Chapter 21
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Tower Escape
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A silver whip shot through the gap in the breached wall.
“Argh!”
Rian let out a scream as he hurled himself to the side.
Boom—!
Right after, the silver whip slammed into the spot where Rian had been standing.
If he’d been even a fraction slower, Rian would have lost his life right there.
Amid the chaos, a string of messages popped up before Abel’s eyes.
[Sudden Quest ‘Escape’ activated!]
[Escape the tower alive!]
[Reward upon completion: ‘Reliable Benefactor’ event triggered!]
[Additional reward if no casualties occur during the escape!]
Damn quest.
Abel cursed inwardly as the barrage of messages obscured his vision, then picked up his pace.
This wasn’t the time to leisurely check quest details.
“Move, quick!”
Hearing Tania shout from behind, Abel crouched low and leaped high.
Thud!
Abel’s body landed on Tito’s cockpit.
It wasn’t a smooth landing, but Abel crammed himself into the cockpit and slapped his hand onto the core.
Whirr.
No sooner had he poured mana into the core than the cockpit armor sealed shut.
Abel closed his eyes and ramped up his sync rate.
Mana surged from his body, circulating between him and the core, awakening the slumbering giant.
Thud—!
Tito planted its feet on the ground.
Being half an ornamental piece, its joints were stiff and it lacked any real armament, but a Tito was still a Tito.
Abel didn’t waste time thinking and moved it forward.
His target was right ahead—Tania’s position.
Screech!
Tania was wielding her sword, batting away the whips burrowing into the tower.
Without her—a warrior stronger than most riders—some of the cadets here would already be seriously injured.
But they couldn’t expect Tania to handle this alone.
No matter how skilled a warrior she was, her sword was just ordinary steel, and she had no auxiliary weapons.
She might as well have been fighting barehanded.
‘The matchup’s bad.’
Abel observed the monster visible through the hole in the wall.
It was a spherical body with dozens of whip-like tentacles sprouting from it.
From what he remembered, this ‘Gigadeus Fragment’s’ traits were its freely maneuvering tentacles and its disgustingly tough body.
Even a mana-wielding warrior would struggle to deal proper damage with a plain iron sword.
And with Tania having to protect the other cadets, she was bound to be on the defensive.
That’s why Abel drove Tito straight between them without hesitation.
Boom!
A whip smashed into its shoulder mid-maneuver, but by crouching slightly to deflect it, the impact wasn’t too bad.
Gigants had their own way of fighting.
Gigants didn’t have pain receptors.
Sure, major damage caused mental strain, but getting hit once didn’t mean the same agony as for a human.
As long as it wasn’t totaled in one go, it could hold up just fine.
“I’ve got this!”
Abel shouted to Tania.
That’s why Gigant pilots needed to fight more aggressively.
Boom!
A whip grazed right over Tito’s head, smashing into the wall.
A mistake there would’ve taken its head clean off, but Abel didn’t flinch.
Crash!
Boom!
Block, deflect, evade.
Abel closed the distance to the Gigadeus Fragment in an instant, undaunted by the fierce attacks.
“Everyone, get on! Hurry!”
In the meantime, Tania fell back, climbed onto Tito, and urged the other cadets on.
‘Good.’
Now no one stood between Abel and the monster.
Meaning he didn’t have to worry about anyone else.
“Haaah—!”
Abel deliberately roared to draw the monster’s attention.
Provoked, it lashed out with its tentacles even faster.
It looked precarious from the outside, but in reality, it wasn’t.
Everyone was boarding Tito and joining him.
Once they did, the tide would turn in a heartbeat.
Sensing that, the monster suddenly halted its whips and shifted its spherical body.
Crack—!
Its center split open, revealing an eyeball.
The moment Abel met that eye, his body froze stiff.
An indescribable force bound him.
-You filthy vermin!
Seizing the opening, the whips flew at Abel in unison.
Abel sensed the monster’s eerie glee.
But that feeling was premature.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted around the cockpit, forming a fiery barrier over Tito’s front.
Demitri’s Flame—the quest reward from before—had activated automatically.
Fwoosh!
The whips couldn’t pierce the intense blaze.
“My turn now.”
Freed from the paralysis, Abel smirked and triggered Shadow Step.
Swoosh!
His body slid forward like silk.
The monster belatedly swung its tentacles, but Abel was already in its face.
Crunch!
Abel embraced the monster’s body.
Dealing with it unarmed was tough. The normal way, at least.
Of course, Abel had no intention of fighting fair.
Thud!
Gripping the thrashing monster tight, Abel spun around.
There stood Tania, aboard Tito.
Without needing instruction, she charged and thrust her fist forward.
Her fist glowed with an ominous red light.
Boom!
A deafening roar shook their ears.
The monster writhing in Abel’s arms went limp.
Messages appeared right after.
[Achievement ‘Defeat Intermediate Gigadeus Fragment’ completed.]
[Reward: ‘Thunderbolt Spear’ skill acquired.]
A more generous reward than expected.
But there was no time to celebrate.
“Huff, huff.”
Abel gasped for breath.
A pounding headache struck.
The backlash from expending massive mana and mental energy to restrain the monster’s struggles at the end.
Tania stepping in quick had kept it to this; otherwise, he’d be on the floor.
-Abel!
Someone gripped Abel’s shoulder as he reeled from the pain.
It was Daniel.
-You okay?
-Are you insane? What if something went wrong?
Hena approached in her Gigant, snapping at him. Worry laced her voice.
-Y-Yeah.
Abel replied weakly and scanned the surroundings to assess the situation.
First thing he noticed: another monster corpse nearby.
He’d been too focused on the fight to realize, but another had intruded midway.
Catching his gaze, Daniel quickly explained.
“That one was taken out by the soldier over there. Oh, and the elevator’s dangerous, so we’re busting through the stairs to get down.”
The Gigadeus Fragments targeting this tower numbered more than one or two.
The ones they’d just fought were like scouts; the main force clustered at ground level and the tower’s lower floors.
-Phew. I’m okay now.
Abel assured them and stood on his own. They eyed him anxiously but said nothing given the circumstances.
Abel walked with them to Tania.
-We need to get out as fast as possible.
-Abel.
Tania looked at him with a complicated expression.
As an instructor, she should scold the cadet for his reckless actions, but if Abel hadn’t stepped up quick, the casualties would’ve been far worse.
His calm judgment and machine control—uncharacteristic of a cadet—were downright impressive.
Putting her rider experience before her instructor role, Tania sorted her thoughts and spoke.
-Yeah. Like you said, escaping comes first. This isn’t normal.
Logically, forcing an escape from the tower could be riskier.
This was the Wall of Glory, teeming with elite soldiers and riders.
Rationally, waiting for them to clear the lower fragments and come rescue was safer.
But Tania had glimpsed the unnatural scene through the breach and decided on escape.
Abel, knowing the situation well, nodded without argument.
‘Reinforcements aren’t coming anyway.’
Normally, backup would swarm the moment trouble hit, but not now.
And Abel knew why.
A special specimen clung to the tower, deploying perception jamming and sound-blocking fields.
The forces blocking the lower-floor intruders were just the tower’s original guards.
‘They probably have no clue what’s happening inside.’
The special specimen and the Gigadeus anomaly were beyond the Empire’s wildest dreams.
Anyone would think the same.
It was as absurd as a pet dog suddenly walking on two legs and talking.
Everything would change from today.
Abel swallowed a Mana Amplifier he’d kept handy and looked at Tania.
She turned from him to the other cadets.
-Eyes sharp, everyone. Form up, then move out.
Somehow coordinating with the soldier, Tania took point, the soldier rear guard, cadets in between.
Tania spoke in a tense voice.
-Just focus on getting out alive.
-Yes.
They began descending the tower.
* * *
Boom!
Thud—!
Harsh booms and crashes assaulted their ears as they descended the stairs.
Even inside the tower, it was this bad—outdoors must be hell.
But no time to worry about outside.
This place was plenty dangerous too.
-The sounds……
Hena, right behind Abel, muttered uneasily.
Abel had noticed too.
The noise from below was fading.
And what that meant was clear.
The attacking monsters were nearly cleared.
Or the tower guards were on the brink of annihilation.
Thud, thud, thud.
Tito descended the stairs in line.
Nothing happened until they’d gone halfway down.
But about five minutes later, quiet May spoke up.
-It’s coming.
Her voice wasn’t its usual sleepy drawl—it was razor-sharp.
And her words rang true.
Scrape—.
Claws raking the wall.
Something was climbing up.
Tania raised her hand, halting them.
The stairs were wide enough, but no place for a proper fight.
Tito wasn’t huge like a riding model, but it towered over three meters.
Scraaape—.
Scrape.
No chance to pick their battlefield—the sounds drew nearer.
Abel attuned his senses to the noise.
When it cut off abruptly, he counted to three inwardly and yelled.
-Get down!
Some ducked reflexively; others Abel yanked down himself.
Boom—!
One wall exploded right after.
Sharp spines raked across it, showering debris.
Some groaned from the falling rocks, but Abel ignored it.
-Run! Now!
He shoved the ones ahead. No time for polite words.
Stunned but quick, they bolted downward.
Boom!
Crash!
Boom!
Walls where they’d stood erupted in a chain reaction.
“Kiririk!”
A new monster emerged from the breaches—a ‘spider’.
“Kiaaaah—!”
With the spiders’ shrieks, a desperate chase began.