Chapter 586

Creak! Squeeeak…!

A grotesque dissonance pierced the eardrums.

An eerie chill spread down the nape of the neck, raising goosebumps all over the body.

At most, only a few seconds.

After that, like the name of the torture device itself, the skull would be crushed to pieces.

Just then—

– Leave it to me. I’ll let you rampage all you want without even using divine power.

A familiar voice resounded.

Such a sweet temptation of a demon.

‘No… I can’t.’

But after realizing that every time [Corruption] was used, little by little her own personality was being stolen away, she could no longer depend on that cursed power.

In the worst case, her sword might one day end up pointing toward the person she held most dear.

– You know it too. It’s far more likely I can do this. If it were me, I could sweep away every last one of those filthy things.

The voice echoed again.

“Ugh…!”

Teresa tried to dispel Head Crusher with all her mana.

But a power opposite to divine force swallowed up the starlight that faintly shimmered.

Now only 1 second remained.

Clang!

The iron jaws meshed together.

The rusted torture device shuddered.

But just before the screws tightened—

Kaaang!

A sword brimming with aura cleaved through the device.

Red heat rippled from the severed iron.

“For a Paladin, this really is the worst matchup.”

Chun Yoosung stepped forward.

“Yoosung…”

“I’ll handle him.”

“But…!”

“Unless you switch personalities, divine power will only act as poison here. If anyone is to defeat him, it should be someone like me who can face him head-on.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Rest.”

Yoosung sheathed Ryuhwa.

All of the killing intent that had been chillingly refined condensed into the scabbard.

His feet pressed firmly into the ground.

His body drew taut like a bowstring.

“No matter who comes, it won’t matter. I’ve lived a different lifetime than the likes of you.”

Katran swung his massive scythe back.

At the same time, terrifying magic power gathered into a single point.

Rumble…!

The grudges of all those tortured to death and the sins heaped up over the years gathered, forming a single shape.

[Torture Materialization – ‘Iron Maiden’ is activated!]

Crackle!

A torture device that had claimed countless victims in fear.

Anyone trapped inside would confess falsehoods and beg for mercy.

[Conditions have been met.]

[Unique Holy Spear ‘Hour of Repentance’ is activated!]

[Time Limit: 0h : 9m : 59s]

[If the Iron Maiden is not destroyed within the time limit, all living beings within its target will be annihilated.]

“In this village, I can exert power on par with the Tower’s high gods.”

A Unique Holy Spear imbued with the effect of Absolute Judgment.

This was Katran’s worst ability.

“Not much of an ability. The explanation’s grand, but in the end you’re just saying I need to smash that oversized torture device, aren’t you?”

“If you can…”

Katran sliced the air with his scythe.

Vwooom!

From the cracks, enemies wearing bird-beak masks poured forth.

All of them wielded black aura and mastered corpse poison.

“…Come at me as much as you like. No one has ever broken through this formation.”

Enemies piled up layer after layer, filling the space between Yoosung and Katran.

Even with Teresa and Andrea, there was no way to reach him within 10 minutes.

“I’ll… strip your skin… all of it. Heehee… heehee.”

“I’ll make you beg for your life.”

“I’m dying to see how that doll-like face will change.”

The beak-masked torturers, armed with every kind of instrument, each spat their own line.

A hopeless number with a time restriction.

Yet even before overwhelming odds, Yoosung’s spirit did not waver.

Vwoooom!

Blue energy resonated along his blade’s edge.

‘Let’s test it.’

Yoosung synchronized his breathing with the sword’s song, driving himself to the extreme.

At the very moment when sight was most needed, he closed his eyes.

The enemies vanished from view, leaving only a world dyed white where he alone remained.

No—strictly speaking, one more stood in that world where no one should exist.

Thousands, tens of thousands of times.

To surpass that one existence.

To earn acknowledgment from that one.

He had thrown everything away.

And yet, in reality, he never even reached their toes, falling into despair and frustration.

At times he rationalized, saying it was time to compromise with reality.

A being of both hatred and yearning, an ideal turned obsession.

‘To defeat you….’

Crackle!

The condensed mana surpassed its limit.

A storm was contained in the small scabbard.

‘I will climb to the top of the Tower.’

That was the one and only reason he remained in this world.

White Night Soul-Chasing Sword.

Upon a completed sword, he placed—

The First Form.

His own color.

A sword-drawing technique made to defeat his greatest rival.

A draw-sword strike that existed nowhere else in the world.

This was—

‘Divine Blade Draw.’

A single stroke devised to surpass that one existence.

As the form completed, a flash split the air.

Slash!

The ultimate iai, flawless in every respect.

Everything along its line split apart and slid down.

“Guh… guhuk?”

“Kik….”

The hundreds of beak-masks never even realized what struck them.

As fountains of blood erupted, a path opened between Katran and Yoosung.

[A new sword has been born in the Tower.]

[The system awards the title of ‘Sword Saint’ to player Chun Yoosung.]

[This remarkable feat will be recorded in the ‘Hall of Fame’ for one day.]

The Tower itself had acknowledged it.

The peak of the sword now belonged to Chun Yoosung.

“Haaah… haaah.”

Yoosung exhaled the breath he had been holding.

The joy of completing his sword surged alongside crushing fatigue.

The concentration beyond limits had devoured all of his stamina.

Buzzz….

…Kwooong!

A terrifying shock followed the dreadful sonic boom.

Yoosung’s body flew back like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Khuh!”

To be honest, blocking that strike just now was nothing short of a miracle.

Had it not been for the experience he had built and his reflexes, he would have been sliced in half.

The problem was—

Miracles usually only happened once.

“How dare you… how dare you kill all my precious children. You’re far more dangerous than you look.”

Katran, the only one left alive, released a murderous aura.

Losing what was practically his other half, his rage naturally boiled over.

“But even if the system acknowledges you, if you cannot wield that power properly… you’re useless.”

Katran raised his scythe high.

Yoosung tried to move.

But his trembling arms and legs wouldn’t respond.

Everything felt unbearably heavy, like waterlogged cotton.

“Damn… it.”

Grinding his teeth, Yoosung glared at Katran.

This time it really was the end.

And then—

What reached him wasn’t the bite of a blade.

Kaaang!

Instead came the clash of steel, followed by a syrupy sweet voice whispering by his ear.

“Our gentle fool and you, crazy bastard—both of you are missing that last 2%.”

[Teresa activates ‘Corruption’.]

[Personality is switched.]

Crackle…!

A seductive, sticky aura, utterly different from Katran’s, erupted.

“You know what she has that you don’t?”

Her armor and blade turned pitch black.

The thick armor thinned and vanished.

Yet her offense and defense were far fiercer than when she was a Paladin.

“It’s madness.”

Clinging to precious ones or lofty goals—that was the problem.

Purely killing the enemy, cutting through flesh and bone.

Only when addicted to that simple thrill could one reach a higher realm.

“Now I’ll show you how the truly insane fight.”

Scrraape…

Teresa dragged her blade across the ground as she advanced, lips curved in a smile thick as blood.

—

Clang! Clang!

Amidst countless crossing shadows—

Jinhyuk and Alice charged forward.

Their breakthrough was terrifyingly fast and powerful.

“They’re escaping the ninjutsu formation!”

Illusions and arts layered upon each other in a massive barrier.

The perfect hunting ground that cornered enemies into the abyss began to crack.

Most of the masters raised in this secluded village had already fallen into combat incapacity.

It wasn’t a clash against another great force or an invasion by the Tower’s gods.

That only two people caused such devastation was unbelievable even while witnessing it.

That was how threatening the pair of Jinhyuk and Alice was.

“Persistent bastards.”

An aged ninja wielding a shuriken over 2 meters long clicked his tongue.

He had fought countless formidable foes, but never ones this relentless.

As if to prove his words—

Kwakwang!

A hole opened in the once-tight net.

The intruders had secured a route deep into the village.

And that route—

“They’re being herded well, yes?”

“Indeed. They won’t suspect a thing. After all, that path truly does lead onward.”

“Heh. From here we just wait until they wear themselves out.”

Ahead lay the worst labyrinth.

Once entered, there was no escape without a guide.

Even Tower great heroes had lost their lives within.

The ninjas halted their pursuit.

At the same time—

As Alice rampaged through the village, she felt something off.

No matter how far they ran, they kept circling the same place.

“Contractor. This feels….”

“Yeah. Looks like they set their tricks well.”

Even the wide-range detection skill [Thousand Silk Web] couldn’t grasp the entire structure.

A perfect labyrinth.

“Are we trapped?”

“Most likely….”

He knew how to clear such labyrinths.

High-level mazes had unique traits of their designers. If one could discern those, one could backtrack through.

The problem was time.

Even Jinhyuk, who had conquered countless Tower mazes, couldn’t break this in an instant.

“Then we’re doomed. Every second is precious….”

Alice bared her fangs slightly.

A quirk of hers when cornered.

But—

“Not necessarily. I prepared some insurance for just this.”

The message he had Jinhyuk send to Goguma.

It was time for that to bear fruit.

By now, it should have arrived….

Just then—

Step.

From beyond the alley shadows, a new figure appeared.