Chapter 125
I was looking down at the massive army of 1 million monkeys.
I stopped time.
“Crazy…”
It was an unfathomable number that the word 'overwhelming' couldn’t even begin to describe.
I thought about what to do next.
Originally, gaining the recognition of the golden headband would have definitely been the standard route… but since it was destroyed, that was out of the question.
Was it even still possible to clear this?
If there was one remaining method.
Nothing else came to mind other than killing all 1 million of those monkeys.
Just like I did during the 3rd Floor Hidden.
Except back then, I had a super-freaking-strong tactical nuclear cannon with a 0-second cooldown.
Now, I had no such thing.
If I were going to do this, I had to do it purely with my own capabilities.
But it wasn’t thousands; it was a million, fuck…
It didn’t seem possible at all, but I still had to try.
Currently, I am maintaining Radiant Incarnation.
I was in a state where I could move at the speed of light and had an Invincibility Buff.
It was time to put Radiant Incarnation to full use in combat.
I resumed time.
And time began to move.
The world flowed sluggishly, and the surrounding space distorted.
As long as I could move at the speed of light, distance was meaningless to me.
In less than 0.001 seconds, I swept through the battlefield once.
The monkey army that seemed endless was not truly endless.
Could I strike them directly in this state?
I rammed into the monkeys on the surface at the speed of light.
However, my body merely shimmered and scattered before returning to its original form.
Perhaps because my physical body itself had become light, dealing Physical Damage was impossible.
“Then what about skills?”
Next, I tried using a skill.
I stopped time and focused my mind to cast Line of Destruction.
“It works.”
Mental Concentration worked normally.
As expected, using other skills was also possible.
I canceled my mental concentration and tried using the Aura skill this time.
‘This doesn’t work.’
Physical Skills applied to the body, like Aura or Skin Hardening, did not activate.
But even if Physical Skills didn’t work, magic skills were perfectly fine.
The enemy couldn’t deal damage to me.
But I had plenty of ways to deal damage to them.
In that case, what I had to do from now on was simple.
Fwoosh!
Weaving through the monkeys at the speed of light, I rapid-fired magic skills.
Line of Destruction, Hellfire Eruption, Scorching Zone, Frost Mist, Flame Strike, Shockwave, Blade Storm, Fairy Light Bullet…
Since my cognitive abilities were also adjusted to the speed of light, there was no problem with control.
Because I was too fast, even Line of Destruction or Shockwave looked like it was moving as slowly as crawling earthworms after I cast it.
Hundreds of monkeys exploded with a pop-pop.
I launched magic at the places where they were clustered the most.
It went through a full skill cycle in what was in reality a mere fraction of a second.
I stopped time, recovered my willpower, and thought.
“…There are still too many.”
Taking care of monkeys that were no different from scarecrows was easier than breathing.
But the number of those scarecrows was 1 million.
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
What would happen if I used the Ma-wang’s power in this state?
While using Radiant Incarnation, I take no damage whatsoever.
In that case, the physical overload that comes from using the Ma-wang’s power…?
Wouldn’t that be nullified too?
“Ma-wang.”
I swapped with the Ma-wang while maintaining Radiant Incarnation.
- What a bizarre ability.
The Ma-wang, having taken over my body, laughed as if amused.
Even the Ma-wang, who usually ignored skills as mere imitations worse than the empty shells of true magic, seemed to find a Legendary Grade Skill fascinating.
Soon, the Ma-wang began to use magic.
He rapidly fired ice shards in all directions, blowing up the monkeys.
I stopped time at the right moments to recover willpower.
Even though he had used enough power that my body should have started slowly freezing over by now…
I didn’t feel the slightest bit of strain building up.
Confirming that my guess was correct, I felt a faint thrill for a moment.
As long as I maintain Radiant Incarnation, I can also use the Ma-wang’s power without restrictions!
- Heh heh.
The Ma-wang also confirmed this and began to run wild in earnest.
Unlike skills, the Ma-wang’s magic had no cooldown.
A Great Chill pulsed, and Ice Blades stormed out.
The monkeys were literally swept away.
It seemed like over a thousand had died in less than a second.
The duration I could maintain Radiant Incarnation was 10 minutes.
Let’s see, if we generously assume at this rate we wipe out 2,000 per second?
It might even be possible to completely annihilate them all within 10 minutes…?
Gugugugugu -
Just then, a vibration rang out.
Fuck, what’s that now?
Suddenly, the Rock Mountain was splitting apart.
What popped out from there was a black-furred monkey as massive as a mountain.
It looked even bigger than the Ant Ghost Boss on the 8th Floor.
That guy was the boss of the 9th Floor.
Guoooooo - !
When the boss monkey roared, the Cheonji shook.
As if responding, the other monkeys also howled in unison, and a red haze shimmered around their bodies.
Did it cast some kind of buff effect?
The Ma-wang stopped weaving through the monkeys and rose into the sky.
At that moment, the boss glared in this direction and opened their mouth wide.
Bzzzzzt - !
A sphere formed along with dark red sparks.
A massive beam was fired, much like when I used Line of Destruction.
I ignored it without even needing to dodge.
My body, hit directly by the destructive beam, scattered briefly as if diffusely reflected before returning to normal.
But what was the Ma-wang planning to do by going up into the sky?
Saaaaa -
The Ma-wang began to gather a chill.
Just like when he took care of the Ant Ghost Boss and the Quarantine Sector Boss all at once…
But this time, there was no end to it.
With the restriction of overload gone, the Ma-wang began to draw in power endlessly.
“What the…”
I also had to keep stopping time to accordingly refill my willpower.
It felt like I had refilled at least several hundred thousand points of willpower.
To the point where my body would have collapsed dozens of times over if not for Radiant Incarnation.
An immense energy beyond imagination gathered above the Ma-wang’s head.
- Behold.
The Ma-wang declared.
- This is true magic.
As he unleashed that Great Chill…
The world was dyed white.
Hwioooooo -
A blizzard raged.
The monkeys froze solid.
The boss monkey, the small monkeys, and even the rock mountain that had been split in half existed.
Everything in sight turned into ice particles and scattered away.
As if the whole world had frozen over and met its end.
The army of 1 million Stone Monkeys vanished into silence just like that.
“…”
I stared down at the sight blankly.
I couldn’t even speak.
Was this the Ma-wang’s true power?
- Do not be mistaken. This too is a weakened state.
“…This is?”
- Since I am not using my original magic power, there is inevitably a limit.
Well, if it were his true full power, he’d probably freeze a planet or something.
It was a meaningless difference to me, so I just accepted it as is.
Anyway…
The boss was dead, and it seemed there were no monkeys left.
No message popped up for a long time.
Could it not be cleared like this? If not…
I felt a sense of déjà vu on the 3rd Floor.
The feeling that the Tower was remaining silent.
[Wondrously Clear.]
Then, a message appeared.
[Successfully Cleared the Nightmare Difficulty 9th Floor.]
[Absorbing the Floor’s Power.]
[Level Ascended.]
[Level Ascended.]
[Level Ascended.]
.
.
.
[Level Ascended.]
[The First to Successfully Clear the Nightmare Difficulty 9th Floor.]
[The level of rewards is significantly upgraded.]
[Moving to the Reward Room.]
[The 9th Floor Clear for All Difficulties is complete.]
[The Tower calls for New Personnel.]
I was moved to the Reward Room.
Only then did I get my body back and deactivate Radiant Incarnation.
A Wondrous Clear popped up.
It was the second time since the 3rd Floor Hidden.
So this could pop up even if it wasn’t a Hidden Strategy?
On the 3rd Floor, I benefited from the cannon, but this time, I pulled off a cheat clear using the Ma-wang’s power.
Either way, it was a huge win.
I checked the upgraded rewards.
I wondered if a Legendary Grade Skill Stone might drop…
Instead of a skill stone, I saw an item.
A sand Sigye filled with rainbow-glowing sand.
I picked up the sand Sigye and checked its information.
[Special Item: Hourglass of Acceleration]
Select one of the following effects to apply permanently. Once an effect is chosen, it cannot be changed.
1. 70% reduction in Cooldown for all possessed skills.
2. Fix the Cooldown of one random skill to 0 seconds.
Reading the description, I was startled.
…An item with an effect that reduces skill cooldowns?
All skills? By 70 percent?
It was an insane effect.
A 70 percent reduction meant I could cycle my skill cooldowns more than 3 times