of ancient humanity, manifests.]
Shiiik! Shik!
Turning at Arlagini’s excited hissing—like a child who had found its father—Dohyeon saw him.
A middle-aged man with a cold face, dressed in martial robes.
He was about the same height as Dohyeon, just over 180 cm, with a lean build—yet for some reason, he felt enormous.
[How long has it been since I last awoke…]
Floating in the air with eyes closed, he spoke as if moved by emotion.
[If I have awakened, then a descendant of humanity must have arrived. Arlagini—that one takes time to regain reason after waking, so you shouldn’t have bullied it too much—hmm?]
The Dark King opened his eyes—
And stopped mid-sentence.
Shik—! Shik!
Arlagini was bawling like it was tattling.
Around it stood five undead wrapped in darkness.
A hooded dwarf and a knight in silver armor.
“…Uh… well.”
And finally, Dohyeon, frozen mid-swing with a terrifying aura emanating from his raised sword.
Watching them awkwardly lower their weapons, the Dark King finally blurted out—
[…Huh?]
This was completely different from what he had expected.
* * *
The Dark King, Har, could not understand the situation.
‘What is this?’
Gatekeeper Arlagini.
What kind of being was it? In the past, it had been a great ancient divine beast that roamed battlefields alongside his comrades.
Even if this was merely its cast-off husk, it was still the remains of such an ancient divine beast.
Any ordinary human should have burst like a bug from a single body slam, and even a legendary sword would struggle to pierce its tough scales.
‘There was no better guardian than this one.’
In present-day Sargis, there was no better defender for this place than Arlagini’s husk.
It wasn’t guarding this place for nothing—it was meant to defeat threats and properly guide humanity’s descendants.
Its only flaw was that, being a husk, it took some time to regain consciousness after waking.
Which meant the descendant was supposed to endure during that time…
“Uh… I didn’t do anything.”
—Master, shouldn’t you at least put the sword away before saying that? You’re stepping on its body and trying to cut its neck. I wouldn’t believe you either.
“Ah.”
Shik! Shik!
Watching Dohyeon’s group fidget and chatter while Arlagini passionately protested its innocence, the Dark King grew deeply confused.
‘Why are the roles reversed?’
No matter how he looked at it, Arlagini was the victim and they were the perpetrators.
The majestic ancient divine beast that once dominated battlefields was nowhere to be seen—
Instead, there was what looked like an assault victim diligently explaining where it had been hit.
[…Enough.]
—Gulp!
Shi, shik…
As he muttered quietly while pressing his forehead, Jihad inhaled sharply and shut his mouth.
Arlagini, who had been protesting hard, did the same.
Seeing the Dark King silence the commotion with a single word, Dohyeon swallowed dryly.
‘So this is the Dark King…’
There was definitely something overwhelming about him.
If Seras had given off a sacred aura like standing before a goddess, the Dark King radiated a terrifying killing intent.
‘His title fits.’
Unlike with Seras, where he felt at ease, Dohyeon’s whole body was on edge.
Just then, the somewhat-calmed Dark King looked at Dohyeon with interest.
[Ho…? Looking closer, you’re not just an ordinary human.]
He suddenly appeared right in front of Dohyeon.
He moved so fast that the approach hadn’t even been visible.
The Dark King scanned him up and down, then his gaze stopped at Dohyeon’s forehead.
[That is clearly Seras’s energy… You received her mark?]
“…Yes.”
[And that weapon belongs to Kashiar, I presume. To think I’d see a successor here. Then I’m the third?]
When Dohyeon nodded, the killing intent around the Dark King vanished like a lie.
Just moments ago, it had felt like Dohyeon’s head might roll at any second—now he felt almost warmly comforted.
There was even a faint sense of warmth.
[If you’ve received power from those two, your strength makes sense.]
Shishik— shik!
[…Still, getting beaten this badly is a bit much. You’re an ancient species, aren’t you? Even if you’re just a husk, losing to someone still wet behind the ears?]
Shik…
Arlagini, who had been nodding along, drooped gloomily at the scolding.
Eliza walked over and patted its back.
—Liza liza.
Shishik…?
—Liza!
Shishik!
…No idea what they were saying.
Anyway, Arlagini seemed to recover a bit while chatting with Eliza.
Whether Eliza was good at comforting or Arlagini was just simple-minded…
Either way, judging by how quickly it cheered up, Eliza’s experience comforting Jihad clearly hadn’t gone to waste.
—It’s okay, everyone’s like that at first. I was too. At least you didn’t die. Back in my day…
Shishik! Shishik!?
—Liza!
—I’m telling you, it’s all true. The knee I got hit still hurts!
Leaving the trio bonding behind, Dohyeon focused on the Dark King, who continued speaking.
[Hmm… Your growth plate isn’t even halfway closed, yet you’re already at this level… Once completed, you’ll be quite useful. That guy’s personality is questionable, but his eye for talent is good.]
“….”
Muttering to himself, the Dark King grinned and pulled something from his robes.
A small, softly glowing key imbued with yellow energy.
However, its cross-section was cut—it looked like half of a key.
[Take it.]
“…What is this?”
Seeing Dohyeon’s confusion, the Dark King answered casually.
[My origin has been shattered over time and by the seal. Most of the others are probably the same. Seras’s was, wasn’t it?]
“Yes.”
Kashiar’s had seemed intact, but…
Apparently that had been the unusual case.
[Broken fragments of fate don’t mean much. Of course, they still contain the origin, so carrying them has some effect—but that’s not why you’re collecting them, right?]
“…Ah.”
[Anyway, you need a kind of medium to restore it into a complete fragment. In Seras’s case, it was a certain level of malicious energy. In my case—it’s this.]
As Dohyeon accepted the half-key, a message appeared.
[You have obtained the Yang Energy of the Dark King.]
[Find the Yin Energy of the Dark King and forge a single key.]
‘I see. So that’s how it works.’
Come to think of it, when the Dark King’s will descended, the wording had been slightly different from Seras’s.
Instead of saying the Dark King’s will had awakened, it had specified the Yang Will.
[Humans are originally born with either Yin energy or Yang energy. If born too strongly with one, they die young—but some turn that crisis into opportunity and refine it into great power.]
In martial arts terms, it was like an extreme yin body or heavenly martial body.
Rare physiques—but even among them, the Dark King was exceptional.
[I was born excessively endowed with both Yin and Yang. Anyone else would have died at birth.]
Yet Har had survived and earned the title of Dark King for one reason.
[Dual personality.]
A person with two personalities in one body.
But in his case, it was special.
Beyond simply having two personalities, his unique physiology allowed two attributes and auras to exist within one body.
That was why he was unrivaled not only in poison and assassination, but also overwhelmingly powerful as a martial artist.
[I am the personality born with Yang energy—the one in charge of martial might.]
“….”
[Find the Yin energy as soon as possible and complete the key. Insert the key into the Fragment of Fate and you’re done. Not difficult, right?]
Watching the Dark King shrug as if it were trivial, Dohyeon let out an inward hollow laugh.
Easy, he says…
‘That means I have to find two more things.’
Two pieces to complete the key.
Plus the Fragment of Fate—three in total.
Before, finding one was enough. Now it was a full scavenger hunt.
Were the other fragments all like this too?
‘…Well, it is the main quest.’
The thought alone gave him a headache, but Dohyeon shook off the distraction.
No one was chasing him. There was no need to rush.
‘Yin energy… Would I have to meet the Dark King’s other personality?’
But how?
It had already been over a year and a half since God of Sese launched.
Most information about Sargis was already fully uncovered, yet nothing like this existed.
After all, even finding the Yang energy had required a hidden quest from a hidden NPC combined with a secret dungeon.
‘At this point, the only possibilities left are the Outlaw… and the Lord… hmm? The Outlaw?’
At that moment, something flashed through Dohyeon’s mind.
Jin Rudelel had stolen something from the Outlaw and turned him into a blind man. And the Outlaw could descend only at night thanks to a special item.
‘…No way.’
Night. Moonlight.
Was it just his imagination, or did that fit the Yin energy perfectly?
Also, according to Gamilion, the Fragment of Fate was kept by the Lord of the castle.
And the Outlaws were planning to invade the castle.
‘If the Outlaw has the Yin energy, and Jin Rudelel made him a blind man who can’t find the Yang energy…’
Dohyeon muttered under his breath.
“…Damn.”
It seemed he would have to take down the Outlaws’ leader to complete the key.
