Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Floor 35 (EXTREME)
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[You have entered the 35th floor of the Tower (EXTREME).]
The familiar alert chimed, and the scenery shifted.
This was the floor with the mid-30s intermediate boss.
I was curious how it would play out if it linked to a quest.
“This place…”
The starting point was inside a dark passageway.
It felt like the corridors within a massive arena.
And standing beside me was someone.
“Huh?”
I let out a sound without thinking.
A woman in leather armor, leaning against the wall and catching her breath.
A face I knew all too well.
“Sharon?”
At my call, she jolted in surprise and looked up.
Her eyes widened round when she saw me.
“Sage! How are you here…?”
“That’s what I want to ask. Why are you here, Sharon?”
Having an NPC nearby wasn’t all that surprising.
But her being alone felt off.
‘Maybe because of that?’
It suddenly hit me—our relationship with Sharon had leveled up on the previous floor.
Maybe this sent me to wherever she was.
Sharon opened her mouth urgently.
“I can explain the details later. It’s too dangerous here.”
Guess it made sense for an intermediate boss fight.
It had to be dangerous.
Even I, who cleared floors easily at rank one, always struggled on boss levels.
“Where exactly is this? I don’t see any enemies.”
“We’ve infiltrated deep into the orcs’ main base. During a reconnaissance mission, we found and entered a strange structure.”
“Main base? So we won the war, huh?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, it was easier…. It’s all because of you, Sage.”
They’d always seemed barely able to hold the line before, but somehow they’d turned it around.
Sharon’s face suddenly turned apologetic.
“What’s wrong?”
“The truth is, all the orcs flee at the sight of the hourglass symbol.”
“Huh?”
“It started with soldiers just painting it on their armor…”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“So…”
Sharon hesitated for some reason.
She glanced at me cautiously before opening her mouth.
“The kingdom outright changed its national flag to the hourglass emblem.”
“?”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
You could just change the national flag like that?
Sharon bowed her head deeply.
“I’m sorry! We used your symbol without permission…. My father and I opposed it the whole time…”
“It’s fine. Really.”
If anything, it was great.
My symbol had become a kingdom’s emblem?
This was a cultural export worth taking outside the Tower.
From today, the Great War Council’s symbol was the hourglass too.
Well, if I had Mr. Jeong Man-ho carry around an hourglass, people would get the wrong idea on their own.
“You did well. I love it.”
“R-really?”
“Of course. While we’re at it, make a biography or something.”
“A biography?”
“Well, you know…”
As we talked and walked down the passageway, the end finally came into view.
Beyond the arched exit lay a vast space.
“This feels familiar somehow.”
It was a circular arena.
The stands were empty, and in the center stood a massive figure bound by iron chains.
“No way that’s…”
Sharon muttered in a tense voice.
Chains as thick as a person’s arm.
Even those looked insufficient to hold it down.
Kigigigigik-!
As if sensing our arrival.
The orc began to thrash.
The chains pulled taut.
A precarious creaking echoed through the empty arena, as if they’d snap any second.
Crack! Crunch!
The chain anchors embedded in the floor ripped out entirely.
The finally freed giant slowly rose to its feet.
I narrowed my eyes at the sight.
A familiar silhouette.
The orc great chieftain I’d met on floor 10.
My very first boss monster.
It wasn’t just a resemblance.
Its skin had turned pitch black, and its body was covered in gruesome scars.
But that face and aura were exactly the same as back then.
Most striking of all was the massive scar in the center of its chest.
The donut shape I’d carved into it on floor 10.
The hole had healed over, but it remained.
‘The same individual? No wonder that message popped up about it remembering me…’
It spotted me.
Hatred and rage. Madness blazed in its red eyes.
I grinned and waved.
“Long time no see, you bastard.”
Sharon, standing beside me, looked at me in shock.
“You know this guy too, Sage?”
“Huh? You know it? That’s the surprising part.”
“Yes…. That’s definitely the orc overlord. We thought it was a myth since it never showed up during the war…”
“Overlord?”
It was great chieftain on floor 10, I thought.
Must’ve gotten promoted.
Thanks to me again?
This time, I had to kill it for good. No special great chieftain promotions allowed.
“Grroooaaarrr-!”
The overlord bellowed.
The roar shook the entire arena.
It picked up a massive weapon from the floor.
“Come on, if you’re chaining it up, at least take the weapon away. What’s this?”
It wasn’t the battle axe from floor 10.
That was already in my inventory.
What it grabbed was a colossal warhammer whose weight was obvious just looking at it.
Its gaze stayed locked on me from start to finish.
Sharon wasn’t even on its radar.
It clearly recognized me too.
“Sage, I’ll draw its attention somehow…”
“Nah, not that again. Just hang back and take it easy.”
Before Sharon could finish.
The orc overlord charged.
Insane speed from such a hulking form.
Like a truck barreling down on us.
I had no intention of dragging out this reunion.
End it in one move.
I thrust one arm straight forward.
Kugugugugu-!
Sand erupted from the arena’s solid stone floor.
The sand gathered around my arm as a core.
I infused it with tungsten properties.
Soon, a massive spike formed.
Even bigger and thicker than the overlord’s bulky body—a god’s spear.
“S-Sage…”
Sharon, beside me, swallowed hard.
A sight no one could believe came from a single human.
The overlord sensed the instinctive threat too.
Shock flashed in its eyes.
“Gr… grr?”
Reason returned to its madness-filled gaze.
But too late.
“Cannon missile launch.”
I gave the short command.
Kwaaaaaang-!
The tungsten spike launched with a deafening tear through the air.
No dodging it.
No blocking it.
That was the conclusion for me, Sharon, and maybe even the overlord.
But it didn’t give up.
“GRRROOOAAARRR!”
The overlord roared and charged forward.
A foolish rush toward death.
But it wasn’t suicide.
“Hup!”
It raised the massive warhammer overhead.
Its muscles bulged like they’d explode.
And swung down.
At the god’s spike hurtling toward it.
Kaaaaang-!
A shockwave rocked the entire arena, spreading outward.
I reflexively stepped in front of Sharon and raised a sand barrier.
“!!!”
The scene beyond the barrier defied common sense.
The overlord was blocking the attack.
The tungsten spike larger than its own body—with just a hammer.
“Tenacious…!”
Empowered by my magic, the spike kept pushing forward without stopping.
The overlord, dangling from its tip, was shoved back dozens of meters.
Its footprints gouged long scars into the stone floor.
Steam rose from the overlord’s entire body.
“Gr… ugh… AAAAH!”
In that state, it swung the hammer again.
Kaaang!
Second impact.
The spike’s advance slowed, ever so slightly but unmistakably.
Kaaaaang!
Third.
Kaaaaaaaaaang!
Fourth.
It swung the hammer like a maniac.
Once, again.
Each blow shaved off a bit more of the spike.
“Brute force, but no way that method could…”
The cost was steep, though.
Crack!
Finally, the warhammer in the overlord’s hands shattered under the strain.
Fragments flew everywhere.
Weaponless now—truly the end.
But my prediction missed spectacularly.
The overlord didn’t hesitate.
The instant the hammer broke, it thrust out its fist.
Kwajajak!
The sound of flesh and bone colliding head-on with mineral mass.
Its fist pulverized.
But at the same time, the spike’s tip dented deeply.
“Insane.”
A curse slipped out unbidden.
Was this even possible?
Not even an A-rank hunter’s physical prowess could manage it.
“GRRROOOAAARRR!”
Kwak! Kwajajajak!
The overlord showed no sign of pain.
Right fist crushed, it swung the left.
Even with both fists mangled beyond fingers, it rammed its forearms into the spike, smashing away.
“My god…”
A brutal, magnificent spectacle.
Sharon gaped, speechless.
And finally.
Kwaaaaaang!
The last fragment chipped away.
My ultimate move scattered into a handful of sand midair.
“What….”
I was appalled.
My strongest attack dismantled by such primitive means?
“Gr… hugh…”
The overlord dropped to its knees right there.
Utterly exhausted.
Especially its arms—mashed into unrecognizable pulp.
Bones protruding, tendons snapped, forearms in tatters.
Yet it didn’t fall.
Those red eyes still fixed on me.
I wasn’t unscathed either.
I’d expended one arm just now.
Recovering would take some time.
Tension hung thick in the arena.
Neither of us could move rashly.
That instant.
Behind the overlord, the air shimmered faintly.
A presence perfectly hidden by Mirage skill from the start.
My ace in the hole.
“…!”
Puhweeeek-!
The ace’s spear pierced the overlord’s back.
Right where the heart should be.
The tip burst out through its chest.
“Gr… erk…”
The overlord’s massive frame lurched.
In disbelief, it looked down at the spear tip protruding from its chest.
Kuwung!
The overlord’s heavy body collapsed.
Dust billowed.
The ace pointed at me and flashed a V-sign, bold as ever.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the cocky display.
“D-Did we get it…?”
Sharon asked in a trembling voice.
I shook my head at her question.
“Thanks to that, I’m sure there’s more. Get ready.”
“Huh?”
No sooner had I spoken than the anomaly hit.
The overlord’s body dissolved into black smoke and vanished.
The smoke converged in one spot, soon forming a familiar shape.
An orc overlord made entirely of black smoke.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Yeah, a boss needs at least a phase two.”
The ace panicked and stabbed again.
But the spear passed through the overlord’s body without resistance.
“…!”
It ignored the ace completely and advanced on me.
Ghost type, huh?
Tricky.
An opponent physical attacks couldn’t touch.
Unlike the ash golem from floor 30.
That one was a mass of dust I could disperse by clumping.
But this was a pure spirit with no form.
Real crisis.
Earth magic fundamentally relied on physical impact.
Worst matchup against ghost types.
[Gr… aaah….]
A smoky hand lunged for my heart.
But I didn’t dodge.
Kaaang!
A mithril sand barrier auto-generated around me.
This magic-resistant barrier blocked the spirit’s attack too.
[……!]
Disconcertion flashed in the ghost’s eyes.
It hadn’t expected its attack to fail.
I was just as stumped.
My attacks wouldn’t land either.
Perfect stalemate.
Neither could land a hit on the other—the worst scenario.
“What now?”
No clever ideas came.
I glanced at the magic battery on my belt.
Magic Cancel.
Would it work on that thing?
If the ethereal form was magic, maybe I could dispel it.
But the one-use risk was too high.
If it failed, I’d truly be out of options.
Right then.
“An interesting junior.”
A voice came from somewhere.
Familiar yet unfamiliar.
I turned toward the source.
No one there.
But I knew the owner.
[GRRROOOAAAR!]
The overlord’s movements halted.
Not halted—thrashing like caught in invisible hands.
Then, before my eyes, space tore open.
A man stepped out from the rift.
Neatly combed-back hair.
Black eyes without whites.
And a robe identical to mine.
The overlord’s soul compressed into the middle-aged mage’s hand like a bead.
The magic-slicing middle-aged man grinned at me.
“Nice robe you got there.”
“Sharon, run!”
I grabbed Sharon’s hand and bolted.