Legacy Transcendence

"Any technique someone has already blocked cannot be challenged again. Only a maximum of one hundred passers may proceed to the seventeenth floor."

Sancha spoke as if urging them to succeed already.

Urgency rippled through the crowd. Roughly five hundred people had gathered here. Four hundred of them would fail?

Just block it once.

That doesn't sound hard at all, does it?

One hundred techniques. Block just one of them and the trial was yours. They could even choose from techniques already demonstrated—picking whatever matched their own strengths. On top of that, Sancha was adjusting his own stats to match each challenger's level.

At first, nearly everyone threw themselves forward, eager to reach the next floor.

"The rank is different… the rank…"

"Even when you can see it, you can't stop it. He's dominating the space itself."

"Sancha is overwhelming the entire floor. He's a monster."

As the trial wore on, the number of challengers dwindled at an exponential rate. Factions gathered in huddles, holding emergency councils, desperate to find a way to crack Sancha's techniques.

If it were merely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a matter of exploiting a technical weakness, every one of them could have managed it. Most of the people assembled here were geniuses. They possessed eyes sharp enough to spot the flaws in an opponent's movements and techniques at a glance.

But Sancha's movements and techniques themselves were almost absurdly simple. So simple that failing to stop them felt unnatural. And yet they could not be stopped. Far from stopping them, challengers kept surrendering their lives one after another.

The difference lay in the rank of existence itself—in the sheer dominion over space.

Still, doing nothing was not an option.

"The Serpent Dragon's Blade. A death-sword steeped in extreme poison. Unless your poison resistance is exceptional, you'd better avoid that one."

"Heavenly Dragon Kick and Dragon-Slaying Kick. Both mid-range techniques. He amplifies mana at the tip of his foot in an instant and crushes the opponent underfoot."

"What Sancha primarily uses are close-range techniques. Of those, only two are long-range attacks. Focus on those two and victory is certain. Techniques meant to be used at range lose accuracy the closer you get."

Each group researched and chattered about their surefire strategies. No matter how monstrous Sancha was, not all one hundred techniques could be perfect. Every technique had a weakness, and even the same technique sometimes failed against the right opponent.

So there had to be a gap. They would dig into that gap. If none existed, they would force one open.

It was billed as an individual trial, but this contest was no different from a team battle. A trial that demanded they put their heads together and thoroughly understand Sancha alone.

This trial is about picking out the single weakest technique among the hundred.

Charging in blindly won't cut it.

What is it? Which technique is it?

Minds raced at a breakneck pace. But answers remained stubbornly out of reach—until that moment.

"…Found it!"

From the center of one faction, a man let out a cry of triumph. Found what? Moments later, that man strode confidently toward Sancha.

"Which technique will you choose?"

Sancha's eyes gleamed as he asked. Anyone who approached with such confidence must have found an answer of their own.

The man smiled and spoke.

"Divine Sword Unity."

"Very well."

A soft rasp of steel. A sword appeared in Sancha's hand. Then the blade began to vibrate in short, sharp pulses. Sancha closed his eyes.

Watching him, the man spoke with a taunting edge.

"I am William, heir to the Valkent territory. I will climb to the top of this tower and claim victory in the tournament. Watch with both eyes wide open!"

William. He had grasped the essence of this trial with perfect clarity.

This isn't a trial you can clear with raw power alone.

Hyun of Adrium, who had made everyone tremble on the fourteenth floor, was simply sitting there with his eyes closed, as if he had already given up. He must have sensed it instinctively—that Sancha was not an opponent who could be beaten by force alone. The stronger you were, the harder this trial became to overcome.

But William had found it. The surefire method. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sancha's weakness.

Only when he performs Divine Sword Unity does Sancha close his eyes. And his movements become simpler.

The logic was almost childishly simple. Becoming one with the sword meant, put plainly, becoming simpler. Dodging a blind sword was easy enough—William had always been more confident in his agility than most.

A sharp clang. William discarded his sword. A soft thud. He stripped off his armor. As light as possible. He abandoned the very idea of meeting the attack head-on. William intended only to evade that single stroke of the blade.

"Huh."

"Lightening his body to dodge somehow?"

"A desperate flight…"

"Hmm. Not a bad choice, maybe."

Watching William, the crowd murmured small notes of admiration. After all, the core of this test was simply surviving until the technique had been demonstrated once. You didn't even have to block it—evading alone counted as a pass.

This method can only be used once. A true last-resort technique.

Evade the dulled sword of Divine Sword Unity. If someone cleared the trial this way, no one else could challenge Divine Sword Unity again.

"Are you ready?"

"…Ready."

William wiped the smile from his face. It was time to face the trial in earnest.

Sancha closed the distance. William drew a deep breath and poured every shred of his focus into Sancha's shoulder and the tip of the blade.

Then Sancha unleashed the sword.

A hiss of cutting air.

I dodg—!

A wet slice.

…William's severed head hit the floor.

"Wh-what?"

"Didn't he clearly dodge it?"

"Don't tell me… an unavoidable attack?"

The crowd reeled. Anyone could see that William had dodged Sancha's sword. And yet William's head lay rolling on the ground. Unless Sancha had used some kind of sleight of hand, there was only one explanation.

Unavoidable?!

That's impossible!

There existed, in vanishingly small numbers, techniques that simply could not be avoided. Ultimate unique techniques honed to their absolute limit—attacks into which a master had poured everything for the sake of a single strike. The Divine Sword Unity Sancha had just performed belonged to that same category.

But it defied comprehension. Unavoidable attacks existed for a reason. They were absolute domains that only those who had devoted an entire lifetime to a single blow could possess. And yet Sancha had polished a full hundred techniques.

Does that mean all one hundred techniques… have reached that absolute domain?

If so, did that mean all one hundred techniques stood on the same level? And if that were true, the very premise of this trial was wrong.

Is he saying he won't let a single person pass?

Sancha had never intended to produce a hundred passers. From the beginning, he had meant to slaughter everyone present. The strongest of the strong, who had refined one hundred techniques to their absolute peak.

And two people blocked all of them?

Insane…

Randolph, and Wilhelm. How on earth had those two blocked every last technique of a monster like this? Not one technique—a full hundred unique techniques that had each reached the absolute domain.

Cold sweat beaded on every brow.

In that instant—

A soft scrape of steel. A long, dragging rasp.

A man began to move, dragging his sword along the floor. Every gaze turned toward him, one by one. They had no choice.

"Hyun of Adrium…?"

"Is he actually challenging?"

The monster who had sat with his eyes closed, utterly motionless until now, was walking toward Sancha. The Demon King of the fourteenth floor. The beast who had butchered two hundred people with a single gesture.

And yet Hyun of Adrium's movements seemed strangely sluggish. Had he poured out all his mana on the fourteenth floor?

"You look to be in poor condition. And yet the body itself is fine…"

Even Sancha felt compelled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to comment. From Sancha's perspective, the man's condition was perfectly normal. Despite the unnatural movements, the flesh itself was entirely sound.

Is he acting?

Was he pretending to be injured to dodge the stat adjustment? Sancha clicked his tongue inwardly. A truly idiotic idea. This was the Tower of the War God. Sancha, completed through the trial, held the authority to see through an opponent's abilities with perfect accuracy. Acting would never work.

"Which technique will you choose?"

"Divine Sword Unity."

"…Oh-ho."

Even Sancha could not help but be somewhat surprised by that choice. To challenge it so confidently after just watching it prove itself an unavoidable technique. That spirit alone deserved acknowledgment.

Hyun of Adrium. The gazes fixed on him burned with equally fierce curiosity.

"Is he going to stop a strike of Divine Sword Unity in that half-hearted stance?"

"…A far cry from what he showed on the fourteenth floor."

Different. Far too different from the tyrannical presence he had displayed on the fourteenth floor. Without taking any particular stance, he simply stood there.

A soft rasp. Once more, Sancha's sword began to vibrate in short pulses. Sancha closed his eyes. And still, Hyun of Adrium stood blankly. He showed no intention of blocking, no intention of dodging.

The idea that standing still would save you from an unavoidable attack was truly foolish.

"Hmm…?"

"What?"

But soon the crowd realized something was going wrong. Sancha, who had unleashed Divine Sword Unity. And Hyun of Adrium.

"Why aren't either of them moving?"

"Why is Sancha just standing there?"

Neither of them moved. Sancha, who until now had always struck first, did not so much as twitch.

But change came soon enough. Sancha's brow began to furrow, little by little. Then Sancha opened his eyes. His body trembled, as if something deeply displeased him.

"You…"

He opened his mouth. Then bit his lip again. And spoke once more.

"…You pass."

In the end, I had to choose.

Would I drift here forever, doing nothing? Or would I climb, come hell or high water?

Truthfully, the choice had been decided from the start.

I climb.

I would climb. To the summit of this tower. That had been the plan from the beginning. An unintended obstacle—not quite an obstacle—had simply appeared along the way.

Randolph's body was on the thirtieth floor. The tower had forcibly summoned Randolph. And the reason that had been possible was almost certainly a problem caused by me.

Because I am here.

That guy who was now a Dragon God. The reason the Mad Dragon Ainharthar had been unable to summon Randolph was, one way or another, because my soul had been dwelling there. Likewise, right now I was moving myself—Park Hyunmyung.

I had one soul. But two bodies I could move. Move one, and the other went empty. A body without a soul was left completely defenseless. That was why privileges like the Guardian Wall could block someone's attack, but could not stop a tower's summons issued for a Champion's duty.

No matter how hard I racked my brains until they felt ready to burst, nothing else came to mind.

…This trial itself is far too easy.

And the trial Sancha had set was, for me, an absurdly simple problem. Especially if I chose Divine Sword Unity, it became even easier.

An unavoidable attack. In other words, a technique that was guaranteed to land a hit on the opponent.

If he kills me, Sancha dies too.

But I possessed an absolute ability that reflected such hits. Namely—

As long as I'm wearing the Archetypal Armor, Sancha cannot attack me with Divine Sword Unity.

The option engraved on the Archetypal Armor: fifty percent physical resistance, plus two hundred ten percent reflection of physical damage. The moment he attacked me with Divine Sword ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Unity, Sancha would die.

The instant he activated Divine Sword Unity, he had instinctively realized that—and so Sancha had been unable to take any action at all. A being who had to carry on the trial, the mission, could not mutual-destruct and leave the other challengers behind.

And so, the moment I completed the sixteenth-floor trial and stepped onto the seventeenth floor—

The inheritance of a Hidden Class through the Great Legacy! That alone would have been an enormous event—

…The Hidden Class transcended?