Chapter 101
The Ice Castle was completed not long after. Only the exterior was completed, that is.
Ma-Wang wandered inside the castle, refining the space.
The first thing to be completed was a space like an Audience Chamber where the Throne was located.
Ma-Wang sat on the Ice Throne at an angle, resting his chin on his hand.
He sat still, looking around as if admiring it, and suddenly muttered.
“There are no Vassals.”
[Huh?]
[Suddenly talking about Vassals again...]
Ma-Wang sat on the Throne and did nothing until the given time was up.
After getting my body back, I did a Zone 5 Hunt and then left the tower.
While the communication window was being checked, there was a whisper.
[Sanmaek: Hello, Person123. It has been a while since I contacted you. On behalf of the Public Order Squad, I would like to express my deep gratitude for clearing the 7th Floor and extending the time limit by another year.
...The reason I am contacting you is that our Public Order Squad is planning to cooperate with the Black Star Society to clear the soon-to-appear Zone 3 Boss. So, despite the shamelessness, there is something I really want to ask of you, Person123...]
A long whisper from Public Order Captain Alex.
It was asking for help in catching the Zone 3 Boss.
Currently, the Boss Gauge for Zone 3 is filled up to 99.1%.
Just as the Officers of the Public Order Squad and the Black Star Society acted as supervisors when catching the Zone 1 and Zone 2 Boss, they were asking me to take on that role.
I replied immediately.
[Person123: Understood.]
There was no need to ask.
I had originally planned to watch them catch the Zone 3 Boss anyway.
It had been a few days since I cleared the 7th Floor, but the reason I hadn't challenged the hidden stage yet was because of this: to help out here first.
It wasn't like I hadn't received consideration from the Public Order Squad either.
Even though I ended up catching it alone anyway, the Public Order Squad had stepped up to help when I was trying to catch the Zone 3 Boss.
And without even needing to weigh such things, I naturally had to do it.
A Level 60 boss.
One wrong move, and many people could die.
All I had to do was watch the boss battle and help ensure there were no Deceased Persons.
* * *
Media Worldwide poured out news related to the Zone 3 Boss Battle.
As it was a battle where the majority of High-level Climbers were participating, it was natural for the public's attention to be focused on it.
Furthermore, an additional breaking news report drew even more of people's interest.
[Knight King: Is it true that Person123 is helping with the Zone 3 Boss Battle?]
[Tove: It's true. I'm a Security Officer, and they said a reply came.]
[Kukakaka: Then it's already over lol]
The National Governments that heard the news could also breathe a sigh of relief.
They had been anxious all this time.
Because this boss battle was one where a catastrophe could occur, with their precious High-level Climbers dying off if things went wrong.
However, if Person123 stepped up, success was already guaranteed, and a Deceased Person would likely not occur, since he wouldn't let that happen.
The Day of Decisive Battle approached.
Both the Public Order Squad and the Black Star Society filled the gauge right up to the limit as planned, then joined up at the Meeting Place.
Now they would fill the remaining 0.1% together and move to catch the boss.
They had figured out the Boss Spawn Location because they had seen it when Person123 caught it.
[Zone 3 (100%)]
[The Zone 3 Boss is appearing.]
Like that, the gauge completely filled up.
The Public Order Squad and the Black Star Society made their final preparations.
“Now we're finally going to catch the boss.”
The Minimum Level of the Climbers participating in this Zone 3 Boss Battle was 40.
And the Maximum Level was Level 64, achieved by Alex.
Having cleared two floors over the past two years, he was currently the Hard Difficulty Record Holder and, excluding Person123, the World's Highest Level Climber.
“There's no need for everyone to be too nervous. I will fight at the very front.”
Alex encouraged the Squad Members.
Even without his saying so, no one was that nervous.
Because everyone knew that Person123 would be watching this boss battle.
If a truly dangerous situation occurred, he would step in, so they could rest assured that there was at least a Safety Device.
Of course, the best thing was to ensure he didn't have to step in in the first place.
Person123 had caught the Zone 3 Boss alone when he had only cleared up to the 4th Floor.
And now, almost two years have passed since then.
If all these Climbers gathered together and showed themselves struggling to properly catch a single boss, that would be truly embarrassing.
Waaaaaah-!
The Climbers let out a shout.
After raising their morale one last time, the Public Order Squad and the Black Star Society moved to where the Zone 3 Boss was.
Arriving at the destination.
They spotted the boss.
Far away on the peak of a small Rock Mountain, a Red Wyvern was lying down.
As expected, the Climbers swallowed their saliva at its unimaginably massive size.
Alex exchanged glances with the Black Star Society Leader Li Zeyan.
They had only agreed to fight together without interfering with each other; it wasn't as if they had formulated a strategy to face the boss together and coordinated their teamwork.
To do that, they would have had to freely disclose things like Skill Information to each other, and no matter how not-bad of a relationship the two sides were maintaining these days, going that far was too much.
From now on, it is Individual Play.
The Public Order Squad would face the boss as it had prepared, and the Black Star Society would do the same.
[Person123 is...]
[Has he arrived?]
Alex looked around.
Since the communication window couldn't be used inside the tower, he couldn't contact him either.
“Ah! Over there...!”
At that moment, a Public Order Squad Officer pointed to the left.
On the Land of Fire, not too far away, a person wearing a mask could be seen.
“It's Person123!”
The Climbers who spotted Person123 murmured in excitement.
They had been momentarily overwhelmed by the boss, but their morale quickly rose again. Person123 had come as promised.
Alex also smiled and looked back at the boss.
The information gathered about the Zone 3 Boss.
There was nothing other than the fact that it was a Flying Monster and that it used an attack that spewed Flame from its mouth.
I was thinking back to when Person123 faced it. If they approached the boss closely, it would probably fly up and shoot a Breath Attack...
The strategy prepared by the Public Order Squad was for a few Maximum Level Officers, including Alex, to approach the boss first.
To attack the boss, it was the Top Priority to drag it down to The Surface.
It was their judgment that the boss wouldn't just keep shooting Breath Attacks from the sky forever.
It would have to come down at least once eventually. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to catch it in the first place.
Until then, the intention was for Alex and the Officers to endure while dodging the boss's attacks, and then to land a Hit on its wings.
After that, they just had to swarm the boss and land a Hit.
Alex glanced over at the Black Star Society's side.
The Captain of the Black Star Society, Li Zeyan, and the man standing beside him.
The man's identity was none other than Ye Cheonwi, the true Power Broker of the Black Star Society.
Just as Taylor participated on this side, it was only natural that the Nightmare Challenger from that side also made an appearance.
At that moment, Ye Cheonwi looked this way.
Meeting Alex's eyes, he gave a faint smile.
With Person123 watching, the worry that the Black Star Society would do something foolish was also lessened.
However, the problem now was who between the Public Order Squad and the Black Star Society would bother to step forward first...
“...?!”
Suddenly, Ye Cheonwi dashed out toward the boss.
Li Zeyan and a few Climbers hurriedly chased after him, looking surprised.
Without the Standoff they had worried about, the Security Officers were also flustered by the sight of the Black Star Society striking out first on its own.
“...Let's go!”
Alex also immediately led the Officers and ran toward the boss.
Whatever Skill he used, Ye Cheonwi's speed was incredible.
He did a sprint faster than anyone else and arrived at the bottom of the rock mountain where the boss was located.
Kuaaaaa-!
The boss let out a roar and tried to rise into the sky with flapping wings.
At that moment, something like a beam of light was fired from Ye Cheonwi.
A cluster of beams of light pierced through the membrane of one of the boss's wings.
The boss, who had been ascending, staggered and landed precariously.
The Climbers rushed in unison toward the boss that had come down to the ground.
Seeing the boss open its maw wide, Alex shouted urgently.
“It's a Breath Attack! Dodge!”
Flames that cleaved the ground in a straight line.
The Climbers of the Public Order Squad and the Black Star Society split to both sides to dodge, then continued their approach to the boss.
First, Alex made a large leap and struck the boss's head with a skill.
Chwaaaak!
Following that, Taylor, who had stuck to the wing side, cut off the tip of the boss's wing with Sword Aura.
Li Zeyan and the rest of the Officers also prioritized a hit on the wings so the boss couldn't fly up again.
Kueeeh-!
The boss, having suffered wounds on both wings, no longer used Flapping Wings.
As if firmly enraged, it began to rampage across the Ground and attack the Climbers.
Following behind, the rest of the Climbers also hurriedly rushed at the boss.
“Stick to its torso!”
While the Officers drew aggro toward the head, the relatively lower-level Climbers stuck to the torso and landed a Hit.
The Security Officers moved swiftly according to Alex's instructions and hand signals. It was the same for the Black Star Society's side.
“...Breath Attack!”
The boss spewed fire once again.
Only the Officer-level individuals were handling the head side, and since there was a precursor to the attack, dodging the Breath Attack wasn't difficult.
The Climbers quickly adapted to the boss's patterns and attacked from their respective positions. There were also those who fired off a Magic Skill while maintaining Mental Concentration from a distance.
In particular, the performances of Taylor and Ye Cheonwi were incredible.
The two used various Skills to cut and smash the scales on the boss's neck with their blades.
It was truly a display of skill befitting the Nightmare Challengers who followed closest behind Person123.
Like that, the battle situation flowed quite smoothly.
[It sure is filthy tough...!]
Still, a boss was a boss, and it had incredible vitality.
The Officers were concentrating a hit on the head and neck areas, but the boss was still full of energy.
Did Person123 really catch a guy like this all by himself? He felt a renewed sense of absurdity.
At that moment, Alex, who was fighting hard, opened his eyes wide.
One Squad Member broke position and suddenly rushed toward the head.
“...That!”
It was Vince, who never listened even on a normal day.
Without even giving them time to stop him, he jumped right onto the boss's head and thrust his sword, aiming for the spot between its eyes.
However, the hit was minimal.
When the boss shook its head roughly, Vince couldn't escape and was bounced off onto the floor.
“Keuhuk...!”
While the Officers were also forced to step back, the boss opened its maw toward the fallen Vince. It was a Breath Attack.
The moment a disaster was about to happen arrived.
Kwaaaang!
The boss's mouth snapped shut as its head was slammed into the ground.
“...!”
The person who suddenly appeared and struck the boss's snout.
It was Person123.
With a single punch, the boss's massive head was smashed into the ground.
“...”
For a moment, everyone stopped attacking the boss.
The boss, who had collapsed and remained motionless for a moment, squirmed and raised their body.
Person123 pointed a finger at the boss as if telling them to keep attacking, and then disappeared again.
Alex snapped back to his senses and shouted.
“...What are you all doing! Attack!”
Everyone attacked the boss again.
However, perhaps the blow just now was fatal, as the boss couldn't gather its senses and staggered weakly.
The Climbers concentrated a Hit on the boss much more comfortably than before.
Kuuuung.
The struggling boss seemed to have run out of strength and soon collapsed again.
[The Zone 3 Boss has been defeated.]
A message popped up.
Everyone stared at the dead boss in a slightly dazed state before cheering.
“Wa... Waaaaah!”
Zone 3 Boss Battle.
Deceased Person: 0. Time Taken: about 10 minutes.
It was certainly a Clear Complete.