Chapter 29
A soldier sighed.
"Phew."
'Why has the great Babel Empire come to this….'
Babel Empire.
The strongest nation that once dominated the entire continent.
Even its great reputation was now a thing of the past.
The fact that farmers like him were being drafted as soldiers during harvest season alone was proof.
The empire was finished.
His life, too, seemed to be nearing its end.
"A large number of monsters spotted ahead!! Everyone, prepare yourselves!!"
"If this place is breached, countless women and children behind us will lose their lives!!!"
"Even if we all die, buy as much time as you can!!!"
"Glory to the Babel Empire!!"
The area grew noisy.
The soldier shouted along with them.
But no matter how loudly he shouted, could the fear of death really fade so easily?
The disheartened soldier muttered.
"It's all over now…."
"Oh, is it starting now?"
"……?"
And only then did he notice.
The soldier sitting near him. No, a slave.
The eyes of that wretched young man…
were shining.
[—There is someone who made a great contribution in the last battle. Though he is a slave, have him fight alongside us.]
'Is this the slave!?'
He had heard about him.
Something about how he'd saved an entire unit in a desperate crisis.
The soldier's eyes instinctively swept around.
'Someone here must have seen that guy's skills.'
A force this large had gathered in one place.
Someone from that unit must be here, too.
So if he asked around, he could find out.
Just how skilled the slave really was.
Whether they could actually make it back alive.
'A slave's word can't be trusted, but if there's testimony… huh?'
After briefly scanning his surroundings like that.
He realized once again.
Most of the soldiers, just like him, were blinking and watching one another.
'What is this? Why does everyone look like they have no idea?'
…How could they know?
That the slave who should have made a name for himself on Floor 31 had returned after dominating another tower.
Naturally, no one had seen him.
It was only natural that they didn't know.
Hwi-min himself, the one responsible, had no intention of explaining anything, which made it all the more true.
-Ding.
[You have entered Challenger's Tower, Floor 32.]
At the suggestion of a baron who had taken notice of you,
you have been given a chance to prove yourself.
The area in front of the castle walls is swarming with enemies.
The other soldiers are of no help.
Reinforcements are on their way, but they're slow.
You are the only hope.
Rise up with fiery resolve.
Become a hero of this chaotic age.
[Objective]
- Subjugate all monsters (0/1000)
- Reach the next portal
[Reward]
- Stat Points +8
'It's different from Egen Tower~.'
Hwi-min let out an exclamation inwardly.
It was his first time climbing Challenger's Tower.
The scale was on a completely different level from what he usually experienced.
It was quite fascinating for a native of the Beginner's Tower.
'If that's the hopeful version, this one feels like the despair version.'
Hwi-min looked all around.
Not even a trace of heroic spirit could be seen in his expression.
Thanks to that, the soldiers' morale plummeted.
'That idiot is our hope?'
'Is this some noble's prank?'
'This is too much, damn it….'
Some of them even had tears welling in their eyes.
Not a single person expected Hwi-min to accomplish anything.
Hwi-min, however, didn't care.
'Normally, they're supposed to cheer you on, saying they believe in you… well, whatever.'
"Trait Enhancement Swap, Inventory."
Swish—
Hwi-min rose from his seat.
The sword in his hand gleamed brilliantly.
"Hey, slave. Stay put. You can just fire arrows with us…."
The soldiers around him tried to stop him, but
-Taat.
"…Huh?"
'Did he disappear?'
The slave's figure suddenly blurred, and then he vanished just like that.
The soldiers' gazes crossed in confusion.
Then each of them searched their surroundings.
They were looking to see whether the slave had sunk into the ground or shot into the sky.
The answer was 'He shot into the sky.'
"Th-there!!"
The soldier who had been looking up pointed.
The other soldiers followed his finger with their gazes.
Beneath the bright moonlight.
Hwi-min was leaping toward the top of the castle wall.
'This should do.'
Taat—!
The sound of Rare-grade shoes landing on the roof of the watchtower.
He hadn't intended it, but it was a position that drew all the soldiers' attention.
It was also an excellent vantage point from which to look down on the monsters.
-Ding.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes' activates….]
[Enhanced Skull Warrior]
Level: 240
"Hmm."
Hwi-min's eyes swept across the battlefield.
After making a quick assessment,
he reached a casual conclusion.
'Five minutes should be plenty, right?'
Five minutes.
That was how long he thought it would take to clear Floor 32.
…Other Awakeners would have been horrified if they'd known.
By the time they reached Floor 32, their levels were just under 250.
With a thousand Level-240 monsters swarming around, killing them all in five minutes was impossible.
-Snicker.
'The standard strategy is to make a stand at Changbanpo, though.'
In reality, the number of monsters an Awakener had to kill on Floor 32 was at most a few dozen.
The standard strategy was to hold the castle gate until reinforcements from the other troops arrived.
Hwi-min knew that strategy, too.
He simply wasn't going to follow it.
'Wasn't I supposed to hold out for about three hours?'
"Who has time to wait that long?"
After muttering softly,
Hwi-min gripped his sword.
All that remained was to swing it.
"Spatial Slash!!"
Whoosh—!!!
A sword strike charged forward, ripping the air apart.
At the same time, Hwi-min's forearm glowed red.
Spatial Slash, a Tier-Three Stigma enhanced fivefold.
The power that had shocked the entire world upon its debut swept across the battlefield.
-Slice.
"……Kheh?"
The neck bone of one skeleton soldier was severed.
A powerful enemy whom ordinary soldiers couldn't even face had lost its head in a single move.
No, that was only the beginning.
The sword slash Hwi-min unleashed still had power left and went on to slice through the necks of the comrades standing in orderly ranks behind the first skeleton.
Crack, crack—!! Crackle-crack!!!
Each time the silver sword energy flew, it made a sound like dried reeds snapping.
The skeleton soldiers' heads flew into the sky.
-Ding.
[Subjugate all monsters (73/1000)]
When that Spatial Slash finally lost its power and vanished.
The monster subjugation count had changed to 73.
Such results from a single attack.
The enemies had been densely packed, but even this exceeded Hwi-min's expectations.
"Strike!!!"
Hwi-min performed a celebratory gesture as he watched.
His awkward uppercut celebration looked utterly ridiculous.
But no one blamed him.
It wasn't very visible from below the walls anyway, and the soldiers atop the walls were too busy gaping at the monsters he'd cut down.
"W-what is this…."
"Those aren't ordinary skeletons, are they? They're the ones strengthened by demons—the ones that can't even be scratched without a weapon coated in holy water, right?"
"Should I fire an arrow? …Tsk, it hits?"
"Then what the hell is going on!!?"
Belatedly, their eyes turned to Hwi-min, brimming with shock.
"How could a slave do this!!"
He's a slave, after all.
He wouldn't have had proper training like the knights, and he probably hadn't even been able to eat properly.
And yet he had slaughtered dozens of monsters.
And he'd done it with a single swing of his sword.
It was utterly incomprehensible why someone like this had remained a slave until now.
'Wait, he eats pretty well for a slave… Could he be of imperial blood!!'
"Everyone, fire your arrows!!! Don't let the enemies get near him!!!"
The commander watching the scene bellowed.
Any trace of disdain for Hwi-min as a slave had vanished.
"O-ohhh!!!"
"I don't know what's going on, but fire!!!"
"Don't hold back on the holy water, either!!!"
The soldiers sprang into action.
Thinking of helping Hwi-min, they even brought out the bottles of holy water they'd been saving until the very end.
…But before they could even nock their arrows.
Hwi-min moved again.
"Spatial Slash: Wild Slashing!!!"
Tat-tat-tat-tat—!!!
Dozens of sword swings tore through empty air.
His movements were so fast that they made a sound like a helicopter.
At the same time, the pattern on his glowing red forearm…
The Stigma's power emitted a crimson, blood-red light.
As a result, a spectacular sight unfolded.
'…Oh, pretty.'
Dozens of silver arcs shot out.
It looked like the Milky Way was flowing.
Hwi-min continued swinging his sword and spewing starlight.
The soldiers watching it.
And beyond them, the skeleton soldiers looking up at it.
Every one of them thought the same thing.
It was a sight that looked like a miracle.
-Slice.
"……."
The neck of a skeleton soldier walking toward the castle wall fell away.
Having met a painless, peaceful death, its body scattered into dust.
Was it just an illusion that the skeleton looked as though it smiled in its final moment?
The soldiers would never know.
Hwi-min didn't care.
He was too busy marveling at the Stigma's performance.
-Ding.
[Subjugate all monsters]
249/1000
315/1000
478…
'And it doesn't even hurt.'
Even after firing dozens of Spatial Slashes, all he felt was the slightest muscle ache in his arm at most.
If anything, he was more likely to run out of mana.
The self-inflicted damage was that negligible.
-Grab.
'Mana, too… I can cover it with this.'
One more thing.
The Unique-grade sword in his hand, the Moonlight Sword.
It was finally showing what it could really do.
Drawing on the mana he'd charged for three days, he could keep using it, so his low Mana stat wasn't even an obstacle.
'We decided to do the Tier-Four boss in the Hard Tower, right… Should I charge it up before I go?'
Thanks to that, Hwi-min had another cowardly thought, but anyway.
And so he continued swinging his sword.
Shushushuk—!!
Every swing sent dozens of skeleton soldiers flying.
The number of monsters he'd defeated steadily climbed.
-Ding.
[Subjugate all monsters (1000/1000)]
"Okay, cut."
'Did that take about three minutes?'
Three minutes.
That was all the time it took Hwi-min to turn all the skeleton soldiers into bone dust.
Belatedly, a cheer erupted.
"Waaahhhhh!!!!!!"
"What the hell is that slave!!!"
"What do you mean, what is he? He's the hero who's going to save this empire!!!"
"Long live the Babel Empire!!!!!"
The soldiers atop the castle wall shouted with all their might.
The other soldiers were caught up in that joy and shouted along.
And they tried to thank Hwi-min again and again for saving their lives, but
-Freeze.
"……Huh?"
Just as they were about to thank him.
Hwi-min suddenly jumped down.
They didn't know it, but he was heading toward the place where the portal was rippling.
'Straight through Normal until Floor 35….'
Hwi-min had only one thought in his mind: clear Tier Four as quickly as possible, but…
-Ding.
[An error has occurred.]
Just as he threw himself into the portal.
An unforeseen phenomenon occurred.
"……Oh?"
'Could I finish this in a day?'
A shortcut had presented itself.