Chapter 51. Manticore (1)

Anticipation spread across Jeonghyeon's face as he stood before the Tower's entrance.

'Main quest, sub quest, and even a hidden quest...'

If he cleared this, he could knock out three quests at once—a golden opportunity straight out of some cheap mart ad. He hadn't cleared it yet, but the situation was so spot-on that laughter bubbled up anyway.

"We still have those 50 mana stones, right?"

Nus, who had been steadily hiding his power in the inventory even after entering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Tower, suddenly snapped in irritation.

"How many times do I have to say it? You think I'm some thief or what?!"

"With how many monsters we've hunted, if you've skimmed 50 and the rest are all crippled, yeah, you're a thief."

"You little shit!"

Jeonghyeon closed the inventory entrance, but by now Nus could open it himself.

"How dare a lowly human brat open his mouth when I speak?!"

"Sorry. Let's just get going."

Jeonghyeon was used to the noise by now, sick of it to death, but he patted Philip's shoulder—he was just itching to wrap this up and claim the rewards.

"Already the 20th floor... We're moving fast."

Philip spoke as he adjusted the cylinder on his shoulder, clearly comfortable with the Wakin sisters' gear by now.

"Yeah."

As the two men stepped forward, the Tower's structure began to shift...

The familiar voice of the Tower echoed out.

From the 10th floor onward, it had been auto-adjusting difficulty without even asking for a selection, so this was unexpected.

"Maximum difficulty. Starting right now."

In response to Jeonghyeon's words, the Tower's voice gave an unforeseen reply.

"?"

"Ah."

Damn. So it came to this after all.

Uldran had unnecessarily piped up in the dungeon a few times, offering aid, and Nus's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠help went without saying. The Tower staying silent until now was the real anomaly.

"So, what do we have to do?"

The Tower's voice responded.

'Balance adjustment, huh.'

Jeonghyeon clicked his tongue.

Just like games had systems to detect illegal cheats or bots for abnormally fast-growing players, the Tower seemed to have its own anomaly detection.

"Tch."

No matter how he sliced it, the sour mood lingered.

"So, what happens now?"

Instead of answering, the Tower voice simply opened a portal deeper inside.

"What a petty bastard! A so-called neutral Tower voice, huh!"

Nus, who trashed everyone but the Demon King, bellowed at the empty air.

"Huh?"

But the Tower actually reacted to the provocation.

Wait, had the Tower always been this... human? With a personality, even?

He'd never seen anything like this in his previous life. Why was he experiencing so many firsts now, and so often?

As he gaped in bewilderment, Nus kept ranting before he could stop him.

"What the hell, you punk! Spit it out if you're gonna say something! What if we didn't use any weird powers? And even if we did, it's still our power!"

Nus and the Tower voice suddenly raised their voices, bickering. He'd encountered one or the other before, but neither had ever gotten this pissy. Regression must've twisted things good.

'Or...'

Maybe as a dragon awakener, he hadn't noticed, but as a Demon King awakener, things were different.

"Let's go, Nus."

"What?! I haven't cooled off yet...!"

Jeonghyeon shoved Nus back into the inventory.

Nus resisted once, then—perceptive as ever—pretended to yield and stayed put. Sure, there was some grumbling, but it was probably his imagination. Yeah.

That was when it happened.

An unexpected turn.

Nus's tantrums had screwed things up plenty before... but helping like this? Wild.

Jeonghyeon stifled a hollow laugh and waited silently for the Tower to continue.

"Accordingly?"

"Ah. We're fucked."

Jeonghyeon sighed deeply the moment he heard it.

"We're fucked."

Nus, poking his face out of the inventory, echoed the sentiment.

Even Uldran, who constantly manifested through soul and voice to serve him, reacted the same.

"Pardon? Why? What's wrong?"

The only one clueless about the danger was Philip.

***

"Whoa."

The first words out of Philip's mouth upon entering the dungeon were pure admiration—no curses, no sighs of dread.

It deserved it.

"Tch. A manticore, of all things. That dumb, lowly trash species!! I don't even wanna deal with it."

Nus sealed himself back in the inventory. No wonder—Manticore was one of the Demon King's favorite pets. Malekith had kept them like house cats, always by his side.

"Ha."

The Demon King's pet cat: a lion's form, bearing not giant bat or bird wings, but genuine demon tribe wings. Its tail was from the Lava Scorpion King, overlord of Afraksas's underground lava scorpions.

Its forepaws: genetically enhanced hippogriff claws of extreme strength. Hind legs: minotaur limbs for explosive propulsion.

Eyes: lich orbs that discerned mana and form alike. Teeth...

"Sigh. Why bother listing them all."

Jeonghyeon gave up counting. Even without those, the dozens of other monster parts—mane, hide, organs, bones—for crafting one manticore were insane.

And binding it all seamlessly? A monster core.

That absurd spec nightmare loomed before them.

No wonder even Uldran called it fucked.

Philip stared, awestruck by the manticore's massive body and harmonious form.

Afraksas hillside manifested in the Tower's subspace: a several-meter artificial lion under moonlight, demon wings spread wide.

"Don't zone out staring."

"Y-Yes... sir!"

"One hit. Mess up, and we're all dead in one shot."

Jeonghyeon cautiously infused mana into his Demon King's Eye, activating Insight.

Thanks to Insight—fusing Attribute Disruption and Attribute Insight—skill use was far smoother.

The info was pointless.

"What kinda useless crap is this?"

Jeonghyeon was dumbfounded. No weaknesses or traits—just history lecture bullshit.

'Who cares if you're a baron or grand duke?'

Skill upgrades had perks, but ironically, Malekith's nonsense crept in too.

"Minotaur horns boost vitality before, now it's spewing total garbage."

Jeonghyeon poured more mana into Insight.

'What a jack-of-all-trades.'

More mana focused on key parts, but Malekith's unwanted commentary tagged along every time.

"'Sees great, tough as hell'—what bullshit is that?"

If you're giving info, make it useful. Jeonghyeon muttered, shaking his head.

Still, the barrage of status windows meant something. Post-fusion, Insight usually hit main weapons like "harpy's mighty talons" or "beastman's spear." But one manticore yielded five infos—proof of its power.

'Didn't wanna know, but gauging its strength is a relief.'

Not wanting to know didn't mean he wanted to die blind.

"So, what now?"

Philip asked, sweating bullets in tension.

Via Attribute Domination link, the manticore's menace hit him full force too.

"Nus. Know anything?"

Jeonghyeon cracked the inventory.

"No clue, I don't!"

Nus slammed it shut, refusing to mingle with the Demon King's pet kitty.

"Ha... "

Useless damn slime.

Jeonghyeon gripped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his harvesting knife tighter.

"First mercy: it's a juvenile, not full adult. A grown one would've dusted our bones instantly."

"Got it...!"

They needed a plan before it noticed—slimmest shot at victory.

"So, as fast as possible..."

But things never went his way.

Kurrrrk—!

The manticore spotted them, leaping to loom massively before Jeonghyeon and Philip.