Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: 31st Floor (2)
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A small group of soldiers, numbering around a few dozen.
They were desperately fending off the orcs swarming in from all directions.
There were fewer orcs than humans in number.
But each orc was stronger than a human.
In skill, physique, even armament.
The formation looked like it could collapse at any moment.
At the center was a knight mounted on a horse and clad in armor.
He was probably the commander.
Then, bursting through the orc horde came an orc of unusually massive build.
The orc chieftain, wielding axes in both hands.
“Grraaaah!”
The orc chieftain bellowed as he swung his axe.
The blade plunged down vertically.
The knight twisted his body and barely parried the blow with his sword.
Clang-!
A scream and the clash of metal rang out.
Unable to withstand the impact, the knight tumbled from his horse.
He sprang back up immediately, but the second attack was already incoming.
Anyone could see it was a desperate crisis.
I whispered softly to the ring coiled around my finger.
“Sandworm.”
At my call, the ring unraveled and dropped to the ground.
A small sand worm burrowed into the earth.
Right after.
Rumble rumble rumble-!
The ground began to shake.
Orcs and humans alike stumbled in panic from the sudden earthquake, losing their balance.
That was the moment.
The earth erupted beside the orcs like an explosion.
A massive hill rose amid clouds of dirt.
Peering from the split ground was a gigantic maw torn into several segments.
An abyss lined with hundreds, thousands of teeth.
The sandworm barreled straight across the battlefield.
Like a train plowing through everything in its path.
A thick line scarred the earth.
Inside it lay orc corpses and fragments, pulverized without even a chance to scream.
“Gr… grraa…?”
The surviving orcs turned in confusion.
They gasped in horror at the terrain where dozens of their comrades had vanished in an instant.
Pure terror filled their eyes.
In that silence, I snapped my fingers.
Dozens of sand bullets materialized in the air.
Bullets heavy with tungsten particles, gleaming silver.
I precisely aimed at the heads of the panicked orcs.
Bang! Bang bang!
Sounds like watermelons bursting echoed in succession. The orcs’ heads exploded one by one.
“Gr, grraaaah!”
Seeing their comrades’ heads burst before their eyes, the orcs completely lost their will to fight.
They dropped their weapons, screamed, and scattered.
In mere seconds, dozens of orcs vanished without a trace.
“….”
The battlefield fell silent, leaving only the human soldiers.
They stared blankly at the spot where their orc foes had been moments ago.
Their gazes soon turned to me.
I recalled the intel on the 30th floor and above.
From this floor onward, NPCs occasionally appeared, and you could team up with them for quests.
‘That knight in the middle’s probably a named one.’
Named NPC, Knight Seymour.
From what I remembered, he was infamous for his arrogant and foul personality.
Quick to pick fights or look down on others, or so they said.
I approached the soldiers.
Surely he wouldn’t start trouble after I just saved them from near death?
“…H-Halt! Don’t come any closer!”
One of the surviving soldiers aimed his spear at me and shouted.
The soldier’s voice and spear tip trembled faintly.
“Hm?”
As I furrowed my brow at the unexpected reaction.
“Hold!”
Knight Seymour barked.
But his shout wasn’t directed at me.
“How dare you block the sage’s path! Lower that spear at once!”
At the knight’s command, the soldier flinched and lowered his spear.
He glared at the soldiers once, then approached me.
And without hesitation, he dropped to one knee before me.
“Forgive my subordinate’s rudeness. They couldn’t handle the miracle before their eyes and committed a grave discourtesy.”
He kept his head deeply bowed, speaking in a voice filled with awe.
“My name is Seymour. May I ask the name of this great one?”
I looked down at him with puzzlement.
This was completely different from what I’d heard.
Was this really the arrogant and rude guy?
Seymour was excessively polite and courteous.
I thought for a moment before speaking.
Should’ve made up an English name ahead of time.
One Star? That’s not a person’s name.
“Just call me whatever’s convenient.”
“Understood, Great Sage.”
Seymour remained kneeling, head still lowered.
He said nothing more with me standing there.
Silence stretched on.
“….”
“….”
In the end, impatience got to me, and I spoke first.
This wasn’t going anywhere.
“Don’t you have something to say?”
“Pardon?”
At my voice, Seymour flinched and raised his head.
I sighed and asked again.
“No requests or favors for me? Like, oh, wipe out all the orcs…”
Seymour’s body stiffened for a moment.
But he quickly composed himself and replied hastily.
“Th-Then, would you accompany us to our outpost? I wish to formally request your aid, Great Sage. Perhaps over a moment’s rest.”
I nodded.
This was probably the main quest, so I planned to cooperate anyway.
“Sure.”
At my curt reply, Seymour’s face lit up.
He hurriedly stood, fetched his horse, and brought it over.
“Please ride this horse. We can’t have our benefactor walking.”
I eyed the horse and saddle.
‘Kinda high…?’
The horse’s back was about level with my head.
The saddle was even higher than my waist.
I sighed and tapped the ground with my staff.
A stepping stool formed in an instant.
“Mi, miracle….”
Murmurs rose from the surrounding soldiers.
What, never seen a mage before?
Feeling oddly proud, I stepped up, hooked one foot into the stirrup.
And pulled myself up onto the horse in one motion.
“Damn, my legs are too short…”
I made it up successfully, but both feet dangled in the air.
Plus, the horse felt way less stable than expected for a first ride.
My acrophobia was kicking in again.
I felt my face flush red.
“…I’ll just walk.”
I dismounted.
Seymour, holding the reins, approached with a flustered look.
“S-Sorry! It was short-sighted of me!”
“…It’s fine. Let’s just get going.”
“No! Allow me to carry you!”
“Just. Hurry. Up.”
I bit my lip and said.
Seymour looked flustered for a moment but soon led the horse forward.
The soldiers hastily reformed ranks and followed.
I trailed at the very back.
***
How long had we walked?
Frayed tents came into view over the distant hill.
Seymour guided me to the largest, cleanest one.
“It’s humble, but please rest comfortably.”
Seymour prepared a chair with a blanket for me, while the other soldiers bustled about, bringing water and food.
Of course, all they offered was tough jerky, but it was clear this was their best.
The outpost’s situation didn’t look good at all.
I silently watched them.
It wasn’t bad treatment.
Honestly, it was pretty satisfying.
As I chewed a few pieces of jerky, Seymour knelt before me again.
“Great Sage. I have an impudent request to make.”
I regarded him wordlessly.
Here came the main point.
“Our… our battalion’s colors were taken by the enemy.”
Seymour’s voice trembled with shame and anger.
“The colors are our honor. We cannot return without them.”
Seymour bowed even deeper, his forehead nearly touching the ground.
I answered before he could continue.
It wasn’t a big deal anyway.
“You want me to get them back? Got it. Where are they?”
At my ready agreement, Seymour’s face brightened.
“Thank you! The enemy has set up camp beyond that hill. I’ll show you the way…”
But before Seymour could finish.
Urgent shouts came from outside.
“Enemy attack! Orcs incoming!”
The camp erupted in chaos.
Seymour jumped up in alarm.
I stood and headed out.
Far off, over a hundred orcs charged, kicking up dust.
At their forefront, a soldier carried a large banner.
Where the original crest should have been, a crude painting in red blood had been slathered over it.
“That banner…!”
Seymour muttered in despair.
“To defile our colors with such filth…!”
Red energy spread from the banner, enveloping the orcs.
Foam dripped from the orcs’ mouths.
Clearly not in a normal state.
It was obvious they were buffed by the banner.
“They’re here already….”
Despair clouded the soldiers’ faces.
But I thought it was perfect.
The thing I had to fetch had come to me on its own.
I stepped forward.
I extended my hand toward the ground.
The earth around me had already turned to sand.
I snapped my fingers.
Dozens of sand bullets formed in the air.
Bang bang bang!
The heads of the frontline charging orcs exploded without exception.
“One more.”
I snapped again.
And again.
The orcs charging blindly collapsed in place, unable to take a few steps.
It felt like I’d become an entire line of infantry alone.
Standing still, snapping my fingers a few times, I wiped out nearly a hundred orcs in seconds.
“…….”
The world quieted once more.
Where the orcs had charged lay only a hill of corpses.
I walked slowly and pulled up the banner.
A foul, bloody stench assaulted my nose.
“Ugh, the smell…”
I carried the banner back to Seymour.
Seymour and the soldiers gaped at me like they were beholding a god.
“Not taking it?”
I held it out casually.
It was the item I’d promised to retrieve, after all.
But Seymour didn’t take the banner.
He gazed at the orc symbol smeared on it, his face filled with sorrow.
“…Our honor is already sullied.”
Seymour fell silent a moment, then spoke as if resolved.
“Great Sage. That banner… is no longer ours.”
His voice was heavy.
“We have no right to raise it again. It’s defiled. Please, take it as spoils, mage.”
“Spoils?”
What was I supposed to do with this?
What good was a bloody rag like this?
As I moved to refuse.
[Quest ‘Stolen Colors’ completed.]
[Tower Floor 31 (EXTREME) cleared. Congratulations!]
[First clear bonus applied!]
[Rank 1 bonus applied!]
[Reward item ‘Defiled Colors’ bonus applied.]
As the messages vanished, dazzling light poured from the banner in my hand.
“Th-This…!”
Seymour and the soldiers watched in shock.
With the light, the red blood smeared on the banner evaporated like smoke. The tattered cloth turned to pristine white silk.
The banner reborn in pure, radiant white.
From its center, a golden thread bloomed, embroidering an intricate pattern.
A golden hourglass of sand.
[Item ‘Defiled Colors’ has evolved into ‘Flag of the Beginning.’]
Seymour and the soldiers watched breathlessly.
To them, unfamiliar with magic, this was a miracle.
They believed themselves witnesses to a miracle.
“Ooh….”
A gasp escaped someone.
That was the signal.
Starting with Seymour, all the soldiers knelt and bowed as one.
“Hmm….”
I quietly gazed at my glowing white banner.
My own crest.
I liked the design.
Right then, a familiar sensation enveloped me.
The Tower’s ejection sensation.
The surroundings blurred into light and sped away.
When I opened my eyes again, I was on the private road in front of my house.
In my hand remained the pristine white banner embroidered with a golden hourglass.
A system window popped up from the banner.
[When declaring domain, input proclamation text and sound effect.]
[Current text: Auto]
[Current domain: 10m radius / 80 decibels]
What kind of random feature was this?
“Gotta turn this off first…”
It screamed “major accident waiting to happen” if touched wrong.
As I hesitated to disable it.
“The lawful ruler of the great hall, the sand-eater, the faceless one, the escapee from causality, the bane of orcs, the slayer of the world tree, the reviver of the world tree, the savior of elves, the calamity of fallen elves, the utterly depraved slave lord….”
“What the hell!”
Blinding white light poured from the banner, followed by a thunderous roar echoing everywhere.