Chapter 76: Return of the Grim Reaper
Elsewhere, back at the Slime Grime Dungeon, the echo of conversation buzzed before it suddenly died down. The green portal ahead shimmered softly with a mesmerizing light before a figure stepped out, drawing the attention of everyone. Silence engulfed the area.
It shattered moments later, murmurs rippling back in full force.
"Look, it’s him... the Grim Reaper! He’s finally out of the dungeon!"
"Huh? Wait, am I seeing this wrong? Something feels different... Why the fuck does he look so goddamn handsome?! Answer me!!"
"I knew it, I fucking knew it! He’s heaven’s chosen! Otherwise, how do you explain all this?"
"Hmm, now that I look at it, you really are ugly compared to the Grim Reaper... Ugh, I was a frog at the bottom of the well, my standards in the gutters..."
"Fuck you, man. You don’t look any better yourself. Besides, I have a girlfriend..."
"Not anymore..."
"Argh, I can’t take it anymore! Give me your babies! I want you inside me!" a girl far off in the distance shrieked.
Sigh. Aurelian breathed out, his brows arching as he scanned the crowd in surprise, his lips twitching.
What’s with comparing my looks and wanting my babies? His brows furrowed before he shook his head slowly. "Forget it, I have other matters to attend to."
He muttered under his breath, just about to leave the vicinity, before a white-haired man draped in heavy armor blinked in front of him. Aurelian instinctively took a step back, fingers crossed, blades a second away from being summoned. He eased up only after spotting the dungeon guard’s crest engraved on the man’s armor.
"Nice reflexes," Azvoid clicked, revealing a toothy smile as he eyed the youth before him. He nodded in satisfaction before continuing, "Not bad, not bad at all. You almost look just as handsome as I was in my prime."
Draven, who had also appeared beside him, twitched at the commander’s shameless bragging.
"So... what do you want from me?" Aurelian breathed, eyeing the two figures now standing before him.
He had already scanned them with advanced appraisal, but it revealed nothing useful.
"Not much. Tell me..." Azvoid leaned forward, whispering, "How do you do it? I mean, how do you get people to thank you after robbing them?"
"Commander!" Captain Draven growled, his eyes darting to the old man.
"Fine, fine..." Azvoid relented before muttering, "Also, tell me the level of the final dungeon boss and its rarity, while you’re at it."
"Oh, that." Aurelian murmured, sinking deep into thought before a dark smile stretched across his lips.
"Well, technically," he breathed, "it isn’t robbing if I’m taking what’s mine." A crooked thought process ran through the back of his mind.
Without his intervention, all the youths who entered the dungeon would have been slaughtered, their belongings lost forever. By slaying the dungeon boss, he had saved their lives. The treasures they left behind were... tokens of appreciation, even if forced.
Azvoid stared at him, his eyes drawn into the youth’s swirling vortex, before breaking into laughter.
"Hahaha! You’re one shameless bastard, I’ll give you that!" A realization dawning on him, he had finally found someone with a thicker skin than himself. The thought made him smile. He was coming to like this brat more and more.
Turning to leave, Aurelian muttered, his voice flickering behind, "As for the level of the beast, it was around 40. A mutant slime king. I can’t be too sure." He lied, trying to keep details of his true strength vague.
Caution wasn’t a bad thing. Spilling all his secrets regarding strength wouldn’t be ideal. Best to not reveal all his cards too early. He nodded at the thought as he walked off into the distance, a sigh escaping his lips.
Back to the Draeogor family residence, huh?
***
"You think I should’ve made him stay and answer a few more questions?" Azvoid muttered, watching the youth’s fading outline, catching a glimpse of the grimace lining Draven’s face.
"Y-yes, sir... maybe he could’ve shed more light..."
Sigh*
"You still don’t get it, do you?" Azvoid muttered. "This dungeon is restricted to F-rank beings. That means he entered as an F-rank and came out a warrior with the ability to slay an Evolved E-rank dungeon beast. Do you know what that means?"
"Uh... he’s talented?" Draven offered, beads of sweat forming in his palms.
The white-haired man’s bearing shifted from that of an old bastard to a detached sage.
"No. He isn’t talented. That..." Azvoid’s eyes glinted. "That is a monstrous genius."
"His level stands at 34. But there’s a mystical aura lighting up around him, fogging the perception of others. I believe it won’t be long before it encapsulates his whole being, shrouding him in mystery. A latent power lies deep within him... I just can’t make out what it is."
"L-level 34?" Draven gasped, his eyes widening in shock, nodding slowly at the commander’s words.
He had tried casting appraisal on the youth earlier, but it had been blocked. He had assumed the boy possessed a skill related to appraisal resistance and hadn’t thought much of it. But this... this was preposterous.
More preposterous were the youth’s parting words about the dungeon boss being only level 40.
That was nearly a ten-level gap, yet he had prevailed. The more Draven spiraled into thought, the more realization dawned on him.
"That’s not all. I think he didn’t reveal everything about the beast," Azvoid continued.
"S-so you think the beast was actually stronger than he said?" Draven muttered, finding it hard to breathe.
He had heard of monstrous geniuses before, but this was the first time he had truly laid eyes on one.
And now he was starting to understand Azvoid’s train of thought.
"So... letting him go that easily was part of your plan? So you could establish some sort of relationship with him, leave a good impression?" Draven muttered, glancing at the figure beside him in a new light. It seemed Azvoid had been ten steps ahead of him this whole time, he mused thoughtfully.
"Meh, I just wanted to sound like a mysterious expert while enjoying that stupid look on your face." Azvoid smirked, slapping his palm against Draven’s shoulder.
"And you fell for it. Seems you really are a bit slow. Nothing complicated here—the boy’s a talented brat. He slayed the dungeon boss right before it evolved into its final form, saving us a real pain in the ass. The only thing you should be shocked about is that I don’t have a single report in my hands about the sudden dungeon evolution!" Azvoid snapped.
Draven’s lips twitched, the image of the wise sage crumbling before his eyes as he sighed under his breath.
"Yes, sir," he muttered, before retreating into the distance.
News of the youth’s feat was bound to spread soon enough, and it wouldn’t be his problem for long.