Chapter 170
The High Priest's appearance after being battered by countless attacks was horrific.
The High Priest's legs had shriveled like dried fish, leaving the creature unable to stand.
Blood streamed from the tiny holes riddling its entire body.
But even in that state, it refused to give up.
[How dare some insignificant vermin interfere with the great undertaking…!]
Its voice cracked sharply.
Even speaking seemed difficult for the High Priest.
The fallen creature writhed and raised the dagger toward the sky.
[Now that it's come to this, I have no choice but to summon Him, even if He is slightly incomplete…!]
I knew the moment I saw it. This time, the High Priest really was going to burn everything up.
The last remaining black lightning in the dagger began to grow.
Of course, I had no intention of leaving it alone.
I fired bullets in rapid succession.
Clang!
But the attack was blocked by an invisible barrier.
[It's useless. The ritual has already begun! Come, First Finger- !]
“What the actual hell….”
I spat out a curse.
The High Priest really was an unbelievably vicious bastard.
The High Priest was so absurdly tough I could believe it was the 50th Floor boss, not the 49th.
“…Huh?”
[…!]
But the black lightning abruptly cut out, as if someone had forcibly pulled the plug.
Nothing happened.
A brief, strangely peaceful silence amid the tension.
It seemed to be just as unexpected to the High Priest.
[Wait, this can't be…!]
The High Priest looked at the dagger in a panic.
But with all its lightning spent, the dagger was nothing more than an ordinary lump of scrap metal, stripped even of its sharpness.
I couldn't sense any power coming from it.
“Aha, that's a shame. Looks like the battery ran out.”
[That can't be, it can't be….]
Ignoring my mockery, the High Priest picked up the dagger and examined it.
And then it happened.
Black lightning began leaking out of the High Priest's body and flowing into the dagger.
[N-no! Stop!]
Screaming, the High Priest threw the dagger away.
But the lightning, already connected, did not break.
[Gaaaaaaaah!]
With a scream, the enormous body began to compress.
Its tentacle limbs bent grotesquely and were sucked into its torso.
[This can't be! How did I make it this far…!]
The cries gradually shrank away.
At last, all that remained where the High Priest had been was the clothing it had been wearing.
No, upon closer inspection, something else did remain.
[Ppok?]
“…An octopus?”
A perfectly ordinary little octopus, the kind one might see at a fish market.
Judging by its size, it was closer to a webfoot octopus.
[Kkyu….]
It moved stupidly.
I couldn't sense any intelligence or power from it whatsoever.
But the starkness of that transformation gave me an eerie feeling.
To think that a monster capable of even turning back time had become a mere webfoot octopus?
“I should kill it, right?”
I thought of Teach's parrot.
I knew what happened if I left something alone just because it seemed like an insignificant creature.
I had no intention of making the same mistake again.
It was just as I was about to end its life, tears in my eyes.
[Kkyuut!]
Crunch!
It burst right where it stood, as if something had crushed it.
Before I could do anything.
Then was it Teach? No, that couldn't be.
It was exactly the same way Teach and the sailors had died the first time.
“This….”
There was one difference from that time.
It hadn't bled.
At the spot where it died, there was only a black crack.
A crack resembling the gap through which it had first pulled out its hand.
Endless darkness rippled beyond it.
Just looking at it made my head hurt.
“The next floor is really not going to be easy….”
My intuition was telling me.
That this was the end of this stretch of floors—the 50th Floor.
It was the benchmark for S-rank hunters, and half of the Tower.
“The High Priest really was one tough bastard.”
“Put some clothes on.”
Teach and the sailors climbed down from the deck using ropes.
They still looked hideous, completely naked except for a single piece of cloth.
I clicked my tongue as I watched the sailors pull treasures out from beneath the stones.
“Can I still wear this?”
“You can, so hurry up and put it on, please.”
Fortunately, the Legendary Robe I had lent Teach was still intact, without even a tear.
I turned my head away and waited for Teach to get dressed.
“Are you feeling all right?”
“I actually feel better. Now I'm sure I won't die easily, and there's nothing to be afraid of.”
Teach laughed heartily.
But I kept seeing the image of his body bursting like a balloon superimposed over his current form.
I shook my head, clearing the image from my mind.
This wasn't like me.
How many things had I already killed by blowing them up?
Many of them had been humanoid monsters, like orcs.
It seemed this incident had affected me more deeply than I'd realized.
I had spent so long on the forums that I thought I was completely desensitized to gore, but apparently the death of someone I knew was different.
“Anyway, I'm glad you're all right.”
The sailors were practically immortal now, and there was the ghost ship, too.
“Oh, you said water was coming in earlier, right? Get out of the way before then…. I'm going to rest for a bit and come back.”
“Aye, sir! Rest easy!”
Teach saluted, then urged the other sailors back aboard the ship.
I sighed as I watched them leave.
Just then, a system message announcing the clear appeared before my eyes.
Ding!
[Congratulations on clearing the 49th Floor on EXTREME difficulty.]
[Rare Achievement Unlocked: Stopped the Evil God's Resurrection.]
[Successfully stopped the High Priest's ritual using a new method.]
[Reward: Mental Protection (Limited Time)]
[You gain powerful resistance to mental corruption until you clear the 50th Floor.]
[You have been granted the minimum qualification to face the darkness.]
“Mental corruption?”
A notification about a new reward.
But my concern outweighed my joy.
What was going to show up that warranted a reward like this?
It seemed clear that the next floor would be mentally difficult.
And what did it mean by “minimum qualification”?
“I have the World Tree Pendant, too, so I should manage somehow.”
The World Tree Pendant could defend against mental attacks.
Besides, I was still fully prepared, with the instant-death prevention talisman and attack-reflecting mirror at the ready.
This should be manageable.
But the notifications didn't end there.
「The climber has witnessed part of the truth of the Tower.」
「Reward: Tower Secret Gacha—Probability Adjustment.」
“Huh?”
The wording of the status window was somehow different from usual.
But before I could read it more closely, the message disappeared.
[Error detected. Outputting legacy version message.]
[Correction complete.]
[First Clear Bonus has been applied!]
[Rank 1 Bonus has been applied!]
What appeared instead was a familiar set of sentences.
At the same time, my vision turned white.
A signal that I was being ejected from the Tower.
A moment later, I found myself outside the Tower.
***
Today had been a strange day.
“I'm not that tired?”
Normally, after going through a battle this difficult, I would have been exhausted.
More than physical fatigue, it was the mental fatigue that built up.
Especially this time, after watching a trusted subordinate burst apart right in front of me, I should have been even more exhausted.
But today, apart from my body feeling a little stiff, I wasn't very tired.
My mind felt as clear as if I'd had a cup of coffee.
[You have returned?]
When I got home, the black mage greeted me.
It had extended one tentacle from the fish tank and was flipping through an encyclopedia.
Seeing it reminded me of something.
“Tentacles…?”
[W-why are you looking at me like that?]
Come to think of it, didn't this guy even speak like that High Priest?
“Should I pull it out?”
[What are you suddenly talking about??]
The black mage was startled and closed the book, pulling the tentacle back into its body.
It returned to its original, single-eyed marimo form.
“And you have exactly one eyeball, too?”
[What on earth have you been muttering about this whole time?!]
“I just met an enemy who looked exactly like you.”
With this many similarities, I couldn't help but be suspicious.
The black mage marimo's one and only eye narrowed.
It suddenly asked in a serious voice,
[…Did you meet another lich?]
“No, it was a little different.”
I explained the battle with the High Priest to the black mage in detail.
“The moment it lost its power, it turned into something that looked just like you. Care to explain?”
[Wait, hear me out. This body is different from those underhanded creatures. I have no such evil scheme.]
The black mage waved its tentacles in genuine panic.
“How am I supposed to believe that when you're a black mage?”
[…. Let me organize this point by point. Listen carefully.]
It raised a tentacle like an index finger.
The black mage began its full-blown defense.
[Just because it has tentacles and one eye, that means it must be the same? Then are humans and monkeys the same, too? Well, judging by this thing you call ‘evolutionary biology,’ I suppose you do consider them relatives.]
“….”
[You know cats and lions share the same roots. But do cats eat people? The same applies even if they're the same species. If all humans with two eyes and two arms were murderers, then the most heinous murderer in history would have to look that way, too.]
The black mage suddenly began pressing the point hard.
Had it been reading Let's Play Logic instead of an encyclopedia?
I wasn't skilled enough to argue back.
“But you're a black mage. Of course you're evil.”
[Then does that mean I can look at you and think, ‘All the mages in this world are idiots’?]
“What is this….”
[Black magic isn't inherently evil in the first place. It can merely use corpses as materials… Wait. That came out wrong.]
“So you are evil after all.”
[…You even made a contract with me that I wouldn't use such materials anymore, didn't you? Besides, I never used human remains as materials.]
“Why?”
[Because they're inefficient… no, that's not it. I was human once, too. How could I do something so horrific?]
“You are evil. You're darkness itself, right down to the deepest corner of your heart.”
[No, this body truly has never hunted humans. I can swear to that.]
It said it while pretending to wipe sweat from its forehead.
[Besides, as I keep telling you, I have no reason to betray you now. My only goal right now is to reclaim my original body. I need your cooperation for that.]
“All right, I'll believe you for now.”
[It's sad that after helping you this much, you still don't trust me.]
The black mage muttered shamelessly, then suddenly looked around.
[By the way, where did that unlucky bastard go?]
“The unlucky bastard?”
[The worm.]
“It died.”
[…?]
The black mage suddenly fell silent.