()= Thinking/ Replacing
*= Actions
""= Phone
/= Whispers
--= Narrator
~~= Timeskip
Darren POV:
Azazel stared at me as I scratched the back of my head before sticking out my tongue jokingly.
Darren: Sorry.
Azazel: Don't try and act cute, you just look disgusting.
Darren: Shut up.
I suddenly clutched my head as Kiriya spoke in my mind.
Kiriya: (Hey, brat, I think it's time for you to obey my request now, go to my dungeon and revive one of my soldiers, this is a solo mission, of course. You have to make an excuse, whatever excuse will do.)
I looked back at the group and adjusted my sunglasses.
Darren: Sorry guys, an emergency came up, I have to leave as soon as possible right now.
Akane: Eh? What happened?
Darren: I... gotta go fight something.
Azazel: That's a bad excuse.
Darren: I couldn't care less about finding an excuse right now.
I teleported away before they could question me further as Kiriya led me down the mountain towards a gate-like thing.
Kiriya: (This is where my first dungeon is. Open it up using your cursed energy.)
Darren: Gate Open.
I charged cursed energy into the gate as it transformed and swallowed me in. I was suddenly in this castle-like structure when a screen popped in front of me.
Gate: Darren Satoru, confirmed, species Monarch, confirmed, spirit, confirmed, entrance, allowed.
Mission:
Defeat all of the enemies in the dungeon and then defeat the boss once completed, job change shall be activated.
Darren: (Mission? Job change? What does that mean?)
Kiriya: (I'll specify for you, brat, your current job is sorcerer, with the number of Cursed Techniques you have and for job change... meaning that you are ready to become someone like me. This is just your first step.)
Darren: (I see... I'll work my hardest then.)
Knight-like monsters started to appear in front of me as I summoned cursed spirits to push them away before they did no damage.
Darren: No damage?!
I took out my katana and slashed at it before it also did no damage due to its heavy armour.
Darren: (He's not that strong, it's just that he's got a ton of defence. His armour is so thick for my sword or cursed spirits to pass through. But even someone like me can tank all of his attacks because his attacks don't have much force to them.)
The knight slashed at me again.
Darren: Don't you know that the bigger you are, the more openings you have? I've already had an experience that my fists or katana didn't work on before.
I sat down on its shoulder before stabbing his neck with my katana which made it fall to the floor dead.
Darren: Is this thing even a proper monster? It's disgustingly weak. But it'll give me a little bit of trouble if more of these things show up in the future.
I sighed before walking forward.
Darren: I'm only using my six eyes to detect the enemy, if an unprecedented enemy shows up, then this would be trouble. Even though I have enough cursed energy to provide energy for a continent.
I placed my hands in my pocket as I kept on walking.
Darren: Even though my cursed energy usage is infinitely small, almost to zero. I still don't wanna waste cursed energy like a fool. Oi, Kiriya, what the hell is this place?
Kiriya appeared as a mouth on my hand.
Kiriya: Who the hell knows? Anyways, I've disabled your reverse cursed technique, so that the damage will accumulate. No retreat, no healing and an unknown difficulty, I'll say it right now, the boss is even stronger than the patch-face cursed spirit.
Darren: I see... man, you just had to make this job a lot harder for me by disabling my reverse cursed technique huh? So what you're telling me is to take this seriously otherwise I would die. How long will this gate take?
Kiriya: Potentially. I can't have you dying on me now when your work isn't finished. Potentially, this gate can take however long you want, time doesn't flow the same as in the outside world. You can stay a decade in here and in the outside world it would be only 10 minutes.
Darren: So one minute equals one year, I'll be doing this quickly then. This is the perfect battlefield for me.
I cracked my knuckles as I took off my sunglasses with footsteps behind me.
Darren: I need to take care of these imbeciles who only rely on their weak defences.
I gathered curse energy in my hand before punching the knights into each other and kicking their heads, completely crushing them.
Darren: (My output isn't all that without cursed techniques. But, when it comes to overall cursed energy... I'm unrivalled.)
I stretched a bit before smirking.
Darren: This is the perfect training ground for me.
I held out a hand sign with the monsters in front of me.
Darren: Orochi!
The giant snake rushed towards the knights and crushed them before I dispelled Orochi.
Darren: You know, for a boss dungeon like this, I'm more surprised by the fact that you sent such a weak opponent towards me. Kiriya, if I had to guess, they're probably around the pre-awakened Mahito level.
Kiriya: You'll see soon, brat, who this dungeon is inhabited by, don't come crying to me for help if you're about to die.
Darren: If I can't cut them, I'll just target where their bones are, this isn't like fighting Mahito where even people like Kotori can't harm him because she doesn't know the soul functions.
I suddenly shoved my katana up the head of a knight that snuck up on me.
Darren: Man, that knight can use stealth as well? If it wasn't for me having the six eyes, I probably would've been hit by that attack.
I activated infinity the moment a flame came for me, the flame immediately dispersed the moment it touched the infinity.
Darren: A mage? Someone of my own calibre then.
I took out my katana and smiled.
Darren: Well, doesn't matter how many of you there are, my objective won't change. That is to kill all of you.
I slashed them all while using cursed energy to support my katana. After that swift exchange, I received a water bottle from the knights.
Darren: Man, they even give water here?
Kiriya: Do whatever you want with the water, it might be poisoned or not.
I swiftly drank the water and wiped my mouth.
Darren: Tastes like salt.
Kiriya: You seriously like to take risks.
Darren: I'm a man who already died once. I don't see why I shouldn't be taking risks.
I leaned back against a wall while Infinity stopped one of the arrows that flew at my face.
Kiriya: You're certainly amusing! Einherjar! You're one of the best I've ever met! Your body refined as a sorcerer is surely amusing!
I kept on walking through the endless corridor and the moment I reached a door with a skull-shape symbol on it, shivers went down my spine, it was almost as if, the door was trying to drain away all of my willpower.
Darren: (What the hell is this place...)
The moment I walked inside, a room with a throne and multiple torches appeared.
Darren: This place is like...
Kiriya: A king's throne room.
Darren: But what king... no, rather than a king... is it safer to say a Monarch? A chill that makes your body shiver to the bone.
Suddenly, footsteps that can send shivers down even the strongest's spine, can be heard coming from the side of the throne. A knight wearing all-red armour can be seen walking towards me.
Darren: (Eyes, fingertips, ears... this feeling... this feeling is the same feeling as when I died. That knight... will be my greatest challenger to date.)
A screen appeared before me as the knight was identified as Blood-Red Knight Igris.
Darren: (So strong... my body's shaking from its mere presence.)
It stood in front of the throne as if it was guarding it, the throne was empty though.
Darren: (A knight protecting a fallen throne...)
I readied my hand signs for a worst-case scenario like a domain expansion but before I could even react. Igris appeared and he punched me in the stomach and grabbed my head, throwing me away. I hit the wall and coughed up blood.
Darren: (His speed is superb... I'd say he's faster than me if I'm not going all out. Cursed spirits won't hurt him and I can say that this guy doesn't have a soul either.)
I rushed towards him and tried to punch him again before I felt like I was punching a diamond.
Darren: (So tough, his armour is hard to break!)
He punched me in the stomach again and backhanded me away, sending me into a pillar.
Darren: (No way, he's that fast even with armour on? I would've undoubtedly died at least 3 times if I didn't have the six eyes.)
He swung his sword at me as I ducked and saw the pillars behind me all sliced up.
Darren: (He can slice through pillars like they are tofu, this monster... has to be taken seriously, when's the last time I ever thought I might lose? Hah, that's an obvious answer.)
I grabbed my katana and tried to slash at him before my sword shattered on impact. He quickly grabbed my head and slammed it on the floor before I kicked his hand away.
Darren: (It... shattered on impact, the hardness is comparable to Mahito in his metamorphosis form.)
I dropped my broken katana on the floor as I charged up cursed energy in my fists.
Darren: (This is the only way to deal with him huh... even though it might be worse.)
Igris stabbed his sword on the floor while he dropped his daggers and cape on the floor.
Darren: Chivalry? You're not taking me seriously at all huh?
Igris rushed towards me and punched me in the neck, making me cough up some saliva before grabbing my hood and throwing me to the nearby wall. He rushed towards me again before I made an X mark with my arms to barely block the attack.
Darren: (There's no way... for me to beat this monster without getting serious... but how? I can't use a domain expansion like this, my shikigamis won't do any damage, I think... this is my only option.)
Darren: Cursed Technique Amplification: Blue!
I threw a blue ball to a place to pull Igris in before I rushed towards him using Blue's gravitational pull and punched his face, which was easily tanked by his armour as we traded blows. He punched me in the face again, this sent me flying backwards as I kicked him in the face.
Darren: Cursed Technique Amplification: Blue!
I applied the limitless technique to my legs, it damaged him a bit before he grabbed my leg and backhanded me to the wall as I fell to the throne. I was barely able to keep conscious before Igris grabbed his sword. He slowly walked towards me before he swung his sword down at my head.
Darren: (Not yet... I'm not dead yet! I can't end like this...)
Infinity stopped Igris' sword before I grabbed his sword with a crazed grin on my face.
Darren: I haven't lost yet! This instant isn't over yet!
Darren: (Because I was at rock bottom with no one to help me before, I longed for my old position, the place with power!)
I pulled out a backup katana and stabbed it inside Igris' armour and pierced his eye. he took a step back while I pulled out the katana from his eye. I punched his armour with the limitless technique surrounding my fists again. I stabbed his eyes with my katana again before it pierced his skull and killed him.
Kiriya: Well done, brat, you did better than I expected.
Darren: Shut up, it was just pure luck that I won, if I made a mistake in any shape or form, I would've died instantly.
I heard a loud laughter from Kiriya before he returned back to solitude.
Kiriya: Oi, brat, after you beat my dungeon, you're finally ready to receive your class!
Darren: Huh?
A screen appeared in front of me showing.
Congratulations, you have been promoted to Necromancer.
Darren: Necromancer?
Kiriya: Wanna try it out on the knight? But before that, pick a keyword, you have unlocked these, Shadow Preservations, Extractions and finally, the title of Shadow Monarch.
Darren: (Keyword? I guess it can only be that then.)
I walked towards Igris with an emotionless face.
Darren: Arise.
The knight did not respond to me.
Darren: Arise.
The knight did not respond again as I kept staring at it with my emotionless face.
Darren: Knight, stop protecting the empty throne of someone who has already left, it will only make you feel empty. And try to protect what you have in front of you instead. Arise.
This time, the shadow of the Knight started to appear out of his body as he bowed down at me.
Darren: From now on, your name shall be Igris. You serve me, the Shadow Monarch. We are Monarchs, Monarchs do not need to choose.
My eyes started to glow.
Darren: We take.
Kiriya kept on laughing as I walked to the knights on the floor.
Darren: Can I?
Kiriya: Do what you want, it's your power.
Darren: Arise.
30 knights turned into my shadow soldiers and bowed down in front of me.
Darren: Take care of me now.
I exited the dungeon and scratched the back of my head.
Darren: Even though I was in the dungeon for around 2 hours, nothing seems to have changed, I wanna go get a change of clothes though.
I walked into a shop and the shopkeeper welcomed me in.
Shopkeeper: Welcome, are you here to try out some clothes?
Darren: More than try...
I saw a pair of clothes and pants I really liked.
Darren: I wanna buy after you know what size I am.
Shopkeeper: Here you go.
I walked out of the shop after changing into my new clothes and teleported to Azazel, Ai and Akane who just stared at me in shock.
Azazel: Satoru... are you really Darren Satoru?
Darren: Why? Do I look weird?
(Replace Sung Jin Woo with Darren and imagine he's wearing sunglasses)
Azazel: Seriously, you pull off drip kinda well.
Darren: Don't wanna hear that from a dude, but thanks for the compliment.
Azazel: I just never knew that people can change from looking like a bum to a good-looking person with just a change of clothes.
Darren: Oh shut it. You don't look good in whatever you wear.
I hugged Akane and nuzzled her.
Darren: I missed you so much.
Akane hugged me back and smiled at me.
Akane: Same with me, Darren-Kun.
-Akane POV-
I stared at Darren's face, despite his looks changing, he was still as clingy as ever.
Akane: (If Darren-Kun did end up needing to kill someone, I'd help him kill them, no matter who. He's helped me so much, my saviour, and I want to support you and be by your side.)
As we kept on walking, my expression changed to one of jealousy.
Akane: (However, if he were to cheat on me with another woman, then I would definitely kill him.)
I saw Darren have a shudder down his spine before I stared at him.
Akane: (After all, I know full well that Darren-Kun is a philandering cad. I'll be watching you very closely. As you said, Darren-Kun~ people's feelings will never change. My feelings for you won't ever change as well. Like how you used to give me affection whenever I had a hard day at work, reply to my texts as soon as possible as my boyfriend, and even come to my rescue on rainy days with an umbrella in your hand.)
One thing's for certain, Darren Satoru and I aren't parting even when death do us part.
Akane: I love you.
Darren: Yeah, I heard you.
Akane: ...love you, love you...