Transformation (4)
Who is the strongest among the High Rankers?
Any adventurer climbing the Tower has, at least once, waded into some childish argument over the ranking of High Rankers.
But if the question were narrowed to pure talent alone, nine times out of ten those same adventurers would name the Sword Dragon the strongest.
Sword Dragon.
The youngest High Ranker ever to rewrite the Tower's history. A monster of raw gift who reached the absolute peak on nothing but innate genius.
Would anyone believe that such a monster was currently clinging to someone's waist like a baby, whining for affection?
"Um…"
"Just a little longer like this."
"What on earth is going on here?"
Ifrit momentarily doubted her own eyes. The gulf between the Sword Dragon she knew and the one before her was simply too vast.
The last time they'd met, the girl had felt more like a solitary wolf—someone who allowed no one near.
But now? Solitary wolf, her ass. At best she looked like an affectionate puppy fawning over its master.
"You've arrived, Ifrit."
"Ah, Wild Flame. I heard the story from Unni Zion."
"If you heard the story, shouldn't you at least be a little grateful?"
"Thanks. Though compared to Unni Zion, it's nothing."
Ifrit nearly blew her lid at Rin's excessively indifferent attitude—so different from Zion's—but she held her temper for now.
She wanted nothing more than to grab that damn brat and spank her… but this wasn't the time.
Ifrit slightly turned her head toward Zion. It seemed better to let Zion take the lead.
"Rin, I'd like to ask a few questions. Is that alright?"
"If Unni wants."
"How on earth did a High Ranker end up wandering as a sword-fiend?"
"It'll take a while to explain… is that okay?"
"If Rin is fine with it."
"Alright. Unni is my lifesaver, after all."
Rin opened her mouth without resistance. Before she became a sword-fiend, she said, she had been attempting to conquer the 80th Floor she had not yet fully claimed.
Unlike a breakthrough—which only required defeating the floor's boss—a conquest meant eliminating every single hazard on that floor without exception.
Naturally it took far longer than a breakthrough… but in return, the conqueror received the territory itself as a reward.
"You tried to conquer the 80th Floor alone just a few months after barely clearing it? Even recklessness has limits."
"Is that really so reckless?"
"On the upper floors, even when a major guild with High Rankers prepares thoroughly and joins the fight, it still takes at least a year."
"To attempt something like that alone is just too…"
"…You're right, Unni Zion. I was far too arrogant. Drunk on my own talent, you could say. And I paid the price dearly for it."
Clank-clank. Even now, recalling that moment, she could still hear the sound. Rin's face went deathly pale.
But in that very instant, the warmth of holy power flowing through her hand melted the body of the girl trembling alone in terror.
Rin lowered her head. She saw her Unni's reliable hand covering her own—the hand that had gone cold with fear.
"…Thank you, Unni."
"Don't tell me you ran into a Named on the 80th Floor."
"Named? Is that different from a boss monster?"
"If a boss is the shield guarding the path to the next floor… a Named is the sword that strikes at adventurers."
Unlike bosses, who mostly waited in fixed zones, Named monsters kept moving and attacked adventurers on sight.
And among them, more than a few were stronger than bosses. The Named Rin had encountered was almost certainly one of those.
Rin nodded. It had worn black armor like a person—but it was definitely not human.
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"Because it had no head."
"A headless knight… Don't tell me—a Dullahan?"
"You know something about this, Zion?!"
"How does Unni know that monster's name?!"
With both High Rankers' attention suddenly on her, Zion panicked. She had only muttered what the story brought to mind.
"That story can wait. Don't we have something more urgent to deal with first, Ifrit?"
"Right, we do. Things got messier than I expected."
"What do you mean?"
"Hey, Sword Dragon. The Kyodan led by Gijeok put a three-thousand-gold bounty on your head. Ring any bells?"
"Interesting. Those bastards who couldn't even heal me are putting up a bounty? What gives them the right?"
"Couldn't heal you? The Kyodan couldn't heal you??"
Ifrit was startled by the unexpected information. The Kyodan was currently the most skilled healer guild in the Tower.
They accepted everyone without discrimination—priests, healers, even herbalists—and effectively monopolized all healing services.
There were even claims they could reverse death itself if it was within a day. And that Kyodan had failed to heal her?
"More precisely, I tried to go directly to Gijeok, but the Kyodan people blocked me. Then they tried to capture and lock me up."
"Those fanatics really outdid themselves."
"Wait a moment. The fact that I healed Rin when the Tower's best healer guild couldn't… does that mean…?"
"That's not all. Their spies saw your abilities. They're probably back at their guilds reporting right now."
Zion's mind went blank for a moment. A healer who had instantly cured the Sword Dragon when even the strongest healer guild had failed.
If that absurd rumor spread throughout the Tower, the resulting shockwaves were all too easy to predict.
Naturally the Kyodan would move to protect their interests. And the guilds of other High Rankers as well…
"It's alright, Unni."
"…What?"
"I'll protect you, Unni…!!"
…No matter how she looked at it, the one currently hugging her waist seemed more dangerous than any High Ranker.
The Saintess of Beginnings.
No one would deny that this name was currently the hottest topic heating up the Tower.
At first, almost no one believed that grandiose title. Pay a modest fee and any wound gets healed?
But who could have known? That name everyone expected to be forgotten would start circulating among Rankers' lips.
And then, adventurers who had received the Saintess of Beginnings' grace voluntarily gathered and formed a faction of their own.
At that point, one couldn't help but wonder if the rumors were true. And finally, today, the truth was revealed.
"Not only can she use Cure, but at that size…"
"At that level, she might be equal to—or even surpass—Gijeok."
"Heh heh. An interesting NPC has appeared on the Floor of Beginnings."
The spies had completed their mission splendidly. Not only had they witnessed it firsthand—they had even secured video footage.
Thanks to that, the leading High Rankers could clearly witness the massive purifying cross descending from the heavens.
Though they saw the cross from different places, surprisingly most of them reached the same conclusion.
An NPC with that level of power couldn't possibly be a mere Hero NPC.
Her name was Zion, was it?
Same name as the great Saintess from legend. That can't be mere coincidence…!
Hero NPCs were certainly stronger than ordinary NPCs. But they did not possess transcendent power of that magnitude.
That would require an adventurer—at minimum High Ranker level. But according to the reports, she wasn't an adventurer either.
An NPC with power equal to or exceeding a High Ranker. There was only one name for such an NPC.
Legendary NPC…!!!
Was the Great Cataclysm that happened before meant to implement that Legendary NPC?!
It seems Wild Flame was trying to monopolize something this interesting all to herself.
The High Rankers who grasped the truth trembled with excitement. This was the first case of a Legendary-class NPC being implemented in the Tower's entire history.
Of course, some subordinates following the High Rankers still argued for caution, insisting there was no solid evidence yet…
Evidence? Was that really necessary? The transcendent power they had just confirmed with their own eyes was clear evidence enough.
"I heard a heretic has appeared on the Floor of Beginnings."
But surprisingly, there were those who moved faster than the High Rankers. Figures clad in heavy armor and helmets.
Any sharp-eyed adventurer who spotted the emblem on their chests would have fled the scene in an instant.
Heretic Inquisitors. One of the elite armed forces belonging to the Kyodan—and the most extreme and fanatical among them.
"What is a priest who does not belong to the Kyodan?"
"Yes. We are those who entrust our bodies to the darkness to judge heretics. We do not hesitate to stain our hands with blood!"
"Orders have been given. It is time to judge the heretic."
The Kyodan's vicious hunting dogs began moving toward the Floor of Beginnings.