Chapter 696
Moonlight poured in through the window, illuminating the room.
Only the two of them existed atop the pure white bed.
“Contractor….”
She swallowed, her slender throat bobbing. Her mind had long since gone blank.
It was the moment she had long awaited.
Whispering love in a secluded place with someone precious was one of the romances Alice had always yearned for.
‘Thump, thump!’
A sweet, ticklish feeling she had never experienced before enveloped her entire body.
A life lived solely for the revival and revenge of Ataraxia.
Love had nothing to do with Alice.
It was unfamiliar, strange, and awkward to the point of being unbearable, but she didn’t entirely dislike this feeling.
“W-well, tell me.”
Alice, who had already decided on her grandchild’s name, tightly gripped the bedsheet with her small hand.
A second that felt like an eternity passed.
Jinhyuk gave the answer she had been waiting for.
“Actually, I invited some guests here. I feel a bit sorry to mention it now, but you’ll understand, right?”
Ah!
Just in time. They seemed to have arrived.
The place was hidden in the shadows, so passing along the coordinates had been difficult, but thankfully Heimdall of Northern Europe helped out.
[A new force has entered the territory of Ataraxia.]
“You’ll have to properly compensate me for this later. I went through quite a bit of trouble moving this many people.”
Numerous Mana presences appeared inside the castle.
They were the Spirit King and Spirit Beasts from Yottlearm Canyon.
With Yomaganto’s retreat, the darkness that had swallowed the entire canyon vanished, but the Mana of the Divine Seedling that had seeped into every nook and cranny couldn’t be removed in a short time.
Therefore.
“My apologies.”
“I was hoping to impose on you a bit.”
“Hahaha. The famous Ataraxia Citadel. It’s an honor.”
The Tower’s refugees (?) needed a place to stay.
A place where they wouldn’t have to worry about outside eyes, a place that had been left abandoned for a long time, filled with the pure Mana of the Tower.
“Ee…ee…ee….”
Alice’s body trembled.
She looked like someone stepping into a tank full of electric eels.
“I… I waited for this date with such feelings….”
[Mana is materializing.]
[The Barrier spread throughout the castle is collapsing.]
A red ring slowly began to form.
‘Crash! Crash! Shatter!’
Every window in the castle shattered.
“Eeek!”
Remia, instinctively sensing danger, began fleeing as far away as possible.
“I couldn’t even sleep properly thinking we’d be alone together for a week….”
‘Heh-heh-heh-heh!’
A terrifying killing intent.
A domain of blood that even Azathoth would have to regard with caution.
[The Barrier has exceeded its limit threshold.]
[The Zodiac Constellations lose their light.]
‘No way.’
Jinhyuk watched the shattering constellations. The layered defensive walls he had set up throughout the castle just in case were crumbling like glass.
‘Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.’
“A-Asgard. No, anywhere is fine, just send me away quickly!”
Heimdall desperately tried to open a gate to ‘Bifrost’.
[Spatial movement has been denied for the safety of Northern Europe.]
With a firm red status window, the last possible escape route vanished.
“A-Alice?”
Jinhyuk found himself stepping back without realizing it.
Honestly. Even if he mobilized all his Unique Holy Spears and abilities, he couldn’t picture himself defeating the enraged girl before him.
[The Apocalypse of Revelation ‘Pureblooded Angel ‘Redemption’’ activates.]
A perfectly blossomed wave of crimson blood.
“Die. Along with that vanished sense of awareness.”
‘CRACK! CRACK! CRACK—BOOM!’
The Apocalypse of Revelation swallowed the entire citadel whole.
—
A single storm passed.
The True Ancestor’s wrath swept through the entire Black Castle, but fortunately, the worst-case scenario he had imagined did not occur.
It wasn’t just luck.
It was thanks to his promise of commensurate tribute and compensation.
“Don’t think for a second this means I’ve completely forgiven you… Mmm. This is really delicious.”
Alice chewed the food stuffed in her cheeks like a hamster.
Various delicacies brought out from the ‘Otherworld Restaurant’.
The first condition was Jinhyuk feeding her bite by bite from beside her.
After that, a Spartan journey awaited: riding a bat-shaped ferry on a river of blood, taking a walk through a screaming forest, and finally, having her blood sucked under a crescent moon.
It was quite a grueling day, but he thought it was a small price compared to his life.
‘It’s not all bad since I can now receive help from the Spirit King and Spirit Beasts.’
The hardship was worth it.
Above all, it felt fresh to have come to where Alice lived.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve looked around here so comfortably.’
The Black Castle was one of the most inaccessible locations in the 30th-floor range. Without Alice’s permission, no one’s entry was allowed.
In terms of difficulty alone, it was said to rival top-tier ruins.
Naturally, in the past, when there was no connection, there was no reason to come here.
There was no need to take that huge risk and provoke the True Ancestor’s feelings.
But now, he and Alice were friends. Thanks to that, he could have new experiences he couldn’t have before.
‘……This is why the Tower of Trials is fun.’
‘There were still so many unconquered contents lying around.’
‘Since I have a moment, should I do the long-overdue settlement?’
Alice, who had eaten well and played well, was now fast asleep in the bedroom. The refugees from the canyon were also busy recovering from the fatigue of their long journey.
Only now could he truly have time to himself.
Jinhyuk opened his personal status window and Subspace Inventory simultaneously.
‘Ding!’
A cheerful notification sound rang out.
——————————
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Level: 356
Strength 125 | Agility 140 | Stamina 198 | Mana 809 | Gap 100 | Luck 10 | Adaptive 78 | Period 510.22
Stat Points Held: 33
Coins Held: 112,557,189
Occupation: Rune Dominator
Unique Holy Spear: Contents too extensive, switched to ‘Collapsed’ state.
Unique Ability: Contents too extensive, switched to ‘Collapsed’ state.
Skills: Contents too extensive, switched to ‘Collapsed’ state.
——————————
The levels gained from this battle were a full 11.
Considering his current level, it meant he had acquired an enormous amount of experience.
‘Still, if there was one regret, it was failing to finish off Yomaganto.’
If he had succeeded in hunting one of the ancient beings, he would have acquired much more experience and rewards.
But still.
He had more than enough rewards to soothe that regret.
‘First, let’s distribute the stats.’
What to invest in was already decided.
[Mana 809 → 829 increases.]
[Strength 125 → 138 increases.]
‘Whoosh!’
A warm power spread throughout his body.
The muscles in his body became more defined, and the Mana flowing through his blood vessels stabilized at another level.
The most important thing in the upcoming war with Eden would be the completeness of the stronghold.
To freely use ‘Labyrinth Creation’ and the ‘Rainbow Bridge’ he had copied from Medrey, he needed as much Mana as possible.
And he also paid attention to overall balance by supplementing his relatively lacking Strength this time.
‘Next… time to check the long-awaited items!’
Raising stats made his heart race too, but the most thrilling thing was still the tangible items in hand.
[Staff of Gray Regret]
Acquisition Difficulty: SSS
Magic Attack Power: 88,000
Description: An otherworldly magical tool used by Clemence. Increases proficiency of all dark magic skills by +20%. Also, if this dark magic reaches a certain level, it becomes possible to use abilities from the dimension where Clemence resided.
[Root of the Unowned Shadow Sapling 100g]
Acquisition Difficulty: Immeasurable
Description: A plant growing in Azathoth’s Palace. The sapling emitting purple oxygen can either corrupt or strengthen a target.
[Fragment of Yomaganto’s Flame (Material Type)]
Acquisition Difficulty: Immeasurable
Description: The Flames of Fear of Yomaganto, one of the Outer Gods. The inextinguishable flame can completely burn and annihilate a targeted subject.
Additionally, he acquired the armor used by Jack Eden, leader of Swingbat, and various types of Mana Stones and byproducts.
Even individually, they were items with cheat-like abilities.
But Jinhyuk was aiming for something else.
‘I need to upgrade First Blade once.’
Special Enhancement.
Using ancient power and otherworldly items as materials, he would significantly raise its current performance, making it usable in the even greater battles to come.
Plans were methodically organized in Jinhyuk’s mind.
After a few hours, a rough blueprint was drawn.
Jinhyuk’s gaze grew even more focused.
Because the last thing to do was the most important and required the most caution.
Jinhyuk took out the forbidden book he had stored in the deepest part of his Subspace, along with the ‘Crown of Tyranny’ and ‘Crown of Swiftness’.
‘Pshhh…!’
Green and purple smoke flowed out.
Along with the sound of insects whispering, the air completely changed.
Necronomicon.
Acquisition Difficulty: Cannot be expressed in words.
Description: This contains all kinds of information about the 50th floor, interpretations of it, and finally, a blend of conjectures and assumptions. However, as it is written in a special language and codes, a very sophisticated approach to deciphering is required.
A book containing all sorts of information for conquering the 50th floor.
A mass of secrets still shrouded in too much mystery.
‘It’s going to be a perilous journey. The experience I’ve acquired probably won’t even amount to 30% of the whole.’
Jinhyuk didn’t know everything about the 50th floor either.
Above all, given the nature of the 50th floor, where extreme changes occur, there was no guarantee that existing information would lead to the right path.
Therefore.
Whether he could perfectly acquire this or not would determine the success or failure of the normal conquest.
—
One day before the century’s event, the ‘War of the Stars’, was to be held.
All media and mass communication worldwide converged on the United States.
– With simultaneous viewership expected to exceed approximately 1.0856 billion, major guilds and solo rankers are all gathering in the United States.
– Diplomats and entourages representing the G20 are currently….
– In the largest-ever built comprehensive stadium, all preparations are complete, awaiting the athletes’ entry….
For a week already, TV and the internet had been talking about nothing but this all day long.
Well, it couldn’t be helped.
This event was the occasion to separate the wheat from the chaff for conquering the Tower’s summit.
It was only natural for reactions to be heated regarding a matter concerning humanity’s survival.
And.
To showcase their presence on that ultimate stage, each country and guild was determined to pour out literally everything they had.
“……Quite the gathering of famous faces.”
“Indeed. Even during the previous ruin conquests, a lineup of this caliber didn’t fully assemble.”
They were the Russian ranker Ivankovich and the ranker Kiyov belonging to the European Union.
To more precisely classify the increasingly elevated level of players, above S-rank, SS-rank and SSS-rank were added.
Above that, the EX-rank—of which there were only five in the world—was also added.
Irregular powerhouses who had formed direct contracts with Main Gods.
Monsters capable of solo conquests of ruins and labyrinths were included in the EX category.
And.
Ivankovich and Kiyov were powerhouses who had recently been promoted from S-rank to SS-rank.
A time when they were eager to showcase their power.
Thus, they were constantly looking for an opportunity to find suitable prey.
Right then.
‘Step.’
A familiar figure appeared.
Yoo Cheonyeong.
The old tiger, the sole pillar of a crumbling South Korea.