章 24: Return

To fulfill Chapter II of the Sovereign's Rebirth quest, Zane needed to resurrect 2 more Souls and turn them into his Servants.

Since Dante was above the Monarch-rank, he couldn't resurrect him, but… this chamber wasn't in any shortage of Souls. After all, this was the place where all of Zane's party members had slaughtered one another out of hunger. The number of Souls here did not number below two dozen, at the very least. Just by walking around, using [Soul Detect], Zane could feel places of thick energy concentration—places where Hunters had died.

[Soul Detect — Tier Up!]

[I -> II]

[You can now sense the souls of living beings as well, within a certain radius around you.]

'Hm… that'll be useful. It will act like a radar of sorts,' Zane thought. 'A shame I can't discern what these corpses' skills were, though… I can't choose who to revive based on what my Servants army currently needs. I can only pick at random.'

'Sanguine Resurrection.'

One by one, he went around the room and attempted to resurrect two separate Souls. All of them turned out to be quite weak Taken enemies—either Grunt or Caster rank—but that was only natural given that these things used to be E or D-rank Hunters. As such, their Servant rank—parallel to their Monster rank—was also the same.

Being low-rank, resurrecting them was far easier than Dahrka or Azakiel. There was no need to give them an item related to their identity, and within seconds, Zane had both of them under his control, and even tiered up the ability by doing so. When he saw the improvement that the new rank brought, however, even he was a bit surprised.

[Sanguine Resurrection]

[Tier I -> II]

[You can now hold as many Servants below Monarch-rank as you wish, with the only limit being your CHA (charisma) stat. Certain high-level entities will also have CHA stat requirements to Resurrect or Mark. To gain more Charisma, form positive relationships and bonds with others, including friends, lovers, and family. In addition, participating in consensual copulation will award bonus CHA points. SP (stat points) cannot be used to level-up this stat. 1 CHA equals 1 Servant.]

[Servants above Monarch-rank are still currently limited to 5, but now no longer share the same pool as Servants obtained with <Blood Mark>.]

'Hm… I see…' Zane thought, rubbing his chin. 'So to increase the number of Monarch-rank and above Servants I can have, I must tier up [Sanguine Resurrection] even more, huh?'

Comparing the two skill's differences, Zane decided that it was more worth it to kill Dungeon Monsters than bring them back using [Sanguine Resurrection], whereas [Blood Mark] was better used to obtain human Servants that he wanted to leave alive. After all, if Zane wanted to use [Devour], he'd have to kill the enemy first—and besides, keeping a Dungeon Monster half-alive was a bit of a hassle sometimes.

It was a bit of an odd system, but the goal wouldn't be particularly hard to reach. The new information he received about the CHA stat, however, was interesting. Zane would have to look into this matter further once he reached the surface and actually had people to develop these… 'relationships' with, so for now, he glossed over it and turned to the next System notification.

[Sovereign's Rebirth— Chapter II — Quest Complete!]

[Select Your Reward:]

[1 - 10 SP + 50 Bloodrunes]

[2 - Vampire Blood]

[3 - New Skill]

Just like the previous time, Zane chose to go with the [New Skill] option, as that has always proven to be the best choice, speaking from past experience. It would seem that was just how the [Sovereign's Rebirth] questline worked, providing a choice to Zane rather than outright giving set rewards. He preferred it this way, actually.

When he saw the name of the ability he received this time, however, he tilted his head.

[Infinite Inventory — Skill Obtained!]

[Quest to be continued…]

'Hm… Infinite Inventory?'

Zane, curious, checked what this new skill he obtained was. As expected, it was of the Sovereign-tier—but unlike the skills he'd gained thus far, this one was somewhat more utility-focused.

[Infinite Inventory]

[Type: Passive]

[Tier: Sovereign]

[Converts your shadow into a dark pool of blood connected to the infinite Abyss. Items of any size can be stored within, and you can summon Servants to bring them out for you. At max rank, items can be summoned with a mere thought without the need of Servants.]

'Hm… this is definitely useful. Although it doesn't do anything for me directly in terms of combat, if I plan on remaining a Solo Hunter, being able to easily and securely transport treasure and items will be important. Speaking of…'

"Dahrka, go to the room where I resurrected you, and bring me the four bags of treasure."

With a solemn bow, the shadow paladin disappeared tracelessly, and was scheduled to soon return while Zane retrieved Dante's enormous Monster Core. With that settled, Zane turned back to the screen before him, expecting a new quest. But to his surprise, there was none.

"…"

Sinking into thought, Zane narrowed his eyes briefly. He couldn't have completed the [Sovereign's Rebirth] questline already, could he? After all, if that were the case, what need would there be to have a [To be continued…] message?

'Is there… a certain requirement I have to reach?'

Thinking back, all of Zane's quests had activated suddenly upon their 'requirements' being met. Not once did he ever know what that hidden requirement was prior to the fact, which led him to the conclusion that once again, there was a secret he had to first unlock if he wanted to progress with the quest.

Without any better leads, Zane based his theory upon previous knowledge and decided that he would need to grow stronger first. To check up on his current power level, he pulled up his [Status] screen, and glossed over the details.

[Status]

[Zane Silverdale]

Race - Vampire | Sex - Male | Age - 25

Titles | [???, Bearer of the Immortal Blood Body, Ascendant]

Level 18 | [Progenitor] | EXP: 1,030/1,800

Specialization: Omnipotence

Physique: Immortal Blood Body

[STR: 73] [DEF: 48] [AGI: 70] [INT: 65] [DEX: 50] [CHA: 15]

Skills: [Devour II] [Regeneration V] [Soul Detect II] [Infinite Inventory I] [Blood Mark I] [Sanguine Resurrection II] [Fire Mastery II] [Cartography V] [Invisibility III] [Teleportation III] [Eye of the Abyss I] [Abyssal Dagger Art I]

'Not bad… not bad at all. My stats are quite a bit higher than that of the average Level 18 Hunter, not to mention the entirely separate stat I have known as Charisma. Most likely, the 15 I currently have in it was gained from my relationship with Scarlet.'

As if on cue, from beside Zane, Scarlet nudged him a bit, then pointed one of its hands towards the pulsating blue Gate in the distance at the top of the staircase. Zane, following its direction with his gaze, smiled and rose to his feet.

"You're right, bud. It's time to leave."

Determination set in his eyes, Zane made his way towards the staircase—and towards his way back home.

'Leo… I promise you, I will exterminate every last Dungeon in this world. It took your life—and so, I will take theirs. I… will carry out the dream you could not.'

Thus marked the end of Zane's weakness, and the beginning of his quest for revenge.