Chapter 97
Entering inside while tense, what I saw was a Giant Stele.
A Pentagonal Pattern on the floor.
The stele standing right in the middle of it.
Thud—
The door closed.
I kept time stopped and observed to see if there was any other Special Circumstance.
I released time and approached the stele.
Sss.
“...?”
As I stood in front of the stele.
Suddenly, letters began to be written in red light on the stele.
[What is the number of Total Arrows fired in the First Gate?]
I read the contents and narrowed my brow.
What is... this?
I stopped time again for now.
[A quiz?]
Out of nowhere, it was giving me a quiz.
But I didn't know the answer.
The number of arrows fired in the First Gate?
How am I supposed to remember that?
[I knew I felt uneasy for a reason...]
I didn't think it would end simply by killing a boss.
As expected, there was something more left.
I didn't know what it was, but it was obvious that something bad would happen if I didn't get the answer right.
I tried to jog my memory for now.
But it wasn't like I counted them one by one while dodging, so there was no way I could remember the Exact Number.
Fuck, how am I supposed to know this?
The question is just so damn cheap.
[Demon Lord.]
- I do not know.
The useless Ma-Wang answered immediately as soon as I called him.
...It couldn't be helped.
It was a problem that wouldn't yield an answer no matter how much I thought about it. I just had to guess.
[Since Hard difficulty had 300...]
I think Stage 1 was roughly around that amount too.
Could the number be exactly the same as Hard?
I released time and spoke the answer.
“...300 arrows?”
Can I just say it out loud?
Then, the letters on the stele were erased and something else appeared.
[X]
An X Mark.
It was the wrong answer.
Next, the red light flowed down the stele.
It filled one of the points of the Pentagram Pattern connected to the floor.
[100]
A number also appeared at the top of the stele. 100?
I didn't know what it meant, but it definitely wouldn't be anything good for me.
Letters appeared on the stele again.
[What is the number of arrows fired at the end in the Second Gate?]
It was another question of the same type.
It seemed it wouldn't end with just one.
Since I passed through Five Gates, is it giving me five questions? One question per gate?
The Second Gate was the Darkness Stage where the torches went out.
At the end, an Arrow Rain fell from the Ceiling all at once.
It was asking me to guess how many that was.
[Hah...]
This is truly disgusting.
There was no way I could remember this exactly either.
I had no choice but to guess with my gut again.
“25 arrows.”
I held back the urge to shout 'I don't know, you motherfucker' and spoke the answer.
[O]
A Circle Mark appeared on the stele.
...Huh? Did I get it right?
[I actually got this right.]
It seemed I luckily guessed the correct answer.
This time, the red light didn't fill a point of the pentagram. The number remained the same.
[What is the number of arrows fired at the end in the Third Gate?]
The next question was the same.
“25 arrows.”
I guessed with the same answer.
[X]
There was no second stroke of luck.
An X Mark appeared, and the red light filled another point of the pentagram.
[200]
The number above the stele also changed.
It became 200, as if another 100 had gone up.
[What is the color of the Colored Arrow fired tenth in the Fourth Gate?]
The fourth question was at least a bit better.
I recalled the order of the Colored Arrows.
The order was definitely blue, purple, red, orange, green...
I clearly remembered up to the seventh, but I was confused after that.
[Orange? Blue?]
Ah man, what was it?
The tenth was definitely one of the two, I think.
- Hmm, wasn't it green?
Ma-Wang interjected and made me confused.
I ignored him, pondered, and picked an answer.
“Orange.”
[X]
Fuck.
- See. I told you it was green.
[...Be quiet.]
The red light filled the third point of the pentagram, and the number above the stele became 300.
[What is the order of the body parts targeted by the stone statue in the Fifth Gate?]
The fifth question.
This was probably the last one.
This... I can get right!
“Right arm, left arm, Right Leg, left leg, heart, head.”
As I spoke the answer.
[O]
The letters on the stele disappeared along with the Circle Mark.
The next question did not appear.
[300]
I looked at the Pentagram Pattern with three of its points filled with red light, and the number above the stele.
I managed to get two questions right at least, but...
What happens now?
And what does that number mean?
Craaack—
At that moment, the stele began to crack along with a vibration.
The Pentagram Pattern on the floor also emitted a strong light.
[299]
I stepped back.
Sixth Sense rang an alarm.
An arrow was about to fly in from the Left Side.
“...?!”
As soon as I felt a sense of disparity while trying to move my body.
I immediately stopped time.
[Again?]
The Left-Right Reversal Debuff from Stage 3 was applied once again.
As soon as I released time, I immediately planted both hands on the ground.
I hopped forward and dodged the arrow.
Following that, the next arrow flew in.
[Huh?]
...Oh, fuck.
I stopped time again as soon as I saw the arrow.
A Blue Arrow was flying in.
Could this be... are the themes of the gates I got the questions wrong for all applied?
[I'm fucked.]
How am I supposed to deflect Colored Arrows with my body in this state?
I tried it for now.
After carefully calculating the trajectory of my sword swing and how I should move.
I finished Mental Concentration, pulled out the Blue Sword from my Subspace, and deflected the arrow.
Clang!
...Barely succeeded!
At that moment, a loud roar echoed.
Turning my gaze, I saw that the cracking stele had completely collapsed.
“...!”
What is that.
There was something inside the collapsed stele.
Humanoid, pitch-black all over, with a pair of horns on its forehead.
A Monster whose appearance naturally brought the word Demon to mind.
[It's the boss.]
I could tell immediately.
The boss, which had been motionless as if sealed, opened its eyes.
No, but fuck, wait a minute...
Left-Right Reversal on my body, Colored Arrows.
You want me to face a boss on top of this bullshit situation?
The boss's Red Gaze flashed.
I stopped time.
What I had to do right now was decided.
Before the boss could do anything, I would strike first with my Ultimate Skill.
I finished Mental Concentration and fired a Full Charge Line of Destruction at the boss.
However...
“...?!”
Even after taking a direct hit from the Line of Destruction, the boss didn't die.
Far from dying, it was completely fine. It didn't seem to have taken even a little bit of a Hit.
I stopped time again.
[It doesn't work at all?]
It shouldn't be at a level where it could withstand the Line of Destruction with Pure Durability.
The Line of Destruction worked perfectly fine even on the Zone 4 Boss, which was at least Level 80.
It didn't make sense for a boss with a much higher level than that to appear on the 7th Floor.
Is there some kind of gimmick... or is it an Invincibility Buff?
It might be like that invincible monster I faced when clearing the Branch Tower before.
[291]
I checked the number.
Even though the stele had collapsed, the number in the Void was still there.
The number that was 300 had dropped to 291.
That was a Countdown Timer.
[...Ah.]
Only then did everything click together in my head.
How this 7th Floor Boss Battle was structured.
[It means I have to survive.]
It meant I had to survive for 300 seconds against an invincible boss while dodging arrows and deflecting Colored Arrows.
The boss's invincibility would probably wear off or something once that count reached 0.
The conditions would have been much better if I had gotten more questions right, but...
[Fuck.]
Is this even possible?
I doubted whether I could really survive for 300 seconds in such terrible conditions.
But I had to do it, what else could I do?
If I couldn't, I would just die.
I released time.
Bang!
At the same time, the boss Charged towards me at high speed.
I hopped on all fours again to widen the distance from the boss.
An arrow flying in from above my head. I stopped time.
Because of the dog-shit Left-Right Reversal, I had to stop time for every single action so my body wouldn't get twisted.
The boss's speed was slower than mine.
It just had something like an Invincibility Buff on; the Level Itself didn't seem to be very high. At most, it was around the 60s or Level 70s.
B-b-b-bang!
However, the boss also used ranged attacks, shooting out things like Black Spikes.
Having to deal with the boss on top of the arrows was, as expected, quite a pain.
[...This won't do.]
It's absolutely impossible to deflect Colored Arrows while dealing with the boss.
I summoned Diul and used Pitch-Black Fog.
Swaaaash!
The boss, entering the range of the fog, lost its balance and fell to the floor.
I spread the Pitch-Black Fog in the narrowest range possible to trap the boss.
I stepped out of the fog and continued to dodge the arrows.
Dodge, stop time, deflect, stop time.
I also used Skills to block the arrows.
Flame Strike was too slow, so I used Lightning Strike and Blade Storm to deflect the arrows.
The problem was that the interval between the arrows being fired was getting shorter and shorter.
Perhaps because it was a boss battle, the rate at which the interval shortened was even more intense than in the previous stages.
Even worse, from the middle onwards, multiple arrows flew in at once.
What is this. Is this Hell?
It would have been much more manageable if either the Left-Right Reversal or the Colored Arrows were gone.
“...!”
Eventually, my limit slowly approached.
I ended up missing one Colored Arrow.
The Slow debuff activated, and I felt my body become even more sluggish.
To make matters worse, Diul's power was also at its limit.
The Pitch-Black Fog tying down the boss was about to fade.
I stopped time.
[151]
The Remaining Time was still 150 seconds.
Only half of it had passed.
If the boss started moving again here...
I had no confidence in holding out any longer. The stacks from the Colored Arrows would pile up in an instant.
If my body slowed down to the point where I couldn't dodge the arrows, it would be the end.
Because the arrows wouldn't just conveniently avoid my head.
[This is driving me crazy.]
I was practically backed into a corner.
What should I do?
If I summon Kalundi Citizenship and Flee for now, and have them deal with the boss as much as possible...
- Hand it over.
At that moment, Ma-Wang's voice was heard.
- You don't plan on being stubborn even after reaching this point, do you? Just hand it over.
I asked.
[...Can you do something about it?]
I didn't know exactly what kind of abilities Ma-Wang could use.
Ma-Wang merely let out a laugh as if it were ridiculous.
Since he was a Yangban who claimed to have climbed past the 20th Floor on Nightmare, he must be strong, but...
The problem was that if I handed my body over to Ma-Wang, the control would go back to him.
[You won't give my body back if I hand it over.]
Ma-Wang spoke as if annoyed.
- I'll give it back, so hand it over.
[...Really?]
What's this? It wasn't a lie.
Why is this Yangban, who demanded my body every single day, acting like this?
- Even if I take over your body using this as an excuse, you're just going to stop time and throw a fit again anyway.
[That's true.]
Even if he pretended otherwise, this Yangban seemed anxious that I might overdo it and die.
After all, if I died, he would die with me.
If Ma-Wang could really overcome this crisis in my place.
I had no reason to take any more risks either.
[Then...]
It had been almost a year.
I handed over control of my body to Ma-Wang.
- Release time.
I released time.
The boss, having escaped the Pitch-Black Fog, lunged at me, and arrows flew in.
At that moment...
Swaaaaaaash—!
A Great Chill spread in all directions, freezing everything. The boss, and the arrows too.
[...!]
A sight that looked as if time had stopped even though I had released it.
[Willpower: 0/4050]
My willpower plummeted to the bottom in an instant.
“Stop.”
Ma-Wang spoke, spewing White Cold Air from his mouth.
I stopped time again.
...So Ma-Wang also used my willpower to use his power? Makes sense.
Ma-Wang spoke.
- Recover it yourself whenever it drops.
[Yep.]
Ma-Wang naturally knew that I could stop time to recover my willpower.
I fully recovered my willpower and released time again.
The boss was frozen solid and unable to move an inch.
Arrows continued to fly in.
This time, Ma-Wang spread something like a Barrier around us and floated countless Ice Blades in the Void.
Cra-cra-cra-crash!
The Ice Blades raged like a storm, deflecting and smashing all the incoming arrows.
My willpower ran out again in just a few seconds, so I stopped time.
It was a continuous repetition.
As time passed, the arrows increased exponentially.
But an even more overwhelmingly large number of Ice Blades destroyed all the arrows.
Watching him, it seemed Ma-Wang was using Rapid Fire with his magic without any particular cooldown.
Since there was no chance of willpower running out thanks to Time Stop, it was truly an Unlimited Rapid Fire. There was no way the arrows would reach me.
There was no need to deflect the Colored Arrows with a sword either.
Whether the Slow stacks piled up or not, he was just standing in place using magic anyway.
However, there was one thing.
My body was gradually freezing.
It cracked and splintered, and then one of my arms just fell off. Huh?
[...Demon Lord?]
When I asked in a panic, Ma-Wang answered nonchalantly.
- Your physical body is so pathetic that it cannot withstand my power.
[Aha.]
Isn't that a bad thing?
An arm doesn't matter, but if my head falls off like this, I'll die.
[5]
There were only 5 seconds left now.
Soon, the number dropped to 0.
I saw the Red Haze covering the boss disappear.
Did the invincibility wear off?
The chill spewed by Ma-Wang covered the boss.
Craaaaaash!
The boss, taking a direct hit, turned into ice particles and scattered into the Void.
Crack!
At the same time, my waist cracked, and my upper and lower body separated.
Ma-Wang clicked his tongue.
- Tsk, to think you can't even withstand it when I only use Low-grade Magic.
[Successfully Cleared Nightmare Difficulty 7th Floor.]
A message popped up before my eyes.
Anyway, since the boss was killed, the clear was a success.
I stared at the message, feeling a bit dazed.
What is this.
It felt like I had just been hard-carried.
[Absorbing the Floor's Power.]
[Level Increased.]
[Level Increased.]
[Level Increased.]
.
.
.
[Level Increased.]
[First to Successfully Clear Nightmare Difficulty 7th Floor.]
[7th Floor Hidden Route is opened.]
[Moving to the Reward Room.]