CHAPTER 151: CHAPTER 151: NO GLORY

Chapter 151 – No Glory

[DING! You have received a new Quest.]

[Quest: Survive.]

[Difficulty: Well...]

[Description: You have been trapped in a situation where death... is no longer an option. Don’t cower—survive until the end and get out of this dungeon alive without being corrupted. Learn, adapt, and evolve, Child of Blood.]

[Requirements: Clear or escape the dungeon alive.]

[Rewards: Depends on performance.]

[Penalty: None.]

Kaden read the notification panel calmly, his eyes lingering on the one thing that mattered most— even Death was acknowledging it now, death... was not an option here.

And even knowing that, he couldn’t help but feel a slow, suffocating dread coil inside his chest. It had been a long time since he’d faced a situation like this... not since the Forest of Eternal Sunshine, to be exact.

But even then, it hadn’t felt this hopeless.

Still... it didn’t matter.

"Weakness is a sin in this damned world or in any world." Kaden muttered under his breath, steadying the frantic rhythm of his heart as he sank into thoughts darker than the cave around him.

"There is no glory in weakness, no achievement in fleeing from a stronger enemy, and no greater disappointment than cowering in front of a great ordeal."

His words were low, but they carried the bite of iron.

He had tasted weakness in his past life, had let it choke him, humiliate him, and leave him helpless in front of bullies. He had sworn to himself...never again.

And besides, hadn’t he been the one preaching to others that everything begins within the mind?

Wouldn’t it be the height of hypocrisy if he couldn’t even follow his own advice?

If, because of despair and fear, he decided from the start that he couldn’t survive this dungeon... then he surely wouldn’t.

So before the loop of dark thoughts could drag him down, he forced himself to stop. He closed his eyes, shutting out the dim, flickering cave, and focused.

Outside, the chaos continued—distant clashes, guttural roars, and the dull, sickening thud of bodies breaking against the ground. Every so often, a stray blow would slam into the cave walls, jarring him off balance and sending a spike of tension through his chest.

It was pandemonium.

He found himself wondering, how had Asael survived this alone for years?

The thought led him somewhere he didn’t like... because right now, he needed every edge he could get, even if it meant accepting the hand of a strange, suspicious man.

Sighing, he focused on quieting his mind before doing anything else.

He needed to rewrite his thoughts by stripping away the impossibility and rebuild the certainty.

And so, through the whole night, Kaden sat on the cold ground, his back pressed against the crude makeshift bed for stability, and meditated.

When morning came, Asael returned. His clothes were even more tattered than before, and deep wounds gaped along his body, each one spilling thick, black blood that reeked faintly of death.

If Kaden had been awake to see it, he would have noticed something far stranger—the way that same black blood was drawn back into Asael’s body, the wounds knitting shut as if time itself was reversing the damage.

Asael cracked his neck, lowered himself into a shadowy chair, and closed his eyes without a word, apparently polite enough not to disturb Kaden.

Hours passed before Kaden’s eyes finally opened. Compared to the frustration and apprehension of the night before... there was a change.

"Friend, you look better than yesterday. How incredible," Asael said immediately, the faintest surprise in his tone.

"I needed a month to pull myself together in this nightmare, but you did it in one night? You’ve quite the strong will."

The praise was genuine and to Asael, it meant more than it seemed. Because as much as he acted otherwise, Asael had no love for this place.

He had been trapped here for an untold number of years—alone, surrounded only by survival, death, chaos, and the endless undead.

And the worst part wasn’t even the chaos.

It was the solitude.

Humans weren’t made to be alone. Even here, in a supernatural world, they were still social creatures. Until they shed their mortal shell, they were just... a more durable version of the humans from Earth.

And Master Rank? That was nowhere near divine.

So Asael had suffered.

Maybe that’s why he was so genuinely happy to have someone here now, because no matter how bad the situation, it’s always easier when you’re not facing it alone.

His fingers found the white necklace at his throat, holding it with an odd tenderness. His mind seemed to drift until Kaden’s voice broke the thought.

"I just realized crying and despairing won’t change my situation," Kaden said, slowly rising to his feet. His movements were unsteady, his balance thrown off by the loss of his right arm — something he planned to fix now.

"That’s nice, friend. I’m glad to see you’ve set aside your suicidal tendencies and focused on the brighter side of this beautiful nightmare." Asael smiled faintly, then tilted his head.

"But what will you do with one hand?"

"Reattach it. But first... I need your help."

He moved to the mouth of the cave and froze.

Outside was a scene that reeked of pure death. A mountain of bones and rotting flesh lay in heaps, black blood pooling into a sluggish, stinking river threaded with half-rotted entrails. Bodies—some once human, some once elven—floated in it, their skin a dead, ashen grey that radiated the cold certainty of the grave.

"Oh, this?" Asael said lightly, stepping up beside him. "Yesterday was an easy night. I was expecting worse."

Kaden said nothing. If this was easy... he didn’t want to know what a difficult night looked like.

It only solidified his decision.

"Help me obtain the arms of those undead."

From his spatial ring, he pulled out his severed right arm. It still bled faintly, the threads of the Necroweaver coiled tight around it.

Asael raised an eyebrow. "And what will you do with that, friend?"

Kaden smirked.

"What else? I’m going to turn this arm into something worthy of this hellish dungeon."

—End of Chapter 151—