Kim Jin-Woo moved slowly as he looked at Marcus, who trembled as he retreated backward.

[‘Noble's Majesty—Lesser-Grade’ has been activated.]

[‘Noble’s Majesty—Lesser-Grade’ has been willingly deactivated.]

Kim Jin-Woo didn’t want Marcus to be unable to fully display his capabilities due to being suppressed by Noble’s Majesty, so he intentionally deactivated it. He hadn’t been sure at first if it was possible to control his abilities at will, but he was able to succeed without difficulty.

He grinned widely as he saw the message that Noble’s Majesty ability had been deactivated. It was a cold smile, with only one corner of his mouth rising.

“I didn’t know they were yours. If I had known, I wouldn't have laid my hands on them." Despite Noble’s Majesty having been deactivated, Marcus looked crushed as he spoke. For someone who was said to be one of the strongest beings on the 8th Floor, to the point that his reputation was known even on the surface, his demeanor was anything but.

In hindsight, it was to be expected. After all, he was a mere being born on the 8th Floor, while Kim Jin-Woo was a labyrinth master of the 9th Floor. And because the latter had been awarded the title of Undefeated Commander by defeating powerful enemies one after another, amplifying his buff effects, Marcus was just yet another labyrinth master to Kim Jin-Woo.

“Yes, that would have been great. If only I had given them a name tag, then you wouldn’t have confronted them, would you?” Kim Jin-Woo replied. Although his words indicated that he was in agreement with Marcus, his actions indicated otherwise. He didn’t stop walking toward Marcus, and his killing intent remained.

“Yes, that’s correct! I understand now, so let’s not make this ugly...” Marcus continued to desperately try to talk Kim Jin-Woo out of the situation. It was almost as if he truly believed he could avoid any conflict by doing so.

But Kim Jin-Woo had had no intention of going back on his word from the beginning, and his right hand reached for the handle of the cheap alloy knife that hung by his waist. He said, “I would love to do that, but you laid your hands on my precious thing.”

“Your precious thing?” Marcus gulped at the ominous statement.

“That lady over there is someone I hold dear. She’s someone who can’t even take care of herself well, and yet she’ll readily lose her limbs and laugh about it if it’s for my sake. How can I not find someone like her precious to me?”

Rikshasha was someone who would complete her mission and return to Kim Jin-Woo’s side at all costs, regardless of the damage her body took. If not for Rikshasha back then, Kim Jin-Woo and the Nagas would have been massacred by the Basilisk King and his Basilisks.

“Impossible,” Marcus said, seemingly unable to understand. He was completely in doubt, unable to comprehend why Kim Jin-Woo would extend such honor to a clan that was infamous for being worthless and of the lowest caste in the Underworld.

“You’re willing to shed blood for one lowly Under-Elf?” Having realized that he was too weak to deal with the situation well, Marcus' attitude changed. A cruel look flashed across his dejected face as his faltering feet stood firmly on the ground.

“Blood? What blood?” Kim Jin-Woo snorted as he looked at Marcus with disgust. “The one who’ll be shedding blood isn’t me. It’s you, the Blood Lions.” He scanned the battlefield.

While Marcus was disturbed by Kim Jin-Woo’s gaze, he didn’t dare turn his head. But he belatedly noticed something and froze on the spot. Without even looking, he realized that his surroundings had turned silent. Instinctively, he turned around.

“W-when..”

The Blood Lions, proud followers of the strongest being on the 8th Floor, all lay collapsed on the floor. Their strong, burly arms had been sliced off, and their legs had been mercilessly twisted and torn off.

On the other hand, the Naga Dragon Knights that faced the Blood Lions looked relatively unscathed. A few Tiger Dragons were slightly wounded, but none of them had been killed in action.

It was an absolute defeat. Marcus looked at the gruesome corpses of his men, despair written all over his face.

“We’ve cleaned up on our end as well,” Morrigan said, having returned from dealing with the Striped Wasps that had been chasing the Under-Elves from the opposite end.

‘When it rains, it pours.’ That was what Marcus must have felt at that moment. His mind went blank.

“A couple of them escaped, but I’ll take care of them later,” Morrigan added.

“We don’t have that much time to waste on the 8th Floor,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“It won’t take long. Just give me some time to take care of it quietly by myself.”

Marcus broke out in a cold sweat as he lay witness to Kim Jin-Woo and Morrigan going on with their casual conversation, even after they had just massacred all the Blood Lions and the Striped Wasps. It was at that moment that he finally understood why Kim Jin-Woo had been given the title of ‘Undefeated Commander’.

But that didn’t mean that Marcus was about to give up there and then. Despite everything, he was still one of the strongest beings on the 8th Floor, and he had even recently managed to chase away the previous strongest beings on the 8th Floor—the Big-Tusk Wild Boar Tribe.

Things might not have gone according to plan, but even though he was fighting against the Undefeated Commander and the sole Conqueror in the Underworld, he was determined not to go down without a fight.

Thus, instead of tucking his tail between his legs, he puffed up his mane as he stared at Kim Jin-Woo with a look of defiance.

“Oho!” Kim Jin-Woo exclaimed.

“Looks like he has some fight left in him. Well, at least it’s better than fighting him when he’s all down and gloomy,” Morrigan remarked casually.

“I know you don’t intend to let me off. Isn’t that what you wanted from the beginning, anyway?” Marcus spat, having regained his dignity as a labyrinth master.

Kim Jin-Woo shrugged as he started moving forward again. “No.” His slow pace quickened, and as soon as the word left his lips, his movements turned into an explosive leap forward.

“Roaaaaaaaaar!”

Marcus clawed at Kim Jin-Woo’s blurred shadow, attempting to keep pace with him. His claws extended to a meter in an instant as he clawed at the air randomly, and each swipe was followed by a sonic boom that tore the air in half.

However, Marcus’ desperate, flailing attacks failed to land on Kim Jin-Woo, and he quickly jumped back when he heard a cold, soft whisper coming from behind him. “You weren’t even on my mind in the first place.”

“What I mean is that you’re too insignificant to me.” This time, the whispers came from Marcus’ left.

“I’m just really mad at what you did to my Under-Elves.” The next whisper came from Marcus’ right. He reached out with his claws, but suddenly roared in pain.

“Kurgh!”

Marcus’s thick and coarse neck was bent backward, as if someone had broken it. Below his neck, another hand gripped his mane. Kim Jin-Woo tugged hard and ripped off Marcus’ mane, as if in revenge for what he had done to Rikshasha’s hair.

“Kaaargh!”

The leader of the ferocious Blood Lions, who had never screamed for his life before, let out a blood-curdling roar. His mane had been ripped off, and the unsightly, bare flesh beneath it was exposed.

If he had been an ordinary human being, he would have died from shock, but Marcus was strong, as expected of his reputation. He swung his claws violently as he continued to let out a pained roar.

“And I’m just saying, you’re an unlucky one... No, I’d say you’re damned,” Kim Jin-Woo commented as he easily evaded Marcus’ wild flailing. “I have been wondering exactly how strong I’ve become for a while.” With his empty left hand, he quickly landed a few blows on Marcus.

“Kurgh!”

Marcus’s flailing stopped as his arms immediately went limp, and his jaw dropped soullessly.

“I’m seriously buffed on the 9th Floor, so there’s no point in testing out my growth there. And when I visited the other floors, I simply couldn’t find a good enough target for me to test my powers on,” Kim Jin-Woo said as he waited for Marcus to return to his senses, before giving Marcus a relentless kick that sent him flying across the cold ground.

“What better target for me to practice on than the Blood Lion of the 8th Floor?” Kim Jin-Woo continued to ridicule Marcus as the Blood Lion flailed about helplessly from the Undefeated Commander’s attacks.

Even then, Marcus’ spirit was undeterred. “How dare you!” he exclaimed as he twisted his body to avoid Kim Jin-Woo’s attacks, swinging his hands violently before finally succeeding in grabbing Kim Jin-Woo’s shoulder. He smiled gleefully as his claws extended toward Kim Jin-Woo’s heart.

“But...” Kim Jin-Woo began.

Marcus’ victorious smile was wiped off his face as he heard the tone of Kim Jin-Woo’s voice. He looked up at Kim Jin-Woo’s cold, unfazed expression.

Crack.

At the same time, a loud, disturbing noise rang out, and the claw that had struck Kim Jin-Woo’s chest shattered into pieces on the ground.

“I think I made a mistake,” Kim Jin-Woo continued.

Marcus finally realized what kind of force he was up against as he fell onto the floor, paralyzed with fear. His opponent’s hands were gripping tightly onto him before he had even realized it.

“You’re too weak for me to test out my strength,” Kim Jin-Woo finished. Even as he spoke, Marcus struggled to get out of his grasp, before finally opening his mouth wide in an attempt to bite off Kim Jin-Woo’s head.

However, his fangs couldn’t even damage a strand of Kim Jin-Woo’s hair, as Kim Jin-Woo grabbed onto his arms and gave him a powerful kick to the body. Marcus’ jaws went limp, as if they were about to break off his head.

“You’re just fucking unlucky. No hard feelings, yeah?” Kim Jin-Woo let go of Marcus’ arms and grabbed onto his head, and stared directly into the Blood Lion’s wide eyes. He slowly leaned his head backward before smashing it hard against Marcus’ skull.historical

Crack!

A sound similar to that of a watermelon breaking could be heard, and Marcus’ body dropped limply onto the floor.

***

“Hm. Now you’re a real monster,” Morrigan remarked as she observed Kim Jin-Woo’s battle with Marcus.

Marcus the Blood Lion wasn’t a particularly exceptional foe, but he was still a respectable being in the Underworld. After all, he was a being who had been strong enough to be representative of an entire floor, but seeing him being toyed with by her Master reminded Morrigan of their first encounter.

After a round of battle with his subordinates, Kim Jin-Woo had fought her with various amplification buffs when she had just woken up from her slumber. Thus, despite swearing her allegiance in defeat, she had been deeply dissatisfied at first.

Even so, that thought hadn’t lasted very long. Her master, whom she had once considered to be unimpressive and insignificant, was strong-willed enough to not give her up despite the threats of an 11th Floor Count, and he was resourceful enough to annihilate the 10th Floor Nobles’ coalition army that had been sent to destroy them.

If she had to nitpick, it would be that he was inferior in terms of combat capabilities when compared to the 11th Floor Counts. But she had noticed that her master was now slowly balancing his abilities by training his physical combat ability as well.

“We should one day..” Morrigan licked her lips with excitement, as she looked at her master who had become incredibly strong in such a short period of time.

“Wait, not yet..” But then, she sighed as she shook her head. Although Kim Jin-Woo had indeed grown stronger, in terms of fighting capabilities, he still had a long way to go compared to her.

He lacked innate combat sense and experience, and he was indecisive in his blows. Even now, of all the finishing moves he could have used against the Blood Lion, it had been a measly headbutt.

If he hadn’t been assisted by the amplification buffs, the battle might have been closer than he was comfortable with. In fact, it might have become a rather close battle. Thus, Morrigan decided to give her master some more time.

If Kim Jin-Woo were to grow just a little stronger, the amplification buffs would increase his strength severalfold. Just the thought of her master’s potential excited Morrigan.

Kim Jin-Woo returned from finishing off Marcus, blood smeared all over his hands. “It’s hard to suppress the amplification buffs,” he complained with not an ounce of joy written on his face from the victory.

Morrigan couldn’t help but be surprised at his statement. “Just now, you..”

“It’s as I said. I can only test myself once I find myself a suitable target,” Kim Jin-Woo responded sullenly.