Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Ryuga frantically loosed the bowstring.
Twang! Twang! Twang!
Three arrows that had passed through Kongo's barrier aimed for Sang-hyeok's face, chest, and thigh.
Sang-hyeok turned his head to dodge the first arrow, then ducked his upper body to let the second arrow slip past as well.
The last arrow he struck away with his right hand just before it touched his thigh.
TSSS!
The arrowhead vanished the moment it touched the black energy.
The shaft, now stripped of its force, dropped at Sang-hyeok's feet.
Through that opening, three golden mana bolts flew from Kagura's staff in rapid succession.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The first two shots exploded on either side of Sang-hyeok.
Sang-hyeok pushed through the showering dirt and reached out his right hand toward the last mana bolt.
TSSSS!
The golden mana bolt vanished without a trace before his palm.
"Keep firing!"
Kongo shouted as he forced mana into his shield.
Ryuga's hand moved rapidly across the bowstring again.
The more arrows he fired, the faster <Chain Shot> became.
Twang! Twang-twang-twang!
But Sang-hyeok did not stop.
Thud.
As the Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon beat, strength surged into both legs.
Sang-hyeok cut across between the arrows and closed in on the golden barrier in a single breath.
Kongo gritted his teeth.
"You think just because you took down Tokyo Golden Dragon, you can get past this wall too!"
Sang-hyeok gave no answer and placed his right hand against the barrier.
'<Erasure>.'
TSSSS!
The gold beneath his palm darkened to black.
The black energy spread across the entire barrier, and before Kongo could pour in more mana, the golden wall vanished without a trace.
"That's impossible..."
Kongo's face was exposed beyond where the barrier had been.
He immediately raised his shield and tried to shove Sang-hyeok back.
WHOOSH!
Sang-hyeok's right hand pressed down on the upper part of the shield as it came at him.
FSSSH!
Half of the thick metal plate disappeared.
The suddenly lightened shield tilted sharply in Kongo's grip.
Thud.
The Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon beat powerfully, and <Demonic Dragon’s Bloodflow> lent strength to his left arm.
Moments ago, that same strength had let him catch the fist of Tokyo Golden Dragon, who had even wrapped himself in the power of the Throne Mark, with one hand.
Sang-hyeok's left fist drove into Kongo's exposed chest.
BOOM!
The thick breastplate caved inward.
Kongo's feet left the ground as his body was hurled backward.
His body, tumbling across the red dirt, was enveloped in light.
[Kongo's death has been confirmed.]
[Kongo is eliminated.]
FLASH!
[South Korea Remaining: 4/4]
[Japan remaining: 2/4]
"Kongo!"
Ryuga reflexively stepped back.
The moment his feet moved, the firing speed boosted by <Chain Shot> returned to normal.
Ryuga hurriedly drew a new arrow.
But before he could even nock it, Sang-hyeok had closed to point-blank range with him.
Ryuga's eyes flew wide.
Abandoning the arrow, he desperately swung his bow.
Sang-hyeok's right hand seized the middle of the longbow.
TSSSS!
From where Sang-hyeok gripped it, the longbow rapidly disappeared.
Left with empty hands, Ryuga hastily raised both arms.
Sang-hyeok twisted his body and swung his right leg.
WHOOSH!
His heel slammed into Ryuga's side.
BOOM!
Ryuga's body bent sideways as he flew toward the cliff.
Just before he struck the rocks, red light wrapped around his body.
[Ryuga's death has been confirmed.]
[Ryuga is eliminated.]
FLASH!
[South Korea Remaining: 4/4]
[Japan remaining: 1/4]
Kagura, left alone, gripped the staff with both hands.
A mana bolt the size of a human head formed in front of the golden gem.
"Stay back!"
Kagura thrust the staff forward with full force.
The mana bolt lit up the narrow gorge as it flew at Sang-hyeok.
But Sang-hyeok did not dodge. He extended his right hand, wreathed in black energy, straight ahead.
TSSSS!
The golden mana bolt vanished the instant it touched his palm.
By the time the last light died out, Sang-hyeok was already standing directly in front of Kagura.
"...!"
Sang-hyeok's right hand covered the golden gem at the tip of the staff.
CRACKLE!
The gem vanished, and the staff's light went out with it.
Kagura had no time to prepare another spell.
Sang-hyeok pushed aside the gemless staff, then seized Kagura's shoulder.
'<Erasure>.'
TSSSS!
Kagura's body turned to black sand from the shoulder and scattered.
[Kagura's death has been confirmed.]
[Kagura is eliminated.]
FLASH!
[South Korea Remaining: 4/4]
[Japan remaining: 0/4]
「The 4 vs 4 Team Annihilation match has ended.」
「South Korea has won.」
[South Korea final survivors: 4/4]
[Japan final survivors: 0/4]
[True Dragon Society's 4 vs 4 Team Annihilation 4-win streak has ended.]
[True Dragon Society's team annihilation no-elimination record has ended.]
After Kongo's barrier vanished, it had taken less than a minute for the remaining three to all be eliminated.
The three teammates waiting a short distance away could not speak for a while.
Arrow Prices Went Up Again was the first to snap out of it.
"He said he'd wrap it up quickly..."
She looked back at the spot where nothing remained of the True Dragon Society and let out a hollow laugh.
"He really finished it before we could even catch our breath."
Heal Is Off Cooldown slowly lowered his staff as well.
"Wow... he took down an entire fixed team sponsored by a Celestial Seat all by himself."
Blocking Again Today set his cracked shield on the ground and bowed his head toward Sang-hyeok.
"That was incredible. At first I thought you were just talking big, but I had you completely wrong."
He smiled faintly and raised his head.
"I was lucky to be on the same side for Impossible One's first league match."
Heal Is Off Cooldown nodded right away as well.
"I was honored to fight alongside you too."
Arrow Prices Went Up Again slung her bow over her shoulder and grinned.
"I'm going to brag about today for the rest of my life."
Sang-hyeok looked at the three of them in turn.
"It's thanks to you three holding out in the early part."
Even while they had been pushed back one-sidedly, Blocking Again Today had never let go of his shield until the end.
Arrow Prices Went Up Again and Heal Is Off Cooldown had also prepared counterattacks and recovery from their own positions.
In that time, Sang-hyeok had been able to fully confirm the True Dragon Society's tactics and Tokyo Golden Dragon's Authority.
It was a short answer, but all three of their expressions brightened considerably.
A moment later, white light descended over Red-Rock Gorge.
「Victory points will be applied to South Korea's rookie season score.」
[South Korea rookie season score +3]
FLASH!
The four figures vanished from the battlefield.
* * *
Japan.
On the top floor of the True Dragon Society headquarters, Tokyo Golden Dragon knelt, having returned from the battlefield.
His body, which had been annihilated inside the tower, had returned to normal, but the shock had not yet faded from his face.
Before him stood the Sixteenth Celestial Seat <True Dragon>, Amane Ren.
Beside Amane, the exclusive sorcerer who managed the Throne Mark was examining Tokyo Golden Dragon's chest.
When the sorcerer placed his palm over it, the Throne Mark brightened with golden light.
The sorcerer watched the change for a moment, then withdrew his hand only after the light had subsided.
"There is no abnormality in the mark's function."
The sorcerer bowed his head toward Amane.
"Only the Golden Dragon Projection was lost. There is no damage to the mark or its connection to True Dragon. However..."
"Speak."
"A reaction that was not present before the match remains at the core."
The sorcerer channeled mana into the center of the mark again.
At the very center of the golden pattern, a dark-red light the size of a needle's tip rose up.
That moment.
VMMMM!
The same reaction came from the Throne behind Amane.
The inside of the golden yeouiju, the Throne's core, was briefly stained dark red.
The sorcerer looked back and forth between Tokyo Golden Dragon's mark and the golden yeouiju.
"This is..."
He muttered as if he could not believe it.
"It seems Impossible One's power and True Dragon's power recognized each other."
Amane did not answer.
Instead, she replayed the match footage.
Sang-hyeok had placed his hand on Tokyo Golden Dragon's chest and spoken clearly.
- There was something I needed to confirm.
Amane's golden eyes narrowed.
"Someone who could erase the Golden Dragon deliberately touched the center of the mark."
It had not been an accidental touch during the fight.
Sang-hyeok had known the exact location from the start and gone for it.
"Seal Tokyo Golden Dragon's mark until the examination is complete. Cross-check the pre-match records against his current state as well."
"Understood."
The exclusive sorcerer bowed his head again.
"Do not let the reaction confirmed today get out."
Amane's gaze did not leave the Black Mask on the screen.
"Send me the notification for Impossible One's next match directly as well."
"Yes. I will prepare."
The sorcerer withdrew, taking Tokyo Golden Dragon with him.
Left alone, Amane opened her hand and summoned the golden yeouiju.
Inside the yeouiju, the dark-red light that had appeared moments ago still remained.
As she gazed at that dark-red light, the notification she had received on the day Impossible One first revealed himself came to mind.
[A 10th-tier compatibility reaction outside the Throne path has been detected.]
[Not a registered candidate for the Sixteen Celestial Seats.]
[Classification: Non-Seat Candidate / Irregular]
The same notification had been delivered to all Sixteen Celestial Seats simultaneously.
At the time, Amane had not been able to understand that judgment.
There was a fact she had only learned after becoming a Celestial Seat.
The Infinite Tower did not exist only on Earth.
Innumerable worlds also had Infinite Towers, and each of them had Celestial Seats.
The sixteen seats established on Earth were also regional Thrones that selected candidates to challenge the Original Throne.
Because they were seats modeled after the power of the Original Throne, those who sat upon them could borrow the Celestial Seat name and its Authority.
But they had not yet obtained their own true name, nor did they possess a complete Authority.
Only by reaching the 10th tier and having one's very existence acknowledged as a law unto itself did one finally obtain a true name.
From that point, one was granted the right to compete with the Celestial Seats of other towers for the Original Throne.
Yet Sang-hyeok had received a 10th-tier compatibility judgment without sitting on any Throne.
He had been acknowledged as having the potential to reach a true name without passing through a Throne.
At first, it had felt like an absurd error.
But if the mark extending from her own Throne had recognized Impossible One's power, then the story changed.
As Amane closed her eyes, a massive book unfolded deep within her consciousness.
<Throne Succession Record>.
It was the record she had inherited along with the Throne on the day she ascended to the Sixteenth Seat.
Obtaining the Throne did not mean she instantly learned all of its contents.
The necessary chapters had to be found and read directly, and there were countless parts that had not yet opened.
The pages flipped rapidly.
Where Amane stopped was the chapter dealing with the oldest Throne war.
The distant past.
An existence that even the Original Thrones had feared had driven countless worlds to ruin.
The Succession Record described that existence as the root of all evil, the source of every calamity.
Only after the civilizations of multiple towers and the Original Thrones had allied were they able to defeat it.
The victorious Thrones divided the power that the root of evil had possessed, gaining greater stature than before.
Among them was the Original <True Dragon>.
The True Dragon and the root of evil were beings that had diverged from the same primordial dragon lineage.
After the war ended, the Original True Dragon sealed the power torn from the root of evil within its own yeouiju.
The Authority that Amane currently borrowed was also a power modeled after that original.
Amane looked at the yeouiju floating above her palm.
The center of the golden sphere was still stained dark red.
She began reading the record again from the beginning.
Then her gaze stopped at the final sentence, which she had previously passed over without much thought.
[The subjugation was successful.]
[However, the heart that the root of evil had carried within it was never found.]
* * *
Settlement space.
The match results unfolded before Sang-hyeok's eyes once more.
[Match result: South Korea victory]
[South Korea final survivors: 4/4]
[Japan final survivors: 0/4]
A new notification followed.
「Announcing the first match MVP.」
[First Match MVP]
[Affiliated Nation: South Korea]
[Public Name: Undisclosed]
[Key achievements]
- Single-handedly defeated Throne Mark holder <Tokyo Golden Dragon>
- Defeated all remaining True Dragon Society members
- Erased <Golden Dragon Projection>
- All allies survived
Blocking Again Today checked the results and nodded as if it were only natural.
Arrow Prices Went Up Again and Heal Is Off Cooldown also beamed as they looked at Sang-hyeok.
「Distributing the first match MVP special reward.」
[You have acquired 1 Authority Factor.]
[Authority Factors held: 2 → 3]
[Conditions for confirming a new Authority candidate have been met.]
The last one had been gathered.
Thud.
The Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon beat heavily.
The three Authority Factors emitted a dark-red light and gathered around the heart.
「Three Authority Factors are reacting to <Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon>.」
「Confirming the seed of Authority dwelling within the heart.」
The scene Sang-hyeok had witnessed in the Floor 15 Cooperative Battlefield surfaced before his eyes.
Hundreds of legion soldiers had thrown down their weapons and knelt toward him.
[Seed of Authority: Lesser Demonic Creature Subjugation]
After the Command Stone had vanished, it was the seed left behind by the masterless legion as they bowed their heads to the Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon.
Back then, he had only been able to halt the legion briefly within the battlefield.
But now that three Authority Factors had gathered, that experience was beginning to connect to a new power.
「A new Authority candidate has been generated.」
[Candidate Authority: <Demonic Dragon’s Dominance>]
[Current status: Unopened]
[Expected effects]
- Using the demonic dragon's aura, inflicts fear and stagger on demonic creatures weaker than oneself.
- The greater the difference in power, the stronger the effect.
- Strong demonic creatures may resist the effect.
[Limitations]
- Cannot permanently subjugate or forcibly command demonic creatures.
- The same effect does not apply to humans or players.
It was not an Authority that turned legions into subordinates.
Instead, it could crush a demonic creature's instincts and stop its movements.
If he could create even a brief opening against a strong demonic creature, that was enough to land <Erasure>.
However, it was still only a candidate.
To open it as a formal Authority, the final condition had to be fulfilled.
[<Demonic Dragon’s Dominance> opening condition]
- Without the aid of a Command Stone, force a hostile demonic creature of equal or higher level than yourself to kneel.
- If the target dies, it counts as a failure.
Sang-hyeok read the last line again.
Killing was easy.
This time, he had to subdue a monster of equal or higher level than himself while keeping it alive.
As it happened, the next Solo Trial was on Floor 20, where the Lv.22 Beast King awaited.
The corner of Sang-hyeok's mouth slowly rose.
'Perfect.'
The twentieth SSS and a new Authority.
He could take both from the same battlefield.