Floor 3 of the Tower of Trials
Standing before the revived Cleaner, I forgot even to greet her and simply stared in a daze.
I had been certain she was some timid guy, yet here she was—a woman.
And nothing like the image I had pictured.
"Cleaner?"
"Hello."
When I called her nickname, the Cleaner raised one hand as if she had been waiting and gave a cool, chic greeting.
"Are you climbing the tower right away?"
"If there are no other issues, yes."
"Before we go, there is one test I would like to run. Will you permit it?"
"A test? Sure. I permit it."
Once I gave permission, the Cleaner acted at once.
She gripped the dagger in her left hand and slashed her own wrist.
"What are you suddenly—!"
Startled by the abrupt self-harm, I stared at her, but the Cleaner's gaze remained fixed solely on the wounded wrist.
"As expected, no blood flows. I feel no pain, either."
At her words I quickly looked at the injury.
Dark energy was streaming steadily from the cut.
"You have that shadow, right? Put me inside it."
"Understood."
Having finally grasped her intention, I swallowed the Cleaner into my shadow.
She must have wanted to test the line in the shadow skill description that said stored corpses or spirits would slowly recover their damaged bodies.
I waited a short while, then summoned her back out.
"How is it?"
"Minor wounds seem to heal quickly. Even critical injuries might..."
"No. Do not."
"...Understood. I will follow the Newbie's command."
She might appear reckless, but she still obeyed my orders.
Afterward the Cleaner received further testing from the Black Saintess.
Covered head to toe in the Black Saintess's debuffs, she displayed nimble movements while loosening up her body.
It appeared debuffs acted beneficially on the undead as well.
A question suddenly occurred to me, so I asked the Cleaner while she checked her condition.
"Why did you specifically verify the presence or absence of pain?"
"If I possess a body that feels no pain and cannot die, it is more efficient to abandon stability and raise my aggression instead. That is why I needed to confirm it."
It was an answer impossible to refute logically.
Yet for some reason it did not sit well with me.
"Still, try not to get hurt if you can help it."
"Newbie, that statement is difficult for me to understand."
"Well... even in that body, you could still die completely, couldn't you? It is doubtful whether necromancy could bring you back, and even if revival were possible, it would consume a massive amount of necromantic energy once more."
At my vague excuse the Cleaner gave a small nod.
"That makes sense. I will follow the Newbie's judgment."
The Cleaner turned her head slightly, avoiding my eyes.
Looking embarrassed, she pressed her index fingers together and spoke carefully.
"Th-thank you."
"Huh?"
"I truly wanted to express my gratitude. It is no different from you granting me a new life."
"No need for thanks. If you are grateful, show it through your actions."
Nod.
Preparations were now complete.
I had revived a new undead and secured a meaningful offensive option.
There were no problems. This time I would overwhelm the floor.
Waiting time has elapsed.
Moving to the 3rd floor.
Life Eaters — 100 infected slimes.
Civilization Destroyers — 5 remaining.
I quickly read the translucent window floating in the air and scanned my surroundings.
Even at a glance the academy looked ridiculously vast.
Screams that seemed to come from students erupted from every direction.
I hurriedly summoned the two undead from my shadow and gave them a quick briefing.
"Newbie, is there a separate failure condition?"
"None."
I turned my gaze to the Black Saintess.
Her eyes were trembling.
"Saintess, do you know about these Civilization Destroyers?"
"...Civilization Destroyers. They are mid-to-large monsters such as trolls or ogres that have been infected and turned invasive. They do not possess the parasitic ability of Life Eaters, but they are extremely dangerous."
"What rank would that be?"
"Upper A-class."
"Damn it. What kind of difficulty is this?"
BOOM!
A heavy roar echoed from nearby.
At the same time, the academy building's wall collapsed with a thunderous crash.
A thick cloud of dust rose, and beyond it loomed an enormous silhouette.
A giant monster holding a club the size of a bus.
Beneath it, infected slimes were devouring students who were still alive.
Without hesitation I took six B-class magic stones from my spatial pouch and loaded them into the revolver.
"Newbie. Can you sever the tendons in its legs?"
"Tendons?"
"Aim roughly around the ankles."
"I'll give it a try."
The Black Saintess recited a prayer and cast debuffs on me and the Cleaner.
Following the magic scope's firing guide, I aimed at the Civilization Destroyer's ankle and pulled the trigger.
The enchanted bullet did not pierce through, but the impact was enough.
The Civilization Destroyer dropped to one knee from the force.
Deciding one shot was not enough, I quickly fired at the other ankle as well.
As a result the giant lost its balance and toppled to the ground.
When the massive body fell, thick smoke billowed in every direction.
Through the haze I saw a small, dark figure nimbly leap onto the fallen Civilization Destroyer.
The Cleaner burst out of the smoke, dagger held in reverse grip, and descended like a falling arrow.
For an instant, the blade aura clinging to her weapon left an afterimage and a blue trail across the air.
In a single moment the shockwave cleared the smoke.
Thump. Thump.
The Cleaner emerged from the dust, brushing off her hands as if the feat were nothing.
"Clear."
Behind her lay the Civilization Destroyer, its head and body now separated and motionless.
After that I swapped the revolver's ammunition to D-class magic stones and began eliminating the Life Eaters across the area.
Whether because I now had proper offensive options or because they were in slime form, the extermination proceeded smoothly.
All I had to do was destroy the slime core—their greatest weakness—and they died instantly.
Infected slimes remaining — 66.
Civilization Destroyers remaining — 4.
After clearing the monsters in the vicinity, a brief lull settled over the area.
I stepped onto the corpse of the Civilization Destroyer the Cleaner had just killed.
An enormous quantity of dark energy flowed from it.
I absorbed that energy along with the familiar kind emanating from the surroundings.
Silently mourning the students who had just been killed by the monsters, I gathered the dark energy they left behind.
Current necromantic energy: 70/100
Revive the corpse 'Civilization Destroyer'?
"Yes."
Current necromantic energy: 20/100
The giant body rose.
It walked before me, set its bus-sized club on the ground beside it, and knelt.
Feeling the connection form, I issued a mental command.
Crush every Life Eater dirtying the area.
Having reinforced my forces once more, I moved with the two undead and the newly revived giant toward the location of the next Civilization Destroyer.
CRAAAAASH!
The fifth Civilization Destroyer fell.
The coordinated assault of three undead giants and two other undead was utterly overwhelming.
The third floor raid proceeded smoothly and without a single snag, making all the thorough preparation worth it.
All that remained were the few Life Eaters still wearing slime bodies.
To check the remaining count I looked at the status window.
Infected slimes remaining — 82.
Civilization Destroyers remaining — 0.
"Huh?"
Weren't there only about sixty left earlier?
Even after sweeping the Civilization Destroyers I must have killed dozens of Life Eaters along the way.
How was the number higher now?
"Newbie. Look over there."
I turned in the direction the Cleaner indicated.
Students were fleeing from the Life Eaters.
Some could not move properly due to injuries and were eventually devoured.
The Life Eater that consumed a student paused for a moment, then promptly split into two.
"Division?"
"We cannot let the students be eaten."
The Cleaner's words sent a chill down my spine.
Of course. There was no way Hell difficulty would be this easy.
"We'll split up. Cleaner, can you handle it alone?"
"Yes. Leave it to me."
"Reliable as always. Saintess? Please come with me."
"Yes..."
I also ordered the remaining undead giants to protect the students.
There was no time to waste.
I ran toward the nearest place where screams rang out and raised my revolver.
Bang! Bang!
The enchanted bullets fired from the revolver pierced the Life Eaters just before they could devour the students.
While checking whether any of the surviving students were badly hurt, I spotted a familiar face.
I saw the student, remembered the girl, and then looked at the Black Saintess.
The Black Saintess was biting her lip hard.
"Hey, everyone. It's all right now. I've cleared out all the monsters nearby."
First I calmed the panicked students.
Reassured by my words, they rose one by one and prepared to move.
Yet even then the 'Black Saintess' remained motionless, staring blankly into empty space.
Eyes out of focus. A face shadowed by despair.
What kind of state had the 'Black Saintess' been in at this moment?
"I ran away... I thought I was different. I could have saved them, but I abandoned them. Because I was scared. Ahaha, ahahahahaha!"
The 'Black Saintess' who had been muttering suddenly burst into tearful laughter.
The Black Saintess deliberately averted her eyes from the sight and cautiously grabbed the hem of my clothes.
She was expressing that she no longer wished to stay here.
But I shook off her hand and stood in front of the laughing, sobbing 'Black Saintess'.
I met her eyes.
I held out my hand.
"Let's go. I'll take you somewhere safe."
The 'Black Saintess' looked up at me.
The other students were already moving toward the only building the Civilization Destroyers had not destroyed.
Frustrated that she only stared at my outstretched hand, I grabbed it and pulled her to her feet.
"Just leave me behind. Someone like me isn't worth saving."
"Why?"
"...Because I abandoned my friends and ran."
"Running to survive is not a sin."
The 'Black Saintess' violently shook off my hand.
"No. At least I should not have done that. Do you know what kind of person I am? I am the lowest scum who could not even say thank you to the person who saved my life, but instead poured out resentment. I even believed I would be different, that I could save everyone and become a saintess more perfect than any other. I truly believed it! Sob... ugh! Yet what is this... What kind of saintess runs away without saving even one precious friend?"
I watched the 'Black Saintess' as she poured out tears.
I watched her, steeped to the core in self-loathing.
"Do you remember who I am?"
"Pardon?"
I took out a handkerchief, wiped her tears, and met her eyes so that nothing but me existed in her vision.
"Ah, back then... the one who suddenly appeared and disappeared before the saintess arrived..."
Tower of Trials 3rd Floor (Hell) Cleared!
New record set for Hell difficulty 3rd floor.
Selection rewards and additional rewards will now be presented.
I looked at the translucent window blocking my view and thought.
In that short time, the Civilization Destroyers and the Cleaner must have wiped out every last remaining Life Eater.
"Listen well. We will meet again."
"Pardon?"
"It seems fate has decided it."
"I don't understand what you're saying."
I handed the handkerchief to the 'Black Saintess'.
"I don't know the details of your situation... but you want to become like that person, don't you?"
"...!"
"There is no such thing as lacking the qualifications to wish to become an ideal."
I stored the Civilization Destroyers, the Black Saintess, and the Cleaner back into my shadow and postponed the reward selection.
Reward selection postponed.
Moving to the 4th floor waiting room shortly.
"Take care. Let's meet again later."
"Wait...!"
Before the 'Black Saintess' could finish speaking, the scenery around me changed in an instant.
And so I parted from the 'Black Saintess' of the third floor.