Chapter 113
Chapter 113.
Beyond the fog, an open view.
'The First Tower, its height is tremendous…….'
Lee Ganghan looked at the First Tower stretching endlessly downward and realized the enormous scale of this tower.
It would feel like this if you fell from a skyscraper with more than a hundred floors.
You could see the floor down there, but what was there couldn't be clearly seen, perhaps because it was dark.
Moreover,
'The falling speed has also slowed down.'
After breaking through the red fog, perhaps gravity had also weakened.
Lee Ganghan, whose falling speed had clearly slowed down, looked down below with a more relaxed expression as he fell.
Since he had already prepared himself for death anyway, he decided to gather as much information as possible here.
'The tower's appearance is the same all the way down there…….'
The First Tower looked exactly the same above and below in appearance.
Since he had broken through the red fog zone, would he enter B3 if he went into the tower from here?
Lee Ganghan felt such curiosity and tried to get close to the tower wall.
But.
Sssssss…….
He felt powerful pressure from all directions.
'Hmm……?'
It pushed Lee Ganghan's body away so he couldn't get close to the tower.
Was this preventing him from re-entering the tower?
'Well, fine. Let's see, let me go all the way to the bottom.'
If re-approaching the tower wasn't allowed, he could just die and revive at B2.
Lee Ganghan, who decided to use the Authority of Infinity in earnest, continued descending downward.
'The bottom…… I can't see anything.'
The sky of the First Tower where something like the sun had never risen in the first place.
What took the role of light here was either the light spreading from the red fog thickly laid above, or the pure white clusters of light that occasionally sparkled in the void.
It was so dark that it was hard to see, but.
"Still, I really can't see anything, can I? Don't you think so, Divine Maiden?"
When there was really too little visible to the eye, Lee Ganghan habitually called for the Divine Maiden.
However, there was no response from her, who would normally answer immediately.
'Ah. Did she perhaps not follow me down from above?'
The Divine Maiden ghost who had distanced herself from Lee Ganghan when he wore the King of the Dead's Robe.
Since she wasn't stuck close to his shoulder when he fell, it seemed the Divine Maiden couldn't escape from the upper fog zone.
'I'll have to go alone then.'
It would have been nice if he had come with the Divine Maiden to get advice from various angles, but that was unfortunate.
Lee Ganghan thought so and considered if there was anything he could use for light.
'Ah. I can summon the Spirit of Heavenly Sword.'
The Spirit of Heavenly Sword in the form of a light sword.
That guy could serve as a torch.
But.
"Hmm……? Why isn't it working?"
Strangely, the Ten Thousand Demon Battle function wouldn't open here.
He had summoned minions just fine in the First Tower, so why wasn't it working here?
'Strange.'
Lee Ganghan tilted his head and decided to take out the 'Flame Angel's Faded Sword' instead, opening his inventory.
Unlike the Ten Thousand Demon Battle function, the inventory operated normally.
Swish.
When Lee Ganghan took it out, an old sword appeared in his hand.
'If I blow energy into this…….'
Whoosh!
The Flame Angel's sword blazed with pure white flames even without the Spirit of Heavenly Sword.
When the sword lit up with fire, the dark world became somewhat visible.
'There's nothing much.'
In the thick darkness, an empty space.
Only the First Tower stretched down alongside.
Other than that, it was a desolate space where nothing else could be seen.
Even after brightening the world with light, what could be confirmed was really just 'nothing at all'.
'Still, I won't keep falling forever. There must be an end.'
There must be something supporting the tower eventually.
Lee Ganghan thought so and continued falling.
But the more he fell, the more his falling speed decreased.
Moreover.
"This is……."
The density of the atmosphere seemed to gradually thicken, and then an intense energy that seemed to pierce his entire body surged in.
When a certain amount of energy had accumulated in his body layer by layer.
[Heavenly Demon Divine Art accepts the deep layer's demonic energy.]
A system message appeared before Lee Ganghan's eyes.
'Deep layer's demonic energy……?'
Did it mean the demonic energy of the deep layer?
Certainly, the energy filling his body was extraordinary, but somehow.
'Like when my body exploded from accepting too much mana before, it seems like it would explode if I accept more than the limit?'
Just like in the Mana Training Hall, the accumulation of deep layer's demonic energy in his body was also not ordinary.
Would this end in explosion without even proper reconnaissance?
When Lee Ganghan was roughly estimating his end while feeling the surging demonic energy.
[Mana increases by 0.5.]
A message appeared saying his mana had increased.
'So that makes mana 16?'
Decimal increases hadn't appeared until now, but thanks to the interface evolution, such messages were now appearing too.
What a remarkable evolution indeed.
When Lee Ganghan was giving a bitter smile.
"You're enduring well?"
An innocent voice like a child's was heard from behind.
Swish.
When Lee Ganghan quickly turned around, there was a smiling, pure white mask floating there.
It had no nose at all, and in the areas where eyes should be, one side had a circle drawn and the other had a square, each half colored black.
"Hello?"
The smiling mouth seemed to move.
Swish.
The mask rotated 180 degrees.
Then the inside of the mask became visible.
'What is that……?'
There, countless swirls of black and red light were spinning round and round.
When Lee Ganghan frowned at the ominous appearance.
"Want to become a demon?"
Whoosh!
The mask suddenly grew large and covered Lee Ganghan's entire body.
The mask suddenly attacked before he could react.
But.
Flash……!
A pure white light burst from Lee Ganghan's chest and pushed away the enlarged mask.
'Did it change from Ma to Geuk……?'
Thanks to the Geuk that Yoo Doa had engraved, he was helped many times.
When Lee Ganghan felt that way seeing the automatically activated power of Extreme Demon.
"Huh? Divine power?"
Whoosh!
The mask suddenly shrank and rotated 180 degrees again.
"This one is pretty good, huh? It would be a waste to make him a demon right away?"
Hehehe.
The corners of the mask's mouth rose higher and higher.
Then.
-Ugh... that's definitely that guy, isn't it?
-'Smiling Face Demon' right?
-Right... that's him
-Why is that monster in the human race's tower?
In the chat window that had been quiet until now, chats suddenly appeared actively.
Somehow they seemed to know about the mask in front of him.
'This mask…… was it famous enough to be known to different races too?'
The viewers who all recognized the mask and showed signs of being terrified.
Considering the arrogant attitude they had originally shown, such a reaction was surprising.
Then.
Swish.
The mask called the 'Smiling Face Demon' looked at the chat window Lee Ganghan was watching.
"Noisy?"
Bzzzzt……!
The chat window distorted and sparks flew from it.
Then.
Ding.
-◑◡◧ : Be quiet, will you?
In the newly appeared chat.
-◑◡◧ : I'm visiting your neighborhood again? ^o^
An ID that looked exactly like the mask in front of him appeared.
***
'What. Is this possible too?'
The white mask intervened immediately just by looking at the chat window.
Moreover, while other race viewers had blurry IDs that didn't show up, only he had an ID that looked exactly like the mask.
-This crazy monster really...
-How can it intrude into TowerTube like this?
-◑◡◧ : If you're curious, should I go tell you? Should I go first to those who keep talking about me? ^o^
When it said it would go first to those who talked about it, the chat suddenly stopped.
The white mask's threat seemed to have definitely worked.
When the chat window became quiet.
"Our friend, shall we do some evolution research together now?"
"Evolution……?"
"It's better than becoming a low-level demon right away, isn't it?"
Hehehe.
The mask's corners rose eerily.
"Should I put out the fire first? It's unpleasant to look at?"
Whoosh.
Wind came from the mask's mouth, and the sword energy that had been infused into the Flame Angel's Faded Sword was immediately extinguished.
'I thought I could just return if I died…… but seeing what the mask is doing, dying won't be easy either?'
Saying 'evolution research' was just words - it didn't seem like it would use such peaceful methods.
Moreover, seeing this monster's power, even if he attempted suicide, it would be blocked midway, and even if he succeeded, it would probably revive him before he completely died.
The Smiling Face Demon showed such an overwhelming presence.
'If I keep getting held here…… the ending definitely won't be good.'
Lee Ganghan, who had thought he could just die relying on the Authority of Infinity when falling, instinctively felt a strong sense of crisis.
If he was caught by the opponent in front of him who wanted to do evolution research, even if he somehow died later or the time limit ended and he left the First Tower, would he really be able to leave safely?
'It doesn't seem like it.'
Either continuous aftereffects would remain, or like the sensation he felt when he saw the star before, Lee Ganghan as 'himself' seemed like he would disappear.
This was a situation where he couldn't just rely on the Authority of Infinity.
'I need to escape somehow.'
Rather than trying to die half-heartedly, it would be better to escape.
But how?
Even if he moved clumsily here, he wouldn't be able to escape from that white mask's influence, and special measures were needed.
After thinking briefly, he.
'Ah. Right.'
Soon recalled an item.
'The wing feather I was keeping in inventory…… I could use that, couldn't I?'
The Flame Angel's Wing Feather that he had received as a bonus with the sword from Angel Kael, but had been carefully stored because there was no use for it.
When used, wings of fire would bloom and flight would be possible, and these wings had powerful destructive power against dark attribute enemies.
'Of course, I can't destroy the monster in front of me, but…… I should be able to fly away.'
If he flew, it would be upward.
If he went up to the zone with red fog, he would definitely die in his current state where 'death immunity' had disappeared, so he could escape from the white mask's restraint for now.
'Then the important thing now is when to use it…….'
When Lee Ganghan was looking for an opportunity to use the item.
"So…… our friend, do you happen to have any stats over 20?"
"20?"
The white mask suddenly asked Lee Ganghan about stats over 20.
'The standard of 20 appears again.'
When his mother had brainwashed him in the training hall of Heavenly Demon Valley that he needed to reach stat 20, and the final standard for the 'Domain of Death' test where Hades had intervened was definitely stamina 20.
Of course, he had passed the test then because the stamina requirement was reduced by the number of deaths, but anyway, the initial standard was 20.
'The standard of 20 seems to have some meaning.'
When Lee Ganghan was remembering stat 20 appearing for the third time.
"As expected, 20 is too high a hurdle for mere humans? Then maybe 18? 17? 16? 15? Do you have any?"
The Smiling Face Demon determined that there was no way stats could exceed 20.
"Not answering? Do I have to look myself?"
When Lee Ganghan didn't answer.
Sssss…….
The eye areas of the white mask.
The circle and square that were half colored black began to turn completely black.
He looked at Lee Ganghan closely in this state and lowered the corners of his mouth that had been raised for the first time.
"Could you turn off that light in your chest? I can't see your information?"
"……."
"Won't you listen?"
The opponent who had been speaking in questions.
"Wow. You really won't listen……. You, I like you?"
"You like this?"
"Yes! I can torture you enjoyably!"
When Lee Ganghan endured without listening, he raised the corners of his mouth that had been lowered all the way to his eyes.
"Uhee! How long has it been since I tortured someone? Good. I'll go prepare?"
Then.
Sssss…….
The white mask disappeared.
What kind of torture was he going to prepare for?
But since the white mask had temporarily left, now was the opportunity.
"Inventory."
Lee Ganghan immediately opened his inventory and took out the Flame Angel's Wing Feather.
'I can't afford to save it now.'
There were 2 wing feathers received from the angel.
Lee Ganghan took them all out and immediately used the items.
Then.
Whooooosh……!
Massive flames shot up behind his back.
Pure white flames also blazed intensely from the Flame Angel's Faded Sword, sweeping away all the darkness in an instant and suppressing the deep layer's demonic energy that had been encroaching on Lee Ganghan's body.
'The effect is amazing?'
With this much, couldn't he stand against that white mask?
Lee Ganghan briefly thought so seeing the pure white flames shooting up from his entire body, but.
"Huh? Huh? What?"
Sssssss…….
He heard the surprised mask's voice from below and looked down.
'No, when did it get so big?'
The white mask that had disappeared saying it would prepare for torture.
The 'Smiling Face Demon' had somehow swollen to an unrealistic size, completely blocking the view below.
Moreover, the demonic energy pouring out from within was strong enough to suffocate.
'What resistance.'
Don't have unnecessary thoughts just because he used the Flame Angel wing feather.
According to the original plan, flying upward was correct.
"Let's go."
When Lee Ganghan said so.
Whoooosh……!
The flames spread more from the wings.
Swish!
The wings of fire moved once.
Then.
Whoooosh……!
Lee Ganghan's body shot upward like an arrow.
"Hey!!! Where did you get that?!"
"Ah. I got it, I got it, I won't torture you, okay? Promise, promise. You understand, right? So won't you come down right now?"
The mask urgently shouted at Lee Ganghan from below, but.
'Making promises and such nonsense.'
Trust a demon's promise?
Lee Ganghan snorted and quickly flew to the red fog zone.
He needed to reach there quickly and die immediately.
Lee Ganghan was prepared for death, but.
Sssss…….
When the wings of fire actually touched the fog zone.
'The fog is…… being absorbed?'
The red fog of instant death judgment was absorbed by the Flame Angel's wings, opening a path.
Swoosh!
When Lee Ganghan escaped through there.
"Where are you going!!!"
The giant white mask could only shout from below, unable to pass through the red fog zone.
'It can't follow me this far.'
Whew.
Lee Ganghan finally breathed a sigh of relief.