Yagami buried his friend with eyes overflowing with a grief no words could ever describe.
He picked up a piece of wood, tied his friend's handkerchief to it, and planted it as a marker on the grave.
He stood there in silence for a few moments…
Then whispered softly:
"Rest in peace… brother."
Without pause, he stepped onto a new path.
A dark, unknown, and deadly place.
A dungeon like the old Thousand-To, one he had never managed to conquer even in his previous life.
Yagami, with the flames of rage erupting inside him like a volcano, entered the depths of the new Thousand-To.
The first creature to appear was a colossal, terrifying monster:
Level: S
Level: null
XP: 1000
HP: 180
Skill: Extreme Physical Strength
But Yagami felt no fear, no hesitation.
His hand rested on his sword hilt… and in a fraction of a second, he struck.
One slash cleaved not only the axe, but the entire monster cleanly in half.
Without even a glance back, he walked on coldly.
Like a wounded, furious lion, he roared through the dungeon, mercilessly slaughtering every monster in his path.
When he reached the main gate, two guardians blocked the way:
An archer and a mage, both SS+ rank.
Archer:
Level: SS+
XP: 11000
HP: 1230
Skill: High-Speed Shooting
Special Skill: Continuous Shooting
Mage:
Level: SS+
Level: null
XP: 12000
HP: 1355
Magic: Fire, Plant, Lightning, Water, Earth, Healing
Special Skill: Simultaneous Dual-Element Control
Yagami instantly drew both swords.
He chanted a forbidden spell over each blade…
A deadly crimson aura instantly formed around them.
The moment the mage saw that aura, panic seized him. He immediately unleashed a massive lightning strike at Yagami.
The impact raised a thick cloud of dust; neither guardian could see anything.
The mage shouted to the archer:
"That's forbidden magic! We can't underestimate him!"
Then, right in front of the mage's face, a magical blade shot toward him.
He quickly used earth magic and sank into the ground. The blade struck the great gate behind him instead.
The archer, calm as ice, kept firing arrows at blinding speed, giving Yagami no chance to counter.
Yagami activated his own magic, raising a wall of earth as a shield to block the arrows.
The mage burst out of the ground again, cast a spell on one of the archer's arrows, and touched it.
The arrow glowed with a strange aura. When fired, it turned into a blazing projectile that shattered Yagami's earthen shield.
But Yagami was no longer there.
He appeared behind them in an instant, severed the mage's right hand with a single cut.
Then kicked the archer hard, sending him flying backward.
Even as the archer flew, he fired one last arrow straight at Yagami.
Yagami activated his own marksmanship skill and loosed two arrows in return.
The first arrow split the archer's arrow in half and kept going straight toward its owner.
The archer dodged, but before he could breathe, the second arrow pierced his eye perfectly.
With a scream of agony, he clutched his face and gasped:
"I… even with just one eye, I can still…"
But Yagami gave no quarter.
In a flash, he closed the distance and severed the archer's head from his neck in one clean stroke.
The head, eyes wide open, mouth frozen in pain, hit the ground a moment later.
The mage stared in shock at the headless body.
He attacked, but Yagami leaped back with lightning reflexes.
The mage instantly cast healing magic; his severed right hand regrew.
Looking down at the corpse with contempt, he sneered:
"Couldn't even last two minutes without me… worthless beast!"
Yagami laughed coldly:
"You think you would've lasted longer in his place?"
The mage roared:
"Of course! Because my power is far beyond you and that—"
Before he could finish, Yagami appeared like a shadow of death and beheaded him in a single motion.
Blood sprayed into the air… and a deathly silence fell over the battlefield.
Yagami gouged out the mage's right eye and the archer's left eye, placed them into the sockets required to open the gate.
As the massive doors began to open with a deafening, ominous roar,
Yagami stood fearlessly before them.