Chapter 356: A New Weapon (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 356: A New Weapon (1)
The Crown of Hegemony, which had recently found a new master.
And the faction war of Olympus, a massive power in the upper floors.
These two issues had the entire Tower buzzing with excitement.
The tension, which had already felt like the calm before a storm, had completely exploded.
"...How is the situation developing?"
An angel of stunning beauty spoke.
Gabriel.
Representing 'Eden', she was in charge of this investigation.
At Gabriel's question, answers poured in from all sides.
"Currently, Olympus has launched a full-scale invasion of the 41st floor. While they previously engaged in localized skirmishes in areas where the two factions' influence overlapped, they are now waging a massive, all-out war simultaneously on multiple fronts."
Greece's 'Olympus' and Northern Europe's 'Ragnarok'.
As of yesterday, the two factions had entered a decisive battle, staking their very fates.
"The chief gods of Ragnarok are fighting back, but the disparity in power was too vast to begin with."
"They have already lost five key bases, and even the path to Jotunheim has been cut off. At this rate, they will likely..."
Jotunheim was one of the highest-tier ruins on the 41st floor.
The fact that even such a core area was now within striking distance meant the disparity in power was completely one-sided.
It was clear that Olympus had prepared thoroughly and gritted their teeth for this.
"The balance of power might crumble."
Gabriel stared at her status window with a grim expression.
Even at this very moment, flames and ice storms raged, snuffing out countless lives.
Right then.
"Archangel. Are we not going to intervene?"
A muscular angel with large wings spoke.
Kizakiel.
A combat-class angel, he had primarily been responsible for crushing enemies on the front lines.
His bellicose nature was a given; in fact, his cruel disposition made him an object of fear to friend and foe alike.
The Judgment of Blood.
If there was an epithet to describe Kizakiel, this was surely it.
"Does the commander of the combat corps believe we should participate in a war between two other factions?"
"Is protecting the balance of the Tower not God's law and our mission? I naturally believe we should bring down the hammer on those who disrupt the upper floors."
A massive battle spirit surged from Kizakiel's body.
Tangible flames engulfed his entire body.
It was an overwhelming amount of mana, enough to make the other angels flinch and step back.
"Just give the word, and I will completely annihilate those two blasphemous factions, then bring back the crown along with the head of that human, Kang Jinhyuk."
Punishing the two factions was one thing, but securing the Crown of Hegemony was also of paramount importance.
This was because Eden also wished to gather all the crowns and challenge the 50th floor once more.
However.
"We have made a certain contract with him. At the very least, until that item is secured, avoid any friction with him for any reason."
The Necronomicon, the exploration log of the 50th floor.
Right now, this book was far more important than the crown.
If Eden set its mind to it, they could secure the crown one way or another, but...
...that book was impossible to obtain no matter how hard they tried.
"...It seems there is something I am unaware of. Very well. If that is the Archangel's will..."
Kizakiel pressed his lips together tightly, clearly displeased.
However, he could not openly voice his discontent.
No matter how powerful the commander of the combat corps leading tens of thousands of angels was, he could not openly defy Gabriel's orders.
"And,"
Gabriel added one more thing before leaving.
"do not forget to secure the guide."
"Do you mean that human named Phesis?"
"Yes, that's right."
Among the various guides existing in the Tower, the one who stood out the most was the individual named Phesis.
'We must bring him over to our side.'
He preferred to travel alone so much that it was difficult to even establish contact with him, but they had to find an opportunity somehow.
At the very least, they needed to find someone who had a connection to him.
* * *
At the same time.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Having sent his companions out of the Tower first, Jinhyuk was busy digging through the sand.
There were two ways to clear the 19th floor.
The standard way was to defeat the boss monster, or one could find a hidden place and secure the sacred relic located at its deepest point.
And the method Jinhyuk chose was the latter.
"Hmm."
Jinhyuk scratched his chin.
Even with the map obtained from Uasis, finding the exact location of the room where the weapon was stored was no easy task due to the nature of the constantly shifting quicksand.
He could only make a rough estimation based on his memory.
The rest depended on animalistic intuition and nauseating physical labor.
'Thanks to that, I've been vigorously shoveling sand for over twelve hours.'
To be more precise...
"Pant... pant... pant..."
"I feel like... I'm going to die, Master."
"I'd rather you just kill me. Even if I become a ghost, I won't come after you, Master."
"Everyone, shut up. My head hurts."
He was in charge of supervising those who were hard at work in his stead.
A spectacle reminiscent of a massive civil engineering site unfolded.
The spirit beasts were sweating profusely, moving busily without a moment's rest to find the hidden room.
"Come on, now. Stop whining and put a little more back into it. We're almost there. I really have a good feeling about this!"
"It's already been twelve hours since you said you had that damn feeling, Master."
Undine shrieked.
Seeing her tiny arms trembling, she must have been incredibly exhausted.
But.
"And?"
"Huh?"
"Are you saying, Undine, that my request is so offensive and dirty that you absolutely refuse to do it?"
"N-no, it's not that... It's just that there are such things as spirit rights, and we'd like to have about a ten-minute break for every hour of work."
"Oh? You want to rest?"
"Even if... even if it's not a lot, I think we need a bare minimum of rest. Right, everyone? Right?"
Undine squeezed out every ounce of her courage to seek support from the other spirit beasts.
The spirit beasts nodded their heads in rapid succession, as if adding their own small share of courage.
"Right. If you're that tired, of course you should rest."
"Really?!"
"Yes, of course. Take a good, long rest."
Jinhyuk smiled brightly and summoned 'Hellfire'.
"For all eternity."
Under the blazing calamity fire, Undine's water began to turn lukewarm.
"Hieeeek! I'll work! I'll work hard!"
"Everyone, work like dogs! Hurry!"
"Let's work. Work."
Once again, the site bustled with activity.
Right then.
"Wait. Hold on."
Jinhyuk pulled out a kettle and poured a blue, glowing liquid.
Tea brewed from a single lowest-grade magic stone.
It was a cheap energy-boosting drink, chilled with a few ice cubes.
"Before we start, everyone have a cup of this. It'll relieve your fatigue a bit."
"M-Master..."
"Thank you..."
"To think you'd prepare something like this for us..."
Tears of deep emotion welled up in everyone's eyes.
This is why you must never let your employees get too comfortable.
It's best to relentlessly exploit them and instill fear on a regular basis, and then throw them a withered carrot just as they reach their breaking point.
'There's a reason bad boys are so deadly charming.'
Having adequately appeased the spirit beasts' discontent, Jinhyuk began to ponder where the room might be once more.
* * *
Quicksand moving at 10 km/h.
Humidity at 17.5%.
Since the angle of the passage had shifted by about 1.5 degrees due to the battle with the Hound earlier, this also had to be factored into the calculations.
There were dozens of variables, but he had experience excavating relics under even worse conditions than this.
"That tunnel, second from the left. Yes, proceed from there next."
"Here? But Gnome said there's nothing here."
Even the earth spirit tilted its head in confusion.
It couldn't feel any vibrations coming through the ley lines.
Nevertheless, Jinhyuk pushed the excavation forward based on his intuition and experience.
'We're almost there.'
He instinctively felt that the destination was not far off.
Rather, the real problem would be after finding the room...
'With my current forces, breaking through the traps and the guardian inside will be a bit tough.'
He needed a powerful helper.
To bypass the traps inside, more than just agility was required.
But right then.
Whirrrr!
The space around Jinhyuk distorted.
[A high-ranking deity is partially manifesting!]
The red status window flashed repeatedly.
"Who..."
His curiosity did not last long.
Tearing through space, a highly familiar figure appeared.
Veliel.
One of the Demon Kings of the Demon World had manifested on the 19th floor of the Tower.
Of course, perhaps because a full manifestation was too burdensome, his form was much smaller.
About the size of Alice, in fact.
Flapping his tiny demon wings, Veliel landed on Jinhyuk's shoulder with a huff.
"Pant... pant... pant... Damn it. Moving around in a booger-sized clone is exhausting."
Veliel gasped for breath like a squirrel.
"Well, well. What brings you all the way here? This place doesn't seem like a very good choice for a vacation spot."
"Eeeek! What do you mean, 'what brings me here'?! Did you not clearly promise to become my apostle? Yet you haven't kept that promise and have only been slacking off, which is why I came here myself!"
Ah...
Come to think of it, he did make such a promise.
He thought he had received a few telepathic messages, but he had ignored them and completely forgotten about it.
"Ah, the Black Apostle. Of course I remembered."
"Do not lie to me!"
"No, seriously. I've been looking up information about the Demon World lately, solemnly planning to change my class."
At Jinhyuk's words, Veliel's fierce momentum softened slightly.
"Then... does that mean you will sign a contract with me now?"
"I really want to, but I can't contract with you. At least, not right now."
"If you are going to make another absurd excuse..."
"Guntaper."
Jinhyuk replied curtly.
A deity with whom he had built an ill relationship since the Citadel of Giants, and with whom he was now completely hostile.
He had even met his true body face-to-face at the Auction House of the Gods not long ago.
"He threatened me recently. He said if I contract with you, he will destroy my base and kill everyone associated with me. He even threatened to use a sacred relic he received from the Demon God, so I had no choice."
"Don't tell me... he threatened to use the Sword of Kabbalado? Just to stop you from becoming a Black Apostle?"
"I guess he dislikes me that much."
Needless to say, this was a lie.
However, there was no way for Veliel to verify it.
This was because private communications between a deity and a player could never be intercepted by other deities.
"On top of that, the relationship between Ragnarok, which the Norse deities belong to, and Olympus is also terrible. As you know, I'm entangled in various conflicting interests."
"...I have heard about those two factions as well."
"The only way is for me to grow stronger and obtain a sacred relic that can at least counter the Sword of Kabbalado. Only then can I contract with you without bringing harm to the Demon World."
"Hmm. That is not entirely without merit. If your growth supports it, even Guntaper won't be able to scheme behind your back."
Veliel nodded, seemingly somewhat convinced.
"In that sense, help me out a bit."
"Hmm?"
"I need to enter a troublesome place right now, but since we had a big fight earlier, my companions have all left for the outside."
To clear this place...
...he needed an incredibly sturdy meat shield.