Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 57
While beating up the assassin, Ha-yeon emerged from the alley.
Seo-jin asked the unwelcome visitor in the dead of night.
"What brings you here at this hour?"
She leaned against the wall and spoke nonchalantly as if she had just happened to drop by.
"The same reason as you."
"Murder?"
GWAK-.
When Seo-jin grabbed the assassin's throat as if he was about to kill him right away, Ha-yeon showed displeasure.
"......Please call it interrogation."
Only then did Seo-jin throw the assassin to the ground.
The assassin rolled on the ground several times, writhing all over his body and coughing as if in pain.
"KEHEUK, HEOEOK."
Seo-jin looked at the assassin sprawled out like an abandoned dog and said indifferently.
"There's no useful information to be gained from interrogating a disposable blade. It's better to just kill him."
"Then what were you doing instead of killing him?"
A faint sneer crossed Seo-jin's lips.
"Venting anger."
"Then I want to do it too."
Ha-yeon approached the assassin without hesitation and started kicking him.
KWAJIK-.
"KEUAAAK!"
With the sound of bones breaking, the assassin's desperate scream echoed through the alley.
"I, I'll tell you everything! So please!"
The assassin began to spill information he knew, begging for his life.
But it didn't work on Ha-yeon.
"Just shut up and stay quiet."
KWAK KWAK-.
After trampling the assassin several times until he fainted, Ha-yeon dusted off her hands as if relieved.
'Now I feel a bit better.'
After hearing about Ella's situation, she had been suffocating as if she had a fireball in her chest, but after venting her anger to her heart's content, her stuffy feeling subsided a little.
Ha-yeon refreshingly swept her hair back and asked Seo-jin.
"What are you going to do next?"
"I'm contemplating."
Seo-jin looked up at the night sky for a moment.
Whether to quietly explore the mine as planned to find the boss monster and expose their conspiracy based on that.
Or to immediately storm into the greenhouse and beat those bastards to death.
'Originally, I was going to go quietly with a straightforward approach, but they finally crossed the line first.'
Seo-jin examined the poison he had taken from the assassin in detail.
'With this amount... they must have been planning to kill all the people in this district.'
An assassination attempt that would have put not only Tito's family but all the poor people in this district in danger.
This was enough to break Seo-jin's patience.
Seo-jin clenched his fist and chuckled.
'Right, I've been too lenient with my body lately.'
Since when was he an apostle of justice?
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth - that was Seo-jin's way.
If only Ha-yeon and Ella agreed, there would be nothing to hesitate about.
This was one of the reasons he moved under the alias of Supernova.
Seo-jin turned to Ha-yeon and tested her intentions.
"What method do you think would be good?"
"Why ask? I want to go and cause a ruckus right now."
Ha-yeon confidently placed her hand on her waist.
Seo-jin smiled bitterly at that sight.
'Of course.'
Where would that tomboy-like personality go?
Having heard the answer he wanted, Seo-jin grinned.
"Does Ella know?"
Apart from the two climbers, Ella, being a native, was in a position where she had to move while considering political repercussions and cleanup.
To this, Ha-yeon smiled behind her mask and answered.
"Which is better for cleanup - knowing or not knowing?"
As if she had read Seo-jin's thoughts, it was an answer that pleased him greatly.
Either way was fine, but notifying Ella after the fact would help protect her position.
Seo-jin asked as if confirming one last time.
"Don't you have a spare mask?"
To Seo-jin's question, Ha-yeon answered with a smile.
"I have one that fits perfectly."
***
The quiet night of Primgard was torn apart.
DAENG DAENG DAENG-.
The emergency bell rang loudly.
Uninvited guests had barged into the 'greenhouse', Primgard's important food production base.
"In, intruders!"
"Who is it at this hour?"
"Call the guards!"
The guards who had been sleeping rushed out in a panic at the sound of the emergency bell.
What the guards saw were masked figures visible beyond the flames of the burning greenhouse.
They were figures wearing rabbit and wolf masks respectively.
From the outside, they looked like shabby guys just playing with masks.
"EUAK!"
"Save me!"
But with just one gesture from the intruders, several people were easily knocked down, so the guards' strength alone was insufficient to stop them.
CHAREUREREU-.
Seo-jin used Black Chain to grab and throw the guards around while lost in thought.
'As the Tower floors get higher, the monster levels also tend to get higher.'
Proportionally, the natives' levels are also set higher than lower floors, but this isn't an absolute rule and the standards vary by floor.
Moreover, natives of floors in poor conditions like Primgard tend to have weaker health compared to other floors.
Seo-jin and Ha-yeon blew away the guards and advanced like a bamboo being split.
Realizing the situation was serious, the three families pulled out their trump card.
CHEOLKEONG- CHEOLKEONG-.
Lost Technology - steam knights made with ancient technology that is now lost blocked their path with heavy sounds.
Steam and mana light spewing out from the gaps in the heavy steel armor.
PUSHWI-.
These steel knights were the greatest contributors who made it possible to subjugate the monsters that lived in this land long ago and build the Citadel.
For ordinary climbers, they were not opponents to take lightly.
However.
KWAREUNG-.
Not in front of Seo-jin.
When black lightning struck and exploded, the steel knights immediately stopped operating and became scrap metal.
'Mechanical devices with inferior technology that operate on mana.'
There was no toy easier for Seo-jin to handle than that.
He didn't even need to use force - just frying a few key mana circuits would end it.
The intruders continued to advance like splitting bamboo, destroying the greenhouse even after breaking their trump card, the steel knights.
Faced with this unexpected crisis, the 'corporate' climbers stationed at Primgard pulled out their magic tools.
"This is an abnormal situation. Contact the team leader."
"First, we buy time."
These were the corporate dogs colluding with the three families.
Although they blocked the way, they were insufficient to stop the two.
There was no way climbers at the level of staying on the 10th floor could subdue Seo-jin and Ha-yeon.
And that chaotic scene.
[...]
Two beings were silently watching from the snowy field overlooking the Citadel.
It was Bjarnir, the giant white bear who was the 10th floor administrator, and Nimrod, the Tower administrator.
Bjarnir asked Nimrod with concern.
[Administrator, won't you intervene?]
The administrator's role is to prevent high-level climbers from destroying the ecosystem of lower floors.
Actions that cross the predetermined line of causality are grounds for administrator intervention and elimination.
But Nimrod shook his head with interest, his blue eyes gleaming.
[That doesn't seem necessary.]
However, this incident was different.
Their violent actions were a process of solving problems arising from wrong contracts between Tower natives and outsiders.
Rather, it could be seen as contributing to correcting the distorted rules of the Tower.
Crucially, it didn't greatly violate level restrictions.
'Of course, Kwon Ha-yeon, that climber called the Saintess, is a being who exceeds twice the average level of 100 on this 10th floor.'
If she were to use her power recklessly, that would be grounds for administrator intervention regardless of causality.
But she wasn't properly using the power she possessed, and since Lee Seo-jin's level, who was acting with her, was significantly below the 10th floor's average level, there was no major problem.
While their combined strength was too powerful for the natives to handle, the level gap between the two created a strange balance that didn't violate Tower rules.
Moreover, they weren't massacring natives but subduing them by beating them up, so it seemed fine to leave them alone.
'By the way, that man keeps breaking my expectations.'
Nimrod narrowed his eyes while watching Seo-jin from afar.
A being who pioneers his own path without seeking help from great existences.
That wasn't the only thing bothering him.
Somehow he seemed connected to Circe, the 3rd floor administrator, and appeared to know about the demons above.
Also, while he looked like a heartless black mage on the surface, he actually got angry at the crisis of the poor and actively stepped forward to save them from injustice.
Being closest to darkness yet having an infinitely good foundation.
He couldn't help but be a mysterious person.
'If it's him......'
Nimrod, who had been lost in thought for a moment, turned his gaze away from him and said to Bjarnir.
[I'll be going now. I'll leave the rest to you.]
[Leave it to me.]
Hearing that answer, Nimrod was about to leave when he suddenly clapped his hands as if remembering something important.
[Ah, a high-level climber might visit here soon. Even if they do something that violates Tower rules, please don't intervene.]
Nimrod had noticed the movement of a climber rapidly approaching the 10th floor.
This being, emanating strong power and terrible killing intent, was certainly the 'backing' that Primgard's three families trusted.
Letting him rampage on the lower floors was dereliction of duty in some ways.
SSIK-.
'It's no fun if things go too smoothly either.'
This was also just the appearance of a storm due to a butterfly's wing flaps. It didn't violate causality.
And sometimes such entertainment was necessary.
Nimrod decided to test Seo-jin's abilities and Ha-yeon's decisions.
[......I accept your command.]
The white bear Bjarnir politely bowed toward Nimrod's retreating figure as he disappeared into mana particles.
***
Meanwhile, inside the greenhouse was chaos.
"Block them, I said block them! Kill those damn bastards!"
The voice of a fat noble shouting at the guards echoed hollowly.
As the intruders pushed through like splitting bamboo to the central part of the greenhouse, the leaders of the three families fled in terror to an underground shelter through a secret passage.
They caught their breath only after arriving at the safe underground bunker.
"HUU, HUU."
This was the last fortress designed to last for years even if the Citadel was completely destroyed, with years' worth of food and water, and massive amounts of mana stones and fuel stockpiled.
Of course, all of this was the result of embezzling support supplies from the Climber Association and exploiting citizens over the past few years.
Their comfortable refuge was a space made from the blood, sweat, and lives of Primgard citizens.
One cunning noble asked anxiously.
"What on earth is happening? Huh?"
"Didn't I always tell you to be careful! That outsiders are dangerous beings."
"Don't tell me the assassination failed? That stupid bastard. He can't handle even one job!"
Due to the urgent situation, voices were raised for a moment, but they soon calmed down.
Handling the immediate situation was the priority.
"It's too late to argue about that now. Can you contact them?"
"Yes, the corporate outsider said he's coming to help. He's supposed to be very strong. Once he comes, everything will be resolved."
"There's no problem as long as we stay in the bunker."
They comforted each other as if trying to shake off their anxiety.
They hadn't recklessly started this without any preparation.
All of this was done trusting in solid backing.
As long as the outsider's giant corporation was watching their backs, those guys would never have the last laugh.
TEOEONG-.
Then, the bunker's door vibrated greatly from an impact.
Those bastards had finally reached this place!
The nobles were startled for a moment but soon sighed in relief.
KWAANG- KWAANG-!
Despite the continued impacts, the bunker's iron door held firm.
'This iron door is absolutely impenetrable.'
With a thickness of 50 centimeters, it was a door designed to withstand even mana explosions from engine overloads.
No matter how great the outsider's power, it would be impossible to break that door before their corporate backing arrived.
"It's solid."
As the nobles expected, Seo-jin, standing in front of the iron door, showed difficulty.
After pounding on it several times, the iron door only rang slightly but didn't budge.
Seo-jin's magic was magic that analyzed the opponent's mana and targeted weaknesses to exert maximum power.
If it was a living target, he could defeat even enemies with a significant gap, but it was useless for destroying structures like this.
Of course, structures also had mana flow and grain, so he could find and attack weak points, but the efficiency was extremely poor.
Consequently, he couldn't break it with his current mana.
Then Ha-yeon, wearing the rabbit mask, stepped forward.
"Leave this to me."
UUUEONG-.
At the same time as those words, brilliant divine power began to condense in her white-gloved hands.
Soon, divine power strong enough to shake the atmosphere gathered in her fist.
Then her unhesitating punch reached the tightly closed iron door.
TTEOENG-!
A tremendous shockwave occurred.
And.
KIIIIIK-.
With the sound of the nobles' faith shattering, the heavy iron door crumpled like paper and fell inward.
Through the wide-open door, the interior of the bunker was fully revealed.