Chapter 35: 3rd Floor Hidden (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 35: 3rd Floor Hidden (3)
One of the three Holy Knights was a traitor.
I couldn't be certain yet, but the suspicion was there. If that were the case, who was it?
I don't think it's Delant.
He was the one who had activated the holy relic. If Delant were the traitor, would he have had any reason to activate it right then and there? Of course, since I was the outsider and not one of the Holy Knights, I would be the primary suspect anyway. He might have activated it specifically to deal with me.
But even that felt a bit thin.
They all must have realized I was quite strong, so would they really try to pick a fight? Besides, my help had been crucial in navigating the traps inside the temple. It seemed more logical to use me rather than dispose of me.
Most importantly, I had failed the clear because I attacked Delant.
If there was a traitor among them, finding or dealing with that person was likely tied to the clear conditions. If Delant were the traitor, would I have failed just for attacking him? I didn't think so.
Therefore, the most likely suspects were the other two: Slovan and Philip.
Though I couldn't assume it was just one of them. It could very well be both.
What should I do?
Search for the holy relics with the knights? But there’s a traitor. So what then?
Up until now, that was the general gist of it. Should I try something proactive to weed out the traitor?
I pondered various methods, but for now, I concluded that I should observe them further. Nothing was certain yet. I had one more chance after this one anyway, so acting rashly wouldn't be wise.
If there is a traitor, what is their goal?
Recalling Delant’s words, it was highly probable that it was related to the Nocturn cult and the Archdemon. Maybe through some scheme... the traitor was trying to resurrect the Archdemon in this temple? And my role was to stop it.
That was the extent of my speculation. For now, I’d just stay on guard—especially toward those two. I needed to be ready to stop them the moment they tried anything funny.
"I'll take the lead. I have a good eye for traps."
"Oh? Is it because you are a mage that you can recognize magical traps as well?"
"Something like that."
I had a rough memory of the path we’d taken to reach the room with the holy relic earlier.
"The left looks dangerous. Let's go right."
This time, I headed down a different path. I considered trying to reach the room with the circlet relic first to pocket it secretly... but seeing how they recognized the holy relic immediately by its 'divine energy' or whatever, they might catch on if I tried to hide it. For now, I took the long way around.
After passing through several traps, we arrived at another room. A gargoyle statue stood in the center of the chamber. This time, it was holding something in its hands.
"Sir Delant! Look over there!"
"This divine energy... a holy relic!"
The three of them were visibly moved as they retrieved the relic.
I asked casually, "Is that a holy relic too?"
"This is the Celestial Music Box. It is undoubtedly a relic our Order lost in the past!"
"Oh... what does it do?"
"Watch. If you infuse it with holy power like this..."
♩~ ♪~
A melody began to flow from the music box.
"It is said to play a beautiful melody that calms the mind and soul. It truly is magnificent!"
"Ooh, it feels as if I can hear the revelation of the Dawn God!"
...That’s it?
Well, at least it wasn't something that could detect things, so that was a relief.
After securing the relic, we moved on. We navigated more traps and managed to find a few more holy relics.
"Oh, this is the Ring of Dawnlight!"
"What's its ability?"
"By infusing it with holy power, one can deploy a sturdy protective barrier."
A bracelet that could deploy a barrier, a ring that increased healing power, and earrings that boosted mental strength. I wondered if they’d let me choose one of these as a reward once the clear was complete. I just hoped they wouldn't give me the music box.
"There are stairs here."
After wandering further, we discovered a spiral staircase that seemed to stretch up endlessly.
"It is high. Perhaps this leads to the summit."
"Shall we go up, then?"
Come to think of it, I had seen something unusual at the top of the pyramid earlier. After climbing the stairs for quite a while, we indeed reached the summit.
Rumble—
The sky looked even more overcast with dark clouds than before. After being stuck in cramped spaces, stepping outside gave me a slight sense of liberation. Because the building itself was so massive, the top of the pyramid was as wide as a stadium. The first thing that caught my eye was the structure I had been curious about from below.
"Is that... a cannon?" Slovan muttered, looking up at the massive structure.
A tower stood tall in the center of the summit like a lighthouse. At the top, a giant pillar protruded outward. Just as he said, it was the barrel of a cannon.
While the three men, who cared for nothing but finding holy relics, wandered around to investigate, I climbed the ladder to the top of the tower.
"Oh."
The cannon barrel had a design that screamed 'Magitech' at first glance. A giant, mana stone-like gem was embedded in the center of the barrel. It even had a control stick to adjust the direction...
"...?"
The moment I grabbed the controls, information popped up.
[Special Item: Super-Annihilation Compressed Magic Cannon]
A weapon of last resort that is the culmination of the ancient Rune Magitech Empire's engineering. Its power is immense, so use with caution.
Willpower Consumption: 600
Cooldown: None
"...Item info is showing up?"
Can I use this? Super-Annihilation Compressed Magic Cannon. The name alone was grand. This was the first time a usable item like this had appeared during a clear. But the fact that something like this existed... didn't it mean there was a reason to use it?
"...Look over here!"
Just then, there was a commotion below. I climbed back down from the tower and approached the three men. They were staring at an object with grim expressions. It was a golden chalice, half-corroded and blackened.
"Is this the Holy Grail of Dawn?" I asked. It was the relic they had mentioned was particularly important.
Delant nodded, his voice thick with suppressed rage. "...It seems Katerun intended to use the Holy Grail of Dawn itself as a medium to summon the Archdemon. The Holy Grail has been defiled."
The heavy atmosphere made me feel serious as well, so I stared at the grail. I couldn't tell for sure, but even to my eyes, the energy radiating from it felt ominous.
Slovan spoke up. "It seems the power of the Grail and the power of the Archdemon are barely maintaining a balance. If the internal balance of power shifts even slightly... there's no telling what might happen."
Philip added urgently, "Th-that's right. We must return the Grail to the Order immediately! The Saintess will surely be able to purify it."
Both Delant and Slovan nodded in agreement.
"Let us head down for now."
It seemed the three of them prioritized the Grail over searching for more relics. Since the building was shaped like a pyramid, we didn't need to take the difficult path back; we simply climbed down the exterior walls.
Once we reached the ground, the three of them began to talk again.
"How should we proceed with the investigation? There might be more relics..."
"Is there any matter more urgent than the Holy Grail of Dawn right now?"
"I am simply worried that the heretics of Nocturn might discover this place."
Then Philip spoke. "Wouldn't one person be enough to return? Sir Delant, I shall return first with the holy relics."
"Can you do that?"
"Yes. You two should continue the investigation here. The Grail is important, but the remaining relics that might still be here are also a significant matter. As you said, others will soon discover this place as well."
Delant nodded. "Then I leave it to you, Sir Philip."
Philip, having received the relics including the Grail, nodded with a look of grim determination. "I will stake my life on delivering the Grail to the Saintess as quickly as possible. I hope for the safe return of you two as well. Master Kim Seo-hyun, I am truly grateful to you as well."
I nodded reflexively. The three of us saw Philip off to the edge of the temple.
...Is that it?
It would be nice if it ended on such a heartwarming note. But was that really all? Sure, we broke through traps and faced various hardships. But something felt incredibly off.
I stared at Philip's back as he walked ahead.
A traitor. Yes, a traitor. Who currently held the Holy Grail of Dawn, which seemed to be the key item of this clear? It was Philip. The one who was about to leave this place alone.
What if Philip is the traitor?
Then the clear would be a failure. It would mean the traitor was making off with the vital object.
So, what should I do? Naturally, as an outsider, even if I claimed Philip was a traitor, the other two wouldn't listen. The fact that they handed over all the relics and let him go alone was proof of how deep their trust was.
Should I just let him go and see if the clear fails? If it fails, it means Philip was the traitor, so I could just try again on my last attempt.
But... was there really a need for that? I was already almost certain. That guy was the traitor.
I made my decision and called out to Philip.
"Sir Philip, could you show me the Grail again for a moment?"
"...Pardon?"
"Something has been bothering me. There might be a spell placed on the Grail."
Delant was surprised. "A spell? What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not entirely sure, so I just want to double-check."
As a makeshift mage who had filtered out all the traps in the temple, my words carried weight. Delant and Slovan looked at Philip.
For a split second, I saw Philip's eyes twitch almost imperceptibly. Hiding that reaction instantly, Philip handed me the Grail.
"Here it is."
I pretended to examine the Grail, then—
If I'm wrong, I'm really sorry.
WHAM!
I swung my mace in a surprise attack and bashed Philip's head.
"...!"
Delant and Slovan attacked me in a panic.
...So I was right after all. I dodged the attack and shouted as I backed away.
"Look! At that!"
Delant and Slovan hesitated and turned back to Philip, only to be struck with horror. Where Philip's head had been blown apart, disgusting tentacles were writhing.
"...Heretic! Nocturn!"
"Get back!"
What the hell is that? Gross. Since he appeared to still be alive, I unleashed a Flame Strike.
BOOM!
As the smoke cleared, a massive form was revealed. Philip was nowhere to be seen; instead, a disgusting mass of flesh was bloating and expanding.
"How... did you... know?" A voice that sounded like vocal cords caught in fat leaked from Philip.
Delant shouted in fury, "Philip! To think you were a spy for Nocturn!"
"But it is already too late. The ritual... has already begun..." Philip laughed sinisterly, then suddenly screamed. "O Great Valuk! I offer everything to youuuuu!"
Then, a red energy erupted from Philip's mass of flesh. That red energy began to be sucked into the Grail I was holding, even though I was at a distance.
"...!"
My Sixth Sense blared an alarm. I immediately threw the Grail away. Philip's mass of flesh began to shrivel up like a deflated balloon. Soon, the Grail, having absorbed all the red energy, began to take on a certain shape.
"Va-Valuk... Valuk is being resurrected...!" Slovan spoke, unable to control the trembling in his voice.
I immediately bombarded it with Flame Strike and Light Bullets as soon as they were off cooldown.
BOOM!
The Grail, which was gradually taking form, took no damage at all.
Ah... is this a bust? Do I have to restart? No, should I summon Phligas one more time...?
Just then, something flashed through my mind.
...The cannon!
The fearsome Super-Annihilation Compressed Magic Cannon! I immediately turned around and ran toward the pyramid. I shouted to the two men.
"Come this way!"
I sprinted toward the summit, using my Leap skill to scale the pyramid's exterior. I reached the top, climbed the tower, and grabbed the cannon's controls.
[Special Item: Super-Annihilation Compressed Magic Cannon]
Willpower Consumption: 600
Cooldown: None
Why would a special item like this even exist? Wasn't it provided specifically to take that guy down? The Willpower consumption was a whopping 600. Given the description, the power was bound to be worth it.
The cannon was massive, but with my strength, I could easily rotate the barrel. Looking down toward the Grail, it had now almost completely taken the form of a demon. I aimed the cannon at him.
"Move aside! I'm firing this!"
At my shout, the two men, who were halfway up the pyramid, scrambled to the side.
Zzzzzzt!
As I activated the item, a thunderous roar tore through the air. Sparks flew from the tip of the barrel as a blinding flash of light began to coalesce.
Alright, let's goooo...!
A flash of light, condensed to the size of a bowling ball, was fired and flew toward the resurrecting Valuk. It was only the size of a bowling ball, but its power was—
...KABOOOOOOM!!!
A blue mushroom cloud rose along with an explosion that shook heaven and earth. The shockwave reached all the way to where I stood, nearly knocking me off my feet. I regained my balance and stared blankly at the sight.
Is this... a nuke?
The power was far beyond my expectations. Of course, it couldn't compare to a real nuke, but it looked to be about 10% of one.
Rumble—
It took a long time for the mushroom cloud to dissipate. I saw Delant and Slovan, covered in dust, finally making it to the summit.
"M-Master Kim Seo-hyun...! What on earth did you do?!"
To the two men looking up at me in shock, I simply gave a thumbs-up.
"The power on this thing is killer."
With this much power, surely even an Archdemon wouldn't survive?
Did I get him?
Wait, that's a flag.
However, no flag was triggered. Once the clouds cleared, the demon's form was nowhere to be found. Perhaps it was easily dealt with because it hadn't fully resurrected yet. I thought it was over, but...
Shiver!
A sudden chill ran down my spine, and my Sixth Sense warned me. I looked around. Far off on the horizon, in every direction, a black wave was surging.
Undead?
Tens of thousands... hundreds of thousands? Maybe even millions. An endless army of undead, so many that counting them was meaningless. It was the same during the basic clear; is it this again?
I climbed down from the tower. The other two had also spotted the undead army and were staring blankly at the horizon.
"The undead are swarming."
"It seems they are drawn to the power of Valuk's brief resurrection."
Is that how it works? Since the undead were literally surrounding us from all sides, there was nowhere to run.
And no clear message is appearing...
It seemed I had taken the wrong route. Should I have defeated Valuk even faster? Or dealt with Philip earlier so he couldn't do anything? Anyway, since I had gathered all the key information, I could just do better on the next try.
But... a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Do I really have to restart?
I looked up at the Super-Annihilation Compressed Magic Cannon and spoke to the two men.
"Sir Delant, Sir Slovan. Do you like miracles?"
"...What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"I'll show you one. A miracle."
I climbed back up the tower and grabbed the cannon's controls.
[Special Item: Super-Annihilation Compressed Magic Cannon]
Willpower Consumption: 600
Cooldown: None
One peculiar thing about this item was that it had no cooldown. Of course, the Willpower consumption was so high that it was likely intended to be used only once to take down Valuk.
But that didn't apply to me. Because I had infinite Willpower refills.
Though I'm sure this wasn't the intended way to clear it... what would happen if I wiped out all those undead? I was curious too. So, I was going to try it for myself starting now.
* * *
Delant and Slovan had prepared themselves for death before the approaching legion of the dead. But then...
"I'll show you one. A miracle."
Kim Seo-hyun suddenly said something nonsensical and climbed back up the tower. Was he going to use the cannon again? They had witnessed its terrifying power, but there was no way he could keep using such a monstrous weapon. He couldn't possibly have any mana left.
And yet...
...BOOM!!
The cannon fired again, landing to the west and causing a massive explosion in the distance. Kim Seo-hyun turned the barrel slightly and fired toward the northwest this time. Then north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest...
The cannon rotated 360 degrees, firing incessantly every second. With every thunderous blast, a disaster bloomed amidst the undead legion. The numbers, which had been so overwhelming they covered the earth, were visibly thinning out.
"Th-this is..."
Neither Delant nor Slovan could believe the reality unfolding before their eyes.
* * *
Fire one shot, refill Willpower, then fire another.
This wasn't a battle against the undead; it was a battle against mental fatigue. 1% every minute. Since my Willpower was 1,000, it took 60 minutes to refill the 600 Willpower.
In my subjective time, I was firing one cannon shot every hour. Of course, in real-time, I was unleashing a merciless, all-out bombardment from 1 o'clock to 12 o'clock every second.
After firing over thirty shots, I got so bored I considered quitting... but thinking about the effort I'd already put in, I kept firing to see it through to the end. More than anything, I wanted to try deviating from the set route at least once. I wanted to give the Tower a hard time, so to speak. Though I didn't know if the Tower was a being with that kind of intelligence or emotion.
I must have fired nearly a hundred shots. Finally, the undead had all evaporated.
"Whew..."
I deactivated the time stop and looked around at the ruins I had created. The place that was once a plain was now completely scorched, looking like the surface of the moon. Well, I finally did it. There were no more undead to swarm us.
Now, what are you going to do about the clear?
"..."
No message appeared. I didn't know why, but it felt as if the Tower was stunned into silence.
Why? Did you not imagine this either?
Then, a message appeared.
[A marvelous clear.]
"...Huh?"
A message I had never seen before.
[You have successfully cleared the 3rd Floor Hidden Route of Nightmare difficulty.]
[You completely absorb the power of the floor.]
[Level has increased.]
[Level has increased.]
[Level has increased.]
[Level has increased.]
[Level has increased.]
[The quality of rewards is significantly adjusted upward.]
[Moving to the Reward Room.]