Chapter 56
The scenery changed.
I looked around.
A plain stretching endlessly in all directions.
Checking my GPS device, my current location was the Grassland Zone east of Ulaanbaatar.
Ah... I missed by more than I thought?
It seemed I had to go about 100km further west to enter the Branch Tower's range.
I recharged the Warp Device by stopping time.
And warped again toward where Ulaanbaatar was.
\[Would you like to enter the Second Branch Tower?\]
Only then did the message pop up, indicating I had entered the Branch Tower's range.
Shall I go in, then?
"Enter."
I entered immediately without wasting any time.
The scenery changed once again.
\[You have entered the Second Branch Tower, 1st Floor.\]
Out of habit, I stopped time and checked my surroundings first.
A fairly spacious and moderately dark space.
On the floor in front of me lay weapons like swords, spears, and maces.
And on the opposite side was... a single Goblin.
Holding a sword and shield in its hands.
“...?”
That was it.
No other monsters were visible.
“Is it a trap?”
First, I used Time Release.
Kieee-
The Goblin, having spotted me, approached while letting out an unpleasant screech.
It had been a while since I entered the 1st Floor... how long had it been since I last saw a Goblin?
But is this really it?
Unable to let my guard down, I fired a Mana Bullet from a distance.
Because it might be the kind of trap that explodes when touched. Like the Exploding Undead on the 3rd Floor.
Bang!
The Mana Bullet flew, drawing a tail of light, and shattered the Goblin's head to pieces.
The Goblin, its head blown off, collapsed dead.
I tilted my head.
\[Successfully Cleared the 1st Floor.\]
\[Please move to the 2nd Floor when you are ready.\]
"...Hmm."
Did I overthink this?
Then again, it wasn't like I was clearing Nightmare Difficulty right now.
I knew it in my head, but I kept doubting out of habit.
Well, it's still the 1st Floor.
\[Would you like to move to the 2nd Floor?\]
The message popped up as soon as I thought about moving on to the 2nd Floor.
I immediately continued the clear.
The scenery was exactly the same as before.
A spacious and moderately dark space. Weapons lay on the floor.
The only difference was that the enemy in front of me had changed from a Goblin to another monster.
“...An Orc?”
It was a monster I was seeing for the first time, but it looked exactly like an Orc.
It had the same green skin as a Goblin, but its build was larger. About the size of the Knight Goblin on the 1st Floor.
It held a mace as a weapon in its hand.
Chwiiik-
The Orc exhaled rough snorts and strode toward me.
I fired Mana Bullets again.
The three Mana Bullets flew in and popped the Orc's head with a bang.
\[Successfully Cleared the 2nd Floor.\]
\[Please move to the 3rd Floor when you are ready.\]
Hmm... I think I get the gist of it.
I really must have overthought it.
Gimmicks or traps? It seemed there were none.
It was just a format where you cleared it by defeating the enemy in front of you.
Of course, the enemies would get stronger as the floors went up, but so far...
"It's easy."
It felt a bit awkward doing such a normal clear after only clearing Nightmare.
I immediately moved on to the 3rd Floor.
\[You have entered the 3rd Floor.\]
The enemy on the 3rd Floor was a Lizardman.
A human-sized bipedal lizard was holding a spear.
Baaang!
I fired a Mana Bullet and blew its head off again. The end.
\[You have entered the 4th Floor.\]
The enemy on the 4th Floor was a Werewolf.
Its build was slightly larger than the Lizardman's.
Keuheung-!
I struck the head of the Werewolf that lunged at me as soon as I entered with my fist.
Then its head went pop. The end.
\[You have entered the 5th Floor.\]
Upon reaching the 5th Floor, a familiar monster appeared.
A Minotaur. The boss of our Nightmare 2nd Floor.
Mmoooo-!
I welcomed the guy charging at me with a resounding roar with my fist as well.
Crash!
The Minotaur, its head shattered to pieces, flew and smashed into the wall.
“If the 5th Floor is at the level of a Minotaur...”
Assuming the Minotaur was roughly around Level 20.
Then would the boss on the Last Floor, the 10th Floor, be around Level 40 or Level 50?
Making minor predictions, I moved on to the 6th Floor.
\[You have entered the 6th Floor.\]
The monster on the 6th Floor was... what was that?
A troll? An ogre?
Anyway, it had green skin, but it was a monster much larger in build than a Goblin or an Orc.
Guuu-
I tried firing a Mana Bullet first.
When I fired it at its head and made it explode, the troll let out an agonizing cry.
Its head didn't blow off.
Rather, I saw the wounded area bubble and begin to regenerate.
Aha, I guess it was a troll rather than an ogre.
I followed up by firing Flame Strike.
Kwaaaaang!
Five fireballs flew and blew the troll to pieces just like that.
The body, turned to ash beyond recognition, could no longer regenerate.
\[You have entered the 7th Floor.\]
The enemy on the 7th Floor wasn't a single monster.
Pababababa!
Dozens... hundreds of large bats flew this way, their red eyes glowing.
Seeing their protruding fangs, I wondered if they were Vampire Bats.
I spread out the Scorching Zone.
Fwoooosh!
The bats that entered the Scorching Zone burned up like moths jumping into a campfire.
It took only an instant for all hundreds of them to burn away.
"Wow."
Having properly tasted the thrill of the Scorching Zone for the first time, I let out a small exclamation.
There was no Skill like this when dealing with enemies that only had numbers on their side.
\[You have entered the 8th Floor.\]
Next, the 8th Floor.
“Huh?”
The Field had changed.
The space was the same, but it was filled with water up to chest height.
The monster that appeared was... a mermaid?
No, it also looked like a snake.
Anyway, a gross Human-faced Serpent-fish-like monster was swimming underwater, cutting through the current.
Saaaa-
The guy suddenly poked its head out and opened its mouth toward me.
Then, a flash of light gathered at its mouth.
It looked like it was trying to use some kind of technique, so I fired magic first.
Sorry to interrupt while you were working hard to prepare an attack, but this side was instant cast.
Kwaaaaang!
The Human-faced Serpent-fish's body was blown to shreds by the Flame Strike.
\[You have entered the 9th Floor.\]
Next, the 9th Floor.
The layout on the 9th Floor had changed a bit for some reason.
I was in the center, and Black-robed Grotesques surrounded me from three directions.
They were holding something like crystal balls in their hands.
“Humans?”
To say that, their visible skin was too pale and their fingernails were long like a witch's.
Well, whether they were monsters or humans, they were enemies anyway.
Hwaaa-
As the grotesques muttered something, the crystal balls began to shine.
It was an obvious attack signal, so I cast Flame Strike without giving them an opening this time either.
I divided the five fireballs into one, one, and three, and fired them at each guy.
Kwaaaaang!
The guy who got hit by three was blown to pieces.
But the guys who got hit by one each were perfectly fine.
Something like a Barrier was spread around the two grotesques.
“They held out?”
Because I had no intention of giving the enemies time to do anything.
As soon as the attack was blocked, I immediately went all out.
I poured the Line of Destruction on one guy, and instantly bombarded the other guy with all my remaining Magic Skills, then even summoned Flee.
“Crush them.”
The one hit by the Line of Destruction was naturally obliterated, and the other's Barrier cracked.
Flee charged in, shattered it to pieces, and crunched down on the grotesque's body.
\[Successfully Cleared the 9th Floor.\]
Now, only the Last Floor, the 10th Floor, remained.
After fully replenishing my Willpower and cycling my Skill Cooldowns.
I entered the Last Floor.
\[You have entered the 10th Floor.\]
I looked at the enemy standing in front of me.
A Black Knight with a build similar to mine, wearing pitch-black armor.
For a moment, I thought of the Black Knight I met in the 2nd Floor Hidden...
Of course, it wasn't on that level.
My Sixth Sense was telling me.
It wasn't stronger than me, but still quite strong?
I immediately fired Flame Strike.
The five fireballs flew toward the Black Knight, but.
Kwaaaaang!
The Black Knight dodged all the fireballs with nimble movements and lunged at me.
Flee stepped up first and knocked away the charging Black Knight with its body.
Kaoooo-!
I watched the Black Knight, who had started fighting Flee.
Roughly similar to a Stage 5 Fallen?
It seemed to have the strength of around the mid-Level 50s.
They fought neck and neck for a moment before the Black Knight stabbed its sword into Flee's neck.
*At that moment, I cut in and ambushed it.*
After striking the Black Knight with my fist and sending it flying, I reached out my hand toward the flying guy.
‘It's over.’
A fully charged Line of Destruction hit the Black Knight directly.
The Black Knight disappeared without a trace.
\[Successfully Cleared the 10th Floor.\]
The message popped up.
I laughed because it felt somewhat anticlimactic.
Well, the 10th Floor boss itself was quite strong, but... it seemed the Branch Tower was ultimately at this level.
A match against an honest and fair enemy, without rampant trickery.
Ah, I wish I could always have climbs like this.
\[The Second Branch Tower has been cleared up to the Last Floor.\]
\[Second Branch Tower First Clear was successful.\]
\[You have acquired Tower Ownership of the Second Branch Tower.\]
Messages popped up one after another.
Tower Ownership? What is this.
\[Upon acquiring Tower Ownership of a Branch Tower, you can activate/Deactivate the Mana Vein of the corresponding Branch Tower.\]
I tilted my head.
So... the person who cleared the Branch Tower can turn the Mana Vein on and off at will?
“They should have given me a Skill Stone instead of something like this.”
Anyway, there was a reward given to the First Conqueror. Even if it wasn't very useful.
But this is ridiculous.
It means China was hiding this too and trying to extort even more from Mongolia.
It was practically the same as the clearer getting ownership of the Mana Vein, but that wasn't enough for them.
"Okay."
You guys just don't do anything.
I should just clear all the remaining Branch Towers myself.
---
"...Up to here are the demands from our Government side, on which no further compromise is possible."
At the interpreter's words, Mongolia's Prime Minister Orgil could not manage his facial expression.
The Chinese Ambassador's attitude of fiddling with his fingernails while the interpreter spoke, as if telling them to just listen since it was merely a notification, was arrogant beyond measure.
The Branch Tower that appeared in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
In a situation where China's help was indispensable to resolve it, China had made completely absurd demands.
The sale of shares and guarantee of Exclusive Mining Rights for several of Mongolia's major mines, including Tavan Tolgoi, Infrastructure Operating Rights and Export Priority Rights, a Share of the Mana Vein after the Branch Tower was cleared, and the issue of Inner Mongolia, which was practically a reverse scale...
They were seriously pushing conditions that wouldn't even make it to the table under normal circumstances.
"Please make your decision now, Your Excellency, Prime Minister."
"Do you think we can accept these nonsensical demands?"
At the Prime Minister's words, a faint sneer hung on the Chinese Ambassador's lips.
"Wouldn't you have to do so regardless?"
"..."
"Our side's Climber is risking his life to clear the Branch Tower, Your Excellency. The world's best Climber, that is. I hope you will acknowledge that China is taking on that much risk as well.
And if the Branch Tower is cleared and a Mana Vein is formed, wouldn't it be a great benefit to Mongolia as well? Please do not take this as an unreasonable demand and calculate carefully."
The Chinese Ambassador said.
"There is not much time left now. You cannot turn Ulaanbaatar into a Land of Death, can you?"
The one in a hurry was Mongolia. With the Branch Tower's remaining time limit being less than a week, time was absolutely lacking, and it couldn't help but be a completely one-sided negotiation.
If they refused to accept the demands until the end and China really washed its hands of it, Ulaanbaatar would become a Land of Death. This was not a metaphor.
People would no longer be able to set foot in it, and all infrastructure concentrated in the capital—servers, communications, energy, administrative networks—would be blown away.
Also, what would happen to the countless migrants currently evacuating from the capital... Anyone who failed to escape the range would all become Fallen. Because they would die from the Tower's Curse.
It would be a shock that paralyzed the entire Nation. Mongolia's national power would regress by at least a century.
International criticism and resentment were pouring down on China as well, but in the end, all other Nations were merely bystanders. Was anyone else stepping up to resolve the Branch Tower for them?
Orgil suppressed his anger and judged rationally. The Prime Minister was a position that had to do so.
"...Give us one more day. I will decide by then..."
At that moment, the Prime Minister's Secretary urgently kicked open the door to the Meeting Room and entered. And whispered into Orgil's ear.
"What..."
The Chinese Ambassador frowned at the rude behavior.
Orgil, who was listening to the whisper, shouted in surprise.
"...Is that true!"
"Yes, the message just popped up."
Following that, the Chinese side's Attendant also rushed in and whispered to the Ambassador.
"What...?!"
Both the Prime Minister and the Ambassador were dumbfounded and looked at each other.
The Ambassador's blank face, with all his previous composure completely gone, was so funny that Prime Minister Orgil burst into laughter.
"Pfft... Hahaha!"
The Ambassador could only stare with a rotting expression at him, who was roaring with laughter while slapping his knee.