Lord Solbaren

The rankings among the party members kept flipping back and forth.

But in the overall party standings, the gap with first place remained considerable.

First place sat at 480 points.

Even that much was only because, from a certain moment on, the rate at which their score climbed had suddenly slowed — which was the only reason anyone had managed to close the distance this far.

Master. That bastard is useless.

If Master had done his job properly, they would have been nearly even — or even ahead. Instead, Master had dragged the average score down far too much. It was enough to make one seriously doubt whether the man was any help at all.

But what drew the eye even more than Master was the identity of the first-place party.

Who the hell are the first-place party?

Their early rampage had been absurd. They had charged ahead like madmen with more than double the score difference. Then, from a certain point, the rate at which their score rose had suddenly slowed. And yet the fact that no one had caught them was even more astonishing.

White King? Or the Empire?

Those two were the only ones that made even a little sense — if the White King or the Empire had mobilized in force. But even those two could not explain the early speed. It was simply incomprehensible.

The White King's side falls short of our strength.

Laktusha was certain of that. The White King — that old monster who ruled the North — had lost his fangs. His former divine might was gone; he had become a coward who only hid in the back rooms. Moreover, even the main forces that followed him fell short of Laktusha's own martial power.

Thanks to the Black King's grace, I can use Sword Gang.

It was not just him. All of his close aides had received powerful blessings and grown stronger by several stages. If the other main forces' power levels were on par with the Death King… the result was obvious without looking. Their overwhelming victory.

The Death King. They had confirmed it through one of the White King's subordinate main forces — that pathetic undead who had brazenly invaded the south.

If the remaining main forces are at the Death King's level, there's nothing more to see.

So it could not be the White King's forces.

Then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Empire?

That left the Empire. A place founded by humans, yet whose true nature remained unknown. They had already ascertained that it held countless stockpiled treasures and hidden Transcendents. Moreover, that things which were human yet not human were mixed among them. Especially regarding the Emperor, the Black King himself had warned them to be careful.

Whoever it is…

Tsk tsk. Laktusha clicked his tongue softly and shook his head. Then he raised the Black Heaven Sword.

If we meet, I'll simply cut them down.

KWAARRRRRR!

He swung once more at the charging super-giant Demon Blood Clan warrior.

The Rift Tower that had risen out of nowhere had become a massive concern for every inhabitant of Pangenia and every Player. Player Talk was ablaze with the same topic.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Unlike the Abyss Labyrinth, however, once you entered you could not leave until the floor was cleared — a condition that left many people hesitating to challenge it. And so there was no information at all. No one knew who had gone in, or what was happening inside.

Every species had a level limit. Humans simply sat at a low ten — and so only Transcendence through a Star offered a path to grow stronger still. But the number of Stars was fixed. Even among those who had the qualifications, countless humans remained stuck at Level 10. Unless one shed humanity and became another species entirely, raising a level past ten was impossible.

If this truly pierced that limit—

I tilted my head at the text that floated up while I was sweeping through the Level 6 Domain.

The scores just flipped all of a sudden.

There had been a considerable gap — and in a single moment, the second-place party had seized a massive haul of points and surged ahead.

Did they take down a Domain-level boss or something?

It looked as though they had killed a boss, hit exactly 500 points, and then challenged. Had I been climbing too leisurely?

Dominating every Demon Blood Species takes time.

The Hidden Trait — King of the Demon Blood Clan. The dominion it granted over the Demon Blood Species. This was deeply fascinating even to me. It was a trait that let me command an entire legion. And the more I dominated, the greater its power became. Strength grew as the horde swelled; it grew further still when particular Demon Blood Species were enhanced.

By the time I had climbed as far as the Level 6 Domain, the number of Demon Blood Species under my control had reached five hundred.

"My King!"

"Our eternal ruler!"

"Blood!"

"More blood!"

The problem was that as their numbers grew, so did the number of creatures thirsting for blood.

I'm getting anemic.

Even a single drop each made five hundred drops. My high natural regeneration was the only reason I had not collapsed from blood loss.

But the hardship had been worth it.

I had gone beyond a great horde and completed a full cluster. Moreover, I had found a Demon Blood Species bearing a special attribute.

Beyond ordinary attributes, there are Demon Blood Species with special ones.

Special-attribute Demon Blood Species granted the use of special skills. I did not know exactly what Meteor Shower was, but it could not be far from Meteor. One of the strongest skills a fire-attribute Archmage could obtain upon Transcendence was precisely Meteor.

Even without using a sacrifice skill, this is a legion in itself.

Five hundred Demon Blood Species, each at minimum over Level 7. More than enough force to reduce a small city to rubble.

Then—

Kyaaaaaaak!

The Level 6 Domain boss — a colossal mammoth — appeared and was slaughtered on the spot. The Demon Blood Species tore into its blood and flesh, reveling in the feast.

…A little brutal, I had to admit. Every last Demon Blood Species was truly starved for blood.

Black King, Master. It seemed certain that Master had joined the Black King's forces. The question was whether they could bring down Lord Solbaren.

It won't be easy.

I had cleared dungeons of this kind countless times. Being able to challenge at 500 points did not mean you should challenge at exactly 500. Do that, and you would face a boss reinforced with every buff imaginable. Still, I could not be certain. If the Black King's forces were all as strong as Laktusha, there might be a chance.

How much time passed after that?

…A dismal result.

They only shaved off forty-four…?

For a moment I wondered if I had misread it. The Black King's forces, including Laktusha, had only cut forty-four from the combat power? How was that possible?

Unlike me, other parties had a hard limit on the total score they could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠obtain. They could only clear the Domains corresponding to their own levels. Even if a higher-level Domain awarded more points, it would amount to roughly two hundred per person at best.

This is… a boss that every party has to challenge to bring down.

At last I had a grasp of it. Lord Solbaren had not been designed as a boss for a single party to clear. That thing was a monster built so that the countless parties climbing the tower would have to hammer it over and over before it finally fell. Even if re-challenges were allowed, recovery would take time.

…That works in my favor, actually.

If Lord Solbaren was that strong, all I had to do was grow strong enough myself and then challenge him.

"What the hell kind of monster is that…!"

Master's body trembled as he shouted. He had luckily taken down a Domain boss and, by reaching 500 points, had overtaken first place. That much had been fine. It had been fine — until it wasn't.

Was that thing really meant to be cleared?

Lord Solbaren. He had expected some nobody — yet even the Black King's forces had managed to leave only a single scratch. No — their attacks had barely landed at all.

An invincibility skill, of all things.

He used it without pause, leaving no openings. Leaving even a single wound was already remarkable. In the end, the Black King's forces decided to disband. Continuing the fight would only waste time. Raising their score further to shorten the duration of that invincibility skill was the key.

But where is this?

Immediately after the raid failure, Master was summoned to another Domain — a place called the Waiting Room. At the same time—

Master smiled at the sentences floating before him.

Heaven is on my side.

He had thought it was over — but it was not over yet. On the contrary, this was a golden opportunity to score even higher than the rest of the Black King's forces. What would happen if he, a 2-Star Transcendent, challenged a lower Domain?

Still, one thing puzzled him. This Waiting Room was surely where those who had finished their Domain levels gathered.

I'll have to wait quite a while for all one hundred to assemble.

Twenty-three was still a long way off. Conquering a Domain and killing its boss was no easy feat.

And yet—

All of a sudden, the number of challengers in the Waiting Room was surging at a terrifying speed. Master furrowed his brow. Black shadows were materializing in front of him in a chaotic rush. Far from a hundred — what he could see alone easily exceeded two hundred.

What the hell is this?

"W-what? Cleared out of nowhere?"

"We were just busy running away…"

"The Domain boss appeared and then just vanished?"

"Where even is this place?"

The people summoned to the Waiting Room. Most of them had been forcibly brought here after clearing low-level Domains. But because those Domains had been cleared so abruptly, many still could not make sense of the situation.

People in the Waiting Room cannot see one another's appearances.

Master stroked his chin. The Waiting Room's population was exploding. Past two hundred, past three hundred — perhaps even more.