CHAPTER 149: CHAPTER 149: ASAEL

Chapter 149 – Asael

Kaden didn’t quite know what to say once he heard those words from the strange man who, by the way, called himself Asael.

He was stunned, to say the least. But soon, his expression cleared as he remembered the reason he was here... to die at the hands of a death-affinity beast.

In the end, it didn’t matter whether it was a beast or some other type of being, so long as that entity was tied to death. And it seemed almost certain that whoever this peak grandmaster was death-related, judging by the suffocating and deathly atmosphere of this dungeon.

So immediately, he relaxed, the frantic tension of being chased by that damn spider finally bleeding away from his body.

The only thing left was to heal and that was easy. He had more than enough health potions in his space ring.

Yes, this time he had come prepared.

So, right in front of Asael, who kept staring at him with that ever-present smile, Kaden pulled out a set of unique-rank health potions and gulped them down without hesitation.

A sigh of relief slipped past his lips as the pain ebbed, his wounds knitting themselves together.

"You look quite calm for an intermediate rank standing against a peak grandmaster," Asael remarked. Instantly, the shadows in the corner of the room gathered and twisted, forming into a sleek black chair that seemed almost liquid before it hardened.

He sat on it lazily, grinning at Kaden.

Kaden didn’t answer right away. His eyes stayed closed, savoring the fading pain as the potions worked.

The only thing left now was his missing right arm... and for that, he already had another plan, either regrow it entirely or reattach it later.

Finally, he opened his eyes, looked at Asael, and gave a careless shrug. "What do you want me to do? Cry and panic?"

"Would that help anything?"

"Well, maybe not... but hey, show something at least. I already had some comforting words prepared for you." Asael’s voice carried an exaggerated sadness, as if genuinely disappointed Kaden hadn’t given him the chance to act dramatic.

Kaden’s eyes twitched.

’What’s wrong with this guy...?’ he thought, finally deciding to study Asael more closely. And what he found was... nothing.

He frowned.

’I can’t gauge his rank?’ That should’ve been impossible.

At intermediate rank, he could sense up to grandmaster level. The fact that Asael’s strength felt like a blank meant only two things: either he was above grandmaster rank... or he had a way to completely hide his rank.

Without hesitation, Kaden leaned toward the second option. If this man were truly above grandmaster, he wouldn’t still be rotting away inside this dungeon.

"Are you trying to guess my rank?" Asael suddenly asked, snapping Kaden out of his thoughts.

"Yes. I need to know the rank of the one claiming he’ll teach me survival skills in here, don’t I?" Kaden’s voice was flat, calm.

The truth was, Asael had saved him, and despite his strange behavior, there wasn’t an ounce of hostility in him. No killing intent, no lurking malice.

And frankly... Kaden didn’t care if that changed.

If Asael decided to kill him, or throw him to the undead as bait, so be it. As long as the end result was death, he’d welcome it with open arms.

That was why Kaden spoke plainly, without guardedness or fear.

After all, there was nothing left for him to lose.

But to Asael, this was something remarkable.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen a human. He’d been alone for years uncounted, trapped in this cursed place, surrounded by rotting stench of the undead and endless gore.

So when Kaden appeared—broken, dying, but undeniably alive—he’d saved him without thinking. And even after doing so, he had worried about what kind of man would wake up in this place.

Would he recoil in distrust at Asael’s suspicious nature?

Would he crumble in fear?

Would he withdraw and wall himself off entirely?

None of those fears came true.

Instead, this young man called Kaden woke up and acted as if the weight of the dungeon meant nothing. And among all the strange things about him, there was one in particular Asael couldn’t ignore.

"Tell me... why do you look so fearless?" Asael asked, leaning forward with genuine curiosity.

Kaden held his gaze for a moment before smiling faintly, the smile sharp and cold. "What’s the worst that can happen?"

"Death."

"Corruption."

...Silence.

Kaden’s smile vanished. His eyelids flickered.

"What did you just say?" His voice was low.

"The worst thing that can happen isn’t death," Asael said, his tone growing heavier but his smile still intact. "Death is sweet...peaceful, even."

"No matter how miserable your life has been, death comes to take you in its quiet, eternal embrace. It’s like a peaceful sleep you will never wake from."

His voice dropped, darker now, and for the first time, his constant smile dulled.

"But corruption... corruption takes your mind, your body, your life—piece by piece. You won’t be dead, but you will wish you were."

"You will watch something else live your life in your place. You will feel your free will ripped from you, stripped of even the right to exist on your own terms."

His eyes locked with Kaden’s.

"Corruption makes you a puppet. And what’s worse than that?"

Then, as if flipping a switch, Asael smiled again.

"Compared to that, death is just a sweet little transition out of this wretched world."

Kaden listened, and despite himself, felt unsettled.

He had never considered this before. In his mind, the worst fate was death—or, for him personally, to be imprisoned without the mercy of dying.

But corruption...

What would that even be? Were you dead? Alive? Something in between?

His thoughts tangled, but Asael’s voice cut through them.

"And would you like to know, Kaden? This dungeon... is exactly that. Because the master here will turn you into one of his undead."

"And no...before you think dying will spare you, I have news for you, my friend."

He smirked.

"You won’t die. Your soul will be trapped inside one of his puppets, forced to serve him until your spirit itself collapses from exhaustion. So tell me..."

"...is death really the worst thing?"

—End of Chapter 149—