Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Seo-jin barely regained consciousness and approached the mana anomaly region with Nam-gung Rin's support.
Chiririt-.
The wedge in Seo-jin's hand.
The power of Lunaris dwelling within it rebelled and tried to escape from Seo-jin's grasp.
An ordinary black mage would have suffered great damage from this power close to divine force, but.
"How tingly."
For Seo-jin, who had learned the Primordial Unity Technique, there wasn't much of a repelling effect.
Krrrr-.
As they approached the mana anomaly region, monsters began to reveal themselves one by one.
Creatures whose eyes had degenerated and disappeared due to being accustomed to prolonged darkness.
Not only that, they didn't even have proper skeletal structures.
Due to being exposed to darkness and demonic energy for too long, they had taken on amorphous shadow-like forms resembling greed itself.
Seo-jin said.
"Clear the path for me."
"Leave it to me."
Nam-gung Rin nodded vigorously and launched an attack technique toward the monsters.
[Heavenly Hand Cannon].
Flash-.
From the Five Elements formation drawn in the air, light artillery was created and flew toward the shadows blocking their way.
Kwagwagwa-!
A powerful force that caused brilliant explosions while melting away the shadows.
Since Taoist Arts contained the power of Pasa, they demonstrated greater effectiveness against beings closer to pure demonic essence rather than monsters made of flesh and blood.
At the same time, this wasn't borrowed power from someone else, so even here on the 37th floor, it wouldn't weaken like divine power.
Kwagwagwa-!
Nam-gung Rin advanced forward, subduing the monsters blocking their path one by one.
"Whew, I've defeated them all."
She spoke while wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Seo-jin nodded lightly and headed toward the center of the mana anomaly region holding the wedge.
Glurgle- glurgle-.
From the ley lines, black mana gushed out like oil and spread into the swampland.
This was the runaway power of Lunaris.
Seo-jin drove the wedge in his hand into that ley line.
Puwook-.
Then, with bright light, the black mana that had been gushing out stopped.
But there were no other effects beyond that.
Seeing this, Nam-gung Rin tilted her head.
"I wonder if some additional work is needed?"
"Probably."
According to Rei, a specific ritual had to be performed at the Altar of Balance.
Perhaps that's when this wedge would properly demonstrate its power.
When the wedges that the Reverse Heaven Society had driven in various places exerted their force to purify the dark mana, that power would be supplied to the altar through pipes connected by the strategy team.
And through that power and ritual, they could drive away the darkness from this land and restore the light.
If they cooperated with each other, it would be an efficient and easy quest, but it was difficult because they were fighting each other over limited resources.
"Phew."
Having finished what he needed to do, Seo-jin slowly caught his breath. As the tension released, drowsiness came upon him in an instant.
The price for overusing the Transcending Heaven True Scripture was catching up to him.
"...I'm sleepy. Excuse me for a moment."
When Seo-jin's legs wobbled while being supported, Nam-gung Rin hurriedly moved him nearby and laid him down.
"P-please rest comfortably."
Then she used her techniques to create a small house from earth and wood so Seo-jin could rest comfortably.
Seo-jin fainted as soon as he lay down on the ground.
Seeing this person, who always showed only a strong impression, display such a weak side was quite moving.
Nam-gung Rin looked at him for a moment, then took out a wet towel from her inventory and placed it on his forehead.
It seemed they would have to spend the night in the forest.
***
"Defeat? You?"
The Temple of Solaris where the strategy team was staying.
Ju Won-jae's eyebrows twitched upon hearing Robert's report.
"Yes, it was a complete defeat with no room for excuses."
Robert cleanly acknowledged his defeat without adding further words.
It was true that he had been defeated without even having time to panic and give his all. The environment wasn't suitable for fighting either.
But those were all just excuses. It was his own mistake for underestimating his opponent and misjudging that he could win even in an unfavorable environment.
Ju Won-jae hardened his expression while looking at Robert, who had lowered his head.
It was true that he had sent him to gauge Nova's power.
But he hadn't expected that he would engage in open combat, and he certainly hadn't expected him to lose.
While this 37th floor was an unfavorable environment for those who used divine power, there was an absolute compatibility gap between paladins and black mages.
'A black mage who defeats a paladin.'
Since Ju Won-jae knew Robert's capabilities well, he could tell that Nova's abilities were much stronger than public evaluation suggested.
Perhaps Nova was hiding several portions of his true power. Just like himself.
"......"
His curiosity about that guy grew as much as his displeasure.
While Ju Won-jae was lost in thought for a moment, Robert's report reached his ears.
"And with this defeat, we lost one mana anomaly region."
"I know. Make sure to compensate for the shortfall later. Go and rest."
Robert nodded and headed to his room with heavy steps.
Ju Won-jae turned his head and asked Yelena.
"How's the progress?"
The second objective: inducing ley line mana.
The work of using [pipes] made from Radiance Power to guide the mana from anomaly regions to the Altar of Balance.
"About 80%? It's almost finished."
Although the accumulation of Radiance Power had been delayed due to recent clashes with the Reverse Heaven Society, slowing the supply speed of pipes, preparations for reviving Solaris were proceeding steadily.
"We occasionally clash with those guys, what should we do?"
Seeing them searching for mana anomaly regions, it seemed the Reverse Heaven Society had also entered the second quest.
There would likely be more clashes in the future.
To Yelena's question, Ju Won-jae shook his head.
"Avoid any further individual contact."
"Then the quest progress speed might slow down a bit, is that okay?"
"It doesn't matter. We're not in a time-pressed situation."
There would be no loss even if progress slowed.
Rather, having the strategy team members defeated one by one by that guy would be much greater damage in the long run.
This wasn't simply a matter of losing combat power.
The Frontline Strategy Team composed of the best climbers. The problem was cracks forming in that absolute stronghold.
Yelena nodded as if she had no choice, then clapped her hands as if something had just occurred to her.
"Oh, but according to Rei, the ritual might not proceed with just us alone."
"I've already heard that information."
The Altar of Balance where the third World Quest would proceed. To perform the ritual there, they would need help from Lunaris faction forces.
He even predicted that Rei had likely communicated with the Reverse Heaven Society behind the scenes.
Even knowing that Gu-ren, who went to contact the Reverse Heaven Society, would clash with Nova, Rei had chosen to accompany him silently instead of stopping him.
If Rei had made a move, there was a high probability that the Reverse Heaven Society would also cooperate later.
Therefore, he answered without much worry.
"Once the second quest is completed, let's try executing it with just our power first."
***
Two days later.
The scout teams returned safely to the village one by one.
Since Seo-jin had been unconscious for a full day after his confrontation with Robert, Seo-jin and Nam-gung Rin arrived last.
"You, you sneaky bastard, where have you been and what were you doing, huh?"
Nam-gung Cheon grabbed Seo-jin by the collar and shook him.
Except for Nam-gung Cheon throwing a fit when his sister didn't return for over a day, there were no special incidents.
"Ah, stop! Don't make such a fuss! Why are you grabbing a sick person?"
When Nam-gung Rin kicked her brother's shins repeatedly, Nam-gung Cheon whined and backed away.
Anyway, after various twists and turns, they succeeded in driving three wedges into mana anomaly regions.
Han So-yul, who was in front of the frog monument, brightened her eyes.
"Look. The progress has increased!"
"42 percent?"
"It's increased quite a lot."
"Arithmetically speaking, we just need to drive in four more."
Team members each added a word while looking at the increased progress.
Just as they said, it seemed they would only need to drive in four more.
'The Achievement Points required to make four wedges is 40,000...'
"How many Achievement Points have we accumulated so far?"
To Seo-jin's question, So-yul answered.
"About 10,000. At this rate, we'll finish quickly, right?"
In addition to the 3,000 that Seo-jin had beaten out of Gu-ren and taken, there were 2,400 earned from daily quests over three days.
Plus about 2,000 that the scattered scout teams had gained from conquering dungeons.
Additionally, there were about 2,000 from special quest rewards that Austin and So-yul, who had been in the village, had cleared.
At this pace, there was even a possibility of ascending to the next floor within a month of entering the 37th floor.
Once the estimates were roughly calculated, Francesca brushed off her native clothing and grumbled.
"Can't I take this off now? It's uncomfortable as hell."
"Why, isn't it okay now that you've been wearing it continuously?"
"Like hell."
Although Francesca spoke as the representative, the other team members all seemed eager to take them off as well.
Seo-jin nodded.
"Fine. From today, I permit wearing your original clothing."
Since the upper limit of Achievement Points they needed to accumulate had been confirmed, there was no need to obsess over trivial Achievement Points like before.
Moreover, since securing mana anomaly regions had become a speed battle, using their original items would be more efficient.
Since Lunaris had also acknowledged the Reverse Heaven Society's contributions, they wouldn't give them cold looks over mere clothing.
Team members who had changed back to their original clothes in their respective rooms.
"Ah, I feel like I can live now."
"It's soft, so soft."
All the party members looked happy having changed into clothes that fit perfectly and felt smooth.
Seo-jin smiled while encouraging them.
"Let's continue moving diligently."
***
Two weeks later.
A rocky mountain, one of the few on the 37th floor that was entirely swampland.
And the Altar of Balance that existed at its peak.
Rei, who had been performing ritual ceremonies for the revival of Solaris for some time, shook her head and stepped back.
"It's as I expected. The ritual cannot proceed with only Solaris's Radiance Power."
Simply drawing upon the power of light wouldn't suffice.
What was needed was balance.
The revival ritual of Solaris and the sealing ritual of Lunaris had to be performed together.
Therefore, they needed help from forces that had cleared the Lunaris quest up to the second objective.
The force that best met this condition would naturally be the Reverse Heaven Society, but Ha-yeon pretended not to know and asked Ju Won-jae.
"Is there perhaps a corporate team currently progressing that quest?"
To that question, Ju Won-jae hardened his expression and shook his head.
"There wouldn't be."
Originally, corporate climbers existed to assist the Frontline Strategy Team's ascension.
But lately, their cooperation had been quite unsatisfactory.
Perhaps it was because they hadn't meekly followed Chairman Kwon's proposal to eliminate Nova.
Ju Won-jae frowned while looking at Kwon Ha-yeon, who was making an annoying expression.
"Did you foresee this situation?"
"Well, you could say that."
Ha-yeon shrugged and smiled.
Had Kwon Ha-yeon deliberately given the dungeon conquest rights to the Reverse Heaven Society because she had foreseen this situation and wanted to help?
He had thought it was simply due to her connection with Nova, but it seemed she had her own plan.
'Actually, I was somewhat aware of this as well.'
Back then, he had deliberately acted coldly to maintain the strategy team's discipline.
Ju Won-jae readily apologized for his past criticism of Ha-yeon.
"I apologize for what happened before."
Kwon Ha-yeon was a useful person, so he shouldn't create bad feelings over such trivial matters.
"Not at all. It was something I did independently without explanation. Don't worry about it."
When Ha-yeon waved her hands dismissively, Ju Won-jae nodded.
Then he turned his gaze to Gu-ren beside him.
"Are you the same by any chance?"
Gu-ren, who had been sent to meet Nova but came back having engaged in combat and lost Radiance Power.
Was that defeat also planned?
No matter how he thought about it, that didn't seem to be the case, but he asked out of courtesy.
After pondering briefly, Gu-ren hurriedly nodded.
"Th-that... Yes, that's right!"
It was better to say he had some plan rather than simply admit defeat.
Anyway,
"Rei, do you think they'll cooperate with us?"
"They probably will."
"Then that's settled. I'll try contacting them once."
"You, personally?"
To Ha-yeon's question, Ju Won-jae nodded.
"Yes."
While it was true that the Reverse Heaven Society's existence was bothersome, he had no intention of antagonizing them unconditionally.
He would use what could be used. If they had no use value, it wouldn't be too late to discard them then.
Just as Ju Won-jae made the decision to meet with the Reverse Heaven Society.
Stomp-.
Right then, a group of climbers slowly revealed themselves heading toward where the Altar of Balance was located.
At their head was Nova.
Rather than going to meet them directly, they had come here first.
Thud- thud-.
Nova climbed onto the altar with confident steps.
Then he stopped firmly in place and spoke to Ju Won-jae.
"Why, do you perhaps need our help?"