Chapter 66
Chapter 66.
"Are you calm now?"
[Yes...... Then I'll......stay inside comfortably with the sword......]
The Spirit of the Heavenly Sword then fell silent.
The Flame Angel's Sword.
What's so great about it that it's causing such a fuss?
"Um...... Heavenly Demon, can we start fighting now?"
"......Yeah. I won't interfere anymore, really."
From the 7th floor onwards, the Goblins' battles proceeded normally.
-After seeing him sweep everything away with light flashes, watching Goblin fights just makes me sigh lol
-But the sword seems useful?
-If it's A+ in that state, wouldn't it become an amazing sword when restored?
-For real lol There was a reason FIPA was bragging about it
The time it took to reach the 7th floor with light flashes was 1 minute.
The time it took to reach the 10th floor after that with the Goblins' fierce battles was 40 minutes.
Even then, Lee Ganghan had to intervene at the end because he was worried about being late to clear.
'The time when Goblins become useless is really coming soon.'
After hitting level 30, upgrade the Goblin Black Market.
Then somehow help them change jobs to Goblin Merchants.
I can't use these guys for combat anymore.
As Lee Ganghan looked at the Goblins sprawled on the ground from exhaustion and thought this, the tower's clear time was approaching.
-Already cleared...
-Today seemed a bit more relaxed because of the Goblin level-ups
-If the sword FIPA gave hadn't been flashing, it would have taken longer
-That thing seems like an overpowered item limited to undead ㅇㅇ
Unlike the beginning, public opinion was showing favorable reactions to Lee Ganghan's sword.
The impact of undead being swept away helplessly with a single flash of light was certainly significant.
And.
[Settling Iron Tower No.73 performance......]
[You cleared the tower within 1 hour.]
[You eliminated over 80% of encountered undead.]
Along with the tower clear.
A performance settlement message appeared.
'Two lines in the clear evaluation...... And with this pattern, it should be S.'
Looking at the message appearing below the performance settlement, Lee Ganghan felt an uneasy feeling that it might be S.
And as he expected.
[Clear Evaluation – S]
[Opening clear rewards.]
[Level increases by 1.]
[You gain 10,000 TP.]
This time the evaluation was S.
'Wow. The rewards are on a different dimension from EX.'
When I got EX grade in the Arena, it gave 1.5 million TP.
No matter how much it's S, here it's only 10,000?
'At least the level went up by 1.'
Current level is 43.
TP had a 150x difference, but the level-up numbers only had a 7x difference.
Lee Ganghan let out a hollow laugh and closed the system message.
'Finding special conditions among clear conditions is trickier than I thought.'
The Cemetery map earlier.
Should I have dug up all the graves?
Recalling the earlier tower that was so ordinary.
Lee Ganghan thoroughly checked the Goblin levels.
'Average level 30, seems like we'll reach it soon.'
Still, many individuals leveled up while fighting undead.
The average level seemed to be around 28 now.
Lee Ganghan returned home and opened Ten Thousand Demon Battle.
He connected communication to the Goblin Chief.
"Focus on leveling up in the training ground for now."
"Ah...... Then should we take a break from working at the black market?"
"Yeah. Since we need to upgrade the black market after hitting 30, focus only on training for now."
"Understood!"
The Goblin Chief's eyes sparkled when the black market upgrade was mentioned.
The market upgrade seemed to be quite a cherished project for him too.
"Then I'll work them hard until 30!"
After finishing the Goblin training instructions.
'The Sacred Fire said it hasn't charged yet.'
Lee Ganghan moved the Ten Thousand Demon Battle screen to the Sacred Fire area.
There, he first noticed the Fire Spirits circling around Karana who was sitting still.
'Still having one-sided love.'
Fire Spirits dying for Karana.
But I definitely heard that only a few spirits came from the Arena.
Yet the Fire Spirits visible now numbered over ten at a rough count.
Could their numbers have increased that much in such a short time?
'Just how good is her spirit affinity?'
As Lee Ganghan watched this scene for a moment.
Flap, Flap.
A bird-shaped spirit that had been circling around Karana persistently clung to her.
[Ah, really!]
Whoosh!
It was caught by Karana with an annoyed expression and thrown into the Sacred Fire.
Then.
Flaaare......!
The weakened Sacred Fire blazed intensely.
[The Sacred Fire recovers to its original form.]
A message appeared above the flames.
It began to regain its original appearance.
'Originally there should have been more time left until full recovery, but throwing in the spirit revived the flame.'
Like last time.
She's completely using spirits as kindling.
But.
[Ah......]
As if feeling sorry after throwing it herself.
Karana reached toward the Sacred Fire with a strange expression.
Then.
Flaaare......!
Fire shot up from the Sacred Fire.
The bird that had been thrown in earlier came flying out, reduced to half its size.
[Chi, chirp!]
She quickly turned her head and crossed her arms.
Then she brushed away the bird spirit that rushed toward her again, telling it to go away.
Yet there seemed to be a relieved smile on her lips.
'......What did I just witness?'
Lee Ganghan found the bickering between the Elf and spirit absurd.
But at least the Sacred Fire had recovered thanks to it, so he thought he'd gained something and closed the Ten Thousand Demon Battle screen.
Now then.
'I need to enter the First Tower.'
Lee Ganghan finished his mental preparation.
He pressed the 'First Tower's Seal' in his inventory.
'Still 1 entry chance.'
The 3rd candidate of Heavenly Demon Valley.
The First Tower's Seal that had been upgraded thanks to Shin Yuri.
The seal that now charged up to 2 entry chances was still showing 'Entry Chance [1/2]'.
When Lee Ganghan pressed and used the seal from his inventory.
Paaaah......!
A red portal appeared behind him.
The entry chance changed to [0/2] in real-time.
"......"
Lee Ganghan looked at the opened portal for a moment.
Step, Step.
Soon he entered it.
And as soon as he entered the portal.
[The Guardian of Greed summons a battlefield suitable for itself......]
[The battlefield of B1 floor is the Sea of Darkness (Mare Tenebrosum).]
The battlefield immediately unfolded.
***
The scene upon entering the First Tower was an endless ocean spread out hopelessly.
The only place to set foot was the large rock at Lee Ganghan's feet.
'This is the very first starting point.'
Last time, while spacing out here.
Columbus's Santa Maria fired cannonballs and shattered the rock.
As Lee Ganghan recalled that incident.
[Heavenly Demon!]
Swirl......
The space beside him distorted.
The Divine Maiden Ghost popped out from within.
[You've come!]
"Yeah. Have you been well?"
[I've just been in Heavenly Demon Valley the whole time. I was automatically summoned here when you came.]
"I see?"
So Heavenly Demon Valley is like the Divine Maiden's dwelling.
As Lee Ganghan nodded.
Whirrrr......
A huge screen appeared before his eyes.
[You've come, challenger.]
The person who appeared there was.
Columbus, holding a wine bottle and looking at Lee Ganghan with hollow eyes.
[Last time you escaped by luck...... but this time I'll deal with you for sure!]
Columbus clearly remembered the previous battle.
He blew a wine bottle horn.
[Fire!]
He commanded the cannon fire.
Then.
Whirrrr......
The screen changed.
The ship he had seen before.
The scene of Santa Maria's cannon spewing fire appeared.
'Same as last time.'
Back then, even seeing this, I couldn't figure out where the cannonballs were being fired from and panicked.
But this time is different.
"Inventory."
Lee Ganghan opened his inventory and drew his sword.
He also opened Ten Thousand Demon Battle.
Ten Thousand Demon Battle, which hadn't opened in 'Heavenly Demon Valley', opened without problems on the B1 floor.
From there, Lee Ganghan summoned the Spirit of the Heavenly Sword.
"Um...... didn't you call me earlier......?"
The Spirit of the Heavenly Sword clearly showed annoyance, asking why he was being called again so soon after tower climbing.
"Wow......! It's that sword from earlier!"
However, when Lee Ganghan held the Flame Angel's Sword in his hand.
His attitude quickly changed and he jumped into the sword.
Then.
Flaaare......!
The sword that seemed about to crack flashed with light.
Light sword energy blazed intensely.
'This level should be sufficient for sword use.'
In the Cemetery map, just flashing light swept everything away, so I couldn't actually utilize it as a sword.
But now, properly infusing sword energy, I could definitely feel the difference.
With the Spirit of the Heavenly Sword inside.
This sword can be used.
As Lee Ganghan smiled with satisfaction looking at the sword.
Whirrrr......
The air far away rippled.
A cannonball popped out from there.
Like last time, a cannonball that appeared by instantly crossing the distance.
But.
'This much.'
Swish!
When Lee Ganghan swung his sword once from his position.
Boom!
The cannonball was cut in half in mid-air before falling.
It exploded as it was.
[Ooh...... Heavenly Demon, to have such a sword already! You've achieved remarkable progress in such a short time!]
Compared to floundering in the sea.
Seeing Lee Ganghan who had made great progress, the Divine Maiden Ghost was moved.
Whirrrr......!
The screen appeared before his eyes again.
Columbus was now holding a broken wine bottle.
He was pointing at Lee Ganghan.
[Ha. So you've learned a trick or two in the meantime. But that won't be enough!]
Then.
Boom, Boom, boom!
The sound of cannon fire continued endlessly.
Whoosh......
The sky's space twisted in multiple places.
Cannonballs poured out all at once.
At a glance, it looked like dozens of cannonballs or more.
The scale was too large to handle lightly like before.
'To block this, I need to cut through the whole thing.'
For that, I'd need to bring out a technique from Heavenly Demon Divine Sword.
One Sword Breaks Heaven, which I had somewhat mastered last time, was ultimately a thrust.
This time, the next technique.
A sword specialized in cutting was needed.
'The next technique is...... Two Swords Sever Sea.'
With one sword, shatter the heavens.
With two swords, divide the sea.
The absurdly grandiose technique name of Heavenly Demon Divine Sword.
But the sword's power was as certain as its name.
Paaaah......!
Sword energy flashing from the Flame Angel's Sword shot up in a long line.
Heavenly Demon Divine Sword
Two Swords Sever Sea
The technique that divides the sea with two swords.
Went toward the sky instead.
Boom, boom, boom......!
Cut in half, the cannonballs exploded all at once.
The cannonballs that Santa Maria had fired ceaselessly vanished in an instant.
[Wha, what......? You, you, weren't you Iron last time......?]
Then.
On the screen still floating.
Columbus was blinking his eyes while having dropped the broken wine bottle.
Certainly last time, he was jumping around in the sea and eventually floundering.
He was attacked by sea spirits and survived by luck when his stay time ended.
What's this, exactly?
Does this make sense?
Unable to understand the current situation, he was flustered.
[Kuh...... But you still can't catch me!]
Eventually he gave up the cannonball offensive.
He chose to hide in this vast sea.
As Columbus's screen disappeared.
"Hmm......"
Lee Ganghan looked at the Flame Angel's Sword pensively.
It was too early to use Heavenly Demon Divine Art, so I tried infusing the Sacred Fire's power to the maximum to activate sword energy.
The compatibility between the sword and Sacred Fire was so good.
It seemed I had executed Two Swords Sever Sea more successfully than expected.
'Without Heavenly Demon Divine Art, this level of power would be hard to achieve.'
FIPA really gave me a good sword?
As Lee Ganghan was feeling satisfied.
Pop.
The Spirit of the Heavenly Sword poked just his head out from the sword.
"First disciple...... why are you making such a...... satisfied expression?"
"Ah. Even without using Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the technique came out strong, so I thought I chose this sword well."
"Hmm...... honestly your sword work was quite lacking earlier...... I controlled it appropriately from inside...... otherwise you would have missed a few cannonballs......"
No wonder when the sword energy cut through the sky, there was a strange feeling.
Did the Spirit of the Heavenly Sword help from inside?
'No wonder Two Swords Sever Sea was too successful when I had never practiced it once.'
Lee Ganghan quietly nodded at those words.
Swoosh.
[Hey, what did you just say?]
The Divine Maiden Ghost who had been listening from the side floated in front of the Spirit of the Heavenly Sword.
[Yes......?]
[What are you to dare...... call the Heavenly Demon first disciple?]
With a cold voice she had never used before.
She pressured the spirit.