Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Reverence
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A vessel radiating purple light.
Kankun's pupils trembled faintly as he gazed at the holy relic clutched in Park Chan-woo's hand.
It wasn't something frail humans could possibly retrieve.
'How?'
Kankun knew that a mid-tier holy relic was hidden where the layer guardian lurked.
But the layer guardian was a monster no one could defeat without his help.
Could they have faced that beast and taken the relic?
'...No way.'
Impossible.
It was a monster so overwhelming that even surviving against it for a single second would be a miracle for any human.
The mana it exuded was palpable even to Kankun from afar.
Its intense power prickled his skin, still threatening him in this very moment.
Yet there was no mistaking it.
What Park Chan-woo held was unmistakably a "mid-tier mana holy relic."
The one guarded directly by the layer guardian.
'And it's not just the relic they retrieved.'
Even more unbelievable was what came next.
'......They all returned alive.'
They looked utterly exhausted, but not a single one had fallen behind.
All fifty humans had made it back safely.
And at their center stood Park Chan-woo.
"Did you overcome the death magic alright?"
Before long, Park Chan-woo stood right before Kankun.
His fearless gaze and expression in the face of the orc were the epitome of arrogance.
Yet he had kept his promise and proven his worth.
"......How did you manage to retrieve it?"
"It was a tough one."
Park Chan-woo shrugged casually.
He had studied the strategies for conquering the Tower of Arrogance to some extent.
The tower was infamous for its chaos and endless tales, leaving detailed records of climbs up to the 8th floor.
Kankun eyed him with disbelief.
"It must have been riddled with countless barriers and traps..."
"Came close to dying a few times."
A nonchalant tone.
But in truth, he'd nearly died about three times.
Two of those were situations where total annihilation wouldn't have been surprising.
'The conditions to evade the layer guardian's detection were trickier than expected.'
The mana-infused beasts inhabiting the 1st floor.
By skinning them, flipping the hides inside out, and wearing them, they could slip past the layer guardian's senses—as long as they didn't get too close.
And once they evaded its detection, crossing the barriers became feasible.
The real problem was the traps lining the path to the relic.
Any loud commotion would alert the guardian, sealing their doom the instant it noticed.
That was why Park Chan-woo had led the Seoul Alliance members.
Disarming or avoiding traps took time.
It was a trial that demanded the combined strength of many.
And risking their lives for the mid-tier relic wasn't just because of the bet with Kankun.
'The moment Kankun hunts the layer guardian, the mid-tier relic vanishes.'
Mid-tier relics were normally only obtainable from the 5th floor and above.
Though one existed on the 1st floor, it was only valid while the layer guardian lived.
In the past, no one knew this condition.
They could only watch helplessly as the relic evaporated before their eyes.
Park Chan-woo glanced at Kankun's chest and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"But... it looks like you couldn't overcome it, Kankun."
The area around Kankun's heart was stained pitch black.
Proof that his life was fading.
In the end, Kankun hadn't overcome the death magic on his own.
Just as expected.
If he could have, he would have done so long ago.
"......"
Kankun fell silent.
He had nothing to say, even if he had ten mouths.
No matter how he struggled, the death magic held firm.
It was embedded in his heart, slowly killing him.
Meanwhile, the humans—especially Park Chan-woo—had triumphed.
'It wasn't just bravado.'
He'd promised victory.
...Kankun had dismissed it as nonsense.
So he'd assumed they couldn't possibly retrieve it.
He hadn't even imagined such an outcome.
Yet Park Chan-woo had overcome the impossible.
He'd proven himself just as boldly proclaimed.
But Kankun had not.
Park Chan-woo shook the relic toward him.
"Placing this relic on the display case should dispel the 'death magic,' right? Is that what you want?"
He meant it literally.
One mid-tier relic held the value of dozens of lowest-tier ones.
The moment it was placed, the death magic would vanish like mist.
If he wanted to live, he'd have to beg for it.
"......Never place it there."
But Kankun shook his head.
He couldn't possibly do it.
His pride as a warrior wouldn't allow it.
Better to die than accept pity from a human.
Kankun hardened his expression.
"And the promised time hasn't elapsed yet."
About 21 hours had passed out of 23.
Only around 2 hours remained.
But Kankun kindled his final resolve.
He couldn't admit defeat so pathetically.
Right after Kankun began his ordeal.
They were resting far away from him.
"Whoa... my whole body aches."
"Surviving and coming back is a miracle in itself, isn't it?"
"I couldn't move again even if you beat me to death!"
Most collapsed straight onto the ground.
A few passed out on the spot.
The aftermath of the forced march.
They'd pushed their bodies and minds to the limit, so it was only natural.
A string of situations where one small mistake could have killed them all.
Surviving was a miracle.
"......"
Im Chang-yeol watched Park Chan-woo with a strange look.
'Park Chan-woo... he acted like he knew everything.'
It felt like the entire thing was orchestrated by him.
From start to finish, everything flowed exactly as he wanted.
He'd provoked Kankun into the bet, mobilized Im Chang-yeol and the Seoul Alliance, and seized the mid-tier relic.
Even the retrieval process was no small feat.
'Bold ideas, bold execution. Where did this guy come from?'
First off, suggesting they kill the 1st-floor beasts, wear their inverted hides—that was ingenious.
It was a hunter's trick to confuse prey, but the layer guardian wasn't ordinary game, was it?
Moreover, Park Chan-woo had volunteered to demonstrate.
He'd crossed into the guardian's barrier alone, convincing the others.
His audacity in executing his ideas without hesitation was awe-inspiring.
Not just anyone could do that.
How many could charge into the unknown staking their lives?
If it were him, could he?
'No.'
Im Chang-yeol shook his head inwardly.
At least he valued his own life.
But not Park Chan-woo.
The guy acted like there was no tomorrow.
It had all miraculously clicked into place smoothly, but one slip-up would've sent them straight to the afterlife.
No matter how he thought about it, Park Chan-woo was the type who wouldn't live long.
......That said.
But if, by some chance, he survived long-term.
'A great man. One who carves his name into history.'
He might become someone recorded in the annals.
If there were such things as great men, this was the type.
Of course, only if he survived.
Im Chang-yeol had never seen reckless types like this last long.
"......What happens if Kankun dies like this?"
Suddenly, Kim Byung-han asked with a pale face.
If Kankun failed to overcome the death magic?
If he refused to display the relic they'd risked so much for, what was the point?
Park Chan-woo replied casually.
"The Tower of Arrogance ends, and we're all kicked out."
"After all this hell?"
"He'll overcome it."
Kim Byung-han furrowed his brow.
He didn't know the source of that confidence, but Park Chan-woo's words had never been wrong so far.
"...Fine, let's watch and see."
Whatever happens, happens, he thought, sprawling on the floor.
He too was exhausted from the march.
If wrong, he could chew him out later.
Rest came first.
'He won't overcome it unless he changes.'
But contrary to his words, Park Chan-woo thought the opposite.
Kankun feared magic.
He shunned the Death Witch.
No way he'd conquer that terror in this short time.
He might never overcome it.
At death's door, he'd have no choice but to rely on the relic.
But that wasn't the ending Park Chan-woo wanted either.
If Kankun couldn't stand on his own, climbing the tower would end in defeat anyway.
'Magic isn't something to fear or loathe, Kankun.'
...I can't lose.
To some puny human.
To magic of all things!
'I am the great Orc Master Kankun.'
A being exalted and revered by all.
An absolute existence who knew no defeat.
There was nothing in this world he couldn't conquer.
'Those who bow to magic aren't warriors?'
That human brat.
Park Chan-woo had said it.
Giving up here would mean admitting he wasn't a warrior, just as the human claimed.
'I am a warrior. The greatest warrior there is!'
Grinding his teeth, Kankun channeled energy into his heart.
He'd strained desperately to overcome the magic, but each time, visions of the Death Witch Adora haunted him.
The magic she wielded was truly wondrous.
A type and power he'd never encountered.
She'd shattered his sword in an instant and seized his heart.
'Magic is... loathsome and ominous.'
Yet sword and magic couldn't coexist.
Orcs especially couldn't wield magic.
It was always seen as an ill omen to them.
Kankun was no different.
He'd been raised with the same teachings from birth.
In fact, his aversion to magic was stronger than most orcs.
"What do you think magic is?"
It was then.
Out of nowhere, Park Chan-woo appeared.
"......I told you not to disturb me."
Kankun scowled.
He'd warned everyone away just an hour ago.
Park Chan-woo ignored him and said what he wanted.
"Is magic manifesting complex formulas with mana? Or just phenomena hard to comprehend? Or maybe a sinister force used only by sinister beings?"
"What are you getting at?"
"You use magic too."
"Nonsense! I don't touch that crap."
"Does the sword aura you wield not seem like magic to you?"
"Sword aura is the pinnacle, the ultimate technique only masters of the realm can achieve."
"No, that's magic too."
Park Chan-woo denied it.
Anything invoking mana was magic.
Sword aura was merely mana infused in the blade taking tangible form.
It was just hard without fixed formulas—infusing objects with mana and shaping it.
Masters did it instinctively through vast experience.
"Hah. By your logic, everything in the world is magic."
Kankun snorted.
Not worth hearing more.
If Park Chan-woo were an ordinary human, he'd have crushed his skull already.
"Kankun, great warrior. Magic is nothing special."
Park Chan-woo nodded as he spoke.
He'd realized it facing the dragonkin and Dragon God Sepiro.
Magic truly was nothing special.
Everything in this world was magic.
Thus.
"Don't overcomplicate it or fear it. Magic is dispelled only by magic, so slice it away as naturally as you wield your sword aura."
Magic was perception.
The power of words, the realm of belief.
You couldn't dispel magic by denying it.
Only those who wielded it could counter it.
Easier said than done, of course.
Especially for Kankun, it would be profoundly difficult.
Without enlightenment or a trigger to shift his perception, it wouldn't change.
"Strange. You're no mage, are you?"
Kankun said.
To him, this human wasn't a mage.
Park Chan-woo neither confirmed nor denied.
"Orc priest Yan told me."
Just a little white lie.
Mention of his kin softened Kankun's expression slightly.
"......A mad orc."
"Even as a lich, Yan guarded the altar and the warriors' souls."
"Even as a lich...?"
"That's how he overcame death. A true great warrior, isn't he?"
Becoming a lich meant using dark magic.
An orc wielding magic.
Of course, Yan had been forced into it.
To fulfill his role as gatekeeper of Han Shin's arrangements.
But with a dash of embellishment, Yan's will was real.
And such a tale could shock someone deeply.
A normal human saying it might get dismissed or scoffed at.
But Park Chan-woo wasn't normal.
He'd boldly bet against the Orc Master, turned impossible into possible, and carried the souls of countless orcs.
"A great warrior, an orc wielding magic..."
Brr!
For a fleeting moment, Kankun's body shuddered.
A tiny shift, yet the greatest recognition of his life.
Kankun closed his eyes.
'I'm using magic too.'
What was magic?
Was the prejudice that orcs couldn't use it making him overthink?
If sword aura was magic, then he was both warrior and mage.
If priest Yan had wielded death magic and overcome it, then Orc Master Kankun surely could too.
'Magic dispels magic.'
Kankun invoked his mana.
Soon, sword aura formed within his body.
'Slice the heart with sword aura...'
An idea he'd never consider normally.
But now, he was in the realm of enlightenment.
Everything in the world was magic, perfectly natural.
Thus, Adora's death magic was nothing special either.
'This isn't sword aura. It's magic. My conviction, my will.'
Don't overcomplicate, don't fear.
Kankun raised a sword in his mind.
And slowly, he severed his heart.
'Ah!'
Rumble!
The walls crumbled.
Adora's death magic was severed from his mind.
But it wasn't enough.
Death loomed too close to cleave in one stroke.
'Regrettable...'
He'd gained enlightenment, but too late.
If only a bit more time.
If only he'd realized sooner!
'Still, I'm no longer afraid.'
Kankun accepted death.
Magic, the Death Witch Adora—no longer fearsome.
...It was then.
Flower of Life
Devouring the encroaching death...
Whoosh!
Light pierced the darkening world.
Opening his eyes, Park Chan-woo's hand glowed brightly.
Then the Flower of Life bloomed, beginning to devour the death surging toward him.
'This power... the power that devours death...!'
...Was it a dream?
No human could possess such power.
It was divine might forbidden to mortals.
How could a mere human wield what even Kankun dared not dream of?
That was as far as Kankun's consciousness went.
In his fading awareness, he gazed at Park Chan-woo.
Now, he had no choice but to admit it.
His defeat.
But the eyes reflecting Park Chan-woo held more than admission of defeat.
Unmistakable reverence dwelled in them.