Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: The Darkness Cloaking the Holy Kingdom (4)
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"Krgh!"
It felt like crashing into a massive wave. I forced my body up from the stairs, casting recovery magic to mend my shattered bones and torn muscles, then peered into the chamber beyond the door.
That place was hell too. The Eight Hot Hells, infamous for their scorching flames of torment.
The barrier sealing that hell from the mortal world had developed fine cracks. The faint leak through those fissures was the firestorm that had just erupted.
If I hadn't possessed the authority of the Noon Sun Disk, a single moment of carelessness would have killed me right there. This was no stage a newbie fresh off clearing Stage 0 could handle.
Why the hell was a place like this—a being like that—sealed here?
Shit. A turtle this time? Talk about scaling up. A planet-burning turtle, no less.
I entered the third floor and looked up at the sky. This time, there was a passage leading underground. No wonder the stairs dragged on endlessly—it would've taken days if I hadn't flown.
"Is that thing really a disaster-class monster?"
The five on Earth? They were cute by comparison. This one burned planets, and its size matched.
That firestorm earlier? Just a speck of byproduct from it shifting its foot.
Luckily, being a turtle, it took ages to move a single step. I hurried through the third floor.
The counter ticked up, revealing stairs to the fourth floor. Damn it, how many were there?
No—how many of those things had they sealed away here?
I spread the First Wing of Pride again and dove downward. My plummeting body soon hit bottom.
This time, I armored up, chugged doping potions, and only then slowly opened the door. The interior revealed itself. This was the real deal.
My body trembled. Inside stretched a vast cosmos, an infinite expanse trapped in this cramped underground.
"Haha... Is this really a quest meant to be cleared?"
No turning back now, though. I pressed forward, feeling like I was walking through space.
Yet for some reason, no enemies appeared in the cosmos. The Sun's Eye still blazed under Pride's support. It'd alert me to any sign of trouble...
That was when it appeared. An immensity beyond description.
Ah. Now I got why there had to be a cosmos here. With something like that, even space itself became a prison.
"If that's just a fragment?"
What must the main body be? I gave up thinking about it. Shoving aside the endless mental protection alerts, I ran.
Toward the distant stairs to the fifth floor. It roared. A sound no mortal ears should endure. But I felt it.
Narrow! Narrow! So narrow!
I ignored it and kept running. Even with authority and Supreme Soul's protection, it was grueling. Fatigue piled up, sanity frayed.
Dragging my exhausted body, I barely reached the stairs while Behemoth's fragment still roared. I could take no more and hurled myself toward the fifth floor.
I'm beat. I wanted to go back. Where the hell did this accursed floor end? How had that demon bastard gotten past these things?
Obviously, some method existed. No suspicions of tampering by Cardinal Aoira up through the first four floors.
"No—wouldn't he know that if those woke up, even he'd be done for?"
Without the Divine Throne's true form manifesting to intervene, no one could win against them. Not folks stuck at Stage 1.
I desperately hoped whatever lay beyond this door was normal—or at least that it was the last one—as I eased it open.
The fully opened door revealed a mere cavern, narrower than the first underground level.
"What the hell is this now?"
Every unexpected phenomenon made my heart race these days. I entered the fifth floor.
It was a vast cavern.
A colossal pillar dominated the center, with a single being bound to it—the only feature in this barren space.
And only here could I finally confirm it.
Kirrik. Kirrik. Kirrik. Kirrik. Kirrik.
Dozens of people—no, dolls—were doing something to the bound entity.
"At least this feels a bit more manageable."
I didn't know what monster that entity was, but one thing was clear: this was the end. The floors marked with ? had fixed at 5.
I drew the Demonic Sword of Utter Ruin, inhaled deeply, and activated the Sun God Technique.
The moment the sun's majesty enveloped the area, I kicked off without hesitation, charging the dolls and cleaving the nearest one in half.
At that instant, they all twisted their necks 180 degrees, lunging at me like something out of a horror flick.
"I'm exhausted. Let's end this quick."
The dolls themselves weren't that strong. Barely scraping C- rank at best?
But trouble brewed soon enough. On the third doll's neck I severed, they all froze. Blood tears streamed from their eyes as they glared at me.
"Cardinal Aoira."
The dolls ignored me, weeping blood from their twisted necks while staring daggers.
"No interest in talking? Then I'll just kill you all."
As I moved to strike, the central doll finally spoke.
"How did you get here? There's no way trash like you knew the secret passage's true nature. How did you survive seeing those calamities and reach this point?!"
"So you knew I was coming."
"I was certain you'd die before arriving. Those aren't beings vermin like you can defy. If those three escaped this underground, every territory up to Stage 100 would perish. How? How did you behold them with your own eyes, keep your sanity, and emerge alive?!"
"You think I'd tell you?"
"I warned it was dangerous—the seals weakening after so much time... But this isn't a place luck alone can carry you through!!"
I didn't listen further and bisected the doll. But now another took over, screaming.
"No! No! No! Don't you dare touch His Excellency! That's a divine avatar no lowly worm like you should lay hands on!"
The dolls exploded. Not my doing. Self-destruct? No—fusion, maybe?
"Disgusting. The ability itself is revolting."
Normally I'd puke, but compared to that Predator on the second floor, this was cute. I let the dolls merge into blood and reform anew.
"What the hell do you even make them from?"
"Hahaha! What else? The flesh and blood of living humans, of course! With that alone, I hold limitless potential to grow stronger!"
A massive doll loomed over me, cackling madly as if victory was assured.
"Exactly! You should've stayed focused and killed me quick! That was your fatal mistake! I never even considered you'd reach here. No powerful dolls prepared, but these are more than enough for scum like you. Die. Die miserably and become material for my dolls!"
I eyed the doll and spoke.
"Clean your neck and wait. I'll come kill you soon. Don't die to Cardinal Bartroy—survive on your own."
The doll smirked bitterly and stated the facts calmly.
"Pity I can't show you that senile fool's head in my grasp. Even if you survived my dolls in that massive prison, it's my win. I've already bought all the time I needed."
With that, the link between the doll and Cardinal Aoira severed. The doll charged, unrestrained.
'A- rank.'
This required full power. I downed every buff potion I had, focusing on evasion. Once doped up, I unfurled the First Wing of Pride.
Infinite and Pride stats surged to their limits. But no breakthrough. Buffs couldn't cross that wall.
One ability could make it possible, though. Scales materialized behind me.
"Boost my Infinite stat as high as possible."
"Doesn't matter. Swap it."
Kigigik! Thud!
As the scales balanced, immense power flooded my body. Omnipotence. Ecstasy only crossing the wall could bring.
E- rank. Infinite stat broke through first, Pride nearly simultaneously dipping into that realm.
-Krwoooarrr!!!
Still not enough. The foe was strong; I was weak. Victory wasn't guaranteed—not even bare survival was easy.
'Just endure one minute to activate Longinus.'
Even these stats fell short. So I played my final card.
Self-Conqueror Grows Strong. He who conquers himself is the true strong one.
The reward from Ascension Tower for the me who trampled past deaths and rose.
This unique ability's power was singular: summoning and projecting another version of myself. Ultimately, a gamble.
It could call my weak past self—or one from a distant future.
One certainty: no total bust. Otherwise, I couldn't beat that doll.
"Fortune... please."
I could only pray to my sole lifeline, Fortune. And it answered my plea.
Fortune tossed it casually, like no big deal, then dozed off again. But that was plenty.
Power surged. Half a year pulled forward. A blink to some, an eternity to others.
The cost—paying lifespan equal to the borrowed time—was nullified, backlash included.
"You're done now."
No need for Longinus. I was now a prime S-rank hunter.