Chapter 100
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: 10th Floor - Lv. 335 Imperial Guard (5)
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Among the shamans, some had considered turning this hellish environment into a weapon for their attacks.
Of course, the Imperial Guard was the pinnacle, a force where only the heroes of reversal could etch their names.
Unlike special units like the Shock Battalion that ignored unit balance, it was composed to flexibly handle any situation.
And they trained relentlessly for that purpose.
Shamanism was fundamentally the power of borrowing from others.
It could be from great nature, a god, or even the seething heat all around.
Elements were inherently elusive.
Separate from matter, they represented the properties that matter exhibited. And all matter boiled down to mana at its core.
Fire was ultimately heat and light.
No situation overflowed with the fire element more than this one.
The shaman unleashed his decisive blow.
Heat gathered. There were no visible flames. But the invisible, formless heat seemed capable of producing overwhelming power compared to the mana it consumed.
And in the void left by the gathered heat, the temperature plummeted sharply.
The senior Great Shaman nodded approvingly at the junior moving in sync with him.
Pride swelled in the shaman's heart.
The ancient hero fighting alongside them praised him as well.
His name was Arak, a legendary greatsword warrior immortalized in the empire's history.
"I'll charge in and you launch that at the fairies."
"Yes, sir!"
With a thunderous roar, the hero burst from around the corner.
That roar was already a skill.
Feeling power surging within, the shaman fired off the massive heat orb.
Arak charged at a speed that made his body blur.
The ground propelling him crumbled.
His terrifying leg strength felt like it generated shockwaves.
The scorching heat couldn't halt the warrior. Countless trials had forged the hero's body.
The shaman, a resident of the continent, didn't know it was due to massively stacked resistance passives.
He was simply astonished that the hero endured the searing heat bare-skinned, without any magic.
But the opponents were fairies worthy of being called heroes themselves.
A flash that felt more like light than an arrow gleamed.
The shaman couldn't make out anything clearly.
The greatsword rose like a shield, deflecting the flash.
The hero halted his straight charge.
He darted left and right fast enough to leave afterimages.
But the fairy archers didn't miss.
Arrows fired too rapidly, the bowstring's twang stretching into a continuous sound.
Explosions erupted amid the flashing lights.
Flames surged, lightning crackled.
Magic detonated simultaneously. Blinding light filled the plaza.
The heat orb was still flying.
As vision cleared, chunks of the weakened labyrinth ceiling crumbled down.
The shaman thought it was good—cover had appeared.
Dust and debris flew as the hero leaped skyward.
A grotesquely twisted full swing stance.
Even at a glance, an excessively dynamic pose as the greatsword swung.
The earth rose up.
The collapsed rubble stood entirely.
It became a tidal wave of rock.
The plaza was vast enough for a troll circus to perform acrobatics, yet it filled entirely with shattered debris.
As the shaman gaped, the senior Great Shaman smacked the back of his head.
"First time seeing a hero fight? Get it together!"
"I'll correct myself!"
Military discipline surged through him.
But it was true he'd never seen a hero fight before.
He'd just enlisted in the Imperial Guard, even thrown a feast back home. He couldn't die here.
Hero Arak bellowed.
"Now!"
The heat orb, reaching its mark, exploded.
Superheated air stormed forward like a gale.
Compressed during travel, its temperature soared higher.
The fairies' assault faltered.
Arak accelerated further.
He resembled a single arrow. His greatsword nearly reached the traitorous Great Shaman.
Then.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Something struck the hero, sending him flying.
A bizarre roar like thunder roasting beans echoed deafeningly across the plaza.
The hero tried advancing again but faced another barrage of magic and thunderous booms, halting him.
The rock tidal wave, charging relentlessly, hit a wall, stuttered, and collapsed back.
Light flashed again. Arrows or beams punched holes in the wall.
The senior Great Shaman blocked a blind shot. His staff wobbled perilously.
The hero blocked effortlessly, but the Great Shaman reeled from a single hit.
"This is unacceptable. We're not the type to take hits lying down."
"Agreed."
Soon, the hero returned bleeding.
Around the labyrinth corner, out of enemy sight.
The shaman realized hiding behind the wall wasn't real cover—it crumbled at a touch.
This was that kind of battlefield.
Instead, the hero grabbed another frozen hero from the plaza's edge.
"Use this for cover. Don't wake him. He'll understand—he's my friend."
A surprising yet efficient idea.
But "friend" was clearly a lie. His gaze brimmed with schadenfreude.
Of course, the two shamans didn't argue.
But the fairies couldn't press the attack.
From elsewhere, another Greenskin roar thundered.
"This thing looks ready to blow."
The Hunter eyed the machine gun warily. The mounted heavy machine gun, set up between the frozen troll's legs as cover, glowed cherry red.
The spiritist hurriedly spurred the ice spirit.
Even watching it cool, the Hunter wondered if this was right.
"Guns are surprisingly effective."
The youngest wiped sweat after deflecting a heat blast with a wind barrier.
The rock tidal wave had been quelled by the advanced wind spirit slamming down.
The spiritist then swirled the debris into a vortex and hurled it back.
An ogre charged with a barrier up.
Magic barely worked.
Enchanted arrows felt half as potent. The ogre barreled like a tank.
The youngest spun the barrel. The Hunter squeezed the trigger despite his anxiety.
The machine gun spat fire.
The scientific physical weapon hammered the magic-nullifying barrier until it shattered.
Arrows and spirits followed. The ogre retreated heavily damaged.
The path it charged was churned unrecognizably.
"These monstrosities falling to this."
The spiritist laughed at the Hunter's grumble, cheerful like a leaf fairy.
"Exiles' strange weapons are super effective, right? No mana involved, so that's why it works!"
Resistances usually tied to elements.
Elements were magic.
Warriors too. Pure strength couldn't topple mountains unless a hero of giant kin.
Mana subtly influenced everything.
The machine gun fired again. The barrel heated red.
"Cool it! Needs more cooling! It'll blow if it gets hotter!"
The Hunter yelled desperately, unwilling to die.
The spiritist cooled the barrel with a relaxed smile.
"Can't fire forever with just cooling. When will the Fairy King awaken?"
"Check the color return? Time-stolen things lose their hue."
The archer glanced sidelong while answering, firing nonstop.
The Hunter peeked too. The old man poured mana, sweating profusely.
The spiritist had the most mana, but unsealing wasn't about quantity. Time to unravel was fixed.
That's why the weakest mage here struggled.
An orc shaman busting a gut to awaken the Fairy King—ridiculous even to the Hunter.
Yet the battle worsened by the moment. Greenskins had outnumbered from the start.
Otherwise, this ruin wouldn't be locked in frozen time.
The Girl marveled at the frost mage fairy.
Handsome as Uncle. Maybe more.
"Oh, little miss. First time seeing a petal fairy? Don't stare so intensely—you'll make me fall for you."
"I'm taken!"
"I see. Then that lady over there better watch out."
"Uh, um. Yeah."
The petal fairy, introducing himself as Cryogen, was incredibly jovial and flirtatious.
And genuinely radiant with handsomeness.
She finally understood what Uncle meant: you can't claim to be handsome after seeing a petal fairy.
Yet she couldn't forget his melancholic gaze staring distantly at times.
Her heart didn't waver.
Looks mattered, but vibe more so.
This breezy type strayed far from her tastes.
Regardless, she sensed Cryogen's strength acutely.
Any Exile with a Mind Map would be stacked solely in intelligence-based frost from start to end.
Even passives fully so?
Just standing chilled the air around him.
Hundreds of degrees posed no threat.
One gesture banished the heat.
Glowing stones cooled instantly.
"Gotta loop the labyrinth quick. Grand magic won't work on bare ground. But butterflies seeking flowers, suddenly cooling this inferno..."
"It'll collapse."
"Oh dear, intentional? Then no issue. Considering the toil to craft this beautiful trap..."
"Can you shut up?"
"Beautiful flowers have thorns. Excellent. Refreshingly so."
The Girl already felt fed up.
Reminded her of Uncle chattering trivia on floor 1 to ease awkwardness.
That weary expression now hers.
She glanced aside.
The little mage gazed at Cryogen in rapture.
The Girl panicked.
Her taste was this unexpected!
Middle schooler, right?!
Instinctively, she stepped between them.
Heat was fine. This mage's performance seemed solid.
Infighting with trolls was generally discouraged.
But facing a club as thick as my torso? Better dive in.
Trolls favored bludgeons.
Why? Their claws were already blades.
The troll deftly stabbed his club into the ground.
To block my movement.
Claws approached.
I split my body at impact's moment.
The troll looked dumbfounded.
No one evades like this, even with regeneration.
It hurt.
But pain meant nothing before efficiency. Better neatly sliced and reattached than torn off.
The baffled troll was in similar straits.
Trolls couldn't wield magic.
If one could, it'd be some insane Exile's self-imposed hard mode troll mage run.
Grove Fairy berserker difficulty?
So this troll tanked with body alone.
Regenerating burning skin in real-time, protecting organs. No fatal loss. Minimal calories burned.
Exiting here, he'd be emaciated, but time to death remained ample.
I burrowed deep into his embrace.
Troll warriors could be easier than orcs if firepower sufficed.
Labyrinth tanking split into unyielding toughness or painless regeneration.
Regenerators rarely got tough.
Mind Map skills had heavy penalties.
Troll tanking: even high-level, take hits and regen insanely fast.
High total HP and regen, low defense—soft flesh.
If you could one-shot that?
Martial artist classes existed for it.
The troll barely sensed crisis.
Always endured blows. Half-head blown off? Regrow.
As Imperial Guard, countless threats bodied.
No doubt he'd out-regen this burning vampire.
That complacency let my hand touch him easily.
Mana flowed.
Troll's face changed at the invading mana stream.
Abandoning crush, he tried ripping me out hastily.
Explosion.
Belly split wide. Organs spilled. Sizzled cooking.
Thick hide and muscle unraveled like threads.
I dove right in.
Blood poured.
Enormous body.
Lots of blood.
Regenerating as much as lost.
Inedible blood, but blood was blood.
I mist-formed inside the troll.
My blood mixed with his.
Troll frantically tore at himself searching, but I'd melted in.
Bodies touching, War God raged.
All contact points stirred by divine power. Blood spikes erupted from within with grinding cracks.
Neutral-element explosion burst.
Heart and brain destroyed instantly.
Troll froze.
Sizzle of cooking something.
Burning smell.
Level-up chill.
As a bloodsucker barely reaching vampire lord tier, instinct urged devouring the ripening blood.
But Heterogeneous blood was poison.
Separating just my body took time. Reformed barrier, caught breath.
Message: no more idiots acting solo with the kid.
Decent haul, but time to regroup.
Group fights bad. Leveling moderate.
Nature God voiced concern.
Rounded edge, rushed to pick up Girl preparing ruin collapse.
Neutral blasts safe if not direct. Riding them was fast.
Labyrinth center already ragged, collapsing everywhere.
Reached Girl's spot barely.
Cryogen brightened.
Girl welcomed too.
"Vampire? The Exile the god mentioned."
"Uncle! It's totally cool here!"
"Not the time! Cryogen! Full loop?"
"Halfway. Chatting with these ladies is too fun..."
Dirty chill like a petal fairy.
"Reinforcements breached organized. Plaza falling soon—join the king fast."
Not dumb. Eyes flicked up, answered promptly.
"Current setup'll collapse plenty. Let's move."
Naturally, smashed walls charging.
Groups prepping attacks midway. Two hero units.
Awakened inner fairies shooting.
All converging central plaza.
Reinforcements smashed walls advancing.
Some arrived.
War God bit hard on Fairy King revival bait.
Cryogen flicked hand. Orcs froze to thighs, ignored.
Charged to slash. Tough. No ambush proc.
Failed silent kill.
All sprinted full power past.
One resisting orc hurled axe.
Girl turned, blocked. Heavy thud lost balance.
Caught stumbling Girl mid-fall. Kept running.
Little mage grabbed by Cryogen. Icy path slicked like frost, slid. Evaporated post-pass.
Plaza fully surrounded.
Just lull pre-assault.
Troll [Hero Units] visible.
Shaman [Hero Units] too.
Fairy King center shielded by sealed trolls/ogres as cover.
Machine gun barrel peeked troll crotch.
My order, but sight painful.
Roars filling plaza deafeningly.
Ritual before charge.
Sufficient numbers gathered. Now annihilate foes.
Fairy heroes increased, but Greenskins always outnumbered in this labyrinth.
War God likely surveyed like strategy sim.
Battle turning his favor, obviously.
Strongest fairies/Greenskins clustered fairy-held center.
Minus named, manageable foes.
Old man showered in sweat.
Found spiritist first.
"Mana-rich! Who'll activate Spirit King?!"
Two leaf fairies' faces changed.
"Spirit King?"
"Spirit King!"
Ignored situation. Just thrilled.
"I'm contractor! Hurry! Now! Immediately!"
"For real?"
Gripped joining fairies' hands tight.
"But I control?"
"You good with spirits?"
Glared, unwilling to yield.
"You ever contracted Spirit King?"
Ears drooped sharply. Both puppy ears. Pitifully.
"Introduce later?"
"Vampire with Spirit King how?"
No time, fairies!
The War God remembered the Spirit King.
Thus, the moment the vampire arrived, he commanded the awakened shamans.