2.
Seong, who always seed to stir up every conceivable issue, remained blissfully unaware.
No, it was more accurate to say he simply didn’t care.
When he used the Overlord's Compass, he found himself transported to a dark and massive stone chamber.
Around him, peculiar magical lights flickered faintly, too weak to truly illuminate the space.
Though their glow settled quietly around the room, they did little to dispel the oppressive darkness.
In front of Seong stood a colossal door, large enough to admit giants, fitting for the enormous chamber.
Intricate carvings adorned the stone door, depicting countless undead and demons seemingly worshiping a woman hovering high above them.
“Quite atmospheric,” Seong mused, examining the statues and their forms.
The figure portrayed unmistakably resembled Helena, the previous Overlord.
This was undoubtedly the perfect place for a second job advancent.
As Seong approached the massive door, the countless carved undead and demons on it began to gleam with crimson eyes.
The undead with their blood-red eyes, along with the horde of demons, began crawling out of the door.
Before long, the massive chamber was packed with their nacing presence, numbering in the hundreds.
The undead and demons that now filled the chamber seed vastly different from Seong’s Death Legion.
For a mont, Seong wondered if they were sohow connected to his Death Legion due to this being the Overlord's second job advancent site.
It seed they were not.
At that mont, glowing text appeared before him.
[Prove that you are a ruler.]
Seong nodded slightly as he read the ssage.
It wasn’t a gesture of confidence or dismissal, but simply an acknowledgnt.
“What perfect timing,” he thought. He had been eager for a proper trial.
With two new skills to test, he opened the erald-glowing Gate of the Netherworld, from which his Death Legion began pouring out.
Among them, Valtar attempted to stride out confidently but imdiately collided with an invisible barrier, his face a picture of confusion.
"Huh? What’s going on?"
Seeing Valtar’s bewildernt, Seong smirked and said,
"Stay put."
"What?!"
"If you join, it’ll be over too quickly."
"M-my Lord! Wait, successor! No, my Lord!"
Seong casually closed the Gate of the Netherworld, cutting off Valtar mid-protest.
He intended to test his new skills, and if Valtar participated, the battle would likely end before he could even gauge their effectiveness. Thus, Valtar was excluded from the summoning.
“Now then, let’s see what these new skills can do.”
Opposing forces filled the chamber: roughly fifty of Seong’s Death Legion facing the undead and demon horde spilling out of the door.
Seong extended his hand, activating his first new skill.
Crawling Darkness.
As he cast the spell, shadows writhed from his grasp like arrows, spreading rapidly across the ground.
The darkness seeped into the shadows of the Death Legion, settling over them like a thick fog.
Once the darkness had blanketed the entire Death Legion, it surged up again, wrapping around them like a protective shroud.
Already brimming with the eerie teal aura of the Netherworld, the Death Legion’s bodies now grew even more resilient, fortified by the crawling darkness.
"Kekeke!"
"Kihehehe!"
"Keruh-huh! Kehra!"
"Kekekeke!"
"Clatter, clatter!"
The Death Legion let out chaotic, guttural roars—not their usual expressions of devotion or chants of reverence.
Instead, they seed unable to contain the raw power surging within them.
Their feral cries caused the opposing undead and demons to flinch and montarily hesitate.
But the Death Legion didn’t wait.
They charged at their enemies, tearing through them with ferocity. Bolstered by the Crawling Darkness buff, the Death Legion was unstoppable.
Crack! Crunch!
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Kiiiiiieeeee!"
"Clatter, clatter!"
Barfur’s necrotic arms swept through swathes of undead and demons alike, while the impish Kaishak’s razor-sharp tail carved down at least two foes with each strike.
The undead goblins and skeletal rcenaries eschewed coordinated tactics for raw individual combat, smashing apart their enemies with sheer force.
With every enemy felled, the darkness enveloping them grew thicker, pulsing ominously as it spread.
Mist-like shadows billowed outward, heightening the eerie atmosphere, and Seong grinned in satisfaction.
“What an incredible buff.”
As Seong marveled, he noticed that for those enemies resilient enough to withstand attacks, sharp, shadowy hands began sprouting from the ground, clutching at their limbs.
“A debuff effect of Crawling Darkness?” he wondered.
But no, it was sothing else.
When the number of shadowy hands multiplied, eventually clinging to the necks of their targets, a dark figure erged behind them.
The hands gripping the undead’s necks transford into scythe-like blades.
The figure wielded the scythes, slicing through its prey with chilling precision.
Shhhhkk.
The sound of death echoed, spreading dread across the battlefield.
More shadowy hands began appearing, and Seong nodded in understanding.
“Amazing.”
These were the Marks of Death, a passive skill he hadn’t fully grasped until now.
The effect activated this way was staggeringly powerful.
What’s more, it wasn’t limited to the Death Legion alone—it applied to Seong himself.
“It seems to deal inescapable damage. If used creatively, this could lead to devastating combos.”
Satisfied, Seong observed the battlefield with a calculating gaze.
Despite being vastly outnumbered, his forces quickly gained the upper hand.
The enemy forces were decimated before the effects of Crawling Darkness even wore off.
In less than five minutes, the chamber was cleared of enemies.
Then ca the system’s announcent:
[Praise to the one who has proven themselves as a ruler.]
[To the one who has proven their worth, the door shall open.]
A system ssage appeared, and the massive door in the stone chamber began to open on its own.
As the colossal and weighty stone door slowly creaked open, it sent deep vibrations reverberating through the surroundings.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
Amid the tremors caused by the opening door, Seong dismissed his Death Legion back into the Netherworld and prepared to walk forward.
Or at least, he thought he would. He hadn’t even taken a step yet when, suddenly, the scenery around him shifted.
The grand stone chamber vanished, replaced by a place cloaked in utter darkness.
Although the abrupt transition might have startled anyone else, Seong didn’t bat an eye.
It wasn’t the first ti sothing like this had happened.
He scanned his surroundings.
Though dark, he could still make out so details.
Should I call it eerie? Or maybe unsettling?
The pervasive darkness obscured much of the area, but one thing stood out clearly:
A solitary altar lay directly in front of him, illuminated amidst the shadows.
“What kind of place is this?”
Seong knew this was the location for his second job advancent, but its original purpose eluded him.
Was it a place for rituals?
Given the presence of an altar, that seed plausible, yet sothing about it didn’t feel right.
Considering this was tied to Helena, the forr Overlord, it was hard to imagine her conducting ritual sacrifices here.
As Seong mused over these thoughts, small lights began to ignite on the dim altar.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The lights, teal in color, flickered to life like ethereal torches, floating in midair like will-o’-the-wisps.
Thanks to their glow, the surroundings ca into view.
It wasn’t that the lights illuminated the area. Rather, their appearance seed to bring the surroundings into existence.
What was revealed was a scene bathed in blood-red hues.
Beyond the altar, an endless abyss stretched in every direction, with the edges plunging into darkness.
Nurous waterfalls cascaded into the abyss, but unlike normal waterfalls, these spilled streams of crimson, scattering drops of blood across the air.
The scene was so vivid that even the golden moonlight hovering above the altar seed to be stained red.
Swoooosh——
The soothing sound of waterfalls contrasted starkly with the sinister crimson atmosphere, creating an eerie tension.
Unfazed, Seong took in the surroundings with a calm expression and thought to himself:
"Is this because of Valtar?"
Before reaching level 50, Seong had obtained the skill to summon the Demon Knight of Blood, Valtar, at level 40.
The scenery certainly seed fitting for a knight bearing the title of the "Demon Knight of Blood."
At first, he assud this might be Helena’s altar, but now it was clear: this was Valtar’s altar.
As Seong contemplated, the teal flas atop the altar gathered and rged into a single large fla.
The fla roared to life, forming distinct facial features—a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth—as if it were alive.
The fla, gleaming with intensity, parted its glowing lips and spoke.
"Greetings to the descendant of the Mother of All, the Sovereign of All Things Dark."
“Hmm?”
Seong tilted his head, surprised that the fla had spoken to him.
Noticing his reaction, the fla let out a pleased chuckle.
"To think that one so radiant is her descendant. She will be most delighted."
The fla flickered with a hint of lancholy at the ntion of Helena.
Seong, nodding as though in agreent, replied casually.
“Hmm, yeah. She seed happy.”
"…?"
The fla wavered slightly, clearly taken aback by Seong’s nonchalant response.
"What’s this? Is he a rather arrogant descendant?"
For the fla, Seong’s words were baffling. He spoke of Helena as if he had t her in person, sothing the fla deed impossible.
Despite its surprise, the fla couldn’t outright refute him. After all, it had spoken first.
Moreover, it couldn’t afford to be disrespectful to the only heir of the Mother of All Darkness.
Even if he ca across as a bit arrogant, wasn’t that his right as Helena’s descendant?
Clearing its taphorical throat, the fla continued.
"Ahem, welco, noble descendant."
With its words, teal sparks shot out in all directions, exploding like fireworks.
The spectacle was dazzling, as if the fla were putting on a grand welco ceremony.
Seong watched the display, slightly taken aback by the elaborate gesture.
"I wasn’t expecting this much of a welco. Perhaps it’s because I proved my worth earlier?"
It seed unusually hospitable.
“Pleased to et you as well. I’m Seong.”
At his introduction, the fla seed to bow its "head," though its form was little more than a floating ball of fire.
Seong, unsure how to react, stood silently.
Then the fla exclaid with admiration.
"Oh! The Altar of Blood! You have summoned the Demon Knight, Valtar!"
Its excitent only confird Seong’s earlier suspicions. This was indeed Valtar’s altar.
The fla, though amazed, looked at Seong with a faint hint of pity and spoke.
"Ah, it must have been arduous. Among the Demon Knights, Valtar is particularly difficult to deal with."
“…?”
Valtar? Difficult?
The comnt puzzled Seong. Difficult in what sense?
Was it sothing trivial, like being picky about underwear?
The tone suggested otherwise, so Seong chose to stay silent.
"You must have endured a great deal."
“Hm?”
"But worry not. Here at the Altar of Blood, Valtar will pledge unwavering loyalty to you!"
Finally, the fla’s explanation made sense to Seong.
"So that’s how it works."
Without further ado, Seong opened the Gate of the Netherworld and summoned Valtar.
"M-my Lord! Have you truly summoned again? This Valtar is deeply moved!"
The fla, apparently called Azrapham, cried out in alarm.
"Wait! I’m not ready for this! You must stop summoning—oh?!"
Valtar, noticing the altar, murmured,
"Huh? Isn’t that you, Azrapham? Oh-ho! Then this place must be…"
Before Valtar could continue, Seong interrupted with a pointed question directed at the fla.
“If he’s already pledged loyalty, is there sothing else I need to do?”
"Uh… uh… I… suppose not?"
Seong gave the fla a bemused look as if to say, Why are you asking ?
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