Chapter 158
Gooooo-.
From beneath the dark cliff of unknowable depth came an eerie wailing cry.
This place was the bridge connecting the east and west of the massive underground cave, the ‘Central Corridor’.
The bridge was barely 10 meters wide.
On this narrow bridge where a single misstep would send you tumbling into the cliff below where not even your corpse could be found.
“Kill, kill them!”
“Break through!”
Stab- Stab-.
The natives were tangled together, stabbing each other with rusty blades.
A battlefield filled only with thick murderous intent and the scent of blood.
In the midst of this chaos, So-yul and the members fought with raised voices.
“Maintain the front line!”
“I need healing magic over here!”
“Kyaaaak!“
Nam-gung Cheon and Francesca had gone to steal totems, while Seo-jin and Nam-gung Rin were analyzing the revival ritual.
Excluding those four, the remaining members were engaged in fierce combat.
Because the opposing tribal alliance had begun a massive assault.
In fact, before the full-scale war began, Reverse Heaven Society had grasped the structure of the underground tunnels and collapsed or blocked most of the passages.
Due to the significant power difference with the strategy team, they had decided to avoid direct combat and fight a defensive battle instead.
However, several key passages in the tunnels couldn’t be collapsed, so these had to be physically blocked with their bodies.
These were either strategically important strongholds or specific areas that, if collapsed, could endanger the entire underground tunnel system.
And this Central Corridor, where the current battle was taking place, was the greatest stronghold and fiercest battlefield of the underground tunnels.
Clang-!
Naturally, it was the paladins from both teams who stood at the frontline of battle.
The two held their shields against each other, enduring the weight and pressure pushing from front and back while maintaining the battle line.
The duel between paladins appeared similar at first glance, but Robert held the advantage.
Creak-.
“Guk.”
Siegfried endured the pressure from Robert transmitted through his shield and looked at the man before him.
Paladin Robert of the strategy team, who had once been his idol and goal.
Level and traits, innate physical condition, combat proficiency, total amount of divine power he could wield, the quality of artifacts and items he possessed.
In none of these could he reach him.
To think he was standing on the same battlefield as such a person, shields pressed against each other like this.
In the past, this would have been a situation he could only dream of, but.
‘Not anymore.’
Siegfried was already covered in the blood of natives.
Boom-.
Even now, as he faced Robert, a tribal warrior beside him was struck by something and exploded.
It was a mana arrow that Yelena had shot from afar.
Fresh blood and flesh splattered on Siegfried’s cheek.
In the midst of this horrific scene, Siegfried asked Robert, who he was locked against.
“……You called Nova an evil black mage and such, but I suppose this is fine with you?”
If he had such strict standards of justice that he would point out Nova’s flaws one by one, shouldn’t he also be angry about the deaths of the natives being sacrificed in this battle?
Even if they were beings who killed natives without a moment’s hesitation, if they were fellow strategy team members, would he just turn a blind eye?
Then Robert, from beyond the shield, spoke in a coldly sunken voice.
“War is inherently brutal. So much so that it’s embarrassing to even call it a means of resolving disputes. We simply fight because it happened, because it occurred.”
Robert didn’t like such cruel battles either. He simply did it because he had to. And,
“I don’t think Nova would have a better method than this.”
Even if the information about Nova provided by Darkrock was somewhat distorted, there was one thing that remained unchanged.
‘The fact that Nova had caused many native sacrifices during his tower climbing process.’
Just look at the Atlantis war on the 20th floor.
Countless natives were swept up and killed in his war plans.
Of course, this wasn’t the logic that it was okay because this war on the 38th floor had fewer casualties.
But if there was a clear difference between the two wars.
‘The current situation is an unavoidable incident instigated by a World Quest and an administrator.’
Our position of being pushed into war cannot be compared to him who made war plans and caused casualties.
Moreover, the natives who died in this war could be revived again with totems.
Creak-.
Robert put more strength into the hand holding his shield and pressured the boy before him.
“If we must experience pain and sacrifice anyway, it’s best to end it quickly and efficiently.”
Even if some sacrifice was required, quickly ending the war was the path for the natives.
“Therefore, I will not hesitate to stain my hands with blood.”
Clang-.
“Guk!“
When Robert strongly pushed his shield forward, Siegfried, who had been locked against him, was pushed back greatly.
While the paladins’ tenacious struggle of strength continued on one side.
Clang- Clang-!
Right next to them, two spearmen were crossing spears.
The flashes of sword energy shining brightly in the dark cave.
Within the radius where Se-yeon and Lee Seo-mun’s battle continued, no native dared to approach.
Occasionally, the limbs of natives who were pushed around while maintaining the front line would be cut off and fly away.
Clang- Clang-!
Lee Seo-mun watched Se-yeon rushing at him like mad and swallowed saliva.
‘……Truly remarkable.’
A girl reaching an increasingly masterful level despite being in a state of selflessness.
Even now as they crossed spears, he could see her improving step by step.
He knew she was the first talent Nova had recruited and was making a name as a berserker, but he hadn’t expected her to be at this level.
‘She becomes more precise and faster with each exchange.’
Whether it was her first time handling spear techniques, at first she was busy just blocking attacks.
But once she became accustomed to combat, she now reached a level where she was pressuring him.
Truly enviable talent.
Such remarkable talent that he would want to take her and raise her, but.
‘She’s still young.’
She was not yet his match.
Neither her body nor mind had fully matured.
Also, the spear Se-yeon was wielding was simply moving mechanically along the optimal path for the moment, so he wondered if that could truly be called spear technique.
In fact, it wouldn’t matter if it was a sword, blade, or blunt weapon instead of a spear.
For that girl, weapons were merely means to express her strength.
The person who taught this girl probably only taught her how to control madness and govern fierceness with gentleness, but didn’t teach any techniques.
This meant.
‘In techniques, methods, and forms of martial arts…… she hasn’t reached any level.’
She was simply born with natural talent. As a martial artist right now, she was a failing grade.
‘In terms of combat technique alone, she’s still far below.’
Smack-.
The shaft of the Blood Spirit Spear struck Se-yeon’s forehead.
“Train harder.”
The flow reversed and Se-yeon began to be gradually beaten by Lee Seo-mun, meanwhile.
[Hydro Cannon]
Roaaar-!
A massive baptism of water pouring from the sky.
Gu-ren cast wide-range water attribute magic to try to push the natives off the bridge below.
Unable to just watch this, So-yul hurriedly drew up her mana and cast magic.
[Leaf Storm]
Rustle-.
A storm of leaves erupted from So-yul’s fingertips.
Since wood attribute magic held advantage over water attribute magic, even though her mana operation ability was inferior to Gu-ren’s, she could block his magic.
Rustle-.
Gu-ren’s magic split in all directions by the storm of leaves.
Fortunately, the tribal members didn’t get swept away by the current and fall off the bridge.
However, unlike So-yul who could only cast one magic at a time, Gu-ren could cast two or three magics simultaneously.
[Dark Bolt]
Crack-.
Instantly, black lightning struck the bridge, knocking out several nearby Squirrel Tribe members.
“Ah, no!”
So-yul cried out as she watched the tribal members falling toward the cliff below the bridge, but there was nothing she could do.
Gu-ren snorted at the sight.
“Hmph.”
She had improved compared to before when she would burn even allies, but she was still far from being his match.
Gu-ren’s only opponent was Lee Seo-jin.
Only he could be called his rival, so defeating a half-wit mage like that would bring no excitement whatsoever.
While magic exploded in the sky above.
Bang- Bang-!
Below it, arrows of light flew consecutively, exploding natives one by one.
“Mmm……”
Austin tried his best to command spirits to block the flying arrows, but it was insufficient to block them all.
Each arrow carried enough power that it required weaving together magic from two or more attribute spirits to block.
Just protecting the members from that deadly sniping was overwhelming enough to make his upper energy center feel like it would burst.
He had no spare capacity to protect the natives as well.
Austin narrowed his eyes as he looked at Yelena’s blonde hair fluttering from beyond the darkness.
‘To think she has such a beautiful appearance yet such a hideous heart.’
A woman who endlessly shot killing blows that slaughtered natives without a shred of mercy.
Austin vowed that someday he would fix that broken heart of hers.
***
The Rabbit Tribe’s cave.
Ha-yeon readily handed the rabbit totem to Francesca.
“Here you go.”
“……”
Francesca looked at the rabbit totem placed on her palm and tilted her head.
“Really?”
Ha-yeon readily nodded.
“Yes, the Sword Star said it would be fine to use a totem or two as bait. If we can learn your plan with just one totem, wouldn’t that be quite profitable?”
“……It doesn’t seem like that’s the only reason.”
Francesca stared at Ha-yeon, who was smiling sheepishly with drowsy eyes.
Though she was pretending to be calculating with her words, the Saintess had so readily handed over the totem surely because of the leader.
Whether from personal fondness or because of the direction of tower climbing.
“Think whatever you want. So, won’t you tell me?”
Francesca pocketed the totem and sighed.
“……I’ll tell you.”
Since the Saintess had caught her anyway, security would be greatly strengthened from now on.
Since it had come to this, it would be better to properly explain the plan and persuade the Saintess.
Considering her disposition, she probably didn’t like the current strategy team’s policy very much.
“Our purpose isn’t to destroy the totems, but to gather them all in intact condition.”
“Gather them all?”
“That’s right.”
At Francesca’s answer, Ha-yeon fell into thought for a moment.
Why collect the totems instead of destroying them?
‘Nimrod definitely said to leave only one totem.’
The easiest way to achieve that condition would naturally be to destroy all totems except one.
But there was one other method.
‘Combining all totems into one.’
If they fused each tribe’s totem to make one, they could achieve the condition Nimrod had set.
Combining totems into one. This idea itself wasn’t difficult.
But
‘I can’t know if that’s really possible.’
What if totems were made of materials that couldn’t be fused from the start?
Even if theoretically totems could be combined, how would they figure out the method?
What if materials unavailable on this 38th floor were needed? Or what if some special ritual had to be performed?
They couldn’t even know if fusion was possible right now, and even if it was, there were too many variables.
Nevertheless.
‘If it’s that person, it would be possible.’
Ha-yeon didn’t think Seo-jin’s direction would be wrong.
As evidence, Ha-yeon recalled the question Seo-jin had asked Nimrod right before the test began.
‘He definitely asked if this test could result in a [draw].’
The reason for that would be.
Probably because when all totems were combined into one, it would be difficult to determine victory or defeat with existing conditions alone.
If all the tribes’ totems were combined into one, which team’s victory should this be considered?
To this question, Nimrod had answered that the tower’s will would determine victory or defeat.
Mr. Seo-jin probably saw that far ahead.
Ha-yeon, who had quickly organized her thoughts, spoke.
“It seems you plan to combine all totems into one. And probably there’s a way to end the long-standing conflict of this place.”
Ha-yeon immediately grasped Reverse Heaven Society’s intention despite not being given much information.
Francesca shrugged, thinking there was no need for further explanation.
“……Your understanding is quick, which is nice. So what will you do now? Will you run off and report this information?”
“Well. What would be good to do?”
Ha-yeon, who had been smiling cunningly, soon extended her hand.
“Give it to me.”
“What?”
“Something to leave in place of the stolen totem. If you just steal the totem, your intention will be discovered, right? If it’s Mr. Seo-jin, he would have prepared something to replace it.”
“……”
Had her thinking reached that far too?
Francesca clicked her tongue as if fed up and took out a replica of the totem from her breast.
“Break this and put it in the original spot.”
“Wow, it’s perfect. How did you make it so identical?”
Ha-yeon examined the replica of the rabbit-shaped totem from various angles with shining eyes.
“Don’t fidget with it carelessly. The spell cast on your divine power might evaporate.”
“Ah, yes.”
Ha-yeon obediently put the replica totem in her pocket.
Then she gently petted Baduki’s head and carefully suggested to Francesca.
“Since it’s come to this, I could help you a bit more…… Would you like to hear about it?”
