Prologue
Prologue
Two young men were conversing in a corridor with Gothic-style walls, where candles—though some were extinguished—lined the long hallway.
"Is this really the Tower that hasn't been conquered even up to the 50th floor yet? What are the S-ranks doing?"
A warrior, clad in armor that clattered with every move—the kind that looked like it came straight out of a video game—voiced his doubt.
"The boss here is supposed to be that strong, right? They say even A-ranks get knocked down easily, so even S-ranks are hesitant to challenge it."
Responding to that question was an archer, dressed in lighter gear compared to the warrior, wearing a hood and holding a bow—the typical archer you'd see in games.
"Huh? Isn't it dangerous if we don't conquer the Tower? Even if they're selfish, shouldn't the S-ranks be the ones to conquer it?"
"No, but here's the weird thing. They say monsters from this Tower rarely come outside even if it's not conquered."
'Rarely come out' means they still do come out sometimes, right? That's dangerous."
"They say even the monsters that did come out didn't pose much threat and just went back inside?"
"Huh, what's that all about..."
While chatting about this and that, the two young men—no, the two-person raiding party who had entered the Tower—continued walking down the corridor.
"Then do we really have to risk our lives coming here to conquer it? Staking our lives on it?"
"You really don't know anything, do you? They say in this Tower, if you die, you don't actually die; you just wake up outside the Tower, like you've been kicked out. Apparently, that started happening after someone found some sort of element?"
The archer said this while tapping the walls to search for hidden elements. In the process, wallpaper tore and decorative wooden pieces on the wall broke, but that wasn't their concern.
"What's that about?"
"That's the strange part. It's like the Tower is rejecting people..."
"Then why even bother conquering this Tower...?! One monster ahead!"
Clank, clank,
An armor appeared, walking from the end of the corridor.
"A Living Armor!"
"Firing a piercing arrow!"
Kiiing—
As he nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring, the arrow began to glow with green and golden light.
Bang!
He released the string, and the arrow, flying at high speed, pierced straight through the Living Armor's armor and embedded itself in the wall at the end of the corridor.
However, the Living Armor didn't stop walking and continued its approach.
"It didn't work?!"
"Then shoot more!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired three arrows in succession, but the Living Armor just had holes punched through it. As if unharmed, it kept walking.
"Living Armors are undead! So piercing arrows won't work!"
"Then what am I supposed to do!"
"I don't know! Blow it up or something!"
While the two were bickering, the Living Armor had already closed the distance to less than a meter from the warrior.
"Damn it! Pushing it back! Get ready to attack!"
Crash!
The warrior, with his hefty body, armor, and some unknown force mixed in, shoved the Living Armor back.
The Living Armor was pushed back about 4 meters, and the archer, not missing the opening,
Boom!
Fired an explosive arrow. Dust rose thickly from the explosion.
"Fuck! It was way too close!"
The warrior, hit by shrapnel due to being near the explosion, yelled.
"You're tough anyway!"
While they were squabbling, the dust settled, and looking at the spot where the Living Armor had been, only armor debris remained.
"Phew... Luckily we got it."
"If you fire another exploding one when I'm that close, I won't let it slide."
He said this while rummaging through the debris that had become of the Living Armor. A sparkling, gem-like object came out from within the debris. A Magic Stone about the size of a palm. It looked to be around 300 grams.
"The purity of the Magic Stone here is good, huh?"
"Right? Even though the monsters are a bit strong, we don't die and even get high-purity Magic Stones."
Chatting again, the party reached the end of the corridor. Opening the door and entering, a place like a chapel appeared. And there, at the far end, was a petite angel, the kind easily depicted in media.
The angel, with closed eyes, had her hands clasped together as if in prayer. If not for the wings, her appearance would have just seemed like a cute, pretty little girl with unusually white hair.
"...? This is different from the info I knew."
"What do you mean?"
"Up to encountering the Living Armor and opening the door at the end of the corridor to find a chapel, that matches. But they said there would be five Living Armors there, not something with wings like that."
The archer took out his phone and began reviewing the information he had written down.
At that moment, the being that looked like an angel opened her eyes and said,
[Please leave this place.]
"...And if we don't?"
But having already tasted money, they had no intention of leaving.
[...Forced execution will begin.]
Saying that, the angel spread her wings and flew high up. A golden light shone from her eyes, and a golden halo radiated from behind her.
And as she raised her arm toward the warrior, aiming her palm, a golden sphere gleamed in her hand.
"It's coming! Block it!"
The archer shouted at the warrior, and then, a golden flash burst forth from the angel's hand.
The warrior who had been there disappeared. Literally vanished, leaving only a black scorch mark on the floor. Seeing this, the archer,
"This... this wasn't mentioned...! There wasn't a single word about a monster like that!!"
He screamed, as if overcome with fear.
And another golden flash came flying; the archer also vanished like that.
...
The light from the angel's eyes and the halo behind her gradually faded, disappearing completely as she landed softly on the ground.
And the angel, holding the Magic Stone they had obtained earlier from the Living Armor, cried out as if complaining.
"This is not a Tower, it's a Cathedral!"