Record of a Thousand Lives - Chapter 181

The Frenzied Ones were descendants of the Dragon of Destruction just like the titans, but they were the ones that could not overcome the dragon’s blood. They had succumbed to the dragon’s blood before losing their sanity and going berserk. However, their abilities had been greatly amplified as a result. As such, their speed was nothing to scoff at.

Numerous creatures covered in frost followed the river of lava toward its source. Kang Yoon-Soo observed them from a distance.

[Name: 200-Year-Old Snow Tiger]

[Lineage: 54th Mixed Blood (Wild Tiger)]

[A descendant of the creature born from the Dragon of Destruction and a fierce female tiger from the Orel Mountains. It has gone berserk due to the Dragon of Destruction’s blood going on a rampage.]

[It has seven drops of the Dragon of Destruction’s blood flowing in it.]

[Name: Frozen Lizard of Hemoptysis]

[Lineage: 66th Mixed Blood (Giant Lizard)]

[A descendant of the creature born from the Dragon of Destruction and a giant lizard living in the Hariman Jungles. It spits out blood that freezes its enemies.]

[It has four drops of the Dragon of Destruction’s blood flowing in it.]

[Name: Sarlera Merokel]

[Lineage: 49th Mixed Blood (Vampire Queen)]

[A descendant of the creature born from the Dragon of Destruction and the Vampire Queen Salrevan Merokel, who went missing from Sanguineum. She is adept at all ice-attribute magic and can instantly freeze any creature she drinks the blood of.]

[She has thirteen drops of the Dragon of Destruction’s blood flowing in her.]

Every single one of the monsters charging at them was strong enough to be called the boss monster of an area, and they each had a greater amount of the dragon’s blood compared to the titans, who only had one or two drops each in their bodies. Kang Yoon-Soo had to kill all of these boss-caliber monsters and fill the Holy Chalice of Blood.

‘But we don’t have enough manpower to fight against all of the Frenzied Ones…’ he thought.

The men were powerful and there were thousands of undead, but the Frenzied Ones were not an easy bunch to deal with. They were in the ice fields, which were the best place for the Frenzied Ones to use their abilities to their fullest.

‘There’s no way we can win head-on,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought while looking down at the river of lava.

In the midst of the lava river was a dark rock platform, which did not seem to melt even though it was surrounded by molten hot lava. Kang Yoon-Soo jumped onto the platform. Then, he took out the high-class silver ingots, sapphires, and rubies that the Blacksmith of Fire had crafted for him from his backpack. He evenly laid out the ingots and jewels around the platform and muttered, “Create Artificial Lifeform.”

The wide platform absorbed the metals and jewels, then slowly started to move. Gradually, it turned into the back of a creature that slowly rose up from the molten lava. It was a Lava Golem.

[You have successfully created a top-tier artificial lifeform, the Lava Golem.]

[Molten lava is the habitat of a Lava Golem, and hard rocks are their main source of food.]

[Its body will grow larger whenever it eats rocks, but its body will shed those rocks whenever it is hit with a strong impact.]

[It has the highest combat prowess among golems, but it is also the most prone to rampaging.]

+The rock formed over hundreds of years deep underground, combined with the rare metals and jewels has provided the Lava Golem with new characteristics.

[A new skill has been created—Eruption.]

[The Lava Golem you have created can be considered the largest in the continent’s recorded history.]

[The Lava Golem is quiet, but it treats the jewels on its body as extremely precious items.]

Create Artificial Lifeform was a useful skill that, like Mass Raise Dead, allowed Kang Yoon-Soo to boost the number of troops under his command. The skill usually used materials from nature to create artificial lifeforms like golems or chimeras, but a deep understanding of alchemy was required to utilize it properly. A low-quality lifeform would be created and the materials wasted if the user had a low understanding of alchemy. Additionally, it took a longer time to create a proper army than Mass Raise Dead, which was a skill that could raise numerous undead at once as long as there were corpses available nearby; however, it was still useful if the user required additional troops, and had the potential to create a powerful golem in the process.

“Golem is hungry,” the Lava Golem said as it slowly walked out from the lava and started to eat the nearby rocks. When it consumed them, its wide back that resembled a tortoise’s shell grew larger.

Meanwhile, a battle was already raging on the ice fields, as the men were locked in a fierce battle with the Frenzied Ones.

“Kyaaahuuuaat!”

“These are quite the prey!”

The enemies, which had hideous-looking scales and horns, charged viciously at them as if they had no goal in life but destruction. However, Hawk swung his scimitar, Swemer stabbed his spear, Harpoon tore a fire scroll, Ramel fiercely swung his greatsword, Recifer went on a killing spree using his cloaking ability, and Hekal leisurely disposed of seven Frenzied Ones at once.

“Hehe… Let me show you how strong I’ve become! Ice Storm!” Acle shot ice magic all over the place to his heart’s content, as he was in the most favorable battlefield for him.

The fierce snowstorm engulfed and swept away the Frenzied Ones, but it failed to deal any lethal damage to them. They had already endured and gotten used to the bitter cold, so they had a certain degree of immunity to ice magic.

“My flames have gotten stronger thanks to the ring papa gave me! Wrath of the Flames!” Sally shouted.

She spewed out flames that morphed into a salamander, which rampaged across the area while spitting fire. Sally’s flames could inflict serious damage against the Frenzied Ones, but Sally could in turn be fatally damaged by them and die if she were to be surrounded and became the focus of their attacks.

“Mini-Lich, go protect Sally,” Kang Yoon-Soo commanded from atop the Lava Golem. Mini-Lich floated up and positioned itself in front of Sally.

“I believe there are other things that you can direct your rage toward aside from us,” Mini-Lich said in a warm, gentle voice, casting a spell with a swing of its staff.

Then, the Frenzied Ones were overcome with confusion, failing to recognize their own allies and attacking each other. The terrible curse-show of the lich had begun. Whenever it had time, Mini-Lich had researched and prepared various curses that would prove to be helpful in battle.

“Grrr…! Urnokra…!” White roared. The werewolf was in a wild, ferocious state due to the Shining Moonlight Necklace it was wearing, and it sped across the battlefield slashing the Frenzied Ones in half with its sharp claws.

Light walked confidently toward a Frenzied One that seemed to be the descendant of a yeti and said, “Hi! I am the Spirit of Brightness, Light! Do you want to be my friend?”

“Huu… Huu… Light… Please don’t do that…!” Sharp begged, trembling in fear.

“Kwuuuaaaaah!” The Frenzied One snarled in response and smashed its fist into the ground.

Then, the bright smile disappeared from Light’s face as she said, “Sharp, it seems that these creatures don’t want to be friends with me.”

“Huhuu… Light… You’re very scary right now…!” Sharp cried.

“Kyahaha! All of you should just disappear!” Light exclaimed, then unleashed a torrent of light against the Frenzied Ones while dragging Sharp along on her rampage.

Shaneth cut apart the Frenzied Ones’ scales with her flaming scythe, Iris fired numerous bolts of black lightning at their eyes, Kalriven skewered six Frenzied Ones with its large sword, and… Henrick was struggling to control Rick.

“Henrick, I want to get a job[1]…” Rick muttered.

“Worry about getting a job later and get to work, you punk!” Henrick grumbled in response.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at the Holy Chalice of Blood. The chalice filled up with blood whenever the party members killed a Frenzied One, but it would take a long time for them to fill it up, as they only got a few drops whenever they killed one. He thought, ‘Even months wouldn’t be enough if we hunt at this pace.’

More Frenzied Ones appeared whenever the party killed one. They poured out from all over the northern ice fields to the party’s location, following the heat generated by the river of lava.

“Rock. Tasty,” the Lava Golem said before it gobbled up a huge rock boulder. Afterward, it grew so large that it could hold thousands of people on its back.

It was then that Kang Yoon-Soo pulled out his sword and stabbed it into the back of the golem’s neck.

“You. Who are you?” the Lava Golem asked nonchalantly while munching on a rock. Stabbing it with a sword was nowhere enough for Kang Yoon-Soo to inflict any damage on it.

“I created you. I wish to have my comrades board your back,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“I don’t want to,” the Lava Golem bluntly refused.

The Lava Golem seemed to be indifferent toward Kang Yoon-Soo. Top-tier artificial lifeforms were bound to disobey and go against their creator, the same way top-tier undead would refuse to swear loyalty to a weak summoner. There were even extreme cases where the artificial lifeform would actually attack its creator and kill them. That was why what Kang Yoon-Soo needed to do at the moment was to gently convince the Lava Golem instead of forcing it to bow down and swear loyalty.

Kang Yoon-Soo whispered in a low voice, as if he were letting the golem in on a secret, “I’ll let you taste the most delectable delicacy on the continent, a live fairy, if you let my comrades get on board your back.”

“A fairy?” the Lava Golem tilted its head and muttered. Kang Yoon-Soo simply nodded in response and took out a glass bottle from his pocket.

Quishow was stricken with fear, trembling while directing a forced smile at Kang Yoon-Soo. It asked nervously, “H-Human-nim…? W-What did you s-say just now…? You aren’t planning to give this cute little fairy to that hideous golem as food, right…?”

“I am,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Kyaaaah! Someone help Quishow! This human has gone absolutely insane!” Quishow cried.

Kang Yoon-Soo did not bat an eyelid at Quishow’s begging. He said, “A corrupted fairy is a delicacy that even the Dragon of Destruction would salivate and crave for.

The Lava Golem did not seem to be interested in the corrupted fairy as it said, “Golem. Like hard things, like rocks.”

“I’ll make it hard for you with a petrification potion,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“But golem doesn’t know what a fairy tastes like. I was born just a while ago,” the Lava Golem said.

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo fiercely shook the glass bottle Quishow was contained in, and shiny dust started to fall from the fairy’s wings.

The Lava Golem bent down and tasted the dust, then said, “This. Tasty.”

“Fairies scatter dust that suits the tastes of powerful monsters like golems, dragons, or demons,” Kang Yoon-Soo explained. That was one of the main reasons why the demons had attacked the rift where the fairies lived in the trial at the library.

“Golem. Want tasty food,” the Lava Golem said.

“Then let us ride on your back,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Make yourselves at home,” the Lava Golem replied.

The Lava Golem seemed to find the fairy dust from Quishow truly delectable, as it even bothered to lower its body to ensure that Kang Yoon-Soo and his party were able to comfortably board its back.

Meanwhile, the party members were being pushed back by the Frenzied Ones. After beating a creature that seemed to be the descendant of a Spirit of Ice with his bare fists, Danesh grumbled, “Damn it! There’s no end to them!”

The Frenzied Ones charged at them like a flood. They kept coming in overwhelming numbers, and the horde would not thin out no matter how many the party killed. Meanwhile, half of the undead had already fallen in battle. They were severely outnumbered even though Mini-Lich was raising the dead as new undead. The battle was so intense that the party had been pushed all the way back to the river of lava.

Harpoon almost fell into the lava after missing a step. He exclaimed, “We’re all going to die at this rate, whether it’s at their hands or by falling into the lava!”

It was then that Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said, “Jump down.”

“Are you crazy?!” Harpoon protested.

However, a blood-soaked Shaneth jumped into the lava without any hesitation. She shouted after safely landing on the platform, “Jump down! We have no chance against them in the ice fields!”

“Damn it! Let’s just jump to our demise then!”

They gritted their teeth and jumped down into the lava. Thankfully, all of them managed to safely land on the platform. Iris grabbed Hekal, who was blind, and safely delivered him to the platform.

“I might not be able to see your face, but I can tell that you aren’t an ordinary woman. Would you ever consider dating a blind man?” Hekal asked.

“I need blood more than love right now. I feel so dizzy…” Iris complained. Henrick clicked his tongue and went to support her.

The Frenzied Ones growled and snarled at them before jumping onto the platform in pursuit of the party. In response, the men swung their weapons viciously and pushed the Frenzied Ones back into the lava. Afterward, the Frenzied Ones only growled at the party from a distance, but no more of them jumped onto the platform.

[You have hunted 3% of the Frenzied Ones in the ice fields.]

[The temperature of the ice fields has increased by 0.3 degrees.]

[The movement speed of the Frenzied Ones has slightly reduced.]

“We only managed to kill three percent of them…?” Swemer muttered in disbelief.

“Kruuwaaahh!”

The banks of the lava river soon filled with Frenzied Ones, and the party was surrounded by them. It seemed that they were waiting for the party to climb back up once they were exhausted from the lava. Some of the Frenzied Ones tried launching ice attacks at them, but the heat from the lava nullified their attacks.

Kang Yoon-Soo gripped his magic sword while looking up at the Frenzied Ones. He was not at a level where he could dare to fight against them, but his eyes shone as he steeled his resolve and thought, ‘I’ll kill them all and rescue the hostage.’

He jumped into battle.

1. Job here means class, but it was translated as job to save the next pun. Anyone who has played an RPG before would understand how both words are used similarly ☜