Chapter 18
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 18. 10th Floor (4)
The six arms wielded by the Three-Faced Blood Demon pressured me relentlessly.
—Clang! Clang! Boom!
I blocked with the greatsword and took hits with the armor.
Sparks flew every time the Mithril Greatsword of Blast clashed with the bastard's hands.
But the bastard showed no signs of exhaustion.
Rather, as time passed, its attack speed was increasing.
The red miasma spewing from its body tried to gnaw at the armor surface.
Fortunately, thanks to the magic resistance of the Radiant Mithril Armor, I was holding out, but the situation wasn't good.
The energy is already full.
I just need to burst it once, but there was a problem.
Using it earlier to wipe out the Shamans was the root of the trouble.
The cooldown hadn't reset yet.
It was when I was gritting my teeth and agonizing over what to do.
The Three-Faced Blood Demon suddenly stopped attacking and stepped back.
Its three heads opened their mouths towards the sky simultaneously.
—Kuoooo!
Crimson blood clots surged from their mouths.
They clumped into one in the air, forming a giant sphere.
It looked like a blood-stained sun rising.
"Kihihihi! Die, all of you! Bug-like bastards!"
Bursting into maniacal laughter, the bastard prepared to throw the sphere.
I calculated instinctively.
If I use the 'Sprint' ability on the Mithril Shoes of Gale, I can dodge it sufficiently.
But.
I glanced back slightly.
I saw the soldiers gathered in front of the gate.
Their faces were already pale with fear.
Pressed by the pressure emanating from the red sphere, some dropped their weapons and sat down trembling.
"K... Knight..."
Even the commander was looking at me with a desperate expression.
If I dodge, they die.
Not just the soldiers.
Even the wall behind them and the citizens inside will all die.
Then it's a clear failure.
Should I run?
Honestly, I contemplated.
Because my life is the most important.
But I shook my head.
This was the hardest difficulty I've climbed so far.
Thinking about the rewards I'd get here, I couldn't bring myself to leave.
I went through this hardship, I can't go back empty-handed.
I have to find a way.
I quickly scanned the armor information.
*Nullification: Completely ignores attacks directed at the user with a 1% chance.
Should I trust this?
But I folded the thought immediately.
This is too much of a gamble.
I couldn't bet my life on a gamble where failure means death.
I needed a more certain move.
Then, an option caught my eye.
Exceeding 100% allows overcharging while reducing durability.
Take the bastard's attack until the Discharge cooldown resets.
The armor durability will drop, but unless it becomes 0, I can fix it again.
If Nullification pops in between, thank you, otherwise I endure with guts.
Instead of running away, I put strength into my legs and lowered my stance.
The armor vibrated as if reading my will.
The Three-Faced Blood Demon slammed down the giant red sphere.
It poured over my head with a roar like the sky collapsing.
"Knight, dodge it!!"
Soldiers' screams came from behind, but I didn't move.
—Boooooooom!!!
A tremendous shock hit my whole body.
My vision flashed, and it felt like my eardrums would burst.
The ground collapsed, burying me up to my knees.
"Kughhh!"
A fishy taste of blood filled my mouth.
But I endured.
The Radiant Mithril Armor screamed and began sucking in the red energy.
The armor surface turned crimson hot and then shone blue repeatedly.
Heat feeling like flesh burning was felt.
The Nullification I hoped for just in case didn't trigger.
Hairline cracks started to appear all over the armor.
But the size of the sphere was visibly shrinking.
I spat out blood and raised my head.
Blue sparks were flying crazily from my whole body.
It felt like my body would explode, but my mind was clearer than ever.
I pulled out my legs stuck in the ground and grinned.
Now it's my turn.
I loaded the energy charged up to 1,000%, on the verge of exploding, into the Mithril Greatsword of Blast.
The blade couldn't endure and made a cracking sound.
Gotta repair this sword too.
I struck down the greatsword towards the bastard's crown.
[Discharge]
—Boooooooom!!!
The world turned white.
The atmosphere screamed and tore apart, and the blue energy amplified to 1,000% swallowed the Three-Faced Blood Demon like a tsunami.
The soldiers behind the wall couldn't even open their eyes.
They just lay flat on the ground feeling the ear-bursting roar and heat that felt like burning flesh.
How much time passed?
Silence fell on the spot where the storm passed.
The soldiers and commander looked at me with unusual gazes, perhaps thinking I sacrificed myself for them.
Anyway, that wasn't important right now.
"Cough!"
Because my insides were a mess right now.
I spat out the blood pooled in my mouth.
Every muscle in my body screamed, and it felt like my joints were crushing.
It's because the shock absorption didn't work properly as the armor durability hit rock bottom.
"Hurts like hell..."
I drank a potion and looked at the scene in front.
In the center, the Three-Faced Blood Demon was stuck with half its body gone.
Two of the three heads disappeared without a trace, and the remaining one was half-melted, looking hideous.
"Ki... Kieek...!"
The bastard glared at me, gasping for breath.
Only terrible killing intent and malice remained in those eyes.
"Hu... man...!"
The bastard's remaining one arm wriggled.
I was barely standing using the greatsword as a cane.
I wanted to deliver the finishing blow, but I didn't have the strength to lift a finger.
It was then.
The bastard's body began to swell like a balloon.
It intends to burn all its remaining life force to self-destruct.
"Together... Let's die...!"
As the swollen body burst, crimson light exploded out, and a thick stream of blood shot towards me.
No, seriously... If you did this much, just die already!!
The armor durability was at its limit, and my stamina was also at the bottom.
The commander and soldiers screamed.
"Knight, it's dangerous!!"
"No!!"
Their screams hit my ears.
The blood stream flew aiming for my heart.
The moment death approached right before my nose.
A clear notification sound rang in my ear.
—Ding!
As soon as the blood stream touched my body, it scattered into the air like a lie.
As if it didn't exist from the beginning.
"......?"
Oh, sweet.
The soldiers and commander, who didn't know the situation, were surprised enough for their eyes to pop out, and what broke the silence of the battlefield was a clear notification sound.
—Ding~!
...
White hair, pale enough to be white, shone coolly under the lighting.
The purple eyes settled below were sparkling beautifully.
Imperial Princess Cassia pressed her brow firmly and glared at the pile of documents in front of her.
Dark circles settled deeply under her eyes and bloodless lips showed her fatigue nakedly.
The air in the Imperial Office was heavy.
It wasn't simply because there was a lot of work.
The situation surrounding the Empire was tightening her breath.
The place where the Tower appeared and broke.
The Red Rift generated there changed everything in the Empire.
Monsters pouring out from beyond the rift were on a different dimension from existing entities.
The numbers increased geometrically, and stronger variants appeared one after another.
So human territory decreased day by day.
Fertile farmlands became wastelands due to the monsters' ravaging, leading straight to a severe food shortage.
The people's hunger became resentment, and that resentment was directed intact at the Imperial Family.
But what gave Cassia the biggest headache was something else.
"Is it a failure this time too?"
She covered the report on the desk nervously.
The Imperial Exclusive Blacksmith was an Epic grade Maker.
He was praised as the most outstanding skilled person in the Empire, but the reality was an apricot good only to look at (all show and no substance).
He couldn't meet the quantity and quality of equipment required by the front lines at all.
The amount of top-grade materials poured in to make one Epic grade equipment was beyond imagination.
The problem was that even after investing such materials, the performance of the result didn't meet expectations.
In a situation where resources were already scarce, this inefficient production method was a cancer eating away at the Empire's finances.
She couldn't even remember when she last slept.
But she couldn't rest.
Because it has been a week since her father, the Emperor, disappeared.
The Emperor led the Knights and went on an expedition himself saying he would identify the source of the Red Rift.
And news was cut off.
"Is there still no news of His Majesty?"
At her dry question, the Chamberlain standing like a shadow bowed his head deeply.
"I apologize. The messenger has not returned yet."
Cassia bit her lip.
An ominous premonition crept up, but she tried to ignore it.
Now was not the time to be sentimental.
At that time, the office door opened roughly and a messenger ran in.
"Princess! Urgent report!"
Seeing the panting messenger, Cassia's eyes became sharp.
"Report."
"A massive monster wave occurred in the Arden Barony in the western part of the Empire!"
Cassia's eyebrow twitched.
Arden Barony was a frontier far from the center of the Empire.
If that place is breached, the entire western front could be endangered.
"Scale?"
"It is said to be a large army including Orcs and Trolls. Furthermore, mixed with variant entities, defense is impossible with only the Barony's troops..."
Cassia immediately drew a map in her head.
She had to deploy troops stationed in the nearest place.
But pulling troops when the front lines were already holed everywhere was a big risk.
"Dispatch the 3rd Knight Order. Prepare for departure immediately..."
"Y... Your Highness! That is..."
The messenger who cut her off made a troubled expression.
Cassia's cold gaze landed on him.
"Speak."
"The situation... is said to have already ended."
"Ended? Does that mean annihilated?"
"No! The monsters were annihilated. The villagers and soldiers are said to be safe."
Cassia stopped the hand holding the pen.
It was a scale that the Barony's troops could absolutely not block.
But they blocked it without damage.
"Who did it?"
"That is... It is said to be an unidentified Knight."
"Knight?"
"Yes. It is said he appeared suddenly, swept away the monster army alone, even fixed the gate, and disappeared suddenly. Soldiers are calling him the Hermit Knight."
The messenger continued the report stuttering as if he couldn't believe it.
Stories of dominating the battlefield wearing silver armor and wielding blue Sword Ki.
Even the story that he armed the soldiers with a massive amount of equipment.
Listening to the report, Cassia's expression changed strangely.
"He gave... equipment?"
He generously distributed high-performance equipment hard to get even in the Empire to frontier soldiers.
And without a price.
And then disappeared without leaving a name.
It was a move incomprehensible by common sense.
If there was a Knight with that level of martial power and financial power in the Empire, there was no way she wouldn't know.
"Hermit Knight..."
Cassia dismissed the messenger.
The office became quiet again.
She tapped the desk with her finger.
An existence that appears suddenly, shows overwhelming power, and disappears.
And equipment surpassing existing common sense.
There was only one possibility all these circumstances pointed to.
A secret shared only by a very few high-ranking officials within the Empire.
Those chosen who know the secret of the Tower and climb it.
Her purple eyes shone with a strange light.
"By any chance... Is he a Climber?"
Her cold voice scattered into the air.