Chapter 38
The Pilgrim's Tower, which I call the Hard Tower.
In game terms, it's an Inferno difficulty beyond Hard, called the 'Coffin' because of its desperate survival rate.
Isn't this the deadly realm where even a Unique-grade combat trait can't guarantee clearing Floor One?
Naturally, there were almost no strategy guides.
Awakeners with information-type traits never came here to begin with, and the other Awakeners were too busy trying to survive.
By the time you reached the Floor Four boss, there was bound to be no information at all.
Of course, I was different.
'Because Hyunseo faithfully left reviews.'
First, the story of Hard Tower Floor Four.
Thanks to Hyunseo, I had grasped it to some extent.
This was a different worldline from the Normal Tower.
It seemed to cover an if route where the War Hero awakening came too late.
As a result, apparently you had to brawl with demons right from the start.
Even with just this, I could more or less understand what was going on, but
-Ding.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes'….]
[Forgotten Knight]
Cain, the last emperor of the Babel Empire.
Through some sort of contract,
he obtained the power to turn back time.
Even if he was ultimately forgotten without ever receiving a reward,
he would repeat his mistakes forever.
'The trait is Regression… Ah, so that's the setup?'
The information about him I'd confirmed thanks to Dragon Eyes.
Seeing it, I understood everything.
The boss before me was repeatedly regressing to save the empire.
It wasn't true regression, just part of the setting, presumably. Anyway.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
'Wow, this is going to be one hell of a strategy.'
Level 915, and he could regress two seconds by consuming mana?
His goal was even to kill Awakeners, absorb their power, and regress farther into the past?
From the perspective of anyone fighting him, it'd be hell.
Even with all my title effects combined, I was outmatched in stats.
A two-second regression, effectively a future-prediction trait.
And on top of that, he was overflowing with fighting spirit.
Ordinary traits wouldn't stand a chance.
'Baekrihyang and I could probably brute-force him with damage… but was this thing really designed to be cleared?'
No wonder the Hard Tower's nickname was the Coffin.
I felt it all over again.
'The rest is one thing, but future prediction is a problem. Can't he predict even Guardian Dragon's Blessing activating, then finish me with a second hit?'
Should I flee to another Tower even now?
It wasn't as if the thought hadn't crossed my mind, but…
-Hesitate.
'No, wait?'
For just a moment, I hesitated inwardly.
Then I realized something.
Maybe I didn't need to fight.
'The setup says he ultimately regresses to Hard Tower Floor 31.'
According to Hyunseo's review, Hard Tower Floor Four's story only went from bad to worse.
No matter what an Awakener did, the empire was doomed, wasn't it?
Even if he regressed, he couldn't change that.
The empire's destruction was a fixed ending.
…At least, it was on the Hard Tower.
'The Normal Tower's story is different.'
The ending of Normal Tower Floor Four.
Defeat the Demon King and restore peace.
Though it was a different worldline, wasn't that the happy ending he wanted?
The instant I realized that, I racked my brain.
I saw a way to cheese it.
'If he just believes the setting…?'
The setting given to me in the Easy Tower and Normal Tower was 'Time Traveler.'
I could explain that to the boss, get him to surrender, and turn him into a summon like Dohwa.
Then I'd be happy because I wouldn't have to fight.
And he'd be satisfied if I showed him around the Normal Tower.
In other words, assuming he trusted me,
we didn't need to fight.
'Of course, he won't believe me just like that… but what if I show him this?'
After finishing my train of thought,
I cautiously reached into my inventory.
What I took out was a ring similar to the one he was wearing, but in far better condition.
I tossed it straight to the knight.
Whip—!!
The ring flew through the air,
"Impossible!! This is my elder brother's…!!!"
"……Oh?"
Would you look at him scrambling to pick up the ring.
The reaction was good, and this felt promising.
This might really be easy pickings.
'Let's go, Wind Style: Talk-no-Jutsu!!'
"You can tell by looking at that ring, can't you? How I came to possess it."
I threw out a plausible line.
For now, I intended to see more of his reaction.
The catch was huge.
"Impossible!!! I inherited my elder brother's ring!!!"
"Oh? You had yours stolen, too?"
"No, I was controlled by a demon… He asked me to take care of this empire in his stead…."
"Oh."
So his ring came from the same source as mine.
Seeing two identical ones exist, this really must be an entirely different worldline from the Hard Tower.
Hmm, this was a major windfall.
He should be easy to persuade.
"Here's a question for you. Why do I have that ring?"
"…Don't tell me?"
"I can travel between the empire's past and future. Unlike you, I can go a little farther into the past."
Sales pitch ON right away.
Without lying, I seasoned my abilities and the setting into a deliciously persuasive story.
It took about three minutes to package myself as 'an adventurer who travels between the past and future.'
"Unrestricted time travel? That's absolutely impossible!!"
"And yet, ta-da! Nothing is absolute!"
I made the proposal with a smile.
You wouldn't have to make any more 'difficult choices' like endlessly regressing.
"If you merely swear loyalty to me, you can return to the past with me."
So become my summon.
It was the perfect win-win situation for everyone.
And how did the boss react to this magical proposal?
-Shing.
"Don't lie to me!!"
"Huh?"
Wait, why are you drawing your sword?
Things were going so well.
"Do you think this Cain would be toyed with by the schemes of a rat who knows neither honor nor how to show his face!!!"
"…Ah."
Come to think of it, I was invisible.
I would have been suspicious too.
"I'm taking off my hat now, so just wait a moment…."
"Do not toy with me using that cunning tongue!!"
I belatedly placed a hand on my hat.
But before I could, the boss charged at me.
"I don't know how you duplicated the ring, but that is not something you have any right to touch!!"
"Ah, damn it!!!"
I really hate this damn hat.
* * *
Cain, the last emperor of the Babel Empire.
He swung his sword.
His target was the opponent hiding while concealed.
'That presence is remarkably faint… Could he be a demon?'
Normally, detecting that presence would have been impossible.
He had hidden himself so completely that not even a shadow could be seen.
But Cain was different.
After regressing so many times he couldn't even remember them, he had become thoroughly familiar with invisible demons.
He could sense the opponent's presence as well.
The problem was how faint it was.
'At least a Great Demon!'
"Hup!!"
Vast energy gathered in Cain's greatsword.
Perhaps repeated regression had made him resemble demons; his mana had turned blood-red.
He intended to cleave his opponent in two with it.
Its power was immense, enough that even a Great Demon would struggle to avoid a fatal wound, but…
'…Can't be helped. I'll fight for now, and if things look bad, I'll run.'
"Hup!!"
Dash—!!
Hwi-min instantly flung himself away.
He pulled the hat he'd been trying to take off back down over his head.
Since the easy way out had gone out the window, he intended to fight according to his original plan.
However, unlike his cowardly thoughts,
his speed was astonishing.
"What!?"
'Dodging is one thing, but what in the world was that!!'
His movement technique now surpassed even Baekrihyang's.
On top of that, he wore the dragon-slayer's invisibility hat, Tarnkappe, and the Necklace of Seclusion, which reduced his presence.
To Cain, it felt like fighting a ghost.
"You wicked demon!! As I thought…."
He was about to raise his sword again and vent his outrage, but
-Slash.
"……Huh?"
At that moment,
his greatsword was cut diagonally and fell to the ground.
Naturally, it was Hwi-min's doing.
'You know, there was a sword freak named Geombak among your ancestors? Even he couldn't dodge this.'
First, cut the opponent's sword.
Then maybe he'd listen.
With that hope, Hwi-min disarmed his opponent with a Dimensional Slash.
…It did little good.
"Now, I suppose I've won…."
"Glory to the empire!!!!"
Cain stamped hard on the floor.
KABOOM—!!!
A crater shaped like concentric circles formed in the floor, and chunks of stone leaped into the air.
The ceiling also began collapsing.
Since the enemy was stronger than expected, he intended to turn the battlefield into a mass of variables and seize the advantage.
'Where is he!?'
Cain scanned his surroundings.
The instant he confirmed his opponent's location, he would cut him down.
That was his only thought.
However, Hwi-min was faster.
-Whoosh!
'Dimensional Slash!!'
The safe zone Hwi-min found using Dragon Eyes and Sword God.
Hwi-min fired a Dimensional Slash from there.
It was his beloved 'long-range click.'
However, unlike that cowardly approach,
the martial power contained within it was at a level worthy of calling itself divine.
Slash—
Cain noticed the attack only after about one-third of his neck had been cut through.
"Guhk…!?"
'When did it… No, is he really this strong!!!'
An ordinary person would have had his neck cut before he could do anything.
But Cain was a battle-tested hero.
Activating his ability before his neck was severed was easy.
'Again!!!'
At the same time he shouted inwardly.
Tick.
The Tower's time rewound.
Debris that had been falling toward the floor shot upward again, and the attack that had cut his neck was undone as well.
The crisis of nearly losing his head had transformed into an opportunity: he had foreseen the enemy's ambush.
'He's over there!!!'
His opponent would never dream that Cain had briefly experienced the future and regressed.
He would dodge the incoming attack by a hairsbreadth, then charge straight in.
Before the enemy could recover his stance, he would cleave him in two with sword aura.
It was the victory pattern that had slain hundreds of Great Demons until now, but…
-Whoosh.
"……!!!!?"
'The trajectory changed!!?'
Unfortunately for Cain,
Hwi-min's next attack traced a trajectory completely different from the previous one.
It was because of Hwi-min's trait.
-Ding!
[The trait 'Super Adaptation' activates.]
You have acquired intermediate resistance to temporal manipulation.
[Super Adaptation (Mythic)]
Upon being hit by an elemental attack, immediately gain resistance to…
"……Oh."
'I rewind along with him? This is insane.'
When Cain rewound time,
Hwi-min watched it happen with his own two eyes.
Even temporal manipulation had no effect on him.
As a result, he gained an overwhelming advantage.
'Another Dimensional Slash!!!'
Hwi-min launched another sword strike.
-Slash.
"Kehk!?"
'This time from behind… Again!!'
Cain turned back time,
-Slash.
'No!! Why is the future changing!!!'
'Did you think I only knew how to aim for your neck? This time, it's your stomach.'
Hwi-min swung his sword again.
From Cain's perspective,
this situation seemed even more hopeless than the hundreds of regressions he'd repeated to save the empire.
His opponent was that strong.
"Guuuh!!!"
'Again, again!! Again!!!'
Tick, tick. Tick.
Time rewound countless times.
Each time, attacking and being hit repeated.
It was a truly one-sided exchange of damage that seemed as though it would continue forever as long as Cain's will remained unbroken, but…
"Huff, huff… huff…."
'His mana has run out….'
When he'd repeated the regression about fifty times.
Thud.
Cain collapsed, unable to keep standing.
Unlike Hwi-min, whose mana recovered whenever time rewound, his mana had been completely depleted.
-Mutter.
"Neutralized, mana exhausted, combat incapacitated…."
'So inducing regression was the gimmick? I was wondering how anyone was supposed to clear this, but at this point, well.'
Only then did Hwi-min put away his sword.
It was a truly overwhelming victory.
But inwardly, he felt somewhat dissatisfied.
'…I was scared for nothing.'
He had been so frightened in front of the portal.
He'd tried to avoid fighting until the very end.
But when he actually fought him, it was a three-minute clear.
Even a coward as spineless as me found that embarrassing.
'I should've just cleared Hard on Floor Three too… No, it's too late to regret that now. Let's deal with him first.'
"Sorry for the late introduction. I am Ryu Hwi-min."
Swish—
Hwi-min took off his hat and dispelled his invisibility.
Then he gave Cain a slight bow.
It was the imperial etiquette he'd learned on Floor 38.
"Th-that…."
To Cain, that etiquette was terribly clumsy.
And yet he could tell Hwi-min was doing his best.
Cain could see that Hwi-min was trying to show respect.
Cain let out a hollow laugh.
"You weren't a demon?"
"I told you, I'm not."
"And what about your claim that you travel through time…."
"Ah, forget that!"
Shing—
Hwi-min pointed his sword at the fallen Cain.
"Choose. Either die like this, or surrender quietly and become my summon."
"…What's the difference?"
"There isn't one. I'm going to use you as material for Dohwa's leveling anyway."
"……Material."
Cain closed his eyes.
His thoughts churned.
The being before him was immensely powerful.
Unlike himself, the man before him was a mighty being who could traverse at least several years of time.
What should he say to him at the end?
After much thought, what came out was rather servile.
"Please."
"Pardon?"
"Even if only for an instant…."
Please show me.
The elder brother who recognized him as his half-brother and, shedding tears of blood, entrusted the empire to him.
The time when he was still alive.
The past when hope still remained in the empire.
"Even if only for one second…."
"……."
Hwi-min's eyes grew somber.
When he'd lost the adoptive parents who had taken him in,
he too had once wished for something similar.
He knew well how Cain felt.
'Yes. Even if we're going to part ways, one trip down memory lane should be fine, right?'
"I'll give it a try."
After pondering for a moment,
he raised his sword.
"Trait Enhancement Swap, Ruler of the Tower."
Slash—
The Moonlight Sword drew a silver arc.
What it cut was not Cain, but the space right beside his fallen body.
'I'll picture crossing into the Normal Tower and use the sensation of piercing a safe zone….'
-Ding.
[The traits 'Myriad Severing Sword,' 'Sword God,' and 'Ruler of the Tower+' activate!]
"……Oh."
'It really works?'
A gap opened in midair.
The gap was far too narrow for anyone to pass through.
But it was enough to peek beyond.
The gap connected to the Challenger's Tower.
"How is it?"
Hwi-min couldn't see what lay beyond.
No, he deliberately didn't look.
He thought he already knew what would be visible there.
…He still had no idea that the Challenger's Tower's story had been completely turned on its head.
"Ah, aah…!!"
Cain stretched out a trembling hand.
He wanted to trace the dazzling sight beyond with his fingertips, if only barely.
"……Hm."
'Even though he's incapacitated, just in case… Should I get ready to chop off his head?'
Hwi-min watched him without lowering his guard to the very end, but…
"……Huh!?"
'What's with the sudden ambush!!!'
In the end, Hwi-min really was ambushed.
-Ding!
[An error has occurred.]
[Checking….]
[Legendary Achievement!! Every being in the Tower praises your feat!!]
[Recalculating rewards according to difficulty.]
'I'd welcome an ambush like this anytime!!!'
He hadn't been ambushed.
He'd received an ambush reward.