Floor 26: Daybreak (1)

It was a line of scripture, cryptic as any koan. And yet, as if I had received a revelation of my own, Comet's voice kept circling through my head.

I had no idea why.

It was a revelation granted to Comet. So why did it echo in my mind so vividly?

Because I was somehow capable of it?

No clue. I didn't have a speck of faith in the goddess to begin with.

But one thing seemed certain — there was something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hidden in those words.

How do I make dawn happen?

It couldn't simply mean dawn in the sense of time. Not a dawn that merely arrived if you waited for it, but a dawn I had to bring about.

Dawn... the Blue Dawn Wind...

Just as my brain was grinding away, the sword and necklace in my hands caught my eye.

Holy relics glowing with a faint red light.

Come to think of it, I'd never actually checked their descriptions.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The moment the thought crossed my mind, notification windows popped up.

But no obvious solution presented itself.

If I'd been the one wielding this sword from the start, its specs would have made my eyes pop... but the Wind Splitter skill, like Pungro's, sat in a sealed state, and the blade itself was already half-corrupted by the power of Fear.

Still, a question remained.

What was that flash between the ring and the sword?

It had been only an instant, but a blue light had flickered briefly.

Was it just the relics reacting to one another?

No. If that were all, there'd be no explaining why the Great Warrior had fought so desperately to keep me from taking the sword.

Which meant there was some clue hidden in this blade...

Then it suddenly occurred to me — the Blue Dawn Wind had vanished. And something connected to it as well.

The world of Fear.

I had been dragged here without any warning, unable even to resist.

The Blue Dawn Wind was the same. Without the slightest sign, it had disappeared from the continent one day.

And there was no doubt that Fear stood at the center of it, frozen in place.

The proposition was simple: the Blue Dawn Wind had been imprisoned by the Stilled Fear.

So what if the place where the goddess was sealed was here?

I doubt a deity could be caged while still in a healthy world, but...

There was already precedent — Fenrike and Faraktus.

Fenrike, trapped inside a necklace; Faraktus, forced to hold up a boulder. Deities imprisoned by other deities.

It was entirely plausible.

And if my guess was right, the Blue Dawn Wind was here — which raised the real question.

How on earth am I supposed to find her?

If the goddess had been in any condition to act, she would have come looking for me already.

So where was she?

She'd granted Comet a revelation, so she clearly wasn't dead...

I turned my attention to the ring, but it didn't point out any path with wind the way it had on the 25th floor.

Just as I lifted my head, the red sky of this crimson world caught my eye.

Dawn... and Wind Splitter.

I recalled the goddess's revelation once more.

"Let there be dawn" — make the dawn happen. Create it.

In this crimson world, where the goddess was presumably imprisoned — wouldn't the way to create dawn here be to split the sky open?

Pfft, come on. That's way out there. How would I split the sky?

A hollow laugh escaped me before I could stop it. Even to me, the idea was absurd.

Think of something else, then.

But the ridiculous idea refused to leave my head, as if it were whispering that it was the answer.

Much as I didn't want it to, my thoughts kept circling back to ways I might tear open that red sky.

So what if Wind Splitter is sealed...

On the 25th floor, the ring had guided me with wind all the same.

There was no guarantee the Wind of Dawn couldn't do the same.

The notification had said the sword's wind was fading — which meant some of it remained.

There was nothing to lose by trying.

The problem was whether trying was even possible.

Could I really split this red sky in half?

This was a world forged by a deity — one that had imprisoned a deity at that.

For a mere climber like me to try to destroy this world felt like pure fantasy.

It was a natural doubt, but I quickly steeled myself.

Nothing would be known until I tried. Don't set my own limits in advance.

And even if I couldn't shatter the red sky completely...

Perhaps all the Blue Dawn Wind needed was the tiniest crack.

...Hold on. Something's off here.

My premise had been wrong from the start.

If the Blue Dawn Wind was sealed in this place, and this sword was the key to freeing her...

then the Great Warrior never needed to send me here.

It made no sense. Even if I'd picked up the sword, he could have simply fought me for it.

Damn it. I'd spiraled myself into a delusion for nothing.

But the moment I exhaled a sigh, something struck me like a bolt.

No — wait. Did the Great Warrior really bring me here?

All I had seen was that instant of blue light.

Unlike before, the Great Warrior hadn't cried out the name of Fear or anything of the sort.

I had been pulled here after the relics reacted to each other.

Which meant it was possible the Blue Dawn Wind herself had guided me here.

Comet had vanished in a blue radiance, too.

I can't know for certain... but it's more than possible.

I jammed my axe into the Mimic's maw and gripped the Wind of Dawn with both hands.

Alright. Let's give it a shot.

I clenched the necklace hanging down between my fist and the hilt, then poured magic into the blade.

I had no way to gauge how much power splitting a sky would require.

Right on the edge of magical exhaustion, I forced in every last drop I had.

Huh?

And in an instant, the red light drained from the sword and necklace. In its place, the ring, the sword, and the necklace resonated once more.

A raging gale rippled along the blade.

The wind howled as it built, whipping my hair around like a madman's.

I swallowed hard and leveled the sword toward the lower left.

I didn't know exactly how the wind would fire, but I felt like I could do it.

The real question was whether the wind would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reach the sky...

Better to launch it from as high as possible.

I turned my head, spotted the tallest mound of corpses, and broke into a run.

The bodies that the Stilled Fear had slain.

With every step up the corpse hill, the Wind of Dawn began to glow brighter blue — as if the goddess herself was responding.

After the sticky, oppressive air, the cool wind was a blessing.

At the summit of the mound, I threw myself skyward with everything I had.

I bent my knees and kicked off empty air, leaping twice more.

And there — the highest point.

Lower left, sweeping to upper right.

I swung the sword up at the red sky with all the strength in my body.

And the moment I did, the sword and necklace in my hands crumbled away like dust, their purpose fulfilled.

In their place, a blinding crescent-shaped torrent of azure wind clawed its way up through the crimson world.

The gale left behind a tiny scratch across the red sky — a small tear, maybe two meters across.

A black gap opened in the middle of the crimson heavens, but nothing seemed to change.

The briefly parted tear soon squirmed and sealed itself over with red.

So I was wrong, then?

No — maybe my power was just too weak...

And then.

As I stared blankly up at the sky, blue light began to pour out of the tear I'd made.

From that tear, a blue line drew itself across the heavens, splitting them apart.

The blood-red sky cracked open. Blue light descended upon the crimson world, and a chill dawn wind came sweeping down from above.

And though I couldn't see her, I knew — the goddess was standing right in front of me.

"Thank you, Liberator."

"So it was you who called me here."

"It was. I worried you might not catch on."

A relieved laugh followed from the goddess.

And only then did the pieces come together.

Comet's darkened expression after receiving the goddess's revelation. The way Comet had smiled at Dobby, telling him not to worry, moments before the Great Warrior dragged her away.

"Comet's death — did you intend it?"

"So you noticed."

"Still... Comet was your Great Warrior."

"I grieve it too, but it was the only way through this," the goddess answered in a level voice.

Yet no matter how I turned it over, I couldn't make sense of it.

Couldn't Comet have freed the goddess here in my place?

As if reading my mind, the goddess continued. "My Great Warrior could not have saved me the way you did. She lacked the qualification."

"Qualification?"

"And had events not unfolded as they did, you would never have come to this cursed world carrying my sword."

I racked my brain, and her meaning finally fell into place.

If Comet hadn't been captured by the Great Warrior, the great ritual on the 26th floor would never have taken place.

And without the ritual, I couldn't have ascended here bearing the goddess's sword.

But far too many people had died to save the goddess.

Had that really been the only way?

If she'd simply given me the sword in the first place, I might have freed her back on the 24th floor...

"I see you still have your complaints. Fear not — my Great Warrior and her children will be revived soon."

"They'll come back to life?"

"You underestimate the divine, child. Now that I've regained my strength, that much is well within my power."

Deities could raise the dead?

It defied all logic, and it didn't sit easily in my mind.

And yet, at the news that Comet would live again, relief welled up from somewhere ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deep inside me.

Still, a question remained — one I couldn't ignore.

"If you had the power to raise the dead all along... why did the Stilled Fear defeat you?"

"...That is not a story for this place. Someday, the day will come when you too must know."

"And when exactly is 'someday'?"

"Enough. It is time you returned."

With Kwon Suhyeok gone, the battle was hanging by a thread.

Ha Heijeong swept the battlefield with anxious eyes.

She had expected things to go badly — but she hadn't imagined the Great Warrior would rage this violently.

Why is he thrashing around so desperately? Is Suhyeok really that strong?

The Great Warrior swung her spear as if determined to kill every climber before Kwon Suhyeok could return.

Even minor wounds went unhealed by her divine power — she didn't bother.

Barely ten minutes after Kwon Suhyeok's disappearance, the climbers were being steadily driven back.

Alexei and Seo Hosu had been swatted away in under a minute apiece.

They'd kept their lives, at least — but until Kwon Suhyeok returned, no one seemed capable of standing against the Great Warrior.

"...O Goddess!"

In that moment, the Pope suddenly cried out toward the heavens.

For an old man's shout, it was impossibly loud and clear. Every soul on the battlefield heard it.

The climbers' eyes turned to the Pope, and following his gaze, rose once more to the sky.

And at that moment, cracks began to spider across the red sky.

"FEAR!"

The Great Warrior's voice rang out, seething with malice — but it could not stop what was coming.

Crack— The crimson world shattered like breaking glass.

In its place, the blue half-light of dawn swept over the world.

As the chill dawn wind rolled across the battlefield, Kwon Suhyeok came plummeting down from the blue sky like a falling star.