Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Thud!
The <Heart of Collapse> beat again.
This time, it didn't end with just a tremor.
From the building-sized heart, a dark-red shockwave erupted and swept across the ruins.
CRRRRUMBLE!
The cracked stone floor flipped over all at once.
Sang-hyeok lowered his body and held on, but he couldn't withstand the impact and was pushed backward.
In front of him, a slab of stone shot up and flew toward his face.
Sang-hyeok immediately swung his right hand.
Crunch!
The stone slab touched by the energy of <Erasure> turned to black sand and scattered.
Beyond it, the <Heart of Collapse> came into view.
The heart floated in the air, higher than the ruined tower.
It had no arms or weapons, but every time the heart beat, a shockwave burst out and demolished the ruins.
If left like that, the entire battlefield would collapse before the time limit even ended.
'So this is why it's called the <Battlefield of Collapse>.'
This wasn't a trial that would end simply by enduring the remaining time.
To clear it, he had to destroy that heart first.
Thud!
The heart beat once more.
This time, the ground beneath it split apart in both directions.
The crack shot forward and reached the tips of Sang-hyeok's feet in an instant.
Whoosh!
Sang-hyeok leaped over the split floor.
The stone slab he landed on tilted and his body lurched, but he immediately regained his balance and extended his right hand toward the heart.
'<Erasure>.'
Fwoosh!
Black energy shot across the air and struck the lower part of the heart.
Hissss!
The spot it hit was gouged deep enough for a person to fit inside.
Black sand poured down like a waterfall.
But that was all.
Thud!
When the heart beat again, red flesh rapidly swelled up from inside the gouged area.
The wound filled in instantly, and soon even the trace of it vanished.
Sang-hyeok's eyes narrowed.
It wasn't that <Erasure> didn't work.
It was just that <Erasure> launched from a distance could only destroy the outer layer.
A wound of that degree was cleanly healed just by the heart beating again.
'Shaving off the surface won't end this.'
'<Demonic Dragon’s Eye>.'
The inside of his eyes grew hot, and the colors of the ruins faded.
In the middle of the bleached battlefield, the entire heart blazed with a dazzling red light.
There was no separately hidden weak point.
That enormous heart itself was the weak point.
The problem was its regeneration.
If he only destroyed the surface from a distance like just now, the wound would recover immediately.
He had to touch it directly and pour <Erasure> into it without giving it a chance to regenerate.
Having decided on his approach, Sang-hyeok ran straight toward the area beneath the heart.
The height was considerable, but the surroundings were littered with debris he could use as footholds.
Whoosh!
Leaping over the split ground, Sang-hyeok bounded upward from one piece of nearby debris to the next.
It was when he had climbed onto the largest pile of stones.
Thud!
Above his head, the <Heart of Collapse> beat again.
CRRRACK!
From that impact, the stone pile beneath his feet began collapsing from the inside.
Sang-hyeok stepped on the crumbling stones in succession and jumped upward.
But even the last stone he tried to step on shattered just before his toes touched it.
The moment he lost his footing, the dark-red shockwave struck Sang-hyeok head-on.
WHAM!
Sang-hyeok's body was hurled backward.
He slammed into the ground shoulder-first and rolled twice before catching himself with one palm.
His breath caught, and his left shoulder throbbed.
In the meantime, even the ground beneath the <Heart> collapsed entirely.
Where the stone pile had been just moments ago, a massive pit with no visible bottom gaped open.
Jumping straight up from the ground to reach the heart was now impossible.
Sang-hyeok pressed his throbbing shoulder, got to his feet, and scanned his surroundings.
At the edge of the pit, he spotted a ruined tower.
The tower's lower half was nearly collapsed, and it leaned diagonally toward the heart.
From that peak, he could leap to the heart.
Sang-hyeok deactivated <Demonic Dragon’s Eye> and ran toward the ruined tower.
Thud!
The <Heart of Collapse> above his head beat once more.
As the dark-red shockwave swept over the ruins, the stone floor beneath his feet heaved up all at once.
Sang-hyeok kicked off the rising floor with all his strength and leaped into the air.
He twisted his body midair and landed on a stone slab that had floated up in front of him.
Whoosh!
The moment his feet touched the slab, Sang-hyeok launched himself toward the ruined tower again.
CRASH!
Right after Sang-hyeok left it, the slab fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Landing on the cracked stone floor ahead, Sang-hyeok immediately ran again.
So far, the shockwaves had come at regular intervals.
After one passed, there was a brief gap before the next attack.
Each time, Sang-hyeok closed the distance to the ruined tower.
When a crack blocked his path, he stepped on the risen stones and leaped over it.
When debris poured down over his head, he swung <Erasure> to clear a path.
Fsssssh!
The chunks of stone grazed by <Erasure> turned to sand and scattered to both sides.
Sang-hyeok pushed through the scattering sand and kept running.
Before he knew it, the entrance to the ruined tower was right in front of him.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
Just before he reached the tower entrance, the ground supporting the tower collapsed.
The ruined tower began tilting into the pit as a whole.
If it toppled completely like that, the entrance would vanish beneath the pit as well.
Whoosh!!!
Sang-hyeok sped up and threw himself inside before the entrance collapsed.
Inside the tower, a half-collapsed staircase led all the way to the top.
Thud!
The moment he passed through the entrance, the <Heart of Collapse> beat again.
The shockwave that followed shook the entire ruined tower.
CRRRACK!
Cracks spread across the walls and stairs.
The stone staircase Sang-hyeok was standing on also split beneath his feet and began sinking downward.
Whoosh!
Before the stairs completely collapsed, Sang-hyeok kicked off with all his strength and leaped to the upper floor.
He grabbed the broken railing of the upper floor and pulled himself up.
The rough stone scraped his palms, but he didn't stop.
One floor.
Two floors.
As Sang-hyeok climbed higher, the stairs he had just passed collapsed from the bottom and poured into the pit.
If he stopped even for a moment, he would fall together with the ruined tower.
Sang-hyeok moved to the next step before the one under his feet collapsed.
It was just as he was about to climb onto the next floor.
CRRRACK!
The stone wall above cracked wide open and toppled down onto the staircase he was climbing.
CRASH!
The collapsed stone wall completely blocked the path to the next floor.
There was no time to detour.
Behind him, even the stairs he had just stepped on were collapsing.
Sang-hyeok ran to the stone wall and pressed his palm against its center.
'<Erasure>.'
Hissss!
The part his palm touched rapidly turned to black sand and poured down.
The moment a hole just big enough for one person opened, Sang-hyeok squeezed through.
As he slipped through the hole, the remaining stone wall collapsed behind him.
BOOM!
The surging stone dust struck his back, but Sang-hyeok didn't look back.
He ran straight toward the final staircase.
CRRRRACK!
Even the final staircase split beneath his feet.
Before it completely collapsed, Sang-hyeok kicked off the end of the stairs with all his strength and jumped upward.
BANG!
Sang-hyeok landed on the top of the ruined tower.
A fierce wind swept over the tilted tower, shaking Sang-hyeok's body as it passed.
Beyond his toes, a bottomless pit gaped open.
Sang-hyeok lowered his body to keep his balance and raised his head.
The <Heart of Collapse> floated right before his eyes.
From the edge of the ruined tower to the heart was about ten steps.
But between them, there was nowhere to set foot.
At that moment, the red surface of the heart swelled greatly.
The next shockwave was about to burst.
The question was whether the ruined tower could withstand the next shockwave.
Sang-hyeok looked down at his feet.
The ruined tower was already tilting into the pit, and the cracks spreading across the floor were rapidly approaching his toes.
So.
He had to endure the next shockwave, then leap from the collapsing edge of the ruined tower to the heart.
There was only one chance.
Sang-hyeok lowered his stance and braced one hand against the cracked floor.
THUD──!
The heart beat harder than ever before.
The dark-red shockwave struck the ruined tower head-on.
CRAAASH!
The fierce wind pressed against his whole body.
Sang-hyeok gritted his teeth and held on, gripping the floor.
His clothes tore and both feet slid backward, but he didn't let go.
A moment later, the shockwave passed.
CRRRRACK!
The lower part supporting the ruined tower collapsed completely.
As the top tilted sharply toward the heart, the ten-step distance rapidly shrank.
'Now.'
Sang-hyeok let go of the floor and sprinted.
As he sprinted across the tilted peak, the stone slabs beneath his feet fell into the pit one after another.
One step.
Two steps.
Just before the edge of the ruined tower completely broke apart, Sang-hyeok kicked off the last stone slab with all his strength.
Whoosh!
Sang-hyeok's body flew toward the heart.
The red surface rapidly drew closer.
The moment he touched the heart, Sang-hyeok drove both hands into the red surface.
Squelch!
The fingers of both hands sank deep into the red flesh.
Both feet also touched the heart right after, but they kept slipping on the ceaselessly heaving surface.
Sang-hyeok secured his body firmly with his left hand, then pressed his right palm even harder into the flesh.
'<Erasure>.'
HISSSSS!
From the spot his right hand touched, the red flesh turned to black sand.
It was different from when he had shot it from a distance.
This time, not just the surface but the flesh deep inside the heart was rapidly crumbling.
Thud!
The heart beat hard, trying to shake Sang-hyeok off.
Both feet came off the surface, and his lower body was flung into the air.
But the two hands driven into the heart didn't come loose.
Supporting his entire body weight with his left hand, Sang-hyeok pushed his right hand even deeper into the crumbling flesh.
His left shoulder felt as if it might dislocate, but Sang-hyeok drove his fingers even deeper into the flesh.
At the wound beneath his right hand, red flesh tried to swell up again.
But the moment it touched <Erasure>, it crumbled into black sand.
Before the wound could even fill in, an even wider area was disappearing.
If he just didn't let go, he could end this.
「The <Heart of Collapse> is being eroded.」
「Battlefield defense is activating.」
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
At that moment, the debris scattered throughout the ruins rose into the air.
From fist-sized stones to boulders the size of a person's head, they all flew toward Sang-hyeok at once.
To dodge, he would have to pull his hands out of the heart.
But the moment he let go, the heart would recover again.
'I'm not letting go.'
Sang-hyeok pressed his body close to the heart and tucked his chin.
Thwack! WHAM!
The stones struck his shoulders and back hard.
With each successive impact, his hanging body swayed violently.
Among them, one large boulder struck his left shoulder head-on.
CRASH!
His left hand came nearly halfway out, and his body slid downward.
'Ngh...!'
Sang-hyeok pushed his right arm deeper into the wound and barely stopped his fall.
Squelch!
He drove his freed left hand back into the red flesh.
He curled his fingers deep and secured his body firmly.
More debris flew at him after that, but Sang-hyeok gritted his teeth and endured.
And then he poured every last bit of his remaining mana into his right hand.
'Go... Erasure!'
FWOOOOOSH!
Beneath his right hand, the flesh inside the heart turned to black sand all at once.
The red flesh that tried to fill the wound also crumbled as fast as it swelled up.
The <Erasure> spilling out of the heart even turned the debris flying toward Sang-hyeok's back into black sand.
Thud!
The heart beat again.
But this impact was far weaker than before.
Sang-hyeok's body only swayed once, and his left hand no longer came loose.
Sang-hyeok put more strength into his left hand and pushed his right hand in deep.
Hissss!
The area that had turned to black sand rapidly expanded.
Before he knew it, half of the heart had crumbled away.
Areas completely eroded by <Erasure> no longer regenerated.
'Just a little... more!'
His mana hit rock bottom, and his breathing grew ragged.
Both arms were going numb, and the strength was draining from his fingertips.
Still, he had no intention of pulling out his right hand.
This was his last chance, and the end was finally starting to come into view.
Thud.
The heart beat again.
This time, an impact far weaker than before only stirred the hem of Sang-hyeok's clothes.
'Almost there!'
Sang-hyeok poured every last bit of his remaining mana into his right hand.
And then.
FWOOOOSH!
The entire heart that had remained red rapidly darkened to black.
The enormous heart, now less than half its original size, swelled one final time.
THUD──!
The <Heart of Collapse> beat one final time.
That was the end.
Fsssssssh!
The building-sized heart turned to black sand and poured down.
No red flesh remained, nor the light that had revived its wounds.
Even the spot where his left hand had been embedded crumbled away, and Sang-hyeok's body fell into the pit below.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
The tremor that had shaken the battlefield ceased.
The splitting earth and the collapsing ruined tower no longer moved.
The dark-red sky also rapidly lost its light.
Yet the system notification didn't appear right away.
As Sang-hyeok fell into the endless pit below, no letters floated before his eyes.
Only after several seconds did the first notification appear.
「The <Heart of Collapse> can no longer be detected.」
「The target has been completely annihilated.」
Belatedly, notifications poured out in succession.
「The Defeat Trial is ending.」
「You have achieved a complete conquest of the hidden battlefield <Battlefield of Collapse>.」
「You have cleared the battlefield with more than 25 minutes remaining.」
「You have cleared the 1st floor of the Infinite Tower.」
Fwoosh!
White light enveloped the falling Sang-hyeok.
At that moment, his body stopped in midair, and the dark-red battlefield rapidly receded from his view.
At the edge of Sang-hyeok's vision, only black sand scattering into the air remained.