Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 138

Chapter 138: Episode 42. Soul Cavalry (1)

I evaded the chasers eight times and finally found a place to rest. It was a naturally created cave. It looked like there was no occupant.

As I checked, both sides of the cave were open. It would be easy to run away in case something happened.

I set Oswen down against a wall. It had been three days, but Oswen still hadn’t regained consciousness.

‘I should get some rest.’

I pushed my limits. If the chasers found us, I wouldn’t be able to fight in this condition. I set some small traps at the entrances so that I would be alerted in case there was an intruder. It was made with pebbles and vines, so it would make noise.

It was only a basic trap, but it was better than nothing. This subtle difference could mean life or death. I had survived several times in my previous life, at least—thanks to it.

I closed my eyes, immediately falling asleep.

<hr />

It was the fifth day.

There were no more chasers. However, I remained vigilant.

I scouted around and tried to figure out the geography of the area.

Oswen was twisting his body when I came back.

“Argh!”

‘Is he in pain?’

The undead were usually numb. Their sense had mostly disappeared, so they were very dull. It was the same when it came to pain.

“Je-jellim…Jellim…”

Oswen slightly opened his eyes. Then he reached out to me.

He was trembling, as if he was experiencing some kind of withdrawal. I had heard that the undead in this world needed the branches of Jellim to maintain their bodies.

But it was impossible to obtain a branch of Jellim around us.

“Commander of the South…Oswen… Are you okay?”

“I…am…not…the commander… Argh!”

“You were unconsciousness for days.”

I quietly watched him, putting my hand on Rage. Oswen had a seizure a few times and then passed out again.

Since then, Oswen woke up several times only to faint again. He was not in a normal state. He uttered meaningless words most of the time.

It seemed as if, at times, he was acting like a child, or the Commander of the South, or, sometimes, he was the Blacksmith of Twilight.

“The Seven Sins should not exist in the world! I must get rid of them!”

“Hell Lord! Do-don’t try to control me!”

He shouted inadvertently. I could guess something based on these.

‘Schizophrenia or maybe multiple personalities…,’ I surmised.

There were a variety of personalities inside Oswen. The Commander of the South was the strongest one. However, when it became weak, multiple personalities popped out.

I assumed the medium that causing this was his glove. Every time his personalities changed, the mana of the glove would also change. It was clear that there was a close connection.

But I couldn’t talk to him since he repeatedly woke up and fainted. Thus, everything was just an assumption. I wish I could see how things go, but there was no time to sit and watch.

The Underworld was important, but the most important thing to me was my dungeon. I needed to become the Dark Lord.

‘The owner of the Underworld?’

I had the heart of the Hell Lord, so I was already the owner of this place.

“Arms…two arms are enough.”

Oswen had six arms. Three of them were already cut off. It wouldn’t be a problem if he would lose one more.

I raised Rage. I wanted to see if any change would happen if I cut off his gloved arm.

Slash!

I cut off one arm at once without any hesitation.

At the same time…

“Argh!”

Oswen was stunned, and he started screaming.

Oswen got up, glaring at me. He saw me holding his severed arm, and he breathed roughly.

“That glove is mine!”

The glove was more important than his arm. That was weird.

Wham!

He rushed into me like a crazed creature.

I wasn’t sure whose personality that was. It wasn’t the Commander of the South nor the Blacksmith of Twilight.

That was the one I had never seen before.

‘What should I do?’

I hesitated for a moment. I didn’t have a lot of choices. I had to either kill or knock him out.

I decided to literally go for the kill.

If I killed Oswen, the glove attached to his arm would fell. It probably belonged to the owner with some sort of magic. Therefore, if I killed the owner, the magic would vanish.

‘Oh, well. It can’t be helped.’

I hoped the Commander of the South came out. Then I could talk with him at least. I could use the information he had and made some way to overcome this situation. However, there was nothing I could do at the moment.

As I had my Rage, I also drew out the Sword of the Emperor.

And at that moment, his demeanor was calmer.

“That sword is…”

He noticed it immediately. The personality in control knew the Sword of the Emperor. The hostility was gone.

‘It’s similar to what happened with Maxium.’

Then, there was another way I could try. I wiped off all the blood of Thunder Bird on my chest.

I asked, “Who are you?”

“Oh! Your Majesty! Do…do…do you not remember me? You had placed me in Oswen’s consciousness to contaminate his mind.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Th-that’s okay. Great, Hell Lord! You finally returned! You obtained true godship!”

Flop!

Oswen knelt down.

“This Underworld will become stable. Please be our god and lead us!”

I found out why Oswen had a split personality. It was because of the Hell Lord. I felt like there would be no other important information left from this guy.

“Where is Oswen’s real character?”

“As you had commanded me, I tore it apart. There’s no ‘real’ Oswen anymore. The body is not in good shape now, but it will recover soon. Then, I will work hard as your loyal servant.”

No. Oswen’s mind was still there. I heard his cries multiple times.

‘I guess this man doesn’t know it either.’

It seemed like he had no power besides splitting the mind. He only dominated the body while other personalities weakened. He also had no idea what had been happening. Then there was no reason to keep him around me.

“Is there any way I can combine all of Oswen’s personalities and restore his original mind?”

“But…why, Sir? Yes, there is a way. The curse of the glove must be lifted to suppress other personalities until Oswen’s actual character shows up.”

This man believed that I was the Hell Lord himself. He totally misunderstood, but there was no reason to reveal the truth.

“So how do we lift the curse?”

“Oh… Do you want to lift the curse? I was the one who carried out the curse, but we have been together too long like one body…”

He was saying that it wouldn’t be easy. I contemplated for a moment.

‘The curse will only disappear if the one who carried it out dies.’

I found out who cursed Oswen.

I looked straight into Oswen’s eyes and said, “But how long will you stand there like that? It’s rude! Reveal your true figure!”

“O-oh…p-please…wait, Sir. How did I do such a disgraceful thing?”

Soon, Oswen lay on the floor as if all his strength was consumed. Then, smoke emerged from Oswen’s head.

The smoke began to take shape, and it became a shade. It was approximately three times larger than a normal shade.

“Is this your true form?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Odto, Sir.”

“Odto, you’ve done a great job.”

“…!”

Slash!

Even though the shade had only a spiritual body, it was possible to harm him with highly concentrated mana.

I didn’t fully recover my mana, but I could transfer the mana of the Moon to the sword. I lifted the Sword of the Emperor and finished him off.

“Why?” Odto asked, surprised, as he looked down at his chest.

He was gradually fading away as he got the critical blow. Shortly, he would be extinct forever.

I put my sword back and said, “I am not your Hell Lord. I am Randalf Bruciel.”

I had his heart, but I was the owner of myself. I was a demon named Randalf Bruciel. I would never be divided like Oswen.

My cold eyes turned towards Odto. Then Odto completely disappeared.

<hr />

Flop!

The glove fell off from his hand. It was evident that the curse was gone.

‘This is…Pride.’

I instinctively knew it after I put the glove on. Pride was one of the Seven Sins. I had gathered four of them.

Rage, Sloth, Greed, and Pride…

I immediately felt stronger after putting on the glove.

“W-where am I? Where is this place?”

At that time, Oswen opened his eyes.

“Randalf? What happened to war? Where am I? Makdalli… Yes, where is Makdalli?”

He was still confused, but this character must be the Commander of the South, as he recognized me.

‘The way to suppress other personalities…’

It was simple. Other personalities that emerged, such as the Commander of the South, had been wounded. if I crushed all the other personalities that appear, in the end, Oswen’s real character would come out.

Swing!

“Randalf? The Hero of the South? Why are you drawing your—argh!”

<hr />

Oswen was stunned and forced to wake up 99 times. There were times that his real character would awaken, but he would faint too soon from confusion.

Fortunately, it didn’t go beyond 100 times. He finally seemed a little more stable.

“Who are you?”

“I told you many times. I am Randalf Bruciel. I don’t like repeating myself. So be aware of that.”

“My memories are all tangled. I have memories of many different people. But I am the blacksmith, Oswen.”

The Commander of the South and the other personalities were fake. Oswen’s real character was, as items showed, the Blacksmith of Twilight.

“Were you originally a Doom Knight?” I asked.

“Alas… Come to think of it, my body has changed too. Oh my god…the damn Hell Lord. That cruel bastard has played with me for thousands of years. He must be angry because I threw the Seven Sins into the crack.”

The crack… The Spirits of Darkness knew how to handle the interdimensional crack. I wondered how they had gotten the Seven Sins. Apparently, they had been lucky to find free items from the crack. I couldn’t believe that they had emphasized the favor done to me.

Oswen turned his head.

“My memory says this is the world of the dead. And Randalf, you are the Hero of the South. But…aren’t you still alive?”

“That’s right. I am alive.”

“That’s surprising. And those swords… They look familiar. Rage and the Sword of the Emperor! Your cape is…Sloth. Well, besides the Sword of the Emperor, others should be in the crack. Where did you get them?”

I hesitated for a moment. Would it be okay to tell him the truth?

Blacksmith of Twilight, Oswen… I expected a lot from him. I wanted Oswen to follow me.

If I kept it from him and he found out I had the heart of the Hell Lord, he wouldn’t trust me anymore. Thus, I thought it would be better to tell him now.

I added a little drama on how I obtained the heart of the Hell Lord and the Sword of the Emperor.

Oswen’s expression changed as he listened to the story.

“Alas. That’s what happened…”

“Can you believe it?”

“I guess I have no choice but to believe it. Huh. Then, the Hell Lord must have disappeared since his heart now belongs to you. Even Maxium think you are the Hell Lord? Things are becoming interesting.”

Oswen laughed as if his pain was relieved a bit. The Hell Lord was a mortal enemy to Oswen.

“Oswen, we don’t have much time to recover your memories.”

This was enough explanation. I had spent too much time finding the ‘real’ Oswen. It was time to move.

“I was also the Commander of the South. We lost the battle, but don’t worry. The true power of the commander is not in the fortress.”

“Then?”

“The Commander of the South hid 2,000 Soul Cavalry in a place that no one else knows. The Soul Cavalry are supposed to heed to the Hell Lord’s call. Since you have his heart, I am sure you can wake them up. If we announce we are safe using the cavalry, the remaining power will gather back to the South. Makdalli lost his one wing, which gives us leverage to win this war.”

Soul Cavalry… It sounded familiar.

‘They are the troops that can appear when the Military Power of the Emperor is used.’

I only read the description before. I still didn’t know what they were and if we could resolve the situation with only 2,000 of them. But Oswen seemed very confident.

“Please, follow me. Let’s go and awaken the Soul Cavalry.”

Oswen, still weary, rose from his spot.