Chapter 725
Raphael’s eyes narrowed.
The appearance of the man flickering before him was the last thing he had expected.
Of course, he knew which faction he belonged to.
‘Returnees.’
They were people who, while not belonging to any particular faction, were entangled in all the major and minor incidents of the Tower.
And among them, the man standing before him was especially like an unpredictable bomb.
Pain von Adel.
The battle maniac obsessed with fighting had arrived.
“How… did you get in here?”
“I came in by cutting down everyone who got in my way. After I killed a few of them, they obediently let me through.”
“You killed the holy angels? Is that true?”
Raphael immediately drew out a heavy mace.
[The Sacred Relic ‘The One Who Proclaims Judgment’ is being unleashed!]
Crackle…
Divinity completely enveloped the mace.
“I like angels because they’re hot-blooded. They draw their weapons right away.”
Adel also slowly drew his sword.
As though a fierce battle was exactly what he wanted.
“There are no signs of battle.”
It was then that Israfil intervened.
While maintaining a giant eye floating in the sky, he inspected the holy walls, but there was no trace of combat anywhere.
In other words, Adel had infiltrated this place in secret.
“Did you lie on purpose just to provoke me?”
“I was just curious how strong you are. Chances to fight an Archangel-level being don’t come often.”
“To risk your life for such trivial curiosity. Truly befitting the limits of humans who built the Tower of Babel.”
Raphael’s killing intent thickened even further.
A moment ago, he had merely wanted to subdue him. Now, what could be felt from him was the desire to crush Adel into an unrecognizable lump of flesh.
“Raphael-nim.”
“Don’t stop me, Israfil. I don’t think I’ll be satisfied unless I trample that bastard to death right here.”
“I understand that you’re angry, but it doesn’t seem that human came here merely to provoke Raphael-nim. More importantly, if we fight here, the other Divinities will notice his intrusion as well.”
The holy walls he had believed to be perfect.
If it became known that someone had broken through them so easily, it would amount to nothing less than slapping himself in the face.
At the very least, there was more than enough reason to spare Adel for now and find out where the breach had occurred.
Raphael withdrew about half the Divinity wrapped around his mace.
“I came to make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
“Yes.”
Adel nodded and laid out the real reason he had come here.
“Actually, I spent some time hanging around Kang Jinhyuk’s group. In the world he lives in.”
“…!?”
“…!!”
The expressions of the two angels changed completely.
Because they had never imagined that Jinhyuk, the very core figure of their enemies, would be brought up here.
“I see. So you didn’t come just to spew nonsense. Then what is this proposal?”
“Back then, Kang Jinhyuk clearly promised that if I helped him, he would arrange a proper duel with Chun Yoosung. He bragged that the two of us would cross swords until only the stronger one remained.”
“It seems he broke his promise.”
“I’d say that’s half right and half wrong.”
The promise had been kept.
To a certain extent.
However, just as Chun Yoosung and Adel’s swordplay passed its peak and reached its extreme, Jinhyuk intervened in the middle of the duel.
‘Just a little more… just a tiny bit more, and I could have seen the end.’
A moment where life and death stood on the line.
A clash where each of them poured out the strongest swordsmanship they possessed.
Only one step remained before he could feel that thrilling instant when blade cut flesh and severed bone, yet that bastard dared interfere at the most crucial moment.
“What I want is to settle the outcome of that match. Promise me that, and I’ll pretend to stay on their side, remain close to them, and betray them at the most important moment.”
“Kehahaha!”
Raphael burst into loud laughter at Adel’s words.
Could there possibly be a more fitting situation for the saying that a pumpkin had rolled right onto the vine?
It seemed this war had already decided who held the blessing of God.
===
Grrrr…!
‘Hmm, if I just take two more steps to the left from here….’
Kwaaang!
The ground directly opposite Jinhyuk surged upward.
Something grotesque swallowed the floor whole, then sank back down again.
It was a creature possessing terrifying speed and power.
Enough to chew through shields as if they were crackers.
“Oh. You survived?”
Jinhyuk exclaimed in admiration as he turned the next page of the book.
It was an absurdly calm reaction for someone whose upper body had nearly been blown away just moments ago.
On the other hand.
“Hooooo… Hooah hooah.”
“M-my heart feels like it’s going to stop.”
Cheongha and Andrea, walking beside him, felt as though every second of every minute was the same as standing on the edge of a cliff.
Seeing the two of them trembling, the corner of Jinhyuk’s mouth twisted grotesquely.
‘Hmm. I need to give them a bigger shock….’
This level was a little disappointing.
What was needed was something more alien, more fundamental.
[Copying Conditions]
To copy Andrea and Cheongha’s abilities, he had to make them experience despair nine times. Their minimum heart rate had to exceed 250 BPM, and the more tears and snot they shed, the wider the range of abilities he could copy. If the highest level was achieved, he would even be able to copy their Unique Holy Spears.
The reason he had given Andrea the expensive [Blue Fox Orb] was not simply because Andrea was pretty. Raising her combat power did strengthen Veteran Corporation’s military might, but that was only one reason, not the most important one.
‘It’s about time to copy their abilities.’
You take the most delicious thing when it is perfectly ripe.
That was the veteran’s way of maximizing efficiency.
In Jinhyuk’s eyes, Andrea and Cheongha’s Unique Holy Spears were visible.
[Unique Holy Spear Thousand-Year Fox Phase 2 – ‘Night Parade of One Hundred Demons West’]
Acquisition Difficulty: SSS
Details: Grants control over various ghosts. The quality and number of ghosts that can be controlled vary depending on proficiency, and if Night Parades from different worldviews are acquired, the ability’s synergy increases by 120%.
An ability obtained when a nine-tailed fox that handled souls reached its peak.
It was a little different from Adel’s Night Parade, but if he copied that guy’s later, he would be able to enhance and use the ability to an even greater degree.
There were still some hurdles before he could acquire the Night Parade, but in a place like this, creating a stage for awakening would not be difficult.
Next…
Jinhyuk’s gaze shifted to Cheongha.
[Spirit Sprint]
Acquisition Difficulty: SS
Details: Reduces weight by 30% and increases movement speed and stamina by 15% each. Also, if proficiency in the ability exceeds a certain level, the Cat Tribe’s legs can be temporarily reproduced.
Spirit Sprint, the unique symbol of the Cat Tribe, was also an ability that made his mouth water.
‘This is going to be a very entertaining outing.’
This was a situation where laughter naturally came out even while standing still.
The thrilling stage that was the 50th floor had already been prepared. He intended to squeeze every possible gain out of it.
Jinhyuk diligently turned the next page of the book.
The letters shimmered in strange colors.
Only part of it could be interpreted through [Lost Language]. Rather than reading the sentences perfectly, he could only infer the most likely meaning from individual words.
Even so, it was far more helpful than knowing nothing at all.
How much time had passed like that?
After weaving through countless traps and unknown passages, they finally got past the palace entrance.
And the view changed.
Beyond the endless rows of pillars, a new sight unfolded.
“Is this place…?”
“I-is it over?”
Cheongha and Andrea stared at the space where blue waves rippled.
The area, where water spread only to ankle height, was vast and beautiful.
It naturally reminded one of Bolivia’s Uyuni Salt Flats, but mistaking this deadly place for a tourist destination like that would leave you without enough lives to regret it.
“No. We’re still far off.”
Jinhyuk shook his head.
Using the [Page from the Necronomicon], he had chosen only shortcuts while avoiding danger as much as possible.
Even so, they were still far from the place where Azathoth was.
‘At this rate, things will be troublesome….’
For everything to proceed according to plan, ‘that guy’ needed to start reacting soon.
‘I may need to take a slightly bolder approach. No helping it.’
Jinhyuk was thinking over various things when it happened.
Grrrrrrrr!
A grating sound echoed from far away.
“The water’s vibrating faintly.”
“The sound… is strange too.”
Andrea and Cheongha also sensed the anomaly.
When they focused Mana into their eyes, a blue wall began to appear far in the distance.
“A wall… no, a mountain? Something insanely huge is coming.”
“It’s a wave.”
It only looked like a wall because its height alone exceeded three kilometers. More accurately, it would be better to call it a tsunami.
The problem was that it was not merely a wave made of water, but a calamity made of a special liquid that polluted the mind itself.
A cursed mass that could shatter even mental Barriers in a single blow. And trailing behind it came giant monsters that swallowed prey whole after losing their reason.
“W-where do we run? Backward? Forward?”
“Jinhyuk-nim! We need to evade it now. That thing is moving much faster than it looks!”
Andrea grabbed Jinhyuk’s sleeve.
She had only realized it just now, but the speed at which the tsunami was approaching was beyond imagination. If they wanted to survive, they needed to either turn back immediately or find another shelter at once.
Chwi-chwi-chwit!
Ssssssak…
Insect-like sounds kept leaking out from the [Page from the Necronomicon] as well. In response to the new environment, it was trying to indicate the safest route.
‘No, here I’ll choose a different option.’
Thump!
Jinhyuk closed the trembling book.
To cross this vast labyrinth in a short time without Azathoth noticing, he would have to take a gamble.
Now was the time.
A gigantic wall rushing toward them at terrifying speed.
On the surface of the wave, countless faces laughed, screamed, and cried. A calamity mixed with joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure was approaching.
“Hoo.”
Jinhyuk steadied his breathing and gathered Mana into both hands.
Whoosh!
Divinity and crimson flames surged at the same time.
As lava and fire merged with the Mandala and the Blessing of the Stars, a golden flash began to swirl.
[Unique Ability: Inferno Storm is activated!]
[Multiple Barriers ‘Power Amplification’ are activated!]
Maximum firepower.
Sparks burst forth around the light concentrated into a single point.
And the moment the different abilities fused together perfectly—
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
A beam of light carved out a long trajectory and exploded into the wave.
The torrent split to the left and right.
The scattered droplets were then reabsorbed through the magic circle.
What followed was a shock violent enough to shake heaven and earth.
Kwaaaaang!
A hole ten meters wide opened straight through the wave.
“We did it!”
“W-we’re getting through!”
Jinhyuk, Andrea, and Cheongha hurled themselves through the hole torn open in the wave and to the opposite side.
“Grooo…oo…”
“Kkweeeek!”
The giant monsters following behind also dropped, their bodies missing various parts.
Kooong!
Thud!
They were large species that inhabited Azathoth’s Palace, but they were not enough to withstand even a single strike from Jinhyuk.
“Is this even real?”
“As expected of Jinhyuk-nim…!”
Cheongha and Andrea kept exclaiming in admiration.
The 50th floor, the Tower’s final floor.
And among all its floors, the place where the most powerful and greatest being of all resided.
How many existences could rampage freely in such a place?
How many could remain this calm and continue making the right decisions in such an unfamiliar, alien hell?
It would not be an exaggeration to say that, in the eyes of every resident of the Tower, there was not a single one.
Cheongha, in particular, had come to the 50th floor with Jinhyuk, and by now her view of him had completely changed.
‘Even the Demon King couldn’t do something like this.’
Seeing that such a monstrous attack had not even disturbed his breathing, the extent of his power was impossible to measure.
The absurd thought that he might be a monster even stronger than the Demon King… no, stronger than even Son Oh-gong himself, threw Cheongha’s mind into utter confusion.
But right at that moment.
“Gurgle. Gurururuk…”
The shallow water spread across the floor began rotating violently clockwise.
Jinhyuk’s movements stopped abruptly.
‘You came.’
At last, the one he had been hoping for had taken the bait.