The Irregular of the Rift Tower

How long had he waited, how fiercely had he anticipated this moment. And yet to die so emptily…!

Whoooooooooooooosh!!!

“……You’ve grown stronger.”

Dae-to-ryong looked down at his own chest as he spoke.

Laktusha had driven straight through the two spears, closed the distance in a blur, and finally plunged his Sword Gang into the dragon’s chest.

“You haven’t changed much. Not just you—the other lords either.”

Laktusha gripped the Black Heaven Sword still buried in Dae-to-ryong’s chest. When he wrenched it free, blue blood poured out in a thick stream and soaked the earth.

Landing lightly, Laktusha flicked the blue blood from the blade and gave a small, contemptuous laugh.

“The White King will be the same. The moment you all settled into Kramdel, your defeat was already decided.”

“You, who were cast out of Kramdel……”

“I left. I was not cast out.”

Laktusha’s expression hardened.

Long ago he had stayed in Kramdel for a short time. For a young orc his skill had been outstanding, so he had coveted a lord’s seat. As he slowly built his own power, someone must have felt threatened—he had been forcibly expelled.

After that he had entered the Black King’s service and risen to his present rank.

“You were all afraid of me growing stronger by the day. But the Black King is fair. If you have true ability, he is even willing to yield his own seat.”

Their vessels were different—the White King and the Black King.

The White King had chosen only his own safety and stagnation. He hated change, checked those who rose, or simply banished them.

And the Black King? Absolute meritocracy. Background meant nothing; so long as one possessed skill and loyalty, he would endure anything.

“Do you truly believe that? That you were expelled because they feared you?”

Dae-to-ryong asked heavily.

Laktusha shrugged.

“If not that, what reason was there to drive me from Kramdel?”

“Your greed to grow stronger was destroying everything. Did you not lay hands on ‘forbidden modifications’ and ‘drugs’? Did you forget how you tried to circulate them inside Kramdel and paralyze its order?”

Dae-to-ryong’s voice was grave.

Yes, Laktusha had been expelled from Kramdel. But it had not been simple fear. He had used every means without scruple to secure his position inside the city. Because he had tried to tear down the order Kramdel had built over long years, he had been cast out.

“For something that petty? Just admit you were scared. Cowards.”

From Laktusha’s point of view such a reason was impossible to accept. Orcs were a race of struggle. Why was it wrong to use every method in order to win, in order to grow stronger? Those very things would have made Kramdel stronger and richer.

Laktusha shouted again.

“Look at the two of us right now. If this isn’t proof that I was right, then what is it?”

“……”

Laktusha had won; Dae-to-ryong had lost. Before long the Great Earth Dragon would meet death.

“Two of your lords left now. The Palace Ghost and Medusa.”

Two of the Four Lords had already been dealt with. Once the Death King and Dae-to-ryong were gone as well, what would the White King do? Hide again? Even after the remaining lords were slaughtered and Kramdel itself was taken, would he still be able to stay hidden?

Then Dae-to-ryong forced his mouth open with difficulty.

“……There is a Fifth Lord.”

“Fifth Lord? You mean that Crow King who just became a lord?”

Ah. That was right. A fifth lord had appeared recently. The Fifth Lord Randolph, was it? Master of the Abyss Labyrinth, the one the White King himself had proclaimed.

Yet Laktusha’s attitude did not change. However strong he was, how much stronger could he be compared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the other lords?

“The Fifth Lord is different ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the rest. The White King himself acknowledged him as ‘a being who can kill me’—a monster……”

“You’re inventing nonsense because you’re about to die.”

“Fine. Think I invented it. Call it absurd. I am very curious whether you will still think that once you face the Fifth Lord yourself.”

Dae-to-ryong smiled faintly. He remembered the friction between the Fifth Lord and the White King. For some reason, today of all days, he found himself wanting to see that mad crow. Perhaps a little of that hateful affection had taken root. They had only ever clashed, yet now that death was near, his thoughts seemed to shift a little.

“Don’t worry. You’ll meet that Fifth Lord soon enough.”

They would meet after both were dead—Dae-to-ryong and that crow of a Fifth Lord. The other lords and the White King as well would all meet side by side.

Dae-to-ryong let out a low groan.

“Laktusha. Tell me one last thing. What became of the Death King?”

The Death King who had headed south and then fallen silent. Whether he lived or died, there had been no chance to learn.

Sssht.

Laktusha gripped the Black Heaven Sword.

“The Death King, you ask?”

Ziiiiiing!

In an instant Sword Gang surged up, ready to end Dae-to-ryong. Then Laktusha kicked off the ground, leapt, and thrust the blade toward the dragon’s neck as he answered.

“The Death King became the vessel of ‘Despair.’”

Kuuuuuung!

Leaving the roaring Lord Solbaren behind, they struck every last weakness.

An endless cascade of holy water from the Holy Grail combined with the Indulgences. Once the party’s bad karma reached zero and Lord Solbaren’s combat power had plummeted by –99.9 %, finishing him was no difficult task.

“This cannot be! This cannot be! O Tower!”

Guoooooooh!

The moment every weakness was exploited, flames erupted across Lord Solbaren’s entire body. He was burning to death. Little by little his presence grew thinner; he no longer possessed the strength to sustain his existence.

Yet something even more bitter than his own death tormented him.

“This utterly incompetent Tower that cannot even filter out an ‘Irregular’ like this……! I regret the pact I made with the likes of you!”

Irregular. A pure bug user. One who did not follow the set rules but created his own at will. Normally the Tower itself would have filtered such a being out—or the Tower should have executed him. That it could not even do that was proof of its incompetence. The utterly worthless Tower only made him more resentful.

Then it happened.

The instant Lord Solbaren cursed the “Tower”—

Shiiiiiiing—!

Chwarararararak!

The sky opened. Countless “feathers” poured down, swept through Lord Solbaren, and his body was carved into innumerable fragments before evaporating completely.

It was over in a blink. Once Solbaren vanished, the sky closed again.

That was……?

……And I could only furrow my brow as I stared up at the sky. The heavens that had opened with brilliant light—that was almost certainly the topmost floor of the Tower. Was that the true identity of the “tremendous thing” Master had spoken of?

It appeared with will. Then it intervened directly and annihilated Solbaren. Not the Tower itself, but something above the Tower.

The Tower’s master never intervened so directly. He might play tricks, but he would never rain down feathers to kill. That meant the being who had opened the sky just now stood in a position that could exercise power regardless of floor. Perhaps something even higher than the “Tower’s master.”

But the thought did not last long. Countless lines of text soon rose before my eyes.

Isaac

Messages suddenly floated before every pair of eyes. Not only Players—anyone in Pangenia read the same lines at the same moment.

“Max Level increase……?!”

“Don’t tell me that really was the absolute Max Level?!”

Even those who had never climbed the Rift Tower were stunned. Regardless of race, every mouth hung open. They had thought it was merely something like a proficiency level. Raising a race’s Max Level meant strengthening the race itself. On top of that, the clear party received an extra +1.

In other words—

“……If things go well, the master of the continent might change.”

“This…… we may have to stake our very destinies on climbing it.”

At present the continent had no true master. Humans held the most land, yet they could not be called its “master.” Too many powerful beings still roamed every corner. But through this opportunity, humans might become the true masters. Especially if the Empire moved, a tectonic shift would not be surprising.

Of course, a raised Max Level did not make anyone instantly stronger.

“What about Floor 2? Does Floor 2 also raise Max Level the same way?”

“We absolutely have to clear Floor 2 ourselves.”

A tower that strengthened an entire race had never appeared before. Naturally, interest in Rift Tower Floor 2 would become enormous.

The problem was the condition.

“Hidden Trait holders, huh.”

“Hidden Traits? What are those?”

Exactly—Hidden Traits. The majority had no idea what they even were. And even those who knew would find gathering five of them difficult.

“Where are we supposed to find Hidden Trait holders?”

“Don’t tell me different races are supposed to climb together?”

“Floor 1 was cleared by Humans and Dryads together, after all.”

“Hmm, the entry conditions alone are no joke.”

Everyone shook their heads. Unless the absolute elite of an entire race were carefully selected, a party would never even form.

While every being in Pangenia turned its gaze toward the Rift Tower—

“……We should move as well.”

“Your Majesty. Do you mean to open the ‘Barrier’?”

“Yes. Before that, following the World Tree’s guidance, I must meet with the High Dryad of Basrak Forest.”

The Primeval Forest. A mysterious land cut off from the outside world. Even the elves there had begun to stir.

Laktusha’s face twisted. The very instant he had been about to sever Dae-to-ryong’s neck, the scenery had suddenly changed.

Cleared already?

How long had it even been since the challenge began? Even with lowered combat power the invincibility skill should have remained intact. Having clashed with him once, Laktusha was certain: separate from combat power, killing Lord Solbaren was an extremely troublesome affair. Yet the raid had begun and been cleared almost immediately.

An utterly unpleasant result.

Moreover—

Tsk. I couldn’t finish him completely.

He had not confirmed Dae-to-ryong’s death. He had driven him to the brink, but he had not seen the breath stop.

Still, surviving will be hard.

Even so, survival was impossible. Once struck by the Black Heaven Sword, regeneration was out of the question. And though he had not fully severed the neck, he had split it halfway and inflicted a fatal wound. At best the dragon would cling to life for a short while.

Just then—

“That Master bastard. In the end he was no help at all.”

“Mm. Never expected to get kicked out so suddenly.”

The Black King’s retainers appeared one after another at the Tower’s entrance. They too found the present situation absurd.

“Who the hell cleared it?”

“……Not the White King. When the raid started, Dae-to-ryong was facing me.”

Laktusha answered the dark elf’s question. At the name Dae-to-ryong every one of them showed keen interest.

“Oh-ho. Dae-to-ryong? Did you kill him?”

“He took a fatal wound from the Black Heaven Sword, so surviving will be difficult.”

“You didn’t confirm the death?”

“……You already know he absolutely cannot survive.”