Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Tower of Wrath (2)
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‘...He’s out.’
Lee Sang-hyun was determined to kill Arhim, who had crawled out of Brasilia.
But unexpectedly, Nameless stood in his way. Nameless told Lee Sang-hyun that he had to climb the black tower.
‘Even after killing Arhim, I could still conquer the tower... but he specifically mentioned the tower, which means... there’s no time.’
That was the only explanation. Otherwise, there’d be no reason for him to intervene.
Then another thought crossed his mind.
‘...Maybe Arhim is even stronger than I think. Kaguya even won against him by sheer luck.’
Kaguya was strong. She wielded power so awe-inspiring that calling her half-human, half-god wouldn’t be out of place.
However, that power was based on ‘clouds,’ rendering it useless against Lee Sang-hyun... Had it been anyone else, she could have destroyed not just nations but entire continents.
‘......’
After careful deliberation, Lee Sang-hyun decided to follow Nameless’s advice.
‘...Let’s tackle the black tower first. He’s insane enough to trigger a monster wave artificially... Who knows what he might have done to the tower.’
Having made his decision, Lee Sang-hyun entered the black tower towering over Brasilia.
Shoooo!!
‘Explosion!’
Nameless had been right once again.
The time until the Tower of Wrath exploded was a mere 3 hours.
Kwajik!!!
The Mark of Death shattered. The ones he’d placed on the hatchling pythons... They had broken upon the hatchlings’ deaths.
“How dare you?!”
The bewilderment and rage Arhim felt in that instant were unprecedented in their ferocity.
「Open.」
Arhim used the ‘vitality’ he had stolen from the trash to head straight to the breeding grounds.
And there, he beheld the breeding grounds utterly destroyed.
‘......’
The breeding grounds should have been filled with endless despair and rage... Yet they stood empty and desolate.
The hatchling pythons, meant to be the cornerstone of America’s downfall and humanity’s extinction, could not be revived even with elixirs.
The managers, no better than trash themselves, had all died, reduced to refuse worse than trash.
Paduduk!!
「Rise at once.」
Arhim didn’t hold back his fury. He used the stolen vitality to summon the souls of the dead into his grasp.
Deobseok!!
「Kia... Aaaak...!!」
The souls’ screams were a horrific tangle of sorrow, rage, and resentment.
Just listening quietly filled the heart with gloom, rotting it away, and threatened to tear the eardrums.
Yet Arhim pressed on. He seized the wailing soul and forcibly pried open its skull.
「Show me what you saw.」
Buddle buddle...!!
Terrified, the soul succumbed to Arhim’s wrath and confessed every event it had witnessed without omission.
But it lacked the information Arhim sought. So it was discarded like trash.
「Show me what you saw.」
Beureureu...!!
Arhim kept summoning the souls of the dead until he got what he wanted.
「Ah... Aah... Ah...」
How many souls were pitifully discarded like that? Finally, the information Arhim desired emerged.
“...What the hell? This monkey bastard.”
But it was nothing like Arhim had expected.
Because it wasn’t Jack Roar or Justice who appeared, but an ‘Easterner.’
An Easterner whose identity was unknown...
An Easterner he couldn’t even imagine.
“...Is the world going mad?”
Thus, his bewilderment outweighed his rage.
The place where Lee Sang-hyun opened his eyes was a house. A family home suitable for about four people, but it wasn’t ordinary.
Aside from its faded colors from age, it was distinctly ‘alien.’
Like a house from another world, not Earth? It felt completely different from any home in the East or West.
‘...Someone’s here.’
Lee Sang-hyun sensed it through his domain of senses.
Dugeun. Dugeun.
The presence was close. Just open the door right in front, and their eyes would meet.
‘...The vibe is chilling.’
But the door exuded a strong sense that it must not be opened. His survival instincts warned against it.
Dugeun. Dugeun. Dugeun.
Yet his right hand gripped the doorknob on its own. Resistance was impossible. He had to walk straight into the predetermined ‘past’ in silence.
Cheolkeok. The doorknob turned. With a creaking of rusty hinges, the door swung inward.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
...It felt like the world had stopped. But soon, the door fully opened.
‘......’
It was a place flickering with crimson light. The shadows on the walls looked desolate. Terrified, even... Two people had turned into cold corpses.
Dugeun... Dugeun...
A woman who appeared to be the mother, holding a child in her arms... They had been stabbed by a sword, bleeding profusely, and died.
And...
「············································································································································································································!!!」
With a scream that seemed to tear the world apart, someone appeared behind Lee Sang-hyun.
‘......’
It was Alkides.
And in Lee Sang-hyun’s hand was a bloodied sword.
When he opened his eyes again, the scene was desolate. The cozy home hadn’t escaped the flames, reduced to ashes, and the dead had crumbled to dust.
All that remained here...
Was Alkides, driven mad by his family’s death.
‘...He’s strong.’
This wasn’t just based on appearances. The aura rising from his body and the latent power were far more intense than that of the little giant Steno.
Dugeun. Dugeun. Dugeun.
The thought of resolving this through talk didn’t even occur to him.
Because the water was already spilled. It was too late to gather it, and it couldn’t be gathered in the first place.
‘Berserker Alkides... Time is short, but I still need to fight properly. Maybe I can learn about the berserker’s power.’
Lee Sang-hyun calmly prepared for battle.
In the meantime, Alkides, who had been kneeling in despair, stood up. His eyes, sunk in the abyss of despair, remained vacant. But beneath them burned an endless hatred.
「......」
Lee Sang-hyun couldn’t understand Alkides’s words. But it was clear they were filled with resentment and rage.
‘...He’s coming.’
Berserker Alkides’s movements were straightforward.
A charge purely to tear the enemy apart, far removed from any finesse.
Hwiik!!
But one thing: his speed was absurdly fast. So fast it felt like the wind was shredding and space warping—impossible to track with the eyes.
Kwaaaaang!!!
A punch. Just a single punch... Yet with an explosion, dozens of meters of earth flipped and shattered miserably.
「......!!」
Lee Sang-hyun dodged Alkides’s attack and swung his bloodied sword, unleashing sword energy.
Seok.
But it didn’t even scratch Alkides, let alone cause any real damage.
‘...He’s tough.’
Alkides charged again. At that same ridiculous speed.
Without his domain of senses or the blood flow in Alkides’s body, reacting would have been impossible.
Kwaaaang!!
The inhuman strength, unfit to be called a mere punch, destroyed the ground and kicked up dust.
And it didn’t end with one. He madly rushed at Lee Sang-hyun, slamming down fists repeatedly.
Kwaang!! Kwaaaang!! Kwaaaaang!!!
This destructive might needed no technique. Raw power surpassed any skill.
「......!!!」
But it didn’t work on Lee Sang-hyun. He read Alkides’s movements perfectly, dodging every attack by a hair’s breadth.
‘Draw it out a bit more.’
Lee Sang-hyun discarded the bloodied sword and swung his fist.
Peureok!!
A light strike slipping between ribs. Yet Alkides roared at it.
「......!!」
Alkides’s movements grew even wilder. But they were predictable, and thus full of openings.
Peureok!!
Whenever Alkides’s fist missed, Lee Sang-hyun’s struck the abdomen, flanks, jaw, or temple.
Kwaaaaang!!
Comparing their raw power, Lee Sang-hyun’s attacks were mere tickles. Yet Alkides’s movements were visibly slowing, bit by bit.
「......!!」
In contrast, Lee Sang-hyun’s grew ever more refined.
Peureok!! Peok!!
If it had been one for one before, now it was two.
Peok!! Peok!!
Dodging the flailing fists, Lee Sang-hyun’s hammered Alkides’s body relentlessly.
Peok! Peureok!! Peureureok!!
It even felt like a pro boxer facing an amateur just starting to throw punches.
「......!!」
Of course, Alkides’s power remained destructive.
Kwaaaaang!!
Beyond shattering—pulverizing with absurd force.
Kwaaaaaang!!!
Yet it never touched Lee Sang-hyun. Far from it, it was caught by invisible bonds, slashing empty air in vain.
Peok!! Peureok!!
Two impacts hit the heart at the abdomen’s center. Then a faint but clear voice leaked from Alkides’s mouth.
「...Uu... Aa... Aaa... Aaaa... Aaaaa...!!!」
Buddle buddle!!
It was a scream, yet not a scream...
Rage.
Contrary to Lee Sang-hyun’s thoughts, Arhim had no intention of abandoning the black tower—the Tower of Wrath.
The reason was that the constellation Ark of Death had informed him of a special artifact at the tower’s summit.
“...More valuable than triggering a monster wave?”
「Beyond comparison.」
「If you conquer the Tower of Wrath.」
「You will obtain the great ‘Necronomicon.’」
「And bring ruin to the world.」
“I like the sound of that.”
Arhim attempted to conquer the Tower of Wrath by climbing it. But on the 1st floor.
He couldn’t even break through the 1st floor, repeatedly reviving from death.
“...Ridiculous.”
Because Berserker Alkides was overwhelmingly powerful.
「......!!」
Kwaaaaang!!
Alkides was so strong that even Jack Roar, hailed as humanity’s strongest, might not defeat him.
“...To take him down, even the so-called Strongest 7 would need to gather.”
Of course, Arhim didn’t collapse immediately.
But against a berserker who grew stronger with every drop of blood shed, a monster that wouldn’t stay dead no matter how many times killed—victory was a distant dream.
Thus, though deeply humiliating... Arhim had no choice but to abandon the Tower of Wrath.
“...Damn it.”