The Response to Desperation
Purple sparks crackled between my small hand and the barrier. A massive thunderclap tore through the air.
The instant the enormous shield vanished, the dagger in my hand targeted the giant's eye. I plunged the Starfall Dagger into the giant's eye, and almost simultaneously touched its forehead, completing the cast.
[2-level Control]
Abyssorium
A terrifying pressure manifested, crushing the giant's head. The giant's head turned into a mass of purple flesh and it toppled backward.
Landing on the ground after leaping from the giant's body, I saw Mr. Triman staring blankly at me, still holding his daughter.
"My god... To fell a primordial giant..."
"'Tis nothing. More importantly..."
I was about to say we needed to extinguish the fires blanketing the city when Mr. Triman looked toward the giant with a face full of despair.
"Ah, aaaah...!"
From the rift the giant had emerged from, a new giant was appearing.
My heart pounded wildly at the arrival of this new foe.
"It seems the world's consideration has a rather twisted personality..."
Grip tightening on the Starfall Dagger.
"Flee now, while thou canst, Guide."
I shook my head at the village chief's words, who had approached unnoticed.
"I've felled one; two should be no trouble."
The chief smirked at my words.
"Even thou, marked by the stain of killing, art no different from the previous Guide."
"What? Didst thou meet Lee Han?"
The chief shook his head.
"We know only that the previous Guide led us underground amid the calamity that descended upon the surface."
"......"
Frowning as I regarded the chief.
"That guy was older than he looked, wasn't he?"
"Heh heh, Guides are unbound by time and space; 'tis beyond my knowing."
"Is that so..."
Behind the blazing second giant, a third emerged.
"...This might be tricky."
Now I understood why this floor's mission was simply survival.
"Naught but to die here or hold them off."
Behind the chief, a blue barrier shimmered. Inside it, I could see the faces of the villagers who had fled.
"Ah, this village has nowhere left to run."
The surface was overrun by hordes of massive wraiths; truly, no escape.
"Still, two at once will be tough..."
The first I'd beaten through surprise and ambush, but two would be no easy kill.
Suddenly, I spotted Lea inside the barrier, breathing raggedly.
"Even so, I cannot abandon them. Abandonment is something I simply cannot do..."
As I muttered to myself, children came running from ahead. A massive boulder flew toward them from above.
"Chief, handle the ether capture. The ether here's too scarce for high-level magic."
"Worry not and rampage freely. I'll support thee."
A massive magic circle etched itself across the cavern ceiling, and fierce winds howled around us. Biting my lip until it bled as I dashed through the ether gale.
[1-level Projection]
Double Shot
I shattered the incoming boulder with two ether shots, and the children screamed as they dove into the barrier.
"Flee deeper inside, you brats!"
The fleeing children exchanged panicked words at my shout.
"Climber?"
"Th-the chief called her Guide!"
"That kid?"
"Just ruuuun!"
Taking a deep breath, I felt massive ether coiling in my ether core.
'This chief's ether capture is a true art.'
The fading starlight sparkled anew, the ebbing waves surged fiercely once more.
Life had never been precious in my existence.
Thus, I acted as I always had today.
Yuri sat in the vast living room, gnawing her sharp nails with her teeth.
"It's been a week, right?"
"Yeah... Got summoned by the Tower Alliance because of it..."
"A week on the 9th floor~ Something's definitely up~"
"Yeah, her clear times before were in the 10-minute range, so something's wrong for sure."
"What~? 10 minutes? That's..."
Yuri scratched her head. Her tablet still picked up Eunha's vital signs—she was active.
"Good thing the Novatech bracelet has tracking."
"Yeah... At least we know she's alive."
"So~ why'd she try to climb five floors at once?"
"......"
Monica made a pouty face.
"I never told her to push that hard! I said check her status and climb safely!"
"Hypnotized by talk of a 10th-floor artifact~?"
Monica nodded at Yuri's words.
"Probably."
"That kid~ Already has the Starfall Dagger and still so greedy."
"Right?! Our little one's got this obsession—if she decides, she will do it."
"True~ She's weirdly inflexible that way."
Yuri giggled, wagging her shark tail. The tablet showed a calm vital graph.
"Ether's low, but this looks fine~ Probably hiding in a safe spot or angling for escape~"
"How hard can the 9th floor be..."
Monica sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"Well, better than wild spikes... "
Before Yuri finished, the graph spiked wildly.
"Ah..."
Monica shot Yuri a resentful glare.
"N-no~ I didn't cause it by saying that~"
Monica clutched her hands tight, staring at the tablet.
"Agh, shoulda made her master 3-level spells before sending her."
"Come on~ Not the 19th, the 9th—what's a 3-level spell for?"
"Our kid's Abyss is different! You saw the foundation too, Yuri!"
"......"
Yuri blinked silently, at a loss.
Beep—beep—
The danger alert from the tablet made them freeze, eyes glued to it. The thrashing graph was the only sign time passed.
I blinked wearily at the two still-standing giants.
"Haa... haa..."
My fingertips were already purpled, blood trickling from my head where the rock had hit.
'This is 5th-grade...'
Just two grades above the 3rd-grade from the 3-level test, yet they felt like entirely different creatures. The first kill had been pure luck, hammered home to my bones.
'They won't give me distance.'
The giants only hurled rocks from afar or swiped with their long arms. No space for Reverse Flow.
My battered body creaked under the strain.
'Right, I lack destructive single-target spells.'
Wave of Stars, Salvo, Abyssorium—all were wide-area firepower, inefficient against one foe. I racked my brain, needing precision strikes.
'A bit more... Just a bit more and I could kill one.'
But they gave no openings.
'...Can't last much longer.'
Villagers still fled amid burning houses. Blazing city overlapped with burning huts in my vision.
[Son! At least you escape!]
A hallucination rang out, vertigo hitting. Blood loss? Ether poisoning? Indistinguishable.
One thought surfaced.
'I vowed to become a shining Guide all could see.'
Thus, I swore to become a mage who crushes with overwhelming power.
So this was nothing.
[3-level Enhancement]
Stella Maris
[3-level Enhancement]
Stella Maris
Ether-addled body stacking enhancement spells, I charged. The giant, trying to widen the gap, lost balance.
Its purple barrier shattered under a massive lightning strike.
"Go, Guide!"
Hearing the chief's shout, I drove my fist forward.
Boom—
The burning giant's face crumpled like it'd been hit by a truck.
"Got it! Now the other—!"
In a flash, the other giant's hand snatched me.
Whoosh—
Air ripped with the sound. Consciousness flickered.
"Guh—"
Agony as breath stopped. When I came to, I tumbled across the dirt.
"Cough cough!"
Even breathing hurt everywhere. Ribs surely cracked.
'Just 5th-grade does this? What kind of grading is this—feels over 100 times stronger than 3rd.'
Thud—thud—
Vibrations rose from the ground. The remaining giant approached the chief's barrier.
"No..."
That monstrosity would smash the barrier effortlessly.
"Cannot let that happen..."
As I rose, the Abyss's voice echoed.
[9th Floor Clear Mission]
[Survive for 24 hours]
[Time Remaining: 22:03:11]
[Reward: 9th Floor Clear]
"I know! But I want to protect them—what can I do?!"
Suddenly, brilliant light erupted behind me—from the shattered Lee Han statue.
"......?"
The world turned white. Ether around me vanished.
Before me stood only the massive Lee Han statue.
"Lee Han?"
No reply. I approached the statue in the white void, assessing.
New words were etched clearly on it, unseen before.
I am near to those who earnestly beseech.
The response to those who truly yearn.
The Guide of all seekers.
"......"
Standing over my throbbing body in the white space, I vaguely sensed someone's presence.
"Art thou the 'One' Ella spoke of?"
No answer.
"Why am I Lee Han's successor? What purpose does a Guide serve? Whom must I lead, and whither?"
No replies to my barrage. Only relief and vague longing gazing at the statue.
"Ah?"
The statue had become me. A girl striking a grave pose, extending a metal staff.
"......"
Speechless. The silent statue conveyed much through presence alone.
I'd always taken what I wanted, done what I willed. Hoping it aligned with heaven's justice, not living by others' commands.
"Right. It matters not who thou art."
I acted on desire, thus stood at the fore.
Standing at the fore made me Guide.
Thus, my Guide is free, purposeless.
Seizing the statue's staff, the world flipped.