Taboo (7): Applying for the Elevator Battle
My finger hovered over the [Elevator Battle Application] button in the menu, then stopped abruptly.
"If I head up to the 61st floor... that won't release the lockdown on the 60th, right?"
The thought flashed through my mind.
Starting an elevator battle might count as returning from vacation.
Guardian duty temporarily released for 19:58:47!
Which meant sleeping during this safe window was the smartest move. I'd save on fatigue recovery potions, too.
My body felt heavy anyway. Too much had happened today.
After dealing with the intruders, I'd spent four straight hours learning necromancy without a proper break.
I left that note on the gallery.
And to avoid another disaster like sleeping for three straight days last time, I set an alarm.
The method was simple.
"Wanna take a lap around this cavern?"
I had the blood knight slowly circle once to measure the time.
*
It took about 5 minutes and 20 seconds.
"Let's sleep for around 7 hours..."
I unpacked the intruders' belongings and my own stuff, spreading it all out on the floor.
"Move these items one by one to the opposite side. Wake me when they're all done."
I gave it instructions for what to do after each lap.
There were 80 items. Eighty laps would get me roughly the right timing.
Next, I started laundry.
"Blood Command."
I used blood manipulation magic to cleanly extract the blood from my gore-soaked clothes and the bloodstained tent. I stored the extracted blood in my inventory.
Then I crawled into the tent, using a bag of snacks as a pillow, and lay down.
Zzz... Zzz...
I passed out immediately.
*
Snore...
Snore...
Shake shake.
"Gasp!"
I jolted awake, bolting upright. The blood knight's gauntlet was shaking my arm.
Once I'd grasped the situation, I checked the time first.
Guardian duty temporarily released for 12:56:47!
"Good job..."
It had carried out every order with perfect precision, no errors.
"Ahhh..."
I stretched. My body felt completely refreshed.
"Alright."
Fwup—
I tore open the snack bag for breakfast while opening the gallery.
Crunch crunch—
I reported that I'd woken up.
I closed the gallery and hit the [Elevator Battle Application] menu.
Rumble—
The staircase descended.
I turned to look at the blood knight gripping its greatsword.
Time to test its real combat performance.
"Follow me."
Thud, thud, thud.
"You don't have to walk like a North Korean soldier..."
Step. Step.
"Yeah, that's better..."
I climbed the stairs and shoved open the door to the 61st floor. At the same time, I checked the hologram panel.
Guardian duty temporarily released for 12:54:31!
The lockdown hadn't lifted. Good.
"Phew, relief."
Creeeak—
The door opened, revealing the 61st floor cavern.
The moment I faced the entity filling it, I froze mid-step.
A monstrously huge mantis. Its head nearly brushed the ceiling.
First time seeing something this absurdly massive since entering the Demon King Tower.
Kiriririk—!
With a chilling screech, it twisted its body. A scythe-like foreleg, ten times its torso width, reared up.
"Blade on blade, huh..."
Perfect test subject.
"Slash it down."
The instant the order dropped.
Boom—!
The crimson knight kicked off the floor and launched. The marble cracked like a spiderweb.
Kieeeek!
The Titan Mantis swung its scythe at the charging knight. But the blood knight showed no intent to dodge.
Red blood mist from its neck coated the greatsword's blade.
It raised the greatsword vertically with both arms and...
Schwing—!
Cleaved the massive mantis scythe in one stroke.
White blood sprayed everywhere.
Kieeeeeeeek!!!!!!
The blood knight parried the follow-up from the other scythe, using the momentum to leap airborne.
Whoosh! The plunging greatsword sliced through the tough neck.
Spluuurt—!
The giant mantis head smashed into the floor.
Thud—! Rumble rumble—!
A result that made the size difference irrelevant.
Successfully defeated 61st floor Titan Mantis
Victory in duel with floor master → You are now master of this floor.
Promotion reward: 6000G acquired!
Experience gained.
Then my earring glimmered.
"Real rewards incoming... even without me lifting a finger..."
No level-up probably because my level had jumped after killing the intruders.
"This is the best."
I was overflowing with satisfaction. This was the kind of exhilarating battle I'd craved.
It vicariously eased my regrets over not pumping STR or AGI.
"So majestic..."
For my temperament, maybe something like that suited me more than a mage.
But my tech tree was set.
I shook off those thoughts and pulled up the hologram panel again. About to update the thread with real-combat test results—
"Huh..."
A painfully familiar nickname cut into my view.
I thought thunder had struck in voice chat.
My absent master, DeathNoteCommander, had barged in.
He was furious.
Was there a problem with shinigami learning necromancy?
I focused on his words.
"That's what it was?"
But what exactly was the issue? Hopefully just sentimental stuff.
I wasn't a natural-born shinigami purist like my master.
As I thought that, a question from 574F followed.
Then 702F, the necromancer, stepped in to explain.
No immediate reply. Then the tone shifted subtly.
"Huh?"
Question marks piled up like mine.
The inexplicable phenomenon where only my tower's monsters stopped respawning—unlike gallery necromancers' and summoners' tests. The reason even 574F called a mystery.
Did my same-race master know?
He spoke first.
Instant-death skill weakness.
"Preemptive strike?"
Wrong.
My master continued.
"......"
Pieces clicked instantly. Why necromancy failed on the two women. Why monsters wouldn't respawn.
"This scythe..."
My weapon: counter to instant-death counters.
Had 'resurrection nullification'.
Necromancy reanimating corpses counted as resurrection too.
"...This blood knight... I killed with instant-death, no scythe..."
That's why it alone succeeded.
"..."
Headache.
Was this good or bad?
True.
A chicken rib for me now.
Monsters need to respawn to be my shield.
But why did a level 1 have such a late-game weapon...?
Reply came.
574F's new hypothesis.
Didn't faze me much.
Not thrilled to be the only level 1 clone among all towers, but I'd grown to 61F like this, and I wasn't one to complain about circumstances—just rolled with it.
But.
Gallery users treated it like a bombshell.
Wild reactions poured in.
"Huh?"