The Eyeless Watcher (1)
I pushed the door open just like that...
Opened the door...
Open...
"Hup!"
"..."
"...?"
The door wouldn't budge.
It felt like I was shoving a solid wall.
This had never happened before.
I froze for a second.
Is it locked?
I didn't want to jump to such a grim conclusion.
It was too absurd to think the elevator shaft was blocked for something this trivial.
If that were the case, shouldn't a rejection message have popped up first when I hit the [Elevator Request] button in the hologram menu...?
"..."
There was no one to complain to.
For now, I decided to push harder.
Maybe there was a strength stat limit or something.
"Blood Knight, Barang. Help me push."
<...By your command...!>
The Blood Knight sidled up beside me and gripped the door with both hands. Barang planted his front paws on it and leaned in with all his weight.
"Urgh...!"
All three of us threw ourselves at the door.
Screeech...
"Huh?"
It was faint, but the door definitely twitched and gave a little. Good—it wasn't locked. Hope surged.
But it was unbelievable that even the three of us together lacked the strength. Two superhumans who could crater marble walls with bare fists, and yet...
"A bit more! Push!"
Crack!
We all gritted our teeth and shoved desperately. Light began seeping through the widening crack.
"What the—?"
Something poured out from the gap.
Clatter—clang!
"What is this...?"
At my feet rolled bright yellow gold coins. Peering inside, I couldn't hold back my shock.
"Holy shit..."
This vast chamber held a mountain of gold coins piled half as high as the door itself.
No wonder it took insane force to budge—the sheer mass blocking it.
Holding back the door as it tried to close, I mustered my strength again.
"Push harder. Three, two, one!"
Boom—!
We poured every ounce of power into it.
Rumble—!!!
The moment the door cracked wider, the gold pile burst forth like a dam breaking.
"Whoaaa!"
Flailing amid the avalanche, I frantically opened my inventory.
◈ [Gold acquired.]
◈ [Gold acquired.]
◈ [Gold acquired.](Screen flooded)
The hologram system windows tiled across my vision. Once the inventory sucked in enough coins, the full interior of the 100th floor finally came into view.
A hill of gold.
And at its center stood the floor's master.
Before I could even check its name.
"Death Mark."
Death Mark - Stack 1 applied
[ - ]
Defender: Tresorkeeper (100F)
Tresorkeeper. The strangest-looking monster I'd ever seen.
Gray skin that clashed sharply with the golden backdrop. Towering twice my height, but not a giant compared to monsters I'd faced before. Twisted horns sprouted from its head, and wild, tangled hair shrouded its face completely—no eyes, nose, or mouth visible.
Six arms extended from its torso, each clutching golden fragments.
Up close, they were keys. Massive ones, fitting its huge grip. It clutched them tightly.
And behind it.
Flash—!
The source of the golden glow: an enormous golden chest, freakishly huge, filling the entire back wall of the chamber.
Never before had a floor held something like that structure.
And then.
Another unprecedented event unfolded.
"How dare a lowly soldier from the lower floors set foot in this place."
The endless expanse of the Karbas Great Desert. In this weary, wind-swept wilderness, countless tribes, nations, faiths, heresies, overlords, and tyrants had risen and fallen.
But one nation united them all by blood.
The Sahad Empire.
The Sahad Emperor proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Sun God, declaring his empire.
Omnipotent. The imperial family's power swelled endlessly, dominating the entire desert, with royals lording over regions as feudal princes wielding immense might.
No group in Karbas history had ever been so prosperous and mighty.
Yet not one of Sahad's heirs was content with their share.
They coveted others' portions, murdered kin. Conflicts deepened; palace intrigue became routine.
Civil war was everyday life.
Even in that cesspool of royalty, one stood out for infamy: Sahad's third prince, Marwan ibn Shams al-Sahad.
Before becoming a feudal lord, Marwan was a notorious wastrel, his name forever in scandals.
His speech was frivolously unprincely; his nature, brutally sadistic.
Infamously capricious and eccentric. Thus, when the Sahad Empire sent him to the Continental Unification High Council, it was an insult far greater than dispatching a mere foreign minister from the eastern continent's empire.
But that very day, the signal for the second Tower Rush was fired.
News arrived: the ominous mana plaguing the tower's first 100 floors for 400 years had vanished.
An ill-fated coincidence for Sahad. The news reached Marwan's ears first, igniting his ambitions.
That was the beginning.
Historians overly devoted to the iron law of causality might call it no grand prelude.
The atrocity about to unfold in this villa would be recorded just as dryly.
The underground conference chamber of the villa. Three subordinates stood arrayed before the third prince Marwan, legs crossed casually over a lavish chair.
His elite unit's warlord, guard captain, and chief magistrate. Those three.
Marwan was a war maniac without question, undefeated while alive, so regardless of his reputation in the royal family, their competence was beyond doubt.
"Your Highness. The main force's mobilization is fully prepared. Supply routes bypassing the eastern empire's surveillance nets are secured, and border disruption operations proceed without issue."
The warlord reported, gauging the prince's expression.
But as always, his thoughts were inscrutable.
The warlord cleared his throat cautiously as he finished.
"However, Your Highness. That necromancer Alkamus you summoned..."
"Why? Not to your liking?"
Marwan asked innocently, as if anticipating it.
"He's undoubtedly a powerful sorcerer, but... he's too creepy and eccentric to operate alongside our warriors."
Marwan listened intently, eyes wide, nodding at each pause.
The warlord pressed on, tense.
"We obeyed your command to grant his every demand, but... I suggest detaching his unit."
"What did the old man demand?"
The warlord replied reluctantly.
"Dozens of boys under thirteen..."
Marwan smirked. He uncrossed his legs, leaning forward.
"You granted it, but don't want him tagging along?"
The warlord dropped to his knees, bowing low.
"Merely for operational efficiency, Your Highness. If you command, we shall obey unquestioningly!"
Marwan tsked, leaning back.
"Warlord, are my elites scared of that Alkamus?"
"Fear? Perish the thought...!"
The warlord sweated, pouring out excuses. How strong and perfectly prepared his unit was. Their absolute loyalty to the third prince. A fervent speech.
"Then let's see."
Marwan grinned slyly, stroking his chin.
"How loyal are you to me?"
The quick-witted guard captain stepped forward.
"Our warriors would burn their own hometowns without hesitation at your single command!"
"Hmmm."
Marwan hummed.
"Really?"
The warlord's face stiffened. Marwan's gaze shifted to the young scribe drafting minutes.
"Oh? Isn't that the warlord's daughter over there? Blood ties, right?"
"Y-Your Highness...!"
"Prove it."
The prince grinned at the warlord.
"Can't do it...?"
"..."
The scribe trembled in terror, quill shaking; the warlord paled. Heavy silence crushed the room.
Suddenly, the prince burst into laughter.
"Puhahaha! Just kidding, kidding."
He waved it off leisurely.
"Why would I make my subordinate kill his own daughter?"
"Ah... Aah... Thank you, Your Highness! I vow eternal loyalty with this life!"
The warlord wept in relief, forehead to the floor.
Marwan rose, approaching the scribe. Tears streaming, she bowed repeatedly.
"Th-thank you, Your Highness... Your mercy is overwhelming..."
"Yeah! You almost died by your dad's hand, huh?"
The prince patted her shoulder affectionately.
"I treasure my people. The work my subordinates bear, their master handles instead!"
Shing—slash!
Marwan's silver scimitar flashed upward. Blood sprayed from the scribe's neck. Her head thudded to the floor without a scream, rolling to stop right before the warlord's bowed head.
He faced his daughter's face.
Marwan spoke.
"Still more scared of that necromancer than me?"
"......"
The warlord's face twisted in madness.
He sprang up.
Swoosh—
Drawing his scimitar.
And charged the prince at blinding speed.