Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Cradle of the Dead #3
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"Little sis, little sis."
The moment after the theme stage ended, someone approached Lakia Bells as she brooded in solitude.
It was her older sister, the strongest warrior in the tribe.
"You should shake off that gloom in a single day. If you keep moping like this, I might just toss you in headfirst."
"...Leave me alone."
"Oh? The loser talking back?"
Is that my sister? More like a thug.
Lakia Bells swallowed her rising sense of injustice and glared at her older sister.
In the shadows cast by the moonlight, the bright yellow pupils of a beast looked down at Lakia Bells.
"...."
Meeting that gaze, she could only instinctively bow her head, displaying her submissive instincts.
Her sister was an existence beyond comparison in the face of true strength.
"Little sis."
"....."
"You were the one who first staked everything and lost."
"Yeah, I know."
"Then you have to take full responsibility for losing, right?"
"....?"
"What should I do with this stubborn, blockheaded little sis~?"
-Crack.
An ominous surge of fury welled up.
Of course, it wasn't from Lakia Bells—it was coming from her sister.
The birth of a true powerhouse doesn't happen by accident.
To become a genuine strong one, sometimes you had to learn how to lose.
The tribe's top warrior, after a long life in the endless tower, had gained not just overwhelming might, but wisdom in battle as well.
"You think just losing and nursing your hurt feelings is enough? How does our little sis have it so easy in this world~? When I was your age, I was smashing top hunters left and right..."
"Th-then what am I supposed to do...!"
"Go clash your true heart against his one more time."
A chilling sensation swept over Lakia Bells.
One defeat was tolerable, but living eternally as a loser was unacceptable.
For those who revered battle and worshipped the black dragon, such weaklings weren't even worthy of belonging to the tribe.
"Go meet him again."
"Wh-who...?"
"Who else? The male hunter who taught you the bitter taste of humiliating defeat."
Lakia Bells looked at her sister, whose intentions she couldn't fathom.
What was she supposed to do when she found him?
"Overcome it your way and come back."
Her sister flashed a crescent-moon smile and grinned wickedly.
"When I return after my next expedition, if you're still wallowing in this pathetic state..."
Her sister approached.
She reached out a pale hand and gently stroked the crown of her beloved little sister's head.
"...I'll dispose of you myself. Got it?"
"...Ah."
Lakia Bells remembered a truth she had forgotten.
That there was no paradise in the place you fled to.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
That was why Lakia Bells decided to descend the tower once more.
Even though she had already passed the 6th floor and was on the verge of tackling the 8th, she turned back.
If she didn't, her sister would surely kill her.
Carrying that utterly shameful reason she couldn't voice to anyone, Lakia Bells followed her sister's command and waited for Do-yoon.
The Do-yoon she met again was incomparably stronger than before.
Especially the chains wrapped around his left arm—they reeked with the aura of that thing that had brutally subdued her.
'No way.'
The strong recognize the strong.
And Lakia Bells, riding high among novice hunters, could instantly gauge Do-yoon's power.
She knew that if she challenged him again, she'd lose even more cruelly than before.
'Can't win.'
Sister. Please have mercy.
With that bleak resolve, she decided to stick by his side somehow.
-Thump. Thump.
It was definitely the pounding of anxiety.
Lakia Bells's chest raced wildly, foreseeing a grim future.
But.
-Whoosh!
Whenever she watched that man flawlessly smashing the skeletons, some emotion she couldn't name welled up inside her.
'Just coincidence.'
It was because she had met a true powerhouse.
Bloodlust for strength coursed through Lakia Bells's veins.
"Then just stick around with us. Go on ahead and wait."
"Ah..."
At that casual permission, she nearly let her lips curve into a smile but forced them still.
Thus, she ended up guarding the boss room door like a loyal dog waiting for its master.
"No."
She shuddered faintly at the reason she suspected, denying it.
"I haven't lost yet."
To the servant of the black dragon, endless fighting spirit.
Rise from defeat, implant the will to eventually triumph.
"Do-yoon."
Calling his name with a voice laced with strange fervor, she vowed it firmly.
That one day, she would clearly prove before him who the true powerhouse was.
-Step.
The hunter, locked in a fierce inner battle with herself, turned and headed to the next floor.
And.
Do-yoon himself, the very person in question, had no idea what kind of gaze was fixed on him.
"Hee hee hee!"
"Cover me!"
"Got it!"
He was tackling the 6th floor boss mob alongside Eira.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Resonance with the target has failed! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Mana Resistance has increased! 'Again.'
He shook off the headache disrupting the fight with a flick of his head—
Then waited for the next move.
The massive skull clutching a spellbook glared at him with eyes glowing eerie blue.
「Skeleton Mage」
A monster that spat mana infused with malice despite being mere bones—this was the floor's master and boss.
'Annoying.'
Mana couldn't be touched even by Eira's chains.
Meaning once it fired, he had to dodge out of the attack range.
-Clang!
At Do-yoon's will, two chains shot out, targeting the Skeleton Mage's flanks.
-Thud!
But they were neatly repelled by a translucent barrier.
The boss's own protective shield had blocked them.
"So close!"
"Good job."
Comforting the disappointed Eira, Do-yoon caught his breath again.
If they didn't finish it within the time limit, the scattered skeletons nearby would rise again.
He had just put down the second wave.
"Hup!"
A few more exchanges passed.
-Ding!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Resonance with the target has succeeded! As if finally succeeding, he locked eyes with the Skeleton Mage through the status window that popped up.
The gaze, filled only with hatred for the living, now showed a spark of intelligence as the boss's jawbone clattered.
"You."
"Pleased."
"To meet. I knew. Of you. Even outside. My eyes. Watch still."
No flesh on the jaw, perhaps—its words came out haltingly.
Its attacks never stopped as the Skeleton Mage continued.
"Unlike. Other hunters. A different one. Defier of the natural order. Heaven-defying child."
"Can't you stop attacking and talk?"
"Absolute. Law. Prevents it."
Do-yoon slipped out of the spell's range, swallowing his regret.
-Boom!
Malice-laced lightning crashed where he had stood.
Had he stayed put, his brain would have been thoroughly fried.
"Fate. Twisted?"
"Speak plainly!"
Finally losing patience, Do-yoon vented his frustration with a curved sword swing.
-Clang!
The still-intact barrier deflected his blade.
Through the opening, the Skeleton Mage raised a bony finger to cast.
"....!"
"Oppa!"
Sensing danger, two chains slammed into the ground, yanking the caster's body airborne.
"Whoa."
Suddenly floating, Do-yoon looked down at the Skeleton Mage casting where he'd been.
"That works."
"I did good?!"
"Super... no, amazing job."
Eira's abilities revealed new facets the more he examined them.
Do-yoon landed with genuine admiration, resuming his stance.
"That power. Progenitor's?"
"Yeah."
"I see. You've twisted fate after all. Deviated from the tower's order, found your own path."
He had no clue what it was rambling about.
He'd hoped to converse now that it was talking, but it had too much to say, backfiring.
"Perhaps I. Face new possibilities."
"You."
Do-yoon finally spoke up.
"What do you know about the Tower Lord—no, the Progenitor."
"God. She is this world's god. And what you hold is the tiny seed from before she ascended."
"...."
"Grown on blood and pain, she became the god embracing all creation."
Meanwhile, Eira's chains battered the Skeleton Mage's barrier repeatedly.
Its resistance weakened; it wouldn't hold much longer.
"That bone geezer pisses me off."
"Yeah."
-Slash! Slash!
As if voicing Eira's irritation, the two chains irritably scraped the floor.
"Heaven-defier."
Sensing it too, the Skeleton Mage's jaw clattered nonstop.
"Follow the Progenitor's will. Pass the trial."
"I'm working hard at that right now?"
"You have yet to face the tower's true nature."
The Skeleton Mage's gaze shifted to the two blood-red chains on Do-yoon.
"The key lies within you."
"Eira?"
"Yes."
Unable to nod freely under control, it affirmed gladly nonetheless.
Eira: part of the tower, an object, the Progenitor's past.
"Nurture the seed, create another world. Check the impure who defile the tower—climb endlessly."
-Crack!
With the final strike, the Skeleton Mage's barrier shattered.
Seizing the chance, Do-yoon charged the boss as it tried to cast again.
"Salvation lies ahead."
But in that final moment.
No impure emotions tainted the Skeleton Mage's gaze at Do-yoon's final blow.
Rather, it seemed to welcome the challenger—perhaps like other gallery users.
Or an even more distant, subtle emotion.
With no way to know its source—
-Crunch!
Between the ribs hidden under its robe.
Do-yoon's curved sword shredded the mana core at the Skeleton Mage's heart.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Skeleton Mage' has been defeated! Thus, the 6th floor trial was complete.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Reached Lv. 10—a new perk has been unlocked. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Analyzing data for Challenger 'Do-yoon'... ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Analysis comp, comp, comp, comp... "...Huh?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Data has been corrupted. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Reconstructing perk reward. "Hee hee."
Soon, a familiar energy rushed in.
Do-yoon looked in surprise at the approaching presence.
Still brimming with worldly cuteness, a lively figure.
Before him stood Eira's form, unmistakably.