The ash of the Void Hound blew away in the cold air of the boiler room.
I didn't stop to look at the hole in the floor. My heart was beating once every forty seconds now. It was a steady, heavy drum of power. The 'First Slayer' title was already working inside me. I felt lighter. I felt faster. My grip on the Shadow-Slaying Blade was like a vice.
[Current Level: 1] [Exp: 150/500]
In my past life, it took me a week to reach Level 1. I had to fight a starving goblin with a broken table leg in a rainy alley. Now, I had done it in less than ten seconds.
I turned toward the heavy double doors at the end of the dark hallway. They were labeled: MORGUE - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
The smell was getting worse. It wasn't just the smell of dead bodies. It was the smell of reality breaking apart. It smelled like wet copper, old blood, and ozone. It was the scent of the end of the world.
Thump. Thump.
I heard it through the thick doors. It was the sound of something heavy hitting a metal tray. Then, the sound of tearing plastic. Rip. Squish. Chew.
I didn't sneak. I didn't hide. A King doesn't hide from scavengers.
I kicked the doors open with a loud bang.
The morgue was freezing. Rows of stainless steel cabinets lined the walls, holding the quiet dead. In the center of the room, two figures were hunched over a white body bag on a rolling table. They were 'Lesser Ghouls'—Level 3 scavengers from the Void. They looked like skinless humans with long, thin arms and sharp, black claws. Their skin was pale and slimy. Their eyes were milky white, with no pupils.
They looked up at me, their mouths dripping with a dark, thick fluid.
[Ding! Target Spotted: Lesser Ghoul (Level 3) x2.]
They screeched—a sound like a rusted metal hinge being forced open. They lunged at the same time. They weren't as fast as the Hound, but they were smart enough to attack from two sides. One went for my throat. The other went for my knees.
"Trash," I said.
I didn't even use a special skill.
I stepped forward, my boots clicking on the cold tile. I swung the black blade in a wide, horizontal circle. The first ghoul's head flew off before its claws could even touch my jacket. Its body hit the floor with a wet thud and slid across the blood-slicked tile like a piece of meat.
The second ghoul tried to hiss and pull back. It saw its partner die and felt a spark of fear. But I was already there.
I grabbed its face with my left hand. My fingers dug deep into its soft, rotten skull. It clawed at my arm, desperate to escape. But my skin was now as tough as cured leather. Its yellow nails snapped against my wrist without leaving a scratch.
I slammed its head into the sharp edge of a metal morgue table.
CRUNCH.
The skull shattered like a hollow egg. I didn't let go. I felt the 'Heaven-Devouring' technique activate. Dark threads of energy pulled the life out of the ghoul's body. It flowed through my arm and into my chest. It felt like a shot of hot caffeine hitting my soul.
[Ding! You have slain a Lesser Ghoul (Level 3)!] [Exp +40]
[Ding! You have slain a Lesser Ghoul (Level 3)!] [Exp +40]
The two bodies dissolved into gray dust, leaving only the smell of rot behind.
I stood in the center of the morgue. The flickering lights reflected off my silver eyes. I felt the power rising. It was addictive. In my past life, power came from luck. In this life, it came from being a predator.
[Exp: 230/500]
I looked at the back of the morgue, near the large freezer units. There was a third rift forming there. This one was different. It wasn't white or gray like the others. It was a deep, bruised purple. It looked like a bleeding wound in the air.
A Boss Rift? I thought. My eyes narrowed.
A Boss Rift this early in the timeline shouldn't be possible. The first bosses didn't usually appear until the third day of the Descent. But then again, I wasn't supposed to be here either. My 'First Sovereign' system was changing the gravity of the world. My power was pulling stronger monsters toward me.
The air in the room started to freeze. My breath came out in thick white clouds. The frost began to crawl up the metal walls.
From the purple rift, a massive hand emerged. It was covered in rusted iron armor. Then, a long, jagged cleaver—stained with ancient blood—pulled through the hole in reality.
[Warning! Regional Boss Detected!] [Name: The Crypt Warden (Level 10 - Elite)] [Note: This monster is 9 Levels higher than the Host. Survival probability: 2%.]
"Two percent?"
I looked at the Shadow-Slaying Blade in my hand. The black metal was glowing with a faint, hungry light. It didn't care about percentages. It wanted that boss's soul. It wanted to drink.
The Crypt Warden stepped fully into the room. It was eight feet tall. It wore a hood made of stitched human skin. Under the hood, there was only darkness and two glowing green flames for eyes. It dragged its heavy cleaver across the floor, making a screeching sound that felt like teeth on a chalkboard.
Screeeeeech.
The Warden raised its cleaver. The air around it felt heavy, like a physical weight pressing down on my shoulders. This was 'Boss Aura.' A normal person would be on their knees right now, unable to breathe.
But I had the 'First Slayer' title.
[Title Effect Active: Immune to 'Intimidation' and 'Fear'.]
The pressure washed over me like a light breeze. I felt nothing but a cold, sharp hunger.
"Nine levels higher," I whispered. My voice didn't sound like the old Han Chen. It was deep. It was dangerous. "That just means nine levels worth of extra experience points."
The Warden let out a roar—a sound that came from a thousand dead throats. It swung the massive cleaver down with enough force to split a tank.
I didn't move until the last second.
I stepped to the side, the blade missing my shoulder by an inch. The floor exploded where the cleaver hit. Tiles turned into shrapnel.
I didn't wait for it to recover. I didn't wait for it to show me its second phase.
I ran straight at the giant. I planted my foot on the side of the metal morgue table and jumped. I was aiming for the gap in its neck armor.
I had 29 days to become a god. I didn't have time to play it safe. I didn't have time to worry about a 2% chance.
I was going to kill this thing, take its heart, and level up before the sun came up over the city.
The Sovereign's Blade hummed in my hand. It was time for the real harvest to begin.