Chapter 99: Agreement
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99: Agreement
“Haa...”
Upon hearing the news that the 7th Floor had been cleared, Villon slumped into his office chair and let out a long, heavy sigh.
Kim had done it again.
At this point, it was becoming difficult to even imagine him failing to clear a floor. Villon felt a wave of relief, but it was quickly followed by a deep, gnawing sense of shame.
He had promised to do his best from his own position, but... the experiment conducted on Mars not long ago had been a wake-up call. The Tower's power reached Mars perfectly fine, and the faint hope he had pinned on the stars had come crashing down.
No matter how far they fled from Earth, was it impossible to slip from the Tower's clutches? Did they truly have no choice but to leave the future of humanity entirely in the hands of one man—Saram123?
He wanted to share even a fraction of the heavy burden that man carried on his shoulders, but Villon was once again painfully reminded of his own inadequacy. The world called him a genius, but compared to a superhuman like Kim, he was ultimately nothing more than an ordinary person.
“Are you alright?”
Ellen, his secretary, asked softly as Villon rubbed his weary face.
Villon let out another deep sigh and looked up. “Still, we have to keep going. Don't we?”
“Pardon?”
“Finding a way to screw over that damn Tower. Whether that means escaping Earth or something else entirely.”
Giving up was not an option. Instead of consuming him, failure and despair had always been the driving forces that pushed him to try again. For the sake of humanity, and for Kim, who was fighting a lonely battle all by himself, Villon had no choice but to keep struggling.
* * *
[Chicken Sandwich: You've worked hard, Mr. Kim. I'm truly glad you returned safely from the 7th Floor. Humanity gets to live for another year. You are truly an amazing person...]
I checked the message from Villon and sent a brief reply.
On the days I cleared a Nightmare Floor, Whispers would flood in from all sorts of people, not just Villon. Of course, he was about the only one I ever bothered to answer.
“Nngh...”
I closed the Communication Window, stretching and letting out a wide yawn.
I’d already reached the 8th Floor. Thinking back to the 1st Floor, when the world was mere hours away from ending... scraping my way up to this point truly felt like a miracle.
Anyway, we get to live for another year.
Since I had rested for a full day, it was time to get back to work. I entered the 6th Floor to test out my newly acquired skill. If possible, I wanted to test its power on a boss.
[Only the final Core remains!]
[The boss is being summoned!]
After destroying all the preliminary Cores, I summoned the boss—a giant Ogre.
Guaaaargh!
[Skill: Hellfire Eruption (Epic)]
• Erupts a powerful pillar of hellfire within a 20-meter range.
• Requires 30 to 150 seconds of Mental Focus to cast.
• The longer the Mental Focus, the greater the skill's power and area of effect.
• Category: Magic-Type
• Willpower Consumption: 700
• Cooldown: 2 minutes
I stopped time and committed to the full 150 seconds of Mental Focus. Once the charge was complete, I cast Hellfire Eruption directly beneath the boss.
A crimson, magic-circle-like ring appeared under the Ogre's feet...
Fwooooosh!
Blindingly red flames surged upward like a volcanic eruption.
“Whoa...!”
The sweltering heat reached all the way to where I was standing. Once the flames vanished, the boss was gone. It hadn't just died; it had completely evaporated, leaving not even a trace of ash behind. Even if it was a boss with a relatively low level, the destructive power was staggering.
‘Insane.’
It was a chargeable Epic Grade skill, and with the 80% damage multiplier from my bracelet plus the flame-type elemental bonus... perhaps this level of power was to be expected. The hit radius was also substantial—about a 2-meter wide pillar of pure destruction.
I was 100% satisfied with the new skill's specs. Having finished the test, I exited the 6th Floor.
“Demon King.”
I called out to the entity within me.
- What is it?
“I think we need to have a serious talk.”
I felt a wave of annoyance from the Demon King, as if he was asking what kind of bullshit I was suddenly spouting. The power he had shown after taking over my body on the 7th Floor was beyond imagination. I needed to understand it.
“With my body, you can use other powers besides the skills I have, right?”
- And?
“Spreading frost everywhere and shooting ice blades—those were all magic, right? But how do you use magic without a cool... a cooldown?”
That was the most surprising part. The Demon King replied as if he found my ignorance pathetic.
- Do you mistakenly believe that the 'skills' you possess are magic?
“...Are they not?”
- They are merely empty shells mimicking the form of magic. Since they are not your inherent abilities and The Tower has placed restrictions on them, they are bound by trivialities like cooldowns.
I pressed further. “So your magic isn't a skill given by The Tower, but real magic?”
- Indeed.
“And that's why you can use it freely without any cooldown?”
- Do you require a cooldown every time you move your arms and legs?
In other words, the magic the Demon King used wasn't an ability granted by the system, but his own original power. Therefore, he could use it freely without the Tower's restrictions.
- Provided that mana is infinite, that is.
“You mean Willpower, right?”
The Demon King had used my Willpower to cast his magic. And I practically have infinite Willpower.
Mental Focus and heavy Willpower consumption were the biggest weaknesses of Magic-Type skills. I had resolved those two weaknesses with my time-stop cheat, but there was one thing even time-stop couldn't bypass: the cooldown.
But the Demon King could ignore cooldowns entirely. My single remaining weakness was perfectly covered. Of course, considering how my body had frozen over during the fight, it wasn't like he could use it indefinitely...
- You rotten bastard, who said I would continue to help you?
The Demon King spoke as if he were dumbfounded by my assumptions. He said that, but in the end, he had stepped in on the 7th Floor because we were both in danger.
I asked him, “What are you planning to do by taking over my body? Why do you constantly covet it?”
Was he planning to conquer Earth or something?
- And what if I am?
“Obviously, you can't.”
- I have given up on that as well, you wretched fool. You could hold the entire world in the palm of your hand, yet you reject it. Why?
The Demon King sounded genuinely exhausted. True, when he first entered my body, he was always ranting about killing everyone and ruling the world. He had quieted down quite a bit lately.
I made a proposal. “Then how about this? If you agree to a few conditions, I’ll hand over my body to you for a few hours a day.”
- ...Conditions? What are they?
At the mention of getting control, the Demon King’s voice sharpened with interest.
Even in the future, if I were in danger, the Demon King would have no choice but to step in anyway. Still, I had cleared the 7th Floor safely thanks to him. I’d received massive help, and my conscience pricked a bit at the thought of just using him and ignoring his desires... Plus, if I wanted his cooperation in the future, it was better to maintain a smooth relationship.
“First, you must actively cooperate with me in clearing the Nightmare Floors from now on. You don't really have a choice anyway, unless you want to die with me.”
- Tch... Is that all?
“Also, I'll only hand over my body inside The Tower, never outside. Above all, you absolutely cannot hurt other people, and you have to give my body back immediately when I ask for it.”
As long as he kept to those terms, there was no reason I couldn't lend him the driver's seat. Even if he harbored ulterior motives, I could simply stop time, so I had a safety net.
“If you abide by these conditions, I will hand over my body to you for two hours a day.”
The Demon King grumbled in a dissatisfied tone.
- Are you jesting? If those are the terms, there is nothing I can do.
“Without conditions like this, who knows what kind of mess you'd make? You seemed frustrated, so I was trying to let you move around occasionally, but if you don't want to, then forget it.”
- What nonsense! I never said I did not want to!
The Demon King interjected urgently.
Okay, then we have a deal.
“I'll be counting on you from now on.”
- Hand it over right now.
“Alright. But hold on a second.”
Since I was handing it over anyway, there was something I wanted to test.
[You have entered Nightmare Difficulty 6th Floor.]
After explaining the plan to the Demon King, I re-entered the 6th Floor. I pushed through the Cores and summoned the boss, but I whittled the final Core's health down to 1 percent before handing control over to the Demon King.
“Tch, how bothersome...”
Boom!
The Demon King grumbled but immediately leaped into the air. Whether it was flight magic or something else, he could move through the sky with total freedom. He ascended until the entire arena was visible at a glance.
My goal was simple: I wanted to see exactly how much of the Demon King's power my body could withstand.
As seen on the 7th Floor, his power couldn't be used indefinitely. If used continuously, my body would freeze and collapse. He had said my physical vessel couldn't handle the output. I needed to know the exact limit so I could use this power strategically in future Nightmare clears.
‘Maximum output, please.’
The Demon King began to unleash his magic.
Whooooosh!
Just like on the 7th Floor, a deep blue chill stormed through the arena.
[Willpower: 0/5,000]
My Willpower hit rock bottom in an instant. I immediately stopped time and recovered it. The Demon King kept unleashing his power, and every time my Willpower dropped, I refilled it.
After repeating this cycle several times, frost slowly began to form on my skin. My limbs started to stiffen. Once we passed the tenth cycle...
Craaack!
My skin began to crack.
So, the physical strain starts kicking in around this point. Time-wise, a little over a minute had passed. Even on the 7th Floor, my body had nearly been torn apart after spamming magic for 150 seconds... Even a generous estimate made it seem impossible to last more than 3 minutes.
‘I wonder if the duration will increase as my level goes up?’
Now for the next experiment. After descending to the ground, I took control of my body back.
“Ugh...”
A horrifyingly biting chill permeated my bones. I could barely move. I immediately tried using Rapid Regeneration.
Swoooosh!
However, my frozen body did not melt; it stayed exactly the same. The Demon King mocked me.
- My chill cannot be undone with such a shoddy regeneration ability.
So, it doesn't work. This meant that once I reached this state, it was impossible to recover on my own—unless I cleared the floor and received the automatic recovery from the Tower.
Baaang!
I threw a Flame Strike, wiping out the final 1 percent of the Core’s health. I had set it up this way just in case.
[You have successfully cleared Nightmare Difficulty 6th Floor.]
The run ended, and I was transported to the Reward Room. Only then did the chill vanish and my body recover. I moved my thawed limbs and thought to myself.
‘I'll have to be careful and regulate how I use it.’
It was fine to go all out at the very end of a clear, like on the 7th Floor. But if I spammed the Demon King's power in the middle of a floor and my body froze up, I'd be absolutely fucked.
Still, even with that limitation... spamming limitless magic for a few minutes was a completely broken cheat code. It felt like I had gained a reliable trump card.
I looked forward to seeing just how much easier my future Nightmare clears would become with the Demon King's help.