2.
Five days had passed since Seong entered.
In the dark stone chamber, where not even a single ray of light could penetrate, a being who had been swinging a sword alone paused for a moment.
The visitor who had arrived a few days ago.
He had seen the effort of this visitor, and although he had thought that this visitor would never reach this point, he now sensed movement.
With unkempt white hair and a long, untrimmed beard, he closed his eyes as he sensed the presence.
"Don’t get your hopes up."
Even if he gained the conditions to take the test...
"He's unlikely to reach this place."
If he didn’t expect anything, he wouldn’t be disappointed.
That was the conclusion he had reached after living here for so long.
He had once had hope and expectations.
But when those had been betrayed, he remembered it clearly.
Even when visitors came long ago, he hadn’t been able to free himself.
Since the hated skeleton knight invaded, he had been trapped here.
And because of that, he didn’t want to rely on anything anymore.
The more he relied on things, the more he was hurt.
So...
"He won’t make it to this point..."
He muttered words he didn’t even expect to say.
However, that was only for a moment.
The visitor, who had entered for the test, quickly moved on to the next one.
"...?"
At first, he thought it was just a stroke of luck and was about to continue swinging his sword.
But the visitor passed the test again and moved to the next.
Already the third test? Hadn’t they just entered?
Confused, the being tilted his head in bewilderment.
Had his senses gone off after such a long time?
No, that couldn’t be.
It couldn’t be.
So why had the visitor already moved on to the fourth test?
"??????"
Unable to understand the phenomenon, he couldn’t bring himself to swing his sword any longer.
What was going on?
3.
The sword traced a path through the air like a comet.
But it wasn’t just fast.
The swords held in both hands were heavier, faster, and sharper than anything else.
As the sword cleaved through the air, it cut through with a sharpness that sliced the very atmosphere.
Eventually, the end of the trajectory connected with the body of a golem, covered in mithril.
Slick—!
The sound of the sword cutting was almost nonexistent as it cleanly sliced through the mithril golem without resistance.
The sword, which only looked like a steel sword, was honed to the extreme, cutting through the mithril golem without any trouble.
Boom—! Boom———!!!
Because of the massive size of the golem, even the fall of its pieces caused a powerful tremor.
It felt like the spire itself might collapse.
In a single blow, the mithril was split in two.
Of course, it was only a thin outer layer of mithril, but...
Even so, it was impressive that Seong had cut through the mithril, which was powered by mana.
Seong could definitely feel his progress.
‘With this, I could probably handle the elites of Echo Willow just with my sword, right?’
Previously, Seong had barely managed to win by using magic skills and his sword.
But now, his power had risen so much that he could win using just swordsmanship.
Having absorbed all the memories of the elf knights, it was clear that he had become stronger.
‘Even if the Echo Willow elites attacked now, I think I could handle them just with swordplay.’
Seong, satisfied with his progress, was quietly contemplating.
As he did, his followers, who had been waiting behind him, began to applaud.
Originally, they hadn’t done this, but after Leonik came, things had changed a little.
Praising their lord was apparently part of their duty as followers.
It was a bit awkward, though, with Noxtrinium and Fiora also joining in.
It was a little embarrassing to be praised like that, but Seong brushed it off, focusing on the thoughts in his mind.
[You have successfully passed the Fifth Test of the Knights!] [You have completed all the tests in the Hidden Field, "The Hall of Knights"!] [You have passed with the shortest time!] [You are the first among all users!]
The message announcing that Seong had passed the fifth test of the Hall of Knights was displayed.
Other messages followed, such as passing with the shortest time and being the first user to do so, but Seong didn’t care at all.
He had a different goal.
‘The elf knight spirits told me,’
There was a hidden test, beyond the tower trials.
A hidden mission.
Normally, this mission would be impossible to find.
But now, with the memories Seong had gained, it was incredibly easy to find.
First, he headed toward the place where the mithril golem had been sliced in two.
Looking closely, there was a socket-like spot on its heart.
When he pressed it lightly, a click sound was heard.
Like opening a fuel cap, the entrance opened, revealing a mithril key stored safely inside.
‘Oh.’
It was a little surprising that it worked exactly as he had remembered.
Holding the key, Seong moved to a corner on the first floor of the fifth tower.
Without looking too carefully, he wouldn’t have been able to see the door.
But now, after arriving, he inserted the key into the keyhole on the door handle.
Click—.
With the exact sound of it fitting, Seong could see a dark stone staircase leading down.
As he opened the door,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Torches hanging on the walls of the stone staircase lit up one by one, illuminating the surroundings.
The once dark stone stairs quickly became bright, and Seong let out a small exclamation.
"Oh."
Seong had never encountered such a place before.
It was even more exciting than he had expected.
Since he started in Eternal World, he had only seen this level of dramatic presentation in the Overlord's second class advancement and the main quests.
It was no surprise that he was looking forward to this.
"It seems to have a heartbeat, so it's likely a living being... but I’m still not sure."
As the three followers each voiced their opinions, Seong nodded as if he understood.
Analyzing the power was important, but Seong wasn’t sure if he needed to know everything in advance.
If it had been any other player, they would have entered without any knowledge.
But Seong didn’t care much, and he began descending.
Step, step.
As Seong walked slowly, the torches along the sides lit up in sync with his steps.
The flickering flames cast eerie shadows, creating a chilling atmosphere.
But Seong wasn’t afraid of such things.
He had seen ghosts since he was young, and he was far too accustomed to them to be scared now.
As Seong descended slowly, he reached the bottom of the stone stairs.
At the end of the stairs, a dark stone chamber awaited.
When Seong arrived in the chamber, all the torches around him lit up, illuminating the entire room.
Then, standing in the center of the room, a figure appeared.
"Hmm?"
With long white hair and a long white beard, the figure resembled an old man, almost like a sage.
But the pointed ears and sharp eyes made it clear: it was definitely an elf.
Seong had only briefly entertained the idea of what to expect, but as he saw the figure, his sword trembled, and he noticed the elf's eyes shake.
Why was that?
For a moment, Seong couldn’t understand, and he stared at the elderly elf.
The elf cautiously opened his mouth.
"...How did you come so quickly?"
"Excuse me?"
The elf asked genuinely, curious.
Had there been anyone who passed the tests this quickly?
No, there hadn’t been.
So who was this visitor?
Judging by the followers behind him, it was clear he was a dark mage.
Yet, how could he break through the tests so quickly?
Not only was the speed surprising, but Seong had done something that seemed impossible — he had passed the tests so quickly.
Seong’s evaluation went up significantly in the elf’s eyes.
But Seong was thinking, ‘What should I say?’
He already knew the tests. It was simply because he was strong enough to reach this point quickly.
Should he just be honest?
As Seong hesitated, he spoke.
"I came with my sword."
"...Hah."
Was that not the right answer?
Seong scratched his head, wondering about it.
"Have you been here all this time?"
"..."
The elf didn’t answer for a while. Then he closed his eyes, raised his head, and spoke.
"Yes. Since that damn skeleton knight invaded, I’ve been trapped here."
"Ah..."
Noxtrinium nodded as if understanding.
Seong, unsure of how to respond to the elf’s words, waited, but the elf spoke first.
"The final test will be a duel, with swordsmanship determining the outcome. Since my freedom is at stake, I will fight with all my strength. Even if you have a debt to me, don’t take it lightly. If you defeat me, you will receive a great reward."
"...I understand."
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
Seong wasn’t really planning to take it easy, but he nodded and gripped his sword.
The elf, seeing Seong’s readiness, felt a strange sensation.
"Hah, seeing your followers, I suspected it, but... you really are a dark mage."
"Yes, that’s correct."
"Here, all magic and techniques are sealed. We can only fight using swordsmanship. Are you okay with that?"
"Yes, I’m fine. Please, don’t feel sorry for me."
"Heh. How interesting."
The elf nodded with a smile.
To his surprise, the visitor had reflected his own words right back at him.
It was quite an amusing challenger.
No matter whether Seong won or lost here, the elf would be freed.
But he intended to enjoy this last moment, even if it burned his soul.
Since the visitor had appeared unexpectedly, it was his turn to enjoy this moment.
Meanwhile, Seong felt his competitive spirit rise.
Would there be another time when he fought using only swordsmanship like this?
Probably not.
After all, Seong’s character was built on Overlord skills.
Although Helena from the past had given him swordsmanship skills, it was only a minor part of his abilities.
That was why Seong was fully committed to this battle, relying only on his sword.
‘Let’s see the limits of swordsmanship.’
Seong thought, gripping his sword with full focus as he awaited the elf’s next move.
Then, the elf moved first.
"I’ll go first."
The elf slipped forward with a low stance, then pushed off with his back leg, sliding toward Seong with a speed that seemed almost unreal.
It was an exceptional footwork.
Seong knew that keeping such a low stance while charging was a difficult technique, but he wasn’t surprised.
He stepped back to maintain his distance while preparing for the attack.
Sure enough, as Seong predicted, the elf’s sword swept across the floor with a low trajectory, then shot upwards like a dragon ascending into the sky, coming straight at Seong.
Seong realized that this sword strike was tricky to block.
If he tried to block it, he’d definitely take some damage, but if he tried to dodge, the speed was too quick.
‘I’ll use a different approach.’
With that thought, Seong twisted his body quickly, using the recoil from his sword as he kicked off the air to propel himself backward, escaping the elf’s strike.
Swooshhhhh.
The ground left two long lines as Seong slid, maintaining his stance and being pushed back.
The elf looked at Seong with a fascinated expression.
"Ho? You managed to dodge that? Impressive."
The elf complimented him casually.
But Seong responded with a confident smirk.
"You’ll be even more surprised."