Floor 15: The Road to the Fortress (4)

I swung my axe in a vicious horizontal arc. Four lizardmen went down, mashed to pulp, and blue blood sprayed hot across my face and neck.

About two hours had passed since I'd picked up the dagger. Things were getting a little rough, though...

It had been fine at first. For the first thirty minutes, we hadn't found so much as a trace of the lizardmen. But at some point, the dinosaur-men had begun appearing from every direction—so many of them it was as if they'd erupted out of the earth with no warning at all.

Of course, in the beginning they hadn't been able to keep pace with us. This was the speed of the first- and third-ranked climbers on the leaderboard, so that much was only to be expected. But as the hours dragged on, the encirclement kept narrowing.

They did say the dagger's location could be tracked... Catch the Shadow Wraith, and now an entire lizardman army on our heels. Even for a unique-grade item, wasn't this hidden mission pushing it a bit too far?

Honestly speaking, it wasn't a difficulty that troubled me. There weren't hundreds of thousands like on Floor 14—this was a number I could carve my way through easily enough. But watching enemies close in, wave after wave, homing in on my position, was getting on my nerves.

Damn it. And it's not like I even get to keep the thing. Grumbling inwardly, I swung the axe again.

The one silver lining was that enough time had passed by now for the vast majority of climbers to have already reached the fortress, which meant no one else had been dragged into this chase.

Whew. This doesn't feel like something you're supposed to smash through head-on... Right now it was fine, because I was here—but even Alexei, ranked third on the leaderboard, was starting to look a touch strained as time wore on. Any other climber would have been dead long ago. This was absolutely not a mission built to be forced through with raw strength.

Then, out of nowhere, the dagger's description brushed through my mind. Shadow Master.

It was the dead of night. Darkness pressed in from all sides, but the moonlight rendered the shadows sharp and distinct. I had no idea what the Shadow Master skill actually did, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but this felt like the answer. Something like the Shadow Veil—hiding within the shadows to slip past the lizardmen's eyes... Yes, that had to be it. If it wasn't this, none of it made sense.

The Tower's message suddenly resurfaced in my memory.

The veil had vanished, and that was why they could track it. Damn it—I'd caught on far too late. I'd been too euphoric over landing a unique-grade dagger, and too busy scrambling the moment I heard about the pursuit, to think it through properly. Besides, the enemies barely troubled me, so I'd simply assumed from the start that we were meant to cut our way through. So even being strong has its downsides, huh.

Was I a walking exhibit of the old saying that a gifted body lets the brain go lazy? Cracking that little joke to myself, I immediately activated Shadow Master. Blanketing the entire battlefield with a Shadow Veil seemed wastefully inefficient... Shifting the shadows to conceal Alexei and me felt like the smarter play. This was a 'Lord' skill, not a 'Veil' skill, so I figured it could hide us this way, too. And if it didn't work, I could always fall back on the Shadow Veil.

Mana drained out of my body. I felt the ground beneath my feet darken like shadow, and in the space of a heartbeat, it was as if Alexei's body and mine had both dissolved into the darkness. Our vision faded to black and white—and at the same instant, the lizardmen surrounding us fell into confusion.

"The humans are gone! Find them!"

"Find the humans!"

My hunch had been right on the money. The lizardmen couldn't see us. I had no idea by what principle it worked. It wasn't simply darkening the enemy's sight the way the Shadow Veil did—Alexei and I could see each other perfectly well, yet the enemies couldn't find us even with us standing right in front of their faces. It seemed connected to our vision turning black and white... And the mana drain wasn't even that heavy. I could easily hold this all the way to the fortress.

"You idiots! Aim for where they were standing!"

A lizardman's bellow cut my thoughts short. The soldiers who'd received the order were already driving their spears toward the patch of ground where we'd just been standing. I immediately reached out, wrapped an arm around Alexei's waist, hauled him hard against me, and kicked off the earth. With Kashatum's Sky Shoes, I leapt twice more, leaving our old position far behind.

"This is what you used on Floor 14, right? The shadow thing," Alexei asked, eyes wide.

The black-and-white world and the sensation of being invisible must have been novel to him, because he kept darting glances at our surroundings.

"Yeah, that's right. Now we just travel quiet, like this."

"Why didn't you use it earlier, then? Why now?"

"...I was planning to farm achievement points while we punched through, but you looked like you were having a harder time than I expected."

I couldn't exactly tell him the truth—that I'd only just figured it out—so I circled around it. Well, it was partially true, at least. If Alexei hadn't been there, I honestly might have plowed straight through without a second thought...

"Wh-what! I wasn't struggling one bit? I can keep going, you know?"

His pride stung, Alexei shot me a glare sharp as axe blades. With anyone else, I might have teased, Oh? Want to keep fighting our way through, then?—but with Alexei, he'd probably take me up on it for real, so I let it go.

"It's already active, so that's that. Let's just go."

"I'm serious. I can keep going!"

"...Yeah, yeah, got it. Let's get moving."

For all his bluster, Alexei quietly fell into step. Aigoo. Nothing but that stubborn pride of his.

A minute or so passed like that? We were making our way toward the fortress under cover of the shadows when a monstrous shriek burst out nearby.

"FIND! THEM!"

"Tck."

The sudden shriek startled Alexei; he swallowed a small gasp, then rolled his eyes—doing his level best not to let on that he'd been rattled. Well, with his superhuman hearing, he'd obviously caught every word. I'd just do him the courtesy of pretending otherwise.

Playing along, I turned my head toward the source of the shriek—and there stood a massive lizardman, bellowing at his soldiers.

"Sh-shit! The dagger is definitely somewhere around here! Find it!"

A voice like rolling thunder. Among the ranks of lizardmen, one towering well over two meters was venting his fury. Black plate armor and a bladed halberd. Judging by the insignia on his shoulder, this was no common soldier.

I gave the notification window a cursory glance and swiped it away. I'd figured he was no ordinary soldier—turns out he was a legion commander. Any other time, I'd have simply ignored him and moved on, but seeing a legion commander stirred my interest. He doesn't look stronger than the Lizardman Guardian, but... still, taking that thing down would net a decent pile of achievement points, right?

The thought had barely finished forming before I was charging straight at the commander. A Lightning Flash charge. Within the crawl of slowed time, I was in front of him in a single breath. The axe, drawn back behind my head, came crashing down with everything I had.

Crunch—the axe buckled the plate armor inward and sank deep into the commander's chest.

"Gkh..."

Even within the slowed time, the commander's scream was snuffed short. The lightning still crackling in his split chest rode the fountain of blue blood surging up from the wound, scattering like sparks. I kicked off his chest, used the recoil to wrench my axe free, and pivoted.

"...Huh?"

Using Lightning Flash, I returned to Alexei's side.

"...Guhk!"

As time snapped back to speed, the legion commander crumpled to the ground with a final, truncated scream.

Alexei had jumped in fright and was staring up at me with eyes gone perfectly round.

"Wh-wha... wh-what did you just do?"

"Went and killed the legion commander. Why?"

At my flat delivery, Alexei's gaze snapped rapidly between the fallen commander and me. His face was the very picture of a man whose soul had left his body—there was even a hint of hollow defeat in it. Hm. Was it really that shocking? I didn't think it was that big a deal.

"Let's hurry."

"Haah, you're just... no, never mind. Yeah. Let's go."

Ever since we'd hidden ourselves in the shadows, the lizardmen's pursuit had evaporated. Naturally enough—they could no longer track the dagger's location. Once we'd shaken the chase, I released the shadows. Following the arrow into Horen Forest, the lizardmen had vanished entirely, and there was no sense burning mana for nothing. Of course, I'd wrapped a separate Shadow Veil around Ronsyark's Dagger itself, the very thing they'd been tracking. I should have hidden it like this the moment I received it.

I was still kicking myself inwardly when a familiar voice called out from up ahead.

"Big bro! Suhyeok! Over here!"

Out of nowhere, someone dropped down from the crown of a colossal tree dead ahead. It was the Black youth we'd met earlier. His name was... Hakin, something-or-other. I couldn't quite recall. Wait, more importantly—why was he lingering out here all alone?

"What are you doing? Why are you still here?"

"I split off to go save people too, just like you! But then all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the lizardmen suddenly came swarming past, so..."

"Huh. So you've just been waiting here?"

"Yes! You hadn't come yet, after all. It seemed like something you were mixed up in, so I was going to step in if you ended up in danger!"

Looking at the boy's shining, self-satisfied face, I momentarily lost my words. So this Hakin kid wasn't all there, either. The impulse—wanting to save people—was an admirable one. And his skills seemed decent enough. But he should have stopped right there. Hakin was absolutely not at the level where he could operate solo, not the way Alexei or I could. Of course, the thought that he'd wanted to rescue me was genuinely touching... but this was a boy's reckless bravado. If things had gone wrong, that Black youth could have died out here. A sigh slipped out of me, unbidden.

"Whew. Well—thanks. Come here, you're with us now."

He'd done it out of concern for me; I couldn't exactly chew him out for it... Better to sit him down for a proper talk about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this later. The Black boy came running over. And right then, the mana ahead of us surged—a familiar mana signature. The instant I registered that familiarity, Ha Heijeong was standing before my eyes. Had she used some kind of teleportation spell?

"Waaah! Wh-what the—?"

I caught Hakin, who'd nearly buckled at the knees in fright. Ha Heijeong looked the three of us over and asked, in a voice thick with disbelief:

"What the—? That hid... er, 'home' business. What are you two doing out here? And who's this, and who's that?"

I gave her the broad strokes—found the hidden mission, ended up out here—and she nodded along. After we'd all exchanged introductions, Heijeong turned to Hakin.

"Azad Hakin, was it?"

"Yes! Why do you ask?"

"Do you already have a party? You look pretty talented with magic. Want to join ours and learn a thing or two from me?"

Huh? Ha Heijeong, making the first recruitment offer? My eye for talent really was as sharp as ever. Just as I'd sensed earlier, Azad Hakin must truly be a mage of considerable gift.

Hakin's eyes went round as saucers at Heijeong's words.

"M-me? Really? But everything I know, I learned from the guides you posted on the community board!"

"Yep. At my level, I can tell just by reading the mana waves rippling around a person's body. You've got real talent."

Hakin's eyes, brimming over with hope, wavered hard. But he quickly steadied the stir in his heart and shook his head.

"Ah, um. Thank you, truly, but I already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have a party..."

"Hm, I see? Well then—if you ever change your mind, or find yourself needing a party, send me a message."

"Ah! Yes, yes, of course!"

She said it breezily, as if it were nothing, but there was a trace of disappointment in her eyes. She'd clearly taken a real liking to Hakin. His refusal to so casually abandon his party had probably played its part, too. Hakin flashed an embarrassed smile, looking faintly giddy. Well—he was a young boy, after all. A recruitment offer from a party of the very top-ranked climbers? Of course his heart would race. Which was exactly what made his refusal shine all the brighter.

Heijeong nodded with a smile.

"Good. Then let's get moving."

The fortress was big enough to shatter common sense. It was so vast that its silhouette was visible from kilometers away. Between two peaks that stabbed at the sky, a majestic gray fortress filled a canyon four kilometers across. Though I'm not sure "canyon" really does it justice... If I remembered right, even the Grand Canyon fell short of two kilometers. Well—it was a canyon either way. Whether its builders had carved it from the flanking mountains I couldn't say, but fortress walls ran along even the mountain ridgelines. Scattered figures were trudging toward the colossal gate at its center: refugees, straggler soldiers, and the nonhuman races of the climbers...

No Earthlings among them, though. Startled by the alien races, Hakin asked in a flustered voice:

"Wh-what are those?"

"Races from other planets. Remember? They said at the very start that the Tower of Trials had been granted to four species."

"They're not enemies, are they?"

"Not likely. Otherwise there'd be no reason for them to be filing into the fortress alongside everyone else. Come on, our turn. The climbers who've already gone in have been moved to the Waiting Room, so don't go worrying over nothing."

At Heijeong's urging, we set our steps toward the fortress once more.