Chapter 177: 31st Floor: Hero and Villain
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 177: 31st Floor: Hero and Villain
It took a great deal of thought to reach this conclusion.
In fact, it never left my mind, except for when I was having rape sex.
Looking at my status window:
[Civilian Casualties: 8,945]
Up to 10,000 is S-rank. Officially, I'm still at S-rank.
The number had started to increase exponentially once the villains' attack began.
Seeing how the casualties were rising, it wouldn't be long before it surpassed 10,000 and dropped me to A-rank. The threshold for B-rank below that was 50,000, so I didn't need to worry about that.
Setting aside the True and Hidden Endings since nothing was certain yet, if I could get a two-rank boost from the solo play reward and the [Life is a Gamble] trait, my situation wasn't too bad.
If I were to take down Ellie right now and end this, I would be guaranteed an SSS-rank reward.
But... could I do that?
"......."
Her bright smile, the one she always gave me, wouldn't leave my mind.
Her greetings, always telling me I'd worked hard.
The way she walked awkwardly down the street.
Her smile, scattering like flower petals in the wind.
Her trembling hand, when ours accidentally touched...
Pink Spear, the hero of justice who defeated villains for the sake of all.
Eclipse Ellie, the villain who existed for only one person.
Perhaps because all the memories from this possession-type trial had returned, my own memories were mixing in, and emotions were starting to overflow.
Ellie, who I had spent my life with since childhood.
The girl who always followed me around, calling, "Sister! Sister!"
To kill that girl... just to get a higher-rank Tower reward? And as a pawn for that wicked old monster couple?
Ahh... why am I even climbing this Tower?
Is everything for the sake of climbing the Tower?
Why?
To become stronger?
And after I become strong, what am I trying to achieve?
'So I'll never have regrets again...'
So I won't have to feel the sorrow of being too weak, too powerless, too lacking in authority to protect the ones I must.
Isn't betraying Ellie getting my priorities completely backward?
If I abandon my goal and only the process remains, what will be left at the end?
I shouldn't get immersed in the Tower?
Right. That's true.
But this isn't about protecting a character in the Tower.
This is the path I'm choosing so I don't lose my own humanity.
I don't want to become like Baek Do-hyeon or those other bastards from the great guilds who've lost their humanity. I'm sure they weren't like that from the beginning either.
They must have crossed the line, little by little, as they climbed the Tower.
The line of humanity is important.
So this choice is for me to remain myself.
'I... will continue to save the people precious to me.'
In this life, I will not lose anyone ever again.
*
"Die! Dimension Cutter."
He tried to react, but my surprise attack was faster.
Charging with the same momentum I had descending from the sky on horseback, I thrust my spear, imbued with the essence of the Straight Heart One Spear.
CRACK.
A pink light flashed, and in the blink of an eye, his heart and the area around it were torn right out.
'One down. Now I just have to take care of that old monster futa bitch...'
"[Dodge!!]"
"Huh?"
SLICE!
I kicked off and dodged in a hurry, but unfortunately, my Bicorn couldn't get away. No, it probably took the hit for me, since all it had to do was get unsummoned anyway.
"Resurrection...? Ah!!"
The report Ellie gave me said it was difficult for heroes B-rank or higher to turn back time, so I naturally assumed this guy couldn't do it either.
But this guy's body was that of an S-rank hero, one more pathetic than a B-rank. In other words, his body could be restored at will.
"Dammit... what a broken combination of abilities!"
This time, I pierced his heart and head simultaneously.
But, just like rewinding time, his wounds healed completely.
"No..."
"Khahahahahaha!! Die!!"
Dodging the incoming blade, I stabbed him once more.
But his wound closed instantly, without even a delay.
He wasn't skilled enough to even follow the tip of my spear with his eyes, but the power imbued in his sword was considerable.
Even I would suffer a fatal wound if I got hit by that.
His attacks felt as if they ignored all defense.
Other than my spear, which had an indestructible option, I had no way of blocking his sword.
"Hoo... Fine, you want to keep reviving?"
I considered aiming for Chroniel, but I couldn't bring myself to leave a guy like this at my back.
And the heroes surrounding Chroniel all looked capable enough to buy enough time for me to take at least one hit from my spear.
But there was a way.
"Then, just keep dying."
No matter how much of a glass cannon this guy was, Chroniel's power must have a limit.
She herself had said that even healing my body was difficult for her.
Even now, I could see her glaring this way with a frown on her face.
'I just have to kill him until he can't be revived anymore.'
I dodged the sword and thrust.
I shattered his hand, but it returned to normal.
I shattered his sword, but it, too, was restored.
"You little rat... Gack!"
I stabbed him repeatedly, delivering an endless death.
"Looks like you don't have infinite lives, huh?"
I broke him, broke him, and broke him again.
"Let's see how many times you can come back to life."
With me tying him down, the tide of battle turned in our favor.
The villains who had fled saw this scene and rejoined the fight, and Eclipse began to attack Chroniel directly.
"[The enemy leader is pinned down! All units, full-scale attack!! Now is the time for our era to begin!!]"
"Pink Spear was on our side? This is great!"
"Is she really on our side...?"
"The kingdom of us villains is at hand!!"
Villains, always preying on the weak and sucking up to the strong.
They had been running away, but as soon as they saw a chance of victory, they quickly rejoined.
Many of them were suspicious of me, but villains never trusted other villains to begin with. They were only united now because their interests aligned; there was no guarantee they'd get along even if the revolution succeeded.
As if trying to enjoy the moment, they charged forward, driven by the single-minded goal of being the first to fuck the now-alone Chroniel.
However, Chroniel didn't panic.
"Hah... how dare these insects... Chamber, release it."
One of the guards standing next to Chroniel, holding a giant shield, unfurled a large subspace pouch. A rift opened in the air...
And Dimension Cutters came out of it?!
'What is that?'
Three Dimension Cutters, with identical faces and wearing identical black suits, walked out.
"Kill all the villains!!"
"Wait, wha—Guaaaah!!!"
"What is this... Gack!"
The villains at the forefront were all slaughtered.
The movements of the three Dimension Cutters were no different from the original.
"See~ This kind of thing is possible when you can control all of space and time~"
"[You have broken a taboo, Chroniel!!]"
'This is dangerous. So that futa bitch was the main body after all!'
This was not the time for a war of attrition to secure a safe victory.
I had to finish Chroniel.
I had already learned the pattern of his revival.
I grabbed his sleeve, pulled, and then sent him flying with a back kick.
"Keok!"
Watching him fly away, I dashed forward.
'I'll strike the main body.'
BOOM!
Gathering all my strength, I kicked off the ground and charged.
""You shall not pass!!!""
A combined attack from the three Dimension Cutters unfolded before my eyes.
'If I don't break through in one go, it's over.'
A technique I had only practiced but never used in a real fight.
The second form of the Moon God Spear Record.
[Shattering Tide]
Vwoooom!!
The three swords that met my spear were flung away by an unknown repulsive force, their upper bodies thrown off balance.
They'd just revive anyway, so I simply smashed through them with my body.
'Faster...'
It would be dangerous if I got surrounded by the constantly reviving Dimension Cutters and the A-rank heroes.
Faster. I have to go faster!
"Ellie!!!"
"[Sister... go!]"
I leaped high, flying down from the sky as if to impale the ground.
Ellie used her ability to give my spear another push.
[Meteor Spear]
An attack where you fly like a meteor with your spear and crash down on the target. The ultimate suicide technique, going all-in on offense.
Ellie's power and my power became one as I charged fearlessly toward Chroniel.
"Chroniel!!!"
SHWAAAAAAK────!!!
A pink aura lingered in the air like an afterimage.
Where Chroniel was...
I reached her.
KRAAAAAAANG!!!
A powerful explosion sent the surrounding heroes flying.
Where the dust settled, there was Chroniel, her chest pierced by Pink Spear's weapon.
"Cough... H-How..."
Her face was filled with disbelief.
She couldn't believe that her greatest fighting force, which she had gathered for over a hundred years, had been broken through in an instant.
"How? ...I guess the prophecy you saw has come true."
"S-Save... me!!"
SWISH! SWISH!!
Before she could rewind time and revive, I split her completely in half, from head to toe.
Her body, split in half like a flattened frog, was a rather empty and ugly end for the supreme ruler of the city.
"...You bitch!!!"
"How dare you do that to Lady Chroniel!!!!"
"Die!!!!"
The enraged A-rank heroes and Dimension Cutters charged at me.
The first one rushed forward with a giant shield, and I pierced right through him and his shield.
At the same time, a Dimension Cutter jumped from above.
The shield guy must have had an ability that hardened his body, because my spear was stuck. Using the stuck spear as a lever, I kicked off the ground and jumped.
I spun 180 degrees and kicked him square in the jaw. His neck snapped back, killing him instantly.
I immediately summoned my spear in mid-air and slammed it down on the shield hero's head, finishing him off completely.
As I landed, attacks flew at me from all directions.
I dodged only the Dimension Cutter's attacks, smoothly deflecting the rest with the shaft of my spear.
Then I immediately counterattacked. A swift thrust that most of them couldn't even react to.
[Straight Heart One Spear]
Their throats pierced by the overwhelming speed, Chroniel's closest heroes fell one by one.
Chroniel's death didn't seem to break the brainwashing, as all the heroes continued their focused assault.
There were long-range attacks, of course, but also the deadly spatial slashes of the Dimension Cutters weaving between the heroes.
A Dimension Cutter's attack grazed my arm.
His attack was a power that annihilated space itself.
My incredible defense was meaningless as a chunk of my flesh was torn away, and the grazed area wouldn't heal.
'This is tough, even after taking out the main body...?'
The power that old futa bitch had condensed.
She hadn't focused her power only on herself.
Knowing full well that she lacked combat sense, Chroniel had brainwashed heroes with exceptional talent for fighting, made them her own, and continuously strengthened them.
She had been doing this for over a hundred years. She had created an elite force to protect herself, even if it meant turning humans into elixirs.
The heroes charged, disregarding their own lives.
And the Dimension Cutters used them as cover to launch surprise attacks.
In the distance, I could see Ellie and the villains fighting several heroes, including the original Dimension Cutter who was still alive.
I couldn't expect any support.
Simple spear work alone wouldn't be enough to turn the tide...
I feigned an opening.
[Divine Power Release]
As one Dimension Cutter rushed in, I released my divine power on the off-beat. I pierced the heart of the staggered Dimension Cutter.
"Keoheok... Even if I die, you bitch..."
He tried to grab my arm with his bloodied hand and stab me, but I pulled my spear out and backed away before he could even get a grip.
"I'll never forgive you!!"
"You... and you call yourself a hero!!"
The heroes charged at me as if I were the greatest villain of all time, ready to throw their lives away.
I could see their faces, filled with hatred and rage. They rushed at me with bloodshot eyes, tears of blood streaming down their faces.
It was a familiar expression.
To choose someone is to abandon someone else.
But I am no longer weak enough to be swayed by such emotions.
'I'll end this with my own hands!'
Some of them might have been people who fought for justice like true heroes, and some might have been forced to cooperate with Chroniel because they were brainwashed.
Therefore, I will put an end to it with my own hands.
All of it!!
SWOOSH!
I swung my spear in a wide arc, and the heroes' heads flew high into the sky.
And, as expected, a Dimension Cutter charged in, using them as a shield.
I saw it coming.
A way to react faster without retrieving my spinning spear.
I let go of the spear and clenched my fist. I condensed divine power into my arm.
"It's been a while, this technique."
[Valzeta Style Straight Punch]
BOOOOM——————!!
With a sound like the air itself exploding, the Dimension Cutter's body vanished, leaving only his face and part of his legs. A clean hole was punched through him, as if a giant drill had passed through.
Now I didn't have to worry about the Dimension Cutter's surprise attacks.
I caught my spinning spear in mid-air, kicked off the ground, and leaped high.
The heroes had all gathered to get me. I aimed my spear at them.
"Now, rest."
[Meteor Spear Fall]
The spear glowed with a pink light, and...
SWOOOOSH———!
KRA-BOOOOOOM!!!!!!
It slammed into the ground, causing a massive explosion.
Even if any survived, they wouldn't be in any condition to fight.
This side was more or less taken care of. From the air, I surveyed the overall state of the battle.
Ellie was fighting the original Dimension Cutter.
The original Dimension Cutter had piercing wounds all over his body, and his left arm was pinned to the ground by a steel pipe.
Everyone, including me, expected Ellie to finish him off, but...
The Dimension Cutter severed his own left arm and charged.
'No, he's going to...?'
An ordinary person wouldn't be able to do it, but this was a man who had experienced death hundreds, thousands of times.
He charged forward even as steel pipes pierced through his body.
"Dieeeeeee!!"
He leaped, slicing through a chunk of metal falling towards him.
His final, desperate will was aimed at Ellie.
"For the Saintess... revenge!"
"Huh...? No! Ellie!!!"