The Long Vacation - Hard Mode - (5)
When Riven Bain first set foot on the top floor, he had only one impression.
'It's like the temple of the Star God Church.'
The domed ceiling. The stained glass depicting various kinds of stars. For a moment, he suspected the Star God Church might be behind whoever had caused this incident, but he quickly shook off the thought. There were plenty of religions besides the Star God Church that worshipped the stars, and in the first place, there was no benefit they could gain from carrying out such a large-scale massacre.
Just like the other floors he'd passed through, the tower's walls were blood-red and pulsed endlessly as if alive. Suppressing the discomfort of feeling like he'd entered the body of a giant creature, Riven turned his gaze toward the innermost part of the top floor.
There, a man was prostrating himself on the floor, bowing repeatedly. The action itself could be seen as a form of prayer, albeit somewhat excessive, but the problem was the object to which he offered that prayer.
A bow is originally a gesture performed before something. Whether that be a person, an altar, a giant statue, a tree, or even a rock. But from what Riven could see, there was nothing in front of the man. Even when he enhanced his vision with magic power, the result was the same.
A man repeatedly offering polite, reverent bows into empty air. Was there something there that only he could see? Or was he continuing to bow to someone who had already left this place?
Any ordinary person would have felt a chill and avoided approaching the man, but Riven was different. He wasn't so weak that he'd be frightened by the antics of a madman.
"State your name."
He took a step forward. The man didn't react.
"What is this tower? Did you repurpose an existing ruin?"
Another step. The man still didn't react.
"This can't be your work alone. Who's behind you?"
He kept advancing. The man remained unresponsive.
"......"
The man stayed silent, and Riven asked no more questions. Riven's slash flew toward the man. It was as natural as flowing water, a beautiful sword strike befitting a top contender in the martial tournament. He was certain he'd cut him.
And as if in response to that certainty, a thick spray of blood scattered through the air. But it wasn't the man's blood. It was Riven's.
"Guh...?"
Before pain or shock, the first thing that filled his mind was confusion. Why was he on his knees right now? Why was there a massive hole in his chest? Why were his two beloved swords lying broken on the floor? And why was the man, who had been completely defenseless with his back exposed just moments ago, now looking down at him?
"Heretic. How dare you interfere with the ritual?"
It was a voice steeped in contempt and irritation. Not the tone one would use against an outsider threatening one's life, but the kind reserved for dealing with a bothersome insect. Riven no longer had the strength left to express his anger at that.
With a thud, his fallen body was slowly covered by the red liquid seeping from the walls and floor. As if it were absorbing the entire life of the being known as Riven Bain.
It was an utterly anticlimactic end for a genius swordsman, but the man watching it—'Dube'—showed no particular emotion in his gaze. As if the fame of one mere sacrifice meant nothing to him.
Dube walked over to the window and muttered with a gloomy expression.
"Are the fools resisting?"
The absorption of the 'sacrifices' was progressing slower than he'd anticipated. A significant portion of the blood clots that should have been spread across the entire area collecting lives had instead been used to suppress the forces at the coliseum. The fact that the blood clots that should have been rampaging inside the coliseum had been subdued in advance was also a major factor.
Dube let out a sigh.
"Who can I blame? This is all due to my own shortcomings."
If only he had been able to approach Duke Mars as originally planned. If he had captured him and tied down the knights and soldiers of the ducal territory, then performed the 'ritual' in full, the situation would be different now. But it was too late for regrets.
After staring blankly at the ground for a while, he soon spotted a group approaching right up to the tower and, at their center, a blond boy. He growled.
"...They're trying to interfere again. But it won't go as they wish."
As Dube turned away from the arched window, red liquid seeped up from the floor in front of him and coalesced into three blood clots. They resembled human shapes, but with clearer outlines than the ones scattered throughout the city, and they were notably equipped with weapons and armor.
Dube commanded them.
"I permit you to use every last bit of life contained in those bodies. Slaughter every single heretic trying to climb the tower without exception."
The blood clots, having received the order, melted back into liquid and seeped into the ground just as they had appeared. Watching them, Dube muttered to himself as if making a vow.
"No more... Yes, I won't make any more mistakes."
The moment he took a resolute step forward with that determined expression—
BOOOOOOM!
Something exploded outside the tower.
The closer they got to the tower, the more frequently they encountered the blood clots, but Chrome's group's speed didn't slow down in the slightest. Every time Crow's twin blades, Akasha's greatsword, and Ligret's longsword danced, the blood clots blocking their path were literally pulverized.
Minor wounds were instantly healed by the recovery spell formula, and depleted stamina was replenished with potions. When they finally reached the tower, Chrome asked,
"Ligret, can you reach the top via the outer wall? As fast as possible."
"What?"
Everyone in the group looked at Chrome with expressions that said, 'What the hell is this guy talking about?' Even Ligret, who was usually indifferent to most things, stared at him with a dumbfounded face. But Chrome didn't waver in the slightest.
Ligret gazed at the tower's uneven walls and the slightly tilted slope rising from the ground, pondering for a moment before frowning and replying,
"If you're talking about wall-running, maybe, but even then, doing it in one go is a bit..."
"What if we add a running start, footholds, and tailwind?"
After a brief silence, Ligret finally spoke.
"......I'll be asking for extra pay later."
"Good. So it's possible."
Chrome nodded in satisfaction, then turned to the rest of the group.
"Akasha. Crow. Lend me your ears for a second."
As the group listened to Chrome's plan, their expressions changed moment by moment. Eventually, Crow muttered, voicing what they all felt.
"I knew you were crazy, but I didn't think it was this bad."
Akasha also tried to dissuade him.
"No, isn't this way too dangerous no matter how you look at it?"
Despite the others' protests, Chrome was resolute.
"We don't have time to talk about it. Hurry!"
Realizing he was serious, the group reluctantly took their positions. Ligret, who had pushed her reinforcement output to its limit, charged across the ground at high speed while holding a massive shield.
"Hrrraaaaaah!"
Akasha, standing in front of her, swung her sword powerfully toward the high sky the instant Ligret stepped onto her greatsword. The result of their superhuman strength, reflexes, and sense of balance working in perfect harmony was that Ligret's body shot upward as if launched from a giant spring.
Using that momentum, Ligret stabbed a spear summoned by the Feldous's Summoning Gloves into the tower's outer wall to anchor herself.
"Damn it, we're really doing every crazy thing possible!"
Next was Crow. He used Akasha as a stepping stone in the same way and leaped, soaring up to the tower's midsection. The moment Crow approached, Ligret, who had been clinging to the outer wall, launched herself once more. Crow responded by swinging the weapons in both hands.
What was different from usual was that the weapons Crow swung weren't his usual swords, but clubs embedded with Attribute Stones that Chrome had prepared.
BOOOOOOM!
The clubs containing the 'Wind Crystal' collided with the shield Ligret held out and mercilessly unleashed their power. A massive gust of wind erupted between Ligret and Crow. No matter how much the items were designed to reduce impact on the user, there was no way Crow could emerge unscathed after being caught in a storm at point-blank range.
Before he could crash into the ground, the magic shield Akasha had manifested enveloped him, and Fiore healed what little damage still remained. A short while after Crow fell, the shield Ligret had been holding clattered to the ground in tatters, its life over. But the price paid through various sacrifices had been worth it.
The sudden explosion and the chilly wind that tickled his ears. The first emotion Dube felt upon registering them was mockery.
'Did they really think they could destroy this tower with such petty attacks?'
It was obvious. The opponent, wary of entering the tower, must have tried to destroy it from the outside. But it was a futile effort. This tower was built with such solidity that it wouldn't budge even if bombarded with a barrage of high-tier spells.
He turned back toward the window, thinking he might as well see the look of despair on their faces. At that exact moment—
Slice!
A slash rang out, and blood sprayed into the air. Unlike before, there was no doubt about it. This time, it was his own blood.